vaga#1/1 introduction…
!!! That's not me !!!
Part I
Here I am ... let's go part by part ...
At the front note:
this translation surged from friends asking for it, they enjoy the pictures in my Spanish version but want to get the full story, suspecting they are spicy and fun.
Being in the Pandemic time without moving and having extra time I suggested to my neighbour and friend Bonnie to give it a try together for a translation, since she is from South Africa and has no knowledge of Spanish and my English is limited. Several months we spent on my balcony at Koh Tao, Thailand, many hours together both learning from each other and the languages, mainly were a lot of fun, but not free of some frustration from time to time. The final work for me is a little off of the original because I learned Spanish as a writing style that has more insinuation, subtlety, suggestion, no need to be too concrete or specific in the context. If I can exaggerate to make a point one is closer to poetry, fantasies, emotions, the other is closer to a catalogue, an instruction manual, it feels efficient but dry on occasions.
first was published in july, 23, 2018
... this is not a travel or tips blog, it is a narration of my experiences as I travel the world … With my iPhone
When I had finished raising my three children, I sold my beautiful house, not without a lump in my throat because it was a very, very special place where the children and I had a wonderful life. I closed my studio with peace and left without a return ticket ... this is not a trip, because I will not come back, I just left, it is my new life …... .... VAGABOND LIFE …… ...
I'm terrible with technology, but I bought an iPhone, at the request of my friends and children. I left in September without knowing how to use it. (weird, I still don't have a name for it since I name everything that surrounds me, but its name will come) I'll let you know !!! LOL !!! After 8 months, I think that I worked out how to use it with the help of everyone who crossed my path, the first "App" that a boy who worked as a janitor in a hostel in Montezuma, Costa Rica downloaded the Currency App for me, it was a small fishing village, that had been taken over by the hippie gringos, and they tend to call it "Montefuma", marijuana is the order of the day. An Argentinian woman helped me to download a Booking App, I was ready to go
!!!!! puffffff that is fantastic !!!!
The phone has been a huge help to me, I remember living and travelling in Europe in the early 80s I had physical maps, it was slow and inconvenient, no euros by then, it took forever, but I was young and fast then. As soon as I worked out how to use the phone, I told Rafael, my computer-literate son that I had finally figured out how to use the apps
he exclaimed over the phone:
"MY MOM HAS APPS"
He then let out ................................................. ................ a big laugh
When he made me buy this iPhone before leaving and taught me how to send WhatsApp's, I slowly, very slowly used one finger at a time,…… I saw his face, he tried to hide his laugh.
……...what are you laughing about?
!!!!!!! YOU ARE SO SLOW !!!!!!!!!
……… yes, of course ....... and then I replied:
!!! Remember that I taught you to walk, and then you will see who is slow you were !!!!!!
END OF SUBJECT
I admit that my children have been very frustrated with me and my inadequacy with the phone, although I can now take photos, we are making progress ... I asked Siri where I left my glasses, Siri can’t help me yet.
I present my STILL unnamed phone
But on the other hand, living in the US at the end of the 80s I can’t remember the exact years, I was the first one in my circle to get a computer, I even took AutoCAD classes. When I returned to Chile I knew the most about technology, I handled Excel spreadsheets, accounting programs and then, what happened next? … Technology advanced by leaps and bounds, and it was passing me by. I was too busy with my daily life, children, jobs and the time I used to have, disappeared and computing lost its space.
!!!!!!! Rafael remember that I taught you to play "Winnie the Pooh" at 3 years old !! and now you study robotics.
…… ahhh ?????? be careful with your comments ……… ...
Then Sofía, my daughter, while in Japan downloaded "Translator" although the truth is, it didn’t help me much at first, in Vietnam, I went north, to the border with China to see some ethnic groups, I realised that and the most common thing that I found was that they spoke in dialects and not Vietnamese, on the other hand, many of them do not read. In the larger cities, it has served me better, but because it is not as efficient, and sometimes it confuses things more. So I go back to my ... gestures ... in which, I have graduated from Cambridge with an " Honours" PhD in sign language. In addition to that, she "forced" me to buy a "SIM" card when I went to Vietnam because I would be on my own again ..... and ...
?????? ………... SIM card ........ ???????
I did not know what it was and how it could help me, I had already travelled so much without it. Anyway, I said yes, without any conviction, and she felt like that too. In Hanoi and after a month in Vietnam I asked the girl concierge at the hostel to buy me one because I had promised Sofia. She taught me and little by little I got to know how to use it, little by little ...
!!!…..Cool…….!!!
I don't get lost anymore, I don't have to ask anyone anything and I'm very grateful for the “SIM Card”
Now I can't live without it, I feel helpless, without a map, or without being able to translate basic things .....
Peter, my youngest son, taught me how to use "GOOGLE MAP" but the truth is that I have come to understand it after many months. He installed weather, Spotify, Uber and Netflix. they have been great. But I will not use Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, I have come this far without Social Media it does not interest me ...
What I am most passionate about are cultures. People, religion, architecture, crafts, mythologies, hundreds of types of cuisine, clothes, and everything diverse. I come from Chile, a very new country, with 500 years of history, and it is a Spanish colony. In other words, we are of European origin and later Immigrants from Germany, Italy, and Serbia among others arrived, and so we do not have ancient traditions or diversity of cultures and religions, essentially Catholic. I clarify, there are the Mapuches, as the largest ethnic groups (Huilliches, Ona among others already extinct) but less than 3% is very small and with a very poor culture in every sense, it’s crafts, architecture, clothing, food ... compared to the huge diversity and complexities, of religions, crafts, flavours and colours from so many other places in the world.
New Zealand, Australia and then Chile in my opinion, and in that order we are the most geographically isolated from the rest of the world, historically this was essential for cultural and economic exchange and hence its isolation is confirmed. Today this is no longer true. Chile isn’t a continent rich in pre-Hispanic culture, but we were separated by the North with that huge, beautiful and terrible Atacama Desert, (ask Pedro de Valdivia) it is the driest desert in the world. To the east the majestic Andes mountain range that runs throughout the entire country, like a great wall and faces the Pacific Ocean in which the first, only and smallest of Easter Island and is very far away. To the South, the beautiful Patagonia to finish off with enigmatic Antarctica. All have enormous dimensions, with thousands of kilometres on all sides.
I love Chile, I have travelled it up and down over and over again, and every time they ask me which country I would recommend, I proudly say Chile. I have travelled a lot in my life, someone out there asked me how many countries I have visited, I told him more than forty, one day I'll count them. But it is not my idea, to add up countries, nor kilometres, nor aeroplane miles, but to live them. And yet, I continue to be surprised every day by this vast world; its landscapes and its inhabitants. But this experience is different from my previous trips. I am free of responsibilities, and now I am just living and loving every second of it.
My sandals feature most in my recurrent, involuntary photos and I think to be faithful to my story I have to incorporate them since they have been a big part of my photographic portfolio, at least this one is more interesting than the others.
I never criticise or offend any culture, on the contrary, I try to learn something about the culture of the countries that I visit ... but some things still make me laugh, funny things happen to me all the time, I make all kinds of comparisons in my head, always with humour, laughing with them, I am passionate about sharing and seeing cultures no matter how incomprehensible their customs might be to me.
Hence, the spirit of this blog was born
Something else you must know; I am irreverent (keep it in mind in all my stories), sharp and funny and politically incorrect, and I will go on to tell an anecdote on the subject of not being PC because I have always lived in different countries, and that is why, when the narrative merits stories, I relate them. While I was living in the US, I was invited to a Conference about my work, to give a sample of my work in an auditorium with all the Directors of Museums, Galleries and Foundations etc, in the state of North Carolina, and they invited me to present my work at the event. !!! I'm happy, what an honour… !!! .but the first thing I said to the audience was; "I hope I have been invited for the quality of my work and not for being a woman, Latina and having walked away from a dictatorship from Pinochet ." Well … I was never invited to any state event again. Or when I was selected for my master's degree in the US, they only selected 6 artists, I was the only Latina, a woman, and I was always wondering if I was filling the mandatory quota for minorities, which bothers me because I think my work speaks for itself, and not because of my circumstance, a situation that should be implied that I am disadvantaged. One day a professor told me that he liked a piece of mine that I submitted for the application. That left me calm, I was selected for my work of art. There was an Indian-American companion, perhaps the quota was met. In art, it should only be judged by its result, I keep it that way to this day. But as for politically incorrect thinking, I say thinking because I do not express it, it just crosses my mind in a thousandth of a second, I have zero prejudice. I have zero expectations, which is crucial to enjoying everything.
I AM THE FIRST TO LAUGH AT MYSELF
... AND I'M AFRAID OF SNAKES …
San Pedro de la Laguna, Guatemala, October 17
Thank you, my children, for all your affection, love and for not judging my new life, that of your dear old "Crazy Mum" as they call me. You are in my heart every single day. I am forever grateful for your help with my super iPhone and I thank you for enabling me to see and talk to you whenever we need it…