Betta late than nevah!!!

 

Hitchcock Effect or Dolly Zoom: As you move the camera back you, Zoom In on the object your focusing on. This technique is used is to create a feeling suspense, capture a realization, or simply to cause a Vertigo like effect.  

This 3-day weekend I had the opportunity to go to Barichara – a beautifully quaint little Pueblo in the Santander department about two to three hours outside Bucaramanga.  

Oh, by the way, the bus stop to go on such a trek was “Daddy stop, I want Pineapple.”

I found this amusing and giggled a little… a little too much.

Most of the Pueblos in the surrounding area are Colonial and transport me Guanajuato or Tacambaro. The difference here is that there are no Enchiladas, Tacos, Buches, or Carnitas on the streets; they do have Hormigas Culonas (big ass ants, ants with big asses). I have definitely not tried them yet. I did try something very interesting though.  

Google PEPITORIA

The town of Barichara – known for it’s product the Barichara Stone is magically enchanting. Cathedrals and roads made of such stone surround the immaculate white dwellings crowned with red-tile rooftops.

On the second day we took a Bus or “Buseta” from Barichara to San Gil, where I enjoyed an amazing walk through the Gallineral Park, named after it’s huge Gallineral trees. These trees are draped with moss and created an enchanted like feeling as I walked through.

We then proceeded to purchase our passes for water rafting, which has been of the best experiences I’ve had in Colombia. We were escorted to a car in order to be taken to the top of the mounting and enjoy our “canotaje.” It began to rain. No, not rain; it POURED. I still went ahead anyway. It was an amazing two hours of paddling, resting, swimming in currents, and enjoying the raindrops on my already wet face.  We were partnered with a group of “Paisas” from Medellin – Paisas is the term one uses when referring to people from Antioquia Colombia. After the rafting they offered to take us to Barichara since they were heading that way anyway.

The third day we trekked down (and up) for two hours through the horse trail connecting Barichara to Guane. Guane is one of the oldest towns in Colombia with a dense history with remnants dating back to the Paleozoic Era, and also where the Guane Native Tribes lived.

It was during this hike, as we were about to reach the small town of about 300 people, we were walking uphill and we reached the top of a hill. With my eyes I followed the path leading down to the town centered in the valley, I continued to gaze forward until I stopped and looked at the Andean Mountain Chain before me. I was so insignificant in front of it. I was a miniscule speck compared to this herculean giant before me.

(Pic soon to come)

The clouds travelled towards the mountain, and got lost behind it. My perception began to shift instantly, I felt as if I was suffering from vertigo. I’m not exaggerating when I say - my mind perceived this Hitchcock like effect focusing on this titan. The mountain grew bigger and bigger as I stood in it’s splendor. I thought I was going to faint. For some reason I was able to step back and see it’s grandeur.

When we finally reached the town we visited the church, a fossil museum, and walked around to successfully find our own fossils.  We hired a driver to Barichara, packed our bags, headed out to San Gil’s bus station, and went back to Bucaramanga. We got back around 10:00pm that night and I slept like a baby. 

I get back to ALS and to the Ice Bucket Challenge. I instantly felt ashamed… both as a U.S citizen and as a human being.

Being far away from home has shifted my perception. This opportunity has made me grateful for some of the privileges I’ve had, but I’ve also felt terribly embarrassed for some of the things we do for attention. As Americans we are so far detached from the reality in which other people live in as well as the reality in which other Americans live in.

Now don’t get me wrong. I commend those who donated to ALS and those who tried to spread the awareness of this disease affecting 30,000 Americans.

Here is my issue – and the issue that several of the special people in my life agree with (Marco, Claudia, Jose) – some people are not really doing it for the awareness.

Paraphrasing Marco:

People are doing it just for the attention not necessarily for the cause, can we be more gross? People around the world don’t have clean water!

It’s that weird feeling of – we are not part of the same world but yet we are; we share the same world, we share the same emotions and desires… yet USA is so privileged and it almost feels un-human. There is a reality outside of the USA and we don’t see it.

I’m having this realization moment. This Hitchcock like effect, like I did with this mountain, but instead of the mountain it’s the U.S. and the stupid things we do to have enough “likes” or to “trend” or to… I don’t know, look for some kind of validity in the empty consumer driven world the U.S. has us living in. I’m able to see this perspective from afar which I could not see before.

California (USA)  has a drought. Santander (COL) has a drought. Regions in China have drought. People across the globe don’t have pure water and here we are drenching ourselves to feed our, as Jose Quevedo put it, "narcissism masked as altruism." 

1 bucket = 10 liters

roughly about 2,000,000 have done the ice bucket  = 20,000,000 liters of H20

Olympic size swimming pool is about 2,500,000 of water = 8 Olympic size swimming pools.

While traveling to guane I recorded a farmer with his cattle who probably had to travel an hour or so just to feed his cattle because of the current drought in Santander. 

(Video soon to come)

No water means no vegetation - no vegetation means no food for the cattle no corn for the chickens - no food for the cattle/chickens means no food/milk for the family.

Here’s the funny thing about the so called ice bucket challenge… I’ve done this challenge every time I take a shower since I arrived in Bucaramanga. This city is really hot, to save water and to limit people’s time in the showers, several complexes here only have one knob to turn on water… and this knob only turns on cold water.

So while you enjoy your warm/hot showers or baths in the U.S .of A, please think about how privileged you really are, think of our brethren suffering around the world and in our own country. Be smart about your water usage.

Deaths due to lack of water 3.4 million (according to water.org)

Deaths due to ALS: 2 to for every 100,000 and reportedly only 30,000 Americans are affected 

... I don't do numbers but I'm sure 3.4 million is way higher. Let's be smart about our water usage... Donate to your charity of choice, don't get sucked in to the "trending" trends. 

Till next time: 

Heriberto