Sorry I havent written in a while. There have been too many things afoot and i have been tied up trying to create things to talk about in this journal rather than actually writing. So a lot of this is back track but its all I can manage at the moment!
Arica, Chile - Most of you probably know that I was planning on coming to South America on my lonesome but due to some fortunate circumstances I now have a fantastic travelling companion who not only speaks Spanish but is also able to put up with me for extended periods (thanks Rod!). But having said that for the sake of my Spanish and also for a little bit of independence I thought it was time to venture out and have a look around without the aid of Rodrigo. So we went our separate ways - him on a 50km bike ride into the desert to see a lagoon (couldnt have paid me enough to go along) and me to the seaside resort town of Arica in Chile´s north. I arrived in town and with the aid of my Spanish translation dictionary was able to book myself a room. I wondered around town, looking at the weird and wonderful seafood on display and finally fell upon the port which harboured, to my great delight, some sealions which were basking in the sun and waiting hopefully for discarded fish bits from the fishermen. With great spirits I pushed further into the city´s heart and found some awesome markets selling among other things rastas of Bob Marley and cute silver trinkets.
It seems to be a great Chilean teenage tradition to get things pierced. This could possibly be due to the political activity of the country and the follow on effects that this must have on its youth. Chilean teenagers are active, anarchist punks - tattooed and pierced to the nines in all sort of strange places. So it was kinda hard not to get caught up in it all. Afterall - Chile was in the middle of its presidential elections and all throughout town there was a fever of something new afoot. Lavin, the current president, has served the length of his presidency and his departure has heralded the arrival of several interesting candidates. Firstly, there is Píñera - the rich, charismatic industrialist who has just arrived on the scene. From the moment of arriving in Chile, it became apparent that he had the most money - with his shiny mug smiling out from countless billboards around town. Owner of LANCHILE (the airline), Piñera has emerged as a right wing candidate interested mostly in protecting capitalist ventures. Another candidate of interest is Michelle Bachelet. Bachelet´s father was the head of aviation when the Pinochet miliatry coop occured and after he voiced his negative opinion, him, his wife and Michelle were captured and tortured. He later died of a heart attack. Michelle, meanwhile, trained as a medical doctor, arose to the position of the first ever female head of the military and has therefore held power over the very people that tortured her all those years ago. Although she didnt actually try to attain power, the public looked kindly on her decision not to gain revenge for her father´s death and put her forward as a presidential candidate. The other candidates are a mix of far left wing and extreme religious candidates. The presidential elections came and went and as it turned out - neither Bachlet or Piñera gained the 50% needed to decidedly win the presidency. This means that both candidates have swung through to the deciding second round of elections which will be decided in January.
Anyway, that aside - I saw some kids getting their ears pierced in this small market in the middle of town. The stall owner spoke not a word of English and me with not a word of Spanish I managed to get that little flap of skin on your ear pierced for the grand price of $2.50. I think he was telling me something about cleaning it with alcohol and turning it ever half hour so that the next day he could take out the ring he pierced it with and replace it with something more attractive (it was bloody huge). So that night I promptly went out and got drunk with some nice French boys I met and forgot all about it. The next day - Rod arrived grim and dusty from the huge bike ride he´d done the day before. We went back to visit Gustavo to get my ring changed. With Rod around, I discovered that the alcohol was really quite necessary and I was getting repeatedly berated through an interpreter about how naughty I was for not following the Spanish instructions that I couldnt understand. He pulled out my ring and attempted to shove a new one in. He´d sharpened the new one to a point and was trying to jam this damn thing into my ear. But because the ring was too big and my hole too small it just wouldnt budge. Finally, Gustavo relented and found a smaller one which, with some reluctance, was pushed in. My god - the pain! It was horrendous. Later we were to find out that this cartiliged part of the ear is one of the most painful places to get pierced. I felt the world suddenly get colder, the lights were turned out and my forehead broke into a sweat as I promptly fainted in the middle of the square. As the waves of nausea finally subsided I awoke to find Rod´s face in mine asking me with a concerned voice whether I was ok and wondering where he himself could get something pierced. I couldnt believe my eyes but there we were walking to a piercing shop so Rod could get something done too.
Later, in Peru, I woke up to find the earring had fallen out. I stumbled to the bathroom to try to fit it in again but due to the swelling couldnt find the hole and again passed out becuase of the pain. After this I decided it probably wasnt worth all the problems and just took it out. Bit of a pity really because it looked rather nice.
