pride is a funny thing. a few weeks ago, i didn´t really care that many people had cycled across the andes before me, nor that many of these many people had done it at much higher altitudes than the crossing i chose. i didn´t care that there was a guy working at the top who lived at the bottom, who cycled the 81km-long 1300m climb every fortnight when he started his 7-for-7 shifts (7 days working for 7 days rest). i was quite happy ignoring the fact that the 3km tunnel that was inaugurated at the top in 1980 meant that technically i didn´t go *over* the mountains, but rather *through* them, and unless anyone phrased the question just so, i certainly didn´t dwell on the fact that i got off my bike and walked almost 3km when the wind turned on me. i was just so proud that i´d crossed THE andes using nothing more than the pumping of my little legs, - after all, 6 months ago, i would never have thought that i would be doing this.
but like i said, pride is a funny thing. i realise that my sense of achievement is quite superficial, and if i think about it, i never really pushed myself beyond my comfort zone. i admit that i was very grumpy when the wind turned on me, and close to tears at the thought of spending a night outside in minus-5-degree conditions after a long day of cycling, but in terms of testing my physical limits, i was woefully tame. i heard somewhere (probably on the ubiquitous Discovery Channel, which incidentally is what everyone seems to cite when they want to lend weight to their argument) that the human body is physically at its peak around 25 years old. initially i thought, wow, from now on it´s just downhill for me. but from a different angle, this also means that from now on, every new year, month, day is going to be the best time of my life to do stuff - and stuff that i can really be proud of.
ironically enough, the last few weeks here in santiago have been very lazy ones. to cut myself some slack though, this is exactly what i needed. after an extensive patch of mostly being by myself (occasionally meeting up with friends, or spending time with people met on the road, but generally travelling by myself), it´s good to be around people 24/7 again. my guard is constantly up while on my own, and it´s such a relief to be able to let that down with loved ones: talking shite late at night with vivi, having a drink with césar after work, meeting pamela´s ´family´ here in chile*. then there´s all the commonplace stuff that i hadn´t realised i´d missed: laughing until it hurts at really stupid stuff, that tingly feeling when you´re being wooed, coming home after a night out completely exhausted but utterly happy. so now with my batteries recharged, i´m ready to head north to my next stop: pame´s wedding in peru.
the honour of being asked to be one of her bridesmaids is accentuated by the fact that in the last few months, 5 friends have announced their engagement, and a couple-friends have given birth to a baby girl. i´m actually quite sad that i can´t be at the various celebrations, and that i haven´t been able to get to know (in some cases, meet) the fiancé(e)s/baby that my friends are going to be spending the rest of their lives with. so when something important comes up that i can actually be a part of, it means quite a lot to me, such as meeting peter*´s chilean girlfriend francisca a few weeks ago, or pamela´s lima wedding in july. i´m getting quite swept up with her excitement as she describes the plans, and my participation in it is most definitely dedicated to rene, wendy, keith, imogen+simon, nicole, and hervé+annabel. far from sight does *not* mean far from thoughts!
(*quick memory check: the 3 people with whom i bonded most while i was here in 2006 - vivi: ex-housemate, césar: ex-boss, pame: ex-workmate. and peter´s the dutch dude i went cycling with for 10 days in salta 2007)
so that´s the fairly boring update for now. to those who wanted exciting living-on-the-edge stories: i promise i´ll work on that over the next few weeks...
(a few more photos in ´heading to santiago´ gallery, and even more at www.yuen82.myphotoalbum.com)
