Leaving Babylon and arriving in...Babylon.

On the 9th of Sept I left Denver International Airport and after about 20 grueling hours of waiting and napping and plane transfers I arrived in Lima in the early morning hours of the following day. I was graciously greeted by Francis and Ursula, my former hosts from my last stay in Lima (fall 2007.) Finally after months of preparation and hard work, I found myself back in this massive city of 9 million people. The first few days were nothing but fun as I visited all my favorite places and met up with friends from semesters past. Then my stomach decided to rebel and I was forced into the confines of a 4ft by 6ft jail cell of a bathroom for 24 hours. I'll spare you the details but believe me, it was not fun. Less than 72 hours in the City of Kings and I was already sick!

My expat honeymoon ended as I writhed on the floor, my guts in pain. Remembering my Peruvian history I thought to myself, ''If you get Montezuma's revenge in Mexico, then surely this must be Tupac Amaru's revenge.'' The last Inca emporer may have pillaged my bowels for a couple of days but I emerged cleansed and renewed, ready to take on whatever gastronomic adventures Lima might throw at me.

Snapping back into reality from such an experience made me question my motives for traveling to a far off land such as Peru. Just as I do every time I travel, I asked myself, ''Why in the world did I leave behind everybody and everything that I love to come here and wander around for three months?'' This is a question I ask myself everyday as I observe Limeños on the streets walking to work like robots, bustling about in search of money and status. Why did I come here to observe a grey, polluted and noisy city when I was perfectly happy at home in Denver?

Actually, I was not perfectly happy in Denver. I realized some time ago that I am always either traveling or thinking about traveling. Shortly after I returned to Denver in December 2007 I began to plan my next South American adventure. Brazil? Argentina? Chile? Why not all of them? I decided to take the next three semesters to work and think about where I would make my next move. I would graduate and work the following summer to save enough for a grand excursion of epic proportions. Actually, I made these plans over a year and a half ago and I am pleased to say that so far, all is going to plan! So here I am. I even planned to encounter this strange feeling of ''why the hell am I doing this in the first place?'' I can't really come up with a good answer except that Latin America is a thing, a place that occupies much of my time. Whether I am researching the Zapatista rebel movement in Mexico, observing the fantastic art of Frida Kahlo, watching films by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles or reading surrealist poetry of Pablo Neruda, I find myself surrounded by Latin culture every day. What was once a curiosity back in 9th grade Spanish class has blossomed into an obsession which drives my life. Where exactly is this obsession taking me? I don't really know. And that is what makes me ask ''what the hell am I doing here?''

Part of this is the feeling of being a recent college graduate with nothing to do, in an economy where even people with masters degrees are having trouble making ends meet. In part, I feel as if I am running away from the madness of the United States. It sounds romantic to go ''get lost in South America.'' Frank Sinatra even said ''come fly with me, we'll fly down to Peru. In llama land there's a one man band'' and blah, blah whatever. The reality of the situation is things are just as crazy here as they are back home. Limeños are talking about the bad economy and healthcare reform too.

I wake up every day to car alarms and loud busses outside my window. I cough up the diesel exhaust and second-hand cigarette smoke that accumulated in my lungs from the previous day. I then tell myself that even though I may not be living in a Frank Sinatra song, I am going to make every day an adventure. Whether it means walking 5 miles to go buy a guide book at a travelers club, trying to surf Lima's massive cold water waves or riding with Francis to browse black market items at a local market, I am determined to make an adventure out of this trip.

''Welcome to la Babylon.'' These are the words of Edu, a 5 foot Peruvian rastaman who denounces the creation of this illusion we know as ''modern civilization.'' Thus far, he is the wisest Peruvian I have met because he made me realize that I simply left one form of madness for another.

"Fortune Favors the Bold!"

...is my new mantra for my trip. Thanks to Marcus Trucco, I now have something to think about while backpacking through the desert and hopping busses as I head towards the Strait of Magellan. I now have about six days to the hour until I land in Lima. I am preparing by procrastinating my room cleaning and organization that NEEDS to happen. I'm just having way too much fun riding my bike to do much else. Ah yes, this is the life! And it's only going to get better. Until we meet again, ciao bella! 

- James

To trek or not to trek?

So my recent dilemma is this: do I eschew much of my clothing and luxury items in my pack for backpacking equipment such as a tent, sleeping bag and the like? or do I forget all that gear and cram as much useless and boring t-shirts and shoes into my pack as possible? I think I shall go with the former and take a new attitude with this trip. I will bring these supplies for one reason: to live the life of a nomad, carrying my home on my back as I visit the Atacama desert, the Callejon de Huaylas mountain range and hopefully even Patagonia! I am inspired by my good friend Marcus Trucco http://theredrider.blogspot.com/who is currently riding his bicycle from Portland, Oregon to Portland Maine. I have so enjoyed reading about his solo travels that I feel the need to do something similar but with my own style. I hope to travel by bus and live on the cheap so that I will both save money and live simply. I don't know what may come of these exploits but we shall see. I will be leaving this country in just 18 DAYS!!! More to come. Until then...I must go see some really good concerts at Red Rocks.
Chao- James

...and now I must prepare for my travels.

Summer has been in full swing for a while now. I have been pedicabbing like crazy to make enough money for my trip to South America. Finally I have more than enough money for the trip. Now I just have to acquire a few supplies for my travels. I dropped by REI yesterday and picked up a sweet Ortlieb waterproof messenger bag (this thing boasts over 1800 cubic inches of volume!) Now all I need is a copy of Adobe Photoshop to run on my Mac and a LaCie "rugged" 250 GB external hard drive to store all of my photography. Sadly, I didn't get the chance to purchase a new Nikon D90 camera with lenses before the trip so I suppose the old D100 will have to do the job for now.

Where is the Wayfaring Anthropologist going to travel you ask? Well the current plan is as follows: 1) fly into Lima on the 10th of September and stay with friends for a few weeks and begin surf lessons. 2) visit the town Huaraz in the Callejon de Huaylas region of northern Peru for a few days to a week. 3) return to Lima and hang out for a while and possibly purchase a cheap surf board. 4) hop busses heading southward through Peru stopping in the regions of Pisco, Ica/Huacachina and Nazca. 5) continue heading south into Chile and stopping in places such as Atacama, Valparaiso, Santiago, etc. I plan to keep moving to photograph and cover as much distance as possible. Time and money permitting, I might also make it to Uruguay and/or Argentina. That is uncertain at this point however.

I shall post again once my plans are finalized. I leave for Lima in 29 days.
peace-james

what good is a blog if it is never updated?

ok, so i know that i haven't updated the blog in quite some time here. i was so incredibly busy last semester that i didn't really have time between writing the ethnography and all the other shit that comes with the final semester of college. anyway, i promise to you faithful reader(s) that i will post some excerpts of the ethnography very soon...

anyway, since the last post, i successfully graduated with a bachelor of arts degree holding a double major in cultural anthropology (the first at my university to my knowledge,) and spanish language. so what the hell can a highly educated individual with two majors do when he graduates? you guessed it--pedicabbing! so far, this season righteously sucks. i am making a fraction of the money i used to. all the praise that i gave this profession in my earlier writings still stands, for i still believe that this job is really great in several ways. however, if i am having trouble paying my bills because i'm making much less money than normal, well then, i would say that it's time to move on. and that's exactly what i plan to do.

the wayfaring anthropologist plans to take a trip to south america to wander about and reconnect with some friends and family. the only problem is: you can't get anywhere when you are broke! further updates on the job situation will be posted soon. until then...take it sleazy.
-j

wow, i'm lazy!

ok, so i kinda forgot to keep doing research here. i have been busy with classes, parties and being sick and pretty much all of my spare time has been occupied with non-academic stuff. i just registered for classes next semester and have got quite a heavy load of work ahead of me. on top of a 4 credit portuguese lesson, i have a seminar on sustainable living, yet another spanish class (blah) and finally i get to finish college with a photography class. i believe the latter will be the only thing to keep me sane. so on top of that, i had to pick up an independent study in... you guessed it-anthropology! it is basically going to cover the requirements (which won't be offered as a course) of field research methods, thesis writing and ethnography writing. all these will be put into one course as a final ass kicking before i graduate. nevertheless, i have found a way to make my pedicab research more than just a passtime. it is now going to be a real anthropological ethnography. what you are reading here is actually going to be counted as academic credit. pretty cool, huh?

anyway, i apologize for not having updated the blog for some time. i plan to get downtown to do a photo shoot for rocket bike cab soon and i promise to get those photos up soon. until then, think happy thoughts, be peaceful and try not to work too hard!