Colombia... Colombia! Oh... Colombia!

I left San Gil after 8 days or so of Tejo-playing, karaoke-singing, and general shenanigan-making with a fun little group of Poms, Irish, Welsh, and an Israeli or two. Most of my time there was taken up by waiting for the river to be raftable. Incessant rainfall ruins all plans! Happily, I was holed up in one of the best hostels I've stayed in all trip. Amazing how much a servicable oven can brighten my day... I hadn't BAKED anything in well over a year. Well... not baked... well, you know.

Cartagena was... nuts. I decided to skip on the celebrated Medellin in favor of being in Cartagena for the Independence Day festivals. Marvelous decision for my long-term plans. Terrible decision for my wallet and liver. This is Joel after less than an hour on the streets. Tut Tut. We partied HARD from Thursday through Saturday. Somehow Caz, Lee and I found ourselves dancing in the rain, covered head to toe in foam while a large group of Colombians clapped their hands in unison and chanted "Hey- Hey- Hey!" As much as I was determined to dislike Cartagena (just because EVERYONE raves about how great it is), it actually lived up to all the hype. Gorgeous colonial buildings, incredible historical significance, a sweet party scene, and 5,000 COP menu del dìas. I'm in heaven! It also helps to be with people you like, and this crew--- this one right here, was the first I'd had since my beloved Swedes that knew how to get down. Special tribute to Kathryn and Simon for partying from 7pm until their flight to Leticia at 6am- straight. You do travelling an honor by being out here, you two. You really do.

I pissed off to Tolú and Coveñas for a few days to detox and see a bit of the less travelled Caribbean coast, and was well rewarded with sunshine, pristine beaches, and a slushie man who was hell bent on learning 1-10 in English in exchange for bottomless slushies. However, as much as I loved the slushie and the man, in a mere couple days, I was back to Cartagena, back into the company of Rob and Richie, and back on the road to beautiful Taganga, an (extremely touristy, though) lovely little travel gem to the east of Santa Marta. Here we met up with Caz once more and went out for a few messy nights at the beachfront Sensations. Can't say we did much else. From there, it was on to Parque Tayrona (excellent) and then Palomino (excellent, though windy). Holy shit, I'm flying through this post. NOT much to say about any of those places except that they were beautiful and fun and I ate lots and lots of VERY cheap seafood. In Palomino, Jayme and I came across a fishing boat just in from the ocean. Spying a bottom filled with freshly caught shrimp, we asked if we could make a purchase. The shrimp wasn't for sale (some crap about having to bring it in to the owners of the boat), but the fishermen offered us a bag containing 4 rock lobsters. 15,000 COP. 7 USD. We bought. We ate. We passed out. The next day had me hobbling into town and returning with half a kilo of fresh prawns and 3 fish. That, along with some empanadas, cereal, fruit, yoghurt, pasta, tomatoes, garlic, onions, a 5 litre bag of water, lime, and some other odds and ends cost us 7 USD a piece. Also, in exchange for being a lazy git and laying in a hammock while I walked into town with a punctured foot ALONE to bring back food, Jayme took on all the responsibilities of cooking. Red Snapper wrapped in banana leaf... garlic shrimp pasta... oh good lord. It was also here that I learned how to scale a fish. Look at me scale!

Anyway, I'm back in Taganga now, getting my PADI certification and enjoying the sunshine before parting ways with my UK-born company. I think I'll do a separate post about diving, because it's the first thing I've come across in well over a year that I've completely fallen in love with... it really shouldn't be smashed in with anything else. Strange how I've saved it for the second-to-last country on this trip, when I could have done it in the second-to-first. Anyway, I'll get on with that in the next.

money money money money!!!!

So I've been thinking recently about different travellers' attitudes towards giving local children money/candy/toys. Everyone seems to have different opinions on this, although very few other travellers seem to feel as strongly as I do about the issue, and generally never raise it as a topic of discussion when they see it happen before their eyes.

Yesterday, I was walking with a group of three Irish and one English as we negotiated a scenic little hike from Barichara to Guane when we happened upon some local children. After some friendly kid-type chatter, we continued on. A few steps beyond, however, one of the girls turned around and ran back to the kids to give them a packet of chocolate cookies to share. The walk continued in silence for a step or two before another girl began a discussion that went something like this--

Girl A- Don't you think it's a bad idea to give things to children?
Girl B- Why?
Girl A- Because it entirely shifts the traveler/local relationship. You teach them that foreigners are good for THINGS, not for experiences or friendship.
B- I don't think that they relate the two.
A- I think they do. India used to be like Colombia once.
B- You can't compare India and Colombia.
A- Why not?
B- Because the two are completely different.
A- What's so different? We're talking about underdeveloped country and underdeveloped country. India was once undertraveled, and the children there were once just happy getting attention from strange looking people.
B- Well I don't give a fuck. Sometimes it's just nice to be nice.

Just a hint. Girl A was me.

We walked in silence for a bit longer (and indeed, most of the rest of the walk) until we got into town. From there, we hopped into a taxi which started another "discussion" (more like loaded argument) about what it was like to travel on a small budget and what it was like not to.

I had a very hard time getting along with this girl.

Anyway, I've been gone for a bit now, and some of my general travel mantras have become as good as cement. However, the very purpose of travel is to see things from a different perspective and to try to understand people, if not entirely agree with the things that they do... so read on and if you've got a good argument, lemme know.

While I was in Burma, I met an American schoolteacher who had brought an entire suitcase filled with crayons and coloring books and pencils to give to the children of the country. I was dumbfounded. In a country where the people ask nothing but respect and courtesy (and some of the time, not even that!) from their foreign guests, she was introducing materialism. For kids who would've been happy shaking our hands or playing with our hair, the idea that people that look different would and SHOULD (after a traveler or two more follows suit) give material gifts has suddenly become standard. She only had one packet of crayons with her at one particular stop, and after giving it to one child and instructing her to share (the kid bolted down the street in no time), we were pestered non stop for close to 15 minutes by the ones that HADN'T gotten anything, when prior to that, all they had wanted was to practice their English.

Dude.

When you go to an underdeveloped country, you are rich. You are rich in money, you are rich in experiences, and more than anything, you are rich in opportunity. There's no denying that. Any person with half a soul would and should feel at least a twinge of desire to "spread the wealth" so to speak. The easiest way that this is done is taking money out of your pocket and dropping it into the hands of the less privileged... which is what most travelers (including a host of those whom I love and respect... whom are equally if not more well travelled than I am... and whom, arguably, have more compassion than I do) decide to do.

My feeling is as follows. Yes, you are rich. You are extremely rich, and the majority of the people I've met travelling are rich in the most precious commodity that any of us have--- freedom of time. That being said- instead of dropping money, why not drop a week or two at the local school teaching English? People are so willing to leave behind presents of money or THINGS, but almost always stoutly unwilling to give up any of their own personal freedom. Moreover, if they do choose to give money, they never give it to the school, hospital, or soup kitchen, who could use it most wisely to help the most people... they always give it directly to the beggars.

I'm not going to say this is selfish, because it's not... but handing money to the indigent of a country instead of even taking a moment to consider how far it could stretch in the hands of the people who are actively devoting their lives to eliminating the PROBLEM is downright stupid. It's buying forgiveness, and buying the pleasure of seeing them made happy. Maybe giving those few pesos to a school won't earn you the grin of a cute little kid... but it'll buy pens and notebooks for 5 kids instead. Maybe it's not glamorous to be digging around in horseshit on some organic farm (when you could be out doing something far less feces-related instead), but every bulb you plant and every cow you milk is saving the farmer hours of backbreaking labor by himself so he could be a better father to his kids, while simultaneously pushing the country further away from genetically modified crops (lessening their dependence on the US based companies that make them).

I know there are a million arguments to the contrary. For people who don't have TIME, as well... the ones who still have jobs or who are on a short holiday... I can't possibly reproach them for helping out in the way that seems most direct. But for long-termers, the ones that go for 5, 7, 20 months without even considering volunteer work, and who pay off their guilt by giving money and sweets instead (and usually posing for a photo shortly after)--- I really can't understand. I don't understand at all.

Anyway, I'm expecting to get it for this post, as it's a loaded issue, and I hope someone that can come up with good enough arguments to move me, because that short-sighted cunt from yesterday certainly couldn't.