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missives of a wandering eye- Personal Blog

missives of a wandering eye

Do I stay or do I go?

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Thursday, 19 April 2012 20:28

A question I have been getting a lot lately is, are you staying or are you going, and if you go will you be coming back?

My answer is.... I don't know.

I committed to two cycles, basically 6 months, when I came here. We have just started the second cycle. At the end of this cycle things slow down a bit and then ramp up for September. So people are wondering what my plans are.

I don't have any.

The problem I am having in deciding what to do is, there is nothing keeping me here, but there is nothing that makes me want to leave either.

I am comfortable.

Not overly happy, but not unhappy either.

I like my new apartment..safe, clean, comfortable.... I like most of my classes, the students that show up, want to learn, and I am finding I am not a bad teacher. Except for the low pay, the job is OK.

The weather is fine. Cool at nights, warm during the day.... not too cold or too hot.

I think what I am missing is passion. I can't sail....it is the middle of the mountains.... I can't dance.... there are no salsa studios or clubs....

I don't photograph much. My "big" cameras are heavy to carry around, and I do have a fear of losing them. I wish I had a "smaller" camera, but my g9 died 2 days before I left Canada, and replacing it here would be very expensive, and the inexpensive cameras they have here ( low end sonys) would drive me crazy.

I have tried to put together a couple of things to get me photographing again, but so far they have not panned out.

So I don't know what to do... the easist decision is not to decide.

Lost Ipad and other news

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Thursday, 12 April 2012 12:17

it has been a few days since I updated my blog.

I lost my iPad..... through my own stupidity, not by malice on the part of anyone else ( I do believe)
this has made updating a bit more cumbersome. I actually have to sit in front of my computer to write and update. it was so much easier when I could write in the park or the cafe.

I have moved into a nice little apartment nearer to school... no more bus rides in the morning, and taxis home at night. I can also walk to my home for lunch. It isn't ideal, but it is very nice, and i have been able to get caught up on my sleep...something that I have been lacking. Having my own kitchen and bathroom really rocks.

People keep asking me what I think of Loja..... and I really don't have a major opinion one way or the other.

I feel safe, and comfortable. The weather doesn't bother me. ( the heat of the coast was very tiring). The people are nice. Food is cheap.

There also isn't much to excit me either. No Sailing, No salsa. I haven't been able to get anything really happening photographically.

So there are no major pluses, or minus.

I hear about other places that have more happening, and I am not sure if I am ready for the added safety issues.

I have a few more months before I decide if I should stay, or move on......

Safety

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Last Updated on Thursday, 12 April 2012 12:44 Monday, 19 March 2012 08:49

Loja sits in a valley. To leave in any direction you have to go up and over.

There is an interesting attitude that has developed in Loja..... That it is safe here, but every where else has danger.

One of the common responses I hear from my students when I ask about somewhere else is , " but it is dangerous."

I have found Loja safe, and when I mention this to people they seem proud.

For a safe place, the security guards are very well armed.

Everyday I walk past a Toyota dealership. The guard who stand by the front gate wears a nice military style uniform, boots, bullet proof vest, and he has slung across his front a nice silver shotgun.

When the gate is closed the gun hangs across his chest, but when the gate is open his hands are on the gun, and his finger is not far from the trigger.

At the local plaza, on Saturday there were 2 security guards.... One with an assault rifile, the other with a shot gun.... And their fingers were not far from the triggers.

Maybe this is what is needed to make you feel safe in this part of the world.

Small Steps

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Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:19

I take a taxi home every night. it would be a long walk, and I am not sure if the buses run at the time school finishes.

I always have to pull out my slip of paper with directions to hand to the driver until tonight.

Tonight I was able to get home just using my broken Spanish...WHOOO HOOOOO.

Likely tomorrow night I will have the same trouble again, but I feel good about it tonight.

I remember an English speaker saying that one of the proudest moments in her life was when she was able to order Pizza over the phone in Japan. I am not on the level of Pizza ordering, yet, but maybe in time.

The day the Earth moved

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Last Updated on Saturday, 10 March 2012 13:00 Saturday, 10 March 2012 12:18

On march 11th 2011 the earth shifted off the coast of Japan and more then 20,000 people lost their lives.

It was possible that I might have been one of them.

I was living in Tokyo with a friend. He was just starting a relationship, and he wanted the apartment for himself for some time and I was planning a trip. My choices of destinations where the pacific coast north of Tokyo, or the mountains near Nagano to photograph snow monkeys. I wanted to visit the sea, but I had promised my nephew's partner I would get some snow monkey pictures for her.

So instead of being on the effected sea coast when the fault slipped and a wall of water came racing for the coast of Japan, I was very many miles from the sea.

The earthquake itself was a surreal experience for me. I was alone in the woods, on a road that was closed for the winter. It was the most alone I had been in Japan, and I was enjoying the solitude when the mountains around my started moaning and groaning. I was unaware of what was happening.

When I returned to my hotel, my normally jovial hosts looked very solemn. Through their broken English they said their had been an quake. I remember their children where watching TV, and when it started to show pictures of the tsunami, they turned it off.

I really had no idea of what was happening, until I started the Internet in my room. After sending an email to my parents letting them know I was alright, I tried contacting friends in Tokyo.

I had to stay an extra day in the hotel, the trains were not running.

The Tokyo I returned to was not the city I had left. The earthquake and tsunami had knocked out so many electrical stations the there were power shortages. Tokyo is illuminated by billboards and signs...these were turned off. Tokyo was a dark city.

And there was the fear. For the next month there were, on average 2 or 3 quakes a day. ( for an idea of what was happening go to http://www.japanquakemap.com/ click on since march 11 at the top and let it run for a few minutes......)

As bad as the disaster was, everyone was concerned about the nuclear problems developing up the coast. Everyone I talked to asked the same question...what are you going to do?

Some of my friends left Japan, some moved further south. I stayed in Tokyo, spending most of my time huddled under blankets,( we had electric heat) reading all I could find on the Internet. I now know more about Japanese nuclear plants, and how they work then I ever thought I would need to know.

I had a bag packed, and my route(s) planned if I had to move but I felt the best place for me was where I was.

There were times I almost left ( Tokyo, not Japan) but I didn't.

So what did I learn from this?

I have a deeper respect for the Japanese beliefs and culture.

I have a deeper distrust of the media.

I have a greater application of the power of the Internet.

And I have a better understanding of who I am.

here are some blog posts from this period.

Earthquake March 11

Why am I still here March 14

Today Wednesday Evening march 16

Taking Stock March 17th

Mercy or Art imitating life..march 15

mercy part 2 march 28th

ok what's next..march 24th

Gaz shortage

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Tuesday, 06 March 2012 16:27

Usually Gas for cooking is delivered by trucks that drive around the city, with tones playing....kinda like ice cream trucks. They exchange the tanks ( about twice the size of a barbeque tank) and you swap the tank to power the stove. The gas is just used for cooking. There is no heating in the houses, and hot water for showers is with an electric on demand heating system.

The trucks have stopped.

I noticed on my way to school that people were lining up in front of the lojagas company. One morning there were police to keep order....another it was the army.

Being the coriuous person I am, I started asking what was happening?

My Spanish host family could not understand my question.

My fellow teachers could not give me an answer.

Finally my students provided me with the answer.

Gas comes bottled overland from a city 8 or 9 hours away. The heavy rains in the past couple of weeks has washed out roads, so that the deliveries have been delayed, there by creating a shortage. Since there is a shortage, they don't put the gas on trucks, they just have people come and get it.

I am not sure about costs and pricing, so I don't know if they are profiting from the situation or not.

Loja- dirty city

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Last Updated on Sunday, 04 March 2012 19:10 Friday, 02 March 2012 11:57

Loja is a dirty city.

I don't mean from litter or pollution ( though the fumes from the buses can be over powering), it is dirt and dust on the ground and the air.

The ground that the city sits on, and the surrounding hills, is a combination of sand and gravel. When it rains the water carries away fine particles of dirt. If it rains heavily, there are also minor, and not so minor, mud slides. This sediment get carried until it can settle....some times on the street.

Then the sun comes out....hot...and dries the sediment. A bus or a car drives over it, and kicks the dust up into the air.

So this means that an hour or two after a major rain, you can have clouds of dust being blown around by the wind. It isn't a big problem, you just have to walk with your mouth closed some times.

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Glenn's Ebooks

Blogs

Workshops

Friends

missives of a wandering eye

Do I stay or do I go?

Lost Ipad and other news

Safety

Small Steps

The day the Earth moved

Gaz shortage

Loja- dirty city

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