Greetings from Chile

 

 

Hey guys this is Bruce, sorry I haven't been able to contact anyone in a while, many things have happened.

 

It's October 2016 now and we are 6 months into out south American trip, I decided to take bongu on a trip of a lifetime, from tierra del fuego to Alaska, on foot.

 

why to Alaska? What's there? Nothing really, and the trip is purely for volunteering  and a self indulging ourselves and accomplish a lifetime dream, you know as we get older we start questioning ourselves what are we doing with our lives and I want to be the person that can tell my grandchildren, if I ever have them, that I did something interesting and memorable with my life, that when I was young I walked from argentina to Alaska, with my dog. And if they ask why I will explain it was just the right thing for me to do at the time, and sometimes we just have to do what we have to do and there's no way around it. As simple as that.

 

We are now about to cross the Atacama desert, and taking it relatively slow, some days we walk 30 km, some 40 and some we don't walk at all.

 

No major problems so far, the only nuisance is condensation at night, but my bivy is holding up relatively well, now for those of you who don't know, a bivy sac is kind of like a tent but is also kind of like a sleeping bag,, or like a cocoon where you sleep at night watching the stars without having to worry about insects, police, rain, cold, snow, people discovering your tent and murdering you in your sleep, ot stuff like that.

it's really the only option when you want to experience nature at its fullest and still be able to have a good night sleep. I tried to get bongu inside it with me but it was just too cramped and tight for her, so now I have a small piece of cardboard for her that I put next to me for insulation and a poncho to wrap around her during cold nights, she uses my bag as a pillow and comes closer to me for safety and warm, and we both sleep better knowing we are there for each other.

 

The first few weeks were tough for her so we took it slow, we would walk 2 or 3 days and then take a day off, now after a few months we can walk at least 25km every day and then she gets a huge dinner and a good 10 to 12 hour sleep, I make sure she sleeps at least 10 hours a day and she seems comfortable with that arrangement so far.

 

99% of people are just super friendly, they want to talk to me, a lot and ask heaps of questions, we often get invited for meals and staying in their houses, I don't think we have ever rejected a meal so far, I give bongu the meat and eat myself the rest of the stuff we are given, and sometimes I also eat some meat when there just isn't anything else. And we usually accepts invitations to sleep indoors, even though sometimes I really don't feel like socializing and answering the same questions over and over again, I still accept, mostly  because of the chance to take a shower.

 

We have seen and done some amazing things, met some amazing people and every day that goes by I am more and more convinced that this is the right way to live my life and I made the right choices through up my life, most of the times.

 

And many people tell me that I am so brave or that they wish they could do what I'm doing, I don't think I am in a position to give anyone advice on how to live their lives, so I just nod and listen to them. I can teach English to them and their kids, I can tell them some funny stories about my trip and the people I met on the way, I can let them play with bongu and listen to them, I can do the dishes or cook some meal for them, help them clean around the house as way to say thank you for putting me up for the night, but I'm not gonna go around telling people to give up their lives, quit their jobs, abandon all their friends and families and go travel or go for their dreams.

But on occasions I would someone who really wants to do that, so I am happy to share with them what I learned on the way and give them some advice about how to find work, food, shelter in different countries, or how to live without money or making money when you can't speak the language, don't have any special skills and don't have a working visa.

But I don't tell them that I am ashamed of living in a world where people are punished for working or trying to make a living honestly and I think people should be allowed to work and travel anywhere they wished to without the need of visas or passports. That I can't tell anyone because it's too difficult for them to understand. What I can do is tell them how to get all this visas and passports, how to make fake police clearances, university degrees, invitation letter, health certificates, hotel and plane reservations, how to tell immigration officers  what they want to hear and how to trick the system into letting you live your life in a peaceful, non wasteful and honorable way without getting arrested or punished in the process.

 

As I told my grandkids we have to do what we have to do, and sometimes what we have to do requires us breaking a bunch of rules and laws in the process, that is alright, as long as you don't get caught and as long as you live by and respect your own moral standards.

 

A both good and simple moral code to live by would be the following 4 rules:

1)      All life is sacred: must protect those who are at disadvantage or can't speak up for themselves, such as women, children, the poor, the animals. Can't eat the animals unless there is no other choice, can't cause any kind of harm to any person or animal, not physically, psychologically or verbally, not even in self defense, violence is never an option.

2)      Can't cause some problem or inconvenience others.

3)      Must try to minimize our footprint on the environment as much as possible

4)      Must help other if you're able to.

 

What do I miss about China? The language for sure, you know when you leave a country it takes a while to stop thinking in that country's language and start using a new one, takes at least a few months just to feel comfortable using a different language than the one you've been using for the last few years. And I kind of miss not having to worry about money, getting a good meal for 1 or 2 dollars, as here in argentina everything costs like 10 times more.

 

What I miss the least is definitely the smokers in the elevator in my building, that's definitely number one thing I hate about china, all the other things I kind of tolerated them or ended up getting used to them.

 

What's the best about being 24 hours a day on the go?  the first few months you feel alive and enjoy every second, but after a while you get saturated and enter in a state of constant culture shock, can't even enjoy the beauty anymore, and you fall into the routine of walking, finding food, finding a place to hide for sleeping, then walking again and so on.

 

Is it tiring? For sure, but you get used to it as well after a few months, at the beginning I was thinking every day about getting a bicycle, a motorbike or starting hitchhiking and took some effort to talk myself into not doing it and convince myself this is the way to go, specially because I have already traveled a lot by other means but this is something new, something unforgettable, must keep walking no matter what, it's just what you need to do right now.

 

With so much time to think we can't avoid thinking about the future, after Alaska what? We are not control freaks that need to have our whole life planned otherwise we would feel scared or insecure, whatever has to happen will happen, and new experiences are always welcome. But it doesn't hurt to dream when you have plenty of free time and nothing to worry about. finding a job and settling down? Yes maybe, some day, in Russia for sure, but can't let the dreams about the future spoil me today's adventure, today's a precious day.

 

That should be all for today, I'll keep you guys posted and well, you know, be happy and stuff.

 

Bruce & Bongu

 

 

about teaching

when i was in school i was a rather shy student so wouldn't say anything in class unless I was being asked to, even though I knew the answers, I was afraid to speak out and tried to go unnoticed, so while working as a teacher I always try to get the shy students to speak up first and give equal chances to speak to all the students, this is just one of the many things I learned teaching, and I'd like to emphasize the phrase "working as a teacher" because I don't think I am a teacher, and I don't think we are what we do, it is true, I am teaching and i work as a teacher, but I have also worked as a tree pruner before, does that mean I am a tree pruner? technically yes, but just in the literal sense of the word not in the deepest way

by acknowledging that this world is built around people who are good at  just one thing and can do only one job their whole life, it appears unnatural for a person who has chosen to do a variety of jobs to entitle themselves with a job title in order to inflate their egos and walk further away from the selfless kind nature that is what many of us are aiming for to acquire in the long run.

so yes maybe i made some mistake and did or said something selfish today, but that doesn't remove the long term objective from sight, which is to be happy, kind, selfless and peaceful, the objective is always there, and even though we approach it at a slower pace than we wished to, every small step counts, same as with dog training.

we went out to train the dog today and maybe it didn't go so well, maybe she got distracted, maybe she was tired, maybe something else happened and she didn't learn, it doesn't matter the objective is still in sight and we will try again tomorrow.

we went out training today and she only understood the trick once and failed 20 times, that is already a small step towards our objective and it has to be recognized, and she deserves a prize for it, true we didn't accomplished as much as I wanted us to, but she did it once and she tried to do it the other 19 times. effort is rewarded even if you fail. we will  get it right tomorrow,  or next week, or next month, the trying part is what's worth it

with being kind is the same, ok today I was not so polite or kind to someone because i was having an off day or anything, it doesn't matter, what counts is that when you came home you acknowledged your mistake and you are taking steps to make it right, that on itself is a small step in the right direction

ok, today you didn't do much you just stayed at home the whole day but at night you went out to the shop said something nicce to the cashier and bought some hot drinks for the security guards who work outside in the cold, it took you just 5 minutes and the other 23 hours and 55 minutes you did nothing, well those 5 minutes count as well,

today we meditated for 5 minutes, we wrote some kind words on an email to someone for other 5 minutes and we made a list about some things we need to improve for other 5 minutes, those 15 minutes you spent today in trying to be better are very small steps towards the main objective, even though the rest of the day was spent in selfish stuff

it's true, we still have a long way to go but the objective is clear and that's what counts

anyway i was going to talk about some of the things i learned working as a teacher

I mentioned before how we teach a dog using a technique called "positive reinforcement" it means acknowledging and rewarding good behavior and ignoring bad ones, works great with kids as well because they love the attention and praise and they'll try harder to get it next time. Can't overdo it though, if you use it too much it would just lose it's value, like those people who need to call their dogs many times before they come or listen to them,  because they have been over doing it from the start.
alternating the rewards also works great for both dogs and people alike, for dogs first a snack or small treat, next time an ear scratch, next time a "good girl" and next time a big pet, for kids now a high five, then a "good job" then they get to keep the flashcard or toy animal or anything it is we are teaching at the moment, then a sticker and next time a "great" with a smile.

next item this is a teaching style called TPR, total physical response, means doing something with our bodies, instead of just sitting on the desk with a book, telling a story while we act the words works really well, anything from games and songs and dances, it all contributes to keep the kids engaged and attentive, this works well for about 90% of the kids the other 10% are the shy ones that would rather sit quietly and learn from the book, to get this kind of students engaged we bring them close to us and pay special attention that they are getting involved or at least trying to and give extra praise for keeping up with the class

next item, I always remember that we learned through cooperation not through competition, so using the positive reinforcement technique to encourage good behavior, I would be sure to notice when a student helps another or they work together towards a common goal, I would praise them and then tell the parents later how good they were and how they helped each other, it also goes a long way if you tell the parents how good they were while the student is there

next thing, fighting against the public school concept that we all learn the same way, even if I work for a public school still must adapt to every particular student even if there are 60 in one class, like it's often the case, i still must recognize that not all the students learn the same way or at the same rhythm, some learn better by speaking up, other from the book, some by drawing, or writing, some learn better by themselves, some in groups, some learn better in the morning, some at night, some learn faster and some slower, some will learn just by listening to you,so we must adapt our methods to each one of them in a specific way

next one, acknowledging and accounting for individual student's personal situations, some may be tired, may be having some problems at home, or just having an off day like your dog, we are not great and happy and ready to learn all the time and some of them come to school after enduring 8  or 10 hours in public school of teachers shouting at them or other students bulling them, and we have to understand them  because we don't know what they have been through outside the classroom

next one, they learn a lot just by looking at you and interacting with you, they will even learn from the way you walk, you speak and handle yourself in every situation, so if you emit positive energy and confidence in your every behavior they will learn from that as well, same as your dog

always be kind to them in every situation, even if they are rude to you, reply with kindness and they will feel remorse or regret, because they are used to other teachers and family to shout at them and punish them in some way if they do something wrong,

and last but not least what I consider to be the most important thing not just for teaching, but now we are talking about teaching so yes for teaching, would be to be there in the moment, some teacher may use their phones in class or just go about the lessons automatically because they already did it many times before, but it goes a long way to be aware of the present moment, looking at the students in the eyes, making sure that if you are talking to a student or a parent or another teacher they are the most important person in the world for you at that moment, if addressing the class make sure they know you like them and you want to help them and you there for them and that you will do your best for them to learn what they have to learn, so being honest to them, making sure they are learning well, making sure they are happy and healthy, and showing them you actually care for them will do wonders both for the students, their parents and for yourself in the long run

thanks for reading

 

finding thoughts 3

If i have to meet someone I would set up the appointment for either 9 am or 2 pm, that way there are little chances that it will drag and I then I get invited for lunch or for dinner, because it's too difficult to explain to people that I can't eat meat or chili, and I don't like noodles because the use meat stock to cook it in, and it's uncomfortable to eat with the smokers, and I haven't found a single restaurant in this city where people don't shout or spit or smoke while they eat.
mysef
I wrote about 20 emails to people this last few months and none of them got a reply, not even from my mother, it means literally not even my mother likes me? or people hate me because I am arrogant or i think i know too much, or maybe no one hates me but i hate myself

is it possible to tell the difference between being really happy or really comfortable in our lives? and if we can't tell then the difference does it matters at all? sometimes i find myself opening the window in my bathroom while I shower and wishing I was having an waterfall shower instead,. i miss the feeling of waking up and not knowing where I am. I go to the same places every day and wish i was going to a really far away place instead. is it the travel bug? or the reed of always wanting new experiences? or is it that life is only worth living when you get to feel alive every day, and you only get to feel alive every day while you're traveling?
how about the other pleasures of life, like having kids and seeing them growing up, and losing their first teeth, and the first day of school, and all those small things they must do that are special, many firsts ones. that must be nice too, but tey are hard to imagine if you haven't experienced them before, but most  people have traveled in some way so it's easier to get hitched to something you know than to something you have never experienced

if i meet someone on the street and say hi, after that i feel like my job here is done, so I can go back home and wont feel guilty for not having social interactions this day., even a 2 seconds hi would alleviate the guilt..
 in our society and through our upbringing we are taught that we are social creatures and a person who stays at home the whole day and doesn't talk to other people is not a good person.and we see ourselves through the eyes of others and think we are what they thing of us, or our real image is how we are perceived by others.

I talked to someone from spain and they complain they have no job and there's no money, but as europeans they can easily go to work in any other european country like switzerland or norway, but they say they don't want or can't learn a new language, so they want the comfort of their home, while being able to complain about it, but not doing anything to improve their situation, but isn't that the same I do here, and everyone else does everywhere? the difference is probably that they have an option, many others don't

finding thoughts 2

I had it with the chili, a bit is ok but they put too much in everything, and if I ask the food without it they bring it with chili and they say they forgot because they are used to using chili, and sometimes they say it tastes better with chilii that's why they put even though I asked them not to

so, how many sexual partners have you had? have you ever been asked that? How to respond? the fact that they are asking that question in the first place proves they wont be able to handle the truth. but how many is too many? people who ask that are also young and they don't consider you are older than them, we still live in an age where sex is rather taboo and no one is opened to love you unconditionally, they love you if... if you do what they want and are the way they want you to be, if they love you they must consider your past and judge you for it and consider your prospects for the future and what they can get from you in the future, probably only your dog will love you unconditionally

about my best friend, his name is daniel, and lives in argentina, he tells me about the terrible things that happen there, and when i read about argentina it looks like a much more terrible place than china, their currency is worth 10 times less than it was last time I was there, insecurity an crime is always on the rise, government and police still useless and corrupted, no life opportunities, they are prisoners like the north koreans, the currency can't be converted into foreign currencies like in myamar, even in china I can just go to the bank and buy dollars or euros, i know they have internet and freedom of speech, if I were to move to argentina I'd have to trade my safety for the interenet, would I be able to do that? probably not, I'd rather not have internet but feel safe at home and on the streets. anyway even though I haven't seen him in 12 years he is still my best friend and I love him unconditionally, so there's that

uruguay sounds like  a decent place, brazil, venezuela and colombia sound pretty terrible, chile, peru, paraguay sound ok, not great but ok. one of the things I learned traveling is that people are nice everywhere, yes even in china people are super nice, super rude yes but super nice as well, and the same guy who smokes in the bus will later invite you home and cook for you, people are very welcoming specially in the small villages, and even in the big cities there are also nice people, it happened to me that I was trying to take a bus but they wanted to charge me 10 times the normal price for being a foreigners and some random person comes and pays for your ticket because they saw you needed help, things like that happen all the time, but cheating is also a big part of chinese culture, not cheating to foreigners but cheating people who come from other chinese city or province and don't know the local dialect, foreigners have it easy actually because many people see you are helpless and try to help you as well, actually china is a great for foreigners and if it wasn't for all the people smoking it would be better than most asian countries, ok, the smoking and the censorship, ok and the government, and the police, police are usually pretty mean to foreigners, but the rest of the people are nice, ok and the spitting, what's up with all the spitting? I still don't get it, why they need to make those gargling noises before spitting, ok I don't really mind the noise, but in very crowded areas there's a big chance they will spit on you, or your dog, if your dog is black and it runs next to them when they spit, they don't do it on purpose of course, they are nice people, but they are just too many and spit too much, so as the law of big numbers goes they will eventually end up spitting on you and your dog, and the shouting, why they need to talk so loud, I don't understand, but they are still nice though, just very very different and special

and for all the bad things there are in argentina the food is still the best I've ever tried and that reminds me, I will soon write an entry about the best food I tried in every country i've been to, or maybe i wont, we'll see

finding thoughts 1

i went through 17 pairs of shoes during the last 2 years because some of them break after a few days of usinng them or the sole becomes very thing and hurts your heels

dog is very thing and everyone on the street feels the need to point it out, not one but 5 or 6 times each person, they all want to make me feel  bad but no one knows i love my dog more than anything and i would do anything for her, i give her the most expensive food and she can eat as much as she wants, i buy meat and rice just for her and mix it with pumpkin, koguma and egg, but we run together every day and she spends a lot of energy, also some dogs have a fast metabolism same as humans, also, also, also

i have been listening to the same songs for almost 15 years now, the brillant green

i havent spoken to a native english speaker or a person who is fluent in english for about a year now, last year there were a few couchsurfers who came to my city and that was the last time. i miss feeling like I belong somewhere, being able to express myself in meaningful ways and being able to tell jokes 

i have a phone number but no one knows it and i havent talked to anyone on the phone for about 6 months

every day i think of the trip i must undertake next year, my chinese visa will expire in may so i must be gone by april, has to be a walkign trip, has to be to promote peace and kindness, there are many poor schools and villages in latinoamerica where they would be happy to have me, i know hundreds of songs and games to teach english to children and many of them have probably never seen a foreigner before, specialy one with a dog, specially one who came on foot, or one who can stay a few days and teach in his school for free 

i speak japanese to myself and have imaginary conversations in the ones i encourage myself to leave the house and talk to people and i give myself points for it, points for wearing jeans instead of sweat pants, points for seating and eating in the restaurant instead of ordering take away, points for talking to someone or trying to make conversation with some staff, points for exercising, points for dancing, points for goin to other city, tryine a new restaurant, points for writing in this blog

i have to remind myself regularly how lucky i am to be alive, that all life is precious, even the life of the people who smoke in the elevator in my building, even the ones who smoke with babies, even the ones who don't give way for peoplle to cross the street, even the ones who cheated me money, i must not hate them, i must understand it's a different culture, with different rules and laws, or lack of, every human life is precious and must be cherished and I have also probably done some bad things when I didn't know better, the people I met here are just like myself from the past and they need love and kindness and understanding, because those are the things that made me change in the first place

how to reach for a deeper level of understanding and self awareness, as that seems to be the right thing to do right now, first must remind yourself of being aware of the present moment and your environment, most people out there are on auto pilot and they want to bring you down with them, to their comfort zone, they will ask you questions that make them feel safe "where are you from,  how long have you been here, what's yoru job" must take them out of their confort zone by replying with a song of some sorts, as if we were in a musical, with dance number and everything must try to get them to sing and dance because that would break them out of their safety zone and then they cna be freee and happy and, and, and,

if the person can speak english challenge their questions with a rethorical or phiosohically confusing answer, example: what's your job? my job is to maitain the cosmic balance between the order of things and the order of places, withouth altering the natural flow of time and consiousness of all life this planet

i teach my dog about half an hour every day, we learn 10 minutes then rest 50 minutes we rest and so on, she is learning to relieve herself on command, now there is a bell on the door and she must ring it when she needs to go out, there is a hula hoop she must go through to get a treat, i teach her in the same way i teach humans by rewarding achievements and ignoring bad behaviour, no punishment of any kind is needed because only good behaviour is aknowlwdged and rewarded. some may agree that bad behaviour must be corrected but dogs and children crave attention so when they see their behaviour is ignored they wont usually repeat it

police are people too

I read 7 murakami haruki books in the last year, got so used to his writing and his style that now I'm afraid of reading other authors because I think they just wont be as good or i wont be able to get used to a new style

not being able to use facebook in china is actually a relief of some sort, when i went there using vpn i got so saturated with information that felt like my brain was overheating, i know all my friends and familly are there and they want to contact me and I am happy for that but it also requires lots of mental endurance and patience and time and effort, it's not for everyone

a simple frugal life leads to happiness but just how simple is simple and where is the line between a socially and environmentally responsible person and homeless extremist? 

is that spanish on your shirt?

other idea for the trip in latin america, as I can speak their language well is traveling with a sign that says something like "I can listen to you" there are so many people who just need someone who can listen to them, not offer any advice, just listen. we all have something to tell and what a betetr way to feel better than to tell it so someone who you know you will never see again in your life and he doesn't know you at all and has no intention of judging you

and then write a book about it all, first from my perspective and then from my dog's point of view, write about all the things people told you when you said you could listen to them

If you can't control your emotional state then you must be addicted to it, and yes that applies even to happiness and peace of mind, if you are not aware of the reason why you're feeling this way you shoudln't be feeling this way at all. if you are aware that you are addicted to this state of mind and still choose to maintain it you can do it but only after some quick reality checks 

among the many things you must learn from your dog is to be enjoy every moment as if it was the first time and the last one, you know you go every day to the dog park and she is as thrilled as she was on the first day, how can that be possibe? how can she be so excited if we come here every day, it's because there are still some new smells and sights to be found and she is generally happy to be alive and well

humans are different, we only appreciate somehting new the first time, new is always better, after that it becomes dull, but we can, with some training be as excited as the dogs for something we do every day, it's yoru mind so you can control you emotions and feel however you want to feel, even convince yourself that this dull place you go to every day is exciting af. but deep inside you know you are just kidding yourself and the real thing comes from he first experiences only, or maybe it doesn't, who knows

today there's no spell check

ok, what if, just what if, someone has been hired to run a background check on me and then they find this blog and they read it for days to end and get inspired by my writing and begin to deeply understand me ad they decide to turn against the people who hired them 

trust your gut feeling and never ignore your instincts

and don't ask me how I know this stuff