78uuu lumière des étoiles

Dusty:Starlight:Culture



It's all about conspiracy
2005-03-15   10:00 a.m.

This "Look What Bush Did Right" campaign, conveniently correlated to people power movements toward freedom in some middle eastern countries, is grossing me out.

I could tell something was coming when those "secret tapes" of a conversation between Doug Wead and a younger W were released. Secret, my ass. Secret tapes are supposed to reveal one's fondness for hookers or crack, or expose one's unethical business practices or unwavering racism. But what do these tapes do, once one gives a listen? They reveal that W "refused to fire" gay people, and that he doesn't want the poor, impressionable youth to try smoking marijuana. Please.

Talk about image reconstruction: so W. doesn't hate gays? Why, he's not such a bad guy after all! Oh and look, he loves the little children, all the children of the world. Well I think I'll stop opposing him right now even if he does things like cut funding for medical clinics in Africa or inner city American schools. So what if he politically empowers old rich white men who write books about birth control being the tool of the devil, bringing out the natural whore/temptress in every woman? On the inside, he's just a great guy.

Clearly, yes, we scared the pantaloons off of Kadafi - I can admit that his newfound compliance could be the result of his fear of us also destroying his country and killing many of his citizens in the name of freedom. But tell me how Saudi Arabia's free elections or Lebanon's push to end Syria's occupation are our administrations' doing? That's rather egotistical of us to think, isn't it? But I suppose that's us. Or, I should clarify, them. I don't walk around benefiting from any of this war/oil stuff, and, most likely, NEITHER DO YOU. Unless, of course, you are that 2% who owns the wealth in the country.

I really, really hope this doesn't mean that airports or high schools will be named after W. Unless, of course, our honoring of him has to do with the spin his cabinet is able to work. Cause that's friggin impressive.

I bought a big bag of Jelly Beans last week, and have been eating too many a day. Through various channels, I have managed to blame this on my mother, as she too has a wicked sweet tooth - and mine must have come from somewhere. Oh well, at least when they're done, they won't be around anymore to tempt me. That's the logic I've applied to eating too many a day: I'm doing myself a favor by making them disappear faster. Oh well. I suppose if this is my worst food-temptation story of the year so far, I'm not doing so bad. I'm trying to stay away from any processed food and refined sugar, and have been doing well with it all - til the jelly beans. Damn Easter bunny.

My week of vacation has been great so far - I kicked it off seeing a movie with Nicole on Friday night and then meeting Steve and Thomas for dinner and wine. I should be writing and making up mid-terms, but I've occupied myself making - or attempting to make - travel arrangements for Peru. And if anyone knows the best route from Puerto Maldonado out into the Amazon Basin, along the Rio Madre de Dios, I'd surely love it if you'd give me a shout. I've read indefinite things about hitching rides with trucks, or trying to solicit rides from fhancy hotel boats along the river, but neither sounds very appealing. When I asked on Lonely Planet's message board, one gal told me to get a water taxi to some unspecified Km marker, and then walk a 12 km trail to where I'm trying to get. "Make sure you have a machete with you", she said. Sure! I'll just use the one I got as a graduation present, the one I usually happen to have in my purse.

As this is my life, and not a Paul Theroux novel, I'm thinking that sounds really unreasonable. I don't know whether the machete suggestion was
included because one must clear a path through the jungle, or because one must be armed along that particular stretch of the Amazon to make it through safely. But I don't really want to know.
So now, I'm trying to find alternate modes of transport. You can't exactly take a cab, you know.

This is all because we are trying to reach the Picaflor research center, where we'll be volunteering for about 10 days, repairing trails or counting Macaws. Not a bad gig, hey? We decided against going far north to Iquitos, I think, to get into the Jungle; it seems that there aren't many options in Iquitos for people who don't want to drop a grand on some comfy jungle lodge complete with man-servants, porters, cooks and whatnot. I'm not Hemingway, nor do I have his ciz-ash, so we must stay within our budget and stretch that money out for the entire month plus.

Now that we are all banned completely from using Aero Continente for in-country flights, our only options are Taca or LAN-Peru. And guess which of the three carriers are the more expensive ones? I'm trying really hard to find out exactly why we can't fly Aero Continente, especially because they're the carrier everyone uses to get a flight from Lima to Cuzco for $50. They don't seem unreliable - an Aussie told me he flies them all the time and he's never had any issues with safety or security. The State Depts. consular sheet says something about the carrier's "refusal to comply" with some regulations, but it won't explain what they are. Safety regulations? Security regulations? I wonder if it has anything to do with Sendero Luminoso. It seems to be a big secret. I really hate that shit sometimes.

Anyway - we'll get where we need to. Once we figure out this Picaflor/Madre de Dios/Tambopata stuff, we can also figure out the Inca trail, Trujillo, Pisac, and Puno. Still considering going into Bolivia - we'll see how the border is.

Yay, it's sunny out today.

xo