I am currently in Prairieville , Oregon and a very beautiful part of not only Oregon, the U.S. but the world and I am so thankful to be here and witness the life that goes along with such an amazing place. I also have an appreciation for the people that I am meeting, those who make the foundation of who this town and others exist. It is suprising to me that I have met a group of workers from Guatemala who are of indigenous nature and not only speak Spanish but also speak their own dialet. I was also surprise how they do not want to talk to me in Spanish and how they consider me white or Ladino as the term they use in Guatemala for people who have spanish decendency. As I met Lucas last night as I was cooking and I he started to talk to me in an english that I had difficulty understanding but I let him say his words because I know first hand how difficult it can be to learn english. After going back and forth and seen his frustration with not been able to place his point across, I finally offered spanish and he reluctantly agree and this is where it got even worst because now his spanish was even worst than his english and I could see him seeking my reaction that it is typical in his native land when he speaks to a spanish language only speaker in Guatemala.
My point is he is marginalized and he truly feels that it is his job to avoid it at all cost and I personally feel horrible and guilty to be in this vortex of class, race and socioeconomic division that is the very fiber which superficially determines good from bad, worthy from wasteful and the character and moral compass that guide us all into who do we give our precious time.
As I travel by myself, I encounter people that tell me that I need a partner that can understand how importat this is to me, to explore and to go see what this world has to offer in its natural beauty without relying on cyber travel, the worst kind. I wonder how many people feel the way Lucas feels about his nationality, his identity, his place in society, his value, his impact to his loved one, to this earth, to himself… what are we doing right now in this world to make things more sustainable, more accesible to equality because I am not utopical about the reality of this world and even if I won’t relinquish the hope that we are one day come to the understanding and accept each other for the true core of who we are, we are far and away from been totally equal but I would not come even close to seen this side of the coin if I wasn’t traveling by bicycle because this is as close as I can get to the marrow of humanity without the injection of a charitable program or propaganda. So, I will keep pedalling gladly for the next lesson because a bad lesson is the one you are not willing to learn.
I hope Lucas accepts that his is unique and has gifts to this world that are unique to his existance and his only and I am one of the lucky ones to come into contact along our different paths in this his and my life journey.
ticocycletourist 