The Commute + Observations

Escúchame…The people I have met in the third world are poor. But by whose standards I ask? They never classified themselves as being “third world” regions, but it was by the standards of the first world. Through this process we have made them, in MY opinion, even poorer. Many of them have never been to the first world, but by the way we have structured the methodology we have constructed an interpretation in there minds that we live in a heaven. Through the economic theory of relativity people in the first world are happy based on a relative basis where my car is nicer then yours and my camera has more functions then yours. But let me start by saying in the third world I feel poor in a sense when I pull out my camera. For the 30-75 years we have on this planet it is not necessarily an increase in technology that people need, but equal rights and opportunities.
Before calling me a communist please listen to an average day at my work. I leave the house at 7:00am and arrive at the office at around 8:00am, more or less. Now, in the U.S. this hour commute would consist of what the average person would consider…hell. Hoping on the same ugly freeway each morning driving 40 mph less then what it allows because of the traffic of people doing the exact same thing. In Guatemala my hour is a bit different. I walk ten minutes from my house to the boat launch. The boat is about 30 ft. long and it takes about 40 minutes to get from San Pedro to Panajachel. This 40 minutes right here is one of the most beautiful 40 minutes you will ever experience. As you can see from my pictures the lake is a pure site of Natural beauty. How many other people in this world get to drive by three volcanoes on there way to work? Back in Sammamish, WA, our town rests on the side of Lake Sammamish. Another beautiful lake, but on that lake I am tossed by the waves created from the hundred speed boats and interrupted by the jet skis riding up the ass of my boat. I assure you the only waves on this lake are created by the wind. No Traffic! Oh yeah, and it only costs $2.

Sometimes when I am around nature I think about dinosaurs. I try to picture what it was like for a brontosaurus or triceratops to be roaming around the same ground as me. Lately in America it has been very difficult to do this. The past three days I have seen quite a bit of dinosaurs. After arriving on the dock I walk another 10 minutes. Happiness to me is being in shape. How much healthier are you when your car takes you from your parking garage to the parking space directly in front of your office? On my way to the office I may pick up a mango, a pitaya, and fruits you have probably never seen or tasted. When I arrive at my office I sit in a chair that does not swivel or have leather padding at a desk that is made of a wood not mahogany. But if I want to work outside, I just take two steps. Sitting outside right now writing this post looking at the side of a mountain with a waterfall right in front of me I cannot help but say that although I do not receive a salary my fringe benefits are nice enough. Hasta Luego.