I'm finally in a place of the world where the cold isn't an issue. But this is no paradise. Ciudad del Este is extremely chaotic and with a lot of visible poberty all over the place, crawling with crack addicts. No one seems to mind though, the daily routine pushes on ruthlessly, every morning at 6 am the buses, cars and armies of motorcycles begin filling the streets with an ear-busting cacophony of engines roaring.
This is a place where i feel it's mainly about the money. There is little priority towards cultural development and people are not very open to tell you about places of interest. It boggles me how people with such a privileged weather and vegetation have managed to live in a way that breeds so much inequity.
To be fair, i was only a few days there and I'm sure i didnt get to know even 1% of the city and it's people. These were just the things that immediately shook me and got me very ponderous about the whole situation. The positive part is the lush vegetation all over the city, which according to some traveler friends, isn't the given for cities around these places.
Anyways, I'm moving to Foz Do Iguaçu soon, where a friend has already set me up with a community garden where I will once again be able to feel the bliss of working with the soil, something i have missed dearly during these days of travel. I will have to sleep in my tent at first but maybe I'll find better acommodation with time.
I've been out on the streets a lot lately, made more friends than enemies so I think that's a positive balance. People on the streets are very friendly and look out for each other. When you're on the streets with your guitar or whatever you do for a living, a lot of people will look at you as if you were the plague. But the others that are also making a living off the streets will immediately approach you and give you a hand in whichever way possible.
The bad part is that most people on the streets are addicted to alcohol, weed, and crack. I don't care much for any of that and many times I have to be constantly rejecting their offering of the substances during the night because they're already getting wasted and forget that I'm not drinking.
The only moment I drink is when I'm pretty much ready to leave a town and have a clear plan on how to move forward. This way I'm positive I'm not going to get into any kind of routine or stuck in an environment that isn't entirely fulfilling.
There's nothing bad with these people as they are peaceful and cheerful most of the time. Even when they are not partying you see them with a pretty good mood, enjoying life. The uncomfortable thing (for me) is that you can't think of building anything in time with them as they will spend all the money earned in the day on drugs and then be working a lot the next day to get more money. But since they are pretty happy with their lives I don't think it's my place to judge, rather just learn what I can from them and keep moving towards a place where I can keep creating the prosperity I envision.
Whatever addictions people spend their money on, I don't see too much of a difference. It may just as well be a new designer handbag, or some flashy rims for your car. In the end people put a lot of time and effort into something, only to enjoy the rush of a fleeting moment. At least the drunks don't look down at you for your appearance.
It's exciting to see that you're in Paraguay. Your pics are quite impressive already, and now I am looking forward to your stories.
Thanks for your kind words, always appreciate it I suppose the big difference is whether you live your life around satisfying your addictions or if they are just something easy to get that leaves you plenty of space to develop other areas of life. For example, some of these guys made enough money in one day to pay for a room with a bed but preferred sleeping on the streets so they could spend it on booze and crack. But each to their own, we all have our choices.
@selfhelp4trolls you might like to read this ;<)