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At the End of a Long Drive


Shreesh and Neena Taskar

We didn't make the decision, the decision made us. On October 20th, 2007, we left our comfortable city of San Francisco to follow a simple algorithm - go North till the road ends then turn around and then go as far South. In between those two points was the stage, the timeline, the space, where we made things happen and things happened to us.

The past is fleeting and the stories, the sights and the feelings are perishable. One sees what one wants to see, and perhaps we are not capable of more. We saw that people are kind and helpful even if they were not materially rich. Some we could understand even though we didn't speak the same language, the motivations of others were incomprehensible even though we did. In the end fragments remain - the smell of roasting chocolate, a flock of snow Ptarmigians on snow, the creaking of the rainforest, the rough feathers of penguins, and the intoxication of Curanto.



So these are our stories. Every time you visit the site you will see a random post below. Each starts with Lo que pasa es que...


Food for the stomach…

And food for the brain.

Vinay Yadappanavar joined us today and brought all kinds of goodies. Indian snacks, which we have missed a lot…and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of them. And books. Good books in English are hard to find (understandably so) in Central and South America. The pitiable English section in most bookstores contains bestsellers and sometimes translations of the most famous Spanish authors. Now we have a supply that will last the trip. Thanks Fred, Ada, Lakshmi and Vinay!

house

Indian snacks and English books

2 Responses to “Food for the stomach…”

  1. fred says:

    It is hard to express how powerful the drive to read something in your own language can become. I remember reading the trashiest Boddice Ripper novel in Lukla Nepal and loving it, just because it was in English.

  2. Shreesh says:

    Hi Fred,

    Yes, it was tough for the both of you in Lukla, without exit papers, no definite time on when to get out. The waiting was interminable and no Rick´s cafe to pass your time!

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