Tomorrow I leave Perú and head back to Canada. It has been three months of traveling through Perú and I have experienced a lot about the culture and myself. I have started to learn a new language and have made good friends along my travels. I have meet people from all around the world and made a lot of friends in Perú. I have walked ancient paths and seen ancient structures and technologies. I have rafted, swam and fished in the Amazon River and experience the hard work involved in running a farm. I have worked with the communities here to help them enter a greener future and learned much about the plants and animals of the region. I have felt the energy released here and learned much about the spirituality the people believe. Most Importantly I have learned a lot about myself and have strengthened my views and have learned to care more for others.
After Tingana I started to work for the group Avitismo en San Martin which is a group working to change the city and department they live in. The founder of the group is Junnior who is only 20 years of age. He started the group with a fellow student named Dino and an English man who has been living in Moyobamba for 16 years named Richard. Together they went on a course in Lima teaching them the values and principles of permiculture. Permiculture is a way of life in which you live with unity with nature but also with society. You not only have to plant properly but also make sure society runs well. People need to be sustainable and permiculture helps with making sure people within the society are wealthy not only with money but in spirituality, health, community and overall well being.
Moyobamba has been an awesome experience but before coming here I did not want to come and work because I was too into traveling and doing what I wanted to do. In Lima I had to take a moment and remind myself the reason why I came down here in the first place. So I made the decision to come after traveling the Gringo Trial. I have not regretted that decision and wish that I could have come here earlier. It was awesome traveling to Cuzco and seeing all the sites along the way and meeting all the people in each city. You just got to remember that it is good to deposit your energy into projects that help others and not yourself. Everything does come full circle because the energy that I have placed into the projects with this group has had many benefits.
Learning about permiculture and working with the group has fortified my friendships I have here in Perú and my friends and family in Canada. I have really valued friendships and caring more for the feelings of others on this trip. I have been getting excited to travel back to Canada to see friends and family. On the other hand though I wish I could stay longer here in Perú and work in the city of Moyobamba. For the past week I have felt like I am home and that it was normal walking the streets of Moyobamba and talking with people. I am torn with the decision of staying here in South America but remember that I can always come back.
Perú has also giving me experiences and hope for my return to Canada which I will share and make part of my life. I have found in Perú that anything is possible in life and that if you put your mind to it you can get it done. Many people that I have encountered here have started from nothing in their life but then took control of their lives and made it better. I have met a man named Nester in Lima who started from just selling sandwiches on a cart but now owns his own restaurant and serves a lot of people. In Moyobamba I met another man that sold juices on the street and now runs his own store. Even in the family everyone works and pulls their own weight to make sure that the family survives. When you get out of the cities you find communities working together and will go out of their way to help one another. There is so much inspiration and values that you learn.
I find that Canada we have lost some of the values of community and connection with food and we need to reconnect. I know we have lost them because I had to regain those values and connections on this trip. We are given a lot in our country and I think that is the cause for us losing touch with reality. We do not have to struggle as much as others have and are. I know my grandfather had to struggle when he was a child; they valued so much because they had so little. They made sure that they had the essentials and valued the bond of community. My generation is more concerned about what phone we have, how we dress, what music we listen to, who said what on facebook, what car they have and etc. I say this because I have fallen into this trend because it is hard to get away from. We are so drowned by advertisements telling how to look, what to buy and how others should see us. We strive only for perfection and if we do not get it we are discouraged and allow our perceptions of perfection ruin the good things in life. Like I mentioned in Earthly Connections – Part 4 I had juice from an orange and from a lemon that did not look like quality for North America. The moment I had the juice I could not believe how well it tasted.
Myself I have in the past been not satisfied with imperfections and always got discouraged. To start to realize that perfection is not always good I stopped watching TV and stayed away from the advertisements. It helped but I believe that my years of watching TV have hindered my judgement on people or it could because I am a Taurus. Traveling to Perú I have dropped barriers and started to become more comfortable with myself and stopped look for perfections especially in people. We are in this world together and we need to start to let go a bit and accept connections with people and just go for it.
I have learned to have confidence in everything that you do and when you make a mistake learn from it. Making mistakes is showing people that you are trying to be better and working hard to get there. We have to take risks in life because sometimes the outcomes outweigh the fear holding you back. And you never stop learning and you need to persevere and keep going. The only thing holding you back is yourself and not others. Yeah there are times where others will get in your way or try to put you down but letting them do that is your fault and not theirs. Go out and dance and have fun and even wear weird clothes doing so because you only got one life and you might as well have fun with it. Life is a Journey and not a Destination and we should care for every moment that we are in and not only ourselves but for others as well. Remember that others before us have sacrificed for us to be where we are today. We are in this world together and others problems are ours and we should take some time to help others. Also before you waste something remember what our parents always said at the dinner table “Others in this world do not have the food you have so do not waste” and how the statement is true.
I hope one day everyone gets to experience what I have in Perú because it gives you so much energy. Remember to think of yourself and also thing of others and you will be just fine.
:D
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