Well, I've spent my time going on and on about everything I love about South America, so here's a quick list of things I DON'T like about travelling in this fine continent.....just because I'm in the mood to rant!
1. Cocaine: Jesus, it's unavoidable here! Everyone is doing it, selling it, wrecking my head on it! Every hostel you go to is full of rich westerners off their heads on class A's, and worst of all, acting like it's totally acceptable to shove stuff up their noses in front of you! Nobody thinks of the cost to countries with the level of poverty we have gone through, making a business from drugs, and what that might do to them eventually - no, no...these middle-class kids just want a good time! And you have to love their excuses for doing so much of it over here - that it's so much purer! Cocaine!! Which, even at it's purest, contains such savoury additions as sulfuric acid, kerosene, diethyl ether, and sodium hydroxide. Wow! Straight from nature, eh? Never mind that it's a highly addictive corrosive drug that, with increased usage, requires higher dosage, can dissolve your septum, weaken your organs, and create addiction. And never mind the destruction of families it can cause! No, of course not - it's just a recreational drug! But, for me, the most annoying part is that people who do coke spend the entire night bouncing off the walls, talking shit, wrecking other people's heads, and generally acting arrogantly. Then, once it gets to about ten o' clock the next day, they retire to their beds for 24-48 hours, waking occasionally to complain of how sick they feel. Oh yes, what a drug!!
2. Aussies: I know it's a generalisation, but the majority of Aussies I meet are rich kids off travelling on Daddy's money, and care little about the culture they're here to see, and spend their time holed up in hostel bars drinking through beer-bongs and doing a lot of coke. Oh, they're great fun to be around (note my sarcasm)...so much interesting conversation from those spoilt brats! Example of a comment left on the wall of this hostel from a lovely Aussie? "I ate a whole pineapple, skin and all, for 30 soles and a line of coke"....30 soles is about 7 euro. What a guy! Another comment? "Total meatmarket. Locals are sluts. Enjoy". And, yes, I am in Cusco - the capital of the Incan area, surrounded by historical buildings and wonderful scenery. They really get the scope of cultural feel, don't they! And if I have to listen to one more group of Aussies using the table outside of my room for coke snorting and shit-talking while I'm lying in bed, there's gonna be a massacre!!
3. English People: Is it a cultural thing? I don't know! I've met some lovely English people, but so far, the majority seem to be along the same lines as the Aussies - coke snorting, all drinking, idiots! Example of a couple in the room next to us in La Paz - both from London - the guy told one of our group that his girlfriend was pregnant, but not to tell her, because she didn't know yet...ridiculously paranoid, and brains melted from coke. At night I could hear the most fantastic fights, punctuated by snorting, and one night he spent in the bar, while she passed out on the bathroom floor, and when he came back up she screamed about how she had been there for 6 hours....it was about 40 minutes since he left the room. Both so paranoid, coked up, and noisy! I had the runny tummy in La Paz, and one morning they were being particularily noisy having come in from a club at about 8 in the morning, and proceeded to have a party in their room. I was very sick, very tired, and very cross. Alan went down to the bar to read, but I wanted to sleep. So, when I heard their door open, I slammed open my door to be confronted by Alex - a moronic English dreadlocked fool, also coked up - and told him to "turn the fu*$ing music off", to which he replied (slightly frightened looking) that he would ask them to turn it down. I must have looked a sight in my angry state, and my reply was probably no less scary - "WELL FUCKING ASK HIM THEN....NOW!!!", and stood there waiting for him to scarper inside. I slammed my door, then lay back on the bed. Within one minute, the music was off, and they had all left the hostel for a pub. I didn't have trouble with music from them again. So, my general feeling has been one of disappointment at our friends-from-across-the-sea...though, like I say, there have been exceptions, I don't want to tar everyone with the same brush!
4. Sleep Deprevation: I'm not a big goer-outer, so I have resigned myself to having parties go on around me while I head for sleep - I have an eye-mask and headphones to help! But sometimes the fact that you are in busy dorm, with loud parties all around, sometimes does get a little wearying. Fighting for sleep every night, battling against the noise and your own anger, does take it's toll!!
5. Chocolate: I found an imported Twirl the other day, after four months, and the Cadbury's tasted like the most amazing thing I've ever touched with my lips. Enough said.
6. Homesickness: It is a sickness, simple as that! I miss the kids more than anything, and think about them all the time. I'm having the time of my life, but sometimes the distance between me and my family hits me like a punch in the stomach and physically hurts.
7. Personal Space: Those who know me, know that I spend quite a lot of my time alone - either reading or watching my DVD's. It's hard not to have your own time, or the ability to just leave everyone - much as you love them all - and retreat into your personal time.
8. My Car: The freedom to pick and choose when you stay, or when you go.
9. Singing: Just singing along to my MP3 player in the car! I love it, what can I say?!?!?
10. Ireland: You're never so patriotic as when you're away! Meeting other Irish people - and there are a lot of them travelling! - helps, but nothing compares to the green green grass of home!!
OK, so that's my rant over with! Other than that, South America is the most amazing place I've ever travelled, and I'm loving every minute!
But it's good to rant....let's out those bad vibes, eh??!! And I'm sure everyone was sick of how brilliant a time I was having, and glad that there are some things I don't like...ha ha!
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