One sad fact about South America is that each country is an island completely unto itself. There is minimal trade and communication across national borders. What a contrast, e.g., between here and the border between Mexico and California which has hundreds, if not thousands, of trucks and buses crossing in both directions each day.

I wanted to go from the city of Chiclayo in Peru to either Loja or Cuenca in Ecuador. They´re probably no more than a 100 air miles apart. However, because there´s a border involved, there is no overnight bus. There is no airplane. In fact, there is no direct bus at all. It would be like trying to go from L.A. to Ensenada and being told: You must take one bus from L.A. to San Diego; another bus from San Diego to San Ysidro; then take a transit bus, or taxi, or walk across the border, and start taking a series of buses on the other side.

I had to learn all this from a very discouraged travel agent. She kept apologizing and saying "No hay." (There isn´t any.) This was her answer to my questions: is there an overnight bus, is there a central bus station, is there a direct bus, etc.

I ended up taking a bus from the little town of Chiclayo to the little town of Piura. The Peruvian travel agent let me know she was not at all enthused about me taking an Ecuadorian bus, for reasons she left unspoken.

In Piura, I walked all over the place trying to find a bus that would take me toward Ecuador. I think people genuinely don´t know. They just don´t go there. One Peruvian let me know he thought I was crazy to take an Ecuadorian bus. When I finally found the (spacious!) bus station, it was practically empty. They actually offered a direct bus! I was the only passenger going all the way to Loja. The bus left on time with about 5 passengers on board, all of them headed for little towns enroute to the border. I talked to a young lady across the aisle from me and asked if she was going to Ecuador. She laughed and said something like, "Heck, no! I´m only going a little way down the road." So it was until the bus neared the Ecuador border, when it began to take on Ecuadorian passengers headed for Loja.

I came away with the distinct impression that Peruvians consider themselves superior to Ecuadorians. As a footnote, the bus was fine, certainly just as comfortable, or uncomfortable depending on your point of view, as Peruvian buses. There was the usual overhead video monitor this time showing a martial arts action movie. I was much more excited by the views out the window.

The Andes never cease to amaze me. We left the hot humid coast behind and began climbing up the mountains. We left behind the sandy desert-type landscape and it got greener and greener as we got higher. I know I´ve over-used the word "spectacular" in talking about the Andes, but that´s just what they are. The road was barely 2 lanes wide, but paved (!) and wound its way up steep canyons with huge mountains on all sides. The breathtaking views were not broken up by interfering guardrails. The landscape was dense lush verdant dark green vegetation that would require a machete to walk through. Each time we crested a mountain pass there were photo-opportunity views in all directions. There were small farms all along the way and frequently we shared the road with pigs, goats, cows, and burros.

The border crossing was a bridge at the bottom of a canyon spanning the River Macara. The 3 or 4 of us (some Ecuadorians had gotten on) had to wake up the Immigration official from his siesta to process our papers. Just another example of the absolute MINIMAL commerce and contact between the two island countries.

Most people travel to Ecuador by going up the hot humid coast. By all means, if you´re ever here, I wholeheartedly recommend you take the mountain route to Loja instead. Next blog: all about Loja!

Rules v. People, Part 2

What do you do when little kids try to sell you postcards you don´t want, men offer to shine your tennis shoes, women block your way on the sidewalk trying to sell you blankets and tablecloths bigger than your backpack, and destitute people beg for money?

The gringo response is to say, "No, thank you," or something similar to that and walk on. BIG MISTAKE!! Typically, we gringos think we are being "nice," by saying no thanks and walking on; or worse, by smiling at them and wishing them a good day, etc.

The Latin American attitude is to complete ignore them. By doing that, you are de-humanizing them. They don´t exist as people. They are like potted plants or trees. You do this, because once you recognize them as PEOPLE, now you´re on the hook. (See my previous blog on rules v. people.) If you do anything that might be described as minimal courtesy by gringo standards, by Latin American standards, you are inviting further contact. They will pester you relentlessly.

In Cuzco, one evening, I bought a beer. The little cafe had tables inside and outside. Inside, some people were smoking, so I decided to go outside even though it was cold. There´s no heat in Bolivia or Peru, at least in the buildings I occupy (!), so the cold outside is no different than the cold inside. Sometimes, some bars will crank up a woodstove and everyone huddles around it, but not in this case.

Outside, a boy about 12 came up and sat down next to me and tried to sell me postcards. I told him I wasn´t going to buy any postcards so he would be better off hitting up the few tourists that were still walking around at 9 p.m. (BIG MISTAKE! By talking to him, I was acknowledging he was a human being. I should have totally ignored him and treated him like a plant.) He remained seated.

We talked for about 15 minutes. After this time, he asked me if I was going to buy any postcards. I told him no, that as I had first told him when he sat down, I wasn´t going to buy any postcards. From his perspective, he had been patient and persistent, just like the boys trying to ride the teleferico and the young men trying to ride the bus for free. Because I was not forthcoming, he let out with a string of epithets in Spanish which I didn´t understand and which I didn´t want to add to my list of words and expressions to learn.

He´ll probably go on to become a star member of the Shining Path, or some other revolutionary movement, and kill people and blow up bridges, motivated by the gringo who played by rules rather than overlooking them for the sake of people.

Rules v. People, Part 1

Some philosophical thoughts:

Latin Americans complain that there is never going to be positive change in the southern hemishphere because there is too much "corruption." It´s true, there is corruption and it´s true that that corruption makes it difficult to get construction projects done, legislation passed, etc. But the problem is bigger than that.

I interpret it as a question of rules v. people. In North America and Europe (gringoland), we have rules. In South America, they have people.

When I was at the teleferico in Cochabamba, there were about half a dozen boys, about 10 to 12, fooling around it, trying to sneak onto the cable car without paying. The man in charge of the cable car first mildly warned them to take off while he was busily collecting tickets from the paying passengers. Then just before we took off, he hustled all of them into a cable car and sent it off.

When taking the little bus from Coroico to La Paz, about 3 or 4 young men about 20 got on board with the usual plastic bags of belongings. The driver collected tickets from everyone. These guys didn´t have a ticket. Each of them pulled out some small change, but it was very insufficient. All of them had families seeing them off. They opened the windows and the women outside made a show of looking through all their pockets for money and came up with a few more pennies. The driver made a token show of wanting more money and then, just shrugged his shoulders and the bus took off.

From the Latin American perspective, these young men needed to get to La Paz, no doubt to work and earn money. Their families would be deprived if the driver didn´t take them. Under all the circumstances, the driver was not going to inflict further misey on them. Imagine a culture where young boys learn early on that if you persist you´ll get what you want without paying for it. How many of you would climb on a bus, knowing you didn´t have enough money to pay for the ticket, and nevertheless expect to get a ride?

A Spanish language teacher once asked me: "Which is more important, time or people?" We were talking about showing up for work, an appointment, a meeting, etc., on time. It´s a typical gringo attitude that you should be on time. From the Latin American point of view, if you´re having a good conversation with some one, it´s considered rude to cut it off just because you´re supposed to be somewhere else.

I can see where this attitude would carry over to the workplace. You´re in charge of a construction project. You also know one of your best workers has a wife and kids and lives in a house with a leaky roof. So, every day, a dozen or more roofing tiles leave the job site with your best worker. Which is more important: people or rules?

And so it goes up the ladder. The thinking is: this guy who works for me does a real good job. What a shame I can´t pay him more. So, if he takes a little on the side, what the heck, he deserves it. Bottom line: corruption is never going to end in Latin America until there´s a huge cultural change with regard to how people think re-rules v. people.