Thursday, April 22, 2010

San Jose

GRUELING! ...was the 7 hour trip into San Jose. The bus took us to the Coca Cola Terminal and we lugged our travel packs to Rojo Molino -  a backpacker outfit about a 15 minute walk away. We're here for two days before our flight into the Big NYC on saturday.

It was about 2pm when we arrived, and thought we'd have a bit of a wander. The guy at the front desk mentioned the Museum of Art down the road by the park - so we went. When we get there we are greeted by who I guess is the curator of the museum - judging from his educated manner of speaking and demeanor. He spoke warmly to Amber in spanish, stated that the building was being renovated and kindly suggested a couple of alternative museums close by we could visit instead.

We decide to wander in the park adjacent to the museum. There are various "works of art"distributed throughout the park in attempt to beautify it. I found these objects hideous and unpleasant to my senses. 
We get down to the far end of the park and notice a small crowd of people gathered - a policeman amongst them. Then we see a mature older male lying motionless face down by some trees on the grass. I resist the urge to linger and we meander onto the path on the other side of a small lake. We gawk at a couple more ghastly "works of art" and Amber says "Take a photo of the gathering, hun!" Later, Amber sees another officer arrive on motorbike with some police tape. I think we saw a corpse.
We walk back from where we came, find a park seat, and reflect on the creepy sequence of events we had just experienced. As I sit there, frazzled from the arduous bus journey into San Jose, and from the soul-sapping saunter within the polluted city, I feel antipathy. The constant assault of stampeding vehicles, incessant honking, carbon monoxide thick in the air and apathetic faces plodding along the sidewalks. This is no way to live!

I'm hungry, and we find a 'soda' nearby. I order a meal and Amber orders a shake. We notice a young fellow juggling three bowling pins in front of cars stopped at a red light. He does this for about 20 seconds - just before the light turns green, and walks up between the cars scanning hopefully for someone to lower their window to give him welfare. When the cars move off, we steps of to the side, waits for the red light to come back on, and does it all over again. I feel incredibly saddened by this. He looks young, healthy, and I would have even assumed educated. I wondered why he did this? Couldn't he get a job? I asked Amber if we should give him some money. I remembered a story about a western tourist visiting India. She got out of the train and was greeted by an Indian child, asking for a coin. She gave her a coin, and almost immediately was surrounded by 3 other children asking for the same thing. Soon, she was swarmed and gave everything she had away save for the clothes on her back and her return train ticket. 

We finish our meal/drink and head back for our hostel. At the next intersection we see two more middle-aged males - one with 3 similar while bowling pins as the guy a saw just before, and another with 3 white balls. They were doing the same routine, at a different intersection. I was tormented by a multitude of questions and rebuttals. Should I have given that first busker money? I would have felt better giving him money. I couldn't possibly give to all three buskers! Does giving them money make any difference at all? What is the wisest decision? Why do I bother!?

I understand more why there is so much robbery and petty theft in this country. People are destitute! Given such conditions what choice do you have?

I've got some nerve grumbling all week about the petty glitch in our Macbooks' trackpad.

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