I've been writing personal diaries for quite some time now, but I rarely ever recorded about my self. The only things I wrote down were my theories & occasional rants, but never about my self. And when I say "my self" I mean my traveling self. In order to preserve all my travels, I would like to dedicate this blog entry, "Dear the past, present, and future me" to myself.
I've been to countless cities and countries & my biggest regret is not being able to record much. The brain, sadly, is not capable of remembering ever single detail. Words can't, either. But wouldn't it be best to record as much as possible while it lasts?
I'm in Uruguay right now. Montevideo, to be specific. It's a calm city & I really like it. Although I often times wish that the streets could be a tad bit cleaner or the products be a bit more cheaper, I can't complain. There is a long stretch of water -- the ocean -- and beautiful sand right in front of my house, never ending. The weather is near-perfect and the people are ridiculously kind (except those weird teenagers that roam around at night). I really just can't complain. After living in one of the most dangerous cities in the world, Caracas, and staying in places that reached ridiculous degrees during the Winter (Korea and Germany), I knew I was happy in Montevideo.
When I first arrived, I didn't know what to think. All the hectic frenzy in Caracas, compared to the serene and slightly boring Montevideo was...strange. I didn't know what to do. I felt really, really bored, to be honest. Plus, I had come to Montevideo when it was winter. Everything just seemed so...too quiet. And though I like that, I'm not sure if I want to live like this forever. Running away to a place with not too much activity and excitement for a while is good for you, but it gets bad when you stay there for too long. There's no tension here -- no adventure -- no competition & I love & hate that at the same time.
My first impression of this place? Breathtaking. Now, I still think the same thing. Let me tell you about one specific place. I'm going a bit offtrack here, I know, but it's just worth talking about. Have you ever been to the Old City? Ciudad Vieja? It's a little place right next to the harbor of Montevideo and full of locals and tourists. It feels like I'm in a mini Europe! The city reminds me of the streets of Germany, Italy, and California all mashed up into one! The parks in the city remind me of those in Germany; the ones with wurst stands and pigeons. Or fountains! And the palm trees remind me of the ones in California. But then there's a little bit of Uruguay in there too. And I like that.
The Old City has become one of the places I adore the most. It's an antique city & everything about it just seems so...old and beautiful. Once I went to the Feria, the flea market, and my jaw almost dropped. As a lover of antique things like typewriters, irons, clocks, glasses, vinyl records, clothes, etc. I was gleeful and almost jumping out of my seat (my car seat). My family and I walked around the streets for hours and hours and we were never bored. The people were friendly, the goods were interesting to look at, and there was enough food stands here and there to keep everyone full (though we didn't actually eat anything). I even saw some old comic books! The only sad thing was that they were all in Spanish. But the good news is, I bought myself a pair of really old but very fashionable sunglasses, which I am still enthralled with today.
I can go on and on about the Feria forever, but I think that this place deserves a separate blog post on its own. Ah, now that I think about it, there's so much to talk about this place. It is boring, yes, but it's exciting at the same time. Do you get what I mean? It's sort of like life -- boring but it's the best you got.
Now, please remember to go read my other blog (blogspot), where I do translations of Korean poems! I also have a few posts about personal life there...!
Good day,
Hidden Wallflower