As I’m typing this, it’s only a few hours short of our arrival a week ago. It surely doesn’t seem as if so much time has passed. Maybe this seems more obvious due to the fact we’re only to be here for four weeks!
I spent a lot of time today just doing the things that make up life. I washed a number of clothes by hand and hanged them out to dry. It takes things an incredibly long time to dry naturally here because of the humidity. Personal shaving and washing take time. Preparing food and snacks occupied a large part of the day too. It seems possible to get into true vacation mode here.
The benefits of an authentic vacation is one has to get back to basics. When hunting first for shelter and then for food, people are forced out of the routine of their normal lives. That is what makes these times extremely important. I will remember this evening, typing in front of music from the recent Sri Lankan Idol, longer than many of the other nights of 2006.
On another train of thought, I considered I was quite kind on the environment today. You have to remember I have grown up with criticism of North American energy use. I have always maintained that a little waste can keep things rolling. Furthermore, habits change quickest when they come up against economic realities. The most effective long-term changes will occur not through the signing of an international protocol, but from the point at which economics forces people to do things differently.
I could have used fewer calories of energy had I not frozen my freshly-pulped beli juice today. I would have not put it into the freezer had it been too great an economic cost. It wasn’t, so I enjoyed the luxury of using more energy than necessary. Maybe it’s the manipulation of the environment in pursuit of personal pleasure that separates us from the animals.
