All posts by migueldelosandes

memoria, viajes

Saturday March 31

Gupo Market | 덕천 Deokcheon | 부산 Busan

It smelled like goat, chicken and wet dog. I thought it would be just a vegetable and fish market. Then I saw red cages with beautiful golden dogs inside. I walked down an empty street lined with live dogs and dead ones ready to take home and cook. Gaegogi 개고기 dog meat. There were cages of all sizes with black goats, chickens, and kittens. Some of the meat workers had small, ugly dogs as pets.

Pets.

Caged.

Butchered.
dogcage2

Runaways.

memoria, photography

Friday March 30

In a cramped catholic shop in Tegucigalpa I found a skull bracelet made out of seeds. I was in there buying Hondura’s patron saint for a collection of Latin American saints. I bought the bracelet and an image of Virgen de Suyapa. The lady behind the messy counter gave me a picture of Archangel Michael stepping on the devil. “For your protection,” she said handing it to me with two hands as if in sacrament. I wore the skull bracelet for many years and kept it next to a bottle of rum from Medellin that I’ll open on a very happy day.

One day, I fell for a girl that worked at Lolita’s Corner Store in Boulder, CO. She looked like Rachael from Blade Runner. While dancing with her in The Catacombs one night, I asked her to run away with me. She smiled a sweet smile, dance a little more and finally said “I can’t run away with you, Miguel.” The way she danced and the way her eyes focused on something distant told me that she suffered from severe love sickness for somebody off screen. I gave her my magical skull bracelet and started to feel love sick, too.


Rachael from Blade Runner.

I’ve been collecting religious skull beads. My favorite ones are pictured at the top. They were carved on buffalo bone in Nepal. Miniature replicas of what I assume Kali, goddess of time and change, wears around her neck.

Soundtrack:

memoria, viajes

Seoul and Sinbad the Sailor

I went to Seoul last weekend. I listened to a movie on my iPhone while riding an empty train to the capital. Much can be learned about a movie through its audio track. I fell asleep and woke up near Seoul. The corridor was packed with older people. Most were geared up for a hike-up-and-booze-at-the-top sort of deal.

I visited one of the royal palaces.

Techniques to deter evil spirits:

1) Dragon Faces

2) CCTV

I wanted to find The Papertainer Museum at the Olympic Park. The Papertainer is a museum made of shipping containers which I thought would be neat-o to visit.

I didn’t find it which is odd since it’s pretty big. Instead I enjoyed the sight of some inline skaters with sweet moves under the Olympic Peace Gate.

Late that night I saw the last snowflakes of the Korean winter fall on Hongik University. Felt like Winona Ryder in Edward Scissorhands.

The next morning I read Sinbad the Sailor on the train back to Busan. His voyages are mostly accounts of terrible troubles encountered. His stories are filled with people getting eaten by giant snakes, cannibals, mythical birds, etc., etc. Sinbad always regrets his decision to travel when these tribulations catch up to him.

Sinbad in the Valley of Diamonds

He survives, finds a treasure, and returns to Baghdad richer than before. Soon he finds an excuse to travel again.

While Sinbad’s adventures are magical and fantastic, they made me remember that risk is always present in a good adventure. Adventures have dangers both physical and emotional because we step into the unknown. This is what attracted us to the adventure in the first place. The fights between best friends, the breakups, intestinal parasites, etc., etc. are also part of an adventure… though jumping off the Swiss alps wearing flying squirrel suits may be the more fun and thrilling part of the adventure. When we travel, things won’t always work out the way we planned them. I accepted this common perception when I came to Korea but didn’t fully internalized it.

So don’t be too surprised when you find yourself alone, scared and uncertain, and, perhaps, surrounded by giant snakes. These things may all be part of your adventure package. You may be cursing your luck while walking on a valley of diamonds.