Che Guevara

Thoughts about Motorcycle Diaries.
Until seeing this film I was not particulary interested in Che Guevara, but went to see it in order to relive pleasant memories of Argentina. I had the impression that Che, like many revolutionaries, ended up as despotic as those he fough against. However this may well have been a story fabricated by his enemies.
Whilst in Argentina I found that Che, together with Eva Peron, were their modern day patron saints. At Sunday mass the cathedral in Buenos Aires was almost empty - apart from tourists wandering through. Yet the image of Che was everywhere and even after all these years a steady stream of people were paying their respects at Evita's mausoleum.
At the start of the movie, Ernesto seemed to be a somewhat reluctant hero compared to his reckless companion. As their journey proceded, Che became increasingly sensitive to the oppresion of the poor in South America and to the difference beween their lives and that of people like his ex-fiancee's wealthy family. Che's heroic qualities gradually emerged as he traveled on through Peru and Columbia, reaching a peak at the leper colony. Here he showed great compassion for the patients and was not afraid to shake hands and hug them despite their horrible disease. On his last night at the colony the pattern was set for his future life. He left his birthday celebrations with the staff and swam across the dangerous waters of the Amazon to farewell the patients to whom he had shown such compassion . This was an act of sheer bravery, or was it fool hardiness? Is there not a very fine line between the two?

Bushfire

I live`in the middle of the bush (aka forest), so during the hot dry summers we have here, bushfires are seldom far from our minds. Today, thanks to a change in the wind, the air is bright and clear. Yesterday we were engulfed in a pall of thick blue smoke. This signalled that we were down wind from a big bushfire. At times we could also smell it. It was not the smell of dry eucalypt leaves burning which instantly evokes nostralgia in all true Aussies, but the pungent odor of green vegetation burning fiercely not far away. Happily there was no sign of water bombers . Once they turn up you know that the fire is really close. When the wind changes it is good news for some but bad news for others who may be in the path of this new wind direction. Today houses in a nearby town are being threatened. Hopefully none will be lost and nobody will be killed or injured. We will all have to remain on the alert until this fire is finally brought under control.

First Post

I am interested in being as much a part of this world as possible. At present I focus mainly on nature, zhong-wen, nihongo, trading, world affairs, behaviour, reading, puzzles, amateur building, learning Spanish (hopefully), essientialism.