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Saturday 17 January 2009

The Dream, the Reality and the Bits in Between


"The type of work which modern technology is most successful in reducing or even eliminating is skillful, productive work of human hands, in touch with real materials of one kind or another....Today, a person has to be wealthy to enjoy this simple thing, this is very great luxury"

The countdown has begun about 6 months till lift off closely followed by hitting the ground with a gentle thump.

It's been a long time coming but perhaps its time to realise that life is all about balance, and indoor toilets. I love my life here, and truelly believe that Emilia was born in the best place ever with the bestest midwives that ever existed. As I look out over the town and the mountains in the morning my insides are filled with nature's miracles. The houses dotted about here and there, the barefoot women carrying their children around, working hard, the rattle of the gas truck and the constant background explosions from the churches (still haven't got to the bottom of the catholics and their love of fireworks)...I could go on, but that would be boring....The point being, living here is a wonderful dream, the stuff fantasies are made from, an escape from the (British) norm.

Escapes, unfortunately are not forever (well not until we win the lottery anyway!) and we must wake up from every dream to face reality. In my case that being never knowing where the next rent payment is coming from, no social security, a future of paying for a bad education in schools that will refuse Emilia entry anyway on the grounds we chose not to vacinate her.... and... a constantly stressed hubby who works his butt off to be told there's no money to pay him at the end of the month. Added to that, the more conversations I have with women who have been born to this life, who would actually like a few improvements to their daily grind, or at least for their daughters, without having to make the political compromises. Living a homely , low technology life is pretty much the way to go in my opinion, but I question whether it can ever actually be possible when the world outside is moving so dangerously fast, it just doesn't have the patience. With the formation of the urban society came the removal of person and nature, we are becoming far more closely related to our machines than the glory that we came from in the first place. The revolution begins with the self, the home, but it also must fight whats going on outside in order to be whole.

Lovely scenery or not, the conflict of the modernity reality and a true existence gets on top of you after a while and some changes must be made. Short of becoming Mexico's next family of Narco Traffikers or working for Coca-Cola, both of which I would rather cut my legs off before doing, we must go back to square one, without collecting 200 quid and start all over again. Begin again or a new beginning, there's not much difference, as long as its what makes us happy little bunnies.

Being with family again will certainly be a massive bonus, added to watching Arturo's face upon his first experience of the that strange breed the mancunian and, seeing Emilia loved and cuddled by all I know. If we get homesick, at the end of the day we can always spend a few hours at the bottom of the garden in the rain, wash our clothes in a bucket, set some fireworks off at 5am and make all neighbourhood dogs bark like crazy...

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