Just some dumb stuff I forgot in the last post

So first, I forgot to tell you about the Bolivian guy I saw dancing down the street, kind of in a pena dance, with his eyes closed, pounding out a slow march in tiny steps to music I couldn't hear. I wish everyone did that - then I would be more apt to break out when I hear "I've got the Power!" or something like that.

And I forgot to tell you about Ori, the Jewish Israeli that is staying at Perttu's for a couple days. When I told him I was from the US, he said he likes the money there, and added, with a straight face: "I love money. I love how it feels in my hands." I guess he has no problem reinforcing THAT stereotype. He's been traveling for a year, and was telling us how he's always up at 6am and in bed at midnight, with long days of checking museums and viewpoints off his list of tourist things to do. For a whole year? Sounds like a prison, to me, especially with a schedule like that. Isn't he supposed to be on vacation? I couldn't do that stuff for three weeks before I got bored and felt like just another tourist (he's been at it for 11 months now).

It's funny, every Israeli I've met traveling anywhere is just out of the army, and I think it shows: they can't have a conversation, they have a battle. Ori was really trying to convince me I was a dumb idiot for thinking I wouldn't have to pay for a Chilean visa (there is one for Americans, but only if you fly into Chile) until I told him my friend from the States crossed over by land a couple weeks ago and was fine. He was also explaining to me about the "reciprocal" visas down here, since I would obviously have no idea about those things. The impression I always get from Israelis I meet is that they keep a running tab in their head of how many "points" you each have, i.e. how many things each of you knows that the other doesn't know, or points for looking like a cooler backpacker ("I don't care how uncomfortable the busses are - I live like the locals. Plus, it's cheaper." Ah, the real reason becomes apparent. Besides, in a place like Bolivia, EVERY class of bus is the "local" person's class). And I don't think they can stop the conversation if they think you have more points. Israelis actually have a nasty reputation - I know a guy who is over 60 who has traveled all over the world, who confided that "they're awful." And in India, there are businesses with signs that say "no Israelis" (which made me feel like I was in pre-civil rights America or something, but if you've seen an Israeli ready to tear out the lungs of a store owner over a few rupees you'd have more sympathy for the vendors). Do you suppose the Israelis are aware of their reputation, and just mentally tell the world to fuck off (like they're so good at doing?), or do they somehow think that their behavior is normal? I guess I have to sympathize - if I had spent the last few years shooting rock-throwing kids and wondering when the next suicide bombing would be, I'd probably be a little on edge, too.

In a way, I've had almost as many stereotypes reinforced on this trip as I've had dispelled: the money-loving, arrogant Israeli; on my Salar de Uyuni trip I met an pretentious, confrontational Frenchman - who was a chef, at that. And I've met a few Irish who can really hold their liquor, and polite, dry-witted Englishmen. I guess stereotypes come from someplace... the Israeli stereotype is the worst one in my own head, though, just because I've met and seen so many that are pretentious and short-tempered, and I've only met one that I can think of that was a really mellow, nice - a guy I met on Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand, who taught me to play backgammon and smoked pot and ate mushrooms all day long. He was a cool guy. I guess I just need to go to Israel (that region is next on my travel list, I think), because I know it's a really diverse place in a lot of ways, and that it's a really unique and innovative place, especially for being such a small country. I feel like I read a lot about new innovations coming out of Israeli universities, like in crazy new farming methods for the desert. Plus, they've gotten really good at blowing the bejesus out of poor Lebanon, so I can learn about that, in case I ever want to make a hobby of it or something (like the Israeli army seems to have done). That reminds me, I was talking about travel in the region with Ori, who said with a smirk that I probably wouldn't want to go to Lebanon - "we just bombed the shit out of the airport, and all of Beirut." I should have added "and you really got Hezbollah, like you were planning on! Another successful, surgical-precision Israeli military operation that's left a bunch of people homeless, created more hatred of your country, and given Hezbollah yet another chance to show how they're more competent than the central government at providing for the Lebanese people. Good work!" But I was tired and had to get up early, and if there's one thing Israelis will argue to the death on, it's middle-east politics.

So my "interview" today turned out kind of like I'd feared: the guy couldn't really tell us anything, and was kind of amused that we'd come to him at all (I dunno, we explained at the front what we were doing, and that's who we were sent to). I'm trying to make a movie about the forest, and engineers tend to see only trees (like "butane" and "propane"). So we're trying to reschedule with the VP of YPFB, who's out of town now, but it's a possibility (only three points if you guessed it this time; it's starting to become predictable).

Stuff should be moving by Wednesday, though. Of course, I'll keep you posted.