Backdated from Sunday, April 24, 2005 3:45pm (mined from paper journal.)

Seat 12 or 13, bus leaving Iruya headed for Humahuaca, Jujuy, Argentina.

We left surprisingly on time (3:15pm), given that around 2:30pm the
news had reached us that the bus had broken down on the way into town.
Some poor mother of 2 had tried to come in for the 2 hour gap between
the bus's scheduled arrival and departure, and ended up having to
leave ¨justo cuando llego¨ - weird – Español invading my mind. But in
the current context, I think I´m doing an okay job keeping Spanish
(which I´ve been speaking almost exclusively) and English (which I´ve
been thinking and writing almost exclusively) in good and separate
condition. I´ll have to do something to whip the French back into
shape – maybe a Vipassana course in Quebec when I´m back up north?

Anyways, we´re on our way. Bad break for that woman. I´d have been
pissed. It´s not a short or comfy journey, especially with little
ones in tow.

Cumbia music is playing. Ari hates it. I´d look to see how he´s
doing all alone over in seat 14, but the aisle's full of standing
passengers (for a change!).

Damn, a fly just flew right into my eye! Grr… It interrupted my
thoughts about how permaculture-friendly the (adobe?) ¨brick¨ houses
we keep passing are, and wonder about their construction. It seems,
colour and texture-wise, to be almost the same material as the cliffs
all around us. I also really like the stone corals and walls/ridges
all over the place.

Which of course brings us back to the complicated theme of poverty and
environmental friendliness – like how lifestyles inspired by extreme
necessity seem to complement sustainability, despite the general lack
of environmentalist consciousness (at least as we Northerners know it)
amongst poorer populations (I write this knowing I am risking putting
myself in potentially offensive territory with this whole line of
thinking, and acknowledging that I am painting with a wide stroke).
It definitely can´t be argued, though, that living in a clay-based
structure that doesn´t have an infrastructure that allows for the
wastage of power and resources both costs less and is better for the
environment… All of which calls into question the delicacy of the
utopian desire of some (including myself) to simultaneously reduce
poverty and increase greenness in the world.