Pushy Asian has you beat!

July 6, 2009

Teotihuacan, Mexico

Elevation: 2300m



The ancient city of Teotihuacan with the piramide del sol y luna. Piramide del Sol was completed in 150AD and its the third largest in the world. The base is 222m long and its 70m in height. Its build from 3 million tons of stone without the use of the wheel. Impressive hum?!



What is often more fascinating at archaeological sites such as this are the hawkers who are trying to sell you cheap trinkets. I was fore warned about the vendors here so I came mentally prepared. Let's just say that these Mexican vendors have nothing on the Asian hawkers. There are middle age women offering to carry you up the Great Wall of China since the climb is steep. There are barefooted Cambodian children following you around selling you post cards and what not. There are hawkers in Asia where they will just follow you silently until you relent and part with your money. These Mexican vendors take no for an answer and is rather polite in comparison.



There is this one vendor as he tried to sell you something, he says the word, "jaguar" in English and then you hear a sound of a fake jaguar growl. It made me laugh. At first, I thought the vendor was making the sound, now I think its actually a toy that you blow into.



The Aztec build this giant pyramid by the sheer force of will so they could worship the sun. The hawkers and children stand out in the sun day in and day out just to survive. Is there anything that you won´t do for your art, your faith, your child?

Charlie Grosso

www.charliegrosso.com

310-592-0895

Red dirt of Cambodia

July 7, 2008
Los Angeles, CA

I have finally washed off the red Cambodia dirt and now I can't sleep.
Plus I have the post travel blues.
I miss being on the road already and I am already restless for our next trip. When we are traveling, backpacking, I find that I can live in the present tense much better. At home, I am in anticipation of tomorrow.

I feel as if I am visiting a strange land with strange people here in LA. Stranger and harder to relate than to any of the places I have visited, stranger than any other culture I have seen. I don't relate and I can't seem to summon up any compassion for them.

There are these bipedial animals walking about with cloths that have huge letterings on them, they cover their face in brightly colored powders, eyes with tinted plastic with shinny stones attached to the sides. They drive motorized carts with leather interiors and all of them are new, old does not exists here in this land. The meals are lavish and fermented drinks are consumed during all meals. But what is the most strange is how their eyes are vacant, and a smile is no where to be found. Its as if they all have been captured and have their dreams stolen. They no longer could dream, they no longer could smile for strangers.

I miss the red dirt, I wish that I could sleep.