Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2000 05:04:42 -0800
Subject: Re: [LaMystique] Millennial Slumber/forgiving is possible


At 07:15 PM 01/03/2000 EST, DKilpat173-AT-aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 1/3/00 5:25:58 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
>borealis-AT-mail.wellsgray.net writes:
>
><< There are pleasures to be found in fear, but if you find that foreign, I 
> >would suggest a nice split-level on a suburban cul-de-sac.
> >
> >DK
> 
> 
> There is more pleasure in overcoming fear I would venture! One way is to
> move to Ireland. Most content people in the world. One of the safest...with
> exceptions as we know.  >>
>
>Funny, I know of no more frightening place than Dublin mid-March...
>
>DK

What is so scary about Dublin in March? Give me a free ticket. I will go any
time!

You've go to be in La Victoria, Lima, Peru, in la noche to know fear, on a
Thursday. You cannot breath. There too many people. You cannot run and you
cannot walk. You are pushed along whether you like it or not. At night. Well
I don't even try to imagine that. Check Barons Most Dangerous Places in the
world, out for the two most dangerous cities in the world. Lima is number
one or two, and the other is in Afganistan. Of course that may have all
changed.  I think Columbia is the now the most dangerous place. Of course
the nice parts like Miraflores and San Isidro are pretty calm. That is
because all the houses have guards with hand guns or machine guns. Just
watch for missing man hole covers. And cucharacas. 

My doctor was there once and he was 'petrified with fear'. Nothing happened
to him though ...it was day time, and he was in a good area. However, a year
later he was killed in an skiing accident. He fell 900 meters to his death.
He step out to far onto a cornice and broke through. I miss him. He came
from Guyana in South America. 

"Don't  run out of gas down on hollywood." Lyric by Ry Cooder

Actually Corcovado, Parque Nacional, Costa Rica,  was pretty dangerous. When
I was there on foot walking five days staight in the rainforest a girl was
bitten by a poisonous snake. They wait under the steps at night for mice,
and can get too close to people. She was rushed out....

Also in Guanacaste Parque Nacional I came across a 2 meter long rattle
snake. I saved it's life by trying to take a photograph of it. It came out
on the pavement and I scared it off. Five seconds after it slithered off a
truck came around the bend. It would have either rolled the truck, or cut
the snake it was that big. I am mighty proud of myself about that. But the
g-damn driver of the truck did not stop and give me a lift. 

The next day I ran completely out of water on the Pan-American Highway, only
an hour south of the border with Nicaragua. I got dehydrated so bad hitch
hiking that when I finally got a ride I had been without water for over 6
hours. The guy that gave me a ride worked for UNCED. He was doing malaria
sampling in various areas. He said there was lots of malaria in northern
parts of Costa Rica due to the Nicaraguans migrating there to work in
agriculture. Over 200,000 migrants from Nica. working there but they had
brought malaria in their blood. I was there for two months and never took
any antimalarial drugs. I was told by the travel agent here that there was
no malaria in Costa Rica. His wife was a Tica. An aquaintance of mine did
get malaria there. 

Anyway I sure suffered  in the heat. It was 44 Celsius, and there was no
cloud, and the wind was blowing at up to 100 km/hr. I was pretty sick the
next day. My temperature shot way up, and I had them feed me lots of Canada
Dry full of sodium, and bananas. 

You see they said that there was water at the beach in the travel book. That
was not true. There was just cactus and Iguanas. I should have left with BBC
crew and partied with them. 

Sincerely, 

John