The Partial Sabbatical: Convenience isn’t convenience

In the states, I think we sometimes have that attitude of “modern conveniences, yes they are nice to have aren’t they.” Being in Latin America has changed my perspective on this. Frequently these conveniences are actually my time: The ability to get a drink of water without having to boil it first; The ability to get a net connection regularly in your home and not have to walk to an internet café; the ability to just have a lock smith come over and change your lock without having to replace the whole system.

There are other things that aren’t what we would think of conveniences which I miss. Take for instance the gym I joined. They had hours of 6-12, 3-9, on their brochure. They crossed those out and had written in 7-12, 4-9. I showed up and 4:10 one day and they were closed. When I asked about that, I was instructed that I should come after 4:15.

There were a whole string of events like this. A cab driver who said he had change for a large bill and didn’t. We drove all over Lima looking for a restaurant that would change my 100 soles ($38) bill. There was the tour guide who said that Machu Picchu was designed in miniature in a stone model held at the Inca Museum, it wasn’t. I went to a bank main office who said they couldn’t take AMEX, but their branch office down the street could, they couldn’t. In the western world, for all the disinformation out there, we are still far more careful about what we tell people and what we appear to be confident of than in the Latin world. I talked to other western travelers who also found this to be true.

Aside from the frustration, there are other things I want to do with my time. Each of these events represents a small theft of the time that makes up my life. I am a pretty patient person, in my own not so humble opinion. If I lived in Latin America, I might have to rethink that policy.