Coffee and history

One of the many statues that adorn the city.

Café. The French know how to make a good cup of joe. If it is not good, then you much not have greeted the server properly upon entering. Tourists think the French are rude, and the French think tourists are rude. To avoid this misunderstanding, all a visitor must do is say “bonjour” upon entering any place of business, whether it’s a restaurant, a shoppe or a pharmacy. Pharmacies here are frequent and from the outside look like a California pot shop with a giant green cross lit up at the entryway that can be seen blocks away.


I sit here eating lunch mesmerized once again by the French present their food — everything is placed beautifully on the plate. Even the water is served formally in a clear glass bottle personally for each table to pout in the mini-wine glass. The food might not taste as great as it is presented, but I think to the regular French customer, this does not matter.

Across the way sits a woman who resembles my grandma Norma strikingly, but I do not know if she was actually French or not. I’ve seen many older French women, who resemble this grandmother and my great grandmother Deary on my mother’s side, who I do know was of French descent. I even smell her around the city, or maybe it’s the overwhelming amount of Catholic churches and holy water that I actually smell. Surely, I have French in my blood, and it’s a curious thought to wonder what distant relatives remain here, or at least connected ancestors of some kind…

I am glad I quit smoking cigarettes before coming here — it would have been too easy to make it a worse habit than it already was. Cigarette packs here read in bold, black letter, “Smoking kills.” in English on one side and French on the other. In 2007, the government outlawed smoking in public places, but I’m not sure what that means because people seem to smoke anywhere. Maybe the law means no smoking inside because that, mostly, doesn’t happen.

Today has been beautiful. Not a drop of rain has touched the ground.

There are several original Statues of Liberties that range in size throughout the Paris.

All is safe

I realized earlier that something I had said to a person in my hostel (thought I’m not sure I actually believed it at the time) couldn’t be more true: If I can do New York, I can do Paris. They say Paris can be a dangerous city, but I feel rather safe here.


I remember my first image of New York at the age of 9 was a ragged man sitting on the stairs to the metro with a stack of wallets. No one seemed to notice that he sat there separating the cash from the credit cards. You would never see anything of the like here as even the thieves have more respect and sophistication in their mischievous lifestyles. Like New York, however, the metro is the breeding ground for crime, which is why at first I thought I would avoid it as much as possible, but now I have other reasons. Paris is not that big. I don’t know the numbers exactly, but it is much like the size of Long Beach. More importantly, why would a visitor want to spend so much time traveling through the city underground when ever rue and avenue has so much amazing architecture to bear witness to?

With that in mind, I understand that part of the “perks” of staying in a hostel is getting to meet people, but I’m not here to make lifelong friends or to have sex. I hope it was just this one Brazilian who seemed to think it was okay to lecture me about traveling with a boyfriend at home as if hostels are for a place of “hooking up.” Can it just be that I’m a tight-budgeted traveler who wanted to visit this city since I knew of its existence? As well, I do not need a short companion to enjoy what I want from any city, and I think this man’s addiction to that is quite sad. For a city of “love,” these travelling men don’t understand the idea of fidelity and the sanctity of love.

I have lived alone since 20 — I am not one who needs others surrounding me to enjoy life. In fact, I get more joy observing from the outside, such as this moment while I write. I’m sitting alone nibbling away at my pizza as I take moments to watch the workings of the restaurant, giving the occasional smile and nod as necessary. My peace is sitting here alone without having to engage in conversation, and listening to every murmur around me; these are things I wanted to come to this city — and any place for that matter — to witness, and how can one do that without observing?

We could all maybe learn a few more things about each other if we stopped our mouths and opened our eyes wider. Infants are capable of learning so much their first couple years of life. Granted, much of this has to do with biology, but maybe it also has to with their inability to talk. When one isn’t using one of the senses, the others are heightened. Who is to say that speaking can be included in this theory?

The top photo is of the military grounds (which includes a Catholic church) and the photo above is one of the many different types of metro entrances.

Fashion, rain and cigarettes

It is wet. Like the sun acts for cheery Californians, the rain suits Parisians well. It is relentless and sophisticated the way it runs down the intricately placed cobblestones of the streets. The rain is always rushing to go some place, and it only has one form. Unlike the rain, though, Parisians do have a smiling place beneath their flat-lined lips — their expressionless gaze that makes one assume they’re unhappy. They hide this place of cheer behind their cigarettes and cups of espresso, and behind their language of formality. In France, the Parisian happiness rests inside the bars, where some laughter can be heard, and inside the chocolate shoppes, which are as frequent as 7/11 and Starbucks are in the U.S.


Scarves, silk, extravagant boots and jackets — Paris is not much for the ill-fashioned. Without these you are clearly the backpacking visitor or the poorest Parisian. There isn’t much color except the occasional red.

Women seem to dominate the city. This aspect may be my favorite of Paris. Men push the baby strollers and are often seen feeding the infant and cooing them. One would think this is a matriarch, though I am sure it is not.

International trip 2: Paris and Madrid

I have decided to convert my old blog into a travel log for journeys throughout my life. This is not for professionalistic purposes, but is for myself and those who care enough to read.

Reflecting on science and environmental writing and the Amazon

The top things I learned or was reinforced to acknowledge as a science writer:

1. Pay attention to the money. When a new grant is received then there is probably some kind of progression happening in that field or particular research project. However, conflicts of interest must be paid attention to once writing the article. Who is giving the money? A pharmaceutical company or a nonprofit organization? Who came up with the research topic? Who is writing the report? What connections do the researchers have with any corporations/business ties?

2. Pay attention to the tools. New discoveries are made every day in science and the environment, so in order to help narrow down what is “newsworthy” a reporter must pay attention to new tools and devices used to make that discovery—sometimes the discovery itself is not “newsworthy.” For example, a new way to splice genes or to examine the different proteins would be a story worth covering.

3. Pay attention to the methodology. Conflicts happen every day here, even in peer-reviewed research articles. Understand statistics and the different between causation and correlation because many times it is hard to really isolate one factor as the main cause for something. A writer must look at everything holistically to understand the significance of a study, or lack thereof.

4. Understand embargoes and how strict they are with different science journals. The integrity of the reporter and scientist can be threatened if a journalist breaks an embargo.

5. Understand what “getting both sides of the story” means in science writing. Because many time you’re dealing with hard facts that aren’t subjective and don’t change depending on the scientist, you don’t have to put a creationist theory in every single one of your stories, for example. Though, it is important to know of any critical scientists who can shed more light on a subject. Always have multiple sources and multiple explanations from different scientists who are knowledgeable on the subject.

6. Keep in mind the structure of the story since many people find science too difficult to understand. Remember the AB-BC-CD structure to help you formulate a clean and straightforward article that your readers will understand.

The top things I learned or was reinforced to acknowledge about the Amazon:

1. Deforestation: there are many aspects to this issue in the Amazon that do not seem to be fully explained in most articles I have read. For example, because Brasil is an export-driven country people must realize farmers and ranchers aren’t slashing and burning forests here still simply because they are too stubborn to change their ways. They have no other way to produce an income, and people in developed countries are consuming these things—it’s hardly even the people here supporting such expensive resources. The government also has difficulty in enforcing regulations and environmentally friendly policies because it is more of a socioeconomic issue. They must be able to provide jobs to these farmers and ranchers before being able to tell them they must discontinue their form of income.

2. While there is a disproportionate distributing of wealth here it is much more extreme than the United States. But what is completely different from the United States is that beyond the class differences, there is an uneven distribution of information.

3. What happens when “exotic” products like the açaí berry goes into an international market, and what happens to the available nutrition to the lower classes here when a once cheap and healthy food is shipped everyone else in the world. The price is hiked up and it quickly becomes the rich-man’s food.

4. There are efforts being made here by the military to relocate border-living indigenous people because it for some reason believes they want to secede from the country of Brasil. Anthropologists studying these tribes, however, say differently.

5. Yellow fever and leprosy: considering it’s not even a requirement to get the yellow fever vaccination before traveling here, it came to a surprise to me that there were almost 60 confirmed cases last year. Both of these diseases, as well as many others, are still major problems here even though huge efforts are made to disseminate vaccinations.

Day Onze: New paths are shining

The clouds come over way, casting dark lines upon the golden beach and brown-tipped waves of the Amazon River. The sun had been beaming, poking itself out of the white pillows of the sky until violet rain clouds push our way. I wander around taking picture after picture from every angle of the river’s last beach before it opens up to the Atlantic Ocean. I know this was one of the last moments I could capture of a forest that has grown so close to my soul over the past two weeks. When will I get to come back here, I wonder. When will get to lay my eyes on this wide and mysterious river again?

I sit in silence while the others go about their storytelling and last-minute bonding. I only want to bond with the various palm trees and brightly colored rocks tumbling ashore by the gentle river waves. And then it begins to rain.

On the way back to the city I watch the bicyclers trudge through the heavy chuva (rain) but with it being such a daily occurrence, the rain doesn’t bother them. I’m glad I enjoy the warm rains here and houses built on stilts and children kicking cans with their feet and sticks. Life is so simple. Everyone puts their hands to work here — no one is left sitting.

The downpour turns into a drizzle. The rain comes and goes faster than the people drive here, which is a difficult feat. My return someday will hopefully not be long from now and my stay here has only encouraged the achievement of my dreams. No longer do I feel I pressure myself to accomplish too many things or that anyone else does for that matter. These dreams are my goals because I am going to reach them. They are not too far off or impossible — this is my choice.

I feel a knot forming in my throat and emptiness in my stomach. I do not want to leave but I know this journey has only been a confirmation of my abilities to expand my mind, maybe even to overachieve (as some say I do too often). This world, I decide, needs overachievers. The bricks do not get laid by themselves — there must be someone willing to do the stacking; someone to pursue the direction people say they want but don’t choose. They just continue on the already-trodden road because much less work is necessary. Your life’s work is the legend you leave, and whether few or many know of you or your legend, as long as you make one then, to me, life is worth living.

The drizzle ends and the sun makes its way from behind the clouds and dries the red soil and brown skin of the cyclers. The sun always prevails. I begin my legend.

Day Dez: From dirt to pavement

It’s the classic saga of industrialization: the formation of trade routes, logging and mining routes that eventually become dirt roadways, to paved highways. While the questions arises of which came first the industry or the road; one must keep in mind the history of each area in Brasil to understand the relationship between road construction and industrialization. In Northern California, for example, there are a few preservationist groups who would like to blockade some of the old timber logging roads, but what good would this do since the roads aren’t even used for this industry in the same scale as 15 years ago. Now the road is road, hikers, campers and hunters use the road. Firefighters use the road. Northern California’s road situation is far different from that of Brasil’s, however.

Paving roads in Brasil means the threat of access to those who shouldn’t necessarily be accessing it. It means further access into the Amazon Rainforest that grilagems (people who squat on a piece of land and use it as their own and then attempt to sell the land to someone else) will use to exploit or other poachers of all sorts. As Peter Mann de Toledo, the president of the Institute of Social and Economic Development of Pará and former director of the Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi (pictured below), as soon as the government supports paved road development many see it as an opportunity to do some development of their own. “It’s a new El Dorado,” he said where all of sudden people are running out and searching for the treasure.

Mann de Toledo also discussed the change in land development from 20 to 30 years ago in Brasil to what is encouraged and used today. Below is a picture the methods used before more regulations were set in place. The corridor is the forest, usually along a water source, with small patches (the mancha) of forest surrounding the greater matrix where the road and resource production/harvesting took place.

Today the 80/20 law is followed more strictly (where 80 percent of the land is set aside for forest conservation and 20 percent is used for farming and/or ranching). Now the corridor is the road in and out, the matrix (the larger parts) is forest left untouched and the mancha is the cleared area for land development. Below is an example.