Don´t worry, be happy

A friend asked what made me happy here. Good question Swimming in the harbor, with sea lions and turquoise swells. Witnessing tropicbirds soaring, banking and braking just inches from a cliff. Riding my bike up the mountain to the rain forest where oranges and corn grow. Every physical challenge here is exhilarating: the air is brilliantly clear and dry, the roads have few cars and I have no fear of sharks.

What makes me less than happy? It is the human world that makes me worried, even paranoid at times. There is a great desire for political and economic independence here, that, to me, is the same as a blank check to exploit all of the resources the islands contain. There is lip service to conservation, but many of the powerful folks here see the conservationists, like the Darwin Foundation, as the enemies of progress. We are the outsiders who like to order local folks around, even though we don´t know or care about them.

There are two distinct cultures here: the islanders who want the islands to develop, and those who believe that the resources are extremely limited. The second group points to the lack of potable water (almost none), lack of sewage treatment (non-existent), lack of oil (none), and lack of excellent schools (there might be one). True, there are three turbines on the wind farm, and there is a plan for sewage treatment, but there is also a population that doubles every 11 years.

Last night over supper, some of us had a loud debate. One person felt that the islanders have it too easy, since government employees (including teachers) get a sizeable bonus due to the distance from the mainland and the high prices. The local folks are not "hungry" and so they have no incentive to innovate, worry about the future, study and plan. People are spoiled.

Others think that the island cultures are all like this; isolated from other provinces, Galapaguenos have their own narrow view that is based on their self-interest. There is not one bookstore here and no movie theatre (or any other kind of theater), so folks inbreed their ideas. The more expansive and eccentric notions die off, since there are so few interested in the unconventional. People are ignorant.

Another theory is that the people are like Darwin´s finches. They exploit their environment so that they survive. They adapt. But they do not feel any intrinsic need to develop their culture, since such development has no purpose. They are existentialists in that their experience is their teacher. Philosophy, ethics and such abstract ideas are as remote as Ulan Bator. Not a single bookstore on the Galapagos! People find a niche and stagnate.

I am not sure what to think. I have to refer to what makes me fired up and that wold be swimming, biking and viewing birds. Why is it that, in this pristine setting, surrounded by exquisite bays and sugary sand, no one swims? Of the 7,000 residents, not a single person swims more than a few strokes. (One notable exception: a large group of teenagers learned how to surf from some tourists and enjoy the big waves.) No one is kayaking or sailing. There are few cyclists and very few runners. I cannot think of a better thing to do than to encourage local people to get involved in their rugged and beautiful landscapes.

So as to change some of this, I am co-heading this island´s Ciclovida Cristobal - as in biking/life/san cristobal. We will have a book store on the boardwalk, biking games (jumps, obstacle courses), BMX acrobats, massages, and face painting. I lobbied for swimming lessons but that was a bit too radical. All of this ocean stuff will have to wait.