Chile Arica 阿里卡智利 – 4/2017 (15)

8-9/4/2017. After 10 hours of desperate escape from La Paz, I finally arrived in Chile’s northernmost coastal city of Arica. As I arrived on the coast, my eardrums popped, just like when a plane touches down. Today I slept like a baby for a few hours, as though my brain long deprived of oxygen was now being replenished. I felt like a new person, with no sign of brain damage or impairment.

8-9/4/2017 – 拔寨狼狈逃离拉巴斯，经过十小时终于抵达智利最北海岸小城阿里卡。离开玻利维亚是不得已的分手。快到海边时，耳膜开始感觉气压变化，有如飞机降落那一刻。今天几小时睡得像婴儿，有如大脑又充入氧气。今天有如得了新生命，没因三周缺氧而智呆或永久脑残症状。

8-9/4/2017. Arica was a small town with a big sea. It may be a seaside town, but parched, dry, barren, desert landscape surrounded it, lush green vegetation is few and far between. This cruel lifelessness is a poignant contrast to the azure sea and the baby blue heavens.

I went to a nearby suburban food court expecting to find abundant seafood. As expected, this was truly seafood heaven. I ordered something simple but extraordinary: a seafood risotto. I did not want them to think I had not seen seafood in my life. I glanced over the tables around. Those big locals were digging with gusto into big plates of seafood savories, each like a seafood bouquet.

阿里卡是有个大海的小镇。虽然是海边，四周没悦眼的绿草木，反之，四周都是无生迹的枯地，跟那蓝天蓝海就是阴阳两界，但又紧邻相伴。既然靠海，我第一餐到住宅区附近海边食摊市场找海鲜。这地方还真靠海吃海，每个小小摊口，端出来的五花八门，有点百花齐放小花篮海鲜，看了垂涎三尺，我点了简单海鲜饭，没敢大开杀戒，怕当地人以为我没见过海鲜。还得说很棒，智利烧海鲜， 还真有两手。

On the weekend I was in Arica, a marching band of boys and men blew and hammered their instruments, thunderous and fast tempo. At the back, another marching band of girls, of different body forms and different ages, were roused by the drumbeat to dance almost beside themselves, bursting with energy and passion. Life is short. This is their way of living it to the fullest.

在阿里卡的一个周末，在海边一群男女在排练，一帮男的敲打各类乐器，乐音震耳，节奏紧凑，在后方随着节奏起舞的，肥嬛瘦燕，年小年大的，无限感染的激情。他们散发的不是充沛精力，而是对生活的激情。很少听到慢悠悠的拉美音乐。抒情音乐不适合他们。他们在争分夺秒的充实这短暂人生。