One of the greatest benefits of being able to travel to so many countries where I can be with such interesting people from all over the world, is getting to constantly learn about new things. While I was unfortunately only able to be in Guayaquil, Ecuador for 2 days, I came away with some outstanding new lessons that are worth passing on to you.
One of Guayaquil's recent achievements is a complete renovation of the city's riverfront, which they call the "Malecón". It is complete with encapsulated prior monuments, children's play areas, parks, water displays, etc. In some ways it is a common story of a city taking an area that was run down, dirty, and crime infested, and rebuilding it. But what was most impressive to me was the attention to detail that is everywhere. It reminded me of the overarching message that Robert Pirsig so impressed me with in his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Though I read it so many years ago, it remains one of the most influential of books (HIGHLY recommended).
What I took away from Zen was the fundamental role of what he called "quality" and it was everywhere I looked. As I took advantage of the warm equatorial night to stroll the several kilometers of the Malecón in Guayaquil, I saw quality everywhere: the individual quality of the light fixtures from both a construction standpoint and by the large variety of their designs which reflected the overall marine and water theme.
Quality was also in the hedges, which incorporated brightly painted steel sculptures that were of an abstract wave formation. It was present even in the treatment and variety of materials used for the walkway itself, from wood planks to intricate patterns of concrete to tiles.
Each of these "quality" touches were not necessarily crucial to the overall effect and without them, this would still have been a very "nice" treatment. But with them, it became something truly special. This was reflected in the feel you could not miss in the laughter of the young children running and playing, the smiles of their parents, the new romance radiating from the couples young and old snuggling on the benches, and even in the way the police personnel, most of them women, were completely integrated into the scene and busy chatting with those walking and sitting.
More to come about my education at the equator...
Till next time,
w
a
yne
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