Some people think that living in the midst of the forest resembles dwelling in a relaxed, fairy-tale like setting of profound peace and quiet. But actually it really isn’t like that at all, and certainly not in a tropical forest.
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Let me begin by explaining this thing about having your peace. You see, basically you’re always on a kind of red-alert, continuously aware of and fighting against the abundant forces of your surroundings: the fast growing weeds, the Amazonian jungle trying to close you in, and the unthinkable number of insects, termites, bats and rats, among others, attacking you or your (wooden) cabin.
Besides that, you always need to watch out when walking the grounds, avoiding to step on a poisonous snake, a burning caterpillar, a red ants nest, or avoid falling into invisible holes (i.e. nests) that have been dug by I-don’t-know-what-kind of creatures the night before.
Then about this quiet thing. The sounds. The noise. It’s actually very loud in the jungle: a billion insects buzzing, birds chirping and singing, monkeys howling, and frogs screaming, weird sounds traversing the forest and trees, and branches and fruits regularly tumbling down violently. Moreover, it goes on night and day, 24/7. And if that doesn’t seem enough, well, you always have the recurrent, pounding-your-eardrums thunderstorms and monsoon rains.
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Okay, I agree that the nature of “disturbance” is very different from living in a “civilized environment.” No, there’s no noise of cars, trains, televisions, or people, and no, there are no (human) thieves or annoying neighbors to protect against. But then again, the main issue stays the same: no peace, no quiet!
If you’d really insist on peace and quiet, it would be better to go living somewhere deep on the French countryside, close to some God-forgotten farmers village. You’d probably get disturbed only by the Sunday morning church bells (because even a French village of just two houses has at least one church). Peace and quiet you’ll get — in fact, it would be an excellent training in preparing you for the afterlife.
But to make my point clear: living in one of our modern, multi-million cities is perhaps not that different from living in the Amazon. When it comes to making an honest comparison, well, you see — it’s both a jungle out there!
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