Trek Assessment 03

3. Describe three surprises or unexpected situations you encountered on your Treks and in the days that followed. The surprise could stem from your expectations that conflicted with "on the ground" realities, cultural or social issues of which you were previously unaware, feelings and reactions that you did not expect to have, appearances and soundings of things you did not expect, good or bad outcomes of "on the spot" decisions you had to make, or the discovery of "deeper" realities in the materials you brought home. (Again, skip anything technology-related!)


The first unexpected situation I encountered was when it rained on me during my first Trek 01 attempt. This may count as technology related, but I feel it has to be said anyway. The fact that I was unable to capture the sound of the rain without it disrupting the microphones was very much a reality check. It was a wonderfully violent night, but the moment the rain came I had to run for shelter and unfortunately the rain became nothing but a constant droning to the microphones. On top of that, it ruined one of my microphones. Another unexpected encounter was the incessant electric ambiance that, I felt, plagued the audio portions of my Treks. I really noticed some rather exquisite subtleties of suburban life. It became a fixation to me with my Trek 03, and I found that I could take pictures of places that were completely different, but when I stepped back and looked at the pictures, much of them look the same. I find myself still wondering why people collectively move in to such places that look the same when such repetition invokes a sense of melancholy into a person such as myself.