Autobiography - The Galindo Group

Ram Galindo THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN Page 189
use. They are not bankable. Nor can they be bought in the market or acquired by
delegating the effort to third persons. Training is something every athlete must do
individually, day in and day out, no excuses, no mercy. Our bodies, or its parts thereof,
cannot be easily exchanged or replaced by newer models. Their maintenance and their
improvement is the owner’s inescapable responsibility.
When one has gone through months of extreme daily workouts in preparation for a race,
the day of the event brings the test of our ability to stand the anguish of pain. It is mostly
a test of the spirit, when each competitor establishes if the outer limits of the body have
been reached to the fullest. In my opinion, it is not important to win the race though it is
nice to do so from time to time. What is important is the quest to build our character, to
achieve a strong spirit. Training and our genomes strengthen our spirits. Toward the
end of a race, when my body feels the pain of glucose deficiency, all I have to keep me
going is my spirit. I then call on my father’s help to sustain me in my last effort. It is the
only way I can finish without giving up. His help always comes through. Athletic
competition and the training that it demands help us be a better competitor in life.
Fortunately, the self-reliance demanded by the American system is the best breeding
ground for a nation of competitors.
The character building properties of the adventure of exploring unknown territories of
our physical potential can sometimes be harsh and exhausting, but always salutary. The
lessons learned from other types of adventure can be exhilarating and educational, and
also constructive. This was the case with the overland trip Joe Elliott and I took from
Houston to Cochabamba. As I indicated above, during my employment with the
engineering firm of Brown & Root, I had become focused in owning my means of
production. When it became apparent that my bosses would not go through with their
plans to branch out, I began to talk with Joe Elliott about the possibility of seeking our
place under the sun in Bolivia. In September 1963, we decided to take the risk and laid
out our plans for the adventure.
My wife, baby son and I started out driving from Houston, in early October. We met Joe
in Mexico City where he had flown from Los Angeles after he quit his job there. When
we got together, we barely had enough money to buy gas and the most critical supplies
needed, for we had invested most of our savings in the International Scout we were
driving. Consequently, we often spent nights on the roadside or, at best, in modest
cottages we found along the way. We usually bathed and washed our clothes in the
many rivers we crossed, especially in Central America where we found innumerable
beautiful, tropical, clear water streams flowing into the Pacific. The first long stop we
made was in Balboa, Panama, where we ensconced ourselves in the YMCA at the US
Army base, until we could find a freighter that would carry us around the impassable
Darien gap.
All along we happily, and perhaps a bit foolishly, sought adventure. Whenever there
was a choice of roads we invariably took the less traveled. As a result of this practice, in
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