Siempre hay espacio mas
A brief word from Thomas Merton (Thanks Laplant):
"Life consists in learning to live on one's own, spontaneous, freewheeling: to do this one must recognize what is one's own-be familiar and at home with oneself. This means basically learning who one is, and learning what one has to offer to the contemporary world, and then learning how to make that offering valid.
The purpose of education is to show us how to define ourselves
authentically and spontaneously in relation to our world-not to impose a prefabricated definition of the world, still less an arbitrary definition of ourselves as individuals. The world is made up of the people who are fully alive in it: that is, of the people who can be themselves in it and can enter into a living and fruitful relationship with each other in it. The world is, therefore, more real in proportion as the people in it are able to be more fully and more humanly alive: that is to say, better able to make a lucid and conscious use of their freedom. Basically, this freedom must consist first of all in the capacity to choose their own lives, to find themselves on the deepest possible level. A superficial freedom to wander aimlessly here and there, to taste this or that, to make a choice of distractions . is simply a sham. It claims to be a freedom of "choice" when it has evaded the basic task of discovering who it is that chooses. It is not free because it is unwilling to face the risk of self-discovery."
(Thomas Merton. "Learning to Live" in Love and Living. Edited by Naomi Burton Stone and Brother Patrick Hart. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1979: 3-4.)
It is actually quite difficult to learn to be at home with oneself. It is even harder when people look at you and you can tell that you do not belong there. Perhaps an illustration will help.
I left San Lucas on Saturday morning to start making my way up to Tikal. The method of travel will be what is still considered the backroads, chickenbuses and this shuttle vans that are like the things you get from Holiday Inn but with many more people. The reasons I stick out are as follows: 1) It takes me longer to board the bus because I ask and then ask again to make sure this bus is going where I think/hope it is going; 2) It takes me longer to find a seat because of the stuff I have to put up on the racks, which is only a regular school backpack and this man-purse/ European Carry-all type thingy. I am doing this as the driver is whipping corners at high speeds along cliffs and turns where you cannot see oncoming traffic until it is too late. It reminds me much of the Going into the Sun Road in Glacier National Park but without the rinky dinky rock wall and at much higher speeds. 3) I tower over the Maya people by at least 6 inches. I regularly clothesline myself walking through the market under their makeshift tarp roofs. It also does not help that I have no hair and a beard on a brilliantly white head (which is fairly tanned by now). Needless to say, I am noticed. I hide behind my sunglasses because I don´t want to be caught with all the observing I am doing and it also hides me from potential conversations that could possibly never end. This time it did not.
My entire bus ride, from San Lucas to Quiche, was spent talking theology with a Pastor Evangelico from the Highlands. It was enjoyable and I did learn a few things, but he never shut up. He was very nice and offered us food and some travel tips, but trying to pay attention to him in Spanish, for three hours, is tiring. I cannot even do that in English. However he did invite me to his home and to a theology seminar this coming weekend. I do not think I will make it though because travel is very difficult and tiring. It mostly consists of luck/fate. We got lucky on our ride from Quiche up through Sacapulas to Uspatan. We hitched a ride in one of the shuttle van thingys for a good price. But it was overcrowded and the rapidly changing altitude levels make me a bit sick. I was miserable and tired and had a man sitting on top of me. We arrived in Uspatan after about 7 hours of total travel. I am traveling with another volunteer from San Lucas, Mara, and we headed up to Uspatan in the highlands to meet up with a friend she has in the Peace Corps. It worked out well for me because it offered a chance to take the adventuresome "back route" to Tikal.
Jonny, a Peace Corps volunteer from Oregon, is in environmental education. He is doing a lot with trying to get ecotourism developed and halt the rapid rate of deforestation in the country. There is also a problem with garbage in this country. People are never taught to use garbage cans and they are few and far between. There is no national recycling program which forces us to be creative in our consumption practices as travellers and volunteers. People regularly throw shit out the buses, drop garbage and kick it like footballs, throw bags on the sides of hills...I perceive it as a real problem that needs immediate attention. The problem is complicated though by the poor school system and lack of educational standards to promote healthy, sustainable lifestyles with regards to the environment and natural resources.
We spent two days in Uspatan, hiking to some gorgeous waterfalls, wandering and bartering in the market, cooking and inventing new desserts, watching the Cup, playing some games and chatting. It is off the beaten track. I didn´t see any other gringos except for the Peace Corps volunteers (Jonny´s friends) in the area. It was cool hearing all his stories and his experiences. They are much different than my friend Jenny´s from Kyrgystan. He lives alone in a new house he found after moving out of a troublesome host family situation. He is building his own furniture, cooks from a propane stove, buys food fresh everyday because he doesn´t have a fridge. Pretty cool.
We left Uspatan this morning to head up to Tikal. Unfortunately the shuttle van ride thingy to Coban took a bit longer and now we are here for the night. Our driver was stopped by the police, paid a bribe, still given a ticket (I think it was something because of illegal documents) and I took a picture. Probably not a good idea, but I was real sly and sneaky. Before we left San Lucas, some other friends were telling us of all the violence and robbings in the country. Mara almos t bailed out of fear. Good thing I freaked up before I left the States. I have run into nothing of the kind thus far and probably would have traveled anyways (Against the fatherly adviced I received: ¨Jake, don´t travel alone." Sorry Dad, no disrespect, only youthful ignorance. And besides, you taught me it is better to ask forgiveness than seek permission. I am helpin you be more patient.) I am also begining to get pretty good at judging situations fairly well and I think it helps that I am a BAMF. (If you don`t know what a BAMF, ask your kid.) Anyways reading the newspaper is a good way to gauge what is save and what is not. Something like 16 Guatemalans are killed a day by weapons. I don´t know how high that is compared to other places, but Amnesty Internationl has Guatemala on its watchlist because of rape and violence against women and the lack of government response to it. Check out(http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/guatemala/). Also asking around has been fairly helpful (mostly in the comedors or lodgings).
This lull in the action is kind of a blessing in disguise and gives me a chance to read, write some emails, reflect, etc. Coban reminds me a lot of some of the Italian towns in Tuscany. Hilly streets, coloful homes, lush greenery, nice churches, markets. Coban is a bit bigger and modern, lots of internet, banks, cellphones, schools. We have a direct shuttle to Tikal in the morning, which is nice so I don´t have to think again until tomorrow afternoon. (I am really tired of thinking now. Lots of information has entered and do not have time or energy to process it...I´ve lost probably 12 pounds or so despite all the food I eat and beer I drink. Lots of walking, little protein in the diet, stomach "cough" problems...)
There was a really intense Evangelical preacher in the market today reminding me of my need to repent. He was out there man. There is a strong Evangelical presence in Guatemala, moreso here than in any other Latin American country. I am told that during the Civil War, the Catholic priests, who were of course Commie Scum encouraging proletariat revolt, were considered to be high risk threats because of their ability to congregate people (something called "Mass" or something). Anyways the people in power, one specifically was the dictator General Rios Montt in the 80s (an evangelical "educated" in the U.S. and praised by our friends Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell for his faith in God and country, but not well liked among Maya survivors of the army´s brutality) brought in Evangelicals to break up Catholic communities. Interesting eh? Anyway, a strong presence still remains, especially in the Highlands where there was a lot of guerilla activity.
What is the news from San Lucas. Sister June left the other day and I think Josiah and Catherine, the CRS volunteers are moving in. The Aquaponics project is close to really get off the ground. The guys we work with out there are great. They tooks us up to their community for the grand tour of Nueva Providencia. It is a beautiful community in the hills above a river. Their bridge is busted though due to some failed considerations of American engineering students. They forgot about heavy rains. I know I have so much more to add and say but I am drawing a mind blank. There is a really great Cuban musical group called Orishas. Check them out.
"Life consists in learning to live on one's own, spontaneous, freewheeling: to do this one must recognize what is one's own-be familiar and at home with oneself. This means basically learning who one is, and learning what one has to offer to the contemporary world, and then learning how to make that offering valid.
The purpose of education is to show us how to define ourselves
authentically and spontaneously in relation to our world-not to impose a prefabricated definition of the world, still less an arbitrary definition of ourselves as individuals. The world is made up of the people who are fully alive in it: that is, of the people who can be themselves in it and can enter into a living and fruitful relationship with each other in it. The world is, therefore, more real in proportion as the people in it are able to be more fully and more humanly alive: that is to say, better able to make a lucid and conscious use of their freedom. Basically, this freedom must consist first of all in the capacity to choose their own lives, to find themselves on the deepest possible level. A superficial freedom to wander aimlessly here and there, to taste this or that, to make a choice of distractions . is simply a sham. It claims to be a freedom of "choice" when it has evaded the basic task of discovering who it is that chooses. It is not free because it is unwilling to face the risk of self-discovery."
(Thomas Merton. "Learning to Live" in Love and Living. Edited by Naomi Burton Stone and Brother Patrick Hart. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1979: 3-4.)
It is actually quite difficult to learn to be at home with oneself. It is even harder when people look at you and you can tell that you do not belong there. Perhaps an illustration will help.
I left San Lucas on Saturday morning to start making my way up to Tikal. The method of travel will be what is still considered the backroads, chickenbuses and this shuttle vans that are like the things you get from Holiday Inn but with many more people. The reasons I stick out are as follows: 1) It takes me longer to board the bus because I ask and then ask again to make sure this bus is going where I think/hope it is going; 2) It takes me longer to find a seat because of the stuff I have to put up on the racks, which is only a regular school backpack and this man-purse/ European Carry-all type thingy. I am doing this as the driver is whipping corners at high speeds along cliffs and turns where you cannot see oncoming traffic until it is too late. It reminds me much of the Going into the Sun Road in Glacier National Park but without the rinky dinky rock wall and at much higher speeds. 3) I tower over the Maya people by at least 6 inches. I regularly clothesline myself walking through the market under their makeshift tarp roofs. It also does not help that I have no hair and a beard on a brilliantly white head (which is fairly tanned by now). Needless to say, I am noticed. I hide behind my sunglasses because I don´t want to be caught with all the observing I am doing and it also hides me from potential conversations that could possibly never end. This time it did not.
My entire bus ride, from San Lucas to Quiche, was spent talking theology with a Pastor Evangelico from the Highlands. It was enjoyable and I did learn a few things, but he never shut up. He was very nice and offered us food and some travel tips, but trying to pay attention to him in Spanish, for three hours, is tiring. I cannot even do that in English. However he did invite me to his home and to a theology seminar this coming weekend. I do not think I will make it though because travel is very difficult and tiring. It mostly consists of luck/fate. We got lucky on our ride from Quiche up through Sacapulas to Uspatan. We hitched a ride in one of the shuttle van thingys for a good price. But it was overcrowded and the rapidly changing altitude levels make me a bit sick. I was miserable and tired and had a man sitting on top of me. We arrived in Uspatan after about 7 hours of total travel. I am traveling with another volunteer from San Lucas, Mara, and we headed up to Uspatan in the highlands to meet up with a friend she has in the Peace Corps. It worked out well for me because it offered a chance to take the adventuresome "back route" to Tikal.
Jonny, a Peace Corps volunteer from Oregon, is in environmental education. He is doing a lot with trying to get ecotourism developed and halt the rapid rate of deforestation in the country. There is also a problem with garbage in this country. People are never taught to use garbage cans and they are few and far between. There is no national recycling program which forces us to be creative in our consumption practices as travellers and volunteers. People regularly throw shit out the buses, drop garbage and kick it like footballs, throw bags on the sides of hills...I perceive it as a real problem that needs immediate attention. The problem is complicated though by the poor school system and lack of educational standards to promote healthy, sustainable lifestyles with regards to the environment and natural resources.
We spent two days in Uspatan, hiking to some gorgeous waterfalls, wandering and bartering in the market, cooking and inventing new desserts, watching the Cup, playing some games and chatting. It is off the beaten track. I didn´t see any other gringos except for the Peace Corps volunteers (Jonny´s friends) in the area. It was cool hearing all his stories and his experiences. They are much different than my friend Jenny´s from Kyrgystan. He lives alone in a new house he found after moving out of a troublesome host family situation. He is building his own furniture, cooks from a propane stove, buys food fresh everyday because he doesn´t have a fridge. Pretty cool.
We left Uspatan this morning to head up to Tikal. Unfortunately the shuttle van ride thingy to Coban took a bit longer and now we are here for the night. Our driver was stopped by the police, paid a bribe, still given a ticket (I think it was something because of illegal documents) and I took a picture. Probably not a good idea, but I was real sly and sneaky. Before we left San Lucas, some other friends were telling us of all the violence and robbings in the country. Mara almos t bailed out of fear. Good thing I freaked up before I left the States. I have run into nothing of the kind thus far and probably would have traveled anyways (Against the fatherly adviced I received: ¨Jake, don´t travel alone." Sorry Dad, no disrespect, only youthful ignorance. And besides, you taught me it is better to ask forgiveness than seek permission. I am helpin you be more patient.) I am also begining to get pretty good at judging situations fairly well and I think it helps that I am a BAMF. (If you don`t know what a BAMF, ask your kid.) Anyways reading the newspaper is a good way to gauge what is save and what is not. Something like 16 Guatemalans are killed a day by weapons. I don´t know how high that is compared to other places, but Amnesty Internationl has Guatemala on its watchlist because of rape and violence against women and the lack of government response to it. Check out(http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/guatemala/). Also asking around has been fairly helpful (mostly in the comedors or lodgings).
This lull in the action is kind of a blessing in disguise and gives me a chance to read, write some emails, reflect, etc. Coban reminds me a lot of some of the Italian towns in Tuscany. Hilly streets, coloful homes, lush greenery, nice churches, markets. Coban is a bit bigger and modern, lots of internet, banks, cellphones, schools. We have a direct shuttle to Tikal in the morning, which is nice so I don´t have to think again until tomorrow afternoon. (I am really tired of thinking now. Lots of information has entered and do not have time or energy to process it...I´ve lost probably 12 pounds or so despite all the food I eat and beer I drink. Lots of walking, little protein in the diet, stomach "cough" problems...)
There was a really intense Evangelical preacher in the market today reminding me of my need to repent. He was out there man. There is a strong Evangelical presence in Guatemala, moreso here than in any other Latin American country. I am told that during the Civil War, the Catholic priests, who were of course Commie Scum encouraging proletariat revolt, were considered to be high risk threats because of their ability to congregate people (something called "Mass" or something). Anyways the people in power, one specifically was the dictator General Rios Montt in the 80s (an evangelical "educated" in the U.S. and praised by our friends Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell for his faith in God and country, but not well liked among Maya survivors of the army´s brutality) brought in Evangelicals to break up Catholic communities. Interesting eh? Anyway, a strong presence still remains, especially in the Highlands where there was a lot of guerilla activity.
What is the news from San Lucas. Sister June left the other day and I think Josiah and Catherine, the CRS volunteers are moving in. The Aquaponics project is close to really get off the ground. The guys we work with out there are great. They tooks us up to their community for the grand tour of Nueva Providencia. It is a beautiful community in the hills above a river. Their bridge is busted though due to some failed considerations of American engineering students. They forgot about heavy rains. I know I have so much more to add and say but I am drawing a mind blank. There is a really great Cuban musical group called Orishas. Check them out.
posted by Unknown at 5:07 p. m.
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