You are currently browsing the monthly Archive for September, 2007.
He escrito sobre la perspectiva en el pasado. Pero estoy perdiendo perspectiva. ¿Por que? ¿Cómo? Es fácil. Cada día me despierto y tengo un apartamento muy bonito. Vivo en un apartamento con dos niveles, una buena vista, y en un lugar muy seguro. Despues, voy a mi colegio que es magnifico. Los estudiantes son los mejores en Guatemala, el campus está manteniendo perfectamente, y hay muchas personas que puede ayudarme y los estudiantes.
Y, cuando estoy en cualquier lugar, la gente me da respeta y las personas son amables porque yo tengo piel blanco, ojos claros, y pelo rubio.
Entonces estoy perdiendo perspectiva un poco. Pero, hoy, tengo mi pura perspectiva otra vez.
¿Por que? Porque ví una película se llama Recylced Life. La película es sobre la pobreza de Guatemala. Mas specificamente, la película muestra imagines de la personas que viven en el basurero. La gente tiene el nombre de Guajeros porque ellos recogen la basura y toma la basura a sus casas o ellos venden la basura.
Mi perspectiva se cambia por la mejor, porque yo estoy suerte. Yo estoy en una posición muy raro y necesito estar feliz que tengo todas las cosas yo necesito.
Ahora, recuerdo porque estoy aquí!
Car horns are wailing. People are sprinting up and down the streets screaming. Fireworks are exploding. And last time I checked Guatemala did not have a Super Bowl, nor a World Series.
So why all the commotion and ruckus?
Carlos Peña, that’s why! A Puro Chapin! A native of Guatemala City! And he has beaten Ricardo Caballero to become the new Latin American Idol! I completely understand that for some people this appears to be a ridiculous thing to be exuberant over, but if you were here, in Guatemala City, you’d understand. 
There’s overwhelming pride, and even though I’m not from Guatemala, even though I’ve only been living here for a couple months, I feel it too. It’s powerful. His face was just on my shirt earlier today as I walked around campus sporting a black Carlos Peña t-shirt and now people are honking their horns to show their support for his victory. (And I’m blogging about him.)
But this is all because he wasn’t just singing for himself. He was singing for an entire country. He was representing Guatemala, and even now as I type this people are outside screaming his name in unison because he has shed positive light on his country.
And I think we forget this sometimes. We fail to realize that we are not independent of our families, friends, countries, jobs, etc. How we carry ourselves, and how we act does end up representing our ethnicity, age, gender, country and so much more. If only we’d realize this more often, and truly understand how powerful and impacting our actions can be we might alter them a bit.
I even wonder if we’d act differently knowing a whole country was supporting us? And I wonder if we’d act differently if our actions supported an entire country?
Yo apoyo Guatemala y Carlos Peña!
Open up your heart, what do you feel
Open up your heart, what do you feel… is real
The big bang may be a million years away
But I can’t think of a better time to say
World, hold on
Instead of messing with our future, open up inside
World, hold on
One day you will have to answer to the children of the sky
Children of the sky…
Children of the sky…
Look inside, you’ll find a deeper love
The kind that only comes from high above
If you ever meet your inner child, don’t cry
Tell them everything is gonna be all right
World, hold on
Come one, everybody in the universe, come on
World, hold on
One day you will have to answer to the children of the sky
Children of the sky… alright
Love, don’t take no for an answer, no
Right here,spread love, everybody join together now
One , one heart, love and unity, everybody sing
yeah!
World, hold on
Come one, everybody in the universe, come on
World, hold on
One day you will have to answer to the children of the sky
World, hold on
Come one, everybody in the universe, come on
World, hold on
One day you will have to answer to the children of the sky
Message:
First of all, if you want to get up and dance at any point during this song, I wouldn’t hold it against you. I’m actually dancing a bit while I’m typing, so I won’t judge.
Often times techno songs don’t get credit for having too much meaning but this song is filled with messages about love, and what could be better than that? World hold on, because love is comin’!
If you hadn’t noticed, the world changes every day. It spins, it rotates, it gets colder, cloudier, dirtier, cleaner, wetter, and even drier. And the people…oh the people get happier, sadder, healthier, and fatter.
So who are you to think that you can’t change it? Who are you to sit on your $100 pair of jeans and think that you have no say in what happens with this place? Well wake up! because we change the world, and we change it daily. For the better, for the worse. For the long-term and the short. Yet we IRREFUTABLY and INCESSANTLY change it!
Then yesterday, as my world was changing, and I was helping to alter it, my students and I were discussing this. So one, very profound young man at just thirteen years old, standing much taller than I, said this…and I will never forget it:
“I set out to change the world, but realized the world was too big and I couldn’t change it by myself. Then I set out to change my country, but realized my country was also too big and I couldn’t change it by myself. Then I tried to change my community, but my community was too big and I couldn’t change it by myself. After that, I tried to change my family, but realized my family was too big and I couldn’t change it by myself. So finally, I set out to change myself and by changing myself I slowly changed my family, my community, my country, and even the world.”
Like I said, the world keeps on changing, and whether you’re willing to admit it or not, you’re changing it too.
Every morning I get to school around 6:30. The campus is calm, there are very few teachers and no students. But there are birds, hundreds of them. And every morning, around 6:45 or 7:00, not longer after I’ve opened my door, one or two birds will come hopping through my door into my classroom. They do this habitually and routinely. They never miss a day, and I wonder if they miss me on Saturday or Sunday.
It’s the most fascinating thing too, because they’ll come in, hop up and down on their two fragile legs, bobbing their heads forward and back, looking for food. Every once in a great while they’ll even be brave and nudge somewhat close to me. And although I’ve never done it, I’m always a little tempted to close the door with them inside to see what will happen. This might sound cruel, but it’s just the curious side of me that wonders what they’d do. Would they attack me and peck my face? Or would the sit at the door and wait like a dog until I let them out for their daily pee on the tree?
More than likely they’d probably fly around the room until I opened the door, but relax, I would never do this because I like their company in the morning, and I’d hate to scare them away.
Guatemala…the land of eternal spring and visits from birds in the morning.
¿Has tratado aprender una idioma nueva? ¿Tu sabes cómo defícil lo es? Todo es defícil. No es solamente las palabras. Puedo aprender verbos y sustantivos y adjectivos y preposiciones. Esos son faciles. No, que es horible es cuando estoy usando las palabras y no las puedo pronunciar o cambiar.
Y a veces me siento mejor cuando aprendo nuevas palabras cada día, pero despues yo recuerdo que hay miles mas que no conozco. Por ejemblo, cuando estoy hablando con una persona de Guatemala y está hablando en español yo solo sé unas pocas palabras que usa. Y muchas veces necesito decir, “Otra vez” o “Lo siento, no entiendo.”
Tengo frustracion. Tengo verguenza. Pero, es vale la pena. Voy a aprender porque yo entiendo que es normal para sufrir un poco cuando estamos aprendiendo cualquier cosa.
It’s a yearly thing I do. I have students set goals for themselves because I believe it’s important to have a plan, a quest even. And yet, while I do set goals for myself all the time, I rarely write them down the same way I have my students do it. And you know…that just ain’t right, is it?
So here goes. Over the next two years while I’m in Guatemala, I want to set some goals: short-term, long-term, specific, general, fun, serious, professional, personal, and just plain crazy goals. Here goes:
1. Become Fluent in Spanish:
a. By fluent I mean I’ll be able to carry on a conversation with someone in Spanish without using a dictionary, without saying, “Que?” and without nodding my head and smiling, pretending I had any clue what was just said to me.
b. And how will I do this? Well…easy. I’ll have to actually speak the language once in a while. I’ll have to open a book and study some Spanish verbs. And, this is wild, but I’ll have to stop hanging out with Gringos so much and immerse myself in the culture of Guatemala.
2. Travel throughout Central and South America:
a. By the time I leave Guatemala, my goal is to have visited every country in Central America (I’ve been to Mexico and Belize, but there’s also Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica). I also want to travel to at least three countries in South America. Preferably Colombia, Brazil, and Chile or Argentina.
3. Help ALL of my Students Improve their English:
a. This is a very general, broad goal, but by improve I hope they can speak better, read better, and write a little bit better by the time they leave my class. The best way to do this is by making class engaging and interesting.
4. Learn to Cook at least 10 different meals:
a. This is more specific, because it needs to be. I am 26 years old, and damn it, I should know how to cook more than a few different dishes. So, with the help of friends, my maid, and the Internet, I hope to learn how to cook.
5. Climb a Volcano:
a. Guatemala has volcanoes like California has sign twirlers. It seems like every time I turn my head I see another one. So, it would be a shame if I never went to the top of one. This goal I should be able to accomplish soon.
6. Write EVERY Day:
a. One time I read that people who journal, or who simply write on a regular basis are healthier, and get sick far less often than those who don’t. This is only one reason why I want to write every day though. The main reason is to capture this experience so I can fully appreciate it now and later. Each time I write I’m forced to focus on specific details throughout the day, which in turn forces me to be more aware of each day. So much can get lost if we don’t stop and reflect.
b. A sub goal for this would be to write in Spanish at least twice a week. Es un poco deficil ahora, pero voy a mejorar y vamos a ver si puedo escribir mejor tambien.
7. Read at least THREE books in Spanish.
8. Win a basketball tournament.
9. Learn to Scuba Dive.
10. Make a film about my experience here.
11. Fall in love and get married. (Maybe not in the next two years…but sometime soon would be nice.)
As you can see, now I’m starting to stretch my goals a bit.
I’ve always felt that it takes about one month to get comfortable with anything. Whether it’s a new job, a new relationship, or even a new country, I think a month is the perfect amount of time to start getting settled in.
And after one month in Guatemala, I am finally there. Here’s why:
- I’ve moved in to my apartment, met my neighbors, and even memorized my new address.
- I’ve set up my classroom, I know all of my students’ names, and I feel as though this is now my school.
- I’ve met new people and gotten to the point where I can already refer to many of them close friends.
- I’ve opened a bank account.
- I’ve cooked in my own apartment…not very well…but I cooked.
- I’ve established a routine.
- I have a maid coming on a regular basis…this is still a bit weird for me…nice…but weird.
- I’ve played basketball.
- I’ve done a little traveling.
- I’ve been to the grocery store several times, and been confused by products several times. What’s with this sweet milk not being cold anyway? I’ve never heard of warm milk…but it works I suppose.
- I feel at home.
Now, here are a few pictures of my classroom, my school, and my apartment.
