Fair warning this is a post of less than sunny forecasts and many excuses
I once heard this great idea my friends wife had about writing a blog about being off the grid. We all found it genius aside from the fact that having a blog would be in direct contradiction to being off the grid, let alone having the electricity or phone connection to access it. Maybe a zine would be more authentic. Who knows, but in a few different circumstances it has come up that the proper name would be straddling the grid, which I believe I am currently doing.This is the main reason I haven´t posted anything for a while.
I have more pictures but I can´t find my connector cord and my camera wasn´t working for a while. Also the flikr folks want to charge me money to have more than 200 photos which I have past, so that´s currently up in the air.
So anyway being that I don´t have a computer and I moved to a different house without a computer... I don´t have one. There are internet cafes but they are expensive, so my time and budget for typing and editing of these things is on fumes.
I know that people have tried to leave comments and for some reason the program isn´t letting people sign up or cuts them off, etc. Sorry about that. Especially because without them it kind of defeats the conversation starting aspect of a blog.
Further I have deactivated my facebook account. I could go on a million different tangents about why I did this, but the number one reason I did so was in direct relation to my watching of the movie the Social Network. Everyone seems to be alive and functioning so I´ll take that as a sign that the world is still in balance.
More bad news. I will do my best to put up some pictures and post when I can, but the best way to hear from me is to email me at chriserickson@hotmail.com . If you do I promise you will get a response. I am very good about this now, as before I used to blow off emails (yes even from family and friends)yet I now have a new appreciation for the courtesy of doing so.
I have an email that I send once a month to the College Place Presbyterian Church and also send messages to those who have donated toward the completion of my development projects here. I encourage you to do so, and will be willing to talk with you about what the money is for, who it is helping, etc. any time. I don´t like the pay to play system much though so donation or not, if you want a monthly update, send me your email, and I´ll be in touch that way.
I´ll probably have to make atleast one more post because this one it too debbie downer to be my last.
Que le vaya bien,
Chris
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Mas Fotos
So I've had a few people ask me about not being so stingy on the photos. So here you go. These are some pictures from my latest trip about 4 hours deep into the jungle outside of Coban. By far the most remote place and people I have encountered. Most the pictures are of the group from here. There is one that is with two guys from there. I cant even remember the name of the place, but it is not even an official place so...Look for the one with the guy who looks like the Guatamalan Billy Bob Thorton. You'll also noticed the beard was imposing, and so I cut it off as to not scare the natives any longer.
I will write more on Coban. Sorry no pictures of Antigua my camera battery died. There'll be other times.
www.flickr.com/photos/51849388@N08/?saved=1
I will write more on Coban. Sorry no pictures of Antigua my camera battery died. There'll be other times.
www.flickr.com/photos/51849388@N08/?saved=1
Monday, August 23, 2010
Guatever
So I've just got back from spending 9 or 10 days in Antigua. At first I didn't like it because it is a huge tourist trap of hotels and restaurants and such. Not that its bad, but its sole existence is to be inhabited by white people (not just americans) on vacation...or so it seems. After a few days I didn't mind it so much, and actually found that it was kinda nice because there were a lot of people to meet, and everybody wants a friend or has a story to tell about how they got there or what they're doing. In my experience if you give them a chance, everyone likes to talk about themselves, and I of course am one of these people. Antigua refreshingly though seems to be one of the few places where people actually get nicer when they are lonely. Anyway, I met a lot of good folks, some from peace corps, some local, and a bunch from Washington (7 or 8). Also it was funny to hear people pronounce Spokane as(Spocaine)and not get the inside joke.
I also went to school for the week, and learned a bunch of stuff. My Spanish is way better in the two months I've been here, but I'm still working on pronunciation quite a bit, and still have to think about what I'm going to say. I can understand quite a bit, but people have to not talk like the micro-machines guy or else I get lost. I guess I like talking better because I can choose what I want to say, instead of racking my brain trying to decipher what is being said.
Finished a book called White Noise by Don Delillo not too long ago. This book is where the band (which I have never heard a song of) Airborne Toxic Event gets its name. It was pretty good. Reminded me a lot of the Trial, by Franz Kafka. Not so much in the story but the seeming hidden meaning in the characters, and events and use of metaphor to represent things like consumerism, and fear of death. I liked the specific part at the German Hospital at the end where a nun gives an account of hers and other nun's belief and faith in God as non-existent, but instead the idea and perception of their greater faith was what was truly important in order to give everyone something to respect and aspire to, yet be able to blow off anytime they want because it is okay for a "common" man to fall short of the conviction of a nun.
This idea of taking a title, self aware that they were not as grand as the perception their position carries, yet taking the responcibility and weight of such lofty perceptions in order to sustain the belief for those who need it, is very interesting to me. You can see it many places as common as parenting to the many political issues of society, to religion and its various teachings, but I find it interesting how we distinguish which is narcicism and which is not. Of course a person would insist the necessity of a parent providing such an example to a child, but what is the line? Manisfest Destiny? Health Coverage for Abortions? Anti-Communism? Approval of a Mosque at Ground Zero? At what point does our great intellect and authority to tell others what is best for them become egoism. In my book it all is, regardless of a persons need, such thoughts and actions imply a person has decided or agreed with the decision of another that their intellectual standing it greater than those they are providing examples to...Why else would that person need your help? If you were not smarter than that person or know something they didn't or, were not better equipped with resources, etc. why would it be so important that anyone concern themselves with the well being others? Epecially in the instances where a person's well being is not involved. And truthfully, its not a bad thing, it literally is the way of the world and the society we live in. To embrace it is to adapt. Of course, to know this or see it in practice is one thing, but to say it, I guess, is another. It would seem that as long as we act oblivious to such obvious things, that we are not vein, but to acknowledge it, even in its flaws, is disingenuous.
Luckily, I like the idea that people, while always in pursuit of gain, don't always have greed but instead compassion in their hearts, whether knowledgable or not of their lack of altruism, and for the benefit of all are trying to help.
I also went to school for the week, and learned a bunch of stuff. My Spanish is way better in the two months I've been here, but I'm still working on pronunciation quite a bit, and still have to think about what I'm going to say. I can understand quite a bit, but people have to not talk like the micro-machines guy or else I get lost. I guess I like talking better because I can choose what I want to say, instead of racking my brain trying to decipher what is being said.
Finished a book called White Noise by Don Delillo not too long ago. This book is where the band (which I have never heard a song of) Airborne Toxic Event gets its name. It was pretty good. Reminded me a lot of the Trial, by Franz Kafka. Not so much in the story but the seeming hidden meaning in the characters, and events and use of metaphor to represent things like consumerism, and fear of death. I liked the specific part at the German Hospital at the end where a nun gives an account of hers and other nun's belief and faith in God as non-existent, but instead the idea and perception of their greater faith was what was truly important in order to give everyone something to respect and aspire to, yet be able to blow off anytime they want because it is okay for a "common" man to fall short of the conviction of a nun.
This idea of taking a title, self aware that they were not as grand as the perception their position carries, yet taking the responcibility and weight of such lofty perceptions in order to sustain the belief for those who need it, is very interesting to me. You can see it many places as common as parenting to the many political issues of society, to religion and its various teachings, but I find it interesting how we distinguish which is narcicism and which is not. Of course a person would insist the necessity of a parent providing such an example to a child, but what is the line? Manisfest Destiny? Health Coverage for Abortions? Anti-Communism? Approval of a Mosque at Ground Zero? At what point does our great intellect and authority to tell others what is best for them become egoism. In my book it all is, regardless of a persons need, such thoughts and actions imply a person has decided or agreed with the decision of another that their intellectual standing it greater than those they are providing examples to...Why else would that person need your help? If you were not smarter than that person or know something they didn't or, were not better equipped with resources, etc. why would it be so important that anyone concern themselves with the well being others? Epecially in the instances where a person's well being is not involved. And truthfully, its not a bad thing, it literally is the way of the world and the society we live in. To embrace it is to adapt. Of course, to know this or see it in practice is one thing, but to say it, I guess, is another. It would seem that as long as we act oblivious to such obvious things, that we are not vein, but to acknowledge it, even in its flaws, is disingenuous.
Luckily, I like the idea that people, while always in pursuit of gain, don't always have greed but instead compassion in their hearts, whether knowledgable or not of their lack of altruism, and for the benefit of all are trying to help.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Only in AMer..Guatemala
So I tried to go to the movies. Made a trip down to old Chimaltenango, I have learned that you need to add the tenango part "means town or city" to the root word because it is very very similar to a word that is part of George Carlin's big seven. Anyway it was somewhat of a momentous occassion because I went by myself. I figure I have to learn sometime, and at the age of 28 I get frustrated at the fact that I have to use training wheels for a lot of things down here.
So anyway I get to Chimaltenango and I weigh myself on one of the cool machines (lets be honest it's a scale) that they have in the mall for everyone to get their weight. And low and behold I a have lost 50lbs. I have to admit that I think that's alot, especially for 7 weeks. If anyone has questioned my description of the food and the amount or lack there of...I issue this as my proof, that I really miss food. Anyway I go to see what movies are playing...Karate Kid and the Origen.
This is funny for me because I have stated several times that I would NOT be seeing the Karate Kid. First of all I have already seen the Karate Kid. It had three very important things. Pat Morita, Elizabeth Shue, and of course a very Tiger Beat friendly Ralph Machio. For me, if a movie does not have at the very least, these three things...It CANNOT be titled the Karate Kid. Much the same way any show or movie without Leornard Neimoy, Bill Shatner, or an in the closet George Tekai cannot be called Star Trek. You will remember the Next Generation was the name given to the second wave*. Turns out the only movie with subtitles was Karate Kid. Turns out that a gentleman, the same that I discussed Dirty Dancing with** had seen the real Karate Kid when it came out in 1987 during his senior year of high school and originally felt the same way I did, but had informed me that he went with his son and that it was pretty good, and a completely different movie.
With this information I decided that I could handle it. I went and asked the gentleman at the window one last time to buy a ticket and make sure that the movie had subtitles. It did he confirmed, BUT and that's a big BUT, for some unknown reason to anyone, except the hearing impared population of Chimaltenango both the language and the subtitles, were in Spanish. So suffice it to say, I did not go to the movies or watch the Karate Kid.
Instead I went and walked around the downtown shopping district. I found a gentleman that said he would make me a pair of Snake skin boots for about 80 bucks, same for Emu, which are about $400 bucks a pair in the U.S. So for this I was thankful, and after an afternoon of windowshopping rode the 80 person deep chicken bus back to Patzun.
*I do realize that there was a movie a year or two ago, but it just goes to show the lack of respect that hollywood has for people that can still remember the original. You didn't see this happen with Saved By the Bell. Even though the cast was the same they changed the name to the College Years when they were'nt in High School anymore, and further to The New Class when they went for the nostalgic remake.
**For those that didn't know the movie I referenced in my last post was Dirty Dancing. I can only hope that The Swayze and that sweet prince Chris Farley are somewhere working on Chipindales routines as I type.
So anyway I get to Chimaltenango and I weigh myself on one of the cool machines (lets be honest it's a scale) that they have in the mall for everyone to get their weight. And low and behold I a have lost 50lbs. I have to admit that I think that's alot, especially for 7 weeks. If anyone has questioned my description of the food and the amount or lack there of...I issue this as my proof, that I really miss food. Anyway I go to see what movies are playing...Karate Kid and the Origen.
This is funny for me because I have stated several times that I would NOT be seeing the Karate Kid. First of all I have already seen the Karate Kid. It had three very important things. Pat Morita, Elizabeth Shue, and of course a very Tiger Beat friendly Ralph Machio. For me, if a movie does not have at the very least, these three things...It CANNOT be titled the Karate Kid. Much the same way any show or movie without Leornard Neimoy, Bill Shatner, or an in the closet George Tekai cannot be called Star Trek. You will remember the Next Generation was the name given to the second wave*. Turns out the only movie with subtitles was Karate Kid. Turns out that a gentleman, the same that I discussed Dirty Dancing with** had seen the real Karate Kid when it came out in 1987 during his senior year of high school and originally felt the same way I did, but had informed me that he went with his son and that it was pretty good, and a completely different movie.
With this information I decided that I could handle it. I went and asked the gentleman at the window one last time to buy a ticket and make sure that the movie had subtitles. It did he confirmed, BUT and that's a big BUT, for some unknown reason to anyone, except the hearing impared population of Chimaltenango both the language and the subtitles, were in Spanish. So suffice it to say, I did not go to the movies or watch the Karate Kid.
Instead I went and walked around the downtown shopping district. I found a gentleman that said he would make me a pair of Snake skin boots for about 80 bucks, same for Emu, which are about $400 bucks a pair in the U.S. So for this I was thankful, and after an afternoon of windowshopping rode the 80 person deep chicken bus back to Patzun.
*I do realize that there was a movie a year or two ago, but it just goes to show the lack of respect that hollywood has for people that can still remember the original. You didn't see this happen with Saved By the Bell. Even though the cast was the same they changed the name to the College Years when they were'nt in High School anymore, and further to The New Class when they went for the nostalgic remake.
**For those that didn't know the movie I referenced in my last post was Dirty Dancing. I can only hope that The Swayze and that sweet prince Chris Farley are somewhere working on Chipindales routines as I type.
Friday, August 6, 2010
¨I carried a Watermelon¨
¨I carried a Watermelon?¨
This of course is a quote from one of my favorite movies of all time, especially that came out in 1987, if you don´t count Red Dawn, which I talked about this week with the group from Tennessee. It´s not that hard to guess if you´re my facebook friend because I wrote a far too detailed note about this movie on there at one point. I still can´t believe that I´m not ashamed that my buddy Zack and I watched this movie almost everyday after school junior year of highschool.
Alright so now that everyone is done googling the movie quote, we can get into the thick of things...
This was by far my best week yet. The group as aforementioned from the Columbia Tennessee, First Presbyterian Church were just the transition from the previous weeks of work and solitude that I needed. I helped them put in the water filtration system and had alot of good conversation, observation, and fun along the way. I was really impressed withthe positivity they generated. I don´t think I heard anyone say ¨no¨ all week and it was very contageous. THere were a lot of obstacles too, including much of the bracing for the roof in the way, an unfinished floor, and problems with the water pump for their private quarters* which left them without the ability to take showers most of the week. They never seemed to let it bother them. I was also inspired by the fact that I don´t think I heard them speak ill of anyone all week. There are always instances where in conversation a person you mutually know will come up (not me, but them in this instance) and especially in relation to an unfortunate situation the tendency is to point out some flaws that they might have. This group didn´t do that. This was also a group that passed along to me, ¨my mama always told me that if you hear something nice about someone make sure and let em know.¨ In leaving a world where most things I heard about people were the negative ones, and myself being a person that sometimes is at the short end of that stick, I really liked that quip...well that and ¨that´s like socks on a chicken¨ in relation to things being the stuff**. I also appreciated that these folks weren´t your hard core bible thumpin, rigid, no dancin, cards, or pg movies people either (dare I say, uppity christians). Before I left, one of the ministers at the CP church and I were talking about the people who live loudly as christians through simple action and not boisterous words and the number of bible verses they know and this group for me was a great example of good people giving a good name to other christians out there. I was definitely sad to see them go.
Updates:
I went and got a pizza last Saturdya. I ate the entire thing! I have a picture of the empty platter that I will upload soon. I have had alot of pizza, and while ingredients, crust, amount of sauce and quality of cheese have been done better in many places I¨m sure, this was the best pizza I have ever had in my life...well atleast that I can remember.
I have come up with a new idea that is sure to make millions. Probably almost as good as kitten mittens, or the c-walking for christ clothing line***. It´s called yearbook.com (domain available) In this you market to schools the function of moving their yearbook/annual to the web. Saving on cost, the schools can sell their own accounts to the kids, and kids can leave comments like ¨see you around, I´ll be the guy in black at courtney´s birthday party.¨**** You can increase content by alot, and kids could add their own pictures, cutting down on kelly kool kid having 15 photos because the editer thought he was dreamy, and kelly keyboard kid can have his rightful place in history. Tons of schools out there, and of course now that facebook has a bunch of olds on it, its obselete. If there is one thing i know about kids or remember from being a kid it´s that they solely want to be where parents aren´t. They say there´s nothing to do, so you build them a skate rink, and no one shows. It´s not because they don´t like skating its because there are parents there. Build a clubhouse where kids can hang out without any adults there and I´ll show you a place where tons of kids go. Anyway back to the point, this is the way of the future, and I am hoping that I know have intellectual property of it. Maybe I can find a whitman kid to write up some cold fusion for me.
I think I´m going to go to the city tomorrow and watch a movie. I´ve been told that the movies are in english with spanish subtitles so it should be a go. THey have the new movies too, since there are no internet listings I´ll probably see that dumb vampire movie, or toy story 8 or something, but it will still be awesome. Then on monday or tuesday I think i am going to antigua to look at the language schools there, so hopefully within a week or two I´ll be doing that.
*this use of words seems extremely old-timey, but for the life of me I can´t think of any other way to accurately describe this noun.
**Also reference the cat´s pajamas or the bees knees.
***This is a clothing line my buddy Pat and I came up with, where former gang members who are now born again, and of course kids who want to be cool, will want to wear these clothes to stay street and represent Jesus at the same time. It´s of course afusion on the popular southern california dance popularized by the crips ¨c'walking¨ and the footprints picture frames on many walls around the world where sometimes there´s two set of footprints, and sometimes one when god carries you. With the popularity of Promise Keepers I can´t see why this isn´t already a worldwide phenomenon.
****This is an actual comment left in Michelle Gwinns 7th Grade Pioneer Middle School annual by Allen Stanley, and possibly the awesomest annual comment EVER!
This of course is a quote from one of my favorite movies of all time, especially that came out in 1987, if you don´t count Red Dawn, which I talked about this week with the group from Tennessee. It´s not that hard to guess if you´re my facebook friend because I wrote a far too detailed note about this movie on there at one point. I still can´t believe that I´m not ashamed that my buddy Zack and I watched this movie almost everyday after school junior year of highschool.
Alright so now that everyone is done googling the movie quote, we can get into the thick of things...
This was by far my best week yet. The group as aforementioned from the Columbia Tennessee, First Presbyterian Church were just the transition from the previous weeks of work and solitude that I needed. I helped them put in the water filtration system and had alot of good conversation, observation, and fun along the way. I was really impressed withthe positivity they generated. I don´t think I heard anyone say ¨no¨ all week and it was very contageous. THere were a lot of obstacles too, including much of the bracing for the roof in the way, an unfinished floor, and problems with the water pump for their private quarters* which left them without the ability to take showers most of the week. They never seemed to let it bother them. I was also inspired by the fact that I don´t think I heard them speak ill of anyone all week. There are always instances where in conversation a person you mutually know will come up (not me, but them in this instance) and especially in relation to an unfortunate situation the tendency is to point out some flaws that they might have. This group didn´t do that. This was also a group that passed along to me, ¨my mama always told me that if you hear something nice about someone make sure and let em know.¨ In leaving a world where most things I heard about people were the negative ones, and myself being a person that sometimes is at the short end of that stick, I really liked that quip...well that and ¨that´s like socks on a chicken¨ in relation to things being the stuff**. I also appreciated that these folks weren´t your hard core bible thumpin, rigid, no dancin, cards, or pg movies people either (dare I say, uppity christians). Before I left, one of the ministers at the CP church and I were talking about the people who live loudly as christians through simple action and not boisterous words and the number of bible verses they know and this group for me was a great example of good people giving a good name to other christians out there. I was definitely sad to see them go.
Updates:
I went and got a pizza last Saturdya. I ate the entire thing! I have a picture of the empty platter that I will upload soon. I have had alot of pizza, and while ingredients, crust, amount of sauce and quality of cheese have been done better in many places I¨m sure, this was the best pizza I have ever had in my life...well atleast that I can remember.
I have come up with a new idea that is sure to make millions. Probably almost as good as kitten mittens, or the c-walking for christ clothing line***. It´s called yearbook.com (domain available) In this you market to schools the function of moving their yearbook/annual to the web. Saving on cost, the schools can sell their own accounts to the kids, and kids can leave comments like ¨see you around, I´ll be the guy in black at courtney´s birthday party.¨**** You can increase content by alot, and kids could add their own pictures, cutting down on kelly kool kid having 15 photos because the editer thought he was dreamy, and kelly keyboard kid can have his rightful place in history. Tons of schools out there, and of course now that facebook has a bunch of olds on it, its obselete. If there is one thing i know about kids or remember from being a kid it´s that they solely want to be where parents aren´t. They say there´s nothing to do, so you build them a skate rink, and no one shows. It´s not because they don´t like skating its because there are parents there. Build a clubhouse where kids can hang out without any adults there and I´ll show you a place where tons of kids go. Anyway back to the point, this is the way of the future, and I am hoping that I know have intellectual property of it. Maybe I can find a whitman kid to write up some cold fusion for me.
I think I´m going to go to the city tomorrow and watch a movie. I´ve been told that the movies are in english with spanish subtitles so it should be a go. THey have the new movies too, since there are no internet listings I´ll probably see that dumb vampire movie, or toy story 8 or something, but it will still be awesome. Then on monday or tuesday I think i am going to antigua to look at the language schools there, so hopefully within a week or two I´ll be doing that.
*this use of words seems extremely old-timey, but for the life of me I can´t think of any other way to accurately describe this noun.
**Also reference the cat´s pajamas or the bees knees.
***This is a clothing line my buddy Pat and I came up with, where former gang members who are now born again, and of course kids who want to be cool, will want to wear these clothes to stay street and represent Jesus at the same time. It´s of course afusion on the popular southern california dance popularized by the crips ¨c'walking¨ and the footprints picture frames on many walls around the world where sometimes there´s two set of footprints, and sometimes one when god carries you. With the popularity of Promise Keepers I can´t see why this isn´t already a worldwide phenomenon.
****This is an actual comment left in Michelle Gwinns 7th Grade Pioneer Middle School annual by Allen Stanley, and possibly the awesomest annual comment EVER!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Yup
So its been another week, and the work has been pretty heavy. 12 hour days for no pay even for the best of intentions wears on you. Tomorrow gonna be there bright and early at 5a to pour the roof, the old fashioned way (mixing by hand). Spent the last two days framing it out. The scaffolding of which I will post some pics, I have mentioned was sketch before. YUP! I was up there clipping some reebar (sp.) and it broke, only fell about 6 feet so not too bad, just some scrapes from the metal. Drew more blood from scratching my hands on the bailing wire the past few days anyway. To say the least I made extra sure that the styrofoam roof that the concrete gets poured on was nice and sturdy before walking on it to put in the light fixture boxes. Although its always funny when people you know get hurt and they aren´t in serious shape so you can laugh, I always enjoy it so you can have this one on me*
After this roof is done the water filtration people from the US will be here monday to install the equiptment so I think i´ll get a bit of a break from the work for a while which will be nice. Talking about going to Antigua for a week to a language school which I would really like to work out. I am good with highs and by´s, things I need, am pretty good at knowing all the tools and other words related to building stuff, and can understand the gist of things now, but it is hard with the speakers that I am around. They don´t have good grammar so things I pick up aren´t necessarily right, and also they don´t know words that should be common. For instance I used the word propane, then propano to ask if they were out. Since its what they cook with you would think they would know the word but they just looked at me sideways. I looked it up in my dictionary today and sure enough propano is the word for propane. Pizza was another one that the mom couldn´t get when we were talking about popular food people eat in the US. They are missing the boat on grilled cheese sandwiches. Annunciation is at an all time low, they shorten alot of words like we do, which is understandable, but its funny when I´ll use the same word they do and they don´t know what i´m trying to say. Also I have noticed that the parents, now that they know I know what they are saying they have started to speak in Quetchaquel, which is the indiginous language down here. Either way its getting better.
I think I will add a few things that the super sensitive, easily offended ¨in touch¨ people who are trying to make America a big crib would enjoy some of these things that are very common in Guatemala:
Public Urination- Anytime anywhere pretty much, I am not surprised at all anymore to turn around at work, the market, on the way to work, on the way home, seeing a guy taking care of business
No Peta or Bob Barker- Dogs are not spayed or neutered and are everywhere¡ mostly trying to procreate. I always like to laugh that one of the hot spots is at the Mormon Church which is right next door to Alpha Omega and quite visible from the roof of the building we are working on. Its really nice and well mowed and made of all the nicest material, and of course the prime spot for canine adultry. Also dogs are not cared for and all scared, I´ll save the details for the those with weak stomachs, but most have probably been to the third world and know what I´m talking about. I did get a new job this week though...Throwing rocks at dogs that come onto the property and try to mark territory and disturb the kids and such. I miss on purpose, sometimes.
Breast Feeding- THis is one that I have heard alot about the past few years in the US, and frankly it wouldn´t be that big of a deal for me if just a bit of discression was used. Im talking about the middle of the mall food court, at church, in the market right behind the merchandise, you name it. No blankets and no qualms at all. I also love it when someone like say an uncle or other family member will come and pat the baby on the head and talk goo goo gah gah while the kid is feeding.
Children in the back seat- Nope, looks like Brittany Spears would be alright in Guatemala. Always held in the arms in the front seat, or sitting on the middle console, sometimes breast feeding. And I will add that driving is WAY safer in the US. You thought candadians and teenagers were bad? At least they´ve had TSE and had to pass a drivers test.
Food Storage- It is very common to take something like a soup or rice or noodles off the the stove, set it on the floor for the night and serve it again the next day. Its kind of the school lunch philosophy where one day there will be meatloaf then there will be spaghetti, then hamburger gravy (which I used to love!) Except usually on the third day here its served cold. I guess it wouldn´t be that big of deal if there weren´t a ton of flies all over the place. Of course I haven´t gotten sick yet so...maybe ýou´re all just germ conscious.
Thats enough for now, I have a another big friday night of going to bed by 9 as long as dinner is by then. Big day tomorrow though, might get a pizza after work. Also they said they would take me to the city to go grocery shopping one of these days, so I´m pulling for some Mac n Cheese.
*I do know that there are people reading, even though no one comments. Don´t worry I´m not offended even though that desiese perez hilton gets like a couple hundred a day. I might have to start spelling words wrong, or talk about sales at crate and barrel. Either way I´ll keep writing, because truth be told I really don´t have anything better to do.
After this roof is done the water filtration people from the US will be here monday to install the equiptment so I think i´ll get a bit of a break from the work for a while which will be nice. Talking about going to Antigua for a week to a language school which I would really like to work out. I am good with highs and by´s, things I need, am pretty good at knowing all the tools and other words related to building stuff, and can understand the gist of things now, but it is hard with the speakers that I am around. They don´t have good grammar so things I pick up aren´t necessarily right, and also they don´t know words that should be common. For instance I used the word propane, then propano to ask if they were out. Since its what they cook with you would think they would know the word but they just looked at me sideways. I looked it up in my dictionary today and sure enough propano is the word for propane. Pizza was another one that the mom couldn´t get when we were talking about popular food people eat in the US. They are missing the boat on grilled cheese sandwiches. Annunciation is at an all time low, they shorten alot of words like we do, which is understandable, but its funny when I´ll use the same word they do and they don´t know what i´m trying to say. Also I have noticed that the parents, now that they know I know what they are saying they have started to speak in Quetchaquel, which is the indiginous language down here. Either way its getting better.
I think I will add a few things that the super sensitive, easily offended ¨in touch¨ people who are trying to make America a big crib would enjoy some of these things that are very common in Guatemala:
Public Urination- Anytime anywhere pretty much, I am not surprised at all anymore to turn around at work, the market, on the way to work, on the way home, seeing a guy taking care of business
No Peta or Bob Barker- Dogs are not spayed or neutered and are everywhere¡ mostly trying to procreate. I always like to laugh that one of the hot spots is at the Mormon Church which is right next door to Alpha Omega and quite visible from the roof of the building we are working on. Its really nice and well mowed and made of all the nicest material, and of course the prime spot for canine adultry. Also dogs are not cared for and all scared, I´ll save the details for the those with weak stomachs, but most have probably been to the third world and know what I´m talking about. I did get a new job this week though...Throwing rocks at dogs that come onto the property and try to mark territory and disturb the kids and such. I miss on purpose, sometimes.
Breast Feeding- THis is one that I have heard alot about the past few years in the US, and frankly it wouldn´t be that big of a deal for me if just a bit of discression was used. Im talking about the middle of the mall food court, at church, in the market right behind the merchandise, you name it. No blankets and no qualms at all. I also love it when someone like say an uncle or other family member will come and pat the baby on the head and talk goo goo gah gah while the kid is feeding.
Children in the back seat- Nope, looks like Brittany Spears would be alright in Guatemala. Always held in the arms in the front seat, or sitting on the middle console, sometimes breast feeding. And I will add that driving is WAY safer in the US. You thought candadians and teenagers were bad? At least they´ve had TSE and had to pass a drivers test.
Food Storage- It is very common to take something like a soup or rice or noodles off the the stove, set it on the floor for the night and serve it again the next day. Its kind of the school lunch philosophy where one day there will be meatloaf then there will be spaghetti, then hamburger gravy (which I used to love!) Except usually on the third day here its served cold. I guess it wouldn´t be that big of deal if there weren´t a ton of flies all over the place. Of course I haven´t gotten sick yet so...maybe ýou´re all just germ conscious.
Thats enough for now, I have a another big friday night of going to bed by 9 as long as dinner is by then. Big day tomorrow though, might get a pizza after work. Also they said they would take me to the city to go grocery shopping one of these days, so I´m pulling for some Mac n Cheese.
*I do know that there are people reading, even though no one comments. Don´t worry I´m not offended even though that desiese perez hilton gets like a couple hundred a day. I might have to start spelling words wrong, or talk about sales at crate and barrel. Either way I´ll keep writing, because truth be told I really don´t have anything better to do.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
One Month
So now that I´ve been here a month I seem to have a routine down. Wake up at 6:30a, walk about a half mile to the church for work. Work til noon, walk home for lunch, walk back, work til 4:30p walk home. I do this six days a week, except on Saturday, I get off work at noon. After work I take off my work clothes lye on my bed for a bit, then do a few sets of situps and pushups. At this time I put on some sweats and listen to music off my phone and play solitaire on the same phone for an album or so. I have really been enjoying August and Everything After by the Counting Crows, and of course Andre Nickatina lately. I was listening to XO by Elliot Smith for a bit but I found it a bit depressing* so I stopped that. After this I either play guitar or read my GRE vocab, read a book (haven´t had one in a couple weeks), or look up words in my spanish dictionary that I have written in my notebook. I am supposed to have a spanish lesson with the mom twice a week for an hour each time. Its never been more than one, and I think I´ve had three total. She is a teacher, and I think they purposely hold back because they want me to pay. $12 bucks for three hours isn´t a bad deal, but I feel that my forty plus hours a week of work and raising a considerable amount of money for their church** is a good trade off for some spanish lessons. Anyway...On Wednesday there is a family church service at one of the houses, on Friday there is a prayer meeting at the church where they take all the prayer requests then go to the front kneel on the steps and all pray outloud at once. I usually use this time to write down words in my Holly Hobby notebook that I don´t know. On Saturday there is a youth service where the youngin´s sing songs and play games and such. To tell the truth I cant remember if I have gone to this or not, they all run together a bit. On Sunday there are two services, one at 10a and one at 4:30p. I have been sleeping in on Sundays and going to the late one. I went to the early one the first week its not really important, kinda just for the super hardcore. Afterwords I play a bit of guitar or basketball with the kids. Anyone who knows me, knows that I don´t really like basketball nor am I good at it, but here I´m a foot taller than everyone, I can dunk on the 8 ft. rims and its not a big stretch to see why these people love soccer so much***. This of course brings us to dinner, which is usually about 8:30 or 9:00p or later. There are always beans, either black or red, either whole or blended. And lately alot of vegetables, squash and plantains all last week. Lunch is the best usually soup and noodles (lunch is also the biggest meal of the day. I don´t eat breakfast anymore because it is cornflakes everyday, and the powdered milk gets old QUICK! When they remember they get bananas and I´ll grab a few on the go. Otherwise I have a couple 8 cracker packs of ritz througout the morning. They have told me that next week we will go to the city to the ¨big¨supermarket I and can show them what I like. It´s funny b-c I always eat what I´m given, and aside from a whole lime squeezed on an avacado, or lettuce with lime juice the food is the same, just prepared different. and of course WAY LESS MEAT. Also they push the tortillas hard here. Reminds me of the time that three buddies and I went to the all you can eat shrimp at red lobster and all ate more than 85 shrimp, and the most was over 100. The waitress kept bringing rolls.
Last weekend I was tired of only going to the church and the house so I ventured out into the town and found the market and grocery store. I got some ritz, some ramen, and a hershey bar. No peanut butter. I also found a place that looked alright and had a hamburger. It was delicious and I didn´t get sick. They also have pizza, might try it next time. The market is big, all kinds of stuff and people, and alot like a value village on clothes. T'shirts from the new jersey health institute and such. Three is also a nice little park, and a really big catholic church in the city center. There are alot of funerals and the people all walk down the main street with the casket from the church to the cemetary. I think the smallest I have seen is about 300 people. Pretty eye catching. I want to take more pictures of people, but I don´t want to look like a tourist too much and get robbed, or make people mad, like for instance I saw a guy carrying about 6 times his body weight in corn the other day on his back. I didn´t necessarily want to be that guy and ask for a photo op. There are a few dental places downtown that do gold teeth and outlines, and stars and such. I want one REAL BAD, just one tooth. The mom and aunts all have them, and they said they are for show not for bad teeth...It´s definitely the thing to do. It´s like $30 a tooth so the price is totally right. I have to think about it though b-c they said its not reversable.
I do have some more pictures up but no captions, mostly just progress on work.
*Not hard to find depressing being that he definitely was, the theory is he committed suicide by putting knife in the wall and running into it. Gory huh!
**I will be raising some money in the coming months for my work on the internet cafe, so don´t be alarmed if you see something asking for support or possibly selling some coffee or something.
***I am a strong believer in the Chuck Klosterman theory that soccer was perfectly designed for kids who are terrible at all other sports, because all they have to do is run around on a field and there parents can tell them how good they did. 0-0 score. No big deal. Good job!
Last weekend I was tired of only going to the church and the house so I ventured out into the town and found the market and grocery store. I got some ritz, some ramen, and a hershey bar. No peanut butter. I also found a place that looked alright and had a hamburger. It was delicious and I didn´t get sick. They also have pizza, might try it next time. The market is big, all kinds of stuff and people, and alot like a value village on clothes. T'shirts from the new jersey health institute and such. Three is also a nice little park, and a really big catholic church in the city center. There are alot of funerals and the people all walk down the main street with the casket from the church to the cemetary. I think the smallest I have seen is about 300 people. Pretty eye catching. I want to take more pictures of people, but I don´t want to look like a tourist too much and get robbed, or make people mad, like for instance I saw a guy carrying about 6 times his body weight in corn the other day on his back. I didn´t necessarily want to be that guy and ask for a photo op. There are a few dental places downtown that do gold teeth and outlines, and stars and such. I want one REAL BAD, just one tooth. The mom and aunts all have them, and they said they are for show not for bad teeth...It´s definitely the thing to do. It´s like $30 a tooth so the price is totally right. I have to think about it though b-c they said its not reversable.
I do have some more pictures up but no captions, mostly just progress on work.
*Not hard to find depressing being that he definitely was, the theory is he committed suicide by putting knife in the wall and running into it. Gory huh!
**I will be raising some money in the coming months for my work on the internet cafe, so don´t be alarmed if you see something asking for support or possibly selling some coffee or something.
***I am a strong believer in the Chuck Klosterman theory that soccer was perfectly designed for kids who are terrible at all other sports, because all they have to do is run around on a field and there parents can tell them how good they did. 0-0 score. No big deal. Good job!
Friday, July 16, 2010
On Conduct
As I was working today a was inspired to think about something that I haven´t thought about in a long time, taking a lap. As the students at the school went through a band lesson, besides the obviously 1970s chest piece xylophones which I found pretty sweet, I noticed something else...When the kids would talk out of turn, or continue to play their instruments once the almighty hand of silence was raised, they would be taught a lesson about their behavior by having to take a lap around the basketball court. Then it hit me, what ever happened to taking a lap?
Yes, I´m sure this is still a widely used mechanism in elementary schools and sports programs everywhere, and to it´s credit I believe is one of the best attitude and behavior conditioning tools around*. But why does it stop getting used? It´s funny how as adults we think we´re so smart and above all these ¨childish¨mechanisms, but upon closer inspection since we´ve abonded them we tend to be the ones with most the problems.
In Practice:
As a young baseball player that liked to watch the girls tennis team jump rope instead of practicing sliding drills I have taken more than a few laps in my day, and in any other situation I´m sure I would have learned my lesson to focus and stay on task. In all seriousness though, if my memory serves me, in every other instance: from talking back, to listening to instructions, to making sure to not get caught skipping class during sports season again...all were guidelines followed and lessons learned under the penalty of having to take a lap.
I guess the beauty of it goes far beyond just having to do the running (I still hated laps even though I was a cross country runner. I guess it just goes to show no matter what, running is a punishment). This time usually anywhere from a half minute to close to five minutes is usually enough to think about what you did wrong and what ways you can avoid doing that again. And if you screw up again, which people are prone to do, you continue to run laps until you have figured it out, and your behavior has been effectively conditioned. There are also times when you don´t even have to do the running to learn the lesson. Say someone takes five laps for making fart noises with their armpit during sustained silent reading (SSR), I´ll put good money on the fact that everyone else has learned the lesson to not repeat that behavior too! Also, let´s not forget that the social factor of being made spectacle in front of everyone and their ever judging eyes is the clinching factor to make you never want to do it again. Regardless of how tough people want to sound by saying I don´t care what people think, being made an example in front of peers is not on anyones top ten list.
In Theory:
To have a system where everyone would be subject to taking a lap not only to correct their behavior but to think about how to correct it? Genius! Managers have been dreaming about such a procedure for years. And with all the crazy things that have been tried over the years this idea isn´t that far out of the box.
Oh, the lenghts I wouldn´t go to put taking a lap into the by-laws of board of directors and committee meetings of almost every organization I have been part of. That person who has something personal, off task, or outright disruptive to add to every agenda point, no longer disruptive because they´re busy taking laps. Late for a meeting, take a lap. Didn´t finish your report, or get to the assignment you chose to take on, take a lap.
And not even just in business, how great it would be to see adults everywhere taking laps for forgetting the milk at the store, or to pick up the kids on time. I´d want to see extra laps for spending the rent money at the bar or at the card table. Imagine yourself hearing this from a police officer, ¨Sir you were speeding/not wearing your seatbelt/talking on your cell phone, etc. but I´m gonna let this go as a warning as soon as you get done taking a lap¨. Hell if it saves me 100 bucks I´m into it.
This could possibly even be therapeutic for customers who have received poor service. To be told by a manager they were sorry for the rudeness of their employee, but that person is taking a lap...Yeah, I´m good with that. To get to watch your waiter take a lap after forgetting the extra ranch you ordered for you salad or fries...Makes me feel better. And let´s not forget about the exercise that these employees are getting, talk about a way to keep your employees in shape.
In Reality:
To be honest, I condone this because I too have needed a lap on more than a few occassions, and could have benefited from the practice. I will also put money down that if my last boss, who is a follower of this blog, is reading this he is full on shaking his head in agreement right now. I can remember several occassions where we talked about ways to keep the tempo up, or find a word cue to use when we would come to an impass of idea as to not get bogged down, or when I let my attidude at work be colored by my personal life, etc. When all other ideas failed, taking a lap probably would have worked.
Also in my personal life, I have this misconception that being honest doesn´t need censorship, and I tend to be annoying by constantly correcting people (not to mention coming across as a know it all). Further I constantly misrepresent myself by being overly blunt or callous (not to mention I´m notorious for taking things that one step too far) about an issue, which continuously hurts peoples feelings, or leads them to be offended or believe that I don´t like them. I am more than aware of this, but never seem to learn my lesson that people generally don´t want to hear the word ¨actually¨ before everything that comes out of your mouth, or be told that using the word W.O.W. to make fun of World of Warcraft players makes you a dork too for knowing the acronym and possibly worse since you´re falsely trying to act like youre above it. This is just a taste, I could literally go on for hours about circumstances I constantly find myself in and the behaviors that I´d like to change. What if my buddies would just call me out when being a jerk, and simply say, ¨Come on Chris, you´re better than that, TAKE A LAP!¨
In Rebuttal:
I guess an argument would be to question why a person just can´t be their own self administrator of checking their baggage, fixing their problems, staying on task, or watching what they say. Should it be that hard for a responsible adult to do these things? Yeah emotions can sometimes supercede peoples better judgement, but a mature person can learn from their mistakes and make sure they don´t repeat the same mistake more than a few times at most. Sure, routine can lead to comfortability which can lead to indiffernce at times, but usually people snap out of it, and correct their behavior.
In Response:
Yes, it is that hard for people to do those things themselves, when peoples emotions are involved all bets are off. Mature or not, more often than not people are their own worst enemies and repeat the same mistakes over and over without fail. And yes, people do snap out of it, but usually after it´s already too late. I would think that a person who seriously believes this argument doesn´t hang around alot of people, or pay attention to their behavior. Or in other words, to put a new spin on an old joke...¨John Lennon called, he wants his idealism back¨.**
In Conclusion:
Maybe you too can think of an instance or two where simply taking a lap could save the day. It´s literally all around us. Or maybe you don´t like the argument against, and have a better one, I welcome your thoughts.
In Reference:
*To my discontent, since I went to school and enacted as I was in H.S. and soon after I graduated, a movement of not wanting to continue practices like cutting kids from sports, or not giving letter grades in order to not hurt a childs fragile ego was introduced into U.S. schools. It is possible that taking laps was one of these archaic, life shattering practices that had to go. If that is the case I am officially deeply saddened.
**Sorry to all the ¨Dreamers¨and Nic Wiese (the biggest Lennon fan I know) for having to go there. If you must, blame David Spade for teaching me that medium.
Yes, I´m sure this is still a widely used mechanism in elementary schools and sports programs everywhere, and to it´s credit I believe is one of the best attitude and behavior conditioning tools around*. But why does it stop getting used? It´s funny how as adults we think we´re so smart and above all these ¨childish¨mechanisms, but upon closer inspection since we´ve abonded them we tend to be the ones with most the problems.
In Practice:
As a young baseball player that liked to watch the girls tennis team jump rope instead of practicing sliding drills I have taken more than a few laps in my day, and in any other situation I´m sure I would have learned my lesson to focus and stay on task. In all seriousness though, if my memory serves me, in every other instance: from talking back, to listening to instructions, to making sure to not get caught skipping class during sports season again...all were guidelines followed and lessons learned under the penalty of having to take a lap.
I guess the beauty of it goes far beyond just having to do the running (I still hated laps even though I was a cross country runner. I guess it just goes to show no matter what, running is a punishment). This time usually anywhere from a half minute to close to five minutes is usually enough to think about what you did wrong and what ways you can avoid doing that again. And if you screw up again, which people are prone to do, you continue to run laps until you have figured it out, and your behavior has been effectively conditioned. There are also times when you don´t even have to do the running to learn the lesson. Say someone takes five laps for making fart noises with their armpit during sustained silent reading (SSR), I´ll put good money on the fact that everyone else has learned the lesson to not repeat that behavior too! Also, let´s not forget that the social factor of being made spectacle in front of everyone and their ever judging eyes is the clinching factor to make you never want to do it again. Regardless of how tough people want to sound by saying I don´t care what people think, being made an example in front of peers is not on anyones top ten list.
In Theory:
To have a system where everyone would be subject to taking a lap not only to correct their behavior but to think about how to correct it? Genius! Managers have been dreaming about such a procedure for years. And with all the crazy things that have been tried over the years this idea isn´t that far out of the box.
Oh, the lenghts I wouldn´t go to put taking a lap into the by-laws of board of directors and committee meetings of almost every organization I have been part of. That person who has something personal, off task, or outright disruptive to add to every agenda point, no longer disruptive because they´re busy taking laps. Late for a meeting, take a lap. Didn´t finish your report, or get to the assignment you chose to take on, take a lap.
And not even just in business, how great it would be to see adults everywhere taking laps for forgetting the milk at the store, or to pick up the kids on time. I´d want to see extra laps for spending the rent money at the bar or at the card table. Imagine yourself hearing this from a police officer, ¨Sir you were speeding/not wearing your seatbelt/talking on your cell phone, etc. but I´m gonna let this go as a warning as soon as you get done taking a lap¨. Hell if it saves me 100 bucks I´m into it.
This could possibly even be therapeutic for customers who have received poor service. To be told by a manager they were sorry for the rudeness of their employee, but that person is taking a lap...Yeah, I´m good with that. To get to watch your waiter take a lap after forgetting the extra ranch you ordered for you salad or fries...Makes me feel better. And let´s not forget about the exercise that these employees are getting, talk about a way to keep your employees in shape.
In Reality:
To be honest, I condone this because I too have needed a lap on more than a few occassions, and could have benefited from the practice. I will also put money down that if my last boss, who is a follower of this blog, is reading this he is full on shaking his head in agreement right now. I can remember several occassions where we talked about ways to keep the tempo up, or find a word cue to use when we would come to an impass of idea as to not get bogged down, or when I let my attidude at work be colored by my personal life, etc. When all other ideas failed, taking a lap probably would have worked.
Also in my personal life, I have this misconception that being honest doesn´t need censorship, and I tend to be annoying by constantly correcting people (not to mention coming across as a know it all). Further I constantly misrepresent myself by being overly blunt or callous (not to mention I´m notorious for taking things that one step too far) about an issue, which continuously hurts peoples feelings, or leads them to be offended or believe that I don´t like them. I am more than aware of this, but never seem to learn my lesson that people generally don´t want to hear the word ¨actually¨ before everything that comes out of your mouth, or be told that using the word W.O.W. to make fun of World of Warcraft players makes you a dork too for knowing the acronym and possibly worse since you´re falsely trying to act like youre above it. This is just a taste, I could literally go on for hours about circumstances I constantly find myself in and the behaviors that I´d like to change. What if my buddies would just call me out when being a jerk, and simply say, ¨Come on Chris, you´re better than that, TAKE A LAP!¨
In Rebuttal:
I guess an argument would be to question why a person just can´t be their own self administrator of checking their baggage, fixing their problems, staying on task, or watching what they say. Should it be that hard for a responsible adult to do these things? Yeah emotions can sometimes supercede peoples better judgement, but a mature person can learn from their mistakes and make sure they don´t repeat the same mistake more than a few times at most. Sure, routine can lead to comfortability which can lead to indiffernce at times, but usually people snap out of it, and correct their behavior.
In Response:
Yes, it is that hard for people to do those things themselves, when peoples emotions are involved all bets are off. Mature or not, more often than not people are their own worst enemies and repeat the same mistakes over and over without fail. And yes, people do snap out of it, but usually after it´s already too late. I would think that a person who seriously believes this argument doesn´t hang around alot of people, or pay attention to their behavior. Or in other words, to put a new spin on an old joke...¨John Lennon called, he wants his idealism back¨.**
In Conclusion:
Maybe you too can think of an instance or two where simply taking a lap could save the day. It´s literally all around us. Or maybe you don´t like the argument against, and have a better one, I welcome your thoughts.
In Reference:
*To my discontent, since I went to school and enacted as I was in H.S. and soon after I graduated, a movement of not wanting to continue practices like cutting kids from sports, or not giving letter grades in order to not hurt a childs fragile ego was introduced into U.S. schools. It is possible that taking laps was one of these archaic, life shattering practices that had to go. If that is the case I am officially deeply saddened.
**Sorry to all the ¨Dreamers¨and Nic Wiese (the biggest Lennon fan I know) for having to go there. If you must, blame David Spade for teaching me that medium.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Roads? We don´t Need Roads Where We´re Going!
So, I guess that I have come to terms with the fact that there´s going to be quite a bit of humor that I´ll admit is cutting edge. While watching the Olympics, and several other news stories, myself and roommates were saddened at the tragic story of the athlete that had passed away in a training run on the luge course. Then a friend who happens to be Canadian, found it to be more than happenstance that the speed the luger was traveling happened to be the exact same speed as one that was referenced in a movie we were watching just before we switched to the news.
Also, note that Michael J. (also Canadian) was a big part of the opening and closing ceremonies. Also thanks to my buddy Brian for making this video a reality, and also reposting it after the International Olympic Committee banned it in January.
Also, note that Michael J. (also Canadian) was a big part of the opening and closing ceremonies. Also thanks to my buddy Brian for making this video a reality, and also reposting it after the International Olympic Committee banned it in January.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Photos for Real
So, I´m not good at this kind of stuff if I can´t copy and paste, or whatever so this is the best I think I can do. I have uploaded the photos to a Flikr account, and the link works so you can get to them by just clicking. I have added some captions that you might want to check out, they explain stuff. Remember the old myspace days?...Someone please comment on my photos. I got most the kids, still trying to get that elusive family shot that they say I can have no problem. Also, keep in mind that these photos are most recent first, just like the blogs, so to go to the beginning, go to the end.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51849388@N08/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51849388@N08/
Special Ed
For those whose interest I peeked with the ending of the blog on Friday...Special Ed is this show I have been thinking about for some time now. It consists of a plot that is part after school special and part Truman Show. In it there is a main character Ed who is mentally handicapped. The twist is that when he was born his single mother (working on where the father is and how she got rich) had the money and wanted to make sure that Ed had a normal life and got to do all the things that a quote un quote normal child would get to do. So everyone in the town knows that, Ed is special, but they never let on and act as if everything he does is right on cue with every other after school show teens love. Of course there is a double meaning because everyone calls him Special Ed, but he thinks its because he´s special ¨cool¨, not special ¨needs¨. While the show would aim at being funny and use irony and sarcasm as it´s main mechanisms, I think that there could also be some positive overtones and themes added to show that people shouldn´t treat people with mental or physical handicaps differently and could provide some good information about how people can get over their phobias and interact or atleast open their minds to people that are different than them. All this could easily be explained in the opening credits, much like Stangers with Candy does. --Great show by the way, it definitely pushes the envelope on what it should be okay to laugh at.
The pilot episode would open with Ed in his letterman´s jacket standing with a group of friends mainly consisting of jocks and cheerleaders. When a ¨nerdy¨ looking student walks by, one of his friends knocks the kids books out of his hand and Ed says, ¨Nerd´s who needs em´¨. Then the panic comes, turns out Ed is failing his history class, and to play in the big game he needs to retake the test and get a passing grade so he can start at quarterback against their crosstown rival. Who´d have guessed it, the kid that Ed calls a nerd is the student that is picked to be his tutor to get him ready for the test. Through a well produced montage to something inspirational from the 80s or 90s like ¨I need a hero¨ by Bonnie Tyler or better yet ¨You Gotta Be¨ by Des´ree, the two find common ground and of course Ed passes the test, plays in the big game, and scores the winning touchdown in a physical comedy sequence that puts the last play in the movie ¨Radio¨ to shame. The episode would close as a reinacted scene of the opening shot is redone, this time with Ed sticking up for the nerdy student. When his friend asks why are you sticking up for that kid he´s so different and wierd, Ed says, ¨Nerds, NO, Lucas is a person too!"
(And YES that is definitely a Haim reference).
Other episodes would include: A showdown with Ed´s arch enemy Jerry the kid from the crosstown rival school with M.S. The episode where the cool substitute comes and the kids think he´s so cool, and inspires them by suggesting a trip, but the Uncool nuclear parent character warns them the person is not dependable, the kids the the character is just lame and therefore jealous. Of course the substitute bails at the last minute but the dependable parental figure is there to take them anyway and all is well. The episode where Ed decides he´s tired of how callous cheerleaders are and goes for the artsy girl, who happens to be a knockout by simply taking off her glasses and putting on a dress instead of those jordache overalls and baggy sweatshirts. Ed gets his drivers license. Ed is stunned to find someone he looks up to uses drugs. Ed thinks he is betrayed by his best friend but it turns out he was protecting him all along. Ed finds the real special ed room. What happened to Ed´s father, Ed runs for class president, The foreign exchange student doesn´t get the memo...You get the idea. Maybe add some ideas of your own, I´m open to suggestions.
I think this idea is funny, and if done right, could be even more. Although I am assured that there are people who would be beyond offended by this idea. Here´s the deal, it´s satire! On some level is supposed to offend you and inspire you to be better, but it´s funny because people should be able to get the joke of the tables being turned and giving the upper hand to the underdog. How´s this, for anyone who says it´s out of line I´ll give this quick litmus test. When was the last time you called someone fat or thought less of someone for being so, or a redneck, or judged someone because of where they were from, went to school or the like. If you can pass that, well done, many should aspire to be as stand up as you.
For everyone else, which I´ll bet is the lions share, I have a hard time with people who get all bent out of shape about racism or sexism or any other hot button -ism, because society has deemed it taboo, yet they are the first people to judge someone else just as harshly for a fault that they won´t be called a biggot for saying. As I alluded to in an earlier blog, I´m tired of people thinking they can have it both ways. So to say their a-moral behavior is better than mine because it´s more socially acceptable, or no one will call them out or whispers about their behavior when they leave or enter a room. Once again I´m not buying it. Maybe if more people called me a blockhead (I´m scandinavian) or we could come up with a good derrogatory term for white people we could actually start to talk about diversity and the huge problems we still have with it in our country rather than keep it in the dark and untalked about, and leaving the power of discrimination in the hands of the abusers. I´ll concede that might be a bad example because it condones more discrimnation as a solution to the problem of the current overabundance, but it´s definitely something to think about. Until then, I´ll hope to see you at the Emmy´s!
The pilot episode would open with Ed in his letterman´s jacket standing with a group of friends mainly consisting of jocks and cheerleaders. When a ¨nerdy¨ looking student walks by, one of his friends knocks the kids books out of his hand and Ed says, ¨Nerd´s who needs em´¨. Then the panic comes, turns out Ed is failing his history class, and to play in the big game he needs to retake the test and get a passing grade so he can start at quarterback against their crosstown rival. Who´d have guessed it, the kid that Ed calls a nerd is the student that is picked to be his tutor to get him ready for the test. Through a well produced montage to something inspirational from the 80s or 90s like ¨I need a hero¨ by Bonnie Tyler or better yet ¨You Gotta Be¨ by Des´ree, the two find common ground and of course Ed passes the test, plays in the big game, and scores the winning touchdown in a physical comedy sequence that puts the last play in the movie ¨Radio¨ to shame. The episode would close as a reinacted scene of the opening shot is redone, this time with Ed sticking up for the nerdy student. When his friend asks why are you sticking up for that kid he´s so different and wierd, Ed says, ¨Nerds, NO, Lucas is a person too!"
(And YES that is definitely a Haim reference).
Other episodes would include: A showdown with Ed´s arch enemy Jerry the kid from the crosstown rival school with M.S. The episode where the cool substitute comes and the kids think he´s so cool, and inspires them by suggesting a trip, but the Uncool nuclear parent character warns them the person is not dependable, the kids the the character is just lame and therefore jealous. Of course the substitute bails at the last minute but the dependable parental figure is there to take them anyway and all is well. The episode where Ed decides he´s tired of how callous cheerleaders are and goes for the artsy girl, who happens to be a knockout by simply taking off her glasses and putting on a dress instead of those jordache overalls and baggy sweatshirts. Ed gets his drivers license. Ed is stunned to find someone he looks up to uses drugs. Ed thinks he is betrayed by his best friend but it turns out he was protecting him all along. Ed finds the real special ed room. What happened to Ed´s father, Ed runs for class president, The foreign exchange student doesn´t get the memo...You get the idea. Maybe add some ideas of your own, I´m open to suggestions.
I think this idea is funny, and if done right, could be even more. Although I am assured that there are people who would be beyond offended by this idea. Here´s the deal, it´s satire! On some level is supposed to offend you and inspire you to be better, but it´s funny because people should be able to get the joke of the tables being turned and giving the upper hand to the underdog. How´s this, for anyone who says it´s out of line I´ll give this quick litmus test. When was the last time you called someone fat or thought less of someone for being so, or a redneck, or judged someone because of where they were from, went to school or the like. If you can pass that, well done, many should aspire to be as stand up as you.
For everyone else, which I´ll bet is the lions share, I have a hard time with people who get all bent out of shape about racism or sexism or any other hot button -ism, because society has deemed it taboo, yet they are the first people to judge someone else just as harshly for a fault that they won´t be called a biggot for saying. As I alluded to in an earlier blog, I´m tired of people thinking they can have it both ways. So to say their a-moral behavior is better than mine because it´s more socially acceptable, or no one will call them out or whispers about their behavior when they leave or enter a room. Once again I´m not buying it. Maybe if more people called me a blockhead (I´m scandinavian) or we could come up with a good derrogatory term for white people we could actually start to talk about diversity and the huge problems we still have with it in our country rather than keep it in the dark and untalked about, and leaving the power of discrimination in the hands of the abusers. I´ll concede that might be a bad example because it condones more discrimnation as a solution to the problem of the current overabundance, but it´s definitely something to think about. Until then, I´ll hope to see you at the Emmy´s!
Photos
Not quite yet but while they upload, I will share a few things that have brightened my week so far...
Did I mention the women balance and carry things on their heads here? Well I should have. Some of the better things that I have seen balanced are: 5 dozen eggs, a case of 20oz SuperCola´s, and the best of all 15-20 stools.
I was doing something on the internet the other day...Oh yeah it was searching for the correct wording for a quote from Run Ronnie Run, probably one of the funniest movies ever put to film. And if you even have to ask, yes Jeff Goldblum is in it so you know its good. Anyway during the movie a broadway production of Ronnie´s life is being put on and the lead character is played by world renowned opera singer Mandy Pintinkin (sp.) You might also remember him from what I would deem to be his most famous role Inigo Montoya, the swashbuckling sop out for revenge of his slain father in The Princess Bride. Of course I can´t make that reference without bringing into the conversation that Inigo´s father was killed by a six fingered man played by none other than (in my opinion the best comedy director of all time that didn´t marry his stepdaughter) Christopher Guest. Back to the important part, it was at this point that I finally made the connection that this is none other than the same Mandy Pintinktin that plays the head reaper in the short lived but actually pretty entertaining Dead Like Me. And for good measure I also made the connection that he is on one of those psychics solving crimes shows on TNT or something. All in all I haven´t been this excited about something coming full circle since I realized that Dan the henchman from Deadwood, was the same guy that played Warren on There´s Something About Mary.
The only time that I wish I had a phone was when I was in the city last week, and I was walking down the street and a shop had a HUGE silk fabric print of the band ¨Korn¨ from about 2001. I wanted to call Mike McGuinn so bad and ask him if he wanted it. On second thought, I wouldn´t even have to ask, I know he would have.
So, I have alot of time to read, and what happens when the only person you know that speaks English is a missionary is that you read books about the church and Jesus and such. There is no way that I can live here and not be influenced by faith and the like. It is funny for me though as although I personally have faith in God and Jesus as a person who overwhelming stood for love and good, and without a doubt went through an excrutiating death to make believers of men that he was the son of god and was dying for our sins, I have had a longstanding beef with the hipocracy of many organized religions and their followers. So while reading these books I am doing so with a quite objective view, and will do me best to transmit it to you the same. One book I read, ¨Jesus Among Other Gods¨ written by a man from India who grew up hindu, and converted to christianity after a suicide attempt. I wasn´t convinced of his arguments (this was the teen version so that might have accounted for some of the dumbing down) and found it more to be leading to impressionable kids (not that its a bad cause) than an examination of objective dialougue and overwhelming in fact. Anyhow I really liked this quote from Napoleon which was in the book. It was one of the few things that I really found intriguing and also a reason I admire Jesus as a historical person and as a symbol of faith:
¨Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him.... I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man: none else is like Him; Jesus Christ was more than man.... I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me.... but to do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lighted up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts.... Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is accountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ.¨
Thats quite a bit so I´ll leave it there for today.
Did I mention the women balance and carry things on their heads here? Well I should have. Some of the better things that I have seen balanced are: 5 dozen eggs, a case of 20oz SuperCola´s, and the best of all 15-20 stools.
I was doing something on the internet the other day...Oh yeah it was searching for the correct wording for a quote from Run Ronnie Run, probably one of the funniest movies ever put to film. And if you even have to ask, yes Jeff Goldblum is in it so you know its good. Anyway during the movie a broadway production of Ronnie´s life is being put on and the lead character is played by world renowned opera singer Mandy Pintinkin (sp.) You might also remember him from what I would deem to be his most famous role Inigo Montoya, the swashbuckling sop out for revenge of his slain father in The Princess Bride. Of course I can´t make that reference without bringing into the conversation that Inigo´s father was killed by a six fingered man played by none other than (in my opinion the best comedy director of all time that didn´t marry his stepdaughter) Christopher Guest. Back to the important part, it was at this point that I finally made the connection that this is none other than the same Mandy Pintinktin that plays the head reaper in the short lived but actually pretty entertaining Dead Like Me. And for good measure I also made the connection that he is on one of those psychics solving crimes shows on TNT or something. All in all I haven´t been this excited about something coming full circle since I realized that Dan the henchman from Deadwood, was the same guy that played Warren on There´s Something About Mary.
The only time that I wish I had a phone was when I was in the city last week, and I was walking down the street and a shop had a HUGE silk fabric print of the band ¨Korn¨ from about 2001. I wanted to call Mike McGuinn so bad and ask him if he wanted it. On second thought, I wouldn´t even have to ask, I know he would have.
So, I have alot of time to read, and what happens when the only person you know that speaks English is a missionary is that you read books about the church and Jesus and such. There is no way that I can live here and not be influenced by faith and the like. It is funny for me though as although I personally have faith in God and Jesus as a person who overwhelming stood for love and good, and without a doubt went through an excrutiating death to make believers of men that he was the son of god and was dying for our sins, I have had a longstanding beef with the hipocracy of many organized religions and their followers. So while reading these books I am doing so with a quite objective view, and will do me best to transmit it to you the same. One book I read, ¨Jesus Among Other Gods¨ written by a man from India who grew up hindu, and converted to christianity after a suicide attempt. I wasn´t convinced of his arguments (this was the teen version so that might have accounted for some of the dumbing down) and found it more to be leading to impressionable kids (not that its a bad cause) than an examination of objective dialougue and overwhelming in fact. Anyhow I really liked this quote from Napoleon which was in the book. It was one of the few things that I really found intriguing and also a reason I admire Jesus as a historical person and as a symbol of faith:
¨Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him.... I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man: none else is like Him; Jesus Christ was more than man.... I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me.... but to do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lighted up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts.... Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is accountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ.¨
Thats quite a bit so I´ll leave it there for today.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Workin for the Weekend
Actually today I didn´t work. I hurt my back yesterday, and got the surprising good news this morning that el jeffe aka the boss aka abuelo aka grandpa aka the old wan´t going to be there today so I didn´t have to work. My sad state of affairs was not heroic or anything of the sort. I was moving concrete in a bucket for most of the morning pouring some columns and then had to chisel some concrete out of a wall to get to the reebar in an existing wall in order to connect some new rebar structures, I´m sure you get the idea. So while chiseling said concrete I had to be bent over because the hole that would have made it an easy task to complete the tast was filled and of course on the side that would make it possible for a right handed person to easily complete the task. Not to break into a tangent but one very frustrating thing about my experience so far is that the people do NOT work effectively, and don´t seem to understand the idea of a master plan. It´s a bit here a bit there and then we´ll figure it out later. I can go with the flow, but when it means making the job noticably harder and then I throw my back out because of it, it´s frustrating. Yeah I´m a crybaby what about it. Either way today made me think of a quote from the 1984 classic Cannonball Run II when Marci says, ¨It´s gonna be a weekend you can tell your kids about, if they´re all boys¨ My weekend won´t be like that, but its a good line all the same. I´ll bet I´ll do some reading, hopefully upload some photos, watch soccer, and go listen to a sermon or two in Spanish. And maybe do some writing on the long awaited comedy show, Special Ed that I have been formulating for quite a while now.
¨Who knows I don´t know if I´ll have enough time¨
¨Who knows I don´t know if I´ll have enough time¨
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Small town livin´ Big city game
Today I went to the city of Chimaltenango. Got off work at around ten because the ¨Old¨* that I´m working with was doing something else, and so I went and mowed the rest of the big field and then was done. It was a good thing as I had been working everyday but Sunday from 7:30 to 5:00 doing actual labor for the past two weeks. Not that this is a big deal but when your grossly out of shape and have spent the last six months collecting checks from uncle sam and living the easy life, it was a welcome pleasure. It´s funny to me what is cheap and what isn´t down here. Pretty much I pay the family I live with 12 bucks a day or 100Qs. Pretty cheap for a room three meals, laundry service, and no dishes or chores. Other than that I think I´ve spent about $20 since I´ve been here, and half of that was a birthday present for Flory´s quince. I can get a soda** and a bag of chips for about 75cents, so since that´s all I buy every couple of days its pretty managable. And we rode the bus into the city for 6Qs or about 80cent which was a good fare considering it was about 30 miles***. Food though isn´t that cheap if you buy namebrand stuff. It was pretty expensive at the costco and the grocery store I was at in the city. Anyway we went to the mall which was about the size of Eastgate (bad reference for anyone not from ww) in it´s heyday except every store was filled. There was even a payless shoe source getting ready to open. Anyway we hung out there while the Coy´s car was being fixed. Watched the Netherlands beat Uraguay on a huge screen in the food court, and had lunch. I was amazed that it was 46Qs for a big mac meal about 7 bucks. Thats high, they also had dominoes, taco bell, and Pollo Compero which is more like popeyes than kfc for those who might wonder. I thought that was high, so I got a hamburger from some offbrand place called restaurante internacional. IT WAS AWESOME. After eating cold beans and brocolli for 60% of my meals the past couple of weeks it hit the spot. Not that I don´t like the others, but the repitition and lack of meat has been a hard adjustment. Moving on we walked about 3 miles to the place where the car was, oddly enough a ford escort wagon. It is about ten years newer but still the same model as the long historied one I used to drive and wrecked a few years ago up Tollgate. Anyway when we got there it took about 5hours for it to be finished, and I as usual had no idea what was going on because being in the loop revolves around understanding Spanish beyond basic dialougue. It was all for the better. They had cable, which I will tell you, beat the pants off their employees running everywhere...take note Les Schaub. And not just cable they had English shows with Spanish subtitles, so it was actually very educational. I am stoked to be able to say that I learned a great deal of Spanish from watching 90210, Felicity, and Law and Order Re-runs. I now know a few different ways to say Liar, I´m sorry, Oh my God, and pissed off now. Also I learned a couple of words that I had been hearing over and over again for the past few days. Anyhow later on the way home we stopped for food and I finally got some pork! Not a bad day at all.
Footnotes
*Olds is a term I will take credit for coining in the mid 2000´s, to describe a person that is out of date, and lives solely to be bitter about the world and the state of how their life has turned out. This can also be used in quick passing for anyone over the age of sixty regardless of their outlook on life. I will admit that this is a generalization, but as long as I´m a young punk...you get the idea.
**I have learned that their are three types of Water (Agua)
Agua - This is water used for washing, cooking, cleaning, and all other general purposes such as rain, and watering flowers. You don´t want to drink this water, unless run through a filter or boiled.
Agua Pura - This is drinking water
Agua Pepsi- This is pepsi, and I have only heard it referred to as the soda ¨pepsi¨. no agua coke or aqua super cola, or agua seven up, only agua pepsi. BTW there is an awesome soda called Rica Roja which is tantemount to red cream soda, like the kind they used to have at 4jays. It´s the best.
***Once getting to the city, I noticed that there were several other buses going everywhere in Guate, including Antigua and San Miguel which are tourist spots. They were easy to understand and find. My head was filled with ideas of learning enough Spanish to set out on adventures...
Footnotes
*Olds is a term I will take credit for coining in the mid 2000´s, to describe a person that is out of date, and lives solely to be bitter about the world and the state of how their life has turned out. This can also be used in quick passing for anyone over the age of sixty regardless of their outlook on life. I will admit that this is a generalization, but as long as I´m a young punk...you get the idea.
**I have learned that their are three types of Water (Agua)
Agua - This is water used for washing, cooking, cleaning, and all other general purposes such as rain, and watering flowers. You don´t want to drink this water, unless run through a filter or boiled.
Agua Pura - This is drinking water
Agua Pepsi- This is pepsi, and I have only heard it referred to as the soda ¨pepsi¨. no agua coke or aqua super cola, or agua seven up, only agua pepsi. BTW there is an awesome soda called Rica Roja which is tantemount to red cream soda, like the kind they used to have at 4jays. It´s the best.
***Once getting to the city, I noticed that there were several other buses going everywhere in Guate, including Antigua and San Miguel which are tourist spots. They were easy to understand and find. My head was filled with ideas of learning enough Spanish to set out on adventures...
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Cuatro de Julio
So initially I was pretty bummed out that I am not with everyone for the 4th of July. It is probably been my favorite holiday over the past few years. It usually includes taking a few laps at the park, getting a group photo taken on a 6¨ button and then hitting several bbqs including Tylers parents house for ribs. I am really going to miss that this year as there is not alot of meat here. Luckily yesterday after I got off work (Yeah, here in Guatemala Saturday is pretty sweet because you get off work at noon) there was quite a stir going on at the house. After getting my room set up and my first time doing laundry in a big wash bin next to the sink I saw the girls blowing up some balloons. When I asked what was going on they said they were having a quinceñera for Flory (also goes by susy) and they were having a party. That brightened my spirits a bit. And after two hours of a pastor speaking in Spanish and three different moves due to rain there was a party. It was mostly family, but there was a lot of people. The dad Juan told me that the food was a traditional Guatemalan fiesta meal. It consisted of soup with a piece of beef roast in it, and tamals. These are not like tamales. It is made with white flour maiz, wrapped in a corn leaf and steamed but there is no filling. When filled they are called chichuritos, the filling is usually a tomato sauce.
I have a bunch of pictures and will put them up later today or this week sometime. You will find that there are not alot of pictures of me. This is for two reasons. One, I am the person taking the pictures, and two I want this blog to be about the stories, experiences, and people I meet, by me not of me.
I read an essay by my dad the other day he wrote about finding purpose and self actualization in regard to Thoreau´s ¨Walden¨. I found it interesting that alot of the things in it were things I had already realized, yet are traps I fall into over and over again. For instance the fact that money and stuff wont make me happy. I learned this early at the capital, when I made good money at a young age and found it all to be alot for not. I learned it´s not guaranteed and no where does it say it will last for ever. It´s interesting how I´ve never really cared (gave great value) about money (or possessions for that matter) yet it is still to this day one of the biggest concerns of my life. During that time my philosophy was if you have it, spend it have a good time, who cares, its going to come and go anyway. I sometimes resent the fact that I know how irresponsible that is now, especially when I think about how I bought the same cd three different times because I lost it or scratched it or something. It´s funny how people think that better jobs and more pay will make their life better. All I found it to make me was more busy, more accountable, and the spender of more money. I always laugh when I hear people say now that I got this promotion I can save for this or that or put something away, when time and time again I see them just buy for frivelous junk that they wouldn´t have been tempted to buy previously. Or that they´re so busy now that they have money but spend it eating out and on escaping from the grind of their increased workload. I like being out of the rat race for money and power right now, I guess one of the things that has always been a barrier for me is that I am good at the rat race. I´m a pretty good b.s´er, give me a subject I´ll bet I can talk to you about it for ten minutes or so. Ask me who the people who have the answers are I bet I know atleast a few of them. Give me a task no one else is willing to take I´ll bet I can get it done by any means necessary. The problem, as pointed out in the essay, that I also relate to is at the end of the day that´s not who I want to be, or what will truly fulfill me. To be the person that succeeds at spin, that can sacrifice morals or faith to get ahead, or confuse passion with conceit, or be acquaintences with everyone and friends with no one. These are not things that I find fruitful or find regard for yet I feel offer me the greatest chance for success in career, security, and intellectual fulfillment and ¨making something of myself¨. The problem is, as the essay points out, those successes are not the true path to ¨Making the Big Time¨.
I have a bunch of pictures and will put them up later today or this week sometime. You will find that there are not alot of pictures of me. This is for two reasons. One, I am the person taking the pictures, and two I want this blog to be about the stories, experiences, and people I meet, by me not of me.
I read an essay by my dad the other day he wrote about finding purpose and self actualization in regard to Thoreau´s ¨Walden¨. I found it interesting that alot of the things in it were things I had already realized, yet are traps I fall into over and over again. For instance the fact that money and stuff wont make me happy. I learned this early at the capital, when I made good money at a young age and found it all to be alot for not. I learned it´s not guaranteed and no where does it say it will last for ever. It´s interesting how I´ve never really cared (gave great value) about money (or possessions for that matter) yet it is still to this day one of the biggest concerns of my life. During that time my philosophy was if you have it, spend it have a good time, who cares, its going to come and go anyway. I sometimes resent the fact that I know how irresponsible that is now, especially when I think about how I bought the same cd three different times because I lost it or scratched it or something. It´s funny how people think that better jobs and more pay will make their life better. All I found it to make me was more busy, more accountable, and the spender of more money. I always laugh when I hear people say now that I got this promotion I can save for this or that or put something away, when time and time again I see them just buy for frivelous junk that they wouldn´t have been tempted to buy previously. Or that they´re so busy now that they have money but spend it eating out and on escaping from the grind of their increased workload. I like being out of the rat race for money and power right now, I guess one of the things that has always been a barrier for me is that I am good at the rat race. I´m a pretty good b.s´er, give me a subject I´ll bet I can talk to you about it for ten minutes or so. Ask me who the people who have the answers are I bet I know atleast a few of them. Give me a task no one else is willing to take I´ll bet I can get it done by any means necessary. The problem, as pointed out in the essay, that I also relate to is at the end of the day that´s not who I want to be, or what will truly fulfill me. To be the person that succeeds at spin, that can sacrifice morals or faith to get ahead, or confuse passion with conceit, or be acquaintences with everyone and friends with no one. These are not things that I find fruitful or find regard for yet I feel offer me the greatest chance for success in career, security, and intellectual fulfillment and ¨making something of myself¨. The problem is, as the essay points out, those successes are not the true path to ¨Making the Big Time¨.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
A bit of Sunshine
There was some sun today, which was good because it rained the past four of five days straight (since Friday or Saturday). I don´t mind the rain so much as the small comforts of home like say a ¨warm¨ shower after a days work in the rain or the ability to dry anything. That sounds kind of wah, probably because I haven´t had a cigarette in over a week, but one of the things I set out to do was quit so that´s the way its gonna have to be for a bit. It was a pretty productive day though, I started working on a new song about my guitar. And the best part of today...while having lunch a cartoon came on...DUCKTALES... I was stunned and told the kids how I used to watch that show after I came home from school when I was 8 or 9 years old. I´m starting to get the ear for their brand of Spanish, like us they shorten a lot of words, for instance for the last week I´ve been hearing mano Chris (pronounced crease) in which mano means ¨hand¨ Only to find out that they have been saying hermano ¨brother¨ Chris. Duh. Also today while mixing about 2 yards of concrete by hand I thought alot about this thing that has been on my mind for a while. In relation to the Immigration Law and such, I always laugh about the discrimination that alot of nascar fan whites complain about illegals. It´s funny to me because to return the generalization, they all like country and what country star doesn´t have a song about drinking some form of alcohol in Mexico. Hell, Kenny Chesney has like five, and Jimmy Buffet, and Sammie Hagar have made a living off it. Sorry Parrotheads and Van Hagar fans but you can´t have it both ways. atleast not on my watch.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
More info- formal
I arrived in the small town of Patzun, Guatemala on Thursday, June 25 with the promise of being here to serve for a year with a local missionary. Ken Spaugh, a missionary through CAM International out of Dallas, TX has been the overseer of the congregation of the Alpha y Omega Church and its many functions. Since it´s purchase less than ten years ago they have been able to build a school that now has 27 students as well as several out buildings. I have come with the specific purpose of building an internet cafe that will be used for outreach as well as support of the church. We will get to building that as soon as we finish work on the structure of a water filtration building that will also be a great asset of outreach and recognition in the community. I am staying with the Coy family. The parents Juan and Flory have six children two boys and four girls: Juan Carlos (19) Jacqelinn (18) Pedro (17) Flory (15) Evelyn (11) and Shayla (2). The youngest daughter has been struggling with pneumonia. They are super religious. They go to the church everyday. Either to work or worship and sometimes both. I guess I do too now so...
I guess one thing that I have been thinking about is how much I like it down here because I don´t have to worry about anything. I just have to wake up at 6:45a, eat my cornflakes and go do grunt work (digging trenches, chiseling concrete, building sheds etc.). I don´t have to worry about a bunch of people overly worried about the he said she said of my life. I feel free from the rat race so to say. I was also thinking about and had a good laugh about how my buddy who recently got married commented on how god is super stoked when he and his wife have sex. That´s a funny thing to think about while digging a five foot deep trench. HA
I guess one thing that I have been thinking about is how much I like it down here because I don´t have to worry about anything. I just have to wake up at 6:45a, eat my cornflakes and go do grunt work (digging trenches, chiseling concrete, building sheds etc.). I don´t have to worry about a bunch of people overly worried about the he said she said of my life. I feel free from the rat race so to say. I was also thinking about and had a good laugh about how my buddy who recently got married commented on how god is super stoked when he and his wife have sex. That´s a funny thing to think about while digging a five foot deep trench. HA
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Got to the countryside and have been with my new family the past few days. There are six children 2 boys, 4 girls ranging from the oldest boy 19 to the youngest daughter. They are super nice but don´t know any english, so exactly what I wanted. I´ll send some pictures as soon as I get em. Yesterday I mowed a big field a bit bigger than a football field that was about 3 ft. high with weeds with an old mower . Pretty awesome. Everyone is pretty religious. I can´t really understand anything yet because they talk super fast and don´t annunciate, but the mom is a spanish teacher and is going to give me some lessons. I guarantee in a year I´ll have some good spanish and be about 1000 lbs lighter. The food is pretty good, had broccoli pan fried in egg wash last night not bad. Apparently the trick to making refried beans is using black beans and givin em a quick spin in the blender, and in the morning we eat make powdered milk cereal, which is better than expected. They don´t know any music but christian music in spanish, did I mention they are pretty religious? They have a guitar and I constantly blow their minds with stuff like the beatles, and anything faster than a church hymn. The two year old is a big fan of lost cause by beck, I´m not sure I should or can tell her he is a Scientologist.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
I made it
I made it. It was a long and humid layover in Atlanta, but all worked out. Got in to Guatemala City and went out for Chinese, go figure. Pretty tired seeing as it was close to 24 hours since I left Seattle and changed time zones four times, but of course had the time to go to the Guate version of costco. They even had the hotdog and chicken bake deal. Doesn't seem to be alot of beef, but they have everything else it seems. Not too weird so far, but we´ll see. Here is an address I can receive mail at:
Chris Erickson
c/o CAM International
Apdo. 2311
01901 Guatemala City, Guatemala
Chris Erickson
c/o CAM International
Apdo. 2311
01901 Guatemala City, Guatemala
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