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.
Monday, August 23, 2010
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!
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