La Cancion Protesta

This week I attended a conference on political songs of protest. It was interesting and lead by one of the teachers. Every conference is conducted in Spanish and translated into English. Songs of protest were used to denounce or speak against an oppressive government, to propose solutions and to honor those who have died. There was a time when singing particular songs were illegal in Central and South America and many artists were killed for their music. One artist I learned about was Violetta Parra of Chile. We listened to the music of Victor Jarra who was tortured and assasinated in September 1973. His captors beat his hands and told him to "play your guitar now."He was a firm believer in not singing just to sing, but singing with a purpose and vision. He is well known for the song "Te recuerdo Amanda" or "I remember you, Amanda." It is about two factory workers in love, but they are too busy with work to be together. In the 1970s, Ali Rafael Primera of Venezuela, died in an "accident" but it is beleived that the accident was really an assasination. We listened to his song "Casas de Cartón." It is about people and children that live on the street in cardboard "houses" while the dogs of rich people go to school. Here is a verse: "Qué triste se oye la lluvia en los techos de cartón: qué triste vivi mi gente en las casas de cartón...mira que pesa el sufrir...hoy es lo mismo que ayer, es un mundo sin mañana..." Translation: "how said to hear the rain fall on the cardboard roofs, how said to see my people in these cardboard houses...the weight of suffering...today is the same as yesterday, a world without tomorrow." And Carlos and Luis Mejía are known for "Liberation Theory" in their music. They sing about injustice and about God being a passive participant in life. They refer to Jesus, not as a savior, but as a revoluntionary that fought against the Roman empire and who fought for the oppressed. The main theme I got from the conference was that you can kill the people, but not the message, ideology, or vision.

Thursday

During the class break I went to the roof of the school to rest with other students. Around 11am it was warm and sunny. Its now 5pm, raining and freaking chilly. Its the rainy season and pretty typical for this time of year. Today, in the center of town, began the celebration of the Virgin Mary. It will be a month long celebration. Yesterday I purchased two beautiful scarfs from a women selling hand made products on the street for 20 quetzales (Q) each which is about $2.6 each. Here one american dollar is equal to about 7.6 Q. My host family receives 300 Q per week for my room and board (about $40 a week) An ice cream cone is 5 Q or 65 cents, cup of hot chocolate is 7 Q or 95 cents, class of wine is 15Q or $2 and the minimun wage is about 40Q a day or $5 a day. I have only been here eleven days but I am very overwhelmed. Class is intense and i´m getting more information then I can retain. My brain hurts! Learning another language in 3 months is a daunting task and I fear that I will not be able to do it. I´m feeling a little discouraged. Today I left class early to take a nap. The cultural center next door was looking for volunteers to teach english to neighborhood children. I went to meet the students and observe the class yesterday. I soon became an active participant and will be taking over the class with my friend Kati next week. The kids are a lot of fun and I´m sure I will enjoy it for the next few weeks. I will be teaching twice a week for an hour and a half. There are about 8 kids in the class.

Phone Calls

I set up a Skype account at www.skype.com where I can make phone calls on a computer to the US for 2 cents a minute. I plan to make phone calls every Sunday by going to an internet café. If you have a computer you can set up a skype account and phone calls computer to computer are free. Leave your name, number, and a good time to reach ya if you want me to give you a call on Sunday. I also purchased a cell phone here for $25. In case of emergency my cell number is 40253653. Peace

San Fransico

This photo was taken by my friend, Vida. 3 girls that live in a town called San Fransico. The school went on a trip this past Saturday to this town. It is about an hour and a half away. I learned a little bit about this collective community and about the culture and spirit of Mayan people. The leader of the community looked up my birth date in the Mayan calendar. My birthdate is represented by the number 10 and the bee or wasp. The past of my birthdate is the number 2 and the rabbit and my future is represented by the number 5 and the spider.

Bridge

Another photo for ya. One of the quotes written on the walls of the school is ¡Un pueblo con hambre, es un pueblo sin paz! A country that is hungry is a country without peace.

Here is a picture of one of the streets in Xela. This week I have a new teacher,Teresa. Classes are instructed only in Spanish. It is one on one instruction for 5 hours a day. Class is from 8am-1pm. And someone asked if my host family knows any English...that would be a big..NO. I´m still getting used to brushing my teeth with bottled water and throwing all toilet paper in a trash can.

First Week

On Sunday, Ingrid met me at the airport and accompanied me to Xela. I made sure not to drink anything because I knew there would be no rest room breaks during this long drive. On the bus we talked about poverty, min wage, gangs, organized crime and later found out that Ingrid was a member of the UNRG. I was extremely disatified with the fact that my poor Spanish skills kept me from understanding her story.
Every Monday the school, Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco de Español (PLQE), holds orientation for new students. PLQE is a socially conscious institution and one of their goals is to educate people about the history and current social and political situation of Guatemala. They hold conferences each week were community members give lectures around particular topics such as child labor, immigration, distribution of land etc. All profits are donated to support local community projects. For example the cultural center next door gives children the opportunity to take art classes or a scholarship program so children can attend middle and high school. Here, education is free only through elementary school.
My home is about a five minute walk from the school. My parents are Carmen and Hector. I found this to be special because my grandmothers name is Carmen and my fathers name was Hector. They have two daughters Luz Cecilia (16yrs) and Maria Jose (8yrs). They both greated me with smiles and my first night there Maria Jose showed me all of her school books and family pictures. I´m looking forward to the party we are planning next week to watch the final episode of Latin American Idol. A Guatemalan young man is in the final two.
Shesnarda (my teacher) and I meet every day from 2-7pm. She is wonderful! Learning Spanish is often put aside when we go off on tangents about life and politics. Really though, she talks and I listen.
I´ve made a couple friends, two young women from the states. One is from New York and the other from the west coast..Portland and LA area. We meet every night around 8:15 to walk around town, go to a bar and have a drink. The other night we went to a bar/restaurant called "La Fonda del Ché." They identify with Ernesto Ché´Guevara and his dream of having a united Latin America. They had an awesome live band "Sentimiento Andino" which is Andean Folk. I hope to purchase their CD before I leave.

Very Brief History of Guatemala

Before I talk about my experiences, i want to give very brief history/info so you have some understanding of the social and political climate of the country. Especially since i know many of you reading this have no Guatemalan history. I apologize for the simplicity of this telling. The country is about 60% Mayan with 22 differ languages. After the Spanish invasion of 1521 about 2/3 of the Mayan population was killed and wiped out. September 15, 1821 Guatemala gained independance from Spain. There was a huge U.S. influence in the 1800s. By 1920 the United Fruit Company owned 75% of the usuable land, owned railroads, ports, & electric companies. So clearly the ownership of Guatemala was not held by the people. In Oct 1944 there was a massive uprising to overthrow the dictator. Teachers played a huge role in organizing, protesting, and winning this movement. Over the next decade, which was also during time of cold war, propoganda spread and anyone with differ views from government were considered a communist. This fear of communism led U.S. to beleive Guatemala was a "threat" to U.S. and in 1954 the CIA funded a coup d´etat to overthrow the government. This began 36 years of civil war. November 1960 was the first guerilla uprising, but the government was able to put an end to this. In 1980 several guerilla groups came together to form one united group called Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca or URNG. The 1970s-1980s were the worst years. Union leaders, activits, professors, school teachers, student leaders, Catholics, were assasinated or kidnapped to get rid of any people even suspected of organizing or speaking against the government. From 1978-1982 a military tactic called "tierra arrasada" or scorched earth was implemented. Over 500 masacres occured killing mostly Mayan men, women, and children. The U.S. government funded and trained Guatemalan officials during this time period. The U.S. military training school in Georgia then known as "The School of the Americas" and today known as "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation" was a school to equip and train leaders of Latin America. During the 1960´s it changed its focus to train "counterinsurgency in order to prevent communism from spreading." It is beleived that military tactics taught violated human rights laws and that the leaders that carried out the massacres attended the school. In 1996 A Peace Agreement was signed to end the civil war. Although a peace accord is on paper, not much has changed for the people of Guatemala. Poverty, illitercy, and violence are still prevelant. With all that said, this November are the presidential elections. The two candidates left are right wing conservative and one is a military official that attended "The school of the Americas" and took part in the "tierra arrasad" in the 70s and 80s.

i´m here in Xela

just sending a quick note that i made it! i landed in Guatemala city around 2pm and took a four hour bus ride to Xela. I had orientation this morning and will meet my host family this afternoon. I stayed in a hotel last night, which was more like a hostel. It was freaking chilly last night, due primarly to the fact that we are so high up, about 8,000 feet in the mountains. I had a roomate. A nice fellow from Sweden who just finished his PhD in chemical engineering. He is traveling and working on his 3rd language. I´ll write more later. But overall very excited about being here. peace

First Journal Entry

Despite ‘the breakup,’ I have truly enjoyed life the past few months. This summer has been filled with unexpected miracles. I connected with old faces, made new friends, and went out every weekend. I chose not to sit on the couch after work everyday, watch TV and slowly rot my brain. My proudest moment was when I made a decision that normally would have scared the shizit out of me. I quit my job, moved out of my apartment, and decided to study abroad without knowing where I would go or how I would pay for it. In that moment, that leap of faith, everything was taken care of without me even knowing it. I needed a place to stay and I was given a home, I needed money and it came from people I didn’t know were paying attention, and I needed support and I was given my own cheerleading team (metaphorically speaking ofcoarse). Yeah, some may think it was easy because I have no kids or a mortgage…there is some truth to that. But those who know me know what it meant to do this and how I have changed over the years.
I’ve also learned a lot this summer. The more I am myself the more people are drawn to me, I don’t need to pretend. I’ve learned that you usually don’t receive from the same places you give. So give without expecting something in return. Although my mother was not able to take care of me or be the woman I’ve always wanted, I have acquired several ‘moms’ along the way. “It takes a village to raise a child.” And just when I thought there are more ignorant, assholes in this world than good people, I witness a simple act of brilliance that makes me believe again that people really are good at heart.
Thanks to all my peoples for your support: Family in Waterbury & Rocky Hill, RC folks, The WPI admissions office, and the crew holding it down in Worcester (aka Woosta) Hadley, Bonnie, Caroline, Joi, Dalya, and The DeCaro’s. Shout outs to my favorite going away gifts: the mosquito repellent key chain and my office card listing “The 10 Lessons I’ve learned from Tiana.” Special thanks to the psychic that told me I wasn’t living up to my potential, because that gave me a kick in the butt to do something. Although I highly doubt her other predictions will come true. I wonder if I could get my money back if they don’t? Hasta Luego for now. I’ll be thinking of you in Guatemala! Con Amor, Tiana