Another good chunk of time has passed since I either a)felt inspired to update my 3.5 follower friends b)desired to prolong the internet cafe sauna or c)had something semi-interesting to say. Factor (c) is the major determinant.
I spent a week in Guatemala at the end of September, passing through Antigua before making my way to Xela, where I attended language school for a week. Much more popular a Spanish-learning destination than El Salv, Xela is home to some 25 schools. I highly recommend my choice (ICA, www.guatemalaspanish.com), with 5-hours one-on-one instruction per day. Following a Swiss-cheese analogy I tried to stretch across the cultures, my teacher worked hard to "fill in the holes" in my Spanish grammar. (Of course not even the best "maestro" could fully suceed.) He also explained much about Guatemalan history & culture. Which was good, because I unfortunately felt a bit too under the weather to explore much--and said ´weather´ was constant pouring rain all day, everyday.
Speaking of rain (and global economy & climate change), the whole region has experienced much more than its annual average rainfall. Which means El Salvador is importing even more staple foods, at record high prices. And while I was in Guatemala, tropical storms knocked out the border bridge....which meant my return bus had to take backroads across the frontera, and while driving through such muddy cornfields in the dark, had a flat tire. While I dozed, all the men felt compelled to get off the bus and watch the poor driver try to change it. Apparently, the border is still closed, further increasing food prices.
In earlier posts, I´ve mentioned how impressed I am by Salvadorans´ desire to preserve collective memory, even (perhaps especially) the hard memories. This past weekend brought an opportunity for me to directly experience the healing that comes from shared remembering: between 20-30 of my HSC Field Hospital "teammates" came to campus for the ND-Pitt game. And especially, the core people--now among my great heroes--were there. We each told stories (familiar to most listeners) of the crazy, unlikely happenings in the months after the earthquake, lamented over how bad things still are in Leogane, wished we each could do more, and resolved to keep trying... together, as a team. I was grateful my parents support their daughter´s memory to bring me back home for this, and also that they wanted to meet the people who are--will continue to be--among my most special mentors & friends.
Returning to El Salvador, was met with happy welcome from my madre, padre, and hermana here. I spent all day yesterday (our "Columbus Day") at a national Festival for Indigenous Resistence, marking 518 years of the constant struggle to remember. As the MC put it, "to be indigenous is more than an identity...we need to remember our special conscience." Events included forum discussions, Nahuat poetry readings, music, dance, artesenia, chi-cha...all with a lively crowd. At one point, I was interviewed by a local news station. To my chagrin, my teacher told me today that he had in fact seen me on TV. yikes.
Back to collective memory, for just as I was nodding off during one of the late afternoon forums, people around me jumped up to offer their own impassioned perspectives. Their impulse, the desire to speak, is so pervasive here: from the funky, youth-organized sustainability music festival a few weeks ago, to the prior generation´s wise reflections at the San Ramon base eclesial community each Sunday. And people not only speak, but act also, working together to share what they have and struggling for the justice that they believe each person deserves. Every little bit I witness is a privilege.
A friend recently asked me how I find the spirits of people El Salvador, in comparison to Haiti. While I´ve not been long enough in either place to really answer, both countries make me question what it means to be "developed." Haiti doesn´t have many ATMs, or enough ARVs, and so remains decades behind the "rest" of the world. Yet, its people hold a more nuanced appreciation of the collective history of the Americas--conquistadors, coups, corporations--than we do, or at least more than I do.
So on a day when "American" schoolchildren (North being considered the only...) learn about the "discovery" of this land, the Salvadoran woman leading yesterday´s celebration here simply commented, "Una otra America es posible, diversa y multicultural, si juntos estamos caminando para que otro mundo sea posible."
(see GoogleTranslate, rt side of page)
Finally, my laugh for the day: a friend recently passed along this warning of the potential dangers should I now boast that I "speak Spanish."
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/11/09/115-promising-to-learn-a-new-language/
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