I feel like I'm making so much progress in my Spanish classes. I'm remembering a lot from high school, and I've also been recognizing new words that I've recently learned on tv or in conversations. I wish I had more time here, and I wonder how fluent I could be if I got to be here for six months. I'm pretty much convinced I'd be a Spanish-speaking machine (una Espanol-hablando maquina) if given more time. Silly work and having to earn money...urg.
In the afternoon, I watched a movie at La Union called "El Norte." It's about a brother and sister in Guatemala, who are forced to flee the country during the civil war. It traces their journey through Mexico and finally, into the United States. Throughout the film, their dreams of finding riches in the north are consistently crushed as they face continued discrimination and hardship. The movie (while probably quite low-budget and with really shoddy special effects) does a thorough job of showing why people immigrate illegally. For the main characters in the movie, leaving Guatemala is their only choice to escape certain death by the military in their country and certain death by starvation in Mexico. I really believe that every conservative person in the US, who is anti-immigration and anti-immigrant, should be forced to watch this movie. It provides so much insight into why people flee their homelands and also accurately argues that everyone in the main characters' positions would do the same thing.
I didn't do much in the evening other than homework. As I was flipping channels on the television, I stumbled upon "Death on a Factory Farm" on Cinemax. It's a documentary that follows cruelty charges, that are filed against a pig farmer in Ohio, through the court system. While it was extremely difficult to watch the undercover videos, it made me realize that I need to spend more time advocating for animal rights. I still spend time working on their behalf, but I need to do more. Not only do animals clearly need more human advocates, but I feel the happiest when I'm helping others. If I look back at my life, the times I've found the most satisfaction and meaning are when I've been advocating for causes I believe in. Telling poop jokes in bar basements is fun, but I want my life to be about more than just that.
Note: in my actual journal, I did a lot more life reflection here, but I omitted it as it's somewhat personal, and I also didn't want to bore anyone who might be reading this to death.
This trip has given me a lot of peace and time for reflection, and I am so thankful for that. The internet has been out at the guesthouse house, and while difficult at first, I am quite grateful for the gift of being present and not using my time to check email or twitter updates (I would hate to think I missed out on opportunities because I was too busy reading what complete strangers had for breakfast).
So I spend a lot of time thinking here. I go up on the second terrace of our roof (ours is the highest in the area), and I listen to music, stare at the clothesline-covered dwellings and just think. I feel above the world and like I could reach out and touch the mountains that surround us, and that feeling of solitude makes me feel way more tranquil and comforted than I ever thought possible. One of my good friends talks about being alone, but not lonely, and I honestly didn't know what she was talking about until now. I have bouts of loneliness here, but they pass quickly. While I wish those close to me could experience it here, I wouldn't trade being here by myself for anything.
A view from our roof:
On our roof. Taken pre-singing, dancing, meditating and other miscellaneous ways of embarrassing myself in front of the neighbors.
Another view from the roof.
To view more pictures of my trip, go check out my album on facebook.
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