gonna play with the earth for a bit...

yall, im about to head to the rivers and follow my way to the ocean for a day and return to the city and feel the pull like a yoyo back to the mountains and study and work with the land for some time...closest phone is a journey away so well be chattin on the flipside.

much love,

christo

Social and Political Reality Today in Guatemala

from Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco de Espanol (the school im attending - http://www.hermandad.com/schools.shtml)...

Guatemala continues to struggle with a legacy of violence and extreme poverty that has endured since the Spanish invasion of 1524. In the 1980s the situation came to the attention of the outside world when violence swept the highlands in a deliberate policy of genocide against the indigenous peoples leaving 200,000 dead (80% of them Mayan), 50,000 disappeared, and 1.5 million displaced either internally or externally. There have been many calls for justice and reparations for the victims of this bloody war - the worst in the hemisphere during the 1970s and 1980s - and these demands are only just beginning to be addressed by the country's judiciary system amid a climate of continuing fear and threats against human rights workers and survivors of the genocide seeking justice.

The country is still living with this violent legacy in almost every sense. Medical care in Guatemala is woefully inadequate: about 25% of children die before they reach the age of five and malnutrition affects 50% of children. Education statistics are similarly poor: about 48% of the population is illiterate. Unemployment and underemployment stand at a startling 60%. The United Nations estimates that 80% of the population lives in poverty (measured as a daily income of $2 USD or less) and half of those, 40% of the total population, live in extreme poverty (measured as a daily income of $1 USD or less).

The peace accords signed between the government and the insurgent forces of the URNG on December 29, 1996, have opened new political space for popular organizations and progressive political parties; compliance with these accords to bring a firm and lasting peace to the country is the challenge facing the people of Guatemala. So far progress has been slow and many members of the civil movement in Guatemala assert that the social and human rights situation worsened palpably during the year 2000 following the election to power of the rightist FRG party (Republican Front of Guatemala). The FRG is led by Efraín Rios-Montt, who had previously come to power as a military dictator following a coup d'etat in 1982 and presided over Guatemala during two of the bloodiest years of its civil war. Its ranks include many politicians who have previously held military posts during the armed conflict. Many observers feel that this party does not have a genuine commitment or interest in the full and proper implementation of the peace accords.

The year 2000 saw several politically-motivated attacks on offices of leading human rights organizations, the kidnapping and torture of one human rights investigator and death threats against other human rights defenders. 2001 saw an orchestrated campaign of harassment and intimidation against independent journalists investigating corruption in government departments, attacks against high level judges in charge of politically sensitive cases (including the brutal assassination of Bishop Juan Gerardi, in which military officers are among the accused), and further threats and attacks against trade unionists and human rights workers. Despite this intense pressure and very difficult conditions, the social and civil movement in Guatemala is gaining in strength and confidence and is ensuring that its voice is heard at all levels of debate in this country.

futbol in tha tunderdome

so, futbol is serious thing in most parts of the world and here is no exception. im in a town that hasnt had running water for four days and has sporadic electrical shortages but has a futbol arena that you can rent to play at night, in a cage and under the lights -- perfect for re-livin, in a mad max kinda way, the glory days of orange slices and cold saturday mornings when i was eight.

last night we battled and i got embarrassed repeatedly by young guatemalan kids and this awesome, suppastar soccer queen from denmark -- i literally fell at least five times as she danced the ball around me...awesome.

thats all i got on that, but i did score a goal with my crotch, for what its worth.

McInternet...

so, heres the situation: im in a town that has an old colonial vibe in the center of the city...huge, beautiful church and lots of old buildings that you can stroll through and get lost and taste the bureaucracy....a few things are true here like in times square or any other locale with prime real estate -- the golden arches will be present. now this square has a huge market adjacent to it, tons of street vendors -- primarily indigenous folks (i believe over half of the Guatemalan are unemployed and unofficial business is the typical situation for many, many folks) and just down the park at the other end is mcdonalds that features a mcinternet special where if you buy something you get 30 minutes free on the internet -- these mac computers, of course.

the other night i was with a group and we were strolling at night and when i glance in the window of mcdeeees, through the golden arches are five women sitting at a large table just behind this row of mac computers. it was at night (a full moon if i recall correctly) and these women were wearing some of the most beautiful clothes ive seen, had bright ribbons in their braided hair and were mowin down quarter pounders and looking at macs.

that, is globalization.

morning walk -- what five minutes will yield

my morning stroll is usually as peaceful as running with the bulls; however, today was a special day...unlike most days where i play frogger and angry chickenbus and microbus drivers play ´hit the gringo´, today was relatively chill. the catholic school down the street was just getting started and the bike venders had their packaged sugar items and ice cream to pawn on the youth -- which im sure the teachers love, fireworks were going off for some youngsters cumpleanos and of course the street was as covered in trash as usual. i cannot stress enough the importance of color in guatemala -- everything is painted brightly and with a better than the jones´vibe in some parts. so, i took a side trip this morn down a small alley where i passed the morning barracho, overly intoxicated oldtimer that found leaning 27 degrees to the east was optimal for his breathing. this cat was out and dogs had licked him recently because the morning light shimmered on his leathery skin and i could see grease in the lines of his rinkles. he had a tan overcoat which was in direct contrast to the bright orange wall he leant against.

this fella had seen better days, no doubt, but at least this morning he was a treat for the young scholars in matching bright red sweaters and grey pants that used his pretzeled legs as hurdles to cross in preparation for future olympics...for sure.

as i swung a left i came upon a 70-year-old woman pounding a torquoise wall with her cupped hand while balancing a ball of something wrapped in a traditional blanket on her head. yall, i mean pounding on tha wall. the echo trickled through the street and of course the plethora of lonely and underfed dogs were loving it cause they could join-in. so, here is this elderly woman wearing traditional dress, balancing a bigass ball of something on her head and pounding a bright tourquoise wall at 6 something in the morning and not another soul in sight. the kicker is, she sees me, pauses and gives me a big grin and then continues with more fervor and as i pass i realize that she is pounding the wall right were ´trucha´has been graffitied...i really need to buy a camera.

operation gerber cup: complete

there is nothing like having a conversation in choppy spanish at 6 am with a bunch of very sick folks outside of a clinic while holding a gerber cup full of your own goods...there was a pretty sunrise, for what its worth.

ill let yall know what´s trying to make a home in my stomach...

projectile vomiting...

jan 16 -- to shit or not shit in a gerber cup, that is the question!

is not my strong suit. because life is comical on so many fronts i thought id drop a line to say hi and describe a few of the highlights in my last 36 hours in xela and the surrounding mountainside of guatemala. lets get to the subjectline right away, shall we? so, im staying with a host family there that is supper sweet but the situation is a bit, shall we say, interesting at times. por ejemplo, there are four generations of women in the house, the youngest being an adorable one month and nine day-old baby and the eldest an 80 year old lover of dance that has Alzheimer's and dementia. the house mom was left by her husband and then had a stroke so no she can only use the left side of her body...all for me is more or less peachy, there is hot water now (but there wont be water at all for four days) and a kitchen and whatnot but what comes out of that kitchen is the problem at hand....

two days ago i brought flowers to my host mother and she cried because it reminded her of her ex husband and there in lies what i think was the subconscious food poisoning on her part. that afternoon we ate soup with meat in it and despite my internal voice of ¨what the fuck do you think you are doing eating this!¨i chowed down. a few hours later there was a group out to celebrate the last night of an american woman that is about to head into the mountains in northern guat to be a human rights monitor...around one am i assumed the position to honor and worship the porcelain god -- for four hours.

now, this is nothing new and we have all been there; however, this toilet had a felt cover of santa on the top, when all the lids are down, and then when you lift the cover lid there is santa with his hands over his eyes in disgust...for four hours i was talking shit to santa and telling him ive been a good boyin spanish and conjugating verbs. on top of this, the towel rack, which was next to the toilet was made of another felt santa that had bug eyes and so i had two conversations in spanish, except for the episodes of cursing in any language i could think of, with santa. ive been scarred. yep, santa and i are no longer simpatico and im plotting practical jokes for the north pole.



so, as i write im not on a toilet and that is a MASSIVE improvement, i dont have a fever and i have some resemblance of color in my cheeks. yesterday i went to natural hot springs (i know they dehydrate you but i drank a lot of water) which was essential and i slept for 16hours last night. im on the up and up as they say.

so, this experience, which i know is not really unique, inspired me to drop a note and encourage each of you, particularly those of optimal health, to savour your ability to: breathe deeply, eat, not have needles of pain from all sides, smell the grass and wet earth in the forest, smell the top of a newborns head, drink and eat whatever you want and not only taste it but digest it in a way that will not wish you were dead, or at least in a coma until you got back to normal, walk for more than three minutes, dance and all other things that are easy to take for granted. savour that shit like mangoes on waffles, yall.

while im in a rhythm and you are already getting this ill drop a few more words and a link to a friend of mines blog that you all might know, aryeh shell, whose from san fran and is at the same school im at. she wrote up a beautiful note about our recent trip in the mountains with a former guerrilla fighter that took the time and had the patience to share some of the gruesome history of guat and particularly his own experiences during the war and his perspective of the current situation in guatemala. aryehs blog: http://aryehshell.blogspot.com/

a few other highlights other than projectile vomiting and being shocked by my body and the absolute cruelty and insensitivity of santa are, plantanos EVERYWHERE, more smiling peole than ive ever seen, visiting a church with mayan influence that transformed a regular church to a temple of color and life, being bombarded by evangelicals everywhere, morman bakeries in guatemala, crazy, argumentative yoga teachers, amazing indian food, digging my nose inot the earth and smelling the forest for the first time in months, speaking with mayan farmers about the impact of cafta and feeling guilt at everyturn for being from the states with the history and the current policies that further disrupt any real progress, speaking with folks about the hurricane down here and seeing the similarities of gross ineffectiveness and total disregard by politicians towards the poor, seeing extreme poverty closer than i have in a long time and routinely getting a shot of reality and perspective which alone continues to transform my life, falling in love wiht the spanish language after a week and loving making folks here laugh at mytotal inability to truly articulate myself but due to their patience and our collective nonverbal skills getting the points across -- or so i think, ridding in the backs of trucks through small farms during harvest season and seeing the wide range of tactics by the farmers and utilization of very limited resources, continually being amazed and baffled by the ingenuity and creativity, hating cars more than i ever have before, finding it fascinating that some stores in guat charge shoppers for bags while we dont in the states and this country has more environmental degradation and disregard than ih ave seen (emily utter will drop more on this), sitting wiht a fever and zero nutrients in a pool of hot springs and having hallucinations and talking with the water spirits (i fully embraced mynew age side when i was in the gutter with thehealth and my dark side with santa), late night dancing at gay bars because to reduce the groping and hearing ymca three times in an hour, walking the mildly mountainous cobblestone streets late at night with a full moon and not hearing a thing, literally every single morning waking up to in this order: roosters, dogs, fireworks, roosters, dogs, fireworks, fireworks, cars. seeing a pack of malnourished dogs on both friday the 13th an on the 14th with the full moon and fearing for my life, trying to negotiate a trade of pants with a four yearold that had the best yellow fleece pants with full covered feet and patches of green on the knees, watching my inital perceptions of both guatemalans and foreigners melt and being amazed by what folks say after a few minutes of the casual chat, falling in love with color likenever before, keeping the curly mustache and realizing it creates more conversation and less obvious judgement than i thought, chickenbuses yall! for those that have travelled in these parts you know what i speak is the truth, for those that have yet to have the opportunity ijust want you to take a moment nad recall riding in the yellow school bus to school and imagine that bus being transformed in a myriad of ways: to start, instead of two persons per seat, the seats now hold three across which leaves little room for manuevering in the isle, but a sound system in and blast either fast marimba or the like or some crazy shit like tony braxton singing in spanish, add colored decals everywhere with flames, multi tone words, throw in a few crosses and name the bus a saint or a woman and youve got the chicken bus of guatemala. now, before i left for guat i was told by a 50 year old woman to not sit close to chickens on teh bus because she got some weird infection and lost her eyesight in one eye...i more or less set that advice to the side UNTIL i got on one of these buses which are now my main mode of transit. so, the key here is that these buses are independently run and compete with other buses on the same routes so the speeding ahead of buses or working to snag a few passengers is fair game, also, the drivers range from 14 or so to 80, in myexperience. on the buses there is a team -- the driver, and at least one porter that will run up your huge bags of potatoes, your BOAT, GOAT or anything else to thetop of the bus while it is moving, and this same person will get the money from each passenger and has various rates for the shitton of stops along the way. though i dont love being on the chickenbus, i love the people i meet and of course the stories and visuals that are with me....almost worth the trip in itself.

lastly, this isnt the time for me to go on about politics, history and the like; but, despite what ive read and conversations ive had about the history here, to hear from people here that lived through it, from people that will take the time to discuss how their families and villages were destroyed and how theycontinue to struggle, continues to alter the fabric of my being and though i wanted to start on a funny note with the projectile vomiting episode and the like, i know that i, despite my experiences to help remind me, lose perspective and forget to embrace and celebrate life as much as i am able to and should. so, i hope this note reaches you in great health and with great ability to LIVE and celebrate with reckless abandon.

also, a good friend here has a blog in italian so those that can read it will love it and at theleast you will see some of the spots ive been and where we are at now, andreas blog: http://viaggioinguatemala.blogspot.com

and love muffin number one, senior dan firger, has a blog for his trips in south america and if you dont know dan you would LOVE him and hes always good with words and has a camera which makes it more fun: http://www.firgs.blogspot.com/

much love and if youve read this far you deserve a prize,

christo ïf only i had a blog and normal digestion¨michael

let the dispatches begin...

jan 5, 2005 -- first day in guatemala (happy birthday vas and mindy)

friends, hope this finds you well and in good health. this is a hi to most and an apology to many for not getting in touch wtih yall before i got on the steel bird adn headed south...

but, most of all this is the first in a limited series of dispatches from guat and beyond. now, im not so keen on writing the dispatches on teh first day; however, it is necessary in this case. i arrived five hours ago with a head cold and fever and have been walking around like a zombie with love for smog. despite the multi-color phlem all is brilliant down here. the inspiration for this note is a series of things i witnessed over the last few hours:

bus driver grabbing my hand as the bus kept moving to get me on and winked with a shit-eating grin that made me think i was gonna die any minute but it would be a spectacular death, i had a starring contest with an old man. why? because i wanted to see his gold teeth, of course. he obliged adn we strolled for a few blocks together, i followed a line of sinners to confession to realize hop out of line and stare at a candle for a little too long...i think i inspired a wee bit of concern, sat in a plaza watching children chase after pigeons and periodically stop to see a clown juggle adn then i saw a clown on stilts juggle in a CRAZY busy intersection and right after that i passed a display of love that i have not seen since a prison movie...a man behind a red corrugated steel wall with a window maybe one foot by one foot pryed his hand out to stroke a womans hair while they kissed. that will stay with me for a while. did some touristy stuff and got a private tour of the palace and met the national painter and debated dali and rothko in my broken spanish...debate is clearly not the right word. but hes gonna show me his gallery tomorrow in antigua.

lastly, the inspiration for this email comes from my last spanish lesson...

scene: central plaza, water fountains, kids, old ladies pawning random waxy things, tons of shoe shiners and it seems everyone here walks around with a fucking shotgun -- and they look twelve.

i see a crowd of men about four deep in a circle and someone is utiling a bullhorn so yall know i was up in there -- especially after just having chats about the civil war here and the latest with the new president -- and what do i see as i approach? an oldtimmer with a dildo in his hand saying derecho, escierda as he moves his hips with the dildo. the crowd of boys and men (i saw a guy that had to be 80) stood around at awe of this Casanova whom had to be 50 and had a tenth of that in teeth as he showed him how to please a woman (yes, plastic displays were abound in numerous sizes and colors) and there were a series of posters and visuals to help explain the importance of, what i gathered, movement, timing and the like.

so, i have yet to officially start my language classes in xela (thanks to emily utter!); but, i took advantage of this free class and im certain it will be the most memorable.

wishing you all optimal health and all that makes you giddy...and, happy new year!

much love,

christo

ps: id love to hear from yall. itd make my day

ps2: if you have advice for spots and contacts and whatnot, please lemme know

ps3: for those in sf, sean hayes and sun kil moon (or mark kolzeck) are playing at great american, different dates, and yall should see them. your life would be better for it. i guarantee.