Conference

I went to a talk by a lawyer in Guatemala who is a former professor at a university in Xela at my school. He talked of the current political situation in Guatemala. He was very good, personable, and spoke clearly and slowly so I could understand the majority of it. I wish my speaking abilities were half as good as my comprehension and writing abilities. Very frustrating at times. Fortunately, some of the students at school translated something if I was unclear about what he said. I want to read more about the tumultous history of Guatemala.He is giving some more conferences at a charitable organization across from my school so I am going to try to attend them trough out the month of june. The professor said that 60 percent of Guatemala is indigenous and of those 70 percent are poverty stricken. He said about 10 to 15 percent of the wealth in Guatemala is affiliated with a few groups of people. There isnt a gradient like we have in the US of poverty, middle class, upper middle class, etc. It is complety polarized. A majority of those people living in rural areas are starving. There are a lot of people who dont have electricity, clean water, access to medical, dental, or pharmaceutical care. Also, the indigenous people are subjected to racism. I find it very behooving how the Guatemaltecos are racist against the Indigenous, by now, their bloodlines are mixed. The Guatamaltecos say they are from Spanish decent and the Indigenous are from Mayan decent. It is really odd how the tables have turned. The indigenous and Mayans used to be thriving and highly respected long, long ago. Oh, I found it very interesting how he talked of the Latin American countries that rely on trade with the US arent progressing economically or socially, they have the lowest literacy rates for instance. Its really a viscous cycle. For instance, China is starting to improve and puts pressure on the US and then the US puts pressure on Latin American countries. Also, Boliva and Venezuela dont interact with the US much and Venezuala has finally confirmed 100 percent literacy rate, Boliva is trying to reach that goal in 2008. Its very interesting. Im going to more talks later this month for sure. Plus, it helps me work on understanding spanish too.

Its really hard from me to see such wide spread poverty. I see people sleep on the side of the road, on the side walk, benches, walking around drunk, collapes and rest on the edge of the street where it meets the narrow streets. I know, I know when I tell people of this that you are thinking that I see stuff like this in Chicago or the States too. Some times I dont realize how much of a bubble I live in or how well my life is going.I live in a bubble in quaint, yuppy, preppy, pretty Lakeview.

I dont want it to come across as its atrocious because it is not. There is so much beauty here and the people are so nice. I walk down the street and people say, Buenos dias, tardes, noches, etc. How often do people do that in the US. People try to avoid each others eye contact at all costs. I had a wonderful conversation with a man at the bank this afternoon while I was exchanging travellers cheques. He was curious about my experiences here thus far.People arent as warm in the US. By the way, its weird going to the bank and there are 4 to 5 men standing around this tiny room with their hands on the trigger of the biggest gun I have ever seen. I think its a rifle of some sort. Also, the police walk around with this huge rifles, some of them look automatic, but what the hell do I know about guns. As I have said before there are so many wondeful things about Guatemala too.

Its nice because Im finally starting to understand stuff when people are passing by now. A guy yelled some pretty sexual stuff at me when I was walking to the bank this a.m. I was so happy because I knew what he said.I wouldnt have had any clue what he said 3 weeks ago. LOL. I told my teacher about it and he looked at me like I was crazy. I have a new teacher, Luis Fernando, he is a student at a private universtity in Xela. He is only 21, he is just a baby. Hes very good. Olga, the director, screwed up so I wont have him again for my second week. Im going to have some other lady. We had a lot of fun. He speaks much faster than the other teacher I had. Spanish is getting harder and harder. I suck at grammar in English so its hard for me to get it right in another language. He is strict so he tries to drill things into my head and he assigns a shitload of homework. I have to write essays or 50 sentences, etc. Im so freaking determined to be fluent though. I know its impossible to do in 3 and a half months and I will have to work on it for a long, long time.

I guess that is about it. Im going to my weekly cena, dinner, tonight. Tomorrow bright and early at 7 a.m. I have to meet in front of my school to go hiking. I am so excited to finally go hiking. I dont care if I wake up in pain or not tomorrow I am going hiking.

Oh. I finally resumed my salsa dancing lessons. I asked my teacher to review all the stuff I learned from my previous two classes so that I could be OK. Its so freaking hard to understand her and dance at the same time. She said I remembered quite a bit from not having danced for an entire week and hfrom having only two classes. It is really hard because its all about paying attention to the postion of your partners hands. Im taking private lessons so, but I may start going to group classes soon as I get a few free with the package I bought. Im not ready to attend the group classes yet. Im nervous about it. Shes really nice and very positive when I stumbleover a step or shell make me repeat it until I get it. Its hard to tell by the movemnt of her thumb, or pressure she places on my harm or position of her body or feet that Im suppossed to turn, twist, do basic steps, dip, etc. Its a nice work out though. I look forward to doing more and more. Ill keep you posted on my progress, which is very slow.