We had another visitor right after Alex’s mom left, out mutual friend Katie came for a visit. For any of you who don’t know she is the one who introduced us together in London. Real cool girl. She had a great time here checking out Seoul’s ancient palaces and temples, staying out late at Bars or Norebangs (karaoke rooms), so just basically doing what all tourist do here. Climbing up a Mountain, about to stop by a Monastery on the way up.
Silly poses at the palace in Seoul.
Another hilarious thing happening while they were here was children’s day, which is basically a free holiday for everyone else. The day before though, my school did a Halloweenesque fashion show. Here were some of my favorite costumes: Billy as a Chinese warrior getting his anime dragonball Z poise on.
Shine and Newton both 4 as a Tiger and Dog respectably.
Tom as an English Guard with an AK-47. Nice.
Ryan as a english guy twirling a hat.
Crab people. Walk like crab talk like people.
Kent as a Panda. Probably my favorite costume.
Brian taking a bow. The English were really represented in this show.
So, the title of the post was life in a box and this was in part titled because I live in a small one room apartment, but also because we took a trip to the beach and we literally lived in a box. Went to the islands out west of Seoul, which I think are in the East China Sea, and while beautiful it was not exactly what you would think a beach trip would be like.
So, my girlfriends joke is “Call me a snob, but when I go to the beach I think of water.” We get there and there is a mud flat for about a half mile out into the sea. It’s also pretty remote and there are no true hotels there, so we have to rent a box on stilts to sleep in (hence the title). After the initial shock it ended up being a great weekend. There were a couple big groups of foreigners there, and we just laid down a towel and acted like we were part of the group. It was funny the last day we were there someone asked us who we knew and after an awkward pause we just said we knew each other and laughed about it. The rows of boxes. There were about 50 total. All they had on the inside was two pillows 4 blankets and a kind of squishy floor. Thankfully, we had enough to drink we didn't notice. Good ol' number 25. Walking around on the mud flats. The locals playing with some starfish.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Wow, feels like forever since I last put a post up, but after a very stressful April and then a string of visitors I didn’t have the time. I also think that I’m going to try and do shorter posts, so I won’t be intimidated to start them.
So Alex’s mom came and we managed to travel all over Korea for better or worse. The trip down south reminded Renee of Tijuana. It was basically a few concrete towers in the middle of nowhere, we also got left at our hotel for being ten minutes late, had to sleep on the floor, and had a random weirdo in our room . Sadly, all the really nice architecture and quaint buildings were destroyed in the war. Hopefully that doesn’t repeat itself when I’m here. To touch on that I am not very worried about it because South Korea wouldn’t be able to contain the damage to just the North, and they don’t want to give up this life style. After saying that, it is still quite scary to think that there are 1.2 million NK soldiers across that line.
Some of the highlights of Renee’s trip that I go experience with her were a tea festival, where she sat on a monk, was coerced into buying some green tea, and was driven around by little Korean in a bear suit; a visit to Dr. Fish; and a trip to one of the palaces in Seoul.
Like masters on a chariot they made that poor midget truck them around.
Alex and I as the Palace complex in Seoul
A palace in Seoul
Kind of gross when your heel is lunch.
Fish on the prowl for some toes!
Renee Sitting on a monk when there clearly is a seat right next to her!
Well, the weather got warm for a week and then quickly plunged back to below freezing, which is rather annoying when I see that it’s 60-70 and beautiful in Philly. So, the weather has kept us from doing anything outdoorsy, but we’ve had some truly Korean experiences these past few weeks. We went to a Korean booking club, which you need to have a Korean friend to get into. This club is a lot different than a club in America. Here you pay a 15$ dollar cover and your group gets a huge plate of fruit, a bottle of crown royal, 6 beers, and a couple sodas. Another difference is that if you are at a table without any girls the host will see there are 5 guys at this table and find a table of 5 girls and bring them over to you when the DJ stops. Then you’ll talk until the DJ comes back on and then if things work out you will go dance. It’s really weird because when the DJ stops all the Koreans leave the dance floor. Of course, whenever we got on the dance floor everyone was in awe because they kind of lack rhythm, and are infatuated with white people.
The next day we went to a Hanok village, which is a recreation of a traditional Korean town. The cool thing about this one is it is in downtown Seoul, and you can see the Seoul tower over the fake houses.So we’re walking around and the place is filled with tons of tourists, and Alex gets up on a ledge to take a picture and we see these Koreans with these huge camera’s taking photos of her, which is whatever, but then I ask them to take a picture of us on my camera. Then they all just decide to take picture of us. It’s weird; kind of like being a celebrity. This also happened to use with one of Alex’s coworkers boyfriends. He said I looked like Paul McCartney and wanted to show his friends. It’s very rare to hang out with a Korean and not have them tell you that you look like someone famous, which never actually looks like you. My buddy Beau gets Brad Pitt, and my co-worker Joe gets Hugh Jackman all the time. Of course, this makes absolutely no sense. So the reason why I get Paul McCartney is because I haven’t shaved or cut my hair in quite some time. I just found out the Koreans in the town I live in call me the “One with the Hair.” That cracked me up when I found out. We also had an experience that really reminded me of home.
We took a booze cruise on the Han River, which cuts through downtown Seoul. It was pretty much a foreigner’s only party, which is really weird for a couple reasons. To go from being a head taller than everyone to being normal height was a shock. To actually be able to talk to everyone and have them understand me was a little weird because I’ve become used to saying anything in public because no one can understand me. Lastly, I still believe that most of the foreigners are really weird. But the cruise was only so-so because it was still really cold and then being on the water was even worse. We ended up staying inside for most of it and taking advantage of the open bar.
The only other thing that happened these past two weeks was I had to go to a seminar for this new program on a Saturday without getting paid, which was BS. We had gotten out of it a month ago, but decided it wasn’t worth fighting this time. Now because we didn’t go last time the entire staff had to come out and go to it again. Sucks for them, but work relationships have gone down the toilet lately, so I don’t really care. We get there after only getting 4 hours of sleep the night before and thank god Joe and I were put in another room for English speakers. So I don’t really remember this, but Joe tells me I took off my shoes and went to sleep for about an hour. Then we went up for the joint presentation, which was stupid because we have been running this program for about 3 weeks and knew how to use the program.Well, anyways this story is a boring, but once our boss and the Koreans left after lunch we waited about 5 minutes then left after them, and went to the casino.
This casino trip was definitely one of the more memorable trips. We sat down at the roulette wheel next to a South African, who had been sitting there for a couple hours and said he knew which dealers threw what numbers. Of course, we were thinking no way is that possible, but he said there was the 0 and 00 spinner. Sure enough out of 15 throws 5 were 0 or 00, and a couple numbers right around there. This was awesome because the drinks are free and you can get free meals there. After being there for four hours at this one wheel we had the pit boss talking about us asking the dealers to watch what numbers we were betting. It was pretty fun, and after not getting paid for working a Saturday; I ended up 300,000 Won. So it turned out to be a fun Saturday.
A few more things: Today I walked by a construction crew spray painting in a semi-enclosed area without masks on. This is the same culture that will wear a mask if they’re in public or move away from foreigners. Also here is a some picture of the “Yellow Dust” I have mentioned before.
The past few weeks I have managed to go to a few museums, learn about Korea’s history, and find an interesting story about how I got offered a job here. Three weekends ago we made it to the Japanese War Prison that was used to house political prisoners from the early 20th century till the end of World War 2.I was pretty excited to visit the prison because I had heard it was great piece of Korean history, but my attitude quickly changed from excitement to disgust when I learned how horrible the Japanese were to the Koreans. They had wax sculptures set up to demonstrate all of the tortures the Japanese used. Some of the worst were boxes that had the walls covered with spikes and they would put prisoners in and roll down hills, pulled out fingernails; I could go on, but I won’t. The most gruesome image was they still had the old noose they used for hangings in the gallows. It was pretty chilling reminder of war and the Japanese’s cruelty, and it was also a good thing to see before going to the War Museum the next day.
The War Museum was amazing. I have to say I really did not know anything about the Korean War, or also known as the “Forgotten War,” until I went to this museum. America pretty much saved Korea from becoming a communist country and thus still in poverty (for a really interesting documentary check out this site. These guys actually snuck into and filmed a documentary and didn’t need Clinton to come rescue them). I think America sent about 80% of the 2 million troops stationed in Korea during the war, which really explains why they are so kind to us. They also went into Korea’s older history and had a replica turtle ship that they used against the Japanese in the 16th century. Korea’s history really reminds me of France during the last 300-400 years, and by that I mean they were constantly under attack by a foreign country. Korea was invaded by the Chinese, Mongols, Russians, Japanese (multiple times), and then North Koreans. In fact, they are still at war with the North Koreans, but if you bring up the subject to a Korean they will quickly change the subject. But I’m not at all worried because that the 38th parallel is one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world. I’m pretty glad that we helped South Korea because if we hadn’t wouldn’t be here now, which actually wasn’t so random that I got the job.
My co-worker, Joe told me that he had interviewed about ten people before he talked to me on the phone, and the only reason I got the job was I just wanted to travel and have an adventure. People might think that everyone over here is doing just that, but it isn’t really the case. I’ve touched on this a lot: foreigners here are just weird, they are either escaping something, couldn’t fit in, or chasing Korean women.Joe basically said that I was the first person who wasn’t all about the Korean culture or anime cartoons, and he then told the director that I spoke English without a weird accent.
So, before I get into my new beef with work I would like to share a few other pretty cool things we’ve been doing over here. For Christmas Alex bought me a guitar and I’ve been learning a few songs, but the problem is I can’t sing. So, two Sundays ago we happened to go into a bar that had an open mic night. At first, I did not want to play, but after a couple tequila shots Alex got me on stage and we did “Stand by Me.” It was pretty cool being on stage and I’m glad I was talked into it. We also went to the Andy Warhol event at Seoul’s National Art Museum, and I’m not a fan. The art was ok, but I don’t like the fact that he was doing just to be popular. Reminded me of all the reality TV in America, but the translations were hilarious. I tried to take a picture of one of them and this security guard comes running at me from cross the room yelling for me to stop.
At school, we switched over into a new academic year, and instead of keeping the same program that brought all these kids in last year; the director spends probably all of the profit from the winter term and buys a new program. The new program isn’t bad, but of course the idiots decided to start each class at the same point in an effort to save money. We have these kids who can almost have a conversation with you singing nursery rhymes and doing animal flashcards. Thankfully, I got moved down to the 5 and 6 years old because it’s age appropriate. Joe’s students hate it and don’t pay any attention to him. There are two other problems with this program, 1: the students are used to playing games, and 2: it’s all singing and I can’t sing. After a week and a half the teachers told me that the students were bored and I needed to work harder on the songs. Knowing that it wasn’t going matter if I practiced the songs, I just started playing little games with the students. Of course, they love my class now.So, it’ll be interesting to see how many of the older kids will drop out at the end of the month. I’m going to guess close to 20 kids, which is going to infuriate the Director. I normally enjoy seeing her pissed off, but it’s annoying because I know she’s going to say it’s our fault. When in all reality it’s her fault for fixing something that wasn’t broken.
Ok, I touched on the how ridiculous moving into an apartment was here and I finally got some pictures of it and here you go
Absolutetly insane!!! 18th Floor
At the War Memorial: The turtle ship and inside a relic from the Korean War
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Around Seoul: The sub after the Horse RAces, Warhol Translation, Famous Belltower in Downtown Seoul
Me with a couple of my new classes. Funny names: Elf, Laser, Rabbit, Elvis, Tinkerbell
Well the winter term is coming to an end, and it’s been an interesting with new people arriving and old people leaving. This past weekend was Alex’s two co-workers going away party and it;s sad because they're some of the first people we met here. But this is the nature of working in Korea; people do go home. It’s crazy because these people are going home and they have no idea what they are going to do. This has to be a scary thought because I don’t know if the economy has gotten any better. Hopefully, by next February the job market will have gotten better.
Also this past week was Valentine’s Day and we went “Mr. Pizza,” which is an upscale pizza chain that’s slogan is “Health for Women.” Not really healthy, but kind of funny and really good weird pizza. We had a shrimp, crab, potato, and chicken pizza. Everything but the potato was really good. Actually potato pizza is really common and big here, so is corn in the pizza. The funniest thing that happened there was 80% of the people there were women, and when I stood up to pay literally every women was staring at me because I’m tall, white, and have a beard. Work has been fun but a few stressful episodes lately. I’ll give the annoying news first. So they are putting in a new education system, and last Thursday they called a meeting and went: Joe did you ever break your nose, Dave you need to shave, Joe Dave is a better teacher to you, and you both need to go to an all day seminar on Saturday. Really late notice, when we both had plans for Saturday. Also the weekend is when we can really relax, which is something that Koreans don’t really understand. I truly believe they feel there is a contest to see who can work the most. But we stormed out of there and the next day after work asked our manager are we getting paid for this? They said no, and that they aren’t happy either because they had plans too and the Director feels very bad, which is something that makes me angry that they think by saying the director feels bad everything is ok. But we basically ended the conversation with we don’t work for free. I’m glad Joe has dealt with them before because they go we will tell you tomorrow. Joe was like no you will call us tonight, and the workers really didn’t want to tell the director this because she will just take her anger out on them by saying why didn’t you talk them out of it. But she then offers to give us off Tuesday morning, which I already had off because it is graduation. So we say “no, you need to give us another day off.” They call back and say we just don’t have to go. As we assumed it turned out to be a snooze fest with everything double translated into English and Korean. They summed it up in a twenty minute meeting after work. It’s annoying that the Korean workers don't stand up for themselves and get taken advantage of because we look like jerks when we make a big deal out of stuff like this. But in the end, we are the reason why parents will pay more money to send their kids to this school versus one without foriegn teachers.
But because this is the end of the winter program both Alex and my school have had performances. My school did a choir show. They rented out a huge auditorium and each grade did 3-4 songs. They dressed the kids up in suits and traditional Hanbok outfits that look hilarious. They did a rendition of “O, My Darling,” a couple Chinese songs, a couple Korean songs, and a drum beat to the “Pirates of the Carribean” beat. Alex’s work did a huge musical, which was really cute. The kids all dressed up in little costumes and did a bunch of songs. The funniest was this one kid was a prince from America and played as Michael Jackson and did a moon dance and some spins. Unfortunately, I didn’t get this on video, but here are some videos of each event. The odd bit of Korean culture that I want to talk about this time is safety. Korea is crazy and it’s a matter of time till accidents start piling up and laws start to get introduced. Today, I was walking around my school and saw how they got stuff into apartment buildings. In the big high rises, they don’t bring stuff in through the elevators. They bring in a huge crane that has an open platform that rises up and down. The platform doesn’t have railings and they don’t even strap the stuff onto the platform. My co-worker said he saw a box fall 20 stories last year. In addition, red lights are considered stop lights here. This could be one huge factor to why there were so many accidents the day it snowed in January. They do construction work in the open with power tools. I’ve had to walk through sparks flying everywhere before to get to work. It’s kind of insane, but interesting coming from America where there are rules for everything.
Finally, the weather is getting warm again. It reached 45 today and I actually could walk around the area and saw all these really nice parks. Hopefully in the next couple months I’ll be able to get around and see the sights.
So, I have a morning without classes and I thought that since I’m stuck at work with nothing to do a good use of my time would be to put together another post. For the past few weeks I’ve gotten into a routine here. The city no longer seems foreign. I’ve started to learn the language and the alphabet. It’s weird writing in blocks not in script, and it’s really hard to figure out the pronunciation of written words that have an L or R in it because the Korean language doesn’t have one and instead there is a letter in the middle of the two. This is why “Fried Rice” can sound like “Flied Rice” back in the states. But I can count to ten and know a bunch of common expressions, which makes the locals very happy if I try to use them. They take a great pride in their culture and are very enthusiastic if you try to learn about it. The weeks and months are definitely starting to blur together and it feels like I just got here yesterday. It seems to go the same speed college went, too fast.
The school day has also become a routine. The winter term got off to a rocky start because we had to make up the snow day on a Saturday, and being hung over I accidently let my kids go 10 minutes early. Since my lesson plan revolves around the movie the Lion King, and I was hung over I just watched the movie. The schools manager didn’t want to let the kids go home early , so she had them wait in her office and asked about my class. The next Monday I had to give them a day to day lesson, which I had so it was no problem. They also sat in on one of my classes that week, but I’ve gotten good at putting on a show and they were impressed. Another couple things that have bothered me is they said I couldn’t color or draw with the students any more, which when I got here was what they told me to do with the kids and they have sat in on classes where the students will color for 5-10 minutes while other students finish their work. Basically, some mother complained that her son/daughter didn’t have enough practice and the school, who never has your back in these situations, told us to change the way we teach. This is pretty common and can really piss me and other foreign teachers off. The director is pretty clueless. First, she owns two English private schools and doesn’t speak a word of English. I would be surprised if she could say the alphabet. Second, her and the manager just took a trip to Japan to visit a famous school that has 4000 students, and brought back all these pictures (my day was just interrupted by this meeting) of the Japanese school’s classrooms and how it’s set up. She goes on to tell us what they do and that she wants us to do it. Of course, I don’t think she has ever sat in one of my classes or Joe’s classes because except for a few things that is the way we teach. Instead of going to Japan she should have spent the money by fixing the third floor bathroom, which has been out of order since the beginning of December and she should have fixed the electric system because we can’t use the space heaters. This is a big deal because of how cold it is and they never turn on the heating system. I’ve touched on how cheap they are many times, but these schools are not run by educators; they are run by people who are trying to make money where their main goal is making that Won (Korean money).
Another aspect of the Korean Hogwan (private school)system is that all the homeroom teachers normally get fired at the end of February. This happens because people without experience are cheaper than people with a year under their belts. By now they’ve pretty much brought in all new replacements and they are shadowing the teacher’s classes. If I was about to get fired I would not be too happy teaching my replacement how to do my job. This is frustrating because my students are learning the lessons I’ve been teaching and having a good homeroom teacher who keeps the kids well behaved is important, and I believe they are going to replace the best teacher here. I’m fairly annoyed about this, but maybe I can just lay the law down with the new teacher and make her do what I need her to do. I don’t think there will ever be a normal month working in this place.
Although, it seems I complain a lot about this job and poke fun at Korean culture doesn’t mean I don’t really enjoy this job and being in Korea. Of course, I don’t like the management, but teaching the students is really fun and can be funny. I already said I started learning the alphabet and in a few classes I’ll play the game Dave Teacher Spells. It’s not so much a game. They just tell me the Korean word from my lesson and I try to spell it. On the odd chance I get it right, I get the biggest most heart fell ovation I ever have gotten in anything I’ve ever done.It’s very endearing. One of the words I did get right was “rain”, which in Korean sounds like “PEE.” The most outrageous thing to ever happen at work was last Friday my co-worker gave a mini test, and a kid pooped his pants b/c it was so hard. We had a good laugh at his expense.
Outside of school I have been having a really good time except for the weather. It’s on average 20 degrees, but with the wind chill it feels around 10. We started a new tradition of Sunday Funday in Itaewon. This usually includes bloody maries, pool, darts, and a few friends. So far we’ve been 4 straight weekends and have a reputation as the bloody mary guys at this bar. Our group has grown from 3 to 6 over that time, which is nice because we finding more people we like to hang out with. This is very hard in Seoul because a lot of people come to Asia are into some weird stuff. We also met one of Alex’s friends from home, who she forgot was coming over a month after her. He lives on the same line as us but on the completely opposite side of Seoul. Not the place I would want to be living if North Korea decided to invade. But it’s nice to have a job here and friends because for the first time ever there are more applicants that teacher positions in Seoul. It’s lucky we got in while we did because it would be a lot harder and we probably wouldn’t be getting paid as much.
Recently, I have been noticing a few of the weirder aspects of the Korean Culture. The most ridiculous is the amount of plastic surgery they get, and it isn’t the same kind as in America. The most common surgery here is eyelid surgery. They all pay to get an extra fold in their lid because it makes them whiter, or more western. Also nose jobs are really common here, and very noticeable because they get a white pointy nose. For a comparison imagine a blonde with a round Asian nose. I’m also shocked by how thin all the Koreans are when they eat so much food. My co-workers crush huge lunches everyday and are extremely petite, so unless they’re starving themselves at home something doesn’t make sense. Another fact that might back this assumption up is that most Koreans don’t eat breakfast because they think sleep is more important. To me this is very backwards thinking, but it’s hard to argue with someone who isn’t willing to listen to another opinion.
I’m really looking forward to February. Not only because it’s a short month and I get paid faster, but because graduation is in it and I’m not going to have morning classes for almost two weeks. There is a cool DJ festival in Seoul, and I have a three day weekend. We are thinking of getting a cabin and going skiing here. Valentine’s Day is also in there, which luckily for me is Alexandra and I’s 6 month anniversary. This is very easy to remember. This is the end of this post, but if you still want to read about traveling my friend Laura Smith is currently traveling from Mexico City to Chile stopping along the way to help out with philanthropy groups and wrote a really good (long) email to a bunch of us. If you’re interested check it out.
-Dave
Hi, dears!
Once upon a time I had this great idea to set up a blog before leaving the country, so that I would be all ready to regularly post interesting, insightful, and maybe even witty entries about my travels, in a format that people could choose to read or not. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Instead, I left Philadelphia on October 24th without having set up any such thing, and, in the three months since then, have proven myself incapable of starting one on the road. Instead, I’ve done a spotty job of updating people who I’m pretty sure are interested and/or concerned (cough, mom and dad) via short, rushed emails sent from crowded internet cafes across Central America. If you haven’t received these messages, which have been sporadic and often bordering on unintelligible, I promise you haven’t missed much.
Today, though, I find myself with some peace and quiet (I’m on a small farm), a computer (Seth’s parents sent theirs down), and a little time on my hands (it’s Sunday and these farmers don’t mess around with the whole day of rest thing). So, I’ll try to write the type of email I wish I’d been writing all along, and briefly fill you in on what we’ve been doing down here for the last few months while you all have been busy, I’m sure, acknowledging the existence of and living in the real world.
The first book I read on this trip was The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux, a travel novel about his journey from New York to the southern tip of Chile, all by train - thanks to Ruthie’s cousin, Andy, for the recommendation. In it, he talks about the importance of enjoying and thinking about the journey to a destination, rather than what happens when you get there. (He never “got” anywhere in the book, just took trains and more trains…or at least as far as I know – the Pacific ocean carried away my copy when I had a few chapters left.) With that in mind, I want to share something that happened on the very first day of this trip, while I was still in the old US of A. (Then, I promise, I’ll really zoom through the rest.)
The Dallas airport is big and cold, with a quiet, Jetsons-esque tram (futuristic by Philadelphian standards) linking its terminals, and is successfully following the national trend of trying to be as much like a shopping mall as possible. In other words, the setting of our half day layover there was utterly unremarkable. Enter a small, wiry man, in shorts, high socks, and a baseball cap, undoubtedly Texan, with American flags and other assorted patches framing his fanny pack, tapping me on the shoulder as Adam, Seth, and I waited at Gate Whatever for our flight to Mexico City: “Excuse me folks, but I just wanted to let you know that a plane full of our soldiers coming home from Iraq just landed and they’ll be deboarding in a few minutes, passing through this skyway right up here. If you don’t mind standing and applauding as they walk by, we’ll all show ‘em just how much we appreciate what they’re doing for us over there.” – or something along those lines. We were definitely in Texas. We responded with vague, noncommittal nods, and he eagerly moved on to the next group of weary, bored travelers, with the same request. I’m not a big fan of the military nor of what we’re doing in Iraq, but I saw no harm in welcoming home the people who, for one reason or another, are caught up in it. Still, I thought I’d participate only as a spectator. Baby steps.
I waited, interested, as people all around me stood up in anticipation; this visible and unabashed patriotism was relatively new to me. A few minutes later, a boy in sand-colored fatigues and combat boots with a green sack slung across his shoulder came into view above, followed by another, and then another. Soon, the single file line of young men and women in uniform, most of them my age or younger, stretched the length of the glass-encased skywalk thirty feet above us. Everyone in the terminal was on their feet, looking up at the passing soldiers, clapping and nodding appreciatively. There was an occasional shout of “Thank You!” from the crowd around us, though the parade of soldiers above probably couldn’t hear it through the thick glass. I got to my feet initially out of peer pressure – in Texas, I thought it safest to at least give the impression of patriotism at all times. But soon, I was on my feet because I wanted to be. Most of the soldiers were staring straight ahead, on a stoic march to their next gate or maybe even to their waiting families. But some, maybe one in ten, looked down at the clapping crowd and beamed. They looked proud, in the best way. Some waved, others seemed embarrassed by the attention. One even threw up a peace sign…I found irony in this that probably wasn’t intended.
Fifteen minutes later, they were gone, and we sat down, our palms buzzing from the clapping marathon. People went back to airport behavior, munching on McDonalds and becoming islands in a crowded, high-ceilinged room, once again. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what the last year had been like for those soldiers, most barely out of high school. Was this their first tour? Their fourth? I thought about what their lives had been like before the army, under what circumstances they had joined, and what their lives would be like afterward. I wondered why some people’s lives land them on a plane to Iraq in a uniform, when others find themselves at the airport in spandex, waiting with friends to embark on a pleasure trip through Latin America.
Our flight to Mexico was smooth and mercifully uneventful. I spent the whole flight chatting with my seatmate in Spanish – for me, welcome practice indeed. He was a Mexican American who spoke fluent English but was kind enough to pretend like it still made sense for us to converse in Spanish. He told me the story of his solo border crossing at sixteen, running at night and catching cat naps in ditches when he could. Twenty five years later, he is a U.S. citizen, married with children, and was on a short trip to be with his family in Mexico after the death of an aunt there. I was becoming more and more convinced that Theroux was onto something.
We spent about three weeks in Mexico, which was no where near enough. We began in Mexico City, where its superb subway system can make you forget that it boasts the largest population of any city in the world…last I heard. We visited churches and cathedrals, watched gas industry protests in the huge zocalo (central plaza), toured Frieda Kahlo’s house, and, most importantly, ate. We ate tacos and quesadillas, tortas and tamales, gringas and floutas. This was my first time eating real Mexican food, and as someone who was already content eating relatively crappy Mexican cuisine in the Estados Unidos, it was an amazing surprise. Quesillo, fresh string cheese that’s a staple of Mexican food, became my new best friend.
Next we visited Cuernavaca, where we spent a few days with Cathy, a friend of Adam’s family. She’s an anthropologist who’s lived, studied, and worked in Cuernavaca for the last 35 years. She amazed us with stories of life in Cuernavaca when it was a home base for progressive intellectuals like Ivan Illich, Gustavo Esteva, Paulo Freire, and their contemporaries. She described wedging herself into the back of a packed classroom to hear Illich speak - he was quite popular with the ladies, as she recalls. After eating the only Mexican food I didn’t like (corn smut – should have guessed) and climbing up to ruins in Tepotzlan, we headed to our next stop, Oaxaca city. We spent Day of the Dead there, visiting a gigantic tree and some Zapotec ruins (Monte Alban is in great shape – hardly in ruins), and eating whenever and wherever we could. Soon we were itching to visit a beach, so made our way down to the Pacific beach towns of Puerto Angel and Zipolite.
The couple of days we’d intended to spend there turned into a week of swimming, sunning, reading, snorkeling (I saw a piranhas and a puffer fish all puffed!), perfecting our hammock skills, and chatting with ex-pats from the U.S., Italy, and all over who had come to Zipolite six months, four years, ten years earlier and never left. They say that Zipolite is the place you come to do nothing, and all evidence indicates that they’re right. My favorite ex-pat: Boogie, a native of northern Florida who quit his job in 2005, sold his belongings, and drove in his pickup – yes, drove – to Zipolite, having no idea where he was going. “I used to be what they call a Republican, but nowadays, seems like they just mess stuff up so bad, we’re better without’m! I think’m turning into something of – of an Anarchist!”. Boogie has been working as a bartender in Zipolite ever since his arrival, but speaks next to no Spanish. As he slams two beers down in front of Mexican customers: “Heere’s dooos fer ya!” We never got to meet his best friend in Zipolite, an ex-pat from London, Crazy Horse Invincible – his legal name.
Sunburned and weary of doing nothing, we moved onto Guatemala. (Note: I don’t mean to belittle the act of doing nothing. The second book I read, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, is written by a man who lived on a tiny atoll in the equatorial Pacific for two years without a job or any real commitments. He teaches that idleness is an art.) After crossing the wall of Dole Fruit trucks that line the Mexico-Guatemala border, we rode three hours into the chillier climate of Guatemala’s western highlands on a standard issue Carlisle County School District bus – identical to the ones we know, but with a few added flames and crucifixes. We reached Quetzaltenango aka Xela (Shay-la), tired of chicken busses and all modes of transportation, and after less than 24 hours there, decided to stay a while. We were tired of living out of backpacks, and of meeting great people for a day or so, then losing them. We got an apartment in central Xela, found a couple of great organizations to volunteer with, and discovered that our apartment building hosted an ever changing, but never disappearing group of gringos and gueros who were spending time in Xela for a host of reasons – working, applying to grad school, hiding from loans, getting over break ups, painting or writing in peace. We quickly realized that, in this atmosphere, despedidas (going away parties) were central to social life among extranjeros (foreigners) in Xela. We had no choice but to do our part, attending Going Away or Welcome Back parties at least twice a week. We devoted our days to three main endeavors: 1) relaxation (reading, writing, going to markets, cooking, sunning, and watching Dr. House or La Ley y el Orden: UVE – House and SVU, respectively.), 2) working with a shelter for abused women and their families, and 3) working on a small permaculture farm in an aldea outside the city.
The Nuevos Horizontes shelter, which provides safety and services to women escaping domestic violence, is one of only a few of its kind in Guatemala. Our first day there, a woman arrived with her children from Guatemala City (5 hours from Xela) with both eyes blacked and the demeanor of a street dog who gets kicked constantly and shows it. She had been unable to find a safe shelter in the capital – Nuevos Horizontes was the nearest she could find. We did some writing for the organization to improve their grant seeking capacity, and spent afternoons playing with the kids at the shelter and at the nearby daycare, which provides free or low cost childcare to families in transition from the shelter to independent living.
The farm, called La Granja Permacultura Ixchel, is situated on a steep hill overlooking a tiny winding river, which had recently been rerouted by a government development project – unfortunately, the new route completely bypasses the town, of which it had once been the main (and only) source of water. Oops. The farmer, a man in his thirties named Joel, is part of a cooperative that provides seeds to families across the region. All of the families agree to farm – mostly beans, maize, and medicinal plants – following principles of sustainability, without any chemicals, and in adherence to Mayan farming traditions.We worked on what ever Joel needed: a chicken coop made from bamboo we cut down on the farm, a retaining wall made entirely of dirt-filled plastic bottles that we collected from the polluted remains of the river below, a two meter deep hole for composting.
I liked the work, but Joel – his past, his knowledge, his wisdom, his laugh, his songs, his pony tail – was the real draw. He knew all too well about the US’s past involvement in the lives of Guatemalans, and spoke openly and honestly about it with us. His father, a glass workers union leader, was kidnapped and killed in the Epoca de Violencia, one of the many euphemisms that Guatemalans employ when talking about the five decades of civil war they endured after the US-backed coup ousted Jacobo Arbenz, a leader whose social policies and land reform threatened the holdings of United Fruit Company - now known as Dole. (Other common names for the era: La Guerra, Los Anos Duros, La Epoca de Pena.) When Joel was seven, his village was attacked while he was at school, and his immediate family was forced to flee (to Mexico, eventually) without him. He lived with an aunt as long as he safely could, but was eventually forced to go into hiding in the mountains with his “mountain family”: five young men, five young women, and two dogs. For years they lived in the mountains, eating whatever they could find and, when there was no other source, drinking water squeezed from fruitless banana trees (they yield no fruit in a mountain climate). They always walked in a single file line, with the dogs in front. This way, if the dogs failed to sniff out a land mine, fewer people would be injured when it went off. On one of our last days in Xela, we were having lunch at a cantina, when two men approached our table, gesturing and muttering incomprehensibly. Joel clearly knew them, and embraced them both. Through a combination of Joel’s explanations and their pantomimes, we learned that these men had been in the mountains with Joel, but had lost their hearing when American helicopters dropped bombs around them. They were left completely deaf, barely able to speak, and missing fingers. Remarkably, these men, like Joel, were cheerful and open, seeming to begrudge us not at all the actions of our government. We grew close with Rolando, Joel’s best friend, whose entire family had been murdered in one day – stories like his were everywhere. But in all our tearful discussions about the past, Joel always reminded us that it is of the utmost importance to remember and talk about the past, but useless to harbor resentment or be angry today. He welcomed us entirely, and explained that he saw us as people, not a government, a distinction I was grateful for, but which I never felt we completely deserved.
After Christmas, we reluctantly but excitedly prepared to wrap up our time in Xela – but not before my mom and Eva visited! We spent time in Xela, visited the farm, and saw some of the country’s scenic gems – Lago Atitlan, Pacaya Volcano, and the beauty that abounds on any chicken bus ride through rural Guatemala. In early January, we made a quick hop over to Honduras to see the ruins at Copan, then embarked on a two day bussride through Salvador and Honduras into Nicaragua. We spent some time in Leon, sledding down volcanoes – okay, only one – and swimming on empty, black sand beaches. We met a young man in the Nicaraguan Navy, Ernesto, who spent a day at the beach with us. He didn’t want to swim (his gun was tied around his ankle) but guarded us while we did against an unseen enemy. He stood on the beach, fully dressed with arms akimbo, scanning our surroundings for anything that seemed off. As we walked for an hour down the beach, he pointed out the remains of bombed Samoza mansions, and current Sandino mansions, saying he preferred to look toward the coast rather than to the sea. Ernesto’s been in the Navy for ten years, since he was 14, and has spent 4 of every five days on a boat since then, hunting Colombian, cocaine-filled boats bound for the U.S. His father was killed by the Contras, and his mother died of cancer shortly after. With no family and nowhere else to go, he joined the Navy, though he had never swum a day in his life. Now, a 24-year old senior Lieutenant in control of 9 men, he’s tired of cocaine boats, tired of watching his friends die, tired of pointing mounted, automatic weapons at strangers on boats, tired of the sea. We asked why he didn’t retire, and he looked at us with a puzzled look. “What would I do? Where would I go?” he asked. He has no family, no skills other than those used to hunt Colombian lanchas, and no friends that aren’t in the Navy – he’s grown up in the Navy and knows no other existence. That, together with the fact that service in the Nicaraguan armed forces is a shamed profession because of lingering associations with the murderous Guardia Nacional, was enough to bring Ernesto to tears more than once in our two days together. Again, as with friends in Guatemala, he held none of the crimes of our country against us, only wanting to know our story and for us to know his. Sometimes it feels like we’re on a tour of U.S. imperialist conquests and interventions, rather than a Central American pleasure tour.
Finally, for you faithful readers who are still with me, we are up to the present. We are living and working on Las Mercedes farm, just outside of Ocotal in Northwestern Nicaragua – cowboy country. There are cowboy hats, belts, and boots, and they have special laws regarding damages paid in the event of car-livestock crashes on the highway. (If you’re wondering, the animal owner pays the car owner). Two brothers own the tomato farm where we’re staying: Roy and Roger…getting the picture?
We rise early, but not as early as the other workers on the farm, and spend long mornings clearing land and digging holes for a future building project. It’s hot and sunny, and every living thing in the plant kingdom comes covered in inch long thorns. Here, the thorns have thorns. Seriously. The ground is hard and dry at the surface, and only gets tougher as you dig deeper. Yesterday we abandoned a meter cubed hole we’d been digging to get dirt for adobe bricks, because the soil was too tough. To reiterate, the dirt was TOO HARD to make BRICKS out of. We “dig” by swinging pick axes and jamming long, pointed, 40 pound steel rods into the ground. Shovels are only used to clear the dirt once it’s loosened. If you’ve ever read the book, Holes, that paints a pretty accurate picture.
That may not sound fun, but it is. The head worker’s family lives on the farm, and his kids provide endless entertainment, as do the dogs, horses, cows, goats, and geese. It’s quiet and breezy, and each night is ripe for star gazing. It’s only a half mile off the Pan-American highway, but it feels a world away from anything. We go to bed early and wake up early…and whenever else the roosters feel like crowing throughout the night. There are cold showers, no phones, a television that gets only one channel – the telenovela channel, luckily – and no mirrors at all on the property. We play baseball, the national sport here, in the corral when the cows are grazing at a field down the road. It’s fun, though I play terribly, and I doubt that cow manure is the turf of the future. My harmonica is coming in very handy – every afternoon I play duets with Luis, the 9 year old son who’s getting over the chicken pox. He wears the same shirt most days - red, with a volcano on it. Printed at the bottom is a message in English that I´m sure noone in his family has ever read: “Lava Lava Island: Where Jesus’ Love Flows”. If it weren’t for little reminders like these, it would be easy to forget that the farm and the family living on it are effected by the outside world. It seems isolated and independent, but when we asked why they only grow tomatoes, the owners explained that that’s what WalMart tells them to grow. Years ago, USAID set up a farming cooperative in the area, funding small farms across the department. Roy explained to us that this cooperative was completely dependent on sales to US companies, and today, WalMart constitutes the entire market for these farmers, and, as such, can dictate products and prices. I’ve forgotten to mention that WalMart has been following us on our whole journey; in Guatemala it’s called La Dispensa Familiar, in Salvador it’s La Union, and here in Nicaragua it’s Pali. The names are different, but the products, brands, and employee vests are the same.
If you’ve gotten this far, congratulations and thank you. I’ll try to write less more often, so you don’t have to use a bookmark to read my emails. I miss you and want to hear how you’re all doing. If you want to come down and meet us, holler. So where to next? Probably to Costa Rica then Equador and on down to Bolivia. I don’t think there are any WalMarts in Bolivia…
Absolutetly insane!!! 18th Floor
