Hotsprings and Midwives!

Hey everybody! I’ve been in Xela now for about two and half weeks. The initial strain from being in a new place and not knowing the language has decreased greatly, so my general demeanor stays pretty high. I am thankful for a very comfortable and warm home to live in and for pretty good food. Perhaps not quite as much food as I would like at times, but I can supplement with a 6 cent banana as needed! In general I have been splitting my time between class (obviously), studying on the side, a few activities with the school during the week, reading one of the two books I brought or my bible, and keeping in contact with some friends/ family back in the States. (And while I have mentioned the States, there is a word down here for being from the US as a nationality that doesn’t exist in English. People don’t like those of us from the US calling ourselves American because everyone in North, Central, or South America is American. They kind of have a good point. So down here I would say I am from “Los Estados Unidos”, but I would say that I AM “Estaunidences”.
So what have I been up to lately? Honestly, I feel like I’m not doing a whole lot other than Spanish and communicating with folks back home. I’m actually typing this on my laptop at “home” and I don’t have access to the internet at the moment so I can’t check my blog to be reminded of what I have and haven’t already said. So if I repeat anything you’ll have to forgive me. Last week I went to the hotsprings on Wednesday. There is a couple videos on my youtube page concerning that trip (youtube search: wbryancannon). It was a blast, and also incredibly gorgeous. Pics and Video should be sufficient so I won’t say more here. That night I watched a movie in Spanish called “City of God” that follows a boy that grows up amidst the gangs, drugs, and violence of “Ciudad de Dios”, a sort of shanty town outside of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, established by the government to keep the homeless out of Rio de Janeiro. A very good film, though it depicts reality in similar fashion to “Hotel Rawanda” and “Lord of War”, so its not something you turn on for kicks.
Thursday night I played soccer in a caged in miniature soccer field. Overall it was a good time, and I intend to do that with the school each week. However, when I am at 7,000 feet, and am very out of shape, breathing wasn’t exactly easy! Kind of embarrassing in a way, but I didn’t really care; breathing takes precedence to pride in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs! Lol. I would have gone again this week, but I left the school for two minutes to change clothes and when I got back they had already left! Oh well, I got some homework done. Friday nights are always the graduation dinner with the school. I really enjoy those because the atmosphere is so festive and because it provides some real conversation (in a language I can understand). I talk with the other students through the week but its mostly short snippets during the half hour break we have during class. Communicating with my hosts continues to be a little awkward. I can handle not knowing what is being said around me just fine; its just awkward when they are trying to ask me a question and try to repeat it in several different ways and I still have no clue what they are talking about. I guess that’s all part of the deal though.
Yesterday (Saturday) morning I went with a group from the school to two places. One was a sacred Mayan hill top that is used for various ceremonies. The presence of several crosses clearly indicated some syncretism. The second stop was a Midwife clinic. Partly it felt a little weird, but mostly it was just really cool, and I definitely felt an increased awareness and respect for the miracle of life. An interesting note here is that these women begin in the track of this profession as early as 10 years old sometimes and the older ones with the most experience are said to have a sixth sense concerning the health of the baby and mother during the pregnancy and childbirth. They can basically just touch a mother’s belly and know stuff. Pretty interesting. Also, they use medicinal plants they grow themselves for just about everything (shout out to Andrea).
I didn’t go anywhere for church this morning because my stomach was a little out of sorts and I didn’t want to be away from a bathroom. I feel mostly better now though, so it wasn’t too big a deal. The “Estaunidences” guy at their church, who met me the one time I went, sent me a note back with my host mom saying he was sorry I didn’t feel well and to let him know if I need any meds. Very nice of him. Couldn’t help noticing he wrote the note at the top of an article in, “The Watchtower”, a Jehova’s Witness teaching publication. Lol.
Just a snippet of the variety that exists in my school, and I assume most of these schools down here: I’ve met people from Ireland, Holland, Denmark, Canada, and in the U.S., Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, and more that I can’t remember. The typical age is mid-20’s to mid 30’s, though right now there is a 21 year old girl and two, one man and one woman, about 60. Some are traveling and learning Spanish as they go from place to place. Some are here more specifically for the language training. One guy is going on to scuba-dive in several places, and several people are just traveling till their money runs out (the Irish Guy has plans for at least 15 months!) I’ve met at least 6 people that are med-students and are either down here as part of their program or else traveling for a bit before residency turns their life upside down. There is tons more variety that has caused me to stop and wonder at it all.
The one consistent thing seems to be that people with my world-view don’t seem to do much traveling. I’ve always known that I don’t know much about politics or world-events, or the social and economic realities of the world around me, but when I’m only around people similar to myself it is easy to let that fact pass as something that doesn’t really matter much. But in this group of people it is profoundly evident that I am somewhat of an ignoramus. Furthermore, I begin to question the somewhat black and white way in which I have viewed my own country, not to the detriment of my patriotism, but certainly there are political realities to be aware of that many staunch U.S. patriots would not want to admit existed. I leave out specific explanations of these comments because at this point I don’t really have anything specific to say. I have only heard about a few things that leave me wanting to do some of my own research when I have the time. One thing on that list is finding out the full implications and effects of what is known as the “Nixon Doctrine”. If anyone cares to fill me in, I’m all ears.
Well, this is longer than anybody really wants to take time for already, so I’ll let you go. Please keep me in your prayers. I was able to have a brief conversation with a girl at the dinner on Friday about my experience in the Bronx and my love of the effect Jesus has in creating community across cultural boundaries. She grew up Mennonite but has no real interest in any of it at this point. Un-plannable conversations like this one are what organic growth starts with. Todo la Gloria a Dios. (not sure if I got that right). I love you all.

Check videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/wbryancannon

Grace and Peace,
Bryan

"Sauna" for after-birth recovery in which they also place herbs and whatnot that mix with the steam.

Cypress trees at the Mayan holy place

Mayan holy place with crosses that show affect of syncretism (combining of faiths)

View from the road up to the Mayan holy place. This community was badly effected by civil wars here and Guarrilas lived in these hills.

Above: the view straight up from the hotsprings pool

Valley on the way to hotsprings. Every usable section is used for growing veggies! Way steep!