68 posts tagged “guatemala”

When I went to Guatemala I was lucky enough to sit in on a lecture about La Voz Popular, a radio station run by the guerrillas during the country's civil war. They were able to update indigenous people about the war, offer medical advice for people living in rural areas, and play nuevas canciones (protest music) to keep up the spirits of the soldiers.

But recently, I learned about another way that radio was used in Guatemala in the form of Radio Liberacion, a radio station created by the CIA. This broadcast in the 1950s during Guatemala's "Democratic Spring" when President Arbenz initiated land reforms that pissed off US businessmen (the United Fruit Company).

Nancy Updike does a great job in piecing this story together with a powerful ending, reminding us the role that the US played in the hundreds of thousands of people murdered and the thousands of people disappeared.

Graduation

So graduation starts with some of the staff (teachers, the director, and the coordinator) playing music for us, nuevas canciones. They end with the school's theme song, Bella Chao.

Then the graduates present their diddy. Then we receive our diploma with a nice line from Pablo Neruda. And finally, on to the meal. Since we had a bunch of high school kids and it was international meal (which means students bring the food and teachers bring the drinks), we mostly had pizza.

Guatemalan Elvis

During dinner, this guy plays the electric guitar into a small amp.

It´s been pretty easy to be Asian here with very few weirdnesses. In San Pedro, we were at a gringo bar and as we headed out to the outdoor firepit wtih our drinks, a whithered gringo asked me where I was from, meaning, Äre you Korean.¨

I said I´m Japanese and she said that I´m too tall for a Japanese! She grew up in Hawaii and maybe my glasses threw her off.

The next day, back in Xela, these two guys said Ko nichi wa to me. I glared. Then they asked if I was Korean! As I warmed up to them, I found out they´re Japanese here in Guatemala. I guess they assumed I was Korean because I didn´t respond to the Japanese they threw out at me.

I´m still trying to check out this record store, where the owner is supposed to be the town organizer of rock shows...but it´s ALWAYS closed!

This morning, the guys from Fondo de Che were hanging out and I asked them what´s up wtih the store! They said it´s usually open in the afternoon. I said the door has hours posted that their open in the morning, too. They responded, ¨Guatemaltecos.¨I guess colored people time is the same world wide.

The Amazing Nancy

Nancy lives at the hostel I´m staying in and I´m so lucky she´s there. She has a daughter at Berkelee School of Music and I heard music from her friend that mixes ambient sounds from around the world into real, listenable music! She also has a son turning 18 who is close to his sister and will play a gig with his band in Boston thanks to the help of his sister.

Nancy has taken me in to the new house and fed me, saying that she has lots of food and she´s going out of town on Thursday.

She does work that many of my East Bay friends would be familiar with, facilitating discussions on conflict resolution and how to partner wtih communities to make change. She´s super cool!

yes, i´m back. The lake was disappointing and it would have been worse on my own. I came to appreciate that Xela really is a working city with people not focused on the tourists.

The lake was full of touts hounding us to take their boat or stay at their hotel. And I don´t think I coulda spent 3 more days there along in comfort.

So I´m back in Xela to do some of the things I missed and am staying at a boarding house with kitchen where some other PLQ students are, San Sebastian.

Also, the ride home via Chicken Bus was 1/5 the price! I think I¨ll be bold enough to skip teh shuttle to teh Capital and but take the first class bus and taxi.