kuna yala in pictures

right now there's not enough time for words.

1 week notice

here´s my 1 weeks notice.

tomorrow we´re saying goodbye to Costa Rica, and flying to Panama. then monday we'll be making our way to the Kuna Yala islands to live with the Kunas for a week.

so, there will be nothing now here until our return.

hasta luego.

reasoning

So you may be wondering why I haven’t been updating this thing lately. Let me explain:
•Internet access in Grecia was extremely limited
•Many times the site would be blocked for some reason
•Grecia was amazing, and we spent a ton of time just hanging out with our friends and families

There’s my reasons.

pira

My three week stay in the region of Grecia is now complete. For dinner last night I ate a pira, the food that everyone here talks about. Considering all that’s on a pira, I can’t believe I ate one, especially a whole one. Then again I had only eaten breakfast at 7:30am and it was 6pm.

But here is Costa Rica they seem to like weird (for us) food combinations, and the pira is the perfect example. If you know be well you should be amazed and proud that I ate this all based on this description:

Nestled in between two huge bread buns first there are two tacos. You have to understand that these are Latin American tacos—not what we think of in the States—that are for us something along the lines of a taquito. In between the tacos is a piece of chicharon, which is a bit like sausage. On top of the bulk there’s a tomato, catsup, and a head of shredded cabbage. And that is a pira.

Like I said, you should be proud that I ate it and a whole one nevertheless.

and so it begins

Leaving for Grecia they gave us a calendar outlining the rest of the semester, and though it’s helpful to know when assignments are due having the calendar has been a terrible thing. Seeing there is only a month left in our semester is a hard thing not to dwell on. The majority of us love it here in Grecia, but we’re all hitting that low point of the semester—the point where you want to give up, stop caring, and call it quits. I think this happens as the end of every semester draws near, but it’s even stronger when you know it means that you’ll get to go back to a place where you can finally let your hair down after walking ion cultural pins and needles for three months.

On top or that I’m trying to start planning the conference that I will be in charge of next year (you can look at this year’s conference at www.taylor.edu/nslc). I’m constantly having to research and maintain communication with those back at Taylor, which is hard when you only have internet access 2-3 days a week. It’s a stressful thing to have to start while you’re overseas.

With all that said, I think we are now facing our biggest challenge of the semester: not mentally or emotionally checking out because it’s the end of the semester. But avoiding this is getting harder and harder. Fortunately we’re all going through it in some degree or another, so we help catch each other when someone’s starting to go down that track.

what is going on in the world?

I’m sure there’s been many times in the history of the humanity that people have asked this question—times of crisis, war, injustice, change. I too have found myself arriving at this question. My reason: World Cup Qualifiers.

Let’s just examine the facts: Last night Mexico lost to Honduras 3-1. The US tying El Salvador was ridiculous. Though the US is still in 1st place for the region, Mexico is in 4th!

But really, I love soccer and the fact that the qualifier games have started makes me ridiculously excited. Since I’ve been here we’ve watched a good number of the games (yet none with the US or Mexico unfortunately), and I’ve since noticed a difference in the styles of the game. It seems to me that in our Western or European style of futbol things are a bit more organized. There’s a plan; the attacks/plays/whatever you want to call them develop from the back and lead to a goal. You can see it coming; it’s a process. Passes are crisp and highly intentional; they reach their destination. You get to see all the little parts come together paving the way to the ultimate climax, the goal—it’s a work of art that is made over time.

Then there’s the Latin American style, or so it seems to be to me. Instead of something that builds, it is all about the moment of magic, like waiting for a firework. Riskier moves are taken, and ball possession isn’t maintained for long periods of time. But eventually after hundreds of seemingly sloppy moves and passes there’s a connection. It’s so creative and free flowing that, even after the 10 replays, you’re still amazed at how it happened. Yet to get that moment you have to watch the 100 or messy moves that were made before.

After watching a good number of the firework games, I’m feeling ready to head back to the US to watch some western style games—I miss it. The form of the game really is different.

Now that I’ve probably officially bored anyone who’s not interested in soccer or possibly everyone I’ll finish by saying if you haven’t been a fan of soccer in the past, now is the best time to start. The World Cup is right around the corner (South Africa 2010), and the world has already begun to watch. Consider it an act of global engagement!