September 12, 2007
From SATA-Peru-2007
After not feeling so hot yesterday, I woke up this morning determined to take full advantage of the day. I realized quickly that that probably was not going to happen, because i still was not up to par. However, after some Peruvian style Gatorade, coca tea, and a little pan (bread), I trucked to morning spanish class.
Next we had Ethnohistory - probably my favorite class. I love that it is thought in spanish and the discussions are interesting. Today we discussed The Crisis of Paradigms, and examined the ways of seeing yourself in the world: as a subject relating to objects or as a subject relating to other objects. WE talk a lot about cultural diversity and the ability of an individual to exist among a collective. She said something that I really liked: Si yo me miro en el otro, en tanto el otro es un sere humano como yo, entonces, refuerzo mu humanidad. Ïf i see myself in the other (in a stranger) then the other is also a human being like myself, and I can therefore reinforce my humanity. It sounds better in spanish. Basically, the idea is that if you can see yourself in the other, you no longer have the capacity to hurt the other, becuase you´d then be hurting yourself.
After a delicious lunch which consisted of a green bean, tomato, avocado, and cooked carrot salad, I settled in to do some work. I was a little distracted by some emails, but managed to read a bit of The Articulated Peasant. Before Quechua class at 5, Hayley and Shana and I went to Jack´s, one of the most touristy americanized cafe´s you´ll ever find in Cusco. It was weird being surrounded by all English speakers with white skin and expensive EMS clothing. I got a good look at how I probably come across on the streets of cusco. I felt a little bad spending my money at a place so anti-cusco, but after a class of discussing globalization, it seemed appropriate. Hayley got a delicious chocolate milkshake, shana got an exotic mint and lime frappe, and I got some heavy pesto cheese bread (it was not exactly what you might think of when you think of pesto cheese bread).
Quechua class was fun as always, but I felt a little behind having missed the previous class. WE learned how to put a sentence together. The more I learn different languages, the more I begin to understand how much our view of the world is dictated by our ability to verbally express something (by the words we know). For example, in Quechua, the word for mountain implies an animate being. The mountain is alive (whether that means a spirit, a god, an animal that represents the strength, age, or force of a mountain, I don´t know). But it just blows my mind how much language affects our paradigm. Part of me wishes there was one language so that we could all converse with each other, but at the same time each language so intricately reflects the history, cosmovision, and development of distinct groups of people that I ´don´t think it´s possible to being able to reflect all of these in one combined language. This is what frustrates me when people say, why can´t every just speak English? Because then, the ability for a human to think of a mountain as an animate object would be lost. It makes me wonder what other ways of seeing the world have disappeared with the death of various languages?
The night ended with another delicious soup and a pasta and veggies (and chicken) dish full of salt. Shana and Eric attended an eye-opening Roshashana. A bunch of us hung out in my room and rooted for Peru in their soccer match against Bolivia (expect for Mike who sported his green shorts to show his Bolivian pride). But alas, it was Peru who came through strong, 2-0.
Another eventful day in Cusco, Peru under our belt and I´m already feel the pressure of so much to see and do, and wondering if I´ll ever have enough time.
