Sunday, September 5, 2010

Mother Nature speaks loud

Dear Esther: How are you doing?

Well, thanks for asking. Personally, I'm busy, I'm happy (besides getting TB, dont worry I'm fine, not active), I'm satisfied. In fact, there are alot of happy happenings I should write to you about. But tonight I feel restless, I need to write to you, whoever you are. I need to write about the world, the madness, and the caustrophobic claws of rainy season.

You guessed it, maybe you read it, it's rainy season. Here in Guatemala, there are no winters, summers, no seasons, except rainy and dry season. Rainy season usually comes each year from a whopping April to November, and during those months, Guatemalans can do nothing more but to go about their everyday lives, amidst floods, mudslides, and wet laundry. I didn't quite undertand it all last year... Truth is we were quite spoiled then... We were so spoiled that the Eastern part of the country repaid our lack of rain with extreme droughts and dying malnutrioned children.

But I suppose that the malnutritioned children weren't enough to pay for the moderately dry rainy season last year. This year, mother nature decided it was time for pay back for last year's screw up. She's given us several hurricanes, including the now famously royal Hurrica Agatha, a few hundred deaths, thousands of displaced families, and millions of dollars in infrastructure damage that will take years to recover.

This weekend was no different. No, we didn't get another hurricane, just a few days of steady rain. But that's all it took. These rains were able to do impressive damage, primarily due to the messed up infrastructure damaged this year from earlier hurricanes. These simple weekend rains have in a matter of hours ondone all of the reconstruction work that has been accomplished after Agatha.

So as I sit on a Sunday night sheltered safely in my house from the rain, I learn of the brand new thousands of families being displaced this weekend, and of numerous unfortunate mudslide incidents, one of which buried 100 people trying to help dig a bus out of the very same mudslide. So I'm usually happy, but tonight I feel extremely sad, I feel angry, and restless for these 100 people that were just trying to help. I suppose most of us going into Peace Corps fantasize ourselves being put in some sort of dramatic situation, but I guess we never imagine ourselves being in the drama of it all, drinking hot tea, measuring the growing wet spots on our wall and feeling absolutely useless and helpless to it all. No, tonight, we'll just numbingly check our facebook and try not to think about it at all.

Guatemala isn't alone, Mexico has paid a steep price, the list goes on, Chile, China, Pakistan, et al. It makes me wonder and it should make you wonder, where this world is going. Right now I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. I wonder if these events are mother nature's way of telling us STOP SCREWING ME OVER DOUCHE BAGS!!! I wonder this as I wander my own villages smelling the smoke, wandering past huge garbage landfills by breathing communities and open fires vibrating of plastic garbage.

So yes, you guessed it, I am sad by the way that this world is going right now. I am sad at us, human beings, who have stopped caring about people and the land we walk on. We've blinded ourseves to these man-made tragedies around us for a simple christmas bonus. I wish more people would be angry at these broken records: the earquakes, the hurricanes, monsoons, the oil spill, or heck, the 72 immigrants slaughtered in mexico and the damned politicians that are dooming us all.

Ok friend, this is where I stop before this just turns into a rant. I know this is dark, I know this is sad, but I'm not apologizing, I thought that you should feel the sadness of it all too.

Saludos,

1 comment:

  1. Is it still raining?
    Its weird being back in this concrete jungle of privilige...
    i cant wait to get out.
    In the mean time, my help will come in small doses... its not much, but if eveyone does small gestures... then this place can get better... ill keep squeezing the accordion until i get better and have more time to give out to guatemala and of the others.

    Miss you, ps how is the mold? did you try the plastic wire brush and bleach?

    love jeje

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