Making a Difference

Tuesday June 5, 2007
Ok so a few announcements, first I think that I’ll be coming home a week early this summer… It’s the reunion, I can’t miss it, yeah I really want to be back for that, and there may be a few other reasons, motives, explanations, raison d’être, people, friends, a girl. But yeah the point is I’m coming home seven days early... Well, actually that’s the only announcement I have.
I appreciate all the responses on stuff I can do to help the people out down here. My favorite suggestion was from Robert who offered to donate his truck and have Jessica drive it down the Pan-American highway to donate to the community. Robert I am fully supportive of that idea, I think that it would be a great experience for Jessica! And because it might be a little dangerous she should probably take Rachel with her, and a gun. So there you go, Jess and Rach I’ll be waiting for you guys within the next week (Rachel it might be a good idea to borrow your dad’s Tom Tom. (Mom, a Tom Tom is a GPS device like what Grandpa and Grandma have in their car)).
In the meantime I have been flossing with my lil’ brothers everyday, I’m trying to think of ways to motivate them, but so far have only thought to offer them gum for each day they do it and tell them that if they floss girls will like them more because their breath won’t stink. Both of them have stains already on their teeth, and their only 11, and 8. I don’t know if a tooth stains like that can be removed or if some people are just more predisposed to that (Mom, Brother Terribilini do you know anything about that?). I also will be going to a High School here every Thursday to teach English, I’m really excited for that and I start next week. I’ll still think of other ways and as always I’m very much open to suggestions.
In thinking about helping to make a difference, I’ve reflected a lot on a few conversations I’ve had recently, most notably with a few European students who are here working in an orphanage, and my buddy Dave Lindes a Latin American studies major. One problem that Latin America has is that even the people who dedicate their lives to studying it look down on it. When you tell someone you are majoring in Eastern European studies, people think something like, “oh wow, that’s cool, they have a rich culture, great fine arts etc…” There’s a respect, and honor given to the people and place. However when you tell someone you’re majoring in Latin American studies they think something like, “Oh those poor people you’re going to go help them lift themselves up by their bootstraps, and make quilts for them etc…” While this is a noble thought it is also demeaning to the people you “want to help,” and it presupposes that you are so much better than they are, which is kind of prideful. It turns out that a lot of teenagers in Europe take a one to two year break after High School to be able to travel to some part of the world, but they don’t go thinking they are going to go save the world, rather they go with the mentality that they may have things that other countries don’t have but that there are also many things that they can learn from other countries. It’s an attitude which is slightly different than many Americans and it is more respectful of the people they are going to live with. Now there are many things that I think are really wrong with the majority of Europe’s mind set, (don’t get me started on Euro-trash tourists, or socialism), but I like that idea of people travelling with this mindset, it puts the traveler and the native on a more even plain, in which both can benefit from the reciprocity of the interaction, rather than the conception of the benevolent traveler coming and granting a gift to the poor downtrodden native. After all part of teaching a man to fish is giving him the self confidence to stand on his own, and go out and catch those fish! So yeah sorry if that was overly philosophical, but it’s important.
That’s all I’ve got for now. I like my family here a lot, tomorrow I’m cooking breakfast! My family has never eaten Hash Browns before, and my youngest brothers have never had Pancakes, or Oatmeal! I’m pretty excited we’ll see how it goes! Good luck with everything and as my good friend Stephan likes to say “The Church is true and the book is blue!” ha ha ha! I love that quote! Much love and I’ll see y’all later.

p.s. (Jessica [my sister, although this could probably apply to the other Jessica as well] my oldest brother Xuan Carlos wants to marry you… That’s not going to be a problem is it? Ok great!)