El Silencio De Neto

El Silencio de Neto demuestra una perspectiva distinta de lo que yo esperaba. Me gustó que pudimos aprender sobre el impacto de la revolución desde la perspectiva de un niño imaginativo como Neto. Al experimentar los cambios en el país de aquel tiempo de esta manera, aprende sobre el impacto más con respeto a la familia que a la nación en si. Por éso me gustó la película.

Reading for Wednesday

Does anyone remember what the readings are for Wednesday?

Thanks,

Scott

Sandino's influence

Sandino's life and consequent mythology are very interesting to me. When I was reading about him and his ability to invoke fear in his enemies and hope into his people I couldn't help but relate it to the legends of America. For example, when reading about him made me think of all the stories and anecdotes of Lincoln and and Washington and how they had so much virtue and character. I've read a number of things about both and i can't think of any negative thing said about either of them. Along the same lines it seems like Sandino is just one of those once a generation people who have the charisma to continue influencing even after they've passed on. The only real negative thing said about Sandino is his relationships with women. Unfortunately that was a black spot for him, nevertheless, he's been able to help so many of his countrymen despite this one bad aspect.

Después De Las Bombas

I just finished this book by Arturo Arias, and loved it. It covers the political unrest in Guatemala beginning in 1954 and continues on into the early 1970's. It also covers the revolution in 1944 briefly. It's a really cool book. It uses magical realism to tell the story of a young kid growing up in war-torn Guatemala, and reveals the political instability of the nation, as well as the fear and very limited freedom of the people. Its really intense and often graphic, and although the violence and oppression is intentionally exaggerated, it definitely made me feel fortunate to have grown up in a time and place that is so relatively safe and peaceful. Its also a really fast and easy read (at least in english), and it's actually kind of funny (in an ironic and sometimes disturbing way). I think I'm going to write my final paper on this, and I'd recommend it if anyone is undecided on their topic.

Eye Opening Education

Its really interesting to learn about the history of Guatemala and its civil wars that its been having, particularly in recent decades. I had the opportunity to go there a few years ago and had no idea that the people had only recently been through so much civil warfare (and in many cases were still going through it). It was so apparent in the people’s humble faces that they had been through struggles in their life, but I had no idea to what extent their trials had escalated. Having learned more from reading these pieces of literature and seeing the documentary in class the other day are very motivating to go back to better appreciate what the people you meet have been through.

Agatha

¿Han visto la ira de la tormenta tropical Agatha en Centroamérica?  A propósito, los desastres naturales muchas veces han tenido efectos no previstos en la política y la historia de la región...

http://www.laprensagrafica.com/el-salvador/social/121145-tormenta-agatah-ya-toco-tierra-salvadorena.html

El Silencio de Neto

It was interesting to watch this movie and think about what it may have been like to live in Guatemala at this time. Seeing the different characters in the movie made me think on the different types of people in this time. From the father and the uncle having disagreements over the current political situation, the brother who becomes very politically active and ends up vanishing, and also the in the schools yards when the girls start teasing Neto, accusing him of having a 'revolutionary' for a father.

I thought this movie was very well done. When I first read what the movie was about, I basically thought it was just gonna be a movie based on the history of Guatemala for two hours. However the movie was very interesting and enjoyable to watch. The filmmaker did a great job in making a good story but also showing how it would have been to live in Guatemala during that time.

Class 5/26

I missed class on Wednesday, due to being in the hospital with some pregnancy complications, and am wondering if anyone would email me their notes from class and let me know what I missed!?!?  I would really appreciate it!

Thank you!
My email is: aubriesmyth@gmail.com

~Aubrie

El silencio de Neto y Cenizas de Izalco

Pienso que El silencio de Neto es una buena representación de lo que la clase alta pudo experimentar mientras vivían en Guatemala durante los años de los 40 y 50. Cierto que tiene su influencia “Hollywood” pero aun representa a la vida de esta sociedad. Toca un poco la situación de los indígenas pero no se sumerge en esa escena, pienso que hace bien en vez de abarcar mucho se enfoca en estas vidas de la gente de la ciudad. Es bastante similar con la novela Cenizas de Izalco. La novela y la película ciento que son mas atractivas porque no vienen pintadas de rojo comunistas, son sutiles en su mensaje y a la misma vez desarrollan personajes con quien yo me pueda relacionar. La escena de los niños en el billar fumando me recuerda de mi niñez más de lo que ustedes se pueden imaginar.

Excellent posts!

Excellent posting!  I just read through everyone's posts for the last week and am so pleased with your insights.

Miguel, I have been thinking about your question today about whether or not there are Central American texts published with conservative viewpoints about what has happened over the last century.  If there are, they have not made it into the canon, which, remember, is formed by academics.  I did think of a few conservative texts from the early twentieth century:  Pedro Joaquin Cuadra Chamorro (father/uncle to Pablo Antonio Cuadra, one of the founders of the Anti-Academia; also patriarch of powerful Chamorro family) published very conservative novels that served as comportment manuals for young Nicaraguan women.  These were _Las dos mujeres_ (192?) and three short novels, "El manto de Jesus", "El gobierno del hijo prodigo" and "Los tres azotes del diablo" (1927).  There was also a comportment manual, _La mujer y el hogar_ by Manuel Rosales (Guat) published in 1930 that was apparently well-received throughout the isthmus.  It was also common to see protests and complaints about the Nueva Mujer in periodicals throughout the 1920s and 30s.

In 1936, Somoza published a scathing biography of Sandino titled, _El verdadero Sandino_.  He meant to discredit the hero that he martyred.

Ediciones F & G in Guatemala published Odette Arzu's memoir in three volumes as a document of the privileged lives and perspectives of the Guatemalan oligarchy.  Although it reads like a novela rosa, this text has historical value in that gives us such a perspective in bound print.

I will have to think of and investigate more examples.

Enrich your FB experience!

Enrich your Facebook experience.  Become fans/friends of ContraPunto-El Salvador, Pnud-El Salvador, 400 Elefantes, Miguel Huezo Mixco, and others featured on the "Central American Links" of the Finzamos blog.

how much have we really changed?

I learned my Spanish while serving a mission in Costa Rica. Many of the people we would interact with lived in the banana fields or the coffee plantations. It has been very interesting reading Bananos y Hombres and comparing it to what I saw. Not much has changed. Obviously things are a little more stable as a country, but the poverty and working conditions are similar to what they were during the early 20th century. Children still work in the fields, these lowest class workers live in one-room shacks, and disease is still rampant. In a somewhat modern society it is easy to see and feel progress but stepping into the banana fields fells like taking a step back into a different world.

Another Point of View

It has been an interesting way of learning about the civil unrest in Central America via literature that was produced at the time, rather than from a text book of solid facts.  I have had a couple other classes dealing with similar issues in the area but have enjoyed looking at a single point of view rather than an outsiders trying to give a blanket overview of a situation that obviously effected many.  I mean, even reading Carmen Sobalvarro's poems (though they weren't very good) has been interesting in that her voice and face became such an icon.  It gives history a much needed personal touch.

Jake

Bananos y Hombres

Se que hable un poco de esto en la clase de hoy pero queria ensenarles una photo de bananos. Me hace pensar en como Carmen Lyra quise que los demas vieron que la naturaleza trata de proteger a sus "frutas" y que los humanos no hagan lo mismo por sus "frutas." Tristemente las cosas no han cambiado desde los 1930's. Hay mucha explotacion de personas. Aun hoy hay personas en los Estados Unidos que trabajan en los campos de fruta y verdurda por todo los Estados Unidos. I remember when there was a huge movement about helping the migrant workers, who were being paid poorly and maltreated, have better lives. People boycotted certain food establishments. There are probably many other things that we should avoid and boycott to help stop inhumane treatment of other humans. Not only do we have issues with cosas de agricola pero there are sweatshops and other types of labor in other countries that make the clothes we see in stores and on commercials. Even if we just treated each other fairly in doing business and other daily interaction the world would be better. Si todos apreciaramos y vigilaramos a los ceres humanos como la naturaleza a sus frutos, quizas tendriamos un mundo mejor. Lastima que las cosas no son asi. Entiendo mejor poque los periodistas, poetas y escritores ahnelaban una sociedad utpica.

U.S. policy in Central America

I didn't know very much about U.S. foreign policy in Central America over the past 100 years before this weeks readings (and I guess I still don't know very much about it), but after reading Bananos y Hombres and the reading by Whisnat about Sandino I understand why there are prevalent anti-american sentiments in Central America. I'm a pretty politically moderate guy, but it seems that U.S foreign policy in Nicaragua, and later Guatemala during the 20th century was strongly motivated by North Americas economic interests at the expense of Central Americas development. Its also unfortunate that the Central American civil wars (especially in Guatemala) seemed to occur at the height of the Red Scare in the U.S., causing the U.S. to come down harshly on anything that appeared to be associated with Communism. I know that any nations foreign policy is motivated by its own interests, but I think that U.S. intervention in both Nicaragua and Guatemala really retarded the progress of those nations. Also I got a book on Amazon about a week ago called Bitter Fruit:The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, I've only skimmed it but it seems like good source if anyone is planing on writing their paper on the Guatemalan civil war.

Telegrafo

I found this story quite comical. After living in Central America for a short while, I realize this is the manera in which information travels. It didn't take long for news to travel between the group I lived with or in the community. I called them chambrosos. The chambres traveled quick, and as in the story most of the time the reports had been falsified to be more entertaining. It is much the same in the US with facebook, and twitter, a story can be told and retold until only part of none of it is true. I don't see the Central American way of life changing very soon, as it hasn't changed in the past century, since the story was written.

Clueless!

Bueno pues no sé si estoy escribiendo en el propio lugar pero ni modo, si no? Aprenderé. Entonces no sé exactamente de lo que habla las lecturas pero ay voy poco a poco. Es interesante ver la película que nos enseñó la maestra y ver como se presenta la información en dibujos de animales y otras formas. Es interesante porque en una programa se llama NOVA, tienen un historia documental sobre el código de los Mayas. En esta programa hablan acerca de todas las personas que han intentado traducir la lectura de los Mayas y el hombre que, según ellos, realizó esta meta. Si quieren verlo, les dejo el sitio de web.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/63741/nova-cracking-the-maya-code

La Loba

I really enjoyed La Loba as a story. I thought it was a great depiction of what that witch magic would look like. I liked the detailed description of when Kola vomited up her spirit into a flower pot. It actually made me sick to my stomach. It reminded me of stories that were told to me when I lived in Merida. They used to tell a story about the "Coco" who would come and eat bad children who had wondered away from their Mothers.

Popul Vuh

I have previously taken a Classic Maya class, and although we only went over the Popol Vuh for a short time, it was interesting to connect the dots from the video we watched in class to the aspects of the Maya.

Murals, carvings, and paintings have been found all over the Mayan region with depictions from the Popol Vuh. Depictions of Xibalba are often found, especially on tombs of the Mayan rulers. It is also interesting to see how many important aspects of Mayan life are in the Popol Vuh. For example, the ball game was very important to the Maya, and had a lot of religious implications. The stories of the hero twins also involve sacrifice, which was important to the Maya, and the stories also involve maize, which was very important to the diet of the Maya.

I am very glad we got to watch the video, although I have learned about the Popol Vuh in other classes, I was never able to see how the entire story fits together like we were able to do in the video. The video helped me understand parts of the Mayan life that I wasnt even able to fully learn in other classes dedicated solely to study the Maya.

Telegrafo

I actually liked the reading about the telegrafo. It was a fun read because it showed that the same problems being faced then are still being faced today. The differences lie in the amount of technology use. I asked the question as to whether our gossip problems are better or worse and I say that it is obviously worse. With better sources of communication comes better ways to gossip.

Popol Vuh

Lo que me llama la atención en el Popol Vuh es que estas leyendas me parecen muy semejantes a las leyendas de los indígenas del sur de Estados Unidos. Por eso, investigo un poco los imágenes que parecen en los artefactos. Mientras, por supuesto, hay diferencias en los cuentos y el juego con la pelota no existe en EEUU, el uso de las imágenes, especialmente la naturaleza y los animales, acerca el uso de los Hopi y los Navajo (por ejemplo). Sé que estas tribus compartían una ruta comercial, sin embargo, me sorpresa que los colores y las representaciones de gente, dioses, animales y plantas refleja las que he visto en el suroeste.

En caso de que ustedes quieran ver el video de la clase, está en partes en http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=993B4EACD2CEDCA0

La Loba

I was captivated by the introduction of Gavidia’s “La Loba.” From the depiction of El Salvador and how one man could have so much power, such as in the case of don Gerardo Barrios, I automatically put my sights on having this leyenda be another demonstration of the inequalities between the few in power in El Salvador and the majority living in poverty. I was pleasantly surprised on how the leyenda took a turn to the past and detailed how la loba came to be. I enjoyed so much how Gavidia unclothed the current El Salvador and took me on a journey back to a virgin land free from any European influence, architecture, religion, culture, etc. Gavidia at that point was then free to use any form of experimentation with unexpected words and images. Gavidia makes me want to be a better story teller and gives me ideas on how to be more captivating even when writing.

Punto de Vista

Reading the Leyendas de Guatemala by Migel Angel Asturias has been very different from other readings in Spanish I have done.  Usually when I read I put a lot of effort into piecing things together, be it plot, characters or even just sentences and paragraphs.  I have noticed with the Leyendas de Guatemala that this has been a bigger challenge than usual but I feel though that this is simple my point of view.  Reading something that is written with "surrealismo" has been different in that when I try to sync it with my reality, my thought process, it hasn't matched up.  In Los brujos de la tormenta primival, reading about how the world came to be and the separation of people from the gods exemplifies my struggle in that reading the story in any language would have been foreign to me.  There were however parts that came quicker, such as the problems that came with disobeying "las leyes del amor".

Leyendas de Guatemala forced me to trust what I was reading and to turn off my "nonsense" alarm that I have come to use when reading in my second language.  It was a stretching text, but in a good way.

Jake

Central American Links Added

I have added a working list of links to Central American news, culture and political sites that may be of interest.  Please feel free to make suggestions and enjoy exploring!  There may be content for final projects here...

CAFTA

What do you know about DR-CAFTA?  What are its benefits?  Who benefits?  Why has it been so controversial both among North American and Central American voters?

Examen Final

Think about the final exam as a second midterm covering primarily the second half of the semester.  There are a couple of concepts from the beginning of the semester that have continued being relevant throughout the second half of the semester.

There will be one section of IDs.  There is a bank of about 15, and you have to define and give examples for only 3.

There is a section of short answers, just like there was on the midterm.  You must answer 2 out of 6.

Finally, there is a little question on presentations that asks you to draw from a couple of others' presentations you have watched.

Think big picture.  Find your syllabus and go through each class day and text.  For each class period and text, jot down the main concepts and themes.

You do not have to know specific dates, characters, legends, etc.  You DO have to know concepts and how they might show up in different texts.

Hope this helps.  Send me emails if you still need guidance.

April Ends Here.

I have so enjoyed reading your insights and questions on the blog.  I have also enjoyed your eco-experiments.  Thanks for a great class this semester!

Eat meat sparingly

On Sunday there was a very interesting editorial in the SL. Trib. written by a former U of U student. The author (who is a member of the LDS church) talks about the word of wisdom, which forbids drinking alcohol and coffee, smoking and doing drugs. The author says that many members of the LDS church dismiss the pat which reads "yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly ; and it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or of famine." The author continues by stating: "According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the runoff from factory farms pollutes our waterways more than any other industrial sources combined. In the U.S., 70 percent of all grains, 80 percent of all agricultural land, half of all water resources and one-third of all fossil fuels are used to raise animals for food. Eating animals destroys the rain forest, when the amazon is slashed and burned to create grazing space for cows as well as land to grow feed for chickens." The Environmental defense fund states, "if every American skipped one meal of chicken a week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads." I am not sure if all that she is saying is true, but I have to tell you I was shocked when I read this. I knew that the meat industry wasn't the best thing for the environment, but these numbers are shocking, and it is scary to think of all the damage we are doing just to eat meat. I challenge everyone to skip one meal of meat a week, so we can make this earth a better place.

Final

Well I am just going to suggest that we should all post some things about the final exam here on this blog. Professor Finzer has let us talk about the final, although we don't know much about it I think it is in our best interest to talk about and review things from the class. I am going to find some information that I think will be useful from my notes, and I will post them here on the blog.


CAN YOU DO THE SAME???

Jandote de mi presentación

Supongo que no haya estado prestando la atención en clase y olvidé completamente que tuvimos que tener un "jandote" para dar a cada uno durante nuestras presentaciones. Si hubiera hecho un papel probablemente sería el sexto slide de mi powerpoint. Es una foto de Che y unas palabras que escribió él en su diario. Me gustó mucho lo que dijo Beau después de mi presentación. Dijo que la idea de morir luchando se base en la patria argentina y que es parte de la cultura y la esencia de la gente. Es cierto que esta idea fue parte del hombre Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna. Voy a poner las palabras que escribió Che abajo y esto hubiera sido mi jandote.

"Lo sé! Lo sé! Si me voy de aqui me traga el río.

Es mi destino: "hoy voy a morir". Pero no,

la fuerza de voluntad todo lo puede.

Están los obstáculos, lo admito. No quiero salir.

Si tengo que morir, será en esta cueva. Las balas,

qué me pueden hacer las balas si mi destino es morir

ahogado, pero voy a superar mi destino.

El destino se puede alcanzar con la fuerza de voluntad.

Morir sí, pero acribillado por las balas, destrozado

por las bayonetas, si, no, no, ahogado no...

un recuerdo más perdurable que mi nombre es luchar,

morir luchando."

Llegamos!

Well, its been a fun ride this semester. I hope that we have all taken new ideas from our classes. I know I have. This class has allowed me to focus on things that I have never previously thought about. I liked that experiment that I did, it really made me concerned for the evoirnment and what my actions may cause. I do believe that we have a great influence in the evoirnment as it does with us. I hope that I am able to become more intuned with the eviornment as I continue with my life and help others to do so as well. As in my presentation where I talk about Dimonds theory of Guns, Germs, and Steel. He presents that we are subject to the earth and it is the earth that leads us. He explains the Fertil Cresent were the ability to grow and live are more efficient. On a Micro level we till the earth and grow food but on the Macro level the earth tills us and grows us. It is something to think about and I strongly recommend the Book Gun, Germs, and Steel. I shows us how geography or nature limints or allows for progression depending only on geograpy.

Spring Peacocks

Porque ha llegado la primavera, me encuentro dando más atención a los cambios en manera de vestirse en nuestro campus...more skin! To what extent are we peacocks? Vi a los fotos de la semana "fashion" de Paris y todos están vestidos como aves--estos volantes son de colores neutrales, como la pureza de este estación. Llego a la primavera con esperanza y una tabula rasa (al menos, despues de los examenes) y lista para el verano.

Finals: Going to Your "Happy Place"

(my desktop image -->)
I've found more and more that during times of stress, like finals week, it helps me a lot to put up a picture of or relating to my "Happy Place". MY happy place is under water, interestingly enough, and that's what I have on my desktop.


Speaking ecocritically, I think it's interesting that the place that's my happy place is in water, usually outside. I don't picture myself in a swimming pool, but if I were given the choice to be in a pool or to be somewhere else so that I could de-stress (unless that place was on a massage table)I would choose the pool if I couldn't have my lake/river/ocean/etc.

I'm interested to know if the "happy places" of my classmates are also so-called natural places... any thoughts?

History Channel

Last night I stayed up way too late watching this program on the history channel about what would happen in a modern day Armageddon. In this instance, there was a plague that contaminated the entire human population, much like the black death. It was interesting to see how humanity would change and over time, eventually go back to their older ways, farming, living off of the land, without electricity or irrigation for their water. A situation like that would be entirely life altering and it made me wonder if in our lifetimes, we will ever see a pandemic break out that changes our lifestyles. I know the swine flu had us worried, but do you think it will ever get worse? Any thoughts on this?

la primavera!

Al manejar hoy me di cuenta de que por fin la primavera está aqui. Vi que todos los arboles estan llenos de ojas, y verdes, y yo me siento bien. No voy a mentir el calor y el sol me pone muy feliz. He estado jarto del invierno pero lo que quiero decir es es bueno que hay oposicion. O lo que quiero decir es que si no tuvieramos el frio no nos disfrutaríamos el calor tanto. Verdad?

Carbon Offset

The video I posted talked about carbon offset. What is it? Well, basically you pay money to make up for your carbon glut. But after doing some research I'm still not exactly sure how it offsets your footprint. I mean, it's not like playing money to an organization is magically going to make the exhaust from your car disappear. From what I've read, it "represents" a reduction in CO2 production. If anyone has better information on the subject,please reply because I'm very curious about how it works.

In the beginning

At the start of the semester, I remember we talked about how ecology and economy could be (and in my opinion are) greatly related to one another; in a way that goes beyond sharing the same root "eco". Here is a cool Newsweek article that shows the relationship. In particular, the article shows how the recent volcano eruption has impacted international business.

Phantom Power

So I know we've all heard about what a carbon footprint is, but this video brings up a specific concept in reducing our personal footprints: phantom power. Sounds silly, but it actually quite practical. Basically it invovles power usage while things aren't being used (like laptops on standby). Cool video, check it out.

Benefits of Being a Vegetarian

The only reason way I thought people were vegetarians is because of animal rights issues. I thought that they didn't want to eat anything that comes from animals so that the animals number one don't get slaughtered and also that they aren't taken advantage of sense we as human have such a dominance over them.

The other reason that I found out on Earth Day is actually for us! I found out that the farms were they mass produce chicken, cows, all matter of livestock produces high amounts of Methane into our atmosphere. Methane is one of the four gases that create the Greenhouse effect along with water vapor, carbon dioxide, and ozone.

When I heard, my reaction was that it can't be that big of a deal because there are lots more cars, factories and other things in the world that produce carbon dioxide. It turns out that methane is 25 times worse than carbon dioxide! It seems as though these animal farms produce a little of methane, but that little bit goes a long way!

Global Warming, yet again

I know that we have had a lot of entries on global warming, but in my Natural Disasters class on Thursday my professor talked about it. There were two things that hit me pretty hard.

The first is about the earth heat cycle. Scientists believe that the earth has periods of "ice ages" and "warm ages." Right now we are towards the end of a warm age and we should in the next couple houndred of years be heading to a cold age. He explained that many politicians and people in general blame this cycle for the world's overall temperature for rising. They are true but my teacher showed us that this cycle is only to be blamed for 1/5 of the heat rise. The other 4/5 is from global warming.

The second thing that he said was the artic ice caps. Usually the ice caps in the north pole melt a little bit, then refreeze again, and this process happens back and forth through the seasons. My professor showed us a picture in which over a third, almost half, of the artic caps in the north pole have melted! I couldn't believe it and he said that NO scientist predicted it either. They say that is one of the biggest signs that global warming is getting worse and that we have to do something about it.

Before I was a fence sitter but now I'm pretty convinced that global warming is a problem and we have to do something about it.

estar de buen humor

Hay lluvia, y al caminar a mi clase escuche algo muy interesante. Alguien comento que el aire reflejaba su humor. Esta semana habia un empeoramiento del tiempo como todos ya saben y ella dijo que sentia mal como el mal tiempo, sin embargo ella quiso tener el buen tiempo. Yo siento bien pero me encanta la lluvia de todos modos quise preguntarles. El tiempo esta reflejado en nuestro humor, si sea mal o bien? La condicion del tiempo tiene un gran efecto sobre nosotros en varios condiciones?

Happy Earth Day

Hi Guys! I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Earth Day. Having the theme of environmentalism in our class this semester has made me a lot more conscientous of the planet and all the things that surround me on a daily basis. I love the idea of protecting our Earth and taking care of her as she takes care of us. We only have one planet and one place to live so it makes sense that we would do our very best to keep her clean and healthy so that we can remain healthy. Anyway, I'm preaching to the choir but I just thought I would reiterate my thoughts. Happy Earth Day to you all!

The tv show Life.

On Sunday I was watching tv and came across the new series on the Discovery Channel called Life. It is similar to a previous series they did called Planet Earth. Both are really well done and interesting to watch and see places in nature that not many of us will ever have to chance to go. The episode from Sunday was about primates and their abilities to use tools to accomplish tasks like using rocks to smash open coconuts, or use sticks to dip into ant holes so that the ants crawl up on the stick and the chimps are able to lick them off like a juicy ant Popsicle. If you get the chance I strongly encourage everyone to sit down and watch for a little bit. My guess is that you'll lose track of time and be amazed at how amazing nature is.

La vida sin carro

Por mi experimento no manejé mi carro por dos semanas. Tengo un carro, no es una camioneta grande, o un SUV tampoco, es una Honda Civic. Es un carro pequeño que no consume mucha gasolina y es muy fiable. La verdad, me gusta mi carro, me siento libre por que yo sé que puedo manejar donde sea y cuando llueve, voy a estar feliz y seco en mi carro. Uno puede decir que una vida sin carro es fácil. Pero la verdad, cuando uno sabe que tiene un carro registrado, asegurado con gasolina en el tanque y no puede manejarlo, es difícil. A mi me gustó el experimento. Siempre cuando estoy en mi carro no puedo parar y oler las rosas. Cuando caminaba y llevaba TRAX, conocí mucha gente diferente que mi y mucha gente de todo el país. De caminar y andar con bicicleta me hizo bien a la salud también, estaba haciendo más ejercicios y sentía que tenía más energía. Pero más importante yo hice algo bueno por el ambiente. Con la página Web www.corbonify.com yo podía calcular la cantidad de CO2 que no emite durante mi experimento. Según la pagina Web yo salve 0.148678 (tons) de CO2 de entrar a la atmósfera.

Planes Para El Verano

Planeo vivir afuera en la naturaleza para casi todo el verano en mi pueblo, Sandpoint, Idaho que en muy hermoso. :D Estoy emocionada para eso, y quiero llamar a este verano "El Verano Sin Espejos" porque voy a concentrarme mas en divertirme en la naturaleza sin la distraccion de preocuparme con como parezco a la sociedad. Trabajo como guardia de vida (lifeguard) en la playa del ciudad, entonces voy a ir al trabajo de manera de kayak cada dia. No sera mi en la soledad todo el tiempo, pero mi casa sera una carpa y mi cocina sera un hoyo de fuego. :D :D :D :D

Dia de Tierra

El dia de tierra o earth day es el 22 de este mes. Lo que encuentro interesante es que la pelicula Avatar va a salir en DVD este dia. Creo que lo hicieron esto para que la pelicula se parezca mas como una pelicula que es alliado de la naturaleza. Cuando ví la pelicula no me dí cuenta de su mensaje, un mensaje contra los gobeirnos que abusan la naturaleza para su propia gana. Yo estuve tan entretenido con la historia y los effectos visuales que no me di cuenta de este mensaje. Mi hermanito me dijo despues, wow siento mal por no tratar la tierra bien, y en este momento me di cuenta del mensaje de la pelicula, es una pelicula Verde! Que piensan ustedes del dia de la tierra y del mensaje de Avatar?

Volcanos! Run!

So, if you have been watching the news lately you would have notice some volcanos disasters around the globe. Volcanos intereste me so I thought I would do a little research about them. Here are some questions that I had about volcanos....
Which gases are emitted before and during a volcanic eruption, and what effects can they have on people, animals, plant life near a volcano? How could the gas kill trees? Is it realistic that squirrel might die all over the place, but not humans, like in Dante’s Peak? Are all volcanic gases visible? Yellow? Smelly? Can gas emissions occur without a big volcanic eruption happening at the same time?
The gases are released from magma that is located under ground and then eventually surfaces. Gases can also rise through soil and other volcanic vents. These gases start to create tiny bubbles which over time tend to increase in size. After a volcano erupts the gases are carried by the wind then spreading acid aerosols (tiny acid fragments) to the ground.
There are many types of volcanic gases the most common volcanic acid that is released into the atmosphere is water vapor (H20), carbon dioxide (S02). Also volcanoes release other smaller gases know as Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen chloride (HCL), hydrogen fluoride (HF), and helium (HE).
There was another question about if these gases are harmful to people humans and animals the answer is yes. Volcanic gases are the greatest potential hazard to people, animals, agriculture, and property. These hazards are carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen dioxide. Once these toxins are emitted into the atmosphere can turn into acid rain. If a large explosion takes place it can inject a tremendous volume of sulfur aerosols into the air causing lower surface temperatures and cause damage to the earth ozone layer. Carbon dioxide is a heavier toxin which can lower itself in to the earth soil causing soil decontamination. The carbon dioxide gas in these areas can be deadly to people, animals, and vegetation. A few historic eruptions have released sufficient flouring-compounds to deform or kill animals that eat on vegetation.
Sulfur dioxide is another deadly toxin to humans and wild life. This toxin is a colorless gas with a horrible order that irritates skin and the tissues and mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and throat.
Hydrogen sulfide is another colorless gas that is emitted when a volcanic eruption happens. This toxin is flammable with a very strong odor. This toxin can cause respiratory tract and, dizziness, excitement, staggering gait, and diarrhea. Some of these gases are visible to the human eye but some are not. Hydrogen Fluoride is a pale yellow colored gas that attaches to fine ash particles, covers grass, and pollutes streams and lakes. There are many deadly effects caused by this toxin, skin irritation, bone degeneration and mottling of teeth. Animals that eat vegetation that coated with fluorine-tainted ash are poisoned. Well, some of the gases can be detected like sulfur while others like carbon dioxide cannot. So the views and ideas shown in Dante’s Peak seem to be accurate and logical. Remember to always be aware of your surrounding when

La limpieza del ambiente

Entonces hoy camine a mi clase en la manana y vi un camion de airgas y llevaba una pictura de montanas y un paisaje muy bonito y limpio. Empece a pensar en las companias y el esfuerzo de limpiar nuestra tierra. Me parece que en el mundo las personas se han dado cuento de que necesitan cuidar de la tierra. LLegando al ciglo 21 me parece que las companias han mejorado sus impactos en la tierra, y estan mas conscientes de la naturaleza. Se que la arena de soluciones energia (energy solutions arena) es mas verde, y conservando materiales etc. Que piensan uds? Se escuchaban de unas companias asi? o que piensan?

Amores perros

Por mi projecto final ví una pelicula que se llama, "Amores Perros." No puedo decir que me gustó porque fue muy triste pero a la misma vez si puedo entender mucha de ella y su connección con la naturaleza. A través de la pelicula y este clase me he dado cuenta del abuso que la naturlaeza recibe. En la pelicula las personas usan perros para pelear y ganar dinero, si es cruel a los perros pero todavía lo hacen. Hay muchos otros ejemplos de esto en el muncho tambíen usamos la naturaleza por nuestro propio beneficio sin pensar es su bienestar.

cuando los labios hablan

En Under the Feet of Jesus veo tantas imagenes de bocas y de huecos. Alejo ve la boca de Estrella bajo de su straw hat, el chico con el hairlip tiene hueco en su camisa, cuando los aviones voracia a Anejo con pesticides el piensa en la tierra como boca de alquitrán. Que piensen ustedes de eso? Quizas tiene algo que ver con la voz narrativa o la represión de la voz en los personajes.

El templor

Yo si senti el templor. Anoche estaba estudiando en mi cuarto y oi mi armoire haciendo un ruido. Cuando me pare, senti que mi casa estaba sacudiendo, pero solo un poquito. Estaba pensando, talvez esto fue un templor, pero me pense que no. En la manana lei el periodico y dijo que hubo un templor. La verdad yo siempre he querido estar en en templor grande. No grandisimo que todas las casas se caen y toda la gente se muere, pero un templor donde yo lo siento. Claro que no quiero morir y no quiero que nadie muere, pero que experiencia de sentir un templor fuerte. Me imagino que uno siente parte de la tierra, parte de esta tierra que esta viva. Creo que uno le de cuenta que insignificante samos, y como todos podemos morir en un instante. Es solo mi opinion pero que experiencia!

President Obama and Earthquakes

I have seen that someone else has posted something about earthquakes and just wanted to add my two-cents worth. As I have mentioned before I quite enjoy listening to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Well today on Rush's show he played a clip from President Obama talking about how Republicans were claiming that because of the passage of the health care bill that the end of the world is coming. Well I found it somewhat interesting that in the Holy Bible it talks about earthquakes occuring in many places, both near and abroad as a sign that the world is coming to an end. I think our dear President should be careful about what he criticizes and exclaims because much to his dismay, those things may actually come true.

Earthquake

I was just wondering if anyone felt the earthquake yesterday? I sure didn't, but I think I might have been driving at the time. I read the article from the Salt Lake Tribune, and Kristine Pankow said that Utah gets an earthquake on average every 10 years but the last one that hit was 18 years ago. I thought that was interesting, because I remember that one, I was really young back then, and sleeping at the time that one hit 18 years ago.

Articles

Hey if you are like me and rapidly turning gray or losing your hair over your final project and can't come across that last good article you need. When you look in the MLA database and read about one you are interested in but the U doesn't have it. Check out http://www.scribd.com it has a lot of stuff and just cites the original source also I like the way that it lets you read the material. Good luck!

Coral Reefs

I just learn something really cool about coral reefs. That coral reefs are the only natural structure that you can see from space. Coral, that can range from so many different sizes, that when they are grouped together you can see them all from space. It goes on to make the point that every little thing counts because coral reefs are made up of just little coral but house the most complex ecosystem (in my opinion) in the world. They act like trees in the water and are just incredible and beautiful with all the different arrays of color, style, etc.

El global warming también

Despues de leer el ultimo post del global warming estoy pensando mucho mas en este tema. Fui a la pagina de National Geographic por el internet porque tiene muchos datos en cuanto a esto. Encontré uno y bueno a mi me parece ser evidencia fuerte del global warming, dice. • Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting—for example, Montana's Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later. Que locura! Que dicen ustedes, que podemos hacer para mejorar este problema?

The melting of tropical glaciers

While reading enn.com today, there were several interesting articles about the melting of the tropical glaciers in South America. Yesterday, or the day before a glacier in Peru broke off and fell into a lake causing a 75 ft. tsunami wave that killed at leased three people and destroyed a water processing plant that serves 60,000 locals. The glacier measured 1,640 feet by 656 feet. The cordillera blanca in Peru is the is the largest glacier chain in the tropics. The glaciers are melting at an extremely high rate, and dangering water supply to the arid Peruvian coast, which is home to Lima, that has a population of over 8 million. Quelccaya in southern Peru is the worlds largest tropical ice cap, and is shrinking at a rate of 200 feet per year. Since 1970 the Peruvian glaciers have lost about 22 percent of their total glacier area. Reports show similar data in other Andean countries such as: Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela. Global warming and rising temperatures are the culprits here. If the glaciers continue to melt at this speed, it means disaster for countries such as Peru and Ecuador, where the majority of these countries populations live on the arid coast and cannot receive the water from the glaciers. It also means disaster for these countries agriculture. What will they do when all the glaciers dry up, and there is no fresh water?

Ausencia

Yo diría que en su ausencia, la naturaleza llega a ser como personaje en La guaracha, o al menos tiene efecto profundo en otro personaje específicamente. La selva no existe para ofrecer la esperanza de libertad o de escapar la vida diaria--de hecho están atrapados en un isla--la guaracha del macho camacho trata de llenar este vacío. Hoy en día tantas personas se escapan a la vida a través de telenovelas o pop culture--de vivir vicariously por seres famosos. La canción representa el escape en la ausencia de la naturaleza--hasta que punto cumple con su intento?

Everybody Poops

I noticed that, after spending long hours in the library and substantial intake of coffee at times, there is a certain unspoken etiquette about going #2 in public bathrooms... at least for women. I didn't try to investigate the profound intricacies of male bathroom etiquette.

For girls, the rules are generally that you wait for an empty room before you can poop. Either that, or you make enough noise (pulling toilet paper, flushing, turning on the faucet, etc) to where no one can hear you... or at least they can pretend they can't. lmao. I've been in situations where girls will wait, pretty patiently actually, while they sit on the toilet and wait for me to leave before they allow themselves to go. I have a friend who refuses to poop in public restrooms. She'll hold it for HOURS so that she can get home... THAT must be uncomfortable!

What's the big deal? Everybody poops... right? What's with the embarrassment? It may not be particularly pleasant, but isn't that what bathrooms are for? Shouldn't people expect to find people using the bathroom (either 1 or 2) when they walk in? I've decided to detach myself from this embarrassment and go out on a social limb. I'm going to actually USE the bathroom if I need to... even if there are people in it! *GASP*

El "windbender"

No sé si algunos de ustedes han visto el "trailer" para "the last wind bender. " Bueno originalmente esto se llamaba Avatar, the last wind bender y es un muñekito por Nickelodeon. Es intersante porque cada persona en el programa tiene un poder relacionada con la naturaleza. Hay el poder del fuego, del viento, de la agua, y de la tierra creo. Al ver el trailer para la nueve película me preguntaba cual poder era lo mejor, o cual elemento tiene mas poder. Al pensar en esto llegué, decidí que al tener el poder del agua seria lo miejor. Digo esto porque he visto y leido del poder del agua, de los deluvios, y huracans, etc. El agua tambien puede apagar al fuego. Entonces si tuviera que escoger un poder de esto, sería el poder de controlar el agua.

What are you doing for Earth Day?

Earth Day is April 22.  That is next Thursday, a day we have class.

I am not sure yet what I am doing to commemorate Earth Day.  I think I will come up with something special and meaningful for my three-year-old daughter.  Any ideas?

What are YOU doing for Earth Day?

Aesthetics

I was having a conversation with my aunt yesterday about her yard. There is a spot in her backyard where they can't reach hoses and sprinklers so the land is basically dirt and rocks with some greenery from weeds and other wild plants that are growing there. She was telling me that she thought it was ugly and that she and my uncle want to do some digging so that they can fit a pipe that will bring water to the area. Now, I grew up in Ohio and my yard was always green without us really having to water it because it rains so much in the midwest. I have become a major fan of pretty yards full of greenery because that's what I have become accustomed to seeing. But here, in Utah, we live in a natural desert and one has to water a lot to get the same look. Having said that, my aunt and I were discussing the benefits of leaving her yard as is. They could leave it as a naturally desert-like environ and it would benefit the earth by conserving water and preserving the natural habitat. OR, they could bring in water and change it into a very pretty and vibrant spot of land with grass and other plants. I'm not going to say if any one choice is better than the other. Both have their benefits and their downsides. It makes me wonder though. Should we change our yards and use up water for the sake of aesthetics or should we leave the land as is though it might not be terribly pleasing to the eye? What do y'all think?

Ceiba tree

I thought the professor's talk was interesting, and I think all of us were very interested in the ceiba tree. Here is some information I found out about the tree from wikipedia. They are found in tropical areas including Mexico, Central America, South America, The Caribbean, West Africa and Southeast Asia. Some species grow taller than 230 ft. There are over 20 different species of the tree, and they are part of the Malvaceae family. "The tree figures in the mythologies of pre-Colombian mesoamerican cultures, in particular that of the Mayan civilization, where the concept of the central world tree is often depicted as a Ceiba trunk, which connects the planes of the underworld (xibalba), the terrestrial realms of the skies."(wikipedia) "The unmistakable thick conical thorns in clusters on the trrunk were reproduced by the southern lowland Maya of the classical period on cylindrical ceramic burial urns or incense holders."(wikipedia) I have seen some of these trees during my travels in Ecuador, and I have to say that they are quite exquisite to see. It was an interesting experience to see this massive living thing in such a beautiful environment.

Michelangelo vs Da Vinci

I learned something very interesting from my brother's art history class. They were talking about the differences between Michelangelo and Da Vinci and there was one difference that no one really payed attention to and it was their different views on nature.

Michelangelo viewed nature as something to be fought against. For example you see his statues fighting against the wind or the elements. Da Vinci doesn't do that. Da Vinci believes that nature is used to inspire, to help and not hinder man.

I just thought about how this is relative to our relationship that we have with nature. Obviously, Michelangelo didn't have good experiences with nature, while Da Vinci probably had some of his best experiences in nature.

My encounter with Greenpeace

So this afternoon while I was walking to the library I saw two women talking to a man sitting down. I glanced over because the man was taking off his sock and showing the girls his foot. i assumed they were acquaintances and continued walking inside. I made eye contact with one of the girls and she immediately asked if she could talk to me. I don't like turning people down (I think most of know what it feels like when all you want to do is share a simple message and someone else is rude) when they ask me for a moment of my time so i listened to her prepared speech. She told me about how the rain forest is being burned at so many acres per day and that the desire of Greenpeace is to target certain entrepreneurs and make them change the products that they use to create the products that they sell. I guess I have a harsh stigma about what it means to be a member of Greenpeace and declined to add my name to their supporters. I feel like if I am going to put my name on something I had better have a strong conviction of what it is that I am supporting.

Alusiónes...

En La guaracha del macho camacho, las alusiónes (como the godfather!) y la repetición más de algo han cautivado mi atención--especialmente las alusiónes que tienen que ver con peliculas de Disney y con Disneylandia. Sanchez menciona a Alicia y su espejito, y habla del Perro Pluto. Quizás este es síntoma de la globalización! Que piensen ustedes de la globalización? Hay Mcdonalds en europa donde puede comprar una cerveza, hay eurodisney, y The Godfather y Alicia ha sido traducido a tantos idiomas. Como la transmisión de "la vida es una cosa fenomenal," la globalización es un resultado de tecnología. Que es el efecto de las olas de radios y microwaves en el medioambiente? Siempre estamos acesibles a través de nuestros cell phones y email accounts...a veces tengo ansias de perder el ruido y ganar la soledad.

Earth Day and the TNC

Here are some local happenings sponsored by The Nature Conservancy that are being held in honor of Earth Day:  http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/utah/events/http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/utah/events/

La guaracha del Macho Camacho

Entonces he estado leyendo el libro La guaracha del Macho Camacho, y quizas alguien entiende mejor que yo, pero pienso que es dificil de entender. Hay alguien que esta de acuerdo conmigo? Hay alguien que puede dar un resumen breve en el blog de lo que esta pasando?

Caffeine

So recently I have given up anything caffeinated in order to try and sleep better. I have had a major addiction to Dr. Pepper since I was a teenager. It is delicious but it's just not healthy and I have finally done something about it. (Besides the caffeine, they're full of sugar). One of the things I have noticed is that I do sleep better and I actually sleep more restfully so I don't have to sleep as long. Before I was sleeping 9-11 hours a night, now it's only 7-9 which I appreciate because who doesn't need more time in their day. I'm still a night owl, always have been, probably always will be (as you can see from the hour I am writing this blog at) but I do feel better. My skin, though not perfect, seems clearer, and I have been drinking a lot more water to get in my liquid for the day, which probably helps too. This wasn't a planned experiment for me, just an overdue needed change and I am happy for it. I recommend it to anyone who feels like a change. What do you all think? Caffeine, yay or nay????

Michael Jackson y la tierra

What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain...
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?

Aaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaah

What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores

Moab

Fuimos a la Jeep Safari en moab esta semana pasada. Fue un descanso relejante, y al mismo tiempo tenia muchos nervios especialmente cuando subimos las piedras con los vehiculos. Este safari me puso pensar del impacto que todos los seres humanos tienen sobre el ambiente. No es solo los jeeps pero los excursionistas, y las bicicletas tienen un impacto en el ambiente. Me alegro cuando vi una cerca con una senal que dijo "no trespassing wildlife re-vegetation area." Estoy agradecido por la recreacion que tenemos pero espero que todos se preocuparan mas del ambiente y que todos fueran mas conscientes del impacto que tienen. La tierra, y la ciudad de Moab son hermosisimas.

Where Do We Draw the Line?

Since it is spring a lot of ants have come into our house and a couple of spiders and my wife always has me kill them on sight. Where do we draw the line about killing things? My wife and mother would say that spiders don't deserve to live. I always tell them that spiders kill the other bugs that they don't like but that doesn't change their minds. In my opinion I wouldn't kill a spider, I would just set it outside of my house and let it live because it is a living creature.

It goes the same way with mice, except I don't feel so bad for mice. Personally I don't mind killing them because I truely don't know their purpose in "our" environment and it makes my wife happy. So, where do we draw the line when it is good or bad to kill a living creature?

Drugs and Politics

So over the past years I've seen many south american governments allow legal drug use such as meth, coke, etc... I have a friend from Argentina that had told me about the legality of using such drugs without being arrested. I find it very interesting. He told me that it would save the government money and the government could spending it's money else where. Fighting drug lords can be very expensive for a government. Also the theory is that it will drive demand down as well as the price of doing drugs. I guess it's ment to discourage drug dealers from distributing. Sound a bit illogical to me. Anyway, I find this very troubling and detrimentive the morals and ideals of a government should represent. Anyway, I'm glad that our country hasn't given up on the war on drugs and hope that we never do.

Drugs and Politics

To drill or not to drill, that is the question.

In regards toward the off shore drilling that President Obama is proposing, I think it is a decision that was hard for him to make, and one that in his point of view in necessary for the U.S. to achieve energy Independence. In my opinion I think Obama is trying to gain some political ground with the Republicans with the passing of the new health care bill. He feels that with the passing of the bill, he needs to accommodate to some Republican thinking. I think that Obama's decision was not only political, but also economical. I think he feels that instead of purchasing oil from other countries, why don't we produce oil in our water to create jobs and leave the money that would be going over seas in the U.S. economy. We consume way to much of the world's oil and produce very little. Although Obama's goals are to create more renewable energy, he also believes that it is something we cannot achieve overnight. We need to relieve ourselves from being energy dependent on other countries, and off shore drilling is a first step to overcome the dependence and later on move toward renewable energies. In my opinion I not quite sure what to think of the whole issue. I think that off shore drilling would be okay if and only if we were certain that there would be no environmental issues or problems that would arise with the drilling. But it is almost impossible to be certain that there would not be any environmental implications. So I am still not sure what to think about about the situation.

Disney and Environment.

I have been thinking throughout the course of the semester about the humanization of animals and inanimate objects while we have read stories like the one about the tiger that turns into a little boy after a woman nurses it, I think it was Juan Darien. I was just wondering what people thought about how in some Disney movies there are occasional animals, trees, or robots that experience human emotion and feelings. Does this, with the exception perhaps being robots and cars that talk, cause people to be more aware of their surroundings and try to watch after nature better? Or, does it make people think that nature can take care of itself without any human intervention? maybe I am just way off in right field? I don't know.

De mal humor como este canejo triste

Me he dado cuenta en estos dias que la naturaleza y aun mas el tiempo tiene un poder sobre mi humor. Casi siempre estoy feliz pero en estos dias no he estado de buen humor por el frio y la nieve. De mal humor estoy como este canejito Me hace falta el sol, esto está pasando a ustedes?

Consequences of Deforestation

Mid-Atlantic Off-Shore Drilling

Anyone for mid-Atlantic off-shore drilling for oil?

Life

I have been thinking a lot today about what we as Americans spend our money on. To me it seems like we work, work, work, and save up our money for more recreational activities than anything else. I was talking to a man at my work, and he said he used to go and see a lot of movies in the theaters until they raised the price to nearly 10 dollars. We also were talking about a restaurant where a single foot long sandwich is 10 dollars. It made me think about how we spend our money, and it seems to me that most people are willing to work all those hours, and spend their money on entertainment, and food. If anybody has anything to say please say it! Now that I think about it more, I guess each one of us has our own hobbies, likes, etc. and we will do what it takes to get them, and to find entertainment, or joy in this world. The world is really diverse!

March ends here.

I just graded the March blogs.  Anything posted hereafter will count towards April.

I am REALLY enjoying reading your posts!  It was especially fun to hear from new voices, such as Joe A. and Jane.  Those of you who have regularly participated since the beginning also generated a lot of food for thought.  I responded periodically throughout March posts, so if you are interested, you may want to go back and see if I commented on your posts.

Keep the blog as a forum for news, musings and controversy!  You all have really intriguing insights with respect to the environment and literature.

Profe's Experiment

After a gluttonous spring break, I have decided that it is time for a cleanse and for me to begin my own eco-experiment, which is cutting out all meat for two weeks.  So far, so good.  My reasons for no meat are ideological, as well as practical.  They are ideological in that I am still haunted by the image of cutting animals' vocal chords.  Also, I am fairly well-read on the environmental impacts of large-scale ranching and grazing.  For the most part, I have tried to stick to eating local, grass-fed and free-range, antibiotic-free meat for the past few years, but even these smaller agricultural practices have negative environmental impacts:  production of methane, use of space that could be put to vegetal agriculture or wilderness, as well as petroleum usage for shipping.

The practical side of my vegetarian experiment is to increase the intensity of a diet effort to shed some pounds gained this semester due to lack of exercise from my skiing injury.  I am also giving up wine and dessert and watching portion sizes.  I'm also making myself go to the natatorium at least 4 times a week to swim (not my idea of fun exercise).  I started this new regimen on Monday, and so far, so good on maintaining these goals.

The part of my vegetarian experiment that is not going so well is that I am not an enthusiastic cook and have not sought out ways to diversify my diet.  On Monday, I had cereal for three meals.  Yesterday, I had cereal for two meals and a Naked smoothie for lunch.  I did make some tabouleh last night, which I plan to eat today and tomorrow for some variety.  Tonight I am planning on making a spinach and feta omelette and am looking forward to some gazpacho this weekend.

Experiment Opportunity

As you may have noticed, experiment reactions are due soon!  I just got an email from REI on a workshop they are having about Sustainability Across South America.  You could attend this workshop as an experiment if you have not already begun yours...

Here's the web link:  http://www.rei.com/event/3387/session/3995

The Color Green

I haven't written in the blog for over a week because I have been in Ohio with my family preparing our house because they are getting ready to sell it to move to Phoenix where my father got a new job. So, I've been thinking a lot about all the things I will miss about Ohio. We moved there when I was 13 and it's become home though I've spent most of my life in other places. One of the things I was thinking was how wonderfully green the state is. Even in winter, the lawn was green because it's fertile farm country and it gets moisture on a weekly, if not, daily basis. Green symbolizes so much to me. It is the color of life really and I find it rather beautiful. I have spent very little time in Arizona but one thing I am sure it is not is a green and fertile state. However, I am sure that it will have its own charms that I will come to discover. (I'm excited that it's warm almost year round and that there are palm trees there). This move won't affect me very much as I live here in Utah and will for at least the next couple of years while I finish school but it is interesting to consider what a vast and different nation we live in. It's different everywhere you look depending on where you are. The midwest I know and love is green. One could say Utah is white for its snow-capped mountains. Maybe the southwest is a reddish-brown for the desert and Florida could be blue because it's surrounded by water. Whatever color you love from wherever you're from is good I think. It's just amazing that there are so many colors. I read on Wikipedia that Arguedas named his novel Los Rios Profundos for several reasons. One of them was that he thought the symbolism of deep rivers could be a metaphor for his Peruvian homeland and represent it's national identity. I wonder what we could use to represent our national identity? I think there are too many beauties here to pick just one. Since it's near and dear to my heart, I might pick the fields of Ohio and the lush greenery that is always there. What would you pick???

symbolism in colors

Because Arguedas loves colorful imagery and in the spirit of my last post:

This is a colorful chalk throwin festival party that took place yesterday down in Spanish Fork. I had work so I couldn't go, but what do you guys think? A tool to maintain connections with people? Forge them with strangers? The festival celebrates the coming of spring with splashes of color. It seems throughout history we've marked the coming of spring with grand symbolic gestures.

A contaminant

A contaminant is matter out of place. "We are stardust, we are golden, and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden," to quote Joni Mitchell's Woodstock song. Everything alive on our earth consists of the same energy and matter. I went camping with some friends last week, and while driving south down that sketchy highway six my roommate said, "This feels like coming home." We all left the desert feeling rejuvenated by its silence and paradoxical simplicity/complexity. The trip reaffirmed for me that people and red rocks are homes more than my apartment or favorite study spot in the library. With my wanderlusty soul it always makes my bones ache to arrive "home" in Salt Lake. I feel like a contaminant back at school.

I'm glad Ernesto and his bullies realize their sameness and shared love for their spinning toys, too.

Alguien me puede decir hasta que capitulo de los rios profundos debemos tener leido para el martes????

Los Rios

He estado leeyendo mucho Los Rios Profundos, y bueno me di cuenta de que si requiere mucho trabajo para leerlo. No porque es dificil a entender pero porque hay tantas palabras desconocidas y lugares que el autor mienciona. Pero algo que encontré my interasante es el uso de la naturaleza en el libro especialmente con Ernesto. Al fin del capitulo 5 y 6 vemos que para él la naturaleza es su refugio. Un lugar donde el puede ir y encontrar paz que el no encuentra en otors lugares. Bueno tambein yo puedo encotrar paz en la naturaleza, porque estoy afuera de la ciudad y todo de la "hustle and bustle" de la vida. Que dicen ustedes?