1.) Today is March 9th, 2011. You will be embarking on a journey to Guatemala TOMORROW. What are your expectations? What are you looking forward to? What do you want to know?
It seems unreal that we will be leaving on a plane in about twelve hours from now. After endless hours of fundraising and studying the culture, history, and government of Guatemala, I am excited that this time has finally come. Although I could say that I've learned so much about Guatemala, I'm unsure what to expect from this experience. I feel like I can expect how the people we will be meeting to be like but I'm unsure of what will become of what we will experience. In January we read this article called Short-Term Missions and it really challenged me to think of how I will help the community we will be staying at. This article was about how people from short-term missions that end up benefiting from the experience more than the community they are working with. If you think about it, short-term mission groups do end up benefiting from it more than the people they are trying to help. For a while I'd been troubled by the question; how can I make this experience more benefiting for the Guatemalan people? I'm glad Mr. Courtney came upon this article because I wouldn't have thought of it at the time. I'm glad to have been given this opportunity and greatly thankful for the ammount of support we got to make this trip a reality. Learning about a third-world country like Guatemala has been a big eye-opener to me and I imagine that this trip will even broaden this whole experience for me. I'm looking foward to everything from this trip that I've been waiting for for four months now. When I'm there, I want to know personal stories from people we will be meeting. I would like to know if everything has gotten better from the ending of the civil war. Most of all, I would like to see how the people think of their government now and if it's the same or worse from what we've read about in articles and I, Rigoberta Menchu.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
I, Rigoberta Menchu (Diez)
1.) Chapter 31 speaks in detail about power of being a woman. What was the most inspiring to you?
The most inspiring thing when I read Chapter 31 was how women are so dedicated to their people. Chapter 31 talks about how willing and involved women are to helping the fight for their people. Rigoberta Menchu mentions about once being engaged to a man she really loved. She ended up choosing her people over her companero because she felt that her duty belonged to her people. It was very hard for her to choose but in the end it showed how much her people were to her. Menchu also talks about how other women who have many children do (up to six) are able to care for all her children and do the same hard work as Menchu does. To me I find that very inspiring of how women are so dedicated for the people.
2.) What was the January 31st Popular Front?
After the burning of the Spanish embassy, sectors whose leaders had died united and made the January 31st Popular Front. It got its name from the day the Spnaish Embassy had burned down during a fight with the police.
3.) Rigoberta has to keep everything secretive as she moves from place to place when she is hiding, Why is it so important that she do this?
It is important that Rigoberta Menchu keeps her whereabouts secretive because if she were to be found, it would mean the end of her. She is a wanted woman by the Guatemalan government so it is very important that she moves from place to place so that no one will find out where she is.
4.) Menchu begins ending her book with the following Popul Vuh quotation: " We are avengers of death. Our race will never be extinguished while there is light in the morning star." Use this as a prompt to capitulate what you got from this book. Explain how Menchu's life honors this quotation. Be sure to provide at least 5 different examples.
This quote explains what this whole book is about. The natives of Guatemala are the avengers who are fighting for what is just. For years they've been fighting for what is rightfully theirs and what had been taken away from them. All their lives the indigenous people have been taught to act and do what is best for their people and that is what they did when the time came for them to fight back against their governments who had stole so much from them. Rigoberta Menchu, and along with many others, has lived though a hard life that has given them very little in return. When a child is brought into this life, they begin to experience the hardships at a very early stage in life. They realize the older you become, the harder things get over time. Eventhough survival for the natives is a great struggle, the important thing to them is to do what is best for the people.
Going through and watching many loved ones die, Rigoberta has managed to go with integrity. Watching her brother die from malnutrition and her parents go through so much pain; experiencing the loss of a woman pushedher to fight even harder to protect ehr people after picking up the mutilated body of once was her firend; protecting her first village from the government soldiers; and the deaths of her parents are some examples that show how she continued to fight for her people. After her exile from Guatemala, Rigoberta Menchu continued to fight for her people in a different angle that has made a big impact to her people. So when the last part of the quotaion states, "...Our race will never be extinguished while there is light in the morning star," it means no matter demons you face, you will always overcome it as long as you have the determination to make a difference. For the native Guatemalans, culture, pride, and dignity will never be destroyed as long as they are willing to fight to keep it.
The most inspiring thing when I read Chapter 31 was how women are so dedicated to their people. Chapter 31 talks about how willing and involved women are to helping the fight for their people. Rigoberta Menchu mentions about once being engaged to a man she really loved. She ended up choosing her people over her companero because she felt that her duty belonged to her people. It was very hard for her to choose but in the end it showed how much her people were to her. Menchu also talks about how other women who have many children do (up to six) are able to care for all her children and do the same hard work as Menchu does. To me I find that very inspiring of how women are so dedicated for the people.
2.) What was the January 31st Popular Front?
After the burning of the Spanish embassy, sectors whose leaders had died united and made the January 31st Popular Front. It got its name from the day the Spnaish Embassy had burned down during a fight with the police.
3.) Rigoberta has to keep everything secretive as she moves from place to place when she is hiding, Why is it so important that she do this?
It is important that Rigoberta Menchu keeps her whereabouts secretive because if she were to be found, it would mean the end of her. She is a wanted woman by the Guatemalan government so it is very important that she moves from place to place so that no one will find out where she is.
4.) Menchu begins ending her book with the following Popul Vuh quotation: " We are avengers of death. Our race will never be extinguished while there is light in the morning star." Use this as a prompt to capitulate what you got from this book. Explain how Menchu's life honors this quotation. Be sure to provide at least 5 different examples.
This quote explains what this whole book is about. The natives of Guatemala are the avengers who are fighting for what is just. For years they've been fighting for what is rightfully theirs and what had been taken away from them. All their lives the indigenous people have been taught to act and do what is best for their people and that is what they did when the time came for them to fight back against their governments who had stole so much from them. Rigoberta Menchu, and along with many others, has lived though a hard life that has given them very little in return. When a child is brought into this life, they begin to experience the hardships at a very early stage in life. They realize the older you become, the harder things get over time. Eventhough survival for the natives is a great struggle, the important thing to them is to do what is best for the people.
Going through and watching many loved ones die, Rigoberta has managed to go with integrity. Watching her brother die from malnutrition and her parents go through so much pain; experiencing the loss of a woman pushedher to fight even harder to protect ehr people after picking up the mutilated body of once was her firend; protecting her first village from the government soldiers; and the deaths of her parents are some examples that show how she continued to fight for her people. After her exile from Guatemala, Rigoberta Menchu continued to fight for her people in a different angle that has made a big impact to her people. So when the last part of the quotaion states, "...Our race will never be extinguished while there is light in the morning star," it means no matter demons you face, you will always overcome it as long as you have the determination to make a difference. For the native Guatemalans, culture, pride, and dignity will never be destroyed as long as they are willing to fight to keep it.
GUATEMALA TOMORROW!!!
1.) Today is March 9th, 2011. You will be embarking on a journey to Guatemala TOMORROW. What are your expectations? What are you looking forward to? What do you want to know?
So today is March 9th(well it was twenty six minutes ago at least) and I will be journeying to Guatemala TOMORROW. Its funny how four months ago it seemed like this day would take forever and now its here and and boy does forever go by pretty fast. It does not feel real that the day is actually here. I guess it will be more real when I am on the plane. I feel like I have prepared and prepared yet I am not prepared at all. Is it possible to be fully prepared for an experience like this? I still don't know what to expect. All I know is that I am excited. What I am most excited about is to experience something new, something bigger then myself, that I have ever experienced before.
I am excited to learn. About the people, the culture, the values. It fascinates me. I love people and I want to get to know as many as I can, not just in Guatemala but in life in general. I love talking to people and hearing their stories. I can't wait to hear the stories of the people. Even if they make me sad. I think they are important to know.
I am excited to see what Guatemala looks like. I keep trying to picture it in my head and I am curious to see if I am even close. I want to see it and smell it and touch it. I can't wait for it to become real.
So today is March 9th(well it was twenty six minutes ago at least) and I will be journeying to Guatemala TOMORROW. Its funny how four months ago it seemed like this day would take forever and now its here and and boy does forever go by pretty fast. It does not feel real that the day is actually here. I guess it will be more real when I am on the plane. I feel like I have prepared and prepared yet I am not prepared at all. Is it possible to be fully prepared for an experience like this? I still don't know what to expect. All I know is that I am excited. What I am most excited about is to experience something new, something bigger then myself, that I have ever experienced before.
I am excited to learn. About the people, the culture, the values. It fascinates me. I love people and I want to get to know as many as I can, not just in Guatemala but in life in general. I love talking to people and hearing their stories. I can't wait to hear the stories of the people. Even if they make me sad. I think they are important to know.
I am excited to see what Guatemala looks like. I keep trying to picture it in my head and I am curious to see if I am even close. I want to see it and smell it and touch it. I can't wait for it to become real.
GUATEMALA TOMORROW
1. Today is March 9th, 2011. You will be embarking on a journey to Guatemala TOMORROW. What are your expectations? What are you looking forward to? What do you want to know?
I am extremely excited to leave tomorrow. I have been thinking about this trip from day one when Mr. Courtney asked everyone in class who would be interested in going to Guatemala over spring break. It has been a long five months from being interviewed to packing to leave. I still don’t know what to expect. We have been coming back to this question periodically and I still do not know the answer to it. I hate to set expectations because if they are not met then I am not disappointed. I have never been to third world country so I have no clue what to expect. You can read a million books, but until you live it how can you know what to anticipate. I am looking forward to speaking with the locals and hearing their stories. I truly believe that everyone has a story and none of them are boring. I can’t wait to sit down and have an interview with an Indian and learn of their experiences. I can see mountains and a lake, I can smell dirt and corn, and I can hear people talking and walking. I want to know everything!!! I want to know about the war and personal experience, I want to know about the injustice they face with land ownership, and I really want to know if life has gotten any better after the war or if it has gotten worse. I am just excited to go and learn.
I, Rigoberta Menchu (diez)
1. Ch. 31 speaks in detail about the power of being a woman. What is most inspiring to you?
The most inspiring thing Menchu talks about with being a woman is the fact that we can do so much when we are really needed. The women in her community were doing the same jobs as men and contributing a lot towards the resistance. Women are powerful creatures that can make a huge difference. Menchu demonstrated the ability to be a strong female leader and although she faced trouble, she made the most of every moment and helped her people get closer to their goal.
2. What was the 31st of January Popular Front?
The 31st of Popular Front is a group of people from different resistance groups like the CUC that came together. This group is to remember the companeros that died at the Spanish Embassy.
3. Rigoberta has to keep everything secretive as she moves place to place when she is hiding. Why is it so important that she do this.
Rigoberta had to be secretive about her life and what she was doing, her “situation” because one of two things could happen if she told someone. One: she could put whoever she told in danger. Rigoberta was a wanted person in Guatemala and if anyone knew of her whereabouts they could be tortured in order for the army to get the information. Two: there could be a secret police around that could hear her and turn her in to the authorities.
4. Menchu begins the ending to her book with the following Popol Vuh quote: “We are the avengers of death. Our race will never be extinguished while there is light in the morning star.” Use this as a prompt to captivate what you got from this book. Explain how Menchu’s live honors this quotation.
Menchu is one of those everyday heroes. She grew up with a simple life and had little to nothing to look forward to growing up. She knew that her life would be hard and she accepted it in the best way possible. She grew up loving the land and her people. Menchu has a dedication to incorporate her two loves and worked with them both very intimately during the war. She also helped many companeros join together to fight the army and resist their brutality. The natives worked hard and never let the army bring them down to the point that they would stop fighting.
Rigoberta and her people went through so much and still did not give up the fight. It is an amazing thing when you continue to fight knowing that the war may not end in your lifetime or your child’s lifetime, and although you may die trying the point is that you do keep trying and fighting. Seeing your little brother die from malnutrition while working in an area full of food is a horrible thing to go through and would make many people mad but Menchu had to accept it and move on. Then knowing that both your parents died a horrible death would be too much for most to handle, but she continued to fight. On top of all that being threatened yourself but still working in secret to continue to help. These are just a few examples of ways Rigoberta and the indigenous people showed courage and a undying will to fight for their rights.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
I, Rigoberta Menchu (Nueve)
1.) Menchu includes two Bible versus from the book of Judith to begin Chapter 27. They read, "He bragged that he would burn up my borders, and kill my young men with his sword, and dash the sucklinh children against the ground, and make mine infants as a prey, and my virgins as a spoil. But the Alimighty Lord hath disappointed them by the hand of a woman." Why did she include these versus for this chapter?
These versus of the bible almost describes what happens in Chapter 27. The Guatemalan government took away as much land as they could. When Menchu quotes the first sentence, "He bragged....my virgins as a spoil," if anyone were to interfere with what the government was doing, they would torture and killed. In the second part of the verse, it kind of talks about what Rigoberta Menchu's mother had done for her people. Menchu's mother was willing to sacrifice her own life to protect the people and her family.
2.) In Chapter 27, Menchu descibes the incredible courage her mother demonstrated during the torture as well as the grusome and disturbing imagery associated with her death. How did her words make you feel? What story do they tell of the war?
As many of the other chapters in the book, this chapter was challenging to read because of how upsetting it makes you feel. It's as if the more you read, the more horrible her stories become. I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if something like that happened to my mother the way Rigoberta Menchu lost hers. Rigoberta's mother put up with one of the most horrid ways to die. It makes it worse thinking about the other children who went through the same thing that Menchu and having to see their family die in the most tradgic ways. The war that is discussed about in this chapter shows of how horrible the Guatemalan government was towards the native people, no mater what age or gender you were.
3.) Explain how death is handled in the Indian culture using Chapter 27 as your guide.
Death is very special to the natives that they have special preparations for a death. When a person is ready to die, coffins are made and certain get-togethers are planned for the ones that they're closest to them, where they share secrets of their ancestors and any last recommendations for the community. Once the person talks to their loved ones, this is when they know that they are fully ready and free to die peacefully. When the person has died, the community has a ceremony for the rememberance of the person's life.
4.) One of my favorite quotations from the book comes from Rigoberta Menchu, and she uses it to start Chapter 29: "What hurts Indians most is that our costumes are considered beautiful, but it's as if the person wearing it didn't exist." What does she mean when she says this?
Chapter 29 talks about a certain tradition that the Ladinos do each year. An Indian girl is chosen by the Ladinos to act as the Queen for their parades. She is expected to act properly and play the part as the Queen. She is then dresses the way of the Natives to represent her people and is presented for the tourist and everonyone else to see. The quotaion describes how people come to see and adore how beautiful she is. All the people watching the parade admires how pretty she is but don;t care of who she really is as a person and what she comes from.
5.) Using Chapter 30 as your guide, compare the lessons taught by Indian women and Ladino.
Indian women lives are much harder than a Ladinos. Indian women begin to work difficult jobs by the time they are able to walk and comprehend what they can do. As for a Ladino, they are born into a world where things are given to them easily. Ladinos tend to worry much more about their appearances and how they look. They wear make-up, shoes, fashionable clothing, whereas an Indian woman has none of those and cares for her family and important traditions of her people. in general, native women are much harder workers and care for what is more important in life.
These versus of the bible almost describes what happens in Chapter 27. The Guatemalan government took away as much land as they could. When Menchu quotes the first sentence, "He bragged....my virgins as a spoil," if anyone were to interfere with what the government was doing, they would torture and killed. In the second part of the verse, it kind of talks about what Rigoberta Menchu's mother had done for her people. Menchu's mother was willing to sacrifice her own life to protect the people and her family.
2.) In Chapter 27, Menchu descibes the incredible courage her mother demonstrated during the torture as well as the grusome and disturbing imagery associated with her death. How did her words make you feel? What story do they tell of the war?
As many of the other chapters in the book, this chapter was challenging to read because of how upsetting it makes you feel. It's as if the more you read, the more horrible her stories become. I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if something like that happened to my mother the way Rigoberta Menchu lost hers. Rigoberta's mother put up with one of the most horrid ways to die. It makes it worse thinking about the other children who went through the same thing that Menchu and having to see their family die in the most tradgic ways. The war that is discussed about in this chapter shows of how horrible the Guatemalan government was towards the native people, no mater what age or gender you were.
3.) Explain how death is handled in the Indian culture using Chapter 27 as your guide.
Death is very special to the natives that they have special preparations for a death. When a person is ready to die, coffins are made and certain get-togethers are planned for the ones that they're closest to them, where they share secrets of their ancestors and any last recommendations for the community. Once the person talks to their loved ones, this is when they know that they are fully ready and free to die peacefully. When the person has died, the community has a ceremony for the rememberance of the person's life.
4.) One of my favorite quotations from the book comes from Rigoberta Menchu, and she uses it to start Chapter 29: "What hurts Indians most is that our costumes are considered beautiful, but it's as if the person wearing it didn't exist." What does she mean when she says this?
Chapter 29 talks about a certain tradition that the Ladinos do each year. An Indian girl is chosen by the Ladinos to act as the Queen for their parades. She is expected to act properly and play the part as the Queen. She is then dresses the way of the Natives to represent her people and is presented for the tourist and everonyone else to see. The quotaion describes how people come to see and adore how beautiful she is. All the people watching the parade admires how pretty she is but don;t care of who she really is as a person and what she comes from.
5.) Using Chapter 30 as your guide, compare the lessons taught by Indian women and Ladino.
Indian women lives are much harder than a Ladinos. Indian women begin to work difficult jobs by the time they are able to walk and comprehend what they can do. As for a Ladino, they are born into a world where things are given to them easily. Ladinos tend to worry much more about their appearances and how they look. They wear make-up, shoes, fashionable clothing, whereas an Indian woman has none of those and cares for her family and important traditions of her people. in general, native women are much harder workers and care for what is more important in life.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Rigoberta Menchu (Diez)
1. Chapter 31 speaks in detail about power of being a women. What was the most inspiring to you?
I think what is most inspiring in this chapter is the women's willingness and dedication towards the cause of their people. Even though it is very hard they still do everything they can. Menchu talks about how she had to choose between her love and the cause of her people and how in the end she chose her people. That must have been a very hard decision for her but it shows what a selfless person she is. It makes me sad when she writes about how her and many of the other women have chosen not to have children because of the conditions they will be born into. It is not that they do not want children but they do not want their children to suffer. When you think about all the things they had been through it is not hard to understand why they would feel this way but it still makes me sad. It is sad that the world can be so bad that women feel like they can't bring anymore children into it. I admire the women that Rigoberta mentions who do have children(up to five or six) and still do magnificent work for the cause. I just admire all the women in general. I really like what Rigoberta says in the next chapter regarding women and their involvement in the revolution, she says, "Women have played an incredible role in the revolutionary struggle.... We don't to [it] because we want power, but so that something will be left for human beings. and this gives us the courage to be steadfast in the struggle, in spite of the danger.
2. What was the January 31st Popular Front?
The January 31st Popular Front was a united front made up of different peoples orginizations. It is named in honor of the people who died in the January 31st burning of the Spanish embassy.
3.Rigoberta has to keep everything secretive as she moves from place to place when she is in hiding. Why is it so important that she do this?
As Rigoberta says at the beginning of the chapter, she is now a hunted women. It is very important for her to keep things secretive so that she does not give away her whereabout. It would put both her and those involved in hiding her in danger. At this point in the game it would surely mean death for Rigoberta if she were to be found by the army.
4. Menchu begins the ending of her book with the following Popul vuh quotation: "We are the avengers of death. Our race will never be extinguished while there is light in the morning star." Use this as a prompt to capitulate what you got from this book. Explain how Menchu's life honors this quotation. Be sure to provide at least 5 different examples.
I, Rigoberta Menchu is one of the best books I have ever read. This quote sums up it's story beautifully. All Rigoberta and her people wanted was peace and freedom to practice their culture and to raise their children without oppression and suffering. Rigoberta fought for this with all her might. There was nothing more important to her. She even left behind the man who wanted to marry her because she was so committed to the cause. Even after all the suffering she had been through she was still able to push on. I can not imagine going through the things that she went through; seeing the things she saw, and still being able to function. Instead of becoming bitter and hardened she was able to open her heart to work for peace. One of the most inspiring things to me is that she was able to realize that not all Ladinos are bad. After all that she had been through it would have been easy to keep on believing that they are all bad, and honestly most people probably wouldn't blame her but she was able to rise above that.
Rigoberta talks about how she never was able to have a proper childhood. All she knew was work and suffering and corruption. She talks about how she does not want to have children because she does not want them to be born into the same kind of world. I think that her involvement in the cause is part of that bright morning star because as long as there are people striving to make fight for their freedoms the light will never go out and hopefully one day the world really will be good enough that no one will have to be scared for thier children.
I think what is most inspiring in this chapter is the women's willingness and dedication towards the cause of their people. Even though it is very hard they still do everything they can. Menchu talks about how she had to choose between her love and the cause of her people and how in the end she chose her people. That must have been a very hard decision for her but it shows what a selfless person she is. It makes me sad when she writes about how her and many of the other women have chosen not to have children because of the conditions they will be born into. It is not that they do not want children but they do not want their children to suffer. When you think about all the things they had been through it is not hard to understand why they would feel this way but it still makes me sad. It is sad that the world can be so bad that women feel like they can't bring anymore children into it. I admire the women that Rigoberta mentions who do have children(up to five or six) and still do magnificent work for the cause. I just admire all the women in general. I really like what Rigoberta says in the next chapter regarding women and their involvement in the revolution, she says, "Women have played an incredible role in the revolutionary struggle.... We don't to [it] because we want power, but so that something will be left for human beings. and this gives us the courage to be steadfast in the struggle, in spite of the danger.
2. What was the January 31st Popular Front?
The January 31st Popular Front was a united front made up of different peoples orginizations. It is named in honor of the people who died in the January 31st burning of the Spanish embassy.
3.Rigoberta has to keep everything secretive as she moves from place to place when she is in hiding. Why is it so important that she do this?
As Rigoberta says at the beginning of the chapter, she is now a hunted women. It is very important for her to keep things secretive so that she does not give away her whereabout. It would put both her and those involved in hiding her in danger. At this point in the game it would surely mean death for Rigoberta if she were to be found by the army.
4. Menchu begins the ending of her book with the following Popul vuh quotation: "We are the avengers of death. Our race will never be extinguished while there is light in the morning star." Use this as a prompt to capitulate what you got from this book. Explain how Menchu's life honors this quotation. Be sure to provide at least 5 different examples.
I, Rigoberta Menchu is one of the best books I have ever read. This quote sums up it's story beautifully. All Rigoberta and her people wanted was peace and freedom to practice their culture and to raise their children without oppression and suffering. Rigoberta fought for this with all her might. There was nothing more important to her. She even left behind the man who wanted to marry her because she was so committed to the cause. Even after all the suffering she had been through she was still able to push on. I can not imagine going through the things that she went through; seeing the things she saw, and still being able to function. Instead of becoming bitter and hardened she was able to open her heart to work for peace. One of the most inspiring things to me is that she was able to realize that not all Ladinos are bad. After all that she had been through it would have been easy to keep on believing that they are all bad, and honestly most people probably wouldn't blame her but she was able to rise above that.
Rigoberta talks about how she never was able to have a proper childhood. All she knew was work and suffering and corruption. She talks about how she does not want to have children because she does not want them to be born into the same kind of world. I think that her involvement in the cause is part of that bright morning star because as long as there are people striving to make fight for their freedoms the light will never go out and hopefully one day the world really will be good enough that no one will have to be scared for thier children.
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