Andean Ritual

There are two official days off in Bolivia to celebrate Carnival ( parties, parades, water balloons and paint 40 days before Easter) On the second day there is another tradition from the Andean people called “Challar” which comes from the Aymara word meaning “to bless”.

One common element is a table with burning incense filling the atmosphere with smoke! People decorate one’s property (cars, houses, business) and ask the Pachamama (Mother Earth) for her prosperous blessing.

In a few days this same people will attend and carry out all the Catholic practices of Easter; for them is ust another way of cultural expression.

TBT #1

A video from my trunk of memories: Rehearsing with my friend Kevin a special number:

Virgenes del Sol is a traditional Peruvian song.

Changing World

It took a virus to change people’s opinon about internet. We once thought that much use of the web was an terrible addiction, a habit that caused isolation and individualism, a way of life that would lead to a generation of zombies. Now we depend on it for work, school, church, entertaining ourselves and socializing with others.

“Go outside” shifted to “Stay home”.

I’m not saying that from time to time there is a good reason to do so, besides there are a wide range of beneficial activities to do indoor.  I’m just thinking how we, as society, reshape our views, adapt to change and modify our values. Sometimes it has taken “ages” to develop a new or different mind set. But not today; this year’s change was abrupt, quick and global.

So far, many of us think this is just a brief and prudence prodecedure; on the other hand, I also perceive that this practice fits like a glove to some people.

Our nature is to be unbalanced human beings; but once this epidemic is over; hopefully we will more appreciative of what it’s outside and grateful for what and who is inside our living space.

 

 

Scotland (2/3)

Food is more than just what maintains us alive and strong. It is an important part of culture and identity; that which makes a country unique. 

First thing is my list to try was the national dish of Scotland: Haggis. I was hesitant about tasting it because I had read of the ingredients(sheep’s heart, liver, lungs), but I reason that if I go for liver pate with no problem; I possibly like this as well. I must confess that I cheated the first time. I was in The Grog and Gruel Pub (courtesy of Alan and Tricia Smillie) and saw in their menu “Nacho Haggis, Tex-Mex meets Scotland”. It was the ideal introduction, combining flavors I knew, with something new. The second time was at my friends’ house and they have made it. The picture says it all, it was as good as it looks.

They also accustom “Toasties” for lunch. I have always loved sandwiches, especially if the bread is grilled, warm and crispy and the cheese melted. Simple and heavenly meal. Another lunch time I had lentil soup which is very filling, comforting and perfect for a cold rainy day, typical of Scotland… soup and weather, that is.

Even though I grew up in a port city; I was/am, to some degree, a picky seafood eater and it is not in my first-choice of edible material; adding to the fact that most of the time it is an expensive delicacy. My hosts were extremely kind offering me a farewell dinner consisting of Cullen Skink soup with smoked haddock. The main course were fresh Langoustines with a garlic-mayo dip. Given the opportunity, I would have this great delicacy again.

A fully Scottish experience has to include the tasting of Whisky, so I was taken to the Ardnamurchan Distillery to have a tour of the facility where the process, from beginning to end, takes place. The visit ends in a nice, cozy room where you are given one (or more if you so decide) Glencairn tasting glass of their fine “water of life”.

And last, but not least: Shortbread! I used to bake it when I worked in the kitchen in College, decades ago. I had forgotten about it; now “I have relapsed” and have no plans to recover 😀

Delicious

Useful Tool (3)

The first English words I learned were from my mom when I was a child. I had purchased what I thought to be a coloring book and then I noticed it had strange words with each picture. When I asked my mom what they were, she said “English” and I repeated after her “Apple,” “House,” “Good Morning,” “What’s your name,” “I Speak Spanish,” Etc.  I became so interested in the words  that my parents registered me in an ESL Institute in which I spent whole afternoons in classes after regular school.

I thought I had a good knowledge, grasp and degree of expertism of the language until my first year of College in the United States of America proved me wrong. I had, and still have, a long way to go. I am not bilingual. In English, as my second language, I have my limitations in fluency and comprehension. Although I have had, and still have, my moments of frustration, failure, disappointments and dissatisfaction with English; more often than not, I have enjoyed the learning process of a new language and culture.

I have always been a person of few words with difficulty to express. As I grow older I feel the need more than ever to take challenges, to conquer fears and to keep learning. I recognize the urgency to keep using English, to continue to listen to it, to read it, to write it and to speak it. This blog is one of my self-imposed disciplines to do something that is not natural or easy for me. And needless to say, with all my inadequacy, weakness and shortcomings in the English language; it has been a useful tool in my life. I recommend and encourage all to invest money, time and effort into learning another language.

 

Hanukkah

Even in the darkest moments, a flickering candle burns as a reminder that the weak, the few, the feeble, the poor and the such; if they are His people, they are not alone. Messiah will provide fresh oil to cause it to burn more brightly.

Jesus, Light of the World, kindle my seemingly almost extinct light into an ongoing and unwavering flame for everyone to see that a miracle has happened here.

Maritime Day

Bolivia is one of the 48 landlocked countries in the world. Since the War of the Pacific (1879) Bolivia lost 400km (250 miles) of coastline to Chile. Every year on March 23rd there is a “Day of the Bolivian Sea” parade. The ceremonial speech includes words of bitterness, revenge, attack and even one insulting phrase. Just like in every war, there are different perspectives, all depends who you ask.

Who won, who lost the Mexican-American war in 1848? Who should have control over the Strait of Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands? Who should I support Kosovo or Serbia, Tibet or China? Who’s right, who’s wrong in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Each side will give a like-night-and-day answer.

Let’s reclaim our sea

What it worries me is that, at least in Bolivia, children are taught that regaining access to the sea is a patriotic duty. It disturbs me that a new generation had to resent what happened over hundreds of years ago. How many people have to die to determine a border line?

I don’t pretend to resolve what international courts have not resolved. I only admit that losing is not a pleasant feeling; but life is gaining and losing and even what I consider gain or loss could be controversial. I want to live to the fullest and richest, but it won’t be so if I remain regretting and complaining about the past. There are so many good things to enjoy today!

“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?”  -Jesus

FOMO

FOMO, Fear Of Missing Out. It is not just the anxiety for interaction in social networking (Facebook, Twitter, cellphones, etc.). It is also the marketing strategy of making people feel that they would miss a great deal if they don’t buy something, commercials designed to make you feel a big dumb if you don’t take that bargain and a loser if you don’t make that profitable investment. This area of FOMO is a compulsive desire to get material goods to feel good about oneself, formerly known as “keeping up with the Joneses”, is a form of insecurity and dissatisfaction. Things fill the sense of void and empty identity, so I’ve got to get them the day of the year they are the cheapest.

Who doesn’t want to buy items on sale and save money? I do. But I also need to be aware of my motives and watch out if I am being carried away by this syndrome by asking myself: Would I stay awake all night for prayer as I do in wait to open the stores? Would I go out on a very cold early morning to serve and assist others? Do I trample over others to be first? Do I use the money that I save to help the needy or do I use it to get more things for myself? Would I feel anxious and restless to the point of going crazy if I know that thousands of people are getting stuff at a good price and I’m not there?

Mexico has not Thanksgiving Day, but since 2011 it has an annual nationwide shopping day inspired by our neighbor in the north. Why didn’t we, Mexicans, copy Thanksgiving? Simply because consumerism has not nationality and being thankful and content is unnatural to our human nature.

Will I ever settle for what I have?

Sometimes I have things, More often I don’t have things.

Sometimes I have people near by, At times I don’t.

I always have Jesus, then I can boldly say, I have it all.

 

Miracle in Disguise

The story of Esther in the Bible is one of my favorites. It shows that every little event is part of an interactive master plan. Purim is a day of celebration for deliverance of the Jews where a wicked man named Haman had selected the date of their annihilation by CASTING LOTS (Pur is Persian for “lot”).

In the book of Esther we don’t have “great” obvious miracles like plagues, walls of water, manna from heaven or stopping the Sun. Purim is a great miracle in disguise in the real drama of life. It is not one specific event. Rather it’s all the details hanging together.

Purim is celebrated with with extreme joy. People wear costumes and masks with the purpose to show that nothing is as it seems, but with awareness that God is ALWAYS pulling the strings, even when things seem to be “just happening”

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” Prov. 16:33