Upon arriving to the dock in Livingston, you feel as if you have left Guatemala and been transported to a tropical island somewhere in the Caribbean. I was immediately mesmerized by this town, with such warm and smiling people and their tranquil rhythm of life.
Livingston is located on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala and is only accessible by boat. This town of 6,000 is home to the Garífuna, or black Carib people, who are strung out along the Caribbean coast from Southern Belize to Northern Nicaragua.
The Garifuna culture is deeply rooted in music, dance and story-telling and has its own form of religion consisting of a mix of Catholicism, African and Indian beliefs. Because of their difference and independence, the Garífuna have been feared and discriminated against by Guatemalans, accused of devil-worship, polygamy, voodoo and speaking a secret language.
Despite having their defined geographic area, language, and culture, in contrast to the other 23 Guatemalan ethnicities, it was not until the mid 80s that they were officially recognized as a group and after the signing of the peace accords in 1996 they finally began to gain legal space.
In 1996, Garífuna Settlement Day was especially important. The government of Guatemala officially recognized the importance of the Garífuna community and President Arzú paid an official visit to the town of Livingston.
A very brief history of the Garifuna:
The Garifuna trace their history back to the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent. In the late 15th century, the Kalipuna tribe from South America invaded the island and conquered the inhabitants, the Arawak Indians. Eventually, the inhabitants became the union of these two tribes. The word "Garifuna", which means "cassava eating people", is probably descended from "Kalipuna". The Spanish called these people "Caribes" (Caribs) which means cannibals and also the word from which "Caribbean" is descended.
In 1635, Nigerian slaves shipwrecked on the island of St. Vincent and found refuge there. The intermarriage and mixing of these peoples created the Garífuna culture; they were also known as black Caribs.
At that time, St. Vincent was a British colony. Over the years tensions escalated with demanding English colonists and this eventually led to war. With the victory of the British, they began to exile the Garífuna in 1797, first to the island of Baliceaux and then the remaining survivors to Roatán Island off the coast of Honduras. Eventually, the Garífuna migrated, some as soldiers for the Spanish, to mainland Honduras and thereafter to the Caribbean coast of Belize, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.
For more info, here’s a great article from National Geographic: http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2001/09/01/html/ft_20010901.6.html
While we only spent one day there, my fascination with the town and culture will certainly lead me back there very soon and I can share with you more about the culture, especially the cuisine and music.
jueves, 30 de agosto de 2007
jueves, 23 de agosto de 2007
Guatemala City
A few weeks ago, with the folks arriving, it was time to make the dreaded journey to the capital, Guate as it is commonly referred to. You can’t help but lack enthusiasm about the trip. It can last anywhere between 4 and 7 hours. On top of that, you have the incessant comments about how you must be extremely careful and alert once you arrive in the capital. The daily headlines in the papers about the rampant violence- that alone can be alarming. You try and tune this out or else you’ll be on edge, looking petrified, and you become the perfect target.
The bus ride from Xela was smooth sailing. Of course from time to time, I feared for my life by the way the driver was taking on those curvy roads and inhaling dust and smoke, but I am building up my tolerance.
I slept most of the way. It was either that, watching a Keanu Reeves movie or observing the landscape, which these days can be sensory overload, as it is saturated with posters, painted trees and rocks, signs anywhere and everywhere imaginable of the presidential candidates for the upcoming elections in September.
Upon arriving in Guate, I ask one of the bus attendants if he could tell me where I needed to get off to take the urban bus that could take me to the airport. What was I thinking? Everyone was very adamant and insisted that I shouldn’t do this because it was very dangerous and on that particular route a lot of robberies occur. I finally gave in to taking a taxi to the airport.
But first, I decided to take a small walk and drink a coffee before heading to the airport. While sitting at a coffee shop, a slight anxiety set in. I wasn’t sure how or where to place my bag- on the counter right next to me, on the floor between my feet or would I be totally paranoid and place it on my lap. I began to calmly drink my coffee with my bag on the floor between my feet. Despite all the warnings and scaring tactics, my feelings of unease eventually subsided.
A man sitting next to me started up a conversation. He told me about his time in the U.S., living in California, Illinois and Florida and we talked about living in Xela- nothing too involved or profound. He proceeded to finish his coffee, asked for his bill, paid and told me he had already paid for my coffee and sandwich and not to worry about it. He gave me his card in case I ever needed anything and politely said goodbye. That was my Guate experience and I was pretty amazed.
I’m sure my next trip to Guate won’t be so dreaded.
The bus ride from Xela was smooth sailing. Of course from time to time, I feared for my life by the way the driver was taking on those curvy roads and inhaling dust and smoke, but I am building up my tolerance.
I slept most of the way. It was either that, watching a Keanu Reeves movie or observing the landscape, which these days can be sensory overload, as it is saturated with posters, painted trees and rocks, signs anywhere and everywhere imaginable of the presidential candidates for the upcoming elections in September.
Upon arriving in Guate, I ask one of the bus attendants if he could tell me where I needed to get off to take the urban bus that could take me to the airport. What was I thinking? Everyone was very adamant and insisted that I shouldn’t do this because it was very dangerous and on that particular route a lot of robberies occur. I finally gave in to taking a taxi to the airport.
But first, I decided to take a small walk and drink a coffee before heading to the airport. While sitting at a coffee shop, a slight anxiety set in. I wasn’t sure how or where to place my bag- on the counter right next to me, on the floor between my feet or would I be totally paranoid and place it on my lap. I began to calmly drink my coffee with my bag on the floor between my feet. Despite all the warnings and scaring tactics, my feelings of unease eventually subsided.
A man sitting next to me started up a conversation. He told me about his time in the U.S., living in California, Illinois and Florida and we talked about living in Xela- nothing too involved or profound. He proceeded to finish his coffee, asked for his bill, paid and told me he had already paid for my coffee and sandwich and not to worry about it. He gave me his card in case I ever needed anything and politely said goodbye. That was my Guate experience and I was pretty amazed.
I’m sure my next trip to Guate won’t be so dreaded.
miércoles, 22 de agosto de 2007
"The American Dream"
What follows is a very different story of the “American Dream.” I contemplate what this dream is exactly, the complexities and contradictions of this concept and I wonder whose dream we are talking about.
It’s unbelievable that we are going on 4 ½ years since the war started and hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, senselessly! U.S. military fatalities are nearing 4,000.
One of the first U.S. soldiers to die was not even an American citizen. In the first few hours of the war, Marine Lance Corporal Jose Antonio Gutierrez died.
Gutierrez, just 22 years old, was an orphan from Guatemala who survived on the streets until he made his escape on freight trains and eventually entered the US illegally from Mexico at the age of 14. His mother had died when he was three and his father when he was eight. He was forced to abandon school and work a series of odd jobs so that he and his sister could survive. Once in the US, he slept on park benches and ate at shelters until a social worker was placed Gutierrez into a foster home. His fourth placement with a foster family finally worked out and in 2000, he came to live with Nora and Marcelo Mosquera (themselves immigrants from Costa Rica and Ecuador).
He attended high school and then played soccer for Harbor College where he studied architecture. He sometimes joked to his family that someday “people will know my name.” He never forgot his sister in Guatemala, calling her and sending her money.
He had a strong faith in God. In a poem he wrote in 2000, “Letter to God,” that was read at his funeral, Gutierrez wrote in Spanish, “Thank you for permitting me to live another year, thank you for what I have, for the type of person I am, for my dreams that don’t die… May the firearms be silent and the teachings of love flourish.” Gutierrez also loved America and talked about giving something back by enlisting in the Army. A few months after Sept. 11, he surprised everyone by announcing he'd joined the Marines.
Jose Antonio Gutierrez overcame much adversity and pain throughout this life and ultimately died for a country he loved and hoped to give back to, but that was not even his. Gutierrez was finally granted his American citizenship posthumously.
His life story has been made into an award winning documentary called, The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez.
Note: A recent study on the war dead and where they come from suggests that the notion of “rich man’s war, poor man’s fight” has become a little truer over time. Among the Americans killed in the Iraq war, 34% have come from communities reporting the lowest levels of family income, 50% from middle income communities and only 17% from the highest income level.
It’s unbelievable that we are going on 4 ½ years since the war started and hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, senselessly! U.S. military fatalities are nearing 4,000.
One of the first U.S. soldiers to die was not even an American citizen. In the first few hours of the war, Marine Lance Corporal Jose Antonio Gutierrez died.
Gutierrez, just 22 years old, was an orphan from Guatemala who survived on the streets until he made his escape on freight trains and eventually entered the US illegally from Mexico at the age of 14. His mother had died when he was three and his father when he was eight. He was forced to abandon school and work a series of odd jobs so that he and his sister could survive. Once in the US, he slept on park benches and ate at shelters until a social worker was placed Gutierrez into a foster home. His fourth placement with a foster family finally worked out and in 2000, he came to live with Nora and Marcelo Mosquera (themselves immigrants from Costa Rica and Ecuador).
He attended high school and then played soccer for Harbor College where he studied architecture. He sometimes joked to his family that someday “people will know my name.” He never forgot his sister in Guatemala, calling her and sending her money.
He had a strong faith in God. In a poem he wrote in 2000, “Letter to God,” that was read at his funeral, Gutierrez wrote in Spanish, “Thank you for permitting me to live another year, thank you for what I have, for the type of person I am, for my dreams that don’t die… May the firearms be silent and the teachings of love flourish.” Gutierrez also loved America and talked about giving something back by enlisting in the Army. A few months after Sept. 11, he surprised everyone by announcing he'd joined the Marines.
Jose Antonio Gutierrez overcame much adversity and pain throughout this life and ultimately died for a country he loved and hoped to give back to, but that was not even his. Gutierrez was finally granted his American citizenship posthumously.
His life story has been made into an award winning documentary called, The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez.
Note: A recent study on the war dead and where they come from suggests that the notion of “rich man’s war, poor man’s fight” has become a little truer over time. Among the Americans killed in the Iraq war, 34% have come from communities reporting the lowest levels of family income, 50% from middle income communities and only 17% from the highest income level.
jueves, 16 de agosto de 2007
News from Guatemala
This front-page story, from the Guatemalan daily paper "La Prensa Libre" impressed and shocked me and even more so the fact that it didn't seem to make the news in the U.S.
8 de agosto de 2007
Muere en EE.UU. hijo de pastor deportado
No permitieron a padres permanecer durante agonía
Salt Lake City- Raúl Corado y su esposa, Magdalena, pastores bautistas guatemaltecos deportados en abril pasado, lamentaron que las autoridades de EE.UU. no les concedieran visa humanitaria, para acompañar a su hijo José Corado, quien falleció el lunes en Utah.
José Corado, de 24 años, también tenía orden de deportación y debió abandonar el país junto a sus padres el 30 de abril recién pasado, pero permaneció en Estados Unidos con un permiso especial de seis meses, para continuar con su tratamiento de quimioterapia.
La semana pasada, al enterarse de que a su hijo le quedaban pocos días de vida, debido a un cáncer, los Corado infructuosamente trataron de obtener una visa que les permitiese viajar a Salt Lake City para estar junto a José.
“Rogué a Dios y a las autoridades para que por lo menos dejasen viajar a mi esposa. Dios sabe lo que hace, y yo confío que algún día volveré a ver a mi hijo, ya que él compartía nuestra fe”, comentó Corado.
Los Corado llegaron a EE.UU. hace 16 años y solicitaron asilo político. Aunque esa petición les fue negada, las autoridades federales le otorgaron a Raúl visa como trabajador religioso, y desde entonces se desempeñó como pastor bautista en Colorado y en Utah.
Pero el abogado, que gestionó la visa religiosa, sólo incluyó a Corado y no a su familia, al parecer, no mencionó ese hecho al pastor, tampoco informó a las autoridades del cambio de domicilio de éste.
Por eso, en febrero de este año, el Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas les dio 60 días a los Corado para abandonar el país, y anuló la visa de trabajador religioso. Corado dijo que, por no prestar atención a los detalles de su visa, “después de 16 años de tramitar una presencia legal en Estados Unidos, un día, repentinamente, uno descubre que es un inmigrante ilegal, a punto de ser deportado”.
Con los servicios de otro abogado, su hijo José recibió una extensión de seis meses para permanecer en Utah. La sede en Denver de la Asociación Bautista del Sur y otras congregaciones hispanas de Colorado y de Utah, colaborarán con los gastos del transporte de los restos de José Corado a Guatemala.
Son of deported pastor dies in the U.S.
Parents are not allowed to stay during the agony
Salt Lake City- Raúl Corado and his wife, Magdalena, Guatemalan Baptist pastors deported last April, lament the fact that the U.S. authorities would not grant them a humanitarian visa, to be with their son, José Corado, who died on Monday in Utah.
José Corado, 24 years old, also had order of deportation for last April, but he remained in the U.S. with a special six-month permit to continue this chemotherapy treatment.
Last week, after finding out that their son had just a few days left to live, the Corados tried to obtain a visa to allow them to go to Utah to be with Jose.
The Corados arrived in the U.S. 16 years ago and applied for political asylum. That petition was denied, but the authorities granted Raul a visa as a religious worker, and since then he has been carrying out his role as a pastor in Colorado and Utah.
But the lawyer that processed the visa only included Corado and not his family. It seems that he did not mention this to the pastor, nor did he inform the authorities of Corado’s change of address.
Because of this, this past February, the INS gave the Corados 60 days to leave the country and annulled the visa. Corado said that because he did not pay attention to the details of his visa, “after 16 years of living in the U.S. legally, all of a sudden one day, one finds out that they are an illegal immigrant, about to be deported.”
With the services of another lawyer, Jose was able to receive an extension of 6 months to stay in Utah. His remains will be sent to Guatemala with the help of several Baptist congregations in Colorado and Utah.
8 de agosto de 2007
Muere en EE.UU. hijo de pastor deportado
No permitieron a padres permanecer durante agonía
Salt Lake City- Raúl Corado y su esposa, Magdalena, pastores bautistas guatemaltecos deportados en abril pasado, lamentaron que las autoridades de EE.UU. no les concedieran visa humanitaria, para acompañar a su hijo José Corado, quien falleció el lunes en Utah.
José Corado, de 24 años, también tenía orden de deportación y debió abandonar el país junto a sus padres el 30 de abril recién pasado, pero permaneció en Estados Unidos con un permiso especial de seis meses, para continuar con su tratamiento de quimioterapia.
La semana pasada, al enterarse de que a su hijo le quedaban pocos días de vida, debido a un cáncer, los Corado infructuosamente trataron de obtener una visa que les permitiese viajar a Salt Lake City para estar junto a José.
“Rogué a Dios y a las autoridades para que por lo menos dejasen viajar a mi esposa. Dios sabe lo que hace, y yo confío que algún día volveré a ver a mi hijo, ya que él compartía nuestra fe”, comentó Corado.
Los Corado llegaron a EE.UU. hace 16 años y solicitaron asilo político. Aunque esa petición les fue negada, las autoridades federales le otorgaron a Raúl visa como trabajador religioso, y desde entonces se desempeñó como pastor bautista en Colorado y en Utah.
Pero el abogado, que gestionó la visa religiosa, sólo incluyó a Corado y no a su familia, al parecer, no mencionó ese hecho al pastor, tampoco informó a las autoridades del cambio de domicilio de éste.
Por eso, en febrero de este año, el Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas les dio 60 días a los Corado para abandonar el país, y anuló la visa de trabajador religioso. Corado dijo que, por no prestar atención a los detalles de su visa, “después de 16 años de tramitar una presencia legal en Estados Unidos, un día, repentinamente, uno descubre que es un inmigrante ilegal, a punto de ser deportado”.
Con los servicios de otro abogado, su hijo José recibió una extensión de seis meses para permanecer en Utah. La sede en Denver de la Asociación Bautista del Sur y otras congregaciones hispanas de Colorado y de Utah, colaborarán con los gastos del transporte de los restos de José Corado a Guatemala.
Son of deported pastor dies in the U.S.
Parents are not allowed to stay during the agony
Salt Lake City- Raúl Corado and his wife, Magdalena, Guatemalan Baptist pastors deported last April, lament the fact that the U.S. authorities would not grant them a humanitarian visa, to be with their son, José Corado, who died on Monday in Utah.
José Corado, 24 years old, also had order of deportation for last April, but he remained in the U.S. with a special six-month permit to continue this chemotherapy treatment.
Last week, after finding out that their son had just a few days left to live, the Corados tried to obtain a visa to allow them to go to Utah to be with Jose.
The Corados arrived in the U.S. 16 years ago and applied for political asylum. That petition was denied, but the authorities granted Raul a visa as a religious worker, and since then he has been carrying out his role as a pastor in Colorado and Utah.
But the lawyer that processed the visa only included Corado and not his family. It seems that he did not mention this to the pastor, nor did he inform the authorities of Corado’s change of address.
Because of this, this past February, the INS gave the Corados 60 days to leave the country and annulled the visa. Corado said that because he did not pay attention to the details of his visa, “after 16 years of living in the U.S. legally, all of a sudden one day, one finds out that they are an illegal immigrant, about to be deported.”
With the services of another lawyer, Jose was able to receive an extension of 6 months to stay in Utah. His remains will be sent to Guatemala with the help of several Baptist congregations in Colorado and Utah.
viernes, 10 de agosto de 2007
Just something to think about
Something I've been contemplating lately and wanted to share:
Henry Ward Beecher: It is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.
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