current and past politics

Now we just finished a learning session with one of our teachers here. He is an Indigenous man from Guatemala who lived through the 36 years of war here. It's so interesting to hear him talking about Mayan spirituality and its focus > There is believed to be one God, "Ahau" who is interconnected with everything, both man and woman. Nature is key. Everything is complimentray and connected. This forms a balance, harmony, an equilibrium. The sense of community is incredibly strong and vital.
But during the years of war, because of the legacy of the Spanish Conquest, he and his classmates were taught that Mayan spirituality was witchcraft, "no one should practice that." Before Guatemala declared independence from Spain the "Repartimientos and Encomiendas" ocurred, which distributed the indigenous people among the Spaniards, controlled the indigenous people and Christianized them. This is when Mayan spirituality truly became oppressed.
To this day that legacy still remains in many ways.

We're expecting a woman from the humanitarian community who is a part of Congress to come and join us. She will be talking about the current politics of Guatemala.
Just a note, our last speaker just told us about the widespread dissatisfaction with the current President, Alvaro Colom. Initially Colom claimed to be "one for the Indigenous"...

I guess the speaker is on her way!

The other students here are pretty great.
There are a lot from Northfield, MN who attend Carleton and St Olaf. It seems as though the rest are from Washington and NY.

Love,
Anni/ka