Filosofia...

So... a post in English because as I was telling my professor on Friday.... by this time of the week, "mi cerebro duele mucho y no es funcional."

This past week we talked about cultural competency.  I had no idea that this was actually part of the school, but hey whatever.  I had no idea we had an orientation either.  Or how really to get to this place at all when I left.  But hey I made it.  Anyways, the first day we talked about the philosophy of the school and what not... why we're here and how to think about what we are doing... the reasons behind why we came I suppose?  

Essentially, the gist that I got from the 3 hours of talking in spanish on my first day at the school was the philosophy of the school was one of solidarity, social justice, and other flipping awesome concepts included in those types of philosophies.  Many in the states would probably want to say "leftist/socialist."  I'm not really sure the political leanings of this particular organization or any of its members, but it definitely seems to have that leaning.  The words leftist, socialist, solidarity, and social justice make my heart very, very, VERY happy.  Call me a communist or whatever crap you want (even though that word is not equal to any of the previous and is entirely different)... I don't really care.  I believe everyone has the right to live a rich, fulfilling, and plentiful life and I don't see how you can do that when you don't have access to such basic human rights as the freedom to be who you are, health, and an education.  We are here to work with the people, not for them, nor with the idea that "I'm better than you and I feel pity for you're situation so... Hey! Here I am! Look at me! I'm helping! I'm such a fabulous person!" nor with the idea that this is in anyway a technical clinical experience where we would be learning skills we would learn in any clinical rotation at school.  Those disrespectful perspectives take the humanity out of medicine, like Western medicine often does.  Our time here is a human experience aimed towards solidarity and ayudando.  As we talked throughout the week, health and medicine are part of and created by the human, social, and cultural experience.  Therefore, it is impossible to divide a human into systems and parts.  Health is a human experience and it's important to treat that human being as a human being, not dissected as a kidney, or a lung, or any particular organ of the body, as Western Medicine (except nursing!) seems to do.  

With that idea, we launched into Mayan culture and history.. Colonization is central to Mayan and Guatemalan philosophy about health, life in general, and also the school's philosophy as well.  We discussed the history of Spain and how they "discovered" the Americas.  Originally, Spain was under Arab/Persian rule until all of the individual areas (Castilla, Catalan, Aragon, etc) joined into one big country now called Spain and won their independence.  Interestingly enough, the country of Spain had to choose between Castillan culture and Aragon culture... They went with Castillan because people from that area had lighter skin and hair and they wanted to look like the rest of Europe ---> white. (I'm sure this started before this moment in time in Europe, but so begins the idea that white is "better," which has pervaded through 400 years of American [by American I mean North, Central, and South] history and continues now).  Anyways, Spain decides they are going to banish Arabs, Jews, and anyone else who isn't Christian and European (white) looking and they go on their merry way of "discovering" America, as if it didn't exist prior to their "Aha, look we landed on some sweet land" moment.  Anyways, Pedro de Alvarado eventually gets to Guatemala where there all these "indians" are living and he wants to take over the land for Spain.  The Maya aren't down with that.  There's a one day war that actually occurred right here in Xela, where I'm staying and learning, it was the epicenter of blood and gore (rawr!).  Spain has a few men but tons of horses, canons, guns, crossbows (all made of steel), and Mexicans (of course, the Aztecs have already been conquered at this point and are slaves!).  The Mayans have 10,000 men with weapons of stone and prowess in hand to hand combat.  About 4,000 Maya die by the afternoon, leaving the women in the hills feeling like they have absolutely no protection (before their dudes always won and they always felt safe), the men thinking what the hell are all these horses and crazy weapons.  Both of these ideas persist throughout the rest of history, a security crisis essentially.  After that day, they have a mass for all the dead and then they create their surrender bounty and the Spanish win (boo!).  Pretty much after that, the Spanish dudes take them all as slaves, rape the shit out of the women, and essentially destroy any resemblance of a real life for the Maya.

Anyways, so from all those rapes, lots of these women get pregos.  Some women think "I can't have a baby by the enemy" and they decide to jump into a canyon to their death (these were more women up north, in Mexico) whereas for others it is always immoral to end a baby's life so they (the Mayan culture) give birth to another culture here en Guate, the Mestiza or what has now become Ladino or present day Latino en Estados Unidos.  It simply means mixed. (Interestingly enough the word villain comes from the name for a subculture of mestizos in the 1500s called the villanos.  Spain had some weird moral code about slavery and God (The bible says slavery is immoral! What?!).  In order to get around this pressing moral issue, Spain tried to steal all the Mestiza babies from their Mayan moms, but there was a lot of resistance slash not enough room for all the bastards the Spanish dudes created.  Instead they said, well you can trade in the city, but you're not allowed to live in the city with the spanish nor with the Maya in the mountains so they had to create their own area, the villas, in between the two cultures.  And now all the villains (villanos) in the movies are all Latino... hmmmmm... funny how vestiges of colonialism still exist today... it's an interesting side note... I won't bore you with the history.)

One of my side doodles/writings during this difficult spanglish note taking and spanish listening session says "It's funny that we do the same to others as others have done to us."  The Spanish were occupied by the Persians... they know what that's like, it sucks not being able to do what you want to do and live up to your potential, but yet they still decide to go do the same to the Maya.  It happens over and over and over again in history all over the world.  I don't get it, considering Europe and America's so called Christianity. 

Anyways, this fight and process of colonization that happened is ingrained in the history and social memory of the Mayan (and other indigenous people all over the world).  It was a social and biological violation and it was highly traumatic and has created so many dichotomies and stereotypes that still exist today... what's good vs bad, what's pretty vs ugly, what's superior vs inferior.  We also talked in highly metaphysical terms about something called Cosmovision, social constructs, symbols, collective memory, the history of the world, Stephen Hawking "History of the World" type stuff (YEA, EN ESPANOL! It was f'n hard.).  What I enjoyed most was our dicussion of Mayan culture and this particular symbol that describes their entire worldview.  It is designed so freaking perfectly and makes so much sense to me (I think - I did learn it in espanol) and can be summed up in a few sentences.  The universe is one, we are a part of it just as it is a part of us.  We are all made of the same exact particles, quarks, atoms, and crap like that.  Everything has energy and a spirit.  So everything is interconnected and essentially comes from the same place.  So the Maya live in love with the world (Encanto mundo as they call it).  Industry doesn't exist unless it is sustainable because the world is your mom/brother, etc and requires mucho respeto.  

This may all be too hippie dippie for you, but it's really beautiful to me.  I often wonder how we as a world have gotten so far away from this simple concept that is present not only in so many indigenous religions and cultures, but those that are "more modern."  I lost my faith in organized religion a long time ago, but I love my Jesuit education because it showed me what it really meant and means to be "Catholic" and "Christian" and this just reinforces all of the theology and philosophy that honestly I kind of miss learning about.  

Anyways, I'm going to go eat some more of the best damn food I've ever had in my life cooked by mi abuela for dinner and hopefully talk some more politics with my host family (phew! which is a whole nother story in and of itself).  

I'm having a fabulous time and miss you all muchísimo.  Muchos besos y amor.