Peace by Piece

Gardens in Boquette Here are some reasons that Panama is better than Costa Rica: People are nicer Cars stop for you when you want to cross the street EVERYTHING is cheaper You can buy Snyders pretzels in any bodega or grocery store Good cheese Easy transportation that is also cheaper Better clothing stores with many selections under $10! Panama hats I loved Panama.  I could have spent all of my vacation there.  The trip began with a bus ride down the Caribbean Coast to the border of Panama.  It's the rainy season on the Caribbean Coast and we were soon at a stand still behind a giant mud slide.  Since we were on vacation, it didn't matter much.  We pulled out our i-pods and sang Christmas songs.  It was kinda fun.  That night we stayed close to the border in a questionable hostel.  I almost cried.  It smelled like pee and we didn't get blankets so I had to wear a bunch of clothes and cocoon up in my stained sheets.  Ugh.  So, that was a memorable experience and

Christmas break, or should I say holiday break, is technically here!  I say technically because I am still working on my thesis proposal and will have to work on it some more over break.  Tomorrow, after a Peace Education luncheon, I will be heading to Panama!  12 days of travel fa la la la la la dee dah!  The itinerary is 4 days in the beautiful islands of Bocas del Toro, which are surrounded by a marine national park, 4 days in Panama City including Christmas, and 3 days in the mountain town of Boquete and then home.  I'll only be home for 1 or 2 days before heading to the Boruca indigenous celebration with a woman who works for the peace corps.  She is a friend of a friend and now my friend and she invited me to this special event.  There are going to be some anthropologist and photographer friends of hers there so this sounds pretty amazing.  Then I'll come back by the 3rd to finish my thesis proposal.  I just need some time to do it.  My brain is full and heavy.  Time for

Somehow it's raining again.  It's not supposed to rain in December in this part of Costa Rica.  I feel we've already paid our dues to the rain gods.  Maybe it's trying to snow.  I've been missing snow and I never ever expected to be saying or writing anything like that.  One of the highlights of my year in Costa Rica was supposed to be no shoveling and no down coats.  I was in love with the idea of wearing flip flops every day. Sometimes you just have to shake things up to find out who you are and what you need. Ticos LOVE Christmas.  There are lights and decorations all over town.  Agave plants are decorated with lights and ornaments, if you can picture that.  I'll have to take a picture and post it (when it stops raining)!    Christmas music is funneled through the market.  Fireworks are being set off at random hours all over town.  The bakeries are selling fruit cakes and people actually buy them!  Despite all of the Christmas cheer, it is so difficult to b

I just finished looking at the 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011  and I knew this Sunday morning was doomed to tears.  Here I am with my fresh cup of coffee crying over pictures of pain, sorrow, destruction and maybe one or two of joy.  Yes, the images are powerful but what is going on?  Why so much destruction?  Nature has let loose on us and I'm sure it's in retaliation.  Police are pepper spraying non-violent protesters and democracy is being corrupted around the world.  Death.  Lots of death.  Yes, there is some hope amidst the destruction.  Seeing Christians protect Muslims during prayer and a soldier high-fiving an Afghan child.  Those are encouraging photos that choke me up again. I am feeling a lot here at UPEACE.  Last weekend I was making banana pancakes and listening to New Dimensions on NPR when I started crying.  Why?  Because that was my routine in Telluride.  Not only was it my routine, it was mine and my ex-boyfriends routine. Lessons learned?  It's ok to

One night.  One night to showcase North American culture.  One night to give others an idea of our history, of our lives, values and what makes us American.  Sounds pretty tough, right?  It was very difficult for many reasons at the outset but the results were outstanding. Challenges: 1. North America night included Canada and the United States and NOT Mexico.  How did this happen?  What kind of message were we trying to send?  Just because we are building up our physical borders does not mean we should sever all relations, right?  Well, at the outset, Mexico was included.  The difficulties were numerical and cultural.  There are only two Mexicans at school and it would be difficult for them to showcase their culture with such limited manpower, especially since their culture is completely distinct from the rest of North America.  Also, the rest of us North Americans are loud mouthed and bossy and on-time which left the Mexicans at a slight loss when they didn't come to meetings

Well, it's finally happened.  I came here for a reason.  There is a purpose and it seems like I'll be able to attain my vision!  My current class is Research Methods.  Sounds boring, right?  I thought it would be, too. Research methods is a difficult class filled with a lot of, well, research and methodology.  The interesting twist on this seemingly rote class is that last week I was asked to submit the topic for my thesis.  I had been thinking about this for a long time.  Over two years!  There are many criteria that a thesis topic must meet and I wanted to get mine right.  I was not sure who I am writing it for nor what population group I wanted to study and I had to think and narrow it down.  That should be easy, but it's not.  We peace educators want to help the world!  Students sat together in heated discussion.  We brainstormed and challenged each other's topics.  It was the most dorky academic fun I've had here. I decided to meet with my professor to help m

Right at this very moment I am most thankful that I have finished my paper for the class "Building a Culture of Peace.  It last clocked in at 40 pages.  It took me most of one week to write.  Literally, MOST of one week.  Each morning I parked myself at our kitchen counter with my coffee cup and computer and could be found there until evening.  My roommate Jen commented this morning that it's like groundhog day, I'm always there when she wakes up!  While writing this paper I felt like it sucked.  Some of my words and sections seemed amazingly brilliant yet made no sense while others just made no sense.  Somehow, today, it all came together.  Here is a piece of my intro: Creating a culture of peace is creating a sustainable future for generations to come.   It supports empathy, compassion, and good communication with all people regardless of race, nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender, ability and sexual preference.   It endeavors to support life-long learning

There is one thing that I look forward to each week with anticipation and joy.  It's not quite like Christmas morning because it happens every week.  Like Christmas, I never tire of the ritual even if it requires me to get out of bed earlier than I would prefer.  Unlike Christmas, it happens every Saturday.  It turns this sacred day, or should I say morning, that comes after every college student's well deserved Friday night, from untroubled, uninterrupted sleep into another kind of ritual.   I haven't considered Saturday to be a perfect day for sleeping in quite some time. I was usually planning some adventurous hike up a mountain that may or may not have included beautiful powder turns on the way down.  It is still not a perfect day for sleeping since Saturday brings with it the much anticipated, weekly, colorful and vibrant market.  Yes!  This Colorado mountain girl is in love with Costa Rican produce.  Will I ever tire of drinking fresh coconut water served up with the

As I mentioned in my last post, after the screening of Hello Herman, there was a question and answer session.  This session was led by Oscar Torres, who is also working on the movie.  Oscar Torres wrote and directed Voces Inocentes , a biographical account of his experience growing up during the civil war in El Salvador.  I have used this movie in my classroom many times.  It is visually and emotionally powerful which helps the kids to begin to understand and feel the impossible, unfair situations faced by many.  I am a big fan.  And Oscar Torres was standing right there, five feet from me and all I could do was cry.  As I mentioned earlier, I was crying for the world so it was no small thing.  I so wanted to ask some questions and give my impressions of this new movie but I just couldn't pull myself together. I cried all the way home on the bus.  I thought about it some more.  It's nice to put a positive spin on things and say "That's why we are here.  Look at how m

It's been a while.  Times have been busy and full of amazing experiences, hard work, and beautiful people. Most recently, a new featured film titled Hello Herman  was screened at school.  Students were invited to come watch and give constructive feedback.  The film is still in the editing process so this was an amazing opportunity for both students and producers. Hello Herman is about a boy.  It's about a boy who commits a mass shooting at his school but it is his story and how he arrived at the conclusion to take these drastic and unimaginable measures to get the attention of the world.  This movie decidedly takes a one sided point of view, but it is so powerful.  There are stereotypes used, but what are stereotypes if not a generalization of some form of truth? At the end of this movie, I cried.  I cried and I cried uncontrollably.  I could not pull myself together.  The question and answer session resumed around me and I listened, but I could not participate.  I was cryi

The chances of any of the 1% reading this blog are very slim.  So, you should know, you are one of the 99%.  What does that mean?  It means that you are not a part of the 1% that holds the majority of the wealth in the U.S.  You might be a part of the lower-middle class, you might be upper-middle class, you might just be middle class and you might be upper-class.  Hey, maybe you are in the lower class range.  I'm not really sure of the distinctions, but what matters to me, and maybe what should matter to you, is where we categorize ourselves.  Are you satisfied?  Are you happy?  Good.  Do you have everything you need?  Be thankful.  Do you have more than you need?  Be thankful. Capitalism.  I am not really sure if there is a better way in a democratic society.  I am learning.  What I have learned is that globalization + capitalism = unfair situations for many.  Capitalism is one of the driving forces of poverty in developing countries and the destruction of the environment.  It c

"Somos los Indigandos" means "We are the indignant".  This was the theme for Occupy Wall Street in San Jose.  Saturday I was supposed to be on my way to see the giant see turtles lay their eggs and to see the babies hatching on the Caribbean Coast.  Due to the increasingly insane rain, we did not go.  School has been moved to a temporary campus due to mudslides and teachers warned us against travel.  I was so sad.   So instead, I pulled on my rain boots and rain jacket and armed myself with an umbrella and off I went to the Occupy Wall Street protest in San Jose.  It never occurred to me that I should be anything but warm and dry or what was actually taking place at the protest.  I had been listening to NPR report on the protests around the world and only one had erupted in violence in Italy.  The message being sent is powerful and necessary and I wanted to be a part of it.  I am one of the 99% so I felt I had to represent. We were a gangly group of foreigners who

Most of us are familiar with snow days.  Days where it snows too much for the busses to get kids to school.  Sadly, we only had one while I was living in Telluride and we called it a "powder day"!  Today I experienced my first 'mud day'.  It was really just a mud delay.  The road on the way to UPEACE was covered by a minor slide and buses were delayed.  We were all on buses ready for a day of class when it happened.  So, students dutifully filed off to their homes and coffee shops while waiting the mud to be cleared.    School eventually happened but on a late schedule with most activities cancelled.  The campus is now closed and we are going to an alternative campus tomorrow and next week due to excessive rain. All extracurricular activities have been cancelled. It has been raining excessively here.  Yesterday I made the mistake of not wearing a rain jacket and found that rain boots and my umbrella are clearly not adequate for this type of rain!  Today, during the

Yesterday I was having a minor melt down.  For me it was major but today when I classified it as a major meltdown one of my classmates said, "Honey, if that's all you got, you can't be serious.  You don' wanna even be near when I have a meltdown!"  It started with not having adequate sleep for 3 days.  Stress was, of course, the issue.  I was stressed about school and a project I am working on and am stressed about my living arrangement.  Weird dreams came into play.  I dreamt I was in a high school and going to graduate school at the same time because I had forgotten to quite my job.  There was a guest appearance by a grad student from Denmark whom I am friends with. He came into my room and told me off and I had to send him to the principal.  And on and on it went.  Each time I woke up I thought "this is so weird, damn it!" and proceeded to fall right back into the dream. Morning.  Tired.  I have been having an issue with the noise at my house and t

Costa Rica.  Just the name rings of a certain kind of life.  "Rich Coast".  Sand between my toes, sunshine, cold beer, and fresh fruit.  Pura Vida.  Pure life.  I love Latin America and coming here to study peace surrounded by like minded people in the land of plenty seemed, well, magical.  So magical that school work wouldn't even be work. HA HA HA!  It is wonderful here.  So wonderful that when I have to read instead of going to the beach I feel spurned.  So wonderful that when I wake up from my siesta in the hammock I panic when I realize I was supposed to be reading 70 pages for class!  At least I can drink coconut milk and hear the monkeys from my desk.  I know, I have it tough.  But I am serious.  It was so difficult trying to rectify the fact that I am a graduate student in Costa Rica.  These two things don't quite meld.  It's funny hearing students talk; and professors for that matter.  The professors are constantly telling us to enjoy our weekends and get

Today we talked about inner-peace in class and how it relates to us, the world, and the global economy.  Interesting.  First, I'd like to talk about how I relate to inner-peace. Since I became enamored with yoga, I have sought some form of inner peace.  I know that to attain inner peace I should not compare myself with others; but I do.  Self compassion is necessary for inner peace yet I easily berate myself for saying or doing the 'wrong' thing.  I continually have compassion for others but am near deficit in compassion for self.  During the last year, as I practiced Kundalini yoga, I experienced prolonged time periods of inner peace.  It was blissful but fleeting.  Inner peace is not something that we attain and then have forever, it is a never-ending journey. Examples of inner torment OR "It's not Easy being Jenn Manhoff": Sunday I received my first paper back from my professor.  I immediately read the score and then read the comments.  Disbelief and wo

Yesterday was the International Day of Peace.  It was created by the United Nations in 1981 and first celebrated in 1982. "Peace Day should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples…This day will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace." One aspect of International Day of Peace is that everyone is encouraged to lay down their arms.  It is a day of cease-fire, both personal and political.  Imagine what would happen if everyone could experience peace for one day.  We have been fighting a war for ten years.  What if our soldiers and the people in the middle east could take a break and live just one day without fear?  Maybe it woul