Protest

So, I’m back in the states visiting with friends & family and doing some work until October 28th.  I’ve been bouncing around a lot (from Costa Rica to L.A. to Burning Man and back to L.A. in two weeks) doing the same thinking I did last time about similarities and differences between Latin America and the U.S.  Living in Guatemala, one becomes very accustomed to the presence of The Police, The Military and arms in general.  Soldiers in camo walk through public parks on Sundays, armed with machine guns.  Armed guards stand on the sidewalk outside of banks with their hands on shotgun pumps.  It becomes part of the culture, a common sight.  Moving from there to Costa Rica was a nice change, as Costa Rica has no standing military and is very proud of that fact.  What I was not prepared for was coming back to the states and seeing videos like those below, presenting police action against protestors at the Republican National Convention.  I have to say, I forgot that treatment like this happens in my own coutnry when wathcing videos of bloody Gautemalan protests in the 80s.  I’ll leave this without too much comment, but the videos below have really struck me this morning.

Gestapo Storm Troopers Launching Grenades at Protesters at Republican National Convention Alternative View-Point.

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Cops v. Kids

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Cops advance on peaceful protesters at RNC 2008 in St Paul

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Costa Rica

So, I finally left Guatemela yesterday on the King Quality Bus Line. Its a pretty nice bus line, with plenty of leg room and some coffee and food service - sort of like a plane only a little more comfy. We got to El Salvador around 9 o clock and stayed the night at a hotel in San Salvador. We then left at 3:30 in the morning (!) for what should have been a midnight arrival, but didn´t actually get into San Jose, Costa Rica until 1:30. Keep in mind that includes passage through El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and half of Costa Rica. But still, it was a long and tiring day. However, when else can I watch Jumper, The Marine and Firehouse Dog all in the same day, all in Spanish?! Oy.

One interesting thing on the bus was talking to some Ticos about how different Guatemalan and Costa Rican Spanish are. This should be an interesting adjustment.  I´m too tired to remember any examples now, but next time.

I´ll be filling in the blog soon with pictures and stories from the dopcumentary I helped make back in Momostenango, Guatemala and about what the next couple of months look like. Hope all is well.