It's a Harsh Reality

This Maymester voyage is centered around the Millenia Development Goals for 2015 that have been formulated by the United Nations. These goals face the harsh reality that life is not perfect. A lot of the topics that are discussed in these goals are quite depressing to me.American society is living the dream that many people, that I have encountered thus far, can only dream of having a fraction of that dream. It is hard for me to cope with the fact that I was the lucky one who hit the “lottery at birth”. It’s scary to imagine myself in a life in China or Panama, where I don’t have the freedom that I have known for all my life. I realize how much of a blessing this opportunity is for me…and my life in general.

Moreover, my class has also been extremely draining on me. In other words, I go to class feeling better than when the class is over. I feel like students just talk, but don’t really listen to each other. My professors are quite passive and allow a lot of side conversations that get us off topic. My excitement for the subject has since died down a bit; everyone is starting to worry about the final papers and projects. Through time management, I have been able to manage the workload, but I am really looking forward to getting an academic break in Honduras and Guatemala. While the people that I have met are extremely positive people, I still feel like the reality of Central America is quite overwhelming to me. We are going into Honduras tomorrow, which has the lowest GDP of any of the countries we will be visiting. I’m looking forward to the interactions in the community and making human connections are usually more fulfilling than listening to and discussing issues in a cold classroom. I’m looking forward to a change of scenery tomorrow. I anticipate it will be another hectic four days because we are visiting Honduras and Guatemala back-to-back (so 2 days in each country.) On a happier note, the seminar lecturer said today, “Turn into the wisdom of the people you meet.” This is the approach I’m going to try and have in the upcoming ports. The quote was just striking, in my opinion.

On another note, I’ve come to realize one particular funny habit that quite a few people have on the ship. That would be the use of the word: sketchy. In virtually every description of any activity that happens in a country, the word “sketchy” is used, especially if there is a bar, taxi, or independent excursion involved. I feel like this word is becoming quite overused because the entire world could be described as “sketchy” considering it is extremely foreign to the plethora of sheltered Americans that you find on this ship. (I should also mention that it is the first time many of them have been out of the country.) I just thought I’d like to mention how some words seem to lose their significance if they are used too much.

Honduras in the morning! I’ll be doing an overnight trip, where we’ll be visiting a school and the Copan Ruins the following day.

Bis später,
Matt