lunes, 16 de agosto de 2010

You know that a University is big when you see more that one building with a sign that says "Library" in big fancy words.

Used to a big campus with a lot of people I didn't think this university was going to be too special. This one  is over a hundred years old: USAC is tree hundred and thirty three years old. This one is the oldest public university in the state: USAC is the oldest public university in Central America (see the pattern here?) This one is the best public university in the state of California: USAC is THE public university of Guatemala. In so many ways they are so similar and yet so different. You know when a university is big because you see more that one building with a sign that says "Library" on them.

The budget that USAC gets every year has shrunken in the last years, along with the quality of the education, lets face it once and for all. By the other hand, UC  Berkeley is still considered the best public university and there must be a reason for that. A very good reason. It is sad for me to think that my university for the past year and a half is now closed due to a strike over the very same points that lead the very same people to close it for almost two weeks last semester. The days of glory of USAC seem to be only in the memories of those who had the honor of studying there in the past decades. The university that fought shoulder to shoulder with the people in order to build a different Guatemala, far away from the oppression of the dictators and oligarchs, now belongs to the book of the tragic history of our country. And there I was, standing in front of this big and majestic buildings surrounded by green grass and old trees thinking how beautiful is the place I'm standing in and how are things in my former school.

Carmen's mother took me to the Lawrence Hall of Science, a beautiful sort of museum in the top of a hill  with a breath-taking view of the bay.

Learning about the color of the gases that stars are made out of has never been cooler than with probably the most beautiful biology student that has ever thought me astronomy. It all happened at the planetarium of the Lawrence Hall of Science. It is impossible not to feel the "need to learn" when there's a pretty and smart hot 20-ish girl teaching you. It just made me said Go Bears! 

Even though it was designed for kids, I felt comfortable, like if I were a little child. All those educational games and science-related attractions brought me back to the days of my own childhood, when I wanted to be a scientist and would build my own laboratory using any object I could possibly find. While playing with all these games all I could think of is the wonders a place like this one could bring to a country like Guatemala, inspiring our children to become scientist. I'm talking like an 80 year-old but I needed to do so to make my point. Education facilities here cannot be compare with education facilities in Guatemala and our systems are lightyears away from one another. But step by step we can develop a new educational system, a better one. I think our country deserves it. I dream with the day in which no guatemalan kid will want to leave the country seeking for good education because we will have decent and accessible education in every town, no matter how far away it is from the capital.

After one of the most amazing views of the whole bay, we head back towards the city of Berkeley to meet up with Lisa, a friend of mine. She is an artist and an amazing woman who lives in that city and loves to connect with people through traveling around the world. That's how I met her back in Guatemala. She took us and her friend to a mexican restaurant where the prices were low and the meals were huge. After a nice conversation over the best mexican food I've had we went to her house to see her art work. Two beautiful paintings of woman made by her were hanging in the walls. She went to the other room and and when she came back, in her hands she had a beautiful painting of a girl who, while going to school in Belize, was raped by a men that was hidden in the forest. This paint represents a very tragical and sadly common scene in many countries in Central America. I feel that the best way we can change that is through education, the key that can open every door and every mind. It is good to know that there are people doing it already, like my uncle Juan Pablo, http://www.lospatojos.org.gt/.

Day nine ends with a shower and some reading and with the most important call: a call from my mother.

3 comentarios:

  1. Hablas tan tragicamente de la usac jajaja
    si q es triste u made ur point lol

    aaah y fijat q n uno d los blogs pusiste now y creo q queria decir know?
    y en ese pusiste a friend of mind? creo q queres decir friendo of mine?

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  2. hahaha, si, esque lo escribi muy tarde en la noche y con poca luz jajajaj estoy durmiendo como 6 o 5 horas nada mas! jajajajaja, gracias por las correcciones Tukiiiiis!

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  3. never forget to represent the people you come from!

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