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Stranger in a Strange Land Newsletter: February 2007

Dear Readers,
First of all I am writing to you from the lovely colonial town of Lexington, Massachusetts, outside the city of Boston of the Americas. Second of all, in a nearby town this Saturday I will be making a presentation of my travels. You want to see pictures of those misty Jirisan mountains in South Korea? You want to know what a Mexican pizza covered in grasshoppers looks like (yes, they eat grasshoppers but it was my idea put it on the pizza)? Ever wondered what it would be like to wear a big conical straw hat from Laos? Well, then you should come:

WHAT: Eli Gerzon's Presentation of World Travels
WHO:(see above, it seems self-explanatory)
WHERE: Arlington Robbins Library Community Room
WHEN: 1-3pm, Saturday February 17th, 2007

If you're in the Boston area and have time, then please come along, and e-mail to let me know if you can. If you're not in the Boston area, you're still welcome, I'm just saying it's probably not worth crossing the Atlantic for. If you do need an excuse to come to visit, then by all means. But just getting an e-mail from friends, far and wide, would be great. Of course, with some of you I'm the one who owes you an e-mail...

I was indeed thinking of continuing my travels by going to Europe this winter but the Fates said, "No, not this time." "But Faaates," I said in pleading (okay: whining) tone, "I haven't been to Europe in awhile and I want to go!" They said, "Nope not this winter." So I'm here. And it's not so bad. I'm tired of not having a bachelors degree so I'm going to get one already. I found one you can order online for just $50, and it's Harvard at that! No, I'll get a real degree but I'll use an "external degree program" where you do the studying more yourself: it's more efficient with time and money, it just requires more self-motivation. And now I have that motivation.

"Okay," the readers say, "But what about the travel stories? This is a travel newsletter isn't it!?" Hypothetical reader: you're right. For those interested in more details, read on. Anyway, I hope you can make it, and look forward to hearing from you all. Keep warm and keep someone else warm: It sounds like we're finally going to get a proper snow storm in Boston tonight just in time for Valentine's Day.

All the best,
Eli



One place that I'm surprised I didn't write about before is San Juan Chamula in Chiapas, Mexico. I feel almost hesitant to write about it, my experience there was so strong. This town outside of San Cristobol further into the mountains features a church that look like any colonial Mexican church on the outside: I have a picture of it I'll show at the presentation. But I won't be able to show you any photos of it on the inside because it's forbidden. And of course, that's where it gets amazing. Basically, the church combines Christianity with the indigenous religion of the TzoTzil Maya. As you walk in, besides noticing that the church is fairly dark, one of the first things you notice is how the floor is covered in pine needles. There are groups of
men and groups of women in traditional dress doing rituals. Some of these include Coca-Cola bottles. I find that indigenous people have no trouble mixing the most commercial, Western things with their own indigenous culture and even sacred activities. Personally, I have trouble just writing "Coca-Cola" in my newsletter but in the end I think that's where hope lies: the mixing of the everyday with the sacred; the imperialistically imposed and adopted with the indigenous, as we enjoy and find meaningful. It doesn't mean I have to use the dark, addictive, liquid syrup of American capitalism in my own sacred rituals but people can. I can use the Matrix, a Hollywood produced pop-culture blockbuster film that mostly made a few white guys really really rich, in my own sacred manner. Why not?

Well, if the coke bottels didn't turn you off, maybe the many tourists walking the great, pine needle covered, circular root around the church would. But for me the feeling in the air was still profound. What I remember most vividly to this day is a Mayan woman kneeling at an altar with her head slightly tilted, her cheek supported by one hand. She was chanting, I didn't know much Spanish at the time, but I knew that wasn't Spanish. She had long braided black hair and a colorful dress in the Chiapas style. She certainly wasn't a young woman but still had smooth cheeks and a beautiful face that seemed to show she was in a slight trance, not a deep trance but sitting with something sacred. I wondered when she would ever stop that musical, undulating chant that was hypnotizing me. She didn't as long as I was in the church.

I hope she never does. I mean, she, herself, will need to get some food and water eventually, please! But if people like her can continue to create their own rituals that combine different traditions they find meaningful as they wish, then I think we'll be okay.

Big hug to yall,
Eli