Saturday, February 11, 2006

2/1/2006

This is the eleventh and final part in my Guatemalan series. Click here for parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. At the beginning of this journal, I expressed the hope that Glory would somehow prove an appropriate book for this trip. I just re-read the paragraph my "Roads Less Traveled" bookmark rested upon ("Roads Less Traveled" is a book by Cath, Mary Anne's travel journalist friend who joined our group for a while; she also is an award-winning photographer, and I was surprised and flattered when she told me some of my photos were publishable; I may yet take her up on the suggestion I contact my local paper). In this paragraph, I seem to have uncovered a deeper thread tying one of the themes of my trip to a central theme of the book:
"I know, I know," said the Frenchman wearily. "You, les Anglais, are fond of wagers, of records" (his "records" sounded like a drowsy growl). "Who wants a bare rock in the sky? Or - good Lord, how sleepy one gets on a train! - or icebergs or whatever one calls them - or, indeed, the North Pole? Or these marshes where one perishes from malaria?" "Yes, you may have put your finger on it. And yet even that, even le sport, is not all. There are besides - how shall I say? - glory, love, tenderness for the soil, a thousand rather mysterious feelings." (pp 155-156)
Oh, what marvelous and malevolent deeds are done in the name of Glory! We in the New World live in a distant ripple of that long-ago plunge for glory, and it is only more obvious when one visits the more turbulent epicenter. This concludes my transcription of the writing in my journal. I would like to conclude by saying that I feel incredibly fortunate to have traveled to Guatemala and experienced the satisfaction of helping those in need and the camaraderie of a truly outstanding group of volunteers. It was like we had all known each other for years; we would stay up chatting and laughing for hours after dinner every night. I will miss those nights. I hope to stay in touch as much as possible, and I can't wait to go again.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home