October 9, 2006 - 21:41
This statue in the Parque Centro America, in the center of Xela, commemorates the work of a political activist, “the favorite daughter of Xelaju,” Elisa Molina de Stahl (Doña Elisa, as she is known here). According to my teacher, there was a great uproar in Xela when Rigoberto Minchú received the Nobel Peace prize; everyone in Xelu thought that it would have been more justly awarded to Doña Elisa (but had not been, because she was wealthy, and Minchú had suffered…)Just a prelude to a collection of my favorite-so-far quotes (some of them are awful; all of them represent some puzzlement, some tension, between what we know-and-what-we-don’t):
From our orientation to the school:
“The people are never wrong. They just pass the bill.”
“We need to change the way that people just think just their own profit; ask instead how many people can benefit from this project.”
“I passed the test for for a strong voice: the voice of the guerilla.”
(On learning to read aloud:) “The meaning would lose itself without the pauses.”
“We had to think about different formats, since the problems remained the same. We had to change the program while saying the same thing.”
“I don’t think they have zoning laws in this country.”
("Marriage is a (cold?) bath you haven’t thought about.”)
Lo que de noche se hace, de día aparece ("what is done in the night is discovered in the day," or secret deeds always come to light).
Llevar bien puestos los pantalones ("to have the pants firmly in place," or to be in charge).
Aplanar calles ("to flatten the streets," or to wander aimlessly).
Estar como los ocho cuartos ("to be like eight rooms" [=like a house chopped up into small spaces] or to be very angry).