luke or something

dear friends and lovers,

lately i have been living the fachento life. fachento is a word used here that means something along the lines of a little luxurious. class for english teachers with the fabretto program has begun. we sit in what is basically a meeting room, or a board room, if you will. white board on the wall, large table in the middle, air conditioning, coffee always ready, cold and hot water, a large tv, laptops with wireless access... its always amazing to me how much non-profits spend on their own comfort, but cést la vie, right? the change has been interesting since i leave in the morning and come home in the evening, but it is making me appreciate my community mates even more. there is something really really nice about coming home to people that i really love spending time with after a long (boringish) day. but it is useful and good to meet the other english teachers that will be working around nicaragua... a couple of us from the states and a few native nicaraguans. a good mix i would say. our teacher is especially fachento and has changed hotels twice now... i hope this third one is good enough. he's a native nicaraguan that has been staying in the states for a while now and flew down for this class. i made a new friend though, callie from montana, and she'll be teaching about 8 hours away from managua in the northwest of nicaragua with the fabretto program. she'll be teaching choir and english, so we might have to exchange class ideas.

the other day we went to see daniel ortega get sworn in as the new president... after the official stuff, papers, promises, and handshakes, he came out to the waiting hundreds of thousands of people waiting in the plaza. a lot of fancy words from the first wife and then everyone got what they were waiting for. hugo chavez. he spoke eloquently about death to the northamerican imperialists and how capitalism is savage. give me socialism or give me death more or less. i listened. i try to respect his opinion as much as any one else's i've heard speak, from jon sobrino to megan heeney to the drunk men that call out to me to speak about bush. some people draw such a distinction between bush and chavez, but to me they are really just two people who think that by gaining power through the threat of violence they can somehow better the world. in that sense, they are both fools on the same side... the opposite side of they way in which god lived as a human being. when the devil tempted jesus with power over all the nations of the world because they belong to him, jesus refused to accept that. he instead left the desert more committed to living a life of service embracing the poverty of the world in order to sanctify it and transform it. anyway though, it was quite comical after chavez and evo morales were done talking, daniel began his speech and a lot of people started leaving… here there is a saying, “i’m a sandinista, not a danielista” which basically means that one supports the ideals of the revolutionary party, but not the man that has “become corrupt.” it must be difficult to be the president of a country where thousands start walking out on you when you begin talking after listening attentively to one of your “compatriots.” i’m not sure if i believe in corruption though… it makes it seem as if taking money from others that doesn’t belong to you isn’t already a part of the capitalism system. i think it is, but i was raised with money and opportunity earned off of the backs of other peoples, many already dead, slaves, indians, children, and the list goes on. and education? i’m supposed to somehow break the circle of poverty with education? i think rather i can help some succeed within the system that requires poverty, but who knows. thomas merton talked about reading a story about a man that he said was like jesus, was more than jesus, and he said that because in reading the story, his perspective of jesus was renewed and refreshed, while we carry soooo much baggage around with us about the person who is supposed to be the fullest manifestation of god. i have started reading the book of luke in spanish, in hopes of some rediscovery. but i ask you all to pray for me, i am struggling right now with understanding rather than being understood. i will keep all of you in my thoughts as well.

james