Regarding the Presidential Election...

Last night at about one oclock in the morning I found myself sweating in the middle of a crowd of 50 Peace Corps Volunteers, watching a grainy image of Barack Obama on a TV screen. The picture was going in and out, but the audio was constant. What I heard quite literally brought tears to my eyes.

Many of you readers know my politics. Yes, I agree with most of the views that President Elect Obama holds on policy issues. The emotion I felt last night had absolutely nothing to do with health care reform, taxes, or even the war in Iraq. So bear with me...

In my life time four Presidents have lived in the White House, and I remember three of them. I have lived in States with governors, and cities with mayors. I have always been concious that my leaders were somewhere out there, and that they were supposed to be working to serve me. They would make speeches on televison or the radio that were written to tell me how good a job they were doing. To convince me of their goodness, and to pander for my vote. I've grown up in this system, and I guess I've gotten used to it. Never once have my leaders asked ME for service or sacrifice. They seem content with votes.

Barack Obama does not fit into this equation, and that's why he started sticking out to me when he popped onto the national stage in 2004. His message is that if we want to see a better nation and world, we need to work for it. His often repeated anthem "yes, we can" has little to do with empty wishful thinking, and much more to do with joining together in a collective effort to improve things. The slogan is not "Yes, OBAMA can," it's "Yes, WE (meaning all of us) can."

My generation is beginning to understand that we can't count on politicians to fix the world for us. We need to take action. That is why we hold candle light vigils for darfur, or join the Peace Corps. Yet still we hunger for leadership. We are looking for people with wisdom and vision to challenge us to shed our apathy and work harder. To help us find that path. I see this hunger every time that I talk to fellow Peace Corps Volunteers. They want to be challenged, and asked for more than a vote.

My friends and I wept last night because we finally see a leader who understands our desire. He knows why we have moved away from home to take part in an idealistic task that at times seems futile. He is asking us to roll up our sleeves and keep going. "Finally," we say, "a leader who seems to be worth following." This is much more important than "liberal" and "conservative."

I also wept at the thought of how far America has come. Had Barack Obama lived in the South fifty years ago, he would not have been allowed to vote, or ride in the front of a bus. Now he has been elected to the highest office in the land. Perhaps we have reached the day that Dr. King dreamed about, when individuals "would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." This is something that is worth celebrating.

Regarding more books...

Here are a few more literary selections for your consideration...

"A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving

One of the most fantastic works of fiction I have read in recent years.  It has wonderful characters, a fantastic plot, and will make you both laugh and cry.  It also tackles some interesting theological/philosophical questions.  I don't know why I had never read this before.  Please, get it and read it, now.

"A Secret History of the CIA" by Joseph Trento

A journalists account of the CIA's history from the end of the second World War, through the end of the cold war.  It is based on twenty years of research and interviews with a lot of the people who were on the inside.  It is saddening to see how much corruption there has been.  There is a very interesting section, though, that makes a strong case for the KGB's involvement with the Kennedy assassination.

"The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara King-Solver

The fictional story of missionaries in the Congolese bush in the early 1960's.  Great writing, but more than a little depressing.

"Jesus for President" by Shane Claiborne

The author makes a convincing case that as followers of Jesus, our allegiance should be to something much higher than political parties or nation states.  He argues that if we are really doing what Jesus tells us to that we would be living much more controversial lives that are subversive to what our culture considers normal.  I wrestled with this book.  I would love it if some of you would read it, and then discuss it with me over email or something.

"Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins

Eye opening.  John Perkins tells the story of how much of his career was spent as a "consultant" who wrote fraudulent economic reports in order to open doors for US aid to developing countries.  The goal of the conspiracy was to make these countries economically dependent on the US.  It is a very interesting read that spans decades of US foreign policy history.

Regarding meat on Sundays...

My neigbor doesn't go off to work every day.  He has a little piece of land, and does some carpentry for his friends, but mostly he just hangs out.  He does work pretty hard on Sunday mornings, though.  

On Saturday nights a large pig is delivered to his house.  At about 7 AM on Sunday I wake up to the sound of very loud squealing as said pig is in the process of having his or her throat cut.  The pig is then shaved, quartered, butchered, and sold to whoever wants some.  The meat is still warm when I start to cook it.

The killing of the pig is a real community event.  Everyone comes out to stand around and chit chat as we watch the guys do the cutting.  Someone usually brings coffee.  There is almost always a little kid who grabs the tail of the pig when it is cut off, and runs around whipping people in the ankles with it.  It is pretty funny.  The dogs also gather, probably because of the delicious smells.

Watching the butchering is not easy on the stomach.  I won't go into details, but I am sure you can imagine.  It has helped me to realize how sterilized a life we lead in the USA.  We go to the store, or the farmers market, and buy our meat wrapped in plastic, and cut into convenient slices.  We don't really have a picture (or smell) in our head of where it has come from.  It is just a thing that we buy, cook, and eat.  Maybe we should try a little bit harder to understand the things that we are putting into our bodies.

I don't think it is wrong to eat meat.  I have just come to believe that is important to understand the process.  The truth is that the pigs here live pretty happy lives.  They stay outdoors, roll in mud, and usually get to wander semi-freely.  And when they are killed, it is a pretty quick death without a lot of suffering.  And the meat has a really good flavor.  I'd love to show you the whole process when you come visit.

Regarding duct tape....

I have long been a big fan of duct tape. I use it for all sorts of stuff. If you have something that needs to be stuck in place, I will recommend duct tape almost every time. My enthusiasm is strong enough that my father pokes fun at me every year by leaving a roll in my Christmas stocking.

Here in the Peace Corps I am discovering hundreds of new uses for the stuff. Here are some examples.

• Duct tape can be used to put anything up on a cement block wall. Posters, maps, newspaper clippings, photos of family, and even mirrors.
• It can be combined with old mosquito netting to make a window covering. This keeps visitors (mosquitoes, fire flies, rats) from entering in the night.
  
• When combined with a piece of sterile gauze, duct tape makes a very durable bandaid to help alleviate the many cuts and scrapes that are a part of life here.
• I used a few pieces of wood and some duct tape to make a roller on which to hang my toilet paper next to the toilet.
• My head phones were starting to come apart, so I used small strips of duct tape to keep them together.  They should last a while now.
• I use it to block off holes in the wall that ants like to crawl in through.  There are a lot of holes, so there is starting to be an awful lot of duct tape put up.

I will let you know if I come up with more creative uses.

In which Tim takes it down a notch...

I realize that some of my recent entries have been kind of exciting. Sitting through hurricanes, swimming in raging rivers, and cave diving are probably not things that most of you do on a daily basis. Some of you probably think that I lead a thrilling life of adventure. Others might just be terrified on my behalf.

The truth is that most days down here are pretty slow and uneventful. I get up around 7:30 and drink some coffee. I spend my mornings doing work in my own garden, or helping out neigbors who have expressed interest in making one. I have also started building some ceramic cook stoves in my neigborhood. By the time sun gets a little higher it is usually too warm to be working outside comfortably, so I read, write, or do work in the house. I often take an afternoon siesta.

When the sun starts to get a little lower I might do a little more work outside, or settle down for a few games of dominoes with the neigbors. In the evenings I sit and visit with people in their houses or at my house if they decide to come over. I am usually in bed by 9:30.

It is important to know that I am almost never alone in any of these activities. I have a good sized discipleship of small children, ranging in age from 2 to 10. As soon as I open the door in the morning I hear the pitter patter of small feet running to greet me. When I work, they try to help (the bigger ones being a little bit more helpful than the small ones). When I read, they page through the old copies of Newsweek that I have in the house. They have little exposure to mass media and they definitely don't have any kids books, so they are absolutely blown away by the bright photographs and the car ads. One family of kids has decided (based on Newsweek) that the dark skinned man running for President of the United States is actually their father (the resemblance is striking). There are times when the kids get a little wild for my taste and I have to lay down a little discipline. A flip-flop is a great object to swing at the back side of a misbehaving kid. They run like the wind. But all in all I am grateful for the constant companionship. Kids are not held back by the same rules of courtesy or inhibitions as their parents.

I usually go down to the town once a week to read email and try to get some news. It has been hard for a junkie like me to be disconnected from the news cycle during such a fun election. Have there been any explanations given as to why the Republicans have insisted on criticizing Obama for inexperience, but are very excited about putting a sports casting beauty queen from Alaska in a position where she might well be President soon? Let me know if that story is published.

As always, thanks for reading.

In which Tim explores a cave and a half...

I was visiting my good buddy Joel for the weekend in the North of the country. He lives in a village a bit bigger than mine, but similar in that it's located in the mountains with stellar views. It was exciting to see friends, and refreshing to spend a few days doing fun things that are completely unrelated to my work.

Yesterday afternoon we went on a hike to some pretty neat caves near his house. By "near" I mean about two miles straight down one mountain, across a river, and then up a second one through thick woods. We soon came to a cliff with a dark cleft that beckoned us toward adventure. We entered to find a cavernous network of darkness where we could hear bats fluttering around our heads. It was pretty awesome.

After playing around for about half an hour and coming back out, our Dominican guides led us to what they told us would be a much cooler cave. After hiking a little further into the woods we came upon a hole in the ground that we could not see the bottom of. We started to get a little bit nervous when they told us that was the way in. I mean, wouldn't you be nervous if you were being told to climb into a dark hole?

Our guides began looking for a branch that we could use to slide down into the abyss. One of them pulled on a vine right above my head, and I watched a massive branch swing down right toward my head. It was too fast for me to duck, and it left me looking like this:

We did all the normal tests for brain damage. I wasn't dizzy. My pupils were acting normally. I remembered my social security number. My head just felt like...well...like it had been whacked by a large and heavy piece of wood. Yet there were adventures to be had, so I got up and carried on. We scrambled into the hole, happy to find that it was only about ten or eleven feet deep, and pretty easy to descend.

This was when things started to get interesting. They told us that we would be following a series of tunnels and exit several hundred yards from where we entered. I looked around and couldn't really tell where the tunnel started. It looked like this cavern with a hole in the ceiling was all that there was. Then I saw the little hole in the corner. We had to get flat and worm our way in and down, and it was pretty steep. We kept going down, and down, and I began to feel like a character in Lord of the Rings wondering whether or not this trip into the mines was such a great idea. I mean, what if we woke up some giant flaming beast in the depths? That would be bad.

Pretty soon we came to this part of the tunnel:

The kid in the picture is looking straight UP at us, through the widest part of the tunnel. We might have fit, with a little twisting and turning. Our agile and skinny Dominican friends certainly had no problems. But we Americans realized that none of us were quite as agile or skinny as them. We debated for about fifteen minutes whether or not we should keep going. Our sense of adventure tempted us to believe our guides word that there was indeed a way out somewhere up ahead, and proceed. Yet our fear of being buried alive got the better of us. We didn't want to find ourselves quite literally between a rock and a hard place with no way out. So we went back the way we came, and climbed back out the eleven foot hole.

In retrospect, I am glad that this story didn't get any more exciting. I might not have lived to tell it... ;-)

Here is a portrait of the merry band of adventurers:

In which Tim tells you what he's been reading...

Here are the books I have finished since last I gave you a list...

"Lake Wobegon Days" by Garrison Keillor
I loved it. It is like a 300 page long version of the radio skit. Although I was a little confused to learn that the same characters I have been following in recent years appear to have been the exact same age when he wrote the book in 1983...

"All Creatures, Great and Small" by James Herriott
The tales (from life) of a young vet in rural Yorkshire in the 1930's. It is interesting to spot the parallels between my rural existence and his.

"Theodore Rex" by Edmund Morris
A biography of Teddy Roosevelt, covering his years in the White House. I recommend it for anyone who is into Presidential history.