Magic Eye

Remember these 3D hidden picture things?  If you crossed your eyes just right, a hyper-colored lion or a tye-died butterfly would jump out of the page.  Sometimes I would stare at the page...rotate it a little.. re-cross my eyes..and nothing!  Just as I decided that this was a trick page, that in fact there was no hidden image,  my brother or aunt would come up behind me and instantly decode it! What?!  You see what? I just didn´t see it.  I´ll put the book down and try again in a minute.. with fresh eyes.

Fresh eyes.

We´ve been in Guatemala for about one month now and already that which in the first few days struck me with complete awe is now becoming everyday life.  Oh yes, there is a woman balancing a huge basket on her head, dressed in her intricate, hand-woven, mayan huipil.    Also, I can now easily find my bus between the dozens of retired US school busses, which now don ¨fesitve¨ paint jobs.  (I thing public transportation would be more popular in the US if we just were a little more creative with our paint jobs.)

I mention the magic eye because I had a similar exchange (You see what?!) with my host sisters a few weeks ago.  They were showing me pictures on their comupter and then we got onto Facebook and they wanted to see my pictures.  I didn´t even think about it, but my most recent albums were of Antigua and of San Juan, clearly titled with some prejudice:
¨It´s easy to be a good photographer in Antigua, Guatemala¨
and
¨We´re not in Antigua anymore, Toto¨

I sensed a little tension in the room as we clicked our way through one album full of newly painted, colorful buildings, gorgeous--but remodeled--Cathedrals, blue skies, white clouds, etc, etc. ... and then... opening the other album (aka their home) to find cows walking down a muddy street, a personal glance into a backyard where cornstalks meet clotheslines, a muddy resemblance of a shoe in the road, and several ´old doors´. 

A question that was posed at orientation began to fester within me: How do we, from the culturally dominant center, exploit those ¨in the margins¨ for the betterment of the culturally dominant center?  How, even with the best intention, do programs such as YAV exploit those whom they seek to serve?

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

That day at orientation, YAVs threw out answers that stung:  explotation of food and labor sources, exporting work/importing goods, ¨Joe the Plumber¨ and the kicker...
the fact that we are rich enough to be poor for a year.
and
if we choose to,
we can choose to forget about the ¨borderlands¨ upon our return.

yowza.

And about a month after that discussion, as I sat with my sisters, I felt a conviction that perhaps by snapping pictures without permission and with regard, I had exploited their day to day lives in a more subtle way. We went on with our daily lives and in the end have become very close.

But since then,  I´ve rotated the page, crossed my eyes, and thought... maybe it´s like the magic eye.  (You see what!?) Well...  I see the beauty of brightly painted, weathered doors.  I am humbled by the ease and grace with which women, and even young girls, walk with their cargo perched upon their head.. not to mention that they are often bundles of handmade creations! Yes, the busses, in all of thier brightness, bring me joy.  Yes, THOSE ARE VOLCANOS surroundingus and that ¨is not normal¨! 

Marcia shared this quote with us the other day:
Days pass, years vanish, and we walk sightless among miracles.

So as much as I want to ¨blend in¨ here, I do not want to begin walking sightless amond miracles. 

I also wonder what I would see if the tables were turned and I could see my home with ¨fresh eyes¨.  What would surprise me? Amaze me? Make me sad? Leave me curious?  What miracles of creation do we walk among sightless? So today´s blog challenge is to look around, with fresh eyes, and let me know. :)

And while we´re getting our eyes checked, my prayer is that our eyes would be opened not only to miracles, but also to injustice and need.  That along with sight we will have vision--What does ¨On Earth as it is in heaven¨ look like?  That would be the ultimate 3D image, popping out of the page.