I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.- Henry David Thoreau
Travelers log #1 Wausau, Wisconsin, North America
Hola amigas y amigos,
I just got back from a funeral service for a great aunt of mine. It's funny, they had a luncheon afterwards but they must've run out of tofu cutlets before I got there. And now one of my uncles wants to take me icefishing. I guess I didn't have to wait until I got to Central America for culture shock to start.
Looking out the kitchen window of my parents' house, I can watch finches and orioles at the bird feeder and often bunnies and squirrels eating the fallen seeds lying on the crust of snow.
There's not enough snow to go cross-country skiing, but there's plenty of cold (a balmy 28° right now) weather to help make us grateful for thick downy quilts, double pane windows, hot Jacuzzi tubs, warm tea, long johns, and an occasional glass of red wine.
Two days ago, I went with Mom and Dad to visit my Auntie Bernice who lives in a farmhouse a few miles from the Brokaw Paper Mill where they make Wausau paper (I'm sure you've seen Wausau labels on the reams of paper at CR). I brought my new laptop to show her some pictures of my last adventure to Guatemala last summer. I also wanted her to tell some stories from her childhood which I recorded on the computer and will burn to CD for posterity. It was great to hear some stories about her dad, my grandfather, who passed away before I was born. She told funny stories about cows chasing her up a tree on the farm, selling strawberries and rutabagas and other vegetables to the rich German and Polish ladies in Wausau, the magic of incandescent light bulbs when electricity first was installed at the farmhouse, how my grandpa was almost killed by an exploding kerosene lamp, and the hard hard, but oh so satisfying work of growing up on a dairy farm.
Maybe people in the Midwest work so very hard to keep themselves warm? Or maybe it's that we've learned to work hard from our parents, uncles and aunts who grew up raising the actual food they ate? Whatever the case, I believe this is a good transition for me, to get in touch with my roots, before living closer to the farmers and workers in Guatemala and Central America.
But it's oh so nice to have a period of rest, and Mom and Dad are so kind to me. They bought me some snow boots. Mom and I have been making homemade pizza, fried tofu, and cream cheese with pineapple juice. Besides studying a little bit of Spanish vocabulary every day, reading, and visiting relatives, I've been watching videos with Mom and Dad (Humphrey Bogart, Archie Bunker in All in the Family, Little Women -- which made me cry, Ozzie and Harriet repeats, and a Mexican comedy about the rural priest Padrecito, etc.). Every other day I am running on their treadmill for twenty minutes or so to try to keep myself a little bit in shape. It is a bit bizarre though to have to spend three or four minutes putting on hat, scarf (thanks Mary!), long underwear, boots, etc. just to walk down the street to get the mail.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking in Spanish is challenging, but I'm getting the hang of it. I've contacted La Unión School in Guatemala and my friend David who has a family with whom I can live. So I guess I'm all set to go on March 5 from Minneapolis.
I hope you are all well. My thoughts and prayers are with you,
Blessings and Peace,
Guillermo (William) Straub
PS attached are some photos taken by my brother Rick, the semi professional photographer. I didn't want you to forget what I look like. :)
