Age

I get really annoyed when people tell me I don't understand something or can't do something because I'm too young. Or they tell me a prospective lover is too young or too old for me. Most of my life my friends have been older than me, but that's not on purpose, I just like to talk to people and find, if we don't judge or think about it, we actually have a lot more in common with more people than we are led to believe or actually think. We can learn from people older than us and younger than us, and it's really important for the others to learn from us as well. It's important to know how to treat people who are older than you and by that I mostly mean know how to hold a conversation. It's also very important for the development of a child or adolescent to give them the time of day and listen to what they have to say. Despite being little, they are people and deserve the respect of being heard.

Do we have a soul?

Before last week, I had never asked myself this question. I had never even thought of it. Maybe it's because I was raised Catholic. Or maybe it's because I was raised speaking Arabic, a culture so heavily influenced by religion and spirituality that super natural references are deeply embedded in the language. Maybe because even in English and the Western culture in which I've spent most of my life there are references to the soul everywhere. Maybe everything I've ever studied in school, university and on my own was biased to the existence of a soul. Maybe it's a little bit of all of these things. Or maybe it's because the soul exists?

A friend of mine recently told me she doesn't have a soul. She didn't say I don't think I don't have a soul, she said I don't have a soul. I was shocked, I was not mentally capable of grasping what she was saying. She was challenging something I had been brought up with and something I, too, make references to in my daily life. I didn't know how to respond. Well, I responded with several questions. How? Why? What happens when we die? How do we love? How do we feel pain? What's the difference then, between being alive and dead? All of these questions had the same answer to me, the soul causes these emotions and actions. She said she's an Atheist and along with not believing in a super natural being, she didn't believe in anything supernatural. She answered all of my questions: how, she presented a long, logical explanation to the non-existence of the soul. Why, that's just the way it is, and all the logical explanations she had already listed to me. Souls, in her opinion were a product of society, first, before people really knew what was going on, the soul was a way to explain science, then the concept was taken over by religion to control people using fear and the hope of a reward system. Now, it's just stuck, due to religion, poetry, imagery, romanticism, etc. What happens when we die, our body decomposes into the earth and that's it. How do we love, well it's a feeling, caused by chemicals in our body and felt by our heart. How do we feel pain, nerves, nerve endings, chemicals. The difference between being alive and dead is the function or non-function of our hearts and brains, and consequently the central nervous system. All of her answers and explanations were valid and scientifically explicable, but I can't buy it. Or maybe I refuse because I'm a romantic or maybe I believe that science answers questions up to a certain level but then there's something called a leap of faith. In this leap we decide to put everything we don't have the answer to and label it super natural, be it religion, souls, God, life, love, etc. and we trust it. I think people's leaps of faith vary, some people have no faith in anything supernatural, like my friend. Others, like myself, can find "logical" explanations to a great number of questions using scientific proof and decide to believe in things like souls and whatnot to appease our curiosity and then there are others who put their faith in everything, they explain everything with something supernatural. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do this thing called life. Well, yes, the right way is to be content with your own beliefs, and don't hurt other people. I find that a lot of people think they believe something but that's because it's what they've been taught to believe and they spend their whole lives thinking that they're doing something wrong because they're simply not convinced in this thing they think they believe in. So, I think we should think about what we believe in, find some logical answers that we can peacefully be content with and leave the rest to faith.

I went hiking with some friends yesterday in Parada de Sil, a small municipality in Ourense. I went hiking there about 2 and a half months ago and it was amazing to see the differences. It was fairy-tale like, all green and lush, we hiked through rivers and creeks and around a monastary from the 12th century. We came across donkeys and horses and saw the green shoots of the Narcissus flower, the first signs of the coming of Spring. Here are some pictures...

Donkey! - donkeys, although once numerous in Galicia, are now on the verge of existing, in Galicia :(

Santa Cristina Monastery

A rocky, moss covered creek

Canon del Sil

Philosophy

So I work in two high schools, they are next door to one another. None of my students know I speak Spanish. Well, one does but he´s a savant. On the first day of class all of the students had to ask me a question, so they were asking "Do you know famous people?," "Does everybody in California surf?," etc. When it was his turn, he said "pass," the teacher was furious with him and after class told him that that was rude. His response was that he had many questions to ask me regarding the current state of the economy, the social security crisis in the US and regarding my political stance on the war; he felt that his questions were out of place among the infantile, empty questions of the others. He had a point. I started seeing him on my walks to and from school, we began to talk, in English of course, and one day he asked me, "Aren´t you trying to learn Spanish?" I smiled and didn´t respond. "You are living here, you speak Arabic, Spanish would be so easy for you to pick up." I couldn´t lie to him, so I told him I speak Spanish. He was agassed. He was upset at the teachers for lying to him. He paused for a second and said, "But I´m not going to speak to you in English, what you´re doing is very good, you are very clever." I made him swear not to tell the other students and I´m certain he hasn´t, he isn´t your run of the mill 17 year old, he reads Nichte and knows all about classical music, he loves art and has very opinionated beliefs, and I think he´s marvelous.

So, back to my work in the highschools. I sit in on a Philosophy class, taught in English. It is fascinating and I think I enjoy it more than the students. We were discussing life and happiness and whatnot when we got to the topic of Alzheimer´s Disease. One of the students said it´s beautiful because it´s like being born again everyday. As unconventional of a belief and statement as that may be, I loved it and wanted to share.

Please live and be happy.

Prevention is key

There is a big movement among doctors and health professionals to focus on preventative medicine. Not just a focus, but to redefine health and taking care of our bodies. It is a known fact, for example that various daily practices strengthen our health and decrease our risks of several diseases and adverse health conditions. For example exercising, among many other things, is good for our circulation, our mood, stress management, and aids in the prevention of diabetes. Not smoking is good for our respiratory system and in the prevention of lung and mouth cancer. What we eat, and the proportions of what we eat are important. Drinking fresh water, staying hydrated. Getting enough sleep, being rested. I could go on and on but I'll spare you, we are bombarded with this stuff everywhere we turn.

Today in one of my classes, we were going over vocabulary for crime and punishment. We got to talking about various crimes and how they are punished in Spain, Europe and the US. It was very interesting to hear young students have very strong opinions about a topic such as this. In the end of the class I thought, and shared with my students the idea of preventative medicine, and how we could possibly translate that over to society and behavior. If we were preventative about crime, maybe there would be less of it, and consequently, less punishment. The students all agreed that it was a good idea and the conclusion we came to was to teach by example. I think it's a great idea. So I guess I will just keep living my life the way I seem fit, and try to just talk to people, give people the time of day and share with them my philosophies on life. Hopefully I can teach someone something, and most certainly learn a thing or two myself.

Preservatives

I know this is an absurd claim to make but I thought of it and wanted to share.

So I have noticed that Galician people live a long time. There are so many strong, alive and kicking, elderly people here. Awesome. I then came to the outlandish conclusion that it is because they consume foods and drinks that are made to last. And that makes them last. For example, wine, cheese, chorizo, marmalade, liquor, etc.

That's all.

I could probably develop the idea further and do a bunch of research on the chemical reactions and derivatives of the fermentation and curing processes, and maybe I will, but for now I just wanted to get one of my numerous ideas out of my head. I feel better now.