My Day Today
My friend Félix recently wrote, “If you don’t want to write, you write. That’s how writing works. When every part of your body resists writing, that is precisely when you must write the most. Ancient memories are locked within you, and you must tease them out. If there must be one tyrant in your life, may it be writing.”
Well, I’m lagging in documenting my experiences through this blog. So I figure, to break this dry spell, I will simply tell you about my day today. First of all, today is Monday. I have the day off. Tomorrow there will be plenty of work in the community, collecting epidemiological data by going house-to-house in Rio Florido with Dra. Roberta (a preventative medicine doctor visiting from Spain), Ana Laura (the ethnography specialist on our team) and César (the master’s student who taught me how to ride the colectivo on my first day here). But today, I had the day off.
Today technically started last night while I was watching Annihiliation, a new movie produced by Paramount that had its international rights sold to Netflix, meaning that is only available on Netflix if you are outside of the United States / Canada / China. So, lucky me! Movie was dope. It was kinda scary and surreal and made me think a lot, which is fun. The downside of watching movies past midnight is that, I don’t really know how clearly I was perceiving everything. But that may be an intended side-effect of this film.
This morning, after musing around / wasting away on social media for an hour, I went for a run. I’m actually supposed to be training for my first ever marathon, taking place in San Francisco this Sunday morning. Yikes!!!! So I went on a 7-mile run from my apartment to la Zona Arqueológica de Izapa, which hosts impressive remnants of an ancient mayan civilization.
I want to pause for a moment to talk about running abroad. This is a topic that I have discovered through necessity. There are good rules of thumb to follow, especially when running in an area that’s unfamiliar. I am going to compose a list so that this blog post has a chance of going viral, since everyone loves tiny lists of what to do.
How to run abroad
1. Check the climate of where you are going. For example, if you are going to Tapachula, MX figure out in advance that it is incredibly hot and humid here, and be sure to bring your sweat-ready running gear with you. If you’re like me, and you have a ton of running shirts but forgot to pack any with you, do not mess around with any off-brand merchandise. You need to invest in an authentic dry fit shirt, otherwise you will drown.
2. Snot rockets are obligatory. It’s important for all runners to enjoy launching snot rockets while running, especially after recovering from a cold or illness. This allows you to focus on the most important point…
3. Focus on your breathing. From a physiological standpoint, I have personally decided (i.e. this is not medical advice or even well researched) that focusing on the exhalation is the most important part of the breathing cycle for runners. This has to do with the purpose of exhalation: refilling for your next breath, but even more so, getting rid of excess carbon dioxide. Exhalation literally removes acid from your blood and muscles. So make sure to have strong and extended exhalations at a sustainable rate, each followed by a rapid, full inhalation (which is a lot easier to do without thinking about). Full disclosure, I was first told to focus on exhalation by a lifeguard when I was in elementary school, and it stuck with me. It’s easier to automatically breathe in, so it makes sense to focus on breathing out. However, more recently a neurosurgeon was teaching me about ventilators in the hospital. And by reflecting on this review of respiratory physiology (while running), I figured out that it really makes sense to be sure to blow all the CO2/acid out and keep my muscles working.
4. A good rule of thumb is to run against the flow of traffic. So in México and the United States, that means running on the left side of the road. However, this is still just a rule of thumb. Exceptions include always running on the side walk, if available. And if there is a sharp turn on a narrow road, it is better to be on the outside of the curve, so that the cars are turning away from you rather than toward you. I made these up myself (out of necessity) and they are also not medical advice.
5. Blue gatorade is the best. This thought was implanted into my mind after seeing this video of Steph Curry drinking blue gatorade. Literal mind control, there is no free will (jk). But all this is to share one of two stories of kindness in México, which is in great abundance from my experience. In Tuxtla Gutierrez, I ran a round-trip 10 miles to the top of a mountain where there was a huge cross on the top. I carried $50 pesos in my pocket so I could buy a drink or something. I underestimated how intense the run would be and I was THIRSTY in all caps. At the top of the mountain there was a store. This was the first time I saw blue gatorade during my entire time in México, and I was stoked. I took it to the cash register and asked how much it costs. $10 pesos. “We are in business” I thought to myself as I put my hand in my pocket to find that the bill had gone missing. “Uh oh… I lost my money” I reported to the merchants. “Welp, guess I’m SOL” I thought to myself, as I put the gatorade back in the fridge and made my way to the big cross, which was an awesome site of the big city of Tuxtla Gutierrez. As I was zoning out overlooking the city, I thought to myself, “I wonder if they would give me the gatorade and let me pay them back tomorrow.” It was worth a shot. On my way back, I stopped in the store and asked, and to my surprise, the guy, “sure no problem!” And that was literally the best gatorade I’ve ever tasted in my life. I did the run again the next morning and there was a woman working who had no idea what had happened, but I paid for two gatorades and drank only 1 and knew I had paid my debts, which felt good (in addition to running and getting some hills, like the only hills in the past 6 weeks, oh the SF marathon is gonna be fun).
I initially thought there was no "running culture" here in Chiapas... mostly because there are literally holes in the ground that are hazardous to running gringos like me (i.e. one could easily run into a 5- or 10-foot drop if not constantly observing below one's feet). But then on a Sunday morning at around 7:30am, in front of the Palacio de Gobierno in Tuxtla -- where 5,000 farmers from the highlands of Chiapas once held a huge protest in June of 1994 -- as I was walking out of my hostel, I came across the finish line of a race that takes place every Sunday morning! So it turns out I was completely wrong, there is a thriving running culture here, and next time I should actively try to participate more in that part of life here!
2. Snot rockets are obligatory. It’s important for all runners to enjoy launching snot rockets while running, especially after recovering from a cold or illness. This allows you to focus on the most important point…
3. Focus on your breathing. From a physiological standpoint, I have personally decided (i.e. this is not medical advice or even well researched) that focusing on the exhalation is the most important part of the breathing cycle for runners. This has to do with the purpose of exhalation: refilling for your next breath, but even more so, getting rid of excess carbon dioxide. Exhalation literally removes acid from your blood and muscles. So make sure to have strong and extended exhalations at a sustainable rate, each followed by a rapid, full inhalation (which is a lot easier to do without thinking about). Full disclosure, I was first told to focus on exhalation by a lifeguard when I was in elementary school, and it stuck with me. It’s easier to automatically breathe in, so it makes sense to focus on breathing out. However, more recently a neurosurgeon was teaching me about ventilators in the hospital. And by reflecting on this review of respiratory physiology (while running), I figured out that it really makes sense to be sure to blow all the CO2/acid out and keep my muscles working.
4. A good rule of thumb is to run against the flow of traffic. So in México and the United States, that means running on the left side of the road. However, this is still just a rule of thumb. Exceptions include always running on the side walk, if available. And if there is a sharp turn on a narrow road, it is better to be on the outside of the curve, so that the cars are turning away from you rather than toward you. I made these up myself (out of necessity) and they are also not medical advice.
The view from today's run on route 200 east. For example, running forward along the highway (not ideal as there are no sidewalks, but thankfully the shoulder is wide). It might be better to cross the street and run on right side, outside of the upcoming turn, so that the cars are turning left away from me, but I didn't bother since there was no way to cross safely.
Sorry for the bad lighting. This is from a run up to the big cross in Tuxtla Gutierrez. I'm running on the left side of the street, but will cross (when it's safe) to be on the right side for the upcoming turn.
5. Blue gatorade is the best. This thought was implanted into my mind after seeing this video of Steph Curry drinking blue gatorade. Literal mind control, there is no free will (jk). But all this is to share one of two stories of kindness in México, which is in great abundance from my experience. In Tuxtla Gutierrez, I ran a round-trip 10 miles to the top of a mountain where there was a huge cross on the top. I carried $50 pesos in my pocket so I could buy a drink or something. I underestimated how intense the run would be and I was THIRSTY in all caps. At the top of the mountain there was a store. This was the first time I saw blue gatorade during my entire time in México, and I was stoked. I took it to the cash register and asked how much it costs. $10 pesos. “We are in business” I thought to myself as I put my hand in my pocket to find that the bill had gone missing. “Uh oh… I lost my money” I reported to the merchants. “Welp, guess I’m SOL” I thought to myself, as I put the gatorade back in the fridge and made my way to the big cross, which was an awesome site of the big city of Tuxtla Gutierrez. As I was zoning out overlooking the city, I thought to myself, “I wonder if they would give me the gatorade and let me pay them back tomorrow.” It was worth a shot. On my way back, I stopped in the store and asked, and to my surprise, the guy, “sure no problem!” And that was literally the best gatorade I’ve ever tasted in my life. I did the run again the next morning and there was a woman working who had no idea what had happened, but I paid for two gatorades and drank only 1 and knew I had paid my debts, which felt good (in addition to running and getting some hills, like the only hills in the past 6 weeks, oh the SF marathon is gonna be fun).
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| Made it to the top! |
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| View of Tuxtla |
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| The best hydration I've ever felt absorbing into my interstitium ever in my life |
Back to my day today
Well that was a bit of a tangent, but so it goes. Today, I arrived at Izapa around 12:30pm. But when I got there, it was closed!!! I was so disappointed. The man working there told me it’s only open Wednesday - Sunday. I asked, “so there’s no way for me to go in?” He responded, “No.” I asked, “well, can I walk around outside the gate and take some photos?” He said, “Yes, but it’s still closed.” So I snapped some pics...
And as I was about to leave, admitting a mild defeat, a small group drove up in a pick up truck. This changed everything. Here I met Didi Galvez, who is a college student in Tapachula and hosting her friends from way up north along the Texas/México border. She is serving as an informal tour guide and she knows how to get us in. It just costs $50 pesos (roughly $2.50 USD), and we can go in and enjoy Izapa all to ourselves. So thankful that Didi and her friends let me join them. I got to hear her historical account of what went down like 4000 years ago in Mayan society, which was technologically advance enough to have aqueducts for communal water access, common spaces for rituals and prayers, and definitely art carved into stone. Back then, they enjoyed products of the cacao tree, which fit perfectly with the warm and wet climate of this region of Soconusco. To that end, this site requires extensive maintenance to keep the plants from overgrowing the ruins. Only a small fraction of the site is currently available for viewing, as the rest has been overgrown and is not maintained because there is not adequate staff. Here are some photos from the visit:
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| Serpent head |
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| Water is life |
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| Waves of water at the bottom |
Toward the end of our informal tour, Didi and I were talking and exchanging our brief stories. It turns out, her husband works closely with Réne, the husband of my boss at Ecosur (Dra. Ariane). Small world!!! Afterwards, Didi and friends were so very kind to allow me to ride back to Tapachula with them in the back of their pickup truck. They invited me to join them to go swim in the river, but I declined, I felt that it was important for me to “get something done” today, even though it is a day off.
I went home. Ate an ice-cream cone on the way home, amazing relief. It is so hot and so humid here, all the time. Showered. Ate some lunch. Read a couple more chapters of East of Eden, which I’ve been reading with great reverence, especially after having worked and lived in Salinas during the past year. I went to my favorite coffee shop. I called my representatives in congress to support the new formation of a Medicare For All Caucus in the House of Representatives. I checked in with mimentor.org where I’ve had an account for several years, and reconnected with some people I hadn’t talked to in a while. I made like zero progress on my massive email inbox that I’ll eventually have to take care of. Sorry if I owe you a reply! I opened some more tabs of articles to read. And I wrote this blog.
Better to write, I think. It feels good to have this written in a secure format (i.e. personally backed up on my computer, rather than just here in blogger), so it cannot be erased like the last blog post (or my journal which was stolen about a year ago). There is vulnerability in writing, but also great privilege. If you’ve actually read this far down the page, I am grateful for your time and energy, and I hope we can keep in touch.
A final plug. This report on the Chut Pyin Massacre against the Rohingya in Myanmar, Bangladesh is immediately next on my reading list. Though I still haven’t finished reading this report on the human rights violations and injustices committed in Chiapas during the 1994 Zapatista uprising, I am learning how to navigate such human rights reports, which are documents that I haven't encountered before. "Learning how to learn" from these documents is my goal. It just doesn't seem very intuitive to me so far, so I'm going to try and really dive in during the remaining free time I have, and hopefully connect some dots. So I will read the Chut Pyin Massacre report report before posting my next blog post, hopefully by this Wednesday, the 25th of July, 2018 years after the common era / christ…
-Matt
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