Rarely Pure & Never Simple

For some reason I have always hated the phrase “nine-eleven,”  I am not really sure why I hate it so much.  It probably has something to do with me associating it with the unquestioning patriotism that erupted on September 11, 2001.

Guess what?  I use 9/11, and I say it just like that.   Even today I was reading an article about a 911 phone call, and guess what else? In my head I said “nine-eleven” when I read 911.   I am sure this doesn’t really mean anything.  It is just another example on how powerful language is.

My laptop is not feeling well, and by that I mean it is completely fucked up.   My hard drive seems to be having some serious problems.    It will not boot into OSX, and when I boot into single user mode I get this error.

disk0s2: 0xe0030005 (UNDEFINED)

Luckily it is under warranty still and I will probably just get a new hard drive.  The bad side is that I do not have a backup of my music, photos, or current writing projects.  I did have a backup, but I wanted to start using Time Machine.   There was not enough room on my HD for the additional backup so I deleted my old backup.

I started the Time Machine backup, and my computer crashed.

I live in in a neighborhood called Guapulo in Quito. It is an overpriced hip neighborhood for the foreigners and Ecuadorian artist types. I really love the neighborhood for its ambiance and character. I guess it would be comparable to Northern Liberties in Philadelphia or Brooklyn in New York. Here is a little bit of information I found on the web about the church in the center of the neighborhood.

When we first moved to the neighborhood, we were able to see the church from our building. I took this picture when we first moved in and never realized the church looked any different than what is pictured.

Then one day a few weeks ago, I looked down off the building and saw the church. They had been remodeling and preserving part of it, and they just finished taking the metal off that had been protecting. It is very lovely indeed.  I was so shocked I snapped this photo and thought you would all enjoy seeing it!

The kindergarten put on a play today that was set in 1948.  The first few minutes were children playing the Jewish people pleading for a country to live in, a flag to call their own, and all of the other chachkis that come with nationhood.  Scene 2 was at the United Nations, where many of the kids represented different nations.  What upset me the most was the obvious inclusions and exclusions of the play.  The kids only showed Arab countries saying “no” to the question, “Do you want the Jewish people to have a place to live?”  While the only two representations of abstentions came from other South American countries.  The “Yes” votes where from the US, European countries, and fare Ecuador.

It ended with one of my favorite students playing Ben Gurrion and showing all of the new things the Jewish people have: a new flag, money, etc.   It made me sad a little, because I consider Gurrion’s Plan D one of the most atrocious policy matters the Palestinians have suffered through.  I have said nothing this week, as it would make little difference.  My quiet protest has been to refer to today as the anniversary of Israel rather than the independence, because the Israeli people were not liberated 60 years ago.  They were created. 

I would not say the faculty of the school are rabid supporters of Israel’s more  extreme policies, but the administration tows the line.  Sometimes it almost seems as though Zionism is something they are proud of, something I will never understand.   I am not sure, but today is a weird day.

Today I learned something new.  My coworker is Ecuadorian, but has many friends in Germany.  He was planning a summer vacation to Germany, but most of the reasonable priced flights out of Ecuador stop in the United States before the launch across the Atlantic.  He cannot take any of these flights, because he does not have a US visa, and thus is not allowed to enter the United States.  He would not be leaving the international terminal, just crossing to a new gate.  However as of 2003 this process is not applicable for most residents of the planet.