Up ahead, a fire was burning in the middle of the road. A restless crowd milled around the fire, vaguely threatening. They had cut a tree down, and blocked all traffic with the trunk, dragged across the road. On the other side of the blocked passage, a line of pickups had backed up. We had just come off the Rio Aguarico, after five days living in indigenous communities. For the last hour, we had driven through a vast plantation of African palm trees--cultivated for the palm oil. 40,000 acres of one palm tree after another. It was a dusty slow ride, under a baking sun. Coming upon the road block, a clog of smoke and flame, we felt ourselves in a vaguely ominous moment.

The crowd of people surged around our van. Jose, the Quichua man we are traveling with, acted fast. Sometimes, he said, crowds like this can get aggressive, especially with foreigners. He got out, talked to the leaders. It turns out, they were protesting working conditions on the palm plantation--hard, hot work, for $3 per day. A "huelga." Small wonder they are on strike. We paid some money for our "paso," and got through without incident.

It was a dramatic contrast to the life we had been living on the river, and an abrupt re-introduction to life in the oil and agricultural towns of eastern Ecuador--their tough living conditions, the oppression, the rawness of daily life here. The so-called civilized world.

So we had returned to "civilization," and you had to wonder where the real civilization lay. For days, we had learned what it means to live on, to live by, to live with the river. Rivers are life in the "Oriente" of Ecuador, the Amazon basin. All communities are located on rivers or "quebradas," small rivers or streams. And the rivers define life itself for both people and animals. It was part of our research to learn how indigenous communities along the rivers in this area of Ecuador have dealt with the robust and ubiquitous invasions of oil companies looking for riches below the ground. I think we all felt inspired by the work of the people we met. In the face of massive threats to their ways of life, of enormous pressures and incomprehensible amounts of money, they have had to examine themselves carefully, sort out their desires and values, and formulate responses that make sense for them and their culture.

"We´re a milenarian culture," one person told us. "Cultura milenaria"--a culture of a thousand years. Yet in just two short generations, they´ve had to figure out how to defend their culture from unimaginable threats. Only two generations earlier, this man´s grandfather had lived a nomadic life in the "selva," the jungle. They had been led by shamans, who drank yaje, a potion that induced visions and led to wisdom and leadership. All that is now gone. We talked to one man, Emilio, who had been a shaman once. "I drank lots of yaje," he said. Bastante. "Ya no mas." But no more. He gave it up, and the highest shaman of the group, his brother, had recently died.

In its place they have found a resolve and a clarity about values that has led them to refuse to work with oil ompanies.

Our drive through the African palm plantation--trees not native to the region at all--was a dramatic example of what the leaders had been telling us. One leader, Justino, in the Secoya community of San Pablo, along the Rio Aguarico, told us, "We´re a small island, surrounded by threats." Justino told us about the huge palm plantation just outside Secoya territory. On two other sides, the oil companies have their lands and their pipelines, the burning gas and oil wells. And among it all, "colonos," poor local people always looking to follow the new oil roads and develop the forests--even into indigenous territory. Always, the outsiders are looking to "invade."

One oil company, according to another leader, bought land right up to the border of Secoya territory. Then they drilled underground, at a slanting angle, into the the Secoya land, sucking up the oil below their territory.

Yet the Cofan and the Secoya have learned they do not want big oil on their lands. "Why would we want oil on our territory," Emerjildo, a Cofan man asked, rhetorically. "What do the give us? Nothing. And they only leave behind damage--roads, oil pits, pipelines. They scare away the animals. They poison our rivers with spills. We do not want them."

The contrast of their lives on the river, with the scene that faced us in the flaming roadblock, was instructive. The clarity of their vision inspiring. They want healthy lives in a healthy forest, and they do not believe the oil companies offer that to them. They want clean rivers, where they can bathe and fish. They want the animals back in their forests. And they want education for their children--not token schools donated by companies, but education with their own elders trained to teach, so they can pass on their own cultures and language, as well as prepare for a changing world. Rather than disintegrate, the communities have developed a powerful vision of what they want.

Personally, I fell in love with the rhythms of the life along the river in the small communities we visited. Up early, I would walk or "pasear" along the sandy riverfront. Tiny canoes might paddle by--"quillas", so small you can hardly believe they can not capsize. The day comes, and we´re on the river, off to visit another village. The conversations are moving. And then afternoon, and everyone it seems comes down to the river. Women are washing clothes, talking--they laughed as they watched me wash my clothes in the river too. Kids are splashing in the river. Canoes come by. We swim and bathe at once, in the soft warm light of late afternoon, cooling off in the water. Few moments are more magic or memorable that these during the afternoon and early evening on the river in Secoya territory, or Cofan territory, or Siona territory.

I asked on man, are the afternoons always like this along the river? Always, he said. Sometimes storms, but otherwise, beautiful. Everyone comes down to the river to clean and enjoy.

And so you have to ask, who really is more civilized? Who really has the most to learn?

Yesterday our "Arts of China" group met three people from two Tibetan NGO's working to preserve Tibetan culture and to assist rural village Tibetans with new schools, libraries, medical and midwifery training, and the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhist texts.

The leaders are themselves rural village Tibetans who have somehow managed to get through high school and college, speak and write in three languages (Tibetan, Chinese and English) and resist the temptation to move to the big city and get rich. They have settled in the small river gorge town of Kangding, where we are currently staying, and have set up these two foundations called Green Kham and Kham Khampo. They are passionate about their work, creative in the design of their various projects and apparently successful in getting funding from several foundations and agencies, including the US Agency for International Development (US AID).

Whether discussing the production of solar panels for nomadic tent-dwellers or transcribing decaying ancient manuscripts of Buddhist texts, they seem to be "called" to this work in exactly the kind of way we at PLU have been talking about in our discussions of "vocation." They are also practical- they are establishing an eco-tourism business to provide income for the projects, and developing a solar cooker factory that will employ local people, produce revenue and provide new appropriate technology for rural people.

Being part of an ethnic minority who's cultural survival is in doubt, these young people inspire me to return home to Washington and get involved in the Washington State/Sichuan Friendship Association- the sister state organization that encourages cooperation between our state and Sichuan. Passion like that manifested by these people deserves my response!

January 14, 2007
Moloweni!
As a group we attended the Christ the King Revival Church Service this morning in the Claremont district of Cape Town. The congregation was made up of predominantly black Congolese refugees who have left the Congo and live in SA. The service was both in French and English. Of the three pastors we heard they interchanged between both quite frequently. At 10 am when the service began our group arrived and took up nearly 1/3 of the once cafeteria chairs that collectively formed pews. The service began with a joyful greeting of our group (or as we Lutherans know it 'passing the peace'). From that point on we remained on our feet for nearly an hour an we experienced their praise music in native West African tongue.

It was powerful to witness the number of people clapping, shouting and some passionately yelling at the top of their lungs. Much to our surprise their was evening some praise music we all recognized. The experience was a poignant illustration of how these Africans explore and share their faith. Not to mention a good reminder to the materialist Christian world that praising God and sharing one's faith in a congregation doesn't require money, but simply passion. We stayed for two hours of the three hour plus service just as the two pastors (french and english) were discussing the moral, civil and ceremoial law of God in the Old Testament. Furthermore, it was powerful to recognize the the relevance of our study as the pastor discribed God's command that we be peaceful servants of the Earth. I ask if any of you read this before you make your way to chruch this sunday morning, that you stop and appreciate those who have already prayed today and although the headlines undoubtedly read violence be comforted in knowing that in many parts of the world there is praise and peace!

We are currently down at the Waterfront in Capetown waiting to board the fairy to take us to Robben Island. Now a quick overview of what we have done as a group these past two days. Friday morning we went on a driving tour through many areas that display the housing segregation that is still quite evident. The dual economy reared its ugly headed as the road we drove on divided the tin shacks in the wetlands and the $2+ million homes crafted into the mountain cliffs. Following our tour we found our self downtown for a tour of the African History museum led by our expert tour guide Roddy. After lunch in Green Market Square Shereen led us on a tour of the coloured district and showed us the current issues with housing, some of the fanstically delicious foods and the old mosque in the southern hemisphere circa 1750s. Her passion and desire to tell her story was magnificent. SOuth AFricans (BTT and Peter included) are fantastic storytellers. As such, we listened to a black man who led us on a tour of the district six museum following our time with Shereen. Finally, that night we had a picnic dinner with Gordon Oliver the mayor of Cape Town 1989-91 (During Mandela's release) who shared with us his struggles as a liberal polictical leader who resisted apartheid law and was instrumental in encouraging white opposition to apartheid. He was a wonderful person to meet and an insipring reminder that no matter what the odd a peaceful outlook is always possible.

I realize I am flying. Saturday we visited the Cape of Good Hope Reserve (National Park). We hiked to the cape point along the beautful mountains of SA, spent some time at a gorgeous beach and met for lunch. Following Lunch we visited some penguins whose natural habitat is in fact SA. Granted they are not as fury as the ones in Antarctica or the COke commercials but they we adorable nonetheless. Back at the camp, we had a presentation by an American woman who works in SA doing biodiversity planning and she shared with us the wonders of the most diverse and smallest floral kingdom ( THE CAPE!). Her speech was rudely interrupted by a few baboons who broke into our camp and stole some bread. I got some great photos.

Needtheless to say this blog is all over the place. But we are rushing out to go to Robben Island. I could write forever, SA is amazing. Everyone wants me to say that my blog will be just about it because we dont have that much time on computers. THe group dynamic is great. Everyone is getting along quite well and Barbara is wonderful! WE are rushing out of here now, but know that The Cape is incredible and we are all having a blast, and of course learning a lot! CHeck out the folder for great baboon and group pictures. We miss you and love you all!

Kyle

p.s. do pardon any spelling or grammar errors. Thanks!

It seems so far that the Chinese share many of our values. But one area I see a difference in, especially in the areas we have visited with this course so far, is the appreciation of art. It seems much more important here than at home. The Chinese government spends a lot of money on art and its promotion. We have visited artists who are paid a salary by the state just to produce art. There are also many state funded schools to teach both traditional and modern arts to children. I find this really amazing, as there is really no such thing in America. Our government doesn't spend money this way, and arts programs are always the first thing dropped from public schools. I think the Chinese would be a good example for America to look at in this area.

It often feels that people in China are working so hard (heroically hard!) to improve their own lives and those of their families that they do not have the luxury of the time or the headspace for altruistic behavior. Despite the best intentions of Buddhism and Marxism towards compassion and altruism, individuals often seem narrowly focused on their own goals in the highly competitive world of a developing economy. But there are also those astonishing individuals one meets sometimes in China who are just the opposite- those who loudly speak truth to power and suffer the consequences, or those who quietly and passionately do the good work that needs to be done despite the lack of recognition or remuneration. We met one of those people last night.

Mr. Liu received a Masters Degree in English from the University of Virginia a number of years ago and returned to China very impressed with the style of education he found in the US. He founded and runs a busines tutoring Chinese high school kids who want to study abroad for college. Part of his curriculum involves service learning- a still new concept in China. Mr. Liu and his Chinese students traveled to a remote rural area of this province last year to tutor nomadic Tibetan students in English- a required subject for entrance to high school- in order to give these rural kids an opportunity to pass the exam and change their lives through education. That in itself is worthy of commendation of course. But it is what Mr. Liu did next that so impresses me.

Mr. Liu selected nine students from this nomadic village who showed special motivation and aptitude, and took them back to his own group of three apartments in Chengdu, where they now live with himself and his parents in an intensive learning environment. These students are not paying anything for their room, board or education- all of it is funded by Mr. Liu simply because he saw promise in these young people and wanted to give them a chance to pursue their dream of an education.

Last night he brought them to a puppet show performance that our group had organized and they joined the show by doing a number of songs and dances for us. In their long nomadic robes with long sleeves flying, singing in their highly decorated yodeling style, they completely captured oir hearts and made us understand how someone like Mr. Liu could decide to take on the major responsibility of "adopting" them for several years in order to train them for high school entrance exams.

Clearly Mr. Liu's values are remarkably similar to those encouraged at PLU. Whether they come out of a Chinese Buddhist altruism, or the altruism encouraged by Marxism, or just Mr. Liu's personal sense of responsibility in the world, I don't know, but I know he is making a huge diference in the lives of these young people.

I'm going to be in China tomorrow, and I think my first question of values is how much do people value art in China, and how do people view its place in society? I think being in the audience of artistic events in China where you are able to see the patronage, and their level of involvement, will help to answers these questions.

Right now it is impossible for me to answer this question without basing my opinion on stereotypes. Until I am actually arrive in China any view that I have on their culture is only based on what I have seen in the media. However I am very excited to get the chance to travel to China and see what their society is like and how much their values mirror ours in the US.

I am Greg Johnson, the faculty leader of this J-term trip to Europe. I have been teaching at PLU since 1999. This January promises to be an exciting adventure for all of us.

An important element in engaging cultures that differ from ours is to engage them with dialogue and humility. The first thing we notice when traveling to other contexts is that we cannot know fully what is thought, believed, and assumed regarding questions of value. And this is a good thing. Most likely there are fundamental differences that are worthy of consideration, and these differences reveal the very things that ultimately make us all who we are. Even so, at best we can only glimpse some of these differences given that we are in these places for such a short time. Our task, then, is to approach such contexts with humility and respect. This does not mean that we have to agree with everything we encounter. Neither does it mean we should be quick to look for elements that mirror ourselves. The great opportunity to travel abroad and study the cultural, social and historical dimensions of a different culture is that we, not our hosts, will be opened to something not yet seen in ourselves, something that brings a chance for deeper self-understanding. This demands discipline on our part not to be too quick in asking “are they like us?” Perhaps we will find that these countries share our concerns, though we can never fully know this even if it exists. What we can do together is see these experiences as opportunities to engage in dialogue and discussion with new environments in the hopes of expanding our own understandings of those forever unfamiliar others who are not and should not be reduced to our familiar selves.

There has been no time to daydream about China for me. Asia will be my fourth continent in a year's time. Stay tuned for response to the "What values seem important to people in your host culture" question.

Initial Thoughts on The Value of Traditional Culture
As a perpetual traveler in this wonderful wide world, I love visiting places where it seems that time stopped long ago. These places make me feel like I have traveled back in time to an era when Western influences had not yet appeared, giving me a sense that I can experience a culture that is somehow "pure," primal" and "authentic." This is of course very romantic, and makes me a perfect target for the tourism industries of many countries, who's primary concern is to sell exactly this kind of romance to potential tourists like me.

We travelers are often drawn to the ancient, the traditional and what, to our minds, is the exotic. As a tourist, I tend to head for the "old" parts of a town, search for the "original" version of a piece of art or music, or try to meet an "authentic" member of an ethnic group.

This is of course what scholars often do as well, since scholars are also often engaged in trying to understand the past, to recognize the original amidst the copies, or hear the authentic voice of a people undisturbed by outside influences.

Two major parts of myself, however, rebel against this fascination with "authenticity" and "tradition." First, the people who live in these "undisturbed" cultures are often quite aware that the rest of the world is increasing modern, interconnected, and full or intriguing opportunity for themselves or their children. Remaining traditional is a powerful desire for some people in such a community, but a severe constriction for others who desire to push their culture forward into the modern, global culture. I feel a responsibility to hear and respect both of these impulses in a community and to think about how my actions and choices as a traveler and consumer do in fact impact those people.

Secondly, I myself am primarily a composer, a modern purveyor of the ancient tradition of "classical" music. The last thing I want is for that tradition to remain "stuck in time," unable to move forward and produce modern works. I am totally opposed to those who say "classical music is a museum of ancient works now; the audience desires no further growth in this tradition." That would put me out of business as a creator of beautiful things in sound. I would argue fiercely that audience members- musical travelers- who desire only a visit to the romantic 19th century when attending concerts, are killing the life of the tradition they claim to love! Such an attitude makes a concert not a museum, but a graveyard!

In this same train of thought, I am fascinated with musicians, artists, poets and others from a tradition not my own who, fully trained in their fields, are now creating bold new directions for themselves and their cultures. I have CD's of rock and pop music from all over the world that are the product of young musicians mixing their traditional training with their understanding of newer, more Western traditions. Some of it is really great! Imagine an Australian didjeridu playing over an electric guitar, or an Egyptian Oud mixed in with synthesized techno sounds and the marvellous "quarter-tone" harmonies of Arabic music...

Perhaps the larger issue is, when is cultural mixing positive, and when is it negative?

When it has been done by people who feel empowered and excited about the mixtures, it has historically resulted in some of the greatest art in the world. When it happens amongst people who feel disempowered, and who are looking for something they feel their own culture can no longer provide, it can be terribly destructive, as local traditions are abandoned in favor of foreign ones.

As we go to China this January, I look forward to talking with Chinese and Tibetan people about these questions, and how they value traditional arts, modern extensions of those traditions, and new traditions borrowed and adapted from outside the culture.