Stolen Treasure

The custom of a Guatemalan volunteer is to be as mobile as possible. Now, this is not adhered to by all volunteers. My friend Estefany was in a great little apartment during her time in Guate. The greatness of the apartment was hindered considerably by the accumulation of massive amounts of stuff, not the least strange of which was a huge “Hello Kitty” collection of knick-knacks sent by a Californian friend.

Aside from a few volunteers, like Steph, most volunteers try to keep their belongings to a suitcase or two total. The best volunteers could fit all that they owned into a large backpack (Shannon).

I became obsessed with the “no ownership” lifestyle. I was a hippie (still am), I felt that material goods brought one down, especially mentally (still do). As such, I was constantly finding reasons to dispose of this or that. The thought of the eventual flight home and the baggage that would follow weighed heavily on my psyche, so I would rid myself of things for any reason whatsoever.

MANY items of clothing found their way to the curb for Guatemalan laborers to freely grab as they walked by my abode. Every day, it seemed, I had a few items to throw out to the curb.

One fine day, my Toshiba crashed. Perhaps I helped it along a bit, we did have a severely abusive relationship, in that it would piss me off and I would beat it unmerciful. Let’s not point fingers here, it crashed, blue screen, I beat it, nothing, so I tossed it in the trash.

Now that I have been in Michigan for 5 or 6 months, I have begun a venture to place all of my random thoughts from the past 2-3 years into one folder and hopefully a book (maybe you are reading that book right now, in which case, I congratulate me). Since that journey has begun, my regret for the random tossing out of the old laptop has grown steadily.

Upon that keyboard I wrote of my thoughts and observations leading up to my move to Guatemala. Almost 30 one or two page musers were saved on that hard drive. Never again will that phaux brilliance be seen, at least not by anyone who understands those ramblings.

I am certain that the laptop made its way into the trash, but that it was almost immediately removed by the garbage men or by the Guajeros who dig through the trash at the dump, looking for items to sell or repair.

I find it rather ironic that I went to Guatemala and worked so long at helping those very people who probably took my lap top, full of idiotic phrasing, parted it out and sold it off. My one, last act of Guajero assistance better NOT have gone to buy glue!

Although, there is a completely different scenario……perhaps my laptop was found by a young girl, a bit of dreamer. Maybe this girl knew how to repair the damn thing. Maybe she did and she began to read (which is to say that in this fantasy this young girl can read and understand English). Perchance my writings, my musings, my stories inspired her. Maybe they inspired her to the point of goal setting! Perhaps she will go on to be Guatemala’s greatest and most revered author or journalist….while I wallow in obscurity.

Maybe I have left behind a piece of hardware that will inspire a young child to discover their inner muse. Maybe my laptop, tossed so carelessly aside, has become the world to some young kid. God, I hope there isn’t any porn on that thing.