Reflection on Guatemala....

Rustic buildings stoically face down the pompous glares of the privileged. They stand and serve their purpose in defiance of the rusty screws, the dilapidated components, and the awe that human beings can reside inside of them. The buildings fundamental indifference to all stands in direct contrast to the emotions they evoke in the "superior beings" upon the planet.
The people are a whole other story. The repression and exploitation etched into every wrinkle of indigenous women selling their cloths scream to the deepest chasms of the soul of the privileged. The sweat and dirt on the flesh of children of poverty reflect struggles that the privileged will never know.
Rustic buildings, sweat, dirt, wrinkles--things not considered "beautiful" in the arbiter of all that is aesthetically worthwhile, the American media, certainly do reveal beauties we have all forgotten about; beyond our privilege, we have solidarity with those without; beyond the superficial feigns of concern, there are feelings of deep sympathy; beyond the distance of our nations, we are all human; and those, are beautiful.