Just another typical day

Except not really.

First, It is official -
My brother is ENGAGED
I know.
Please view this:

He must stinking love her.
The date is set for October 11th, 2008.
That officially means I am in 3 weddings this year.
Once again craziest year of my life.
This is how it goes:
Costa Rica
Spain
21st Birthday
Summer Job/hang out with the fam
Wedding in Oklahoma
Wedding in Oregon
New baby cuz!
Start last year of school
Fly home for brothers wedding
etc etc etc
Definitely not a typical year - But a blessed one.

Today was interesting.
We went to the US embassy here in Costa Rica.
I am struggling with how to mix two things - being patriotic, yet criticizing the things that the US government does. Because if you aren't aware - the US government is not always giving the complete truth (ha). But going to the embassy today was frusterating becuase they sugarcoat everything. I mean it's rediculous. I see so many things here with my own eyes, and then we go to the embassy and they open up a Q&A session, but every question we asked is basically answered in a way that prods and pokes around the subject, but doesn't actually answer our questions. I read a couple of articles about US/Latin American Relation from the US point of view. Man, what a bunch of liars. But then you read articles about the same subject but from the Latin American point of view. Again, what a bunch of liars. So one of my profs (although it seems kind of weird to call him that) gave me this poem in leau of my struggle, and I wanted to share it with you...

"Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.