So this week school began again. I have 3 official classes and 1 unofficial class. The unofficial class is one that I have already taken, but am "re-taking" for a better grade. Since I got a C the first time around, I can't sign up for the class officially, but my [awesome] teacher is going to try to put in a grade change. I'm also working an another grade from last quarter and if I get that fixed then I'll have straight A's for that quarter. I'm thinking about taking a Native American religion class for fun since I love learning about different religions (especially indigenous religions).

    My Official classes are:

• Poli 16 - Grassroots Democracy: Social Movements Since the 1960
• ICS 17 - Critical Consciousness and Social Change
• GEO 1 - Introduction to Geography

    Some more good news! THEY FINALLY HAVE WIFI AT DEANZA!!! Woohoo! I don't need to go down to whole foods to use their free WiFi anymore! [I'll still probably go to get a bite ;P]

    This weeks been hard for me because I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I think I realized that I really want to be an intellectual and an academic. I remember hearing my teacher tell us that she's an intellectual and we all laughed. She just gave us a funny look like, "that wasn't a joke..." She went on to explain what an intellectual is. Ever since then I've felt that maybe that is the route I want to go. I'm also really inspired by my cousin Juan, err... Dr. Juan Sanchez. He's the first Dr. in our family, and I can see that he is truely passionate. I think that I may have some of that passion for school. The thought of joining the honors program has crossed my mind for a while, and I'm contemplating whether I should join...

    I just saw a film called The Sixth Sun: Mayan Uprising in Chiapas by Saul Landau. It's mostly on the Zapatistas, but it also covers NAFTA, Emilio Zapata, and Liberation Theology. The movie is a great view of what has happened to Mexico after NAFTA. A once thriving Mexican economy destroyed by Free Trade. 

    The Films Description:

Before dawn on New Year's Day, 1994, armed Mayan Indians in the Mexican state of Chiapas declared war on the government, seizing eight towns and sending shock waves through Mexico's political establishment. Calling themselves the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, these crudely armed peasants set in motion events that ripped away a modern face of prosperity and stability to reveal "the other Mexico." Visually interweaving the Mayan past and the Mexican Revolution with contemporary reality, this documentary portrays an epic confrontation pitting impoverished peasants against large landowners and government forces in Mexico's poorest state. The video features interviews with Subcommandante Marcos, the ski-masked "poet-warrior," as well as with others in the Zapatista movement. Other protagonists include Bishop Samuel Ruiz, Mexico's outspoken defender of indigeneous rights; peasants on estates they have occupied; angry ranchers forced from their land; conservative Catholics who charge the Bishop with inciting revolution; government officials and army officers; and the notorious guardias blancas, the landowners' private armies. 

    I highly recommend this movie... but it's impossible to find. I have a copy of it, and am willing to lend it out.