El Mundo

En una parte de la novela el autor habla acerca de cuándo el regreso a donde vivía en su niñez el podía recordar los edificios o casas que estaban antes en ese espacio antes que fueran remodeladas o remplazadas por otro edificio que era como un fantasma que marcaba la casa o el edificio original. Esa parte me sorprendió mucho porque cuando yo regreso a México todo tiene recuerdos y todavía veo las cosas como eran antes a pesar que muchas cosas son diferentes. Recuerdo como eran las casas de mis vecinos y me sorprendo como todo ha cambiado en tan poco tiempo. Las personas también son diferentes no solo físicamente por el paso del tiempo sino también en su forma de ser, y yo me pregunto si yo soy diferente si el tiempo me ha cambiado en mi forma de ser. Me siento extraña en ese lugar porque a veces me da la impresión que lo que yo recordaba no existió que fue un sueño ya que todo es diferente.

El Mundo

When we did our activity yesterday in class about "que adquiere la palabra "el mundo" en la novela," I couldn't help but relating this to my life. I am a big poker player, and the fact that this story is in Millas' world, from only his perspective, made me think of playing a Texas Hold'em Tournament. You sit there and play, knowing and only seeing your own cards, just as we only know our own mentality. Meanwhile, other players have cards of their own, just as other people have their own mentalities in life. During each individual hand, you try to read what other people are holding, just as we try to read what other people are thinking in real life, and you formulate a hypothesis on what cards they have and play accordingly, just as we judge/guess what other people are thinking about us and we act accordingly. Winning a hand signifies knowing how another person's thought process works, as in making some sort of connection with that person because you can read into their mind. Losing means you can't read that person, and in real life this signifies a misunderstanding between the two people.

You could just look at the results of every hand and not go through the mental game, just as you can just look at the actions of people without knowing their thought process. However, in poker, people can make good plays and lose or make bad plays and win, because there is luck involved, just as people in real life can have good thoughts/intentions but do bad things or have bad thoughts/intentions and do good things. In other words, you can't solely judge a person on the results of each hand, or in real life people's actions, because, although over the long haul "actions speak louder than words," in the short term good poker players can make bad decisions or get unlucky and bad poker players can make good decisions or get lucky, just as good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things. This is why the thought process of a person is important, because although in the end it matters about the action more than the thoughts, the thoughts are the bridge between you and your actions.

Millan's memories vs. Millas' memories

The discussion we had in class about the memories of the two men in each story was really interesting. It is funny to think that when it comes down to it, we don't really know what is true and what isn't because the stories consist of memories. Millan's memories perceive him to be less guilty than he actually is. Millas on the other hand has these crazy memories, stricken by drugs and more drugs. What do we actually believe in this case?

While reading the texts and comparing the two, I also had to keep in mind that Millan's memories were of another person's life. Not only that, but this person he was remembering was on the opposing political side, so we would expect Millan to alter his memory in some way. Millas' memories were of his own life and his own experiences. I think, for me at least, Millas was a little more believable as a narrator because he was remembering his own life, not someone else's.

Blog 9!!!

El Mundo es excelente! Es en definitiva un libro que te hace pensar y reflecionar sobre tu propia vida, de donde vienes, que estas haciendo y hacia donde vas. Estoy muy de acuerdo con lo que discutimos en clase cuando se dijo que Millas fue honesto y "open" sobre su vida personal. Sin embargo, pienso que es grandioso que Millas recuerde como se sentia en su infancia porque la mayoria de los adultos olvida lo que es ser un nino.

En clase se discutio que Millas mas bien piensa que recuerda como se sentia en su joventud, pero yo no estoy de acuerdo. La rason por la cual no estoy de acuerdo es porque de lo contrario entonces no seria veridico. Este libro es una biografia detras de un autoanalisis por lo tanto el si sabe como se sentia como nino, el si sabe como pensaba como nino; aun asi si tuvieramos que describir que Millas cincuenta porciento se recuerda de como se sentia cuando nino y ciencuenta porciento piensa (el adulto Millas) como era que se sentia cuando nino.

Pero aun asi, el libro es sin duda un inspiracion a la reflecion del yo y de nuestro pasado y futuro.

Childhood Realizations

I wasn't in class on Wednesday but it seems like we talked about how Millás incorporated his childhood memories into his book and how they are different now. I agree with that, after reading this and looking back upon my childhood everything is different and the world moves so much faster as I get older. I remember when I was younger the summers seemed to last forever (and most of the time I didn't mind, although sometimes I was ready for school to start again). I spent the summers swimming, playing games outside, playing board games, just doing whatever I wanted to do. I remember thinking we had the best basketball games and we were so good, or going to church and singing the hymns and thinking that it wouldn't be the same without me singing. When you go back and reflect on how things used to be and how much things have changed you realize that the thoughts as you were younger were nothing like how you remember them and you will never have the same experiences as you get older, which is actually sad, but not sad that you never thought that when you were younger.

El mundo frio

One thing that really jumped out at me was the description of El Frio. (I used capital letters because I feel like it's so important). El Frio is a metaphor if I've ever seen one. It permeates Millas' bones. He can't shake the feeling. It's like when you have to stand outside in the cold for hours and you feel like you'll never be warm again. Or when you're violently ill and it feels like getting healthy again is impossible. But as we know, those feelings go away pretty quickly and you go home and wake up in the morning feeling warmer/healthier. But imagine if that wasn't a possibility. That was Millas' situation. The cold just wouldn't go away and there was a constant struggle to feel as comfortable as possible in the given moment. There was no "I can't wait to go home to my warm house!" It's actually quite scary when you think about it. El Frio Inescapable. I thought the metaphor of El Frio cutting into the soul (literally and figuratively) was excellent. I really enjoyed Millas' writing style too.

El Mundo - Reality

El Mundo is definitely an insightful book. Not necessarily for the content, although its content is very interesting, but for the way it causes one's mind to race with thoughts after each paragraph. Usually I will read a book for pages and pages because it paints a picture/movie in my mind, which is not a bad thing at all. But I found myself delving into memories and philosophical thoughts after seemingly every paragraph or page in this book. I love thinking, going off tangents, and thinking about the world from different perspectives. I truly admire Millas way of thinking about the world. Although he himself admits that he has some mental issues, for me, that doesn't detract at all from the fact that he is able to let go of preconceived notions and associations in this world. Our minds are wired to make these associations and make them seem like absolute truths, probably for survival reasons. He is able to disconnect this wiring, to view the world like a child at all times, always questioning associations and the perceived reality.

The fact is that Millas is right in his thinking. Our perception of what we think of as reality is truly only a fraction of what actually exists. Even on the brightest of days, our senses give us only a tiny part of what exists in the world. We only see a very limited part of the spectrum of light; we only hear from 20-20,000 Hz; animals can smell much, much more than we can; the list goes on. We are constantly being bombarded by particles at all times, things we can never see or feel.

When you look at your skin, you think you are seeing something solid. Your touch even makes this claim stronger. Yet we know that on the microscopic level we are a bunch of atoms connected together by their natural bonds of attraction. And what is an atom at the most basic level? It is a tiny nucleus with electrons flying around it. If we were to make an analogy of this, an atom would be the size of the Horseshoe and the nucleus of the atom would be a single pea on the 50 yard line. The rest is empty space where even tinier electrons fly around in a sort of cloud of energy. So if we are made up entirely of atoms, and atoms are almost entirely empty space, then aren't we not mostly empty space??

So what is the implication of thinking about reality like this, similar to how Millas views the world in different ways. The point is that life and reality are not what they seem to be. It teaches us not to take things at face value, for granted, or for certain. What may seem like an absolute truth is really not at the fundamental level. We are made of constantly changing particles that eventually will run out of juice and cease to function. So, as Millas has done, make the best out of any situation in life. While some days may seem like the most terrible day to you, there are millions of others out there having a terrible day as well. Life goes on still. There isn't a right or wrong way to view an experience. Experiences are what we make them to be, just as Millas has done.