Very non-technical topics of the Land Survey Congress

Hi, sweetheart, it's been A congress really productive, significant for Guatemala and an important moment for the Central American region. Before talking about the technical aspects of the event -That only interested my readers- with which I will be entertained the next few days, I want to take advantage to release some of the context that in the free threads I have been able to take advantage of and that surely you continue in the category of leisure and inspiration.

It is strange to hear in the voice of others the name Geofumadas, the umbrella under which I have come on this occasion. I am satisfied that this effort beyond its beginning as a Blog, now with more than 37,000 monthly visitors, is considered for its contribution to the Spanish-speaking geospatial context, then cheers up when a professor tells you that his students cite him as a bibliographic source without being able to complete the author's name for his anonymity. Things in life, while you do not hear it from others, you do not perceive it in a broader dimension of online comments or consultations in chat. To finish this prelude, I must tell you that it has been a privilege to share the podium with people who are leaders in territorial management issues such as Martin Wubbe from Kadaster, Diego Erba of Lincoln Institute, Javier Morales of ITC, Mario Pimetto of Cadastre de Córdova and Jean Roch Lebbeau of SEGEPLAN.

I missed you as I arrived in Quetzaltenango, three hours from the capital plus the time of the attempt to leave the airport in a city that is quite congested at peak hours. This section has involved a talk on the way and a while of sleep proportional to the change in height that justifies the gray hair, @ 14.66 linear kilometers and @ 113.47 in the altitude delta by the watershed of the mountains, there by the left cheekbone of the Totonicapán partialities that reach 3,330 meters above sea level (not on the road).

Tender, I understand that this is a tremendous confusion not necessary in this article, but it is part of going back, looking barely clouds as I cross to 33,000 feet the edge of the UTM zones 15N and 16N, testing GaiaGPS on the iPad to see what the satellites capture at this height and speed. I'm looking forward to arriving @home, running around the boys and enjoying the veil of magic that 14 years of marriage and possibly more than 17 years of knowing you existed there produce. Strange combination of madness, passion and that clear taste for taking care of your appearance, which contrasts with the style of this other madman who considers that clothes are only a requirement to go out on the street.

I tell you, it was good to share with a former boarding school teacher in my college years, that in those great coincidences he lived here in Quetzaltenango a couple of months ago. Interesting, 24 years later eating with his family and enjoying a good Jocóm, a meal from this region that includes chicken in a greenish soup, stirred with warm tortillas, rice and a cinnamon tea that compensate for the open polygonal of the soul that the miles ... not the extra pounds. The threads that bind this whole story have not been able to prevent me from remembering moments of my childhood, when the still bad habits of the FMLN guerrillas made me Seek freedom In another country and marked my delight for traveling.

In Quetzaltenango I have stayed at the Posada Bonifaz, alone I have felt your company almost as if you were here. The place has existed since 1936, it is a very cozy place that I recommend, next to the park and part of a context that cannot be avoided with the lights of the night and a good jacket because the cold is another story. This historic center is a valuable evidence of a safe work of years of the municipality, for the recovery of a historical heritage of the colonial era.

Later I have also been able to see other valuable evidence of those years of the Spanish Crown; the Hermitage of El Carmen in Salcajá; the oldest Catholic Church in Central America, built around 1524 when the Spanish were real invaders; And not necessarily as they do now with the gvSIG Foundation, but with the same spirit that it seems they will not lose over time.

I would have liked to coincide with the fair season, in the month of August in honor of Saint Louis King of France; time when traces of the intangible reverberate; Although at the dawn of the day it jumps on women carrying their children on their backs, dressed in the colorful typical costume: a kind of blouse called Güipil and something like a skirt known as Corte, features that have remained in the pride of the roots that do not die even though there are very few branches left. It is a pity that the Flying Stick Dance is no longer practiced, in which an upright trunk in the square constituted the pivot of a rotating basket, from which two people hung in a loop turning in that sensation of feeling that not only their eyes were popping out by the centripetal spin at each Π / 4. It will be on another occasion that you may accompany me, that I go through Rabinal or Baja Verapaz where they say that it is still practiced.

Now there are hardly any school parades, rides, bullfights and some of the mixes that the Spanish brought to the dances; it is still good if it is accompanied by a good chicken soup with Pope's Paches And the exchange of good jokes at Healthy / acceptable Morbid as only the Central Americans can count.

So tender, these have been the lightness of a trip that leaves a good taste in my mouth, more than the cultural context that surrounds the Salamá River, I must admit that the role of people who have harassed the conditions for the academy to be goal in its role of sustainability of the geospatial sector. It is ironic and curious that all this work that the University of San Carlos does is not in Guatemala City, so being in the second most important Chapina city makes all the municipalities that converge with this valley take on a significant challenge in the next 10 years. We will see if they honor the ancient capital of the Quiché kingdom, when it was called Xelaju and then Pedro de Alvarado called La Tierra del Quetzal in the Aztec language. I have seen it clearly in the faces of some boys who are barely in the first years of their career, and that is good for everyone.

Inspiring, but I must return to my stoned songs, which have me with the pike on the tip of my tongue. In addition, they have just said that electronic devices should be turned off, and I do not want to take away the original meaning of the article that for the first time started and ended up literally in the clouds on a pure iPad. So, thank you for collecting ears of this wheat field, understanding my time, and accompanying me beyond thought on this journey. In a few minutes I will land, and it will be good to hear again that language that only you and I understand, that must have existed before I met you and that still stirs beetles in the liver and tears with aching bones at night.