meet me in the panopticon

I am at the Mexico Solidarity Network (MSN) house in the center of town here in San Cristóbal for the weekend. we have hot showers (although I didn't wait long enough and the hot water only lasted a moment. whatatease), internet, and a phone to use, so it's something of a little retreat from Unitierra. Tomorrow we are going to Oventic to a zapatista community for 5 weeks.

this week I had to write about my "world view" which was super frustrating and reminded me how exactly one year ago I had to do the same thing in performance art class with Neil. It felt self-serving and stressful even then. I talked about the sanctity of human life and animal life, the culture of fear, blah blah. One girl talked a bit about panopticons and how the current system seems to skew how people should be perceived, either as subjects, or worse, as objects.

A panopticon is a type of prison where those "in charge" are able to watch all the inmates from the center. Then, one of my classmates mentioned that maybe it wasn't just one authoritative unit that keeps people in check through surveillance, but that everyone watches each other.

I have had "la turista" for days on and off, meaning my stomach hates me and refuses to digest food properly. Maybe one drop of Mexican water somehow got into my system, I don't know. The differences in temperature throughout the day or even within a 10 minute drive are so bizarre. It's pleasant and warm here in the center of town, but back in Unitierra, I was freezing all the time.

Sam told me today that he had Jesse Camp's phone number for years and carried out elaborate prank calling. Maybe if I could talk to Jesse Camp my "turista" would be cured.


[4:02:42 PM] Aaron says: You would like Japanese pro wrestling bc they wear masks like Mexican wresting but even crazier...
contribution from my brother Aaron who lives in Japan: