There is a whirlwind of things I could easily write about but I´ll rely on others to write engagingly about what I leave out. Of the many memorable experiences of the past week, Gabriel´s Astronomy talk is freshest in my mind. Last night we sat facing Gabriel´s whiteboard with an eucalyptus and bark bonfire raging to our right, headlamps illuminating his quick, enthusiastic diagrams.
Perhaps, even more than the facinating ideologies and scientific phenomena he discussed, it was his animated manerisms and transparent enthusiasm that engaged me. It is rare and wonderful to find someone who´s passion for one occupation is so complete that one is able to see the whole world-challenges, joys, and solutions-through the lens of that occupation.
I suppose you will only be able to live vicariously if I relay the essence of his pontification...the Incan empire is the only ancient civilization to have existed in the Southern Hemisphere and hence, the only civilization who´s world view was, at least geographically, flipped. Gabriel talked at length about the mathmatical background of the Southern Cross-a symbol that has religious, societal and scientific significance in Andean thought. I don´t really have time to go into it in detail (I have to get chicken, eggs and other goodies for dinner within the next hour) but the Andean cross has relevance to the understanding of time (circular), the relationship between man and woman (equal) and it seemed everything.
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