Following Mateo

By Tom Molanphy

????"Following Mateo" is a memoir, the true story of Tom Molanphy, a twenty-something American who spends two years living and teaching in Belize. Molanphy finds himself compelled to spend more and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1553697383
• ISBN13: 9781553697381
• Release Date: July 2006
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Length: 230 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

About "Following Mateo"

An odyssey: into the jungles and wetlands of Belize, into the hearts and lives of a few native Belizians, and into the process of self knowledge and maturity, best describes, for me, Tom Molanphy's well crafted adventure/pilgrimage book: Following Mateo! Tom writes with grace and great self deprecating humor and enthusiasm about his journey to Belize as a volunteer teacher, his evolving friendship with an older tribal wise man and leader, Mateo, and their adventures. Through an invitation to personally tutor Mateo's young daughter, Tom experiences the hospitality of Mateo's family and a growing knowledge of their way of life. Tom's desire to get Mateo to take him "into the bush," i.e., the deep jungle territory where (in his perception) ancient ritual hunting and gathering rites of the Ke'kechi take place. His subsequent hiking adventures to "prove" his capabilities to Mateo provide hilarious incidents of gradual self awareness for this young American "gringo," Tom.As a veteran Jr. High/High School humanities teacher, I feel that this is a book that would appeal to this age range of student. It is a very "good read" for the adult reader as well.

"A Hunt for the Self in the Jungles of Southern Belize"

Tom Molanphy has a good story to tell about a search for self in a country of different cultures, languages, races,etc. While reading "Following Mateo" I was transported back from the hazzles of everyday life and never-ending city activity to Southern Belize where, through Tom's creative descriptions, I found myself engulfed by nature. Peppered with humor Tom lets us experience father nature in a unique fashion. He tells of how it demands respect,of how we have to adjust to accommodate it and of how rough it can be and yet how soothing her gentle embrace. The book took me through trails under the towering canopies and over mountains that lead to discoveries of people living from the land. People who have learned to coexist and respect the land.The book was and excellent read. It thought me about the journey of life and the little journeys within. It also thought me to, every now and then, "stop and smell the flowers, but to be careful not to get stung by a bee that may have beat me to those flowers".

Jumanji - Hitting it!

Following Mateo is definitely a down to earth book. My friend Tom definitely put it right about life in the southern villages of Toledo and also as a missionary. I've known Tom for the two years that he spent here in Belize. I loved the book and will definitely read it again.

Joyful Journey

Following Mateo is a personal memoir of Tom Molanphy's two year stint as a volunteer educator in Belize. Mateo is a Mayan Indian whom the author becomes very close to in the course of his internship. Following Mateo, the title, refers to the author's attempts to get Mateo to take him to the bush country of Belize. The author has successfully integrated history, anthropology, cross cultural studies and religion into this highly readable memoir.I am a college professor teaching English l02 - a writing course using argument from social science topics and also literature, particulary memoir. My students - all l05 of them - absolutely loved the book. They liked the author's descriptive writing style which made them feel they were right there in Belize.They liked the many lively characters that the author presents. They liked the way the author integrated his personal journey with the daily events. They liked reading about a young man on an adventure who had questions about life, about religion, about risktaking. They liked the crosscultural atmosphere of the book and the way the author showed these differences. They liked the light hearted and humorous aspects of the book. They liked the various insights the author gained during his journey, especially about friendship. In writing their essays they were able to center on diverse messages and were often able to interract with the memoir from their own experiences. One student said she liked the book because the author opened himself up and was not "preachy". I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the essays my students were able to write due to the many insights the author offered. It was indeed a journey of joy. I recommend this book to college professors of freshman writing and senior high school teachers as well as volunteer coordinators in various non-profit groups.

An enlightening read, 2 yrs from beach to rain forest

I heard about this book from a friend and found myself quickly immersed in it once I had a copy. It is on the surface an enjoyable read, but more substantively it develops, through a rich tapestry of real individuals, a fresh perspective on life and expectations which the reader and author fully realize together only as the tale draws to a close. It is easy (and accurate enough) to categorize this book as a memoir, but the author has a distinct, comfortable style in which he lays out the details of his two years in Belize.Travel is a common metaphor and catalyst for personal growth, but in this memoir it is the ongoing *hope* of a trip deep into the Mayan rain forest that spurs the author's inner journey. The tropical setting might make you think of this as a travel book, but it's really about coming to understand the daily lives of ordinary (if memorable) people. Through his relationships with the people he comes to know in Belize, most notably Mateo of the book's title, he and the reader unfold an understanding of at least part of the way Mayans see the world. As I progressed through the chapters, I found myself anxious at first for details of progress of the author's quest, and only gradually realized, as did the author, that for Mateo the focus of one's efforts is more on being than on doing.If you're going abroad (regardless of destination), I recommend this book as an enjoyable introduction to other perspectives than the ones you'll find in even the widest circle of domestic friends. If you're not going abroad, I recommend this book even more, for the same reason.