In Aymara, nayra, or last year, translates literally to something like “the year I can see.” The past, visible, thus stands in front of the speaker, while the future, unseeable, looms behind. Ancha nayra pachana, or a long time ago, can roughly be translated as “a time way in front of me.”
At the end of each year I used to ‘look back at the scorched earth of another year just gone.’ last year was actually a bit different, in that I felt I was in an improved position at the end of the year. still, i like this approach – putting the year in front of you as ‘the year I can see.’ Learning is embedded in this view, a sense, a sense I often lack, of building.