As I have mentioned before on the blog, Argentines love to talk politics, and the political tension continues to grow as many disagree with President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s policies (mainly economic and foreign). People in Buenos Aires frequently rally against the current populist government’s recent policies such as heavily restricted imports, and ban on the legal purchase of American Dollars in Argentina, that when coupled with a 15% tax on credit card purchases outside of Argentina makes traveling abroad extremely difficult for the average Argentine. ...continue reading "Argentina Bring Younger Folks Into the Discussion"
Tag: Latin America
From Environmental Stewardship to Environmental Citizenship
By bbuck92
Work with the Valpo Surf Project has taken a serious academic turn as I make headway with my research project. With many hours of readings done and hours spent with the project volunteering I have focused on connecting the my academic work with my experiences with the NGO. After reading much on the subject of what constitutes nature and stewardship, themes that have much to do with the VSP experience I zeroed in on the subject of environmental citizenship. While the VSP promotes "stewardship" in general what I hope to suggest in my project is that the VSP becomes advocates of environmental citizenship. Just what constitutes an environmental citizen? According to the author John Barry, within the understanding of republican citizenship, that is active citizenry, an environmental citizen is an advocate for preservation, conservation, and sustainability, in all his or her civic activities. Most interestingly this citizen practices resistance. ...continue reading "From Environmental Stewardship to Environmental Citizenship"
The Atacama Desert, Northern Chile
Sometime ago I wandered into the National Gallery of Art on the National Mall because I wanted to see a movie in that great theater they have in the East Building. (they show interesting and free movies almost every day!) Although I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I sat down to see “Nostalgia for the Light”, it turned out to be fascinating. The documentary tells two stories in parallel, both set in Chile’s Atacama Desert. One is the story of archaeologists and astronomers who study in Atacama, which as the driest desert in the world, lends itself to fossil preservation and the clearest views of the stars in the world. Astronomers from all over put their names on a long list to eventually be able to visit some of the worlds highest observatories and largest telescopes.
Astor Piazzolla ; Where Tango Meets Jazz
A few weeks ago my host brother, Lucas, invited me to take a peek at his record collection. Among the pile of 80’s gold, I found an LP that really stuck out. It was one I had never seen before, with a drawing of a wacky mustached character (pictured). The drawing was of an Argentine musician called Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), who I had never heard of. And the weirder thing was, that it was signed.
I gave Lucas the “what is this all about” look, to which he replied “no conoces a el!”. He put on some of Astor Piazzolla's tunes, and I was blown away. I had heard tango before, but not like this. Piazzolla was a classically trained composer and bandoneón tango player (the bandoneón is an accordion-like instrument). However, he broke away from the norm of Argentina at the time and fused the classical tango sounds with some elements of Jazz, and the result is beautiful.
...continue reading "Astor Piazzolla ; Where Tango Meets Jazz"
Obelisco de Buenos Aires
Pop quiz: What do DC, Buenos Aires, and Rome all have in common? They are all cities I have lived in that built obelisks out of stones and pride. These slender structures are one of the few surviving art forms that have remained ‘tres chic’ since egyptian times when somebody said:
‘Hey, why don’t we make a little pyramid and put it on top of a shaft.’
‘Why Ramses?'
‘Because we can Sehkmet, that’s why.’ (historical fact)
The ‘Obelisco de Buenos Aires’ in Plaza de la República, is a source of national pride that was constructed in 1936 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the first foundation on Buenos Aires. It was built in just 31 days, probably the quickest (only quick) construction of anything in Buenos Aires which probably has a lot to do with the fact that a German company was contracted to build it. The Washington monument took 36 years to complete and has had some structural difficulties lately, but it was started a lot earlier than the Argentine monument and is the biggest in the world (go ‘murica). ...continue reading "Obelisco de Buenos Aires"
3 Great Eats for Under $5
Before coming to Buenos Aires, I had been doing the pescatarian thing for about a year. Not to save the world, or the animals, or anything noble else noble, but more-so just to try something new for myself that I ended up really enjoying (and partially because of the because of the mystery meat situation in the US & Monsanto). However, I feel like food is an essential element of any culture; the West Coast of the US, for example, is famous for the In-and-Out burger, whereas Buenos Aires is well known for having incredible meats. So in order to take in my full dosage of culture here I decided to start eating meat again. I also don’t like being picky, especially when traveling and/or living in someone elses home for 4 months. These days, I consider myself a “domestic pescatarian” and have been enjoying steaks and other awesome food down here. Here are some of my favorite cheap and quick places to snack in the city:
1) Chinatown Roadside Vendors
On my walk to school there are a few little restaurants facing the sidewalk. They've got all sorts of food on sticks (tofu, chicken, pork, beef, egg rolls, etc..) ready to be deep fried and served to you! An incredible snack always under 4 dollars.
Patagonian Adventure Time Part I.
Last week I took a trip down to the northeastern side of Patagonia to a little coastal town called Puerto Madryn. The town is famous for the whales and other marine life that populate the “Golfo Nuevo” to mate and give birth as the climate gets warmer around this time of year. After a 20 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires, my three friends and I dropped our bags off at the hostel and signed ourselves up for a tour of Península Valdés an ecological reserve that serves as the main attraction of the area. We spent all day driving around the arid Peninsula, which happens to look a lot “like the Australian outback, but with funky llama things instead of kangaroos,” according to one of my Aussie friends on the trip. We stopped at various beaches and were lucky enough to see the very first penguins of the season. Having never seen a penguin in their natural habitat before, it was awesome to be able to get up close to one of these goofy animals. One particular penguin was scratching his side with his webbed foot like a dog scratches his ear.
Revolutionary Movements in Bolivia
By hwscott
Since my last post, I have gained so many new understandings of the complexities of Bolivia that, as I read it, I feel almost childish. But I guess that is the point of naïveté. I'm sure the same will be true for my next post as well.
While I haven't started my research, and won't for a while, I have been exploring other research questions and topics, all within the general subject of the relation between Catholicism and revolution in Bolivia. I have been able to do this in the context of what we are studying in the program. So far, we have heard speakers on the Mexican, Cuban, Bolivian, and Venezuelan revolutions. We have dug deep into the history of indigenous to peasant back to indigenous struggle in Bolivia, and the differences between highlands and lowlands, the complex overlap between Aymara and Quechua languages. We just got back from Brazil, where we studied the Landless Workers Movement (MST), a 30 year old movement that occupies unused land for rural peasants, and then establishes communitarian agricultural settlements on the liberated land (also was founded in the context of Liberation Theology!) This week, we are back in Bolivia in Santa Cruz, looking at the movement for autonomy by the landed elites (quite a shock, coming from landless movement in Brazil, who fed us in tents on the side of the road). Spending a few days in uber-rich Santa Cruz by the pool has given me a chance to write this and think more about my potential Independent Study Project topics.
¡Cuchame chabón! (Slang in Buenos Aires)
Latin America is like the United States in that the variety of Castellano (Spanish) in terms of the slang and pronunciation changes by geography, even within Argentina. Argentina is known for speaking a Spanish like no other Spanish-speaking country.
Rio Platanese is the variety of Spanish heard in Buenos Aires and other big cities along the mouth of the River Plate, such as Montevideo, Uruguay. One of the most noticeable differences in this dialect is the use of the pronoun “vos”, which is unique to this area. “Vos” basically means “you” and has its own form of conjugation, replacing the “tu” and “usted” from other Spanish dialects. For example, whereas in Colombia or Mexico you would say “¿De donde eres?” when asking where someone is from, in the River Plate region you would say “¿De donde sos?” Argentine Spanish is very informal, especially in comparison to Colombian way of speaking. Another notable difference is the pronunciation of double l’s and y’s as “sha”. In almost all other Spanish speaking countries you would pronounce the word for street, “calle” as ca-yay. In Buenos Aires the say “ca-shay”. The word “vaya” (go) would be pronounced “vai-ya” in Mexico and “va-sha” in here in Buenos Aires. Other parts of the country, like the north for example don’t use this pronunciation. ...continue reading "¡Cuchame chabón! (Slang in Buenos Aires)"
Surfing and Stewardship of the Environment with The Valpo Surf Project
By bbuck92
In Valparaiso, a city comprised of homes built on the hills surrounding an industrial port, there is a disconnect between its youthful inhabitants and the ocean. The Valpo Surf Project (VSP) was in part inspired by that disconnect and the need to repair it. VSP explains it’s founding as thus, “Although most see the ocean everyday of their lives, many of the city’s youth have never had the opportunity to experience the Pacific Ocean and Chile’s beaches. We wanted to create a way that Valparaiso’s disconnected youth could learn to engage with and protect the local marine environment. The resulting idea evolved into the Valpo Surf Project, a community organization that engages its young participants with the surrounding marine environment through weekly surf outings and focus on fostering three distinct components: personal character development, environmental consciousness, and English language education.” The program works with children ages 7-16 from various organizations within Valparaiso, including the neighborhood organization of Cerro Mariposa and SENAME.
...continue reading "Surfing and Stewardship of the Environment with The Valpo Surf Project"