Latin America – Page 9 – GW Blogs from Abroad

Hey, now I’m a tourist!: Reverse Culture Shock Without Leaving the Country

AdminDecember 26, 2012December 14, 2018

Well, I've spent the last week backpacking around the south of the country of Bolivia. I went to Tarija, the wine growing region, billed as the highest vineyards in the world; to Sucre, the official capital of the country, called the "white city" for the beautiful all white colonial architecture; Potosi, the highest city in the world that essentially funded the Spanish empire with its silver mines that are still functioning today; and to the Salar de Uyuni, the beautiful world famous salt flats of Bolivia. Interestingly, I basically hit all the spots that my SIT program goes to on off years - the program switches off between two different focuses every semester. The focus for my semester was the conflicts around the TIPNIS indigenous reserve and the road the central government wants to build through it, as well as the Movimento Sem Terra in Brazil. In the off years, the students in the program study the movements around the mines, as well as go to Argentina, passing through the salt flat on their way. As I was talking to my host dad, Alberto, after I got back, he remarked that I have seen and learned about more regions in Bolivia than most Bolivians. In all, I have been to 6 out of 9 departments (sort of like states) in the country. ...continue reading "Hey, now I’m a tourist!: Reverse Culture Shock Without Leaving the Country"

Chau, Mi Amor

AdminDecember 13, 2012December 14, 2018

By quericolavida

I finally bought a backpack today. A real backpack. The kind you cram a bunch of stuff in before you set out for adventure. So after I finish up this final post I’m going to head home to cram the pack, say goodbye to a few friends before heading to the airport and beginning the next leg of the adventure.

Leaving Buenos Aires and all the friends I’ve made here is going to be tough. I really am going to miss all the cultural quirks, the architecture, the empanadas, and the buenas ondas in general. I was thinking of who I needed to say goodbye to here when I realized that over the last 5 months I managed to be a part of my own little community here... from the people I buy groceries from, to the wait staff at the cafe in my neighborhood where I studied between classes to Andri (the kiosk attendant on the corner who I chat with before going out). I’m going to miss these people! ...continue reading "Chau, Mi Amor"

The Yellow Cloud by G.C. Sordoni

AdminDecember 11, 2012December 14, 2018

By quericolavida

Cloud

This past weekend in Buenos Aires there was a heat wave, a chemical explosion in the Port that left yellow toxic cloud over the city center, and torrential downpours that overtook cars only a few blocks from where I am staying. I know what your thinking (December 21st!) but wait... I luckily escaped to the countryside during most of this madness, but it gave me some time to look back on my experience here and realize that the chaos hasn't really subsided, or even taken a break.

The yellow toxic cloud incident was particularly interesting and was really the talk of the town for quite a while. Some pesticide chemicals (fun fact: this part of South America is ideal for agriculture, and Argentina's main crop is soy to meet the increasing demand in China) were making their way from Singapore to Paraguay and stopped here in Buenos Aires before completing the last leg of their journey. That last leg never happened because the 17 tons of pesticide chemicals either reacted poorly to the excessive heat in this city or reacted to contact with water and then exploded. The explosion sent smoke and chemicals into the air above, right above downtown Buenos Aires. People who couldn't see the smoke or fires could smell that something was wrong from even further away. Government buildings and schools in the area were evacuated and worst of all the Boca Junior soccer practice was even postponed! And that's how you know something is seriously going wrong over here.

...continue reading "The Yellow Cloud by G.C. Sordoni"

y todos deben cuidarlo!

AdminDecember 8, 2012December 14, 2018

By bbuck92

This week my volunteer work with the Valpo Surf Project came to an end. One of my last acts was leading a found object activity with the students. In our lunchtime discussion, after surfing in the morning, we presented our objects and our stories about the environment. Some objects included a mint leaf from the garden, trash we had picked up from the beach, and a pot of natural Chilean honey. Using these various objects as a springboard for conversation we talked about what we felt defined the environment and the role of the VSP in respect to that environment. Overall, our conclusion was that the VSP is a vehicle to organize to protect the environment, an environment that not only included the beach where we surf but also the neighborhoods where we work in Valparaiso.

This conclusion had much to do with my research for the semester. I was able to incorporate these definitions into my investigation of environmental citizenship, and explored in which ways the VSP promoted stewardship though molding young active environmental citizens. While I suggested that the VSP has room to grow by explicitly incorporating a program of environmental citizenship rather than implicitly supporting it, I also recognized the successes of the VSP in instilling the values of responsibility and obligation in its students through activities such as trash collection each surf session. I hope to continue to study the ways of promoting active and responsible individuals committed to sustainability be it in a citizenship setting or otherwise. George Washington University offers a unique opportunity to present these ideals to a new group of “citizens” within a different community. ...continue reading "y todos deben cuidarlo!"

Padre Obermaier: Spacialized Conflicts of Power in El Alto

AdminDecember 6, 2012

An example of Obermaier's colorful churches, with the Wiphala, the Aymara flag, and the Bolivian flag out front.

Right now, I am sitting in a sustainable ecolodge that runs completely off of sunlight and local donkey power, on the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world and largest in Latin America. As I look out my window, my gaze travels across fields and hills that have held the same terraced stone walls since the Incan Empire, then across miles of the perfectly blue water of the lake, to the far golden and indigo rolling shores of the Altiplano, and finally stops at the incredible snow capped peaks of the Cordillera, one arm of the Andes Mountains. The Island of the Sun is simultaneously claimed by Aymara, Quechua, and Incan myths, as well as local Catholic mixtures of those, as the birthplace of gods and humanity. Sitting here, I can understand why; we are so high up and the distances so great around us that the massive dark cloud formations jump across the lake like a stop motion video, creating a constantly changing pattern of rain and shadows and brilliant sunlight on the water-scape.

The program ends the day after tomorrow, after which I will spend ten days travelling around as much of this country as I can, and then I will go home. Since this will be the last post I write about research in Bolivia, I decided to start it the same way as I started my first: full of the descriptors of a travel blog. We are in the evaluation week for the program, and as such our Director, Carmen, decided to send us to el lago for a nice send off. We have all now finished our Independent Study Projects, our papers, and our final presentations in front of the SIT community in La Paz. Last week I accomplished one of the most important and hardest things I have ever done: I wrote 42 pages in a academic Spanish, a language I could barely speak 4 months ago. ...continue reading "Padre Obermaier: Spacialized Conflicts of Power in El Alto"

Defining “Environment” in the Valpo Surf Project

AdminDecember 3, 2012December 14, 2018

By bbuck92

A Challenge in my project, which talks extensively about stewardship and caring for the environment, has been the simple act of defining the "environment" or "nature" that the Valpo Surf Project seeks to protect. In the search for such a definition I turned to an activity I read about during my research for the project.

In the introduction to “In Search of Nature” writer William Cronon describes an activity which helped him and his co-writers to work toward an an understanding of nature in its many forms. This “Found Object” activity, in which every participant brought an object or memory to the discussion which to them best represented “Nature,” gave Cronon and his roundtable points of reference to the various understandings and preconceptions of nature that the group held. ...continue reading "Defining “Environment” in the Valpo Surf Project"

Another Holiday To Be Thankful For

AdminNovember 27, 2012December 14, 2018

By quericolavida

Argentines are no strangers to holidays. There has been about 5 days off from school/work since I have been here, even yesterday for example. A lot of them are new. As in the government will declare a holiday and then everyone has the day off from work. Like a snow day! With a lot more wine and a lot less snow. It’s pretty great. It’s hard to get a clear idea of what they all celebrate. But no one is complaining. “Friends Day” is a personal favorite.

As the token American in certain circles of friends, people here asked me about Thanksgiving and I told them the old Pilgrim - Native American tale (leaving out the true parts, of course) and they got it right away. We take a day off to remind ourselves to be thankful for the things in our lives that we may take for granted, and as an excuse to get the family together and take a little time off. Because why not. Spending more time together as a family certainly isn’t something that needs to be explained to the people here. Many get together for lunch on Sundays with the entire extended family. ...continue reading "Another Holiday To Be Thankful For"

Cultural Variety

AdminNovember 18, 2012December 14, 2018

By quericolavida

Part of the reason I chose to study abroad in Buenos Aires was because I knew the cultural customs would be a bit different than in the US. Because of the European influence, which seems to come up in just about every blog post, the Argentine customs are more similar to those of the Europeans (especially Italians and Spanish) than other South American customs. A common and more noticeable cultural trait, is that the Argentines are often more open and emotional than the average American. They can sometimes be blunt, and very few topics are off limits; they will gladly talk about politics, relationships, scandal, etc. I definitely respect their ability to be very forward and honest. ...continue reading "Cultural Variety"

La Boca

AdminNovember 12, 2012

This weekend I went to visit a friend's art studio in La Boca, a neighborhood with history as complex and vibrant as it's architecture there. Beyond the world-class fútbol club and being the birthplace of Tango, La Boca is known as an immigrant neighborhood at the mouth of the Matanza River. In the late 1800's the British built the Buenos Aires port and other infrastructure throughout the city to make it easier to export Latin American goods back to England. In order to build the port and operate it later on, they imported labor from Europe (mostly Italy and Spain) and La Boca was soon flooded with people from Genoa, Italy.

As ships would come in and leave behind containers, the immigrants of the are would pull the containers apart and use the corrugated iron to build their homes, as well as other materials laying around the shipyard. They also used leftover paint to decorate the iron (which is why there are squares of different colors of paint they would use the leftovers, run out, then use other leftovers). ...continue reading "La Boca"

The Power of One Priest in a Revolutionary Aymara Stronghold

AdminNovember 7, 2012December 14, 2018

By hwscott

Two days ago, I gave my ISP presentation proposal in front of the other students in the program, my professors, and other SIT La Paz community members. I am now officially in my Independent Study Project period, living on my own (not actually - still with my host family but with slightly different arrangements), and doing my research. I am researching a priest named Sebastian Obermaier, and his influence and perceptions of him in El Alto. So a lot has happened since my last post! ...continue reading "The Power of One Priest in a Revolutionary Aymara Stronghold"