Last week Gordon Brown was in Brasil visiting and just the day he arrived, President Lula made a public statement declaring that it is due to greedy blue-eyed, blonde-haired Westerners that Brasil is suffering from the economic crisis hoy dia.
This was a gutsy statement, although true, to make - specifically when the description fits pretty well PM Gordon Brown. Did Lula speak without thinking of the possible repercussions or do we need more people denounce publicy what is already well-known and unsaid..?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Some vacation time
Here is an email I sent out to friends and fam March 22:
I just arrived back to Fortaleza yesterday from a vacation that began last Wednesday night. I traveled to Canoa Quebrada, a beach town, with some others where we rented out a small house (good connections work out great;). The number of people inhabiting that space was quite substantial... we had at least four hammocks hung, people sleeping on floor mats, and others taking advantage of large bed space by scrunching bodies onto the mattresses. The only somewhat noticeable air flow was via open windows. More than that, the flies are undeniably attracted to sticky, beach-worn, street-exploring skin. On small budgets and flexible mindsets, we made communal meals and specifically went for the cheap, quick-to-boil carbohydrates (aka pasta)... We did agree, though, that guacamole was a necessity. After all these weeks of reminiscing about the splendidness of avocado back home, guacamole was made and devoured. I should mention that it has been largely brought to our attention via our homestay families that avocado is a fruit, although it is treated like a vegetable in the US. For the majority of Brasilians whom I know here, to even think of mixing salt with avocado is strongly distasteful. Here, avocado is used to make juice, ice cream, and it is also cut open in order to be doused with sugar and eaten as so. Yes - quite the difference. I had to laugh when my grandmother here outwardly scoffed and walked away as she saw me pouring salt into my smashed avocados as I was making guacamole for my host family to try. PS my dad and aunt Jackie love it - got ´em;)
Anyway so live music was ever-present in Canoa... we ate our last meal there with the tunes of even Michael Jackson seeping through the open windows (Brasilian man eloquently singing ´Billy Jean´). Saturday was ótimo (awesome) - via another connection some friends and I got to go out on a small, wooden sailboat for free. At our farthest point out we were given the ´ok´ to jump out and float. It was pretty amazing to be at that depth with the ocean, feeling the rhythm of the waves in a totally unique way. When we returned back to shore, a Colombian couple came upon us and we chatted with them for a while, later buying some jewelry they were selling. Spanish was so refreshing to hear! It is pretty great to realize all the people you meet when going on spontaneous excursions like this... One of my favorite aspects is hearing where people have been in their lives, what they have encountered, and how they have found different, alternative ways to sustain themselves throughout these processes... this Colombian couple had come from Medellín to Venezuela and then finally to Brasil (which will not be their last stop). It is so interesting to see this bartering, ´troca´ (exchange) process of business being lived out... alternative options from using hard cash - people relying on people in good faith and supporting one another without fully knowing each other (especially when looking for a place to sleep and eat).
Soon it was time for sunset, so we headed to the sand dunes. A friend´s sister here brought out her sand board for us to try out... gliding down the steep sand hills on something like a mini snowboard. I would say it went pretty well. Then a guy from Salvador, Bahia, with whom we became acquainted earlier, brought over his guitar and we sang/played out some Hootie and the Blowfish and Bob Marley. The night took us into the morning all while enjoying a reggae fest on the beach. It was pretty surreal to look up into a deep sky where stars were so prevalent, seeing the ocean and its waves washing in at the bottom of your eyes, and hear the reggae beat in the background.
Events coming up this week: visit to and stay with the MST (Movimento Sem Terra).
More to come.
PS I have to drop this in quick--- My experiences here thus far with SIT have been unique and very special with much value, but the [Augsburg] Center for Global Education has something understood - it has something not able to be fully worded-out that very very few other programs have. I personally have much authentic saudade for CGE and moreover for its professors, leaders, and mentors.
I hope everyone is doing so well and I want to congratulate and send out all my love to my brother, Luke, and new sister-in-law, Abby, on their marriage.
I just arrived back to Fortaleza yesterday from a vacation that began last Wednesday night. I traveled to Canoa Quebrada, a beach town, with some others where we rented out a small house (good connections work out great;). The number of people inhabiting that space was quite substantial... we had at least four hammocks hung, people sleeping on floor mats, and others taking advantage of large bed space by scrunching bodies onto the mattresses. The only somewhat noticeable air flow was via open windows. More than that, the flies are undeniably attracted to sticky, beach-worn, street-exploring skin. On small budgets and flexible mindsets, we made communal meals and specifically went for the cheap, quick-to-boil carbohydrates (aka pasta)... We did agree, though, that guacamole was a necessity. After all these weeks of reminiscing about the splendidness of avocado back home, guacamole was made and devoured. I should mention that it has been largely brought to our attention via our homestay families that avocado is a fruit, although it is treated like a vegetable in the US. For the majority of Brasilians whom I know here, to even think of mixing salt with avocado is strongly distasteful. Here, avocado is used to make juice, ice cream, and it is also cut open in order to be doused with sugar and eaten as so. Yes - quite the difference. I had to laugh when my grandmother here outwardly scoffed and walked away as she saw me pouring salt into my smashed avocados as I was making guacamole for my host family to try. PS my dad and aunt Jackie love it - got ´em;)
Anyway so live music was ever-present in Canoa... we ate our last meal there with the tunes of even Michael Jackson seeping through the open windows (Brasilian man eloquently singing ´Billy Jean´). Saturday was ótimo (awesome) - via another connection some friends and I got to go out on a small, wooden sailboat for free. At our farthest point out we were given the ´ok´ to jump out and float. It was pretty amazing to be at that depth with the ocean, feeling the rhythm of the waves in a totally unique way. When we returned back to shore, a Colombian couple came upon us and we chatted with them for a while, later buying some jewelry they were selling. Spanish was so refreshing to hear! It is pretty great to realize all the people you meet when going on spontaneous excursions like this... One of my favorite aspects is hearing where people have been in their lives, what they have encountered, and how they have found different, alternative ways to sustain themselves throughout these processes... this Colombian couple had come from Medellín to Venezuela and then finally to Brasil (which will not be their last stop). It is so interesting to see this bartering, ´troca´ (exchange) process of business being lived out... alternative options from using hard cash - people relying on people in good faith and supporting one another without fully knowing each other (especially when looking for a place to sleep and eat).
Soon it was time for sunset, so we headed to the sand dunes. A friend´s sister here brought out her sand board for us to try out... gliding down the steep sand hills on something like a mini snowboard. I would say it went pretty well. Then a guy from Salvador, Bahia, with whom we became acquainted earlier, brought over his guitar and we sang/played out some Hootie and the Blowfish and Bob Marley. The night took us into the morning all while enjoying a reggae fest on the beach. It was pretty surreal to look up into a deep sky where stars were so prevalent, seeing the ocean and its waves washing in at the bottom of your eyes, and hear the reggae beat in the background.
Events coming up this week: visit to and stay with the MST (Movimento Sem Terra).
More to come.
PS I have to drop this in quick--- My experiences here thus far with SIT have been unique and very special with much value, but the [Augsburg] Center for Global Education has something understood - it has something not able to be fully worded-out that very very few other programs have. I personally have much authentic saudade for CGE and moreover for its professors, leaders, and mentors.
I hope everyone is doing so well and I want to congratulate and send out all my love to my brother, Luke, and new sister-in-law, Abby, on their marriage.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
reflections.
Yesterday was sincerely a refreshing day. I was challenged and I think it was a challenge that I innerly had been yearning for and NEEDING on this trip. I presented a visual ethnography and in it I featured my host sisters - Bia and Nany. Nany is actually my cousin, but she is like a sister.
The photo is so touching. I will actually attach it to this email right after I finish typing.
The ethnographic topic I focused in on was family and the different perceptions and treating of family on a world-wide (more specifically Brasilian-US base). Then I realized more that it would be better to make the topic more personal and rather than focus on the broad US-Brasil comparisons, I zoom-in on doing a case analysis, for example, with our family and my Brasilian family. It is intriguing to see the amount of extended families who live together here and/or who also live in such close proximity to one another (I'm talking like two houses or so away). I have also witnessed this in other Latin American countries. But then you take into account economic circumstances, solidaridous ties amongst family, definitions of "family" (are cousins defined as "extended family" to some or are they treated/referred to as "brother" "sister" in different homes?) Also to think about: privacy, respect -- I read a Chicago Tribune article the other day and it emphasized those two words when talking about extended family living with one another. According to the Times, 60 million Unitedstatesians have a grandparent living in their home... But then it went on to talk about how a lot of families choose to build on to their homes in order to have extra space and privacy... With my Brasilian family specifically, this is not an option. In order to get in to my room (which I share with my sister) I must walk through my parents' room (which is also my grandma's room, too) . And then how is communal space defined? How does putting up walls (literally) affect solidarity and communal relationships?
Ok, so I am not covering all that I detailed yesterday in my presentation but hopefully you can follow this mind madness. ..
One more thing on this note: How is the word 'family' defined by each member of my host family? What are the values and emotions people attach (or do not) attach to that word?
How is this in our nuclear family at home in the US?
It is so complex here to just begin to think about how not to speak with blanket, generalizing statements... We each are trying to grasp where it is that we are coming from and how those roots innately affect our perceptions of what we are seeing, living, learning, and analyzing here... It is simply reality now that one cannot say "We from the US..." --Because who is the "we"? An immigrant family from Latin America? An Asian, Black, White community??---And even in such 'communities' each person has their specific history, philosophies, perspectives, norms... Of course, "I statements" are very important... but to go further than that is what is key... And then also sometimes feeling like I don't have validity to make some statements because of my European-Scandivian origins... But then I think of mom--your stories about working across-culture throughout a large portion of your life and living in housing ... But then I also realize that I have experienced deep realizations and learning also across cultures, and I do have my own experiences and emotions tied in with those and those ARE valid... So how do we speak and open up vital, difficult dialogue without allowing the political correctness to hinder what needs to be said..??"
The photo is so touching. I will actually attach it to this email right after I finish typing.
The ethnographic topic I focused in on was family and the different perceptions and treating of family on a world-wide (more specifically Brasilian-US base). Then I realized more that it would be better to make the topic more personal and rather than focus on the broad US-Brasil comparisons, I zoom-in on doing a case analysis, for example, with our family and my Brasilian family. It is intriguing to see the amount of extended families who live together here and/or who also live in such close proximity to one another (I'm talking like two houses or so away). I have also witnessed this in other Latin American countries. But then you take into account economic circumstances, solidaridous ties amongst family, definitions of "family" (are cousins defined as "extended family" to some or are they treated/referred to as "brother" "sister" in different homes?) Also to think about: privacy, respect -- I read a Chicago Tribune article the other day and it emphasized those two words when talking about extended family living with one another. According to the Times, 60 million Unitedstatesians have a grandparent living in their home... But then it went on to talk about how a lot of families choose to build on to their homes in order to have extra space and privacy... With my Brasilian family specifically, this is not an option. In order to get in to my room (which I share with my sister) I must walk through my parents' room (which is also my grandma's room, too) . And then how is communal space defined? How does putting up walls (literally) affect solidarity and communal relationships?
Ok, so I am not covering all that I detailed yesterday in my presentation but hopefully you can follow this mind madness. ..
One more thing on this note: How is the word 'family' defined by each member of my host family? What are the values and emotions people attach (or do not) attach to that word?
How is this in our nuclear family at home in the US?
It is so complex here to just begin to think about how not to speak with blanket, generalizing statements... We each are trying to grasp where it is that we are coming from and how those roots innately affect our perceptions of what we are seeing, living, learning, and analyzing here... It is simply reality now that one cannot say "We from the US..." --Because who is the "we"? An immigrant family from Latin America? An Asian, Black, White community??---And even in such 'communities' each person has their specific history, philosophies, perspectives, norms... Of course, "I statements" are very important... but to go further than that is what is key... And then also sometimes feeling like I don't have validity to make some statements because of my European-Scandivian origins... But then I think of mom--your stories about working across-culture throughout a large portion of your life and living in housing ... But then I also realize that I have experienced deep realizations and learning also across cultures, and I do have my own experiences and emotions tied in with those and those ARE valid... So how do we speak and open up vital, difficult dialogue without allowing the political correctness to hinder what needs to be said..??"
Monday, March 16, 2009
!!!!!!ARRIBA EL SALVADOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mauricio Funes now will be the President of El Salvador, representing the FMLN. This win can be compared to Barack Obama´s win in the United States. Change has great potential to come in El Salvador and the people have now demanded it. ..
In the 2004 Salvadoran presidential elections, Bush threatened that if the FMLN would win, remittances to El Salvador (one of the top sources of income for the country) from the US would have the potential to be gravely undercut and the FMLN would not have the full support of the US. Now, with Barack, the US´ relationship with Latin America can mejorar mucho -- but we must be conscious of the US´ historical tendency to have Latin America as its ´backyard;´
In the 2004 Salvadoran presidential elections, Bush threatened that if the FMLN would win, remittances to El Salvador (one of the top sources of income for the country) from the US would have the potential to be gravely undercut and the FMLN would not have the full support of the US. Now, with Barack, the US´ relationship with Latin America can mejorar mucho -- but we must be conscious of the US´ historical tendency to have Latin America as its ´backyard;´
Growing in to Fortaleza
Right off the bat, some of my most memorable experiences have been on the ônibus - the public buses - here in Fortaleza. Whether it is flagging down the bus and then running to the back door in order to find yourself encompassed by pressing bodies, ready to jump your back in order to hop up the steps as the bus driver starts to rev-up and the bus threatens to chug forward (the threats are overwhelmingly acted upon)... Then when you finally pass the feat of making it onto the bus´ back flat platform, your hands anxiously reach for space on the well-worn hand rails as you try to calm your swinging bag that hangs uneasily from your shoulder... Within 30 seconds sweat is felt leaving its marks upon your skin and mixing with others´ around you, leaving you aching for the bus to rapidly speed up again so that you will receive at least a short blast of wind relief from the open windows... But then the time comes just too fast when the bus slows down at a sudden speed as if it was about to get in an accident... The embarassment of having to work your way through people (aka pushing your big backpack through first, following it with your clumsy body as you nervously try to grip anything/one solid in sight in order to act against the thwarting, unpredictable movements of the bus, continuously saying ´excuse me´ and many times ´sorry´ to those whom you are forced to squeeze through just to make it to the front of the bus for your 2.5 seconds to hop off)--yes, this embarassment doesn´t ease off too easily. But you do have the potential to learn how to become more assertive. ;) So this, my friends, has been daily in my life for these past weeks. But I subconsciously adore it. I love being able to navigate my own way to school and back via public transportation. Even just looking out the windows every day it is amazing what the city streets present to the eye...
The informal business sector fills nearly every block, being one of the main sources of Ceará´s employment. (Ceará is the state that encompasses Fortaleza city) Tapioca stands are a hit. This is not Western tapioca, mind you; this is typical Northeastern/tropics food. Tapioca is made out of manioc (yuca) and cassava starch and then butter is soaked into it before it is fried and rolled up... It makes for a chewy treat that is pretty light on the stomach. It´s easy to notice the many people the bus passes - a great deal doubled-up on bikes, avoiding the big puddles from the sometimes on-going rain... More to come about bus realizations...
So these past weeks have been filled with thoughts about the Independent Study Project that each person from the group will do near the conclusion of the program... I just handed in my proposal this morning - it feels nice to have that done but yet I know there is much, much more that I have to keep up on (esp. readings for research). I am planning on living in an alternative community in the interior of Bahia, Vale do Capão, where I will study the worldview and functioning of Lothlorien (a specific community there). I am interested in how these communities establish themselves outside of the mainstream capitalist system and furthermore how they work with earth, mind, body, spirit connections to foment community and health in sustainable and peaceful ways... living in coexistence with the land and positively utilizing its resources while at the same time returning the enrichment back into the land by such alternative ways of living. So lately I have been searching for good literature on alternative living/communities, nature-human connections, capitalism (which of course isnt as trying to find vast lit. on), etc...
This afternoon we had Linda M. P. Gondin, a Fortalezan sociologist who works with regional and urban planning, came in and talked for a couple hours with us. She had some interesting input on favela programs and planning...
The informal business sector fills nearly every block, being one of the main sources of Ceará´s employment. (Ceará is the state that encompasses Fortaleza city) Tapioca stands are a hit. This is not Western tapioca, mind you; this is typical Northeastern/tropics food. Tapioca is made out of manioc (yuca) and cassava starch and then butter is soaked into it before it is fried and rolled up... It makes for a chewy treat that is pretty light on the stomach. It´s easy to notice the many people the bus passes - a great deal doubled-up on bikes, avoiding the big puddles from the sometimes on-going rain... More to come about bus realizations...
So these past weeks have been filled with thoughts about the Independent Study Project that each person from the group will do near the conclusion of the program... I just handed in my proposal this morning - it feels nice to have that done but yet I know there is much, much more that I have to keep up on (esp. readings for research). I am planning on living in an alternative community in the interior of Bahia, Vale do Capão, where I will study the worldview and functioning of Lothlorien (a specific community there). I am interested in how these communities establish themselves outside of the mainstream capitalist system and furthermore how they work with earth, mind, body, spirit connections to foment community and health in sustainable and peaceful ways... living in coexistence with the land and positively utilizing its resources while at the same time returning the enrichment back into the land by such alternative ways of living. So lately I have been searching for good literature on alternative living/communities, nature-human connections, capitalism (which of course isnt as trying to find vast lit. on), etc...
This afternoon we had Linda M. P. Gondin, a Fortalezan sociologist who works with regional and urban planning, came in and talked for a couple hours with us. She had some interesting input on favela programs and planning...
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Independent Study Project
ISP - Independent Study Project. All students on this program here in Fortaleza (Ceará), Brasil, are currently preparing - or ´should´ be - for this. We will have three weeks to live on our own and study a topic that pulls us, that we are most interested in. Moreover the plan is not to simply study, but to integrate ourselves as much as possible and to develop deep connections and realizations with the focus our study. I am feeling blundered by this right now. What does that mean, anyway? Proposals are due this Friday. I am step-by-stepping (or trying) to work this out more.
Something beautiful
So some great things have been going on back at home since I´ve been gone in Brasil. This is bittersweet, even heartbreaking in some ways to realize, but at the same time it is joyous. For example, my brother just became a husband last Sunday. Wow. I finally got to see a couple of the wedding pictures today and I really could not believe that the man there was my brother.
I know, one would think right now--- Why were you, Annika, not at your own brother´s wedding?!!
Well, if only things were so simple... Let´s keep it short and say that my brother and I were pulled into two different life realities: me-Brasil, him-the Army.
But I can say whole-heartedly that my spirit was there with my family without a doubt.
How wonderful is it to know that someone you care about so dearly has opened themselves up to more love in life... yes.
I know, one would think right now--- Why were you, Annika, not at your own brother´s wedding?!!
Well, if only things were so simple... Let´s keep it short and say that my brother and I were pulled into two different life realities: me-Brasil, him-the Army.
But I can say whole-heartedly that my spirit was there with my family without a doubt.
How wonderful is it to know that someone you care about so dearly has opened themselves up to more love in life... yes.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Brasil Brasil...
Alright,
So today is the 7th day being in Brasil - Fortaleza, Ceara, Brasil... ! Bom dia (which is pronounced "bom geea")! PS, this different pronounciation has been quite a change for me... It sounds lusciously good, though.
The time here has been a bit of a blur, especially since yesterday we just started going out and around the city. Last night I met my host family and, of course, I tried my best to mix in the little Portuguese I know with my Spanish. Portunol, my family calls it;)
Of course the weather is beautiful, but in this beautifulness the humidity does show itself... and my Norwegian skin makes sure to detox via the sweat method... It's as if my body has forgotten how the cold feels ( I say this with a little hesitation, as I know MN is sure to bring its cold truth back to me).
I am with a group of 24 students and our first days here were spent in what we figured out to be a Catholic retreat center. The many Mary and Jesus images gave it away;) I guess the center rents out rooms to various groups like ours. But anyway, there were times when I felt like I was on the show Big Brother... because we did not leave the "compound" until Monday. A five day orientation will really get you, let me tell you.
Fortaleza is in northeastern Brasil, along the Atlantic coast. It is an extremely flat city with a population of approximately 2.4 million people. Fortaleza also lies only 4 degrees from the equator.
Historically, the neighborhood that I and many others from the group live in is one of, if not the largest, favelas in all of Latin America (a favela can be translated into "ghetto"). Although, one would not necessarily be able to tell this because the area is so spread out and not every plot of land would constitute as this.
My family is very warm and my pai (father) just brought me to the university this morning via the bus service.
We have to start class now but I send you all my love and I will try to write back asap. The internet is not as available here, as it was in Central Am.
Beijos,
Anni/ka
So today is the 7th day being in Brasil - Fortaleza, Ceara, Brasil... ! Bom dia (which is pronounced "bom geea")! PS, this different pronounciation has been quite a change for me... It sounds lusciously good, though.
The time here has been a bit of a blur, especially since yesterday we just started going out and around the city. Last night I met my host family and, of course, I tried my best to mix in the little Portuguese I know with my Spanish. Portunol, my family calls it;)
Of course the weather is beautiful, but in this beautifulness the humidity does show itself... and my Norwegian skin makes sure to detox via the sweat method... It's as if my body has forgotten how the cold feels ( I say this with a little hesitation, as I know MN is sure to bring its cold truth back to me).
I am with a group of 24 students and our first days here were spent in what we figured out to be a Catholic retreat center. The many Mary and Jesus images gave it away;) I guess the center rents out rooms to various groups like ours. But anyway, there were times when I felt like I was on the show Big Brother... because we did not leave the "compound" until Monday. A five day orientation will really get you, let me tell you.
Fortaleza is in northeastern Brasil, along the Atlantic coast. It is an extremely flat city with a population of approximately 2.4 million people. Fortaleza also lies only 4 degrees from the equator.
Historically, the neighborhood that I and many others from the group live in is one of, if not the largest, favelas in all of Latin America (a favela can be translated into "ghetto"). Although, one would not necessarily be able to tell this because the area is so spread out and not every plot of land would constitute as this.
My family is very warm and my pai (father) just brought me to the university this morning via the bus service.
We have to start class now but I send you all my love and I will try to write back asap. The internet is not as available here, as it was in Central Am.
Beijos,
Anni/ka
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