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..??"