A polite and harnessed yellow Labrador uncertainly leads a woman in dark sunglasses into the metro car. I watch from my corner as hands, young and old, reach out reflexively to guide the woman into a seat, gently holding her hands, elbows, shoulders.
Four young teen skaters board the metro car, grinning in anticipation of future cityscape conquests. They greet a latecomer with a pointed glance at his spotless new shoes, eyebrows raised over glittering eyes. The latecomer responds with a proud nod, shifting his right shoe so that the coveted brand is visible: VANS.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Culture of Jealousy
Chileans tend to be jealous couples, and the phrase: "tengo polola celosa" (I have a jealous girlfriend) is frequently heard.
I spoke with my aunt about the way Chileans express love, and she related to me that she's also been met with the expectation that affection is partitioned unequally. Love here isn't totally unconditional, she explained, it's tied to performing certain actions - such as being a respectful and obedient child. There is also the notion that people only have limited amounts of love, and therefore one must defend their relationship, and allotted love, from others.
On my commute to school, I'm daily met with a TVN Chile sponsored poster for the show "Say what they will" that features a smiling woman in her 30's with the caption: "I think I love one child more than the other." Needless to say, I think that this poster would be viscerally rejected in the U.S., given U.S. ideals of equality (and boundless love.)
I spoke with my aunt about the way Chileans express love, and she related to me that she's also been met with the expectation that affection is partitioned unequally. Love here isn't totally unconditional, she explained, it's tied to performing certain actions - such as being a respectful and obedient child. There is also the notion that people only have limited amounts of love, and therefore one must defend their relationship, and allotted love, from others.
On my commute to school, I'm daily met with a TVN Chile sponsored poster for the show "Say what they will" that features a smiling woman in her 30's with the caption: "I think I love one child more than the other." Needless to say, I think that this poster would be viscerally rejected in the U.S., given U.S. ideals of equality (and boundless love.)
Simple Cross-border Civil Disobedience
Russian youth movement activist admits to 2007 hacker attack on Estonia websites
Interfax
Interfax
Moscow, 12 March: A commissar of the Nashi youth movement, Konstantin Goloskokov, has said that he personally took part in an attack on the websites of Estonian government structures in spring 2007.
"This was done by me, my acquaintances and friends - an initiative group. But it was not a hacker attack but a classical action of civil disobedience," Goloskokov told Interfax on Thursday (12 March).
http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/2009-51-43.cfm
Thursday, March 19, 2009
World News Curiosities
Has the meaning of "Al Qaeda" entered common English knowledge? Twice in the past week I've read simply "Qaeda," which indicates that the news reporter found using "al" ("the" in arabic) grammatically incorrect or unnecessary.
Most recently, an article in yesterday's NYTimes: US Weighs Taliban Strike into Pakistan:
"Several administration and military officials stressed that they continued to prod the Pakistani military to take the lead in a more aggressive campaign to root out Taliban and Qaeda fighters who are attacking American forces in Afghanistan and increasingly destabilizing nuclear-armed Pakistan."
I'm incredibly confused, as seems to be the rest of the world, including Madagascar, on this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/world/africa/18madagascar.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Most recently, an article in yesterday's NYTimes: US Weighs Taliban Strike into Pakistan:
"Several administration and military officials stressed that they continued to prod the Pakistani military to take the lead in a more aggressive campaign to root out Taliban and Qaeda fighters who are attacking American forces in Afghanistan and increasingly destabilizing nuclear-armed Pakistan."
I'm incredibly confused, as seems to be the rest of the world, including Madagascar, on this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/world/africa/18madagascar.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
University life
I have class four days a week. Only on Tuesdays and Thursdays must I brave the sardine can metro rush. The hot, humid air rises to meet you as you descend the stairs into the station, and the only respite is the breeze pushed through by incoming trains. I´m told it´s worse in the winter. It´s a 40 minute trip in total, given that I have to change train lines. I´m consistently impressed with the cleanliness and general comfort of the metro system, but it is rather shocking to be squashed into the train - I don´t even need to walk into the train car, the crowd will carry me in.
Mornings are chilly here, quite pleasant compared to the incessant sun of the afternoons.
My courses:
-Intercultural Communication between Asia and Latin America: A course taught in English, which is rather unfortunate given I would like to learn the subject matter in Spanish. The 20 students are mostly from the Engineering department, and are taking the class mainly to practice their language skills. It is nevertheless interesting to see how the material is taught, and how the students respond to it. The course is apparently attractive to international students - there are 5 in attendance. The department head who approved my registration in the course was clearly miffed by this, lamenting that courses specially designed to practice english language were being filled up by foreigners. I´m not sure why she´s surprised, however, given the subject of the course. I believe it´s the first time this topic has been covered at the Católica; I´m not sure about other universities.
- Culture and Latin American Society: We haven´t really gotten started with this one yet. The professor, like most other professors I´ve seen teaching here, goes off onto frequent eloquent and mostly irrelevant tangents.
-Chilean Culture for foreigners: the class starts next Monday.
- Armed Conflict and the Politics of Humanitarian Work: This course is taught by likely one of Católica´s best professors. The course is fast paced, (I hear that some of the other foreigners have trouble keeping up,) and to my mind, very interesting. You might be surprised to know that almost 98% of our numerous readings are in English. (In fact I´ve become exceedingly grateful that I study international relations in the US, as opposed to in another nonEnglish-speaking country. Almost all of the material in the field is in English, and the variety of courses one can take (At AU) in specific areas, such as humanitarian work, peace studies, environment and war, etc, is unparalleled here. In any case, I will return to the States able to carry on an extensive conversation about the definition of conflict and the nuances of conducting humanitarian efforts.
Other tidbits:
-Printing!! I have no printer at my residence, and so I must resort to printing at the U. There are computing centers, (at which I have currently usurped a station,) and to print one must bring paper. First you select and send your document to be printed. Then you study greek history, or teach yourself Latin, while you wait in line. The printer itself is under the strict and unwavering control of an attendant, to whom you must pass your paper when you are given the priviledge, and then you "unlock" your document from another computer so that it prints immediately onto your personal white paper (which by this point is creased from living in your backpack). As you can see, it is a highly efficient system. In fact, I have never ever seen printers or copiers for free use in Chile - they are always attended by an intermediary attendant. You yourself, as an unworthy being, cannot occupy the printer or copier, lest the machine takes a disliking to you and breaks a cartridge.
-Obtaining readings for classes: In contrast to the US, where students are expected to shell out impressive sums of money to spend 5 months of exclusive time with a shiny new textbook, Chile has developed a different system. Chilean students are simply not expected to have the resources to buy books. (There is also a 20% tax on books here, if I´m not mistaken.) So instead the professor sends the course material to one of many small copy officies scattered around the university campus: "fotocopiadoras." Students go to these officies and pay around 20 pesos a page for the copies of the readings. I still haven´t figured out whether or not this system operates in blatant or just mild disregard for copyright law. But it´s quite useful given the structural difficulties in printing. The fotocopiadoras, are, however, also a good place to begin learning Latin.
On an unrelated note, I´ve recently realized that being vegetarian in Chile means that you´re trying to lose weight. (As if cutting down on protein would be a good or effective way to lose weight.) So my receipts for veggie food (which rather resemble rabbit food at the university, since I settle for a salad with tomatoes, corn, peas, a hardboiled egg, and some fresh cheese, and some rice) all read "Low Calorie."
I´ve additionally worked out my schedule so that I can practice soccer several times a week. I don´t have any fields near me, so I´m obliged to metro down to the University to play, but the gym changing rooms and showers make this easier. I´m continually met with surprise: You play soccer!?!?! But you´re a girl! I considered trying out for the team here, but I wasn´t willing to have soccer take over my life in Chile. The team requires a commitment of 3 hours four days a week, including Friday evening. So for now I simply kick the ball around on my own, and needless to say, juggle a lot. It´s highly unlikely that I´ll find other girls to scrimmage or practice with, but maybe I´ll eventually be invited into a pichanga.
Mornings are chilly here, quite pleasant compared to the incessant sun of the afternoons.
My courses:
-Intercultural Communication between Asia and Latin America: A course taught in English, which is rather unfortunate given I would like to learn the subject matter in Spanish. The 20 students are mostly from the Engineering department, and are taking the class mainly to practice their language skills. It is nevertheless interesting to see how the material is taught, and how the students respond to it. The course is apparently attractive to international students - there are 5 in attendance. The department head who approved my registration in the course was clearly miffed by this, lamenting that courses specially designed to practice english language were being filled up by foreigners. I´m not sure why she´s surprised, however, given the subject of the course. I believe it´s the first time this topic has been covered at the Católica; I´m not sure about other universities.
- Culture and Latin American Society: We haven´t really gotten started with this one yet. The professor, like most other professors I´ve seen teaching here, goes off onto frequent eloquent and mostly irrelevant tangents.
-Chilean Culture for foreigners: the class starts next Monday.
- Armed Conflict and the Politics of Humanitarian Work: This course is taught by likely one of Católica´s best professors. The course is fast paced, (I hear that some of the other foreigners have trouble keeping up,) and to my mind, very interesting. You might be surprised to know that almost 98% of our numerous readings are in English. (In fact I´ve become exceedingly grateful that I study international relations in the US, as opposed to in another nonEnglish-speaking country. Almost all of the material in the field is in English, and the variety of courses one can take (At AU) in specific areas, such as humanitarian work, peace studies, environment and war, etc, is unparalleled here. In any case, I will return to the States able to carry on an extensive conversation about the definition of conflict and the nuances of conducting humanitarian efforts.
Other tidbits:
-Printing!! I have no printer at my residence, and so I must resort to printing at the U. There are computing centers, (at which I have currently usurped a station,) and to print one must bring paper. First you select and send your document to be printed. Then you study greek history, or teach yourself Latin, while you wait in line. The printer itself is under the strict and unwavering control of an attendant, to whom you must pass your paper when you are given the priviledge, and then you "unlock" your document from another computer so that it prints immediately onto your personal white paper (which by this point is creased from living in your backpack). As you can see, it is a highly efficient system. In fact, I have never ever seen printers or copiers for free use in Chile - they are always attended by an intermediary attendant. You yourself, as an unworthy being, cannot occupy the printer or copier, lest the machine takes a disliking to you and breaks a cartridge.
-Obtaining readings for classes: In contrast to the US, where students are expected to shell out impressive sums of money to spend 5 months of exclusive time with a shiny new textbook, Chile has developed a different system. Chilean students are simply not expected to have the resources to buy books. (There is also a 20% tax on books here, if I´m not mistaken.) So instead the professor sends the course material to one of many small copy officies scattered around the university campus: "fotocopiadoras." Students go to these officies and pay around 20 pesos a page for the copies of the readings. I still haven´t figured out whether or not this system operates in blatant or just mild disregard for copyright law. But it´s quite useful given the structural difficulties in printing. The fotocopiadoras, are, however, also a good place to begin learning Latin.
On an unrelated note, I´ve recently realized that being vegetarian in Chile means that you´re trying to lose weight. (As if cutting down on protein would be a good or effective way to lose weight.) So my receipts for veggie food (which rather resemble rabbit food at the university, since I settle for a salad with tomatoes, corn, peas, a hardboiled egg, and some fresh cheese, and some rice) all read "Low Calorie."
I´ve additionally worked out my schedule so that I can practice soccer several times a week. I don´t have any fields near me, so I´m obliged to metro down to the University to play, but the gym changing rooms and showers make this easier. I´m continually met with surprise: You play soccer!?!?! But you´re a girl! I considered trying out for the team here, but I wasn´t willing to have soccer take over my life in Chile. The team requires a commitment of 3 hours four days a week, including Friday evening. So for now I simply kick the ball around on my own, and needless to say, juggle a lot. It´s highly unlikely that I´ll find other girls to scrimmage or practice with, but maybe I´ll eventually be invited into a pichanga.
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