Monday, May 26, 2008
disneylandia
Disneylandia
Jorge Drexler
Hijo de inmigrantes rusos casado en Argentina con una pintora judía, se casa por segunda vez con una princesa africana en Méjico.
Música hindú contrabandeada por gitanos polacos se vuelve un éxito en el interior de Bolivia.
Cebras africanas y canguros australianos en el zoológico de Londres.
Momias egipcias y artefactos incas en el Museo de Nueva York.
Linternas japonesas y chicles americanos en los bazares coreanos de San Pablo.
Imágenes de un volcán en Filipinas salen en la red de televisión de Mozambique.
Armenios naturalizados en Chile buscan a sus familiares en Etiopía.
Casas prefabricadas canadienses hechas con madera colombiana.
Multinacionales japonesas instalan empresas en Hong-Kong y producen con materia prima brasilera para competir en el mercado americano.
Literatura griega adaptada para niños chinos de la Comunidad Europea.
Relojes suizos falsificados en Paraguay vendidos por camellos en el barrio mejicano de Los Ángeles.
Turista francesa fotografiada semidesnuda con su novio árabe en el barrio de Chueca.
Pilas americanas alimentan electrodomésticos ingleses en Nueva Guinea.
Gasolina árabe alimenta automóviles americanos en África del Sur.
Pizza italiana alimenta italianos en Italia.
Niños iraquíes huídos de la guerra no obtienen visa en el consulado americano de Egipto para entrar en Disneylandia.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
people of the land
Similar to the history of Native Americans in the United States as well as all of Latin America, the Mapuche had been living on the land for thousands of years before the arrival of the European conquistadores (in this case, Spanish). Their territory stretched from Buenos Aires to the glaciers at the southern tip of the continent up to current day Santiago. They were in general a peaceful hunter gatherer people, though out of all the indigenous people of Latin America, the Mapuche resisted the Spanish colonialization the longest, up until about 200 years ago. Over the years, their vast territory has slowly been taken from them, and now the majority reside in the southern region (VIII and XI regions) of Chile near Temuco. The Mapuche region is absolutely beautiful. The land, situated between the two mountain regions in Chile - the Andes and the mountains on the Coast - is extremely fertile, and one quickly loses oneself in the midst of the rolling hills and timberlands.
The family with whom I stayed were a young couple in the 30s with an 8 year old son named Matias (Matthew) and a baby on the way. They live about a 30 minute walk into the countryside from the local elementary school where we reunited everyday to visit with the Mapuche students and learn about intercultural education. I enjoyed the escape from the pace and pollution of Santiago to a more simple life in the countryside, falling asleep to the sound of silence and waking with the rooster´s crow, eating organically cultivated honey and fruit and veggies from their farm (as they are a subsistance farming people) and spending the afternoons relaxing with the family or sitting in a open field, taking in everything.
After this past week I have a deeper awareness of the importance of preserving and appreciating indigenous cultures such as that of the Mapuche, who are so often overlooked as backwards or behind the times from the lens of more "modern societies." Despite the struggles these people face, in regards to the loss of their land and cultural identity with globalization and neoliberalism, they have a resilience about them that stems from the centuries long fight they have led against colonial subjection and subjugation. Experiencing their beautiful culture firsthand has kindled something somewhat reslient within me as well, a rejection of the notion that one culture is somehow better than another because of its gunpower. Furthermore, despite what some may consider a rudimentary lifestyle, the respect the Mapuche have for the land is something our modern societies could learn more than a thing or two from... to take from the earth only what we need and replenish/honor it to me is far from a backwards idea, and I have a feeling that in the decades to come with the growing global energy crisis, the practices of these so-called archaic cultures will prove to be more of an objective truth than once previously supposed.
Monday, March 3, 2008
thomas merton
This afternoon I suddenly saw the meaning of my American destiny -- one of those moments when many unrelated pieces of one's life and thought fall into place in a great unity towards which one has been growing.
My destiny is indeed to be an American -- not just an American of the United States. We are only on the fringe of the true America. I can never be satisfied with this only partial reality that is almost nothing at all, that is so little that it is like a few words written in chalk on a blackboard, easily rubbed out.
I have never so keenly felt the impermanence of what is now regarded as American because it is North American and the elements of stability and permanence which are in South America. Deeper roots, Indian roots. The Spanish, Portuguese, Negro roots also. The shallow English roots are not deep enough. The tree will fall.
To be an American of the Andes -- containing in myself also Kentucky and New York. But New York is not, and never will be, really America. America is much bigger and deeper and more complex than that -- America is still an undiscovered continent.
Thomas Merton. A Search for Solitude. Edited by Lawrence S. Cunningham (San Francisco, HarperSanFrancisco, 1996): 168.
Monday, February 18, 2008
andean silhouettes, melbec, and the tango
Santiago
la feria artesanal
One of the coolest things I have been able to do in Chile was during my stay in Concepcion, working in an international artisan festival. A few weeks long during every summer, this gathering attracts artists from around South and Central America, as well as Africa and Europe. I met artists from Brazil, instrument makers and musicians from Bolivia, llama and alpaca weavers, painters and artisans of wood and cuero (leather) work from Peru and central Chile, as well as glass blowers from Santiago and the surrounding areas. Upon seeing the stand from Mexico, I quickly let out a grito and ran over to see the familiar ostrich skin boots, ponchos, and pictures of Pancho Villa and Frida Kahlo for sale. I am slowly starting to realize here, in this Latin American context, how much the Mexican (or TexMex) heritage is a part of my identity… I miss my salsa and tortillas, las mananitas and images of la Virgen de Guadalupe!
Pardon my nostalgic digression… while strolling through the artisan fair one day, I ran into a friend I made my first day in Chile while we painted a house together in the neighborhood where the sisters live. She was working with a friend from Nicaragua, and invited me to hang out with them a few days… a few days of “hanging out” turned into helping work at the Nicaragua booth for about a week, and I absolutely loved it! I helped in vending handmade blusas, macas (hammocks) and delicately painted crosses, and made frequent runs to the end of the park to buy freshly fried churros and fresh fruit juice to reward ourselves for our “hard work.”
I loved the busy atmosphere at the fair - the music mixing messily in the background from the different countries, the sounds of babies laughing or crying in their strollers or on the shoulders of their papas, the accents of the people we conversed with who passing by the post, their beautiful exotic features distinct from the people of my homeland. On missions to the food stand, I loved to walk around and see all of the beautiful and distinct types of art, purchasing a few things here and there for family and friends back home, but most of all I enjoyed talking with the artisans themselves and learning their stories. One man I met was a descendent of the Mapuches, the largest indigenous group here in Chile, who was selling beautifully crafted silver jewelry in styles that his ancestors have worn for generations. Another was a couple of sisters from Brazil, who were selling handmade table cloths and dresses, whose Brazilian accents as they spoke Spanish encouraged me even more so to study Portuguese after I master Spanish, whenever that may be. When the festival ended, I stayed with a friend at her apartment for a few days, heading to el centro in the afternoons, to walk through the central plaza or the marketplace and marveling at the street vendors. Midweek I loaded up my bags and headed by bus to my final destination until June, the capital of Chile, Santiago.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
fotos
more to come soon!
Con Cariño,
Maddy
http://picasaweb.google.com/mnwatkins