Its after midnight in Buenos Aires. I am working on a paper based off a book I haven't finished yet. It's about (what else) yet another story of white people stealing land from Peruvian Indians and taking everything on it and following it up with employing those Indians on their own land and controling their customs and traditions. I am planning a spanish presentation for 8:15 am on Venezuela and Hugo Chavez at the same time the US is publicy expressing resent towards Chavez for his support of Eva Morales and the Bolivian government (and even at the same time that US is the number one buyer of Venezuelan oil). Right now, I am also reading a 15 page article about the exploitation of the physical cultural souvenirs that come to falsely define various indigenous groups. Meanwhile, all I feel is an angst to go out there and enjoy my last two weeks in Buenos Aires and a growing stomach over my belt. No more ham and cheese! No more desserts, please!
The past few weeks have been intense. Learning about the United States control over Latin American society, economy and mandating policies to keep these entities from advancing. Populism, nationalism . . . .what happened to the salsa-ism I was immersing myself in? There are Argentine farmers protesting, Bolivian people desperate for water, Paraguayan's dying for the land, the United States causing crashed economies and training dictators in the School of Americas (today called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). And all I can say when people ask me where I am from is that I am from California in hopes that people like us better (which has been usualy true by the way). I watched videos the other day of revolts in Argentina during the peso crisis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJgAXlRjb5Q). People lost all of their savings, and the government would not give them a reason why. The rich lucked out and had the opportunity to move funds, while to middle to poor classes just had empty pans to bang on and no food to cook in them. Police attacked protesters, riots broke out. . .all within one of the hippest shopping areas in Buenos Aires; right by the sidewalks I have walked on and the Subte I have ridden.
My maid told me today that she was from Cochabamba, Bolivia. Coincidentally, I just read an article last week on Cochabamba where a major water crisis occurred in 2000 after their water was privitized and taken over by a US Californian water company, hoping to make some extra profit off of desperate people. They raised prices on Bolivians, citizens of the poorest country in South America, up to 200% times the original amount within a month. She told me her son still lives there today, where they only get water in the morning for a few hours, and only 2 hours after 12, everyday. The government tries to explain to them that the city is too high in elevation to receive water, she explained. I guess the government forgot about the system improvements and dam they were suppossed to install. I guess they forgot that before they stole land from people and gave it to the Californian company, people for generations had successfully extracted water from that land for generations. Luckily, the great power of the people threw the private investor out, but now they are more desperate than ever for help over managing it, and the government won't increase funding for it.
My host mother keeps referring to the "la bolsa del mundo" (literally, the purse of the world, it refers to the world economy) and the rough state it currently stands in because of the U.S.'s problems bringing everyone down. What do I think now? Globalization, privitization, foreign investors, free-trade, Manifest Destiny, the Monroe Doctrine: have there been evil inteligent being composing the history of humans?
All I really wanted to do tonight was go to a Salsa class and a drum circle. I am in South America, with some of the warmest and exotic people there are to meet! Through all the demise and awful realities, I can't get this intensity out of my blood with everything I do. With a bright-eyed gleam, I keep meeting some of the coolest people. I get to do completely new things. I danced Tango last week. I rode horses in the Argentine countryside yesterday. I have been doing Yoga in Spanish the past couple of weeks. I speak a new language everyday. I am so happy here. I really love my time here. I am completely open for opportunity here and everyday is like a new book to read, a new plot to follow. Only two more weeks here, then off to encounter more cultures while solidifying my understanding for my own life back in California. Or should I stay? . . .
The past few weeks have been intense. Learning about the United States control over Latin American society, economy and mandating policies to keep these entities from advancing. Populism, nationalism . . . .what happened to the salsa-ism I was immersing myself in? There are Argentine farmers protesting, Bolivian people desperate for water, Paraguayan's dying for the land, the United States causing crashed economies and training dictators in the School of Americas (today called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). And all I can say when people ask me where I am from is that I am from California in hopes that people like us better (which has been usualy true by the way). I watched videos the other day of revolts in Argentina during the peso crisis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJgAXlRjb5Q). People lost all of their savings, and the government would not give them a reason why. The rich lucked out and had the opportunity to move funds, while to middle to poor classes just had empty pans to bang on and no food to cook in them. Police attacked protesters, riots broke out. . .all within one of the hippest shopping areas in Buenos Aires; right by the sidewalks I have walked on and the Subte I have ridden.
My maid told me today that she was from Cochabamba, Bolivia. Coincidentally, I just read an article last week on Cochabamba where a major water crisis occurred in 2000 after their water was privitized and taken over by a US Californian water company, hoping to make some extra profit off of desperate people. They raised prices on Bolivians, citizens of the poorest country in South America, up to 200% times the original amount within a month. She told me her son still lives there today, where they only get water in the morning for a few hours, and only 2 hours after 12, everyday. The government tries to explain to them that the city is too high in elevation to receive water, she explained. I guess the government forgot about the system improvements and dam they were suppossed to install. I guess they forgot that before they stole land from people and gave it to the Californian company, people for generations had successfully extracted water from that land for generations. Luckily, the great power of the people threw the private investor out, but now they are more desperate than ever for help over managing it, and the government won't increase funding for it.
My host mother keeps referring to the "la bolsa del mundo" (literally, the purse of the world, it refers to the world economy) and the rough state it currently stands in because of the U.S.'s problems bringing everyone down. What do I think now? Globalization, privitization, foreign investors, free-trade, Manifest Destiny, the Monroe Doctrine: have there been evil inteligent being composing the history of humans?
All I really wanted to do tonight was go to a Salsa class and a drum circle. I am in South America, with some of the warmest and exotic people there are to meet! Through all the demise and awful realities, I can't get this intensity out of my blood with everything I do. With a bright-eyed gleam, I keep meeting some of the coolest people. I get to do completely new things. I danced Tango last week. I rode horses in the Argentine countryside yesterday. I have been doing Yoga in Spanish the past couple of weeks. I speak a new language everyday. I am so happy here. I really love my time here. I am completely open for opportunity here and everyday is like a new book to read, a new plot to follow. Only two more weeks here, then off to encounter more cultures while solidifying my understanding for my own life back in California. Or should I stay? . . .
Creepy results of American Imperialism and Globalization spotted in Argentina these past few weeks. . .
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