Augie Globalog

Change is unavoidable. It can be good, it can be bad, it can be both. The key to change is whether you resist it or welcome it.

I know I have welcomed changed on this trip, but how? I can do my best to answer now, but at this moment I don’t feel I can give a complete answer. Trying to figure out everything that’s different about me, I think, will take spending a while back at home and being reminded of what life was like before I left. It’s like when you walk away from a conversation and think of the perfect thing to say a couple hours later. That kind of realization comes from hindsight, but this blog doesn’t continue into the rest of this year. Therefore, I will do my best to try and delve into what I can see at this moment in time that has transformed within me.

Before coming to Latin America, I had never been out of the United States. I had never seen or climbed mountains. I had never spoken Spanish. I had never lived with a family that wasn’t my own. I had never experienced first-hand a different culture. I had never dreamed that I could actually go places I had only seen to do things I had only heard about. I had never eaten guinea pig. Check, Check, check… My bucket list will be significantly shorter after this.

All of these experiences, and so many more, have made me feel quite small, which doesn’t happen that often to a 5’11” female. However, it hasn’t been so much the places and activities that made me feel like this, but meeting the people. I had never put life into this perspective coming from my small farm town and going to a dominantly white private school in the Midwest. Because of all these people that I’ve met and gotten to know, the one thing that I already know has changed for me personally has been an increased sense of understanding…not just of other cultures, but of myself as well.

I knew little to nothing about Latin America or the culture before coming here, and now know a great deal, including how people here live. They place much less emphasis on materialistic goods and instead invest in relationships with families and communities. I’ve learned that this culture is extremely laid back and the people here live together as a community, not as individuals. I’ve also learned about myself and how to be patient, which is a big feat since I am naturally a very impatient person in most cases. I’ve learned that I really do like home despite how much I tend to complain about it sometimes.

I understand now not just how others live their lives, but why. It has made me start to question my own motives for how I live my life and whether they are rational or legitimate. Some of my decisions, I find, are rather empty of reason. This is my senior year of college, and I’m realizing because of this trip that I’ve been going through the motions up until this point. I understand that I started college without a purpose except that going to college is what was expected of me. I’ve been planning on going on to graduate school, but is that what I want? Meeting and learning about people in South America makes me see the bigger picture on what kinds of motives should fuel my choices. People here consider their friends, family, and what would make them happy, not necessarily what will make them the most successful in other’s eyes. This reminds me of my host brother Paúl from Ecuador, who would do anything for his family. I could tell that he was genuinely happy putting his family first and that he was going to college because he had a purpose and wanted to learn. He wanted to be successful for personal pride and to help his family, not to impress others.

The people I’ve met aren’t so caught up in the fast-paced U.S. culture, but instead take the time to smell the roses. After this, I don’t think I’ll be taking as much for granted when I get home. I see how the people here treat each other and it has affected me deeply. Now I have more initiative to go out and find what it is I want my own to life to mean to me and how I should live it without major societal influences telling me what to do. I haven’t necessarily figured out my place in the world yet, but being here is inspiring me to reevaluate where that place should be according to the bigger picture. I am fully welcoming this change within me, and it is a lesson I will carry with me the rest of my life.

Posted on November 2nd, 2009 by angela-baumgartner
Filed under: Angela Baumgartner, Latin America | No Comments »

By the beginning of October we’d been traveling around South America for over a month and so far everything had been vastly different from the United States. None of the major stores, products, restaurants, or fast food places have been spotted, except for the occasional McDonalds, Coca-cola, Doritos, and Oreos. Whenever we would see something familiar we would be surprised and excited since we’ve been away from the U.S. for so long. This got to the point where people were willing to pay over $2 for a Snickers candy bar when the local candy sitting next to it was 50 cents.

Then we came to Lima, Peru. It was so much like the U.S. it was weird. I was put off by the cities resemblance to southern California right on the Pacific Ocean.  It still had some of the characteristics of the South American cities that we had grown accustomed to, but it was so…Americanized. There was a mall near our hotel with Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Chili’s, etc all lined up one right after another. The clothing stores looked exactly like stores back in the U.S. Our hotel had outlets with the correct voltage for our U.S. electronics and we were given menus in English. It felt like being home again, but it felt odd because I knew I wasn’t.

Why is it that culture of the U.S. has such a big influence on other nations? How did we become this big powerhouse of a nation where success and wealth meant being like us? We get these stereotypes of being snobbish, messy, and greedy by people in other countries, yet they sometimes wish to emulate us, like in Lima. It sort of has the feel of the stereotypical captain of the high school cheerleading team—you hated her but still wanted to be like her.

After spending some time in South America I am starting to see why perhaps these countries value being like us instead of wanting to retain their own culture (this seems to only apply to large cities). I’ve found in South America a greater importance in family and being happy where you are; here they just want to survive. In U.S. culture we have greater value placed upon having wealth, success, and power and are constantly trying to get ahead materialistically. The media outlets of the U.S. have grown so powerful that images of what it’s like to live here are spreading out to other countries, and they see how we live and they start to want that too. It’s the outside influence that the U.S. places on countries of South America that makes them think that perhaps they shouldn’t just be happy with family and happiness but need more money and material goods like us instead. They see that life can be different and naively think it must be better since our nation is so powerful economically, politically, and technologically. I witnessed this In Ecuador where it meant a higher social status if people wore clothing from the U.S. This was because clothing from the U.S. was much more expensive, so if you were able to afford it, you had more money.

Yet there are people in these countries that don’t like people from the U.S. I suspect that for the most part it is the older generations that tend to not like people from the U.S. while the younger generations try to be more like us.  I believe the older people in these countries see how materialistic we can be and don’t like it, while the younger folk are more impressionable and instead of disliking us want to be like us because of the media influence.  It is also the case that different people have had different experiences with people from the U.S., whether they are good or bad. I think when people of South America have bad experiences with those from the U.S. they generalize by what country they are from instead of other influential characteristics of that person.

I do, however, have hope for a better future not only for South America, but for a better relationship between South American countries and the U.S.

Posted on November 2nd, 2009 by angela-baumgartner
Filed under: Angela Baumgartner, Latin America | No Comments »

¡Hola from España!

Classes officially ended last week…and now we´ve got free time to travel. So…

Alex, Joe, and I thought it would be fun to go to yet another country where we don´t speak the language: SPAIN!

Barcelona is amazing. The weather is perhaps the best part. It has been about 70+ degrees each day we´ve been here and sunny. Coming from the frigid Wittenberg climate, we of course all packed the wrong clothes and have plenty of long-sleeves and pants to last us until next Winter…but not a single pair of shorts, or–perhaps worse–FLIP FLOPS!

Anyway…our flight landed in Barcelona at around noon on Friday. It took us  F O R E V E R to figure out the train and subway system here. We finally figured it out and what should have taken us about 40 minutes to get to the city and our hostel took about 2 1/2 hours. Alas, we arrived and are enjoying ourselves.

Our first night here, we went out to eat and enjoyed some Sangria (wine with fruit slices) and Paella. Traditional Spanish! It was really delicious, but a bit pricey; the three of us dropped €72 for this meal. Yikes! It was well worth it, though.

We´ve seen plenty here. Including the cathedral de la Sagrada Familia, which has been under construction since the late 1800s; Park Guell; and a castle in Park Montjuic. We´ve yet to be disappointed by anything so far. The highlight of today has to be the hour we spent on the beach. It´s November 1st and we were sitting on a beach in Spain and even getting our feet wet in the Mediterranean! Indescrible.

Well…I better get going now, we´re going to a Tapas bar for dinner and maybe a stroll through town.

hasta luego — Louie

Posted on November 1st, 2009 by louie-bertenshaw
Filed under: Germany, Louie Bertenshaw | No Comments »

It’s officially 12:05 am and I’m ready to celebrate the end of the Challenge by logging onto Facebook for the first time in a week (I kind of wanted a Big Mac, but it’s a little late right now… tomorrow?).  Before I go anywhere, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the past week.

In the last seven days, I’ve been to Mexico City, seen a Ballet performance and an Orchestra Concert, hung out in my new favorite cafe overlooking the Zocalo, eaten Tostadas, Tamales, Quesadillas, and lots of Tortillas, visted the artisan market and talked with my host-nietos and some high school teachers from Cuernavaca.

In the last seven days, I have not: Eaten at McDonalds (even though it was our bathroom break and you had to buy something to use the restroom), been on Facebook, Twitter, or any other American site (Save research for my history paper and email. It’s easy enough when Google only gives you Spanish results anyway), watched any American programming (novelas are way cooler), nor have I purchased OR consumed, any American snacks (ahem… Dr. Bertsche).

In the last seven days, I’ve learned a lot about myself and where I’ve come from. I’ve noticed a lot of the Mexican customs that are familiar to me, but a little odd for others. When we got to Ecuador, we were told to greet everyone with a kiss on the cheek and before you leave, say goodbye to everyone. A lot of people I know forget this and it’s sometimes funny to see their reactions when they’re suddenly greeted by a stranger. When I was having coffee with Gabi, Olga and Sara the other night, it was like a revolving door of their friends. It reminded me a lot of Christmas time and meeting the cousins and aunts I never knew I had, but I get up and kiss each of them on the cheek to say hello anyway.

In the last seven days I’ve found new and interesting ways to combat boredom, including, but not limited to: changing all of the settings on my laptop to look like Halloween, taking long walks to the Zocalo before class just to get coffee, watching the Mexican version of MTV(when MTV was still music videos), coloring Day of the Dead pictures with my host-nietos, playing with their pet-baby python (still unnamed), walking through the market in search of the tackiest pair of earrings I could find, and completely ripping on the sources I’ve found for my history paper (Dr. Todd would be proud at how critically I’m thinking about their origins and intent ).

In the last seven days, I’ve explored new places. I had no idea there was a market next to Burger King! I’ve also discovered three new ways to get to the Zocalo…. none of them are any faster than the original way I knew. I’ve also gotten to know the people at the taquilla at Teatro Ocampo where I saw the Ballet and the Orchestra Concert (I always got there a little late… whoops!).

Most importantly, in the last seven days I’ve pushed myself beyond my comfort zone and had some really cool experiences as a result. If I hadn’t bought those tickets to the ballet, I would have never met Gabi, Olga and Sara. If I hadn’t met them, I would have never learned to salsa and I would still be conjugating everything in the present tense and not venturing to flirt with the subjunctive.

I got beyond feeling awkward sitting alone at a table staring at people going by and noticed something special that I hadn’t before. It wasn’t until I watched girls my age (and older) walking hand in hand with their mothers going down the street, that I made the connection between private family life and public family life: There isn’t a difference. How many times have you put up with the embarrassing things your family does at home, and then not want to be seen with them in public? Maybe some of that goes on here too,  but never in the US have I seen families go out of their way to “be together” in public the way I have in Mexico.  Except here, they’re not going out of their way…They’re family and it’s completely natural.

It’s 12:55 am on the 8th day and I no longer feel like going on Facebook.

Posted on October 30th, 2009 by elizabeth-hinds
Filed under: Elizabeth Hinds, Latin America | No Comments »

Now that we’ve spent a couple of weeks here in Mexico, I would like to give a small taste of my experience so far.

Top 5 things I think of when I think of Mexico:

1.  Cat Calls

            If you are in Mexico and you are a woman, there is no doubt that you will get a minimum of 5 cat calls a day, especially if you are a foreigner.  I think I have yet to travel anywhere in Mexico without either hearing a whistle, Mexican-accented “Hello,” or having a car literally slow down to make remarks.  It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, or how bad one looks, it continuously happens.  As a result of this, I have started this little game with myself to see who exactly it is who is getting all of this attention.  I thought that I was receiving a lot of this action; however, Christina F. Brennan is clearly the winner.  I’m pretty sure that she has at least 17 cat calls minimum directed her way every day.  It must be those husky eyes of hers.  I’m also pretty sure that Gianna Leonetti has yet to obtain one.

2.  Spicy Salsas

            About a year or so ago, I decided to expand the variety of my chip consumption.  I had always been wary of salsa, seeing as I don’t like vegetables, but I hesitantly tried the spicy salsa at Chipotle and instantly fell in love.  I had been seriously craving some of this salsa picante since day one of this trip, and I found my solace salsa here in Mexico.  During one of our first homestay meals, a couple of salsas were brought out, and Rachel decided to try one.  About three seconds in, her face turned completely red and she looked like she was going to cry.  Laughing hysterically, my roommates and I tried to suggest drinking water and such, but Mama was the one who came to the rescue, insisting that she eat pure salt and that her solution was the one and only.  I, however, have come to love the spiciness of these salsas and have become quite accustomed to my mouth being on fire to the point that I am convinced I am a dragon.

3.  Bad Grades

            For some reason, there are many people who have yet to obtain a decent grade (I being one of them) on papers.  We are very busy here and time is limited, yet I have been doing my best to put a good deal of focus into my classes.  To my dismay, these 300-level classes require much more than that.  Let’s hope that my participation grade can be changed from 25% of my grade to 95%, and I will ace this last paper and my finals.

4.  Cerveza

            The above mentioned commonality (#3) has led many of us to the drink.  After spending days working on a paper only to get an unsatisfactory grade, it’s nice to be able to sit down to a beer and simply try to relax and figure out how to improve.  The strange aspect of cerveza in Mexico is that they often like to put a significant amount of lime juice in it and dip the edge of the glass in a very chunky variety of salt.  I never thought of having salt with beer before this trip, and I have to say I’m not a fan.  I am a fan, however, of the liter of corona for only 30 pesos.

5.  Heat

            I’m sure that by now if the reader has spoken with anyone on this trip, it has been mentioned that we have a pool at Cemenahuac (our school).  I do enjoy swimming, and many of the students like to lay out and tan.  The problem is that it is extremely hot out, yet the pool feels like arctic waters.  I’m not sure how the sun does not warm it up, but it is definitely not happening.  This leaves me with the option of laying out to tan, an activity that I enjoy because it’s very relaxing and social, but I think I may just be one of the most pale people on this trip.  I’m simply really bad at tanning.  My skin does not take to the sun, and when it does, the color leaves me in about two days.  However, we’re not allowed to wear shorts above our knees, flip-flops, or shirts that don’t cover basically all of our skin (t-shirts are a bit scandalous).  This means I always want to be in my swimsuit, leading me to “lay out” with everyone, but leave puzzled at the extreme whiteness of my legs.

Despite the how different Mexico is from everywhere else I’ve been, I really do enjoy this country.  The people are kind and welcoming, and the atmosphere is really positive.  We always manage to find something fun to do, and my host mama is incredibly generous and a great cook.  Although my studies tend to take up a lot of time, I am having an amazing time.  Hopefully my effort in my classes will help to improve my grade and my performance, and in the meantime, I’ll spend my time trying to get to know more of Mexico with the incredible new friends I have made.  I can’t believe we only have a week left here – I feel like I have so much left to do and so much left to see.  Halloween and the Day of the Dead are coming up rapidly, and I’m pumped to see the turnout of costumes and to take part in the Mexican festivities.  This trip has been one of the best times of my life, and I owe that to the new cultural experiences I have had and all of the amazing new people I have met.  I can’t believe that nine weeks ago, I didn’t even know the majority of the people on this trip.  They will forever be in my heart.

Lately, we have been working on something called the Mexico Challenge (the Cuernavaca Covenant), which is designed to give us incentive to immerge ourselves in Mexican culture as much as possible.  Today is the last day of the Covenant, and I think I’ve faired pretty well.  I have been much more disconnected with home because of the lack of Facebook, and I believe I’ve lost about 50 lbs. starving because I can’t eat anything that comes from the States.  We’ve been trying to figure out what the reward for this starvation and deprivation, eh, I mean wonderfully designed cultural immersion challenge is, and we have found out a few clues about the prize.  We know it’s an outing to somewhere about an hour away from Cuernavaca, rain won’t heavily affect the plans, and we will need to wear helmets.  I’m thinking spelunking?  Perhaps skydiving or para-sailing?  I don’t know, but I’m sure it will be fun and maybe intense, judging by the helmets comment.  Any guesses?

Today Group A went on our last excursion to Mexico City.  I believe that we visited the National Museum of Anthropology and a castle on a hill.  We saw a lot of similar artifacts to what we have seen so far, but they were a lot larger this time.  We got to explore the castle on our own, and after looking around a bit, Rachel and I decided to seek out some authentic Mexican food (accordingly to the Covenant) to stave the hunger pains.  We were walking around with our authentically un-pasteurized ice cream and heard someone on a microphone and lots of cheering.  Naturally I was drawn to this excitement, and as we drew closer, we saw a clown entertaining an audience in a plaza.  He seemed very goofy, and when he saw us he asked us where we were from and such.  I obliged to answer him and he made fun of basically everything that I said (all in good fun), inducing much laughter from myself, the audience, and a confused Rachel.  He told us to come forward, and we tried to neglect at first, but when the audience started cheering and with his highly sexual jokes, I just couldn’t resist.  He brought up some Mexican boys about our age and a couple of little kids and proceeded to declare a dance-off between the gringas and the Mexicans.  The younger Mexican boy went first and proceeded to strip off his shirt and moon the entire crowd.  I think I screamed in shock several times at the audacity of this young boy’s actions, and partially in fear that I was supposed to follow suit.  Sure enough, the next boy who went was one of the ones around our age, and he stripped off his shirt and threw it to me.  Oh boy; my shirt was definitely staying on.  Just as the horny clown decided that it was my turn to dance, a few more students from Group A showed up confused but with cameras in full force.  Wow.  The music came on and I tried to show off my best moves while making full effort to not double over in laughter at the craziness of the situation I had gotten into, and I believeI did receive a few cheers and a bit of applause.  However, the little girl who went next showed me up exponentially, and her provocative dance moves were more than a bit concerning to me.  I think she might have been about six years old, yet she knew how to move her hips like Shakira.  The clown decided that Ben needed to come forward as well since Rachel had chickened out on the dancing, and he had him do a Michael Jackson impression.  We had to leave to catch the bus, but that clown was priceless.  I can’t wait to see what else Mexico has in store for us, and hopefully Group B will be subjected to the same amusingly embarrassing jokes of the clown tomorrow.

TL

Posted on October 29th, 2009 by taralee-morgan
Filed under: Latin America, Taralee Morgan | No Comments »