recent thoughts
well, it's been a long time.i finished the Ohio program in Cuenca and we went for our end-of-trip trip to the jungle and the north of ecuador. all in all i found it very disappointing that i think the students took away a very superficial and limited perspective of Ecuador. this might be expected of only 10 weeks in a place but it also depends on the person, one can, in fact, choose to be superficial or dive in. it makes me think of how each of us sees the world through different lenses, and it's a bit strange to think that the ecuador i know isn't at all the ecuador some of the other students know. it reminds me that when i listen to people, everything they tell me about their experiences and thoughts is only the way they interpreted what happened. nothing in this world is objective. unless you care to disagree.
in quito we were watching CNN in English and they were talking about a new movie about Che Guevara. the newscasters, including the one doing the special report, pronounced his name continuously like this: "gwayvara", and without rolling the "r." i was totally shocked at the anglicization of his name. his name is simply not this. i would excuse mr. smith on the street who doesn't know any spanish, but of course if he gets his media from CNN and other corporates, then we have ignorant people, no offense to those who watch corporate. CNN, however, has their very own channel en español and i find it difficult to believe they couldn't get this corrected. which leads me to believe it was on purpose. which makes me very very sad. of course, che is not alone. Jesus, Ghandi, Osama bin Laden and a whole slew of others have anglicized names. i'm sure you're wondering just what exactly is my point, and the truth is i can't quite express in words what i feel the full meaning of anglicization of names is but all i know is i was utterly disgusted at the repeated butchering of che guevara's name on a media that has full access to the real pronunciation.
a peasant selling street-food on a corner in Cuenca was wearing her typical peasant dress as well as a cap that said CIA. i really wasn't sure whether i should laugh or cry or simply shake my head. i'm fairly certain this woman wasn't wearing the hat as propaganda for the CIA, and part of me thinks that even if i were to tell her of all the atrocities that the CIA has committed and all the citizens they have murdered and democratically-elected presidents they have thrown out, she would shrug her shoulders and say something like, well it's the only hat i have. at least that is the scenario i imagine.
what are we to do? how do we fight for real democracy?
i was in peru for a week visiting friends and the city of Cusco and Machu Picchu. i am convinced that...that what? what can i say about Machu Picchu without writing a book? that it is beautiful? magical? yes. ah well, me faltan las palabras que realmente transmiten lo que pienso sobre las culturas pre-columbinas. perhaps i'll post some fotos.
i am now living in Saraguro, the love of my life. during the festival of Inti Raymi this past weekend i was watching the dances and thinking that not many years ago the Church had so much power as to prohibit exactly these kinds of celebrations. and i truly rejoiced that these people were doing something that belonged to them, and not to colonization. it was beautiful. this culture is possibly the most beautiful...experience i've had on this earth. i really hope that in the whirlwind of the 21st century we can continue the process of decolonization and de-education. indigenous people will talk to you of the fact that they were colonized with fear, that they were taught by the Church to be afraid so that they could be controlled and become good christians and, of course, "civilized." perhaps the problem wasn't so much this as the fact that were taught in the masses about a loving god, but were shown something totally different. much can be done with images from Dante's Inferno.
i am teaching english on the weekends and i have a problem with it. i have 6 indigenous students, and only one of which knows kichwa. if my indigenous students all were fluent in kichwa, i would have no problem teaching them english. but i am internally struggling with the fact that i am teaching the imperial language to students who only speak their colonized language and don't know their indigenous language. the positive part about it is that quite contrary to teaching to freshman and sophmore students at Ohio University, my students actually respect me, are humble and good-natured, and above all are motivated. of course i see the usual sadness of the fact that here there are no resources but all the motivation while at Ohio University there are all the resources and none of the interest.
the grass is always greener on the other side, so they say. we often gain a particular perspective because we are on the outside, and those on the inside never gain the same insight.
posted by leah v @ 12:27 PM
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