Blog Entry - Week 8 - March 1 (Final Blog Edition)

The last class of Latin America Cultures and Civilization unfortunately was coming to an end but we went out with a bang.  We went through our group presentations and learned a lot of interesting information about Belize, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Puerto Rico. 

I was part of the Puerto Rico group along with Brian, Fitsum, Rose and Zach.  The questions I was responsible for were social movements and political parties.  I chose these topics as I found these the most interesting.  We could have gone on and on with the presentation as we found out eight minutes really is not much time amongst 5 people to share their knowledge. While doing the research I ran across the topic of the status of Puerto Rico – should it become the Unites States 51^st state, become its own country, or have an advanced Commonwealth status.  There are many pros and cons to each of the options but I believe Puerto Rico deserves to become the 51^st state.  There was a federal tax exemption that allowed US corporations to manufacturer goods in Puerto Rico that shielded them from paying taxes.  The corporations took advantage of the cheap labor and tax exemption to exploit the people of Puerto Rico who were U.S citizens.  We also used the island as a military base during the peak of the Cold War.  It wasn’t until corporations determined they could get labor cheaper elsewhere that corporations pulled out of Puerto Rico. Some lawmakers think Puerto Rico is currently nothing more than a welfare sinkhole, but Puerto Rico has brought much wealth to the Unites States.  It deserves to become the 51^st state of the United States and become a vacation paradise, a “Hawaii of the East”

The potluck was amazing as each country brought a dish or dessert from their respective country.  The dish we brought was Arroz con Gandules and was purchased from the Burrito Mercado.  Arroz con Gandules is the national dish of Puerto Rico and is basically rice, pigeon peas, and sofrito.  This dish is commonly eaten on holidays and at pig roasts. 

The Belizean coconut cookies were very good as was everything, but they had a special connection with me as I met a Belizean cult hero called Coco Leo during my travels.  He would climb the coconut trees and pulls down a couple of ripe coconuts.  When he made it back to the sand he would crack them open either with a knife or on his head and served fresh coconut and milk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBCIfVBxXrA

Cally Ingebritson was a special guest we had from Migrant Head Start.   This program provides child care and social services for preschool children of low-income migrant and seasonal farm workers.  I have always had an appreciation for migrant workers.  It is very hard work and not the first choice of work that I would be interested in doing.  Cally mentioned that some of the workers would travel from location to location based on the season.   This hit close to home. When I was in the 3^th grade, one of the students in my class, Jose Maciel, came from a family of seasonal workers.  Jose was a couple of years older than everyone else in the class.  He was just like the rest of us but he never stayed for the whole school year.  This happened for a couple of years until the Sod farm closed down.  Jose never came back and we never had a chance to say goodbye. 

The grand finale of the Class was going to be the World Café questions but there just wasn’t enough time in the night to get to this experience.  My responses to the questions would have been similar to what I have below.

Round One

 I am opposed to the spraying of fertilizer while migrants are in the field and the lack of child care while the parents are in the field.  I do not even fertilize my yard as I am afraid of the side effects it could have on my dog. Children are most impressionable between the ages of 0 to 5 years and studies have shown for every dollar spent on early child care could save 19 dollars in future costs from costs such as juvenile detention and jail.  These conditions will continue to exist as long as companies are allowed to have it happen.  Putting a financial squeeze on these companies can be done by buying organic and writing to your legislator to make your feelings known

What can migrant workers do to give themselves more power against these companies?

Round Two

I believe Hispanic and Latino/Latina is a name given to people in the United States who are from Latin America.  There are no Hispanics in Latin America and there is no Latin state or country.  They are Mexican, Columbian, Guatemalan, Venezuelan and etc.  All Hispanic and Latinos/Latinas are not alike. They have different cultural values and even have different languages.  Not all countries in Latin America speak Spanish as English is popular in Belize and Portuguese is popular in Brazil and Portugal. 

My experience in the class would change my behavior by asking somebody where are they from.

Round Three

I would not approach people from a different cultural background any differently from what I do now. With my mom’s side of my family being Mexican, I am accustomed to the challenges and stereotypes of minorities.  I never treated anybody differently as a result of where they were from

Probably one of the biggest things I learned in the class was a characteristic of a collective culture.  Group goals were stressed over Individual goals which are common in Latin America culture.  This was carried over to the class with our group discussions, collective quiz, and group presentation. 

Well this wraps up my class work for Latin American Cultures and Civilization.  I am thankful to be class with you as I learned from the information you shared in the discussions and blogs.  Hopefully my sharing was beneficial to you as well.

Hasta luego mi amigo

The Tanim Avocado

We were supposed to get an item from the Mercado and find out how it got to the store.  The item I chose to pick was the Tanim Avocado.  Tanim is the brand name of the avocado and the type of avocado was a Hass avocado

The avocado was harvested near the city of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro an area of Mexico between Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City

This information was pulled from the website

"Tanim Huata Kupanda RL," The firm was established by 52 producers of avocados in the state of Michoacan in 1995, focusing primarily on the national market and then to international market in the marketing of avocado. They produced over 3.25 tons of avocados a year

I did not find any major corporation associated with the Tanim avocado company.  It appears that the company was a consolidation of 52 other companies to become one.  The goal was to effectively market the avocado to keep down consumer costs. With this being a Mexican owned company it would make perfect sense why I was able to find this fruit at the Mercado.  Another thing I found ironic was the company was formed after the creation of NAFTA.

http://www.tanimhuatakupanda.com/sp/

Analyzing Information - The Uprising in Chiapas

Democracy in Mexico: Peasant Rebellion and Political Form

Sources

1A–Book  B-Secondary Source (analysis)  C-Non-Governmental organization  D-Mexico
2 - Released in 1995 and it discusses Mexican law from 1917-1925 and how it relates to the Chiapas
3 - Dan La Botz
4 - Did research in Mexico in 1995 to work on his PhD dissertation "Slackers: American War Resisters in Mexico 1917-1925"
5 - He obtained his information from history
6 - He references the Mexican Constitution and the Mexican legislature
7 - The author’s point of view is that the Chiapas rebellion is a result of the changes of the Mexican constitution.  He has this perspective as it allows the privatization of communal land holdings.

Analysis

1 - Chiapas rebellion is a result of the deletion of Article 27
2 - Privatization - the land is taken from the people and given and sold to corporations
3 - Why would Mexico give up its land and water that was owned by the people and just give it away?

Chiapas 1994

Sources

1A–Personal Report  B-Primary Source (first-hand account)  C-Government Office  D-Mexico
2 - Released in 1994 and it his opinion of the current situation
3 - Carlos Arriola
4- NAFTAs chief negotiator for the Mexican government

5 - He obtained his information from his experiences
6 - It is his opinion and it is linked by his experiences to the event
7 - He looked at the rebellion as an attempt to draw attention.

Analysis

1 - The rebellion is a result of common criminals trying to take advantage of situations to break the law
2 - Uprising - Criminal acts are occurring during this time
3 - Why are rebels considered as criminals?  How are they supposed to change the law?

Comparing and Contrasting Information

1 - They were contradicting as the rebellion was justified in Democracy of Mexico by the deletion of Article 27 and Arriola thought the rebellion was done by common criminals looking to cause problems.
2 - They are both reliable as they are both interpreting the situation. 
3 - I think Democracy in Mexico is more credible as La Botz is able to reference the constitution and the Chiapas behavior is justified.  Arriola appears to be giving his opinion and is not able to support his claims as effectively.
4 - I believe the uprising had more to do with the communal ownership of land being privatized.  The Mexican nation was the owner of the land and waters of the nation.  With this taken away peasants are no longer able to be self-supportive.

Blog Entry - Week 7 - Feb 23

In Week 7, we discussed in great depth about NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement.  The agreement allows for free trade and ends tariffs barriers on goods and services between Canada, the United States and Mexico.  NAFTA promised prosperity and the world’s biggest economic block.  New jobs were to be created through increased exports to Mexico.  Mexico was to gain 1 million new jobs and this was supposed to slow down illegal immigration.  What NAFTA did not take into account was the millions of peasants impacted through farming.  Farm corporations took control of ejido land and the peasants were unable to be self-sufficient.  NAFTA did not promote prosperity but deeper economic misery through Latin America.

I am going to answer the Questions for Reflections. 

---Was this new information?

I was aware of the North American Free Trade Agreement but I never heard of the negatives of the agreement.  I was always under the impression that this was a win-win situation, but the only winners appear to be US corporations.

---Where else can this information be obtained?

This information can be obtained from primary sources – people who have experienced the effect of NAFTA and secondary sources – like books, magazines and the internet.

---How do policies in countries like the U.S. affect Latin American countries and their people?

U.S. policies support neoliberalism which shifts the transfer of the economy from government to privatization.   It supports the selling off of resources and the utilities of countries.  It gives corporation much freedom to outsource jobs to cheaper labor markets and increase profit margins. Puerto Rican government run Telephone Company is sold to US based GTE in 1998. Mexican ejido land was sold to US corporations from article 27 in 1992.  This affected the people of Mexico as they used the ejido land to become self-sufficient farmers.  Surplus items were sold and traded at the market.  When the ejido land is no longer owned by the government and sold to corporations, the people are no longer able to support themselves.  The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

---What is being done to remedy the effects of 60 years of neo-liberal policies?

Social movements have been occurring like the Zapatistas in Chiapas.  Even close to home we have Occupy Wall Street in the United States.  In Latin America we are seeing a shift to political left-wing leaders like Evo Morales and Hugo Chavez. They are using their resources to gain influence in the region and supporting social movements.  Morales is the first elected indigenous Bolivian president who supports the cocalera movement. The US opposes coca as its attempt of its War on Drugs.  Chavez is the president of Venezuela and their main resource is oil. The Latin American leaders created foreign and domestic policy that could no longer be dictated by the United States.  There are some in the US that would call these leaders as dictators.  Could they be called dictators because they do not agree with these neo-liberal policies?

---What can we do as individuals?

We can have a better understanding of why the immigrants chose to come to the United States. Some believe US policies are being forcing them from their homeland to the United States to be able to provide for a better way of life for their family.  In the US we support local movements of buying local to support local farmers by shopping at the farmers market.  We can also support the people and businesses from Latin America.  Instead of buying a bag of Tostitos from Cub foods perhaps it would be better to buy homemade tortilla chips from Burrito Mercado.  One student in class said he would be willing to pay a little more after he found the people of Mexico being exploited.  Actions like this would enable to put the money back to the people and not corporations.

Blog Entry - Week 6 - Feb 16 (Field Trip Edition)

Our class went on a field trip as we walked to Relampago Musical and Burrito Mercado.  The music store had a flea market appearance to me that reminded me as if I was in California.  I walked around the store and browsed through the music selections.   I did recognize some of the Mexican artists – Jennifer Lopez and John Secada as their influence have spilled over to American music.  Another thing I found interesting was a picture of Virgin of Guadalupe on the wall.  I would not expect to see a religious symbol in an American music store.

The main event of the field trip was a trip to the Burrito Mercado.  Outside of the store there was a Mexican version of Charlie Brown.  I found this interesting as Charles M Schultz is from St Paul.  I may have to go back during the day to get my picture with Charlie. The store smelled of spice and oil to me.  I assume the oil was from the restautaurnt with the cooking and the deep fryer.  I walked around the store and I noticed the earth tone walls decorated with Mexican artwork and earth tone floors.   I was going to buy some chorizo at the meat counter for the weekend, but I realized I already had some in the freezer.  As I was walking away the butcher came up to me and spoke to me in Spanish.  My thick black hair and my skin tone was probably an indication to him that I could know Spanish. I did not know what he said and replied “No Gracias”.  I assume with his role at the store he was asking if he could help me.   

I continued to walk around the store as I picked up a concha from the bakery; frijoles con chorizo and tamales from the deli, avocados from the produce, and tortilla chips from the register.  A concha is Mexican shell shaped sweet bread with a sugar pattern on top.  The reason why I got this item was because when I visited my grandma in San Jose California I would walk to the Mexican market and pick me up a fresh concha at the bakery.  It was my favorite item to get and when my grandma went to the grocery store I was always sure to go with.  The taste of the concha unfortunately did not live up to the expectations I had in my memory.  The bread was kind of dry and that may have been because the concha was purchased in the late evening.  Irregardless I was happy I got as it rekindled some of the memories I had with my grandma.  Another memory I had of my grandma was she would always make tamales when we visited during Christmas.  I remember the house being hot with boiling of the pork and masa.  It was a family event where she invited her daughters and their spouses.  The adults did the cooking while the kids would play outside.  It was a big get together and there was more than enough tamales made for everyone to take home.  The tamales I got at Burrito Mercado were red pork and green chicken.  They were really good and I may have to say they would rank close to the best I ever had, at least since I have had those of my grandmas.  The other items were pretty much staples item as chips and dip.  I like frijoles but sometimes I wonder if frijoles like me.  The chips were made by the store and they tasted authentic and fresh.  The avocadoes were just like the ones you would find at Cub Foods and the sticker said they were imported from Mexico.

 One thing I noticed about the other students in the class is a lot of them picked up chips and salsa.  These are items that mainstream America is used to purchasing.  I believe salsa outsells a staple item like ketchup.  What would a Super Bowl party be without chips and salsa?  Seeing this reminded me of the reading of Hector Tobar with the Latinization of America.

Blog Entry - Week 5 - Feb 9

We started off class with an exercise where looked at ourselves in a mirror with our eyes closed and thought of who we were.  We wrote down five questions.

1.       Where do I come from?

2.       Where are my parents from?

3.       Where did I come from before coming to class?

4.        What is Important to me?

5.       Where do I want to go? Tomorrow? In life?

We then moved to the left of where we were seated.  We wrote our answers to their questions with their pen and paper.  At the same time we were asked to think about the person that sat there before us.  It made me think of how we are different.  We have a diverse class in age, gender and race.  It was a good exercise especially if it was someone who would be considered different then you.  It was a good segway to the lesson for the day where we discussed Identity, Cultures, National Identity and Stereotypes.

Identity is who we think we are and this feeling is internal and subjective.  Culture is a way of life for a group of people.  Their traditions, values, beliefs, rituals, holidays, food, clothing, art, music behaviours and language are al part of their cultures.  National Identity is a composite of cultural practices.  It is a symbolic face of how others see us and insiders portray.   Stereotypes are a way of organizing information.  They may be accurate in depicting a part of a society.  Problems occur when applied generally or used for simplistic generalizations.

We discussed the first chapter of Translation Nation by Hector Tobar.  In the reading he describes the Latinization of the United States.  We also learn of an individual by the name of Ben Reed.  Reed was a Mormon who had a Latin soul.  He became a Spanish speaking radio host and even Reed himself said he was born an Anglo but identifies himself as a Latin culturally.   The class comes full circle with the beginning exercise, the PowerPoint and Ben Reed on identity and how we or others see ourselves.

Blog Entry - Week 4 - Feb 2

Our fourth class we had a special guest, Sandy from Praxis International.  She works towards eliminating violence in the lives of women and children.  She noted that violence is a problem all across the world and referenced Mayan women in Mexico who were battered.  One thing that she pointed out is that women are no longer considered sacred and children are no longer considered as gifts in cultures and civilizations.  Makes you wonder what happened to the saying “Women and Children First”?  For some reason, I thought of the coward from the Italian cruise liner where the captain fled the ship with many women and children on the boat and he was more concerned for his safety.  It is amazing to me that the values of women are sacred and children are gifts are no longer important.

Then the moment we were all waiting for…. the QUIZ.  Curtis surprised us with a closed book, open mouth quiz.  We were allowed to discuss the answers of the quiz and collectively submit our answers as a group.  I felt I was well prepared for the quiz.  Thankfully the class bailed me out on some answers that I knew I would have gotten wrong.  Now if I retain the knowledge it would be WIN-WIN.    I think if the groups would have been smaller and we would have had more time we could have had more discussion to defend our thoughts and retain our new knowledge.

The next part of the class we discussed Manifest Destiny which was a 19^th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent.   They expanded to Central America in hope of building a canal. The original choice was Nicaragua as it had the natural waterways and rivers.    William Walker proclaimed himself the president of Nicaragua in hopes of building a canal through Nicaragua.  The canal was in the best interests of investors and the United Fruit Company and was eventually built in Panama.  The canal allowed companies to decrease transportation costs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific and vice versa.  Who knew bananas could be this important to United States and Central American History?  Perhaps the beginning of American Imperialism.