Between a Rock and a Hard Place

What an honor it is to be a Fulbright Scholar (or so everyone keeps telling me...); I have the opportunity to be immersed in an entirely new city with its own people, food and drink, customs, art, modes of transportation, tendencies of public protest, smells, idioms...well, you get the picture: everything is new! I will also have the responsibility, challenge and pleasure of teaching the English language and aspects of US culture to Argentine university students for approximately 12 hours each week when classes start in a couple weeks.  12 hours per week!: I know you're likely thinking, wow, that's great! She's got so much time on her hands to just enjoy living life there in Argentina! And, in a sense, you're absolutely right. I will have the rest of my week to be involved in Resistencia's community, and several rural surrounding communities, in whatever ways I might choose to participate. Already I have made connections with friends at a local church and have invitations to visit two local high schools to observe their classes (maybe be involved in their classroom or extracurricular activities in some way?). Herein enters my dilemma for the day/week/maybe the whole time I'm here...
Resistencia and the Chaco province in which it lies are unique compared to many of Argentina's other provinces because there is a significant number of indigenous people that live in or near the city. These tribes include the Toba, Wichí, and Guaraní among many others. In a post-lunch conversation today, we (one of the guys I live with, Hannah [ETA in Corrientes], and I) got to the subject that I might volunteer in some form at a community center or school primarily populated by one of these groups in a rural area just outside Resistencia. I also briefly shared the community project I had originally proposed in my Fulbright application: Focused on organized recreation and/or sporting activities, I foresaw myself being involved in a community program of some sort that would facilitate participation especially among youth and adolescent girls. Further, if possible, it was my hope that these young girls might even have the experience of participating in a non-traditional sport like basketball (which is non-traditional relative to both their culture and their gender). Eventually to loosely connect these ideas of the Chaco province's cultural diversity and my proposed community involvement, I reached a point in the discussion where I recognized:
-many of these indigenous cultures do not recognize sports in the same way that American and Argentine cultures do
-that the idea of "gifting" (i.e. if I would approach one of these societies with a soccer ball or basketball for them to keep) is something extremely foreign to their concept of interaction
-without similar motives for recreation and/or physical activity and its benefits, physically, mentally and socially, my ambitions for this type of project might prove futile in the context of these community where I might interact
...these, among several other cultural "what ifs?" were racing through my brain as the conversation progressed.

And thus, I feel ideologically stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. Granted, all the information I have laid out above is from the perspective of the gentleman that I live with; I have yet to experience any of these communities in person and make my own observations about what may or may not be feasible and culturally sensitive.  Of course, we (Fulbright recipients) were told numerous, numerous times prior to this (by previous Fulbright recipients) that our research and project ideas might change once we got into our cities and gained a more informed perspective of how we might want to be involved.  And certainly, I have not lost all hope in learning from the cultural exchanges that I will have nor in the ambitions, especially as they relate to empowering women, for my originally proposed project. I guess today's conversation was just the first time that I've had to think seriously about how and why I might alter my original proposal to maintain the Fulbright program's boasted reputation of cultural exchange and understanding (and, of course, to demonstrate my own conviction to these ideals that I believe to be worthy).  Sorry if I seem to be a Debbie Downer about all of this...thanks for letting me vent on something that hasn't really even happened yet. :)

A quick run-down of today's events to come tomorrow... 

Foodies Unite!

I don't know that I can fully claim the title of "foodie" yet, but, if I have my way, I am certainly on my way to doing so with "typical" food in the United States.  Argentina, of course, is a totally different story.  I basically have started at square one learning about the most common flavors, ingredients, and dishes and have yet to really learn any of the cooking methods unique to these dishes.  I suppose that might also serve as my disclaimer for this post: As I do not know much about how typical dishes are cooked, this post may be full of "This dish is amazing but I can't really put my finger on the gastronomic reasons why." (*also a disclaimer that all of the following images were ripped from Google image searches. While I have eaten all of these things since arriving in Argentina, none of the food pictures are my own.)

1. Empanadas

The word "empanada" comes from the Spanish verb "empanar," which means to envelope in bread.  I would most closely compare the bread that composes the empanada's outer layer to the consistency of baked crescent rolls in the US, albeit a bit thicker to hold the inner contents. Empanadas are generally filled with beef, chicken, ham and cheese, or vegetables, but fillings for this classic dish vary greatly.  I remember that (while interning in Indianapolis) my students, whose families were from Mexico and El Salvador, told me about fruit and pumpkin empanadas being typical for their families to eat; it takes on a truly regional flair to whichever filling might be available.  Here in Argentina, the beef or chicken baked inside the dough equates to a pocket of deliciousness on your plate :)

2. Asado

Asado, Argentine BBQ of many different cuts of meat, is probably the most wonderful thing to grace my plate yet . While (to my knowledge thus far) the meat is only seasoned with salt, its amazing flavors come primarily from the smokiness of the wood in the open air grill (parrilla) over which it is cooked and the long, long cooking time allotted to reach perfection. While my favorite cuts of asado include the flank steak and chorizo (a kind of sausage), I usually pass on morcilla (blood sausage) as I'm not quite partial to its unique taste and texture...

3. Dulce de Leche

Dulce de leche (literally "candy or sweet from milk") is a milk-based spread found everywhere. In jars/tubs alone, in/on candies and cookies, and in the flavors of other things like yogurt, I can find this marker of all things divine for any moment that my sweet tooth might develop a craving. It is usually not eaten alone, although I am sure there are closet dulce de leche consumers much like a few "peanut butter-aholics" I know in the United States.  Not much more needs to be said for this caramel-like treat-- truly, there are few descriptions worthy of the flavor experience when you savor dulce de leche for the first time (while this might sound super cliche, it is true).

4. Pizza

 Yep, pizza :-D Although, let me caution you before assumptions are made that pizza in Argentina is the same as that crafted in the US. The pizza shown here on the right is pretty typical of a house specialty pizza: mozzarella cheese, ham, red peppers, (banana peppers on my favorite house specialty pizza that we get from a place nearby) and olives (which are typically left whole and unpitted on the pie's top).  My other favorite pizza thus far is a classic napolitana: mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, and olives (again, left whole on top which actually isn't a bad thing for someone like me who doesn't especially love olives).

5. Bread- of ALL kinds

I may have saved the best/most common/most important thing for last. Bread is everywhere.  A typical breakfast is a medialuna (croissant usually with a slightly glazed top; see left) or tostadas (think bruschetta style small pieces of bread) with dulce de leche or fruit preserves/marmelade to spread on top and coffee or tea.  Lunch and dinner too usually include a bowl of rolls or baguettes that grace the table.  These are, of course, just two examples among many of bread found amidst my daily activities. One of my favorites thus far is the large packages of wheat crackers that seem to be very common at the market; they make the perfect snack with some marmelade or cheese on top.  I think I hold up my eating experiences with Argentina's bread with such esteem because it is so fresh, and, really, I think this can also be said for so many of the other things that I have also eaten.  Fewer processed and more locally produced ingredients basically equate to more flavorful eating experiences, :) and, although I know little about Argentina's food industries, I would imagine a more sustainable food culture.  I'm sure there will be more to come in the way of food in the coming months; Argentina truly prides itself on its culture related to food and wine and I can't wait to experience more.  Hopefully my future adventures might also include me becoming more of a foodie here and learning a thing or two about cooking!

Tucumán, Las Ruinas de Quilmes and Tafí del Valle

I almost feel as if I have been avoiding this blog post all day because I have so much running through my head from the weekend and know that I can't even begin to share it all in a single blog post.  Solution: I think I will give a brief overview of my weekend and then spend a few moments reflecting on the more memorable "characters" of my weekend travels.

First, an overview of why I had a long weekend to do some traveling.  Last Wednesday and Thursday were days of memorial commemoration for Argentina's desaparecidos, individuals who were kidnapped by the Argentine dictatorship in the late 70's and early 80's and, more often than not, never seen or heard by their families again.  A truly unfortunate, devastating period of the country's history remembered in these two days of pause.  Not wanting to waste any potential travel time, Hanna (Fulbright ETA based in Corrientes) and I set off to meet Katie and Max (other ETA's) in Tucuman for a weekend of discoveries:
Wednesday evening, 7 pm: Board bus for Tucuman
Thursday morning, 7:30 am: Arrive in Tucuman to find it drizzling
Thursday: Explore the city of Tucuman including Plaza Independencia, Casa Gobierno (government house where the province's government is now housed and where Argentina's declaration of independence was signed in 1816), several cathedrals, a chic pizzeria for lunch, and parque 9 de julio which is home also to the Museo de la Industria Azucarera (museum of the sugar industry; one of the region's most important crops).  Finally, we returned to the hostel where we took a short nap and then enjoyed an excellent, excellent asado (Argentine BBQ).  After conversing with a two porteños at the dinner table for a couple hours, we decided to call it a night as the next morning we would start out very early...
Friday: Board the bus for Quilmes at 6:30 am. Promptly fall asleep for most of the ride to these ancient ruins, inhabited originally by the Quilmes community who, unfortunately, were forced out of their homes at the end of the 17th century by Spaniards.  Spend approximately 4 hours scaling and enjoying the Quilmes ruins.  Hike the 5K back to the highway to catch our bus.  Say good-bye to Katie and Max, who stayed on the bus to return to Tucumán, while Hana and I remained for the night in Tafí del Valle.  Shop in Tafí and enjoy several dishes native to northern Argentina throughout the day, including: humita (a corn stew with cheese), locro (a meat, corn and other vegetables stew) and probably the best empanadas I have had since arriving here.
Saturday: Take short hike to the top of Cerro de la Cruz (Hill of the cross), enjoy breakfast at the hostel. More window shopping in town, fruit and vegetable market stop, meandering down side streets of Tafí.
Saturday 2 pm: Board bus en route to Tucumán. Arrive in Tucumán, 4 pm. Board bus for Resistencia, 5 pm.
Sunday, 5 am: Arrive home in Resistencia!

As promised, a couple of the most memorable personalities of this trip; many of them interesting from my perspective as they capture new images of individuals from different provinces/regions throughout Argentina:
Gonzalo was one of the guys who also had asado for dinner with us at the hostel on our first night in Tucuman.  He is currently studying English in his business program right now with hopes of coming to work, only periodically, in the United States.  I found Gonzalo interesting because he stretched the box for me regarding the pesonality type of a porteño (someone from Buenos Aires); the general reputation for porteños is that they are pretentious, over-driven individuals who inherently turn up their nose to Argentines who live in the provinces.  Gonzalo seemed like a genuine, genuine individual who was, along with his friend, eager to engage in conversation with us.

Laura (and also her family members, David and Pablo) was an individual that we met while scaling the ruins at Quilmes.  She and her accompanying family members were super kind as we sat and conversed about a variety of things, mostly about each of our hometowns (Laura and Pablo being from Salta and David from Buenos Aires) and how the Fulbright exchange works to bring all of those things together.  Most importantly, Laura and her family shared their mate (a tea that has huge cultural significance; I´m thinking yerba mate should be my next blog post...) with each of us!

Luciano was a gentleman that we met officially while we were waiting for our bus after visiting Quilmes.  We had actually seen him earlier in the day as he chose to walk the 5K to the ruins while we grabbed a ´taxi´ and then as he perched on a boulder at the ruins, calmly tapping on a drum that he must have brought.  In talking with him later, we discovered that Luciano is from Brazil and is on a spiritual journey through various parts of South America.  While he doesn´t subscribe to any particular religion in regards to this journey, it was clear that he has strong convictions for social justice and his physical role in going to these places where justice is needed most.  Included among these places, and coming soon in his travels, is an area just outside my city of Resistencia where there is a significant indigenous population that lives in relative poverty.

Mel was a shop owner in Tafí del Valle who truly touched my heart.  After browsing a bit in her store and conversing with her about who we were, where we were from, what we were doing in Argentina, etc., Mel stopped us just before we said 'chau' and departed.  She presented to each of us a small, painted ceramic plate as a token of gratitude.  As I'm sure we had looks of bewilderment at the gifts, Mel explained to us that she has children and grandchildren who now live in the U.S.  While uncertain of what their lives would be like when they immigrated some years ago, she is eternally grateful that her children felt welcomed and, eventually, at home in the U.S.  Additionally, she explained to us that a number of years ago, she knew English quite well and was enjoying learning the language but unfortunately had been in a fairly severe auto accident.  As a result of the accident, the part of her brain controlling her speech in English had been permanently altered/damaged, and, therefore, she has great trouble communicating beyond a word or two strung together in English.  All this to say, she was encouraged and delighted to see that we were there in Argentina participating in such a cultural exchange.

Finally, although I went on this trip with other Fulbright ETAs, Sabine became a very important part of my experiences as we came to Tafí del Valle.  We met Sabine in our hostel in Tafí and spent practically all of our time there with her. Sabine is 18 years old, from Salzburg, Austria, and traveling independently for 8 months throughout South America. It was pretty amazing to hear her story and soak up the details of the many other places she has already traversed in South America.  Talk about a young woman with a voyaging spirit and truly international dreams!

I suppose that's all for now.  More details might come on these travels in posts to come or maybe more exciting daily life adventures will fill my posts. Time will tell but you can check out my pictures from these adventures on facebook too!  My love to you all near and far!

Vivid personalities, Permanent housing!, and a Church adventure

As I mentioned in a previous post, people that I have met in Resistencia thus far have been extremely nice and definitely welcoming. Those whom I have gotten to know beyond the context of a “necessary” daily interaction (i.e. a purchase at a store or restaurant, conversation regarding directions, etc.) have been more than instrumental in helping me feel at home and ensuring that my basic needs are met.  Largely, this has revolved around interactions with my referente and her family. On the most boring of days it is mildly amusing to see them interact, and on days when they really shine, I often find myself rolling in laughter as they banter back and forth.  My referente Chabela has four children ranging in age from 19 to 26.  I won’t drag too much detail into this post about their lives except to point out that each member of the family has a strikingly vivid personality.  I’m not sure if my perceptions are rooted in the occasional situation where I cannot follow their sometimes extremely fast bantering at the dinner table and instinctively resort to drawing cues from inflection and facial expressions.  These communicative demonstrations seem to reveal their personalities in profound ways. From another angle, my observations may well draw their acuteness from the fact that my closest social circles and their contexts have not drastically changed in the last four years.  In this brand new context, of course I might expect these personalities to jump out at me in the ways they have.  Or, as I often take a middle ground, I imagine my perceptions might be the product of a healthy dose of both explanations.  Nonetheless, let’s just say I will have to challenge my observative nature over the next several months to not construct boxed-in caricatures of each individual: not of the “alpha male” son, nor of the hippie son who has always dreamed of owning his own bar, nor even of the stubborn baby of the family who often protests until she hears what she wants. :)

As I am on the topic of my referente’s family, I can finally happily share that I have moved into what I believe will be my permanent residence during my stay here!  My sincerest apologies to anyone that I inadvertently lied to before my departure: I am not, as I shared with you, living above a dance studio.  The unfortunate nature of this initial arrangement included a room to be shared with another teaching assistant (no bigger than a college dorm room), a kitchen in which I was not supposed to cook (because the odors would affect the dance environment for the students downstairs), and little privacy (as there always would be visiting dance professors moving in and out of other rooms in the corridor) among other detrimental factors.  Needless to say, I am much happier to living instead with my referente’s two sons and one of their friends in a house owned by their grandmother.  They likewise are happy to be share the room as it would otherwise be lying unused.  Other advantages of the house include one of the city's smaller plazas just across the street and the house's location just a short walk from the university where I will be working (pics on my facebook for now... Blogger does not seem to want to cooperate in uploading photos).

Finally, I had the great opportunity earlier this week to attend a church in the area.  After passing several on my walk home on Monday afternoon, I decided to dive into a Google search for Iglesias (churches) in Resistencia.  One of the first that I came across was Iglesia de Jesucristo and, after perusing their webpage and Facebook site, I decided to check out the service they were having Monday evening.  Honestly, I was kind of hoping to simply go and experience what one of their worship services was like.  I didn’t think it would be too difficult to sort of fly under the radar on this first visit as it looked like there would be many, many attendees.  However, I arrived and found that Mondays evenings are a gathering for individuals the same age as myself.  Amidst this smaller group of worshipers, I was warmly welcomed by Emelia who invited me to sit with her friends; I had a great conversation with many of them after the service.  I then proceeded to take my first motorcycle ride as Emelia offered me a ride home (which was about as scary as I thought it would be. Read into that as you would like- haha); she also extended an invitation for me to join her and her friends at the movies tonight.  Unfortunately, I’ll have to decline her offer for this evening but I feel so blessed to have met this group and look forward to spending more time with them soon!

And so, you ask, why would I turn down such an offer? As it is common to promote the tourism industry and take more days off from work than in the United States, I approach my first extended holiday weekend!  Argentina will basically be shut down from Thursday to Sunday for a type of memorial celebration, thus, Hannah, the ETA in Corrientes, and I will be traveling to Tucumán to hang out with a couple other ETA’s living there and explore some of the city’s smaller surrounding towns.  Exciting travel stories to come!

Diplomacy in Chile and Rising Gasoline Prices: Related? Yes!

For the first time since arriving just over a week ago, I watched the evening news in full.  Among this evening's highlights was President Obama's visit today to Santiago, Chile.  Obama met with Chilean President Sebastián Piñera to discuss a variety of foreign policy issues, obviously highlighted by the current general political unrest in many areas of the Middle East.  Probably even more important in the news broadcast that I watched though was Obama's public commentary (and this media's station's reaction) on how Latin America is a great example for others in search of greater order and peace (i.e. "people around the world who are beginning their own journeys toward democracy"). 

This diplomacy meeting was Obama's second stop in his weeklong Latin American tour that has already included Brazil and will include El Salvador on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Herein enters slightly jealous and judgmental overtones in the Argentine news broadcasters' delivery.  Most likely these tones and attitudes  emerged in light of opinions/implicit assumptions that Argentina has been passed over because it is not worthy of US investment and time.  While certainly never stated directly, the trajectory of the story and broadcasters' tones said as much to the general viewing audience.  I realize that these last couple of sentences involve several generalizations about US status internationally and Argentine sentiment on diplomatic relations but please hear my argument out-- don't rake me over the coals just yet.

I'd like to make a jump just once more to a conversation that I had with one of my referente's sons yesterday (in order to finally get to the main point I'd like to make...).  We were discussing the city's traffic, crazy people on motorcycles and the city's incessantly probing parking enforcement aides (most similar to "meter maids" in the US) when we eventually got to gas prices.  I mentioned that the price per gallon of gasoline was beginning to rise at an unfortunate rate when I left the US, largely due to the conflict(s) in the Middle East, or so the media likes to inform us.  I asked Luciano what the tendency of the prices had been in Resistencia as of late and he replied with an appropriately sarcastic remark that the prices here essentially mirror the rise and fall of prices in the United States; in this case though, explained by Luciano, changes come largely because the United States is the largest consumer of oil and oil products on the world stage. Thus, Americans' actions economically, politically, and socially inevitably create a ripple effect to be felt in the news, in political decisions, and amidst the facets of everyday life even here in Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina. 

What am I proposing here? Really, I'm not too sure myself; certainly not that President Obama should visit every country around the globe.  The United States has more than its share of domestic issues that need to be addressed.  Nor am I taking the position that Argentines are unjustified in their discontent over President Obama's country selections for recent visits of international diplomacy.  This country certainly plays an important role on the world stage and has an autonomous voice worthy to be considered amidst others. I guess maybe what I'm getting at is that 1) we shouldn't allow generalizations hastily strewn by our news sources to define what we think about a region (i.e. Chile being mistaken ideologically for the whole of Latin America) and 2) we should always seek to broaden our perspective by searching for who/what/where wasn't included and asking 'why?' (in this case, looking to Argentina and its perspective on the international issues at hand).   Y'know, just something to ponder the next time that you fill up your car with gasoline :)

Resistencia: First Impressions

I have been in Resistencia nearly 3 days and will attempt here to provide a glimpse of life by presenting some of my first impressions of the city.  Likewise, as I have been here for so few days, I feel like I have only a glimpse of what my own life will be like over the next eight months.  I most definitely am still on an information/language/cultural/stimuli overload and simply expect to be in said state for an indeterminate length of time. :-)

Resistencia is known most widely as the city of sculptures.  In recent decades, the city has proudly become the home of a biennial international sculptures contest.  Artists from around the world come here to create these works of art, large and small, which are displayed in public places throughout the city after the contest.  The sculptures truly are found throughout the city as I have seen them already in residential and commercial areas, along pedestrian thoroughfares (street width passages exclusively for pedestrian use), in parks/plazas of the city, even one in my hotel's lobby!

Resistencia's population is somewhere near 500,000 people (although I'm having trouble reconciling this number in my head with what I'm processing visually. I'll return to that later); I say "near 500,000" here because while one of my referentes claimed the city has 600,000 citizens and is "a city of a million people, but not a million people" (still wrapping my head around that one. haha), my other referente estimated the population to be somewhere close to 400,000.  Thus, I think I'll just take the middle ground on this one for now to provide an estimated head count.  The fact that this city is so big is yet rather difficult for me to comprehend due mostly to my perceptions of its architecture and layout.  There are very, very few buildings of significant height in Resistencia.  Probably no more than a dozen, maybe even fewer, are more than 3 stories tall.  This, combined with the fact that roads and avenues are laid out so cleanly (unlike many other cities in which I have traveled); four main avenues commence in the city's central plaza (La Plaza del Mayo): Avenida 9 de julio, Avenida Alberdi, Avenida 25 de mayo, and Avenida Sarmiento.  Street names change on each side of these avenues and every five blocks there is another more minor avenue.  Riding in a car, it is a bit more difficult to mentally track where I have come from/where I am headed not only because everything is new but also because every street is one way (albeit many of the avenues that have a small boulevard running down their center).  Another interesting thing about traffic here: with the exception of the most major intersections at avenues, there are no street signs. No stop signs, no yield signs, nada.  Cars, small motorcycles (of which there are many), bicycles and even some horse and pullcarts simply pull up to their intersection at varying speeds and slow down or proceed based on how fast other vehicles may be approaching the intersection.  I think I've only seen one accident since arriving...

Other important things: Siesta!  A typical day here in Resistencia commences with going to work around 8 o'clock.  Work continues throughout the morning but the city pauses for siesta shortly after noon.  Businesses and schools close and families generally eat lunch together at home.  As it is very, very hot here in the summer (remember, it's fall here now. Heading into winter soon.), siesta is necessary to escape the heat of midday.  Around 4 o'clock, places of business reopen and remain so until around 8 p.m.  Dinner follows anytime between 9 and 11 pm.  Nightlife here has its own timetable different from its counterpart in the US.  Friends gather sometime shortly after midnight to socialize before heading out to the clubs at 2 or 3 am.  Partying lasts throughout the night with a typical ETA home of 6 or 7 am.  All the more important to have siesta with these chronological expectations for populating the discos until this hour!

All the chaqueños (Resistencia lies in the Chaco province) that I have met thus far have been super, super nice and helpful.  ~I have received rides from numerous members of my referente's family (even though they only have one car, they have never hesitated in assisting me to get from place to place) and several friends of my other referente.~ Lunch everyday has been spent at my referente's home conversing with her family.~ During an adventure to purchase a pair of shoes this morning (btw, I'm a size 39 here. lol), the salesman who assisted me was both patient amidst my ongoing efforts to fully/consistently comprehend the Argentine accent and inquisitive of where I'm from and why I'm here.~ Thursday, one of the secretaries at the university took me to the classroom where I could find my referente, even though she was in exams, and have her point me in the direction for a meeting I was to have with another individual.~ The list could go on, but my point is that everyone I have met has been exceedingly hospitable.  Of course, this doesn't mean I don't field stares everywhere I go as I am probably one of the fairest skinned individuals in the city, but no complaints are to be had for the interactions that I have had with anyone.

There are, of course, more first impressions of everything but I will pause here as I commend you if you have in fact read (or even skimmed) this entire post.  Hopefully my next post will include news of an apartment...

*Written in Buenos Aires, March 16th, and posted today, March 17 (Happy St. Patrick's Day!) from here in Resistencia.*
I have officially concluded/survived/conquered Argentina's in-country orientation!  After arriving on Sunday in Buenos Aires, the approximately 30 Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETA's) and research scholars went on a city bus tour together.  Stops included San Telmo, Plaza de Mayo (the main plaza of Argentina's most important government buildings), and La Recoleta (a very exclusive residential area and location of the most renowned cemetery in the city).  Although nearly 4 years since I was last here, I was pleasantly surprised at how much of the city I immediately remembered as we toured on Sunday.  Monday was a full day of administrative, work related, and cultural adjustment sessions at the Fulbright Commission's offices here in BA and Tuesday much of the same at the Argentine Ministry of Education.  Today's final orientation activities consisted of some highly practical teaching strategies to solicit beneficial student involvement and an amiable classroom environment.

I'd like to rewind, though, to a rather interesting session that we had on Monday with Anna-Kazumi Stahl (last bio on the webpage).  Ms. Stahl has lived in Buenos Aires for the last 15 years, teaches Creative Writing at NYU on their BA campus and headed a discussion session with our group entitled "Living Abroad: Mind the (Culture) Gap!"  Among numerous other words of wisdom imparted to the new "Fulbrighters," she discussed connections among university culture, dialogue and discussion, and displays of respect in the classroom (in Argentina).  The key example shared with us was from one of her first observations in a university classroom.  She chose to attend a lecture by a revered professor and looked forward to hearing/seeing how he would conduct a class.  His lecture commenced for this class of approximately 150 students, and she was shocked when, in the middle of the the lesson, a student seated about two-thirds of the way back in the lecture hall stood to yell, "I don't think I agree with your interpretation of that part of the text because..." (or something of the like).  Anna-Kazumi could not believe this student's actions!  Such an act in the United States (in a similar context of a large university, well-respected professor, etc.) would most likely be interpreted both as a sign of disrespect and challenge of the professor's power.  Only later did she come to understand that the student's actions are quite normal in the university's present culture.  Namely, because these Argentine students have grown up in a society that strongly values the preservation of freedoms of expression and learning [within their education system and its curriculum] only recently reclaimed since the dictatorship's end in the 80's.  All this to say that discussion, dialogue and even debate with professors is not a challenge to their classroom authority and due respect but, instead, often a manner of gleaning additional information en route to being a better student and learner.

Obviously, in hearing this story, my mind raced to Denison where my professors included discussion as an essential and irreplaceable force of learning in their courses.  Certainly, these same professors included discussion in their classes not out of an institutional obligation but a personal belief in its value to transform students into autonomous thinkers and discerning moral agents (as the university's mission statement would advocate).  Unlike Anna's story, however, my classes at Denison were never more than 35 individuals, usually no more than 15 students.  I pondered if we could replicate this same model of learning and expression of opinions in the United States without the cultural turmoil of Argentina’s historical/political past? If we could come to appreciate the mountain of information we constantly have at our fingertips without it being ripped away from our realm of “Google search?”  If we can escape the fear of appearing silly or ignorant and simply ask the questions that plague our consciousness when we truly want to learn?  (Clearly I miss being a student and pondering some of the more theoretical facets of our lives). Enough of the theoretical for this evening, I suppose.  Abrazos y besos to you all!

On to Argentina!

My dearest friends and family,
My next major life adventure begins in less than 24 hours.  My stomach is in knots and my brain spinning; both of these, though, I think are happening in the best of ways as I have tried to prepare mentally, physically and emotionally for my time in Argentina.
Over the past couple of weeks I have racked my brain (and many of yours) for an appropriate, even compelling blog title.  A headline that I hoped would avoid the cliche and overdone, provide a brief insight as to who I am and exist as its own convincing argument for why you should read my latest blog post.  Thus, on my final return drive to central Ohio this afternoon, brilliance (or as close as I think I can get to such a classification) struck and this phrase pushed itself to the fore of my thoughts: La calle sin nombre. 

This Spanish phrase literally means "the street without a name."  Its meaning is dual for me personally.  First, I have a couple of Denison friends who incessantly poke fun at me for growing up on a road without a name: township road 96.  In this memory also lies an inkling of my childhood and the journeys that I have made since then.  However, my blog's heading has a greater degree of pertinence as I look to my future and wonder about the learning, service to others and other possibilities that might be.  While I have both passions and ambitions for my personal and professional future, I am certainly aware that these might be transformed in major ways over the next eight months spent in Resistencia, Chaco province, Argentina.  My life's journey is marked today by a street without a name. 

Thank you all for your support as I have prepared for this departure and thank you in advance for your support during the upcoming months.  I hope you enjoy and learn from my commentary on many new life experiences I will encounter inevitably and intimately in Argentina.