29.4.06

Travel writing that pains me

Oh, Travel writing. There is so much potential in it – for me, namely, to learn about places that I might not otherwise learn about, or to see what another traveler thought about a place I am familiar with. Usually it’s not the best reporting available on the subject, but it’s interesting nonetheless.


The New York Times has an article in today’s paper (actually, tomorrow’s) about traveling to Easter Island, which belongs to Chile. I found the piece rather steeped in the author’s own personal journey: I am glad it is good for you and that you found peace there. Good for you. I thought it was a bit too mystical for my own tastes, but I’ll readily admit that my knowledge of Easter Island comes from random guide books and a Chilean teleserie, Iorana, that is set on Rapa Nui.

I tend to forget that it is a Chilean possession except for when Iorana is on or I see the television weather broadcast. There is much to be said for staking out national territory through the weather broadcast; on Chilean TV, you get weather for all the regions of the mainland, plus Rapa Nui, Islas Juan Fernandez, and Antarctica.

The author of this particular piece, however, mentions that a traveler to Rapa Nui must go through Santiago to get there. So does everyone else who talks about traveling to Rapa Nui, for the most part. Most people leave it at that. However, this travel writer regales the reader with his own perception of Santiago. I quote:

Since you'll be spending a day in Santiago both before and after your visit to Easter Island, there are a few things you should experience there. There is the extraordinary Pre-Colombian Museum in the center of town with quite amazing pieces from the various cultures from Central Mexico right down to Patagonia. And not far from this museum is the wonderful Central Market, a great wrought-iron structure having in it huge fish markets as well as seafood restaurants. If you have never experienced the tiny nail-size baby eels sautéed in olive oil and garlic (which I first enjoyed in Madrid) just forget you're eating eel and have a wonderful meal. Santiago itself is a little grubby but what else would you expect after nearly 20 years of military dictatorship, fortunately now ended. The Santiago Crown Plaza Hotel is central and quite comfortable.

Thank you so much for telling us about your version of Santiago. I’ve never managed to get to the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, but one day I will. And then I will report back. Everyone is obsessed with the Mercado Central – except for people like me who don’t eat seafood. That sort of gets in the way. By the way, thank you for couching all your references to Santiago in terms of your visits to other places – is the Museo extraordinary because it features things from outside Chile? We must, of course, know that you first tried the baby eels in Madrid. Look how well traveled you are.

“Santiago itself is a little grubby”: What other part of Santiago were you referring to in the rest of the paragraph? For someone who makes such a big deal about boning up on the place you are going to visit, he definitely didn’t do too much research into Santiago. I’ll admit that my cuñada refers to Santiago as Santiasco and that there are parts that are prettier than others, but for a city of 6 million, it’s not too bad. People smoke all over the place, there are stray dogs that people are quite fond of, there are people selling things on the street. Depending on the time of year, it can be a bit dusty or smoggy. But grubby, I would not use to describe an entire city. Not only is this author betraying his woefully limited knowledge of the city, he is also reducing an extensive area to one adjective that, in my opinion, doesn’t describe it. “Grubby.” I might say smoggy, dusty, in some areas dirty, but grubby, to me, implies decay and a lack of interest in maintenance.

The best part, for me, is that this writer has to link his perception of Santiago as “grubby” (which I disagree with) with the dictatorship. How well you know your history! Yes, Chile had 17 years of dictatorship. It has also had 17 years of democracy since the fall of the dictatorship. In fact, Chile had elections this year and - guess what?! A woman is President. Did this author see the ghostly stains of past events grubbing up the city? Yes, the dictatorship was horrible, something that anyone who knows me has probably heard a lot about. But Chile is very different now. Santiago has changed a lot even in the past 3 years. His linkage of his view of Santiago as “grubby,” already problematic, becomes even odder in his explanation of his perceptions.

In short: Way to disparage a city without really getting to know it and unnecessarily simplifying its history! Congratulations!

Perhaps I am being too harsh. However, for an article supposedly about Rapa Nui, the attacks on a city that’s really not that bad are, in my opinion, unwarranted.

28.4.06

las pelis

Fun movies I like. Obviously not exhaustive.

Create your own Movie List @ HotFreeLayouts!

26.4.06

Famous Authors I Admire

Today two great things happened. The first is somewhat bittersweet - the last day of my favorite class. I really just adored this particular course, it had a wonderful reading list and a really positive classroom environment. Not to mention that I learned so many things about the nitty gritty details of the profession. I got to present my paper, which I was really nervous about (as always) but I think it went alright. At least I got some really good feedback on it and I am proud of it. My classmate's papers were quite good as well. I'm not very good at giving feedback when I hear a paper orally, however. I'm definitely a visual learner - it's better to have the words on a page in front of me. So I feel sort of badly in that they gave me a bunch of great feedback but I don't think I helped them as much as they helped me.

Second great event. Tonight was a lecture by Famous Author I Admire (FAIA) who has been visiting here. FAIA is a writer that I admire and that I enjoy to read. I really respect FAIA as a person, also as this person is very articulate and is what I would imagine a writer would be - engaged in their work, conscious of the world around them and the influences that matter to them, among other things. Well FAIA gave a wonderful (and very enjoyable, many laughs) lecture on the way Famous Female Poet influenced their writing. As FAIA is one of the authors I am interested in and he/she also spoke about the condition of other writers from said country who I am also very interested in, I got up the nerve after the lecture (though not in the Q&A) to ask him/her a question. As background, let me note that last summer Seba and I were going to hear a public lecture by Another Famous Author I Admire (AFAIA) and that I had been excited about for ages. When the time came to go, however, I started freaking out (hyperventilating might be a better word), feeling sick to my stomach and unable to go. So, this step of actually speaking to FAIA is a big deal, considering I couldn't even go hear AFAIA speak without my stomach rebelling. So I ask my question, FAIA gives an interesting and gracious answer, I thank him/her and head out. Why is it, then, that I feel like a grand idiot for having asked this question? Why am I in shock and have a desire to cry irrationally for being an idiot? This was a question that is pertinent to what I want to do and was definitely related to what FAIA was talking about. Does anyone else have this sort of reaction to people they really admire?

It's a lot easier for me to speak with famous people I don't know anything about. But that doesn't get me anywhere, now does it? Suggestions to get over this fear would be greatly appreciated.

25.4.06

Latin America's Left Turn

For those of you who may or may not be interesting in Latin American politics among other things, you all should read Latin America's Left Turn by Jorge Castañeda. Let me know what you think about it.

Positive news

I have some very positive news on the paper front. That is to say, of the three that I have due in the next 2.5 weeks, 2 are 95% finished. Now, this isn't a scientific percentage, but I feel good about these things again. Nothing like a little freaking out to get the job done. I don't lie when I say I do my best work under stress.

On the negative side, the hot water in my apartment was (not so mysteriously) brown today. That is, filled with dirt and muck. I had to wash my hair in cold water and do the dishes in cold water. My landlord said, run the water for awhile and it should clear, it's just a plumbing problem. Well, um, no it's not. All that accomplished was filling my sinks and tub with remnants of muck. Luckily (for them? for me?) leaving the cold water on for awhile flushed most of the muck away, though I did end up softscrubbing my sink. I'll just note that the water is still brown. Just as brown as it was this morning. And it's the whole building. This is really disgusting.

22.4.06

Film list

In honor of S's new job...

So this is some list of movies that someone (a critic whose name escapes me) said everyone should see. I put in bold the films I have seen. I'll admit, my must-see list is not the same as this one. Nonetheless, a fun exercise that made me think of films I haven't seen in ages. Though I might have to come up with my must-see film list at some point... once my papers are finished. However, I HAVE completed a whole paragraph of one of them. And it's a good, strong paragraph. At this pace, I'll finish the thing the day it's due. I'll do more tomorrow. Anyways, to the point:

"2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) Stanley Kubrick

"The 400 Blows" (1959) Francois Truffaut
"8 1/2" (1963) Federico Fellini
"Aguirre, the Wrath of God" (1972) Werner Herzog
"Alien" (1979) Ridley Scott
"All About Eve" (1950) Joseph L. Mankiewicz
"Annie Hall" (1977) Woody Allen
"Bambi" (1942) Disney
"Battleship Potemkin" (1925) Sergei Eisenstein
"The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) William Wyler
"The Big Red One" (1980) Samuel Fuller
"The Bicycle Thief" (1949) Vittorio De Sica
"The Big Sleep" (1946) Howard Hawks
"Blade Runner" (1982) Ridley Scott
"Blowup" (1966) Michelangelo Antonioni
"Blue Velvet" (1986) David Lynch
"Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) Arthur Penn
"Breathless" (1959) Jean-Luc Godard
"Bringing Up Baby" (1938) Howard Hawks
"Carrie" (1975) Brian DePalma
"Casablanca" (1942) Michael Curtiz
"Un Chien Andalou" (1928) Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali
"Children of Paradise" / "Les Enfants du Paradis" (1945) Marcel Carne
"Chinatown" (1974) Roman Polanski
"Citizen Kane" (1941) Orson Welles
"A Clockwork Orange" (1971) Stanley Kubrick
"The Crying Game" (1992) Neil Jordan
"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) Robert Wise
"Days of Heaven" (1978) Terence Malick
"Dirty Harry" (1971) Don Siegel
"The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" (1972) Luis Bunuel
"Do the Right Thing" (1989) Spike Lee
"La Dolce Vita" (1960) Federico Fellini
"Double Indemnity" (1944) Billy Wilder
"Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (1964) Stanley Kubrick
"Duck Soup" (1933) Leo McCarey
"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) Steven Spielberg
"Easy Rider" (1969) Dennis Hopper
"The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) Irvin Kershner
"The Exorcist" (1973) William Friedkin
"Fargo" (1995) Joel & Ethan Coen
"Fight Club" (1999) David Fincher
"Frankenstein" (1931) James Whale
"The General" (1927) Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman
"The Godfather," "The Godfather, Part II" (1972, 1974) Francis Ford Coppola
"Gone With the Wind" (1939) Victor Fleming
"GoodFellas" (1990) Martin Scorsese
"The Graduate" (1967) Mike Nichols
"Halloween" (1978) John Carpenter
"A Hard Day's Night" (1964) Richard Lester
"Intolerance" (1916) D.W. Griffith
"It's A Gift" (1934) Norman Z. McLeod
"It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) Frank Capra
"Jaws" (1975) Steven Spielberg
"The Lady Eve" (1941) Preston Sturges
"Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) David Lean
"M" (1931) Fritz Lang
"Mad Max 2" / "The Road Warrior" (1981) George Miller
"The Maltese Falcon" (1941) John Huston
"The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) John Frankenheimer
"Metropolis" (1926) Fritz Lang
"Modern Times" (1936) Charles Chaplin
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975) Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam
"Nashville" (1975) Robert Altman
"The Night of the Hunter" (1955) Charles Laughton
"Night of the Living Dead" (1968) George Romero
"North by Northwest" (1959) Alfred Hitchcock
"Nosferatu" (1922) F.W. Murnau
"On the Waterfront" (1954) Elia Kazan
"Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968) Sergio Leone
"Out of the Past" (1947) Jacques Tournier
"Persona" (1966) Ingmar Bergman
"Pink Flamingos" (1972) John Waters
"Psycho" (1960) Alfred Hitchcock
"Pulp Fiction" (1994) Quentin Tarantino
"Rashomon" (1950) Akira Kurosawa
"Rear Window" (1954) Alfred Hitchcock
"Rebel Without a Cause" (1955) Nicholas Ray
"Red River" (1948) Howard Hawks
"Repulsion" (1965) Roman Polanski
"Rules of the Game" (1939) Jean Renoir
"Scarface" (1932) Howard Hawks
"The Scarlet Empress" (1934) Josef von Sternberg
"Schindler's List" (1993) Steven Spielberg
"The Searchers" (1956) John Ford
"The Seven Samurai" (1954) Akira Kurosawa
"Singin' in the Rain" (1952) Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly
"Some Like It Hot" (1959) Billy Wilder
"A Star Is Born" (1954) George Cukor
"A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) Elia Kazan
"Sunset Boulevard" (1950) Billy Wilder
"Taxi Driver" (1976) Martin Scorsese
"The Third Man" (1949) Carol Reed
"Tokyo Story" (1953) Yasujiro Ozu
"Touch of Evil" (1958) Orson Welles
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) John Huston
"Trouble in Paradise" (1932) Ernst Lubitsch
"Vertigo" (1958) Alfred Hitchcock
"West Side Story" (1961) Jerome Robbins/Robert Wise
"The Wild Bunch" (1969) Sam Peckinpah
"The Wizard of Oz" (1939) Victor Fleming

film extravaganza

Hello all.

The grayness is depressing me, which is no fun.

So is the end of semester avalanche of work - part of which I feel is poor planning on my part. That and spending most of today watching films, I mean, working with a movie on in the background. This way I got through Good night and Good luck, The Constant Gardener which I loved, and Brokeback Mountain, which was better than I expected it to be. I enjoyed all three films, but I really should have been doing schoolwork. Well, no more "free time" for me for a bit. Which I guess means minimal blogging, too.

EDIT: I heard interesting pieces on All Things Considered yesterday conmemorating Chernobyl. You can check them out here (Vocies of Chernobyl: Survivor stories), here (Covering the Chernobyl crisis), here (Chernobyl copes with fallout 20 years later), and here (at Chernobyl, building a shelter for a shelter).

20.4.06

on the map, maipu is purple

Today was most definitely a beautiful day. I also got a bit of work done, so I'm feeling good about things. A little nervous, yes, but generally on top of things.

I made a new pork recipe with sage and rosemary. It is quite delicious. It was a bit saltier than expected, so I am thinking of ways to reduce the salt in the recipe - the rub for the meat has salt in it, and so does the bouillon you use to cook it at the end. I used unsalted butter... suggestions?

I was helping Seba find a way on public transportation between point A and point B that didn't involve changing buses/metro/paying for more than one thing. I am so proud, I totally found the right bus to take. Unfortunately I couldn't do it from memory anymore, I had to haul out my old map book. Yes, I have a book that is basically incredibly detailed maps of Santiago. It is falling apart in the binding, but it is one of the most useful things I had while I was abroad. However, as the book is falling apart and it is from 1999/2000, I'm considering buying a more up to date version. To note some of the differences, none of the new (ie in the last 8 years) developments are on there, nor are the new metro lines. It's still a great book, though. And that image is actually from the front of the book I have. Amazing, isn't it?

PS If you are going to leave a comment on my blog and you plan me to read it, please be sure to do it on a recent post. I won't see it otherwise.

19.4.06

shopping

Today was quite eventful - teaching, hearing important author speak in my class, my friend's car battery being dead when we were planning to go shopping... good times. Very good times.

I am particularly pleased that I convinced my friend to get the dress that looks WONDERFUL on her but that wasn't exactly her style - she even got shoes to go with it. She's going to look so cute!

Unfortunately, I missed my teleserie. And I appear to have lost the box of granola bars I bought - either they are in my friend's car, or the grocery guy didn't put it in my bag. I think he's a bit odd, because my head of garlic wasn't in the bag either and, in retrospect, wasn't even scanned. However, I paid for those granola bars, so I hope they turn up.

18.4.06

I perform best under stress

\So I was worrying about that paper when I really shouldn't. In some ways it is good because I spent a lot of time thinkig about the paper so when it came to writing it it came quite easily. But the stress was terrible. But now it is finished (actually, it has been for a bit now) and I can start worrying about the 2 I have left. I think those are more worrisome - as I have been concentrating on this other one so much, I have really neglected the others. Oh, well. I'm also trying to catch up on grading so I don't have to worry about it too much later. I should have it done by tomorrow. Yay, me.

Someone very close and special to me got the job he/she wanted. YAY FOR THEM! And yes, you know who you are :-D

Now comes the time of obsessing for what is left of the semester. The weekend was a good "break" though it wasn't too much of a break really and now I'm refreshed and ready to dive back into things. It's amazing what a few days with family and friends can do for a person. That, and Easter. I'm really feeling the whole resurrection/rebirth bit in my life right now. It just helps me to give a positive spin to a lot of things going on right now. And hope, eternally hope. It's oddly a good way to help me deal with the stress of my life right now. That and talking to family and Seba. Life is good.

Except that I ordered a pizza and I am so full from the chicken strips that came with it that I can't eat the pizza. That's sad.

17.4.06

Happy Easter! Feliz Pascua!

So my "vacation"/religious holiday is over. It was rather pleasant, I had a very nice time with my family and friends. All that was missing was Seba.

I was somewhat disappointed with church at Easter, however. The choir sang so much that it felt more like a concert than a church service. The language was quite gender exclusive - why say "us men"? And the sermon was less than inspiring. I might even say that it was uninspired and uninspiring. So, that was a disappointment. However, the rest of the day was wonderful.

I miss my family. And I miss my friends, though it was odd being back in alma mater and not really having a purpose per se. I'll never be an undergrad again (something that I am perfectly OK with), but at the same time I miss a lot of things about being an undergraduate. My friends, numero uno. But also the breadth of classes and social activities. I would joke with people that this weekend was also a reincarnation of my social life, but it wasn't as much of a joke as it might seem. I saw my best friend, other close friends (though not all), other people who aren't "friends" but are good people, ex-professors, aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends... I miss being close to family. Like, walking distance from my house.

And despite my complaints about the Easter service we attended, Easter is still my favorite holiday (and not because of the chocolate, silly ones). No matter how grumpy I am about non-inclusive language, I still feel overwhelmed when we all sing "Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!" with brass and timpani. God is totally there on Easter morning.

14.4.06

a year later

It was a great idea to come visit. Really, it was. I'm happy because I am seeing my friends and my old professors who all think I am great. It is a lot of fun. And I'm a huge dork. I feel reaffirmed in my professional vocation :-) yay me!

At the same time, it's a very odd feeling to be here at alma mater and not to really "belong" - it's not like I have to go to class or work or that I live nearby or have meetings or anything. It's an entirely different feeling, and I'll admit that while I enjoy visiting right now, it is a little odd. I'm also realizing that almost 100% of the students I know/am friends with will not be around next year. That's a little scary.

It's incredibly, oppressively hot. It feels like June. I'm not a big fan of this. On the positive side, however, I am getting a little bit of a tan. Yay. And also on the positive side is that parents and N will be here in a few hours! Yay!

13.4.06

alma mater

So it's both wonderful and incredibly odd to be back at alma mater. I'm thrilled because I get to see family, friends, mentors. Awesome people. But I don't really belong anymore, which makes me sort of sad. I feel a bit at loss - where should I go? What should I do? When I was a student here, I always had a purpose. Well, my purpose right now is to work on that paper I have to do.

I visited my advisor. A wonderful, wonderful person. Advisor made me feel wonderful about myself and what I am doing, and that I am a sort of role model for the younger students. Which to me is an odd feeling, but I am happy. Very happy about that.

It's so warm here. I can feel that part of me has tanned already. Ha, Ha.

12.4.06

holy week

For me today was pretty odd. Because it was a very long day but it doesn't feel like it was. Maybe it's the "alivio" of heading out tomorrow. Who knows.

I'm planning to spend a lot of time reading. I know it's dorky, but I'm not going to be busy every minute, am I? I might as well be productive.

So... I may or may not be posting before I get back. Happy Holy Week (man, that sounds odd) and... well... maybe I'll write more later.

And I am STILL so excited about having my ticket to Chile!