April
28, 2006
Hello,
hello District 5340…!
Warm
wishes from South America! So much has happened in my
short time here in Buenos Aries that it is hard to
believe it has only been two months! After a month
long language immersion program and an initial month
of classes at the University my perspective into the
issues that plague the southern cone in topics
surrounding Peace and Conflict resolution have grown
exponentially; I feel wonder where I will be in two
years?!
Academic
life
I
am class four of this Rotary World Peace Fellowship (RWPF)
and have much to thank my predecessors in paving the
way for my experience to be as successful as it has
been thus far. As with any new program, there have
been some kinks to work through, regardless, I am very
content with the decision I made to come here and not
somewhere else. As my (French) Professor told us on
the first day of class it is important ask yourself
"why this and not nothing, why this and not
something else."
The
academic calendar is divided into quarters and
consists of "seminars"; all my classes are
in Spanish, as is the reading and required papers per
class. This quarter I have three seminars Mon. Tues
and. Wed. from 7-10 pm with Thursday and Friday to
take other classes and catch up on reading. My
seminars this quarter consist of; Social Science
theories in Conflict and Development, Concepts and
theory in international relations, and Conflict and
Development in Latin America. I am additionally taking
a workshop on conflict resolution, methodology in the
social sciences and Portuguese classes.
As
you can see there is a lot of theory, something we are
not as accustomed to in the US(especially at a masters
level), and is reflective of the heavy European
influence on academia in Buenos Aires. Frankly, I didn’t
think that after six years "in the field" I
would enjoy theory as much as I do but I have to admit
it is a great mental exercise for me to put things
into a theoretical context, only possible after having
been a player in the field of development. I realize
now why it is so important to have some years of
practical, life, experience before venturing back to
academia. I find myself bouncing theory off of
previous experience and being able to look at it in a
new, more complete, way. Sometimes, however, I have
quite the opposite experience as I sit on my couch
reading Kant, Morgenthau, Arndt and Foucault; my mind
wanders to the amputee I pass on my daily walk to
class begging for change, I wonder what good I am
doing in the world while I hide away in my apt, nose
in a book written by (as my fellow/friend so
succinctly puts it) dead white French philosophers,
contemplating IR theory??! Y en fin…
This
first quarter I have opted to take Portuguese as an
extra class, along with two short(ish) seminars
offered. Although it might seem like relatively few
hours (in class) I can assure you that I use my
"free" time fully to complete the very
generous reading load as well as pursue other related
practical experiences. I am currently volunteering
with an organization called the "white
helmets" an intersection of the UN and Ministry
of the Exteriors mission for disaster mitigation and
aid. The white helmets are a smallish branch doing
important field work with few resources. I am
fortunate to be able to help in the organization of
their capacity building program. It is nice to be able
to keep one foot in the "real" world while
thinking about the "ideal" world.
Not
having to work means having the luxury of taking full
advantage of the many intellectual seminars and
lectures going on around BsAs..something I am finding
an important compliment to my "other"
academics.
I
have five other fellows in my group and about 15
Argentine nationals in the masters program who are
largely made up of Argentine military…very
interesting dynamic.
Rotary
Along
with class we have several Rotary obligations to
fulfill, these are all done at free will
(understanding the school comes first) but I find
these events are important in terms of spreading the
word, and the wealth of the organization. This weekend
I spent most of my free time attending/speaking at
rotary related events. I have also been active in two
local Rotaract groups who have weekly meetings and are
always looking for innovative opportunities to do
community service work. Organization is lacking,
hopefully I place I can add value.
One
of my favorite attributes to this fellowship is the
connection to rotary that exists. This tie to
community service, linked to the academic pursuits of
Peace and Conflict resolution, round out the theory
and keep me grounded, and tied, in a clear way to the
mission of the study. I couldn’t be happier with the
opportunity to collaborate with Rotary and Service
learning in this way. In fact, I wish we did a better
job of this in education across the board in the US.
Why not weave the thread of service through all course
work? This being said there is much work to be done to
ensure that we exploit this connection to best of our
ability. Organization is always a difficult endeavor
and cross culturally (as many of you know) can bring
with it an extra burden, patience and resilience is
indeed a virtue with respect to this issue.
Buenos
Aires
As
some of you know I studied here in 98 as an exchange
student at the University of Buenos Aires, the public
University, offering me an introduction to what life
in BsAs was all about. Even though since then the
country has suffered yet another economic blow to the
ego, and conscience, I don’t see too many changes.
Although most Portenos would not agree with this
perspective, the economic roller coaster that defines
the Portenos view of the world was not so different
(even in the hey day of Peso to Dollar parity) than it
is now after the economic meltdown of 2001. The fact
of the matter is that even in the prosper of the 90s
anyone over 50 still remembered the effects off the
economic instability of the 40s and told story after
story (after story ;-)
of going out to buy milk in the morning at one
price only to return for more in the PM to an
infinitely higher one. This historical memory had
already left its marks in the social framework of the
people here, this last experience is just more added
on top.. It is hard to talk about Buenos Aires without
mentioning its relation to economics because it
encompasses so much of the identity of the people.
This along with dreadfully frustrating "Argentine
identity" debate that I will never quite
understand!
This
aside living in Buenos Aires is both a treat and a
source of frustration. Not ever having lived in a big
city for any remarkable period of time I long for the
sounds of nature that have been replaced with the
never ending sounds of the city, and the opportunity
to breath air without the fear that I am harming
myself. Between the smog and the cigarette smoking it’s
a wonder that people don’t have permanent upper
respiratory infections.
On
the other hand the city offers an amazing plethora of
opportunities to visit museums, dance, theater,
movies, parks, public art, lectures educational
symposiums and everything else you can imagine. As a
visitor you can take full advantage of all of the
above at a bargain rate, the peso is 3 to 1 against
the US$. As a fellow with limited funds I can take
advantage from time to time but must be careful about
how I choose to spend my $. My rent is very high and
although food is relatively cheap I must still follow
a modest budget. But, then again, I am not a tourist.
Etc
Creating
a formula for life here seems to be my theme now that
I am turning the corner on one month in my lovely apt.
Focusing on school is, as I stated before, an amazing
luxury but figuring out what that looks like on a
daily basis, balanced with service interests and
personal needs equals some kind of formula that I
haven’t been able to define. I am a doer by nature
so spending so many hours sitting is difficult for me,
an added challenge to my experience here. As a side
note I have become more skilled at using my computer
than ever before as I look for opportunities to
deviate from my reading responsibilities in
"productive procrastination"… possibly a
good outcome ;-).
All
in all I am chugging along nicely, thankful for the
opportunity to be doing so among energetic fellow
peace warriors in a city rife with opportunity for
service and personal enrichment. If any of you are
looking for an excuse to make a trip to Buenos Aires I
humbly offer rotary-guide services year round and free
of charge ;-)!
Besos,
Perth
