La Pura Vida

Update from Bariloche

I´ve realized that I really like hostel life. Just had my third homemade meal in a row. Lunch today (basically same as dinner yesterday): bread from a local bakery and cheese, tomato, avocado, lemon to season from a local supermarket. I also have apples, banana, granola, and milk in a baggie with my name on it in the fridge. There´s a big kitchen with everything needed… silverware, oven, toaster, microwave, blender (pumpkin soup tonight possibly). I like taking care of myself this way (reminds me of apartment life from last summer). Amazing what a trip to the grocery store can do for a day´s feeling of competence.

We had a class on the origins and indigenous of Patagonia this morning from 10-12. Patagonia is an area that has always been coveted by especially Europeans - they have often seen it with its natural beauty and open spaces as an area to conquer. Much history however ignores the indigenous which were affected by these moves. For example, one event is known as the Conquest of the Desert. In reality though it was more than the desert that was conquered - a group of people was wiped out. Today in Bariloche a double face exists - that of tourism and that of the poorer neighborhoods of immigrants and Chilenos.

After class I went to buy my food, browsed in a local bookstore, and signed up for a Pilates class tomorrow! I´d eyed this place yesterday when it was closed - happily when I went today the lady had one trial spot left in the class for 6:30 tomorrow. I´m there. In these ways I can craft my own experience here within the framework of our program. We have another class, this one specifically on local social movements, from 4-6.

In the last week especially I´ve tried to settle on a topic for my final project. After often feeling confused and overwhelmed by scope of possibilities, I´m incredibly excited to be making headway. Yesterday I met with Brenda to talk about my latest ideas. I remain very interested in the idea of cultural hegemony, Gramsci´s theory that a diverse culture can be ruled by one group – that everyday life is the basis for larger systems of domination. I understand this by thinking of layers… everyone lives in the way that makes sense to them individually, but often without a full understanding of ´the larger hegemony of society.´

From Wikipedia again…
In such a layered hegemony, individual common sense, which is fragmented, is effective in helping people deal with small, everyday activities. But common sense also inhibits their ability to grasp the larger systemic nature of exploitation and hegemony. People focus on immediate concerns and problems rather than focusing upon more fundamental sources of social oppression.

I want to explore NGO work in a rural area – what is being done to raise awareness and create empowerment within the cultural hegemony related to gender oppression? I told Brenda that I´m fine leaving Buenos Aires, and that I actually think I´ll be able to work better outside of the distractions of the city – so if all goes well I´ll be heading back up North (humitas, llamas, beauty). We talked about Red Puna, a network we met with during our trip North that connects many NGOs working in the area. They have an area for gender – we talked about my going there to explore the question of changed consciousness. Though a new empowered perspective works toward solving the problem (of violence or another form of oppression), it can create a new one. When a woman changes and her environment doesn´t, she can be in worse shape than originally. I want to take part in Red Puna work and talk to people about these questions of breaking hegemony and implications of changing consciousness. Still have to decide on a specific question, but Brenda e-mailed the organization last night and so the ball is rolling… I feel really good about this. Having a tentative plan makes the rest of the semester seem more attackable – we´ll return this weekend for a final week and a half of classes in BA, and then the ISP period will begin. I will probably stay in BA to do research there before heading North for maybe 2 weeks, and then top it off with a week of reflection, final research, and writing in BA. And that´s it! Crazy. Christmas bells will be ringing before long.

Hasta pronto...

posted by Colleen @ 11:16 AM