Diego in Brazil: Interacting with Rio de Janeiro’s socio-economic and racial inequality

September 27, 2013

I have been writing in this blog for some weeks now, and so far I have tried to stay away from portraying Rio de Janeiro under the same lens you may find in other type of stories about Brazil. I came to Rio almost seven weeks ago with the goal of avoiding becoming yet another tourist in this incredibly dynamic city. To accomplish that, I decided I would stay away from visiting some of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods at first. From what I heard before coming here and what I have seen so far, this what many outsiders do when visiting Rio de Janeiro.

In recent years, the ‘Favela Tours’ have become major touristic attractions for foreigners. A quick search online for these tours will show you what these companies advertise: “interact with local people, see the happiness that comes out of these slums, and learn about the city’s socio-economic problems.” Most of the exchange students I have met at PUC-Rio have already ‘visited’ some of these favelas, yet when I ask them what the difference between their visit and these popular favela tours is there seems to always be an uncomfortable pause in the conversation.

Certainly many people would disagree with my approach to settling in Rio de Janeiro. Living in Rio’s Zona Sul (the city’s richest area) with a host-family, attending a private university as an exchange student, and interacting mainly with Rio’s middle-class will not show you much about other regions of the city. But this is precisely my point: what exactly is to be “shown” about these marginalized neighborhoods? I share many foreigners’ desire to learn about and interact with Rio de Janeiro’s diverse population. But can we find a more just way of learning about the country’s social diversity when we have the time and resources to do so? Would it be possible to suppress our ‘inner explorers’ until we find a social position or activity that will contribute to the lives of those from whom we seek to learn? In other words, could we approach a new social reality as foreigners and complete strangers while respecting the humanity of those who suffer from inequality and discrimination in the city? I truly want to believe we can.

One of my first steps in finding a more conscious way to learn about Rio de Janeiro was paying attention to how Rio’s residents talk about the city’s socio-economic inequality. My main source of information and perspectives is my host University. I must say that my perspective on how PUC-Rio talks about poverty, culture, and racial discrimination in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil is highly determined by a very particular set of students. As in any other university, you will find some differences between those who discuss social exclusion for two hours in a sociology course and those who take more technical courses. Among the many perspectives and ideas I have heard in my classes so far, the most common thought that I keep encountering is that “poverty in Brazil has color.”

Poverty and race relations in Brazil have drastically changed in the recent decade, and according to one of my professors, class conversation on these topics is shifting and constantly adapting. The World Bank states that Brazil saw its poverty rates dropped from 21% in 2003 to just 11% in 2009, and despite recent protests in Brazil’s biggest cities, statistics show that poverty continues to drop in the country.  I have heard many students arguing that race relations in Brazil are also changing, yet by 2012, 70% of those living in poverty were Afro-Brazilian. Programs and new systems such as university quotas based on race have been established in the country, but as recently as last year statistics showed that only 2.2% of Afro-Brazilians can access higher education. Rio de Janeiro mirrors some of these relationships present in the rest of Brazil.

Let me go back to my point of respecting marginalized populations as we seek to learn about a new place. I want to ask, how fair is it to enter these communities as ‘travelers’ seeking to gain experience and then return to our safe and comfortable accommodation in the nicest areas of the city? Why would we take the freedom to pay our way into these favelas to witness the marginalization of countless families and communities for the sake of experience? As I wrote in one of my first entries, my goal for the semester was to find a position that allowed me to interact with Rio’s diverse population while contributing to these communities. I have been looking for some math and reading teaching programs that go directly to groups of kids and young students inside or near Rio’s poor neighborhoods. If everything works out in the next few weeks, I will hopefully join one of these programs for the rest of the semester. Is it a perfect solution to my questions? Of course not. Yet I want to believe that we can make an effort to grow as exchange students while respecting and contributing to the lives of those who welcome us in their cities and homes.

PUC-Rio has been an interesting place to learn about racial and social dynamics in Brazil. Just last week the University hosted a fair with many people who came to sell their products. The activity had a strong focus on racial and ethnic diversity, and I was happy to join other exchange students who were also interested in learning more about this complicated topic in Brazil.

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One of the booths at the Brazilian fair

Maybe six months will not be enough to fully grasp how PUC-Rio talks about inequality in Rio de Janeiro, but so far I have at least had the opportunity to learn some interesting perspectives from the University.

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The fair gave me new perspective on Brazilian diversity

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Diego in Brazil: Grades at PUC-Rio

September 24, 2013

Stay with me during this post. I know I am writing about grades and not a weekend trip to a beach or a new location, but you may be surprised at how a grading system may reveal many cultural and social aspects of a place.

As the semester continues to move forward my professors at PUC-Rio have begun talking about our first tests. Grades at PUC certainly work quite differently than at Richmond. Instead of having a cumulative grade that you earn through class projects, tests, presentations, class participation, and so on, at PUC I only have two tests during the semester that will form my final grade. My first test accounts for approximately 40% of my grade, and in a matter of a week or two I will be having tests for my five courses. According to some of my Brazilian classmates, these tests at PUC tend to be a way for your professors to only determine whether you have completed the assigned readings. Gladly I have been trying to stay on top of my readings in the past month.

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The University’s atmosphere definitely calms you down from any concern about a new grading system

Interacting with my classmates has definitely been a major entry point to many aspects of life in Rio de Janeiro. Having a set topic for conversation does help when meeting local students. Trying to explain that I am a Guatemalan student at the US currently studying abroad in Brazil can get quite complicated at times. When that happens, it is always useful to fall back to a topic related to the class we share to build a new conversation from there. For instance, I have really enjoyed learning about Brazil’s tough political environment through some conversations with one of my classmates from my Political Economy of Latin America course. However, these conversations can also reveal something deeper about the life of students at Rio.

I had wondered several times why I saw countless posters advertising internships for students at PUC. Fortunately UR has several programs to fund students in their internships, but the amount of internships opportunities advertised at PUC is certainly beyond what I have seen at Richmond. According to one of my classmates from my Geography class, obtaining a first job in Rio may depend much more on previous work and internship experience than on a particular grade. His opinion is that Brazil’s professional environment requires you to leave college with at least two years of work experience with you. For that reason, he believes students and professors understand that work experience is a pillar in students’ preparation during their first university degree. When you bring all of this into account, you begin to understand part of the academic culture at PUC.

If a higher education institution understands the importance of work experience for the professional world it operates in, why would it not adapt its academic system to prepare its students in the best possible way? From conversations I have had with other UR students about grades at their study abroad locations, it seems to me PUC-Rio’s system is more common that this post would suggest. Yet it has been incredibly interesting to think about and ask what lies behind PUC’s grading system.

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Mel in Chile: A Lens

September 3, 2013

It has been exactly a week. The most interesting aspect of “the life of a university student” is that political affiliation is a big part of the identity of public universities. Chile is an incredible place to study political systems as it is the only place in the world where a socialist government was elected democratically and without military intervention. This government was overthrown in a military coup only a few years after it was established. The years of Pinochet’s military dictatorship brought the implementation of strict neoliberal economic reforms and fast privatization of important industries. Many will argue it was precisely this period of free markets and capitalist ventures which brought Chile the macroeconomic “success” it currently enjoys. It is considered one of the most stable economies in Latin America. However this same period of military dictatorship also carries painful memories of vast and blatant human rights abuses the government committed against dissidents. Leaders of socialist parties were assassinated, thousands  of civilians who opposed the neoliberal reforms were tortured as political prisoners, and thousands more would simply disappear; they are called the “desaparecidos”. It is without a doubt that Chile’s “economic miracle” came at heavy price.

The bittersweet taste of “macroeconomic” success is not simply nested in the past. Chile continues to be a country with one of the highest margins of income inequality in South America. Access to health care and higher education (along with other industries) is concentrated in the hands of elites. I imagine many will remember the student led protests in 2011.

I apologize! This was not meant to be a history lesson on Chile’s economic and political evolution. I started the blog with the statement that university life for students in Santiago is very interesting. I have found that the universities in the city have a strong political identity. After only two days in the city, I heard from other Chilean students which universities were rightist and which were leftist. After walking around other campuses in the city, I also began to see the role of politics in the university.

This group of SIT students has come to study politics and economics in Chile at an incredibly special time. September 11th will be the 40th anniversary of the military coup in Chile. My host family, professors, and other students say there are many things that go on around the city. At USACH (my university), as in other universities, there are forums, discussions, panels and other events the university has organized. There are also events that will take place throughout the city. My group will actually be traveling to the North for our first excursion so we will be away from all the activity.

Then on November 17th Chileans will vote for their president.  It will be the first presidential election in which voting is voluntary.

In conclusion, I feel very lucky to be in this program during such a specific time in Chile. I am not simply here taking classes, making friends, and sightseeing. I have the opportunity to “experience” the country through a specific lens. I walk around the metropolitan areas of Santiago and I don’t simply see huge skyscrapers housing foreign companies. I also think about the implications of such economic growth. When I am in the university campus I don’t just see other university students. I think of how their identity as students was formed through the movement, and how they help form the identity of the university.

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This is a view of Santiago from the San Cristobal hill. Note the Andes in the background!

It has been incredibly helpful to have this lens. Another student studying abroad in Brazil and writing for the Traveloges for UR mentions how easy it is for study abroad students to be “tourists”. Being a “tourist” is not bad. I am already planning a backpacking trip to Patagonia after the program is over with another friend studying in Valparaiso and I will do as much traveling as I can. That is to say, if you have the opportunity to travel you should take advantage of it. However you should also take advantage of the fact that studying abroad gives students an opportunity to create a lens. It gives students the opportunity to travel not to simply visit places and appreciate their presence in space but to also see what isn’t physically there.

I can feel myself becoming poetic as I sit in the cozy kitchen of Pedro and María on this cold night in Santiago, Chile.

Better to stop now before I start writing of the wisdom of the wind and the courage of the sun or something.

Have a great week everyone 🙂

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Diego in Brazil: A new routine

August 26, 2013

Moving to a new place certainly has its advantages. Although feared by many (I suppose), one of my favorite aspects of settling in a new city/town is finding a new routine. Based on how everything developed this past week, I will dare to say that some sort of order is entering my life here in Rio de Janeiro. Don’t get me wrong, I pretty much depend on avoiding settling for a repetitive routine, knowing that I should not unpack my suitcase because in a matter of weeks I will be changing places, and even accepting that people I meet will stay around only for some time before I go back home or they continue their journeys. Yet these are precisely the thoughts and needs that make finding a routine so great sometimes.

From Monday to Thursday I spend about 8 hours each day at my host university, the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC). I have two or three two-hour classes each day, and I normally stay to have lunch and dinner at the University’s cafeteria. On Monday and Wednesday I start with States, Politics, and Development in Latin America, continue with “Poverty and Social Inequality, and end the day with Geography of the Contemporary World. In between my classes I manage to escape to the University’s gym for a one-hour yoga class. On Tuesday and Thursday I go to only two classes: Brazilian Foreign Policy and Portuguese.

Exchange students at PUC have the option to choose certain courses that are taught in English. I originally considered taking some of these classes, but in the end decided to go for only courses in Portuguese. Being a native Spanish-speaker certainly gives me some advantage to learn Portuguese, but it is not by any means a guarantee that I will magically be able to communicate effectively. While I had never taken a Portuguese class before coming to PUC, I spent about a month and a half working in the northwestern region of Brazil this past summer. Sadly I did not find myself in the urgent need to speak Portuguese since many of those that I worked with spoke Spanish. However, my time in the Brazilian Amazon did help me to get used to Portuguese sounds, main endings, pronunciation, and so on. This, plus a lot of motivation and desire to learn Portuguese as soon as possible, pushed me to avoid English courses and go straight for those in Portuguese. I am afraid I will have to wait for my first tests to see how that turns out.

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PUC has a very warm atmosphere

It is an exciting time to be studying in Brazil. Next to Brazil’s socioeconomic changes in the last decade and the country’s growing economic and political influence around the world, social sciences at Brazilian universities have developed and expanded significantly. My impression so far is that my professors at PUC are much more concerned with theoretical and structural approaches to a social question than my professors at Richmond. I would say two different reasons explain what I have seen. On the one hand, the recent expansion of social studies in Brazil has led to very active debates on theories, appropriate methodologies, and other type of “larger” questions. On the other hand, Latin American social thinkers have traditionally chosen structural over particular explanations for social and political topics. To give you an example, while last semester at UR my international relations class started with readings on contemporary political structures, my Brazilian Foreign Policy course at PUC has been reading about Brazil’s foreign policy since the late 19th Century, several theoretical approaches to foreign policy, and discussions on how the study of foreign policy has developed in Brazil during the past twenty years.

Both inside and outside the classroom, the atmosphere at PUC is incredibly dynamic and welcoming for new students. As I walk towards the cafeteria, I come across hundreds of students eating, drinking coffee, and chatting in the University’s two main buildings. A friend at PUC recently invited me to a women’s rights group that meets every Tuesday to watch films, discuss, and organize for several events. Needless to say, I am incredibly excited to join them this coming Tuesday. While student-run groups may not be as common at PUC as in some US colleges, joining activities such as yoga has definitely given me a space to meet Brazilian students at PUC in a more relaxed environment.

Whenever possible I bike home at the end of each busy day. On Thursday I chose to bike around the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, a lagoon in Rio’s Southern Zone, and had the great pleasure to talk for some minutes with some local fishermen who have established a small community next to the Lagoa. Biking home from PUC around the Lagoa takes only about 25 minutes, and now that I met these local fishermen I will be definitely trying to avoid taking the bus more often.

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A fishermen community next to the Lagoa, a lagoon in Rio de Janeiro’s Southern Zone

As I said, there are some great things about finding a new routine!

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Mel in Chile: Almost Done Packing

August 26, 2013

Hi all! My name is Mel and I am a junior at the University of Richmond. I was born and grew up in Albania but moved to the US about eleven years ago. As I finish packing my suitcase for tomorrow’s flight, I would like to share with you a bit about myself and my plans for this coming semester.

At UR I am a Business Administration major with a concentration in International Business and an Economics minor. My main interests revolve around socioeconomic rural development in Latin America and human trafficking in the region. This past summer I had the great opportunity to work in the Dominican Republic on micro-finance initiatives focused on Haitian workers in sugar-cane communities. These migrant populations are some of the most vulnerable communities in the Dominican Republic, and hopefully I will be going back next summer to continue working on these issues.

For now, I am moving to Chile’s capital city Santiago for the SIT Political Systems and Economic Development in Chile program. During the next four months, I will join fourteen other students to explore the social, political, and economic dynamics that have shaped Chile since the early 1970s. SIT programs are a fantastic twist on a traditional  study abroad program.  On the SIT program we will live with a host-family in Santiago, take classes at the University of Santiago, go on several academic excursions around Chile to add a practical component to our courses, live for a week with a Mapuche indigenous host family to learn about the situation of indigenous peoples in Chile, and do a one-month independent research project at the end of our program.  This month-long research component is what makes SIT programs especially unique.

I am particularly excited about the opportunity to learn about Mapuche groups and their political participation in the Chilean society. Through our program, we will establish a dialogue with Mapuche leaders to explore how these communities interact with the neoliberal political and economic dynamics that surround them. Our group will also be visiting Chile’s biggest mine, and both experiences will, I hope, allow us to gain a deeper understanding of the marginalization of the indigenous population. Since we have the opportunity to run a one-month independent research project at the end of our program, I am already thinking about exploring in depth these indigenous/mining relationships that shape part of Chile’s rural life.

Blogging about and sharing my experiences with you will be definitely fun! I now need to get some sleep before my long journey tomorrow. I feel as if I have been preparing for this particular program for at least a year, and I honestly cannot describe how much I look forward to settling in Chile! I will surely keep you updated, so come back in a week to read more!

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Diego in Brazil: Settling or Being a Tourist?

August 19, 2013

“Walking is a virtue, tourism is a deadly sin.” Bruce Chatwin

I wonder if it is possible to move to and establish in a new place without becoming a tourist the first few days or weeks. The countless “so how close to the beach do you live?!” questions that come through emails and phone calls from friends abroad make me think twice about how I should see Rio de Janeiro. I will get to that in a second, but first some words on this past week.

When I arrived to Rio’s international airport Galeão I realized how little time I had had to think about studying abroad. My summer internship in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon had ended just three days before and I still had (and have) many documents and reports to write. PUC-Rio’s (my host university) staff met exchange students at the airport the morning I arrived and in a matter of minutes we were on our way to our respective host family’s place. My host-mother came out of the apartment to receive me with a hug and a warm “Bem-vindo Diego!” She showed me my new room and before I even noticed we were in the kitchen telling each other stories about our lives with a cup of coffee. After living in Norway and the US for four years, I can’t describe how that first morning made me think of home in Guatemala. “All Brazilians are friendly” may be an exaggeration, but my experiences in Rio de Janeiro and the Brazilian Amazon so far have shown me the incredibly welcoming side of this culture.

Every morning at 8:30 a.m. I cross the street in front of my apartment to take a bus to PUC, usually with my German flat-mate who is also an exchange student at PUC. The twenty-five minute ride to PUC seems nothing compared to the hour and a half or even two hours some local students take to get from their homes to the university. Most exchange students at PUC live in Rio de Janeiro’s Zona Sul (“South Zone”) which includes the city’s richest neighborhoods and most famous beaches. I had some trouble deciding what I wanted to write in this entry about Rio de Janeiro. I could describe my neighborhood’s busy streets, Copacabana’s beaches or even the scenic path I take when I bike from the university back to my apartment in the afternoons, but I would certainly be describing just a small section of Rio de Janeiro’s reality.

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My neighborhood in Zona Sul at night

I continue to wonder – is it possible to move to and establish in a new place without becoming a tourist the first few days or weeks? Tourism continues to exploit the same discourses that built Brazil’s image abroad as an exotic, happy, and social destination. In addition, a tour around the city’s favelas (typically described as low-income shanty towns) is now part of some tourists’ plans for their visit to Rio de Janeiro. These two contrasting touristic destinations (Copacabana’s famous beaches vs. some of Rio’s poorest areas) seem to dominate the tourism-related advertising I have seen around the city and online. And the conversations I have had with foreign and local students at PUC make me think such discourse is not strictly limited to tourism, but goes as far as influencing how Rio’s residents present their city to others.

Is it possible then to “experience” Rio de Janeiro under a different scheme? I have my doubts. Getting to “know” a new place is, of course, a subjective experience, yet I truly hope I find a way to step back from the common descriptions of Rio de Janeiro and settle as a student as soon as possible. My first “solution” was to read Brazilian literature with stories that take place in this city. I recently finished reading “Quando ia me esquecendo de você” [“When I almost Forgot About You”] by Maria Silvia Camargo, and as I thought about this entry I struggled to avoid presenting you with a typical “Zona Sul” description of Rio de Janeiro, an exotic presentation of the city’s high levels of socioeconomic inequality, or Camargo’s romantic view of Rio’s atmosphere. How we position ourselves within and in relation to a new space will certainly determine our views and experiences regarding such place. I just hope that in the next couple of weeks I find a position that allows me to take a step away from becoming yet another tourist in Rio de Janeiro.

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Diego in Brazil: Moving to Rio de Janeiro

August 19, 2013

Hi all! My name is Diego and I am a third-year student from Guatemala at the University of Richmond (UR). I am in Lima, Peru, where I have been working for the past few weeks, and now I am on my way to the airport to take a flight to Rio de Janeiro for my semester abroad.  I wanted to introduce myself before going into a busy introduction week at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio).  At UR, I am an Interdisciplinary major (Latin American Politics and Social Justice) and, potentially, a Geography minor. I will be studying at PUC-Rio this fall (but don’t be surprised if I try to stay there for the entire year!).

Rio de Janeiro is located in the south-eastern region of Brazil. Once the capital city of Brazil, Rio is currently the second largest city in the country and one of Brazil’s main cultural and economic centers. Throughout the semester, I will make sure to update you with more and more information about Rio and the city’s relationship with the rest of Brazil.

Explaining the two reasons that led me to study in Brazil requires a bit of information on what I do at UR and outside. My main academic interest is to understand and explore how marginalized groups in Latin America do politics, both inside and outside governmental structures. Outside my regular classes, I have worked for a year now on issues related to indigenous peoples and their territories in the Brazilian-Peruvian Amazonian borderlands. As you may imagine, political and economic centers in both Brazil and Peru have strongly influenced the history of this remote region. Getting to know these powerful hubs, such as Lima, Brasilia, and Rio de Janeiro, is key to understanding indigenous peoples’ struggles in the Amazon.

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Here I am this past summer working with the Comissão Pró-Índio do Acre in the Brazilian Amazon.

As such, my first motivation to study at PUC-Rio is to begin to understand Brazil’s relationship with its Amazonian territory to further my academic and non-academic work in the region. My second reason to study at PUC-Rio has to do with my background as a Guatemalan student and my desire to work in Latin America. From the Hispanic immigrant population in the US to the Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the southern tip of South America, notions of what Latin America is and perceptions of a Latin American culture vary drastically. My experience tells me that people both inside and outside Brazil will think differently when asked whether Brazil is part of Latin America or shares a Latin American culture. Yet Brazil’s recent economic and political growth has made the country an attractive ally for the region. How do Brazilians think of Latin America, and to which degree do they identify with the region? Do such perceptions and identification vary across different regions of Brazil? Hopefully by the end of this semester I will be able to have some initial answers for those questions!

I am almost at the Lima airport now. It is always tough to leave Peru (an incredibly interesting country) but I am truly looking forward to settling in Rio and sharing some of my experiences with you! Studying at PUC-Rio will be a great opportunity to learn more about other Brazilian regions.

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Alyssa in New Zealand: Adaptation

August 15, 2013

Instead of leaving my dorm room and walking through the forum in front of Gottwald, I find myself leaving my flat and walking beside the Leith river that runs by the Clock tower in order to get to class. If I walk even further through the campus of the University of Otago, I would easily wind up in the busy streets surrounded by shops and stores three minutes later. Instead of living in Richmond’s enclosed community this semester, I’m completely immersed in the middle of the city of Dunedin.

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Castle Street, just outside my flat

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The Clocktower and the Leith River

A typical day in Dunedin is not even remotely similar to a typical day in Richmond. Instead of strolling right through campus, I have to stop every so often at a crosswalk. The cars that pass by are driven by people that perceive us as not primarily students but as pedestrians. The shortest walk that I have to make to one of my classes is 12 minutes whereas in Richmond I would consider that to be my longest. There are constantly masses of students walking on the streets, so it becomes easy to get lost in the crowd.

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At a crosswalk

Walking past the shops and stores on George Street (one of the most main streets in Dunedin) is quite congested as well, for it is full of both students and everyday people. It’s not hard for the two groups to integrate since the university buildings are immersed throughout the city. George Street seems like it is an ongoing avenue that is full of endless amounts of shops, restaurants and public services, making a lot of essentials very accessible. Instead of driving when I have to do an errand, I simply walk. As you make your way down the street, the sidewalk is completely covered with a vast awning due to the fact that it can rain at any point in time. Instead of having a well-predicted forecast, the rain usually makes its way to Dunedin without warning.

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Stores on George Street

As city-like as Dunedin may be, the mountains that are just outside of town are in plain sight. All it takes is a glance down the street and you can see Mount Cargill and hills overlooking the entire town. The peninsula and beaches are within easy access, for there are several roads that run alongside the water. The vast, green countryside is even considered fairly close. All different kinds of life surround town. Even in an urban setting, New Zealand still exhibits it’s extraordinary nature without fail.

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Roads alongside the water

Not only is the general atmosphere of the University of Otago very distinct from the University of Richmond’s, but the classroom experience is very different as well. Instead of being into a classroom with 15 other students, I am surrounded by at least 100. The university is so large (20,000 students which is almost seven times greater than Richmond) that the odds of me running into someone that I know is slim. At Richmond, I have become so accustomed to having the professor know exactly who I am and having their assistance at hand. Conversely, the class sizes are so much bigger at Otago that the professors barely have any time to get to know all of their students individually. With over 100 students in a lecture hall, getting to know everyone one by one is just not realistic.

Not making a direct connection with the professor does present some challenges. I’ve come to realize that the nature of the student-teacher relationship is not as personal. Instead of having professors know my name, I have gotten used to the fact that my grade is the only thing they actually know about me. Their help is not as accessible, for they do not have the available time to meet up with every single student that seeks them out.

Even in both of my biology labs, there are differences. Instead of wearing goggles, we wear lab coats. We have not one teaching assistant, but five. Some of the laboratory techniques that are used are also slightly modified from the ones at Richmond. They seem to be a little more meticulous. Moreover, there is also less guidance provided throughout the procedures, which makes it a little harder to follow exactly what’s going on. Fortunately, there are several teaching assistants walking around that provide all the help that I may need.

When you come face to face with a challenge, it becomes easy to feel discouraged. The easiest choice to do is to back out and give up. But that’s not a choice here. The challenges that I’ve encountered may have generated some frustration, but I’ve learned to adapt. Living in an urban area has helped me form a sense of direction (to a certain extent) and confidence. Not having all of the necessary assistance just around the corner from professors has made me more independent and a better problem-solver when it comes to work and studying. Walking around an unfamiliar town has made venturing out more interesting. The unpredictable nature of the area has never failed to amuse me. I have only become more and more comfortable in a completely new environment.

So instead of walking through the Tyler Haynes Commons, I pass by the Otago Museum on my way to class. Instead of eating at the dining hall, I make my own meals at home. Instead of considering these changes as a burden, I see that in the end, learning to adapt to new circumstances will only benefit me!

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Rhiannon in India: Experiencing Hyderabad

August 5, 2013

“Jai Telangana!” This phrase, “Hooray Telangana”, can’t be escaped on campus – or anywhere in Hyderabad for that matter. It is graffitied on signs, buildings, and even on the road in the middle of a busy intersection. This week, the Indian government in New Delhi made the decision to split Andhra Pradesh (the state I am in) into two new states – Andhra and Telangana. It is hard for me to distinguish between news and rumor on the subject, but a news broadcast earlier this week said that the national government made the decision based on 50+ years of persistent demand within Telangana for its own state. The question that is on everyone’s mind now is what is going to happen to Hyderabad, the former capital of Andhra Pradesh that has now landed right in the middle of the new Telangana state. The bittersweet news for Telangana supporters is that Hyderabad will remain the capital of both states for the next 10 years while Andhra, the new coastal state, creates its own capital. But what does this mean for Hyderabad? Will it become a union territory, floating within one state and governing two? Who will receive the benefits and opportunities flowing from the urban center of Hyderabad, and where will they draw the lines?

Telangana is Born

The new state of Telangana is born

I won’t delve to far into the politics here, mostly because it is hard to say what has been decided and what is still being debated. However, what is certain is that this decision has been in the works for decades, and I am here for one of the most exciting moments in its history! The day after the announcement, campus was full of celebrations and large groups of students went from building to building cheering, banging drums, and throwing hot pink powder, the color of the Telangana movement. Without taking sides on an issue that I know far too little about, I am interested to watch the makings of a new state. Nevertheless, it comes with its ups and downs. News reports suggest that Andhra officials in Hyderabad will be forced out of their positions to make way for new Telangana officials. And on a personal note, my roommate Jennie and I were supposed to go on a hiking trip this weekend, but erring on the safe side, decided to stay home to avoid protests in a nearby area. The recent protests have not been violent, but they may pose a threat to travelers, not to mention the annoyance of roadblocks and traffic. I hope that some of the excitement dies down soon so that we can start our independent travels!

Telangana Celebration

Celebrating with pink powder, the color of the Telangana movement

I realized that I have been so busy for the last 4 weeks that I have not stopped to ask myself, “Where am I?” I know it sounds simple. I am in Hyderabad, India – I can point to it on a map. But I have struggled to piece together the history, the events, the culture, and the people that I have seen in Hyderabad to really grasp where I am. So since this week has been mostly about settling in, I thought I would dedicate the rest of this post to answering this never-ending question.

I am part of a program called CIEE (a UR-affiliate program) with 12 other American students and four advisors. Being a part of this program has made the transition to living in India much easier because our advisors are pros at helping American students acclimate themselves to living in Hyderabad. We are studying at the University of Hyderabad, a unique school with a small student body, yet the campus is vast, full of greenery, and home to tons of wildlife. While I have been here, I have seen water buffalo, peacocks, and monkeys so often on campus that it almost seems normal. The University of Hyderabad has also been described as a miniature version of India. Its students are from all parts of India, from all types of backgrounds, and speak all different languages. I always wonder, how can I understand where I am when I am surrounded by so many different cultures?

U of H

University of Hyderabad main gate

The neighborhood I live in, called Manikonda, is about 15 kilometers away from campus. It is an area packed full of apartment buildings, schools, and shops everywhere you look. Produce and street food vendors are on every corner, and there are always people, cows, and dogs walking along the streets. When we are in our apartment in the evenings, there are constant sounds of car horns, barking dogs, and the call-to-worship from the masjid (mosque) near by. Although the neighborhood is always bustling, Jennie and I have started to feel like part of the community. Some of the auto drivers and street vendors recognize us now and say hello as we walk to and from the bus stop every day for school.

Manikonda

My neighborhood, Manikonda

Hyderabad, one of the largest cities in southern India, has a rich history and, as I explained earlier, is still changing rapidly. Although the city is predominantly Hindu, it is one of the Islamic centers of India, and this dynamic plays out in many of the traditions and celebrations of Hyderabad. In fact, this is the first time in 38 years that Ramadan (an Islamic festival) and Bonalu (a Hindu festival) fall on the same month, and both are being celebrated right now around the city.

Hyderabad is also home to many interesting organizations that Jennie and I have been exploring since we got here. Today, we went on a short hike with a group called Greater Hyderabad Adventure Club through the hills near our neighborhood. We hiked, rock climbed, crawled through caves, and watched the sunset from Top Rock over the skyline of Hyderabad. The organization is full of great people from Hyderabad who just love being outdoors. We also visited another NGO this week called Desire Society. Desire Society is home to about 60 children with HIV/AIDS, most of which have been orphaned or cannot live at home with their families. Many communities in India, especially in rural villages, don’t understand HIV/AIDS and label the children as “untouchables”. Desire Society provides these children with a place to live, schooling, and daily health care. When we visited last week, we played with the children, some as young as 5 years old, and taught them songs and games.

Desire Society

Visiting with the children at Desire Society

Desire Society Camp Songs

Singing camp songs at Desire Society

So despite my reluctance to cancel our hiking trip this weekend, I am glad that I stayed in town so that I could explore a few more areas of the city. I am anxious to see new parts of India, but I am also starting to realize just how much there is to do right here in Hyderabad! I feel so lucky that there are opportunities near by to explore and to search for answers to that recurring question: Where am I?

2 Comments | Fall 2013, Rhiannon in India | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
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Alyssa in New Zealand: Reflecting the month

July 30, 2013

As cliché as it sounds, I find it hard to believe that it has already been four weeks since I first arrived. The weeks seemed to have flown by and it only reminds me that my stay here is limited. Not one day should be wasted.

It was only nine days ago since I hiked so high up Mount Cargill that I was literally above the clouds. After the one hour ascent to the top of the 676 meter mountain, I was rewarded with a beautiful view of the entire city. The summit allowed me to see all that has been surrounding me for the past month. Everything was in plain sight. The peninsula, the flats, the town. Nothing could be hidden, no matter how hard it tried. I was seeing Dunedin in a completely new light.

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Above the clouds at Mount Cargill

I had also decided to take a slight half an hour detour in order to make my way to the well-known organ pipe rocks, which required me to channel my arm strength in order to reach the top. The unique framework of this area made the climb enjoyable and unpredictable. The rocks being so steep and uneven made the task difficult; but it was a challenge I was more than willing to take on.

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Climbing organ pipe rocks with Malachi

It was only seven days ago when I realized that the work in my courses is going to start picking up soon. In my zoology paper (they call courses “papers” here at Otago), I have two lab reports due, one of which is based on observations that I made at the Otago Museum. I find it very fortunate that the zoology lab (also known as a practical) took the students to the museum, for it allowed me to learn specifically even more about New Zealand biology and environment. I never would have thought to take the time out of my day to visit the museum, but this particular lab gave me the chance to discover more about not only the city of Dunedin, but the entire country as well. Likewise, my first Microbiology test is approaching next week. It will be my first test out of two for the semester. Hopefully my current studying skills are enough preparation because I don’t know what to expect out of the exam.

It was only four days ago when I left Dunedin for the first time since I had initially arrived. I ventured out by leaving the town that I was finally comfortable in and made my way to Wanaka, a town with a native sense of splendor and endless surrounding nature. The whole purpose of the trip was to ski at Treble Cone, the largest ski resort of the south island of New Zealand. I knew that the skiing experience was going to be somewhat exotic once I realized that we had to drive practically two-thirds up the mountain to get to the actual snow to ski on instead of parking at the base, like in America.

As strange as it was skiing in the middle of July, it became easier to get used to. The mountain was completely open, for not one forest or tree-line was present to be used as guidelines for the trail. Every track that I skied was completely one of my own.

Even though the chairlift did not take skiers up to the summit of the mountain, we had the option to climb to the top with our skis in order to access untouched, fresh powder. The fifteen minute trek to the peak of Treble Cone was well worth the extra effort. Everything at the top was completely natural. The cold, brisk air and vast mountain landscape of the backcountry reminded me that winter indeed has its own kind of magnificence. It will never cease to amaze me that nature can evolve unconventionally in such a complex and dignified way.

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View of the mountains in Wanaka from the Treble Cone ski resort

It was only two days ago when I returned back to my flat in Dunedin. As nice as it is to be back at home, I have only become more motivated to see more. My first trip being a success has set expectations for me for the rest of the semester.

It was only today when I realized that I have officially been here for exactly one month. A little less than four months left in my study abroad experience. Even though the weeks have been flying by, I am definitely satisfied by the amount of excursions that I have taken initiative to do thus far. I won’t allow myself to take my time here for granted, for I plan to make the most out of this experience as best as I can. The days left in New Zealand may be limited, but my drive to explore certainly isn’t.

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Posted by gunvillealyssa

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