Comparing situations.

Today I would like to talk about cultural shock. But not in general. I would like to write about a specific shock between my culture and the American culture: the concept of homelessness. But first I consider that it is neccessary to tell you one thing. This post is going to be full of prejudices. And I think that it happens because after traveling around different countries, you become more open-minded. You learn about different contexts, you live in different realities. But it is really difficult to take off your personal and cultural way of thinking. I could say that it is imposible to be totally objective when you compare both cultures, yours and the one in which you are living. So, I would like to warn you about this post. It is MY OPINION. It is not THE TRUTH. It's just the way in which I can see and analize one particular situation. If you want to make your own opinion about it, you have to experiment this by yourself.

When I walk around Austin and see homeless people, I cannot see them like poor people. And I think it happens because my concept of poor people developed because of the context in Argentina. In Argentina, most of the poor people (specially in the North) don’t have anything to eat. They probably eat once a day with a lot of luck. Because of that they are malnourished. But when I see homeless people in Austin, they don’t seem like they don’t eat well. They also are fully dressed. In my home country, most of the poor people that live in the streets don’t have shoes or jackets during the winter. Because of that there are a lot of NGO’s that distributs blankets during this season.

Another thing that catch my attention about homeless people is their relation with the police. And in this point I am going to do a critique to my country. In Austin, cops (most of the times) still treat them like people. If they have to control them, they do it. But If the homeless don’t have anything bad or he/she don’t do anything bad, they can start a normal conversation. For example, 2 days ago I was in the bus stop and there was a homeless sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk. The police arived, woke him up, checked on him, and when the policeman finished, he bent down to lift the homeless belongings. And it was surprising for me, because in Argentina, most of the policemen treat the poor people like animals. They never are decent in this way.

Also I would like to say that, in my point of view, there is one more problem around this topic here. People don’t care about homeless. And I believe this thing happens because there are a lot of institutions that take care of them. A big percentage of this organizations give them some food and clothes. So, common people don’t need to worry whether the homeless eat or don’t. The same happens in Argentina, but I think that argentinians are more solidary in some specific cases.

To conclude I would like to say that I think that poverty is an issue that most of the countries around the world suffer. But the concept of poverty differs between each one. I don’t think that homeless people don’t need help because of my Argentinian concept of poverty. I think that they just have different problems than poor people from my country. And I would like to finish this post with a question: Why is it that in one of the most developed countries of the world there still are poor people? One possible answer would be: because american people believe that the only problem that homeless people have is not having a house (they called them homeless, not poors). I think that they have deepest problems that need to be solved in order to reinsert them into the society.    

Being part of the american culture.

It is amazing to be part of the American culture. I am living in Texas until february 27th, and I had the opportunity to see how passionate are americans. They are proud of their roots, and they love to share this pride with everyone. But the main thing that caught my attention is their love for sports. Since I arrived to Austin, I had the posibbility to see 3 sport events. I went to a female basketball match and I also went to the Spurs vs. LA Lakers game. I also see on TV the 50th Super Bowl. And it was amazing to see the show that americans make around a simple match (simple at least for me!!!). From the special songs, until people wearing the color of their team. From the sweepstakes and games until the cheerleaders. Everything is a way of entertainment. And people feel part of this entertainment. They participate in the games, they sing the special songs as if they were hymns. And if their team is not doing a good performance, they all become coaches. Because they want to win, to be more proud of their team. And if their team lose, they also feel pride, because their team probably did a good job.

The first match that I saw was between two university teams. One of the team was Longhorns, from The University of Texas. Because of that, all the people from Austin was here!!! I had never seen such passion for a sport when the teams are from university. In my country, people just care about national or province teams. Argentinians are also passionate fans. But only for futbol. In my country is really weird to see people supporting other kind of sports. So for me was shocking to see this kind of show, and the passion for a university match, and for other sport (basketball), not only for futbol. 

The second game was between Spurs vs LA Lakers. Because of my first experience, I was prepared to be part of a bigest show. And it exceeded my expectations. Having the opportunity of see a NBA game is a thing that I am never going to forget. We had the opportunity to see the teams treaning and to have the players really near.

The Super Bowl was other sport that I had the possibility to see. It is about a completely different sport (american football), but the american feeling was the same and the passion of the fans was the same. It was the 50th aniversary of Super Bowl, so the midterm show was incredible. The experience of see this sport on TV was as amazing as the other two. 

Maybe as a conclusion I could say that is really important in every travel to be inmerse in the culture you are visiting. Because of this inmerssion experience you can develop a more positive critical thinking. Also you can get the tools to support your critics about this culture. I believe that to make an opinion about something you need to know this something.

Para las otras 24 personas que están viviendo conmigo esta experiencia... ya somos como una gran familia! Les dedico mi tercer post!

Half argentinian - Half texan... (for the time being)

My first post in this blog was about two of the main myths that I had about travelling around the world… But I didn't start correctly because I didn´t introduce myself in an appropiate way. My name is Carolina Palomeque, I am 22, and I was born in Córdoba, the most beautiful city in Argentina (at least for me hahaha) This place is the place that I call my home. And this is my home because it´s the place in which I can be myself, and the place in which I have all the people I love, including my family, boyfriend and friends. I also spend most of my memorable days in Córdoba and I have in my memory a lot of amazing things that happened to me during my childhood and teenage.

I introduced myself talking about Córdoba because it is related with the topic I would like to speak in this post: uprooting. When I was selected for my first scholarship to do an exchange, I was really happy but I also was scared about one thing: Will  travelling to a foreign country make me forget my roots? Will I become less Argentinian? If I start travelling around the world, will I lose my identity, who I really am? These questions came to my mind because most people believe that when you start to travel and you have the possibility of living in a more developed country, you fall in love with progress and you start to criticize all the things that are wrong in your home. Most of the times this is done in a non-constructive way.

Then I started to live in Chile, and now I am in the United States and I can say that Córdoba is still and is always going to be my home. This happens because, from my point of view, when you travel, you make your identity stronger. You appreciate more the things that you have in your country, since you start to need it. You need to be with your loved ones, to eat the typical food of your country, you want to have the same scheduled that you had in your home, you want “your life back”. But you also appreciate living abroad, and you learn how to complement this life, with your roots. For example, here in Texas I have dinner around 6 pm. In Argentina I usually eat at 10 pm, and go to sleep at 11 pm. So, here I have 5 hours free because I´m still going to sleep at 11 pm! During that time, I do my homework and try to calm my hunger with a warm “MATE”. That is the way in which I mix my days as a texan with my argentinian roots. When you start to travel everything is a new learning, and you grow up in every step you make.

So, let me start again… My name is Carolina Palomeque, I am 22, and I was born in Córdoba, the most beautiful city in Argentina (at least for me hahaha) This place is the place that I call my home. And it is going to be this way forever.

Mamá, Papá, Lu, Joaquín, Fede, amigas y amigos (ustedes saben a cuáles me refiero): gracias por apoyarme siempre y por hacer de Córdoba el lugar al cual siempre quiero regresar.  Les dedico mi segundo post!

Some things are not what you expect.

Maybe if you are planning to travel to a foreign country you have some myths about traveling and about meeting people and the places in which you are going to be. When I started my first trip, my main myth was that when you visit a different country, you make strong relationships (like friendships) with native people. And it is not true, or in my case it didn’t happen. You are going to definitely make native friends, but the relation with your foreign friends will probably be stronger. 

The point is that people from the country that you are visiting don´t have the same issues and they don´t live the same situations that you as a traveller. So, when you finish your experience, most of your friends will probably be foreigners too. I think that it happens because foreigners know about homesickness and about being alone, about being “the new guy” in a class and the one that comes from a different country, culture, language, religion or whatever. When you feel alone or sad, you definitely can count on them, they will support you, probably because they were in the same situation and they know how to react. 

They become your family, because you become their family too. Your friendship will be stronger than with anyone else. It happens if you travel alone. I can make this conclusion thanks to my experience living in Chile for four months by myself. Probably, if you travel with a group of people from your own country (as I am doing now) your friendship will be better day by day, and at the end of the trip they are going to be like family too.

The second myth that I had, was about the place that I am living now. It is Austin, Texas in the United States. When the people of Fulbright (the organisation that gave me the scholarship) told me that I will be living in Texas for 1 month and a  half, a picture came to my mind: a desert, with a lot of cactus, and a lot of people wearing cowboy’s clothes, and some other things that we actually see in American movies about the far west. And when I searched in my computer and saw real pictures from Austin, I realized that I was full of prejudgements about this amazing place. There are a few cactus, and a few people dressing like cowboys, but also there are a lot of natural places like parks and rivers (so, it’s not a desert!!), and there is a lot of gorgeous people from many different countries, and different styles, different cultures, languages and religions that makes Austin a multicultural city, with a lot of things to do and a lot of places to visit.

So, let me give you two pieces of advice. If you are planning a new trip, or an exchange or an intership in a foreign country, make as many friends as you can, but keep in mind who are your closest ones and those in which you can count also in bad moments, because you are going to need them a lot. And also be sure that you have no prejudgments, mainly those that are really bad about the place and the people that lives in the country you are going to visit. (But keep some of them and let the place surprise you).

Tamar, te extraño mucho y espero que la distancia sea solo un pequeño obstáculo para la gran amistad que construimos. Te dedico mi primer post!