South America

Full Circle

One year ago, I took a trip to South America with the conscious of a US American. I found lots of things that I thought funny, weird, and different. I particularly railed on the bathroom situation in lots of poor places as an indicator of difference between the places I consider home and the strange land of South America.

Since then, the hammering man continues to wake me up every other day in my apartment. I continue to get bad internet connections (like now). Waiting for the bus in my new hood, which is filled with uber rich and uber poor people, it takes some folks 10 minutes to board. They don't board with live chickens, but they do sometimes bring their lives on their backs in trashbags.

Today, however, I think I've seen the missing link. I went to the toilet in the cafe in an up and coming part of town, and saw this:

Full circle indeed. It seems that toilets in America, maybe even in your hometown, also can't handle toilet paper. And there it is. People are people. Americans are Americans. Toilets are toilets. and Poverty is poverty. And so I must return to South America, with this newfound and strongly held realization, to see what lessons that continent has to teach us up here in American dreamland. Apparently, we suffer from the same issues as they do down South, we are just better at times at hiding them. So, farewell for now to Chicago, and hello new unnamed city and position in South America.

Coca no es una droga

HMMMM.

First - read this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5021064.stm

Then, consider this: You need a garbage truck full of Coca leaves to make a tiny bit of cocaine. However, the leaves themselves, if made into tea, biscuits, pastries, etc - are pretty good and pack a caffeine-esque punch. What's more - they're not addictive and are super cheap and natural.

Coca legalization? Could it happen? Why not. First - it's already legal for the Coca Cola corp to import Coca leaves. That means - most Americans consume Coca products daily (don't act so surprised at this!). If there was a strong lobby, Congress might pass a very profitable exception to the drug laws allowing Coca into the US. Problems: There is no strong lobby (yet), and Coca Cola probably wouldn't favor such a move - they have the only sweetheart deal to import that stuff into your body!

It would be uber-profitable to be the individual who imports Coca leaf products to the US. If energy drinks are any indicator, Coca would catch on like wildfire.

Oh, still skeptical about Coca leaves in Coke? Check it.

The Gas Gauntlet

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4964300.stm

The gas gauntlet has been thrown down, by Bolivia.

Bolivia has turned the tables on the poker game that is the gas industry in that country. Now, it will be up to the gas companies, lovely ones like Exxon and BP, to show both what the gas is really worth and how much power they have to take it by force if necessary.

Sit back and watch how this plays out, and don't doubt - May 1 2006 will be remembered in history as a very important day.

clarin's photospread for britanico

http://www.clarin.com/diario/2006/04/10/conexiones/t-01174338.htm

Photo-Journalism really work when your feel like you are standing there in the scene with the people in the photo. Pepe nails that down for you with his awesome work at El Bar Britanico in San Telmo.

Blog-followers here already know that Britanico's owners have threatened to shut the historical cafe, and the neighbors have now collected over 14,00 signatures to stop that from happening. I'll keep you posted if / when they succeed.

Here's my note to Pepe - "Voy a enviar este mensaje de poder y esperanza de tus fotos a mis amigos en EEUU tambien - creo q es la voz del pueblo, en vivo y directo luchar por su propias cosas, y no importa la ley o propiedad. Q barabaro"

Cool, indeed.

Bienvenidos a Pagina 12

Mis amigos de Pagina12 - gracias por visitar, y disculpas por escritar casi todo en ingles.

por favor - Haz un click en "Argentina" de la lista "categories" junto a esta nota, y disfruta (sino la lengua, las fotos).

seria una lastima perder El Britanico.

(for my English speaking audience - a photo of mine got picked up by Page12, a supercool Buenos Aires newsmag, for a story on the unfortunate closing of a historic local bar by where I lived. The story is here, and is copied below-)

Cubicle Castro

"Reviled by workers, demonized by designers, disowned by its very creator, it [the cubicle] still claims the largest share of office furniture sales--$3 billion or so a year--and has outlived every "office of the future" meant to replace it. It is the Fidel Castro of office furniture."

-Fortune magazine, by way of the Latin Americanist.

too funny.

Worst. Week. Ever.

30 page brief  due first thing friday + 200 pages of casebook reading = no blog posting this week.

Zona Cafatero por NYT

La mujer Gris visita la Zona de cafe en Colombia; Pues - aqui tiene:

Coffee travel is now OK for rich people!