k8elisa2011's photostream on Flickr.
This is the collection of photos I am shooting in DR this summer. It is my FIRST attempt at real photography and stands as the pictorial partner to the blog I am writing. Cheers~
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
to choose/escoger
I took a day off yesterday, and have chosen to blog every other day to ensure I have something to say and don't feel the pressure to write every night....entonces escribo ahora....
I started school yesterday, and have been TIRED from my morning classes, homework, and project work. It's all good, though. It is all a blessing.
Yesterday I showed up thinking I was just taking a test, and found out that I was to start my classes as soon as my level was assigned. I was very happy to test into their fifth level class (out of eight), which is like a low advanced class. My classes are held on the second floor of a building about two blocks from my apartment; it is a building that one would miss easily, no sign or placard denoting it as a language school. I arrive at 8:30 in the mornings and settle in for three hours of grammar and conversation with a 30 minute break in-between sessions. The grammar block is so good for me because I understand and speak a lot more than I really know how to write or read correctly. My grammar teacher is a small morena with a large personality and presence in the classroom.We work out of a one paperback book provided by the school and she uses only a chalkboard and conversation to drive instruction. As a teacher of language myself, it is really interesting to see what she does with the limited resources they have. Compared to the endless supply of STUFF we have to use in education in the USA, it is bare bones around my school, yet in the end, sometimes the simple choice is the best. A pencil, notebook, and a good teacher go a long way in life. Following our break I return to our small room for an hour and a half of conversation with my 19 year old teacher whose personality fills the room ten times over. Today she decided that we should spend the time talking about love, relationships and our past relationships! As a 28 year old in class with two 20 year old college boys, it was an hysterical class. I like my school and know that I will walk out in four weeks with more confidence and abilities with Spanish.
Que mas...I am devouring this photography thing...loving the learning process and eagerly spending a good hour or two in the evenings doing street photography. People here are very willing to be photographed, which makes the experience a joy. When taking a photo, choice is so important. What are you trying to capture? Who or what draws your attention most? What feeling, emotion, or moment do you want to be recorded? Thus, I have been thinking a lot about choosing these past two days.
Choices are everywhere in this post-modern world, especially for educated Westerners, like myself, who have evaded early marriage and familial commitments. Sometimes I feel as overwhelmed with the choices my own life presents to me as I do when trying to choose what to photograph. Travel opens up new worlds, new places, and if you are like me everywhere you go, you can envision a life there and see how that reality would be possible. The choices are overwhelming, like being stuck in a Baskin Robbins for eternity, but instead of 31 flavors to choose from, there are an infinite number of options. How do you know where to be, what career to do, who to love? These are questions that rattle around my brain often, especially when I escape my dictated reality of teaching high school in Indiana. Don't get me wrong, I am so blessed to have the career I have...I am absolutely in love with teaching. It defines me in so many ways. At home in my bubble, I can forget how big the world is and how many options I have. I become focused on my students, my friends and family, my daily life, and I let the choices drop away. When I am traveling, it reopens the enormity of our world and the various realities in which I could be living. In the end, I come back to the knowledge that intuition has always been my ultimate compass, thus far it has guided me pretty well. The challenge is simply to create the space in life to hear myself and know why I choose what I choose. Whether taking a photo or making a major life choice, may I always move with the assurance of intuition...could I be so lucky?!
Choice. What do you choose to do with your life's energy and why? I would love to know.
I started school yesterday, and have been TIRED from my morning classes, homework, and project work. It's all good, though. It is all a blessing.
Yesterday I showed up thinking I was just taking a test, and found out that I was to start my classes as soon as my level was assigned. I was very happy to test into their fifth level class (out of eight), which is like a low advanced class. My classes are held on the second floor of a building about two blocks from my apartment; it is a building that one would miss easily, no sign or placard denoting it as a language school. I arrive at 8:30 in the mornings and settle in for three hours of grammar and conversation with a 30 minute break in-between sessions. The grammar block is so good for me because I understand and speak a lot more than I really know how to write or read correctly. My grammar teacher is a small morena with a large personality and presence in the classroom.We work out of a one paperback book provided by the school and she uses only a chalkboard and conversation to drive instruction. As a teacher of language myself, it is really interesting to see what she does with the limited resources they have. Compared to the endless supply of STUFF we have to use in education in the USA, it is bare bones around my school, yet in the end, sometimes the simple choice is the best. A pencil, notebook, and a good teacher go a long way in life. Following our break I return to our small room for an hour and a half of conversation with my 19 year old teacher whose personality fills the room ten times over. Today she decided that we should spend the time talking about love, relationships and our past relationships! As a 28 year old in class with two 20 year old college boys, it was an hysterical class. I like my school and know that I will walk out in four weeks with more confidence and abilities with Spanish.
Que mas...I am devouring this photography thing...loving the learning process and eagerly spending a good hour or two in the evenings doing street photography. People here are very willing to be photographed, which makes the experience a joy. When taking a photo, choice is so important. What are you trying to capture? Who or what draws your attention most? What feeling, emotion, or moment do you want to be recorded? Thus, I have been thinking a lot about choosing these past two days.
Choices are everywhere in this post-modern world, especially for educated Westerners, like myself, who have evaded early marriage and familial commitments. Sometimes I feel as overwhelmed with the choices my own life presents to me as I do when trying to choose what to photograph. Travel opens up new worlds, new places, and if you are like me everywhere you go, you can envision a life there and see how that reality would be possible. The choices are overwhelming, like being stuck in a Baskin Robbins for eternity, but instead of 31 flavors to choose from, there are an infinite number of options. How do you know where to be, what career to do, who to love? These are questions that rattle around my brain often, especially when I escape my dictated reality of teaching high school in Indiana. Don't get me wrong, I am so blessed to have the career I have...I am absolutely in love with teaching. It defines me in so many ways. At home in my bubble, I can forget how big the world is and how many options I have. I become focused on my students, my friends and family, my daily life, and I let the choices drop away. When I am traveling, it reopens the enormity of our world and the various realities in which I could be living. In the end, I come back to the knowledge that intuition has always been my ultimate compass, thus far it has guided me pretty well. The challenge is simply to create the space in life to hear myself and know why I choose what I choose. Whether taking a photo or making a major life choice, may I always move with the assurance of intuition...could I be so lucky?!
Choice. What do you choose to do with your life's energy and why? I would love to know.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
to recharge/recargar
I spent the first part of my day reading Feast of Goats, an intricate historical fiction novel about the assassination of Trujillo and those involved in this historical turning point. I sat in the same cafeteria as I read this afternoon while Jay worked on video and still shots around the city. It was a peaceful day of taking in our surroundings and getting ready for the coming week, thus making today's word recharge/recargar.
After a slow afternoon in the cafeteria, we came back to the apartment to do pretty mundane things--laundry, dishes, image uploading, email writing. Asi pasemos la tarde.
We were told yesterday that a famous concert happens every Sunday in a spot called las ruinas del san fransisco, so we decided to cart the camera gear up to las ruinas to see what it was all about. What we foudn was more than I could have hoped for. It was like a scene from Buena Vista Social Club--tons of older Dominicans, Cubans, Spaniards, and who knows who else making mind blowing music and dancing to the pulsing rhythms of original island dances and the far away cadence of Spanish flamenco. With Jay's guidance, I began working on my photography skills! I can now talk about ISO, f-stops, and am learning how to focus my eye and be patient enough to capture something meaningful in an image. I have always been drawn towards photography and am really engaged in this learning process.
I felt recharged by taking in our environment this evening and encouraged by the agelessness of dance here; equally fluid and beautiful were the 75 year olds dancing salsa as the 18 year olds beside them! Dancing keeps us young and open to our world. It allows us to recharge our internal batteries through movement and expression. You might feel physically exhausted after dancing, but something inside yourself has been strengthened and recharged. I can tell that many of the people around us tonight come to las ruinas every Sunday to take in that awesome scene and recharge themselves on the dance floor.
This is it for a lazy Sunday...I start my language school tomorrow, and a new world unfurls.
After a slow afternoon in the cafeteria, we came back to the apartment to do pretty mundane things--laundry, dishes, image uploading, email writing. Asi pasemos la tarde.
We were told yesterday that a famous concert happens every Sunday in a spot called las ruinas del san fransisco, so we decided to cart the camera gear up to las ruinas to see what it was all about. What we foudn was more than I could have hoped for. It was like a scene from Buena Vista Social Club--tons of older Dominicans, Cubans, Spaniards, and who knows who else making mind blowing music and dancing to the pulsing rhythms of original island dances and the far away cadence of Spanish flamenco. With Jay's guidance, I began working on my photography skills! I can now talk about ISO, f-stops, and am learning how to focus my eye and be patient enough to capture something meaningful in an image. I have always been drawn towards photography and am really engaged in this learning process.
I felt recharged by taking in our environment this evening and encouraged by the agelessness of dance here; equally fluid and beautiful were the 75 year olds dancing salsa as the 18 year olds beside them! Dancing keeps us young and open to our world. It allows us to recharge our internal batteries through movement and expression. You might feel physically exhausted after dancing, but something inside yourself has been strengthened and recharged. I can tell that many of the people around us tonight come to las ruinas every Sunday to take in that awesome scene and recharge themselves on the dance floor.
This is it for a lazy Sunday...I start my language school tomorrow, and a new world unfurls.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
to peregrinate/peregrinar
Today I awoke at 8:00...looked at the clock, realized I had no where to be, and rolled back over until close to 10:00. The sun was blazing when I chose to enter this world. I'm not sure what the weather channel was talking about when they prepared me for stormy days.
After re-learning how to make the all important cafe with the old fashioned drip pot that came with our apartment, I was ready to take on this day.
Today that can only be encompassed by the verb to peregrinate, to meander on foot with no real purpose...translated in Spanish to peregrinar, which I learned this evening takes on a holy meaning here...those who search on foot for that which is holy, akin to a pilgrimage.
Jay and I left the apartment with camera gear in tow in search of a place to change money and the idea to find what there was to be found on this Saturday. We ended up at the cafeteria situated on El Conde--the main walking street of Santo Domingo. We walked past this place once on our way to the casa de cambio, and the ambiance drew my attention...outdoor tables, groups of Dominicans involved in conversation or games of dominoes and cards, and a spattering of tourists taking a break from their sight seeing itineraries. We circled back around that way, and I just had to go in for some people watching and una limonada frozen! Jay began jumping up periodically to shoot interesting moments happening around us while I soaked in the scenery. This must have drawn the attention of our waiter, Jesus, who asked me what we are doing here with so many cameras! After a quick explanation, he pointed out several individuals he said we needed to meet who were sitting around us.
As it turns out, this cafeteria is a well-spring for la cultural bohemia de santo domingo. The country's most prominent artists, poets, historians, and professors pass their Saturdays drinking cafe and el presidentes in this very spot. Serendipities abound. Sitting to my right was a tall man reading Roald Dahl and scribbling away in a moleskin, who Jesus introduced me to right away.
Joan is an advertising executive here in DR who in one days time has become our new favorite person in Santo Domingo! After our introduction, he immediately pulled up a seat and engaged in a fascinating conversation with us about the nature of Dominican culture and history. For the next couple hours, we sat under an umbrella while the afternoon rain passed discussing the intricacies of Dominican identity. Joan might be the Dominican equivalent of Woody Allen--he has lived here all of his life and deeply loves, appreciates, and has sought to understand his people. Talking with him today helped me focus this project while also expanding my ideas. One point of Joan's that is sticking with me tonight is the idea that an essential aspect of Dominican identity is the suppression of culture, the hiding, pushing aside, or diminishing of that which is most fully full of the essence of what it means to be Dominican. This is an idea I am just starting to learning about, so I cannot say much more...but I find that statement fascinating.
As we were wrapping up our conversation, his friend, Milton, peregrinated by the cafeteria. I believe peregrination is an art form here, something Americans could learn much from when it comes to daily life. Milton is a painter and musician who is leaving in one week's time to study music in Paris. Milton became interested in our conversation about fuku, and wanted to hear more about our project. As all synchronisities seem to unfold, Milton had an exposition of his paintings up in a cultural center a few blocks from this cafeteria. He invited us to see his paintings and offered to do an interview!
What ensued was so magical, the fruit of peregrination...walking, exploring, and being present in a moment. We set up in a beautiful garden connected to this art space under statues of cristobol colon y los reyes catoloicos and began our first interview. Joan gladly helped Jay behind the camera, utilizing his own skills and background in film and video work. Milton and I dove head first into the topics of Columbus, fuku, our shared American story, the path we must walk as a global society to heal our historical wounds, and the expression of these ideas in his art...Jay is working hard to convert video tonight so that we can post clips tomorrow.
Following the interview, our meander continued; Joan invited us to meet some of his friends at a new bar that opened around the corner from our apartment. The front the building is a shoe store--shoes that resemble the oh-so popular Toms that are blowing up at home, except these are a handmade tradition produced by one family from Spain! They just opened an indoor/outdoor bar and restaurant connected to their shoe store that has such a relaxed, inviting vibe. There we were introduced to Jaime and Nathalie--a gorgeous couple of great talent. Jaime is a photographer and videoographer whose photos Jay and I actually saw from his Flickr account during our pre-trip research! He might be the most talented photographer working in DR today. Nathalie, who studied at the New School in NYC, does reportage and is incredible. We passed the evening in conversation with them about their artistic styles, histories, and perspectives. We also planned a beach trip for next weekend with them, exciting.
I am tired from this day, but filled with the knowledge that there is so much to explore...so many holy moments to embody. Day two, focused on the art of peregrination, has centered me fully in this journey and set the stage beautifully for the work Jay and I want to do while here.
After re-learning how to make the all important cafe with the old fashioned drip pot that came with our apartment, I was ready to take on this day.
Today that can only be encompassed by the verb to peregrinate, to meander on foot with no real purpose...translated in Spanish to peregrinar, which I learned this evening takes on a holy meaning here...those who search on foot for that which is holy, akin to a pilgrimage.
Jay and I left the apartment with camera gear in tow in search of a place to change money and the idea to find what there was to be found on this Saturday. We ended up at the cafeteria situated on El Conde--the main walking street of Santo Domingo. We walked past this place once on our way to the casa de cambio, and the ambiance drew my attention...outdoor tables, groups of Dominicans involved in conversation or games of dominoes and cards, and a spattering of tourists taking a break from their sight seeing itineraries. We circled back around that way, and I just had to go in for some people watching and una limonada frozen! Jay began jumping up periodically to shoot interesting moments happening around us while I soaked in the scenery. This must have drawn the attention of our waiter, Jesus, who asked me what we are doing here with so many cameras! After a quick explanation, he pointed out several individuals he said we needed to meet who were sitting around us.
As it turns out, this cafeteria is a well-spring for la cultural bohemia de santo domingo. The country's most prominent artists, poets, historians, and professors pass their Saturdays drinking cafe and el presidentes in this very spot. Serendipities abound. Sitting to my right was a tall man reading Roald Dahl and scribbling away in a moleskin, who Jesus introduced me to right away.
Joan is an advertising executive here in DR who in one days time has become our new favorite person in Santo Domingo! After our introduction, he immediately pulled up a seat and engaged in a fascinating conversation with us about the nature of Dominican culture and history. For the next couple hours, we sat under an umbrella while the afternoon rain passed discussing the intricacies of Dominican identity. Joan might be the Dominican equivalent of Woody Allen--he has lived here all of his life and deeply loves, appreciates, and has sought to understand his people. Talking with him today helped me focus this project while also expanding my ideas. One point of Joan's that is sticking with me tonight is the idea that an essential aspect of Dominican identity is the suppression of culture, the hiding, pushing aside, or diminishing of that which is most fully full of the essence of what it means to be Dominican. This is an idea I am just starting to learning about, so I cannot say much more...but I find that statement fascinating.
As we were wrapping up our conversation, his friend, Milton, peregrinated by the cafeteria. I believe peregrination is an art form here, something Americans could learn much from when it comes to daily life. Milton is a painter and musician who is leaving in one week's time to study music in Paris. Milton became interested in our conversation about fuku, and wanted to hear more about our project. As all synchronisities seem to unfold, Milton had an exposition of his paintings up in a cultural center a few blocks from this cafeteria. He invited us to see his paintings and offered to do an interview!
What ensued was so magical, the fruit of peregrination...walking, exploring, and being present in a moment. We set up in a beautiful garden connected to this art space under statues of cristobol colon y los reyes catoloicos and began our first interview. Joan gladly helped Jay behind the camera, utilizing his own skills and background in film and video work. Milton and I dove head first into the topics of Columbus, fuku, our shared American story, the path we must walk as a global society to heal our historical wounds, and the expression of these ideas in his art...Jay is working hard to convert video tonight so that we can post clips tomorrow.
Following the interview, our meander continued; Joan invited us to meet some of his friends at a new bar that opened around the corner from our apartment. The front the building is a shoe store--shoes that resemble the oh-so popular Toms that are blowing up at home, except these are a handmade tradition produced by one family from Spain! They just opened an indoor/outdoor bar and restaurant connected to their shoe store that has such a relaxed, inviting vibe. There we were introduced to Jaime and Nathalie--a gorgeous couple of great talent. Jaime is a photographer and videoographer whose photos Jay and I actually saw from his Flickr account during our pre-trip research! He might be the most talented photographer working in DR today. Nathalie, who studied at the New School in NYC, does reportage and is incredible. We passed the evening in conversation with them about their artistic styles, histories, and perspectives. We also planned a beach trip for next weekend with them, exciting.
I am tired from this day, but filled with the knowledge that there is so much to explore...so many holy moments to embody. Day two, focused on the art of peregrination, has centered me fully in this journey and set the stage beautifully for the work Jay and I want to do while here.
Friday, June 17, 2011
to settle/afincarse
Here I am--day one on this Dominican odyssey--ready for a million more days, but I will settle in tightly for 36.
It is a breezy, cool evening in Santo Domingo and the smell of a well cooked dinner is distracting me from the computer screen in front of me. My roommate and film making partner cooks! Our home for the next five weeks has high ceilings, white walls, well placed art, a balcony where I could waste away my life listening to the waterfall outside our apartment, and a rooftop pool that offers relief from a sweltering Dominican afternoon. Today we passed la tarde caminando por la ciudad. As I floated on my back in the pool this evening, staring at the same stars I see at home in a different alignment, I am once again overwhelmed with my blessings. Thank you to all who have helped me be here enjoying this moment.
It has been a day of settling into the rhythm that life will hold for the next five weeks.
My aunt helped me pick out this really special book during my time in Chicago before leaving called Life is a Verb. I have only started to explore the lessons it offers, but today I am taking from it the idea that to be engaged in life fully one must look at every day as a moment for action...today's action word is SETTLE, afincarse.
Today I arrived to this gorgeous apartment and began settling around 12:30; I was ushered into DR by Ezekiel, the airport pickup from my language school. He was the angel holding my name thus rescuing me from the cart of luggage and camera gear that has traveled with me from Indiana. I never knew how many conversations an oblong bag (suspiciously denoting film work) can bring to travel moments. As great as those random talks were, I was happy to see a friendly face willing to share my load. As soon as we got in the car, Ezekiel asked me, "Bachata o Merengue?" My response... "Me encanto los dos!" We spent the next 30 minutes driving into the capital singing along to the enticing cadence of these Latin rhythms...I felt my students with me as a belted Bachata lyrics I know mostly due to their influence in my life. He turned down the music only to point out the monument erected to Cristobol Colon...with a grimace he pointed it out to me, waiting for my response to this historic spot. I, in turn, asked this new friend what he thought of the father of the el mundo nuevo. What ensued was EXACTLY why I am here--honest, profound, off the cuff conversations with people who have something powerful to say about the continents we call the Americas. Ezekiel will be one of our first interviews...so I won't ruin his story by divulging too much in this post.
I took that encounter as a good omen, telling me that there is a story to tell. A story I have prepared for years to record.
It is a breezy, cool evening in Santo Domingo and the smell of a well cooked dinner is distracting me from the computer screen in front of me. My roommate and film making partner cooks! Our home for the next five weeks has high ceilings, white walls, well placed art, a balcony where I could waste away my life listening to the waterfall outside our apartment, and a rooftop pool that offers relief from a sweltering Dominican afternoon. Today we passed la tarde caminando por la ciudad. As I floated on my back in the pool this evening, staring at the same stars I see at home in a different alignment, I am once again overwhelmed with my blessings. Thank you to all who have helped me be here enjoying this moment.
It has been a day of settling into the rhythm that life will hold for the next five weeks.
My aunt helped me pick out this really special book during my time in Chicago before leaving called Life is a Verb. I have only started to explore the lessons it offers, but today I am taking from it the idea that to be engaged in life fully one must look at every day as a moment for action...today's action word is SETTLE, afincarse.
Today I arrived to this gorgeous apartment and began settling around 12:30; I was ushered into DR by Ezekiel, the airport pickup from my language school. He was the angel holding my name thus rescuing me from the cart of luggage and camera gear that has traveled with me from Indiana. I never knew how many conversations an oblong bag (suspiciously denoting film work) can bring to travel moments. As great as those random talks were, I was happy to see a friendly face willing to share my load. As soon as we got in the car, Ezekiel asked me, "Bachata o Merengue?" My response... "Me encanto los dos!" We spent the next 30 minutes driving into the capital singing along to the enticing cadence of these Latin rhythms...I felt my students with me as a belted Bachata lyrics I know mostly due to their influence in my life. He turned down the music only to point out the monument erected to Cristobol Colon...with a grimace he pointed it out to me, waiting for my response to this historic spot. I, in turn, asked this new friend what he thought of the father of the el mundo nuevo. What ensued was EXACTLY why I am here--honest, profound, off the cuff conversations with people who have something powerful to say about the continents we call the Americas. Ezekiel will be one of our first interviews...so I won't ruin his story by divulging too much in this post.
I took that encounter as a good omen, telling me that there is a story to tell. A story I have prepared for years to record.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Fukú
It's late and I should be sleeping, but I just started re-reading Junot Diaz's The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao in preparation for this project, and it's provoked a post. The first lines of this book helped me more clearly pinpoint the energy I feel in this work. I wanted to share:
"They say it came first from America, carried in the screams of the enslaved; that it was the death bane of the Tainos, uttered just as one world perished and another began; that it was a demon drawn into Creation through the nightmare door that was cracked open in the Antilles. Fukú americanus, or more colloquially, fukú--generally a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse or the Doom of the New World. Also called fukú of the Admiral because the Admiral was both its midwife and one of its great European victims; despite "discovering" the New World the Admiral died miserable and syphillitic, hearing (dique) divine voices. In Santo Domingo, the Land He Loved Best (what Oscar, at the end, would call the Ground Zero of the New World), the Admiral's very name has become synonymous with both kinds of fukú, little and large; to say his name aloud or even to hear it is to invite calamity on the heads of you and yours. No matter what its name or provenance, it is believed that the arrival of the Europeans on Hispaniola unleashed the fukú on the world, and we've been in the shit ever since. Santo Domigo might be fukú's Kilometer Zero, its port of entry, but we are all of us its children, whether we know it or not."
~ Junot Diaz, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao I offer this up for thought and discussion. Do you consider yourself a child of Santo Domingo? What do you know about this idea of fukú? Is there any credence to such a thought?
"They say it came first from America, carried in the screams of the enslaved; that it was the death bane of the Tainos, uttered just as one world perished and another began; that it was a demon drawn into Creation through the nightmare door that was cracked open in the Antilles. Fukú americanus, or more colloquially, fukú--generally a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse or the Doom of the New World. Also called fukú of the Admiral because the Admiral was both its midwife and one of its great European victims; despite "discovering" the New World the Admiral died miserable and syphillitic, hearing (dique) divine voices. In Santo Domingo, the Land He Loved Best (what Oscar, at the end, would call the Ground Zero of the New World), the Admiral's very name has become synonymous with both kinds of fukú, little and large; to say his name aloud or even to hear it is to invite calamity on the heads of you and yours. No matter what its name or provenance, it is believed that the arrival of the Europeans on Hispaniola unleashed the fukú on the world, and we've been in the shit ever since. Santo Domigo might be fukú's Kilometer Zero, its port of entry, but we are all of us its children, whether we know it or not."
~ Junot Diaz, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao I offer this up for thought and discussion. Do you consider yourself a child of Santo Domingo? What do you know about this idea of fukú? Is there any credence to such a thought?
Saturday, March 26, 2011
An explanation
If I'm going to name this PROJECT AMERICAN BELLYBUTTON, it seems like I should give a sort of explanation....
As I entered year three at Warren and decided to go for this Lilly Grant, I number of ideas for travel and adventure entered my head. I pondered India to delve into my love of yoga and spiritual questing. I considered Argentina to study tango and the interplay of Italian and Spanish histories that exists within that culture. I thought about a cross-country trip within the United States to explore history of the Native peoples of North America. Yet in the end, I decided I wanted to go to the source of American history so as to gain insight into the American society in which I live and teach. My first internal question became what is the source of our creation story? Every culture has a story they pass down generation after generation that explains society's origins...as I ran through the versions of American history I learned growing up in the Midwest, I kept coming back to,
"In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue"....
Oh yes, he most definitely did arrive in the "New World", which was quickly named Hispaniola, though it had been occupied for over 5,000 years by the Taino, who called their homeland Quisqueya, Haití, or Bohío. What ensued following Columbus's arrival is nothing short of the nexus of American history...our metaphorical bellybutton and the subject of my questing, questioning, and exploration over the next few months. I want to understand the source of our history with the hope that this will give me insight into the ways in which we choose our identities today.
This will be a participatory blog--I want your input into my question-making process. Are there any questions related to the story of how we all got here that you've always wanted to ask? Please post them if so.
As I entered year three at Warren and decided to go for this Lilly Grant, I number of ideas for travel and adventure entered my head. I pondered India to delve into my love of yoga and spiritual questing. I considered Argentina to study tango and the interplay of Italian and Spanish histories that exists within that culture. I thought about a cross-country trip within the United States to explore history of the Native peoples of North America. Yet in the end, I decided I wanted to go to the source of American history so as to gain insight into the American society in which I live and teach. My first internal question became what is the source of our creation story? Every culture has a story they pass down generation after generation that explains society's origins...as I ran through the versions of American history I learned growing up in the Midwest, I kept coming back to,
"In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue"....
Oh yes, he most definitely did arrive in the "New World", which was quickly named Hispaniola, though it had been occupied for over 5,000 years by the Taino, who called their homeland Quisqueya, Haití, or Bohío. What ensued following Columbus's arrival is nothing short of the nexus of American history...our metaphorical bellybutton and the subject of my questing, questioning, and exploration over the next few months. I want to understand the source of our history with the hope that this will give me insight into the ways in which we choose our identities today.
This will be a participatory blog--I want your input into my question-making process. Are there any questions related to the story of how we all got here that you've always wanted to ask? Please post them if so.
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