The Mirror Project by Robert Arevalo.
Colombia, 1971
Growing up without a TV, I go to my friends' houses to watch soccer games, Tarzan, and Bonanza. On Sunday I go with my sisters to my aunt's house to watch Orson Welles in black and white at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Often I look at the reflection of the TV in a window and wish that I can take it back to my own house. My classmates discuss the episode from the previous night's Bonanza. In the background, I listen carefully and visualize each scene. Later, I recite the details of the episode as if I had watched it myself.
Colombia, 1990
On the airplane, returning to Colombia to visit my mother and sisters, I put my camera up against the window of the plane and videotape the landing. One afternoon, I give a quick workshop to my nine nephews and nieces, then send them away for two hours to videotape on their own. When they return, the whole family sits down in front of the TV to watch. They have recorded themselves playing and interviewing each other. They tell jokes and dance, and we are all amazed and engrossed by it. The power of video is extraordinarily clear: simultaneously capturing and inspiring reflection upon our own lives. Seeing themselves on the television affirms the pride and uniqueness of the family. We analyze, laugh and point out what needs to be improved, all the time exploring and contributing to one another's lives. I understand the importance of what I have been instinctively doing. I want to share with others what I have discovered, and at the same time further my own consciousness.
Atlanta, GA 2003
In the last few years, I have realized that in order to be a more effective educator and documentary filmmaker, I need to further develop my pedagogical, artistic and technical abilities. Changing the world begins with changing one's self: ideals must be integrated with and renewed by a positive engagement with daily life. This is why I felt compelled to further develop my methodology of self-reflection and social analysis through media work by exposing myself to the courses, faculty, students, and experiences at Georgia State University.
So that's why Leyva = Paz (see earlier post):
A recently completed study by scientists at the Oregon Research Institute (ORI) in Eugene confirmed earlier findings from a pilot study that walking on a cobblestone mat surface resulted in significant reductions in blood pressure and improvements in balance and physical performance among adults 60 and over.Cascade Springs Nature Preserve
The 1979 grant of $490,000 helped to acquire this 115 acre nature preserve located in the Atlanta area. A subsequent grant assisted in the development of trails and support facilities. The site is characterized by steep slopes, two creeks and hard-woods. Also significant is the result of a cultural survey that reflects early domestic and civil war sites on the property.Apocryphal explanations (Green grow the rushes, oh!), folk etymology (Greens, Go!), and gringos in Brasil:
The etymology of "gringo" is complicated, but it seems that Brazilians use the word in something approximating its original sense. Throughout the Americas, there has sprung up a number of complicated, silly, or downright apocryphal stories of how the word came tobe.The least ridiculous of these can be found in Sobrados e Mocambos, a classic work of the Brazilian social sciences, whose author Gilberto Freyre favored the theory that "gringo" was originally a label for wandering gypsy slave traders. With the opening of the ports and the subsequent appearance of foreigners - principally British - among the rural mascates, the term naturally transferred itself to foreigners in general.
Most of the other theories I've heard, though repeatedly proffered by earnest students and colleagues, are on the level of "urban legends": "just so" stories that are quite easily unraveled with the slightest amount of effort. Chief among these is the old saw that "gringo" means "green go". Basically, the story goes that brave native civilians (either Vietnamese or Mexican, depending on which version of the story is told) taunted invading American troops with cries of "Green go [home]!" The story is obviously apocryphal for two reasons: 1) "gringo" was being used before the U.S. invaded Mexico (and long before they invaded Vietnam); and 2) U.S. Army uniform colors at the time of both invasions of Mexico were not green but blue, gray, or khaki. There are other, equally erroneous stories of the word's origins - that it comes from English sailors (or American cavalrymen) singing Robert Burns "Green grow the rushes", or that it refers to "greenbacks.
Apparently in use throughout Ibero-America by the beginning of the 19th century, the true etymological roots of "gringo" may perhaps be found in the Spanish "griego", or Greek. All that can be said, then, is that the term probably originally applied to funny-looking itinerant speakers of an exceptionally unintelligible language. "Gringo" is thus used today in Brazil in a manner remarkably similar to the way it was used two centuries ago in the Iberian Peninsula. Though it's not meant as an open insult it certainly is not a compliment. It is a euphemism for "funny speaking/looking/acting outsider"; a way of signifying that which is not Brazilian and which has little hope of ever being so. In fact, the term comes awfully close to the original Greek barbaros, a foreign babbler.
I'm almost done babbling for today. Maybe I'll stay in bed. On a completely unrelated topic:
In Colombia, aguardiente is an anise-flavored liquor derived from sugar cane, popular in the Andean region. Departments hold the rights to produce it, but aguardiente produced in one region can be sold in another. By adding different amounts of aniseed, different flavors are obtained, leading to extensive marketing and fierce competition between brands. Aguardiente has a 29% alcohol content. Popular brands include (department):
1 comment:
Super color scheme, I like it! Good job. Go on.
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