WWW Reflection

Moby Dick Expeditions (Surf, Hike, Yoga, Mountain Bike)

For my last Week Without Walls, I went on an adventure with Moby Dick Expeditions, which included the activities of surf, hike, yoga, and mountain bike. The trip was from Monday to Friday at Matanzas, central coast of Chile, where we camped just some meters away from the ocean. Having finished the journey with an inner feeling of peace, and reflecting upon my recent experience, I can say that the essence of the surf camp helped me get a clearer sense of the simplicity of life as well as a better understanding of myself.

To start, responsibility was a recurrent aspect of the trip, as we were living in a community. I had to think about others and my environment as much as I did about myself in order for things to flow harmoniously. In other words, it was in my hands to allow a positive or negative coexistence with everything that surrounded me. For this, as simple as it may sound, I had to make myself conscious of my actions and others’. It was important to be conscious of my actions because it would affect my surroundings, but I found it to be just as important to conscious about the functioning of everything that surrounded me, as the idea is always to have the best possible living situation.

Excellence was also a huge part of my recent experience. Being my first time surfing, I remember being very excited about trying a new sport which involved a certain connection to nature, something I truly appreciate. When I first got on the board though, I didn’t really excel at it. Challenges started even before I got the opportunity to try to catch a wave. Paddling against the current came to be a challenge itself. That was when my initial interest started fading. Then, when I would finally get a wave, I wouldn’t even stand and fall.I kept trying though, just that with less interest. As the day progressed, I thought about how surfing would be present for the entire week, meaning that I would probably struggle through it the same way. What’s important is that I was able to move out of this and reached excellence. This doesn’t mean I became the best at everything I did, but I did try my best at all the struggles that were presented to me. For this, the last day, having been the first one in and last one out the water, I was able to stand with almost all the waves I got, some being better than others. I hadn’t allowed my initial dream of establishing a connection with nature through surfing vanish as the result of numerous difficulties presented.

With the previous thought in mind, I can say I showed excellence throughout the trip. Mountain biking, for instance, was also challenging, as there were some very long, steep roads, but I went through it all the way. There was a beautiful landscape where we were passing by and I remember thinking how I had such a unique opportunity to experience what I was being given, so I persevered. My yoga experience was also similar. There was one day where we did yoga after biking, and although there were poses which were a bit tiring to maintain, I stood there as best as I could. Going through with this mind set, I felt good about myself because I didn’t have the feeling of regret, that of possibly having given more of myself in some way or another.

Another aspect I really enjoyed on the journey was the fact of how teamwork was present, even though the activities we practiced first seem as individual practices. Everything that went on during that week end up being the total opposite. The idea of teamwork was strongly reinforced. The simple cheering one could do to someone who was struggling through it gave us the sense that we were all in it together. The guides, for instance, would help us with the surfing, and in return, we would try to follow the day the way they had planned it out, making their challenge of doing their expedition this big for the first time a complete success. Going back to the biking, there was clear teamwork shown in it. The group I was made up of people with very different levels of biking. Regardless of this, we all went through it together. The most experts one would wait for everyone to come back together in the road, while the least advanced would push through in order to let everyone else progress in the journey. This resulted in everyone crossing the finish line as one.

All in all, I can say that not everything was perfect in my trip, but the positive things that can be taken out of it greatly overdue the little defects that could be found. It was a great opportunity for internal and external learning, and I’ll remember it with all the positive things I gained from it.

What kind of latino am I?

What kind of ________ am I?

When questioning myself about what kind of latino I am, I can just say I am a very special kind of latino. In fact, I feel like the latino part of me is just present due to where I was born and raised, but at the same time it is a very strong aspect of me. With this, I mean that even if I don't have an "ethnical" latino side, I feel in great part that I do belong to Chile, but don't consider myself very "latina". I feel like chilean, a chilean who had been quite influenced by several different cultures. Though I have always lived in Chile, and was born here, one side of my family is arabic, while the other side is greek. Since very young, my mother's side of my family have done a continuous job of getting me involved in the arabic world and their culture, telling me short phrases in their language, exposing me to traditional aspects of it as well. Simultaneously, my dad has been trying to expose my siblings and I to the greek culture, to its music and all of what comes with it, being something he is very proud of. With this in mind, I feel very proud of where I come from, but to the question about what kind of chilean I am, I could probably say that chilean ends up being my nationality. The different ethnic parts of me that make me up is something I can't ignore.

At the same time, living in Chile, I have been going to an international (american) school since the age of 3. Though I don't feel "american" at all, are are aspects of the american culture that do influence the kind of chilean I am. An example is the language. Sometimes, when I talk to my spanish speaking spanish, it happens that I take some time to think about a word I want to use, because I know it in english, but have to express it to them in spanish.

At the end, I consider myself chilean without a doubt, but a very special kind.

Television News Broadcast

Station: 24 Horas Central (TVN); Friday, August 29th; 9:00 pm

General Topics:

• Active memeber of the FACH (Fuerza Aérea de Chile) attacks transexual in Iquique causing him risks of being paraplegic due to a lumbar fracture
• Shortage of bioquivalent medicines in pharmacies as some laboratories stopped producing them due to the high requirements to produce them
• Neighbors of the Homecenter of Ñuñoa affected by the fire that took place at Homecenter due to the deficient barriers constructed to protect their homes. All safe just thanks to the rapid actions of firefighters.
• Ricardo Arjona cancels concert that would take place at Quinta Vergara this Saturday, as his company states that the chilean producer didn't meet his most basic expectations

How news were delivered:

• Brief and clear introduction by the news reporter at studio followed by a report done by a journalist where everything said was backed up with images (footage)
• Serious tone from news reporters
• Journalists from the reports done vary their tone/slight changes in voice which helps to grab the listener's attention
• All perspectives were from the victim's side

Techniques I think the station is using to make their report more believable:

• Interviews to people related to the events that helps reinforce whats being stated (serve as evidence)
• Interviews also makes the reporters look as if they are close/present in all of what was going on, making it seem as if they were very close to the truth of the situations
• Visuals (images/videos) which create a greater impact on the viewer
• News reporters dressed up formally adds seriousness to what is being expressed, and makes them look like a reliable source

Challenges & Representations of Indigenous Identity

The indigenous face lots of challenges to build up the identity they want, the one that truly shows who/how they are. Simultaneously, there are lots of representations about the indigenous as a whole that difficult the natives in their attempt for people to know them as they are. The NY Times News Documentary "Lost in Translation" clearly reffers to this issue. As shown in the documentary, the germans have great interest and enthusiasm about indigenous cultures, most of which aren't even from their country or ones nearby, but their interest shows through the numerous representations they do about them. Perhaps that is where part of the struggle comes for the indigenous. The many representations done towards their different cultures aren't very well educated, and from ignorance, much of how the representations are shown to different audiences, aren't very faithful nor accurate, showing all the different indigenous cultures as belonging to a whole nominated as "indians." At the same time, the struggles brought by the representations from the whites, ones that see the world from a completely different point of view, also has its positive aspects to it. The german representations of the indigenous, as shown in the documentary, may serve as an introductory pathway about the diversity of cultures. In fact, I think that that is one of the reasons why there are so many germans enthusiastic about understanding certain native's cultures, given the popular series everyone got to enjoy about indigenous, as the man shown in the documentary who decided to immitate a culture's form of living. Still, these kind of representations may be seen as having the intention to mock or make fun of what's different, which would turn into one of the many other challenges for the indigenous towards their identity.

"A Tale for Children" by Gabriel García Márquez

Why do you think Gabriel García Márquez called his story "A Tale for Children"?

I think that García Márquez called his story a tale for children because he explains the cruel situations that take place between the whites and the indigenous in a less barbaric way. Also, naming it "A Tale for Children" doesn't necessarily mean that it is meant for children to read it. Instead, naming it as such presents the story of the angel, with a mythological and fairy tale character to it, as a made-up, unbelievable story, far from being reality. With this, the message of the disrespectful, unfair, and overwhelming treatment towards the indigenous in general gets reinforced, in the sense that the reader, presented to "a tale for children" is guided to think that what goes on in the story is fiction, when it is really serving as an analogy for the real world, getting the strong message across. In other words, the title greatly adds to García Márquez's message, making the reader (meant for the whites in my opinion) reflect about the indigenous' situation that we continuously leave aside as we aren't the ones that get affected by it.

Reflection of Tell-Tale Bullet & The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie

What is the connection the writer (Alexie) is making between his story and the American TV show? How? Why? Explain...


I noticed that one of the connections Alexie does in his story in relation to the TV show is that he discusses in a way the role that native americans play in society as well as the role of the whites towards the natives. In the TV show, the whites were clearly the ones with the more stable job and better position due to them being much more trustful than the indigenous from the whites' perspectives. Also, it was shown how the natives "tried" in a way to form part of the white's society through getting involved in their jobs for instance, versus the whites showing interest in adopting certain forms of living of the natives. Similarly, the story also touched on the idea of the indigenous being the ones with greater interest of forming part of the white community. For instance, the main character had gone to college and was said to play basketball, a typical american sport. Still, the story also referred to the idea of the natives having certain pride for being who they are, as shown through what the protagonist narrated, concept that wasn't very discussed in the TV show. For instance the main character would explain how he felt that his biggest challenge in basketball would be beating somebody with the his same origins rather than a white. Without going in further, this pride present in the natives wasn't something permanent, but rather accentuated when felt in power and under control, and diminished when felt as minority.

Issue of First Contact Reaction

I think that the issue of first contact gives a lot to think and discuss about. First of all, I think that there are several different concepts that aren’t fully defined or taken into consideration with the idea of first contact, such as indigenous rights, customs, interests, possibility, etc., which greatly differ with the ones of those who aren’t indigenous and follow laws. The indigenous tend to see the land as something that belongs to them regardless of the laws imposed by society, as they have a different form of living. The indigenous have the ability of establishing an unconditional relationship with their land, many times seeing it as one of the biggest factors that allow their survival and every-day living. Because of this, they don’t only see the land as something they can benefit from, but they also see it as something they should take care of with great responsibility. In contrast, the ones who aren’t indigenous generally tend to concentrate on how they can exploit the land for their personal benefit and development and value the land until it can’t produce as much as they want and leave it aside when it doesn’t produce any gain. In other words, the extremely different mindset between both types of civilizations should both be considered when having first contact, but it is quite complicated. I think that indigenous people are minority and live isolated to more technological civilizations, they tend to be seen as inferior, when they aren’t. To me, it seems as if nowadays our society views development as a characteristic of a more advanced type of civilization, always looking for progress and “improvements” in forms of living, but they all revolve around one species of the millions present in the world (humans) and their economical growth. Because of this, our type of society sees first contact as a possibility for greater possibilities towards the indigenous, while the minorities see it more of as a threat. This is because the indigenous aren’t looking for the possibility of first contact, as they are fine with what they have. If we think about it, they are much more developed than us in several different aspects. For example, they have a much more developed relationship with their surroundings and are much less destructive, and I think it is quite a challenge to think about others as much as we think about ourselves. Still, first contact is something inevitable. The same way the indigenous encounter many different species which they live with and respect, the non-indigenous humans (us) should fall under the list of the many other species the indigenous have learned to co-exist with. I think it would be possible to do if we fully respected their form of living and in order to achieve full respect towards them, we have to start thinking that them being minority, less technological, and with different lifestyles, they aren’t any inferior and that everyone shares the right to live the way they want as long as no harm is done to others. Also, the issue of first contact would be much less of an issue if our society stopped seeing economical growth as the most important form of improvement/evolution, noticing that we have a lot to work on the evolution of our mindset and view of the world, and that “external” and material growth is not the most important.