A “Deeply Unsettling” Semester
The title of this post comes from a quote from one of our professors. We were sitting around on a ranch in the middle of nowhere in Argentina and discussing reverse culture shock, what it would be like to go back to the US and explain our time abroad to friends and family who would expect … Read more
Buenos Aires: Community and Leisure in Porteno Life
When I first arrived in Buenos Aires, I was walking around downtown past shiny retail stores and crossing the street with crosswalks. It reminded me of Manhattan. I wondered, with all the familiarity of skyscraper-tall malls symbolizing a consumption culture and without the chaos of street markets and informal forms of transportation, would Argentina would … Read more
Da Kar Rapide: Informal Transport and “Being On Time”
The informality of the transportation systems in Dakar and Delhi are examples of the effect that informality and informal structures have on perceptions of societal norms. During a site visit to Patte d’Oie, a station for informal taxis in Dakar, we learned through interviews with the clandestine taxi drivers (with the help of a translator) … Read more
Dakar and Keur Samba Kala: Privilege, Tourism, and Nok Bokk
The first thing I noticed about Dakar was the air. I could smell the sea in the air, and as cheesy as this may sound, it smelled like possibility. I moved into my homestay the second day in Senegal. My host mom is 60, and her surname is Kebe, so my Senegalese name is Mariame Kebe. … Read more
Delhi and Ahmedabad: Displacement, Development, Social Silos, and Feminism
The city of Delhi is different for everyone, it all depends on how you view it and who you are. One night a classmate and I sat together, and talked about how we were worried we had blinded ourselves to structural inequity, extreme poverty, oppression of minorities, problems we knew existed but didn’t want to see. We worried … Read more
Flashmobs and Failing Fast
This past year has been: amazing. upsetting. hilarious. disillusioning. exhilarating. It has been full of a lot of travel and new experiences, many important conversations and much questioning. A year in review, in a slightly different format: LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM: Game Theory: Words cannot describe how much I loved this class. Our professor was … Read more
Rethinking Cultural Colonialism
Yesterday, a friend of mine asked me, “What would you do if you were in a class and you felt as if the environment of the classroom was uncomfortably male-dominated?” I asked what she meant, and she went on, “For example, when we present our research proposals, I feel as if the only students shooting … Read more
Bad Aid, Privilege and Doing Good to Feel Good
I used to like Teach for America. It sounded so promising, so good. And if you think about it, so do a lot of other programs that send privileged kids off to be great “helpers”. In fact, many of these forms of bad aid are rooted in paternalism, often because the people who lead them … Read more
Before We Teach, We Have to Learn
There’s a saying that you’re the sum of the five people you spend the most time with. Which got me thinking about the social organization of undergraduate students in dormitory communities. Who you live with, who you choose to be friends with, will affect you a LOT. So when I’m looking at study abroad programs, … Read more
Danny Chen and the Deindividuation and Disinhibition of the Army
An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 19 years old. Chinese-American, born to Chinese immigrant parents. Rebellious, wanted something different than everyone else at school, loved adventure. If you have not yet read about Danny Chen, do (Life and Death of Private Danny Chen & Why Black America … Read more
