This is not the official retirement of Mate Mondays; there will be at least one more entry, probably two, and I'll of course leave it up for posterity. However, all journeys do come to an end eventually; so it goes with blogs, too. However, Caminando picks up where this one leaves off, so give a look!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
For those who might be interested
I have started a new blog to chronicle my seminary journey, caminandoluz.blogspot.com
Monday, August 18, 2008
August Newsletter
So, right on the heels of my July newsletter, here comes August. In my teaser entry of things to come at Mate Monday, I mentioned gushing over the kiddos, and sharing some wisdom picked up from Claudio. July was the kids' turn; now, it's time to recount one of the most profound conversations I've ever had in my life.
It was a few days before I left Montevideo, and I was in the Centro de Estudios, drinking mate and chatting with Claudio and Virginia. In other words, it was a pretty normal day in Uruguay. Predictably, the subject of my imminent departure came up. I expected (I don't know why) the usual spate of questions - what did you like most, what will you miss, what do you most want to do when you get home. Of course, I should've known that, with Claudio involved in the conversation, things would get deeper than that.
It started off with a fairly predictable question - what have you learned this year? I gave some predictable answers - loads of Spanish, more about Latin American realities than I ever could've imagined knowing, much about the culture of a very special country with the name of a river. These are all true statements, but ultimately stem from a fairly superficial sense of what it means to know something. I think Spanish reflects the difference well - I answered what I had to come to "saber" (know intellectually), but what interested Claudio was what I had come to "conocer" (know on a personal level). You "saber" facts and figures for a test; you "conocer" a person or a reality. Claudio wanted to know what had changed me.
I thought about it for a minute more, and I realized that I couldn't articulate what I had learned, what I had taken in over the course of a year. It wasn't a Spanish problem, either - I simply couldn't define it. So, I said so, and as the words came out of my mouth, I thought of some wisdom shared with me by a prior volunteer. He had wrestled for a while with what kind of sense could be made out of his year in Uruguay, how it mattered in the course of his life. Finally, he came to the conclusion that the year simply was a part of who he was, that he couldn't separate what it meant to be himself from the fact that he'd had the experiences he'd had in Montevideo.
I'd been struck by this comment, and so I shared it with Claudio. He grinned knowingly, poured me a mate, and said "and there it is." He told me that, after his release from prison, he'd struggled with the same question, and arrived at the same conclusion, that our identity as an individual can't be so neatly separated from where we've been and what we've experienced. Claudio's twelve years of imprisonment aren't an episode apart from the rest of his life, a lengthy parenthesis of suffering stuffed between his youth and his adult life, nor are they something he can simply take off like an article of clothing and toss aside. Claudio's inherent Claudio-ness includes all of what he has seen and experienced, and the only healthy response is to accept it as such and live because, not in spite of, life and what it's brought.
For a couple of minutes as he spoke, the world essentially stopped turning as I listened and thought. And then I wondered - how does that take shape in my life? The question stayed with me all day - on the bus back from La Obra, in my room as I began to take maps and prayers down off my wall, in the office as I checked my e-mail and listened to La Catalina. Then, a thought hit me as the closing song of the murga played and the singers remembered the hands of their fathers when they were young, the pretty little things who became their wives, the faces and laughs they'd known over the years. If Claudio's wisdom carried with it truth, this idea that who we are and where we've been aren't so easily separated and that trying to do so only serves to deny who we are to ourselves and torture us in the process, then what does that say about the people with whom we've lived?
It was a logical enough thought. The idea of leaving behind the wonderful people I'd come to love in Uruguay - Milton, Wilma, Claudio, Virginia, Seba and Karin and Alvaro, the Valdense choir, the grupo de jovenes, Ana the cook, the amazing morning and afternoon crews at La Obra, Monica, the congregation at Nuestro Salvador, my kids, the students at Centro de Estudios, and so many others - was absolutely tearing me apart. In fact, I didn't want to leave, and had it not been for a friend flying down to accompany me on my trip to Lima, I no doubt would have begun scheming as to how I could extend my time in Montevideo past the leave date I'd set prior.
And then, it came to me. If experiences are inseparable from identity, then so are other people. I can't separate my identity from my having known Milton, or Claudio, or Seba, or little Ana Karen, or any other of the people whose paths have intersected mine in the past 23.5 years. Rather, I carry them with me. In a way, I never left them, simply because I can't separate who I am from who they are, and who they are to me. I am who I am in part because of who I know.
I suppose, at this point, one could go off on other related philosophical tangents - I'd love to have the "is this compatible with the Aristotelian idea of the individual human kerygma and teleological end? (I think it is), or is it simply another way of affirming the rationalism (think tabula rasa here) of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume?" discussion sometime. But, more than anything else, I think I'd rather simply say thank you to those of you who've been a part of my journey, not only in Uruguay, but in my life as a whole. Donne nailed it - No man is an island. Thank you, to use the other half of John Donne's immortal image, for being a part of the main.
It was a few days before I left Montevideo, and I was in the Centro de Estudios, drinking mate and chatting with Claudio and Virginia. In other words, it was a pretty normal day in Uruguay. Predictably, the subject of my imminent departure came up. I expected (I don't know why) the usual spate of questions - what did you like most, what will you miss, what do you most want to do when you get home. Of course, I should've known that, with Claudio involved in the conversation, things would get deeper than that.
It started off with a fairly predictable question - what have you learned this year? I gave some predictable answers - loads of Spanish, more about Latin American realities than I ever could've imagined knowing, much about the culture of a very special country with the name of a river. These are all true statements, but ultimately stem from a fairly superficial sense of what it means to know something. I think Spanish reflects the difference well - I answered what I had to come to "saber" (know intellectually), but what interested Claudio was what I had come to "conocer" (know on a personal level). You "saber" facts and figures for a test; you "conocer" a person or a reality. Claudio wanted to know what had changed me.
I thought about it for a minute more, and I realized that I couldn't articulate what I had learned, what I had taken in over the course of a year. It wasn't a Spanish problem, either - I simply couldn't define it. So, I said so, and as the words came out of my mouth, I thought of some wisdom shared with me by a prior volunteer. He had wrestled for a while with what kind of sense could be made out of his year in Uruguay, how it mattered in the course of his life. Finally, he came to the conclusion that the year simply was a part of who he was, that he couldn't separate what it meant to be himself from the fact that he'd had the experiences he'd had in Montevideo.
I'd been struck by this comment, and so I shared it with Claudio. He grinned knowingly, poured me a mate, and said "and there it is." He told me that, after his release from prison, he'd struggled with the same question, and arrived at the same conclusion, that our identity as an individual can't be so neatly separated from where we've been and what we've experienced. Claudio's twelve years of imprisonment aren't an episode apart from the rest of his life, a lengthy parenthesis of suffering stuffed between his youth and his adult life, nor are they something he can simply take off like an article of clothing and toss aside. Claudio's inherent Claudio-ness includes all of what he has seen and experienced, and the only healthy response is to accept it as such and live because, not in spite of, life and what it's brought.
For a couple of minutes as he spoke, the world essentially stopped turning as I listened and thought. And then I wondered - how does that take shape in my life? The question stayed with me all day - on the bus back from La Obra, in my room as I began to take maps and prayers down off my wall, in the office as I checked my e-mail and listened to La Catalina. Then, a thought hit me as the closing song of the murga played and the singers remembered the hands of their fathers when they were young, the pretty little things who became their wives, the faces and laughs they'd known over the years. If Claudio's wisdom carried with it truth, this idea that who we are and where we've been aren't so easily separated and that trying to do so only serves to deny who we are to ourselves and torture us in the process, then what does that say about the people with whom we've lived?
It was a logical enough thought. The idea of leaving behind the wonderful people I'd come to love in Uruguay - Milton, Wilma, Claudio, Virginia, Seba and Karin and Alvaro, the Valdense choir, the grupo de jovenes, Ana the cook, the amazing morning and afternoon crews at La Obra, Monica, the congregation at Nuestro Salvador, my kids, the students at Centro de Estudios, and so many others - was absolutely tearing me apart. In fact, I didn't want to leave, and had it not been for a friend flying down to accompany me on my trip to Lima, I no doubt would have begun scheming as to how I could extend my time in Montevideo past the leave date I'd set prior.
And then, it came to me. If experiences are inseparable from identity, then so are other people. I can't separate my identity from my having known Milton, or Claudio, or Seba, or little Ana Karen, or any other of the people whose paths have intersected mine in the past 23.5 years. Rather, I carry them with me. In a way, I never left them, simply because I can't separate who I am from who they are, and who they are to me. I am who I am in part because of who I know.
I suppose, at this point, one could go off on other related philosophical tangents - I'd love to have the "is this compatible with the Aristotelian idea of the individual human kerygma and teleological end? (I think it is), or is it simply another way of affirming the rationalism (think tabula rasa here) of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume?" discussion sometime. But, more than anything else, I think I'd rather simply say thank you to those of you who've been a part of my journey, not only in Uruguay, but in my life as a whole. Donne nailed it - No man is an island. Thank you, to use the other half of John Donne's immortal image, for being a part of the main.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Grace - July Newsletter Entry
So, to follow up one good Lutheran entry with another, let's talk grace for a while. Hopefully you will extend some grace to me related to how incredibly remiss I've been about updating; I had an intense (but amazing) month on the road after leaving Uruguay, and now that I'm back in southeast Texas, reconnecting with people and getting ready for the big move up to Chicago in a few days, I finally have some time to write again.
This is hardly an earth-shattering linguistic revelation, but..."thank you" in Spanish is "gracias." Graces to thank you for what you've done, for being who you are and where you are. Grace abounds linguistically in the Spanish-speaking world. It thanks you, and it makes you laugh - "la gracia," after all, is the humor in a given situation, and it's common to refer to something that was funny as being "gracioso/a" instead of "comico/a." As in English, a dancer can be marked by "mucha gracia" if s/he is particularly natural and fluid in her/his movements. Grace abounds, it appears in virtually every conversation, it surprises you.
Grace is like a child, I think, and the best teachers of it what it means have proven not to be my pastors, or my professors, but some of the children who God put in my life this past year. I learned about grace from Federico. I did nothing to earn his affection, other than exist, and he gave it anyway. One moment in particular stands out, probably just because it's my first memory of Federico. It was a Wednesday afternoon music time, and I had sat down on one of the benches just before the kids came into the room. Federico nearly fought his way over to my bench, plopped right down beside me, and within a few minutes had put his arm around mine and started to lean up against me. That's grace. I did nothing; I merely received freely, through no goodness or actions on my own.
Another grace moment from music time, this time with Gretel. I was convinced, at first, that Gretel absolutely hated me, and I couldn't figure out why. In the beginning, she didn't want to have anything to do with anyone, but she began warming up to other kids, and to the teachers...but not to me. Still, every week during the greeting song, I'd stick my hand out to her in the hopes that she'd shake it. And one day, after I'd given up hope of it every happening, she did...and with a huge smile on her face. That's grace. I asked, I sought, I knocked; I was answered, I found, the door was opened to me, and in the most surprising way possible...and still, I really did nothing to receive it. I just showed up and went about my normal routine, and then grace broke its way through the wall and left nothing in my perception of its right place.
Of course, I can't talk about grace without mentioning the only girl this year to earn the title of "princesa" on my list of pet names, Ana Karen. She couldn't remember my name to save her life for the first few months - I was just "maestro," or upon occasion, "cocinero" if I'd been helping serve at snack time. And then, one day: "Keveen, necesito ayuda con mis zapatos." It had happened so many times before - Anita simply hadn't mastered the art of tying her shoelaces yet, and so she'd ask me to help her re-tie them. As I was halfway through tying the first shoe, it hit me - she'd asked KEVIN, not "maestro" to help her. That's grace. It recognizes us for who we are, the fearfully and wonderfully made children of God that we've been formed to be, and just when we'd forgotten and accepted the meaningless anonymity the world tries so hard to force upon us.
I could write from now until the end of the world about grace moments from the past year. They weren't all with the kids; they weren't always obvious when they happened. Some of them, I've no doubt, will remain undiscovered for what they are, maybe just for a while, maybe forever. But God's grace is active in this world, grim a place as it may be sometimes; maybe our highest calling as a people of God is to see the grace that abounds in our lives, let it come into us and transform us, and then share it how we can.
This is hardly an earth-shattering linguistic revelation, but..."thank you" in Spanish is "gracias." Graces to thank you for what you've done, for being who you are and where you are. Grace abounds linguistically in the Spanish-speaking world. It thanks you, and it makes you laugh - "la gracia," after all, is the humor in a given situation, and it's common to refer to something that was funny as being "gracioso/a" instead of "comico/a." As in English, a dancer can be marked by "mucha gracia" if s/he is particularly natural and fluid in her/his movements. Grace abounds, it appears in virtually every conversation, it surprises you.
Grace is like a child, I think, and the best teachers of it what it means have proven not to be my pastors, or my professors, but some of the children who God put in my life this past year. I learned about grace from Federico. I did nothing to earn his affection, other than exist, and he gave it anyway. One moment in particular stands out, probably just because it's my first memory of Federico. It was a Wednesday afternoon music time, and I had sat down on one of the benches just before the kids came into the room. Federico nearly fought his way over to my bench, plopped right down beside me, and within a few minutes had put his arm around mine and started to lean up against me. That's grace. I did nothing; I merely received freely, through no goodness or actions on my own.
Another grace moment from music time, this time with Gretel. I was convinced, at first, that Gretel absolutely hated me, and I couldn't figure out why. In the beginning, she didn't want to have anything to do with anyone, but she began warming up to other kids, and to the teachers...but not to me. Still, every week during the greeting song, I'd stick my hand out to her in the hopes that she'd shake it. And one day, after I'd given up hope of it every happening, she did...and with a huge smile on her face. That's grace. I asked, I sought, I knocked; I was answered, I found, the door was opened to me, and in the most surprising way possible...and still, I really did nothing to receive it. I just showed up and went about my normal routine, and then grace broke its way through the wall and left nothing in my perception of its right place.
Of course, I can't talk about grace without mentioning the only girl this year to earn the title of "princesa" on my list of pet names, Ana Karen. She couldn't remember my name to save her life for the first few months - I was just "maestro," or upon occasion, "cocinero" if I'd been helping serve at snack time. And then, one day: "Keveen, necesito ayuda con mis zapatos." It had happened so many times before - Anita simply hadn't mastered the art of tying her shoelaces yet, and so she'd ask me to help her re-tie them. As I was halfway through tying the first shoe, it hit me - she'd asked KEVIN, not "maestro" to help her. That's grace. It recognizes us for who we are, the fearfully and wonderfully made children of God that we've been formed to be, and just when we'd forgotten and accepted the meaningless anonymity the world tries so hard to force upon us.
I could write from now until the end of the world about grace moments from the past year. They weren't all with the kids; they weren't always obvious when they happened. Some of them, I've no doubt, will remain undiscovered for what they are, maybe just for a while, maybe forever. But God's grace is active in this world, grim a place as it may be sometimes; maybe our highest calling as a people of God is to see the grace that abounds in our lives, let it come into us and transform us, and then share it how we can.
The positive side
As at least some of you out there reading this know, one of the distinctive aspects of Luther's Small Catechism was providing positive value to the 10 Commandments...they aren't just "do this because I say so" sorts of deals, but rather provide people with a list of "thou shalts" instead of just "thou shalt nots." So, to be a good little Lutheran, I've decided to do the same with my own list. Check out the previous entry for a refresher on these.
I. Do ask me about my year. I want to talk about it - I have more stories and ideas to share than I know what to do with, and they're still being generated even after leaving my site!
II. Do be patient with me. I've been speaking Spanish, practically exclusively, for almost a year, and it's hard for me to remember that most people back home haven't had that experience. Accordingly, I do tend to pronounce things the way they are en español, and throw in bits of Spanish even when I'm working in English.
III. Do let me know what you want. I can go on and on and on and on some more about this past year: if we've got time for a 5 minute coffee talk, please let me know so I can act accordingly.
IV. Do ask me questions if something's not clear. I reference lots of weird things now, such as mate, murga, el Río de la Plata, dulce de leche, asado, etc etc etc. If you don't know what on earth I'm talking about, ask me to back up.
V. Do ask me about the culture. Uruguay is one of the most culturally rich, and unique, spots in the Americas, and I love to talk about how they do things down there.
VI. Do ask me about life and society. Again, it's a fascinating place, and life there is different than in the U.S....and I'll happily explain how and why.
VII. Do ask me about Uruguayan history and politics. I love both things, and will GLADLY share what I know with you.
VIII. Do ask me how I'm doing. The transition back to "home" from "home away from home" is tough sometimes, and it's good to be able to talk through it.
IX. Do ask me about politics. I talked about it every day for the past year over mate, after all.
X. Do treat me like you used to. If you knew me before this year, I've missed you and want to hang out when/how we can...again, I am still, for better or worse, Kevin - medio uruguayo or otherwise.
I. Do ask me about my year. I want to talk about it - I have more stories and ideas to share than I know what to do with, and they're still being generated even after leaving my site!
II. Do be patient with me. I've been speaking Spanish, practically exclusively, for almost a year, and it's hard for me to remember that most people back home haven't had that experience. Accordingly, I do tend to pronounce things the way they are en español, and throw in bits of Spanish even when I'm working in English.
III. Do let me know what you want. I can go on and on and on and on some more about this past year: if we've got time for a 5 minute coffee talk, please let me know so I can act accordingly.
IV. Do ask me questions if something's not clear. I reference lots of weird things now, such as mate, murga, el Río de la Plata, dulce de leche, asado, etc etc etc. If you don't know what on earth I'm talking about, ask me to back up.
V. Do ask me about the culture. Uruguay is one of the most culturally rich, and unique, spots in the Americas, and I love to talk about how they do things down there.
VI. Do ask me about life and society. Again, it's a fascinating place, and life there is different than in the U.S....and I'll happily explain how and why.
VII. Do ask me about Uruguayan history and politics. I love both things, and will GLADLY share what I know with you.
VIII. Do ask me how I'm doing. The transition back to "home" from "home away from home" is tough sometimes, and it's good to be able to talk through it.
IX. Do ask me about politics. I talked about it every day for the past year over mate, after all.
X. Do treat me like you used to. If you knew me before this year, I've missed you and want to hang out when/how we can...again, I am still, for better or worse, Kevin - medio uruguayo or otherwise.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
A Non-update
So, I'm sure that regular readers have noticed that, lately, I haven't written much. Suffice it to say that I've been busy. My last entry was on July 5th, which was the day after Kirsten's Uruguay exit...my own followed on the morning of the 9th, and since then, I have been on the long overland trek to Lima, Peru to meet up with a group from my home synod as they visit the Lutheran community here. I could put up details of my odyssey across half a continent, but that's really not the purpose of this blog...though ok, ok, I might end up writing an entry about one or two outstanding moments.
Rather, the purpose of today's update - to remind you that I'm not dead. Courtesy of some long bus rides, I've had plenty of time to think of content for new blog entries, so as an appetizer...here's what's coming up, with the first hopefully appearing before the end of the week.
-the grace response to my personal Decalogue (I'm too good a Lutheran to just leave it as a list of laws without the positive values...)
-a related July newsletter entry that will, imagine this, involve gushing over my kiddos AND some wisdom shared with me by Claudio
- a top 10 list of funniest moments during the year
Those are just the big starting point ideas - who knows where they'll end up taking me. Regardless, stay tuned - just because I've phsyically left Montevideo doesn't mean life at Mate Mondays has wrapped up yet!
Rather, the purpose of today's update - to remind you that I'm not dead. Courtesy of some long bus rides, I've had plenty of time to think of content for new blog entries, so as an appetizer...here's what's coming up, with the first hopefully appearing before the end of the week.
-the grace response to my personal Decalogue (I'm too good a Lutheran to just leave it as a list of laws without the positive values...)
-a related July newsletter entry that will, imagine this, involve gushing over my kiddos AND some wisdom shared with me by Claudio
- a top 10 list of funniest moments during the year
Those are just the big starting point ideas - who knows where they'll end up taking me. Regardless, stay tuned - just because I've phsyically left Montevideo doesn't mean life at Mate Mondays has wrapped up yet!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Los Diez Mandamientos de Keveen Patricio Panadero
As my time in la República Oriental winds down, I've been thinking about how it will be to go home and share my experiences with others. Aside from the what stories to tell to who and when and where, the question of "what about me? What do I want to hear and not want to hear?" has been going through my mind, too. So, I present you with my Ten Commandments of Things NOT To Say Or Do When I Get Back....told jokingly, but this is serious. Most of these are just annoying, but one or two of these are offensive and are likely to make me mad.
I. "How was Argentina?" - If you ask me this, do NOT be surprised when I flush red and start to seem visibly upset. I DID NOT LIVE IN ARGENTINA. I have been in URUGUAY the entire year, barring some vacations and conferences across the river. If you ask me this, it will be very obvious to me that you haven't bothered to read a newsletter or check out my blog...don't even ask me this as a joke, please.
II. "Yer-uh-gway." - I'm sorry, is that a country? Because the one I'm in is pronounced OO-ROO-GWAI. Bonus points if you put the stress on the last syllable. This is annoying, not offensive...but I'll correct you nonetheless. As a corollary, I lived in "mont-eh-vee-DAY-oh," not "mont-uh-VID-ee-oh"...the latter is in Minnesota, where I have yet to visit.
III. "Well, that's great. Excuse me..." - This is generally the response that I get if I say more than two sentences about my year in response to "So, how was Uruguay?" Can YOU sum up a year of your life, one of the most challenging and eventful years at that, in 10 words or less? Neither can I...if you ask me how Uruguay was without asking specifics, please be prepared to listen for a while.
IV. "So, did you live in the jungle with the Indians?" - Uruguay is the same distance from the Equator as Virginia. All the indigenous peoples of Uruguay were wiped out in the 19th century, and virtually everyone here is the descendant of European immigrants, particulary Italians, Spanish, and Portuguese, but with plenty of Germans, French, English, and others mixed in. There is also a notable, if not huge, Afro-Uruguayan population. In other words, Uruguay is pretty much Baltimore except with a milder winter.
V. "Do they eat a lot of enchiladas and tacos and stuff down there?" - If, by down there, you mean Mexico, maybe so. Not in the rest of Latin America, including Uruguay. Asking this would be like asking an Italian if they ate lots of borscht and perogies because they're part of the same continent as Russia.
VI. "So, do they have, you know, buildings and stuff down there?" - Why yes, as a matter of fact they do. Not only that, but Montevideo is widely considered a truly fascinating city from an architectural point of view. And yes, they have hospitals and doctors and cars and things - in fact, their public health system is more accessible than ours, and most people use public transportation, which is efficient, cheap, and serves all parts of the city. Oh, and they officially separated church and state from the get-go, abolished slavery 30 years before the U.S. Civil War, and gave women the vote before the U.S. and much of Western Europe. This country ISN'T backwards.
VII. "Do they have a dictator?" - No. Amazingly, Latin America IS capable of "electing good men," to use the words of Woodrow Wilson...and their last round of military dictators were backed and funded by the U.S.
VIII. "Are you glad to be back in America?" - Umm, I never left America. America is a group of more than 30 countries on two continents. I'm sure, however, that I'll be glad to be back in the U.S., the states, Texas, however else you want to phrase this question, though.
IX. Ask about politics, or if you do, be prepared to be respectful.
X. Treat me like I've just arrived from Mars/am fragile/weird/anything else abnormal - Sure, this year has been transformative in a lot of ways. But I'm still Kevin.
I. "How was Argentina?" - If you ask me this, do NOT be surprised when I flush red and start to seem visibly upset. I DID NOT LIVE IN ARGENTINA. I have been in URUGUAY the entire year, barring some vacations and conferences across the river. If you ask me this, it will be very obvious to me that you haven't bothered to read a newsletter or check out my blog...don't even ask me this as a joke, please.
II. "Yer-uh-gway." - I'm sorry, is that a country? Because the one I'm in is pronounced OO-ROO-GWAI. Bonus points if you put the stress on the last syllable. This is annoying, not offensive...but I'll correct you nonetheless. As a corollary, I lived in "mont-eh-vee-DAY-oh," not "mont-uh-VID-ee-oh"...the latter is in Minnesota, where I have yet to visit.
III. "Well, that's great. Excuse me..." - This is generally the response that I get if I say more than two sentences about my year in response to "So, how was Uruguay?" Can YOU sum up a year of your life, one of the most challenging and eventful years at that, in 10 words or less? Neither can I...if you ask me how Uruguay was without asking specifics, please be prepared to listen for a while.
IV. "So, did you live in the jungle with the Indians?" - Uruguay is the same distance from the Equator as Virginia. All the indigenous peoples of Uruguay were wiped out in the 19th century, and virtually everyone here is the descendant of European immigrants, particulary Italians, Spanish, and Portuguese, but with plenty of Germans, French, English, and others mixed in. There is also a notable, if not huge, Afro-Uruguayan population. In other words, Uruguay is pretty much Baltimore except with a milder winter.
V. "Do they eat a lot of enchiladas and tacos and stuff down there?" - If, by down there, you mean Mexico, maybe so. Not in the rest of Latin America, including Uruguay. Asking this would be like asking an Italian if they ate lots of borscht and perogies because they're part of the same continent as Russia.
VI. "So, do they have, you know, buildings and stuff down there?" - Why yes, as a matter of fact they do. Not only that, but Montevideo is widely considered a truly fascinating city from an architectural point of view. And yes, they have hospitals and doctors and cars and things - in fact, their public health system is more accessible than ours, and most people use public transportation, which is efficient, cheap, and serves all parts of the city. Oh, and they officially separated church and state from the get-go, abolished slavery 30 years before the U.S. Civil War, and gave women the vote before the U.S. and much of Western Europe. This country ISN'T backwards.
VII. "Do they have a dictator?" - No. Amazingly, Latin America IS capable of "electing good men," to use the words of Woodrow Wilson...and their last round of military dictators were backed and funded by the U.S.
VIII. "Are you glad to be back in America?" - Umm, I never left America. America is a group of more than 30 countries on two continents. I'm sure, however, that I'll be glad to be back in the U.S., the states, Texas, however else you want to phrase this question, though.
IX. Ask about politics, or if you do, be prepared to be respectful.
X. Treat me like I've just arrived from Mars/am fragile/weird/anything else abnormal - Sure, this year has been transformative in a lot of ways. But I'm still Kevin.
Friday, July 4, 2008
232
I could write my own thoughts on Independence Day, on the values upon which the United States of America was founded, and maybe even tell you about singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at midnight in an Uruguayan kitchen after listening to some friends sing us "Orientales - ¡La Patria o la Tumba!" However, the latter isn't that big of a story, and as for values...I think those have already been said way better than I can do. Happy Fourth of July!
"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
The sweet escape
So, because that last one could not have been more serious in tone if I'd tried, I decided to put something a little lighter in content up today...lighter in tone, at least. Calories and saturated fat, not so much. Today, we're making dulce de leche.
Dulce de leche is a delightfully gooey milk caramel that goes with about anything down here, barring the obvious - I have, for example, never seen anyone eat dulce de leche with their asado. Yet. It's everywhere else, though - the filling for pastries and cookies, on top of ice cream, smeared on bananas. I've even seen it eaten straight out of the tub with a spoon...and perhaps have done so myself. You can buy jars of it in the supermarket like we buy peanut butter.
Before our end-of-year retreat, I decided to end the year in the most Rioplatense of ways and make homemade dulche de leche the old-school Uruguayan grandma way. It turned out pretty good, too...here's what you do.
You'll need:
2 liters of whole milk (about a half-gallon...you could use 2%, 1%, or skim, but this is a Lutheran recipe - sin boldly)
500 grams of sugar (about 1 lb...again, sin boldly)
a dash of vanilla
1 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (you can leave this out, as I did, but it's supposed to help with the color and consistency)
Put the milk in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the sugar; stir until it dissolves. Add the vanilla and (if you're using it) the sodium bicarbonate. Bring the mixture up to a good strong boil and let it cook down, stirring frequently. It will, eventually (be patient, and bring a book), begin to condense down into a light-to-medium brown goo - once it starts thickening and caramelizing, it is vital to keep stirring it, making sure to scrape the bottom; otherwise, you'll end up with burned dulce de leche and one honey of a mess to clean up. Once it reaches a nice, very gooey consistency (i.e. the whole batch is at a gel state and neither liquid nor solid), pull it off the heat, let it sit and cool off, then jar it up, stick it in the fridge to finish cooling off, and enjoy it on toast, bananas, cookies, pastries, or on its own.
Dulce de leche is a delightfully gooey milk caramel that goes with about anything down here, barring the obvious - I have, for example, never seen anyone eat dulce de leche with their asado. Yet. It's everywhere else, though - the filling for pastries and cookies, on top of ice cream, smeared on bananas. I've even seen it eaten straight out of the tub with a spoon...and perhaps have done so myself. You can buy jars of it in the supermarket like we buy peanut butter.
Before our end-of-year retreat, I decided to end the year in the most Rioplatense of ways and make homemade dulche de leche the old-school Uruguayan grandma way. It turned out pretty good, too...here's what you do.
You'll need:
2 liters of whole milk (about a half-gallon...you could use 2%, 1%, or skim, but this is a Lutheran recipe - sin boldly)
500 grams of sugar (about 1 lb...again, sin boldly)
a dash of vanilla
1 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (you can leave this out, as I did, but it's supposed to help with the color and consistency)
Put the milk in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the sugar; stir until it dissolves. Add the vanilla and (if you're using it) the sodium bicarbonate. Bring the mixture up to a good strong boil and let it cook down, stirring frequently. It will, eventually (be patient, and bring a book), begin to condense down into a light-to-medium brown goo - once it starts thickening and caramelizing, it is vital to keep stirring it, making sure to scrape the bottom; otherwise, you'll end up with burned dulce de leche and one honey of a mess to clean up. Once it reaches a nice, very gooey consistency (i.e. the whole batch is at a gel state and neither liquid nor solid), pull it off the heat, let it sit and cool off, then jar it up, stick it in the fridge to finish cooling off, and enjoy it on toast, bananas, cookies, pastries, or on its own.
Monday, June 30, 2008
June Newsletter
As I’ve done a few other times this year, our officially suggested prompt for the month is going out the window so that I can talk about what’s really on my mind, and like February, this will not be without political opinion – please be advised, and if you are one of my supporting congregations and are making my updates available to the congregation members, feel free to substitute this one for a funny blog entry with photos of the kids at
Friday, June 27, 2008
Coming to a newspaper near you...
Uruguay made BBC World News TWICE today...this is pretty much unheard of. The quiet, tiny country with the name of a river generally makes the international news once a year. So, here are the stories:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7469731.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7475546.stm
Oil/gas discoveries seem to be following me on my international sojourns; Ghana, too, discovered a sizeable offshore oil field not too long after my time there. If YOU are from a small country looking for another exploitable resource and would like me to come visit you as a talisman, let's talk. C'mon, Guinea-Bissau...you know you want me.
But seriously, these two stories are both good in that some much needed money and economic opportunities are entering the picture for Uruguay, and that, hey, we're getting some attention. On the flipside, there is no national economic combination worse than lack of domestic ownership of land plus natural resources of high value and demand...look at what caused the Mexican Revolution, after all. There's always the aspect of corruption and social transformation, too - would Nigeria be so marked bycorruption and violence if it weren't for its enormous oilfields? What, too, about safeguarding the not-perfect-but-improving government services and sense of social equity that is a trademark of Uruguay? Other countries whose economies revolve around agriculture and/or exploitation of high-value natural resources are a mixed bag - one on hand, you have Norway (which pretty much defines "high standard of living and stability with incredible public access to services"), and on the other you have Bolivia (as I read in Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina, "Bolivia had the cow, but everyone else in the world got the milk"). Food for thought.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7469731.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7475546.stm
Oil/gas discoveries seem to be following me on my international sojourns; Ghana, too, discovered a sizeable offshore oil field not too long after my time there. If YOU are from a small country looking for another exploitable resource and would like me to come visit you as a talisman, let's talk. C'mon, Guinea-Bissau...you know you want me.
But seriously, these two stories are both good in that some much needed money and economic opportunities are entering the picture for Uruguay, and that, hey, we're getting some attention. On the flipside, there is no national economic combination worse than lack of domestic ownership of land plus natural resources of high value and demand...look at what caused the Mexican Revolution, after all. There's always the aspect of corruption and social transformation, too - would Nigeria be so marked bycorruption and violence if it weren't for its enormous oilfields? What, too, about safeguarding the not-perfect-but-improving government services and sense of social equity that is a trademark of Uruguay? Other countries whose economies revolve around agriculture and/or exploitation of high-value natural resources are a mixed bag - one on hand, you have Norway (which pretty much defines "high standard of living and stability with incredible public access to services"), and on the other you have Bolivia (as I read in Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina, "Bolivia had the cow, but everyone else in the world got the milk"). Food for thought.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
My kids
This was, minus the captioning, ready to go up last weekend, but I got busy and then went to Resistencia in northern Argentina to hang out with some pretty cool people for our closing retreat - all 6 of us in Argentina and Uruguay are rapidly approaching our leave dates, and this was pretty much the last time all of us could leave our sites before departure. Rather than dwell on that, however, we've got a HAPPY picture post to caption, this time of 50 or so of the world's coolest inhabitants - the students of Centro de Estudios and the children of Club de Niños!
1. Giselle (left) and Abigail (right). If Abi looks familiar, it's because she was in Club de Niños last year; she's the only one of the 5 who "graduated" from Club de Niños who I've seen on an equally regular basis this second half of the year. These two very often come for English help, with a generous amount of other subjects mixed in, too.
2. Gimena is in her second year of secondary school and has come a long way, at the very least with her English, from last year when we first started working together. I've also gotten to explain Renaissance art and architecture and the Reformation to her - two of my favorite things!
3. Lucila, one of the nicest, calmest students imaginable. She's a great worker.
4. Cecilia is one of the students at the new secondary school in the barrio; from her, I've gotten to hear about the long and difficult process of looking for teachers, managing students new to secondary study, and doing these things in one of the city's poorest neighourhoods from someone who's seen it firsthand. She's a great English and sciences student.
5. The new accreditation class; this is for adolescents and adults who were unable to finish primary school, and upon completion of the class and a basic skills exam, they'll receive credit for the first 6 years of the educational process. There are currently 4 youths (ages 14-17) in the class; here are two of them, along with their teacher, Nellida.
6. The reclusive cook, Ana, captured again in her natural habitat, this time while making sauce for pizza....mmmmm.
7. It was a chilly day, so Emilia brought her earmuffs....she was not the only one to wear them, however. Even Fabiana, one of the teacher's aides, decided to fight the good fight against chilly earlobes.
8. Whip out a camera, and watch how they all react - laughing, smiling, or looking away, they all still want to be in a picture...
9. The day's activities involved the kids being blindfolded and touching various items, then having to guess what they were. This how my scarf ended up wrapped around Iara's head - note Viviana's glam pose (scarf-blinded and all) and Karen's "why are you putting this on film?" look.
10. Not everyone had a scarf or school uniform ribbon, however...fortunately, the kids are nothing if not creative...
11. The items to feel were selected from outside, and involved all kinds of stuff, including a broken broomstick, an empty tank of some sort, and what looked a bit like a toilet lid.
12. Emilia (kneeling) helped some of her friends' dreams take flight...literally. Giuliana wanted to "fly" (balance on one foot on an old stump with her arms out like wings), so Emilia spotted for her while Michaela waited patiently for her turn to fly.
13. The adults (plus a few kids) enjoying a few minutes of break-time peace while the kids play.
14. Monica is not normally a part of my afternoons, but is around every morning as the coordinator for Casa Jóven and Centro de Estudios. She's a big joker, and it took her a while to pick up on my sense of humor and tendency to say absolutely ridiculous things in a serious tone - she even told me once that she never knew if I was joking or not, or if I even caught jokes, just because I was so serious. Please hold the laughter, folks from back home. She figured me out shortly thereafter.
15. Kirsten, Milton, and Fabi hold back a flood of kids excited about having music class with the best Uruguayan/Estadounidense teaching duo EVER. Or at least that's what I tell myself.
16. We did the same activity with the little ones, who were (go figure) calmer...but when you have sweethearts like Sofia (pink scarf) and Leticia (blue ribbon as blindfold), it really isn't any wonder why.
17. They were so calm and sweet that we even got to do the second part of the activity - feel the hand and guess the person! Kimberley did, if I remember right, guess "Ana Karen" on the second try.
18. After snack time, the kids help clean up, even the littlest ones...Ana opted to wipe down the tables.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
MonteDVD - It's Uruguay updated for the 21st century!
So, if I haven't said lately that I love Montevideo and that it's easily my favorite place that I've lived, let me reiterate that point. Today, a tribute - a week's worth of shots taken along La Rambla, at the Museo de la Memoria, El Cerrito, and Bulevar José Battle y Ordoñez (aka Bulevar Propios), the street I go down every day on the 145 bus on my way to and from work.
1. Playa Buceo is the closest beach to my house...I normally go to Pocitos when I'm in a beach mood because I like the walk there better, but Buceo's nice, too. It lies along La Rambla, the 26-Km of beach, footpath, and street that run along the Rio de la Plata in Montevideo.
2. Buceo from the other end of the beach - note the faint white dot, a sailboat.
3. Playa Malvin is the next one down from Buceo; they're separated by a rock formation that juts out into the water. Malvin's got really nice sand, and also an island offshore...the island made an appearance in the lyrics of Queso Magro's murga act this past Carnaval!
4. Montevideo has two great scenic outlooks - one faces the harbor and old city, and the other, Punta Gorda, faces La Rambla...and it's a great view.
5. The vista also features a somewhat-odd looking monument to fallen seamen.
6. The other direction - Playa Verde and Carrasco.
7. Montevideo is arguably the best city for architecture in Latin America - this is a stretch of houses at Punta Gorda that I like, if just for their stylistic diversity.
8. El Museo de la Memoria, intentionally/ironically located in the former estate of a military strongman, is dedicated to telling the story of the human rights abuses of the military government of '73-85...the first democratically-elected president after the military government was sworn in 10 days after I was born.
9. In front of the museum, there are pictures on the pavement devoted to the theme of the "desaparecidos" - people who "disappeared" during the dictatorship and are now beginning to "reappear" on shallow graves on military bases. Uruguay, being much smaller than Argentina, had a lower number of desaparecidos (between 200 and 300; in Argentina, there were over 30,000), but the highest percentage of citizens jailed by the government of any of the Latin American dictatorships in the '70s-'80s- at least 7,5000, probably more, in a country with a population of 3.3 million.
10. Read it and weep...I did. Keeping in mind the previous caption, I'll just say that a major point of this paragraph is to combine the phrases "death squads," "supported by," and "government of the United States of America."
11. The theology of glory in a world of the cross - the enormous Church of the Sacred Heart on top of El Cerrito, towering over a fairly poor neighborhood. I can see the church for much of my daily bus ride to and from La Obra.
12. Close-up of the church.
13. The bus stops generally come with ads - this one is a Health Ministry informative ad about condoms..."Do it well, use a condom."
14. One of the main technical schools in the city.
15. The Police Hospital.
16. And THIS is why I've never been tempted to break into any warehouses...you see a LOT of guard dogs in this city.
17. The big milk processing plant...this is an industrial zone of the city.
18. The 145, which I take every day...and yes, the destination is "Colon"...it's Spanish for "Columbus."
19. Leftist political graffiti, which can be seen all over the city...this one is calling for the repeal of the law granting immunity to those involved with the human rights abuses mentioned above.
20. Il Mondo della Pizza, a block from my house - REALLY good pizza and fainá.
21. The fruit stand on the corner where I catch the bus every day.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
They came from afar
I am convinced that I have one of the most surreal lives on this planet. Last week’s proof: the visit of the Tahitians.
Monday, June 9, 2008
The Polenta Variations
With the weather now being of a rather more winter timbre in Montevideo and with rice and pasta prices continuing to rise, a new food era has begun. For most of my time here, rice was my go-to food - that white, yummy base that could go with virtually any other food and come out delicious...you can even make it a dessert. Now, though, it's POLENTA TIME.
For those of you who might not be familiar with polenta, it is a northern Italian dish, made from cornmeal, that is most typically eaten as a kind of thick porridge, most often with marinara sauce. but not always. You can, however, take the polenta in porridge-ish form, add whatever else you like to it, and bake or fry it, or you can make it into a dessert by cooking it with milk and sugar instead of water. If you are a Texan, think "grits," and you will have a reasonably good, although not perfect, idea of what polenta is. It is extremely popular in Uruguay during the winter, since...
1. Roughly half of Uruguayans claim Italian descent, and most of those can trace their roots to northern Italy - Piemonte, Lombardia, and Liguria (Genova).
2. It's cheap - all you need is cornmeal, or instant polenta for those times when you want it NOW
3. It's cold and damp, and there's nothing quite like hot polenta to fill you up.
It is so popular, in fact, that there are even kiddie songs involving polenta, and it has worked its way into Uruguayan slang...if you want to tell the kids to sing with gusto, a nice "ay, chicos, por favor - con polenta!" will get your point across.
So, polenta has essentially taken over my life from all possible angles. If the spring and summer were my "1000 things to do with rice" kitchen era, the late fall and winter are looking to be "1000 ways to make polenta." Here are three quick and easy ways to experience the joy that is polenta. I say quick - they're quick and easy if you're using instant polenta. If you're going at it with cornmeal, you'll be stirring the polenta slowly and constantly for about an hour - if you can't find it instant, you might want to invite a friend over to take a turn stirring...just call it bonding time. Oh, and other caveat - if you like Fannie Farmer-esque precise measurements, do not read on - I have not used a measuring cup in about a year and like it that way.
-POLENTA CON TUCO-
The classic. You'll need, to feed two:
2 cups instant polenta or cornmeal
6 cups-ish of boiling water - less water means thicker polenta, more water means thinner. A 2.5-or-3 to 1 ratio is the recommended rule of thumb. I personally go with 2.5.
salt and oil to taste
Bring the water to a boil, add quite a bit of salt and a fairly sizeable drizzle of (preferably olive) oil...the salt is needed for the taste, and oil helps with the consistency. If you're using instant, throw it in, take the water/polenta mix off the heat and stir it until it reaches a smooth consistency. If you're using cornmeal, have fun and try not to get tennis elbow.
Now, the tuco (sauce):
tomato sauce (of the variety that comes in cans or, in Uruguay, boxes and is just tomato in liquid form without anything extra...I'd use 350-500 mL)
1 small-to-medium onion, diced
1 clove of garlic
1 small-to-medium bell pepper, diced
1 can of tomatoes, diced (you can use fresh, too)
if they have these in the US, one Knorr's Flavor Cube (looks like a bouillon cube, but is seasonings rather than soup base)...I'd recommend Provençal, Garlic-Basil, Traditional Marinara...anything like that. If those haven't made it to the US yet, omit it and just add more of the following to compensate
black pepper
salt (only add this if you can't find the Flavor Cube)
rosemary
basil
oregano
Saute the onion, garlic, and bell pepper in a little bit of olive oil. Add flavor cube, cut up into little pieces (if applicable). Let the flavor cube pieces cook into the vegetables for a few minutes; add the liquid tomato. Add the canned tomato and other spices; let simmer for at least 20 minutes to combine all the flavors. Once the polenta is done, pour some sauce on top of it and buen provecho!
-POLENTA CON JAMÓN Y QUESO-
This one's even easier to make...this is definitely a Monday night meal, especially with instant polenta. Follow above directions for cooking the polenta, maybe adding some herbs this time, or substituting the salt for...a Knorr's Flavor Cube (I swear they're not paying me for the product placement). Then add finely diced or shredded cheese (maybe a 40/40/20 mix of Mozzarrella, Gruyere or other Swiss, and Parmesan or Romano), diced ham (cold cuts will work just fine), stir it until the cheese melts, and voila. In Uruguay, you can buy, for about $1.20, a small tray of already diced assorted cheese and lunchmeat in the supermarket - the portioning is about perfect for making this dish.
-POLENTA CON DULCE DE HIGO-
I get to claim this recipe as my own; this one isn't particularly traditional, but it is tasty - a nice cold weather dessert that's not overpoweringly sweet. The amount of polenta stays the same, as does the proportion of liquid, but instead of water, salt, and oil, you'll need:
milk
sugar - at least 1/3 cup; more if you want it really sweet.
2 good dashes of vanilla extract
Cooking method stays the same. Now, the fig part. You'll need:
several ripe figs, chopped
plenty of brown sugar
water - maybe 2/3-3/4 cup
aniseed, to taste
a dash of vanilla extract
Put the chopped figs in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the water, brown sugar, aniseed, and vanilla: simmer until the figs are falling apart and the water/sugar have turned into a relatively thick syrup...something like a runny jam. Pour the fig mixture over the polenta and enjoy.
For those of you who might not be familiar with polenta, it is a northern Italian dish, made from cornmeal, that is most typically eaten as a kind of thick porridge, most often with marinara sauce. but not always. You can, however, take the polenta in porridge-ish form, add whatever else you like to it, and bake or fry it, or you can make it into a dessert by cooking it with milk and sugar instead of water. If you are a Texan, think "grits," and you will have a reasonably good, although not perfect, idea of what polenta is. It is extremely popular in Uruguay during the winter, since...
1. Roughly half of Uruguayans claim Italian descent, and most of those can trace their roots to northern Italy - Piemonte, Lombardia, and Liguria (Genova).
2. It's cheap - all you need is cornmeal, or instant polenta for those times when you want it NOW
3. It's cold and damp, and there's nothing quite like hot polenta to fill you up.
It is so popular, in fact, that there are even kiddie songs involving polenta, and it has worked its way into Uruguayan slang...if you want to tell the kids to sing with gusto, a nice "ay, chicos, por favor - con polenta!" will get your point across.
So, polenta has essentially taken over my life from all possible angles. If the spring and summer were my "1000 things to do with rice" kitchen era, the late fall and winter are looking to be "1000 ways to make polenta." Here are three quick and easy ways to experience the joy that is polenta. I say quick - they're quick and easy if you're using instant polenta. If you're going at it with cornmeal, you'll be stirring the polenta slowly and constantly for about an hour - if you can't find it instant, you might want to invite a friend over to take a turn stirring...just call it bonding time. Oh, and other caveat - if you like Fannie Farmer-esque precise measurements, do not read on - I have not used a measuring cup in about a year and like it that way.
-POLENTA CON TUCO-
The classic. You'll need, to feed two:
2 cups instant polenta or cornmeal
6 cups-ish of boiling water - less water means thicker polenta, more water means thinner. A 2.5-or-3 to 1 ratio is the recommended rule of thumb. I personally go with 2.5.
salt and oil to taste
Bring the water to a boil, add quite a bit of salt and a fairly sizeable drizzle of (preferably olive) oil...the salt is needed for the taste, and oil helps with the consistency. If you're using instant, throw it in, take the water/polenta mix off the heat and stir it until it reaches a smooth consistency. If you're using cornmeal, have fun and try not to get tennis elbow.
Now, the tuco (sauce):
tomato sauce (of the variety that comes in cans or, in Uruguay, boxes and is just tomato in liquid form without anything extra...I'd use 350-500 mL)
1 small-to-medium onion, diced
1 clove of garlic
1 small-to-medium bell pepper, diced
1 can of tomatoes, diced (you can use fresh, too)
if they have these in the US, one Knorr's Flavor Cube (looks like a bouillon cube, but is seasonings rather than soup base)...I'd recommend Provençal, Garlic-Basil, Traditional Marinara...anything like that. If those haven't made it to the US yet, omit it and just add more of the following to compensate
black pepper
salt (only add this if you can't find the Flavor Cube)
rosemary
basil
oregano
Saute the onion, garlic, and bell pepper in a little bit of olive oil. Add flavor cube, cut up into little pieces (if applicable). Let the flavor cube pieces cook into the vegetables for a few minutes; add the liquid tomato. Add the canned tomato and other spices; let simmer for at least 20 minutes to combine all the flavors. Once the polenta is done, pour some sauce on top of it and buen provecho!
-POLENTA CON JAMÓN Y QUESO-
This one's even easier to make...this is definitely a Monday night meal, especially with instant polenta. Follow above directions for cooking the polenta, maybe adding some herbs this time, or substituting the salt for...a Knorr's Flavor Cube (I swear they're not paying me for the product placement). Then add finely diced or shredded cheese (maybe a 40/40/20 mix of Mozzarrella, Gruyere or other Swiss, and Parmesan or Romano), diced ham (cold cuts will work just fine), stir it until the cheese melts, and voila. In Uruguay, you can buy, for about $1.20, a small tray of already diced assorted cheese and lunchmeat in the supermarket - the portioning is about perfect for making this dish.
-POLENTA CON DULCE DE HIGO-
I get to claim this recipe as my own; this one isn't particularly traditional, but it is tasty - a nice cold weather dessert that's not overpoweringly sweet. The amount of polenta stays the same, as does the proportion of liquid, but instead of water, salt, and oil, you'll need:
milk
sugar - at least 1/3 cup; more if you want it really sweet.
2 good dashes of vanilla extract
Cooking method stays the same. Now, the fig part. You'll need:
several ripe figs, chopped
plenty of brown sugar
water - maybe 2/3-3/4 cup
aniseed, to taste
a dash of vanilla extract
Put the chopped figs in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the water, brown sugar, aniseed, and vanilla: simmer until the figs are falling apart and the water/sugar have turned into a relatively thick syrup...something like a runny jam. Pour the fig mixture over the polenta and enjoy.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
In which he goes there
-PREFACE. THIS IS A POLITICAL OPINION POST. THE VIEWS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE NOT THOSE OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA, MERELY THOSE OF THIS ENTRY'S AUTHOR. Get steamed if you want to, but get mad at me, not God, Lutheranism, or the church. -
Navy Re-Establishes U.S. Fourth Fleet
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead announced today the re-establishment of the U.S. Fourth Fleet and assigned Rear Adm. Joseph D. Kernan, currently serving as commander, Naval Special Warfare Command, as its new commander. Fourth Fleet will be responsible for U.S. Navy ships, aircraft and submarines operating in the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
U.S. Fourth Fleet will be dual-hatted with the existing commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (NAVSO), currently located in Mayport, Fla. U.S. Fourth Fleet has been re-established to address the increased role of maritime forces in the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of operations, and to demonstrate U.S. commitment to regional partners.
“Re-establishing the Fourth Fleet recognizes the immense importance of maritime security in the southern part of the Western Hemisphere, and signals our support and interest in the civil and military maritime services in Central and South America,” said Roughead. “Our maritime strategy raises the importance of working with international partners as the basis for global maritime security. This change increases our emphasis in the region on employing naval forces to build confidence and trust among nations through collective maritime security efforts that focus on common threats and mutual interests. “
Effective July 1, the command will have operational responsibility for U.S. Navy assets assigned from east and west coast fleets to operate in the SOUTHCOM area. As a result, U.S. Fourth Fleet will not involve an increase in forces assigned in Mayport, Fla. These assets will conduct varying missions including a range of contingency operations, counter narcoterrorism, and theater security cooperation (TSC) activities. TSC includes military-to-military interaction and bilateral training opportunities as well as humanitarian assistance and in-country partnerships.
U.S. Fourth Fleet will retain responsibility as NAVSO, the Navy component command for SOUTHCOM. Its mission is to direct U.S. naval forces operating in the Caribbean, and Central and South American regions and interact with partner nation navies to shape the maritime environment.
Kernan will be the first Navy SEAL to serve as a numbered fleet commander.
Article obtained from http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11862
Note, also, the source of the news - this is the United States Department of Defense itself. This is not a rumor floating around the blogosphere, or something penned by Castro and distributed to scare other Latin American nations. Nope, this is the real deal. The United States has officially decided to return to gunboat diplomacy in Latin America. Words cannot express adequately how simultaneously angry and terrified most of the people I know here are. These are people who've already lived through one brutal, repressive military government installed by the U.S. that did a very successful job of running Uruguay's economy into the ground, and to them, the 4th Fleet represents the very real threat of another round of continent-wide brutal, repressive military government.
There is, and I have yet to confirm its validity, a document circulating which states flat-out that the U.S. government has officially stated its willingness to support military governments in the name of advancing its aims for Latin America. So much for the lofty goals of bringing democracy to the world that we heard all about in the march up to, and immediate aftermath of, the invasion of Iraq.
Of course, every government in South Americam, barring Colombia's, has had a cow over the past week, and the military chiefs of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay) plus Bolivia's had what boils down to a crisis conference in Brasilia to discuss the matter. The U.S. military's response: "It is not an offensive force in any way...The IV Fleet's entire purpose is cooperation, friendship, response to natural disaster, missions of peace and, yes, there will be counter narcotics work, as is traditional." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080515/pl_afp/usmilitarynavylatam_080515224313)
My personal BS-o-meter went off the scale when I read that, barring the part about counter-narcotics. Friendship doesn't come in the form of battleships around here, cooperation generally suggests helping someone in a way that was asked for (ok, maybe Colombia asked for the help), there aren't any major natural disasters going on that a fleet of warships would be able to abate, and one person's "mission of peace" has a way of being another person's "war that obliterated my country" in this day and age.
Now, how about some other possible reasons for the re-deployment?
-Colombia's right-wing, pro-US, heavily US-funded government over 40-year struggle against leftist guerrilla groups. In fairness, the label "narcoterrorist" does fit them to a hefty extent, so a simplified view of them as noble idealists struggling against a foreign-backed oppressive government doesn't work. U.S. naval presence near Colombia facilitates aiding the Uribe government.
-Hugo Chavez. Chavez has done a remarkably good job of infuriating the White House since his near-removal from power by a U.S-backed military coup in 2002. I think Chavez is a corrupt brute and borderline dictator, but one can hardly blame him for not liking the U.S., at least since '02, just based on his personal history and there are a lot of people who find his economic reforms to be admirable, if not his methods of applying them.
-Connected to the above: Venezuela's oil. One of the world's largest oil producers is just across the Caribbean from the U.S., but with Chavez holding back on production and sales to the U.S., its proximity isn't doing much to the help with North American fuel prices.
-The convenient excuse. Colombia is on the brink of war with Venezuela and Ecuador; Colombia has taken to crossing the borders with its neighbors to get at guerrillas hiding there (who are, admittedly, backed by Ecuador and Venezuela), and (not surprisingly) Ecuador and Venezuela aren't thrilled about having Colombian troops and planes enter their countries uninvited. This would be akin to the Mexican military crossing over into Texas, "just for a few isolated, surgical strikes," to take out enemies of the state. Chavez made moves to deploy the military to the Colombian border, an emergency summit was held, both sides agreed to be calm and respectful...and Colombia's still doing it.
-The rest of the region. Since kicking repressive, U.S.-installed-and-backed military governments to the curb in the 1980s and 1990s, South America has been trying to find new ways to do things, especially after the old ways really took a blow in the continent-wide economic crisis of 2001-2002. Argentina and Brazil officially gave the finger to the IMF (which is a tool of US/Western European aims at controlling the world economy to the sole benefit of the US, Canada, and Western Europe), and since 2002, every country, except Colombia, has elected leftist governments on the continent. And...they've made progress. Standards of living are up, economies are growing. It's not all roses yet, but things are improving...but nobody but Colombia is paying court to the U.S., cutting trade deals that benefit U.S. business and no one else. Accordingly, democractically elected leaders, such as Evo Morales in Bolivia and Luiz Lula da Silva in Brazil, have been painted by the U.S. government as villianous, dangerous threats to regional security. What better away to "teach Latin America to elect good men!" (in the words of Woodrow Wilson) than send a fleet down this way to monitor them?
This is going to precipitate, at the very least, a diplomatic crisis, if not a regional war. There is no way that the presence of the 4th Fleet will make the hemisphere safer for anyone, and it is only serving to confirm the convictions of everyone in the Americas who does not have U.S. citizenship that the United States has no interest in friendly relations with anyone, not even its neighbors, if being friendly means not getting its way with everything. This is imperialism. It is the use of force to shove a political agenda down the throat of another continent...and this time, I don't think the U.S. will be able to get away with it. The war in Iraq, beyond its cost in human lives and money, has lost all international respect for the United States - simply put, we don't have many friends. Now, in Latin America, a region that lined up behind the U.S. to support us after 9-11-2001, rather than develop strong, reciprocally beneficial relations with free, democractic governments, we are poised to turn our next-door neighbors into our enemies. Real national security doesn't come from scaring the bejesus out of South America; it comes from being willing to compromise with nations who do not hold ill-will toward you and work for the good of both rather than just your own good, and from that put pressure on the ones who do have it out for you.
Please, if you are from the United States and reading this, even if you think I am a complete liberal, unpatriotic, commie pinko traitor for daring question our national motives, help me get the word on this out. Write to your newspaper. Tell other people. Make this known, so that at the very least we're informed.
Links you should check out:
http://www.fpif.org/papers/latam2003.html http://www.globalpolitician.com/21668-foreign-latin-america
Article obtained from http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11862
Note, also, the source of the news - this is the United States Department of Defense itself. This is not a rumor floating around the blogosphere, or something penned by Castro and distributed to scare other Latin American nations. Nope, this is the real deal. The United States has officially decided to return to gunboat diplomacy in Latin America. Words cannot express adequately how simultaneously angry and terrified most of the people I know here are. These are people who've already lived through one brutal, repressive military government installed by the U.S. that did a very successful job of running Uruguay's economy into the ground, and to them, the 4th Fleet represents the very real threat of another round of continent-wide brutal, repressive military government.
There is, and I have yet to confirm its validity, a document circulating which states flat-out that the U.S. government has officially stated its willingness to support military governments in the name of advancing its aims for Latin America. So much for the lofty goals of bringing democracy to the world that we heard all about in the march up to, and immediate aftermath of, the invasion of Iraq.
Of course, every government in South Americam, barring Colombia's, has had a cow over the past week, and the military chiefs of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay) plus Bolivia's had what boils down to a crisis conference in Brasilia to discuss the matter. The U.S. military's response: "It is not an offensive force in any way...The IV Fleet's entire purpose is cooperation, friendship, response to natural disaster, missions of peace and, yes, there will be counter narcotics work, as is traditional." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080515/pl_afp/usmilitarynavylatam_080515224313)
My personal BS-o-meter went off the scale when I read that, barring the part about counter-narcotics. Friendship doesn't come in the form of battleships around here, cooperation generally suggests helping someone in a way that was asked for (ok, maybe Colombia asked for the help), there aren't any major natural disasters going on that a fleet of warships would be able to abate, and one person's "mission of peace" has a way of being another person's "war that obliterated my country" in this day and age.
Now, how about some other possible reasons for the re-deployment?
-Colombia's right-wing, pro-US, heavily US-funded government over 40-year struggle against leftist guerrilla groups. In fairness, the label "narcoterrorist" does fit them to a hefty extent, so a simplified view of them as noble idealists struggling against a foreign-backed oppressive government doesn't work. U.S. naval presence near Colombia facilitates aiding the Uribe government.
-Hugo Chavez. Chavez has done a remarkably good job of infuriating the White House since his near-removal from power by a U.S-backed military coup in 2002. I think Chavez is a corrupt brute and borderline dictator, but one can hardly blame him for not liking the U.S., at least since '02, just based on his personal history and there are a lot of people who find his economic reforms to be admirable, if not his methods of applying them.
-Connected to the above: Venezuela's oil. One of the world's largest oil producers is just across the Caribbean from the U.S., but with Chavez holding back on production and sales to the U.S., its proximity isn't doing much to the help with North American fuel prices.
-The convenient excuse. Colombia is on the brink of war with Venezuela and Ecuador; Colombia has taken to crossing the borders with its neighbors to get at guerrillas hiding there (who are, admittedly, backed by Ecuador and Venezuela), and (not surprisingly) Ecuador and Venezuela aren't thrilled about having Colombian troops and planes enter their countries uninvited. This would be akin to the Mexican military crossing over into Texas, "just for a few isolated, surgical strikes," to take out enemies of the state. Chavez made moves to deploy the military to the Colombian border, an emergency summit was held, both sides agreed to be calm and respectful...and Colombia's still doing it.
-The rest of the region. Since kicking repressive, U.S.-installed-and-backed military governments to the curb in the 1980s and 1990s, South America has been trying to find new ways to do things, especially after the old ways really took a blow in the continent-wide economic crisis of 2001-2002. Argentina and Brazil officially gave the finger to the IMF (which is a tool of US/Western European aims at controlling the world economy to the sole benefit of the US, Canada, and Western Europe), and since 2002, every country, except Colombia, has elected leftist governments on the continent. And...they've made progress. Standards of living are up, economies are growing. It's not all roses yet, but things are improving...but nobody but Colombia is paying court to the U.S., cutting trade deals that benefit U.S. business and no one else. Accordingly, democractically elected leaders, such as Evo Morales in Bolivia and Luiz Lula da Silva in Brazil, have been painted by the U.S. government as villianous, dangerous threats to regional security. What better away to "teach Latin America to elect good men!" (in the words of Woodrow Wilson) than send a fleet down this way to monitor them?
This is going to precipitate, at the very least, a diplomatic crisis, if not a regional war. There is no way that the presence of the 4th Fleet will make the hemisphere safer for anyone, and it is only serving to confirm the convictions of everyone in the Americas who does not have U.S. citizenship that the United States has no interest in friendly relations with anyone, not even its neighbors, if being friendly means not getting its way with everything. This is imperialism. It is the use of force to shove a political agenda down the throat of another continent...and this time, I don't think the U.S. will be able to get away with it. The war in Iraq, beyond its cost in human lives and money, has lost all international respect for the United States - simply put, we don't have many friends. Now, in Latin America, a region that lined up behind the U.S. to support us after 9-11-2001, rather than develop strong, reciprocally beneficial relations with free, democractic governments, we are poised to turn our next-door neighbors into our enemies. Real national security doesn't come from scaring the bejesus out of South America; it comes from being willing to compromise with nations who do not hold ill-will toward you and work for the good of both rather than just your own good, and from that put pressure on the ones who do have it out for you.
Please, if you are from the United States and reading this, even if you think I am a complete liberal, unpatriotic, commie pinko traitor for daring question our national motives, help me get the word on this out. Write to your newspaper. Tell other people. Make this known, so that at the very least we're informed.
Links you should check out:
http://www.fpif.org/papers/latam2003.html http://www.globalpolitician.com/21668-foreign-latin-america
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