Hola amigos....
Month 2 1/2 now and there is one thing in particular I'm truly starting to miss. It was after a very happy dream that I realized how much I miss the beautiful quilt of human skin colors of my home country. To be different looking here is to really stand out. Being mixed race and having a strong interest in this topic have offered me a few opportunities to talk about racial differences with the people here. It all starts of course with having to explain that I'm not Chinese but this is not so difficult. Recently I was a part of a class discussion about immigration in Spain and the students expressed their dislikes about Chinese people being in Spain. I have also spoken with a professor of education in regards to 'teaching tolerance' to teachers who work in schools that serve students of Gypsy families. There are students labeled Gypsies in the school and they are outcasted by their peers and in some cases (not at my school it seems) by teachers. Like anyone including myself, when we don't know about people or types of people we default to stereotypes. Some of those I have heard here include Korean is Chinese and Chinese people eat cockroaches (that was from today). I have also heard that there is a Chinese mafia that will kill Spanish thieves with Samurai swords. In addition, I was told that Gypsies are Spanish people and there is no need to address the issues of discrimination against them in schools. "These people" are choosing to move backwards in time (with arranged teen marriages and unplanned pregnancies) and nothing can be done about it. Lastly, Spain was awarded first prize in a marathon event and the winning contestant seemed to have African roots based on his appearance. "Very Spanish!" is what I heard a Spanish guy say sarcastically while the news was reporting the event.
This all makes me wonder where we learn to be tolerant and the opposite to be racist. I want to think that Americans today are very privileged to live in a society where one color or manner does not single you out as American or foreigner. Whether this acceptance is conscious or not we cannot know of another way since our foundation is built on a "melting pot". Maybe I'm living an illusion but I feel certain that someone from any race could win a prize for America and there wouldn't be much doubt to his/her nationality. However despite the looks of the multi-racial nation of USA something is lacking that Spain surely is not. There is a general sense of camaraderie that is definitely not felt in the states. Through my fresh eyes it seems people trust one another more here and share a common sense of pride in the heritage of Spain. For this, programs like Stop and Frisk, couldn't go very far since you can't single out a "criminal" based on his racial appearance. You don't hear slang words for races different from your own. Also there is no need to make a law against the use of the N-word. (Remember this) Instead, you hear words like hombre, tia, tio (man, aunt, uncle) when young people are addressing their friends. I'm sure everything is not as fluffy as it seems. I know it's so natural for humans to discriminate against each other; it's just doesn´t seem to happen so much here.
And now for some photos....
Month 2 1/2 now and there is one thing in particular I'm truly starting to miss. It was after a very happy dream that I realized how much I miss the beautiful quilt of human skin colors of my home country. To be different looking here is to really stand out. Being mixed race and having a strong interest in this topic have offered me a few opportunities to talk about racial differences with the people here. It all starts of course with having to explain that I'm not Chinese but this is not so difficult. Recently I was a part of a class discussion about immigration in Spain and the students expressed their dislikes about Chinese people being in Spain. I have also spoken with a professor of education in regards to 'teaching tolerance' to teachers who work in schools that serve students of Gypsy families. There are students labeled Gypsies in the school and they are outcasted by their peers and in some cases (not at my school it seems) by teachers. Like anyone including myself, when we don't know about people or types of people we default to stereotypes. Some of those I have heard here include Korean is Chinese and Chinese people eat cockroaches (that was from today). I have also heard that there is a Chinese mafia that will kill Spanish thieves with Samurai swords. In addition, I was told that Gypsies are Spanish people and there is no need to address the issues of discrimination against them in schools. "These people" are choosing to move backwards in time (with arranged teen marriages and unplanned pregnancies) and nothing can be done about it. Lastly, Spain was awarded first prize in a marathon event and the winning contestant seemed to have African roots based on his appearance. "Very Spanish!" is what I heard a Spanish guy say sarcastically while the news was reporting the event.
This all makes me wonder where we learn to be tolerant and the opposite to be racist. I want to think that Americans today are very privileged to live in a society where one color or manner does not single you out as American or foreigner. Whether this acceptance is conscious or not we cannot know of another way since our foundation is built on a "melting pot". Maybe I'm living an illusion but I feel certain that someone from any race could win a prize for America and there wouldn't be much doubt to his/her nationality. However despite the looks of the multi-racial nation of USA something is lacking that Spain surely is not. There is a general sense of camaraderie that is definitely not felt in the states. Through my fresh eyes it seems people trust one another more here and share a common sense of pride in the heritage of Spain. For this, programs like Stop and Frisk, couldn't go very far since you can't single out a "criminal" based on his racial appearance. You don't hear slang words for races different from your own. Also there is no need to make a law against the use of the N-word. (Remember this) Instead, you hear words like hombre, tia, tio (man, aunt, uncle) when young people are addressing their friends. I'm sure everything is not as fluffy as it seems. I know it's so natural for humans to discriminate against each other; it's just doesn´t seem to happen so much here.
And now for some photos....
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| you will hear them coming before you see them...this sheep herder passed by the back of my house the other day. it was the sweet clanging of bells that prompted me to hurry and find my camera. i did just in time! |
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| this is tolerance for all in spain. tv for the hard of hearing! |
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| visiting a friend, monica, in granada, spain. we met through andreas two years ago. this was stop #2 in our walk to find good tapas and soak up some winter sun. |
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| cute wild kitties at stop #3 |
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| okay it's no bansky but this street art is worth a few props. |
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| ¡oh obama! |
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| snow capped mountains of the sierra nevada. this is the view from monica´s house in granada. wow! |
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| and the stunning sun sets behind the sierra nevada mountains on my last day before returning to siles. what a nice farewell. |
