Question for Colombians.

pepster says on Nov 20, 2005, 22:09:

GDL You're hilarious...I'm choking from the laughter...hahahah

The Pepster

ColombianBlog.com

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cam0940 says on Nov 20, 2005, 22:11:

The problem Chad, is that writing an anthropology paper on Colombia will be about as interesting as an anthropology paper on England, France, Germany, or Canada. You probably ought to be looking for indigenous people, something that contrasts a little more with mainstream Western society.

I'm going to ask you a serious question: Why didn't you choose Mexico?

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pepster says on Nov 20, 2005, 22:14:

What are you talking about Cam Maybe the kid didn't have a choice.

Maybe there are no Mexicans where he is?

The Pepster

ColombianBlog.com

The Pepster ColombianBlog.com

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cam0940 says on Nov 20, 2005, 22:29:

What I think is that he didn't choose Mexico because it didn't seem "exotic" enough. Somehow, Colombia did. Remember those girls a few weeks ago that were doing their Anthropology paper? Same thing. Like Colombia is some way out place. Just the fact that they asked "What rituals are performed?", like we're talking about Australian aborigines or something.

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 15:22:

Reason why The reason why I am writing about Colombians is because it has to include an interview. For a college term paper I believe it is a little extreme doing it over "indigenous people". The time that it would take to do in person interviews over these people would be too time consuming especially since they are "indigenous".

So my professor mentioned that it would be best if I did it over Colombians since he knew a lady close to my hometown that was from Colombia.

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cam0940 says on Nov 25, 2005, 15:35:

That's fine. How's the paper coming along? You see, your professor may not realize the similarities either. The overwhelming majority of people in the U.S. have no idea what's really going on in Colombia. That's why I mentioned England, France, or Canada or Mexico. It would seem silly to write about "cultural practices" or "rituals" in these countries that Americans are more familiar with. Tell you what: the main thing that separates Colombia from other countries would be the armed conflict going on there. It affects many different aspects of life. Therefore, when you go to interview the lady, ask her if/how that affected her. You can also do some searches on the subject. I can help you if you like. Of course, I realize the paper is due on Monday, so it's up to you how active you want to be in getting the info together.

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 15:44:

chad I did interview the lady. My proffessor has traveled to many places and is considered a good people person. He also helps out immigrants in different aspects. He was a co-author in a book (Apple Pie and Enchiladas).

Also my paper was postponed until Wednesday. Thanks for the information it is very helpful and to tell you the truth I just started writing it....well trying to write it by following my proffesors guidelines.

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cam0940 says on Nov 25, 2005, 15:56:

He may be well travelled, but as you can see in the thread titled "Why Colombia... No Really?" if he hasn't spent any time in Colombia, he may still have the image of it that mass media promulgates daily. On the other hand, this could be a golden opportunity for you to dispell the myths and negative publicity. Where are you on the paper? What did you get from your interviewee?

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pepster says on Nov 25, 2005, 16:07:

A piece of advice Be balanced, ask about the good and the bad.

Colombia has ALOT of bad...and has ALOT of good.

There a hundred things I can think of that make Colombia the most special place on earth...to me.



The Pepster

ColombianBlog.com

The Pepster ColombianBlog.com

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 16:10:

Just beginning on the paper....really, I just have a few sentences. From the lady I basically received what her life is like now that she lives in the United States....I basically did an interview in which I threw out some ideas and let her tell me what she thought about it. I like doing interviews like this because it seems to open them up to more questions. For instance, I was interested in what she had to say and I had so many questions that I talked to her like I would if it wasn't an interview.

Could you give me a few ideas that you think should be entailed in this paper. Also I would like to send you a final copy via internet to see what you think for future purposes. Is this okay?

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 16:12:

just for reference she was from Medellin

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pepster says on Nov 25, 2005, 16:14:

hmmm Why did she leave?

What does she miss?

What does she not miss?

Does she feel there is hope for Colombia?

Does she feel there is a class system in Colombia based on race or region?

Does she still encounter that in the states in the Colombian Community?

Does she want to go back?

Does she regret leaving?

I'd love to see what you wrote.

The Pepster

ColombianBlog.com

The Pepster ColombianBlog.com

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 16:19:

1. because she married a man from the United States
2. her family
3.
4.
5.
6.badly
7.no
8.

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pepster says on Nov 25, 2005, 16:22:

ok some more This one is going to zing...

Did she get married to an American? If so, was it to escape? It might be too personal but very very valid.

If she regrets leaving why won't she go back?

Does she visit often? If not, why not?


The Pepster

ColombianBlog.com

The Pepster ColombianBlog.com

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cam0940 says on Nov 25, 2005, 16:26:

What would you like to say with this paper? We can get going if you tell us what you want to say. A few days ago you didn't have a topic. Do you have one now?

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 16:27:

1 Yes
2 They met while he was on a missonarie with his church, but it was in another country that she was also doing volunteer work with. I believe it was after hurricane Mitch.
3 not as much regrets.....she just misses her country....my guess is because she misses her family...because she felt that the one major thing different here from Colombia was the closeness among family that is in Colombia
4 no... but stays in touch through email and phone calls

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 16:30:

i want to write about the differences over here and how it affects them. Please help..........lol

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 16:32:

them and their society perhaps...if I can come up with some solid reasoning

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cam0940 says on Nov 25, 2005, 16:38:

OK fine. Can you come up with a thesis statement? Think on it for a few minutes. I'll do the same. I'll check back in a few minutes to see what you came up with.

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 17:30:

scratch that idea cam.......how about my guiding questions being: what are some of the main differences between Colombia and the United States and what are their lifes like now that they live in the United States.

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 18:08:

she came over 3 and a half years ago
my professor did the verification of her "authenticity" he refered me to her so in my case that's more than enough verification....remember it's not a book just a paper

I have no idea when hurricane Mitch was but one question that comes into mind is not how long ago it was but how long "rehabilitation" takes for a place to overcome such an incidence. Post volunteering not current volunteering.

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 18:10:

For a rough draft how does this sound so far:
Colombia
The culture that I am studying in my micro-ethnography paper is Colombians. The reason for my choosing of this culture was because I didn’t know much about the culture. What’s more reveling about this is that I didn’t even know where Colombia was located.

Not knowing much of anything about Colombia except for the notion that the media portrays them as for simply being the place where cocaine comes from left me with a lot to learn. Being unknowledgeable, I had many questions and was interested in many things. With this my guiding questions were: what are some of the main differences between Colombia and the United States and what are their life’s like now that they live in the United States.

The reasons behind my guiding questions are as follows. First of all, not knowing much about Colombia I felt that the best way to learn about this culture is to compare it to my own. By comparing and contrasting parts of my culture to that of Colombia seems to be the easiest way to learn of this society. Also only having a short amount of time to study a culture (hence the term micro-ethnography) this seems to be the quickest way of studying because most people, such as myself, remember things quickly when they are different from our own life’s

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cam0940 says on Nov 25, 2005, 18:31:

See Chad, you got me.

Ethnography: The branch of anthropology that deals with the scientific description of specific human cultures.

I have no idea how to describe that to you. PBH is full of threads that may give you some insight, however.

A very limited universe of recent threads might include:

Elmo's "McDonald's culture"
UTC's "Victimas de brujeria"
Colombiche's infamous "Colombian education"

A study of the specific culture? There are 40,000,000 people there. Some of them are indigenous people. Some are campesinos. Some live in big cities comparable to any other big city on the planet. You can't really say a coca farmer's life is the same as a banker's in Bogota. So how are we supposed to write about their culture? That's like writing about U.S. culture, but not distinguishing between a Native American living on a reservation in New Mexico and a movie star on Sunset Blvd. Both are part of this country. How can we write a paper without being a little more specific about what we want to say?

I realize that this is not what you want to hear, but this was my original concern about the paper in the first place. It's not like we're talking about a little society somewhere in the middle of nowhere where everyone speaks the same language, everyone eats the same foods, has the same life experience. Colombia is varied in those respects, just like our country. And, it further varies depending on which part of the country you're talking about. Life in rural Georgia is totally different from life in Manhattan.

So it's a paper about spcientific study of specific human culture (Colombians). Colombia and its people. You're going to have to A) be more specific B) do an incomplete job or C) be writing for days.

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cam0940 says on Nov 25, 2005, 18:36:

Chad I have an A+ idea for you. First of all, where do you live?

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 18:46:

I am not a expert about cultural anthropology (obviously). But I'm required to take a course where I am to write a paper as if I were a cultural anthropoligist. What I will be writing about does not have to be that great it's more of just a review of what I have found over what my professor suggested I do it over. So in reality it will be an incomplete job because your right I would have to narrow it down..even then I couldn't get the job done because even a coca's farmers life (if done right)could take years of research not including the publishing part. So in my case I'm just doing some research about over what people think.

Also: TY for your input you do a good job at putting an insight on things....Have you ever done any anthropology work? If not then what because I can tell that you do know what you are talking about.

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 18:48:

indiana

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cam0940 says on Nov 25, 2005, 18:48:

Nevermind Chad. The idea was to take where you live and find a comparable situation inside Colombia. If you live in NYC, choose Bogota for example. Then on that basis make your comparisons. You need to find out what/where is comparable to where you live. Good luck, tell us how it goes.

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cam0940 says on Nov 25, 2005, 18:50:

OK so take Medellin and compare it to Indianapolis. Lot's of info on Medellin on PBH and all over the web. Maybe Cali would work for you too. But you have to narrow it down. You can't just assess the whole country because it's way too varied to do a good job.

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chad says on Nov 25, 2005, 18:54:

and my other ? about whether you have ever done any anthropology work? If not then what because I can tell that you do know what you are talking about.

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cam0940 says on Nov 25, 2005, 18:59:

Dude, I'm Googling Medellin just for this site alone and there are scores of threads that talk about different aspects of life in Medellin. This amounts to an interview on everything from cost of living to security to weather to entertainment. And then there's the brujeria I told you about earlier for a little extra flavor. Write a little about education. See Colombiche's post. You could get 10 pages without even leaving this site. Well, maybe you'll want some demographic info on population etc. You can get that with a Google search outside the site. Cut and paste some pictures. And you're done.

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cam0940 says on Nov 25, 2005, 19:02:

I was actually an Economics major. I was forced to take an anthropology course. My genuine interest in other cultures just comes from working with so many people from different places. Travelling and having some exposure to the world around you makes you, IMO, a more rounded person.

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Lucia Rojas says on Nov 28, 2005, 18:26:

Do you speak spanish I can give you the e-mail of an indigenous wonam in Leticia who was the spoke person for her tribe at the World Social Forum.

We have 84 different etnias and 64 different linguistic families... very diverse and interesting. some of them have managed to preserve their culture amidst modernity and war...

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