Small Place

Antigua

In the first selected reading from A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid  she writes about how tourist act and say during their visit in the island of Antigua. Antigua is a small island in the Caribbean, former english colony. One of the things Kincaid emphasize is the way the tourist constantly compare the way things are done in the island with the way they do it in their country.

The road on which you are travelling is a very bad road, very much in need of repair. You are feeling wonderful, so you say, "Oh, what a marvellous change these bad roads are from the splendid highways I am used to in North America." 

This is said with a slight sarcasm, cause even though the tourist might feel a sense of adventure the truth is that when he goes back to his country he will not miss them at all. 

Another factor she portrays of the tourist is that they stroll around fascinated by the "new" surroundings without actually understanding the significance of it and what the surrounding and people are trying to portray and what it represents. For Kincaid it is unjust the thoughts and attitude of the tourist that, maybe unconscious, but hurtful toward the natives in the island. She believes they see the island as an escaped from their systematic world and appreciate the islands historic culture nor customs and ways.  Tourist forget that people live there and have a culture.

"Down on the Island" Teaching English

 

As you can see the title "Down on the island"  is literal referring to down of the US in the island of Puerto Rico.

“Down on the island” is a book written by Jim Cooper and published on 1994 that narrates, with few details, some of the incidents he had while teaching English in the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. To be more specific he refers to the entries he made on his diary between the years of 1951 and 1954. It was interesting reading these two chapters because they illustrate a bit of the way an American saw and tried to interpret the Puerto Rican lifestyle at that particular historical moment. Until 1948 all courses at school were taught in English. That year the Education Commissioner Vilaroga passed a decree stating that the courses would now is taught in Spanish with the exception of English.

Cooper at the beginning of his stay here in the island, the director department assigned him to be part of the Syllabus Committee. When he saw it he could not understand why the freshman students were reading poetry and short story when the kids that were arriving to the University had none or little English preparation. With the (more or less) ten year gap between the change of the language the course were going to be taught, there was also a change in the students. This would also explain why grandparents might know better English than our parents. Because our grandparents were taught many course in English maybe they learned a little more than our parents who were only taught English at English, which would equal around 1 hour a day in exposure to the language.

This change in students complicated and compromised the syllabus to also change, but even though Cooper saw the need of a new syllabus the director, Dr. Beckwith, in the contrary did not. “Dr. Beckwith’s (director) only comment was that the only way to learn a language was to learn to love its literature. He was one of the many continentals then on the island who didn't believe Puerto Ricans were capable of learning anything anyway.”   Finally when he was able to change the syllabus to a more accurate based on the real needs for the new arriving students the difficult job was to communicate and understand Puerto Rican culture which would influence the way students learned.

“When, shortly after I arrived in Puerto Rico I met John Henry, the English supervisor in Cabo Rojo, near Mayaguez, I was vaguely aware that the Department of Education, highly centralized, was putting in a new English language program, imported from the University of Michigan.”

At the beginning of his stay in the island he cared little about the Education system in Puerto Rico, but when he focused his energy to change the English syllabus he suddenly became interest in what happen with the public education system.  While he learned about the program he understood that it was not fit for implementation in Puerto Rico. He was right. 

Through his stay in the island he was exposed to a series of situations where he was able to understand the way kids learn and the reasons or at least what he thought were reasons enough that explained why kids were not able to learn English. Apart from the change of the language the courses were going to be taught in

A Room With a View

A Room witha View (19850) directed by James Ivory is an interesting movie based obviously on the novel written by Edward Morgan Forster. The movie portrays, in perfect manner, the liberal social behaviors against the ideals during the Queen Victoria’s reign. The title alone foreshadows what the strory will be about.  It begins in Florence Italy were Lucy Honeychurch,  chaperoned by her cousin and old maid Charlotte,  are staying at a guest house in a room with a view towards the park-side, while the Emerson’s (father and son) who have more liberal ideas that contradict the social norms present in the English society, have a room with a view towards the river. Later at dinner the Emerson offer to exchange rooms, which Charlotte took as lack of tact and propriety. During their stay, George Emerson and Lucy practically fall in love, but keep their sentiments hidden especially because of what society might say. 

Lucy is a passionate woman that through her ability playing the piano and what Mr. Beebs said: "If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting both for us and for her," gives us a foreshadowing of what’s to come.  Even though from a high society and chaperoned by a Charlotte who tries to uphold what is said to be “proper” , Lucy somehow finds the understanding ad comprehension of the newly and liberal ideas the Emerson’s have which are contradicted by the character of Cecil Vyse, Lucy’s fiance, who would come to represent the social codes of that time.

Through the whole movie the conflict that Lucy and George had was based on facing the social consequences that would come if they decided to accept publicly their feelings towards each other. By Lucy’s part she was risking her social status by breaking an engagement with a well-recognized gentleman from the upper class and marrying a man from a lower class. From George’s side Lucy meant a purpose and the fulfillment of a joyful life and, plus, he would also be marrying someone from a higher class.    

The Emerson’s idea of life was directed toward the enjoyment and the beauty of life itself and little matter the codes and prohibitions the society had established as principles.  They let life go as it may and were open to the challenges it brought.  

There were certain stereotypical ideas of how each class in the English society at that time had to act. The differentiation between gender was clear and to pass the line of misbehavior could lead to an ‘out-casting’. Thus even though Charlotte tried to uphold those codes together with Cecil, Lucy acted in a proper manner but secretly, and maybe unconscious at the beginning, admired the way of thinking of the Emerson.  

We can see through the movie the whole process and development of Lucy from indecision at the beginning to total fulfillment at the end when she decides to finally show her feelings for George. 

"Eyes of a Tourist"

"La garita"

When we take a trip to another country we feel different. Whether it is the language, the people and atmosphere we feel different and as a consequence we see things different. How could that be? Yes. Once in the destination, usually, one gets to experience the tourist part of the country that was created with the intention of making you fall in love. Rarely, not always do we get to experience the real living atmosphere of the country being visited.  Yet if we do experience it we might see it with “eyes of tourist” which means to constantly search for the beauty and exquisiteness of it. Visiting we tend to ask questions, enter places without knowing their reputation, probably are nicer, happier people and acknowledge every single detail or at least detail that locals wouldn’t acknowledge.

On the contrary, as locals one stay in track with the routine. Acknowledging things that stand out and ignoring the little things that probably complete the whole. As part of the routine, nothing will call your attention, unless for a very short moment you turn on your eyes of tourist.

So how about acting as a tourist in your own country?

View of the "Isla de Cabra"

As a destination I chose San Juan. I went last week to “el Viejo San Juan” with my sister and spend a wonderful day.  We’ve gone thousands of times, but to do the same things, see artisans, eat a cup of “helado de coco” and that’s about it. This time we changed our plans. We got to “el Viejo San Juan” with no plans at all. First the journey to find a parking. Yet we were excited and trying to look at everything with the “eyes of a tourist”. As we walked all the way to the top of “el Viejo San Juan” we entered many gift shops and bought little souvenirs. Once in the top we entered el Morro, and took the agenda of seeing every single room and space of it. From over there we saw the magnificent Atlantic Ocean, the little rooms where the used to keep prisoners and also use as storage. To the other side one could see the beautiful “el Viejo San Juan”. The wind was incredibly strong and for some minutes we stayed focusing on the vast ocean, letting the wind hit our hair and do with it whatever it wanted to.  After that we went to the lower part of “El Morro” and where intrigued by a cat that was walking through the rocks at the shore. He seemed lost. 

"Ballajá"

Afterwards we decided to enter “Ballajá” that were the Spanish barracks from 1854-1864.  Little did we know that there was a museum on the second floor.  So our next thing to do was to see the museum. The museum had around different exhibitions; one was about different tribes and there distinction, another was about Puerto Rican and Caribbenan influence (in) music, specially salsa, movement in the United States, another was of the arts the students from the “Escuela de Artes Plásticas” had done, another of different tradition in fashion and design between countries, another of the history of PR and another of “El Barrio Obrero”. All very interesting.

There were mix feelings. With the attitude we had adopted people seemed to notice us more that usually, but at the same time the felt relax about it and didn't care that much. From our part we didn't care at all of anything, specially not on the way the were looking at us.

On our way to eat we got talking to some people and asked them about PR. They said that Puerto Rico was a beautiful place, place that they love but that it was going through a rough time. It was interesting because through that small talk one can see that there is hope for the country and that people still wish for the best for PR. That no matter what happens there is always going to be Puerto Ricans that will want to “echar pa’ lante” the country. So there is only one thing to do next, fight for the wellness of OUR PUERTO RICO.

My sister

My sister and I

View from el Morro down

Influences on Perception

Some notice an old woman first, and others a young lady.

When someone thinks about the word and concept of perception the concept of relativity may come to mind. This is so because the perception of something may differ between individuals. This difference is caused by multiple influences such as culture, age, gender, life experiences and situations, among others. 

The first aspect that would affect and influence my perception would be the fact that I’m a woman. Somehow being a woman gives you certain qualities that will affect the way you observe. In my case, I quickly observe the neatness and how well the object, idea or subject portrays itself.  Also have a tendency to have empathy with others. Another factor would be my age. With only 20 years of age I might not have the enough “reason” or urge to acknowledge nature and life to the fullest. Each year that passes, the normal human being realizes more of what life is really about and focuses more on living in to the fullest.  Older people, who have much more experience in years, are able to acknowledge life and the shortness of it. Depending on the age a person has their priorities will vary and affect the way the perceive things. With this we get to the combination of age and health; fatal combination. Because physically I’m probably in my best years, I will see things with less risk and physical harm. While a person with 50 years old might see a roller coaster as an invitation for dizziness, I on the other hand see it as an adventure. 

Another factor would be my bachelor’s concentration on operations management.  Because of the studies and emphasize on business I’m prone to focus on more administrative details other than arquitectural or biology details.  The details I give much more emphasize are those that have to do with my concentration. For example, everywhere I go the organization and processes taken to accomplish a certain task or service take a huge part of the analysis my brain makes. Therefore when it comes to perceiving something, my perceptions go straight to tactical and practical elements.

Then come the experiences in life. If you are old doesn’t mean you have all the experience in the world, you’ve had more time to experience different situations, but that not necessarily have experience them all. And maybe, a younger person has had some experiences you have not had yet. In the past six months my family and I have had two assaults. The first one was in October when a thief entered my house, meanwhile I was sleeping. When I woke up he was in the living room and instead of staying inside I confront him. Two months later my sister and father as the entered our house were point at with a gun. Thankfully nothing bad occurred. Yet these two incidents have affected the way we perceive things. We are much more aware of what’s happening in our surroundings.

Puerto Rican Flag

Another factor that will influence you way of perceiving is your culture. Culture takes a huge part of your identity and is probably the main element that forms your identity. In my case as a Puerto Rican the way of celebrating is throwing a huge party.

Another aspect would be also your biological formation. Focusing on the eyes only, people have different eye construction that affect the way they see. Take for example the famous blue/black or white/gold. The colors were not only affected by the light, the contrast, and the device from where you were looking but also the variation on the construction of the eye.  In conclusion each and everyone’s way to perceive things are different and unique.