Mottos

Today was the first day of orientation for my master's program at Monterey Institute of International Studies. Throughout the morning I continually heard the school's motto: Be the Solution. 

Today, as the president was speaking, I realized that this motto was quite similar to another motto that I heard, read and was bombarded by my whole undergraduate career: Engaging the Culture, Changing the World.

I guess the ideology stuck. 

Thanks SPU. 

Hello MIIS.

I Am A College Graduate!

Again, I apologize for failing to keep up this blog. If I am able I would love to try and justify my blog-o-sphere absence with the fact that I recently graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a Bachelors of Arts in Global Development Studies. I am a college graduate! The last few months went by so fast and in those few months I finished my last year in university, took my last finals, packed up all my belongings, said good-bye to my dear Seattle friends, participated in graduation events and trekked from Seattle, Washington to the Central Coast of California. But life did not slow down there. I got home and then spent a lot of time driving back and forth to San Francisco celebrating birthdays and going to concerts. And, of course, applying to job after job. After job.

I am settling down a bit here in California now. Although, I am purposefully not getting too settled. In two weeks time I will be road-tripping across the US of A (in my new, well used, car!) to my new home in Watertown, TN. What will come next? Only adventures I am sure. And I hope to be much better at updating this here blog and keep my readers updated on said adventures.

One last note: check out my updated Flickr photostream!

A Wonderful May Day

I have been meaning to post this since last Friday-- I am only a little behind, right?

I have decided that there is not a much better way to spend a warm, Spring Friday afternoon than by spending time with my boy and riding bikes. We decided to ride from Seattle Pacific University to Golden Gardens and stopped by the Ballard Locks on the way home. It reminded me why I can handle Seattle weather for a little bit longer.

All pictures taken at Golden Gardens, Seattle, WA

TOMS are awesome shoes to bike in!

It's been fun to get to go on adventures again with my boy.

(All my own photography)

I am excited to continue taking pictures on my adventures through the city this Spring as the light is softer and my mood is warmer.

I hope so.

It has been awhile since I've blogged. Spring break was wonderful. It was so very great to be home. It was supposed to rain the WHOLE week I was there and it definitely did not. It was a week full of warm weather and tons of California sun.

It was hard to come back to Seattle and face the rain and sleet. But, that was a week ago and Seattle seems to have decided to give us a taste of Spring. I am sitting outside of Hill Hall in a tank top and Bermuda shorts at 5:33 with a comfortable breeze.

YAHOOOOOO! Spring might actually be here! Maybe I can give my HappyLight a break and get some natural light and Vitamin D.

And to top this all off, I love my classes this quarter and I am excited about my TOMS event that is coming up on April 16th! It shall be a barefoot walk from Seattle Pacific University's campus to the Troll Under the Bridge in Fremont!

COMING SOON:
Pictures from my trip home!

Just a thought

As I sit here allowing my tummy to settle down from Gwunch before I go work out, I want to share a quick something that has been on mind: I really appreciate Seattle Pacific University a lot and I have gained much respect for its staff, faculty and spudents.

I was first reminded of this after the presidential elections that occurred this past November when President Phil Eaton sent out a mass e-mail eloquently addressing the historical election and the hope he had for our campus preceding the inauguration of the new Commander and Chief, Barack Obama. After this my SPU-Appreciation-Radar was up and running. I have been noticing little things. For example, the creation of new majors that are dedicated to "Engaging the Culture, Changing the World", like Global Development Studies, or how the business program is determined to produce new business models which foster morality and integrity; or how many students will turn out to events that are about human trafficking or TOMS Shoes (TOMS Northwest Vagabond team sold the most shoes at SPU up until that point of their tour!).

And now, the other day at work we were told about SPU's plan to help out prospective students due to the current recession our economy is facing: SPU has made HUGE budget cuts in order to have a historically low tuition increase for the 2009-2010 school year and in order to funnel some much-needed money into financial aid. SPU's application numbers are not suffering. This is almost whole-hearted-ly in the best interest of the incoming spudents. Due to the fact that most public institutions are doing the exact opposite speaks loudly to me:

Seattle Pacific University really does want to be a university that stands apart from the crowd. Seattle Pacific may have its flaws, but shoot, it actually is engaging the culture and changing the world.

Plus, Phil-Dawg is pretty adorable.

Latin America Reflection 3

It is interesting how much the United States’ history books leave out about Spain and Latin America. I was lucky enough to have an awesome 5th grade teacher who did happen to inform the class that the Spanish did help out the colonists during the American Revolution, but many people in this country are simply ignorant when it comes to the role that the Spanish and the countries that developed from the Spanish colonies play in U.S. history. Yes, my 5th grade teacher may have touched on Spain’s help, but it was never mentioned again in my years of U.S. history (including Advance Placement classes). I may have also had another advantage to understanding the relationship that Spain and Latin America have with the U.S.: my father is from Nicaragua.

It always slightly confused me that baseball is the top sport in Nicaragua. Stereotypically one would guess that soccer would be, but not in Nicaragua. It was interesting to talk to my dad about this and why he liked baseball so much. He had dozens of stories about American soldiers that would play games in the streets of Managua and teach the kids the rules of the game. Thus, creating a new favorite sport within the country (oddly enough, my sister and I did not play softball growing up, but soccer). But, how many people know about the presence of the United States in Nicaragua before the 1970s civil war? I can say for my generation, not many people at all.

In the reading I did this week it was even more prevalent how ignorant I was to the role the United States has played in the rest of the Central American histories. In both Latin America and It’s People and More Terrible than Death it was made clear that Colombia always saw the United States as a possible threat to the vitality of the country. During the tensions between Conservatives and Liberals it seemed as though the United States often played the role as the possible scapegoat for the violence and tensions that took place. The United States was and is still seen as a threat, but the people of the United States rarely acknowledge Colombia as anything but a country full of cocaine drug lords and poor coffee farmers. Both of which are often exported to the United States and happily and addictively consumed by millions of Americans.

All and all, I must raise the question: how can we, as citizens of the United States, continue to ignore our neighbors to the south? It is undeniable that the political and economic standing of the United States perpetuates great repercussions in Latin America, but the ongoing Latin violence and corrupt governments may have a larger affect on the United States than most people realize. More and more Central and South American immigrants are heading north, becoming U.S. citizens and bringing their culture right along with them with hopes of a different future. Internationally, Latin America as a whole may not be as powerful as the United States, but Latin American products, people and culture are a powerful presence from New York to San Diego.

Ring before Spring

One of the most obnoxious aspects about going to a Christian university is the obsession with "a ring before spring". Marriage and relationships seem to be on the minds of almost every student. Especially among the females. From winter break to now, I feel like all I have heard about is the subject of matrimony. Talk has been all about who got married, who is getting married, color schemes, dresses, the reception and most of all... the wedding night.

A while back I concluded that many Christian students get married quickly with sex on their mind. They are impatient to hop in bed, but have moral standards screwing that purity ring tighter and tighter. It's not the moral of abstinence before marriage that is the problem, though. The problem is the fact that there is so much pressure to keep that moral obligation that I feel as though many rush into marriage quickly. But, this is not about the sex. This is about the fact that I am utterly stunned at how so many students can be so wrapped around this one, single idea and hope for it to all happen so soon.

I think what may stun me the most about the idea is that so many of the people around me talk about their hopes for marriage, the wedding itself, a family and their sex life with their future life partner, and I am the one out of most of them that is the closest to even, maybe, possibly coming close to marriage in the next few, plus some more, years. What it comes down to is this: I can handle all the talk about weddings, but it's the anticipation that these kids have about marriage. These people are hoping to be married by the time that they are 21 or 22 and do not seem too worried about the growing up part... or the not ever having been in a relationship part.

I am okay with the fact that I have no idea what dress I want or what colors or where I want the wedding, the reception or the honey moon. And, it's not a bad thing to know those things. I will admit, it's fun to hear people's elaborate details they have thought out (especially when the ideas that some people have are absolutely-out-of-this-world ridiculously absurd-- yet so perfect for who they are). But, it's better to also know who you are, what you want in a relationship and what a healthy marriage is before you get too wrapped up in the, yes I will say it, petty details.

In response to the movie Bride Wars one girl said, "That is so sad because your wedding is supposed to be, like, the happiest day of your life. And they are ruining it for each other." And to that I say:
In terms of the movie: it's sad that a movie is based on the destruction of a friendship because of one day in the two characters' lives, and we pay to go watch it for entertainment.
In terms of the wedding: I hope your wedding is beautiful and memorable, but I also hope that it does not consume you. I hope that your "happiest day" can easily be beat out by your children being born or your time when you are apart of your family or when the day is not fully about you.

Latin America Reflection 1

Far-left-thinking leaders and peoples largely inhabit Latin American countries, which often results in the rejection of the ideals and presence of countries such as the United States. For example, the people often do not want industrialization or capitalism in the ways that the United States and other outside countries strongly suggest. In the first pages of the “Openings” section of Dispatches of Latin America Renique states the following:

Recent government proposals to privatize public services and natural
resources have been soundly defeated across the region by grassroots
movements and organizations acting independently from established
political parties…In Mexico, the peasants in the town of Salvador
Atenco blocked plans sponsored by an alliance of multinational
corporations, local entrepreneurs and the government to build a
multi-billion-dollar airport on agricultural lands and protected
wetlands…ecologists in the towns of Cajamarca and Tambogrande (Peru)
halted the Canadian Manhattan Mining Corporation’s attempted expansion
into agricultural and public lands and water resources. (Prashad 36)

Although these decisions are often seen as “bad” or detrimental to obtaining modernization, could it be possible that the people of Latin America are making more “good decisions” than the world thinks by rejecting these ideals?

Northern Americans are conditioned to believe that industrialization and capitalism are the answer to helping other countries grow and become prosperous, but I see a lot of good just within Renique’s paragraph. First and foremost the Latin American people are preserving their surrounding environments. Lately, “going green” has become a phrase of popular culture and it may end to be a very beneficial fad in the end. The airport and the mining company would end up being harmful to the environment of Mexico and Peru and the reality is that these countries do not necessarily have the means to “go green” with these developments. The people of Latin America, by ousting the plans regarding the airport and mining corporation, are recognizing the
natural resources of their lands and seem to be suggesting that it is their right to decide what is done with the land. I believe that the countries may be better off trying to find different ways within their borders in order to help sustain their own economy. In a perfect world, powerful states would help others look within their own boundaries for economic opportunity, rather than exploit the people and the land of Latin America.

Another positive aspect I see from the paragraph is the recognition of the power of a community. Latin American culture often reflects a community-orientated people whom extract strength from within the community rather than the individual. There are negatives to this, but
there seem to be much more to gain than to lose. How much could other groups of people learn by noting the importance of a culture’s identity and acting upon that rather than personal need? In Mexico and Peru the people of the surrounding areas came together and voiced their opposition to the industrialization that was looming and were able to intervene. The airport, for example, may have helped the whole surrounding community in some ways, but that is up to the people to decide if the benefits outweigh the detriments. The people, the community, are what matter in the long run. Again, in a perfect world, bigger, more powerful countries would consider the cultures and communities within these countries before actions were made. I find it
increasingly ironic that countries like the United States decide what is best for the people in other countries while claiming democracy and freedom of choice and speech for it’s own people.

I will admit I had a bias when going into the reading of Dispatches from Latin America that countries like the United States often meddle in problems that are not its own and have a history of not being too helpful. I really do think that the reading in Dispatches proved that the people of Latin America are strong enough to hold their own in this world, and I think that it is the duty of the rest of the world to help the countries become independent from the power houses.