Well that was Pretty Awesome!

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Cultural Exchange Experiences

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Last Fall semester 2013, I presented in a class with Universidad Católica del Maule students.  I shared with them about the focus of my doctoral research and they also where able to interview me.  The course Professor Partrick Metzler informed me that this would be the first time many of them had ever met someone from another country (in my case the United States).  Their challenge was to speak and listen in English as much as possible, but if I would notice any furrowed eyebrows suggesting someone was not understanding me, I would translate by speaking the response or questions in Spanish which seemed to help allay many of the students’ nervousness.

Upon my return to UCMaule this semester, I finally had an opportunity to go by  Professor Matzler’s office and view the students’ project posters they used in their final class presentations.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how much they had  keyed in on particular topics.  I am sharing copies of their work in this blog post.  Their Professor  and I were very proud of the work that they did.  He and I  have plans to do something similar this semester with another class, and I will also do more of an academic teaching event with them in my Visiting Scholar capacities. 🙂

During their interviewing of me last semester, I spoke about my research focused on the civic engagement activities of adult learners following their careers as undergraduates (post-título).  I mentioned that my theoretical framework used Gravesian theory (Clare Graves) and it’s offspring of Spiral Dynamics a theoretical framework developed by Don Beck & Chris Cowan.  My scholarship and research also incorporates Multiple Intelligences theory (Howard Gardner) and Memetics, birthed from the early works of Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene) and Susan Blackmore (The Meme Machine).  In essence, I plan to wear my “teaching hat” with the students here at UCMaule moving forward,  and I’ve also been invited to present to faculty and students at the Universidad Autónoma del Chile  her at their Talca Maule campus.

Being much younger than the adults I typically teach, these pregraduado  alumnos (i.e., undergraduates) were less interested in the ethereals of my doctoral level  graduate student life, but more attentive to discussing North American sports, racism, the University of Georgia, and my hometown of Akron, Ohio.  Clearly, some of the students did their research and visited my blog  site, because I noticed that a few of the posters focused on subjects I don’t remember discussing in their class.  Nevertheless, to those budding young scholarly researchers I say, “Well Done!”

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Issues of college sports, LeBron James, and athletic exploitation was discussed.  It’s ironic that subsequent to my visiting with them on these subjects, the courts have recently passed a law allowing college athletes to unionize.  Perhaps, that was the Futurist part of me coming out during our discussions. 😉

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Many student wanted to know about the history of American Slavery (Chile was one of the first countries to abolish slavery) and from my very limited research on these topic (not my area of scholarship), this country did not have as intricate a system of Chattel slavery as is historically documented in places like Brazil, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Cuba, etc…  Maybe that is why demographical Chile does not have a very large black population.  Honestly, issues of race rarely come up in conversations here.  I did witness an interesting exchange during my research with people trying to determine if they should call themselves white of latino/a.  That will be in my findings section where I mention possible future research.  But, I did learn that there is a supposedly thriving black population in northern Arica, Chile.  The name of the region is clearly named after the continent of Africa and I believe that there are some wonderful stories yet to be told by those inhabitants.

I will say that it was very interesting to me that no one really asked me much about my time as a field organizer during the 2008 Senator Barack Obama Presidential campaign.  I spent more time talking about LeBron James than President Obama.  That was different! lol  So, moving forward I am going to share the students’ visual aid documents and if any of them are reading this blog I want you all to know I think you did a great job on this assignment.  Kudos to Professor Patrick Metzler as well. 🙂

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I spent some time talking about North American racism and the historical legacy of both the Northern and Southern states in relation to the civil war and the Civil Rights movement.  That could easily be a class all by itself of course.  The interview and discussions had occurred fresh off of the recent court ruling in the George Zimmerman trial.  Seems liked someone must have pick up on some still raw emotions from me surrounding the killing of Trayvon Martin.

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Mi “Perro Caballero” fue Como un Ángel Custodio ésta Noche

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El Perro Caballero

Versión Español

Mi “Perro Caballero” fue Como un Ángel Custodio ésta Noche

Ustedes no me creerán, pero tuve una experiencia más hermosa temprano este noche. Ha sido lluvia todo el tarde e yo estaba esperando en mi oficina para la lluvia a terminar como yo leía manuscritos (TA trabajo). Estaba muy tarde y la lluvia no parece a parar. Así, yo decidido a caminar porque era oscura y estaba sola. No tengo miedo, porque mi barrio es mucho seguro. Pero yo soy Americana y desde los barrios urbanos. Mi papi siempre les dice cada de sus niños, “¡Toma su tiempo y cuídate!” Es algo que está en mi mente aún hasta hoy mismo.

Como yo caminaba un perro (mi Pero Caballero) aparecido desde ningún lugar y empezado caminar conmigo. Él dijo nada y simplemente estaba como un ángel custodio mandaba a proteger me. En el principio él caminaba a frente de mí y cuando yo paraba él paraba. Cuando yo caminaba, él caminaba. En un punto pareció cansado de mis pruebas, y simplemente caminaba detrás de mí. Los perros libre son muy común en Chile, pero ésta estaba diferente, especial, como si me le conocía.

Cuando llegábamos a cerca de mi casa él paraba a la esquina y miraba hasta que yo entraba la puerta de mi casa. Nunca ladrado, nunca gruño, sólo caminaba conmigo en silencio hasta yo llegaba a mi casa. Eso es por qué me le llamaba El Perro Caballero, mi Ángel Custodio de la noche.

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Perro Caballero fue tímido de la cámara.

 

English Version

My “Gentleman Dog” was like a Guardian Angel Tonight

You all will not believe me, but I had a beautiful experience earlier this evening. It had been raining all afternoon and I was in my office waiting for the rain to stop as I graded manuscripts (TA work) . It was very late and the rain did not seem to want to stop. So, I decided to walk home because it was getting dark and I was alone. I am not afraid, because my neighborhood is very safe. But I am American and from urban neighborhoods. My daddy always tells each of their children, “Take your time and be careful!” It’s something that’s in my thoughts even until today.

As I was walking a dog (my Gentleman Dog) appeared from nowhere and started walking with me. He said nothing and just was like a guardian angel sent to protect me. In the beginning he was walking in front of me and when I stopped he stopped. When he walked, he walked. At one point seemed tired of my tests, and simply walked behind me the rest of the way. The “free dogs” roam and are very common in Chile, but this was different, special, as if I knew him.

When we reached near my house he stopped at the corner and watched until I entered the door of my house. He never barked, never growled, just walked in silence alongside me until I got home. That is why I called him the Gentleman Dog my Guardian Angel of the night.

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My Guardian Angel of the Night is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back at the corner literally watching me until I safely enter the gate at my house.

 

Make it HOT!!! (Remembering & Honoring Mr. Richard Neal)

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Make it HOT!!!

I love comida picante (hot and spicy foods), but typically Chilean food is not very spicy. 😦

When cooking in Chile I compensate relative to my desire for hot dishes by adding lots of pepper and merken (a traditional Chilean spice) to my food (see above scrambled eggs with black pepper).  However, the local grocery story is starting to carry more “international” food item from the other Americas.  I scored these two babies pictured below today at the grocery.  It’s not very often that we get fresh jalapeños in, so I snatched me up these hot peppers real quick.

Additionally, I almost turned a backflip out of joy when I saw bottles of Mc.Ilhenny Tabasco salsa.  I remember my mentor, Mr. Richard Neal would always carry a bottle of this product in his suit jacket pocket.  No matter how fancy the conference or dinner affair he had no reservations, with the cool of James Bond 007, reaching for his inside coat pocket to access his Tabasco sauce and discreetly dab a few drops on his meals.  Those were the days! 🙂

I honor and dedicate this particular post today to Mr. Richard Neal who passed away last summer, but was a role model and mentor to me and so many minority students, faculty, and staff during this long and distinguished tenure at the University of Akron.  I know God had a special reward when you arrived as you have blessed so many people and played such a big role in the successes I’ve had as a professional and now doctoral candidate.   Thanks Mr. Neal.

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Mr. Richard Neal

Who Mr. Neal was to so many students

I spent the majority of my undergraduate work-study days in the EEO/AA office working for Mr. Neal and Mrs. Kalavity his secretary who became the godmother of my daughter.  Mr. Neal was always a very quiet and classy man with a heart for black people and always looked to help minority students succeed at the University of Akron.  I graduated with a science degree and hated working in the laboratory at a major company near Akron.  I asked Mr. Neal if he could help me find something else as I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life doing boring chemical test of commercial products.  He offered me a temporary position that was being created by the then University President Dr. William V. Muse (another on of my mentors), as the coordinator of the Peer Counseling program designed to recruit and matriculate struggling minority students at the University.  It subsequently turned into a full-time administrative faculty position.  The program I headed was a novel concept that identified successful minority students who would mentor and monitor the academic, social, cultural, and personal development of students during their first 2 years at the University (much like Mr. Neal).  The program became a model success both locally and nationally and propelled me on my trajectory toward adult learning and development.  Although himself a highly respected educator, Mr. Neal never lost sight of his roots and desire to help the less fortunate in the community.  I am sure he had no idea how many students’ lives he affected in the most positive of ways while here on this earth’s plane, but I am confident he certainly knows it now at this point, and here is my small contribution to that knowledge and “shoutout” to Mr. Neal. ❤ 🙂

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The meal ended up being so delicious I wish I could share it over the blog: Blackened Merken chicken breast cubed over angel hair pasta in a soy sauce base plus: (jalapeños, mushrooms, green bell pepper, sweet onion, celery, broccoli) all grilled together.