Turning the Page to my Next Chapter

Posted on January 24, 2015 by Dr. Lisa R. Brown

Oh Man!! So much has happened upon my return to the United States. The adjustment has been seriously cray cray at times, but I am starting to gain my bearings. I arrived the day after class had begun and was dealing with a bunch of emotions particularly related to leaving my new friends and family in Chile. However, thank God for Skype and Facebook as we have been keeping in touch daily through those mediums or simply via email.

I initially was not awarded another graduate assistantship from my department at the beginning of the fall semester last year. I was initially a little anxious about that, but as per usual, the Lord came through for me and I had little to no financial difficulties maintaining myself in Chile. I want to give a serious shout-out to my committee Chair (Dr. Sandmann), academic adviser and mentor. She recommended me for a position in the Office of Service-Learning on our campus. They had an untimely departure of another woman who took a faculty position at Spelman College in Atlanta (which was her alma mater). So win-win-win for everyone!! I interviewed with the director and my background and credentials fit perfectly with both our needs. I will be working with a community engagement program that is a cooperative venture on behalf of Clarke County School District (CCSD) and UGA. It is a pre-collegiate program to turn the students attention toward matriculation at a university (and of course we hope it to be UGA). The director also informed me that they would make space for me to incorporate my civic engagement scholarship as well. How very exciting!:)

So, as a result of getting this graduate assistantship opportunity I needed to pick up more credit ours (which the university pays for). I was also able to audit a Spanish conversation and composition course, which would have been next in the series of classes I would have taken had I continued in the Romans Language Department. My dream is to return to Chile to teach at a university part of the year and then do part of my academic professorship in the United States. Therefore, it was important that I don’t lose track of my Castellano Spanish more general and Spanish more specifically as I was no long in an immersion environment.

My first thought as always was to contact my old Profesor Clarke who he and his family have been so supportive of me and my efforts in Chile. I also contacted Professor Correa-Díaz who is a constant support to me as well here at UGA. I meet with Holley Smith who helped me select a class after explaining to her my situation and goals. She informed me about a weekly Spanish language table of folks who meet at The Globe restaurant in downtown Athens. Now get this… the woman who is the lead organizer of the table is Chilean!! Now you know only God orchestrates like that. :)

So I attended the first session this past Thursday and had the best time. I will continue with this in addition to my class to help prepare me for my career plans. Above is a picture of us from last Thursdays. The man’s name is IIKay and he is a true polyglot. Born in Germany to Turkish parents, he can speak French, German, and is now learning Spanish. I told him that Portuguese and French are my next language goals. The beautiful leader of our group is Ximena Gonzalez-Parada and she is a super-awesome person. I felt so at home and connected with her and we are now Facebook friends as well. I asked her for this picture to lead of the new season and transition of “The Chilean Chronicles Deuxième Partie”. I used Google translator to spell Part two in French. I hope it is correct. lol

So please keep following the blog and comment as you feel moved to do so.

¡Hasta pronto!

I like how Santiago, Chile wakes up. Beep Beep!!

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Dr. Lisa R. Brown

This past week has been so relaxing for me. I arrived here from Talca on Tuesday, December 30^th and was able to spend the New Year in Santiago. I was disappointed that many of my friends had to change plans and could not come visit with me here, but I knew they couldn’t from the outset. One thing I have come to love about Chilenos, is that they don’t want to disappoint the people they care about. So if you ask them to do something for you, they will like say, “¡Sipo!” and then struggle to figure out how to tell you that they have overcommitted themselves and cannot connect with you as hoped. It’s the funniest, because I tend to understand things happen, but they always seem to feel so awful. I so love my Chilean cariños.

So Saturday morning I woke up so refreshed and loved hearing the car horns beeping and people scurrying about the streets below from the vantage point of my patio window. I literally spent the first few days simply catching up on my sleep in my big soft and warm queen-sized bed. This last leg of my dissertation research was so intense. I needed to secure a total of 200 surveys from public and private university graduate level adult learners. I arrived to Chile with about only 40 surveys completed from the public universities and only 7 from the private. I arrived on October 2^nd, and would need almost three-quarters move before my December departure from Talca. I literally received the last needed surveys on December 29^th and by the 30^th (my final research day in Talca) two more rolled in for good measure making my total completion rate 204.

I didn’t realize how tense I had been during the last leg of my dissertation research and visiting scholar experience here in Chile. I certainly think that the events surround the killing of Michael Brown and subsequent uprising in the US surrounding police brutality also contributed to a very stressful period during my time here. Nevertheless, my Chilean friends at the Universidad Católica del Maule came through for me, as always, to uplift me using encouraging words, “Chile es más tranquilo Lisa” and expressions (e.g., big hugs, empathetic smiles, and joyful laugher). That helped me get through a very difficult and reflective period as a black woman living abroad in another country watching my people suffer assault in such brutal ways. But there is a silver lining as a result of those tensions. I submitted a proposal for a special call for Chapters to a New York book publisher. The Editor was looking for scholars to respond to events in Ferguson, MO, and racism more generally in the United States and recommend how higher education could respond. My proposal was accepted, J so I have been spending my last few days in Chile writing and reflecting… it has been a very cleansing and liberating feeling to lend my voice and advocacy on behalf of what has become an unbearable phenomenon for black people in the US (i.e., police brutality and judicial injustice).

Man!! Those two years seem to have gone by overnight!

So, when my friends couldn’t make my party I decided to go knock on the doors of my neighbors. I’m an Aquarius and making friend actually come pretty easy for me. My daughter always laughs at me because she says I seem to make very close friendship connections wherever I go. It’s true!! J Ha ha So my neighbor Pablo—who is a law school student at the University of Chile—took me up on my offer. We enjoyed great food, Chilean wine, and talked racism and politics. It was a great and wonderful visit and we have promised to keep in touch via Skype as he wants to improve his English and I my Castellano Spanish. #WinWin.

So the day has finally arrived. January 5, 2015, and I am here in my hotel restaurant area waiting for my shuttle to arrive (in 6 hours ha ha). This day opened with mixed emotions as I am so happy to be seeing my family and friends again in the US; but I am also sad to be leaving the new “famifriends” I’ve developed here in Chile. In reality, I actually feel that I am only going on a business trip to the US as Chile truly has become mi otro país (my other country). The concierge said he considers me Chilena—In part because I always stay in the same apartamento when I come to live in Santiago—since I have a resident identification card.

They take really good care of me here and the owners also have long-term housing options that I plan to explore after graduation. My dream is to become a professor and teach part of the year in Chile and the other part in the United States. I also plan to continue working on my speaking abilities upon my US return. However, Chilean Spanish (Catellano) is a bit different and they seem to speak so fast here. It’s funny, I have kinda adjusted to the pace and now when I hear other Spanish speakers (Spaniards, Dominican, and Mexicans) the language seems so much slower and clearer for me to understand.

Well, that’s it for now in terms of the Chilean Chronicles Blog. I hope you have enjoyed this journey with me and stay tuned for my next iteration as a blogger and future scholar. Yeah, seems this writing thing is here to stay (including the errors and edits) and I am grateful to WordPress and this opportunity to improve my writing and vent my thoughts and feelings. ¡Que se vayan bien a todos! ❤ ~Lisa