Blog Reflection

           

            As it is stipulated in the “about me” section of this blog, it is for my general studies literary class, named “Journey in Literature” with the amazing professor, Cynthia Pittman. As can be seen, there are a total of 13 blog entries counting this one as the final one. The title of the class is the justification for our first entry, which is “Mon Voyage” a blog entry to give the reader a better image of who is writing by establishing both an internal and external journey. After that first blog entry we analyzed the books, movies and excerpts of the literary works we discussed in class. Part of the blog activity was to not only write the personal views on the topics discussed in class but maybe also read those of the students that did not or could not participate in class, comment and open the debate or conversation of the topics outside of the classroom.

Definitely my favorite part of the whole semester was getting to know this portal, having a journal and the combination of literature, perspective and personal journey writing. I am actually going to continue to write my own personal blog though it will be a lot less literature related and more like a cyber entry of a journal. Sometimes, I feel, its not enough to write it down in pen and paper but also the need to publish it and maybe be heard. The blogs for me helped me find my own voice. When and if you go through my posts, I feel, the tone changed into a satirical one but still one that is making a point. It’s as if I found a voice between the blog and the journal as I was going through different struggles in the semester while still learning and bettering myself.

Personal favorite blogs:

            A Journey in Life

            AutemActa

            SomeThoughts

            Metamorphosis

I won !

            Last week, we celebrated the 48^th Annual Literary Contest for General Studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. Not only did we celebrate the tradition, but also the life and work of the great poet and professor, Mark Wekander. In honor of his work both literary and in the classroom, one of the awards is in his honor. The contest is divided into 3 categories; Essay, Poetry and Short Story. Each category had third to first place and honorable mention. The only people that could participate were students that were currently coursing through a general literary studies class. The festivities started with an introduction of the master of ceremonies and his introduction of the activity.

            The first category awarded was Essays, where as the title so coyly states I won the first place prize. I got a certificate, a check and read my essay in front of everybody there (no pressure). My piece was called “Do witches get financial aid?” in essence it talked about the injustice in the justice system starting by just wanting to study this very crooked justice system but in a very satiric way. After I read my essay the ceremony continued with the honoring of Mark Wekander by a group of students reading a selection of poems and a colleague analyzing and bringing attention to the different dimensions in his work. After everybody rejoiced in his work it was only appropriate to continue with the poetry award named after him. The winner of this category was “Godly Poet” and the winner of the short story category was “ Do you got room for one more troubled soul?” Unfortunately the latter was not present to read her piece. To end the already great ceremony the general studies dancers decided to grace us with a salsa choreography and there was food offered for those in the festivities. The ceremony was incredibly well planned and ultimately lots of fun. I only wish it was marketed so that more people knew about it and could compete.

Identity an Intro - Caribbean Identity

            The Caribbean, in itself houses more cultures than there are islands. How is this even possible? Thanks to Haiti and Dominican Republic where the island is divided in two with Haitian culture on one side (speaking Creole) and the Dominican Republic on the other (speaking Spanish). In an anthology written by the Puerto Rican, Ana Lydia Vega called “Encancarranublado”, it’s explicitly shown how absolutely diverse the Caribbean is. Its about 3 men in search for a better tomorrow, in the states, that did not have the funds, visa or permission to get there. When they are in the boat, the differences between them were incredible. They were described to look almost exactly the same (as is the case between Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico) but the way they expressed themselves, the mannerisms, the accent was not the same. Look for these islands on a map. Look how incredibly close they are. Now look for Antigua and match that with Puerto Rico both in distance and what ever fact you may know about the two. They might as well be in two different parts of the world culture wise. However, how rich the Caribbean is in cultures, so are the cultures and people in the Caribbean. For this reason looks, language, and ecology are not the most important roots of Caribbean Identity. Home, expression and history are much more important markers and more relatable when it comes to identifying oneself.

            Peter Roberts states, “the notion of identity in human society is based on two fundamental factors- the perception of sameness/difference and the instinctiveness of man to be a social being.” When it comes to Caribbean roots our sameness resides mostly on our history. Even though we might not have been a colony or territory for the same country at the same time for long, we were all colonies at one time (maybe even still are). Our natives were not treated with respect, they were oppressed and our native culture, language, customs and such manipulated to whichever country was in official power. These facts make our culture that much more diverse and by relation the identity as a Caribbean native. The history can anger you, like it did Jamaica Kincaid or Fidel Castro; it can make you proud, like a group in Puerto Rico wanting to renew ties with Spain or maybe it can make you reliant in the country to the point of no progression or independence called “the colonized syndrome”. Our history because of how rich it is in every aspect is what identifies us as Caribbean, more so than ecology.

            When it comes to language, as was shown by Ana Lydia Vega in her book, the Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican, spoke the same language but they still encountered a sort of barrier when it came to communicating. The Puerto Rican in a way “translated” what the Dominican said, to the Cuban and they were all speaking Spanish. This difference is one that identifies the Caribbean. It shows the rich culture it has because of the different countries that were in power but the way it is expressed is what makes it theirs. Antigua speaks English because it was a British colony and the way they speak it is not the same as in the United Kingdom. As part of the Caribbean culture, the language evolves and it incorporates the native tongue before the colonization began. For example, Puerto Rico still uses some “taino” words such as “hamaca” (hammock), “almohada” (pillow) and it even still has the native names of certain places around the island. That evolution in language is what makes it Caribbean; therefore it’s not just our language but the expression of it what identifies us as Caribbean.

  

          As already stated, Caribbean’s have different cultures mixed together, therefore, we can easily adapt with and in other parts of the world. This is because language is not a total barrier and the customs incorporated during the colonized period make it that much easier. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean we are at home. “Home is a variable, and may be a place of birth, place of residence or may be defined by the popular notion ‘home is where the heart is’”. In the Caribbean, home is the place of birth and the popular notion (“Home is where the heart is”).  The sense of patriotism is a universal one, but in the Caribbean it’s mixed in with our rich history. It’s where battles were fought, oppression defeated, where intellectuals were killed fir being to radical when really all they did was believe their native culture should be the main and only one in their respective island. Go back to that map. Compare any island size to one of the their colony, and also the materials present for each one at the time. It was never a fair fight, and most of the Caribbean is now independent. Oppression is still very much alive but it is no longer from an outside invading source. It is now (in some cases) a native problem, still brought on by the colonized syndrome and learned conduct by the main and first oppressor. Caribbean’s are also very familiar and that is where the notion can be identified. A Dominican can feel somewhat at home in Puerto Rico if surrounded by their family members and/or friends.

          In the end the history is the sameness in the Caribbean that unites the islands as one identity. “The constant association with and experience of sameness leads to a recognition of one’s own features as normal and those of others as "abnormal/strange/foreign”.  It is foreign for natives of the Caribbean to not have a rich history with rich cultures in diversity not only in customs but also in their blood relations. The Puerto Ricans have Spanish, African and Native “Taino” blood and heritage. The evolution, spin and ultimately the expression the Caribbean natives give to the language imposed by the colonizer is what makes the language theirs. Just like the perspective what home is, makes the identity of a Caribbean filled with sameness. The Caribbean is a group of small and big islands and archipelagos, it contains more diversity than much of the New World and it is unified by a history so rich that it’s basically unparalleled.

"We ask for tolerance"

                 This past week my class had the opportunity to present a research project in a general studies panel. It was specifically about the different perspectives other countries, cultures and places had about Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans. My group decided to concentrate on the views of United States Americans and Spaniards specifically on the topics of tourism, culture (food and people), politics and economy. We decided to contrast what the United States Americans think and show to know as opposed to Spain’s knowledge and point of view. We were surprised to see that Spain actually stays up to date on current events, problems and such happening in the island as opposed to United States American which showed that other than knowing we are a colony (sometimes not even that) of the United States, they barely knew anything more. I think they know we are located in the Caribbean but I might be mistaken.

            We were not the only group that presented on the United States American point of view on Puerto Rico. In fact we were the only ones that presented a European perspective. Unfortunately we weren’t the only group that concluded that United States Americans have very little knowledge of our culture nor does it seem they want to learn. Two different groups found over three websited dedicated to the debate on why we as a culture and people should be “exterminated” as if we were animals, went as far as to say we are “incapable of learning because we are inbreeds”. There are articles by United States Americans stating this very thing only in a more diplomatic format. We can fight your fights but we don’t deserve your respect? No. The United States has us in shackles and abandoned, let us free.

     In conclusion, I learned a lot about what ultimately is the United States American perspective on my island and culture. I was not impressed and was very disappointed. However Spaniards made me proud to be half Spanish by my mother's side of the family. They demonstrate a deeper understanding of our culture that to be honest the United States American will never have as long as they do not see us as equals and maybe not even then because as a commenter stated "We have the same blood coursing through our veins and our history is forever one."

Journey Journal Reflection

I wrote 40 entries this semester in what my professor likes to call our Journey Journal. It’s a Journal we’re supposed to write in everyday about whatever topic we choose without worry of grammatical errors. Because of the anti-rules, I couldn’t cross out my errors or when the sentence changed tenses and such, it affected my grammar when writing for more formal settings. It enabled me to write more freely (some what) but when writing for other classes my grammar or the attention I paid to them was less effective. The first thoughts activity was pretty easy for me because I was writing about something that had just happened to me before class. Therefore, the words came easily and I was able to not pay attention to grammar and follow all of the anti-rules. However, after that first entry, the anti-rules became rather annoying. More so though was the fact the notebook had no lines. I loved the idea of having a journal and writing on it every day but when given rules on grammar like not being able to cross out a mistake sort of took the creativity out of it for me. I was distracted by the error wanting to rewrite it or at the very least cross it out. Because I wasn’t able to do so, sometimes that would be a thing I would have to write about, incredibly so. Maybe that says more about me than of the rules.

            When it came to sitting down to write, I would do it as a way to let off steam or in some cases even just my personal feelings out of a certain situation. First, though, I would put on the stopwatch for 10 minutes to write for the amount needed. Sometimes I would keep writing and most times I would have to prolong the writing by talking about my writing. As time progressed, it became easier to write for the time that was needed and not have to think much about it. As a writer I have learned, I have a bit of OCD with grammar and actually enjoy writing. I am continuing the journal; only I make it a rule to correct errors so as to better my writing skills and also to let my feelings out. It’s a great outlet and nobody gets stuck in the cross fires if mad or extremely sad. I can say that I grew; I am going through a time in my life where a lot of decisions have to be made and also went through a very difficult time emotionally. This was an excellent way to know what I wanted out of life and how I felt about the situation.