Halloween in Argentina

During the last years, more and more people are starting celebrating Halloween in our country. Every year, many shop windows, shops, English institutes, and even some schools’ classrooms are decorated with elements related to this pagan celebration, such as: spider webs, ghosts, bats, and Jack-o’-lanterns, among others. 

Every October 31^st it is more common to see many groups of children wearing scary costumes, and going from house to house asking for sweets. In live broadcast, many TV news show images of the streets full of children playing the famous and traditional “trick-or-treat”. 

Each year, this topic sparks interest in many Argentine people, creating lively debates in which they share their opinions of agreement or disagreement in relation to this issue. 

The arguments are varied and clearly divided. Those who are against of celebrating Halloween claim that:

- We shouldn’t celebrate a festival which is not part of our culture and traditions;

- Halloween is another “Yankee” celebration whose only aim is to make us spend a lot of money;

- We should encourage our children to become more interested in our own traditions rather than in other cultures’ customs;

- We don’t know the real meaning of Halloween, which results in a mere imitation of others’ festivals;

- Halloween is a satanic celebration, and children should not be encouraged to participate in this sort of cults. 

Despite these arguments against the celebration of Halloween in Argentina, many people believe that:

- We are free to celebrate whatever we want;

- Argentina is a country made of immigrants from different parts of the world who have the right to commemorate their important dates;

- If we shouldn’t celebrate Halloween because it is not part of our culture, we shouldn’t celebrate neither Christmas nor Valentine’s Day, or any other festivity that was not created by our ancestors;

- We should be more open to the changes that are taking place in our culture;

- We do celebrate many other festivals (such as Oktoberfest, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, among others) which are not part of our traditions, but people only complain about Halloween. 

Of course, there are many more arguments in favour and against this issue, but these are the most common ones.

Even though I do not celebrate Halloween because I do not know its meaning and origin, I cannot tell others what they should do or not. I think that all of us have the right to choose what to believe in, without being condemned.

I agree with the fact that Argentina is a country “made of” a mixture of cultures from different parts of the world: Italy, Spain, Portugal, China, Germany, Ireland, and others. What is more, there are many different religious groups in our country, which have their own believes, cults and customs: Catholics, Jews, Gypsies, Mormons, etc. Due to this, I hold that we must accept and respect other people’s customs and believes. If there are people who want to be part in this particular festival, we should respect that, as well as those who do not take part in Halloween because it is not what they believe in.

So, what do you think? Should we celebrate Halloween? 

Image #1 retrieved from: http://www.minutouno.com/notas/342526-por-que-los-argentinos-no-debemos-festejar-halloween

Images #2 & #3 retrieved from  some comments people make on different Halloween's posts. 

Memories vs. Money

1 - Edith Macefield

According to Jessie J.’s song, “Price tag”, it “seems like everybody’s got a price”. However, there are some people who believe that memories and time spent with your loved ones are much more valuable than money. At least, this is the case of Edith Macefield, an 84 year-old woman who turned down U$S 1 million to sell her house to a shopping mall.

In 2006, an important company started to build one of its many Shopping Malls in the Ballard neighbourhood, Seattle. The company needed to tear down Edith’s house in order for the shopping to take up the whole block. Due to this, the corporation offered U$S 1 million to Edith for the house, claiming that with this tidy sum she would be able to afford another similar house.

2 - Edith's house during the construction of the shopping centre

Nevertheless, Edith refused the financial proposal alleging that she would never sell the house where she lived so many beautiful moments with her mother and friends. Because of this, the company had to change the mall’s blueprint and was forced to build around Edith’s house. 

When this story was publicly known, Edith became like a sort of heroin for her neighbours, because she gave more importance to her memories. Two years later, Edith died and willed the house to Barry Martin, the building’s construction superintendent, who took care of her during those years.

3 - Edith's house when the mall was finished

Evidently, this old woman thought that there are certain things that money cannot buy. Nowadays, in an era in which capitalism sets the rules and makes us believe that everything and everyone has a price, it’s heart-warming to come across this kind of news.

This is the kind of stories that fill us with tenderness and hope, teaching us that money cannot buy memories, love and happiness. Our experiences, our adventures, and each moment we live and share with those we love are the things that make us rich people.

When I found this story, I immediately remembered a part of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the chocolate factory” in which, after having found the golden ticket to visit the factory, Charlie decided to sell it so as to give the money to his parents, to which grandpa George replies:

“There's plenty of money out there. They print more every day. But this ticket— There are only five of them in the whole world, and that's all there's ever going to be. Only a dummy would give this up for something as common as money. Are you a dummy?”

Sources:

- Edith Macefield. (2014). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Macefield

- Image 1, retrievd from: http://cdn.labioguia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/140903_EYE_EdithMacefield1.jpg.CROP_.original-original.jpg

- Image 2, retrieved from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Edith_Macefield's_house.jpg

- Image 3, retrieved from: http://www.myballard.com/images/edith_dec.jpg 

- La Bioguía. (2014). "Rechazó un millón de dólares por su casa y forzó a un centro comercial a construir alrededor de ella". Retrieved from: http://www.labioguia.com/rechazo-un-millon-de-dolares-por-su-casa-y-forzo-a-un-centro-comercial-a-construir-alrededor-de-ella/
- Roald Dahl. (1995 edition). Charlie and the chocolate factory. Penguin books. UK.

In a world like this

Distorted image of a post-apocalyptic city

Last year, after having read “Brave new world”, I was shocked and amazed by the book, mainly because I didn’t know this particular genre; and then I became interested in dystopian fiction. Then, this year, when we read “Oryx & Crake” (in my case), “The year of the flood” and “MaddAddam”, I became even more attracted to dystopias.

Since then, I’ve been watching many films which depict dystopian worlds, and I’ve just read the last book of the trilogy “The hunger games” (because the movie has not been released yet). And a loved them! What impresses me the most is how appalling the worlds depicted in these stories are, and how strong the writers’ critics that fall upon human behaviour are. 

According to Wikipedia, a dystopia is “a community or society that is in some important way undesirable or frightening.” Usually, these stories describe grim post-apocalyptic societies that have lasted after a dreadful war, plague or natural disaster. In an extreme way, these stories aim at drawing attention to certain issues that are part of our reality, such as: environment, politics, economic, religion, psychology, ethics, science, and technology. 

In general, dystopian stories have some distinctive characteristics: 

The five factions - "Divergent"

- They portray societies in which there is a strict social stratification that orders people in different castes, mainly, according to different aspects. In “Brave new world”, for instance, this allocation of people in social classes is prenatally determined, being the ones belonging to the lower classes those who have reduced brain-function. In “Divergent”, people are divided into five distinct factions based on human virtues: Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the peaceful), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), and Erudite (the intelligent). 

Room in which the staff controls the arena - "The hunger games"

- Ubiquitous technology is one of the most significant characteristic in these stories. A variety of technological devices are present in everyday life, mainly as a form of control and constant surveillance.

- Governments are totalitarian and oppressive, and have the power to control every aspect of the inhabitants’ lives. For example, in “The hunger games”, the government doesn’t only control the food rations that every person in the districts receives, but it also selects twenty four adolescents each year and sends them to the arena so as to fight till death. 

- Poverty, violence, dehumanized living conditions, depleted resources, and environmental disasters are other characteristics generally present in most of dystopias. 

"Elysium" (2013)

The way in which writers satirise and criticise humans’ flaws,  by showing societies involved in drastic and extraordinary situations, makes me think in the hidden messages that are implied in each dystopian tale. From my point of view, authors aim at raising awareness about the possible negative consequences that our current lifestyle may have. We cannot deny the fact that technology and science are becoming the most powerful weapons that human beings have developed in order to control the world. Clearly, this is one of the chief points that dystopian fiction highlights so as to make us reflect about it. Of course, I’m not blaming scientific and technological advances for the possible consequences, but the misuse of them that human beings do. What do you think about this issue?

Do you like dystopian fiction? Which another dystopian movie/novel do you know?

Sources:

- Dystopia. (2014, October 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia

- "What is a dystopian society?". Article retireved from: http://www.explore-science-fiction-movies.com/dystopian-society.html#axzz3GjLOCyWS

- Video retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ6y98meKeU

Dear friend

Vanina

I’ve never thought of writing something like this to you; and I even didn’t know how to start. It’s incredible how life forces us to face such difficult situations, like the one you’re living today. But at the same time, it’s nice to realise how close we are and how much we love you, isn’t it?

What I’ve always admired of you is your strength as well as your capacity to laugh at everything, despite the tough times that you had to live. It’s not necessary to remark all those circumstances in which your strength was put to the test, nor how hard it was for you to overcome each of them. What really matters is to mention how much you grew and learnt from them, and how strong you became.

You’re a unique woman, whose personal traits make you be loved by so many people. Your good predisposition to help everybody, your beautiful smile, your quick witty jokes, and your devotion to your three children are just a few of those characteristics that make you special.

And now, your life is testing your fortitude once more. However, as it happened before, I’m sure that you will defeat the adversity. You have to… you must do it for you, for your children, for your family and friends, for all the people who love you.

We need you to open those bright eyes, in order for you to keep on looking at the blue sky, at your children’s faces… at their eyes. I know that you’re a woman whose determination leads you to work hard and to do everything you can for your family and friends. I know you! I can imagine you in some weeks complaining about having "wasted" some days lying on a bed, without doing something productive.

Being so young you have to stand up and struggle again, perhaps the hardest of the battles. Yet this time, you’re not alone; all your loved ones are with you.

Because of this, you have to wake up so as to continue loving and being loved, working hard, growing and improving yourself, enjoying your kids and enjoying life.

We love you, we need you, we want you to be alive!!!

Days full of complaints

During the last two days, there have been a series of protests in the IFDC (Instituto de Formación Docente Continua) led by a small group of people who claim for:

•         Better studying conditions,
•         Better quality of teaching,
•         Better working conditions for teachers, and job stability,
•         Improvements in the institute’s building; among others.

In order to be heard, this group of students and teachers staged a sit-in, on Wednesday. Then, yesterday they took over the building, and prohibited other students and teachers from entering it. Due to this, and according to what they say, classes an exams will be suspended until an authority (they ask for the Ministry of Education’s presence) listens to their demands. 

 

Of course, I do agree with all the things they demand to be improved, because I’m studying to become a teacher and I would like to study and work in optimum conditions. However, I strongly disagree with the way these people hold the protest.  

Yesterday morning, after having taken over the building by force, they blocked the doors using some sticks and other elements. Then, when some students who had already been in the institute wanted to leave the building, the protesters didn’t allow them to do so. Instead, they told those students that if they wanted to go out, they would have to sign a note that aimed at supporting their actions. Isn’t it incoherent to claim to be a democratic person and at the same time, to force others to support your ideas? What I mean is that we have to be coherent with what we think and the way in which we behave. If not, what’s the point in complaining about something that WE even do?

What is more, during the whole morning there were some other violent actions. A pregnant student, who was sitting for an exam, was taken out from the classroom in such a violent form that she couldn’t help but crying at the situaton. Then, some people that were afraid of being attacked called the police. But as soon as the police officers arrived, they were sent out of the building by the protesters, without having the possibility to try to control the situation.

In the afternoon, since the classrooms were locked, we had classes at the buffet. While we were there, another student arrived at the institute, and when she tried to enter, some of the protesters attacked her with insults.

Having classes at the buffet.

Having classes at the buffet.

I insist on the fact that I DO agree with the demands they are claiming for, because all of us are going to benefit from them; however, I don’t accept reaching a goal by means of violence.

These people complain about studying and working in undemocratic conditions; but at the same time, they are forcing others to think and behave like they do. Their decisions affect our possibility to keep on having classes and studying, when they are supposedly fighting for that.

Certainly, all of us think differently, and I don’t expect to impose my opinions on the issue. I respect everybody, and everybody’s points of view, and I expect the same from others. I’m not against claiming for our rights, I’m against the violence that some people use in order to get what they want. It’s unbelievable that we still appeal to aggression as a means to achieve a "better world". In my opinion, we should “BE THE PEACE WE SEEK” (Fil Tribble). 

Image retrieved from: http://www.pinkchocolatebreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/monday-quotes-15-inspiring-peace-quotes-7.jpg