In the United States stereotypes abound regarding Latin America’s strong machista culture (with corresponding levels of homophobia). But recent victories for homosexuals (in Uruguay, Argentina, and Mexico City) should call into question such assumptions given that Latin America appears to be getti[...]
Posts Tagged ‘Argentina’
Dreaming of Rainbow Sheep
In May, I attended Uruguay’s first gay marriage. It was an accident: we overshot a restaurant on the Calle Sarandí and found ourselves amidst unfurling pride flags and a loudspeaker declaring “los mismos derechos para los mismos nombres.” It was, admittedly, also a publicity stunt. Urugua[...]
Gay Marriage in Latin America: Is Argentina Ahead of the Curve?
Just last week, two men got married in Buenos Aires, Argentina after 34 years together as partners. The coolest part about this? The official crossed out “man and woman” on the license and instead wrote “contracting parties.” They were able to get married because Argentina just recently pass[...]
The Multiple Personalities of You
I suspect I wasn’t the only grade school Spanish language learner for whom the vosotros form had a sort of rogue ninja presence. Easily avoidable in classroom skits, it would spring out of the shadows at the most inopportune moments (usually, a pop quiz) to remind us that no, we didn’t h[...]
Balancing Your Life
Reading the recent posts Living in Two Worlds at Once and Living a Double Life got me thinking about a challenge I feel like I’ve been working on for most of my life. How do you balance your time among all those parts of your life that you want the most? During my time in [...][...]
Finding Your Niche as a Short-Term Volunteer
Jennifer Yael Green is a writer and traveler who most recently spent a year as an English instructor in South Korea. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, she lives her life striving to write something worth reading, or to do something worth writing about. She spent several months volunteering in a vill[...]
Volunteers and NGOs: The Argentine Perspective
A few weeks back, I wrote about my fellow international volunteers at the AFOS Fundacion. This week I would like to talk about the Argentine volunteer staff that make our experience possible. First, a note about AFOS. While searching Idealist.org for volunteer opportunities in Argentina, it was AF[...]
Not Too Far Gone
I’ve kind of been out of action for a while, so excuse the long gap between posts. But after crossing the six month mark in Argentina, the novelty has worn off and the differences between a volunteer life and a professional life have started to blur, and I feel further and further removed from my [...]
August 11th, 2009 - 3:06 pm § in Argentina, Careers, Ecuador, In the Field, Looking for Opportunity, Volunteer
Back at Home, But Not Really
My volunteer service in Ecuador has ended, and with the completion of 11 months in Cuenca, I now face the challenge of finding opportunities once again. But for the time being, I’m back where I grew up, in Sharon, Massachusetts. This is a small, quiet community in the suburbs, and it’s a[...]
