My country is the whole world

"(...) Therefore if you insist upon fighting to protect me, or "our" country, let it be understood soberly and rationally between us that you are fighting to gratify a sex instinct which I cannot share; to procure benefits which I have not shared and probably will not share; but not to gratify my instincts, or to protect myself or my country... As a woman I have no country, as a woman I want no country, my country is the whole world"

"Three Guineas", by Virginia Woolf

Encuentro

"Por eso tengo que volver
a tantos sitios venideros
para encontrarme conmigo
y examinarme sin cesar,
sin más testigo que la luna
y luego silbar de alegría
pisando piedras y terrones,
sin más tarea que existir,
sin más familia que el caminho..."

Pablo Neruda
Fin de mundo (El viento)

New country, new life, new hopes

One of the things that most touched my heart during this week were the pictures of the Palestinian children at the Ruwaished camp, in Jordan, sent by the United Nations Refugee Angency´s communication officers in Brazil. Wearing the T-shirts with the colors of the national team (green and yellow), the kids had hope in their eyes. Hope of a new life starting very soon. They are part of a group of about 100 people who start to arrive in Brazil on this weekend, after being repeatedly displaced between Iraq and Jordan in the last years. They will be settled in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul and, hopefully, very soon, will become "gauchos" like our locals. After the removal, the Jordanian camp will be closed down.
The Palestinians are already part of the Brazilians´ lives, especially the ones who live in the big cities, such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, and even in my town, Florianópolis, where they own businesses in the downtown area.
Brazil´s position of receiving the refugees is humanitarian and, at the same time, political. It will contribute very much for the comprehension of Palestinian situation and will help to bring peace to the lives of these people. This will be also a good opportunity for the local communities to learn about the importance of solidarity and multiculturalism.
I wish good luck for the newcomers and I hope Brazil will always be open to people in need of a stable environment, distant from wars, hunger, political and religious persecution.

Be curious

"(...) as we go forward in the twenty-first century, feminists inside and outside academia need to be on our guard against a cynical form of knowing. We need to send the roots of our curiosity down ever deeper. We need to stand ready to be surprised -to admit surprise and build on it. It is bound to enliven our teaching, broaden our conversations, and make our strategies more savvy."

From the book "The Curious Feminist: Searching for Women in a New Age of Empire", by Cynthia Enloe (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004)

That´s what it is all about

"I have no country
My country is the whole world" (anonymous)

Celebrations

This coming week will be full of important events for the students at University for Peace (Upeace). On September 12nd, Ethiopians celebrate their new millenium, the Enkutatash, or the "gift of jewels". The country and the diasporas all over the world will celebrate this special moment with family and friends´ gatherings, food (injera!) and music. Between the 13th and the 14th, depending on the lunar calendar, it starts Ramadan, the sacred month of fasting and spiritual retreat for Muslims. Next Saturday (15th) there is Costa Rican Independence Day. Public parades are expected all over the country.
I wish you all a great celebration!

Malpaís

One of my recent foundings in Costa Rica is the band Malpaís, named after a beach on the southern tip of the Nicoya peninsula, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Malpaís means "bad land", in Spanish, because of its isolation, although it became a touristic destination after the band´s success among ticos and ticas. It will be, definitely, one of my destinations in a near future. I wonder myself what has inspired Malpaís to write these touching verses...

Malpaís
(Letra y musica: Fidel)

Por aquella memoria que te tengo
yo sigo aqui pensando cosas malas
y me lleno de voces y recuerdos
que me traen tus ojos de gitana.

Bebo un trago en el bar de los malditos
y me pierdo en la noche que te llama
y entre la oscuridad y los delirios
vuelvo a amarte, muchacha, en marea baja.

Y en las malas palabras de tu cuerpo
en pecado mortal entrego el alma.
Tal vez fue sólo un juego del deseo
pero quien mal comienza mal acaba.

En este Malpaís, que es paraíso,
donde se enciende el mar como una hoguera,
a donde van los gatos del olvido
cuando el vientro es tu calma y es mi espera.

Donde el camino es corto y es eterno
entre nubes de sal y cordillera
atrás quedo tu historia en las verdades
y mentiras que arrastra la marea.

Allá en tu Malpaís donde no existo,
en donde sigo esperándote en la puerta,
será mi culpa o será el destino
que ya no sé si voy o estoy de vuelta.

O si el amor que amé y perdi en el viento
fue sólo el canto de tu risa marinera.
Me que dó el rojo de aquel sol muriendo
allá en tu Malpaís, quemando el cielo.