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February 29, 2008
Lately around the Justicia Global Community House, the weapon of choice has been the can of spray paint. Below is an example of the damage we are doing to our brains by using it too frequently.
If for some reason you want to see this up close,
you can click on the photo.
This T-shirt, of my personal stencil design and production,
is a reference to one of Santo Domingo's main north-south streets,
La Avenida Winston Churchill. Along La Churchill you can have a positively
first-world experience: shopping in United Colors of Bennenton, eating at
Pizza Hut, T.G.I. Friday's or Outback Steakhouse, and as of yesterday, riding
the underground Metro.
Yet the pronunciation of this great avenue, beacon of modernity and social drinking,
is fully Dominican. We call it La Winton Chuchi, or if we're feeling affectionate,
simply La Chuchi. The shirt points out this somewhat comical Dominicanization of the name of the proper and stern-looking British historical figure.
A small number of people get it, and an even smaller number of these people find it funny. I am entertained and feel
genuinely clever whenever I wear it.
On another note, the can of spray paint has also been an integral component of Justicia Global's Reclaim the Streets Urban Beautification Project in our neighborhood. The University Zone is home to the Haitian Embassy, the public autonomous university where many Haitian students attend, as well as many construction sites where Haitian men work by day, cook by evening, and sleep by night. So it was particularly upsetting to wake up one morning to find many of the walls painted with these kinds of slogans:
"Haitians Out," "No Haitians," "Death to Haiti." We counted eight in all.
Well, it just so happens that Justicia Global has on speed-dial a trained team of nocturnal aerosol artists. So another morning not too long after the initial anti-Haitian slurs appeared, the neighborhood awoke to the following:
All eight red-painted stains were obliterated and covered over with flowers,
butterflies, snails, and calls for justice. Good work, team. Just try not to get
that spray paint up your nose when you're doing it. I've heard it really burns and
could cause lasting impairments in your judgment, possibly resulting in dizziness, headaches,
or further attempts
at T-shirt making.
February 26, 2008
I'm getting ready for a visit back to the States soon, so I've been taking more time reading the half-page international news section in the Dominican papers.
From what I can gather, 2008 is an election year in the United States. It is unclear why there has been no talk of Bush seeking a third term. In any case, the world seems content with discussing What The Middle-Aged Women Voters Of Ohio And Texas Plan To Do On March 4.
On the international scene, there may still be a war going on in Iraq. In Colombia they did a nice job of publicizing their anti-FARC rally. I guess I didn't see the news the day they held their anti-US-and-Coca-Cola-funded-Colombian-paramilitary rally. In Cuba, when the Commander in Chief chose not to seek another five years, the First Vice-President was elected to the post by the National Assembly. (There has been some confusion on this point in much of the world.)
In the realm of sports I have a considerable deficit regarding all non-Pedro-Martinez-related news. Today the sports section featured a full-page color photo of One of the Greatest Pitching Duos of All Time, Pedro Martinez and Johan Santana. These men, I might add, have not yet done as much as sit in the same dugout together, and already, according to the Dominican papers, they deserve to be on the short list with Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette.
You may think I'm in decent shape for a grand return to one of the financial and cultural centers of the world. But we have not yet touched on the subject of US pop culture. It is this subject where I'll really need some quality tutoring before I hit the streets of New York.
My profound knowledge of Puerto Rican reggaetón all-stars Calle 13 and Don Omar will aid me in the transition, for sure. I can belt out "Atrévete-te" with the best of them. But I worry about the many details of life that may have changed over the past eight months since I've been on US soil.
For example, how many children does Angelina Jolie have now? Will people laugh at me in my Minnesota Timberwolves Kevin Garnett jersey? Is the body cavity search standard yet in the Miami International Airport? Are interest rates rising or falling? Are retro T-shirts still cool? Is Jon Stewart?
It's these questions that haunt me as I mentally prepare for the sensory bombardment that is the United States of America. Also, will 40 degrees Fahrenheit break my will to live?
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