So in the past I’ve tried to keep this exclusively a Peace Corps related blog, commenting on things from my daily life and occasionally throwing in my thoughts about things that make it here from America. But I’m realizing that daily occurrences in America are actually a part of my life here. My access to information has indeed been set back, but only slightly. I have daily access to the internet, albeit through an expensive choice compared to the US where it is more standard. But still I’m constantly reminded about my connectivity. Be it following a tornadic supercell, or learning of the shooting at UT Austin within an hour or two of it happening. So, due to this fact, I thought I’d break from thoughts on Peace Corps and PC related material and ideology and discuss the things that roam around in my head way more than they should :P
There were two studies recently released that have particular interest to me. The first, and perhaps most obvious, was the downtown development study for Wichita. If you’re interested in the documents, they can be found here! I think it’s the American symbol of prosperity to have a downtown core full of skyscrapers making an identifiable skyline for the world to see. Iconic buildings give us a sense of pride and place. Even the terrorists on 9/11 knew that and took out the two biggest symbols in America. So when someone suggests downtown development, the first mental response is really big, tall buildings. However, the study for the Wichita downtown redevelopment did not suggest new high-rise buildings putting the Epic Center to shame, and I’m finding I agree with the plan. While the goals seem modest at best, I think they are the right focus for the city right now. The city council has had a chronic issue of approving things project by project and figuring it will all congeal into a neighborhood of sorts. Now they have a blueprint on which to build their plans and something to lean on if they want to say no this isn’t something we’re looking for. At the same time it puts their plans out there so developers can see if the plan fits a project they’re interested in. I like consistent plans, but I also appreciate the fact that the plan is not too grandiose. While I’m all for more high-rise construction in the city, I think building from the ground up works better than the sky down. Developing the area as a denser multi-use neighborhood ensures that services are available once someone does become interested in building big and tall. There is no advantage to putting a 30 story building downtown if all that surrounds it is its own parking. That option is available very cheaply and readily, with better highway access too, at the edges of town. Therefore, in order to make the CBD more appealing than say, The Waterfront, the residences and services have to be in place. I would also complement the study on prioritizing transit in the core, as higher density is sustainable when transit is a prominent part of the equation. However, I have A LOT of thoughts on that topic so I’ll leave it for now :P
The second study (found here) is the release of Amtrak’s dream plan for the Northeast Corridor, connection Boston and Washington via NYC and Philly. It’s suggesting a 220mph high-speed train on separate tracks, similar to California’s system, for a tidy sum of $117 billion. Now before sticker shock sets in, let’s remember that the last NEC report issued suggested that the current right-of-way requires $52 billion to be brought up to current standards. I admit, that’s still over double the cost but let’s think about what we’re buying with this. The proposal is about as ambitious as one can get without getting ridiculous. It asks for new tunnels through the center city in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and NYC. But when you consider the fact that doing all that only slightly more than doubles the maintenance costs it seems like a potentially good investment. The report suggests the line would generate a $900 million operation surplus annually (which is getting close to Amtrak’s current budget). It would certainly change the lifestyles of those in the corridor as it suggests that travel times will be shortest on rail, once security and travel from the airport is considered. I’m not really justified in saying whether it is “worth it” or not but I foresee many more studies like this one suggesting the development of HSR in corridors like this (although admittedly not as ideal). We’ll see what comes of this!
I’m noticing a shift in my ideas as to what makes good policy when it comes to urban development. It was not that long ago that I had a build big early and make what you want happen. But as I’m spending time living in a situation where sustainability is such an important part of being effective, I see how sacrificing the day-to-day for the big spectacle can be very dangerous. Now if the government wrote a blank check for the NEC project and work started next month, I’m fairly sure that the project would be well utilized and the benefits would hide the cost. However, the report suggests instead of a one-time payment, committing to a $4.something billion per year plan and make the improvements over 25 years. Building in increments fixes the worst parts of the system first and builds the hype for the rest of the system. Building the downtown core of Wichita with the basics first, then slowly add the eye-candy allows the system to be sustainable. What qualifies as basics and the most needed fixes is always up for debate, but I’m learning how much of the battle is in the implementation, both sequentially and quantitatively. It’s a huge balancing act, and it doesn’t help when the ground is moving underneath you so your support isn’t stable. I can’t say with any confidence that I know this is the case but I think the Interstate system had much more universal support, always standing on solid ground where it is understood to be part of the future. Much of development today has no consensus on what is “the future” so it is a challenge to implement anything sustainably because someone often has a different idea of which way things should be heading. In reality, I’m surprised long-term projects do really ever get done because the people leading them can destroy them so easily. I suppose that’s one of the dangers of democracy, but the security of checks-and-balances is worth the roller coaster for sure.
Anyway, I’m trying to keep my rambling in check, so I’ll stop there. I’d be interested to hear thoughts from those affected by either project because, as one person, I certainly do not have a full view of their significance.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Uniqueness and Fantasy
So here in Peace Corps we have a rather large network of media sharing. Favorite shows (Chuck!) are passed around and time is spent (or wasted) watching the ridiculousness of the American cultural addiction to highly over dramaticized versions of life where romance, death, and song are as likely as meeting your friend in the hallway at school. But it made me think about why. We tend to criticize Tanzanian television because half the time it is two people sitting in a room with some alcoholic drink talking, or often yelling, about daily life. Yet, we also think it is amusing that so many people in the third world look at American media and assume we all live these lives that they see on TV. I think that’s a cultural difference I hadn’t really considered until now. We use the media, theatre, and other creative outlets to play out our fantasies and it builds the capacity for dreaming within us as a community. I know there are a lot of us who would love to have our lives run in musical format where significant events were always punctuated by song but we’re not THAT creative to the point where we can do that to any great effect as a people. Yet, here these fantasies are often built on a foundation of reality. Dance and theatre are present but the dance is all still within the confines of a reproduction of a tribal product that has been around for a long time and theatre is rarely punctuated by more than dialogue. I feel like here the prized way of expressing yourself is repeating something widely known, and repeating it very well. Meanwhile, in America uniqueness is heavily valued and when it is produced with quality it hits the spot much more effectively. We love our glitz and glamour and strive for it, even at inappropriate times.
Of course I’m not trying to say one is better than the other but it is interesting how those two ideals tend to come into conflict. I’ve tried to pull creativity out of the students by giving them less rigor in their instructions and the results are nearly disastrous. I take questions until every student finds some sufficient amount of instructions in what I say. I had a group of students doing a lab once where they had thought of an original (well original in that they were the only ones doing it that way) lab and had already produced valid, useful results. Once the rest of the class came up with very similar versions of the experiment that differed dramatically from this group’s, they practically begged me to allow them to change their experiment and take new data. It was incredibly frustrating, considering growing up in America, we tend to encourage uniqueness and focus on appreciating our differences. (Obviously this is a wild generalization and there are many parts of America that are significantly more narrow minded on many issues than even the most stringent of cultures).
There are the ideas in America that you should enjoy what makes you happy, it’s the journey that matters not the destination, etc. I mean, framing a lot of what we do in certain ways can make us look of questionable intelligence. For example, why do people go outside and intentionally let the sun damage their skin while doing nothing but resting? Because it feels good. Why do people spend money on a pair of jeans that costs them twice as much as another perfectly reasonable pair? Because they like the way they feel while wearing them. For all this short term gratification, Americans still have a surprisingly effective work ethic. What I’ve seen here suggests that the basic premise is those who have the tools to work their way up in the culture do so doing whatever is available to them. If the best job they can get is teaching, they do so despite any aversion to truly analytical grading, lesson preparation, or sometimes even standing in front of a class. The phrase “those who can’t do teach” is taken as truth here and teachers often don’t like what they do and the students don’t like that they do them. Even students, if they have an interest in something, but struggle at all, they give it up for the next easiest path to a “decent sized” paycheck.
Obviously there needs to be a balance. There are the people that look at everything as a means to an end and find their life passing them by without any worth or enjoyment. There are also the people who are totally encamped in the live-for-now clan and a good day is measured by how many drinks they can buy that night. I think that’s an understanding I’ve made it a goal to pass on. People here tend to fall on one side or the other and balance is significantly lacking. I would imagine though, if you took a close look at the variations between the two cultures you would find fewer differences in terms of the goals and motivations but mostly just a change in materials, or lack thereof. Yet I think we tend to identify and be aware of this balance (and how we don’t have it) whereas I’m not sure that is the case here. The reasons for that are numerous and not worth trying to recount but the general ease with which information and ideas moves in America plays a large part I think.
Of course I’m not trying to say one is better than the other but it is interesting how those two ideals tend to come into conflict. I’ve tried to pull creativity out of the students by giving them less rigor in their instructions and the results are nearly disastrous. I take questions until every student finds some sufficient amount of instructions in what I say. I had a group of students doing a lab once where they had thought of an original (well original in that they were the only ones doing it that way) lab and had already produced valid, useful results. Once the rest of the class came up with very similar versions of the experiment that differed dramatically from this group’s, they practically begged me to allow them to change their experiment and take new data. It was incredibly frustrating, considering growing up in America, we tend to encourage uniqueness and focus on appreciating our differences. (Obviously this is a wild generalization and there are many parts of America that are significantly more narrow minded on many issues than even the most stringent of cultures).
There are the ideas in America that you should enjoy what makes you happy, it’s the journey that matters not the destination, etc. I mean, framing a lot of what we do in certain ways can make us look of questionable intelligence. For example, why do people go outside and intentionally let the sun damage their skin while doing nothing but resting? Because it feels good. Why do people spend money on a pair of jeans that costs them twice as much as another perfectly reasonable pair? Because they like the way they feel while wearing them. For all this short term gratification, Americans still have a surprisingly effective work ethic. What I’ve seen here suggests that the basic premise is those who have the tools to work their way up in the culture do so doing whatever is available to them. If the best job they can get is teaching, they do so despite any aversion to truly analytical grading, lesson preparation, or sometimes even standing in front of a class. The phrase “those who can’t do teach” is taken as truth here and teachers often don’t like what they do and the students don’t like that they do them. Even students, if they have an interest in something, but struggle at all, they give it up for the next easiest path to a “decent sized” paycheck.
Obviously there needs to be a balance. There are the people that look at everything as a means to an end and find their life passing them by without any worth or enjoyment. There are also the people who are totally encamped in the live-for-now clan and a good day is measured by how many drinks they can buy that night. I think that’s an understanding I’ve made it a goal to pass on. People here tend to fall on one side or the other and balance is significantly lacking. I would imagine though, if you took a close look at the variations between the two cultures you would find fewer differences in terms of the goals and motivations but mostly just a change in materials, or lack thereof. Yet I think we tend to identify and be aware of this balance (and how we don’t have it) whereas I’m not sure that is the case here. The reasons for that are numerous and not worth trying to recount but the general ease with which information and ideas moves in America plays a large part I think.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A Quick Check-In
So my first post of break falls on the 5th day of break; a product of my attempts to write every day but the inevitable tiredness that befalls me later in the day when I had planned to write my blog post. I saw my friend’s blog sign in screen the other day and I saw she has written 42 posts to my 19, and she doesn’t have access to the internet as frequently as I do. Oh well, it’s not a real issue, just thought I’d vocalize my guilt for not writing more often.
Current news in the area isn’t too exciting. That’s mostly because I’m on break. I have a tentative plan to do some hiking at the beginning of October with a friend of mine. He’s in the previous class so he’s sort of doing a farewell tour so it’ll be fun to hit the highlights!
I’m trying to be productive every day and work a little bit on my projects. The big ones are my time management presentation, an AIDS day my fellow volunteer and I are trying to organize for the end of next month, more Kiswahili studying with a larger application approach, more consistent blogging, and a full clean of the house. I have two articles to really work through on my plate currently. One is material I was given by a grad student from the Cornell Psych department in response to an email I sent my Intro Psych prof at Cornell. He specializes in sleep and it’s affects on productivity and lifestyle so I’m hoping I’ll be able to use it to make a pretty impactful presentation! As for my house, I think if I can buy wood and build a set of shelves in addition to the one I found in the house that would really solve a lot of issues. Organization has been troublesome and I’m realizing I really do need to hang a lot of my clothes which I cannot do here. Dad will be happy to hear, that I’m taking this with an approach where everything has to have a place or it has to go. My room is significantly more livable and my extra room is much more organized. Next is the office/guest bedroom which has become a dumping ground for all that “extra” stuff so we’ll see how this turns out.
Not much else is coming to mind. I’m still working on The Uplift War in terms of my reading ventures and the cats are doing well. They did bring a dead bat into the house the other day which has made me consider getting them rabies shots if it’s not too difficult. The election cycle is starting to seep into my life over here (Oh! I have to get my absentee ballot!) so I can only imagine it is getting quite intense on the American side. Seems like people are generally upset with the situation in the states but I fully admit I’m too removed to know who to blame. I’ll have to take some time over the next few weeks to educate myself for voting.
Sorry for so little to say. Hopefully in the coming days I’ll have specific issues to discuss and generally be more interesting. I guess until then, I’ll wish you all well!
Current news in the area isn’t too exciting. That’s mostly because I’m on break. I have a tentative plan to do some hiking at the beginning of October with a friend of mine. He’s in the previous class so he’s sort of doing a farewell tour so it’ll be fun to hit the highlights!
I’m trying to be productive every day and work a little bit on my projects. The big ones are my time management presentation, an AIDS day my fellow volunteer and I are trying to organize for the end of next month, more Kiswahili studying with a larger application approach, more consistent blogging, and a full clean of the house. I have two articles to really work through on my plate currently. One is material I was given by a grad student from the Cornell Psych department in response to an email I sent my Intro Psych prof at Cornell. He specializes in sleep and it’s affects on productivity and lifestyle so I’m hoping I’ll be able to use it to make a pretty impactful presentation! As for my house, I think if I can buy wood and build a set of shelves in addition to the one I found in the house that would really solve a lot of issues. Organization has been troublesome and I’m realizing I really do need to hang a lot of my clothes which I cannot do here. Dad will be happy to hear, that I’m taking this with an approach where everything has to have a place or it has to go. My room is significantly more livable and my extra room is much more organized. Next is the office/guest bedroom which has become a dumping ground for all that “extra” stuff so we’ll see how this turns out.
Not much else is coming to mind. I’m still working on The Uplift War in terms of my reading ventures and the cats are doing well. They did bring a dead bat into the house the other day which has made me consider getting them rabies shots if it’s not too difficult. The election cycle is starting to seep into my life over here (Oh! I have to get my absentee ballot!) so I can only imagine it is getting quite intense on the American side. Seems like people are generally upset with the situation in the states but I fully admit I’m too removed to know who to blame. I’ll have to take some time over the next few weeks to educate myself for voting.
Sorry for so little to say. Hopefully in the coming days I’ll have specific issues to discuss and generally be more interesting. I guess until then, I’ll wish you all well!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
An update
So my situation has continued to develop into an interesting mix of nothing and piles of work at the same time. I'm learning how a job can take as much or little time as you want to give it. I want to be thorough on preparing my Form VI math class for their exam since my work load has been siginificantly reduced in the teaching department. I have such a good model to work from in my high school math teacher Mr. Reimer. I realize that it wasn't just his test prep work that got such consistently high-quality results but his results speak for themselves and are therefore my foundation. We just took a test of the material we reviewed due to its higher difficulty and we have a lot of ground to cover but we also have some time. So I'm trying to make my review the best it can be.
In other non-classroom work, my list seems to grow ever longer of things I would like to do. I recently realized I probably could have done PCV of the week, which I had not applied for due to my perception that there were many more qualified than I. This realization left me bummed but I've realized that I should have been more confident or this situation wouldn't have happened. So, I'm using it to motivate myself to fix the things I thought I lacked: Kiswahili skills and a solid outside project.
I'm trying to ramp up my studying to even more than the one lesson a day. I'm currently doing two lessons and after this week will start more intensive vocabulary work. It's hard to place a finish line but I have a general idea of what I want to be able to do. I want to feel comfortable enough in pretty much any conversation where as now I know I'll survive but not necessarily get everything. Future phases are book reading and listening to the radio or tv. I know this has been a never-ending issue but that's what happens when you live in a country that speaks a different language :P
As for the outside project, the library is going....slowly. I had hopes initially that things would go faster than standard Tanzanian pace but I forgot that the project allowing the library work to happen is being run by others so alas, I'm finding little things to do to fill the time between now and whenever it is that we move the library. I also have made some progress in the hypothetical sense about a new building for the computers and library. The reality is the school is going to have additional students living on the campus next A-level year so the need for a new building is inevitable. However, I think we planning we can make it the library and turn the current one back into the dorm space it is right now. So that's very long term. More practical and in reach is the reorganization of the library into a bigger room with more shelves. I think the biggest change I'm aiming to make is still making it available to students at more hours than one person can offer, but we'll see what we can do.
My idea of making a time management presentation is still hanging around but it has kind of fizzled to the background for now. That's not to say I wouldn't appreciate any articles on sleep patterns, effective study skills, or extracurriculars. I would definitely like to pick this up during my break, so we'll see how it goes.
But the new development is an AIDS day in coordination with my sitemate Katie. We're looking at getting our schools together and teaching the students about the situation here in Mbeya and what they can do about it. It's still in the developmental stages but we've made some contacts and got some agreements. Even though AIDS education is very common around here, there is an issue with the it going from the classroom or seminar to practice in the real world. AIDS is rampant, nearly one in every five or six people has it and much of that is due to the disconnect between awareness and practical applications of education. For example, the students here learn in their Biology class the process for putting on a condom but many school officials feel having a condom demonstration in school is promoting sexual activity. That's an understandable concern but we volunteers often find ourselves arguing for a more practical approach because the age at which people become sexually active here is surprisingly low and often they don't have the proper education by that age. So I will let you know how that progresses! It's exciting to see something start to come together that could really affect someone's life in such a big way as helping them avoid HIV and AIDS!
Other than that, not a whole lot is going on. I saw Kikwete (the TZ prez) last week in a campaign "speech" (it was more of a list of things he did). The cats are doing well and are getting quite big! I'm not sure how much more they'll grow but it can't be too much. That's it for now, I hope things are good in the states!
In other non-classroom work, my list seems to grow ever longer of things I would like to do. I recently realized I probably could have done PCV of the week, which I had not applied for due to my perception that there were many more qualified than I. This realization left me bummed but I've realized that I should have been more confident or this situation wouldn't have happened. So, I'm using it to motivate myself to fix the things I thought I lacked: Kiswahili skills and a solid outside project.
I'm trying to ramp up my studying to even more than the one lesson a day. I'm currently doing two lessons and after this week will start more intensive vocabulary work. It's hard to place a finish line but I have a general idea of what I want to be able to do. I want to feel comfortable enough in pretty much any conversation where as now I know I'll survive but not necessarily get everything. Future phases are book reading and listening to the radio or tv. I know this has been a never-ending issue but that's what happens when you live in a country that speaks a different language :P
As for the outside project, the library is going....slowly. I had hopes initially that things would go faster than standard Tanzanian pace but I forgot that the project allowing the library work to happen is being run by others so alas, I'm finding little things to do to fill the time between now and whenever it is that we move the library. I also have made some progress in the hypothetical sense about a new building for the computers and library. The reality is the school is going to have additional students living on the campus next A-level year so the need for a new building is inevitable. However, I think we planning we can make it the library and turn the current one back into the dorm space it is right now. So that's very long term. More practical and in reach is the reorganization of the library into a bigger room with more shelves. I think the biggest change I'm aiming to make is still making it available to students at more hours than one person can offer, but we'll see what we can do.
My idea of making a time management presentation is still hanging around but it has kind of fizzled to the background for now. That's not to say I wouldn't appreciate any articles on sleep patterns, effective study skills, or extracurriculars. I would definitely like to pick this up during my break, so we'll see how it goes.
But the new development is an AIDS day in coordination with my sitemate Katie. We're looking at getting our schools together and teaching the students about the situation here in Mbeya and what they can do about it. It's still in the developmental stages but we've made some contacts and got some agreements. Even though AIDS education is very common around here, there is an issue with the it going from the classroom or seminar to practice in the real world. AIDS is rampant, nearly one in every five or six people has it and much of that is due to the disconnect between awareness and practical applications of education. For example, the students here learn in their Biology class the process for putting on a condom but many school officials feel having a condom demonstration in school is promoting sexual activity. That's an understandable concern but we volunteers often find ourselves arguing for a more practical approach because the age at which people become sexually active here is surprisingly low and often they don't have the proper education by that age. So I will let you know how that progresses! It's exciting to see something start to come together that could really affect someone's life in such a big way as helping them avoid HIV and AIDS!
Other than that, not a whole lot is going on. I saw Kikwete (the TZ prez) last week in a campaign "speech" (it was more of a list of things he did). The cats are doing well and are getting quite big! I'm not sure how much more they'll grow but it can't be too much. That's it for now, I hope things are good in the states!
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