INTERCULTURAL RELATIONSHIP

When you meet someone from another culture it's a small problem at the first time because he or she has many things totally different from your culture. And now, marrying someone from another culture could be a disaster. Why? Because she or he has a different culture and, of course, a different lifestyle, a way to express their ideas, the clothes that that people use, the idea that they have about personal space, the places that that person would like to visit, the concepts of time, religion, food preferences, and more items that make them different. So when you decide to marry someone from another culture you should be considered and try to understand and try to mix both cultures to be comfortable with that person without discussions. 

COSTEÑOL

How have either a sport, hobby, or music shaped your own personal culture?

Well, I'm not so good at sport, so because of that I prefer listening to music.

I think music is the perfect way to express your feelings and your ideas. When I'm listening to music I feel free of worries, relaxed and comfortable. I don't have a "favorite" style of music, i like almost everything, but some of them more than the others. 

My favorite singer is Andres Cepeda. He plays romantic music. I love the lyrics of his songs. I think he is one of the most talented musicians here in Colombia. I love almost all of his songs!

I also like to listen to music in English, for example I like Bruno Mars, Jason Mraz, Maroon 5, Beyonce, and others.

Economic Empowerment For Women

If I had the opportunity, I think I would lend money to Martha, because I consider she is trying to do her best to earn money for her and also to support her family. 

I consider Kiva as a good company which help women to improve their lives. I would like to help those women because I think we are good enough to support our families without a man who gives us everything. We can create a business and support our families by ourselves.

KENYAN MATATU DRIVERS

1. How are Matatu drivers treated in his experience with the BBC? 

I think the producers were so interested in the Matatu drivers's life. The drivers were treated well for the producers, but not for the rest of the people. Even though they were working and doing things well, the police officers extorted them just because they wanted to. I think they had been trying as poor and uneducated people in the society just because being a taxi driver is not a dream job. Maybe the society is underestimating the Matatu drivers who are normal people trying to earn money to support their families in a correct way. In my opinion, the treated is not the correct one; they have to be respected by the society in general because they have their values and rights too. 

2. Do Barranquilleros have the same negative opinion of mototaxistas as the Kenyans have of matatu drivers?

Well, i think the problem in Barranquilla is different. Here we actually don't know who is mototaxista or who is a delinquent. Usually, the criminals use a motorcycle as a transport medium to  commit crimes, so because of that we think that a mototaxista could be a criminal and we avoid them. In my personal experience, i was robbed by a mototaxista, so for me a person in a motocycle is a person whom i cannot trust. 

FAVORITE CARNIVAL MOMENTS

As you know, I'm from Santa Marta, so my favorite carnival moment was when I went home. In Santa Marta we celebrate carnival too, but the celebration is not as big as Barranquilla's celebration. In my carnival vacations I had the opportunity to spend time with my family and friends. It was amazing for me because in Barranquilla I'm living on a pension, so at that time I could go home and enjoy the delicious food that my family prepares and share some experiences with my old friends. I enjoyed the carnival, but also I spent time studying for my tests and taking a rest. 

Tinariwen

Tinariwen

 www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5P0oO8nphMY 

QUESTIONS

1. What do we learn about Tuareg culture from this video? 

2. Keeping in mind what you learned from this interview, how does seeing the visuals within the video and knowing the meaning of the lyrics give us a deeper understanding of Tuareg culture?

ANSWERS

1. I think Tuareg is a culture which is nomad and have a lot of rituals and traditions. In the video, we can see that they have a pacific life, full of peace and tranquility. They are in contact with the nature, so they should take all the resources that the nature gives them to survive. In the video, they talk about a pain that is burdened, so we can think they are a marginalized group in the society.  

2. The video and the lyrics are so related because in the lyrics they are expressing how they are feeling about the life, and the video show us the peaceful life that they have. It's like a way to show us that even they have a lot of problems as other groups, they still being together and conserving their traditions and rituals. 

BARRANQUILLA-2013 CULTURAL CAPITAL

http://www.elheraldo.co/tendencias/barranquilla-elegida-capital-de-la-cultura-2013-70019 

QUESTIONS

1. Why was Barranquilla chosen? 

2. Will Barranquilla receive any of the economic benefits Liverpool hoped to from being named a cultural capital?

ANSWERS

1. Barranquilla was chosen the 2013 cultural capital because of the international projection, the positivism and the cultural cohesion that the city has. A few months ago, Barranquilla's mayoralty had been thinking about the idea to become Barranquilla the cultural capital of America this year (this year the city is celebrating the bicentennial) and they started working on that project by connecting the International Bureau of Cultural Capital. 

2. I think Barranquilla is going to receive a lot of benefits for being the capital culture, for example, it will be promoted by some channels like Antena 3 from Spain and Discovery Networks. This one will be an advantage for Barranquilla because it will be known in the whole world, and also it is going to get the attention of everybody, so a lot of people will want to come and that is going to increase the tourism in the city. 

AN AMERICAN IN UGANDA

http://mulkatime.blogspot.com/2012/01/two-worlds-collide.html

QUESTIONS

1. What different points of view do we see in this story? 

2. Explain the reasons behind the miscommunication that occurred between these two men.

ANSWERS
1. In this story we can see two points of view:

• Black man's thoughts: He thinks he is inferior, he has to have a miserable life because he is black and the only thing that he has to do is serving to the white man to earn some money for him and his daughter. He thinks he is an slave of a white man because he is black and that is his place. He will never be better because he feels less person for being black. 

• White man's thoughts: He thinks he is superior because he has education, power and money. He thinks he is better than the black man, so he is his boss. For him, the black man has to be his slave because of his condition (being black), and he also thinks that hard-works are only for black people because they need it to be paid.  

2. I think the reasons behind the misscommunication between those people were that they didn't listen each other and also they didn't try to understand each other. The white man thought that the black man was trying to bother him, but it wasn't true, the black man was trying to do his labor because he needed the money to support his daughter. 

Hi, I'm Anita, a new student and I'm from Santa Marta, Colombia. I'm 18 years old and I graduated in 2011. I didn't start the university last year because i wanted to study another language before start it. So, I went to Boston, Massachussets to learn English and I spent 7 months there. That experience was awesome because I learned so much about the American culture and i also knew about other cultures like Brazilian, Korean, Japanese, Venezuelan, Russian, and more.I think that one has been the best experiences of my life. Now I'm studying Industrial Engineering in Barranquilla. I decided to study Industrial Engineering because I want to have my own company. I'm in first semester in Universidad Del Norte in Barranquilla. I hope I will be successful in the future and I will be the owner of an international company.