Pan no duro

Estos días han  sido muy ocupados, siendo ama de casa (trabajo impuesto por mi mamà), escribiendo el blog de mi proyecto independiente, haciendo propaganda en facebook, dejenme decir que poco a poco estoy aprendiendo nuevas técnicas de marketing y espero que funcionen en este trabajo; después, tengo familiares hospedados en casa, lo cual me incomoda un poco porque siento que no llenamos sus expectativas... Pero bueno, con una ventana rota y la casa a mi cargo, pues no hay mucho tiempo para escribir en el blog, lo cual me pone un poco triste porque realmente me encanta escribir en este espacio que es mío, así que trataré de escribir y subir cosas divertidas al blog. Aquí les dejo con un video de una banda cochabambina de rock progresivo llamada Kiom, espero les guste!


Necesito una cámara urgente! Debo decir que tengo muchas ideas en mente para escribirlas por aquí.

Translation
I'm busy these days  but I leave you this video by one of the greatest bands in Cochabamba, hope you like it. 

Bianka

La sangre que corre por tus venas es de maíz y miel

Los días son nublados, lluviosos que provocan un sueño laxo y un dolor de garganta que está indeciso en convertirse en un resfrío o peor una bronquitis... A veces me siento aburrida de mi misma (Será porque el periodo llega)... creo que es bueno conocer tus ciclos, conocerte a ti misma para poder dar una solución a los problemas diarios que la mayoría de las veces el ser humano, osea nosotros, somos los culpables de lacerías autosujestivas... Lo bueno es que trato de aminorar esos momentos con buena música,  escucharla y bailarla te inspira a hacer otras buenas cosas :) 

Encontré este video que personalmente me encantó, es un cover de una canción boliviana,  hecha por Gian Carla Tisera, acompañada de grandes músicos bolivianos, espero que les guste.

Translation
Hey! watch an listen to this video performed by wonderful bolivian musicians!! 

Let's dance!!

Bianka

Egoísmo que ayuda al hastiado

Un día domingo, el cual parece muy hereje... No fui a la iglesia por un trabajo de ella, se que no recibiré ninguna paga pero está formando parte de mi experiencia laboral. Esa frase me suena muy represora, como si una persona cuando sale de la universidad tuviera toda la experiencia en el trabajo que quiera desempeñar... En esta sociedad la deferencia laboral no existe, los empleadores piden experiencia, a los trabajadores y si no la tienes se aprovechan porque eres un novato o novata, y al momento de definir el salario o vender tu trabajo, pareciera que estuviéramos en la cancha  y nosotros o nosotras fuéramos las caseritas y estuviéramos vendiendo papas o tomates  a nuestros empleadores... Pues señoras y señores, mi trabajo no se rebaja, se que no tengo experiencia laboral y es por eso que decidí hacer mi negocio independiente porque no quiero odiar mi trabajo por un sueldo lleno de explotación.

Así que voy a adquirir la experiencia que quiero para el trabajo que quiera desempeñar.

Vean este video de la banda Seekae, fue hecho en la ciudad de La Paz, Bolivia  cuenta un mito urbano boliviano que cuando se construye un edificio se necesita enterrar a una persona para que traiga buena suerte en el negocio...


Translation
My work is not like a  market product that needs to be in discount!

Bianka

All Saints day

Today is All Saints day, here in Bolivia, they make the traditional Mast'aku, which is a special table where you can find all the food that the beloved disease used to like to eat, there is a belief that all dead people come to their houses on November 1st and they return to their graves the next day, right now many children are singing and praying to the dead people in order to get some food, bread, cakes or other kind of food. It's interesting how the sincretism is part of Bolivian tradition.

Here are some pictures of my day:

 My sister and I.

Me.

 My sister and my brother.

 A gift from the family of Miss Katy who died 10 months ago.

The mast'aku in honor of Miss Katy Vega.



Have a nice weekend, read something, not magazines! A wonderful poem or a lovely book :)

Good music made in Bolivia

Hi! Today I want to show you some Bolivian good music, performed by one of the best bands of my city, they are Mosa Nostra, and their lyrics are quite interesting but the rythm is marvelous; here in Cochabamba we have amazing talented people, unfortunately the support for artists is few, people still thinking that art is not a way of life but a hobby and that's not true, a musician is as much as important as a doctor or a lawyer.

Hope you like it :)



Bianka

Asombrada

I've been feeling mad and silent these days wich sometimes is good, not being mad being silent to appreciate every moment of life. I like my part time job, it's interesting teaching people a new language but sometime you'll see mean people in your life. I still don't understand why people underestimate you because of how you look. There are two ladies who are students of mine but they are sometimes mean with me because they tell me how to do my work and that's really annoying... But I will show them that I'm the teacher  and I know what I'm doing...

I leave you with a song that I love very much by  one of the most wonderful bolivian bands: El Parafonista. Hope you like it.

Bianka

Abuelita Grillo

Hi everyone, sorry because I didn't write anything on the blog in these days, I've been writing and doing other stuffs, I'm still looking for a job but I know that I'll find the job for me, I'm feeling good and optimistic and with energy.

So, this post is special because I'm going to show you a little bit about my country and how? Well, here's a lovely animated short film made by eight bolivian artists with  the support from the Government of Denmark and other people. It talks about a the Cricket grandmother who walks through Bolivia with her amazing voice which has the power to make rain. The music is performed by one of the wonderful Bolivian female singer named Luzmila Carpio, her voice is just sublime.

I hope you like it, this is part of my culture, I will write some of this in later posts.



Hugs and good week :)



Bianka

Afternoon of art

yesterday I went to a wonderful cafe called Arte Urquidi Café, it was an incredible experience having known such a creative space, full of art and interesting things, the paintings are amazing and you can meet the artist called Cayano. If you come to Bolivia, visit Cochabamba and this lovely cafe, you'll have the most delicious pumpkin coffee, also the craft beers made by the owners. Arte Urquidi Cafe also is an art school where you can learn how to draw and paint paintings, I don't know if the word is correct. Here you have their facebook fan page.

I leave you with some pictures of this place. 

Cry if you want to feel release.

Bianka

It has to see the light

This is a special post because I'm going to show you an essay that I wrote for my master degree application, which unfortunately I've been rejected, so here you have. This essay talks about feminism in Bolivia and why it's not growing. It's my point of view about this situation. And I decided to show my writings in order to start the revolution that I've waited for so long .

Hope you read it.

Bianka

FEMINISM IN BOLIVIA

Bianka B. S.

Is there feminism in Bolivia? Bolivia is a diverse, multicultural country; we’re living in a revolution process that implies a return to Bolivian authentic roots, a decolonization process, however, the feminism is not accepted. As many countries, feminism has been misunderstood, people conceive it as a radical ideology of angry lesbian women who want to be like men (Hooks, 2000) and this country is not the exception. 

Sexism is the main factor of feminism misunderstanding.  For this purpose, it’s imperative to know the meaning of this problem. Sexism is a way of repression to human beings, this violence works through prejudices and segregations against men and women based on gender roles. By the same token, sexism has clung from education, religion and mass media. At school they teach us how to think in male and in female, the Bolivian education trains students with determined roles, teaching boys to make a chair and girls, to embroider a tablecloth. It’s interesting how school texts portray women, as weak, who have to suffer because of their gender, they show mothers like a sacrificed soul who had to kill all of their dreams.  Religions all over the world have always had a similar vision of women and the roles that they have to play; for example, some Christians use the bible to repress women indicating that the bible says that a woman has to be a virgin who must get married to have sex, a mother who has to give birth many children, a wife who has to be subjected to her husband, a hearer, not a speaker less a preacher. As well as education and religion are part of sexism, mass media plays a crucial role on its development, for instance, the television’s commercials, shows even the news objectify women, it’s regrettable how those commercials associate them with meat or leather. Mass media imposes the idea of beauty, exhibit voluptuousness in skinny bodies, a fantasy of perfection that any of us will see in real life.  Furthermore, mass media, through the commercials, expose women as a mother who need in “mother’s day” a new dish washer or a vacuum or maybe a new iron to iron her husband’s and children’s clothes. Unfortunately sexism is rooted in our everyday life and most of the people visualize it as a sacred law that anyone can break.

Adela Zamudio was a Bolivian writer of the XIX century, who fought for the women rights in Bolivia, she wrote a poem called “Nacer Hombre” (Born man), in which she talked about the segregation that Bolivian women were living in that time, she was so sublime in her revolution that everybody could understand that women are just as intelligent as men, that women can be writers and they can think by themselves, however, her writings did not impact to Bolivian people. In the late of XX century a movement called “Mujeres creando” (Women creating) started to redefine feminism through riots, graffiti and fanzines, their leader Maria Galindo have been a controversial figure in Bolivia, she is used to make unusual protests that call the attention for few people, but not to the whole Bolivians. Unfortunately she shows herself as the typical feminist cliché. Mujeres Creando had made a great effort to the Bolivian feminist literature though feminism is still considered as an angry radical ideology of crazy women.

It’s interesting how Bolivian people answer to you when you ask what feminism is, they instantly relate it with “Mujeres Creando”, thinking that feminism is for selfish women who try to be like men, who are vulgar, who doesn’t have manners, who dress sloppily with lack of hygiene. As a result, there is a huge mistake about the real meaning of feminism. Bolivian women are in status quo, indeed some of them think are feminists just because they think they are better than men, some of them think feminism is the same as machismo by arguing that men and female are equal. The Andean world view proclaims the nature duality, men and women together for the Pachamama (Mother Nature) wellness, this world view think that feminism is colonialism, that is the case of Andean people, who tout their love and protection to their women, but even Andean women suffer the violence and discrimination. 

Bolivian women suffer, who are the responsible? Women, men, sexism and culture.  As well as some men believe in machismo, women themselves  can be the most fervent male chauvinists, they protect men from women, they think women have to obey everything  that men orders;  there is a saying in the Bolivian culture: “A woman should not make a man cry because men never cry” They support their husbands’ violence against other women, at this point  they are decoupling of their gender, they defend this kind of protection by arguing that men are defenseless and they can be manipulated by “some mean women”, by the same token,  they consider them as enemies. As a result, most of Bolivian men are chauvinists, they want a woman who has to be a lady, a virgin to make his wife, a young girl that can be easy to manipulate, a homey woman who can cook for him, raise his children and organize everything in the house, they want a woman who speak less and smile more, they want to think for them and be the only head of the family, on the other hand there are men that fight for women rights and gender equity but there are only few of them. Subsequently, sexism rules in Bolivian women suffering, even in the revolution field think that women are weaker than men, that a woman has to be a mother and she’s the only one who can make the family organized. Sexism still lives in Bolivian people minds and because our lack of criticism we keep following all the predetermined canons of how men and women have to be, for this reason, women and men struggle with an unnecessary pressure just because absurd impositions of the past. Thereby, we reach to the most difficult factor of Bolivian women suffering which is Bolivian culture, no matter how hard you try to change something in a culture sometimes you fail in your purpose, Bolivia is multicultural, and it’s hard to make people understand that women is just as equal as men, they can do hard work, they can be clever in mathematics , they can take care of themselves, even they can be stronger than men, but that’s not the case, the Bolivian woman is wonderful, intense and put all of her passion in everything that she does. It’s an arduous work to make people understand that a woman has the right to decide to get married or not, to have a family or not. Some people think that if a woman is not a mother or a wife is not a woman and that’s a wrong idea, a woman can decide which be or not be.

At the end of this written, all I can say is that there is feminism in Bolivia, but it’s a new born who needs to be feed and caring. Bolivian people have to work very hard to take sexism away, because it’s the most principal repressor of the human being, it’s amazing how it has rooted to people’s mind, how many lies about our nature had become part of our history.  In most of the times you can’t fight against culture but if you see that women suffer because of traditions it’s important to make a change. And that change is through education, literature, internet, radio and in everyday life. It’s time to make a revolution and not a show, it’s time to make chaos in people’s mind, it’s time to make a unique and sublime revolution, I know the journey would be full of obstacles but we have to try and try and fight for a better place where women and men can be free just as they are.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

HOOKS, Bell

      2000

                            Feminism is for everybody: Passionate Politics, United States of America, South

                             End Press

Cholitas luchadoras

Watch this wonderful video filmed in La Paz Bolivia. The band is Landshapes, they make really good music and I'm happy that they chose one of the interesting bolivian atractions.

Take a look of a wrestler cholita paceña history

Bianka

La la la

I'm proud to show you an amazing video shooted in my country, this video it's an andean version of the Wizard of Oz, the locations are in the city of La Paz and the Uyuni salar which is located in Potosí. I really like the video and I'm so proud that some people are showing that Bolivia has amazing places. Unfortunately the video doesn't show the place where I live, because I live in the valleys, I will write about my city in later posts.

So tan tan tan taaaaaaan  here you have La la la by Naughty Boy. Bianka

Mil luces

Watch this video which is a part of a movie about bolivian dance. The song is performed by Luzmila Carpio and the language of this song is Quechua. Luzmila Carpio is an amazing Bolivian singer who sings from the bottom of her heart, her voice is sublime, her lyrics are beautiful and strong that shows the magic of Bolivian culture. Enjoy it!  

Bianka

I refuse to suffer

I'm a woman and my destiny is not to suffer. All of this week I 've been watching the news and I really felt hurt because all I watched was women murders and rapes, in less than a week there were 3 women dead in my city. By the same token, I was listenning a ladies chat, they were talking about the women disgrace, they said that our destiny is to suffer, since the beginning of our lives we cry and we'll keep crying at the end of our days...

Why a woman have to be weak? I just don't understand  why people portray women like a soul in pain who had to sacrifice all their dreams for having children...  I don't understan why are happening these murders, why are there men who rape and kill women?

I'm very mad with people who think women are weaker than men, that we are delicate persons, but  men are delicate too!

We have to stop with the wrong idea that we need someone who protects us because it's not like that, women are as strong as men. We have to stop denying that women are ok, because we're not, we keep living in this sexist society that represses both women and men, that determines who is pretty and who's not. We're still living a repression even inside us and we have to show that we're strong and we could live free without consumerism and without sexism.

I'm a woman who doesn't need someone in her life just because the society says that I will be alone. I'm strong and I won't let anyone to hurt me because he or she thinks I'm weak. I'm woman who believes in feminism that is not a ideology for selfish women is a way of life that fights for gender equity. Maybe someday, I'll have a relationship with a man who believies in feminism and fight for freedom, and I'm sure I'll find him. Feminism is not a ideology that hates men.

Women have to united and start to think critically. Please, stop consuming, it's time to fight for freedom that make us creatives to make this a better place.

Bianka

Cloudy sunday and puchero fair

It's been raining in Cochabamba, and you can barely see the sun. We went to church, then, went to the Puchero fair, it's a traditional dish from Bolivia, wich I really don't like, it's with cabbage, peach, fatty meat... Most of the people love it, my family does! But I don't.

I feel a little bit sad, I miss my dad and all of this day I've been thinking about the past, wich I need to let it behind.

Here are some pictures of my day.

 A lady who was cooking the puchero.

 The fair.

 Me.

 My lunch, a pizza!

Dancing with my hand.

Have a nice week.

Bianka

The Killing Type

My friend Nona invited me to take a trip to La Paz, a beautiful high city, there are wonderful things there, the art movement is really big and you can enjoy everysingle weekend amazing concerts. Unfortunately I didn't traveled with her and her friends who are good people, I think, I'm a not too social and I'm a little bit surly with people I recently met, that's why I don't have many friends and sometimes I feel out of place when I'm at parties or social reunions. I didn't want to take that trip because I don't feel like I want to travel and have fun.

So I prefer to watch this video that really shocked me up, I really like it and the song is really catchy.

 I miss, I miss a lot but I have no hope to kiss in the eyes again...

Bianka

The deceased was a good human being

If you ask me what things I cherish with love and passion  I have to tell you that I keep two things: the first is a CD of The Mars Volta (the first album The loused in the comatorium) that was a gift from my dad when I finished highschool and the other is a collection of four books of my favorite writer Victor Hugo Viscarra, these were a gift from someone special to me and I will always appreciate him for such beautiful gifts. Victor HugoViscarra was a Bolivian writer, alcoholic but had one of the greatest sublime souls  in the world;  he made an art of writing his misfortunes, his everyday life as a social outcast, wrapped in a world of drugs without hope of anything not even have faith , suffering from cold, hunger, consoling himself with other unfortunates like him, living love from the cut faces kisses. When I read his books  I always end in shock and I realize I've been very blessed to live with people who love me and protect me, to have food and shelter and to have hope and dreams. Victor Hugo died of a fulminant cirrhosis in 2006, He always used to bring his writings to the bars, and places less acceptable  for the bolivian society, he died alone, without money and without God, he always said that God forgot about him and that truth leaves me speechless ... Victor Hugo Viscarra was a stranger  in life, and after his death his reputation began to grow, some say he kept a low profile and he didn't want to become attached to anyone. Victor Hugo Viscarra is one of the greatest exponents of Bolivian literature  if you  ever come to Bolivia and want to learn the language and learn more about the deaf side of Bolivian society, especially the city of La Paz, it is imperative to read the books that Viscarra wrote and  for people who are my countrymen and never read his writings, I invite you to be part of a brutal but exciting journey.

I have two rules to say before reading  Victor Hugo Viscarra books and those are: First remove all false morality of your heads and resist all stories despite the nightmares or wicked dreams you'll have.

Take a night walk and look at the beautiful stars.

Bianka

Alasitas

Yesterday I went with my friends and my siblings to the Alasitas, it's a fair where you can find anything in a tiny size, it has something to do with the  andean catholic syncretism. We had a great time, then we went to eat hamburguers and laugh about everything.

Here are some pictures.

Have a nice day, right now I'm about to make a decision. I'll tell you in a few days.

Bianka