Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

December 2010

Dearest friends:

Another holiday season is here and passing. This year has been, how shall we say.... eventful. Since the turn of 2010, I’ve spent many months in Venezuela, conducting doctoral dissertation research which has been exciting, to say the least. I’m been grateful for the support of several national foundations and institutions which has made the travel possible and relatively comfortable. Some major life transitions in other areas of life... ending a six year relationship/marriage which was not an easy decision or process, and was made with much care and thoughtfulness. And finally, after an almost ten year absence, deciding to move back to California. See my new contact information at the bottom of this letter.

Being back in California has been wonderful. Reconnecting with many old friends. Hanging out with my family. Getting to know my new step family, including step siblings Alex, Katherine, and Tera. My mom, Marnie, is doing wonderfully, getting ready to retire sometime early next year and keeping busy--acquiring a rental property, working two jobs as an advice nurse at local hospitals, helping my great aunt Francie (her aunt) relocate to a new care facility (Francie lives in upstate New York), visiting my brother in Colorado, and being of tremendous support to me.

My bro Derek has been in Colorado for a few years now, working as an environmental engineer in a clean-energy consulting company. He lives with his girlfriend Dulce in a condo they just bought, where they enjoy lots of cooking, kickball, and outdoor life shared with friends. My dad, Fred, is in Ashland, Oregon, settling into his new home.

Living in Venezuela has been interesting. My research on public policy and community development programs has been challenging. Lots of chasing after people for interviews, attending long meetings (by long, I mean 3-5 hours!) usually as a silent observer, and in general, trying to make sense of what is a really complicated political landscape. As a whole, they’ve been worthwhile challenges. Plus, I’ve had the good fortune of making some wonderful friends, who have shown true generosity, care, and community spirit. That said, I’m looking forward to finishing the research and moving on to the next stage of finishing this degree--namely, “writing up” the dissertation. After spending the holidays in California, I’ll be returning to Venezuela to finish up research, and then coming back to California to begin the 12-month writing process. For those of you who haven’t been PhD students and are tempted to ask me when I’ll be finished, please feel free to ask me again if you haven’t heard otherwise by May 2012!

One of the greatest blessings of the year has been the opportunity to spend time with people I love and really look inside at this life. Meditation practice and community at Empty Gate Zen Center (located in Berkeley, CA, and in the same school/tradition as the zen center where I lived in Cambridge) have been a gift. So have great friends the Bloomfields, my stepdad Jim, and dear friends Nicole and Alice, also in Palo Alto. Retaking my yoga practice has also been a joy, keeping me healthy and counter-acting the sometimes painful effects of many hours in front of the computer as a graduate student. Those of you who follow my photos on facebook also know the delightful year of food and cooking that this has been. Sometimes the most simple things are the most nourishing!

So, while I will miss friends and loved ones in the Boston area, I am delighted to be back in California, and hope you will come by to visit! May this coming year bring much love, care, and sharing, for one and all.

Sending a big hug and much holiday cheer,


Kendra


Kendra Fehrer
3007 Waverley Street
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 862-8462

La Copa Mundial 2010 (World Cup 2010)

Ever since the morning of Friday, June 11th, Venezuela has been in the grips of World Cup-fever. This is strange, in some ways, as Venezuela, like many of its Caribbean neighbors (namely, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico) is much more of a baseball nation than a soccer nation. I remember my first long bus trip from Caracas to Barquisimeto, almost five hours on highways, passing much more baseball stadiums than soccer fields. And the soccer fields that I did pass were often side-by-side with baseball fields that had much larger fan stands... implying greater audience.

In any case, soccer is indeed played in Venezuela, but not with the same intensity, popularity, and, well, skill (at least, nationally speaking) as some of our southern and northern neighbors--certainly not like Argentina and Brazil, nor even really Mexico and Chile. Still, these last few weeks of the world cup have been incredibly exciting here... On the bus, you'll see people listening to their radios. And in public places, like the mall or, even today, I learned... the grocery store! there are televisions set up for world cup viewing.

And everyone has their team, it seems. Argentina and Brazil are the most popular, probably because of, well, their renowned prowess at the sport and their likelihood to advance as representatives of the continent... or so we thought!

That is why, I think, the games of the last few days, in which first Brazil fell to Holand, and then Argentina to Germany (in a devastating 4-0 loss), were pretty tough. The real killer, though, I have to admit, was last Friday (7/2) afternoon's Uruguay versus Ghana game. Let me explain.

In normal circumstances, I would totally root for Uruguay. Neighbor to Argentina, culturally and linguistically similar, but much smaller and less hyper-accelerated (e.g. much more laid back) than at least its porteno counterparts, though just as soccer-crazy (see here for a fabulous song by popular singer Jaime Roos, all about the Uruguayan national soccer team), Uruguay is a likable team to root for. Again, in normal circumstances.

But last Friday's game was not normal circumstances. On Friday, Uruguay played against Ghana, the last remaining African team in the first World Cup tournament held in Africa. So why root for Ghana? Why even care about the world cup?

Soccer is, of course, just a sport. But for much of the world (including me, I must admit), it is more than a sport. In a world in which political and economic power are so clearly divided between those who rule and those who don't... soccer represents an arena in which the "winner" is not necessarily the one with the largest nuclear arsenal or the most compelling (coercive?) trade agreements.

Some of world soccer's best players come from poor neighborhoods where they grew up playing soccer. Argentina's famous forward Lionel Messi is son to a factory worker and house-cleaner mother. Another fabulous Argentine player, Carlos Tevez, grew up in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the Buenos Aires area. Brazil's Ronaldinho also grew up in a poor family, in the south of Brazil. (Adidas played on this theme for a well-played commercial during the 2006 World Cup in Germany... see here). It's not like one game of soccer, or even one won championship, can right the wrongs of global inequality... but it certainly doesn't hurt!

So, that is why the Uruguay-Ghana game meant so much, and why a Ghanaian win would have meant so much. Not just to me, obviously, or even the Ghanaian fans, but to the hundreds of thousands, in fact, millions of fans both in the stadium itself and all across South Africa, and the whole continent... just watching and hoping for an African victory...

Sadly, the world cup quarter-finals, in which five of the eight teams represented were from the Global South (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Ghana), saw the elimination of all but one of these teams. Today Uruguay competes against Netherlands, and tomorrow Germany against Spain. Honestly, much of the excitement has gone out of the cup... But good soccer is still soccer... so we'll see. Dale Uruguay!!!

(Game starts 2:30pm EST, today. Watch for free online at: www.atdhe.net)

Saturday morning... pancakes and a baseball game

So, Saturday mornings here tend to be a bit lazy. The ideal Saturday morning, I think, is in the home, with friends, putzing around, doing chores, and eating a nice brunch. I decided to spend my Saturday morning doing all of those at my friend Yahaira's house. And I was cooking!

Got a great recipe for banana pancakes, from allrecipes.com , so come Saturday morning, I headed across town with my ingredients and set up camp at Yahaira's. Here, you can see I'm mixed the dry ingredients. The cup with the green handle coming out is milk (mixed from powder, very common here), plus the bananas and eggs in the background, a few tablespoons of oil, and my 'mixing bowl' in the back, right next to the sinkGot a great recipe for banana pancakes, from allrecipes.com , so come Saturday morning, I headed across town with my ingredients and set up camp at Yahaira's. Here, you can see I'm mixed the dry ingredients. The cup with the green handle coming out is milk (mixed from powder, very common here), plus the bananas and eggs in the background, a few tablespoons of oil, and my 'mixing bowl' in the back, right next to the sink

While I was cooking, Yahaira's grandson, Slater (spelled 'Eslater'), came by, on his way to his baseball game. As you may or may not know, baseball in the Caribbean countries is at least as, and generally much more, popular than soccer. Dominican Republic is known for producing excellent professional baseball players, including my favorite ex-Red Sox team member, Manny Ramirez who is now enjoying the LA life with the fortunate Dodgers, who smartly hired him away from the Sox a couple years ago. But anyway, Slater's invitation to me to come see his game on Saturday was the impetus for the morning's trip, so it was nice to get to see him on his way off. For more pics with captions, see the whole album, here.

Another Saturday night: Women, youth, and shopping malls in the Venezuela of today...

So, over the weekend I went to a gathering with some friends, and ended up talking to a group of women who, for the last fifteen years, have been meeting regularly in a loosely organized feminist-spiritual-activist group, that, really, started as a few friends having coffee together once a week. Female friendship, they said, is so important. It can help you recognize yourself, see yourself as a protagonist in your own life, see yourself more than an extension of your mate and children. Reflecting with other women can help us realize ourselves as full people, overcoming all kinds of obstacles--from the economic to the political to the social to the domestic.

After a few years of that, the women realized that they had something special and wanted to share it in some sort of social initiative... so they started taking it out into the community, first by facilitating workshops and groups on domestic violence. Much like in the US, domestic violence is a very real fact for many women here, a social fact shaped by an unequal economic system and a patriarchal society. At some point, the women changed the name of their group from 'Women against domestic violence' to 'Women in favor of life' (sounds much better in Spanish), and have continued developing their work with women in the community, as well as themselves as a group. The composition of the group has changed over time, as well, incorporating new neighbors, daughters, and even grand-daughters!

In the conversation I had Saturday night with a few women, they talked about something interesting. Without me having brought up the fact that I am in Venezuela studying social policy, the women started talking first of all about all the programs the government has provided that support women. Microlending aimed primarily at women, Women of the Neighborhood support groups for mothers, subsidized food programs, and, perhaps most significant, free education. Women now who had no means or dreams of being qualified to work outside the home now are able to "go back to school" for elementary school (essentially basic literacy), secondary school, and even tertiary education in everything from hairstyling to accounting to social work to law. And these are all free programs. This government, the women remarked, has been very good for Venezuelan women.

Then I asked about generational differences. The women I was talking to were all in their 40s or 50s, each of whom had raised children and even grand-children. What, I asked, did they notice was different about the younger generations who were coming of age in the current political context.

Right away, the women responded. "This government, through no fault of its own, has largely neglected the youth." The programs, they said, were mostly for adults, or for children. Young people--say, age 13-24, seem to be a largely neglected demographic. "And", they continued, "los jovenes necesitan algo contra rebelar". That is, young people need something against which to rebel. If their parents and the government are all telling them one thing... they need something against which to strike out, differentiate themselves. This comes out, the women said, in delinquency, but also in consumption. Consumption is, in some ways, the maximum expression of capitalism: one has a choice of 51 flavors of toothpaste or 35 different types of coffee or 600 different new cell phones... Friends of mine working in the post-soviet Eastern Europe have also said that consumption reigns king, since the fall of communism and integration of global capitalism.

"It is a shame", remarked the women, "because the young people are rebelling against the current situation, but they don'tt know anything different, they don't know how it was before." How was it different before, I asked? "Well, for one," they said, "fifteen years ago going to university was like winning the lottery. In a poor neighborhood like this, they said, maybe one person would actually be able to go. Now, young people take it for granted that they can study whatever they want. That is a big difference."

The women's remarks on consumption, on an apparent restlessness and almost lackadaisic indifference among many youth rung true to some of my own observations. The community organization where the women I spoke with have their official space has a vibrant after-school and summer program for youth, where young people participate in activities to build leadership, solidarity, trust, and social skills (the program also includes a 3-day camping trip that sounds amazing!). Another north american who is living down here is very active in facilitating that program. I do not know of any other community centers that run youth programs, and certainly do not know of anything at a national scale. But I have only been here a short time...

Before going to this party, I had just been at the mall, taking a young friend out to the movies and lunch for his birthday. We found out, upon leaving, that there had been an act of vandalism the day before, by a group of teenage boys, and so the mall entrance was heavily regulated...

Apparently some teenagers had been acting rowdy and busted a window in one of the shops, so security guards were profiling at the entrance--any teenage boy needed a 'representante' to vouch for him upon entering the mall... My friend's son who I was taking out had just turned 14, so he would have been turned away (see last pic, below).

I'm not sure if these guys were turned away, or were just hanging out, as young people do on a Saturday evening... The mall, literally, was packed, just as much outside as in.

And here is my young friend Francisco Miguel, on our (his) birthday outing. And remember, he wouldn't have been let into the mall if he didn't have someone 'responsable' with him.

Concierto de Clarinete - third post

The applause...

Concierto de Clarinete - second post.

Going to try to get this second video up:

Concierto de la Clarineta - Music and Culture in Barquisimeto

So, as I mentioned previously, Barquisimeto is known for its arts and culture, which includes the nationally famous Conservatorio Vicente Emilio Sojo. What I didn't mention is that the Conservatorio is not just reflective of a musical appreciation here in the city, but a national appreciation for and talent in classical music. I have no idea how many symphonies and orchestras and symphonic orchestras exist in the country, but here in the state of Lara, between the National Youth Orchestra, the Symphonic Orchestra of the State of Lara, the Youth Symphonic Orchestra of the State of Lara, and the various groups and musicians in the Conservatorio, it seems like the place is just brimming with an army of classical musicians (if you'll pardon the metaphor).

And, surprisingly, many of these orchestras have a presence on Facebook! That is how, the other day, I learned of a week-long festival "of the clarinet", formally titled "Festival de jovenes clarinetistas del Estado Lara" (Festival of youth clarinetists of the state of Lara). And that is how I learned of the festival's closing concert, held last Sunday, in a ballroom at the city's nicest hotel, the former Hilton and current Hotel Jirahara. Oh yeah, and admission was free.

For pictures and captions, see my album on Facebook by clicking here.

The second soloist to perform was Gilberto Gimenez. Gimenez started studying the clarinet at age 5, under the tutelage of his father. He himself now teaches music in the Universidad Pedagogica Experimental "Liberador", and is a founding member of "El Sistema", Venezuela's world famous national youth classical music training program. He has performed all around Latin America, France, Spain. And his performance in this concert was magnificent. I may have cried.
For audio of his solo, click here.

The second half of the program was conducted by this young super-star, Jose Jesus Olivetti. The kid is 22 years old. Twenty-two! And he was absolutely magnificent. I am going to try to post a video or two of the performance he conducted. Oh my god. Who knew classical music could be this dynamic!

Now, go ahead and enjoy the video of Olivetti's conducting: