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The Week That Was - Bolivian Blogs

Eduardo Avila · 21:53

Foreigners residing in Bolivia make up a good chunk of those blogging about the country. Some have lived in various cities in Bolivia for quite some time and others are merely passing through. Nevertheless, their observations and discoveries about life in Bolivia provide a unique perspective on a drastically different culture than they are used to.

Language intricacies seem to befuddle some, which is completely understandable. Naomi Prowse, who keeps the blog Nomes on the Gringo Trail, has a sense of humor when it comes to confusing several words in Spanish with significant different meanings. Instead of wondering how to cook “arvejas” (peas), she mistakenly wonders how to cook “abejas” (bees). After spending nearly a year in Cochabamba, the blogger who maintains the site On the Andean Side, finally gets the hang of some of the “unique features of Cochabamba-speak.” For example, diminutive endings such as –ito and –ita are tacked on to everyday words. He also tries hard to figure out whether “ahorita” (now) really means now or some indefinite time in the future.

As the Christmas season fast approaches, Donde Estoy? Notes from Bolivia, didn’t expect to see typical Christmas objects, such as artificial trees and a plastic Santa Claus adorning stores in Cochabamba. She wonders what other Christmas-related items might make an appearance over the next month. Other than the fact that Bolivia's Christmas holiday will land in the middle of summer, there may not be as much difference than originally envisioned.

Many ex-pats have spent time volunteering at local orphanages or working with NGOs in the area, but Andrew Glazer has been teaching college courses in Santa Cruz. His blog Los Glazers highlights some of the experiences in class, including many notable excuses provided by his students, cases of plagiarism, and teary-eyed students.

Other foreigners are knee-deep in activism. Jim Shultz of the Democracy Center announced that he went against his practice of not appearing in the media in Bolivia. Recently his campaign resurfaced because of the ongoing lawsuit against the city of Cochabamba by Bechtel, the multinational company involved with the failed Aguas del Tunari water privatization project, appeared to be ruled in favor of the company. Such a ruling would require the city of Cochabamba to pay 25 million dollars in penalties.

Finally, travelers visit Bolivia because of its economical prices, safe travel environment and its breathtaking sites. These travelers often post their pictures on Flickr, a central digital photo bank. Popular tags include Bolivia, La Paz, Cochabamba, Uyuni, Madidi and Chapare.

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Travels in the Kurdish Blogosphere

Deborah Ann Dilley · 04:13

Iraqi Election Madness! As Iraq prepares for the December 15th parlimentary elections, the Kurdish bloggers are preparing as well. Vahal Abdulrahman from Dear Baghdad announced the formation of a new blog devoted strictly to the new elections, it is aptly named The Iraqi Vote. Vahal gives us details on the candidates and the districts represented. His overall prediction is that the Kurds will fair remarkably well and that for Kurdistan and Iraq nothing less than a liberal democracy should be considered for government.

Nerzad from Iraqi Kurdistan cautions Kurdish leadership in Northern Iraq/Southern Kurdistan to stop pandering to the Arabs and pay more attention to their own people and the corruption currently in their government.

Kurdo from Kurdo's World is not optimistic about the upcoming elections and has stated that he will not participate in the elections. He notes an ideological change among Kurds now wanting democracy more than independence. Other items noted on this blog include comments on the allegations of US troops using chemical weapons on Iraqis and further abuse and corruption in Iraq. Similar reports were addressed on the blog Bleak Blogorrhea as to the use of white phosphorous by the Americans.

You may remember from last week Hiwa from Hiwa Hopes gave his election predictions for the Iraqi election, this week he continues with translations and analysis on individual party manifesto's, the first covered is KIU-the Kurdistan Islamic Union. He also answers various questions sent to him about the validity of corruption claims in the Kurdish government in Northern Iraq/Southern Kurdistan. Hiwa also addresses news about escalating violence in Turkey, as well as resurgance of violence in Mahabad Iran.

Xosh Hal from Beardie's World of Crap comments harshly on George Galloway's support of the Syrians Baathists and also reaffirming the rights of the Kurds in Iraq, in so doing alienating the Kurds of Syria and the oppression the Syria government metes on them.

Pearls of Iraq has an excellent piece analysizing the situation in Turkey with its Kurdish populations and its (Turkey's) relations with Iraq. Miriam points out that Turkey is at a crossroads and that for the benefit of the country is should strike a fair deal with its Kurdish populations, by not doing this they are creating a worse situation by allowing possible terrorist ideals to fester within the country. She also comments that Turkey lets pretty much anyone through into the border of Iraq and that it also might create a worse situation down the line.

A word to the Turkish government, whatever you do, stop approving entry and exit visas to “Islamic” jihadists and passing them off to the Iraqis. Come to an agreement with your 14 million Kurdish brothers and sisters and you will have strong support against transnational terrorists including al-Qaeda. This is the year 2005; progress and take serious the current situation. The Kurds are the solution and a good one.

The Kurdistan Bloggers Union revisits the topic of The Other Iraq ad campaign in the United States and gives an analysis of American reactions. For more information on The Other Iraq campaign review last week's addition of Global Voices.

Piling of Roj Bash writes about the recent arrival at the Institut Kurde de Paris of the book entitled “The Dark Book of Saddam” by Chris Kutschera, which she describes as:

It could be used to as an indicment against 35 years of reign of the bloodiest dictator of the Middle East, as well as an analysis of the reasons which made that all the Western countries, the Arab countries and others, have supported a totalitarian government which made 2 million victims.

Vladimir from From Holland to Kurdistan posts on such a regular basis and has such high quality posts that he could be considered as a news service unto himself. Not wanting to provide a disservice to him (I suggest that everyone bookmark his blog and visit it frequently or subscribe to his RSS feed) I will list only one link from him this week. I highly recommend reading his mammoth post on all aspects of Turkey and Kurdistan, it covers a very wide selection of topics.

Land of the Sun recently posted an interesting tutorial on Kurdish rugs and their history.

Kardox writes about the recent admission of Kurdish artist Ibrahim Tatilses that he is not Kurdish but Turkish, contrary to previous public statements. Kardox also gives an impassioned plea for the murdered Kurdish children of Turkey.

Finally, annoucing this week a new blog with a Kurdish focus the Is-Ought Problem which focuses (currently) on issues of the Kurds in Northern Iraq/Southern Kurdistan. Recent posts have included The Other Iraq ad campaign and the possibly of Kurdistan declaring independence.

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