Evo arrives
Members of Argentina´s Bolivian community gathered in Plaza de Mayo on Tuesday morning to great Evo Morales, president elect of Bolivia. Morales will be the first indigenous Bolivian president and his election has caused much excitement in the region. Last Sunday, I attended a Mennonite church here in Buenos Aires and the woman leading the service reflected with joy on news footage of Morales meeting the Spanish president; finally indigenous people were meeting on equal terms the Europeans who arrived on this continent only 500 years ago.
Later in the service, a fellow student from ISEDET reflected on Romans 12.1-18. The church is not to be conformed to the world, but rather is called to transform it. The impact of conforming to the dominant social and economic systems of the world is clearly evident in Latin America. In response, more and more countries are voting for leaders who promise to challenge the multi-national companies and international financial organisations and to seek out alternatives to neoliberalism. In Bolivia, Morales has vowed to renegotiate the agreements made by previous governments with foreign gas and oil companies such as British Gas. Former agreements have not provided most Bolivians with appropriate benefits from the rich natural resources they possess.
See Christian Aid´s website for more.
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/news/features/060104bol.htm
Now for some news from me. The big news is that today I got my computer back complete with new hard drive. Hurrah! My apartment is gradually being organised and filled with stuff. Tomorrow I am off to Tigre on a ´futon buying´ expedition! Tigre is a popular weekend desitination about 20 miles up the coast from BA, in the delta region. It´s also suppost to be a centre of furniture makers and craftsmen. My Spanish classes are going well. Today we had a four hour class to begin making up some time from a missed class last week. Four hours of the subjunctive is plenty! I feel like I am getting to know people and having quite a social time. Argentines seem to make much more time for socializing and I´ve been comparing this approach with my often rushed lunches or coffee with friends in England.
More next week.
Later in the service, a fellow student from ISEDET reflected on Romans 12.1-18. The church is not to be conformed to the world, but rather is called to transform it. The impact of conforming to the dominant social and economic systems of the world is clearly evident in Latin America. In response, more and more countries are voting for leaders who promise to challenge the multi-national companies and international financial organisations and to seek out alternatives to neoliberalism. In Bolivia, Morales has vowed to renegotiate the agreements made by previous governments with foreign gas and oil companies such as British Gas. Former agreements have not provided most Bolivians with appropriate benefits from the rich natural resources they possess.
See Christian Aid´s website for more.
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/news/features/060104bol.htm
Now for some news from me. The big news is that today I got my computer back complete with new hard drive. Hurrah! My apartment is gradually being organised and filled with stuff. Tomorrow I am off to Tigre on a ´futon buying´ expedition! Tigre is a popular weekend desitination about 20 miles up the coast from BA, in the delta region. It´s also suppost to be a centre of furniture makers and craftsmen. My Spanish classes are going well. Today we had a four hour class to begin making up some time from a missed class last week. Four hours of the subjunctive is plenty! I feel like I am getting to know people and having quite a social time. Argentines seem to make much more time for socializing and I´ve been comparing this approach with my often rushed lunches or coffee with friends in England.
More next week.
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