oranges.

So today I bought some peaches and some juice oranges from a stand on the street. they were pretty cheap, and I love fruit. When I got home, I realized that my oranges were from South Africa. South Africa?! Hm, not so great. They have to travel a long way, which means they are 1. not fresh, 2. cost of lot of money to transport, and 3. probably were not obtained for their value. i.e. bought really cheaply. So I thought, maybe next time I'll pay a little more, and buy oranges from Spain, or somewhere a little closer. But then I thought... hmm.. For a long time, Europe has had direct trade with a lot of countries in Africa and South America. Now that they've become the European Union, they've put a higher priority on goods produced within the Union. Now, thats good, because its more local, doesn't have to travel as far. And then, countries that can grow/produce things well, do that, and trade for the stuff they can't. Same idea as before, only closer proximity. In general, not a bad idea, for those of us unwilling to minimize our consumption to solely local products. However...what happens to the prior markets? The ones that invested so heavily in monoagriculture or production, because they were told, no, each should do what it can do best. i.e. you grow coffee and you grow bananas, we'll buy from you, and then sell you whatever else you want. But then... the demand goes down. (or the market drops out due to local deals.) Now what do these poor countries do? No one wants their coffee anymore. or their bananas. or their oranges. So they rot. or get sold at a huge loss. And they have nothing else to sell. And they just lost a bunch of money, so they can't invest in other things. So.. they take out loans from... yep, those same big, bad countries (in europe, the U.S.) who told them to grow those things in the first place. Maybe the loan will help. or maybe its very conditional. and is only for growing, say, corn. Which doesn't grow there. But its ok, because look how much foreign aide we sent! yay! Hm... Clearly a very complicated issue. I'll have to research European trade, particularly with Africa, because I know a lot less about it than with Latin America. What other market does South Africa have? Besides diamonds, which are all owned by a company (maybe two or three) in London... Ah, international trade.

Barcelona, take II

Have I mentioned that I love this city? I've been here 2 or 3 days, I'm not really clear on time right now.. And I've been to the beach three times, seen a peruvian documentary, been at two concerts, eaten tapas and drank claras (half beer, half lemonade), played ultimate, gone dancing, met new people (from all over-- barcelona, chile, colombia, switzerland, england...), visited my favorite cathedral in the city (Santa Maria del Mar), visited my host mom from last year, had cafe con leche and a chocolate croissant, and walked around the city a lot. Also today I borrowed the bici (bike) of the guy i'm staying with and rode around a lot. Its a good city for biking--lots of bike paths and/or wide sidewalks. At first my Spanish felt really awkward, but its getting better quickly, and I'm falling back into a Castilian/Catalan accent. Of course, I'll have to learn a new one in Granada... I'll be so mixed up in accents by the end of all this.. Oh well. Tomorrow I'm going to Tarragona to play in a beach ultimate tournament with my old team. Should be a good time, I'll try to take pictures. Unfortunately tomorrow is the day they do the Castellers (human towers) for the festival, which I won't get to see, but I guess you can't have (quite) everything... :) Anyway, I'm having a great time and looking forward to the year. I also have a few contacts in Granada, now--none that I've actually met yet--which makes it seem a lot easier. I have a place to stay while I look for housing and someone who wants to start an ultimate team in Granada. Also a friend of a friend from Georgia (the country) and some random exchange student from the U.S. whose blog I found while doing a google seach for things like "granada spain ulimate frisbee." Ah the internet. Okay, this is very rambly. But suffice it to say, I am well, and I hope all is well with you, too. I really do heart hearing from you! emails, skype, letters (once i have an address), whatever. okay, bed time. besos a todos.
p.s. photo credits go to Kelcie. She took this when visiting last Christmas.

land of enchantment

summary of my weekend:
fri: drive to South Bend, catch train to Chicago. Haul 2 rollers and 2 backpacks (one on the front: hot.) around downtown to pick up my visa for Spain. Catch public transit to Midway airport (including hauling all crap up 2 flights of stairs... do they not believe in elevators?? If you're in a wheelchair...you... take a taxi?) Fly to Denver. Meet up with sister and her boyfriend, Nate. Fly on same plane with Nate to Albuquerque, meet up with parents. Wait for Kelcie. Make Juevos Rancheros in the camper. Drive to polo field in the middle of the desert outside of Santa Fe and camp for the night.
sat: hang around while Kelcie and Nate start warming up for the tourney, throw a disc around. Some guys from a Santa Fe/Española team desperately needed women. (i.e. their 2 didn't show.) So I ended up playing in the tournament with a strange mix of people, ages 22-50. Three of the men on the team are sikhs and wear turbans. One guy (my age-ish) brought a banjo to play between games, and we all hung out and had a lot of fun. Since out team only had 2 women, we both had to play all 7 games on friday. And this tournament was called "Savage 7777777." Which means you play 7 games to 7. 7 people on the field, of course. No subs. One injury sub if needed and one time out, if needed, per game. It was pretty exhuasting. Afterward we went to the roller rink that was rented out for the tourney and ate some yummy enchiladas and watched other people rollerblade around. I didn't have the legs for that.
sun: wake up sore, go out to the fields again, play 3 more games. Hang out and watch Kelcie and Nate's last game and a half. Watch the finals. good times. And did I mention that it was beautiful weather (if a bit more wind at times than desired)? It was gorgeous. mountains.sun.warm. ah, New Mexico. Took Kelcie and Nate back to the airport in ABQ and went to stay with some family friends.
mon: do some gross shopping in ABQ, drive home. gorgeous.
tues: watch a storm roll through over the mountains. admired the parents' garden. go get books from the library. make yummy food. I should be a chef in a New Mexican restaurant, no? ;) its good to be home. I guess our self-named motto of "land of entrapment" is holding pretty true.