Q&A

Sorry for disappearing for a while, had too much stuff going on and too little time.

These are some of the questions from the previous post, about the shanty towns/settlements.

Shy asked
FerFal- what do these people do with their 'property' when they go selling/scavenging/work? Or is there usually one of the same groups remaining behind always?

They don’t have much worth robbing, and most of the time the entire family goes out looking for garbage so there’s no one left behind.
Still, they do get robbed, by their own neighbors, occasionally.
That kind of thief is the worst kind according to them, and may be seriously beaten up by the neighbors if caught.

The common comment is that they should go steal from the “rich” or at least not from their own neighbors, as if that made things right.

These “codes” among the poor, the “villa” ( shanty town) codes are disappearing little by little, specially due to drugs, and the general decadency.

Recovey asked

Hi Ferfal,
How long till you can get out? I think we are all worried about you.

Depends exclusively on when I’m getting my degree. I was supposed to finish by July, but due to the university’s funds crisis, they’ve cut down classes and the summer class I was going to take to speed things up isn’t going to happen because of lack of funds.
Worst case, I have to spend here all year, until November/December, because of this one damn class.
Best scenario, I pass a special board test ( supposedly impossible to pass, even if you know everything) and then I’d be good to go by June.

Shambhala said...
The point I am trying to make is: Yes, FerFAL would probably be safer in the US, but quit trying to coerce him. Argentina holds a place in his heart.

It does hold a small, very small place. I mostly like certain traditions here, I was born here, so of course, its part of who I am.
But no, I wouldn’t stay here a minute longer if I didn’t have to.
It’s not only about having better job opportunities, the degree would also allow me to apply for a greencard faster.

I lived in Boston for 3 years when I was little, and believe it or not that had a big impact in the way I view things. I always knew USA was a much better country to live in, and wanted to move back there as soon as we came back to Argentina. It’s been a long time, of course I’ve visited and traveled to USA many times since then.

Adobewalls said..
Later I worked in Russia. My Russian interpretors used to laugh when they heard talk on the news about the american poor. Their favorite chastisement to me was, "America, the land with the richest poor people in the world."

Yes, :)
I agree with your Russian interpreter. Poor folks in 3rd world countries are different.
It’s particularly sad because sometimes you see these dirt poor people that actually want to work and would be hard workers if they had a chance. But they just don’t have it.

Mind Candy said…
Ferfal, Just wondering, where did your adsense go? I thought that it was great that you would make a little extra coin while helping the rest of us to see what is going on.

Happy Holidays, I hope that 2009 is a good year for your family as well as Argentina.

Chris

Thanks Chris, hope you and your family have a good year too.:)

Should be there still. It depends on the country I suppose, because some of the adds I see are of local products, so I sometimes don’t see what you guys see in those adds.

A reader contacted me once about some adds that were of poor taste, I had never seen them. But fortunately I can ban certain adds if I get their website. They get replaced by other adds.

It does generate a few cents every time you click on any of the advertisements. ( no need to buy anything, just cliking :) )

Anyway people, hope you are all starting this year with the right foot.

No need to go nuts about anything, 2009 is going to be tough but the hardest part is adapting to the aftermath of what already happened and will continue happening during this year.

The social and economical changes, those will stay for years.

Take care, I’ll see if I can post some more tonight.


FerFAL