Feb. 27, 2009

i usually like to start my post with a quote from the book i am currently reading, as you can see from previous posts, so here is one of my favorites..

When asked about his nationality, Che responded with: ” I am Cuban, Argentine, Bolivian, Peruvian, Ecuadorian, etc… You understand.”

Besides overpopulation the next big issue on my list is nationalism. i think its because i’ve grown up seeing or reading about racism among people in the very same ethnic/culture groups (whatever you want to call it), in Spain there is always an argument over who is more “cultured”.. in Latin America its who is more “european” or completely free from spanish blood.. it exists in every imaginable society.

After reading more of Che’s biography I found that we share a lot in common - for instance we both have a similar taste in literature & an immeasurable curiosity. I can only say so since I am still in his pre-revolutionary days, before he recognized himself as a Marxist and even predating his involvement in the Guatemala.

I find his travels around Chile (Chuquicamata mine and Valparaiso), Argentina (CORDOBA!, Buenos Aires, Rosario), Bolivia (La Paz), Peru (Lima), and Venezuela - extremely interesting. During that epoch, and arguably until this day, society was structured along the lines of ethnicity or racial identity (Indian natives and creoles/mestizos). Unless you were a sleaze or increadibly gifted in your trade, there was no moving up in society. Im sure Reminds me of efforts to diminish afro-brazilians in Brazil by mixing them up to create a race that was pardo (or simply in the middle).

I am writing up a draft of my 2009 reading list, its probably the best thing I can do for myself right now. 2008 was a good year but I have no real records on what books I started or read; although i didn’t decide this on new years, my resolution is to make a list of books that i MUST read. Suggestions are suggested (LOL), other than that I am beginning to go back to writing in journals. I am not the only one who does this (Che did too - he actually had over 7 journals). I basically write and research random subjects (for example the journal I have right in front of me contains mini-biographies on various authors [marx, sartre, hugo, marquez, tolstoy], leaders [evita peron, salvador allende, francisco franco, jacobo arbenz] and various other topics (mostly politics/history). Maybe i should get a journal to write about my days, what are those called?.. diaries! oh yes, you know my birthday is coming up ;-]

i miss russian history but i will never find a book better than Nicholas and Alexandra. :(