periodiSTINGL

My byline in La Nación

2010-02-22T21:03:00.001-08:00

Check out this article that I wrote for La Nación.

Up on the 5th floor of the Edificio Bouchard

2010-01-07T04:32:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I went from the 4th floor (which is the journalism graduate school) to the 5th floor (the newsroom of La Nación) to begin my 2 month internship in the international news section (in Spanish it's called "exterior"). Although they have not printed my byline yet because when using wires to write articles, the journalist is not credited, I will post links to my articles on the side of this blog.

Carly's Video Holiday Greeting from Argentina:

2009-12-18T15:06:00.001-08:00

¿Dónde están las mujeres. . .?

2009-11-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

My initial enigmatic answer to this question of "where are the women?" is: in the back of the magazine wearing skimpy dresses.

The magazine that I am referring to is this week's La Nación Revista, put out by the newspaper where I am currently getting my masters in journalism. It is the more conservative of the two popular newspapers and considered highbrow compared to the more popular daily, Clarín.

The cover of this week's LNR is 12 white men all holding their hand to their chins in a Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker" pose with an headline saying "The power of good ideas: the most creative Argentines reflecting about their politics, their consumption, their competition and the ethics of their pitches to "sell" a country brand"

It surprises me that the 12 most creative Argentines are ALL white men. It could be true, that of the top 100 creative people in Argentina, the first 12 are men, but I highly doubt it. The article, written by two women, Any Ventura and Mercedes Funes, is proceeded by an article about how Megan Fox is the newest provocateur, much like her fellow actress Angelina Jolie.

Being a journalist, I have very present the idea of balance in a story and being an American, I have very present the idea of diversity; this front page feature story breaches the two fundamental levels of who I am.

What month is it?

2009-11-22T06:22:00.001-08:00

I can look at a calender and rationally understand that it is November, but I don't feel it. One of the most disorienting things about living in the Southern Hemisphere is the opposite seasons. Whereas in the U.S. many states are having their first snow falls and below zero temperatures, I am moving into the Argentine summer.

Summer being in June, July and August is one of those things that is instilled in you during kindergarden and December means snow; there is simply no discussion or admission that somewhere else in the world it might be different.

Walking down Santa Fe avenue in Buenos Aires in 80 degree weather I recently saw a happy holidays sign in the window of a restaurant and wearing shorts and a tank with my fan blowing on me, I'm reading the Sunday ads for Christmas decorations complete with models wearing summer clothing. It is my first summer in the Argentine capital city and it is simply incomprehensible.

I can handle the different language, because it is to be expected, I can deal with the laid back customs, because generally it means I don't have to work as hard, but on a Wisconsin-girl level, I simply cannot feel the holidays approaching and worse yet, I cannot physically comprehend what month I am living.

Someone really should have told me when I was five that December is not synonymous with cold.

The disadvantage of being a native English speaker

2009-08-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

The title of this post may seem a little counterintuitive. In fact, almost everything about being a native English speaker is an advantage in an increasingly globalized world, where English is the international business language and the universal when-all-else-fails language. In fact, when I watch non-natives try to remember our proper usage of prepositions or phrasal verbs (such as the important differences between throw up, throw down, throw away, throw on and throw out), I am grateful that I innately understand the difference. So, I indeed am prefacing this blog saying that I would not want to be anything but a native English speaker.

However, with this luxury comes the fact that it is simply harder to learn Spanish unless one is really disciplined. First, everyone wants to practice their English. If I spoke Ukrainian or Korean no one would come up to me and ask to test out their conversational abilities. And, wanting to make friends and not be a jerk, I oblige much to my chagrin. The moment I started traveling, this fact became apparent, probably most marked when people in China would yell "Hello! How are you!?" as I walked by, or an example last night where a woman came over too our dinner table to ask me about our giant ice cream sundae-like creation and awkwardly asked "what is this?" only to be responded to, much to her disappointment, in fluid conversational Spanish. This is why I increasingly tell people that I am German, because my accent gives me away only as a foreigner and not necessarily as a 'yanqui', or North American.

The second and less expected disadvantage I am experiencing with English is that often the readings that are assigned in our classes at the Universidad Torcuato di Tella are either translations of a book originally written in English or are assigned directly in English, with no translation offered.

First, this seems strange to me because it suggests that my Spanish-speaking classmates are expected to speak college-level English, but no other language, showing just how much the English-speaking world is permeating into other countries.

Also, because we have so many different tasks in this graduate program, as much as I would like to spend hours pouring over readings in Spanish, it is simply done quicker if I read it in English.

Also, for books like Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, assigned last week, they lose some of their essence in translation, and it does not make sense for me to read it in Spanish.

My most recent professor Karina Galperín, who did her doctorate at Harvard, told me unsolicited that I could write my final project in English with no problem. Her class is almost exclusively English speaking authors, only one week with an emphasis on readings in Spanish, focusing on Argentine Rodolfo Walsh's Operación Masacre. However, she certainly would not have suggested that I write my final paper in Chinese if I was a native Chinese speaker.

My complaints are relatively unwarranted. The fact that I have the luxury to often be able to take an easier route linguistically and then later blame my slower progress in learning Spanish seems absolutely absurd. Nevertheless, I am convinced that if I spoke any other language besides English, my Spanish would be a lot better.

Colectivo. . . of deception.

2009-08-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

Photo: Archive of La Nación

Today during class, the editor of the General Information section of La Nación said: "La Presidenta miente constatemente [the President lies constantly]."

My classmates nodded, not even batting their eyes at this statement that encompasses myriad problems with Argentine politics: deception, corruption, lack of democratic voice, for starters.

The moment quickly passed, but I was left with an eerie feeling that no response was not a good sign. If a journalism professor of mine would have said to the class that our president was constantly lying to us, some noise would have been made, someone would have protested. Rather, this statement was met with a few nods, a few chuckles and some blank non-registering eyes.

I asked the founder of an English language newspaper in Buenos Aires today in an interview if she thought that Argentine politics were particularly hard for foreigners to understand and she responded affirmatively, pointing out that this country is still in the process of maturing its democracy after a bloody dictatorship and that makes its recent history especially complicated and difficult. However, she said, unless some fundamental changes are made with the current government, such as people accounting for their actions or taking responsibility for the issues that happen under their watch, this country is not going to progress.

The responses of my classmates, all graduate journalism students, the majority of them Argentine, makes me pessimistic that there is likely to be changes soon, despite the recent legislative elections. Argentine citizens have taken as fact that their politicians lie, steal their tax money and take advantage of the poor and ignorant to continue in power. And even when it's said out loud, no one denies it, all protests have ceased. One male classmate says that Argentina is like a battered wife: she has been hit so many times that when she gets hit now, she just takes it.

Multimedia en La Nación

2009-06-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

This week we started the first week of four total weeks that we will spend focusing on the multimedia aspects of journalism.

You can watch the progress of my group, featuring some of my favorite Argentines (Tucu, Yael, and Bilboa). . and a Colombian (Orlando): We are in a perpetual state of searching for our focus!

The other groups are linked off of the main La Nación graduate program multimedia page.

More to come. . .

Horacio's Yerba Mate

2009-06-09T19:34:00.001-07:00

A peculiar thing about my classmates is that they "tomar maté" or drink maté (pronounced ma-tey) during class; my Spanish roommate describes it "as if they think they are in their own living room".

The drink is very communal and one person will make it and it will get passed around the room, after each turn getting passed back to the original person to be filled again with hot water. Each time it gets filled, the person who it gets passed to will drink the entire contents of water through the straw until it makes a sucking noise and then pass it back. The person filling the maté, known as the cebador, will often get up to leave the room and refill the thermos. The professors become indignant if no maté is to be found in the room and will stop in mid sentence to growl their grievances.

Maté is a tea that is typical of the Rio de la Plata Region of South America (Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay) and it is not uncommon to see people drinking it on the street, although it is not nearly as convenient as a to-go cup, because one needs both hands: one for holding the gourd which holds the tea and the other for pouring the hot water.

Maté is very bitter, so often people will add sugar or sweeteners, but I take it plain, and from what I've seen, so do most people in my class. Although each person has their own particular style when making a maté, my Uruguayan friend and classmate Horacio Varoli was willing to share his method with me. The video is in Spanish so below I have a basic translation of what he says in the video.

Horacio starts by telling us the materials needed to make maté:

Yerba(the tea itself)

Maté (the gourd that the tea is poured into)

Una Bombilla (a silver straw)

A thermos with hot water

A small glass of cold water.

1. Pour the dry yerba tea into the gourd. Horacio says "you don't have to put much in," but this is an expert speaking who can easily eyeball it. Usually the maté gets filled about 2/3 of the way with yerba.

2. Make a little hole with your fingertips on one side.

3. Take the cold water and put it in wetting the leaves--but not soaking them--and let it sit for about 3-4 minutes so that it absorbs the cold water.

4. In the hole that was made at the beginning put the bombilla (silver straw) in as if digging a shovel but trying to maintain the little mountain of tea that is on the top made from creating the hole.

5. Now, time to cebar or add the hot water on the side where the hole was and now the stem of the bombilla is.

6. Then, enjoy. The first maté is the most bitter, but that's just the way Horacio likes it.

** In the U.S., you can purchase mate at organic food stores, but often it is expensive and not as gritty and unrefined as what you find down here in the Southern Cone.

Deciphering (e)Spanglish

2009-05-16T09:31:00.001-07:00

There are two types of Spanglish (a combination of Spanish and English) in Argentina:

1. Espanglish: This is spoken by native speakers of Spanish who may or may not know English, but use many English words which they have Spanishized to sound almost unrecognizable to an native English speaker.

2. Spanglish: This is spoken by native English speakers who also have a relatively good command of Spanish, but when speaking to other people in either language stick a word from the other language because it either doesn't have a good translation or translates in a hilarious way.

Espanglish for a North American is especially funny because often after saying the English word in the sentence of Spanish words, the Argentine speaker will look at the foreigner slyly as if they are sharing a language secret together. From my experience, either the word does not make a lot of sense in the context of the sentence or I was not aware that the word was actually borrowed from English because of a completely unfamiliar pronunciation. There are exceptions to this: words like internet and router have become so much a part of the everyday speech that I scarcely think of them as borrowed words anymore. However, there are cases where the words although still spelled the same in English are pronounced differently because of letter pattern that does not exist in Spanish. An example of this is modem or .com, which are pronounced "moden" and "punto con" because there are no original words in Spanish that end with an n sound.

In my journalism graduate program, one of my professors Gabriel Pasquini recently explained interviews to us. On the record and Off the record are used and seem to be more or less widely understood. However, the most hilarious phenomenon happens whenever English words are borrowed but contain more than one word (or even more than one syllable). On the record becomes on and off the record becomes off. My favorite example of this is Playstation which is just called play. Thinking about that in English it would sound quite silly to say "I am going to play the Play", but in Spanish because the verb for play is jugar, it sounds fine and it is easier to say. Pasquini recently apologized to me for his pronunciation of words in English during class, but admittedly, sometimes the words were butchered so sufficiently that I just assumed it was a word that I didn't know in Spanish rather than an English word stuck randomly into a phrase.

Although not necessarily Espanglish, English speakers have endless problems with understanding names of bands or actors in Spanish. Groups as common as Led Zeppelin or Bob Dylan, become a mash of Spanishized words, and the confusion turns to disbelief when you wrongly admit to not knowing the famous icon of American history, but only because you simply do not know what is being said.

Espanglish in Argentina is much more prominent than in Spain; I notice words such as background, feeling, full, etc. used more often in the Southern Cone than in Europe. My theory is that because Spanairds are more rigid about speaking proper Castilian Spanish, stealing random words from English is not exactly upholding tradition. There is a pride and sometimes arrogance from Argentines about their way of speaking, but the rules are often more relaxed than in the Iberian Peninsula where Spanish was born.

Spanglish, often spoken here by me with other North Americans or Argentines whose English is at a native level, is not done of out custom or habit, but rather done of out of a playful appreciation for the language or a frustration in translating certain words that do not have an exact translation in the other language, but rather a less concise way of explaining the concept. An example of this is the word glare. If I am speaking with a native English speaker in Spanish and want to describe someone squinting their eyes in anger, I will simply say: "Me estaban glaring las mujeres grandes." for example. This is only possible because the person I am speaking with knows both languages. Similarly, if we are speaking in English, one might say that they have ganas, because it is simply a concise way of saying that you want to or you feel like doing something. When I take notes in lecture in either language, I always use the word según which means according to, because it is shorter and quicker.

Spanglish is especially fun to use to translate things that make zero sense translated from Spanish to English or visa versa or have a sexual connotation. For example, the ubiquitous "I'm excited" in English when said in Spanish "Estoy exitada", means that you are horny, so ojo (be careful). Someone with a command of both languages knows that "I have hungry" or "it is making/doing cold outside" is not right but very chistoso [funny]. Or simply conjugating English verbs in Spanish provides for language fun; I have countless said "te loveo" or "te misso".

For people not familiar with Spanish, I want to briefly explain why the first type of Spanglish I am donning Espanglish and the second is simply Spanglish. In Spanish, native speakers cannot pronouce words that begin with "sp" and "st", so my last name Stingl becomes Estingl. This makes sense because it is Spain in English is España in Spanish. Or as a North American friend pointed out last night, when she says Scalabrini Ortiz (an important street in Buenos Aires), she is often not understood until she says Escalabrini Ortiz. Thus, Espanglish for Argentines and Spanglish for me.

Máster en Periodismo en La Nación/Universidad Torcuato di Tella

2009-04-15T14:10:00.001-07:00

Monday, April 13th marked the beginning of my Mastér en Periodismo (Journalism Master) at the most well-known paper in Argentina, La Nación. Every morning, our profesores exigentes (demanding professors) insist that we arrive at 9a.m. to read the newspaper before class starts, and class starts at 9:30a.m. on the dot, which for the normal Argentine timetable is an impressive requirement. This blog PeriodiSTINGL will follow the only non-native Spanish speaker (me) throughout a year-long persuit to improve my professional Castellano (what Argentine people call Spanish), become a better journalist, and as the director of the program Carlos Reymundo Roberts said today, become bien informada (very informed). Although he recited the six most essential aspects of journalism today, his entire first lecture surrounded the aspect he considers the key to being a good journalist: tener mucha información (to have a lot of information). This means readings a lot of newspapers and magazines as well as having contacts who can give you good information.

A privilege that I now boast is having access to La Nación headquarters located on Bouchard Street in Puerto Madero. . .Here is my badge to prove it:

What most worries me, both before coming and now, is that my Spanish will not hold up against all of my 25 classmates who have as many as 30 years language practice more than I do, but time will test if this is a legitimate fear.

The Happiest Hour of Radio

2009-03-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

Manuel (Españaird) and I (gringa), stayed awake the entire night from 1 a.m. until 6 a.m. imparting our wisdom on others as well as playing some great tunes. These hours allowed the Europeans and North Africans who wanted to listen a more convenient time. Manu's friend, Manuel, called in from Spain. If you love speaking in Spanglish, this is for you:

Five hours of bilingual radio:

Kate Finley disclosed to me during our weekly Skype date that she dreams of being a tango singer and a Zumba instructor. Here is how one gets started on at least the latter part of this goal. . .Manu is singing tango: Copa Rota.

Entrevista con cantautor español Carlos Chaouen

2009-03-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

Para escuchar al Podcast: http://itunes.wisc.edu/ --> "Open UW Madison on iTunes U" --> "The Fez Hour" -->Spain supplement: Interview with Carlos Chaouen (In Spanish)

Españaird Mío

2009-01-29T13:45:00.000-08:00

The FEZ Hour: CHINA Featuring Lisa and Sunny

2009-01-28T09:37:00.000-08:00

¡Feliz Navidad, Elise!

2009-01-26T19:22:00.000-08:00

When my dad hears Spanish, he has a tendency to just think of whatever word it sounds like in English and go with that. So to him "Buenas Noches" is actually "Buenos Snowshoes."

However, my favorite example of this is with my friend Elise Heitkamp who when she was young thought that the Puerto Rican José Feliciano rendition of the song "Feliz Navidad" was actually singing about her and her parents saying "Elise, Mom and Dad."

. . . She did, however, point out, that it was unfair that she had a song and that her sibling didn't.

The Grown-up Version of the Song.

It's easy to get a radio show in Madison. . . just go to the training!

2009-01-17T18:09:00.000-08:00

WSUM is looking for people who are interested in becoming part of our radio station experience. We are particularly interested in freshmen and sophomores, however all students are invited to train.

WSUM is the student radio station at UW-Madison, operating at 91.7 FM and licensed to the University of Wisconsin. The station manager and all staff aside from the general manager and technical director are students.

Here are the preliminary requirements to becoming a WSUM DJ:

1. Write a concise but illuminating statement of interest (why I want to be a part of WSUM). Generally, let us know if you are more interested in a talk show or a music show. Please avoid "both" as an answer, as it effects how we train you. Send your statement togm@wsum.wisc.edu

2. In that email, include your availability during evening hours Sunday-Thursday. Please be as flexible as you can be in setting your availability schedule.

3. Come to the station at 8, 8:30 , 9 , or 9:30 any weeknight between January 20th and Febuary 8th for a tour. Ask for the Traffic Director. Tours are given on the half-hour. Make sure the traffic director gets you name. Hope to meet you soon!

Our seventh anniversary of over-the-air broadcast is February 22nd. We have already become one of the best free-form stations in the state, if not the country. Our goal is to be an alternative to commercial radio stations in Madison, so we are looking for DJs who are excited about playing underrepresented music and talk show hosts that want to inform the Madison community on pertinent issues. With your time and commitment, we can continue to maintain our position as one of the best free-format radio stations in the U.S.

In the Spring of 2009, we have 60 slots open for trainees. To be assured one of these slots, you MUST read and follow the requirements.

The following information was taken from the WSUM Web site and was NOT written by me.

The Fez Hour

2009-01-17T18:00:00.000-08:00

Perdido en el Siglo

2009-01-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

The Fez Hour: Student Radio in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

2009-01-15T21:10:00.000-08:00

I am starting a new radio show on WSUM 91.7FM Student Radio this semester called "The fez hour: international talk with Carly." The show is on Wednesdays from noon-1pm and is right before my Spanish music show, "Perdido en el Siglo"(1-2pm) The basic format for the show is I want 2-3 people from a specific country to come on and talk about their county including, but not limited to, the government, holidays, the culture, the food, the music, the perceptions of the U.S., how the perceptions of the U.S. changed after you got her, opinion of Madison, news, conflicts, history, etc. Each show I will ask each person to bring their favorite song from their country to share on air, keeping in mind that it is only an hour show.

This is an opportunity for international students to have an experience on the radio, talking from their expertise of being an foreign student studying or living in the U.S., to practice your english and to share a little bit with the entire Madison community. Also, your friends and family can listen online. And. . it will be really fun!

Thus, please facebook message me (Carly is Carly) or email me (Stingl@wisc.edu) with your interest AND please tell your international friends. I want to represent a new country every week. The first show will be on January 21st at noon and every subsequent Wednesday following.

Anyone with the internet in any country can listen at WSUM.ORG

Noon-1pm: "The fez hour": International Talk with Carly

1pm-2pm: "Perdido en el Siglo": Spanish music show with Carlita

Empanadas en Madison

2008-09-27T16:03:00.000-07:00

Empanadas con sabor Argentino en el mercado de granjeros en Madison

Con solamente tres semanas más del mercado de granjeros en el lado este de Madison, Natalia Contreras de Argentina vende sus empanadas caseras, enfatizando que para ella, es importante saber cocinar.
“Yo he crecido como la mayoría de los latinos donde siempre hay una señora que hace comida cacera,” explicó Contreras. “Comida hecha con las manos y no comida hecha en una fabrica es algo que se va perdiendo. A mí me sorprende encontrar tanta gente que no sabe cocinar, y que solamente sabe poner una pizza en el horno. Es increíble.”

Esta mujer de Tucumán, una ciudad en el noroeste de Argentina, vino a Madison para visitar amigos, pero se quedó cuando conoció a su esposo, Chris, un estadounidense. Para poder estar con él, ella tenía que conseguir su tarjeta de residente y por lo tanto, se casaron.

Ella contó que si no hubiera podido conseguir su tarjeta de residente, no se hubiera quedado en los Estados Unidos, porque le gusta visitar a su familia cada año, lo cual también es una manera para escapar los inviernos de Wisconsin.

“Hace mucho frío acá, y también es muy oscuro,” se quejó Contreras. “Madison me gusta, pero en invierno me voy a Argentina todos los años.”

Sin embargo, este año, no sabe si va a poder volver a su país porque actualmente trabaja como interprete en una escuela secundaria Sennett Middle School.

Después de vivir ocho años en Madison, tiene un inglés muy avanzado pero dijo que le costó mucho aprenderlo. Aprecia que esta ciudad tiene una cultura de mercados de granjeros y que la gente tiene una conciencia de comer local y orgánico. Ahora, ella es parte de esta cultura porque usa los mercados como una manera de seguir con sus propias tradiciones.

Dijo que le gustaría que más latinos hiciera lo mismo y viniera a los mercados para vender su comida propia, por ejemplo, mujeres Mexicanas podrían vender tamales.

“Yo soy la única Latina vendiendo cosas en este mercado, pero me siento cómoda,” reflejó Contreras. “Pero, sí me gustaría que haya más mezcla de latinos y haya un mercado que uno pueda ir y comprar comida precocida.”

Las empanadas que vende Contreras cada martes son o de carne o de verduras. El martes pasado, se pudo elegir entre las de espinacas y queso y las de pollo. Se venden por $2 cada una, y ella dijo que hay gente que cree que es un precio caro. Sin embargo, ella trabaja por lo menos ocho horas para poder cocinarlas por completo.

Tiene clientes fijos que vienen cada semana para compran empanadas. Laura Hewitt de Madison, que va muy a menudo, dijo que le encantan las de choclo y las de pollo. Aunque dijo que son un poco pequeñas, tienen un sabor muy rico por las especias que contienen.

Contreras trata de comprar las verduras que usa en las empanadas en los mercados de granjeros y también usar carne que viene de animales no maltratados.

Usa el estilo Tucumán para hacer sus empanadas y hace entre 60-90, dependiendo de las ganas que tiene para hacerlas.

En el mercado, un hombre viejo acercó para investigar esta comida pequeña y triangular con un nombre poco conocido. Vio a otro cliente comprar algunos, pensó un segundo y dijo a la vendedora sonriendo de Argentina:

“Como ahora sé que es una empanada, me gustaría comprar dos.”

Empanadas bring Argentine Flavor to Madison Eastside Farmers' Market



With just three weeks left for the Eastside Farmers’ Market, Argentina native Natalia Contreras sells her homemade empanadas, emphasizing that for her, it is important to know how to cook. “I grew up like most Latinos where there is always a woman who makes homemade food,” Contreras said. “Homemade food and not factory-made food is something that is going away. It surprises me to find so many people that don’t know how to cook, and that only know how to throw a pizza in the oven. It’s incredible.” From the city of Tucumán in northwest Argentina, Contreras came to Madison to visit some friends, but ended up staying after meeting her American husband, Chris. To be able to remain with him, she had to obtain her green card, so the couple got married. She explained that if she hadn’t been able to get her green card, she wouldn’t have stayed in the Unites States, because she likes to visit her family each year, which is also a convenient excuse to escape the Wisconsin winters. “It is so cold here, and it is also really dark,” Contreras complained. “I really like Madison, but in winter, I go to Argentina every year.” However, this year, she does not know if she will be able to visit her country, because she currently works as an interpreter for the Sennett Middle School. After living in Madison for eight years, she has very advanced English, but said that it took a lot of work to learn it. She appreciates that in this city there is a farmers’ market culture and that people are conscious of eating locally and organically. Now, she is part of this culture, because she uses the markets as a way to continue her own traditions. She says that she would like to see more Latinos doing the same, coming to the markets to sell their own unique food, such as Mexican women could sell tómales. “I am the only Latina selling things in this market, but I feel comfortable,” Contreras noted. “But, yeah, I would like it if there were more of a mix of Latinos and if there were a market where one could go and buy precooked food.” Contrera’s empanadas, which she sells every Tuesday, always consist of one meat choice and one vegetable choice. Last Tuesday, one could choose between spinach and cheese or chicken. They sell for $2 each, and she pointed out that some people think this is an expensive price. However, she spends at least eight hours to completely finish them. She has regular clients she sells empanadas to every week. Laura Hewitt of Madison, who often comes, said that she loves those filled with corn or with chicken. She added that although they are a little small, they are also quite delicious because of the spices used. Contreras tries to buy her vegetables she uses to fill the empanadas from farmers’ markets and also to use meat that comes from animals that haven’t been mistreated. Using the Tucumán style to make the empanadas, she makes between 60-90 depending on how many she feels like making that day. At the market, an old man approached to investigate the small, triangular food with an unfamiliar name. He watched another customer buy some, thought for a moment and said to the smiling Argentine vendor: “Now that I know what an empanada is, I’ll take two.”

Super Journalist--Super Periodista

2008-09-09T22:26:00.000-07:00

As a result of a biking accident, I am coping with a broken right elbow and the bulky cast that comes with that. I am finding it difficult to scratch my face while reading, text message while walking and do various other multitasks that as a woman I enjoy doing. However, my fairly immobile hand can't stop me from getting the story, just like the muckraker that I am.

I decided that I couldn't let this injury keep me from fulfilling my fall internship at the Spanish language newspaper in Madison, La Comunidad. So Monday night I took out my laptop and started awkwardly typing all the commentaries from the event "Languages of Life: Sports and Languages" in the Great Hall at the Memorial Union. Then, because I can't write with my dominant hand, I used my recorder to get some interviews.

I could have just called my editor and said that my broke arm would impede me from doing the story, but fearlessly, I broke, I reported, I conquered. Nothing can stop me. . . except perhaps the kryptonite of journalists: apathetic readers.

________________________________________________

Como consecuencia de un accidente de bici, estoy tratando de vivir con un codo derecho roto con su yeso grande que lo acompaña. Me estoy dando cuenta de que es difícil rascarme la cara mientras leo, escribir mensajes de texto mientras camino y hacer otras cosas variadas a la vez, que como mujer me encanta hacer. Sin embargo, mi mano bastante inmóvil no me puede obligar no hacer el articulo, como la periodista de investigación que soy.

Decidí que mi brazo herido no me impedirá realizar mi pasantía del otoño en el periódico en español en Madison, La Comunidad. Así que, el lunes, por la tarde, saqué mi laptop y empecé escribir, de una manera un poco rara, todos los comentarios del evento que se llamaba: “Lenguas de la Vida: Deportes y Lenguas” en el Great Hall del Memorial Union. Entonces, por el hecho de que no puedo escribir con la mano dominante, usé mi grabadora para poder hacer las entrevistas.

Yo hubiera podido llamar a mi redactor para decir que el brazo roto me impediría hacer la nota, pero sin miedo, me rompí, lo investigué, y lo conquisté. Nada me puede detener. . .excepto, a lo mejor, la kryptonita de los periodistas: los lectores apáticos.

My experience in Argentina through the eyes of my editor, Laura Cambra

2008-08-09T06:39:00.000-07:00

Check out her thoughts in Spanish

or English:

Mentoring Carly

by: Laura Cambra

Translated to English by Carly Stingl

Today, after almost 3 months of living in Argentina, Carly Stingl returns to Madison, WI. Carly is a student in her last year of college, studying journalism at the University of Wisconsin, and during this time, she interned at Living in Argentina. Being the editor, it was my job to orient Carly, whose objective was to improve her command of written Spanish. However, the work that one could think of as merely supervision turned into a challenge that, looked at now, was not only professionally enriching, but also personally.

From a professional point of view, those of us who make Living in Argentina push ourselves to offer objective and appropriate information to foreigners about our country. Because of this, the fresh eyes of a curious, enthusiastic and eager person like Carly is invaluable since it helps us to understand what the interests and needs are of those who visit Argentina.

From a personal point of view, each time I chatted with her, we touched as much on questions purely grammatical or stylistic as we did on things like when we talked about this problematic and idiosyncratic country, where she forced me to rethink Argentina and revise the past and the present, giving answers to her questions sometimes as simple –or as complicated—as “But why is it mandatory to vote in Argentina?” or “Could you explain to me the conflict between the farmers and the government? or other things more related with everyday life such as “Do all the men really play soccer here?”

Some of the questions were pretty fun. For example, given that Carly has been a vegetarian for the past 5 years, putting herself into a place where meat is not only nourishment but also falls into the category of national pride was not easy for her.

With an unusually open style and without any preconceived notions, Carly threw herself into conquering this chaotic and overpopulated city, very different from the place she was used to living. She walked Buenos Aires from one place to another. She explored bookstores and cafes. She did interviews in the streets. She rejected catcalls from the typical “Argentine machos.” And she even got a DiscoCard to make herself feel like a local and avoid being the common overcharging done to most foreigners.

During her last week in Buenos Aires, our conversations turned to focus on our goodbyes and about her future. We talked about the possibility that writing takes up a lot of time and space in life. The next day, she invited me to look at her blog.

We also talked about her desire to come back. I asked her why she didn’t think about getting her masters here. She looked at me quite surprised. She didn’t think that her level of Spanish would let her get in, and she was not ready for the challenge. But we investigated a little bit—Thank god for the Internet!—and discovered, somewhat disappointed, that they only accept 25 students per year.

“That’s so few! How could I ever get in?” she said to me.

I encouraged her to give it a shot. Yesterday she had an interview with “La Nación” and something that seemed so out of reach turned into a very real and attractive possibility. She was happy. I was too. Carly will probably keep working with us from the U.S. The articles that she has written about our country, and more than anything, about Buenos Aires, show her enthusiasm and her passion for journalism.

Immigration in Madison, Wisconsin

2008-07-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

by: Carly Stingl

Janet sits timidly in the shade with her husband and children, keeping her distance from the chanting crowd. She knows it’s dangerous for her to be here.

“I truthfully don’t know what could happen to me,” Janet says, “I think maybe the police could come and arrest me, but we want our rights.”

Janet, who would not say her last name and spoke only Spanish, is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. She crossed the border with some friends a little more than two years ago, looking for opportunities and an easier life. She came to the protest in downtown Madison on May 1, which called for workers’ and immigrants’ rights. She is sick of the raids of immigrants’ homes and wishes she could get her papers to live and work legally in the United States.

Her 2-year-old daughter, Kenia, and her 8-month-old son, José, were born here and are therefore legal citizens. She and her husband, both without their legal documents, are in danger of being deported, and she is terrified of what would happen to her children.

According to a report by U.S. Department of Homeland Security on illegal immigration, 75,000 to 115,000 people live in this state without documentation. As a nationwide debate rages over immigration, undocumented immigrants in Wisconsin are looking for a balance between demanding rights and trying to stay invisible to avoid deportation.

Living without Documents

Janet says that one difficult aspect about living without documents is that she cannot find a good job, but it is certainly not the hardest part. Her biggest wish is that she could visit her family in Mexico, and have them meet her children, but if she leaves, returning would be too difficult and dangerous.

Her husband, who works in a chocolate factory and barely makes enough money to support his family, cannot ask for a raise because there is someone else who would simply take his spot for less pay. They live in Monona, pay taxes and want the same rights as anyone else living in Wisconsin.

Janet and her husband live in constant fear, saying they are not sure which laws protect or threaten them, but understanding that deportation would mean splitting up their growing family.

Madison immigration lawyer Amanda Gennerman says this confusion over immigration laws and rights is not uncommon.

“Unfortunately, people have so much misinformation,” Gennerman says. “I try to debunk it and make it clear. Everybody’s case is individual. They are most likely not as informed on the legal aspects of what is happening to them as they think.”

Gennerman, who started her practice three years ago with a focus on deportation cases, knows that a lot of rumors circulate about what lawyers can do for immigrants in tough situations. Unfortunately, illegal immigrants are rarely protected under U.S. law, she says, and in cases of deportation she cannot do very much for them except explain the rules. When an undocumented immigrant has a run-in with the law, family members try to help, but also fear for themselves.

“If you have a whole family of undocumented individuals, they find themselves on alert,” Gennerman says. “Many people who enter from Mexico without any papers are extremely limited in what they can do.”

One such example is Nicolas Rodriguez[name changed to protect identity]. He crossed the border on foot five years ago looking for opportunities and tired of dealing with police brutality in Mexico City.

According to a report issued by U.S. Homeland Security, more than half of the 11.6 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. are from Mexico, followed by El Salvador, India and Guatemala.

Rodriguez, who lives in a primarily Latino community on S. Park St., says everyone has personal reasons for leaving Mexico for the U.S., but all immigrants are here looking for opportunities not available in their home countries. Ninety-seven percent of the people he knows in the U.S. are undocumented immigrants, including his entire family.

His family came to the United States one by one. His father, tired of not having enough to feed his family, first came to Madison where his brother was already living and started working as a building custodian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Then, Rodriguez’ sister and mother came, and five years ago, Rodriguez himself took the treacherous weeklong journey to cross the border. Now he lives with his parents, two sisters and his nephew in a trailer, everyone working hard to contribute to paying rent and buying food.

Although Rodriguez is not scared of being arrested and deported himself, saying it would not be half as bad as what he already experienced in his own country, he is scared of the resulting impact on his family members and the possibility that one of them will get caught.

“The majority of people are scared of what deportations bring, because it separates families,” Rodriguez says. “I am not scared for me, I am scared for my family, because I know that my mother would suffer a lot if they deported me.”

The family’s worst fear was realized three months ago when Rodriguez’ uncle was arrested for unpaid parking tickets and sent to prison because he could not afford the fines. On the day he was supposed to be released, the family could not find him for a week until he called from Mexico and said he had been deported.

The uncle left behind three motherless children, whom Rodriguez’ family will have to take care of.

“It doesn’t matter to the police who they are when they deport people,” Rodriguez says. “They take people without knowing if it’s a father with children and he will have to leave the children all alone.”

Yet, Rodriguez did think that his uncle was not careful, and as a person living in Madison without documents, one must try not to get noticed. However, he said he wished that some people did not treat him like he was below them.

“For the simple fact of being Latino and cleaning the bathrooms you are seen as something different,” Rodriguez says. “They don’t see us as human beings, but people who break the rules.”

He says he is doing a job that no one else wants to do, which is custodial work in the WARF building on the west end of the UW campus for five hours every afternoon. This job, as well as teaching dance lessons on the weekends for six hours each day, gives him enough income to know he will eat every day, which isn’t a luxury he could always rely on in Mexico.

“I had to decide sometimes between a pair of new shoes and food,” Rodriguez says. “In reality, I didn’t want to leave Mexico, but this is a much more stable situation for me here.”

Rodriguez does not think he will ever feel completely at home here, and learning English has been a struggle for him. But he is grateful for the opportunities Madison offers.

Deportations

Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) says it is unforgivable that some immigrants entered or are living in the United States illegally. He says he thinks this automatically strips undocumented immigrants of any rights and that more people need to be deported.

He says families did not necessarily need to be separated, because other members of the family could return with the person being deported.

“If we are paying for the parents to go home, you might as well ship the kids with them,” Grothman says.

He says that the problem is huge because the Clinton and Bush administrations did a horrible job dealing with immigration. Grothman is not against immigration, noting that the U.S. historically has admitted more immigrants than the rest of the world, but he says he does believe those here illegally need to leave.

“You deport people who are clearly a problem and crack down on some businesses that are blatantly hiring illegals,” Grothman says. “Then you try to bring people here legally.”

In the U.S., about 164,000 people are put through the deportation process every year, according to the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Gennerman says that when immigrants without documents are arrested in southern Wisconsin, they are sent to the Dodge County correctional facility.

According to a written statement by Sheriff Todd Nehls on Dodge County’s Web site, illegal immigrants who are arrested for committing a serious crime or a felony will have to serve their time and will eventually be deported.

He notes that his office works closely with U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement, and says it is ultimately up to them if the offender will have to leave the United States. According to Nehls, once a week an ICE agent will come to the facility and speak with individuals in danger of deportation. He writes that his office does not condone those here illegally, nor those who employ them, and will continue to work to make sure undocumented people who commit crimes cannot stay in the country.

State Rep. Pedro Colón (D-Milwaukee), the first Latino elected to this position, agrees that people committing crimes should not be able to stay here, but adds that many undocumented people abide by the rules and do not deserve to be separated from their families.

“I have had grown men cry in front of me, asking me to stop it. You really have an emotional demise of people,” Colón says. “We go about our daily lives and we don’t think about it, but there are really miserable situations.”

May 1 Protest

On May 1, hundreds of people protested in the streets of Madison. Among the groups present was MEChA, the student Chicano movement on the UW campus. MEChA co-chair Ismael Cuevas sent out an e-mail to all the student organizations on campus a week before, informing them about the march and asking for their attendance and support.

He said some groups decided to participate, such as the UW Socialists whom he referred to as “cool-a-- white people.” But the toughest part about getting people to come to the event is that some students do not think that the issue affects them.

In response to this, Cuevas says, “You know when you go out to eat at a restaurant, you know who’s making the food, who’s cleaning the dishes, who is cleaning up after you? You know who is cleaning the campus? Well, that’s my people. That’s immigrant jobs.”

Cuevas, a Latino who feels particularly emotional about this because he spent his first 10 years in the United States undocumented, says he expected a big turnout from the community, but a smaller one from the campus at large. But he says some fear a police crackdown and this deters especially undocumented people from attending.

The march was calling for no more deportations, separation of families, exploitation of immigrants and workers, police oppression and racism. Cuevas says both documented and undocumented workers get exploited and many just want their rights.

The march started at noon at Brittingham Park where a crowd of about 500 people starting walking together in protest up W. Washington Ave. chanting “Si se puede (yes we can).” They headed toward the State Capitol, ending in front of the City-County Building. Representatives from several groups, including Madison Immigrant Workers Union, Campus Antiwar Network and the Student Labor Union, spoke to the crowd, some in Spanish with a translator and others in English.

Ben Ratliffe, a member of the UW Socialists and a December graduate, attended the march because he is angry about how immigrant workers are treated and he wants to support them.

“I think an injury to one is an injury to all,” Ratliffe says. “The way that we have demonized immigrant workers that come to this country is not only immoral, but repugnant.”

Grothman, however, says the march gives people the wrong idea.

“I think it [the march] is wrong because the leaders are confusing immigration with illegal immigration and there is a big difference,” Grothman says.

Some do not think that documentation matters, because those working in the country deserve rights. Marco, from Mexico, who did not want his last name used, attended the march because he wants equality for everyone, documented or not. He says that despite having his papers and living in Madison for 10 years and working at a production company, it is still his responsibility to make sure everyone has equal rights.

“All we want,” Marco says, “is the laws to be the same for everyone.”

2008-07-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

Much like the magazine I am working for LivinginArgentina.com, I myself have been living in Buenos Aires for over two months and now feel prepared to write about what it's like to be a interning journalist in another country. Actually, my amor of an editor, Laura Cambra , strongly encouraged me to start blogging, and since I am her willing protégé, I am giving it a shot. In this space I will put links to my published articles, post articles written for journalism classes that never got published and write about my development, aspiring to become a bilingual journalist.

Como la revista donde he estado trabajando, VivirenArgentina.com, yo también he estado viviendo en Buenos Aires los últimos dos meses, y ahora me siento preparada para escribir como es hacer una pasantía periodística en otro país. En realidad, mi lovely redactora, Laura Cambra, me animó empezar este blog, y como soy su aprendiza dispuesta, lo estoy intentando. En este espacio pondré los enlaces a mis artículos ya publicados, los artículos escritos en mis clases universitarias de periodismo que nunca han sido publicados y también escribir sobre mi desarrollo como una persona que aspira a ser periodista bilingüe.