Blogs from Buckhead, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, North America

It's been a year since my last blog, mostly because I haven't been traveling! I've been studying International Relations at a university in Atlanta and haven't had time to leave the country. Life's brought a lot of new experiences in the last year, but none that take me abroad: until now. In about a week I'm headed to Jordan for 2 months to study Arabic, so expect more blogs! In Atlanta I did a bit of sightseeing, but studying has taken up a lot of my time. Atlanta is a huge change from what I’m used to, especially in terms of size; even Munich wasn’t so big. With the exception of NYC, I’m not used to sightseeing in the US, but I have been to a few of Atlanta’s major tourist attractions. They have the biggest ... read more

Today was my first day in Atlanta Georgia. Atlanta is famous in the popular imagination as the city that General Sherman burned to the ground near the end of the Civil War. Local businessmen would rather that people view Atlanta as the city that quickly came back from that experience, and is now the premier city in the entire South. Arch-rival Charlotte (see ) will have something to say about that, of course, but Atlanta does have a reasonable claim. Atlanta History Center The place to explore Atlanta’s history is the Atlanta History Center. It’s located in Buckhead, the city’s wealthiest neighborhood. Significantly, Buckhead is the furthest neighborhood north of downtown. Getting here requires driving past an endless parade of mansions, not all of them the url=http://www.urbandictionary.co... read more

Race is very controversial subject to discuss, even more when it has to do to with racism and the perception every individual and culture has of it. As a person who was raised in Colombia, race was never a very present aspect in my life, but after living for more than ten years in the United States, my understanding of race and racism dramatically changed. After being in Rio de Janeiro and studying more about this culture, I discovered a different way of analyzing how the subject of race is understood and handled based on my experience in America. Even though America and Brazil have both suffered from significant racial discrimination throughout the history, in Brazil this issue has not been as stressed and pointed out as in the States. In America, racial discrimination has been ... read more

It is amazing how two bordering countries such as Brazil and Argentina can be so close to each other and yet be so different at the same time. I would say that the only thing they have in common is their passion for soccer. This passion is clearly explained in “The Beautiful Game”. Part of this reading describes how soccer defeats and victories have had the power to greatly affect Brazilians. The most relevant example given on this was what happened in 1950 at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro when Brazil was defeated by Uruguay in the World Cup final. The disappointment was such, that the results were perceived not only as a tragedy but also as a punishment. From that moment on, a lot of different superstitions were born. It is well known ... read more

Before coming to Buenos Aires, I had an idea how important soccer is within the Argentine culture, as well as for most of the South American Countries and Mexico; however, I really did not expect soccer to be such a strong source of identity for Angentines. Outside of Argentina, Argentines identify themselves by their nationality, but in Buenos Aires, Portenos identify themselves by their favorite soccer team; such as Boca Juniors, River Plate, Independiente, and others. As a South American, I have an understanding of how culturally important soccer is within our culture. Except for Venezuela, soccer is our national sport regardless of how well our national teams perform at an international level. Soccer has the immense power of moving masses and gathering people despite any political, racial, or religious differences. In Argentina, I have noticed ... read more