Teaching college - level Spanish, and other issues

Humana Sucks - a bureaucratic update

2012-02-23T11:45:00.001-08:00

As a follow-up to my rant against Humana from a few days ago, here is an update of the situation. Basically, it boils down to bureaucracy. I contacted Humana, and was transferred three times before somebody gave me an answer. Apparently, what they cover or not of a medication is a certain number of pills a day, regardless of dosage. In my specific case, Humana only covers 2 pills a day of the medication I was trying to buy. Now that medication comes in 5, 10, 20, 25 and 30 mg pills. Humana will only cover 2 pills a day, regardless of whether your prescription is for 2 10mg pills or 20 mg pills. So Humana would cover 2 x 30mg a day, but not 3 x 20mg a day. Of course, I knew that arguing with the woman on the phone (who was very rude), was pointless. She just kept repeating: "These are the rules". Thanks, I know that much. When I asked her why wasn't the pharmacist informed of the rule, she had nothing to say but added: "I can see in my computer that she tried to order X number of pills. We only cover X-1 number of pills per month" (so let say the pharmacist tried to order 65 pills, but they only cover 64). This was in direct contradiction with what she had just told me, but when I pointed out she just blurted: "Blame your pharmacist, she made the mistake ordering the wrong amount of pills". So I finally got a new prescription to regularize the situation. That problem was solved. However, I have one last thought: to all those who didn't want a single payer health insurance system because "government bureaucrats would be deciding about your health", I have one thing to say: "Health insurance bureaucrats (that in many cases have an incentive to deny you coverage) are already deciding about your health. I would much rather trust somebody from the government that the idiot I was on the phone with from Humana. At least, I wouldn't be paying for some CEO to become a billionaire.

For the first time in five years...

2012-02-22T10:55:00.000-08:00

***POOF***

How to ruin a perfectly-planned working day

2012-02-21T14:54:00.000-08:00

I do not teach Thursdays and Tuesdays. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I'm usually too tired by 4pm to do anything else (seriously, the 10 minutes drive back home on surface street can become hazardous). My parents are in town. They are perfectly capable of taking care on their own, but I decided that I was going to devote either Thursday or Tuesday to them, and work hard on my already due article the other day. The grading can wait until they leave. So I chose to spend Thursday with them. I arrived today to my office, all energized and ready to work. I open the door and, I am not kidding, it felt like a sauna. The building has a heating and cooling system that you can't modify on your own. And somebody decided that we were all freezing to death or something, because 5 minutes in my office I was not only in a short-sleeved shirt, but I started sweating as if it were 100 degrees Fahrenheit. I called Physical Plant, but they refused to lower the temperature. I couldn't stay in my office for more than 30 minutes, so I had to go back home!!! The grading got done, yeah... But the article is still waiting. And I hope that tomorrow they turn the temperature to freezing, just for the fun of it. At least I can bundle up!

This new crop of students looks promising

2012-02-20T19:40:00.000-08:00

Today, after I finished my Civilization I class (and shocked 90% of the students showing Herzog's Aguirre), T., one of the best students in the class and only a freshman, approached me.

T.: "Professor, I need some suggestions"

Me: "About what?"

T.: "Latin American Marxist theorists"

Me: "Huhhh?"

T.: "Yes, my Modern Political and Social Thought class is too eurocentric. The professor thinks that intellectuals only come from Europe, so I want to write my final essay on Latin American Marxist Thought. You always say that Latin America has a great intellectual tradition, and I want to discover it"

He is coming to my office hours on Thursday. In the meantime, I'm frantically researching to come up with as many names as possible (I know quite a bit about it, but I'm a perfectionist). I told him I wanted to read his essay after he turned it in, and that he was free to ask me for advice on it as much as he wants.

If I can have 4 of them in every class, I'm the happiest prof in the world. And it looks like I may have an interesting student to watch grow and develop intellectually.

Need advice from fellow English professors - how many novels to assign in the syllabus

2012-02-20T03:52:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned before, next semester I will get to teach my (almost) dream course: Contemporary Latin American crime fiction, in translation. I'm in the first stages of designing the syllabus (perfectionist as I am, that takes a lot of time for me), and I just realized a problem. I've always taught Literature courses in Spanish. Because of the language barrier (even if it's a 400-level lit course, the language barrier still exists), I probably assign less reading material than what is customary in a literature course taught in English. So now, I have no idea of what is an appropriate amount of assigned reading for my future course, since it will be taught in English.

To give you an idea: it's a 200 level course, and in my institution, while nobody assigns three books a week to read, being demanding is expected, both from the students (well, usually from the students) and from the administration. So I don't need to treat them lightly. But I don't want to be unreasonable either. They will be reading contemporary crime fiction. How many novels do you think is appropriate to assign? Or better yet, since there might be short stories, how many pages a week for a 3 credit hour course? Any advice on this, and additional pedagogical tips, will be greatly appreciated.

How I chose a therapist. . .

2012-02-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

As an Argentinean, I am a big believer in talk therapy (as opposed to cognitive behavioral therapy and similar approaches more popular in the United States). While living in Argentina, I went to see a psychologist for a year and a half. That, by Argentina's standards, is nothing. It was good to go, it solved some issues, made others more clear, and overall it helped a lot. When I moved to the United States, I didn't even bother going. In the first place, because I didn't think I needed one, but also because I was afraid that I would hit a wall due to cultural differences. I deeply distrust therapy as practiced in the United States. Even those who brand themselves as non-traditional, or with a more holistic approach, can be nothing more than your typical tell me what your problem is and we'll solve it kind of therapist. The idea that other issues may arise later never occur to them.

As an example, a few years ago, B. wanted to start therapy for a variety of reasons. The most clear one was that he felt confused as to his future career and how to manage his time as a freelancer, feeling guilty that I was the one bringing a salary to the household. So we looked around, and finally settled on a lady that not only took our insurance, but also lived half a mile away from home and advertised herself as "holistic" (she had a PhD in Psychology and all the necessary degrees, too). B. went to her for about 6 month, and she tried to become more of a career coach than a therapist. Maybe B. was giving the wrong signals or asking for advice the wrong way, I don't know. In June of that year, B. found out that his mother's lymphoma had re-occurred, so he flew to Southern California to be with her for 6 weeks (she is in remission now, thankfully). When he came back, the therapist pretty much "fired" him, saying that he obviously didn't need her help since he wasn't following her instructions nor cooperating with the therapy. I was shocked. First of all, what are you supposed to be? Some sheep that follows orders? Doesn't it occur to them that part of that resistance is what drove the patient to therapy in the first place. Above all, firing a patient whose mother is going through cancer (and her prognosis was not very clear at the time)!!! Maybe, just maybe, the patient will need some help coping with the situation in the future. Just saying...

Last October, I decided that I wanted to try therapy. There were a few things bugging me, and I am the type of person who doesn't think I need to be clinically depressed or have major issues to go to therapy. But I wondered? Will I ever find a decent therapist? How do I look for one (beyond starting calling everybody on my health insurance provider in-network list)? I went first to the website ratemds.com It's like Rate Your Professor but for doctors. As with Rate your Professors, I believe that it can be very helpful and revealing as to what type of doctor somebody is. It has usually been a good guide while choosing a specialist or a GP. But for a therapist, I wondered if that would hold true. After all, I have a completely different approach to therapy than most Americans do. So I started reading the reviews, and I chose one with very low rankings!!! Why, you'd ask... Because the recurring comment about him was that he only wanted your money because he was very slow, wanted you to talk a lot, and after 10 sessions your issue was not resolved. That, of course, was the sign of an ineffective therapist for many. For me, it was what made me call him. Maybe, just maybe, we could fit. So far, I like him. Of course, I only go twice a month (what my insurance will pay). But he doesn't pressure me, doesn't try to "solve" my problems. He just listens, and that's the most important part. So I guess I got lucky, after all.

One thing why I am proud of Argentina - Immigration

2012-02-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

I'm the less nationalistic person you'll ever find. I couldn't care less about Malvinas (Falklands), and in fact I think they should leave the kelpers alone, and insisting that the Malvinas belong to Argentina (something that is questionable even from a juridical point of view) is an act of imposition from the Argentine government on the population of that island who hate us (with very good reasons). There are certain things, though, for which I am proud of my country. A female president (even if I don't like her) is one of them. Federal same-sex marriage law is another one. A very progressive Supreme Court is a third reason. The fact that Argentina (or certain organizations) is an example of a country that pursued justice for the crimes committed during the dictatorship, no matter the setbacks and obstacles, is an additional one. Yesterday, while chatting with my father, I realized of another reason why my country makes me proud: it is probably the country in the world with the most lax attitude towards immigration. That doesn't mean that immigrants (specially if their skin is darker than that of a middle class porteño) don't face racism and xenophobia in Argentina. They do, and I am certainly not proud of that. How prevalent or not it is is usually tied to the whole economic climate. But it can be nasty, there is no doubt in that.

Regardless (and this is not an attempt to dismiss the issue of racism and discrimination in Argentina), mostly anybody who decides to move to Argentina (legally or illegally) gets their legal residence after a few years. There is an amnesty law to regularize illegal immigrants once or twice every decade. Even when there are economic problems and xenophobia rises, nobody questions these amnesty laws. Compared to the United States and, above all, Europe, I find the country's attitude enlightened. And it makes me very proud to be a citizen of a country that still has an open door policy.

You know that you are culturally becoming an American

2012-02-17T20:07:00.000-08:00

or at least a Midwestern, when you go out with your parents for dinner. You each have a pint of a tasty, wonderful IPA beer. When the waitress comes around asking if somebody wants another round, you say yes without thinking twice. Your father says no, and explain that he has already drunk too much (a pint of an IPA). He wasn't driving later. Your first thought is: "That's lame". Of course, I refrained from saying it out loud, but that's what I thought. Seriously, one pint is too much beer? What's wrong with him?

Changing Health Insurance - Humana sucks

2012-02-17T04:23:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in a post last November, my university changed health insurance providers. We used to have Anthem, but now we have Humana. I was never a fan of Anthem (who can be a fan of his/her health insurance provider), but I had gotten used to it. I pretty much knew what was going to go smoothly and what was going to become a problem. Now, I have that learning curve again with Humana, and I can officially say that Humana sucks.

I went to the doctor yesterday to renew my prescription for my ADHD medicine. With Anthem, I used their mail-in pharmacy, and though it never took less than 3 weeks for the prescription to arrive, Anthem always covered it. Since I was fearing that the new mail-in pharmacy provided by Humana was going to be worse than that of Anthem, I asked my doctor to write me a 30 day prescription that I could fill out at my local pharmacy. I'd rather pay the extra $20 it would cost me every three months to fill it locally, than deal with mail-in pharmacies customer service (hint: they are way worse than whatever I've ever dealt with an insurance. And that is a lot to say). After the doctor's appointment, I went to my local CVS to fill the prescription. And surprise, surprise... Humana denied the claim. First, they said they would cover up to 2/3 of what my doctor prescribed. But even that wouldn't go through. I watched as the patient pharmacist at CVS was on the phone with Humana for 25 minutes, being pass around and never getting an answer. The only clue they got was that they told her that my doctor would have to fax an authorization and my medical history regarding ADHD to Humana for them to process and cover the medication. It has never happened to me with Anthem! And it is a generic (though a very expensive one) what I have a prescription for, not a new drug that they refuse to cover. I was furious. She called my doctor, and so did I, and they promised to fax everything to Humana that same day. But I have no idea what the outcome will be, and just having to go through the hassle and the perspective of having to fight over the phone with a customer service representative (actually, I think they call them patient advocate, misnomer if I've ever heard one) just caused my anxiety to go through the roof. As an Argentinean, I am used to long lines just to pay a bill or to do a bureaucratic errand, but trying to reason on the phone with somebody I suspect is getting paid to deny claims just terrifies me. Because you know you are at their mercy, and there is no amount of talk and reasoning that can change their decision. So let's hope everything goes on smoothly, but I am not holding my breath. And I take this incident as an indication of similar things to come from Humana. I know this is nothing compared to the situations many people go through (and let's not even talk about the uninsured), but I had to stop crying before I was able to drive to the airport to pick my parents. It is in situations like this that I hate the United States. In Argentina, even if I was uninsured, I would have to go through long lines and spend a lot of time just to get an appointment. But I would get care. And people are more human.

F**ck Humana! That's all I can say. And I wrote this post a day after the incident happened (still no news), just to calm down before writing. F**ck!

Smart questions...Rewarding teaching moments

2012-02-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the students and I were doing a close reading of some fragments of Las Casas' Brevisima Relacion in my Latin American Civilization I class. T., a freshman I'd never had before in my class, raised his hand.

"Professor SP, there is something I don't understand. We've spent almost a month reading about XVIth century debates on whether America's native people were even human beings, whether they had a soul or not. That was very important to justify the labor regimes under which they were exploited. On the other hand, we've learned that one if the main justifications the Spaniards gave for the Conquest and the plundering that ensued was that their mission to evangelize and convert the "Indians" to Christianity."

"Yes," I answered, "you are right, T."

"But that makes no sense," said T. "You can't evangelize and convert to Christianity somebody who is not a human being and that supposedly doesn't have a soul. How did the Spaniards reconcile that?"

Since I am not a Colonialist, I did not know what to answer. I just looked at T. and replied: "I don't know the answer, because it's the first time somebody asks that in the three times I've taught the class. And honestly, such a contradiction never occurred to me. I can only say that's the most brilliant question I've had while teaching this particular class."

Those are the moments that make teaching worthwhile. And I've discovered the brilliant Spanish major of the next four years. I hope he takes many classes with me in the future.

What can I say? I've fallen for Linsanity like half the US

2012-02-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

I first heard the name Jeremy Lin last Friday, like many Americans. A friend on Facebook made some comment on how Lin was going to be better than Kobe Bryant that night (his words were not as PG), of course. I looked up who Jeremy Lin was, found that he was the man of the moment at the NBA, but that was it. I follow the San Antonio Spurs, though not fanatically. Friday night, B. and I went out for our usual Friday night routine: a beer and a burger at our corner bar. It is usually a very low key affair. Not that night: they were showing Knicks vs Lakers, and what is usually one or two beers ended up being four or five. And Jeremy Lin's 38 points made next day hangover absolutely worth it.

I spent Saturday recuperating from the hangover, waiting for the next Knicks game to start, and researching more into Jeremy Lin's story. I realized I hadn't been hiding under a rock not knowing who Lin was until the day before, but that only few people (basketball fans from the Bay Area) knew of his existence until a week ago. I read many interesting articles that analyzed more in depth Lin's rise to stardom (I specially liked a few at the blog The New Black Man. I'm writing this from my IPod, so I can't link. But go to that blog and look for them, they are really insightful). I did't blog until yesterday, because I spent Sunday and Monday catching up on late work.

Today I was in my office watching the YouTube video of Lin's three pointer last night against the Raptors. My boss came in, saw what I was watching and said: "I guess you are the right person to offer my two Saturday's tickets for [insert name of my institution] basketball game against [insert name of second institution]". I had to check that the Knicks were playing on Friday before accepting them.

What can I say? I've fallen into Jeremy Lin's crazyness. The only thing that still stops me is his religiousness. I am afraid he'll participate in an anti-abortion ad, or something similar, like Tebow. Unlike Tebow, though, he actually has talent. My parents are coming into town tomorrow. Do you think they'll mind spending Friday night at a bar watching a game? I'll pay for the beer...

Madonna's show was badass and subversive???

2012-02-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

I know this is old news, but I've been so busy that I only read this yesterday. After the Super Bowl, I wrote how, against many people's opinion, I found Madonna's Super Bowl show horrendous. I also wrote how I found MIA's performance ten times better, even though I had no idea who she was until after the show (My pop culture knowledge is 10 years behind the time). Well, MIA happens to be an interesting and controversial performer. Right now, everybody knows how MIA stole the show. Everybody was talking about her, flipping the middle finger during the show. And what was Madonna's reaction? She was not very happy. She called the stunt "irrelevant" and "out of place". She added:

I wasn’t happy about it. I understand it’s punk rock and everything, but to me there was such a feeling of love and good energy, and positivity it seemed negative. It’s such a teenager … irrelevant thing to do … there was such a feeling of love and unity there what was the point?

Really Madonna? The woman who was the queen of such stunts in the 80s reacting like a scolding high school principal? And people who criticize her performance are guilty of ageism? I think she brings that to herself. She sounds like a New Age hippie with too much money. "Feeling of love and good energy", "Positivity", "Love and Unity"...Yeah, that was so subversive and badass...Give me a break...MIA may have acted like a teenager (though I don't believe so), but Madonna is being at least hypocritical with her criticism. I know it's just business and everything, but Madonna should avoid becoming a parody of her former self. In the meantime, I've gone from considering her irrelevant to actually start disliking her. Though thanks to her, I have discover some really badass performer: MIA.

21st Century Latin American films on border crossing - A reader needs help

2012-02-14T13:03:00.000-08:00

A reader wrote me asking for suggestions about 21st century Latin American films that deal with the issue of border crossing. Ze is trying to stay away from the typical film with US involvement (such as Sin Nombre). Ze also uses the notion of border crossing broadly: immigration, drug smuggling and even micro-borders like upscale gated communities invaded by criminal elements (like La Zona).

As I told the reader in an email, it's not exactly my field of expertise. I suggested Adrian Caetano's Bolivia and Jorge Gaggero's Cama Adentro, but that's what I could come up out of the top of my head. Since I have such a wonderful community of readers, I would like to invite you to contribute names of possible movies that fit the reader's research. Helping each other is what this blog is about, after all.

Revolting . . . Disgusting

2012-02-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

Those are my feelings after one of the men who did the most to obtain justice for human right's violations in Latin America, Spanish Judge Baltazar Garzón, was convicted yesterday for "overstepping his jurisdiction in a corruption probe". He was barred from the bench for 11 years, while none of those involved in the corruption probe have been convicted. These links are to opinion pieces in Spanish. You can look for more information in English, if you want, but I won't even bother with the "objective" tone of what passes as reporting in the Anglo world. There is nothing objective for me regarding this. Close relatives of mine have worked with Garzón regarding cases of the last Argentina's dictatorship. Spanish justice system should be ashamed of itself.

Meet the new Che Guevara: Ricky Martin!!!

2012-02-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

Apparently this is old news, but I only found out yesterday: in the new Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita, Che Guevara will be played by no other than Ricky Martin!!! When I read the news yesterday, I couldn't stop laughing. An openly gay singer playing the most commercialized Latin American icon of the past 50 years. Ricky Martin playing America's favorite macho revolutionary. That is just brilliant! Seriously, I can't think of a better casting choice. For the record, I don't like musicals, I hate Madonna's Evita (if you want a better movie about Evita, released almost at the same time, try Juan Carlos Desanzo's Eva Peron), and I like Ricky Martin in a guilty pleasure sort of way. I also admire that somebody who was such a sex symbol in Latin American markets had the guts to come out and openly admit that he was gay. It could have hurt his career (it didn't seem to do so), but he didn't care. And now, he is playing Che Guevara. For the first time, I actually want tickets to a musical. Too bad I won't be in New York in April. I can always wait for the YouTube videos.

Campus interview the day after the Superbowl

2012-02-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

I didn't want to publish this post yesterday, because I did not want to add even more pressure to those in the job market. But now that it is not the day after the Superbowl any longer, I will write about the worst campus interview I ever had. As you can imagine, it was the day after the Superbowl.

Things started bad since it was something like the coldest day of the previous 100 years in that region. It was something like -3 degrees, Fahrenheit. I wasn't used to that cold, and apparently neither were the students nor the faculty. The college I was interviewing was nowhere near the cities where the two teams that played the Super Bowl were from (Chicago Bears vs. Indianapolis Colts). However, the combination of Super Bowl hangover plus coldness resulted in that only half the class where I was supposed to give my teaching demonstration showed up. It was a Beginning Spanish II class, and I had only ten students. Of those, probably 8 refused to talk. Even when I personally asked them questions related to the material. The faculty attending the demonstration blamed it on me, of course. They didn't hide their faces, and I overheard a snide remark later. Of course, at that point, I couldn't care less about getting the job (it was before the big economic crash, so I could be a little more relaxed). Later, instead of professors showing me the campus, they asked a poor student to do the task. Remember, it was -3 F. The student showed me around for 15 minutes, and suddenly turns to me and asks: "Do you really want to see the campus? We could hide in a warm place". I don't know if it was a test or not, but I gladly agree and we hid from the professors for 30 minutes in the physics building. I was supposed to have lunch with students, but the three student who'd do it were not there. Another casualty of the Super Bowl and the coldness. So they got some random students in the lower-level language classes (which had no intention on becoming majors), who were charming. There wasn't much to talk about, obviously. The whole day was like that, pretty hostile on the part of the professors of the Modern Language Department too. You can imagine how relieved I was when I took the plane the next day back to Grad City.

The last chapter of the story happened three weeks later. I received a rejection e-mail from that college, for a position of Assistant Professor in Chemistry!!!! That's right, HR couldn't even get the candidates right, so I got the e-mail for the wrong position. I guess I was really lucky to have avoided that place.

The Santa Barbara Gauchos

2012-02-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

A good anecdote to show how little my husband knows about sports. He did his undergraduate degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Yesterday, he received a Linkedin message from a former classmate, which said that he wanted to contact all the Santa Barbara Gauchos. B. didn't understand what he meant by "gauchos". Only after doing some research did he realized that the "Gauchos" is also the nickname for the UC Santa Barbara sports teams, and that the request had nothing to do to the fact that he went to UC Santa Barbara and married an Argentine woman. Even after being married to an Argentine woman for 5 years, he had no recollection that UC Santa Barbara's sport teams were nicknamed "gauchos". Quite funny, in my opinion.

If I can't make a negative comment about Madonna's performance during the Superbowl

2012-02-05T21:04:00.001-08:00

because it would be considered sexist and ageist, then feminism in this country is kind of f**ed. I was about to make a few jokes about Madonna's horrendous performance on the Superbowl (cheerleaders? LUV Madonna? It looked like a SNL parody, in my opinion), but I saw a few sites were they were attacking people critizicing Madonna as an example if sexism and ageism (no, I'm not linking, you can find them yourself). I'm sure a lot of the attacks were sexist and ageist. But her performance was embarrassing, sorry. The cheerleading thing, the backup dancers dresses as nuns (reminded me of Sister Act). I'll keep the jokes to myself, though. I don't want to be politically incorrect. And by the way, I've been making fun of the Rolling Stones for the past 25 years. So I am equally opportunity. Whatever...i made the mistake of watching the last half of the game. I should have taking an Aderall to deal with those commercials. They gave me a headache, and now I'm grumpy. And tomorrow I have to teach "gustar" to first month SPAN 101 students. If you know Spanish, you know only an idiot could put that lesson on the second chapter of the textbook. Blehhh...

You know you were not born in the United States...

2012-02-04T15:31:00.001-08:00

...when you go grocery shopping the day before the Superbowl, are surprised that the parking lot is so packed that the only space you find is that destined for firetrucks only (and decide to park there since five other cars have done the same), and only realize what's going on when you see an advertisement flyer inside the store. Thankfully, I wasn't planning on buying chips, salsa or beer, or I would have had to battle the desperate mobs.

You know you've crossed the line between research and obsessiveness...

2012-02-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

...when you see an article published in 1985, in an obscure Conference Proceedings volume, by a professor in Argentina. It may be useful for the current article you are writing. You can't find the article or the volume anywhere. You try Interlibrary Loan to no avail. According to WorldCat, it is not in any American library. So you have a brilliant idea. E-mail the professor, and politely ask if ze could facilitate a copy of the long lost article. But there is a problem: some universities in Argentina, including the one where this professor works, do not list email addresses in their directories. Google search doesn't help. So you have another brilliant idea. Call your father in Argentina, who is a university professor (though in a different institution), and ask him if he can find the email address. Your father calls you 2 days later and informs you that he has contacted a friend who knows somebody that works at the same institution of the writer of the article. You compliment your father on his efforts, and encourage him to keep up with the lead and find the information.

I just got off the phone with my father. And the article is probably not that important.

Best time-saving item every professor needs to have!!!

2012-02-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

I ordered one yesterday, I'm planning on wearing it to my classes as soon as it arrives... And then, at least the first day of class every semester.

You can find the t-shirt here.

Answering Google questions

2012-02-02T11:23:00.000-08:00

I realized it's been a long time (probably since 2011) since I wrote a post answering Google questions from my readers, so it's about time that I resume this invaluable service. After all, what would this blog be without its faithful readers?

Q: cultural differences between Somalia and United States.
I’m guessing many. However, that is not a question I am qualified to answer. But if by any chance you are interested in knowing cultural differences between Argentina and the United States, here is one of my most popular posts ever. It has consistently ranked among the top 5 posts of the month since it was published.

Q: "depiction of buenos aires" in film
These are some of my favorite movies where Buenos Aires is, in itself, essential to the narrative: Wong Kar Wai's Happy Together; Alejandro Agresti's Buenos Aires, Viceversa; Fabian Bielinsky's Nine Queens, Adrian Caetano and Bruno Stagnaro's Pizza, birra, faso. Other options, although I do not think they are as good as the previous ones as movies, are Veronica Chen's Vagon Fumadorand Ariel Rotter's Solo por hoy (watch for the Wong Kar Wai "influences" on this one). These examples are all from contemporary movies (from the past 15-20 years). If you want something older, check Laura Podalsky's wonderful book Specular City: Transforming Culture, Consumption, and Space in Buenos Aires, 1955-1973for suggestions.

Q: How do I teach for the Spanish language AP exam?
If you are even asking that, are you sure you are qualified? Start by reading the official AP Spanish Language Course Page. They have many resources, including sample syllabi. Then go to the AP Spanish Language Sample Exam Questions and Scoring Guidelines from previous years. Also, it would be a good idea to talk to colleagues who have been teaching the course for a number of years. But seriously, are you sure you are qualified to teach this class?

Q: are americans uncomfortable discussing social class?
Social class? What’s that? That is a non-existent phenomenon in the United States. If you even dare to suggest something called social classes exist in this country, you’ll be accused of being a Marxist, a socialist, inciting class warfare, being a traitor to the United States, etc. Does that answer your question?

Donate to Planned Parenthood today! It's personal, and it's political....

2012-02-01T16:54:00.000-08:00

If you support women's rights and women's health, please consider an immediate donation to Planned Parenthood...

I've never been a big fan of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. With the pink ribbon everywhere, and after they sued smaller charities that use "for the cure" in any variation as if they owned the phrase, they always looked to me more like a brand and a business than a real charity. In addition, Nancy G. Brinker, its founder and CEO, is a major Republican donor. All of these, of course, does not deny that they've donated tons of money to really positive causes. But I've never donated to them because I never felt comfortable with all of the above. I just found out that Susan G. Komen has decided not to give Planned Parenthood a $600,000 grant to be used for breast exams for low-income women. Their reason for doing so is that Planned Parenthood is under Congressional investigation (an investigation brought by the same folks who destroyed ACORN). Most people, though, believe they are caving to the pressure of anti-abortion groups. It is really a shame that such a powerful ~~corporation~~ charity would go along with the desires of ultra-conservative groups that would like to reverse women's rights to go back to the XIXth century. Even more ironically, if you go to Susan G. Komen Facebook page (you do not need an account to do so), you'll see that two posts below the announcement of their decision, they have a post with a CDC report that showcases the big gap among the poor and the uninsured in cancer screening rates.

But it looks like the story might have a positive outcome. Not only the backlash has been huge (read the comments on Susan G. Komen Facebook wall, there are so many negative ones that they can't erase all of them), but people have started donating to Planned Parenthood in response. According to this article,

Planned Parenthood announced on Wednesday that it has received $400,000 from about 6,000 donors since Komen announced it was cutting funding to the organization on Tuesday afternoon.

So if your finances allow it, please donate to Planned Parenthood today! Myself, I just sent a $100 donation. And if you are thinking about donating to a breast cancer non-profit, please choose one other than Susan G. Komen. I am not an expert, so I can't recommend other organizations, but feel free to leave suggestions in the comments if you want.

2012 Tax season - Tax form with Student Loan Interest Statement

2012-02-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year again!!! When accountants become workaholics and make a lot of money, and when the rest of the population has one headache after the other. It's tax season!!!

I always try to start as soon as possible (and I do the taxes myself and actually enjoy doing it! It's like a good brain exercise). But I have two questions:

1)Has anybody received the Form 1098-E, better known as the form that says how much interest you paid the previous year on your student loans? I don't have student loans, but B. does, and not having the form is the only thing stopping me from starting the process.

2) I read somewhere that the Congress had yet to amend (as they do every year) the AMT tax and other delicacies of the American tax code. Does anybody know if it has actually happen, or if it may happen soon? Otherwise, it looks that for the first time, B. and I will get hit with the AMT. Those of you who follow this issues more closely (Grumpies, Kellen, I'm looking at you), are there any other changes that may happen before tax season is over?

At this point, I don't dare to estimate whether we'll get a refund or we'll have to pay extra (every year, we come pretty close, but usually get a refund). Even a few hundred dollars back would be awesome. One can only hope.

Going back to my alma mater - not as excited as I thought I would be.

2012-01-31T14:36:00.000-08:00

Last Fall, my dissertation advisor contacted me. There is a regional conference taking place at my alma mater in the next few months. My advisor wanted to put together a panel with some of his former students. He asked me if I was interested, and I said yes. I thought it was a good excuse to go back and see some people again, and I also liked my advisor's idea of putting together a panel with his former students (I had a very good relationship with him). So I sent the proposal, and it got accepted.

My experience in grad school was mostly good, although it ended on a bittersweet note. On the good side, I had really caring professors. They gave as good advice while treating us like human beings with lives. I got a TT job straight out from grad school (as did everybody else in my program that was in the market that year). I met B. my last year and was married 11 months later. On the bad side, my last summer there a beloved professor passed away unexpectedly. During the last year of grad school I had a falling out with somebody who had been my best friend there, and that hurt me more than you can think and also introduced an element of awkwardness in the relationships I had with some other people.

Back to the conference. Yesterday I received the tentative program, and I realized that I wasn't the only one who'd think attending the conference would be a good excuse to go back to my alma mater. So did the person I had a falling out with, and a few other people with whom it became awkward to hang out because of this first person. Basically, I'm going back to my alma mater, but the memories of the bad things will also be present. Maybe I'm still resentful of how things went down, maybe I haven't gotten over it yet, but I wish such person wasn't there. Since yesterday, I've been feeling anxious about the whole thing. I know it won't be bad, but I wish I could avoid interacting with said person and a few others. And I know it won't be possible. Blerghh...Not happy