» American Pop Culture

One lifelong relationship

Deborah — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:05:10 +0000

There are very few things that I can say I’ve done my entire life. When I was about 7, I got into gymnastics and was planning on being the next Dominique Dawes. Then when I was 10, I abandoned gymnastics to start playing the violin and was determined to join an orchestra.

I have been watching General Hospital since I was 4 years-old and my grandmother introduced me to Anna and Robert, Luke and Laura, Frisco and Felicia. When I was 8 years-old, my cousin introduced me to Days of Our Lives and the now defunct Santa Barbara. I immediately became attached to Days with its quaint little town of Salem and top crime boss with a funny accent: Stefano Dimera. Every time I’ve lived abroad, soap operas have brought me a sense of home. The fictional characters and places feel like I’m catching up with old friends. The great thing about American daytime soap operas is that they rarely end.

Throughout the years, I have held hour-long conversations with complete strangers about the story lines from my soaps. I remember watching old episodes of Models, Inc. on a 13” black and white TV while studying abroad in France. I wasn’t a fan of the show when it aired in the states, but watching those women live through outrageous story lines was a taste of the familiar. While telenovelas are very popularn here, due to their short duration I can never become a fan. After all, how else are children supposed to become adults in 5 years and how are characters going to come back from dead…several times? In my opinion, telenovela fans are not getting their money’s worth.

Below is a video of the best weddings on General Hospital. You may see the same people getting married more than once, but don’t worry – that might be their evil twin

Cultural hodgepodge

Deborah — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:35:51 +0000

While thinking about how well the kids have adapted to Caracas, I asked myself how I’ve been doing in terms of continuing to instill Haitian and American values in their lives. The answer is: not so good.

I knew that this was going to be tough considering that the move here added another culture and I was already having a hard time handling two. But, I was up for the challenge because I didn’t want them to lose that part of themselves because of the new environment.

The first reason I think this has slipped so much is that there are a lot of similarities between the Haitian and Venezuelan culture (i.e. greeting with a kiss on the cheek). The second is that aside from school, the kids are constantly seeing people who are brown like them. For my seven year-old, that means that I don’t get a lot of questions from her about physical differences. I don’t assume to fully understand race relations here, but they are definitely different than the U.S.

As for American culture, it’s impossible to completely escape it. I know this going to sound bad, but the kids get a dose just about everyday through television and some of the kids at school.

I know those are not really good excuses, but at least I recognize the problem. I am definitely going to make a more concerted effort in the months to come.

I confess!

Deborah — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:25:34 +0000

I have been watching American TV (and bad TV) on my computer.

I told myself before coming here that I was going to go cold turkey on all my secret obsessions with reality TV. This was so I could focus on immersing myself in Venezuelan culture and I can spend my free time doing more productive things. Well, I think being productive can sometimes be overrated – especially when Jersey Shore and Real Housewives of Orange County are on the line!

The worst part about this indulgence is the trouble that I had to go through in order to view these shows. I found out during my visit in October (that’s how bad the addiction is) that you cannot access most US channels or services streaming American TV (i.e. hulu.com) from abroad. That’s part of the reason I had made that whole “being productive” statement.

When I got here in December, I stumbled upon a site that listed various free VPN services that would allow me to use these websites. I should have ran when I read it was free. This one program I installed which shall remain nameless (Hotspot Shield), hijacked my computer and eventually caused the blue screen of death. I uninstalled the devil and then went a couple days sans TV.

Unfortunately, I fell off the wagon a couple days ago and found this great, easy to use, and reasonably priced VPN service online (no software required). Now, all systems are a go and I got to see Vicki renew her vows with Don and learn about the Situation’s daily ritual of gym-tanning-laundry.