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Entries in economics (178)

Tuesday
Nov132012

nothing behind. everything in front.

He went to Turkey for 51 moments. 

He explored a 4,000 year old Roman city on the Black Sea. Citizens were hospitable. Strangers came and went.

He wandered to Sumela, a Greek monastery (386 A.D.) in the mountains. Murals covered fall changing colors.

It reminded him of Mesa Verde (600 A.D.) in Colorado. Cliff dwellings. Isolated. Peaceful.

 

 

He returned to Trap A Zone, photographed street life and attended an English teacher training class.

You have to complete a unit in 53 minutes, said the female administrator. Ryhmes with see you later alligator and procrastinator.

The economic fact she did not enunciate was the language school's objective:

PROFIT BEFORE PEOPLE

We enroll them, take their money, give them a textbook with a fancy CD and their class time. Your job is to push them through. One class means finishing 3 units in 3 hours.

After nine weeks, presto! they complete one level, we take their money and they advance toward a higher standard of living filled with past continuous verbs, fresh tomatoes and black olives garnished with hazelnuts.

Does Hazel have nuts? To be evaluated. 

A native speaker from O-Zone asked a question. Are students all the same level?

Close enough, she said. They know grammar rules like nobody's business. They lack vocabulary. They are afraid to speak. They are robotic victims of the educational system well trained to keep their mouth shut, read and memorize. You have no freedom to create fun, interesting, student-directed activities.

Just do the book. Everyone's happy, especially the accountant.

Thank you for your attention.

Sunday
Nov042012

a shift

Elf asked Orphan. Can you tell me in 25 words or less about your brief time in eastern Anatollia?

I can try. I open my head, heart and mouth. Do they count in the 25?

It's ok. 

Their hospitality is sublime.

Below the surface they love guns and passive-aggressive attitudes. Adolescent macho males in black cradle submachine guns. 

You see worried sullen faces. Depression is served cold with anxiety.

We are worried about money, said one citizen. We have BIG shiny watches, fancy clothes, meat and no sex. We live in fear and ignorance. 

Cultures in which food is scarce, people have more open sex, but dream of food. Whereas cultures in which food is abundant, sex is more taboo, and people yet dream of sex.

You exceeded your word limit, said Elf. Cut the shit. Start walking.

Thursday
Oct042012

one day

one morning i assembled my tools.

scrubbing and scouring my day away. see my hand.

two men talked in the market.

one said, i lost today.

what do you mean? you made 3,000,000 lira today.

yes but i lost one day.

Friday
Jul272012

blind sex

i like him.

it's a hungry combustionable combination of lust, loneliness and real.

skin is currency. exchange value and user value.

you can trust maybe 10% in vietnam. they are good at sex. they steal your money.

here it's maybe 50%. we are poor at sex. we don't steal your money.

we steal your _____. down at the crossroads.

he comes to me at mid-day. it is sweltering and sleepy. i welcome him him with fingers on lips...shh.

we go upstairs. we dance naked. when you dance you are truly alive.

we explore geography and invisible borders and silent musical interludes.

i am the silence between notes. harmony, rhythm, and melody.

i am his melody and he is my harmony.

my speech voice is missing. i make rolling guttural sounds expressing metaphors, similes, intonations, frequencies, meaning, sense, time, space, ideas, dreams, relationships, secrets, traditional family values, fear, passion, heart, joy and sadness.

he is blind and i am deaf.

our music is not available for download. 

 

Wednesday
Jul112012

khmer life skills 101

Do you want to understand us, asked a Khmer girl. 

Yes.

Ok. Here's a story every child sees, hears, smells, and eats in school. It says everything.

     Once upon a time there was a hungry rabbit.

     It saw a woman coming with a basket of bananas on her head.

     The rabbit thought, I will play dead and see what happens.

     The woman stopped when she saw the rabbit.

     She said, “A dead rabbit. Meat. We will eat good tonight.”

      She picked up the rabbit, put it her basket and continued walking.

     The rabbit ate all the bananas and ran away.

     What a clever rabbit.

She gets home. Her family is happy to have food.

"I found a rabbit. We'll eat good tonight."

She put the basket down. "O my."

Lesson? Don't put all your bananas in one basket.