The General in his Labyrinth - Bolívar or Musharraf?

Reading the New York Times online this morning, I realize that my history paper is actually very relevant to current events, in particular Musharraf stepping down from his military role in Pakistan.

The paper assignment was to read The General in his Labyrinth by Gabriel García Márquez and discuss how it relates to wider themes in the history of Latin America in the nineteenth century (the topic of our class). The book tells the story of the last nine months of Simón Bolívar's life, and flashes back throughout to earlier times. The flashbacks really give a sense of how far he had fallen.

Bolívar believed in the importance of continental unity, that South America should be united under one government. He gradually became more pragmatic in his goals, but he still had too much of a focus on unity, and on order. His focus on order led him to take dictatorial powers, which in turn made him excessively unpopular. In the book Bolívar is a pathetic figure because he continually attempts to regain either power or popularity but cannot. At the end he says "How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!" He was lost in a labyrinth of the disintegration of his government, his regrets, and his inability to stop grasping for power.

In today's article in the NY Times, here is the part that I thought was particularly relevant to Bolívar:

In a speech after taking the oath, he defended his record in power, saying that he had always intended to lead the country toward democracy and to remove his uniform, but had to act in the interests of Pakistan’s stability. He said he had to impose the emergency and delay removing his uniform because of a clash between state institutions, namely the judiciary and the government, and the growing threat of terrorism.

“There is an unrealistic or even impractical obsession with your form of democracy, human rights and civil liberties, which you have taken centuries to acquire,” he said, addressing the diplomats.

Full article here.

Bolívar said very similar things. He advocated a transition to civilian government and believed that at some point a civilian government would be necessary. When he took dictatorial powers he believed them necessary in order to preserve order (echoed in Musharraf's phrase "in the interests of Pakistan's stability"). Bolívar faced more insurrections than strife within the government, but like Musharraf he saw a state of emergency.

The paragraph about democracy is also very relevant. Bolívar admired the government of the United States, going so far as to suggest that it might be a perfect government. However, he did not think that Latin America was ready for such a government.

If you replaced Pakistan with Venezuela, the clash between state institutions with a clash between powerful military politicians, and terrorism with insurrections, Bolívar easily could have made Musharraf's statement.

My history professor recommended another book by García Márquez, Autumn of the Patriarch. He says that this book combines elements of all Latin American dictators.

Wallace and Opossums

I just finished my term papers for my biology and history classes, so now seems like a good time to describe what I did in my term papers. Especially the biology one, since any Darwin people reading this blog will find it particularly relevant. :-)

For my biology class (the Evolution and Ecology of the South American Biota), I wrote about Alfred Russel Wallace's riverine barriers hypothesis and how it relates to mouse opossums.

(For those who don't know, Wallace was Darwin's co-discoverer of the theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin rushed into publishing The Origin of Species when he found out that, although he had been accumulating data on evolution for 20 years, Wallace had recently come to the same theory and might well take all the credit if he didn't act soon. We have Wallace to thank for the fact that Darwin published a 400 page book instead of the three volume master work he wanted to write. Wallace also had a gift for noticing geographic relationships between related species and hypothesized migrations based on the relationships. He is known as the father of biogeography.)

This is a photo of Wallace. Source

Wallace wrote a paper in 1852, "On the monkeys of the Amazon" in which he observed the following:

“The Amazon, the Rio Negro and the Madeira [rivers] formed the limits beyond which certain species never passed. The native hunters are perfectly acquainted with this fact, and always cross over the river when they want to procure particular animals, which are found even on the river's bank on one side, but never by any chance on the other.”

This is a map showing the distinct regions of the Amazon Basin that Wallace suggested.
The map comes from: Patton, J.L. & Costa, L.P. (2003) Molecular phylogeography and species limits in rainforest didelphid marsupials of South America. Predators with Pouches: The Biology of Carnivorous Marsupials (ed. by M. Jones, C. Dickman, and M. Archer), pp. 63–81. CSIRO Publishing, Australia.

He focused on primates in his paper, but a lot of recent research on the Amazon River as a biogeographical barrier has focused on mouse opossums. Mouse opossums are a group of marsupials within the opossum family.

This is a photo of a mouse opossum. They are nocturnal, live in trees, and have prehensile (grasping) tails. Source

A lot of the recent investigations using mouse opossums use DNA data in addition to physical comparisons between specimens (what Wallace did). Therefore, modern results can be much more definitive.

So my question was, with mouse opossums as the studied group, to what extent was Wallace correct that the rivers in the Amazon basin form barriers between species?

Some interesting data I found:

Steiner & Catzeflis (2004): 5 species from the Guiana region (north of the Amazon River) have distinct lineages from species south of the river. This means that the river has been a barrier for these species.

Patton & Costa (2003): In one species, Marmosa murina, there are four distinct genetic lineages. The division between two of them is the Amazon River.

Costa (2003): Mouse opossums in two southern genetic lineages are more closely related to each other than to two northern lineages, even though the only separation between one northern lineage and one southern lineage was the river.

These results indicated to me that there is a definite genetic distinction between the north and south sides of the Amazon River. Therefore, Wallace was correct, even though he relied on anecdotes for data. Also, many of the papers I cited had Wallace's 1852 paper in their bibliographies, which I thought was extremely cool since the majority of sources these papers cited were no more than 10 or 20 years old. All in all, writing this paper was a very interesting experience for me. I loved finding Wallace's original paper and comparing the style to modern papers. (Wallace's paper is available here. Unfortunately I cannot link directly to it.) I also love the fact that the work of a great scientist can still be relevant and insightful 150 years later. Wallace is truly amazing. :-)

Here are the citations for the papers I referenced:
Costa, L.P. (2003) The historical bridge between the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest of Brazil: a study of molecular phylogeography with small mammals. Journal of Biogeography, 30, 71–86.

Patton, J.L. & Costa, L.P. (2003) Molecular phylogeography and species limits in rainforest didelphid marsupials of South America. Predators with Pouches: The Biology of Carnivorous Marsupials (ed. by M. Jones, C. Dickman, and M. Archer), pp. 63–81. CSIRO Publishing, Australia.

Steiner, C. & Catzeflis, F.M. (2004) Genetic variation and geographical structure of five mouse-sized opossums (Marsupiala, Didelphidae) throughout the Guiana Region. Journal of Biogeography 31 (6), 959–973.

Visiting the doctor

So I had the very interesting experience of going to the doctor in Chile because I had bronchitis (this doctor's visit was over a week ago and I am fine now). First I entered the office, and was told to go down the hall. I walked down a long hall and came to another reception. At which point they told me to go to the NEXT reception. So I went still further down the hall to a room where there were about five different desks each with a lady working on a computer. This did not look like a reception area to me, but the only area past that was the information desk and that did not look right either. So I stopped at one of the five desks, and it turned out that was what I was supposed to do.

After I paid (in Chile you pay for doctor's visits with checks), the lady in the reception escorted me to the doctor's office. This doctor's office was rather different from those in the United States because it actually WAS this doctor's office where he works all day. There was no nurse to take my blood pressure first and ask questions. I only talked to the doctor, which was nice because it meant I didn't have to repeat myself. The doctor was a very jolly fellow, and asked questions about what I was doing in Chile because I was very clearly foreign. When I told him my age, he said something to the effect that I was still a kid. Thanks to having taken chem and bio classes, I was familiar enough with Celsius to know that the temperature reading he measured was a fever (37.7). I think that was the first time I've had my temperature measured with an armpit thermometer.

The doctor prescribed that I take antibiotics and an expectorant (medicine that makes you cough). The expectorant, Abrilar, is made from English ivy. It actually has a decent herb/honeyish taste, but the first couple nights when I took it were miserable because I couldn't stop coughing.

Salto de Petrohué and Lago de Todos los Santos PICTURES

Saturday of Bing trip.

River near Petrohué falls. I felt like I was at home!

Petrohué Falls.

Petrohué Falls again.

Volcán Osorno. View from boat in lake crossing.

Geoffrey (yes, that's the name of the waterfall).

Llamas on safari in Peulla.

LLAMA!

Rheas. They appeared to be doing some sort of weird mating dance.

Ostrich.

Emus.

Our safari truck. Yes, very touristy.

Chilean flag on back of boat.

Frutillar PICTURES

Photos from last day of Bing trip. Rest of trip photos coming later.

Treble clef on road into Frutillar. Observe the German people on it.
Sign at German museum in English, Spanish and German.
It almost felt like we were in Germany.
Observe the German clothing.
There were pretty flowers there too.
Round barn.
Random German house.
View from lakefront theater.
Auditorium in theater.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's a little bit odd celebrating Thanksgiving here, since it isn't a holiday in Chile. However, we do find ways. Yesterday the visiting prof here, Professor Hadly, invited those of us in her class over for dinner. We ate turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. It was almost like Thanksgiving at home, except for the fact that it was 80 degrees outside. Tonight some students are going to eat at an American restaurant. That should be interesting, finding out what the Chilean interpretation of American cuisine is.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Strawberry Fields Forever

Sunday of the Bing trip (11/11) we went to the town of Frutillar, which means strawberry fields. In the 19th century, German immigrants settled there. They burned down all the native forests (sadly) and planted strawberry fields. Now the town has a German museum, with a German house that has lots of German things in it. For example, lederhosen, and embroidery with German sayings. And all the signs were in English, Spanish, and German. A lot of the houses were in a German style, and there were a few touristy shops selling German souvenirs. All in all it was a rather surreal experience. One does not think of going to Chile in order to learn about German culture.

There was also a very cool lakefront theater. Behind the stage are glass windows with a beautiful view onto the lake. Rodrigo (our coordinator) tried singing in the theater to test the acoustics. Because he's a good singer, it sounded awesome.

Lago de Todos los Santos

I'm sorry that I've gotten behind in posting. Between coming down with bronchitis and writing term papers, I've been quite busy the past couple of weeks. I will now post on the remainder of the Bing trip. Unfortunately, photos will have to come later because I am posting from home with a slower internet connection.

Saturday of the Bing Trip (11/10) we crossed the Lago de Todos los Santos from to Peulla, at which point we were very close to the Argentine border. The lake was very beautiful, and very windy. In Peulla we went on a safari which consisted of stopping to feed farm animals (including ratite birds from three different continents: Rhea- South America, Emu- Australia, Ostrich- Africa). There was one very aggressive goat, and several llamas. At a later stop we were allowed to feed deer. I did not find that particularly exciting given that I am accustomed to seeing deer in the backyard at home.

Before the lake crossing, we stopped at Petrohué Falls. They reminded me a lot of home. Lots of evergreen trees. The weather was somewhat colder than in Oregon, however, given that it felt like an Oregon October, when Chilean November is really equivalent to May in the Northern Hemisphere.

A mystery at the end of the earth

Part of the reason for the title is that Chile´s name means "the end of the earth." The name is appropriate, because for all life forms traveling to South America after Gondwanaland (the southern supercontinent) split up, in order to travel over land, Chile literally was the end, the last land reached. Which is why the archaeological site at Monteverde is such a mystery.

Monteverde, which is currently covered up by a farm near Puerto Montt, Chile, is the site of the oldest known human settlement in the Americas. Which means that the theories about people populating the Americas through the Bering land bridge and south through gaps in the ice sheet over Canada are no longer feasible. The oldest settlements found in North America that match that theory are from around 13,000 years ago. Monteverde dates (very accurately) to 14,700 years ago, over 1,500 years before. The most likely reason is that people traveled down the coast line of the Americas and that due to the fact that coastal areas have at various times been submerged under the ocean, archaelogical evidence from those sites has been destroyed. The coastline of Chile has changed very little, and perhaps Monteverde had better conditions for preservation. At any rate, this site is extremely cool. Unfortunately, it is on private land and covered by a farm. So we were unable to walk on the site itself, and only got to see farm animals (which are also cool but not as cool as a 14,700 year old human encampment at the end of the world).

On the bright side, we got to eat lunch at an organic family farm where they served us slow cooked pork (cooked over an open fire) and homemade cheese. We also saw an old growth forest which reminded me a great deal of forests in Oregon. The species were very similar, but not the same.

I will post photos and about the rest of the trip later when I have an internet connection that allows me to upload photos.

LOLA - un hombre en cuerpo de mujer

Note: I originally intended to post this earlier but did not get around to it before my trip, and am posting it now because otherwise I probably never will.

LOLA is the hottest new telenovela (soap opera) in Santiago. It is about Lalo Padilla, a womanizer who doesn't realize the enormity of the mistake he makes when he dumps one of his many girlfriends, Romina. Romina happens to know a witch who has the power to turn Lalo into a woman. Lalo goes to bed, nervous about the big presentation he has to make at work the next day. His best friend, Grace, who happens to be in love with him, tucks him into bed and then returns to her own apartment. When Lalo wakes up in the morning, he notices that something is wrong almost immediately when he attempts to go to the bathroom (though it takes him a few minutes to figure out exactly what is wrong). Grace comes into the apartment and is surprised to see a crazy woman wandering around in Lalo's pajamas. After telling Grace things that only Lalo would know, Lalo convinces Grace that despite the female form, he actually is Lalo. Grace loans Lalo women's clothing and Lalo rushes off to work. Lalo's boss, understandably, is very confused. Thinking on his feet, Lalo explains that he is Lola Padilla, Lalo's cousin, and that Lalo had to take an emergency trip to Germany to help his dad. Lola tells the boss that s/he is the only one who has the passwords to the computer with the presentation and convinces him to let her give the presentation. The presentation is a success, but Lalo's best friend at work, Gaston, is resentful. Another coworker, Diego, thinks that Lola is hot and tries to flirt with her (Diego is also by far the most attractive male in the show, and is played by a relatively famous Chilean actor, Gonzalo Valenzuela). Understandably, this does not go over very well. And that's just the first episode. It gets much more complicated from there.

"Lola" is a Chilean adaptation of a similar Argentinian show.

Fabia explained to me this morning (when we were still in Puerto Montt on the trip) that most Chileans cannot grasp the fact that the character Lola is actually a man. Despite the fact that the character walks, talks, and thinks like a man, Chileans think that a woman is always a woman. Hopefully this show can, despite its complete hilarity, raise some level of awareness about trans sexuality. It does, however, have another point which is probably more obvious to Chileans. Chile, like other Latin American countries, has a machista culture, which means male-dominated. This means that there has been historically very little respect for women. Lalo/Lola is very much a machista character, and I suspect that he will be able to turn back into a man after he learns to respect women. This will probably be a very good message for Chilean men to learn.

Starbucks and the Mall

Today I went to the Mall Alto Las Condes. All the signs were in both Spanish and English, and there were Christmas decorations all over, including a gigantic tree. There was a live singing performance near the big Christmas display - in English. Except for the fact that the big department stores were Jumbo, Falabella, and Almacenes Paris, I could have been in California. Then I saw a Starbucks and decided to order a coffee. It looked almost exactly like a Starbucks in the United States. Same layout, same furniture, same green aprons, same drink sizes (of Tall, Grande, and Venti, only Tall was translated), same sugar and milk station - minus the milk. I half expected the barista to speak to me in English, but of course he spoke in Spanish.

It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life.