Friday, February 10, 2012
Alexandra Coppolo: AFRICA and Blood Diamonds
This week you all have the opportunity to show how much you have learned about the fascinating culture of Africa and to relate it to your impression of the film, Blood Diamonds. Incorporate what you can about the many aspects of culture including art, music, food (yum yum), clothing, housing, and certainly as many components of the African culture that interests you the most. Make sure you organize the blog into two parts: 1) How did Alexandra utilize the various facets of the African culture to help you understand something significant about the continent? 2) Select some of the lecture material from the power point presentations to discuss at greater length.
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Alexandra taught a great deal about a culture I knew little about. Africa as a whole has always been an unknown to me, besides studying Egypt in Social Studies class. Being that I don’t know much about any foreign culture, these presentations are really good for me!
ReplyDeleteThe movie Blood Diamonds incorporated many cultural aspects of Africa, such as the language. Many times throughout the film two Africans would speak in their “traditional” language. Foreign languages fascinate me, therefore, I was picked that up immediately. Another part of African society that was illustrated was housing. One misconception of Africa is that EVERYONE is poor. Even though significant amounts of people are, some live average lives, and some are wealthy, and live a luxurious life. I will never fall for this misconception again. We also saw the clothing of the Africans in Blood Diamonds. For the most part, it was “modernized” to Western clothing, just shabby and dirty.
The biggest thing I learned through Alex’s week long presentation is the importance of unity and respect to the Africans. They always work as a family, and offer help whenever needed. In the film, I noticed that no one was ever by himself or herself. As far as respect, the African people always meet face-to-face with a handshake and smile. Being on time is also crucial to earning respect. Societies will always have some conflict, but besides that, Africa is a close-knit society.
The origin of the name “Africa” was interesting. “Afar” is the Phoenician word for dust, something Africa has a great amount of! “Aprica” is the Latin word for sunny. The Latin suffix “ica” was used to name a country. The name was not accident. It was carefully thought up with all the references that it stems from. Unfortunately, Africa is consumed with many social issues that plague society on a daily basis. Poverty, a main issue, has caused disease (mainly AIDS) and famine. Astounding amounts of people are illiterate. Corrupt governments have led to civil wars within countries. Women’s rights are also not adequate. They have little to no power in their marriage, and are treated like children.
I must also add how delicious the food was! Alex, I appreciate all the effort you put into preparing all the food. My sweet tooth kicked in, so obviously my favorite part was the Egyptian chocolate cake was my favorite! The peanut butter soup was something I have never come close to having in my life, and the vegetables were very good! The entire presentation was well done!
First off, I'd like to thank Alexandra for her presentation. I loved it. I thought it was very unique, because not many people consider Africa to have many films about them. When I think of Africa, I immediately think about the starving people in the country, mosquito nets, vaccines, and poverty. I never knew anything about the diamond trade or the civil wars. I think Blood Diamonds was a great movie that involved many cultural aspects from the poor housing conditions to the language of the African people. I think that the movie displayed the most, which helped me understand the concept the most, was the diamond trade. I didn't know there was such things as "conflict diamonds" or "blood diamonds." To be perfectly honest, I had no idea where the U.S even received most of their diamonds. I had no idea that Africa suffered as many civil wars as it did, killing thousands and thousands of people. I think what I also found most shocking was the child soldiers. I know we had to skip over most of that section, but Alex explained that these were impressionable kids that were almost like prisoners of war. They were kidnapped and taught the brutal nature of war, along with drug involvement and vulgar language. I never realized things like that could happen in that country. I thought they were all just too poor and too hungry to be involved in a struggling government or the rebellion of the RUF.
ReplyDeleteAlex was also able to show us the different art of the people. What clearly sticks out in my mind is the beads that they used. I think African art has a very raw quality that relates to the people. I think it's very beautiful, and I loved the way it was presented to us in the PowerPoints. On a side note, those PowerPoints were very creative Alex! I also loved learning about the legends of the Africans and how literal they take them. It becomes a strong system of beliefs, which was very interesting to think about.
The food was so great too! That seems like it took a ton of effort on your part, Alex. I thank you so much for it. I loved the cake! It was so delicious. I can't decide if I like the peanut butter soup. It was something I had never even tried or thought about trying before. Quite frankly, I didn't even know it existed! I think, like Sam mentioned in her presentation, that eating the food of the culture is a key part of learning about it. Thanks Alex for the great work and outstanding presentation!
When Alex said her presentation was going to be on African culture, I was intrigued because I knew next to nothing about Africa. However, this has been remedied thanks to her stunning presentation and dramatic movie that certainly deserved the awards it was nominated for! Before this past week, I had heard of problems plaguing Africa that Alex covered like HIV/AIDS and poverty. However, I never even knew about the conflict diamond trade or civil unrest that caused so much upheaval throughout the continent! It’s almost shocking to think that something so significant could go completely unnoticed by people in other countries. Something else I learned about Africa was how poor the status of women is there. The women must walk at least three steps behind the men and have all of their behavior approved by them. I personally find this sort of lifestyle horrific to imagine, but apparently it is common in Africa.
ReplyDeleteFocusing less on the bad things I learned, Alex also introduced us to the art and music of Africa, which are two things I take great interest in. Their art, which is made out of things found in nature like shells or beads, is so colorful. We were able to hear some African music on YouTube, which is heavily focused on the beat. I actually listened to some more African music on my own, and I really enjoyed it. The beat makes me want to get up and dance.
Though my classmates have already mentioned this topic, I just have to say that I LOVED the food! Thanks so much for the delicious and filling meal, Alex- I know you put a lot of effort into it! I really enjoyed the Couscous (is that how it’s spelled?) and of course the cake! The peanut butter soup was a new experience for me and I’ve certainly never tasted something like that. I think it’s great that African food is not heavily reliant on meat (and thanks for making Veg-friendly food, Alex!!). As Alex said in her presentation, they are a people who make the most of what they have and their cuisine certainly shows that. I was so full for the rest of the day!
After witnessing Alex’s great presentation about Africa and its culture, I can’t wait to see where our “trip around the world” takes us next . I’m eager to learn about more places and people, and thanks once again to Alex for her hard work and dedication!
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ReplyDeleteAlex's information was extremely informational for me, mostly because I have never really learned anything about African culture before. I had heard some small information here and there, but never had anyone given me a large amount of interesting facts about Africa. What I loved about Alex’s presentation was the subject of the film. Though Alex gave us five very interesting PowerPoints on standard information, the movie was what really made Alex’s presentation fantastic. She chose a movie that gave us a taste of something far more intriguing than the population, the art, and the food. The Diamond Trade is really at the heart of the African people. It has ruined countless lives, torn apart numerous families, and destroyed communities. Throughout “Blood Diamond” we got to see the poor living conditions and the unfortunate state of the continent. Through the large absence of African female characters, we saw what little role they play in society. But it was the trade that really got to me. Sure, I guess everyone is interested in what we’re going to eat on Food Days during these presentations, I’m definitely guilty of that, but these cultural exercises are more than that. Thanks to Alex, we really learned something about Africa and the trauma its people have endured.
ReplyDeleteI found what Alex taught us about the extremes of Africa to be really interesting (you can tell I was really fascinated to learn about their hardships, since we don’t have stuff like this here). It was so sad to see the people that have nothing but clothes and a spot of dirt and then suddenly notice that there are people living on hills with acres of land expanding in front of them. I think it was sad, really, to see that there are people who have to live like the poor in Africa do, no one should be exposed to that.
To follow suit, that food was great Al! The soup was strangely good yet bad. I couldn’t figure out whether I loved it or hated it, it was really confusing. It was also really good when mixed with the couscous (thanks for the spelling Sam) and beans. And the cake was FANTASTIC! So altogether you did a great job cousin, proud of you!! You really did pick an excellent film and culture.
Sam,
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about how the diamond trade is something that can go completely unnoticed in other countries. I, just like you, had never even heard of the diamond trade before this presentation. I think sometimes countries are so focused on their own problems in their economy or government that they fail to see that other countries need help. Sure, I feel like countries donate funds or raise awareness for natural disasters and other tragedies, but the thing is this IS a tragedy. The diamond trade is very threatening to the country, and I feel as if it goes "unnoticed" by many people.
I love hat you looked at the positive things about Africa too Sam, such as the art and music. I think the rhythm of African music is very interesting and pulls together the rest of the music. I loved Alex's YouTube video. I feel like it was very authentic and great to show.
Kat,
I love what you said about these cultural projects being more than just the food. I love that we are able to learn about a culture through a single film. I think film is a great visual and audio way to learn the language, clothing, art, and music of a country. I think by hearing a language it also helps you learn it, just like eating a certain food helps you learn it. I think Blood Diamond was a great movie to show us what the "people have endured," like you said. I understand completely what you're saying. It was really interesting to see the kids especially. They grow up in far worse conditions that I myself could ever imagine. I mean, I feel deprived when I don't eat lunch for day. These kids don't eat lunch for months at a time. It really makes you think about what you take for granted here in America.