Obvious or Curious?

The image above (brought to you by an HSBC advertisement) was the hot topic in my CIEE class last week, as it demonstrated how the same object (or value) can be viewed in extremely different ways depending on culture, background, personality, and whatever else makes you, you and me, me. Part of living happily in a new culture is being able to identify your own culture and then recognize and accept the differences in your new environment. Almost always, like in the example above, there is no right or wrong way; it’s only a matter of personal opinion. Our homework assignment for the week was to take 10 photos in Valparaiso, five of which struck us as “Obvious” (things we immediately recognize and understand), and five of which were more “Curious” (things that puzzle us or made us wonder) and then discuss the photos with a Chilean.  Here is my collection of photos along with a little bit of what my host mother and I talked about. Feel free to quiz yourself as well along the way; what do you think of each photo? Obvious or curious? 

Obvious. There’s of course the houses, the street art (which is something that has become normal for me), the cars, the winding, narrow road, the electrical wires, but what my host mother and I talked about most was the mother and daughter walking. Even though we're from different cultures and even have different perspectives (her being a mother and a daughter while I've only experienced the second), we both can relate to this relationship and understand what's going on. 

Curious. We agreed that this photo was curious because neither of us are “acostumbrada” to seeing houses  like this one. Based off its old, and run down appearance, one could guess that it has been abandoned, and it doesn't look particularly livable (at least based of what we are both used to). But then again, there’s a flag in the window...

Obvious and Curious. To me, this photo is obvious; it’s something I immediately recognize and understand. There are parts of supermarkets here that are wildly different (like jam and ketchup and mayonnaise in a bag and the cheese selection), but this particular produce section is practically identical to what I'm used to seeing in stores back home. However, my host mom found this photo curious. She explained that because the grocery store is so common, so normal, so habitual, when she sees this photo, it makes her stop and think; it’s so ordinary that it's curious, if that makes any sense.

Obvious and Curious. To my host mother, of course this image is obvious; she recognizes the street, she knows the stores, and the stop sign is something that has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember. I still find this image curious though, because of the stop sign. It makes sense for it to be in Spanish, as Chile is a Spanish speaking country, but the stop signs in every other country I’ve been to say “STOP” regardless of what language is spoken. Germany, France and the Netherlands have stop signs identical to those in the US, but here, although the shape is the same, the wording isn’t, and I find that curious.

Obvious. My mother found this image of a mural obvious because she is familiar this exact location, and I found it obvious because of its strong connection to Van Gogh’s work, both in content and style (I love how art can be so universal). Different reasonings but same conclusion.

Curious. Here is another picture of street art in Valparaiso, but one that we both found curious. Although the central image has the body and hair of a usually beautiful creature, its face is one of a monster. We discussed whether or not the painting is supposed to have a deeper significance or message (what is true beauty for instance), what was the artist’s inspiration, and what the surrounding graffiti could possibly symbolize.

Obvious. Clothes hanging up to dry is something that wasn’t obvious to me when I first arrived, but now that I’ve seen almost the exact same drying system in all the houses here and have dried my clothes the same way for the past two months, this image is as obvious to me as it is to my mother. Plus red doors are special to me because they are something that reminds me of my family back home; my aunt always says they’re the most inviting.

Obvious and Curious. Having lived next door to a port for practically all her life, the unloading process of new cars is something that is normal and obvious to my mother. However, for me, watching a worm like stream of cars drive off the boat and into perfectly aligned rows was new and intriguing. I learned during our conversation that the cars weren’t coming to Chile permanently like I had assumed. Soon another ship would arrive, and they would all be driven right back on board and sent off to a different country, most likely the US.

Obvious. My host mother and I agreed that this image is obvious. I took the picture, not because of the flutist, although the mural is familiar as well, but because of the smaller painting on top. It’s the symbol of Valparaiso, and I’ve seen it all around the city, on buildings, on fliers, in the classroom, and on menus. There are even large statues of it along the roads leading into Valparaiso. 

Curious. A street market stand selling paintings of different musicians is not something that’s unusual on its own, but my mother and I both found this particular grouping to be curious. Violeta Parra, Marilyn Monroe and Violetta together mixes cultures, decades and types of music, and of all the people, why them?

There are some images that less than 2 months ago would have been completely foreign and different to me that I would now classify as obvious, and there are other images that will always remain curious regardless of how long I stay here. I think the same holds true with values and ideas. Although I came here to learn about Chilean culture, I've found that along the way, I'm learning more about my own culture as well, and while I can morph certain aspects of it and add to it as I learn, ultimately it's who I am, and I'll never be able to change that. How about that for obvious or curious?