NYC: Touch-down in Brooklyn, Part II

I’ve been here a little longer now and beginning to settle in. I’m navigating my way around the city better and due to the project work I’m doing here in terms of the workshops, studio work, visiting galleries and meeting autistic artists - I’m getting to see quite a bit of the city. Which, when I’m not getting lost – is lovely!

So. I’m in New York; this great, amazing city - part of America, this *mighty* land - yet it doesn’t feel so ‘great’ at times… and this is something that’s been gnawing away at me each day since arriving. It comes to me in bursts. Little things that continually get me thinking that living standards aren’t so fantastic here. I mean this at a personal level by the way, for your average American - or businesses and large corporation - the story is very different. And these are my comparisons to the UK/Western Europe.

Firstly, people don’t seem to have as many rights here. I mean their private healthcare system lends itself to its very own blog post, but I’m also referring to consumer rights and employment law. Their maternity pay and leave is minimal, and holidays aren’t easy to come by. I thought the UK had a minute number of public holidays! And you can totally forget about minimum pay here. And other basic rights: if you’re fired, you’re fired. And even though you’re paying private healthcare insurance, not everything is covered. For instance, you still have to pay for a mammogram (in the hundreds) or to give birth (in the thousands). How does that figure…?

In terms of consumer law, there’s a real lack of price transparency, and I’m noticing this a lot when I do my grocery shopping. You have to be really careful not to get ripped off! There are a lot of small, local, grocery stores. And often goods aren’t labelled in price. And where they are, you still have to check that it’s being priced through correctly at the till. It’s also really normal for my local greengrocer to change its prices on almost a daily basis – as it is for me to be charged $2.50 for a pepper, instead of the $1.50. And yes, that is the price for one pepper! Food is considerably more expensive here – and this is taking into account the not-so-favourable exchange rate. But you want to hear the worst of it? It goes off really quickly! Apparently, food standards overall are considerably lower than in Europe and in terms of the lack of price transparency – this is excused by saying that you weren’t ‘forced’ to buy the product and that you always had a choice in the matter. And no, you can certainly not get a refund easily(!)

Yes, the infamous $1.50 pepper, which I was initially charged $2.50 for

Another aspect, is the fact that it’s really uncommon to have a dishwasher, washing machine and dryer (or at least adequate outdoor space to dry your clothes) in your apartment. Now, I’m not against going to a launderette in any way – my last art project was all about washing, after all! But by not having these utilities, and with food shopping being that much more difficult – it takes up a lot of your time. Time away from leisure and relaxation. And surely that’s a sign in itself of lower living standards? It’s odd, it feels like we’re back in the 90s or thereabouts; a real drop that I just didn’t anticipate.

With no dishwasher, the washing up gloves are always at the ready! 

And yes, the food portions are notoriously huge. But why though? And why in New York, a more progressive state? And why so, more importantly, when people can’t and don’t finish them?! It makes you continue to pick at your plate when you’re far past the point of being full, and then you end up carrying a doggy-bag around with you for the rest of the evening. Smaller portions (healthier and more manageable) while charging slightly less (better for the consumer and the business wouldn’t lose out) being the solution? It’s an interesting one and will continue to plague me for the rest of my time here, I’m sure!

So, these have been my latest nit-picks as I continue to get to grips with the city! It’s a busy time, and I’ll speak more about the work that I’ve been doing in my next blog posts – I just didn’t want these initial impressions to become the norm, and for me to then forget about them!

Do stay in touch on social media too by the way through my handle @mahliaamatina – I’m posting most days on what I’m up to and continued observations on this fascinating city! Thanks for reading 😊

Beyond Medellin and the Venezuelan Crisis Explored

Hello, Hello!

It’s been 3 months now since I’ve been away now, so definitely time for another update! We’re settling in a bit better now; the new flat is waaay better than our previous one, plus I feel I’m beginning to get into a bit of a rhythm with Spanish lessons each day and the odd swim at the local pool – the pool being outdoors with views of the beautifully defined green valley. Oh, and it’s free to use and Olympic sized, no less! I still feel my Spanish has a long way to go, but at the same time, I sense that I’m making some kind of progress in terms of being able to understand a little of what people are saying (always helpful!)

My local, Olympic, size pool that looks upon the valleys

After visiting various sites around Medellin, we’ve recently been taking trips outside of the city to the countryside and beyond. So far we’ve visited Santa Fe de Antioquia, Santa Rosa and Manizales, and I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how incredible the countryside is! With mountains and valleys in abundance, it makes for the most beautiful scenery imaginable... and Colombia is so VAST and green, beyond belief! I think the vastness was what struck me initially: how simply humongous the country is. Not to mention magnificent, majestic and magical… if I’m going to go all out with alliterations(!) The hills are so steep and they’re literally *caped* in luscious vegetation, canopies and trees aplenty. And then the waterfalls! These are so rapturous and raging and help reflect the greenery further. It rains a lot in Colombia, so the vibrant richness of the green hue is amplified to every extent. Going away outside of Medellin has altered my view on Colombia completely…

Santa Fe de Antioquia - a beautiful colonial style town not far from Medellin

Me getting ready for the spa!

Warm water flowing directly from the volcanoes. Who would have thought!

The stunning spas at Manizales

No photo could possibly capture the lushness of the green here. But I'll try!

Santa Fe de Antioquia is a small colonial town not far from Medellin, which is beautifully charming: lots of cobbled streets and cute town squares - we had a lot of fun ambling about. We were also there for the huge ‘Semana Santa’ week (Easter) which was the most *full-on* set of festivities I have ever seen! It was amazing to see the processions taking over the town in its entirety and to see Catholicism in Colombia. There was no running around hunting down chocolate Easter eggs and scoffing oneself silly! Nope, not here.

Semana Santa celebrations - just outside our flat!

The parade continues and just seems to keep getting bigger!

In Santa Fe and Manizales, we enjoyed the thermal spas – several small pools that collate hot water that flows directly from the volcanoes! Again, another example of the diversity of the land – this whole area was surrounded by volcanoes. It was literally the most beautiful and scenic spa experience I will probably ever have – it was amazing to lie in the warm pools with a drink and see the greenery all around and water flowing - in the most perfect of weather… 😊

In contrast to our fun travels, one of the biggest crises that has been taking place while we’re here (and in the last years) is the Venezuelan one. In a simple nutshell: Venezuela used to be a really rich country and has always been highly dependent on income from oil (it accounts for about 95% of Venezuela's export revenues). Having a socialist Government, they spent a lot of this money on helping social groups and those that needed the money: e.g. more than a million poor people have been homed. However, one could say the Government ‘put all their eggs in one basket’ and didn’t focus on the rest of the economy and its welfare. The problem: oil prices have *plummeted* across the world (less than 50% of their value from around 2013) and the Venezuelan Government has less foreign currency to buy goods (it has almost run out of money) and the country is now experiencing hyper-inflation of around 2000% of its prices (since 2014). The consequence is that there are severe food shortages, malnutrition, sky-high unemployment, horrendous protests and soaring crime and violence. Even Malaria’s back. The people of Venezuela are fleeing and with Colombia being next door, it’s one of the main countries that people are coming to (as well as other south and central American countries). NOTE: obviously it’s a great deal more complicated than that, and I missed out the whole change in leaders etc etc, but this is just a snippet to share.

It is all so sad though. People are fleeing with nowhere to go. They’re often trying to sell food in the streets or other practical items, and just generally trying, desperately, to make ends meet. I’ve also seen people with next-to-nothing on, barefoot, walking disorientated down the street and sleeping rough. Many are sleeping rough. And it’s simply getting worse. I know I’m noticing it more and more.

Anyway, that’s my news for now. 

Until next time!