Visiting Macaws

When I walked out of my apartment building the other day, I heard what sounded like an army of macaws (I know their "rawk" very well by now because they enjoy the trees close to my apartment and I hear them all day) having a party. I could see some of the birds in the trees next to my building and across the street, but it seemed like they should've been closer for how loud they were. I turned around in the parking lot and saw them- there were two of them on my neighbor's porch! Apparently she leaves food out for them, and this day I even saw her come out and give them food from her hand. There was a little mini-doberman/chihuahua dog on a nearby porch that looked quite nervous. I paused to contemplate them and took this picture.

ProPaz's blogspot about the radio interview!

In the ProPaz blog, an entry was written about the show last Monday that I participated in. You can read the entry (in Spanish) here.

Radio Mi Condominio

Last Monday, April 26, I was invited to be interviewd on the ProPaz radio program on Radio Mi Condominio. ProPaz is an organization dedicated to cultivating peace not only here in Venezuela, but all over the world.

"La paz mundial no es una utopía. Consideramos que cada quien debe ser proactivo, desde sus pequeños espacios, desde sus realidades cotidianas, para conquistar el objetivo propuesto. Desde ProPaz hemos decidido contribuir, a través de la promoción de la responsabilidad social y de los derechos humanos." Presentación de ProPaz de su página web.

"World peace isn't a utopia. We feel that every person should be proactive in his or her small spaces and daily lives, to conquer the proposed objectives. We at ProPaz have decided to contribute by promoting social responsibility and human rights." ProPaz's website

The radio program started a few months back and is an hour long session on Monday afternoons, accessible via the ProPaz and Radio Mi Condominio websites. Last Monday, there were three of us there to be interviewed. Pedro Ramírez, who is also the president of Rotary Club Las Mercedes, was my interviewer. One of the other interviewees was Nelson Sanz, one of this year's winners of the Rotary Foundation World Peace Fellowship, which will enable him to study at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. Joining him was Erica, a young woman who is in charge of the Model United Nations program at my university, the Universidad Central de Venezuela.

Nelson, Erica and Pedro during the interview

When asked how to best cultivate peace here in Venezuela, Nelson responded that education is vital in the process. Later, in my interview, I added that it's also important to be exposed to different cultures and peoples in order to begin to break down the prejudices that are so easily formed, but so hard to destroy. Pedro asked me about my impressions of Caracas, what motivated me to come to Venezuela and other aspects of my scholar year so far. He had told me before the interview that it would be just like a conversation between the two of us...with a whole lot of people listening in! He was right, and it was much less nerve-racking than I thought it would be.

The program went by so quickly I couldn't believe it when I saw our radio assistant, Flavia, waving her hand that it was time to wrap things up. The experience was very gratifying and I would most certainly be willing to partake in similar events in the future.

Getting ready to go into the room for my interview!

Pedro, Nelson and Erica, who were on the show for the first half.

Looking in from outside the soundproof radio booth.

All smiles because it was a total success!

Thanks Pedro, Nelson, Erica, Flavia, ProPaz and Radio Mi Condominio!