Pictures while you wait...

Now that my technology issues are sort-of-mostly solved (I will still have to take my computer back to get them to fix the fan...which caused the problems in the first place...but they didn't bother to fix it), I can catch up on catching you all up on what's going on with my projects!

But, until that happens, here's a link to all of the pictures I've taken on this trip.  You can see penguins (!!), sea lions, Buenos Aires, Che Guevara's house, and so much more!  I would love any and all feedback/opinions/thoughts on my pictures.  Here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jennmcamis.

DISCLAIMER: I simply dumped all of my pictures onto here, so you get the good and the bad.  So don't judge the bad ones too harshly!

Tech Support

Lesson of the week...never again complain about tech support in the United States. 

My computer is currently broken (I'm using a friends to quickly write this explanatory blog for why I won't be writing a real one) and Argentine tech support will make anyone sick with frustration. 

First, I had to spend 3 hours on the phone with tech support in the United States.  Then 2 hours with Argentina.  Then another hour with the US.  Then 3 days of exchanging emails, copies of my passport, copies of my visa, etc (all without actually having a computer at my house to do it on...since mine's broken...I still don't understand why a computer repair service would try to use email...but that's a side discussion for another day)  Then another hour on the phone with Argentina tech support.  Then finally 2 hours in the store that was supposed to repair it. 

After a week of waiting, they called me yesterday to tell me that my computer is finally ready and I can pick it up today.  I checked their offical letterhead for their hours and called them and had these hours varified by their answering machine.  Then I went there...only to find that they are actually not open today.

I'm continuing to call and am hoping they will finally decide to open (because in Argentina, nothing actually happens when it is promised...despite declarations and contracts that it will be so).  But I will probably not have access to a computer long enough to watch the videos and post a real blog until Monday.

Everyone abroad--start praying and crossing every part of your body that your computer doesn't break and you don't have to experience the same thing. 

My first video!

Here's my first attempt at movie-making...please please give me all of the constructive criticism you can before the real things!

Helpful Hint for other CLAMmers

Hey all!

If anyone else is having problems with your video stalling while you try to work on it in Movie Maker or Flip or any of 6 other video editing softwares (I'm not even exaggerating), the problem is probably in the type of movie file you're using.  Mine were MP4's and the program just couldn't keep up.

I downloaded this converter (http://download.cnet.com/windows/3055-2194_4-10784027.html?tag=pdl-redir) from a safe website and converted to AVI formatting and now everything amazingly works.  Just thought I would pass it on to save others my intense frustration!

Very excited for everyone's movies!

Decisions, Decisions

First, apologies for this blog being so behind.  I was extremely indecisive last week in deciding what to do my projects on and then went on a trip with the Clemson group to Buenos Aires for the weekend and didn't have my laptop.

Second, here go the ideas as they are right now.  I need lots of feedback (and am about to do the same for all of you classmates!).

Personal:  I am planning on doing a comparison between my life in the States and my life down here.  The city, th the country surrounding, the people, etc.

Cultural:  I am going to focus on student social movements.  It is an extremely interesting culture with protests, graffiti, all sorts of things.

Professional: My dream for the future is to work with policies that affect women in poverty in Latin American countries.  To begin gaining experience in the true needs of these women that have stolen my heart, I am doing an internship with a health clinic that serves women and families that live in the outskirts of the city.  This movie, I hope, will have a direct focus on the women and their lives.  Not exactly a traditional look at a professional job, but it ties in with exactly what I want to do.

What do you all think?

Not quite what I was going for...but I like it!

As I started going through the pictures that I have taken so far on this trip, I realized that most of the time what I was actually trying to show didn't exactly work, but was replaced with a completely unexpected, but often better story that I had missed the first time through.

I this picture, I thought it would be a great way to show the landscape through the door but give it the context of being on a farm.  However, I feel like it actually speaks wonders to the interesting combination of modern farm tools and, for those of us living in the United States, more outdated construction.  The shadow falls over the modern and further highlights the building and scenery which gives more importance to the history and setting than the lawnmower.

This picture at first had disappointed me when I pulled it up on my computer.  I thought weird lighting had ruined it.  However, when you put it in the context of its location, it actually has more meaning than I probably could have planned.  This is from a Jesuit cathedral in downtown Cordoba.  The Jesuits used lifelike images to help with their efforts to convert the indigenous people to Christianity.  This picture gives the painting an almost lifelike quality that I think the original creators would have appreciated.


The other pictures, I feel, have a little bit less of a hidden meaning within them.  This, however, isn't necessarily a bad thing.  You don't need to always fill everything with so much symbolism that it takes explaining for someone else to be able to understand and appreciate it.

This picture of a man with his guitar captures a pure joy.  It doesn't show what's causing him to smile, simply that he's enjoying that moment of his life with all of his heart.

The pictures of the cow and the farmer milking the cow both capture the personalities of the individuals in the picture.  My favorite aspects are the glint in the cow's eye and the face expression on the farmer.  The personalities are the focus and there isn't really anything else included in the frame.


While not exactly what I had in mind for any of these pictures, I love what they capture and share.  Pictures should share a story--and I hope these to do others than just me!

The Tropos of Argentine Internet

I had written my entire blog and was proofreading it when BAM the power went out and deleted everything.  Therefore the fact that this blog won't be completed until tomorrow speaks wonders to the culture here.

Something's not done on time?  Oh well, just leave it for tomorrow.

The power went out and messed up the internet and your blog post?  Don't be upset, just make some tea and wait for it to fix itself (since blogs can do that...)

You had spent how much time picking out which pictures and descriptions to use?  Over an hour because you couldn't choose?  You probably need to eat something sweet to calm down while we wait for the power (that is now off again) to come back on.

Yes, this photo-less blog that was written quickly to hopefully avoid another power outage speaks wonders.  There will be pictures and a real blog post written from a more reliable location tomorrow morning.