Superhero Identity Crisis

For my cultural project I chose to listen to radio broadcast stories on the station Radio Ambulante with a particular focus on Argentina. Another Country aired on March 28, 2017 focused on immigrant, Alejandra’s, struggle to find a job and a place to live and when she does find a place to live it may not be what she expected and certainly no one could have prepared her for the job that she would accept. The story told by Camilia Segura and Daniel Alarcón focused on the poor government system of Argentina, which in turn has created an identity crisis for many citizens across Argentina. Ironically ten days prior another story was aired, The Superhero, with same underlying theme of identity crisis resulting from poor government regulations. In The Superhero, a local man whose name was not immediately given was mugged and robbed in the safety of his own home. Upon notifying law enforcement they did nothing to help this man and his
family, so in return this man took matters into his own hands and invented the superhero, Menganno. As a listener, and given the short time distance between the two stories this indicates that a poor government is an on going battle for citizens of Argentina whether the citizens are local or immigrants and that new regulations are desperately needed in this countruy. I chose this activity originally because it best fit my schedule, however, after listening to the radio airings and then reviewing the transcript that followed, this was the best option I could have chosen for me. Camilia Segura and Daniel Alarcón took time to listen to one person’s story of what they were facing and the hardships they overcame and as a result painted a broad picture for what it is like to be both a immigrant and a local citizen of Argentina. In Spanish 203, we spend time talking about the famous Hispanic people that correlate with our chapter and even the best places to visit in Spanish dominant countries, however, we never look at the “bad” or the struggles people have in these countries and after listening to these broadcasts I now have a broader view than just the “good,” specifically in Argentina. Although I may not have learned a lot of grammar or new Spanish words listening to the radio, I was able to gain a lot of context and draw on the idea that a poor government can result in reflection of self-identity.
In both stories, there were times when both Alejandra and Menganno questioned who they were as individuals to themselves. In fact at one point Menganno silenced himself from the public and stopped patrolling and in the end of Alejandra story she flees Argentina to restart her life and never reveals her original name because she fears the unknown that is associated with that identify. In both cases if there had been stronger rules in place, such that Alejandra did not get an apartment filled with blood or taken advantage to help with illegal trafficking Chinese immigrants because of her race or when Menganno was attacked and robbed the second time and law enforcement would have cared more about his life rather than carrying illegal fire weapon these people would not have to live in fear of the person they wanted once
were. In closing, I enjoyed that the radio broadcast followed each air with both English and Spanish transcripts of what was being talked about that day on the show. I also liked how these broadcast were saved and recorded so you could listen to them after if you missed information, where as in a one time event that is all the time you have to remember and reflect. One thing that stands out the most to me is that this particular radio