Chica Esperta - Blog Chick

I'm loving Darwinian Web's reference to Blog chicks. It's more glamorous than "geeky dormouse", less politically correct than "Blogher" and a hell of a lot more empowering than docente (pronounced duh-sent).

To survive in Portugal you have to be doubly smart. On the one hand, and especially if you are estrangeira, you have to follow all the rules, dot all your i's and cross all your t's. Above all you must never lose a piece of paper that proves conclusively your intelligence, commitment or identity.

But on its own that's not enough. You also need to build up a repertoire of ways of getting round all those same rules that you must be seen to be keeping. And you have to build a network of people in influential positions who will help you to get round them.

So on the one hand I am Beverly the duh-sent who goes through the motions, never upsets the status quo and talks of Bolonha, internationalisation, insucesso escolar and always cumprirs as regras.

At the same time I am also Beverly the Blog Chick who dabbles in being international, entrepreneurial and pedagogic and who knows how to get round all the rules just like any other Chica Esperta. It's the Chica Esperta who does and who makes things happen.

So far I've not been very adept either at keeping the rules, nor at getting round them. But organising my identity between Duh-sent and Chica Esperta Blog Chick is proving to be an empowering experience.

Tags: chicaesperta, bloghers, identity, blogchick