English Language Challenges

Well, the truth is that I am not happy with the english subject at the university.

At summer we had to do a test that would say us which english level did we had to take. Unfortunately, the computer I was using had problems with the audio, and I couldn't answer the questions of that item (they were seven or 8). I got english 3, but I needed two or three additional  answers to be able to take english 4. I asked the professor, and she said that they would sent me an email to resolve it.

When the academic year started I was on english 3, and I asked again for help, but they said that it was too late to do something.

The problem wasn't english 3, because maybe I would have gotten it even with the opportunity to do something, but I couldn't. I stayed there and I started thinking in the advantages of that, because I could learn new thing or improve my weaknesses, but it disappointed me.  I found that the teacher wasn't interested in teaching the students. I recognize that we weren't good students either, because we didn't pay him attention, but most of the people there thought that we were losing time.

English 4 has been better, I feel that the professor takes care of our competences and he is interested in improving our english.

I know that english doesn't depend from FACSO, but may be It should, because maybe is easier to learn communicational english by our own, but we have to read lots of paper and books and many of them are in english and it's really hard, believe us.

Good and bad points

This year has been a completly different one. I decided to study antrophology an this university, and it was far away from have been  an easy decision.

I enjoyed the summer at home in Coquimbo with my family and friends, and after holidays I had to come to a new reality for me, Santiago.

Well, I have always been shy, so during the first weeks I didn’t speak much with my classmates. It was at the beginning, but nowadays I have good friends.

I like the career I am studying, and the friends I have made have done this easy for me, but I can’t deny that I miss Coquimbo. I miss my family, my friends, the air, the coast and all the activities I’m able to do there. Sometimes I want to go back and study something there, but I like anthropology and this is a challenge I’ve already taken.

This has also been rewarding experience for me, because apart from the university I’ve learned many things about life that make me grow up and value what I have.

Although the good and bad points of this year, I think that is more important to learn about our mistakes and about the people we know and have known during the year.

I couldn’t say that this have been an excellent year, but this hasn`t been a bad year either. 

Childhood series

Rugrats

Rugrats is a cartoon based on the adventures of a group of babies that are children of a group of adults who are friends. At the babies’s world they can speak and understand each other, but their parents don’t know what they are saying. They play all the time and the also use to get into trouble.

I enjoyed it because they did many things without their parents help and they show the world from another perspective. They don’t know anything about rules and they just do what they want, and of course what they can. They show also a strong sense of friendship although they are just babies.

Saint Seiya

Well, this is definitely one of my favorite series ever. This is a story about several orphan children who are joined by a man named Mitsumasa Kido (their father, but nobody knows that) for obtaining an armor and becoming bronze knights. In order to that, they are sent to different parts of the world to have their trainings. Well, once they got them, they have to come back to a kind of championship, where they have to fight to be the best one.

What nobody knew is that Saori Kido (the granddaughter of Mitsumasa) was actually the reincarnation of the Greek goddess Athena. The problem is that there were other knights that were commanded by Arles, and they kidnapped Saori. The bronze knights have to rescue her fighting against the gold ones, who represent each of the zodiac signs.

That’s just a part of the whole story, but I remember I spent hours and hours for watching them on Sunday night. They are and they still been (because I watch them until now) my favorite anime. Apart of them, I like another series such as Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X), Sailor Moon, hey Arnold, among others.

How green are you?

Let’s talk about ecology!

I have never joined any eco-organisation, because I don’t trust in them, but maybe if a found one that convinces me I would join it.

Despite that, I’ve always worried about our environment. Of course I’m not “the most ecologist girl in the world” or somebody who lives for that, but I think that everybody is able to do something.

Of course it’s not easy, because sometimes it requires time or the custom to do it, but it’s not impossible either.

What I’m doing now is collecting my plastic waste to put it in a plastic bottle. That’s called “eco-brick”.  Some organisations collect them to build even houses.

Another habit I’m trying to incorporate is not using plastic bags on the supermarket. I try to carry my own fabric bag, but I sometimes forget it and I have to use plastic ones (when I have to carry many things).

I would like to go to university by bike, but in this moment I have neither a bike nor money to buy one. Once I get enough money I will probably buy my own bike.

I believe that all we have a responsibility with our environment, but there is something unfair.

Although all we (individually) would take care about this world, we wouldn’t solve the problem. Why? … Because we are part of the problem, but not the problem.

 Big mines and industries pollute every day more than we can imagine, and even if they say they do something to help, It isn’t anything compared with the damage they do…

Of course I agree with changing our habits, we need to do it… but we need also have influence in those who are bigger than us.

Scariest Monsters

Have you ever seen the cartoons? There were always at least a chapter in which the characters where frightened because of a  mounster, or what they think were a monster.

Well, I’ve never been afraid of monsters, because I’ve never belived in them. I remember that some of my friends couldn’t go into  dark rooms or they could’t sleep with the lights turned off. But monsters were not so popular…

In spite of that, we had lots of horror stories or weird characters that where frightening for children. One of them was the story of “the old man with the sack”.

He is a kind of poor man who wears rags. I his back he’s always carrying a sack with bad children. The story says that if kids don’t behave, the old man comes home to kidnap them.

If you are that poor kid, once he has already kidnapped you, your life has two possibilities: If the old man want, you can work for him until your dead or worst, you can be eaten by him.

This story is very popular here, in Chile. Parents usually told it when I was a child, and I think that they still doing it. Of course, their purpose was to make the children behave, and I am sure they use to get it...

My Future Job

When I think about my future life I've always imagined myself working in something that helps me doing at least a little change in this society. The problem is that I don’t know what will be my way to do it or… maybe I know, but I’m not sure if I will be able to do all what I want.

Starting with the career I’m studying, I’ve being always interested in the cultures and civilizations of the world, not only in the old ones, but also those cultures that we can see until now. Related to this, I would like to work in the conflict between the mindkinds of native cultures and all those countries that can’t understand a way to live different from the “modern one”.

In addition and also related to this, I love history and literature, and one of my biggests dreams is teaching them at school. It may be in the city or may be in a small town… hopefully in both (not at the same time, of course).  I will not surrender with this, because I think that with teaching you have the opportunity to stimulate the children to be conscious and consequent with their thinking and their dreams.

Well, those are just some of the jobs that I would like to do someday, but by studying this career ...I'm not even sure if I will find any job...jajaja. 

Movie Review: Inside Job

There are movies to cry and movies to laugh, but I would say that the one of what I’m talking about is a movie to think.

Honestly, I’ve never seen the movie that I want to do a review of, but just with watching its trailer you’re able to ask yourself about the world where we live.

I am talking about Inside Job, a documentary that shows us a critical point of view about the financial crisis of 2008 in the United States.

Of course if you ask anybody about this recent “crack”, I’m almost sure that everybody will have at least an idea of what you’re talking about, but depending on the country and the economic status, you will receive several answers about the way they lived it.

However, what few people know are the causes of the crisis and, related to this, the interests of businessmen behind those decisions that made our budgets fall. Through several interviews and statistical work, the film shows us how “important men” decided the crisis and how the life quality of the population turned every time lower.

In my opinion, this should be a really interesting film that can helps us waking up to see the way we’re manipulated by the economic power and the only thing they let the people do is suffering the consequences. Once I have the chance, I’m sure I will watch it.

The best holidays I've had

When I was 18 my family and I travelled to the south of Chile, because my father's relatives are from Valdivia and Puerto Montt. So I have lots of cousins there.

I've always enjoyed our trips to the south, because of the rain, the nature and the food. If I had to move to another city, I would choose probably somewhere near Valdivia.

Well, this time we went over several places, parks, natural ressources and lakes. We stayed in Valdivia 6 or 7 days in my aunt's house, where we simply ate a lot, because my aunt has ahm....a bakery.

Then we moved to Puerto Montt just for one night, because the day after we continued traveling southern, until we arrived to a town named Hornopirén.

To arrive to Hornopirén we had to take a ship to cross the “Seno del Reloncaví”, it was one of those ships where you can go in a car, or with the car.   

In Hornopirén we did trekking through the forest and we enjoyed it a lot.

After a few days there we came back to Valdivia, and we started traveling home.

That was, in general, my last trip to the south and I would love to go early, because landscapes of the South are some of the most beautiful I've ever seen until now. And I also enjoy spending time with my family and relatives.

A country I would like to visit

One of the biggests dreams of my life is to travel to Brasil, but specifically to the Amazon. I think it's a wonderful place with awesome landscapes and whole world waiting to be discovered. I like to be in the Nature hearing its sounds, its music, walking the entire day without any destination.

Brasil is an interesting country that has many cultural views depending on the part you go. When I think about the people who live in the Amazon, I also think in how different their lifes are in comparison with ours. I would like to learn about them and also from them, like for example their lifestyle.

Well, I would like to visit touristic places too. I’ve heard about Camboriu, and it seems to be a nice place to take a rest and go to the beach. I don’t have to mention that Sao Paulo and Rio the Janeiro should be beautiful too, because they are famous cities that make advertising by themselves.

My Life as a Playlist

Well, I'm not sure I will be able to do a playlist of my life, but at least I will try to speak about songs and artists (singers, bands) that have been important to me in my 20 years of life.

When I remember childhood moments, the first artist that comes to me is Silvio Rodríguez. I grew up with his music because my parents and all my family have always enjoyed it. One of the most special songs for me is named “Como esperando abril”. Silvio remains one of my favorite singers.

Since I was a teenager I’ve always listened at least two ‘kinds’ of music. I admit that when I was 12/13 years old y listened to bands like My Chemical Romance and 30 Seconds to mars. Well, nowadays I couldn’t really say I’m proud of that, but when I eventually listen to their songs, good moments come to my mind.

Around my 15 I started to listen to grunge and metal (good music, for me), with bands like Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Pantera and In Flames.

As I said I’ve always had “two faces”. On the other one, I’ve always enjoyed the Latin-American music like trova, “Canto Nuevo”, latin rock, etc. Silvio Rodríguez, Quilapayún, Violeta Parra and Víctor Jara (just as an example) are and I think they will continue being an important part of me.

 

An anthropologist at the moon

Well, I don't know much about the current web pages that people normally visit, but last month my cousin sent me something that I found interesting. It is a blog which link is "http://unaantropologaenlaluna.blogspot.com.ar/". Its owner is a social and cultural anthropologist from Argentina named Naomí.
The blog has many short articles about different anthropological matters. Here you can find things about evolution, economy, religion, politics and many other subjects, all related to different cultures, included the urban one.
The truth is that I've visited it just a few times. But I've found interesting what I've read until now, because maybe she isn't neither Lévi-Strauss nor Malinowski, but i think that she does a good job showing the
variety of cultures and ways to think that's at the world, and she explains her researches in a way that everybody is able to understand what she's trying to show.
I think that we need people able to bring our career closer to the people, and that's why I would recommend it to you.

Books!

A book is always a good partner, or that's what I think at least... It sounds like a book worm, and maybe I am, cause I enjoy reading books during my free time and being in another world for a while. With reading, people can feel like another person, they can understand them and also their ways to think and behave.


I like reading literature, history and philosophy. If we're talking about literature, my favorite branch  is the magic realism of the "latin american boom", but I like also some french writers and poets, like Victor Hugo or Charles Baudelaire. One of my favorite book characters is "La Maga" from Rayuela, a novel written by Julio Cortázar. La Maga is a woman who has had a hard life, and although she thinks she's dumb and stupid (because the rest make her feel that), she teaches her "friends" much more about the life than she can imagine.
I haven't had much time to read what I want to read, but one of the books that I've recently read is "The Savage Detectives"  (written by Roberto Bolaño). I enjoyed it, but it took to me around three weeks to read because I didn't have much time. The story is about Arturo Belano and Ulises Lima, two poets who have invented a new literary movement: The "Visceral Realists". They disappeared in México and nobody knows anything about their location.
I would recommend it to people who like poetry, politics and the latin american history, but if you're looking for a love story or something like that, this is not a good book for you.

Elki

Today I want to show you a picture taken by a friend of me, he's name is Juan, but we usually call him"Juanothe". He's a nice photographer, and he always amazes us with something new.
This picture was taken last winter at the Elki Valley, where we were camping with our scout group.
It plays with the contrast between light and darkness, showing the Andes mountain range covered with some snow, the moon, some clouds and a beautiful sky.
I like this photograph for several reasons. One of them is that it reminds me that camp and every activity we did, my friends and all those moments that we save in our memories. I also remember the peace of that place, there wasn't any noise, all it was completely quiet. At night you could see the stars shining on the sky and the queen moon among them.
When I look this pic I want to climb those mountains feeling the cold wind blowing to my face and a kind of peaceful freedom that flies over that magical sky.

Animals and pets

My first pet was a rabbit, he´s name was Tambor. I remember that I was four years old when we got him. He was really cute, but although he was a rabbit, I think he was really crazy, because  he used to bite the phone wires and do dangerous things ajaja. Now I don't have any pet, but I would like to have a dog, at home in Coquimbo of course, because now I'm living in an apartment, and I think it's cruel to live in a place without green areas even for a human, so it should be worse for a pet.

I don't like zoos because I think that we don't have any right to shut them up in a prison. Some people say that it's a way to protect some endangered species, but I think that we are not doing a favor to them.

Well, I have had a good relationship with animals until now, I have never been bitten by a dog or things like that but it should be painful xd.

If I could be an animal, I would be a panther, because they're free and they also climb, run and do activities that I would enjoy. ajaja

Well, that was all for today

Best regards to your pets!

bye

My favourite piece of technology

I don't have something like a "favourite piece of technology", and I don't really mind having one, but today I supposed to talk about my favourite technological thing. So, let's talk about my computer.
My family and me had our first computer around twelve years ago. It was something new and weird for me, because it was a box in which you could look for information, play games and thousands of things just with typing words. Nevertheless, It made no difference to me.
Well, my current computer is a laptop, and I got it two years ago. I use it to look for information, talk with friends, see movies, listen to music, etc. But actually not very often, because I'm not very technological, and also because the thing that a computer needs to be useful is internet, and nowadays I don't have it.
I like it because I think that's useful for the University, and also because I'm far away from home, and with the computer I can talk with people in Coquimbo.
But as I said before, I don't love it, and my life without it would be the same as now. The only difficult thing would be doing some tasks or investigation works for the University, but I would find another way to keep all in order.

Life at the University

Well, this is my first year at the University, and bacause of that we couldn´t choose our own subjects. This semester I am doing Anthropology , Archaeology, Philosophy, History, Methodology, Biology and English.
One of my favorite subjects is History, because we are learning much about the latinoamerican society, but with an interesting point of view. Actually, I like most of the subjects, but sometimes I think that we have much to learn and there is no time to do something else.
I hope I can pass everything, because I really want to become an anthropologyst and I don´t want to throw away this opportunity
I can´t take extracurricular activities this semester, because as I told before, we can´t choose the things we want to do, maybe because we shouldn´t take too many things or I don´t really now why ajaja.
I don´t have any other activity here, because I don´t want to be under a high preassure, at least for now.
I have to go, see you later!

About a Girl

Hi!
I´m Natalia, and this is my first post, so I would like to talk a little bit of my life.
I was born in 1994, in the city of Coquimbo, where I grew up also. I have a sister, who is 18, and a brother who is 1 year old. As you can see, I´m the oldest of us. My Parents´s names are Patricia ans José.
My sister and I went to a School named "Santa María de Belén", there were lots of nice people, and I made several good friends.
Now I´m studying anthropology at the Universidad de Chile, so I had to move to Santiago. This is my first year and it looks interesting.
Well, in my free time I like to play drums, read and listen to music. I´m also Scout, and I think that that´s one of my favorite activities, because we are always learning new things.
Well, that´s what I have to say for now, I think I have to go.
Take care!
Bye