Chile's bicentennial year

Since 2007 we’ve been hearing about the Chilean bicentennial, waiting for 2010 to celebrate our national independence. So, since that date, publicity about the topic has been around us, telling to us in what country we are living. Television, radio, newspaper, and even the subway were a big important part of all the publicity. And then we start to become more close to this celebration, and we fell in some way kind of real patriots, but at the same time it’s a weird felling, in fact, we don’t know for sure what is a bicentennial, and what are we talking about.

Certainly, we’re celebrating our first step to the national independence in 1810. The TV shows our history, our most important heroes, transcendental facts of the twenty century and all the things that make us proud. In the streets, the walls talks about the celebration, about the big country that Chile is, and why is so big. Everybody, including journalist, publicist, business men, and the government too shows how this country is like top on everything as a country from the third world, with a brand new democracy and a nice economy that fits as a example for our neighbors of the continent. It’s all that true? It would be great, but looks like Chile is still far away from all that. There are so many people in this country that have nothing to celebrate and the most incredible thing is that they have been convinced to celebrate, to be in the party even when they are not even close to be top in anything. And probably this bicentennial celebration it’s about that, just about make people to believe in a country that doesn’t exist.

However, there are still persons that are not happy with this celebration, angry people from social movements who thinks that it’s enough of telling lies to the people, talking about a dream country, and talking about hope. These persons, these social movements just want to use their rage to make a change, a big social change for all the Chileans that are not part of this celebration, not cause they have been forgotten, but abused by a system that has nothing to do with the poor, with the ones that think in a different way, and all the persons from the minorities.

sabbatic Year

Really, I never have one “sabbatic year”, because all the time I study: in the secondary education and then in the universit. For this reason I don’t try to visit other places outside Chile, but when I finish my career, I want to travel to other sites for example, I want to try visit Granada, in Spain.

But I prefer travel in other time of my life, because I need to work inmediately because the Money is very important for me in these days. I prefer saving a few sum all the days, and in the next year I consider this possibility. Today, my economic situation don’t permits me this privilege, because my parents don’t have a big remuneration. I remember a school friend, she always was visit all the places of the world, and my question is: Where she obtains money?

The sabbatic year is for other type of persons, but in other moment of my life I can enjoy this possibility, and when this moment arrives, In first term, I prefer visit the arabian sites because this architecture is surprising. In second term, I visit my nieces in Chillán, because I don’t see they in a several years, and they are very old at the moment! (ajajaja) Finally, for my free year, I prefer visit to my father and my mother in Curicó, because since I study in the University, I don’t travel all the weeks and they are very worried for my new personality, a distant personality.

I a pig

In my personal experience, the environment is a very important fact in theory, because I promote the importance of the purity of our mountains, rivers, and the air. But in the practice, my action changes all the time because I make harmful things who that affect the place where I live, for example I throw the batteries to the garbage.

I haven’t planted one tree in all my life! My indifference reaches to the extreme because the urban life (in Santiago) changed my perspective and I prefer the inhuman life. In my house in Curicó my mum has a big garden that I like, all the wind is very soft, and I visit this place because it’s very attractive and I have one dog (it’s beautiful!).

Also, the importance of the organizations to protect the environment doesn’t invite me to develop my own conscience, but my friends are very interested in that fact, for example they pick up the bottles of beer after the party in the university, and I consider this attitude as “hippie”. The environmental organizations are very important in the University, and they advertising for the protection the nature, and water the plants, and promote the healthy life of the body and the order of the grass.

They put much letters across the university, but one day I broke one of this because I hate the hippie man and women, because the middle-class life permits this interesting and the revolutionary conscience are not prefer in the present thanks to the humans.

I don’t use the bike in Santiago because I don`t have one, but in Curicó I take one and I used this when I go to this city. I think that the modern life excludes the use of the traditional elements, and the activities of the human are deleted in progressive form. I don’t think about this fact change.

In conclusion, I think that the environment is very important, but in the practice I a filthy person, a pig.

River of beer

In the past year, I remember a day in which I enjoyed with other friends in the University, and I drank in that place all the beer of the universe. For moments, I don’t remember what happened, and many people arrived in my group, and for this fact I'm very happy because my body is in electricity state of mind and I run for other party in which I was swimming across the river of beer.

But the great moments don't follow for all the night because the horror arrives and this fact stops my funny experience. We went to one house in Ñuñoa, and I don’t remember for what reason I went to the bathroom and I hit one piece of the bath, and it’s broken. The sound of the crack is very intense, all the water of the bath goes out to the bathroom, and it be flooded. For this reason I finished my alcoholic performance and I worry for the state of the house, and my friends listened the catastrophic hit, and they went to my position and they answer to me: What’s happened? I don’t understand the reason of my attitude, but all the persons in the party roar with laughter, the sound and my terrible face permits the question for all the men and women.

Camilo, the owner of the house was very angry and the people of the party stop the music and turn the lights. I see all the people and I understanding the problem! But this fact is one of more performances of mi unfortunate life, my “amarga” life.

Regards

For Tomorrow

Today, I talk you about of one of my favourite band: Blur. The truth is I don't have a favourite band because I'm always changing the musical group that I hea, but Blur is a band that I hear since I was about 15 years and it's one of my favourite because their songs makes me happy and I remember with them all the England musician tradition since The Beatles band.

This band was born in 1989 in England, and became one of the most important Brit Pop bands.Blur is formed by Damon Albarn (vocalist and keyboardist), Graham Coxon(guitarist, who retired in 2002), Alex James (bassit) and Dave Rowntree (drummer). They have released five albums in their musical career, they are called: "Leisure", "Moddern life is Rubbish", "Parklife", "The Great Escape", "Blur", "13" and finally, "Think that".

Their lyrics speak about the things of daily life and some of them don't have a specific meaning, but I really love the sound of their songs, especially the guitar and the melody of these songs.
Some of my favourite songs of this band are: "For Tomorrow", "Country House", "Parklife", "The Universal" and "Out of time", but I can't choose one of them, because I like all the same. To conclude, I recomend this band because it represents the Brit Pop rythms and I never forget this paradigm of music because in my family they prefer all the English music, and they listen to all the bands, for example Pixies, Grandaddy, Oasis, Pulp, Travis and The Verve.

Teno

I think that in the Bicentenary activities, we had to do the things that aren't part of the daily routine. It’s for that reason that during the celebrations I took a bus to visit my parents and I visited some places of the rural zone around Curico. These places are special because in this I find the chilean common people, and the places are part of the patrimony of our country and they remain more than the traditions of the people.

One of that places is Teno. Teno is a great place for visit on the Bicentenary. Many people were in this site, and the “Ramada” is the best of the Chile! I recomended this event because the musicians bands are incredible for his lyrics about the drunk’s histories, and the rytms (for example a country music) expresing the chilean traditions. the boys and girls dancing with this songs, and the womens work in all the things that the celebration required, for example, preparing “anticuchos” and “empanadas”. Teno is a site in that the people enjoy the popular games, for example the “palo encebado”.

If you visit that place, you can go to the “rodeo”, and you need visit the square: two ways of understanding the traditions of the Maule zone. But the rural isn’t a simple world: the cities have social problems, for example the lack of access to the basic services, and the form to arriving to some sites is an adventure.

To conclude, I recomended these sites because all the places, vegetation and the people are very ordinary and sympathetic.
Regards!

Chicha y empaná

Hello,

I think I will stay at home during the national holidays, with my family in the Curicó, and I am going to do good things of a good man. I imagine who I'm going to eat empanadas with my brothers and sisters, I will find some moments to relax on the “Carlos Condell” hill in the center of the city. In that place a “ramada” is located and there are many places for drinking “chicha”, eat “anticuchos”, and dancing with other intoxicated men and women.

I think that the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of our independence is not an important fact, because the human conditions for the poor people are very similar to those of 1810. For example, the miners of the “San José” mine were and are caught by the laboral conditions because of the proletarian class conditions haven’t improved, and the busissnesmen increase their fortunes. Yet, the question of the development is important today.

In this week, I celebrated the funeral of my country in “Quintero”. I'll go with my university friends, they are very funny, and I enjoy in the parties with them because they are fun. I will be until Sunday and I prepare all my body for receive all toxic and harmful substances.

Regards!

Education?

I think that the privatization of the education is not a new issue on the Chilean educational system. In my opinion, I think those who are in the best universities are people who all his life studied in private schools, and they learn important elements to perform in the academy.

Unfortunately, the universities in Chile are different in relation to the quality of education they offer. For example, the traditional of the "Consejo de Rectores", have the best students, but these students come from private schools. In second, the private universities are not into "Consejo de Rectores", concentrated as many public school students, and their quality is lower because they have a low number of teachers and the equipment is precarious.

The privatization increasing in the final years, the public role of the universities is to provide opportunities for the poor students, only for this way everyone will have the same options to enter in the university. The performance of the students depend on the policies thinking about to the young people without money, but today this has to do with who invests more in education.

The Sebastián Piñera’s government include in the educational system only the best students and the education is a system that excludes and is not for all the people.

I’d like to visit…

Hello. I would like to visit a country that is very advanced in technology and its development is very important in the world economy. The country is China, a nation that has a high human growth. The development of its economy is very important and increases its technologies.

I ‘d like to know the culture of the past, the traditions about the Confucian religion, and the beautiful cities in that many people live. I want to visit this country for three years, because I like to see how the people can maintain their traditions when the technology progress.

I want to go to China with my friends who are interested in this subject, I think that my friends of university can go with me, because this country combines the old and modern world. I think that the feeding, clothes and the climate are more attractive than in Chile. At this moment I’m not savign money to go there.

My experience in the last semester

The things that I did in the last semester aren’t very exciting because my academic life would not let me do fun things, and I didn’t have much time to do what I wanted: sports.

Also, I hurt one leg, and this fact didn’t allow to practice my favorite sport: soccer. I put on weight, and my movements are very slow today. But the good thing of this fact is that it allowed me to study all the time the contents of my subjects, and my academic performance improved from that day until now.

I had time to study Sociology of Development, the Theory of Sociology, the Investigation about laboral conditions and the English program. I think that this semester is more difficult than the others, but my intelligence are increasing all the time (and my weight too).

Balance

My experience about the creation of this blog has been fantastic, because I think that the things that I learned in this course are new words and I have learned to read and to write with them.
But, I believe that nevertheless I have learned with this blog, this has not allowed me to improve in what I believe that it is the weakest part of my English learning: the pronunciation.

I think that the most important element of the English learning is to be able to read and write, and the pronunciation or conversation is something that he needs from a practical learning, but it should not be the most important thing. I believe that to write blogs, to read texts and study the English is more important than to be able to interact with a North American inhabitant.

I liked this experience because I can learn new words, the meaning of them makes me have a best vocabulary. Wittgenstein says that the limits of the language that we have are the limits of the world, because he thinks that if we know more languages, more we can understand the words and the things of other worlds. I think that if I had all my available time to learn the English, maybe I would have more options to reach new realities.

The ventajas of this experience they are the possibility of elaborating with criterion the texts, too it is possible to think what it is going to write to him, and this is something positive in relation to the oral language.

The disadvantages of the writing is that I have a little time to think what I will write, because since in Monday Julia send info of the topic and I have to have the text ready for the following day, and today I don't have Internet in my house. =(

A great businessman

In the experience of my life, when I was a child I thought of being a comercial engineer, because I believed in the economic growth, in the development of the society, but I never believed on the free market (Adam Smith is a boring person). I think if I were a commercial engineer maybe I talk about business, how to generate macroeconomics profits, and I think of how to insert the chile in the international economy.

But I started to think about the persons that they couldn’t be a part of the growth of the economy. From that moment i worried for the persons those who are not it departs from the growth. Also of the environment from which I come: My family (the experience of my life has changed my opinion about what I want to be) and my city are poor in economy, society and the culture is low.

I started believing that the study of the problems of the society is possible and I had money to studying tools as transform it. Then, I stopped thinking about the economy and I try to apply what I learn for to help whom need me. But it has been a difficult way because the study is not what there do the people of my city: they work all the days, and to studying is a privilege.

I think that my parents had expected me to be a great businessman, because they want me to have another life, and I can make money and help them survive. But they have allowed me to study what they I want and they pretends to me be happy!

VAMOS CHILE MAÑANA A GANAR!

Us and them

Hello

I think that the topic I will write about today is easy to explain, but I don’t like talk about it, nevertheless this one is a pretty souvenir of my infancy. In the photo, I am the one that is laughing and with a crown in my head, in this time it was celebrating my 8 years of age, and I appear together with my 3 brothers.

It makes me happy on having seen that we are all together, enjoying in the company of other friends and relatives, of one agreeable and entertaining moment. In those years I was living in Curico. When I see the picture, I remember with sorrow what some years ago it was doing: I was living with my brothers and my parents, and I saw them all the day and all the night. It had a pet and was living in a calm place. I was studying in a college that wasn’t good but that was teaching more of the life that of the instrumental things.

Today already I don’t live of this way. I believe that the things have changed and my life has become more rational and less interesting. 10 years ago my father took this picture, and preserved it for the family. He waits every day of his life to meet again in harmony, but it is not possible that this happens because the work there has made us being other persons.

But the photo is a recollection of what at some time we were, and I do not know if maybe in the future we will return to find, maybe I present the image because I have the illusion to return to find all together as a family.

Bielsa, follow your mechanical!!!

Chile in World Cup

Hello!
It's time to start talking about one of my favorite topics, it is the participation of chilean team in World Cup. I think that the Chilean team fought with all weapons to get the classification to the second round, but the way is very complicated.

In general, because the opponents in the3 first games are teams who characterized by his technique and speed. Spain, has a game based on the intelligence of his midfielders, for example Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Xavi Alonso, Cesc and Silva, those that they created all the time passes for his forwards, and provoking that Villa (Valencia, Spain) and Fernando “er niño” Torres (Liverpool F.C., England) in a profitable position.

Switzerland, I think that it’s a rival with speed, his forwards play in constant movement and don’ t leave the defenders alone. Barnetta (Bayern Leverkusen, Germany), Hakan Yakin and Frei: they can surprise at any time. Honduras, a country with that Chile begins his participation in the championship, it’s that of worse. They aren’t the most intelligent players on the court but his advantage is his strength and his “pachorra”.

But the conditions of the players of Chile don’t have limits. Marcelo Bielsa orders that his players in a strategic form to the players, for example, they are allowed to move with speed and synchronized form along the playground. I hope that these boys don’t give juice. My ideal team that I think that Bielsa must use in the world cup is: 1- Bravo; 2- Ponce; 8- Vidal; 17- Medel; 6- Carmona; 4-Isla; 13-Estrada; 10-Valdivia; 15-Beausejour; 7-Sanchez; 9-Suazo.

Viva Chile!
A morir!

Jovenabuelo

Hello!

The best band! This band is special because it doesn’t have lyrics in his songs. The band is called "Jovenabuelo”, and the musical style of this band is post rock. I like this band because it shows the sounds for represent everyday situations: the band shows a powerful message of reflexivity, and my life stops to start this music.

Jovenabuelo born in 2004 in Santiago, the members of his band are: Sebastian Rivera (bass), Ignacio Cea (guitar), Javier Nacif (keyboards, synthesizers, guitar, melodica and accordion), Javier Hechenleitner (drums) and Sebastian Arriagada (visual). Now, the group are recording a new disc called "niño sol", in where they intend to continue of combine technique and art.

The musical influence of “Jovenabuelo” are unknow bands for example “congelador”, and famous bands for example “Pink Floyd”. I think that the proposite of this band is shows with images, a paradoxical concept of the ordinary world, to challenge the established order. For example in the video (see the link) you can see the situations that can only be interpreted by the content of sound.

For me, this bandis the best of all time, but Pin Floyd makes me doubt! If you want to see more bands of this kind of music, check out these links:
http://www.myspace.com/jovenabuelo

My favourite piece of technology

When i think about my favourite piece, i remember the buses of the company at witch my father is employed. I think that they are fabulous, because they have a system called "speed of cruise ", with which most of the time the bus hastens only.

It is a bus of two floors, with it is posible to transport 65 persons, this bus reaches a high speed in a few seconds, and stops rapidly in short distances. These buses have comfortable seats, thanks to them the travels become more agreeable, because they allow you enjoy more than space of the normal buses.

My father drives one of the buses, and the work makes him less weighed thanks to the great technology that it has, but the bus has some problems, for example, they have to happen for cracked ways, the road has obstacles to which it is necessary to be attentive.

Is for this that always I have liked to travel in these buses, because they are fast, and the safety and the comfort are exclusive. In addition, I travel gratis!

I'm admire...

EMILE DURKHEIM

This author is one of the classics of sociology. He was born in Épinel France in April 15 of 1858 and he died November 15 of 1917. His life is marked by the study of social facts, and he indicates that they are "things", that's relevant to the development of the sociology.

He's represents the structural funcionalism paradigm, a new school for social sciences. In her life this theoretical study social problems, for example the suicide, for to prove the regularity on the particular facts. With this he can think the society and he can to treat as a phenomenon distinct the psychological study.

I Like Durkheim because he changes the form of see the reality, the social reality beyond the sum of individuals. Thanks to him, we can study the social regularity, by way of a structure. The things that are in society are regularities and constant!

The best gift on my life

Hello!

I think that the gifts are important because they leave a memory. That's why I think the best present that I've received has been a thought written on a paper and I remember to this day, because contain a message: "Disease is the vice, because puts me in the service of a fantasy world."

I think every day we do things that are not important, that become in a vice, we all want things of little of durability, for example we are watching TV and talk about what it shows, we create a fictional world that satisfies us, and we act in agreement to what they say the mass media to us.

The person who gave me this phrase is a woman who must follow moderate and calm life, because she's not part of the trivial world. She's far from me at tihis moment, but I remember the things she did, unfortunately I haven't seen in years.

However, this message I've forgotten, and this day I'm part of the "age of desire", and I want to return to leave a moderate life. But, the only vice that neither she nor any other person may remove, is the football.

The best gift that I received in my life... wasn't material!
bye!

The end of the world?

After two minutes since the earthquake began, I woke up and my house was moving from side to side. I was on the second floor, next to my mother, who also slept, and my father slept on the first floor (I don't explain why not sleep together). I hug my mom for the rest of the time when the earth is moved, and she told me to wait.

No doubt it was the epicenter, I thought. I was in Curico, city that devastated by the movements of the HAARP to break the communication. Residents take to the streets, and the silence that takes over for the rest of the week. Only a cell phone picks up radio signals, and there is a transmission of radio RTL(http://www.radiortl.cl/) . Thanks to this medium could inform us of the magnitude of the earthquake.

We try to communicate with my older brothers, one in Santiago and one in Chillan, we did around 7 am. New small earthquakes are moving but never left the house. Only the next day I came out to see what was happening in the rest of the city, and it seemed that a bomb had fallen on it.

I think there was a conspiracy behind this earthquake, earth movements are being caused by HAARP, if they do not believe me watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSQRA6QJjmM

INFORMATION PLEASE

Hello, my name is David Avalos, student of Sociology in the University of Chile. I'm in the fourth year of the career, in which I have had good experiences of knowledge, but now I have the hardest part! ... the study of the English language. I prefer to learn the Huilliche language, typical of the people of my region, but the globalization compels me to write now on this site.

I created this blog to share views and links about the performance of Chile in the World Cup. I have 23 years old, and born in the city of Curico, a place that is beautiful for live, and i'm study in Santiago, an ugly city.

I'm studing now but in June, I stop in my work and I transform in the fanatic number one of the chilean team. I prepare to watch and comment the mundial of Sudafrica 2010.


I hope it's a nice experience!