bs 9 Some changes to my sutdy program

To star, one should say that there are a lot of things going bad with the "university" in general, even with the conception of knowledge that embodies the formal education. The standardized study programs, international tests, etc,. The list could take several pages. But it's not the topic of today.

In particular, talking about my specific field of study, wich is 'Anthropology', it has been some efforts to improve and update the career here at Universidad de Chile. It's mainly because of the obligatory 'innovation process' required by the laws. To be honest, I'm not the best student to talk about this subject, given the fact that (and I'm not proud of this), I still can't understand the hole organization and rules of the 'university life', and how the career works.

That been said, I think that I would be thankful of having some introductory writing lesson, or a better ‘Philosophy’ approach. I think that the first lessons need to be improved. This period is when most of students learn the basics, or give up with the career. In my opinion, there should be more languages teaching. And not only English. At least in anthropology, knowing Mapudungun or rapanui language is a powerful tool to understand the applied anthropology and the indigenous peoples.

Secondly, I think that if teachers would coordinate between them, it could be a lot easier for the students, because the last ones could manage their times in order to understand  the classes more and better.  At the same time it seems obvious to me that the present facilities aren’t enough. We need more labs, more computers and especially more technology, to develop a good learning process, where this technology offers the opportunity to have really good analysis.

Finally, I think we lack of ‘field work’. Meaning that a career like anthropology is meant to be outside, in villages or in social groups, with the people; but lately, anthropology (here, in our faculty) only stays in academic discussions

bs 8 Summer Holidays

I have never wished the summer to arrive that much, as I do it now. This year has been so exhausting, that I really enjoy the idea of going to visit somewhere. Unluckily, I can’t be sure about when or where will I travel, because of some thesis responsibilities I have to take charge.

What I do know, is that sometime in summer, I will take a trip with my family to Calama, to go and visit my brother. I hope we go by car, so we can make a lot of stops, and know interesting places in the north. I am tempted of starting planning this journey, but now I must be focus in finishing the semester.

On the other side, I am starting to talk with some of my friends, so we finally decide to travel. May be all the talking works and we can go to Puerto Varas, where one of our friends lives. The idea is to go around the south, knowing as we walk, and may be Chiloé, the austral road… who knows? I guess the ideas will appear naturally. I’m sure it will be an interesting journey, especially because I have never travelled with my university friends.

If all my plans doesn’t works, I could always visit Tirúa, where I have a lot of friends, and is a wonderful land, full of kind people.  And perhaps, I will finally try to know the Mocha Island that is really near, and have a great national park. 

bs7 Pets I have had

May be you have already notice that I’m not the most creative blogger here. However, and as I was wondering what can I say that may keep your attention, I decided to write about the pets I have had.

First of all, I want to start saying what I think. I totally understand people that love, and even adore their pets, because somehow pets become an essential part of a lot of human’s beings. In a sense I think that pets help us to rehearse the social links and human interaction, protecting us from loneliness. But don’t get me wrong, I have to admit that it’s a little weird to me to see pets as the same of people. There is a difference to me. And in fact, I think that the animals (pets) happiness depends on the possibility they have to develop theirself as animals. It’s common to see people treating pets as humans. Sometimes I think that doesn’t help animals to reach happiness. I know there are a lot of opinions in these matters, so I am open to different positions.

But now, I present you the pets I have known. I remember living with my grandfather, and I would always see out of my window a big group of pigeons. But they weren’t regular pigeons. Were ‘abanico’ pigeons , My grandpa raised them, let the free in morning and settled them on night. It was a beautiful show to see when they flew over neighborhood. The bad part was the morning noise, but it was worth. I also had three really old turtles. My grandfather, who was a gardener, brought them home. There were also rabbits (but my siblings treated them unkind, so we gave them), and of course a lot of dogs, different generation of them.

They were like these 

I don’t know how I ended writing so much (I reached the limit, sorry). May be I can talk more about these pets in other post, and tell what happened with the pigeons. 

bs5 My future job

Like most of the posts I have published here, it’s not an easy topic to write about. To be honest, if you force me to answer what would be my future job, in few word, I would have to say that I just don’t know. So, in order to make a post that doesn’t just finish here, I can present some of the things I find important for a future job, more like criterions, or thoughts. As said before, I don’t have a clear idea, so please forgive if the writing is ambiguous.

First of all, I have to say that I think of my future job, like a combination of outdoor and indoor. I mean, that I couldn’t resist to be eternally in an office, but weird as it sound, I sort of like the workplace dynamic. So, in sum, i would prefer to have some field work, and some office time too (reading, writing, etc,.)

So, I would like to travel. In the right amount of time. Not for excessive periods. In fact, I have always envied  the job of those travel writers, or kitchen critics, who are paid to travel or eat. That would be a fascinating job.

Regarding to the payment, I think that I don't ask too much. I just need the necessary to live and a little to make the thing I enjoy, like travelling, music, gardening, hanging out with friends, etc,.

At this moment I don’t really know how to keep going on in this career (Anthropologist), so I’m not sure if I will spend more years studying, or will start working immediately. I guess, that I will take some time to think of this deeply.

Well, I hope you don’t get confused with my post.

bs 4 Survivig the subway

Since this is a post with a free subject, and this is not my most creative day, I’ve decided to write about something I just though. I know it may sound a little stupid, or even funny, but  a few minutes before I started this words I was on the subway trying to come back to my home. It was then when I realized that it is a hard work to use our subway without ending annoyed or upset. At the same time, it seems to me that  with time you get used to it, and start making your own shortcuts or tips to deal with the common problems in this train of ours.

I recommend to know well the best hours to take the subway. It's well known that if you take it in the peak hour it will be a very painful experience. Sometimes, five minutes before or after, makes a enormous difference in the amount of passengers. So, if it is the peak hour, only use the subway if necessary.  Also, if you know about a station where it's less people, consider walking a little more in order to been able to enter the train at all.

'Universidad de Chile' Station.
In my opinion, one the most beautiful ones. 

About the average time of travel, I would calculate an amount of two minutes between stations (it could be less, and change depending on the 'Líneas').
Other advices that can be useful for you, are:
- Always have the needed money in your 'Bip' card.
- Prefer the to make the less possible combinations.
- Use the wagons that will led you nearest to your exit.

BS 3: Eating at university

When I first tried to eat at university I discovered that there are a lot of problems involved in the eating behavior of us -students- and that it’s indeed really difficult to have a good lunch while you are in a regular university day.

The first, and obvious problem is that in here (and I’m talking about the campus, Juan Gómez Millas), we lack spaces to eat. In specific, the formal kitchens or the university diner, are clearly not enough for all the people. I see this like a problem, because a formal place that provides food, should be an assurance, so you can know what will you be eating all week, to have a healthy nutrition, and the most similar thing to a home-made meal.

I have to mention the large spontaneous market of food that our campus generates. I think it compensate the lack of these spaces I just wrote about. In fact, there is a lot of good, tasty and healthy food, so that a good thing in our context.

Nevertheless, they can not provide a place to eat.  I mean: chairs, tables, etc., and in my opinion those are important. But even an open space will work (the sad story is that we don’t have much of these either).

Finally, I think we should eat relaxed, which is sometimes hard to accomplish, given the university duties (tests we have, readings, etc.,) Also, its good to eat with company, not alone. It makes -I think- university, a happier place.