Of terms and stuff

Well, I'm going to talk about, or write about, not my entire academic year, but about my second term (2009). I have, because it is not over yet, different courses and most of them are very interesting. They are a bit different from my previous courses; they are a lot more focused on Biology. I think they are very necessary for my formation, as a Physical Anthropologist. Thankfully not a single one of them is related to Prehistory or Archaeology, so that is a big plus, because last term I had two horrible courses of Prehistory, and I think I almost died.

Okay, enough about that, on with the topic at hand.
I have two subjects in Faculty of Medicine, so very far away. They are Histology-embryology and Anatomy. The first is very boring; it is about seeing tissues on the microscopic, although what we see, those tiny cells and structures are sometimes very, very pretty, with different colors and shapes. On the other hand, Anatomy is quiet interesting, I have always liked learning about the human body, and even though it is hard and demanding I enjoy it. Most of the time.
I had all the other classes at my Faculty, the Faculty of Social Sciences, and they were Genetics, Physical Anthropology II, Bioinformatics and English IV. The first one is quite good, interesting and useful, and the teacher is very nice. The second is vital, very interesting, and we always have a lot of fun. We get to work with bones, skeletons from populations of different times and places, and we have learned many things. The third is… well, strange. It is, or will be, useful and necessary, but I don’t really like very much some of its elements, like computer programs. About English what must be highlighted is the good work environment.

So yeah, concluding this mini review, this was a good term with lots of things to learn but it also was very tiring, exhausting even. Now that it is almost over I can see just how tired I am, all I want to do is sleep, eat chocolates and watch T.V., shut my brain off for a while. Guess I’ll have to wait a little bit longer for that. On the bright side this is not only the end of a term, but the end of an academic year, meaning that summer vacations are coming, along with Christmas and New Year, so finally a moment to relax and have a good time.

Films and Cinema

I like going to the cinema. I love seeing a good film on the big screen, with a good sound system and feeling like you are a little closer to the story, the characters and the places that are shown. When I go with my boyfriend, we try to buy what we want to eat or drink at the supermarket, because things at the cinema are too expensive, and then we hide them J. Although sometimes we buy popcorn, I love them. When we rent a DVD and I have popcorn craving, we buy those that you have to put on the microwave and are ready in a few minutes.
About films, I have to say that I don’t have a favorite one, I like too many and very different films. However, I’ll write about two of them, but first I’ll tell you what a film needs to be a good film, for me anyways. It has to have good actors, with a good interaction between them, there has to be chemistry especially with the romantic couples. It also needs a good director and technical team, a good edition, to show scenes and to connect scenes in a way that makes you believe the story, and more important, make you feel things. The script and plot should also be very good, an awesome story accompanied with an awesome dialogue. And finally, a strong and great soundtrack with the adequate music on the adequate moment and with songs that make it impossible for you to not feel something.
On with the films. Alphabetically.

• Amélie
  This is lovely film, with and absolutely awesome soundtrack. It manages to make you interested on the story, on what will happen to the main character. It is a pretty film.
  
• Bourne Identity, The ( and Supremacy and Ultimatum)
  First, we’ve got a great character, a good plot and a nice development of said story line, with just enough romance and a healthy amount of action. Lots of pretty sceneries too, and well, I kind of like Bourne.
  
• Charlotte Gray
  Very good film, I just love Cate Blanchett as an actress and her character is also a good one. It has suspense, action, romance, and has historical content. And the most important thing; it has a happy ending.
  

So, I’m running out of words.
Bye.

Santiago

Well, I was born in 1988 in Santiago, Chile, and I have always lived here. If you are visiting Santiago you should definitely go to these places, hopefully the morning after a rainy day:

Santa Lucía hill
You can see Santiago from above, it has nice green areas and pretty paths to walk, and handicraft is sold.

Down town
Anywhere down town, like Plaza de Armas, where you will see a lot of people, there are places to eat, museums to go to, and so on.

Bellas Artes Museum
It is an important place to visit, there you can see different kinds of artwork from different times too, paintings, sculptures and the building itself is also worth seeing.

• Other places that you can go to are the Central market, pre Columbian Art Museum and historical neighborhoods like Barrio Yungay.

When you visit all this places make sure to be alert and try to put on a smart face, a face that shows that you are looking around, noticing things. Keep your belongings close to you and your wallet or money in a safe place, not on your back pocket. If you do not speak Spanish you could carry a mini dictionary, because as nice as people are here, not everyone speaks English. You should also get or buy a map of the city, one which shows buses’ routes.


You should also try to go to Santiago on a special time of the year, a special holiday like September 18th. This way you will have a very nice and entertaining time, there will be lot of activities, food, plenty of dinking and happy people.

Music... makes the peolpe.. come together.. (8)

I like music in general, and almost all kinds of music. I love rock, I like pop , folklore, music from different countries, classical music and so on. Oh! I also like soundtracks, the music from movies, like the ones form The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator, Matrix and The passion of the Christ, just to name a few.
I will write down some artists and songs that I really really like.

• 
  
  Azam Ali: Endless reverie
  This artist is from Tehran, Iran, but grew up in India. She has participated in the songs of different movies, like 300 and Matrix revolutions.
  


• 
  
  Blink 182: All the small things
  I love them, I love almost all of their songs and not just the one mentioned above. So, why did I put that particular song? Because, there is something special about it, something sweet and at the same time funny.
  


• 
  
  Cardigans, the: War
  This group is great and the voice of the singer, Nina Persson, is awesome. “War” is a nice and strong song, very rhythmic and full of movement. I recommend it.
  


• 
  
  Depeche Mode: Dream On
  The band is good, but the song is something else, it’s powerful, mesmerizing and when I listen to it I get the feeling of something very fairy like, of something magical yet dark.
  


• 
  
  Elvis Presley: Suspicious Mind
  Long live the king. Elvis rocks! And that song rocks too. The music is great, the lyrics are splendid, and his singing is marvelous. Besides, even though the song is old, we still listen it nowadays.

POST 3 : TRANSANTIAGO > BEFORE AND AFTER

First, I will say all the good things about Transantiago. I think the busses are prettier, with their green strips and pretty windows. Besides, I think Transantiago is less noisy.
About the bad things, I would have to say that this Transantiago presents a lot of problems, but not all of them are exclusive, meaning that the pre- Transantiago also had them. The streets in Santiago are not in the best conditions, and most of them were not thought for public transportation. Most of the time there is a bad coordination between busses of the same route, resulting in gathering of people at the bus stop, in a long waiting time and in some very, very angry people. But what most citizens keep forgetting is that it used to be same with the yellow busses.
Transantiago started at the same time that I started my studies in University of Chile, and the first month or so, it was horrible. Really. Very Awful. It took me hours, and I’m not kidding, to get on a bus. They were all full, didn’t stop, and so on. Once I got on, there was so many people already inside, that I got totally squished. And to get off the bus… that wasn’t fun either.
To make Transantiago a better public means of transportation, there must be some changes not only in Transantiago itself, but also in the city and society. So these changes will be a little hard. Only a little.

A COUNTRY I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT

If I could travel around the world, I would visit sooooo many places, so many countries, every continent, I would like to see the whole world! But on this occasion I will chose only one country, England. Why? Well, for lots of reasons, because of its history, its landscapes, architecture, museums, monuments, streets, shops, food, books, music, universities and so on. Seeing so many different people must be awesome, and let’s not forget the British accent, it is kind of sexy. I would like to visit the city and the rural areas; I would go and see Stonehenge, castles, cathedrals and everything in my power.

I know about England what I was taught at school, its history, its language, and what I learnt in a very pop way, thank to cinema, television, books, songs and, of course, internet.

In the city I would tour like crazy, take pictures, save napkins, buy souvenirs, stay in nice hotels, maybe talk to someone and have a lot of fun. I might keep a field dairy.I most definitely would like to live and study there, probably not for ever, but while I complete my studies. Unless my visit proves to be a disaster, and I end up hating everything and everyone, buy I don’t think that will be the case. Besides, I don’t mind the cold and I like the rain.

First Term

Well, it was a good term in general.

At the beginning of the term, my friend Berni and I went to get a piercing! We got it on our ear. I also started doing yoga, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is not boring, as I used to think, and it is very demanding. It has a lot of benefits, for your health and spirit.

I learned a lot about physical anthropology, like estimating sex and age in skeletal remains. Sometimes it was a litte exhausting, but I loved it. Also, I took Italian, it was so much fun! Italian is a beautiful language, the teacher was very nice and I think I was quite good at it.

On July, 4th of July to be more specific, was my birthday, I turned 21 years old. I had a mini celebration at my university, some friends got me a piece of cake (with candles and all) and others got me something to drink. At home my family and I had a nice meal, even some friends from school went to see me and brought me presents! :)

I guess the bigest challenge of the past term was to persist in everything, and get through all the problems that showed up.

So that was my first term, of my third year studing Anthropology (Physical Anthropology of course!).