Transantiagooo!

This history began in the summer of 2007, when I arrived from the south of Chile. I couldn’t believe it, because all the buses had suddenly disappeared. So, I remembered that in February of this year Transantiago system should be inaugurated.
Nevertheless, I had a bad feeling; something told me that would be a terrible chaos when all the workers and students returned from their holidays. And that’s the way how it happened, there weren’t buses for the people, there were rows of people with several meters of distance, buses and stop buses over crowded, furthermore of people that grasp your intimate parts and many old women fainted. Clearly the old problems like traffic, smog and drivers competitions were gone, but the buses absence generated much other different kind of problems.
People have to walk so much before to find one recharged “bip!” place. I think that this new system there was installed before the moment, and the staff don’t worry about investigate what was the people’s trips.
Nevertheless, I think that the systems have been improved in comparison with the first moment related to the routes, because now exists a complex organization with all the possibilities to travel over Santiago. In addition, now the work conditions are more regulated and the drives better assigned. But I’m sure that other important things have been lost, for that I want to read some research that shows me the real changes.

Bolivian Reciprocity

Today I’m going to speak about an interesting experience that I had in Bolivia, in fact, this experience was more than interesting, this experience represented to me the meeting with other culture face to face, with I could consider as the most important characteristic of Bolivian culture, maybe the social cement.
It began one winter day, when I had finally finished my exams and my first term. I'm gathered with two of my best friends, chelo and belen and we decided to travel to Bolivia with the first objective of know the country and the last objective to participate in the Archeological and Anthropological gathering of Latin American students.
It was how we began our trip; then we were there we had arrive to Ollague, the first town that we knew. That is a beautiful place, moreover a lost place in the middle of anything. It was like the meeting with a invisible city, like the Italo Calvino novel called “Las Ciudades Invisibles”, mainly because it was completely deserted without houses, there was only the big oldest train that I had never seen before in the middle of the city. The sparkles of the sun had blinding our eyes, because of its own particular closeness to sun.

The next day we were in Uyuni, the plan was wake up early to take the salt truck and go to “Uyuni Salar”, because the tour was so expensive and we don’t had enough money to pay that. However we lived a too cold night so we stayed sleeping and we lost the salt truck. During the day we went over the city and met Maria. She said that she lived in Atocha, a little town near Uyuni, also she was in Uyuni with her husband because of a family meeting. She told us about her life and we told her about our life in Chile; so different actually. In the night we turned to see and we invited her and her husband for a coffee. She said ok; then we had sung beautiful Andean songs from her town. Later we said bye and stayed with a great feeling, as in love with her culture. But, few minutes later she appeared again and gave us three beautiful hats.

We could understand that Bolivia culture is based on reciprocity, all relationships works in that way and that was the proof how we knew it.

FIRST TERM: GOOD AND BAD POINTS

This last first term of 2009 can be showed as my more difficult period of this career. I have one signature called Anthropologic IV, where I can study the materialism in anthropology and how this can be used as an important tool of cultural analysis. Furthermore, I found the importance of culture as social cement and the most incredible human ability, the environmental adaptation. Since I got in these studies I have never read something so interesting and that put me in to the real importance of the infrastructure. In fact, everything I have been studied consist in participative observation, symbolic interpretations, archeological analysis, prehistory, all so interesting thing but no one so useful and that make me so sense as this signature themes.
In other aspects, I practice football whit the female choice of my campus. That was very amusing and I learned so much. Furthermore, I am in the scout staff of my group additionally, therefore I had so much work because I had to prepared the winter camp; Yes, this last first term of 2009 was so stressing to me.
But, one light in the end of the way was waiting for me in that moment; I would travel to Bolivia in the winter holidays and that gave me many hopes and strength to finish that semester.

Finally everything went very good, and nobody died, included me.

A country I would like tourist: MEXICO!

Today I’m going to speak about Mexico. It is the last country of Latin-American and is a amazing place. It has the culture alive and several archeological remains of ancient Aztecan culture. What I know about Mexico? Well this is a country that has many different kind of historic and culture things. For example, it has mariachis, the Mexican revolution in the hand of pancho villa and emiliano zapata, corrupt politic, the dead party, Mayas and Aztecs, and a deep religious culture. Here the men are so chauvinist, so for that the feminist movement is so developed. As well to, this country have the one of best anthropology academy of the world and this is so important to me because it means that I could find several research project to work.
Here I would like to visit the anthropology museum, one of the biggest anthropologic museums of Latin America, the garibaldi square. But mainly I really would like to visit Mexico in the festival season, where the traditions show part of the cultural expressions.
I really enjoy study there, especially in the UNAM (Universidad Autónoma de México). But first I have to finish my studies here. I would like to study in other countries to, maybe in Australia or British. But it is completely necessary to me get a scholarship.
See you in the next class!