Anthropology challenges

Today I’m going to speak about the most complicated “anthropology challenges”. One of them is related to the old and controversial authority conflict, that criticize the anthropology capacity of represent “the others” across the ethnography tool. James Clifford said that during a long time the anthropologist use the pretension how argument that give the true of him ethnographies. So, here we have the first problem, the capacity of one person to represent another culture only through the experiences living with that “other people”.

The second problem is related to the first problem , the anthropology have been used to use one kind of methodology paradigm-qualitative-with one kind of methodology tool-the ethnography- take as consequence a serious problem of representatively, validity and pertinence. Because, by one side, the anthropology work only have produced description, any kind of explication about a social problematic. In the other side, the capacity to speak about “the other” as an all is so far because the people consulted are too little.

However, there are solutions for both problems. About the first problem, James Clifford establish the “multivocality”, an ideal anthropologist with the capacity of represent all the voices not only the most important the calls “key informants”.
Concerning to the second problem, Patricio Tudela teacher of the signature calls “methodology research workshop” said us that we don’t have to take one or another option- qualitative or quantitative paradigm, as real opposite options, because now the usual in the anthropology work was use both to interpret and explain the reality. The different with our work are the anthropology perspective that began from the people expectations, from the “cultural capital” as said Bourdieu. Then, to get the necessary representation for the validity of the research we-the anthropologist- have to use the “ETIC” vision, I mean, we must to use quantitative methods like a survey.

Finally, another challenge that this discipline facing us is decide how specialty take, we have three options, archeology, social anthropology and physical anthropology. Those are so different but of course across in some aspects for the same all are very interesting to me.
I would like to take this oportunity to left one interest blog calls "The Angry Anthropologist goes hollywood". In this post he speak about the strikes!

PS: I want apologies to you Miss for the dissapointment of this course, I want to give thank to you, because I have learnt so much in this course, to read and write more fluent in english. Thanks and my apologies again!

Being wealth

In the first place, I think that is difficult to me imagine me being wealth, I think that everything would be easy, anything cost me effort because today the money open the doors of the world in a lot of senses. However, if I could imagine me being rich the first think that I can thing is: I would be an “illegal mafia tycoon” and that have several advantages and other many disadvantages.
The main advantage of being that way is that I would have a lot of enemies, but, why this is an advantage could you answer, well this means a lot of entertaining! Have you looked “the godfather”? Just imagine all that adrenaline and the real risk complots. In addition, I would be bribing the rich politicians, threat the life of your families and giving favors in exchange for money. Besides, I would be above the law; therefore I could do everything that I would like to do.
Ok, being realist, the disadvantages are obvious; this way to being wealth is the worst, completely dangerous to my family such as for me. Although the submachine-gun sound is still tempting to me jaj, don’t worry I’m just kidding.
All in all, I strongly believe that the money don’t do the happiness, as many people could think, and being wealth doesn’t means that you have to be a bad person, or a sadistic malevolent crazy person, in the extreme way to think. It’s just that the wealth brings you a lot of power to do many things; Are the things that you do with power that you be a mafia-tycoon or a good person.

The embarrassing moment: the egg vomit.

Several years ago, I was returning to my house very tired because the week had finished and it was late. So as all the days, I went to the bus stop to wait the bus number 428. There had passed two busses completely full but finally stopped a less full bus, I went up and look for some empty chair, all were busy less one at the back of the bus and I sat down there of course. I thought “wow, I don’t understand why this people didn’t want to sit down here, I’m so lucky”.
Suddenly I perceived little laughs round me and obviously I don’t understood anything, so I decided ask to the passenger sat down by my side what was happening. She answered, between explosive laughs, that I was sat on an egg vomit, and because of that anyone had wanted to sit there. Fabulous! It wasn't predictable?
Well, Proud of my amazing feat, I decided continue there until arrive to my house. The entire trip I heard laughs and murmurs about me and I had to dissimulated an apparent tranquility but I couldn't hide my shame, and it was worse.
But, as if it were not enough embarrassing, when I was arriving to my house I got up of the chair and touched the bus bell but the bus driver didn’t stop, so I had to walk to the front of the bus and speak with the bus driver. While I walked to forward, all passengers were laughed of my vomited ass.

This is it friends…!

Our Faculty problems

Today we have three mainly problems: the infrastructure, the curriculum net and some bad teachers.
In the first thing, The library must be improved urgently ¿why? Well here we go, we don’t have any place to study in silence, our study area is noisy, and it doesn’t have enough tables and enough space for all the students. Moreover, this library doesn’t have enough books, many times doesn’t have the basic introduction books in consecuense we have to buy the photocopys and spend a lot of money. Our classroms are quite small and suddenly don’t have enough chairs. We even don’t have good laboratorys to, the place to realizated research experiments are quite poor.
However, recently have been a little improve, the administration of our faculty bought several new and fast computers, with ergonomic chairs, and that is something that we have to appreciate.
The second thing: the curriculum net. All the years there are changes in the order of the subjects, some are deleted and some appointed. There are teachers and student working in the development of the anthropologist profile, but this isn’t finished yet.
The third thing: teachers. We have had awful teachers in subjects quite importants, not very demanding and very lazy in some cases. I think that every faculty must have the best teachers, because the discipline is composed of the research and the works of the teachers, so, I consider more important that everything-infraestructure, curriculum net- have the best teachers. But, we have a quite effective tool “the docent evaluation”, that is composed of two cualitative and cuantitative part. This have been useful to fire the worst teachers, and that’s good.
Anyway, we have many kind of problems, but all of this is investigated and is known. In this way with the MECESUP proyect is expect to improved all of this problems and today is developing.
However, many arguments have emerged of these days, because some missed deadline, but that is another problem.

Dinner party or dinner hell?

Would you like to know how to go to a dinner party, and to be invited to the next gathering?
Well, this article is the next part of a couple of articles that teach you how to be a good guest. The first thing that everybody should know is that: prepare a dinner is a very hard work, takes many time and energy, so, the guest must be worry about the host and must be ready to help every time. The second thing that every guest must to know is that you can to arrive within 15 minutes of the time on the invitation, but never earlier. Basically because the host could not be ready and this could stress her/him.
The third thing that any guest has to know is always must to gift a little present to the host, for thanks the hard work that means prepare this dinner. Anyway, other thing that you don’t have to do is talk with one person only, because is disrespectful to the other guests and overall to the host. Finally, you have to try to clean the house, and obviously don’t be drunken people, make a disaster, vomit the carpet or the outside of the toilet.
In summary, if you are a Chilean guest, you probably won’t be invited to the next dinner party, because here this rules don’t exist and this is a sign of the Britain culture is totally different to our culture, many more strict and with so many rules that the dinner party translate in a dinner hell!

If you want yo know this article touch this link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/oct/05/modern-manners-dinner-party-guest

Frida Khalo

¿Do you know something about Frida Khalo? Well, today I’m going to speak about her movie, a kind of drama- documental that shows her life.
The history began with 4 Mexican people load a very typical Mexican bed with frida on it. Then an amazing cine effect -racconto- put you in the past of Frida, when she has a young girl, exactly before de accident. She was an intellectual girl, with miles of projects, a brave character and with different way to see the relations between men and woman and a very unusual way to understand the limits of the sex and the limits of the genre, in compare with other Mexican woman of her time. But, what accident could you question? Well, Frida was talking with her boyfriend on a track that translates them to someplace, the track driver was so angry and tries to overtake other track and in this moment crashed with a wall. Frida suffer serious injuries and break her vertebral spine brakes in million of pieces, this represent the began of all her particular way to feel and understand the pain and the human loneliness.
But, to continue with the history, Frida wake up after 3 weeks, cover with plaster on all her body, is there when she began to paint what was happen with her, through different hard, acid, tender, and finally proof symbols, that show us the greatest human contradiction or the human duality if you want: we don’t want to feel pain, and don’t want to feel alone, but this two feels go with us every place, and every time along our lives.

Santiago as a good tourist destiny.

Hi, well if you want to visit Santiago first you must know the particular geography of this region. In the east there is a huge mountain call Cordillera de los Andes. In this place there are all the more important skiing centers like “La Parva”, “Valle Nevado” and “Farellones”, so if you want to ski this is a great place to do that.
In the middle of the city there are 2 big hills that you must to visit. One of them calls Santa Lucia, situated in the heart of the city. Is a little, historic and beautiful hill, good if you want to go for a quiet walk surrounded by gorgeous trees. As well as being beautiful, it is a very historic place, because there was a fortification where the conquers fight against the Mapuches. The second hill is bigger than Santa Lucia, it calls San Cristobal hill. In this place you will find the national zoo, the funicular, the railway on the air, many green areas like Japanese garden, Mapulemu garden, Caupolican Garden for example. If you want to do sport like cycling, running, walking this is a good place to. There are many viewpoints surrounding the hill, when you can see the entire city and its beautiful sunsets.
In the northwest of the city you have the Quinta Normal park, a big place that have several museums like Natural History Museum and Arlequin Museum, Train Museum and Infant Museum. Near the city center, there is the Forestal Park that is the longest park of the city. It is an interesting place particularly the Sundays because these days there are street theatre shows, juggling and many Chilean families go with their kids to play in game square.
Definitely this is a very good city to visit and toured all over. I hope you can have a good time.

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!

my ideal job

Today I’m going to speak about my ideal job. I would like to work in a mix of things, doing practice things, and theory things. May be teaching, and studying at the same time. Maybe travel to far places around this country and do some projects at the same time. Perhaps looking for traces of rock art and participating in research projects.
The truth is that my ideal necessarily be working with people, developing any kind of project, and of course, to allow me to travel and learn about deep behavior of cultures and discover new and interesting things.
For this kind of job I need to know so much about methodology, quantitative and qualitative techniques, so much about culture and economy too, and some much about working with people.
I think that I will be good for this job because I think that I am a creative person that be necessary for a job like this, furthermore I have ability to work in group.

Furthermore, as this is my ideal job would be excellent and because he would be doing what I like.
To find a job like that, would have to pass many years, but I’m patience and I the things don’t come to me I’m looking for that.

My favorite subjects

This is my third year in the University, so I have had many interesting subjects that I can consider as my favorites. I would like to speak about some of them. At first I did “history I”, with the teachers Ximena Cortes and Bernardo Gonzales. They were the best teachers that I never had, because they used an excellent kind of teaching methodology. But more than that, they taught me how to think the history beyond the traditional history books, looking into the different temporalities like demography and economy, politics, religion, or ideology. These kinds of temporalities were called by Fernand Braudel as “long, medium and short duration”. He attempted to create a new way to understand the history, like a triple structure. He used the “river metaphor”, where the deepest river current, which has the slowest speed, is the “long duration”, the middle current is the “middle duration” and the more superficial current that have the fastest speed was “short duration”. Definitely this was one of my favorite subjects.

But, this year, I think that my favorite subject is Anthropology III, with the teacher Andres Aedo. Simply because this is the only one that I have learned something so interesting and new. Moreover, the way of teach of this professor, using contextual examples, allow me do links between the reality and materialistic anthropological theories. One of the theories that I have learnt this semester is “cultural materialism”. But I had to do a presentation about this a couple of weeks ago, so I don’t stop in the description of that.
Now I have could understand that my favorites subjects have been related with the methodological way of teaching of the teachers.

Task 8:do I think that school kills creativity?

I think there is noithing more unpleasant that listen to a kind of joke in other language, and don’t understand anything.
But, related to this task, do I think that school kills creativity? Well I think in the most of the cases this statement is right, furthermore in the most of Chilean Schools. I know kinds of education that improve the creativity in the child, like Montessori and Waldorf, but this school are so expensive and far of the moist of people, that are an exception and a privilege. The reality is that Chile isn’t a creativity specialist, and is not important this kind of thinks if the real education doesn’t matter too. There are many schools that don’t even have good teachers. Even more there are scholars that in the last grade of their school don’t know how to do a split. It’s very important that creativity have a better place in big list of educations needs, but at first it’s more important that government take on the responsibility in improve of the education system.
I think that creativity is fundamental to the development of child’s talents, because I believe in a humanistic way of see the people, where everybody have different kinds of potentials that can be develops through the early stimulation with a good education.

Task 6: In five years

In five years…
I think that five years is not too much but it times enough to have realized some of my projects.
I would like to be working in some interesting research with my present classmates and friends; I don’t know what kind of research but may by about something related with anthropology issues. I think that I will stay putting in practice all the methodological tools that I will have learned in this career in the development of one social project.
I would like to make known the anthropological knowledge so I would like to be development some projects may be a kind of expositions in schools or something like that. Also, development a kind of documental about the culture or about the scientific anthropology knowledge. Probably I will stay living with my friends in some apartment near from the city center with an amazing view in the last floor (dream is free). I think that I will plan some kind of trip to travel to a far place of the world, like China, India or Africa, with some of my old and new friends or future lover may be I hope jaja.

Task 5: Antropology

Anthropology is an area of social science witch specialty is the study of a culture. It has been many different definitions depend of the place that you see.
If you are a Social Anthropologist your study object will be the life culture and the cultural variation. But, if you are a physical anthropologist probably will define it like the study of the biological changes on the Homo sapiens, the influence of pathology illness in the human population. If you are an archeologist probably will define the study of anthropology like the study of material remains of died culture.
Sincerely I don’t know why I decide study specifically anthropology and no other career like sociology and psychology, maybe because at first sight it seems to be a holistic discipline where field work was an everyday issue. But it was a completely disappointment. I’m in second year and I haven’t had any field work, the career is more of the same academic works, with academics ways of see the reality, totally theory way. But I won’t take any decision yet, I want to wait until the time said me something new.

task 3: A website

There are many useful websites to visit if you are finding believable information for college homework. But there are one them that you needs to put first than anyone, this site is Google. For me, Google is the door of enter into any scientific webpage. This is a finder, a kind of tool that helps you to find anything.
If you want to find a picture, maps. The only thing that you have to do is click on the link “imagen” and then writes the word that you were looking for.
If you want to find a scientific paper about “the bonobos”, you have to write “google académico” then automatically appear the website http://scholar.google.cl/ that show you the recently paper and the oldest to.
The same thing happens if you are looking for an anthropology blog. You write “google blogs” and automatically appear the webpage http://blogsearch.google.cl/ , then you have to write a simple character that you are finding like “anthropology” and surprise!, 555,621 result for your search.

Task 4: Photo of Candelaria's Virgen Carnival

This picture was taken by me just in the moment that the Peruvians were celebrated the Candelaria’s Virgin day. That are a very old tradition in many places of the Andina region and every year the people realized processions whit the Virgen in their arms from one church along the streets, around the city until they arrive in other church and finish their procession. Those are huge celebrations where the people dress up as weird character. For example, that day had one men dressed up as a typical native girl calls “chola”, he had dreadlocks, a pink dress, high-heeled shoes and a girl mask on his face.

That was so stranger for me and my friends, because we thought that situation like a men dressed up as queer men. But the native people seemed be calm whit that situation, seemed like that didn’t matter wasn’t nothing out of ordinary things that happen every day. We thought that Peruvians were more strict and conserve but then we could understand that the carnival is the carnival, and every type of thing, like a men dressed up as a girl, is allow.

That are a cultural tradition, and in the beginning there had to have a meaning, but we never could found the answer.

2. The computer

Hi,
Well, I think that the most incredible piece of technology is computer. I got my first computer when I was seven and I used it only to play computer's games. My father gave me a CD with 150 games, the time passed so quickly in front of the computer, it was very entertaining. Then I changed it because it was very slow, for another one much faster.
My parents conected it to internet, which meant a entrance door to another world. But it was so expensive that my parents decided to forbid it. But it didn't matter because I had many games to play like "Age Of Empires", "The sims" and "Sim Theme Park". At that time I used to play every day for about 2 or 3 hours, but today I use it for about 1 or 5 hours depending on the homeworks.
I think that the computer is a wonderfull tool to connect you another people and more than everithing, to connect with other ideas.

Janis Joplin & bicycle

Hi

Today I'm going to writte about two of my favorite things. The music and the bicycle.

This things have a special feature, the two things can be done at the same time.

Last year I used to ride my bike listening the janis joplin's music, it was wonderful feel the brezze in to my body, feel the wind to crossing my hair while the blues of the guitars and the spectacular voice of Janis were invaded my ears and my bicycle across the city.