In general, I like this activity mainly because it’s entertainment  and gives us some freedom to write what we want. Not just in free posts, in the others we have the space to express too. This is good for the reason that it’s easier talk about us, for example tell what we like or something that we know. Also like I say before it’s funny (even more than other activities we do to progress in languages) for the same reason. The topics were fine to me. I didn't have problems with anyone, except with the second. To try to choose a person on my field that I admire it was very difficult because I’m on my first year so I know just a few things.

Well, about what I feel, I don’t know how much my skills have developed, but I’m sure that I’m better. Now, I know more vocabulary and can express written ideas with less difficulty. Also, writing the posts I learned about things I like.

Being honest, nothing comes to my mind to include in the blogs. I think it’s fine of this way.

I would like to write about my favorite books, an interesting and funny anecdote or a movie, but we can make this in free posts so it isn't necessary.

I don’t have a favorite subject; I just like some contents that we have learned in different classes. Anyway, the subject I like the most is Biology (but I’m not sure, Anthropology I, makes me doubt). The class doesn’t have anything special; the teacher stands in front of the class and talks about the contents that we have to learn and asks some questions to the students. Also, periodically we have seminars, once or twice a month. In those seminars we are evaluated. Before the seminars, we have to read texts in English and after the test we talk about the texts.

The main contents that we have learned are: Characteristics of living beings, Cell Biology, Ecology (Ecology also involves: population, ecosystem, relations between organisms, among others) and Genetics (central dogma of Molecular Biology, Mendel's discoveries, genetic diseases, etc.). The last content of the subject is Evolution, but we haven't studied that content yet.

I like this subject because I think it’s interesting. The things that we can learn are many. I have to say that to me is a little weird to say this because in the school I enjoyed humanistic subjects. Though I liked Biology, my grades weren’t very good. By the way, in that time I tried to avoid the rest of the sciences.

Today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite movies. It is called "Dead Poets Society". This film is directed by Peter Weir and starring by Robin Williams (he has worked in other famous films like "Patch Adams" or "Jumanji").

The story is about seven adolescents. They study at Welton Academy, a very rigorous, conservative and aristocratic school.  All of them are destined to be professionals like lawyers, doctors or engineers (being realistic, this is what they parents want). Everything changes when a new English teacher, called John Keating, arrives to Welton Academy. His teaching methods are different. He tries to make them think for themselves. There are many other things too, but this is the most important.

I won’t talk more about the story. I’m going to focus in the importance of literature in this film, principally, poetry. In every important moment there is an allusion to a poem. Here, literature is a way to express what we feel or think. It connects us with what we are. To mention an example, there’s a scene where the students have to show their homework (it consisted in to make a poem). The teacher asks to the shy guy of the class to shows his creation. He can’t do it, because he doesn’t have one. So, the teacher tells him to stand in the front of the class and orders him to creates on the spot. After a very uncomfortable moment, he tries and does it. It was wonderful.

To finish, I leave here what he creates:

I close my eyes and this image floats beside me

The sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brains

His hands reach out and choke me

And all the time he’s mumbling

Truth, like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.

You push it, stretch it, it will never be enough

Kick it beat it, it will never cover any of us.

From the moment we enter crying, to the moment we leave dying,

it will just cover your face

as you wail and cry and scream.”

Session 6

This time I'm going to talk about two illustrators and their works. They are Alberto Montt and Francisco Olea. Both of them are chilean.
I want to talk about them because I love their creations. They consist in short comic strips covering topics like social criticism, love, everyday situations, etc.
Alberto Montt was born in Ecuador. Also, he studied  graphic design and plastic arts in that country. But now, he lives and works in Chile: like I said before, he has chilean nationality, he acquired because his father (Alberto Montt) is chilean. He has worked drawing illustrations for newspapers , tales and books. His most important and  famous work is "Dosis Diarias". This short comic strips usually are satirical and critical. They have many cultural references.
Francisco Olea is a graphic designer too. He has worked in the same kind of jobs, obviusly. He has published two books (I don't remember this exactly): "Manual de estilo" and "Mal de amores". I think that his creations are great. In  "Oleísmos" (he use this name for his works) we can find nostalgia, love, sadness, humor in a delicate way.

Here I leave two links if you want to visit their pages and know more about them
Alberto Montt: http://www.dosisdiarias.com/

Francisco Olea: http://www.oleismos.blogspot.com/

To finish I share with you one of my favorite Oleísmos. It was the first I saw.

It was hard try to choose a picture but I did it. This photo was taken for Vivian Maier. I will talk about her before make some comments about the picture because for me it's important to know a little of her life. 

First, she wasn't a professional photographer, she was amateur. In fact she worked as a nanny for forty years in Chicago. In her free time she went out and took photo of the things that called her attention in the streets. She never shared her work with someone else, so nobody saw her work until 2007, when a historian and collector called John Maloof discovered it. Thanks to him, who started to show their work, we can see her amazing photos.

The photo I chose doesn’t have a title, but I know it was taken in New York on 1955. If I have to say what was exactly the place I would say that looks like the Central Park.

The reasons I like this photo are many. In first place I like the landscape. I don’t love the cold weather, but the snow is beautiful. Also, the trees without their leaves are something that I always like to look and in this picture we can observe it perfectly. Another reason is the perspective of the photography. It makes that the man in the center (between the rows of trees)look so lonely. And this is the most I love.

Before finish I share with you a Vivian Maier's self portrait and  the website with her work : http://www.vivianmaier.com

My favourite piece of technology

Well, I don’t have a favorite piece of technology, but if I had to choose one, this would be my cell phone.  A few months ago, my aunt bought a new mobile. She didn't know what to do with the old until she realized that my cell phone wasn’t in good conditions, so she gave it to me.

Obviously I use it every day to call people, to send messages, like an alarm clock, among others. But the most important thing and the reason because I like it is that I can listen to music. I do this when I walk or I lie on my bed.

What life would be without it? My life wouldn’t change. I’m sure that if I had to live without my mobile I wouldn’t have any problem because I’m not addicted or a lover of technology.

This is my cellphone. At the beginning it was a little difficult to use it because is "touch".

The catcher in the rye

Today I’m going to talk about one of my favorites books, “The catcher in the rye”, a Jerome Salinger’s novel published on 1951. Probably you heard something about this book, for example that the John Lennon’s murder had it in his hands when he committed this crime.

But, anyway, this isn’t important if we think about the story. The novel tells us the Holden Caulfield’s story, a teenager who was expulsed of his school and then went to New York to spent time before meet with her parents and sister. This sounds a little crazy and also like a typical story of a rebel young, but it isn’t of this way. The trouble he had  is that he didn’t want to grow up because the world of the adults is disgusting. He thinks it’s full of hypocrisy, lies, superficiality and stuffs like these.  As the story progresses we can appreciate this point of view, specially at the end of the book. The message we can find at the end is beautiful and confortable, but not easy to take.

To finish with this post I put a Wilhelm Stekel’s quote cited in the book.

“The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.”

Hello, how are you?

Well, I don't know what to do honestly. I know I should write about a career-related website or about a person on my field that admire, but I don’t have anyone. This makes me feel a little bad, I’m sorry. I started recently on anthropology so my knowledges are just a few. I hope I can talk about one of them in the future, but now as you can see I can’t do it :c If I find something in these days I’m going to put it here, there’s no doubt.

Regards!

The Killers c:

My favorite band is "The Killers". The first time I listened to them I was playing "Guitar Hero" (I used to play too much this game 3 years ago). They are 5 guys who started playing in Las Vegas on 2002. The band plays indie rock or alternative rock. I don't know a lot of things about them, but I really like their music, the rhythms and lyrics are great. Sometimes makes me wanna dance, other times just makes me think. Most of the time I agree with the messages that there are in their songs, in fact, the title of this blog is a part of a song called "Spaceman". I don't know what is my favorite song because everyone has something that I like, but if I have to choose one in this moment will be "Smile like you mean it", one of their first songs. It talks about how things change when we grow up. They came to Chile 2 weeks ago and I went to their concert. I was so haaappy (:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9uyb35McKM

About my life

Hi! I'm Constanza Javiera Tobar Tapia and I'm eighteen years old. I was born in Santiago on March 2nd, 1995. I live with my mom, my sister and my brother. I'm the oldest, but people think that my brother is older than me (he's so big). I live with them since 4 years ago.  Before I lived also with my grandma and my aunt. 

I studied in three differents schools. The most important for me was the last. There, I met to my best friends and I learn a lot of things not only in a academic way. Now I'm studying anthropology and I'm happy for this. 

I love reading, especially literature. When I read I forget the time and where I am. It's like a little journey. My favorite writer is Oscar Wilde, I think he was and amazing artist. Also I like Hermann Hesse, Jane Austen, María Luisa Bombal, Ernesto Sábato, Vicente Huidobro, Jerome Sallinger, among others. My favorite books are "The catcher in the rye" and "The elegange of the hedgehog. I like music so much too. In fact I love arts, they're important in my life. Also I like animals. I have two pets, a female cat calls Perla and a female dog calls Lucy (this is because of the song of The Beatles "Lucy in the sky with diamonds").