Post 9: The Mapuche Conflict

The situation that lives the mapuche people has a very long data in our country. Since the spanich people arrive to America the Indian population has been dominated and crushed by the colonizer. Today, 200 years after the colony, the mapuche people are now oppressed by the government.
The main problem that involves the mapuche people and the government is the propriety of earth and territory.
The government doesn’t respect the lands that historically belong to that people and have appropriate it because, of course, they have the economic power.
For other hand there is the situation off the preserving of mapuche’s traditions, historically the government has had the point of view that the mapuche culture should be absorb by the national, capitalistic culture, and that the people should be incorporate to the nation as another citizen.
This is a very polemic point of view, considering that the main fraction of the mapuche mouvemente doesn’t consider themselves like “Chileans”, they see by other side as a totally different culture that should be considered and treated as a different nation. The mapuche nation.
Personally I agree whit the demands of the Indian people, and consider that the reaction of the government is a representation off the oppressive character of the Chilean nation; shown for example in the hunger strike situation.
Anyway I believe that the solutions to these conflict is very complicated because giving the mapuche people the characteristic of a different nation, including the devolution of all the lands and the sovereignty of a certain landship, can cause lots of problems whit the society and also the people who aren’t mapuche and live near them.
Anyway that is probably the most radical solution, in a less radical option I believe that start by giving the lands they demand is the first step.
Of course in the context of our coutry that is probably very utopian too.
Well it’s a hard discussion, and I believe the solution will appear when the society realize that the mapuche people has right to demand what they want.
Finally the situation is not going to be fixed anytime soon if the government keeps having a repressive politique, expressed in the application of the antiterrorist law and the military justice, situation that by the way wasn’t really fixed after the hunger strike.

Post 8: Music

For me the music is an extension of ourselves, of the moments and of the emotions we feel in certain situations. I don't know very much about the different styles of music and all off the artist that are famous today. Since I was a little girl my favorite artist is Silvio Rofriguez and I totally feel like his music has been present in all my life. And that's exactly what I love about music, it is present in important moments of my life, and sometimes when I listen certain song it transports me immediately in that time. Probably because my father is a musician I have always loved Chilean music, especially the artistic movement known as "El canto nuevo". So I have grown listening to the troubadours and the popular chilean music like Pedro Yañez, Eduardo Yañez, Cecilia Astorga, Francisco Villa, Rafael Verdugo (El Felo), Eduardo Gatthi, Illapu, Inti-Illimani, Victor Jara, Violeta Parra etc.. To me this music is special in two different ways, because I like the melodies, the contents, the way of tell what the artist want to say, and also because It makes me feel close and connected whit my father.

In the other hand I also love rock music, specially The Beatles. Again, I love this band since I was little and I adore it the songs, the melody, the rhythm. I feel very good when I listen some of their songs and also I like it because it’s something I chare whit my friends and brother.

Actually, I like different kind of music, because different songs from different types of music makes you feel different things, so I believe that it depends on your emotions. Something related whit how music makes you feel is the contain of the songs, to me that is very important because what the artist wants to say trough that song is an important part of the song’s soul. That’s way I like so much the Canto Nuevo movement because the songs have a very beautiful contain that is related to our society, our culture and the way we live.

Post 5: The 33 group underground

Last august five in the deposit San José, located to 45 kilometres to the north of Copiapó, the mine collapsed and 33 miners remained caught underground. The catastrophe inmediatly appear in the news and quickly became a matter of national concern. The days and weeks moved on and still the rescatist dind't even know if the miners were still alive. Outside San José the families of the 33 miners moved to the camp "La Esperanza", in order to be there in case they find or kknow anything of the victims.

After 17 days of the accident, in a moment when most of the people though that the miners were death, an incredible thing happen, they send a little camera to explore the place and the camera came bach whit a little paper which has the message: "we are ok in the shelter, the 33". It is a very touching and incredible history but ¿what is behind the adventure of the 33?

The accident and the happy ending has go round all over the chilian press and also the international one, and the show this event like the demostration of how brave, strong and soliday is the people in Chili and how amazing the president is because he has been there during all the process etc.. Unfortunately this event is not a demostration of all that, is an horrible but true reflex on how the people in Chili work. This episode should have produced a huge discussion about how are the laboral laws and the systems of labor protection, which is really the problem here. Actually in the last 20 years 240 miners died in laboral accidents only in the Antofagasta region. It's been a month from the accident and still there's no discussion or changes in the laboral system of the mines.

I wonder how many accidents are requered to produce a truly change...

Post 4: Places to visit

To make a little guide of what a tourist should do in Santiago de Chile, I think the most important thing the foreign should know is that Santiago is a big city whit different kinds of places and activities people can do to have fun. That is way even though there are some places and things to do that I can recommend, I believe the tourist should try to go to all the places he can.
Anyways, if I have to make a list of all the places I think the tourist must go, I will start saying that the first place he should visit is down-town. There he will find lots of different places where our culture is shown in diverse ways and also will find places to eat, dance, drink and have fun.
Having a walk all over down-town is a very good way to know the places but there are some ones he should look for, like the Bellavista street (is not hard to get there because is near the Baquedano subway) which is a place full of different bars and dinners where people go for a drink and have a good time. He might also walk in the Plaza de Armas where he probably will find a popular show of comedians, mimes, music or something like that. If he gets hungry he should go to the central market, a very popular place where he will find lots of different restaurants, music, and entertainment. Finally after launch the tourist should go to meet the San Cristobal Mountain, where he can have a great moment travelling in the famous cable railway from where he can have a nice look of the city. Also he can go visit the other typical mountain called Santa Lucía. In that place he can see the beautiful Hidalgo castle built in the beginning of 19 century and he should look around the Arts and crafts fair (called Santa Lucía fair) where he might find beautiful handmade objects and probably will find a good preset to his family and friends.

Post 4: Places to visit

To make a little guide of what a tourist should do in Santiago de Chile, I think the most important thing the foreign should know is that Santiago is a big city whit different kinds of places and activities people can do to have fun. That is way even though there are some places and things to do that I can recommend, I believe the tourist should try to go to all the places he can.
Anyways, if I have to make a list of all the places I think the tourist must go, I will start saying that the first place he should visit is down-town. There he will find lots of different places where our culture is shown in diverse ways and also will find places to eat, dance, drink and have fun.
Having a walk all over down-town is a very good way to know the places but there are some ones he should look for, like the Bellavista street (is not hard to get there because is near the Baquedano subway) which is a place full of different bars and dinners where people go for a drink and have a good time. He might also walk in the Plaza de Armas where he probably will find a popular show of comedians, mimes, music or something like that. If he gets hungry he should go to the central market, a very popular place where he will find lots of different restaurants, music, and entertainment. Finally after launch the tourist should go to meet the San Cristobal Mountain, where he can have a great moment travelling in the famous cable railway from where he can have a nice look of the city. Also he can go visit the other typical mountain called Santa Lucía. In that place he can see the beautiful Hidalgo castle built in the beginning of 19 century and he should look around the Arts and crafts fair (called Santa Lucía fair) where he might find beautiful handmade objects and probably will find a good preset to his family and friends.

Post 2: Ideal trip

There are plenty of countryes and places I have always wanted to go, but if I have to choose, the one that inmediatly comes to my mind it's a place that I want to know since I was around 14 years old: Ireland.

When I was in the school a group of celtic music made a presentation and they played beautiful instruments and performanced an amazing dance. I was very impressed with the show because I have never seen a dance like that and I really enjoyed it. Then I realized that this music and this dances are originary from Ireland. It was actually since that moment that I want to go there.

Now I also know that Ireland and celtic culture is related with different legends about fairies and goblings, which makes me want to go even more because I really like that kind of characters.

The last thing I know about Ireland is that is an island located in the northwest of Europe.

Cause I was so impressed off the celtic dances I had the chance to see, definitly what I would like to do in Ireland woul be learn how to dance. Also because is a country so far away and I don't know much about it I would like to know about his culture, to see how the people behave and interact.

Anyway, I hope one day my dream comes true.

LEVEL 4: First work

What subjects would I like to write about?
Well, that is a very interesting question. I think there a plenty of topics that can be very enjoyable to write about. But personally I think the most amazing thing is to write about something you like or you are interested in. In my case, and considering that almost all of us started our learning of englisch watching TV or listening to music, I think it can be fun to write about the movies we like, or the music we listen. Also like we are studying careers that are not very related whit art and sometimes we don't explote too much our creative side, I also believe that a good exercise may be to invent and create histories in english whitout any subject only by using our imagination.