Blog 8: English Language Challenges

Hi everyone!

I am very happy to have finished the class. It hasn’t been easy due to all the difficulties that the pandemic has brought us. But today we can say that we have succeeded.

In my case, I didn't have a good English base at school. And I must admit that I have not practiced since I left school.  For this reason, these classes have cost me a lot.

The truth is that I'm not very interested in learning English. And this must be the main reason for my difficulties to learn it. I don't really like this language because there are many people who speak it. All information is found in English first, and some things are never translated to other languages. I find it a little unfair, I think that English is an "imposed" language. But at the same time, I cannot deny that it's quite useful. So, I'm trying to learn it.

Using blogs is a good method to learn. It's easy and entertaining. And that the minimum number of words increases in each week is a good way to increase the difficulty gradually, without us noticing. In addition, commenting on other blogs allows us to get to know each other and share more with each other.

I think that I have a good understanding of English. I can hear and read it relatively well. My problem is writing and speaking fluently. At first, I think about what I mean in Spanish and then I think about how to translate it. So, I take a long time on it. I will continue to practice at home and do my best to improve this problem.

Thank you very much for the classes!

Blog 7: Music

 Hi folks!

My favorite group is Florence and the machine. It’s a group that I like for many years, I love the lyrics of their songs and the vocalist's voice is ... GREAT. But since it’s a known group and they play genres also known as indie rock or indie pop, I prefer to talk about another group this time, one that you may not have heard before, and I would like you to meet him.

The Lumineers is one of my favorite groups. They play folk rock and indie folk. They got together in 2005 and continue playing until the present. Their songs have appeared in various movies or series, such as “Silver lining playbook”, “The hunger games: Catching fire” and “Reign”.

I have two favorite songs: "Scotland" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag8i_peC30M), which has a powerful message and sound, and "Ho Hey" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvCBSSwgtg4), a fun song that makes me sing and clap every time I hear it.

My favorite genres of music are folk and indie. I like folk because I love acoustic instruments, minimal music and the sounds that bring me closer to the roots of some culture or country. I like indie because it always surprises me with new sounds, do you remember the opening of "Dark"? I love it!

As additional information I tell you that The Lumineers will come to Lollapalooza this year (if the date of the event is not postponed again xD).

Thank you for reading. I wish you a good weekend!

Blog 6: Postgraduate studies

Hi folks!

The truth is that I don't want to study a postgraduate degree. I’m not interested in spending more time and money on studies, I would rather leave the university as soon as possible and start working. But in a hypothetical case in which I am obliged to continue studying, I would choose a postgraduate related to the environment.

I have always liked everything related to the environment. Because there are so many ways that I could get closer to the environment, I haven't decided yet how to go about it. One idea may be to study the relationships between humans and non-humans. For example, pets, the use of animals for work, transport, livestock, agriculture, hunting, etc. I could study how these elements of the environment affect humans, or also how humans transform the environment.

I would have to decide from which area I position myself, be it from the social or natural sciences. Depending on that, I could choose where to study. In Chile there are postgraduate courses on environment related to natural sciences. If I wanted to study something more related to the social sciences, I would try to study abroad, although I doesn’t know in which country there will be one (if there is one). I would like to study online; it makes me much more comfortable managing my own times and not having to mobilize to go to class. Also, this would allow me to work at the same time as I study.

Well, that has been my hypothetical case. I'm still convinced that I don't want to study a postgraduate degree. Goodbye.

Blog 5: My future job

 Hi folks!

Today I'm going to talk about my future job, but first I want to mention other things. Anthropology is my third career (and the first too). I studied Anthropology, then biology and finally anthropology again. I always had a diverse mind. I have a dream, and then I exchange it for another, and then again. Therefore, it’s complicated to choose a job. Also, sometimes I think that I will won't work in something related to my career. But today I will try to imagine a job.

For now, I want to choose the archaeology mention, because I like archaeological materials. And I also want to integrate the knowledge that I learned in biology, such as zoology, botanic and ecology. For this reason, I could work reconstructing paleoenvironments in archaeological contexts.

This work has a laboratory part, because I will have to analyze the samples. But it also has a part of fieldwork, and that's the one I like the most. Thanks to this work I will be able to make many trips, although they will be work trips. I would like to travel throughout Latin America, because I prefer to know my continent first.

I haven't thought much about salary, but I've been told that archeology is well paid in Chile. And since I no longer have scholarships (for having studied other careers before) I do not plan to study a magister yet.

Well, this has been all. We meet next week! 

Blog 4: Pets

Hi everyone!

This time I talk about my pets. Currently, I have 3 pets: 2 dogs and 1 bunny. The name of the dogs are “Blanco” and “Negra”. My family found them in a rubbish dump when they were approximately 3 months old. In that time the dogs were sickly, skinny and hairless. My family decided to take care of them while they were looking for a new home. But finally, they became to part of the family and both are been living with us since 4 years.

“Coty” is a rabbit. She has lived with us for 5 years. My sister brought her home. She says that a friend that have many rabbits gave her to her. Even though all we call her “She”, we not sure about her sex. Nobody in the house know how to difference the female rabbits from males. But I think that it’s not important at all.

I like my pets, but I can’t share much time with them. I moved to Santiago 5 years ago (before the pets arrived to my family’s house). While I’m studying, I make few visits to my family and that visits are usually shorts, so I haven’t been able to have a close relationship with any of my pets. For this reason, sometimes I feel like they aren’t my pets. But in the last time (since the quarantine began) I have been able to share much time with them.  It has been a really nice experience and I think that we are becoming close friends.

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading and see you next week :)

                                          Here´s a picture of Coty (she was a little angry)

Blog 3: My favorite movie or series

Hi folks! 
I don't know if I only have one favorite series, because many series had impacted me in different life stages. “Lost” was the first and probably “Dark” is the last. But today I’m want to talk about a series that I think that has inspired me a lot the last years.
“Game of Thrones” is a epic fantasy TV series inspired by the novel series of G.R.R. Martin “A song of ice and fire”. GOT is set in a fictional medieval world in which there are two continents: Westeros and Essos. The series follows several simultaneous plot lines, but the principal storyline follows a political conflict between noble families who wish to sit on the Iron Throne to reign the Seven Kingdoms.
I loved this series since the first episode, because I’ve always liked the epic fantasy, other examples are “Lord of the rings” and the videogame “Warcraft”. But this is not the only reason why I liked this series. GOT is different of other stories of this genre, because its central point is politics, and not the magic. Also, its characters seem very realistic, like if they are really humans.
My favorite character of GOT is Cersei Lannister. She is the Queen of the Sevens Kingdoms and mother of two princes and one princess.  I like her because she is a powerful woman, as well as insightful, persuasive and determined. Also, she can do anything for her children, like a mother lioness for her cubs (the lion is the symbol of her family house). In conclusion, she is a character who always surprise me with his actions, and Lena Headey (the actress who played Cersei) helps a lot to make her an intriguing character.

Well, I think that I talked very much today. Thanks for reading and I hope that your enjoyed this blog.

See you next week!

My Funko Pop collection of GOT characters. Cersei is in the Iron Throne! XD

Blog 2: The best vacation or concert ever

I thinked to talk about my vacation in Machu Picchu, but I spoked about them the last week. Thus, I prefer to talk about my experience in the best concert ever (or the only concert that I went).

In 2016 I went to a José Gonzalez’s concert on “La Cúpula” theater. I remember that it was on the night, around 21 at clock. José Gonzalez is an argentinian-swedish indie folk singer and songwriter. Some of his songs are “Heartbeats” and “Step Out”, both used in TV commercials. I know him because one of his songs (“Crosses”) appears in the videogame “Life is Strange”. I played this videogame so many times that I learned all its songs. For this reason, I decided to go to all the concerts of the artists who participated in this videogame.

At first, I was worried that the singer decided not to play the song “Crosses” (the only song that I knew at that time). But he surprised me when he entered the stage playing that song. That’s so wonderful! I remember that I was very excited because I hadn’t been to a concert before.

I’m totally ready to go to a concert again when the quarantine ends.

Thanks for reading 😊 See you next week.

            José Gonzalez                                                                                         Life is Strage