Miners...the eternal wait

Since August 5th their family didn't have any notice about the 33 miners. Some people said that they will be die. Other, thought that only the most youngers will survive the bury...well, the 33 miners was a topic in the traditional familiary sunday lunch. Surely more of one of you had a long conversation with a brother, parents or even with a completly unknown person, like a taxi driver or the kiosk owner. There was no one who didn't have opinion in this dramatic episode.

The miracle happened the August 22th, near the noon. I remember that I was preparing the lunch with my mother when in radio cooperativa confirm the rumor that ran all the morning...the 33 miners were alive in the refuge. Independently of any politic position, that day it was one of the more incredibles that I can remember.

Ok, a lot of people hate Piñera and his despicable capacity of appear when anybody wants to see him, someone like me think that the chilean flag has a simbolic charge of death and intolerance can't understand why was in hands of innocent people...dispite of all of that negative things, that day, the day with the miners send the historic piece of paper with the sentence "estamos bien en el refugio los 33" was an historic day of our horrible country.

Historic day, like will be the day when the rescue be effective. Yesterday I saw in the midnight news that a rescue drill was in 300 meters and the other two drills was also with positive progress. I can't imagine the face of their families. One day, when I was child, I cry because my father was 5 days in Argentina...i can't think about, their sons, their wifes...oh my god.

I'm wating that day...even, i think that a tear will run down my face. Ja, i'm not a sensible guy, but specifically this news, broke my heart.

Santiago, a boring city

Really, I think that Santiago isn't very shiny. There are a lot of pollution, the people are angry and egocentric, it is a bad copy of any city of the United States; definitely I don't recomend it to any foreing tourist.

Ok, I can't be so bitter. There are very beautiful places like Santa Lucia hill or the Forestal Park. The first one is an amazing piece of nature in the middle of the down-town. It's full of water fountains and scultures sorrounded with shrubs and trees. It also has paths to walk, benches to take a rest or viewpoints to see the city. The second one is a huge park, also in the down-town. It starts near Baquedano Square (also known as Plaza Italia) and finish in front of Mapocho Station. Within the park is the Bellas Artes Museum (very affected by the earthquake, but it was recently re-opened) and interesting scultures. At the weekend, artistic organization goes and does different activities, so it is a special place to visit with children and the complete family.

There are other typcal places, like the Metropolitan Park (San Cristobal Hill) which has the zoo and an old cable car (special for a romantic date). Near that, there is a Pablo Neruda's house (La Chascona) and Bellavista, a bohemian and cultural neighborhood.

But, despite that, there are beatiful places, some with a tremendous cultural value, Santiago has no identity. People love going to the mall or prefer staying in there houses watching TV instead of visiting and walking around their city. Modernity not only produces changes in the sense of production, but also in the interactions and ways of relating to people. Santiago is a city which pretends to be modern...however, those who observe and analyze the contradictions of the globalization (see the other face of the coin) can say the opposite.

Everything is ok (I think so)

Well, I really don't know if it's everything ok, but it is a very nice way to start the second term.

The year started full of good news: I met a interesting girl (now she is my lovely girlfriend), went to Buenos Aires in my summer vacations and started to work in a real sociological organization as a assistant researcher. Nevertheless, our country was devastated by one of the most violent earthquakes in the world history, situation that plunge us into deep depression. Dispite the dark days of Febraury, my year is still shining.

I started my fourth year (the last with presencial courses) obtaining antecedents about the topic of my mayor: "new curricular strategies in elite schools". It's a research inspired in the high scores that those schools get in the PSU. I'm convinced, because I studied in such establishments, that there are more factors than just the possession of cultural capital (using a Bourdieu concept) or a socioeconomic variable. In the elite schools (with elite schools I'm trying to describe not only the best schools of the country in the standarized test, but also the establishment which recieves in their classrooms the highest percentage of revenue and the powerful groups of our society) there are special courses of PSU, even since 1st grade of highschool or pre-universitary courses that overlap the obligatory planning of the ministery. All this diagnosis is crossed by the neoliberal laws that the military gobernment, the "concertación", and now the "new way of governing" apply in Chile in the last 30 years.

Well, I exceed the word limit, therefore I say goodbye.

See ya.

Second Term

OMG
I'm in English IV :)