Blog 6: changes to my study programme

 Hi! I hope you are well! Today I will write about my study program at the university, my career of study is dance. The subjects I have in my career are many, really many, which I think is quite positive because dance is disciplined and we are training to be professionals, to reach a good physical and theoretical level. The workload is heavy, we have a schedule similar to a school day, we enter at 8 am and leave at 5 pm approximately Monday through Friday, we do not have long breaks, our breaks between each subject are usually 15 minutes, just to eat a snack. Sometimes it is a bit stressful because we have to keep studying and practicing after school. I think what I would like to improve about the career is the infrastructure, the faculty of arts is very old and is not in very good condition, the dance halls become small, it is done recently, I would like to have more spaces for the career, new rooms and larger rooms. 

In the career few students are admitted per generation, usually auditioning 150 to 200 people, and there are only 30 places per generation, many people are unable to enter to study dance because the schools are few and the places are also very limited.

If there were more rooms in the faculty for dance could enter a few more people and we could all have space to work, we are quite crowded in the faculty. 

As for technology, we do not need much because we mainly work with the body, the theoretical work that requires reading everyone can go to study in the library of the faculty which is also very small and only enough for about 15 people haha. 

I think the teaching methods have improved a lot, before the year 2000, the teaching methods were much more authoritarian than now or so I've been told, because I was born in 1998 haha. My teachers today are all very loving and professional! 

Blog 3 / Movies and series

    Hello! I hope you all are well, today I will write about series or movies, because I will talk about a series.

One of the series that I recommend the most is that I don't really know if I can call it a series. Actually it is an anime, recently I entered the world of anime, but in this period of quarantine and I realized that I like it very much. One of the ones that I have enjoyed more and I believe that all should see is "shingeki no kyojin". I think it is a very interesting and fun anime, I enjoyed every chapter. The director is Tetsurō Araki Japanese animator. There are many important characters throughout the series but the main ones are Eren, Mikasa and Armin Arlert. Basically it is about titans and humans behind the walls to protect themselves from them, I will not say more because I can make spoiler hahaha I like this anime because I find the creative universe of those who created it fascinating, I am very surprised by the particularity of each titan, the mystery that has the plot, among other things. 

  

I think it's an anime that everyone should see!

What is your opinion about the Chilean tradition called ‘mechoneo’?

Hi guys, how are you? 

I hope well, today I will write to you about the Chilean tradition called "mechoneo". The "mechoneo" is a tradition of welcoming new students to the university, they are called "mechones", it is a quite violent welcome, in most of the universities, sometimes they undress the students, they dirty them, take their things, cut their hair, and make them go to ask for money in the streets, to make the ridicule or any humiliating activity. 

It is a very harmful activity and tradition, there have been cases where some students have died from extreme acts of violence in the "mechoneo". I think that the attitudes that appear in the "mechoneos" are very primitive, I think that the young people/human of the society get their worst sides by "mechoneo" from the new students. It is very negative wherever you look, I think that the "mechoneo" should be forbidden in universities or propose a positive mechoneo. 

In my college career (dance) we also do "mechoneo" but it is a totally different kind of mechoneo from the humiliating stereotype of mechoneos that exists in universities. We scare them and act out. They are always blindfolded and taken to a room. 

Before arriving at the room we scare them with the bandages, and we put glitter all over them, we write nice phrases on their face, or arms with pencils to paint the skin.

When the tufts arrive to the room, we take off the bandages and we have a show ready for them, the ex mechones have to do a welcome dance for the new ones, with a theme, in my generation the theme was animal print and we did all kinds of dances, reggaeton, pop, salsa, among others. After that we do games and then they have to go ask for money to make a party all together. 

When they come back we give them shampoo, balsam, soap so they can take a bath and remove the glitter. 

This kind of mechoneo in my career works very well and everyone is happy, at least for me it was a lot of fun when I was a new student.

Blog 4 my future

 Hi guys, I hope you're ok!  

today i will write to you about what i am studying and my future job. 

I'm a dance student and in my situation as an artist I don't have too many ambitions in terms of money, the labor field of art in Chile is small. There is no culture of the arts in education, from childhood we are taught to produce, to be labor, we are educated for capitalist purposes and art does not fit 100 percent in this aspect. 

The most sustainable thing, thinking about my future, is to do classes. Luckily I love to teach, I like all the material that has to do with education.

I also like the fields of research, but these fields are more difficult to sustain, it's possible but it's difficult. There are funds given by the state for artistic projects, but it is difficult to win them and it is a competition within everything. 

My dream would be to have a school where I could teach many teenagers and children who don't have the means to access art, to teach them for free. I still don't know how I could sustain it, maybe with funds and self-management. Because the artist in Chile almost all his work is self-managed. I hope one day to be able to work that way. 

my best vacation

 Hi guys! I hope you're doing great! I'll be writing about my best vacation today.

I haven't had so many traveling experiences, I think I've only traveled a few times and only inside Chile. I've been to some beaches like Coquimbo, Serena, Cartagena, Viña del Mar, Zapallar and some others. Once I went to the south of Chile, to Lican ray, I think that was my favorite trip, I went with a friend when I was 15 years old. I was there for a week and we went to many
places, the lake was my favorite place, I went every day to enjoy the water. 

We traveled through the woods, there were many, beautiful landscapes.  

I remember that near the cabin there was a waterfall, a small waterfall, the water was very cold, at some point I went into the waterfall and I froze haha. 

Basically in that trip I enjoyed a lot of nature, it was new for me because before that I had never been to the south of Chile, I didn't know rivers, lakes, mountains, forests, much less a waterfall.

 

I hope one day to return to the south of Chile.

What country would I like to visit?

 Hi guys! Today I will write about a country I would like to visit.

This is a very difficult question because there are many interesting countries, but I think I would be interested in visiting Latin American countries. I think it would be interesting to know more about us, our fellow Latinos and their cultures. I am interested in countries like Peru, Mexico, Cuba, Bolivia and Brazil. Also others from Central America. I like the Latin American identity or the search for the Latin American identity, we must remember that we are colonized countries, our identity is a mutation.

 

Of all the countries I mentioned above, I will stay with Mexico. I think it's a country that has many beautiful and identitary places of culture.  There are the Mayan ruins of "Chichen Itza", the archaeological zone of Tulum, there is an eco-archaeological park, the Frida Kahlo Museum, the National Museum of Anthropology where there are Mayan objects, among other things. There are also beautiful beaches in Mexico, for example Playa Paraiso, Cancun, Tulum, among others.

blog 10 / the end?

 

 Hi guys!

Today I will write the last blog, it makes me sad because now I really like writing here! At first it was difficult to find the indicated words, I tried to make the writings as clear as possible, and I always looked for simple words.
The first blog it took me 3 hours to write it and it was very stressful, but now with practice I have reduced the time a lot, there are days that have taken me 40 minutes, I have learned many words and I have learned to order sentences.

English has been a subject that I have never liked, it is very difficult for me and the pedagogical methodologies of the teachers I have always had, have not been to my liking,  today it is still a subject that is difficult for me but now I like it, teacher has shown us english in a much more didactic and positive way.

Very thanks teacher Benjamin!

Also my classmates are very happy and funny! It has been a very pleasant in English 3 experience with them and the teacher! hopefully at some point we can meet again.


Other topics I would like to write about?
I would like to write about stories that we have lived, funny things, stories lived at the university, there are many variety of topics, favorite meme haha, our pets, contingency topics, for example your quarantine experience, October 18, 2019, among others.



I send you a virtual hug! thank you very much to all.