Pros and cons of being wealthy...

I think that the major advantage of being wealthy is the economic stability that the money can bring us. On the other hand, the main disadvantage of being rich is that the way of life turns into a kind of bubble, free of the real problems of most of the people.

In what concerns to the pros of have a lot of money, first of all, I think that in this world that it’s so material, the money can brings lot of stability to live peacefully. Secondly, having money can be so good if we do periodically donations to all kinds of foundations.

However, being millionaire also has cons. One disadvantage, as I recently named, involves the “fake life” that we may live if we start to forget that poverty and hunger are outside of that bubble that the money creates allowing us to live surrounded of all kind of material things. In addition to this, being wealthy also can makes us dissatisfied because we enter in an endless circle of needs; because when we achieved our needs, we immediatly continue to needing more and more.

To sum up, I think that the pros and cons of being wealthy are going to depends on the way that we as human beings knows how to managed -in a good way- the fact of have more money than the rest.

Awkwardness at the office!

A very embarrassing moment that I remembered was last semester, In July, in the office of my Anthropology teacher.

I was there because I want to re-check a test, so I went to his office and started to notice that all the points that I missed was on the three written questions, in which I had 5 of 7 points. But I was so sure that all the answers where completely good, that I started to blame on the teacher’s helper of that bad correction of my answers. As I was saying things like “The helper is so dumb” or “It’s obviously that he made a mistake correction my test”, my teacher (that it was talking with someone on the phone), came to me and told me: “So the dumb it’s me because this time I was the person that check the tests”.

As I was listening that words I couldn`t be able to do or say anything. I fell so embarrassing that I even want to turn around and watch him to his face. So that, I quickly left the test on the table and start apologizes of my words, saying that I thought that his helper was corrected that answers as usually. Then, I run out of the office and I immediately fell my face very blush. Felling so embarrassed about the situation that even now every time that I see my teacher on the hallways I get a little bit nervous.

A very interesting article...

Children made 'sick with fear' in UK immigration detention centres

Weight loss, difficulty sleeping, bed-wetting and sickness among symptoms found at Yarl's Wood

Karen McVeigh
The Guardian, Tuesday 13 October 2009

Medical experts have found clear evidence that children held in UK immigration centres develop mental and physical health difficulties. A team of paediatricians and psychologists found 73% of children they examined had developed significant emotional and behavioural problems since being detained.

All those seen by a psychologist displayed symptoms of depression and anxiety produced by the confusion and fear about the experience. Even some children suffered the comeback of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The study in 24 children shows serious issues in the Yarl’s Wood immigration centre, founding that:
• Eight children had lost weight, managing to lose 10% of their body weight.
• Three children had refused to feed themselves.
• Ten out of 11 children examined by a psychologist had begun to experience sleep disorders. Also, four of them start to bed-wetting, an indicator of severe stress.
• Four children had regressed language skills, including had become selectively mute.
• All nine parents interviewed reported severe psychological distress, some of them contemplated suicide.

Dr Kim Ehntholt, clinical psychologist, said that "The detained children's mental health is likely to have been negatively affected by a combination of factors including a recent deterioration in their parents' mental health, increased fear after being suddenly placed in a detention facility which children often believe is prison, anxiety over returning to their country of origin where they may have experienced traumatic events, as well as the abrupt loss of home, school and friends."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/13/children-immigration-detention-health

The orange clockwork will never die!

One of my favourite movies of all times is “The orange clockwork”. When I saw this movie for the first time, I really loved it. Later, for Philosophy (in my senior year) I had to do an essay of this movie and I liked even more. I think that the reason of why I like so much this movie is because the plot and the characters are very special and unique; things like the invented language that Alex and his friends (or droogs , in his language) use, or the violent and inexplicable behaviour of them are very interesting to watch and to analyze. Also, I like this movie because in spite of it was make in 1971, it’s never going to seem old- fashioned.
The main character is Alex, a young man that lives in the UK. He and his three friends always are hanging out, rapping women, beating old men in the streets and breaking in houses. But one day, Alex get arrested and convicted of murder and rape. While in prison, Alex is used for an experimental program in which prisoners are programmed to rejected violence; this program called Ludovico Technique consists in exposes Alex to a sequence of images of naked women, violence, Nazis in the Second World War, etc; at the same time that he listen the Beethoven's 9th symphony (his favourite song). After this, Alex came out of prison and he hates violence, but the rest of his gang members, and his old victims are still after him.
This movie directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel of Anthony Burgess is kind of difficult to label, but the novel was considered as a Science fiction one. Also, the main character, Alex is performs by the English actor Malcom McDowell.

My TOP FIVE list!

If a foreigner tourist arrives in Santiago de Chile, and he hasn’t known what to do in this big city, My TOP FIVE list of places that he must visit until leave to another country will contain:
1. San Cristóbal’s Hill: This beautiful hill in the middle of the city is a place full of different things to do and to watch. Here my foreign friend could ride bicycle visiting all the gardens, the landscape and the view of the main part of the city (if he has luck and there is no pollution). Also, he could go to the zoo, to the swimming pools, and even have a ride in the typical lift of this enormous hill. The reason of why I choose this place is because you can go and do lot of interesting and very different things in the same place.
2. Lastarria Street: Arrive to this zone is very easy, so that, my foreign friend shouldn’t have any difficulty to arrive (On subway, he would have to stop on Universidad Católica station). This narrow street is full of places, like restaurants, cafeterias, cloth stores, pubs, museums and even a cinema called El biógrafo that always have very good movies. I choose this street because is placed in a beautiful zone near to Santa Lucía’s Hill and Forestal Park.
3. Bellavista Neighbourhood: I choose this place because here you can have a good time, with a nice drink and some chips in one of all the bars and pubs (even discotheques) that this neighbourhood offers. Also, there is all kind of crafts that you can buy in the street.
4. Patronato Street: Talking of buying, and if you want to have lot of cloth and accessories for very good prices, this is a place that my foreign friend cannot miss.
5. Bellas Artes museum and Contemporary Art museum: I choose these museums because there are like the emblematic museums of the city, also because of their amazing architecture. Definitely, you can`t go of Santiago until visit them.

Transantiago, a truly headache

The theme that I’m going to talk about now was a very controversial one in 2007. This event involved the change of the main part of the public transport... I’m sure that you already know that I’m referring to the famous and still present Transantiago.

This new public transport system promised to repair big problems like the pollution of Santiago and the safeness of the buses, but any of those are closed to be fixed even two years after!
The "new" buses where actually the same yellow ones but with a new coat of paint, so that, the pollution doesn't disappeared. And in safeness, the new buses still ride at a very high speed, even when the doors are still open!

The only thing that I could accept as an advantage comparing it with the old system is that with the Transantiago, we can pay only one ticket and do all the changes that we need between buses and the subway.

But this bad situation with the new system didn't start like this. Back in 2007, it was true that you can see new buses, and that any bus starts if the doors where opened. Also, the times of waiting weren't where so long.

However as the time passes, the Transantiago is getting worse. So that, the main change that needs to be done is improve the synchrony between the buses of each line in order to stop the conglomerations of people on the bus stops and also, to make shorter the waiting times.

The food in my life!

Today I’m going to talk a little bit about a thing that I enjoy very much: The food; not only eating it, also preparing it. The interest in the cuisine began when I was very little with the cuisine programmes on TV. And then, when I learned to read, with all kinds of kitchen books.

With these two elements, I started to write in a notebook the recipes that I thought I could do with only six or seven years. So that, the next step was in the kitchen, experimenting with all kind of ingredients and learning from mistakes. In this stage of my life, I had to recognized that with out the permission of my parents to let me be familiar with the ingredients and the procedures of make something that can actually eat, I wouldn’t be able to make a progress in my cooking skills.

As the time passes, my interest in food and cooking has been increasing, and going to different kinds of restaurants and cook for my family are things that I enjoy a lot.

Also, as I learnt more about food, I discovered that the world related to it have no limits, changing radically from a culture to another, and with that , my willings of keep learning keeps growing day after day.