Jun 15, 2011

    Hello everyone. The topic of this week is "travels". I don’t know if I am the best person to discuss this issue because I've never traveled very far from Santiago; but, at least, in the  places I've been away, I’ve had unique experiences.

In general, every summer I go on vacation with my family to the beach. We don’t have a house there, so we always go only for a few days. This year we went a little  further  than  usual (central coast), so it was more fun than the other times. We wanted to travel  further  north to see if it was true that the beaches are more beautiful and whether the water was warmer, so our destination was Guanaqueros town, because none of us had been there before. Although only mobilize on bus, we take care to visit other places, relatively close to the place where we stayed, for example Tongoy, Coquimbo and La Serena. Every day we got up very early to take advantage of every single hour of sunshine, so we did many things during the day, like traveling on the road, walking along the beach and visit many craft fairs.

In my opinion, one of the most fascinating things of traveling is to know the local gastronomy, because food reveals aspects of the culture and natural resources of the place. For example, if you go to the beach, you shouldn’t eat chicken or beef; unless livestock is widely developed there... you should take advantages to eat seafood and fresh fish.

As I already said, I've never traveled very far from my hometown, so I hope someday to travel to many exotic places like India, Philippines or Egypt. One of the countries that give me more curiosity is Senegal or Bora Bora. Senegal is an African country, with a tropical climate and varied nature, and Bora Bora is an Island of magnificent turquoise waters. I would love to visit these places to know their culture and especially their food, which is one of the things  that most attracted when I'm traveling.

 South Pacific Luxury Resorts in Bora Bora


Jun 3, 2011

The right to protest

     Hello everyone. This week has been very strange because it has not been classes at the University. Students have organized marches and protests to discuss new proposals to improve education, as we think that everyone should have the same opportunities to choose the University and the career that we really like.
Usually, every year there is a "stoppage" at my University, which works with days for reflection (making assemblies) and "agitational activities" (which involves people to make propaganda posters to use in the protest).
       I think protesting is more than a right: is a duty. Many social changes have been made ​​with the pressure of citizens through massive protests. Personally I have never attended these protests, but I consider them absolutely valid and effective as open a dialogue with the authorities. On the other hand, working together helps to spread tolerance among people. This allows people to learn to share their views and respect the opinions of the others. For example, the controversial project HydroaysĂ©n producing several channels of discussion. We heard many environmentalists and many businesses. Through these opinions became public, ordinary people was able find out, and they were able form their own opinions.
The "bad side" that often disappoints me is the problem with the violence generated at the end of the protests. Many times, few people end up ruining these marches when they destroy public places, triggering a wave of violence between civilians and police. The repression is another factor that I dislike about the marches. Sometimes, just to impose order and power, the police hamper legitimate act of opinion and democratic demonstration.
     I admire the people who go out to the streets to fight for the rights of others. I would like to be more active, but I think democracy has become less interesting… I mean, we're always hearing rumors about corruption of politicians… maybe this situation has caused some of us feel disenchanted with politics.
The only bad thing in this whole discussion it is: in this country the money seems to be matter much more important than people's opinions L
     Anyway, it is the saying "who doesn't cry, doesn' t suck". LOL