self evaluation of my year

Introduction

To start this year wasn’t easy at all. Like I said at the first post of this blog, I had to change everything about my life, the city, the house, the people who lives with me, and the rhythm of life. This last semester has been more intensive than the first, but it’s full of good memories and important things learned that will be useful to me for the rest of my life. Although, I blame myself for being lazy this year, specially the second semester, and get a lot of things without any effort. It is comfortably by now, but it’s no good to the future if I get used to be like that.


Bad feelings, good people

Those are the reasons because I evaluate this year like a good year by the personal side but bad in terms of studies, even if my grades don’t say the same. I feel that I haven’t learned things about the discipline the same as my classmates who had strained all the year, even if they have the same grades as me. It makes me feel good if I think in comfort and tells me that I have skills for this, but it’s not fear and, finally, I won’t be at the average level of anthropologists.

But that isn’t all. Personally, I have known a lot of beautiful people and I have made really good friendships which had served me a lot when I was troubled. Lately, I’ve been feeling really bad with the place where I live, and sometimes I don’t have the strength and the energy to still fighting, but my friends have been always with me making me law, giving me hugs and making me feel beloved =) that’s sooooo important when you woke up in the morning and feel like shocked by a truck. My boyfriend’s help has been vitally too. I always say that without his words and his constantly support, I would back home the first week of the year. Nothing has been easy, but everything serves like good experiences that makes me stronger and prepares me to affront anything in the future =)


Conclusion

Like the life, this year has been full of bad and good things. It’s different than any year that I lived before, because this has been the most intensive, but I’m happy for living this, because it’s what I’ve chosen for me. Even if at the start I felt like wanting to scream and run away, it has been good to chose to stay and wait with open arms everything that life has prepared to me. I don’t feel sorry for anything, and I think that’s EVER the most important when you chose to get risk in your life =)

Anthopology Challenges

Coming close the end of the year, I think that we haven’t learned a lot of things about anthropology nowadays: our formation as professionals has been focused only in anthropology’s history. But, I can suspect and approximate my answers to those things that may be a challenge to anthropology for these days.

First of all, the fast evolution of technology, globalization and all those phenomena related to make easier the human life by making machines that can replace us, are extinguishing the identities associated to the place where we live and the ancient traditions. The system established it’s forcing to the indigenous populations to let behind their original places and go to live to cities, converting them into occidental ones, just like bricks in an enormous wall sold as “progress”. But, if the identity losing it’s a trouble, may can be too a new phenomenon to investigate. The adaptation to new systems of life may be able to be described, analyzed and to be treated as a new topic of anthropology investigation (I think that surely it is)

Socially talking, I think that anthropology has to affront the social devaluation of its labor. People thinks that anthropology doesn’t have any importance to the world, and many persons say that we are lazy people that are paid for do nothing. Maybe the anthropologist labor isn’t so vital as a doctor or people dedicated to satisfy basic needs, but I think that culture it’s a need of second or third order to, but a human need anyway. Maybe people think that anthropology isn’t important because they don’t know about the discipline, so the solution to this problem should be to inform to the non-anthropologist about what we do and how important is. That lead us to the last challenge: the one about education. For the same reason told recently, it’s very important to inform and educate to the people about anthropology, its important labor and the amazing things discovered. It could be included in the schools and/or colleges as a topic of the history (because anthropology can be treated as a historical science too, narrowly related to geography). It can be a little step but a important one to give us a respectableplace in the world.

money... get away!

First of all, when I entered to this degree, I knew that money wouldn’t fall from the sky. But, the time that I had to choose, I felt “machine-money” careers (like medicine, laws or engineering) wouldn’t satisfy my soul, so I knew that I had to follow another way. Between money and anthropology, I choose happiness; or at least, things that I guess would make me happy. That’s why I’m here. And when I entered to the degree and saw the people, the things that teach here, and the ambient conformed by a sum of little things, I knew that I was in the right place.

I sometimes think about that people who kill themselves by working in something that they don’t like without needing it, just for have a “better life” by buying things and having expensive houses, big cars or thing like that. Are they really enjoying the life? If they die tomorrow, would they die happy and satisfied with the things that have made through the time? I think people shouldn’t live in function of the future, and just enjoy the moment by doing things that they love all the time that is possible. That’s why I’m here, more than be a “social scientist”, a like the people, know about them and how they live in society; how it affects their personality and how their bodies are conditioned by their daily activities. So, you can money by being an anthropologist, your salary it’s counted into the financing of your projects, but it’s not enough money if you want to have a luxury life full of expensive things and without times with troubles with the money. But that’s enough for me. Honestly, I don’t like the most of the rich people; they seem to live their superficial lives inside of a bubble, and sometimes when I listen them to talking, I just feel that I don’t want to be part of that world. That’s why sometimes I’m happy that I will have a normal salary and a normal life =)

And, nowadays I’m not making money, but I’m thinking about sell things made by me and to work in December, because I want to have money to go to some concerts this and next year, and to have great vacations by travelling through the country (the goal is Punta Arenaaaasss!!!!)

Juan Gómez Millas in the Heart <3

If you ask me about the situation in the faculty, I wouldn’t say a lot of bad things. Maybe I’m a optimistic person and I like to view the good side in everything, so I would say that the faculty it’s very cute, full of nature and cute people. The only problem were the few and old computers, but here is a solved problem. Maybe another problem is the toilet paper which ever it’s over if you go to the bathroom late in the afternoon. But it’s a very stupid problem xD Another problem I have it’s the casino, which it’s a little expensive and don’t sell things that can fight the hungry with a few pesos. But there is the “Ciencias” casino, which always saves me. Maybe the only problem I have with the faculty, is the grass. I looove the nature, the trees and the places full of large and green grass. So, the must proactive thing to do if you’re not conform with the grass, it’s to plant some more. Much more. I guess is one little detail which could make our faculty looks so much beautiful and comfortably to those ones who likes to lay and relax, talk, drink, smoke, sleep, make love or anything in the grass. It would help to the visual presentation of the faculty too, and it wouldn’t look so third-world-country-of-the-Chile like some use to say xD so, the next steps may be to make or to participate in an existent group about ecology en the faculty, and to help nature by seeding new grass and planting trees, and I would recommend to the young students to be careful with the faculty’s grass and don’t extinguish cigars or things like that.

music is my aeroplane

What kind of music do I prefer? That has been always a hard question, ‘cause I always used to listen a big spectrum of music kinds. But maybe, one of my favorites kinds of music, or at least what I more listen, is Chilean rock. I’m fuckingly in love with “Los Tres”, I remember to have listened “La Torre de Babel” since I was a little child, and the obsession started the first time I saw them in a concert. Since a friend gave me their biography and I read it in vacations, I started to love all their songs.

Another kind of music that I listen a lot, it’s british music. That’s where appears Snow Patrol, an… alternative? Music group (I don’t like to classify, but is for you make an idea). Their music and their lyrics are sometimes so simple but touch the deepest places of your heart. And some songs have epic finals that makes you travel far away from here. Nowadays, I’ve been listening another british band but a little bit older: The Clash. I know them by a lot of time but now I’ve been downloading complete discs and they are so good, I can’t stop to listen them (L)

Finally; the “relaxing” kind of music. There enter a very personal like: Hawaiian culture and music. There is a very special guy that I like a lot: Jack Johnson. His lyrics are very cute and the melodies very happy and relaxing. It transports my mind to vacations times xD another kind of relaxing music that I like a lot, is bossa nova or Brazilian music.

Another bands very recurrent in my “daily soundtrack”, are Andrés Calamaro, Yann Tiersen, Incubuuuuuus! (they have a very special song for me, that marks a particular change in my life, the song is called Drive) Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, The Velvet Underground <3 Collective Soul, Athlete, The Doors, Guns n’ Roses, Blind Melon, Tori Amos, Manuel Gracía, Fool’s Garden, The Kooks, Live! (and Nirvana, Pearl Jam and grunge music :D) Joe Vasconcellos… I don’t know, I could be all day telling band names ‘cause I love them all (L)

About concerts, I guess one of my favorites where I been was “garage music” in Concepcion. There was the first time I saw “Los Tres” live, and I remember that I couldn’t breathe during the concert ‘cause the dust, there rained, and my hair finished with a big mass of mud on it :D and my voice, I loooooove to finish without voice after concerts and this was one of those xD

Finally, if I play an instrument, yes, I play guitar, but I’m very bad on that so I prefer to sing ‘cause there is something that (I guess) I do right, or at least, I love to do.

Ardi

I’m studying Anthropology, and when I have to choose speciality in the future, I’m thinking of choosing physical anthropology. I love to think in how our daily activities remains registered physically in our body, and how can we know about our forbears just looking their bones and whatever is preserved through the time in their old bodies. That’s why I looked about anthropology in http://www.guardian.co.uk/ and I found an interesting article about a specimen founded recently in Ethiopia, which is older even than the older founded before (Lucy). It’s named Ardi, and It’s dated in 4.4 million years old, so it belongs to a new specie called Ardipithecus ramidus, and it’s earlier than any other specie catalogued as “human”. The bones belong to a female one, who walked on two legs but was adept at climbing trees and moving through the forest. Her height it’s calculated at 1,2m approximately, and she may weight 50 k. Her teeth aren’t adapted to eat meat, so the scientists guest she ate fruits and leaves, maybe little mammals.

The importance of this discover is to show how right was Darwin about our descent of the monkeys, and it help us too to build our evolutionary history. But, there is one big question which scientist still asking: what would start the process of evolution off?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/oct/01/fossil-ardi-human-race

fat fat fat! :3

I guess one of my favorite foods is chorrillana, and anything which contains french fries. Maybe anything with a lot of fat :D I enjoy them ever with friends or with my boyfriend, who loves to cooking with me and sometimes we make greasy things :3 one of the places where I most enjoyed a delicious chorrillana was in the Jota Cruz restaurant, located in Valparaíso. It’s an historic place, ‘cause was there were the chorrillana was invented. It’s a really interesting place to visit too, ‘cause you can write or draw anywhere you want. The walls, tables, chairs, are fool of remembers, photographs, and a lot of things left by the people telling everyone “I was there!”. Another place where I really enjoyed a chorrillana was in “Mastodonte”, located in Valparaíso too; I was there with my friends last week during the Archaeology Congress, and the portion it really really really really big. Even if we were 5 people very hungry, we couldn’t finish the all meal. It was funny y delicious anyway :D

If you ask me for cooking, yes, I can cook, but there is no way that daily foods could by my speciality xD the only thing that I make right in the cook are sweet things. It started when I learned to beat whites of egg and to do meringue, and still being a thing that I like ‘till today. I can make lemon pies, cookies, cakes, and, one thing I love, fruit desserts :D

My perfect three course meal, includes a starter invented by mother: mushrooms made with eggs and tomatoes, the grass was lettuces and sweetcorn grains were little flowers (childhood remembers T-T) main course would be… CHORRILLANAAAA!! :D and a dessert with a big variety of fruits and honey or sweet cream. It would by perfect! *-*