Blog Experience

I think that writing in our blogs was an activity that helped us to develop our writing skills in a very entertaining way. I had written in English before at school since primary, so it was not so difficult doing it here at college. But at school was a little boring because we didn’t use digital platforms to experiment with. I really liked to read the comments my classmates and my teacher left me and also the other blogs, because it is a way to know their opinions and the things that they like.

This experience helped me to know more about the use of some words and phrases in English and to pay more attention to the verb tenses. I don’t know if this activity need something to improve, but I think that if somebody didn’t learn well it was because he didn’t make an effort enough to develop his abilities, because all the learning tools was given to us.  In my opinion, writing it is a very useful tool to learn English, because sometimes we don’t know how to put into words our thoughts so writing is the first step to know how to communicate in other language.

 

Ciper Chile

One of the journalism-related websites that I like to visit is Ciper (Centro de Investigación Periodística), also known as Ciper Chile. It is a Chilean digital and alternative media that operates like a nonprofit organization. It was created on November 2007 and in 2009 it became a foundation. It is an independent media, without any politic, religious or party affiliation, but many right parties consider that Ciper is a left media. Although it has received financing from several companies, like Copesa or Fundación Ford, they say that the commitment with these institutions does not condition its editorial policy.

The website has four sections which are Investigations Reports; Hot News and Interviews; Opinion Articles; and Access Information that is a section based on the Ley de Acceso a la Información to request information to the authorities. Ciper journalists have published many documents and articles with a high impact for the Chilean society and political effects. They have also disseminated some leaks from Wikileaks and they have published very important books about issues like the Karadima Case.

Ciper Chile is a very perfect information source of many important issues from the Chilean politics and society; and it is a good model for who is learning how to do investigate journalism and write investigation articles.

http://ciperchile.cl/

Working as a waitress

Last week I worked as a waitress at a marriage party in Linares. One of my older brothers is a chef, so he was organizing a banquet for the couple that was going to get married. So, my younger brother, my best friend, some other girls and I went and worked for my brother. We started at 8:00 p.m. and we finished around 4:00 a.m. although the people continued with the celebration. The party was at the couple’s house in the countryside, so it was very homey. They danced rancheras all night long and the music was extremely loud so we hated the Dj. There were a lot of little kids playing around and many times we had to dodge them to not fall down with the food. There was a lot of drunk people also, they looked very happy and used to go to ask for some drinks over and over. Almost at the end of our work day, the groom announced that he got a surprise for the bride; we waited anxiously to see that. Then the very drunk man put on a white and big hat and started to sing a “romantic” ranchera… it was a peculiar experience.

My favorite picture

This picture was taken by Bárbara, my best friend, two years ago. We were on the flat roof located in Providencia, Santiago. So the photo shows the houses and buildings that are near the Bustamante Park and also the smog of the city. The 2013 summer, I traveled to Santiago with my brother, Jorge, to see Bárbara and her family and we spent very nice and entertaining days. That day was very hot so we decided to use the pool on the flat roof. Bárbara was trying to teach me how to take photos with an old analogue camera that her father had given to her. We didn’t know what to capture with the camera and my brother, which was looking around the place and enjoying the sunbeams, told us to photograph the other buildings and the beautiful houses downhill in the street. The result was very good and we got a nice picture. 

How green I am

I think I am not so green but I do have environmental awareness and I care about the environmental problems that affect our world. In my opinion, the first place where people learn about environmentally friendly practices is home. My parents have taught me some environmentally friendly practices like turning off the lights at home when I am not using them, unplugging gadgets that I don’t need at that moment, because if they’re plugged in they consume energy, thinking what I am going to take from the refrigerator before opening the door in order not to consume so much energy and they also have taught me to make sure that I am not using so much water when I wash my hands, my teeth, take a shower, water the grass or wash the dishes.

Walking and using my legs to go to any place is something that I really like to do. Here in Santiago it is difficult to walk all the time, because the distances between a place and another are very big, but in Linares I can walk as much as I want, because it is a little city. Anyway, in Santiago I prefer using public transport than a car.

Although Linares is not a big city it does have pollution problems. This environmental pollution is due to the use of the hearths because burning firewood produces a lot of smoke that contaminates the city. I know that these hearths are necessary to heat up the houses in winter but I consider that pollution is also a big problem. 

My future job

I hope to feel like that in a couple of years. 

The future job that I would like to have is associated with printed journalism. I would like to work indoors, maybe in an office. It’s not that I don’t like being in contact with people, but I prefer to work very concentrated and as quiet as possible, so I would like to share a big office with other people. Something that I really want to do in the future is being part of the creation of a very interesting magazine. I prefer the musical, artistic and cultural area so that magazine could be about that issues. It would be very exciting to know talented people to write articles about them, visit nice places around the world and being able to entertain and inform people.

I would also like to make journalism in digital formats. If I ever worked in a newspaper I would like to do it in a website.  Something that I don’t want to do is to report. I don´t like going out the streets for getting information and be subjected to very stressing moments, I prefer to write the important thing that happen every day. At the moment I don’t know what major I will study, but I want to take any after I finish this career. 

The last movie I saw

The last movie I saw was a 2015 argentine crime film called “El Clan” which was selected for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards and won the Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival. This movie is directed by Pablo Trapero and the history is based on the murders and crimes committed by the Puccio family, who kidnapped four people in Buenos Aires in the 1980s. I went to the movies yesterday to see it with my friends Carla and Javiera and we really enjoyed it. One of the many things that I liked of the movie was its attractive soundtrack. I think that is a very good selection of songs that give a touch of irony to the film, because some songs with a very happy melody were used at dramatic or violent moments. This soundtrack has songs by British and US bands like The Kinks or Creedence, and also songs by Latin-American bands like Virus. In my opinion “El Clan” is a really appealing movie because is based on true events and mixes drama, black humor and violence.