Using blogs in the English Class

I think that writing a blog in English is an entertaining way to learn the language. However, I prefer videos because they make us develop more skills for learning the language. I enjoy writing blogs but many times I don´t find the precise words in English to be able to express what I want to say. In general, I like writing and not in a simple manner. The truth is that I can´t write using simple words like English speakers do. I like to write about Santiago, about the places I would like to visit, about an unforgettable trip. I don´t like to write about Rumblefish because I really didn´t like that novel much. I also didn´t like writing ¨face to face¨


I was impressed to be able to write about the signs of the horoscope, because I think that people in general are very skeptical about oracles. I didn´t think that our professor would suggest it as a topic to write about. But this topic was uncommon and it definitely surprised me. The assignments ¨A Song of Infancy¨ and ¨Chrismas Dinner¨ were also very nostalgic.


I really liked Evelyn´s blog because she is a classmate in the same major, so we usually have a similar way of writing about things. I think that her writing always contribute and are also novel.


This final blog topic doesn´t seem very interesting to me because it is necessary to evaluate what we have done in the blog and we have to recognize that writing blogs regularly improves our writing every time. I would like to have all our writing corrected and to be told the writing mistakes we have made. But I imagine that this is impossible to do because of time.

A piece of art!

Just like our professor, I really like Salvador Dali. Dreams have always fascinated me. Dali´s surrealism, based on his paranoid-critical method and inspired by Freud´s theories, makes his representation of images surprising and supernatural.

Dali´s Works are like a visual explosión. I especially like the painting ´´Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranite a Second Before Awakening.´´ I saw it for the first time in an art book that included works by Salvador Dali among other surrealists. I was dazzled by the image, by the unrelated elements (a tiger, a woman, a pomegranate, etc). I was perplexed and confused…

In the painting, Gala (Dali´s wife) is asleep, floating naked in the sea and laying across a slab of rock. A fish comes out of the pomegranate, and from its mouth come the head and front feet of a tigre, and from its jaws jumps another tiger. Finally the body of the second feline, in position to attack and launched toward the naked sleeping woman, holds a gun with a bayonet whose point reaches Gala´s arm. The bee sting suggested in the title of the work is a real risk for the sleeping woman, who in dreams is transformed into a symbolic sting. The painter suggests that she could be stung in an instant (which is the second that passes in the act of awakening), an action with multiple motives. Just like the sleeping woman who wakes up from a dream of just a few seconds and things she´s seen a long and complicated movie, the spectator perceives the singular time of the dream. Dreams are timeless. In them the laws of time and space don´t apply. Very interesting!

Santiago City!

Santiago…it´s difficult to talk about this city because I love it and hate it at the same time. I love that it is fast, demanding city that has personal force and entrenched bohemian life. Santiago by night is fascinating, especially if you´re on a balcony. Nightlife in Santiago is from Monday to Sunday. Another thing I like and I don´t enjoy enough are the cultural scenes in the communities. I also love that everyone plays sports. In my community the number of people playing outside has increased notably because of the construction of a bike path.


But it is a challenge to live in a city with so many difficulties. I grew up in a quiet neighborhood with a high school near the house. I am very grateful to my parents for having given me such a peaceful childhood, far from noise, crowds, and those awful malls. Clearly life in this city is much more difficult than in other cities in Chile, especially if you´re salary is low (in other cities food is cheaper, for example). It is difficult to live in Santiago because the work day is so long and everyone always looks tired. In the summer it´s very hot and in the winter it´s very cold. Everything is far apart and public transportation, like Transantiago, is not efficient. The metro offers better service but it is disgusting during rush hour. Not to mention nose and environmental pollution and crime.


To improve this city, housing policy would have to change completely. No more construction. Every time we are left with fewer green spaces and more buildings and malls. More bikepaths would have to be built and the streets would have to be widened to avoid congestion. I love the idea of putting exercise machines on the plazas and parks. In my neighborhood they work great.


I would tell visitors to get a good map, bring clothes for four seasons if they´re coming for a long time, not to visit dangerous areas, watch out for their things, and be careful of lying Chileans (fraudulent taxis, ¨students¨ asking for money). But above all, if you can find entertaining Chileans, I would encourage visitors to follow their rhythm, and surely you will have a good time.

Tiger of fire!

What a good theme to talk about!, I love all kind of oracles, especially the horoscope. Eventhough I am a psychology student, I respect a lot this kind of predictions, the same as others, the idea is not to mix both knowledges eventhough I think they can even be complementary. More than one person could hate me for what I say but there are even (weekly, monthly, or daily) horoscopes done by psychologists. In the Western horoscope I am a Cancer, a water sign influenced by the lunar satellite (what would explain the continuous animus changes). The truth is that the description of my person in general is quite right. They describe me as sensitive, a person that cries a lot (crybaby), warm, affectionate, protective, nice, imaginative, and intuitive. And that is the way it is, especially with the last characteristics. On the negative side they describe me with tendency to a bad temper and intolerance to criticism ( I hate to criticize and to be criticized!), disordered, autocompassionate, but I think what is more correct is what it says abuot the tendency of animus changes. In the Chinese horoscope, I am a tiger. The definition of my person is correct just in some aspects, for example, I think I am a bossy person, but in a hidden way (I just know about it). I also think I am protective with the people I love, it is also true that money doesn't motivate me, that in the health theme I am very centered in the job part and that could bring me consequences, that I am very dominant on my love relations. I think I am also talented and very creative. With regard to the description of the "tiger of fire" I consider that it is not a 100% right, while I am influential with the others for uncertainty, I am not able to get that much of a leadership ability. An important characteristic on tigers and especially on the ones of fire.

Christmas Eve!

Hello my fellow students! Today I am going to talk about what I did this Christmas. The truth is that I don't like Christmas that much compared with New Year. It gets me a little nostalgic, I have very clear memories of each Christmas and of the important people that are not with me any more. I think this is like a more private and in family celebration more than just a simple celebration, it's an opportunity to meet once again with the family and grasp or get closer to each other. My family is quite a humble one, so I learned that presents were not the most important thing for Christmas, in fact I detest the material sense that Christmas has been getting, it is exhausting and sad how people get obsessed shopping more and more presents without understanding what is the real meaning of this holiday.

This Christmas as usual I spent it with my close family members and with the ones I live- my mother, my father and my brother- together with Daniel and Carmen, a nice couple, friends of my parents. Well, the night of December 24th we went to their house for dinner. Their house is just a block from our house, we are neighbours and very good friends. They are very important for us, and we have spent many celebrations all together. That night we ate roast turkey, golden potatos, cold rice and a lot of salads, and for dessert we had ice cream and fruit salad. It was a very peaceful night, we opened our presents at midnight and went to sleep at 2:00 in the morning. I just hope that every Christmas I will get the oportunity to be with this people that are so important in my life.

Chilean beaches!

I love Chilean beaches, but I think Simon is right when he says that the waters of the Chilean coast are too cold, specially the ones you find on the central shore and the ones on the South of Chile. But still, I think it is my favorite place to go in the Summer. Personally, I prefer the beaches in Puerto Varas ( located on the Lakes Region-Chilean X Region ), beaches there are quite cold and those are fresh water ones. Specifically, I go to the small beaches that are in Ensenada. This is a small place just 47 kilometers away from the city of Puerto Varas, placed in full nature and on the riverside of Lake Llanquihue. The beach banks of Lake Llanquihue have a spectacular view towards the Osorno, Puntiagudo and Calbuco volcanoes. I usually visit a beach that is very close to the Route that goes to Petrohue. I don't know if it is an official and suitable place for swimming, but I usually swim there. I like to be there because the view is spectacular, the peace and silence of the place are surprising, and you don't see more than four families and at a good distance away from you. When I go there, I am able to relax enjoying the warm wind and the sound of the small waves. Near the place there are some tourist attractions to visit just at a walking distance. Green Lagoon is a beautiful place to visit ( It's a very deep lagoon with an intense green emerald colour, with volcanic lava edges and leafy foliage vegetation paths ). On the way to this place you can find a wonderful and rich flora and fauna, you can even see wolves. You can get to that place by bus or by car. You can take a bus in down town Puerto Varas, or if you go by car, just leave Route 5 in Puerto Varas and go towards Ensenada on Route 225.

Skating is the activity I like to do outdoors. I like this activity first because it is a lot of fun and energetic, second because it helps to lose weight, because it makes you burn a lot of calories, third because it exercises the body balance, fourth because it gives tonicity and firmness on your legs, and for last, as all sports or outdoor activities, it strengthen the lungs and heart.
I started to do this activity when I was about twelve years of age. I remember that on Christmas I got my first skates as a gift...... and that night I spent most of the time on the floor. I fell at least five times but I didn't give up, I skated all morning and since then I was skating all day and night. I was a little chubby ( well.. still ) and I remember that I lost quite a lot of weight. Well, I was so motivated that I didn't even feel like eating. It was really a lot of fun because I got together with some other friends to go skating, and for a while we even went skating to the skating rink at Parque Ohiggins. Now I would like to skate more often, but I have a lot of things to do. I also would like to have the chance to do ice skating.