THE ELECTIONS

According to the latest poll, one of the most widely accepted presidential candidate is Sebastian Piñera, who is an economist, investor and politician. He was a republic’s senator between 1990 and 1998 presidential candidate in 2005 and was defeated in a run-off by Michelle Bachelet. Today is the representative of the right wing (coalition for change) and is part of the political party National Renewal.

Another candidate is Eduaro Frei Ruiz-Tagle, who is a civil engineer and chilean politician, son of the late president Eduardo Frei Montalva. He was president of Chile in the period between 1994 and 2000 and currently serves as senator representing "Los Rios" Region for the period 2006-2014. His presidential term was to seal the deepening of the model of open regionalism, so, Chile achieved associate membership to the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) And began negotiations that led in the following government the signing of two separate treaties: free trade with countries like the U.S. and China and economies like the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Currently Frei is the presidential candidate of the ruling Coalition of Parties for Democracy of the current presidential elections. On April 5, 2009 Frei Ruiz-Tagle defeated Gomez senator, who is a member of the Radical Social Democratic Party, in primary elections organized to define a single candidate of the Coalition, the first one obtain 64% versus a 36% of Gomez.

Finally, it is Marco Enríquez-Ominami son of the historical leader of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), the doctor Miguel Enriquez. His adoptive father is the senator Carlos Ominami. Until June 12, 2009 he played as a member of the Socialist Party of Chile, after this he left the Party to establish its independent candidacy for president of the republic of Chile 2009.

Personally none of these candidates represents me, but before a possible election of Piñera, anyway I prefer to vote for Frei, as at least he's got the experience to lead a country, however, I think Marco Enriquez-Ominami not have the capacity to lead a country , while Piñera is able to control firms, but not all Chileans.

WHAT TO DO / WHERE TO GO IN SANTIAGO

There are many people living in Santiago who say they have nothing to visit, it is true, because they are accustomed to see the same thing, but for a foreigner the sites to be visited are:

Plaza Ñuñoa is a traditional place to go in Santiago; it offers several alternatives to have fun and knowing local people. There are wonderful restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs, and sometimes also music events. It is said to be a safe neighborhood where locals and tourists spend a great time with their friends.

City centre is one of the must of Santiago. If they want to see daily capital life I hardly recommend walking through the pedestrian path Paseo Ahumada until reaching Armas Square, here they can find shops, restaurants, cinemas, offices, and also they can see urban shows, typical street characters such as lustrabotas, hawkers, etcetera. From the square they can go walking to the presidential palace La Moneda and appreciate the typical architecture of the zone.
San Cristobal Hill is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Santiago. It is a great park placed in the middle of the city. You can go in the morning and go up walking, biking or jogging following the principal road, also for the adventurers there are alternatives dirt paths! and for the laziest there is a cable railway which take you to the top. In the hill there are places to do barbecue, city sights and in summer are available public swimming pools. On the top, there is an amazing view of almost the whole city (especially after a rainy day) also you can go to the restaurant.

Santa Lucía hill and craft market
I recommend to visit Santa Lucía hill because is a beautiful and traditional park placed near the city centre and also the place where Pedro de Valdivia founded the city in 1541. If you go at noon, you will hear the typical sound of the cannon.
After visiting the hill you can go to Santa Lucia craft market where you can find any kind of handicrafts and souvenirs.

Bellavista neighborhood
You can go either at day or night. At day you can see the typical architecture, go to Pablo Neruda’s house La Chascona or enjoy the food of the variety of its restaurants, also you can find handicrafts and souvenirs.
Bellavista is an epicenter of Santiago’s night life, it counts with loads of clubs and bars. I would recommend arriving at eve, walking around its streets, drinking a beer in one of the several bars and then enjoying in one of the clubs.

The National Festivities

In Chile we celebrate national holidays, the week of Sept. 18, everyone agrees with many typical foods, dances and drinks like red wine and chicha.

This time I will be lucky to share with the people of the fourth region (Illapel and Salamanca), because we go there for a fieldwork with Rural Anthropology. I am excited because I'm quite sure that national holidays are much more typical there than here in Santiago, I was used to spend that week in the capital, and is kind of repeated to me.

In the north I hope to dance "cueca" - the traditional dance of Chile - with some lady that could teach me a little bit the very special footsteps. Of course it will be very fun and very interesting to share with the people and their customs. One of the things I most like in this period is that eat very often "asados" and "empanadas", these are typical dishes, the meat is first grilled and the second are masses of flour stuffed with minced meat, onion, olives and egg, are very rich.

I look forward to arriving after the 18th of September and I say goodbye with a VIVA CHILE MIERDA!!!

TRANSANTIAGO > BEFORE AND AFTER

I personally believe that this new transportation system is safer than the previous one. The old system (yellow buses) was very dangerous, all people always had thefts and drivers were inexperienced so we always had accidents. In general terms, this system is much better than the previous one, especially for the bus drivers, because now they are not expose to be working carrying the money. Although for people, at the beginning, it was difficult to get used it because the government didn’t do a good planning and neither a proper explanation of it. Due to this problem, these people had loads of troubles for understanding how to use new buses, was very tough especially for people living in suburbs.

Nowadays traveling for me is not a problem because I travel on bicycle everywhere, only at night I travel on Transantiago. A problem that has improved in a good way is paying with BIP card, a wonderful invention, but it is sometimes detrimental when the card is not inside your pocket.

After three years this system has improved a lot, time traveling has decreased and we have less contamination. It’s also better because the buses have different colors, everything is organized and ordered, the streets have more color, and the capital looks better.

A COUNTRY I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT

Italy is the country I would like to know and live for a long time, are many things that attract me to that country. I like to live in Sicilia and experience the beauty of the mafia; discover how is the organization of these groups and the control they have in the country.

The culinary culture is another aspect that attracts me, I would learn to make traditional pizzas, to be an expert and then come here to Chile and transfer knowledge of the pizzas.

The above is my main interest but the football world is something I need to know, I like to play against young people who are of a good standard to make a comparison from Chilean and Italian players.

After being some time in the country and learn the language I would like to go to some lectures at the university to learn about the traditional European history, and learn more about the great Roman’s traditions.

Basically with this journey I would like to know more about Italy, how the Italian people are, how their culture is, how they relate and what the ways of living are.

1) FIRST TERM: GOOD AND BAD POINTS

Last semester was the worst. I had loads of modules that I didn't like. I needed to study a lot and due to this I didn't have time to do things I like, such as train with the football team of the school, chat with my friends, see my family and get a job. I was very stressed because I was supposed to earn money for a trip I wanted to do on winter vacations and I couldn't work as much as I wanted. At last I could get a very relaxed and good job doing Spanish lessons, which allowed me to had enough time to study. Also to relax I used to listen loads of music and occasionally on weekends I played football with my schoolmates.

The only thing I liked of last semester was “Structuralism” module, at the beginning I didn't have too many expectations, but the professor was very good and smart. I learnt more about the relationships between the people and the theories about them. Although the semester wasn't the best one I need to say I learnt interesting things about Polinesic culture, such as their travels through the ocean, their culture practices and identity.

I hope this semester is better than the last one. At least I'm more excited with the modules I took because they are related with my personal anthropology views. The best thing ever is I've got enough time to train with the football team. Also I'm happy with this English module, because I'll improve my speaking, reading and grammar, which are very important in my personal development and future job.