A Special Cat called Avelinda

Hello my reader, today I invite you to read my blog because I'm going to write a special issue: A cat called "Avelinda". You can think that this issue is stupid or bored or not interesting for you, but if you read it you'll discover that this topic is very singular. I invite you once more time to read my blog, you won't regret, I promise. The cat in the picture is Avelinda.

Avelinda (it's called Avi too) is a three-years cat that arrived to my house in summer (january), 2008. It's yellow with orange lines across its body except its paws, which are white like if Avi wears white gloves, and its breast, which is white. Its nose is pink (pale pink), its big eyes are yellow like two amber stones and it has a long white whiskers. Avi is very friendly (even with strange people), nice, lovely, observer, careful, prudent, ticklish and smart with a unique preferences. Whenever I whistle, Avi runs to me meowing as if it would want to ask me "What's happen now?".

Avi sleeps with me all the year. When it's hot, Avi enters to my house at nights but if it's cold Avi is sleeping all the day inside my house in different parts like the sofa, armchairs, beds, chairs and in my sisters' legs (in my legs too) Avi has a favourite place: the kitchen. Every time that somebody is cooking something in the kitchen, Avi is sitting on the bench looking to the person for that this one gives something food to Avi, then Avi will answer with a noisy miaow or a loud purring.

However, the Avi's strange thing is its peculiar sense of taste because it doesn't eat only cat food, milk, flesh, meat or something, but it eats vegetables and sweet things! These things are bread, tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, pumpkin, chestnut, rice, pastas, corn, beets, avocado, carrots, cakes, pies, jams and similars, but Avi loves the chocolate made by my mom, specially if the chocolate is made when it's cold or when it's late (at night) Avi never gets tired of eating chocolate; while it eats more, more noisy is its miaow and its purring.

Avi is a very special cat and its special nature is what like to me. I love this cat.  

The sea and the sky, a reflex of my personality (Ich bin nicht verrückt)

Hello again, today I share with you an important thing: a very special photography.

This picture hasn't been easy to choose because there are many images that I love, but I chose this especially beacuse this photo shows the ocean and the sky in an apparent calm like if anything happen, but I know that it's not like that because in winter the sea is rough, unpredictable and uncotrollable. Sky changes every times too. It gets red, orange, black, blue, celestial, gray, etc. The little part of land it's a bay nearly to Mehuín Cove.

The image was taken by Victor, a cousin that live in Puerto Montt. Last summer my family and his family met in Araucanía's region (Tolten Town) and we went to the beach for one day. My cousin took this photo when we were arriving to Mehuin Cove. He said: "This landscape is very beautiful. I must photograph this." Then, my cousin took this photo and several more because he didn't want to lost any part of the landscape. I suppose that he took around ten or fifteen photos of this place. It could seem exaggerated but, in the chilean south the weather is very difficult to predict so to have a picture with a clear sky isn't easy, especially near to the sea, where the sky is usually cloudy. In synthesis, He was lucky because weather was sunny that day,  this is the reason he could get this image that I'm presenting to you.

The important in all that is the meaning that this image has for me. I like this picture because this remember me that day in wich my sisters, my cousin and me enjoyed all the day in the beach. However, this photo means something more for me: it represents part of my personality. Why I say this? Because all the landscape seems in calm but one don't know when it will change, it's unpredictable like part of my personality. You can see me very calm and quiet, but suddenly you'll see that I change and I turn hyperkinetic. Moreover, I have double personality -a part calm, quiet and patient and other part impatient, talkative and restless- like the union to the sky and the sea, where both are calm and restless and nobody can know.

Enjoy the image, is a chilean lanscape unique all over the world, don't you think?

Public and egalitarian education or only profit over all?

Hello again my reader, this time is a special time because today, Thursday 12th, is the National Strike and demosntration for the Recovery of Public Education. According to CONFECH, this strike presents the stances of the student movement respect to the Higher Education Reform. It has three points, which are briefly: 

1. The Access, which is to search quality and equity for all.
2. The Financing, which is to increase fiscal spending.
3. Democratization of Higher Education institutions. 

At the beginning, when I entered to Bachillerato in 2008, these topics and similars seemed a bit distant because in my school there wasn't discussion, but when I transfered to Anthropology I started to get information about these topics and I understood that these issues were and are very important for the students in general. 

I entered through PSU and I got the Bicentenario Scolarship, JUNAEB Scolarship and Equity Scolarship Universidad de Chile. All of these scolarships I got it because I had a good score PSU and I am among the first and the second socioeconomic quintile. Therefore, these topics affect me directly because one year ago I had some problem with the payment of my scolarship: every time that I called to Junaeb, they said me that "they were solving some problems", so part of my Scolarship was paid in November!  when it should be paid in Marz-April and then every month. 

Other thing is the topic related with the tariff, wich has increased every year like the enrollment. However, the scolarship money is the same every year while feeding and things related with photocopies, school pass (Bip card, wich increase $130 to $180 Chilean pesos) and more have increased. Also, application criteria have changed and several students have lost their scolarships, so they have had to borrow. 

In my case it hasn't happened (yet) but I think that Chilean State should have more participation in Education to avoid things like these. The State and the goverment should leave the profit and to worry about the quality and access to education. Actually, the goverment has had a passive attitude and it only has injured to the students with its "Public" Policies in favor of the profit.

Although I support the strike and its reasons, I won't go to the demonstration on Thursday partly because of laziness, partly because the march usually ends with unpleasant incidents, which are well known. However, I've read about these issues and I've been paying attention about what happens constantly. Also, I vote in the course assembly and I read the CECSO's communiqué (also CONFECH, FECH, etc) For now, I hope that these topics are considered by the goverment like an important and relevant thing and not like an insignificant and irrelevant thing or like that students only do the strike because they don't want to go to classes.  

Web Quest, something more that searching information, or not?

Today, I did my first Web Quest and this was a strange experience because at the beginning I didn't know how to find the required information, but then I filled the table with the first place I felt that this was easier. Personally I thought that this activity would be more difficult but I discovered that I must have patience and to be focused in my task. I sent the task nearly the end of the class hour with the complete items of the table, but I suposse that something is wrong (I hope that the errors are few).

In my opinion, Web Quest is important to learn to find information not only about travels but also about topics related with our career or everything.  I think that this activity is an interactive way to learn English though I felt that time was short (perhaps because it was my first Web Quest and I didn't focus in the specific information) and I confess that sometimes I was bored, especially when I had to search the number of Travel Zone in London through Tube Station, which were too many.

Web Quest wasn't problematic as I suposed but it wasn't something easy. I'd say that this activity was a "spending time" activity because to complete few items I spent a long time on this. However, I learned to be more patient and to be focused in my task.