Good and Bad Points

Hello everyone, Javier is here and today I’m going to talk about this year and how it has been for me. Personally this hasn't been the year that I expected. Well, it is true that the year has not ended yet, but if things continue going like they’re doing now, I’ll just sit somewhere and wait until this year finish. But let’s not be too melodramatic. This year has had good things of course, so I will start with them. This was a year that academically has been good in some aspects. I've traveled for archaeological fieldwork about three or four times to different places like Los Vilos, San Pedro de Atacama, Curacavi, etc. My marks have been good also, my dad found a new job and he is happier than before, also he earns more money for it, so in those lines it has been a good year. But also there are some bad things that I've experienced this year. For example Health problems with my stomach and some sleep problems, I can’t rest while I’m sleeping, so I’ve visited the doctor many times during this years. Also in emotional aspects this has been a bad year, but I think I’ll overcome to all of this things.

There are some things that I couldn't finish this year. For example, I would really like to decide in which aspect of archaeology I’ll take for my memory (thesis) for next year. I like a lot of different things in archaeology and I still doubt about it. And there is no news or any other thing that I would like to emphasize.

From now until December, I’ll try that things take a different course, and in some way I’ll try to compensate some bad aspects that this year has had.

I’m sorry if this sounds a little bit depressing but I don’t like to lie. Have a good day! :P

Favorite Sport

Hello everyone and sorry for the late, but today I’m going to talk about my favorite sport. I think that soccer is one of the most beautiful and exciting sports. For me, it has everything that I Like: Exercise, training, teamwork, cooperation, strategy, planning, and a lot of things. When I was a child, I had a different thoughts concerning about soccer. I remember that I disliked it, because I didn't found any sense to this sport, besides, I liked tennis and I was in a school practicing it. But when I was 13 years old, I left that school for economic problem. My parents didn't have enough money to afford the next category of training, so I had to look for another sport to practice. This is when Mario’s father (one of my friends) in a group meeting, he suggested to our parents that he may form a soccer team and to train us twice per week. So me and some friends were training every Tuesday and Friday after school for 2 hours. That was the place where I learnt about those good things that I mentioned about soccer (Teamwork, cooperation, strategy, friendship, etc.).

                One of the reasons that I like soccer it’s because if the group has a great relationship and teamwork, they can defeat even to the best soccer players in the world. For example, when I was 16 I was watching the finals of Euro Cup 2004 between Portugal and Greece and in that time, the Greek team was formed by just one recognized and famous soccer player (Karagounis), meanwhile Portugal had a lot of stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Coentrao, Carvalho, etc. Watching that match I learnt that teamwork may do a difference, and after the Greeks won that cup, soccer turned most on a teamwork game than in an individual game. Those are the reasons about why do I like soccer.

Have a good time and see you.

How green are you?

Well today it is time to talk about How green are we (Myself in this case). I think that people learn about environmentally friendly practices from their own families. For myself, my parents told me that it is important to help in any way possible to reduce pollution and contaminations, even if you just don’t drop a paper on the street or if you recycle your garbage. Personally, if we talk about these practices, I have never separated my garbage to recycle. Otherwise, I’ve always been worried about not to drop garbage on the street or in any park or square, to walk or use a bike instead of travelling in a bus or a car.

I have not joined to any eco organizations for a matter of time. Actually my time is few enough to do my work and my obligations. I would like to know if there is any chance that scientists invent new and cheap ways of clean energy and transport. For example I’ve read about energy that’s produced with the energy of sea waves and in Chile we have around four thousand kilometres of coast, so it would be very nice for us.

About reducing my carbon footprint I’ve tried to help on this way by using my legs to walk to different places instead of using a car. Also to not waste energy by turning off the lights that I am not using, etc.

Concluding on this post, I think that in our society, specifically in Latin America and Chile, there is a lack of conscience on environmental issues. We are still an economy that produces raw materials and we’re still contaminating rivers that are used to feed industrial production, etc. The only thing that matters to business men are to profit, profit and more profit going to their pockets. Everyone needs to know that if we continue polluting on this way, it is probably that we end with the entire life of this planet in a few years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDaOgu2CQtI Enjoy

My experience in the field

Hello everyone, today it is time to talk about my experience in the field. Until now I’ve had few experiences in fieldwork. I’ve been doing fieldwork outside from Santiago like three times. My first experience was a visit to a museum located in San Vicente de Tagua Tagua in 2012. We had to visit that place and we had to work with some students from rural schools. My second experience was a participation in a FONDECYT project in 2013. That time I had to visit and work in Montepatria (Ovalle) for four days. Basically it was an excavation and we were looking for archaeological remains from Diaguitas. I was invited to this project because it was a curricular activity from a subject. My third experience was a work that we had to do in San Pedro de Atacama, specifically in Talabre, a town with a population of 55 people. We had to work with the community in different activities that they had to do, like to reap and sow different kind of seeds, to help to build a new house, etc.

With this kind of experiences you also have to experience some difficulties. Personally I have had few enough bad experiences on this. For example, during my stay in Talabre, I had problems with the altitude –about 3500 meters over the level of sea- only when I had to do a lot of physical work like carrying tons of kilograms of fruits on my back, etc.

About the things that I’ve liked from this experiences is to have the possibility to work with different people on different places. Also to have the chance to visit new places, because it becomes in experience for me for my future as archaeologist.

Well this is all for today and see you on November 14^th, because I’m going to do fieldwork in Curacavi and San Pedro de Atacama from next week. Have a good time :D

What kind of Job would I like to have? How do you imagine it?

Hello everyone, today I will talk about the job that I would like to have. As many of you may know, I’m studying Archaeology, so most of the jobs that I may have in the future will be outdoors, because we have to travel a lot in our profession. About that, I think that travelling during my job will be like being in Heaven, because travelling is one of the things that I enjoy with all my heart.

One thing that I would dislike to do is to work in an office for the rest of my days. Hell no, I would really dislike being enclosed in an office 24/7. Perhaps I would have to work in an office, because some works in archaeology requires transcribing information from the field to create databases for archaeological interpretation. So, to work in archaeology will mix sometimes travelling to a lot of different places for fieldwork, to work in an office or laboratory for data interpretation.

Actually I’m studying archaeology and I will finish it during the next year. I’m thinking about studying a Master in Archaeometry or even a Master in Paleontology. Yesterday I knew that the first Master in Paleontology is actually open in Chile, in Valdivia, so I’m considering that specialty for my future. I would like to have fieldwork studying artifacts, remains of any kind (pottery, bones, etc.) and then I would like to participate during the interpretation process.

Finally I would like to add that being a Paleontologist it’s a dream that I’ve always wanted to accomplish and now I have the opportunity to studying it here, since the only option before was to studying it in another country.

I couldn't add any pictures because blog platform is having some problems. Have a nice week and see you on a next publication :)

Cultural Shock

Cultural shock can be defined from Anthropology as the impact that any person or social group may suffer when they visit a new place. This can happen because there are different cultural elements that cause a “shock” on the natural ways that people have to relate with other people. For example if I visit a country located in Eastern Asia like China or Japan, there are a lot of cultural codes that for us may be quite strange. One situation can be that if you are invited to a dinner in a house, you don’t have to accept more food if they offer you after you finished your meal. That's a clear sign of disrespect for the host, because they think that what they offered you was not enough.

But cultural shocks also may happen in your own country. And what a better country like Chile to exemplify this. If someone who lives in Santiago travels to the south of Chile and he/she visits any rural place, probably he/she will not understand kindness of rural people. That’s natural for them.

Sometimes I have suffered cultural shocks. For example I lived around 14 years in Iquique (I am from Rancagua) and when I returned, I had a lot of problems when using some specific words. One time I was playing with my little cousin and I told them “Subete a Tota” (It means like climb up to my shoulders) and they didn’t understand what I said. And if you use the word “tirar” in Santiago or any other southern place they will understand that you had sex with another person, while if you use the same word in Iquique, it has a different meaning.

I have never suffered any other cultural shocks because I have not visited any other country. That’s all. Have a nice week.

The best holidays ever

Greetings! Today I’ll talk about my best holidays. Well, I remember that have happened about ten years since then, but I can’t forget those days. That trip was the longest one that I’ve ever done. I travelled around 2500 kilometres from Iquique to Temuco. My family and I visited a lot of cities and places, for example we were in Antofagasta, Copiapo, La Serena, Rancagua, Vichuquen, Concepción, Arauco, Temuco, Salto del Laja, etc. I can’t name all the places, otherwise I would not have enough space to write on this blog.

We couldn’t stay for longer in each place, so we were like one day per place. But when we visited Salto del Laja, we stayed for five days. It was an amazing place, with native forest, fresh and pure air and an incredible and beautiful waterfall. We did camping activities like swimming in the river, prepare a campfire, etc. I think it has been the best holidays because that year I knew a lot of new places, also I’ve always liked the experience of travelling and visiting new places.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy reading this. Regards J