The final post

This year, I think that I learned so much English, in reference to the last year. But I think that I would have learned a lot if this subject was on the curriculum of the institute. For luck, with the changes on the curriculum, the next year English will be incorporated. The university needs more English in his classes. Of course, the endeavor of the students is a great part to the learning.

The use of the blogs for English class is a great alternative to learn, because we can write a text, with arguments and ideas, and edit them. We can order and classify the words, before we present them.

For me, the more difficulty aspects of the class are the speaking and listening English. This characteristics are more complicated to me, because my brain takes a lot of time in think the idea, translate this and choose the correct word. I think that is only practice. Maybe, a solution to this problem is spoken in English with native people of the other countries, like Australia or United States. I try listening music on English, but in some cases this are more difficulty.

Outside the class, I don’t use English in my normal days, except the punctual situations, like the use of the internet and the translation of music and videos. I have a friend that went to United Kingdom to learn English, but she told me that is complicate learn. She say me the discipline is an important element to study other language.

My mom has the idea to send me to Australia, with my uncles, to learn English. Now I think, is a great idea. Probably, I shuffle this option for the next year, before that I enter to the work. Also, my old journalist friend’s told me that, today, the English knowledge is more important that a magister.

A trip to Brasil

Like the teacher, I will speak to a travel. This was one of my better presents that I have received.

In the Christmas of 2003, when my family and I were unwrapping the gifts, my grandmother gave me a letter with a message. I took the letter and read this. It said that I had won a pass ticket to Brasil, to the waterfalls of Foz do Iguazú.

In this moment, I don’t understand nothing, because it was only a message, without the ticket (I thought it was a joke). But also my brother gave the letter. Then, I realized that this was serious. It was an invitation to travel for Argentina, Paraguay and Brasil, with my grandmother.

This was the first time that I left the country (and also the last). Therefore, I was so excited. With my cousin Patricia (also she traveled with us), we went all the trip by bus.

We crossed the mountains, lunched pizza on Mendoza, pass through El Chaco and arrived to Asunción, on Paraguay. I remember the food of this hotel; it was so much jajaja a breakfast of the gods. In this city I bought a shirt that I conserve to this day.

But the best of the travel was Iguazú. The giant waterfalls were awesome, the weather was incredible, and the food, jajaja, the food was tremendous. In this hotel they have a zoo, with turtles and iguanas on the garden. It was so beautiful. 

The first day

My first day in the University was not a uncomfortable moment. Luck for me, I knew someone of my new classmates, because we gather in a meeting, on Osvaldo Lizama's house. 

I went to ethic class, with the lecturer María Olivia Mönckeberg. She is a very famous journalist (a national prize), for her biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig books of investigations (five hundred pages). And is a bit self-centred. But is a great teacher, with experience in the journalism.

Later the class, we went to the auditorium, where we gather with Faride Zerán, other journalism's national prize, and the institute's director. She speak ourselves about the rol of the journalist for protect the democracy and the people, and denounce the abuses of to power. 

I remember that I speak with someone of my friends that I have accompanied them all the career, in the papers to the University, the hobbies, the parties and the politics university. For example, Iván Cea and Catalina Marilao, members to this class too.

This day, my fist day, I felt I complete a stage and this was the first steps for other. I don't mean that this was the adult life, but was a great step. Also, I like the journalism, so I was really happy this day.

The "18"

One of my best celebrations of Fiestas Patrias for me, It was this recently holidays. I think this it’s because this holiday was the longest of the year. My vacations began the Friday 21 and ended yesterday. Its days very busy (for this I am very happy).

The Friday, I went to mythical “Fonda FAU”, with my friends. There, we sold drinks for recover moneys to a magazine. The Saturday, I rest and sleep, but I went a barbeque with my family on Angostura the Sunday.

The celebrations for the “18” were in my house. I ate a big, big “asado” and I drink earthquakes (terremotos). This were a great days with my friends and my family, because I don´t have many time to enjoy with they. Then to stay with my parents, I went with my friend Felipe, to a barbeque with his mother and his stepfather, where we play pool all the night.

The Thursday was the turn to the university’s friends. And we ate other barbeque (jejeje). For end the week, the Friday I went to Curacaví, to a piece of ground of the grandparents of my friend Fernanda. We ate other barbeque. But this time, we camped in the place, under the stars. This was very beautiful and relaxing. Also, the herbage of the hills was flowering, with yellow and violet colors.

The weekend was quieter. I sleep and recover the energies for begin a new week with class. The Sunday I went to the strike for the closing of the newspaper La Nación, in the Parque Bustamante. And today, I went to the gym… it was so necessary.

The first semester

The first semester of this year was very stressful for me. My 2011 ended  in february, then of six months of protests again the profit in the education. I was very tired for this, and january was a very hard month. Moreover, my schoolfellow elect to me as "Concejero Fech". That's mean a lot of work, but I was really motivated.

The first months of this term was some more easy. The people do not protested, for the tiredness, and now we don't have a long time for obtain our demands. Apart of this, in the first term I started with the "degree process" (a.k.a. "seminary"). With my friends, I doing a comparation of comunicational public politics in Chile. This process is very slowly and hard.

For the stress, the best is the gym. In the university, we have a gym in the campus. Before of the strike, I went two times por week. I don't like the sports, because involves a large share. The gym is most solitary and allows rest of the people (that is anti-social). In other activities, I participe in a comunitary radio of the university and in others jobs that implicate the journalism.

The principal problem of this year has been the stress and the fatigue. But, I have become accustomed to this, and the 2012 is ending very fast.

My family is OK. We have health, job and studies. Our great preocupation now is the health of my grandmother. She have 84 years old and she grow old very fast in the last 2 years. She forget things and listen strange songs. I blame his age.

The best and the worst of the Santiago

I am a "city-person". I like the city most than the camp or other place, because the city have all the things that I want. I am used to the city.

I like the multicultural expressions and the history of the city. In every place, you can see different nationalities that do more rich the life in the city: peruvians, colombians, haitians, argentinians, brazilians, bolivians, and other peoples of the friends countries. And the city, specially Santiago, have a history in every place. The national history and the personal history of the chileans across in Santiago. Since the great historys (goverments, politics, social movements), until the little historys (storekeeper, workers, families, students).

I dislike the pollution and the big distances. The pollution (air and acoustic contamination) is a seriously problem of every citizen. This create helth problems (phisycal and psicological problems) and control his is very difficult. The big distances is other problem of Santiago. I live in Maipú, so far of all things. I took almost two hours in arrive to the university. It's terrible. The size of the city is a worrying problem, because is unsustainable in the time. I change this aspects.

For a visitor, I would recommend going to the Santa Lucía hill. Is the most beautiful place of Santiago. Also, I would recommend the Paris/Londres streets and the civic town. The buildings: La Moneda, the national library, the national history museum and the central house of the Universidad de Chile.

Assange Case

I think that is a important case of counter-information, because Wikileaks allowed login to dates of the most powerfull countries of the world, and revealed great secrets.

I believe that Assange is guilty of the crime which is accused, or is involved in the case of the sexual abuse, but I think that is a excuse for extradite him to United Statates, because the Wikileaks Case.

Ecuador was right to offer a political assignment for Assange, taking into account the Wikileaks Case and the political persecution to the accused. But, also is true that Ecuador (with the president Correa) is known for his violation to freedom of expression.

If I can interview to Julian Assange, I would ask for the methods used to access to the information, and what important secrets still have not been revealed. And I would ask for the secrets about the arrive to the man on the moon.

I think that the Assange finally going to Ecuador, because otherwise, United Kingdom would have great internationals problems.

The final blog session

Well, this is the last blog sessions of this subject. How much distress. It was a good experience for me. In fact, it was the part that I most enjoyed of the english class, because for me is most easy write and read in english, that speak and listen.

This excercise did help me with my english, specially with the vocabulary and the explanation of topics. I learned to replace the words when I don't know how express me. And I enjoyed the topics of the blog session's, above all those related with my career and with my musical likes.

The "pros" of blogging in the english class are that it's a training of the hand and the brain, and is a exercise like a monologue, where a dialogue with myself. Then, we can edit the errors. The "cons" are that neglected the speaking and listening part of english.

Citizen News

Today, I'm going to talk about one of my activities. I work in the Radio Juan Gómez Millas, of ICEI, doing the Noticiero Ciudadano, or Citizen News, for his translation. Is a radio program, where we give the news and informations, with the characteristic of this is news of organizations and social movements, and not follow the guide of the mass media.

The Noticiero Ciudadano is transmitted of Monday to Thursday, between one o’clock and half past one in the evening (half hour of program), by the Radio JGM and the others community radio stations all over the country. It’s have a team of eleven reporters, all are journalist students of ICEI. They do the news for the program. I’m the producer and editor.

This News was born then of the earthquake to 2010. We gather for report, where other vision, the news of the reconstruction. This has been a good experience, because we give place to other voices, not present in the mass media, as victims, students, ONG’s, assemblies, environmentalists, indigenous, sexual minorities, for example.

The last year, our main theme to report was the student movement. We cover all the marchs and actions of the students; it was a great informative job. 

The website of the front pages

A career related website is Kiosko.net that meets the most front page of the newspaper to the world. Kiosko isn’t a site for to make journalism, but it serves for to be informed. 

The website has six sections, in accordance to the geographic location: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Canada and USA. Then, every section is subdivided in countries and estates (in the case of USA). The grace of the website is that it has a picture to the front page and not only the headline to the newspaper, which gives visuality and attraction.

Some papers that appear are The Times, El País, Le Monde, Corriere Della Sera, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Clarín, O Globo, El Mercurio, for example.

I visit often this website, because is an easy mode to be informed about the world news. Also, every front page has the link of the newspaper, so I can visit their own website and read more international news too.

I like this website because is a very useful tool for a journalist. For example, it serves to see how important is a news to international level. I remember that then to chilean earthquake, the most to newspapers had in his front pages the report.

And, this is the link of the website: http://kiosko.net/

My cat

In my family, the pets aren't welcome, specially the cats. However, we made an excepction. The last year, my brother came with a little cat to my house. His girlfriend gave it and he had to receive.

My mom wasn’t happy with de idea of a cat in the house. We had a turtle for many years (is died), but a cat was a different situation. It’s throw hairs, scratch the chairs and they are a problem when to be in heat (this is a female cat).

Therefore, the cats (and the dogs) aren’t the best option for a pet. However, this animal won in our hearts. The fourth day, we all loved of the little cat. And my mom was the most enthusiastic: she named it Kitty.

Now, Kitty is one year old, and it’s very very large. But it’s the baby of the house, and all are waiting for it. The cat has so much hair, so us the brush. Kitty is very playful, it’s run for the garden all day, and it’s spends many hours a day in someone’s arms. It’s greedy and moves his tail when it’s hungry.

With you, Kitty:

My family on a picture

This is one of my favourites photographs, because appear my family almost complete, or at least the relatives that I don`t see ever. It's was took for my neighbor, in a family party on my house, in february of this year. This picture show us waving to the camera.

They are the family of my father. They have many and historic quarrels, for everything (as many families, I guees) and some are apart. This photograph like me for this, it's joined my family, at least in a picture.

I am the first left. Then, is my uncle, my father, my grandmother, my aunt and my mother. In the second row, from the left, is my great aunt, my godmother, and two aunts. The man of the center is Ganani. He is a old friend of my family and he is 80 years old.

Ganani is jewish and he escape to the Second World War, from Hungría. He lost his family in the gas chamber, and he can see when the Nazis took his mother in a truck. From Hungría, he escape to Israel, and then he arrived to Chile, where he met my family. Ganani was photographer, but now is almost blind. I consider to Ganani as a alive piece of the universal history.

The end of House

The next week, the series House M.D. will end, then to eight seasons on tv. This program was opened in 2004, on Fox channel, and it was very successful. The series was created by David Shore and it has 154 episodes.

House M.D is the history of a crazy and genius medical of the Princeton-Plaisboro hospital. He has a diagnostic team and he resolved medical cases. His treatment methods are lot conventional and even illegal, but always correct. House is sarcastic and never he see your pacients for diagnostic them. He work with four doctors and he have a best friend, the medical partner James Wilson.

The favourite quote of House is "everybody lies", because he think that the persons aren't honest and we act according our needs. His character is inspired in the personage of Sherlock Holmes. He is adicted to vicodin, because he have a problem in his leg, which causes him a hard pain. For this reason, House use a stick.

House is interpreted for Hugh Laurie, singer and actor british. On 2011, he released his first disco, Let Them Talk, that was a successful. Laurie come to Chile in the next months to present his disco.

The name of the last episode (the nex week) is "everybody dies", so thad i am very nervious for this final. 

This is the poster of the end....

The cellphone

I think that my favourite piece of technology is the cellphone, although it has bad things. I had my first cellphone in 2003 and it was very old piece, compared to the new cellphones. It was a Smartcom cell, company that dissapeared. Moreover, mi last cellphone is light, with touch screen, internet wifi, camera, radio, games, and many more.

I like the cellphone because i may be connected. I can call to my house when i will be late. And with my last cell, i can review the mail in it, and surf in the internet. It is very useful for me, so i used it very often.

Without the cellphone, my life would more complicated, above all my work and profession. But, i don't like be connected everytime, because is very tiring. Disconnect is necessary sometimes.

My cellphone... 

is a joke.

Jane Birkin

I don't usually have favourite singers, but a singer i like in this last time is Jane Birkin. She is a british singer and actress, who live in France. In the 60', Birkin acted in Blow-Up, polemic film where she did a erotic scene. In 1969, she and Serge Gainsbourg (her second husband) sing Je t'aime, moi non plus, famous and sensual song, causing scandals for the orgasmic sighs of Birkin. In fact, this song was banned in some radios. Jane and Serge were a famous and polemic couple in this years, acting, diricting and singing together. They were the french entertainment.

The Birkin song's can be categorized in the french pop. It's a soft music together a fragile voice. I like this singer for this characteristics, her music it's nice and relaxing. Usually, i hear it when i study. Other songs to Birkin are Comment te dire adieu and Elisa. My favourite song of Jane Birkin is Baby alone in babylone.

But i have other song of Birkin wich i like most, because it's sung together Brian Molko, british singer of the band Placebo. This song is Smile. This has a dark and depressed melody, so that is a few ironic song. Molko is other of my favourite singers, so this song is a good combination.

Now, Smile, of Birkin feat. Molko.

Baby alone in babylone:

Thanks.

The name of blog...

After all...

My Autobiography

My name is Carlos Andrés Said Cárdenas, i'm 21 years old and i live in Santiago, Chile. I am studying journalism, in the Universidad de Chile, since 2009. This was my favorite opcion for a professional career, since i was in the school.

I studied in the school Los Bosquinos, in Maipú, and then, in 2003, i studied in the Liceo de Aplicación for six years. I have very very good regards of my experience in this second school, because i made good friends between my classmates and my teachers.

I was in the "Aplika" when did the "revolución pingüina" (also known as "penguin's revolution"...) and i protested for the education with my partners. I saw one of the most great walking until that moment. Also i participated in the protests of 2011; this was an experience very strong and hard, because we were six months in strike.

In my family, we're five members: my parents, my brother and my grandmother. My brother is studying engineering of computers, he's in her second year of the university. My father working in a printing company and my mother is housewife.

I don't have many time for hobbies, but i enjoy reading novels and short's stories. I don't watch tv, but i like watch series on internet. I like the british music in general. I like go to the gym, this activity de-stress me and unplugged me of the world.


My second name, "Said", is palestinian. My grandfather was palestinian, he arrived to Chile about of 1918, with her father and brothers. But never knew my grandfather, he divorced of my grandmother and left my family.