Holidays with the minimum

I’ve been thinking in my next summer holidays for a few months and a long stay in Buenos Aires is one of the most interesting options that I have until now.

There are many reasons for this.

First of all, I am very interested in big cities in general so, between my priorities, I don’t see myself choosing a natural or rural place to visit.

Second, the capital city or, in particular, the most populated city in a country always tells you a lot of their idiosyncrasy, so it will always be a good point to start.

I’ve been thinking in going all over the city, from the downtown and most touristic places, to the city suburbs. I am very interested in everyday  and domestic places, where you can catch the soul of a city.  I am planning to be a common pedestrian inside Buenos Aires’s traditional neighbourhoods, taking pictures of unusual things I see, and maybe write some notes about this kind of stuff.

I am planning to do this alone, because it’s about a personal objective, based on my own interests. I will try to take advantage of the, almost, three months that I have for holidays. I want to learn how to live just with the mínimum, hoping to extend my stay as much as I can. Probably, a cheap guesthouse for the night and just enough food will be ok, I want to live that experience.

In any case, this project is still in the planning stage, so I still have to polish a lot of its details.

How to make more natural cities

Cities are growing more than ever before in history, and they are consuming huge amounts of natural surface in the process. The challenge of making this process sustainable in time and minimizing the impact of human’s constructions is becoming more and more relevant.

There are many solutions to this problem, and here I will try to mention briefly what I think that should be done

 First of all, I think cities are systems that should be managed in an integrative way with their natural surroundings. There are different considerations that can be taken to do this, for example one can plan cities in relation to socio-natural risks, in other words, events that could be potencially dangerous because they expose people’s life or infraestructure to natural disasters. So the urban territory should be thought avoiding risky places or with appropiate mitigation mechanisms.

Other perspective that one can take to integrate cities to nature is by making urban equipment greener in vegetation. By this I mean that streets, parks, squares  and even private property  should count with trees.  Middle size cities and Metropolitan cities, like Santiago, can take this option as an oportunity to regulate temperatures and humidity of their inner environment, at the same time that they assure a livable space to all their inhabitants. Planting native species of trees can make this happen, and they won’t compromise the city budget in maintenance or watering.

Post graduate? Maybe...

It’s difficult to do this for me because I am not very sure of doing post graduate studies, but I will try to think how would that be if it happens.

So, in general, there are many reasons for carrying on with studies after graduate. Maybe the less ideal or romantic reason would be just for money.  It opens the door to new chances of getting a better job with a higher wage.

In proportion to the utility of the new work tools I incorporate, my incomes will increase. Technological or Mathematical/statistical skills are always well demanded by the labor market, so reinforcing my knowledge in Geograpical Information Systems or in Remote Sensing would be a good deal.

On the other hand, I can choose a course related with urbanism, which is something I really like. In that case, I would rather prefer to study abroad in a big city.  Cities that are bigger than Santiago, in territory or in population, are always a good lab for urban studies. That learning can be very usefull for my curriculum here in Santiago and, in the same way, it would be an excelent opportunity for making this city a better and more inclusive one, as a contribution.

 I would like to take a year or two in a part-time course in a good university.

My Ideal Job

My ideal job would be one that allows me to apply most of the things I've learnt in university, specially the skills related to Geographic Information Sistems and urbanism. I can imagine myself working in an office of the public administration recognizing potencial points of the territory in plans of development. I would to work in the field collecting data for this aim, aswell. For me, a job that can make me travel would be great too, even if this is somekind of "teleworking

I don't really want to think about the salary right now. I know that money is not necessarily the most important thing once you graduate, but obtaining experience  certainly is. Even considering that, I don't know the real salaries for my career in practice, so I am not able to think a good  quantity in prospect.

Taking a major after my undergraduate studies is another variable to consider. I would like to take one related with urbanism, I think it would open too many doors in my labor camp. But the final decision will depend on my first jobs. For example, if I get a well paid job or a job that makes me feel satisfied with the experience I'm obtaining, I would not doubt in postpone the major.

Hard Choice

My career, Geography, was always in my mind as an option, since school. I felt so good in social science’s area that I would eventually choose any career related to it when I was in high school but I didn’t.  It turns out that I was very good with natural sciences aswell and I decided to take the “biological” path, so when I did PSU I got a good score and I chose a medical career.

Medical Technology was my first career, I spent some years in there and I don’t regret, but it wasn’t for me. During the bad moments geography was always there, seducing me. When I finally realized that I wanted to be an urbanist or an urban geographer I went out.  In my second PSU, geography was my first option and architecture the second one (just in case).

Taking the choice of what to do with your life (at least for the following years) is not an easy process when you graduate from school, and sadly nobody will be good at telling you the  right answer. There are too many things to ponderate, but I really thing that in most of the cases it doesn’t depend on the career you chose, but in the effort you put to work and be the best.

The new Lion King and more "humanized" animals?

In 1994 the first version of The Lion king was released and, like most of the greatest Disney’s productions, it marked a generation of kids.

For those who were born in the first part of the 90's decade this movie meant a significant story so the remake in live action production became an opportunity to remember and to reconnect with childhood. This was the case for me recently, when I decided to join a nephew and see the new Lion King at the cinema.

It was definitely not the same as the original. Even though I can appreciate the display of big advances in the digital technology applied in the new movie, that made animals look as real ones, this is exactly something that messed it up. I could not connect with the characters as I made it in the original version of the movie. The simple fact that their facial expressions did not communicate their emotions made hard to mix their human dialects with their appearance. This is a big point for the first version, and give a deep discussion of how human communication relies on the transfer of facial/visual expressions.

So here is the draw of someone who also thought that the characters would look better with more humanized faces:

The importance of the simple

I'm not very sure if this event can be considered as a holiday, but it is probably one of the best days I have spent outside my house here in Santiago. It was about eight years ago when I was in high school and a friend of mine asked to borrow to his parents their house in Algarrobo for a long weekend. So we were a group of 6 friends in a house at the beach.

These three days were not only some common days in the central coast, they had an important personal meaning (and I think for my friends) because it was the first little trip I did without any adult, so it had a big sense of independence, freedom and adventure. Actually, we didn't do any special activity, we spent some time in the beach, we handled with the domestic things, we talked and knew each other a lot, and we were not short of laughs, of course.

 I think there are some things that don't taste the same when you do them for a second time, a this is one of them, I mean the experience of dealing with something new. When you spent time with the correct people even doing the simpliest things can give you a good memory.