For Level 2 Class Wednesday 12:00

This is a reminder that tomorrow during class (which begins at exactly 12:00 PM) we will conclude our written report activity (final draft).  Remember that this is worth 25% of your final grade so please be there. Also, check the syllabus (link is to your left) for changes.  The oral presentation has been pushed back and so has the second listening quiz.  See you tomorrow!

What to do/where to go in Santiago

How well do you know Santiago? Were you Santiago-born and bred? Or did you move here after you were born or after you graduated from high school?

The topic of this week's post is: WHAT TO DO / WHERE TO GO IN SANTIAGO .

When writing your post be sure to answer these questions:

- What places should a foreigner tourist visit in Stgo?

- What things should a foreigner tourist do?

- Make a list of top 5 places/activities, describing them, giving suggestions and explaining the reasons for your choice.

- Don't forget to leave a comment on 2 of your classmates' posts.

What to do in Santiago When You Have No Money

Don’t have a lot of pesos? No worries, when you’re in Santiago, just go to these places and you’ll have a great time.  All of this can be done in just one day.


Here’s the formula: First, hit the Cerro Santa Lucía, then hike over to the Mercado Central, continue on to the Vega Central, and finally, take an exciting transantiago roller-coaster ride all the way to the Jumbo Bilbao.  These four stops will guarantee a fabulous day of  culture and fun.

The Cerro Santa Lucia is located downtown.  You can get there from anywhere in the city by walking (although sometimes it might take you a few hours).  Once you are there, you can explore the foot of the cerro where you will find the famous Pedro de Valdivia stone slab and hundreds of couples making out.  It can get very erotic, so watch out.  Entering the hill itself is not recommended since there are many steps and you will get tired very quickly.

The next stop is the Mercado Central where you can observe Chilean men butchering innocent fish.  Be careful, if you are too obvious, they will begin to make fun of you (the men, not the fish).  Once in the restaurant area of the mercado, you will be approached by hundreds of beautiful Chilean women who all want to invite you to eat at their restaurants.  If you have no money to eat, the best thing to do at this point is to just keep walking straight through (smile and lie: “no gracias, ya comí”).  If you are lucky, you can catch a whiff of the typical Chilean music coming from the table areas.  Try to aim for the “horny indian”.  This is a beautifully carved wooden statue in the shape of a red indigenous fellow.  Once you are there, do not prolong your inquiry for too long as you might be invited to make three wishes by a complete stranger.  If that happens, run (and don’t make any wishes).

If you like vegetables and dogs, the Vega Central is your place.  Walk around the many stalls and listen for the "chilenismos".  There are several books available that can help you learn some of them before you go.  This may enhance the experience, but only slightly.

Finally, take one of many green buses to the Bilbao Jumbo.  Just ask the friendly drivers where the Jumbo is and they will gladly tell you when and where to get off (mentira!).  Once you arrive at the Jumbo, grab a cart and wander the spacious aisles in search of those they call “promotoras”.  These are young women dressed in absurd outfits who give you free samples of typical food and drink.  Careful, some of them don’t have such products for you to sample, so don’t believe them when they say that they have the best juice.

Visit these places and you’ll have a great time…. and you’ll learn a lot about Chilean culture and society too.  And remember, you don’t need money to enjoy Santiago.  You just need to know where to go.

 

Blog 4: What to Do/Where to Go in Santiago

Hey folks.... so I know we've been away from each other a few weeks so here is the update on the blogs:

The first two blogs (Last Semester and A Country You Would Visit) should be finished no later than the end of the week.  Blog 3 (the first themed post) will be done at a future date to be announced.  Blog 4 will take place this week and the theme can be found below.

I also moved the first Listening Quiz to this week.  It is quite easy, but the key is to show up! 

ok, so here is this week's theme:

How well do you know Santiago? Were you Santiago-born and bred? Or did you move here after you were born or after you graduated from high school?

The topic of this week's post is: WHAT TO DO / WHERE TO GO IN SANTIAGO .

When writing your post be sure to answer these questions:

- What places should a foreigner tourist visit in Stgo?

- What things should a foreigner tourist do?

- Make a list of top 5 places/activities, describing them, giving suggestions and explaining the reasons for your choice.

- Don't forget to leave a comment on 2 of your classmates' posts.

Visiting Brazil

Visiting Brazil

I’ve been to quite a few countries in my life but I’ve never been to Brazil.  I would love to go there some day.  I have many friends who always go on and on about how great Brazil is: the music, the beaches, the dances, the women, etc…and I’ve also read and heard about the more negative things that don’t always get mentioned: the drug cartels and the police violence, for example.  Both of these aspects (the “good” and the “bad”) are interesting to me and I would love to explore them more closely.  I’m also interested in Brazilian politics, especially president Lula and the worker’s party.  When he was elected president, it was a big deal for progressives around the world.  I often wonder if he has changed the country for the better.   Visiting Brazil would be a good way to find out. 

My only real contact with Brazil so far has been through films.  I remember when I saw City of God, a film about growing up in Rio de Janeiro’s dangerous favelas.  The level of police and gang violence struck me but I was also intrigued by the way people struggled to make it despite living in such precarious conditions.  Another film about Brazil that I enjoyed was Estacion Central.  In this film, a woman works as a letter-writer.  I didn’t realize that there were so many illiterate people in Brazil!

I have several friends who seem to love Brazil; sometimes I think they even love Brazil more than they love their own country.  My friend Belen, for example, is obsessed with Brazil.  She listens to Brazilian reggae, dances Samba, watches Brazilian films and does Capoeira whenever she has free time.  I sometimes think that the Brazilian embassy should hire her to promote Brazilian culture in Chile.  She could be some sort of cultural ambassador.  I’m sure she’d do it for free.

Personally, I would like to meet Edison Arantes do Nascimento (aka Pele).  He is probably the best soccer player in history, perhaps only Maradona comes close to his level of skill.  Maradona has suggested that Pele belongs in a museum, but I think he belongs outside in the open air promoting the sport like he’s been doing for a long time now.  Of course, if he were in a museum, I’d go visit him.

I would love to visit all the places that you always see on postcards but I would also love to explore the more hidden aspects of the country.  Maybe I should go there for the next World Cup or for the Olympics in Rio.  Of course, during those events, it would be hard to see the true face of Brazil.  Governments often try to hide the social inequality and poverty in their countries in order to give a false impression to the outside world.  In any case, I should start saving money now.

Here are some guidelines:

Identify country and reasoning:

Which country would you like to go to? Why? What is it about the country that makes you want to visit it?

What do you know about it and how did you come to know about it:

What do you know about it? 

Have you seen films that were shot in the country? Have you heard from other people who have visited the country?

Details about what you would do:

What would you like to do there? Do you want to live there for a while or just visit for a few weeks and travel around?  Where exactly would you like to visit inside the country? What is it known for?

(how about looking up some information on the internet?)

What would your life there be like?:

Would you like to study/work/live there? Explain.

What would you do during the week, the weekends?

Would you go alone and meet people? Would you go to language school there?

What would be some of the difficulties in studying/working/living there (language, visas, getting a job, where would you stay?, would you have to save money to get there?)?

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts

- Word Count: 200 words   

Visiting Brazil

Visiting Brazil

I’ve been to quite a few countries in my life but I’ve never been to Brazil.  I would love to go there some day.  I have many friends who always go on and on about how great Brazil is: the music, the beaches, the dances, the women, etc…and I’ve also read and heard about the more negative things that don’t always get mentioned: the drug cartels and the police violence, for example.  Both of these aspects (the “good” and the “bad”) are interesting to me and I would love to explore them more closely.  I’m also interested in Brazilian politics, especially president Lula and the worker’s party.  When he was elected president, it was a big deal for progressives around the world.  I often wonder if he has changed the country for the better.   Visiting Brazil would be a good way to find out. 

My only real contact with Brazil so far has been through films.  I remember when I saw City of God, a film about growing up in Rio de Janeiro’s dangerous favelas.  The level of police and gang violence struck me but I was also intrigued by the way people struggled to make it despite living in such precarious conditions.  Another film about Brazil that I enjoyed was Estacion Central.  In this film, a woman works as a letter-writer.  I didn’t realize that there were so many illiterate people in Brazil!

I have several friends who seem to love Brazil; sometimes I think they even love Brazil more than they love their own country.  My friend Belen, for example, is obsessed with Brazil.  She listens to Brazilian reggae, dances Samba, watches Brazilian films and does Capoeira whenever she has free time.  I sometimes think that the Brazilian embassy should hire her to promote Brazilian culture in Chile.  She could be some sort of cultural ambassador.  I’m sure she’d do it for free.

Personally, I would like to meet Edison Arantes do Nascimento (aka Pele).  He is probably the best soccer player in history, perhaps only Maradona comes close to his level of skill.  Unlike Maradona though, I don’t think Pele belongs in a museum, I think he belongs outside promoting the sport like he’s been doing for a long time.  Of course, if he were in a museum, I’d go visit him.

I would love to visit all the places that you always see on postcards but I would also love to explore the more hidden aspects of the country.  Maybe I should go there for the next World Cup or for the Olympics in Rio.  Of course, during those events, it would be hard to see the true face of Brazil.  In any case, I should start saving money now.

Here are some guidelines:

Identify country and reasoning:

Which country would you like to go to? Why? What is it about the country that makes you want to visit it?

What do you know about it and how did you come to know about it:

What do you know about it? 

Have you seen films that were shot in the country? Have you heard from other people who have visited the country?

Details about what you would do:

What would you like to do there? Do you want to live there for a while or just visit for a few weeks and travel around?  Where exactly would you like to visit inside the country? What is it known for?

(how about looking up some information on the internet?)

What would your life there be like?:

Would you like to study/work/live there? Explain.

What would you do during the week, the weekends?

Would you go alone and meet people? Would you go to language school there?

What would be some of the difficulties in studying/working/living there (language, visas, getting a job, where would you stay?, would you have to save money to get there?)?

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts

- Word Count: 200 words   

Visiting Brazil

Visiting Brazil

I’ve been to quite a few countries in my life but I’ve never been to Brazil.  I would love to go there some day.  I have many friends who always go on and on about how great Brazil is: the music, the beaches, the dances, the women, etc…and I’ve also read and heard about the more negative things that don’t always get mentioned: the drug cartels and the police violence, for example.  Both of these aspects (the “good” and the “bad”) are interesting to me and I would love to explore them more closely.  I’m also interested in Brazilian politics, especially president Lula and the worker’s party.  When he was elected president, it was a big deal for progressives around the world.  I often wonder if he has changed the country for the better.   Visiting Brazil would be a good way to find out. 

My only real contact with Brazil so far has been through films.  I remember when I saw City of God, a film about growing up in Rio de Janeiro’s dangerous favelas.  The level of police and gang violence struck me but I was also intrigued by the way people struggled to make it despite living in such precarious conditions.  Another film about Brazil that I enjoyed was Estacion Central.  In this film, a woman works as a letter-writer.  I didn’t realize that there were so many illiterate people in Brazil!

I have several friends who seem to love Brazil; sometimes I think they even love Brazil more than they love their own country.  My friend Belen, for example, is obsessed with Brazil.  She listens to Brazilian reggae, dances Samba, watches Brazilian films and does Capoeira whenever she has free time.  I sometimes think that the Brazilian embassy should hire her to promote Brazilian culture in Chile.  She could be some sort of cultural ambassador.  I’m sure she’d do it for free.

Personally, I would like to meet Edison Arantes do Nascimento (aka Pele).  He is probably the best soccer player in history, perhaps only Maradona comes close to his level of skill.  Unlike Maradona though, I don’t think Pele belongs in a museum, I think he belongs outside promoting the sport like he’s been doing for a long time.  Of course, if he were in a museum, I’d go visit him.

I would love to visit all the places that you always see on postcards but I would also love to explore the more hidden aspects of the country.  Maybe I should go there for the next World Cup or for the Olympics in Rio.  Of course, during those events, it would be hard to see the true face of Brazil.  In any case, I should start saving money now.

Here are some guidelines:

Identify country and reasoning:

Which country would you like to go to? Why? What is it about the country that makes you want to visit it?

What do you know about it and how did you come to know about it:

What do you know about it? 

Have you seen films that were shot in the country? Have you heard from other people who have visited the country?

Details about what you would do:

What would you like to do there? Do you want to live there for a while or just visit for a few weeks and travel around?  Where exactly would you like to visit inside the country? What is it known for?

(how about looking up some information on the internet?)

What would your life there be like?:

Would you like to study/work/live there? Explain.

What would you do during the week, the weekends?

Would you go alone and meet people? Would you go to language school there?

What would be some of the difficulties in studying/working/living there (language, visas, getting a job, where would you stay?, would you have to save money to get there?)?

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts

- Word Count: 200 words