Second Semester Reflections

I have to say time went by so fast that I realized just now that there are only 4 days left to finish classes and that makes me really happy. 

When I look back to this semester I can see I did some really cool things: I went to a concert of one of my favorite singers of all time and that is Damien Rice. I never thought I could make it and always dreamed to go to Ireland just to see him performing live, but that’s not going to be necessary now.

I made a short trip a month ago with my dad to the Lagos and Rios Regions. It was my first time there and definitely not the last one. I loved Chiloé the most but also loved every place I got to know. I liked the food, the people and most importantly the landscapes I was able to witness, they just blew my mind. One thing I know for sure is that I’ll be back.

At college it was less stressful than the first semester because I made it that way, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t study the way I needed but I chose not to stress.and to put my health first. 

This semester is ending way much better than how it started, so it’s been a good one and I hope the next semester is even better.

2016 resolutions and predictions

I know I say it every year but this time I am going to accomplish my 2016 purposes.  Last year was a bit rough for me, my family and I had to go through some losses, I had to come back to Santiago and start all over at college but I did (still am doing) it pretty great actually (FINALLY).

There are a few things I’d like to change this year, for example do a lot more exercise (and when I say a lot more I mean DO exercise) and practise some sport that I like, maybe get a bike and start cycling.

I have to change the needing of having eveything under control, the feeling of getting things done and try to give your best is great but also pretty exhausting if you are a perfectionist, so I’m fixing that because everything can't be perfect.

Another thing that is going to change is that I will no longer be unemployed because I will get a job, I mean I’ll start looking for a job as soon as we get back in autumn (any recomendations just comment below).

This year I’m travelling with a group of friends to the north, actually I’m going in February to San Pedro de Atacama and Bolivia maybe, we already have the tickets but I’m still hoping we can get to know more than the Calama airport so I think I’ll spend february working and saving money.

I promise I will save more money and also I promise I’ll spend it in travelling, music and concerts, and having fun with friends and family only and not in unnecessary things like I did sometimes this year. I promise I’ll enjoy more the moment and make more plans to enjoy with my family and friends.

My future job

I don’t really know what I’m going to do in the future because 10 years seem really far away right now, but I guess I’ll be working (I hope I’ll be working) at some NGO related to environmental care issues, health or human rights causes, those are some of the subjects I like the most. In case I don’t succeed in any of these possible jobs there’s always a city hall in the south of the country that needs help I guess and I’m very helpful.

I guess I’ll be working at this NGO for several years (or maybe a lifetime), it depends in how things evolve, you never know. But if everything goes wrong and I have to start at something new, it must be something I’ve always dream of or wanted to do.

So since I suck at playing guitar, being a rock star it’s not a viable option so one of the jobs I would like to have would be writing songs. Whenever I feel inspired I write and I think there might be others who could also feel inspired by some thoughts I’d share (they must be really wise words since I’d be working in the job full time). And since those thoughts would make very wise lyrics and songs I wish I’d be working in some worldwide discography writing for worldwide-known singers that I admire and have the chance to make those lyrics get to people all around the globe.

I guess we’ll see.

How green am I?

I do have a lot of conscience when it comes to plastic bags. Whenever I go shopping I do one of two things either I use a paper bags or biodegradable ones or I don’t use bags at all (just in case it is really necessary). Green point for me I guess.

If it’s water the sbuject we are talking about I have to say I used to have long showers and now they’re only half as long as they used to last (another green point for me), although they still lasts more than 5 minutes but I’m working on it.

Since I live really close to college (only two streets away) I walk to school every day and don’t have the need to use a bus or car, obviously. I also walk a lot, whenever I meet a friend, need to go to a place or have some procedure to do I get there walking. Just in case that I need to move longer distances I use public transport specially metro or bus so I don’t spend a lot of money moving around the city. I’m saving money to buy a bike so I can go to more places, faster and greener.

I’m not as green as I wish I were, but it’s a start.

A movie that I like and a movie that I hate

I really like movies so I have many that can make it to my top 3 but number one will always be "Boyhood".

Boyhood is a movie from last year (2014), it was directed by Richard Linklater and with starring performances of Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater. It took Linklater 12 years to film this movie, at first there wasn’t a script they just started filming a 6 years old boy and his family. 

The film doesn’t show any more than life itself, it’s about growing up from a little kid to an adolescent and everything that he experiences on the road, like first kiss, first love, family issues, making friends, going out of high school, getting into college, etc.

The thing I loved the most is that the cast grew up during the filming, you can literally see the way the characters and the cast get old during the story and through the camera and that’s never been done before. It’s a very nostalgic movie with a very good soundtrack especially the song "Hero" by Family of the Year.

A movie that I really hate must be Gravity. I know it took home a lot of awards and stuff, including the Oscar for Best Director but I just couldn’t like it I found it boring: the only idea of watching 2 people floating around Earth for an hour and a half makes me wonder how could I get those 90 minutes back? 

A day I will always remember

So, first of all I must say I have really bad memory so my oldest memories are not as old as I wish they were. That been said the day I’m going to talk about happened this year, a month ago actually.

I know I’ve mentioned it maybe a couple times before. It was October 29^th, the day Damien Rice came back to Chile to play in a gig at the Universidad de Chile Theater, the first in about 6 years since his last one. I wasn’t just excited, I was really nervous actually. Not many people know his music so I decided to go alone anyway.

The show was supposed to be starting at 8:30 so I got there just in time. I watched the show from the first row of the second floor, so my view was great (though the pictures I took don’t show the exact same nearness).

The crowd was speechless during the whole show and though he played for almost 2 hours I expected more songs. Anyhow I was just amazed after the show and refused to leave just like hundreds of people more, so we waited outside the theater for Damien to go out and play more songs. AND HE DID! I was less than 4 meters away from him. He played 2 more songs and said goodbye.

I still remember every bit of that day. It was one of the best days I’ve ever had in my life and I think I will always remember (because I recorded almost half of the show hahaha). So whenever I feel like it I press play and relive it again.

The perfect song

So, today I will talk about “The Blower’s Daughter” written and recorded by Damien Rice, who is my favourite Singer of all times. It’s a song that talks about love, like most of the songs. The lyrics tell a story about a guy who falls deeply in love with a girl, who is always on his mind and he can’t stop thinking about her. For some reason it seems like it’s a forbidden love and relationship so they can’t be together.

Some people say the lyrics are about Damien Rice himself falling for a younger girl who is also the daughter of his clarinet teacher.
Some others say the lyrics are about a Celtic myth (Damien is irish, so that could make sense as well). The myth tells a story about the Wind’s daughter who falls in love with the Seas’ God. The Winds’ God finds out so he punishes his daughter forcing her to live on Earth like any other mortal. There was a way so they could both live together eternally under the sea, she had to learn to breathe underwater, but the Seas’ God was forbidden to tell his lover the reason she had to learn. She thought it was imposible to do so she never learned. 

When they both became elderly, the Seas’ God takes his lover to the water where she dies slowly. Then he returns to his kingdom to live eternally alone.

So the reasons of why it is my favourite song are mainly those: my top Singer wrote it and recorded it, the lyrics are just blowminding and the melody is just perfect. At the end of October I had the chance to see Damien Rice performing live in Santiago. He sang this song and it was one the best times of my life I recorded it so I could always watch it again and share.