My favourite animal

Since I started to watch TV series related with animals (Animal Planet, National Geographic, Discovery Channel...), I did focus my attention in the programs who showed the animals sanctuary or refuge. One day, I saw one of this progams about elephants sanctuary in Africa and I loved it. Since that, I consider the elephants like a wonderful and an interesting animal that we must to help and take care.
The aim of this text will be explain you more deeply the elephant's characteristics and, with it, why I made this choice. To me it's very simple, but maybe you are thinking that the elephants are huge mosters with four legs that will kill you if it can. Having say that, I start this kind of ode to the elephants.
This gray animal is a mammal who lives in Africa and Asia, in fact we can find two species: the African and the Asian Elephant. The former belong to the genus Loxodonta and the latter to the genus Elephas. We can difference them, in the following pictures, by their ears and size, among other things; African elephants are biggest than African in relate with the ears and size. They both are herbivores species and live between 50 to 70 years, having a period of gestation of 22 months, the most larger of the animals. A thing that is incredible, in my point of view, is that they have irrigates ears that function like a corporal temperature controller, as can be seen when it's hot, they move their ears like a mechanism to down their temperature and maintain it constant.

Unfortunately, the elephants are threatened species, because they are poaching for different uses. Despite the fact that these animals can perfectly squash a person, they can't hide or run quickly from a gun. Furthermore, as we saw before, they have a longest gestation period, difficulting the job of leave descendents. These conflict has reduced their numbers to 400 to 500 hundred by the end of the century.
Like human, is our responsability repair the mistakes that commit our specie. I want to go to Africa and help them, save the last African elephants in the world working in a sanctuary or in a refuge. I'm not too far, I'm already giving my first step studying veterinary medicine. We can't lost this specie like we are doing with the Polar Bears and many others species. This is the reason, in a few words, for that I chose the elephants and why I'm studying this career.

What to do in Santiago?

If you are a tourist and you don't know where to go in the capital city, read it!
There I tell you about five places where you can go and don't get boring this season in Santiago of Chile:

1. Fantasilandia.

I chose it because I went with my sister and we passed a great time. If you enjoy feeling the adrenaline in your body, this is your place. And now there is a new game called "Raptor", It's a roller coaster and you feel like fliying, because your legs are hanging and you don't see the structure of the roller coaster.

2. Estación Mapocho.

It's a cultural center, but it was build to be a trains station between 1905 and 1912. There always are art exhibitions and events, like concerts and parties. This is a beautiful place, I love the roof and the architecture, it has a library where you can study in peace and you can find many information about events, theatre, dance, music, etcetera.

3. HBH!.

It's a restaurant located in Irarrázabal with Macul street. You can eat and drink the speciality: artisan bear, with differents flavours, it's delicious, my fauvorite is with palm syrup. From Monday to thursday they have Happy Hour and if you buy one blond bear they give you one more. You can go with your friends, but I advice you don't eat there; the food is expensive and it hasn't any special thing, just prove the bear and enjoy it!

4. Street market Bio-Bio.

If you are valiant and you are looking for sheaper clothes, music, socks, books, notebooks, radios...and a very big etcetera, the street market Bio Bio is your way. You must to be careful, it's dangerous, so if you don't look like a chilean, please don't go. It isn't safe because there are black markets, but you can find anything and the prices are wonderful! Really, I didn't believe it at least I saw it. You should go with a comfortable footwear, because you have streets and streets of hawking, it never ends.

5. La Piojera.

I haven't been there yet, but I know that I must to go someday. If you want to meet the tipical chilean food and the "Guachaca" culture in action, La Piojera is the place where you have a relationship with Chile. You should prove sopaipillas with pebre, humitas, the Earthquake ("Terremoto") and a good wine, with fruits or maybe a hot wine. You could dance cueca too and practice your spanish with the people.


These are the places that I met and remember like "important parades" in Santiago, because they are interesting, sheaper or just fun. I want to meet other places, like the Santa Lucía and San Critóbal hills, the MAC and Bellas Artes, maybe they are better references for a tourist, but I never have been there. I hope that you like it and that have a good stay in Santiago.
Enjoy!

Death Penalty

“A death penalty is the sentence of execution for murder and some other capital crimes (serious crimes, especially murder, which are punishable by death).
The death penalty, or capital punishment, may be prescribed by Congress or any state legislature for murder and other capital crimes (…)”

From my point of view, the death penalty is a medioeval measure from solution the problems about crimes. I don’t agree with the subjectivity that has this punishment, I read a little bit about the death penalty in internet and I found relevant the “arbitrariness” in this, especially in what it concerns to the racial disparities.
“Approximately 2% of known murderers are sentenced to death” in the United States, within 79% killed white people. It’s curious, because just the 50% of murders or crimes were made against them (we can see it in the graph). By this I mean or I feel that the sentences take more importance when the crimes involve white people. I believe in equality before the law and in the human rights, so I’m not in favor of the death penalty, this kind of “eye for eye” doesn’t like me in absolute.
It is sometimes argued that bad people deserve the death and killing them is the only solution. That’s a fallacy, I reckon that the guilty can change if he/she wants and the government can help giving support, of course with a good implementation and control in case that he/she wouldn´t have a recuperation. We can’t decide when people must die, in the world are other crimes that don’t involve blood and they are killing quietly to many people, like the medical experiments in Africa.

Blue -> Abolished for all crimes.
Green -> Abolished for crimes not committed in exceptional circumstances (such as crimes committed in time of war).
Orange -> Abolished in practice.
Red -> Legal form of punishment for certain offenses.

In this map, we can appreciate what countries have the death penalty like a solution. I am unconvinced about that, this is a practice with many years, and the murders continue. To be honest, I don’t think that the crimes are a thing that we can stop, it’s relate with the personality of the person and in many times this is out of our control, although the society influence in the thinking. For that, I believe in the rehabilitation of some people. The jail is a place that can function like punish instead of killing, that's a good social pact.

The country I would like to visit...

Honestly, I'd like to travel around all the world, but I'm going to say Peru, because I want to go this year with two friends, specifically to Machu Picchu. It always has called my attention, maybe for the Incas ancient culture and the architecture.
Also, I'd like to know the current culture of Peru...It's important, I think, to relate with the people when you are in a new place, specially if you are from another country. I'd like to go to the Titicaca lake, and stay some days in Bolivia too. I'd like to visit the towns who are near and buy souvenirs :D
I wanna go like a tourist, but It would be interesting, in the future, go there and work like a veterinary, teaching about the care of the alpaca's cattle, working with them and controling it. I never thought it before now, It would be like a "Altoandino proyect" in Peru...
If I go this year, I wanna have fun, meet new people from Peru and from another country. In summer, there are a lot of tourist, so I can talk with foreigner persons and, why no, practice my english too.
My complication is the transport, It's espensive: in a bus the trip is too long and in an airplane it's more expensive. For that, I want to save money, but It's difficult, so I hope that my parents could give me some money and I want to work in December.
This is my plan. I have to do this travel someday and appreciate the landscape, the ruins that in the past were a big civilization. And this is just one of all the countries that I want to know!