Perceptions and Updates

No more photos

2008-12-27T05:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys no more photos.
I know that I haven’t written anything on this blog for a while and I am sorry to tell you that now that I am now writing with bad news. Unfortunately I will now not be able to put any more of MY photos on my blog for you too see. Last night I got home to find that someone had broken in to my house and stole new laptop computer (which I painfully purchased out of necessity as my old one stopped working about a week ago) and my camera. Also, the thieves stole the laptops and cameras of all my roommates. In total 4 laptops, two cameras and any money that they could find. The result is that I will not be putting any of my photos on my blog for you too see and I am likely to be writing even less entries for you to read. Unfortunately, this also means I have to find a new creative process for writing music and academic papers as well. Any suggestions???
Other than that I had a really nice Christmas. I had a nice dinner with friends. We spent a lot of time reflecting on the experiences that we have had together and laughed a lot. Although I am not a religious person my friend Hanna and I decided to attend a post-Christmas Catholic mass. It was an interesting event with a lot of singing, sitting, listening and Jesus wafer eating. I would really like to know the symbolism behind that (any anthropological suggestions?).
It has been quite strange to spend the holiday season here in the summer. I keep having feelings of ¨well that’s out of season¨ when I am walking down the street and hear Christmas music or see a Christmas tree. I guess that is a part of the fun of being in another country then the one I grew up in.
I hope that everyone is well, that you had a good Christmas and that your new years Eve will be equally eventfull.
Merry Christmas
I love you.
Doran

Earthquake simulation in Valparaiao

2008-12-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

So today there have been several tremors happening. I thought I would look into what the procedures are in case of earthquake and found this video. I thought I would share it with you.

Beaucracy!!

2008-12-07T06:31:00.001-08:00

So things are moving. These last couple of weeks have been crazy! But I have almost arived at my destinasion! So here’s what has been happening. I have in been in the processes of applying for a new passport; I am realizing that the lessons in beaucracy are some of my hardest lessons in life. I hate the process of filling out all of those forms only to find out in the process that you don’t exactly fit into their little boxes. I needed a guarantor here in Chile who has known me for a minimum of two years, which has been an illogical process, as I have only been here for 4.5 months. Likewise, I have been trying to change the date of my flight home, which has resulted in conversations like;
Doran- I would like to change the date of my flight home please.
Evil Bureaucratic machine – We can’t do that (because Bureaucrats always speak in plural)
Doran – “Why not?”
Evil Bureaucratic machine – “because there is a rule”
Doran – “ Why is there a rule?”
Evil Bureaucratic machine – Because there is a rule
Doran - why is there a rule?
Evil Bureaucratic machine – Because there is a rule.
Doran – Why is there a rule?
Evil Bureaucratic machine – Because there is a rule.
Doran – Why is there a rule?
Evil Bureaucratic machine – Because there is a rule.
Doran – ……………… why?????????????
Evil Bureaucratic machine – …………………..Because
I have come to the conclusion that beaucrates are not people, they are in fact machines simply sort paper and complete forms. The good news, I eventually was able to find form #49587ehhg09835, which is used in special cases for people who question the system profusely. Apparently if you ask "why?" too many times there is paradoxical feedback loop that is created and the system self-destructs.
Likewise, I have been finishing up this semester of university. This has involved the kind of stress that you can only have from writing exams and final papers in Spanish. I Ahhhhh... almost done. Super bien.

Food and Friends

2008-11-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I appreciate good food and good people. I am fortunate enough at this memento in my life to be surrounded by both. In the house that I live in there are four other wonderfull people. They are the foundation of my community here in Chile. There is Katharina from Germany, Angela from France, Kali (Carl) who is Swedish and Maria who is Swedish/Chilean. Beyond them we are surrounded by an extremely supportive group of other people who are, for the most part, open-minded kind and quality human beings. On more than one occasion I have been impressed, that regardless of our differences in language, culture and ethnicity there is a common theme that flow between us, a common understand and support that is deeper than culture, language, race and ethnicity. We laugh, cry, and share food and perspectives about the world, we are all humans, and as one of the wisest people I know once said, ¨water finds it’s own level¨. As far as the food goes, here are a few shots of my regular diet, as well as one of the markets where I buy my food.

Reasons

2008-11-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

Ok folks. You already may be aware I am scheduled to return to Alberta in the coming semester. I have been in the process of looking for a place to live (which are all ridiculously expensive) and thinking about the courses that I may be interested in taking. Here’s the deal. I have been presented with the opportunity to stay here another semester. I am in the process of weighing my options but thought would formulate my ideas and get some feedback from my friends and family.

Reasons to stay:
1) Further develop my abilities in Spanish
2) Have the opportunity to travel and know more of the south of Chile and Argentina and Uruguay
3) The cost of living here is about a third of that in Canada
4) I won’t be missing out on my Academics as I have room for three more courses that I could take here in Chile and I could do an independent study. Equating to a four-course semester
5) Now that I know how things work here in Chile my second semester here will be easier than the first.
6) I won’t need to find a place to live in Lethbrige for another 6 months.
7) I get to have three summers in a row.
8) My living arrangement here in Chile is super-sweet

Reasons to return to Canada
1) If I stay I need a new passport
2) If I stay I need to renew my visa
3) I am missing my friends and family
4) I am not to sure about the processes of processing student loans from another country. Is it possibly
5) I may not be able to change my flight to leave in 6 months, and would therefore need to buy a new plane ticket.

Ok... please leave feedback. I would like to know your opinions and need a bit of group guidance.

Language learning

2008-10-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Felisidades Jory!

9 out of 11 people (Including Chileans) believe that you are more Chilean then the Chilean guy!!! I hope that everyone knows that I am referring to the last post. These last couple of weeks have been quite an interesting process. It is one thing to say you are going to learn a language, and quite another to be in the process of learning one. It has been almost three months with basically no English and my mind is doing some of the strangest things. Fist of all I am having super strange dreams that include people and places that I haven’t thought about in a long time. When I try to speak in English I often insert Spanish words where the there should be English words. For example, like=como but=pero and and=y. This wouldn’t be a problem, but I tend to sound like an idiot when I speak to my family and or friends over skype. Other strange things that are happening… I am recognizing that I do not react the same in “normal” everyday contexts. Perhaps it is a cultural adaption, but at times I am not as patient as I normally am and am more easily annoyed. I am writing a lot of music, with rhythms and sounds that I have no idea where they came from. I am thinking that this may be due to the new parts of my brain that I am using. I am composing full songs start to finish in one sitting that seem to lack a specific genera. The flip side to this is that lyrically I am super spermatic. My brain switches back and forth form English to Spanish and I end up with songs in Spanish that are not very well defined. I am trying to capture as much of this as possible, because as many or us artists know, the cup of inspiration is not always full. Super strange is the mind. I am attaching a short video clip of my apartment… as you may notice from the beginning, its spring!!!

Spot the Chilean

2008-09-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

Photo 1

Photo 2

I keep telling my brother that he would fit in great here! There are a lot of people with his physical features, much like him they love to BBQ, and there is a thriving metal scene. One of these two photos is a chilean the other is my brother. Can you spot the Chilean??? Feel free to vote on the right hand side of the page.

Argentina

2008-09-27T18:47:00.000-07:00

Since I arrived here I have been consistently surprised the many similarities between Chilean and Canadian culture. With a few expected exceptions, the people are kind, everyone seems to be open to new people and much like Canadians, and Chileans are notorious for not wanting to offend anyone. I spent the last week in Argentina, as I had the week of school due to a national holiday. Mendoza is a beautiful city surrounded by vineyards and mountains. The photo that you see of the grapevine that looks like a tree was one of the first grapes planed in South America by the Spanish missionaries. Dave, this is what you can expect from your grapes in just over 250 years. In Tucuman Argentina the streets are lined with orange trees. Hungry? Just pick one. Although they were a bit sour and seedy they were super nice and juicy.

Rincon

2008-09-08T22:23:00.001-07:00

I realize that I haven’t posted much on here recently, so I guess it is about time. So what has happened since my last posting? Feel as though I have settled in quite nicely into my world here. I am registered in all of my classes and all seem to be very interesting. I talking a Spanish class that is more like an applied anthropology class, with excursions into the community and discussion about current issues in Chile. I am also talking three other Sociology classes. All of them seem to be interesting. It is quite a surprise to see the differences in perspectives that come out as a result of culture. Already, I am recognizing an underlying value system that seems to dictate the actions and responses of on the general person. In this, there seems to be a conflict in the values that people place in community in and capitalism. Money and community both seem to be guarded here. The other thing that I am noticing is that any advertisements that I see have people that look nothing like the people that live here. Where 95 percent f the population have black or brown hair, the ads that I see have people that usually blonde and white. Talk about unattainable role models! It could just be my sociology mind…

This week we had a “fiesta de limpiar!” in my house. Apparently the people who were living here prior to me were not big on hygiene and seldom cleaned. Where in Canada or in Europe this may not be a big problem, here it can be a bit dangerous. There are spiders here called Rincon that live in the corners of your house if you let them. Unfortunately, they are super common and super deadly. If you are bitten, you have about 20 hours to get to the hospital or you will die. Usually it isn’t a problem if you clean regularly, but if not they are likely to make homes in places that are seldom disturbed. Like between the wall and your bed… Try sleeping after you find that out. We must have disturbed the homes of quite a few that were hiding, because the day after out cleaning party we were finding them around the house in places that were a bit more obvious. Like in my room in the corner above my bed!!!!! For this, we had another cleaning party the day after and I haven’t seen any more for about a week. I am sure that we got them all… (or at least that’s what I am telling myself).

Isla Negra

2008-08-18T04:55:00.000-07:00

Last weeked I went to the house of Pablo Neruda in Isla Negra. Isla Negra is not an island, is a small town about an hour away form where I am living. My friend Paula heard that we were thinking of going and offered to take us in her car. So why visit the the house of Neruda? Pablo Neruda was on of the great Chilean poets, and politicians. He lived a life of in intrigue and excentricity, which is aparent in the places that he lived. Also, in 1971 he won the nobel prize for literature.

Things to know about Chile (revised)

2008-08-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

You may or may not find my first few days worth of knowledge interesante, but regardless, here they are:
1.)You cant flush toilet paper down the toilet. If you do, you are usually in for about an hour worth of cleanup due to a backed up toilet.

2.)Speaking of toilet paper, I've learned it`s better to verify its presence in the bathroom before doing one's business. Sometimes these Chilean folk dont feel the need or urgency to keep any in the bathroom at all, or they might just keep it in a paper towel bin beside the sink so you have to grab the sheets before you enter the stall. This can be problematic if you dont think ahead.

3.)There are lots of stray dogs that I feel sorry for but not enough to pet or bring back to the hostel. They tend to look mutty and lay around on the sidewalks. Occasionally one will bark and wag it`s tail, but is usually forgotten about by the time the next mangy one makes an appearance.

4.) Don`t worry dog-lovers. Cats get shafted here too. Supposedly the stray dogs eat them when they need a snack. I`ve seen one live cat, but with about 15 minutes left in said life.

5.) The hot water heater only heats as much watter as you need, but you need to light it before you have a should and extinguish it after you are done... If you dont you are seen as a wastefull person... Not good here.

6.) Dont drink pisco before school. It gives you a worse hangover than taquila if you mix it with beer and wine... Speaking of which, wine only costs 3-5 dollars (jana´s heaven) and beer is about a 2-5 dollars fora 12 pack.

2008-07-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

Into to Valpo

2008-07-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

This week has been very interesting. I landed in Santiago and took a bus to the bus station. It was everything went prity fast, but smooth. When I arrived at valparaiso (valpo) I took a taxi to my new house on ciera allegre. When I arrived noone was at my house. I found a payphone, but unfortunately the payphones here are a bit different than at home and I had a few problems. Eventually I was able to call upstairs and Gadi opened the door for me. At teh moment I am living with a brother and sister from france who are very nice and were kind enough to show me around the city (Gadi and Marie) and a girl from Chile (Veronica). Marie, Gadi's girlfriend ( jess) Went sightseeing two days in a row. Here are some of the photos we took.

South Country Fair 08

2008-07-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

So I just wanted to comment on something that most people already know... This year was a great South Country fair!! Personally, it was one of the best I have ever had. I met a lot of really interesting people, heard a lot of great music, got in a few good swims, a lot of sun a lot of love and a great sendoff. Thanks George for the great music. Thanks Ange for the great company, conversation and inspiration. Thanks family for the open display of love. Thanks Geoff for the twisted mind. Lastly congrats to all of the winners of the camp contest. It turns out that Dave actually is an artist!!! I love you guys.

Arrival in Toronto.

2008-07-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

so.. I have arrived in Toronto as planned. I left the Calgary airport at 12:15 am and arrived in Toronto at 6:10am (4:10 Alberta time). While at the airport I spent some time looking at my map to decide what would be the best route to get to the consulate. It turns out that fate is working out in my favor already I asked a guy waiting at the bus if he knew how to get to the ballo and young station. It turned out that he was also going to that part of the city and knew exactly where the consulate was. It was nice to have an introduction to the subway system by someone who had experience with it. Once at the consulate, I spoke directly with the woman who I spoke with on the phone (Ellaina). She was very kind and had me out the door with my visa in 20 minutes. From there I decided to walk all of the way down young street to Stephanie Ripley's work. I am amazed at how many green spaces Toronto has in its downtown core. For a city of it's size it has a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. On the way to Steph's work I decided to stop in one of these parks and look at my map to see it I was on the right track. I sat next to a girl in front of a water fountain and eventually had a conversation. Incidently, she was Chilean from near to where I am going, and has been in Canada with her boyfriend for two years. We ended up having a 45 minute conversation about Valparaiso, Chilean culture, food Canada, and all kinds of other stuff. Yet again I am reminded of what happens when I open myself up to positivity and allow things in my world to occure organically apposed to controlling what will happen. Anyway... I am going to be staying here at Stephs house for the next couple of nights at will be off to Chile (with my visa) on the 25th.

Weekend in Montana

2008-07-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was great in the preparation for my trip. It is nice to be leaving from a place that I appreciate as my home. On the friday I went to the wedding of my friends Bobby and Sarah. Many of my favorite people were there. On Saturday we went to Montana for an overnight camping trip with Jory (my brother) and his family. Thanks for the relaxing time. It was nice to see you before I leave. The twins are getting soo big and smart. Thanks for delivering the camera and computer too! I think the camera takes great photos. Judge for yourself

2008-07-03T10:48:00.000-07:00