The End of University Era

Ok, here's what's been going on last semester:

Internship

On December, since I wasn't getting any internship for the summer, I suscribed for the grade exam on March. However I finally did get an internship at Agrosuper during January and February. I never thought I would ever work in a company that produces something that has wings, it was like a dream made truth. The problem is that I didn't truly studied for the exam.

Grade Exam

Now I had no problem with that: it's not so difficult, and it can only be qualified as aproved, failed, or distinguished, or at least I thought so. A few days before the exam I learned that this exam was actually 20% worth of the final career score, so here is what I planned:

I'd do the exam, and if at the end of the designated time I think I did it fine, I'd present it. Otherwise I wouldn't answer the answer's sheet, I'd fail, I'd do it again on August and no consecuences of a terrible exam on my final score. It was this second option the one that turned out to be, sort of...

Short story: I got aproved with a mediocre score, had to write several letters to the "Director de Docencia" asking to become failed and resign to the result of the given exam. They finally accepted me to do it again, but they created a new regulation: if a student aproves the exam, he can't do it again if he is not pleased with his score. So I did the exam again at the end of July, I'm waiting for the result.

Grade exam study group

The Advanced Finance Topics Issue

My good friend J.A. strongly encouraged me to take Advanced Finance Topics, a very interesting course where I would learn a lot. It was only when I already took it and went to classroom that I discovered that all of my classmates were the very best students of my generation, and I saw how all of the students who were getting worse score than me were quitting. Soon I became the worst student of the class, I refused to quit and had a glorious fail. So this semester I'm having only one course, the last one I need to graduate.

The struggle for the AFT's exam.

Others

I suffered the process of the Proyect Evaluation course, I still don´t quite understand how such an easy proyect ended being so unpleasant; I built a robot for Industrial Robotics course; my group almost went bankrupcy but ended in an incredible success at the International Business Game course; and did "Deportes Remolino" (Twister Sports) for the last time with J.A., who is currently in China.

My invention and me.

The design.

My simulated company's patrimony+dividends' evolution.

What's comming this semester

The fact of not being graduated and still having a course is frustrating my job search, so I decided to do something with my large amount of time: "Deportes Remolino Solo", french and german classes, and sax playing.

My new sax and me.

Unpunished Crime

OK, I've been busy studying and stuff, but now I'm free (or unnemployed, whatever) and I have lots to write about. I'll start telling something that happend in the middle of November:

It was friday, my sister was celebrating her birthday, and I was at home wanting to do something, so I called Luciano. The only available party that night was at home of an australian friend who lives in Brazil district, a place far away from our homes and from safety.

Luciano: Brazil district? Man, I want to party, but I want to live too.
Twister: Comme on, we have nothing else to do, and it will be an adventure just to get there. Come to my house and we'll go from here, my sister told me that it was OK if ONE friend of my comes to our place for a while.

After about 20 minutes I manage to get out with all of my friends, and Teto, the only car driver that night, decided to go home, and Migo and Nari decided to go back with him.
So, Luciano, Guada, Ratita and I took a bus down street and got out at the intersection of Alameda and Brazil.

Apparently, when Luciano and Guada felt free, they began to run, and then they realized that I wasn't running with them. They went back and found me unconscious on the ground. Once I got conscious, they had to explain me about 5 times what happened, because at the moment not only I couldn't remember anything, I also couldn't retain what I was being told. Fortunately, no permanent damage. The conversation went something like this (as I've been told later):

Luciano: Do you remember your name?

Twister: Yes, I'm... Pedro.

Ratita: So, are we going to the party?

Luciano: Party?! Man, Guada is all injured and the one who knew where the party is has temporary memory loss!

Ratita: Pedro, do you remember where the party is?

Thank You Pinochet, Good Bye

It was March 6th, the chilean left wing leader Gladys Marín died. The government (of Ricardo Lagos Escobar, left of course) declared 2 days of national mourning, even when she went underground to cooperate with terrorism and divided chileans. But the chilean right respected all of this, considering she was an important figure to many people.

How different things were for general and president Augusto Pinochet, who died this sunday 10 of december of 2006 at 14:15 hours! Since the news were known, the chilean left (wrong) expresed their misrespect by making a spontaneous celebration of thousands of people at Plaza Italia. Not even barbarians (those viewed as the incarnation of uncivilized behavior) celebrated the death of an enemy!

The government of Michelle Bachellet (you guessed, left) refused to declare national mourning of the expresident, and only allowed to honor him as an ex-commander in chief of the army, explaining that Pinochet is someone who divides the chilean people (just like Gladys Marín). She had previously declared that it would do violence on her to declare national mourning on someone who is involved in violations to human rights, perhaps she ignores that it does violence on many of us to have as president someone involved in acts of terrorism.

So, anyway, 60,000 people waited about 6 hours in line to see Pinochet for the last time, and here is the ceremony at the Military School:

The defense minister Vivianne Blanlot, the only lefty on the ceremony, was not welcomed by the crowd (Bachellet refused to assist), the people said "¡que se vaya!", ("go away!"), "¡ministra de defensa, eres una ofensa!" ("defense minister, you are an offense!"), or "Dónde está, no se ve, la guatona Bachellet" ("where is she, we don't see her, the fat Bachellet").
The people shouted all the time phrases in favor of Pinochet, like "chi-chi-chi, le-le-le, viva Chile Pinochet", "¡gracias Pinochet!" ("thank you Pinochet!") or "¡duelo nacional!" (demanding national mourning).
There were many speeches, from his wife Lucía, his grandsons, the present comander in chief of the army, but everone was surprised by a grandson named Augusto Pinochet, captain of the army, who expressed honestly and freely his political views of his grandfather. He'll be probably expelled from the army for thinking differently than the present government (that's right, welcome to the chilean democracy!).
The commander in chief of the army, general Izurieta, did not jeopardized himself, eluding speaking of the great work of Pinochet, probably following orders from Bachellet. The people called him "¡cobarde!" ("coward!") and "¡lacayo!" (kind of servant or slave-of Bachellet of course).
A three volley cannon salute took place. Suddenly, a crowd of journalists entered, unwelcomed by the crowd. Journalists (specially foreigners) are the ones responsibles for Pinochet's bad image: they only told one side of the story, the left (wrong) side. People shouted at them "¡digan la verdad!" ("tell the truth!").

To what level has history been changed? Some people can't even remember what they said or think about the situation:

Can a revolution and a civil war be stopped without blood splitting? Making Pinochet responsible for "the missing" or the deaths of that time is like making Roosvelt responsible for the death of german soldiers during WWII. Gladys may have got 2 days of national mourning, but only Pinochet got the attention of all the world. He received a country in ashes in the edge of civil war, and returned the pacified stable democracy and stable economy that we have today.

Thank you Pinochet, you were our best president! You can rest in peace now, away from the hate of the ideology of hate, you have our gratitude.