13/8/09

To live or not to live

Sometimes I don't know if I should cry or laugh when I think of Chilean politics. In the last months the morning- after pill has been a much debated issue in the circles around la Moneda, the presidential palace and in the Congress. Not surprisingly are the traditional and conservative parties against it, claiming it is the same as abortion and killing innocent lives, and the center and left- wing have a more positive attitude towards it. Nothing shocking really. Of course this debate is important as we are heading towards elections and we have 3 presidential candidates urging to make statements and collect votes. I am really eager to get rid of our old- fashioned monarchy but the race towards being a president is seldom a nice view. It is like a live political soap-opera. Our right- wing candidate Piñera did for example a few months ago help to freshen up the campaign by stating he was pro- pill. This caused an earthquake among the right-wing Chileans. They were furious and he was attacked and accused of being flirting with progressive thoughts just to win votes. That is something! Flirt with progressiveness…!

However, I do find it incredible that a so-called modern country can have serious discussions about something that I find so obvious. For me, the right to chose over my own body and whether I want to have a child or not, is something I take for granted. The Chilean political elite has a different opinion and would rather that I just have that baby, even though I can't feed it, nor clothe it, and even though the father of the baby is just another sinvergüenza who surely isn’t interested in being my baby's father. Who cares about me as long as we don’t kill anyone. Nice and thanks for thinking of me.

Anyway. Besides thinking that this discussion is ridiculous and provoking, I also find it intriguing. A few weeks ago a small girl was kidnapped, raped and killed in a grotesque way in the neighboring and picturesque city of Valparaiso. So much talking about the wonders of life, how it is immoral to take lives, that God created us for some reason and that we, humans can’t take away Gods creature; Chile’s conservative clan again showed us how ridiculous and double-standard they are.
The logic and discourse of the wonders of life obviously only applies whenever it is suited. It is a flexible logic, but maybe not very trustworthy. I am not saying that this pedophile deserves good treatment or anything like that. I just find it amazing how these people against abortion and against the morning-after pill now want to see this man dead and demand a death sentence for him. That’s how easy it can be. It reminds me of Animal Farm… some animals are more equal than others.

Have a nice day!

11/8/09

Thanks to Torunn

Hi,

I am taking English lessons. Twice a week, when I visit my Argentinean English teacher, I praise my self that I wasn't born in Chile. Or in Spain for that sake's. Luckily, I was born in Norway. In Norway they know how to pronounce an H and of course that makes it easier to say Hello. It is definitely better to say Hello that Jello, or kjello.

However, I am in Chile now. I could have been born in Chile btw. I am not that glad I wasn't born here though. Or maybe I am? Well, the fact is that I left Norway over a year ago and find myself living in Santiago- Chile. 30 years after. This is my parents' Santiago. And my Santiago now. And it is my Chile. After 30 years I realized it is also my Chile and that gives me comfort. It makes me feel more whole. As if something was missing before.

I left Norway shortly after finishing my Master's degree. My idea was to get some air, think, try to figure out where I am heading, or where I should be heading. I had no plan. No real plan for life. Now, I find my self planned. Almost over -planned I would say. Today I know what will be my job in the next 3 years. That is something. I am surprised.

I will soon be heading back to Norway. I am happy for that, but also sad. Now as departure day is getting closer I find myself caught in the middel of a quagmire of manic depression, feeling one day very happy and one day very sad. I will leave my beloved Chile and return to my other home and most of my life. Well, at least what I've always thought was my life, but after spending some months in Chile I understand that part of my life is also here. That's what makes this difficult.

Santiago is sunny today. It is August 11 and the worst wintermonth. It is also the month of my birthday, even tough I was born in summer in Oslo. I miss Oslo. I miss the simple things of life and simplicity in general. I understand what is going on here but sometimes it is so difficult. People make the smallest and easiest things difficult. That's what makes Chile hard sometimes. Despite of this I love Chile. I love the warmth of the people, the food and the mountains. I also feel sad when I think of Chile. There are som many things that are wrong here. Crime, poverty, political apathy, political elitism, individualism..

It is difficult to resume one year in one paragraph. Nevertheless, my intention was not that, but rather send my thoughts to my beloved friend Torunn Berg which is now in India and has shared numerous of funny stories and warmth through her blog. You made my day Torunn. Thanks. I love and miss you. I will try to be as funny, sweet and intelligent as you.

...and I will try to give this blog some continuity.

Peace and love (as Torunn would say),

D

21/3/08

Household 1593

Jeg har nå brukt om lag ett år på å finne ut om jeg egentlig er en blogger, eller om jeg bare skulle ønske jeg hadde et indre ønske om å være en blogger. Eller noe slikt noe. Ja. Jusst det.

Uansett. Her er jeg. Ca ett år etter at denne bloggen ble opprettet sitter jeg altså på langfredag og ser på Chiki Chiki på dataen her på UMB i gudsforlatte Ås og tenker at hadde det ikke vært for cyber space så ville masteroppgaven min vært i boks for lengst. På tross av det evner jeg ikke dra ut kabelen og dedikere 100 % av min oppmerksomhet til STATA og the art of making a good data set som jeg så freidig kalte en nokså dårlig oppgave i økonometri i høst. Om ikke annet synes jeg den fullstendige tittelen Women's Land Rights in Peru and the Art of Making a Good Data Set er noe av det bedre jeg produsert i mitt liv. Om denne masteroppgaven blir av tilsvarende kvalitet som tittelen på økonometrioppgaven gjenstår å se.

Siste nytt er at hver gang jeg er overlatt til meg selv og stillheten (les: når jeg ligger i senga om kvelden og prøver å sove) kommer panikkangsten krypende. Vel. Jeg aner ikke om det er panikkangst i medisinsk rett forstand, men det som er sant er at jeg får hjerteklapp og jeg kan nærmest høre et tikkende ur som teller ukene ned mot innlevering. Tikk-takk, tikk-takk. Det er nå mindre enn 8 uker igjen. Jeg har ca 30 sider, ingen teori ennå og ingen analyse, men derimot et sant kaos av variabler som danser foran meg på skjermen og ellers når de finner det for godt å plage meg. Nå om dagen skjer det ganske ofte; når jeg dusjer, tar heisen, spiser osv. Stort sett hele tiden når jeg ikke sitter foran skjermen. Digg. Livet er en dans på spiker.

Aller siste breaking news er at jeg i dag fant en husholdning i mitt paneldatasett som oppgir at head of household er kvinne på tross av at det finnes en ektemann i huset. Det vil jeg kalle breaking-aking news. Ganske fint, og ganske flott, sett i et kjønnspersepktiv og sånn, men heller irriterende sett i det perspektiv at det kunne ha gjort min jobb med det fantastiske datsettet mitt mye enklere. Husholdning 1593 . Yeah.

Flere store nyheter fra Tårnbygningen på UMB er vanskelig å oppdrive. Vi er en heller liten gjeng som fant det for godt å ofre påsken til fordel for akademisk virksomhet, så det er begrenset med inputs til sladrebørsen. Kanskje like greit. Sladring om en gjeng med slitne økonomistudenter har vel heller aldri vært like hot som varmt hvetebrød. Det betyr vel kanskje også at det er på tide å gå tilbake til mitt nye favoritt-dataprogram, nemlig STATA 9.2.

STATA er døden og kjærligheten litt om hverandre.

Over og ut.

20/3/08

Elogio de mujeres y hombres bravos

Ayer estuve bastante rato conversando con un amigo colombiano que estudia historia en Medellín. Mi amigo es un tipo cordial, curioso y sensible; y lo mejor de todo es que tiene mucha conciencia social y política. Lo conocí en Noruega en el VII Encuentro de los Amigos Europeos del MST que se llevo a cabo aquí en Oslo en octubre del año pasado. Conversando nos dimos cuenta que los dos estamos metidos en el movimiento estudiantil en nuestros países y por lo tanto lo invité a mi universidad para dar una pequeña charla sobre la situación política en Colombia.

Ayer en el MSN estuvimos hablando un rato sobre la situación en Colombia, ademas de soñar de sí y cómo puedo llegar hasta allá- para dar me unos paseitos por ese país que se describe como realmente hermoso a pesar de los tremendos problemas que tiene.

Pasando de la política a la poesía me compartió un pequeño ensayo escrito por un paisano suyo. Héctor Abad Gómez fue médico, ensayista y político y trabajó años en la Universidad de Antioquia en Medellín. En el 87 fue asesinado por los paramilitares de su país. Lean esto:


http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=68331


Al leerlo pensé que vayavaya.. Algún hombre esta diciendo algo que es muy obvio, que no es ninguna novedad; una banalidad, una trivialidad e incluso una perogrullada! Vamos; algo realmente muy evidente. A pesar de esto el tipo escribe bien, eso si. Un punto para el señor Abad.

..pero. Siempre hay un pero. Al terminar me doy cuenta de que a pesar de que todo lo que he leído son cosas obvias para mi y lo debería ser para la mayoría de la gente aquí en Noruega (supuestamente uno de los países mas igualitarios del mundo) - no son ideas que mucha gente pronuncie tan claramente como lo hace el señor Héctor Abad Gómez. De hecho; muy pocos noruegos lo hacen y creo que aun menos latinoamericanos lo hacen. Me parece que el señor Abad se merece la etiqueta de bravo también. Por ser sincero y por decir las cosas como son. Y como deberían de ser. Bravo!

El ensayo Elogio de la mujer brava llega a hacer esta semana aún mejor. Incluso puede ser que llegue a alcanzar el top-3. Leer Elogio de la mujer brava me llena de esperanza y da la fe de que el mundo puede cambiar.

Aún no tengo novedades del Perú y las mujeres rurales sin o con títulos de propiedad. Lo que si les puedo compartir es que en mi base de datos hay 610 personas sin estudios y entre ellos son 474 mujeres. Hay mucho por hacer aún. Eso si es toda una perogrullada.

Análisis de regresión y econometría sigue siendo algo muy lejos de una trivialidad para mi. Por lo tanto les dejo. Es todo por ahora. Au revoir!

Disfruten el día, la semana santísima y el sol maravilloso.

Daniela

19/3/08

Confusión total, or total confusion?!?

Eller dønn forvirra.

Me acabo de dar cuenta de que tengo un problema enorme en cuanto a que idioma elegir para mis pequeños relatos en la cyper space.

So. What do I do? Which language should I use? Maybe I should just learn Swahili and start blogging in Swahili. Det hadde vært noe det! Altså. Jeg er veldig forvirret.

Om noen har et svar å gi meg så blir jeg selvsagt glad.

Navegante en cyber space

Justo cuando uno realmente no tiene tiempo de dedicarse a pasatiempos como escribir en la red me ha dado por escribir mis primeras tímidas palabras en en la cyberspace (o será el cyber space?) y en mi blog que lo cree hace casi un año.

Hoy mi hermana me ha compartido algo fantástico. Algo que me ha hecho reír mucho. Cada día debería ser así! El genial Rodolfo Chilikicuatre bailando el Chiki Chiki es definitivamente de las cosas top-3 de la semana.





En el top-3 también esta el hecho de que ya me este espabilando con mi análisis para mi tesis sobre la titulación de tierras en el Perú. El dar se cuenta que uno no es tan imbécil como uno pensaba siempre hace bien. Ahora estoy intentando de hacerme mi primer "data set", y dentro de pocos días tendré algún entendimiento de si las mujeres han sido discriminadas a través del programa del PETT. Continuación seguirá..


El tercer top-3 lo tengo reservado aún ya que faltan días para que termine la semana. Mañana me lleva un amigo Baha'i a celebrar el año nuevo en la fiesta llamada NawRuz. Estoy intrigada para ver como festejan el año nuevo.

Bueno. Vuelvo a los datos y a mi programa favorito; STATA 9.2