work hard for a cause...

I still have to study two years, perhaps more if I decide to do another master. For the moment, I am indecisive about what I want to do in my life, about what I want to work in. I think it is difficult to determine your future; it is vain to predict it. You cannot choose something you have not experienced yet. But it is true you can have hopes, you can imagine how you see you, even if it is likely to change.

I would like to pursue my career in environmental issues. That is why, next year, I start my master of International Affairs with a specialization in Environment, Sustainable Development and Risks. But the following of my academic and professional life is really blurred. I just know, or at least I think, I want to work in the creation and implementation of environmental policies and sustainable development projects at a local level (to be more likely to have a concrete and effective action).

As far as the sector is concerned, I think it is not a criteria: I want to work in something I like, I want to fight for this cause, and I do not care of the sector I am in to do so. The important point for me is to be efficient, to have a real impact on the reduction of the ecological impact of a country, a city, a person, a firm.

Nevertheless, I am sure of one thing: my job should not be the motor of my life, I am not interested in earning much money, I aspire to a quiet and original life, I want to travel, to change of country and of job every five years, to have the time for painting, hiking, reading: it is necessary to combine work and pleasure and to avoid routing setting in. Otherwise, I might grow tired quickly of my life.

“One hour of reading is the sovereign medicine against the disgusts of life.” Montesquieu

I love reading, thus I read a lot. At least, I try to do so. As Victor Hugo said it, “Whoever you are, who want to cultivate, to invigorate, to edify, to move, to appease, put books everywhere.” Indeed, reading brings me knowledge: an historical one when I read a book whose story happens in an other era, or when I read properly historical books or essays; a linguistic knowledge since, reading, I learn new words, I improve my own writing; a personal and psychological knowledge since reading helps me to know myself. In a nutshell, reading improves a lot my culture. Besides, reading helps me to disconnect myself from daily life, to relax: “I made some delicious trips, embarked on a word…” said Balzac.

I do not have a unique taste in terms of reading. But generally I love reading books with an historical, psychological, cultural focus, I also enjoy travels book.

At present, I am reading a novel of Herman Hesse, a German writer: “The Glass Bead Game”. It is quite complicated for me to summarize it because I have just started it. But, briefly, it is the story of very elitist, intellectual and artistic schools in Germany in the XIX century, and more especially of a boy, then a young man, studying in one of them, and hesitating between the prestige of such schools and the apparent freedom of the outside.

The book I most remember, which had a notable impact on me is “A confederacy of dunces”, of John Kennedy Tool. The title derives from the epigraph by Jonathan Swift: "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." Ignatius, the main character is something of a modern Don Quixote — eccentric, idealistic, and creative, but also misanthrope. His adventures in the search of a job and his evolution are really great.

Despite of my love for books and reading, I am, it is true, a little upset about the future of books. Nevertheless, I don’t think that books will totally disappear. Indeed, even if the advent of internet and technology (see the recent innovation of Apple, the Ipad) enables people to read books on internet , there will always be people loving reading printed books, because it is more authentic, more comfortable, more convenient. A paper book, you just can bring it everywhere. A computer or an Ipad, no. Thus, I do not believe in the “extinction” of paper book, but, yes, I believe paper books are an endangered specie.

Not only because of technology, but also because of the decreasing attraction books have among the young. The promotion of reading by the state is a hard task, and according to me, it should be the task of the parents, and not on a compelling way, but on an encouraging way.

An ecologist and a computer

I am not really interested in technology: I don’t need acquiring the last technological innovation. Indeed, I content myself with what I already have. My way of living is quite simple and, as far as possible, ecologic.
Nevertheless, in this case, I must choose “my favorite piece of technology”: hard task in so far as I use few technological objects.
But I would say that my notebook is the piece of technology I could not live without. I got it a year ago, just before leaving France. I use it for many activities, and spend much time on it, everyday. Its main function is communication: I use internet to communicate with my family and friends of France, but also of Chile, to organize activities for instance. This is a really convenient object. Besides, I use my notebook to study: I use it to make researches on internet, to write essays. Finally, my notebook is for me as a permanent and free newspaper. Indeed, everyday, I have a look at the French, Chilean and British newspapers online, to be aware of what is happening out of Santiago.
For all these indispensable functions, I am happy of being in possession of this notebook. Consequently, I cannot deny that my life without it would be … I do not know how to qualify it, but there would be a sort of emptiness.

If I had it, I would have better chose another piece of technology, but I could not have answered to all the questions. It is a piece of technology – of ecodesign to be precise – aimed at doing compost. I hope I have it next year!

The films of my life

My tastes in terms of films are quite restrictive. I generally hate the following genres: fantastic, science fiction and horror, such as “Harry Potter” or “Star Wars”. I guess I am too rational to appreciate such movies. Actually, I prefer films which contain a message or show a reality: historical, cultural, intellectual, psychological. I also appreciate comedies, to relax.

Consequently, I generally do not like action movies or superficial smash hits, and prefer art house films, old movies, or simple but realistic and not vacuous films.
As for the conditions in which I prefer to watch films, I would say at home. For two main reasons: in France, going to the cinema is terribly expansive, and I prefer to be comfortably sat, drinking a hot chocolate in my bed.

I enjoyed many films, enumerating them would not be that interesting, especially because they are French and not really famous. But let’s say the French comedies “Les bronzès”, “Le Père Noel est une ordure”; “Lost in Translation”; “The last king of Scotland”; “Shutter Island”; “La Teta asustada”; “An inconvenient truth” or “Meat the truth” which are in fact more documentaries than films. As for the Chilean films, I don’t know many excellent ones, a part from the inevitable “Machuca” or “Isla Diez”.

A film has particularly left a trace upon me: “Into the wild”. I deeply loved it and its sound track as well. The message: going on an initiatic and lonely trip can be enriching, fabulous, but every moment of your life deserves to be shared with someone else, even watching films.

"A music which does not paint anything is only some noise"

I could not tell that music fills my life, but it is undeniably a daily accompaniment. Without it, life would not be the same. It represents for me a way to entertain myself, to cultivate myself, or to appease myself. But it is not an automatism to turn on the music once I turn on my computer or to listen to my MP3 – music that I take from friends or that I sometimes download on internet. In a word, music is not a vital need for me, even if it is important.

I do not listen only one kind of music, I actually am quite heteroclite: I like – more or less, obviously - every kind of music. And each one corresponds to a moment, a mood, a place, and some people. Indeed, the music I will listen will depend on the situation I am in. Consequently, I can listen to classical music, rap, cumbia, reggaeton, pop music, rock, reggae… And I choose what I am going to listen to according to those various criteria, or sometimes just randomly. But generally, I prefer songs which contain a message, and thus have some kind of utility. Indeed, as d’Alembert said, “A music which does not paint anything is only some noise”.

For instance, when I study, even if I do not usually listen to music, in order not to be too distracted, I sometimes yield to the temptation of listening to some quiet songs. When I am happy, more dynamical and breezy songs accompany me, while my sadness leads me to choose cheerless songs.

In a given period, I usually listen to some four songs all the time, before I get weary. I do not follow groups or singers, or just during a while. Currently, I am fond of Cat Stevens, especially “It’s a wild world” and "Father and Son", Eddie Veder and his music of the movie Into The Wild, and I really appreciate Wax Taylor, above all “Seize the day”.