mixed salad

Two weeks ago I went to this seminar at Valparaíso University - not the Valpo U in Indiana, US, where they offer a writing workshop and writing jobs that got me all excited. No, the Valparaíso University in Valparaíso Region, región Valparaíso, Middle Région, Greater Santiago Region, Second Largest Metropolitan Region of Chile and so on. Whatever it is called, really. So far the country´s ways of working these things out have eluded me. To find out whether a phone number is a cell or a landline, you have to count the numbers, starting from the back, and if it´s eight, it´s a cell! Nothing more obvious than that! Only no-one tells you!

Aside: This seems a good moment to squeeze in some random information about Chile (I have forgotten why it seemed a good moment though). Chile has a population of 15,665,216 (July 2003 estimates) and a total land area of 756,950 sq km. Ist economy is considered one of the strongest of South America. They export a lot of copper, apparently. The country has an extreme northern-southern length of approximately 4270 km (about 2650 mi), but its average width is less than 180 km (less than 110 mi). Archipelagoes extend along the southern Chilean coast from Chiloé Island to Cape Horn, the southernmost point of the South American continent. Islands claimed by Chile include the Juan Fernández Islands (Robinson Crusoe), Easter Island, and Sala y Gómez, all of which lie in the South Pacific. Chile also claims a section of Antarctica. Relevant economical areas of Valparaíso are maritime port, agricultural, fishing, tourism and education. I have read that the weather in Valpo and Viña is considered „temperate“ but I continue to take issue with that.

The seminar was about Latinamerican Cinema, so a fairly clearly outlined ;) and ambitious project. I haven`t sorted out what I learnt yet. It is of course all very political, which is good, and often a little boring, which is bad, but it might be my fault for not understanding the dialogue better. well. more on art later.