~~ Sea Otters!! ~~

I’m not really good when it comes to choosing favourites (specially if we are talking about animals). The number of animals I love is considerably large so choosing just one is kind of dificult. Nevertheless, for the purpose of this assignment I decided to pick the Sea Otter. I found out about the existence of this adorable animal after watching a documentary about them on cable (I can’t remember if it was on National Geographic, Discovery Channel or Animal Planet).

The sea otter is a marine mammal that lives in the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. They inhabit nearshore environments, they can measure from 1.0 to 1.5 m and weight from14 to 45 kg.
Otters are generally considered to be semi-aquatic animals since they spend some time in the water (mainly when they forage) and some time on land. But, unlike their relatives, sea otters spend almost all of their time in the ocean. One might think then that in order to keep their body warmth otters would have developed a very thick fat layer, but that is not the case. To do such thing they depend completely on their fur, which is actually the densest in all animal kingdom (they have up to 150,000 hair strands per square centimeter, this allows them to keep cold water away from the skin which reduces heat loss). It is due to the importance of their fur that otters spend most of their time grooming (they clean it, untangle knots, squeeze the water out of it allowing the entrance of air, etc...)

They prey upon marine invertebrates such as sea urchins, molluscs, crustaceans, and fish. A curious fact about them is that in order to dislodge their preys out of their shells they use rocks. This makes them one of the very few mammals that uses tools.

They don’t have a very complex social system. Each male has a particular territory wich he defends, and females can move freely between these territories. They also forage independently but form single sex groups when they want to rest. To keep from drifting apart when sleeping they may hold paws or wrap themselves in kelp (a type of seaweed).
In terms of reproduction otters are polygamist animals (a male can mate with several females), and both mating and birth of the pups take place in the water.

Sadly between 1741 and 1911 otters were hunted because of their beautiful fur. The hunt was so extensive that otter population fell from about 300,000 to near 2,000 individuals. Currently their number has increased considerably thanks to the fact that they are now a protected species and to several conservation effors. To protect and help with the resurgence of this species is something that I would love to do since the protection of endangered species is one of the areas that interest me the most about veterinary.

PS: If you feel like it and you have a little time... you can watch this incredibly cute video that shows two otters holding paws in an aquarium in Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno

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~ where to go in Santiago ~

I don’t consider Santiago to be a very interesting city to visit since we really don’t take much care of our historical buildings or public places (to my mind Chile in general is nice place to visit in terms of landscapes). But still, there are some places that you can go if you’re a tourist visiting Santiago.

First of all. When visiting Santiago one must consider it’s history. For example a very important fact to take into acount is that Chile was ruled by a military regime for almost 20 years. Considering this there are several places related to that subject that one can visit. Such are the “Memory and human rights museum” (“Museo de la memoria y de los derechos humanos” in spanish), “Grimaldi villa” (“Villa Grimaldi” in spanish), and the “Memorial to the detainees and disappeared” (“Memorial a los detenidos desaparecidos” in spanish) located in the General Cementery of Santiago.

The “Memory and human rights museum” exposes some of the human rights’s violations that took place in Chile between 1973 and 1990. “Grimaldi villa” is an extensive property that was used during the dictatorship as a detention and torture center. Currently it’s a “park to the peace” that honors all the women and men that were murdered there. The “Memorial to the detainees and disappeared” is a very large wall that has the names hundreds of victims of the regime. The memorial is located in the General Cementery of Santiago. This Cementery is actually another place that should be visited if you’re a tourist. The General Cementery was founded in 1821 by Bernando O’Higgings and holds a great architectural value. Besides some of Chile’s most famous personalities were buried there (such as Salvador Allende, Violeta Parra, Victor Jara, Manuel Rodriguez and many more).

Going further back in Chile’s history takes us to another place that should be visited. I’m talking about the “Nacional Maipu Sanctuary” (“Santuario Nacional de Maipú” in spanish. It’s most commonly known as “El Templo votivo de Maipú”). This catholic temple was built by orders of Bernardo O’Higgings in the exact same place that the battle that assured Chile’s independence took place. This was done as a payment to the virgin to whom O’Higgins swore that if she helped them win the battle he would build her a temple.

Other places that should be visited are San Cristobal Hill (there you can visit the National Zoo and the statue of Virgin Mary) , Santa Lucía Hill, and “La Chaschona” (the house of the famous poet Pablo Neruda).

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Death Penalty

Some people belive that murderers should be paid with the same treatment they gave their victims. Some argue that by not doing so we somehow send the message that the lives of the victims are less important than the murderer’s life.
Others that defend death penalty as a suitable penalization (not only for murderers but also for rapists for example) consider it a necessary measure as it may work as exemplary punishment. This has apparently been proved to be a wrong approach in the matters of reducing crime.

People against capital punishment belive that we really have no right to take somebody’s life even if they took the liberty to do so. Considering this, death penalty would only serve the purpose of revenge and not justice. Some against it even argue that murderers should have the oportunity to be rehabilitated and reintroduced to society if possible.

To be honest I don’t really know very well what to think of it. I tend to be against it (because to my mind maybe just dying is kind of like an easy way out as opposed to be forced to live the rest of your life deprived of your freedom). But I can’t say that if I ever face the situation of a loved one being murdered by someone, that I wouldn’t want that person to die. I think that just like with most controversial topics one’s opinion changes according to one’s personal experience.

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~ The Land of the Rising Suuuun~

Picking a country to write this assignment was a bit difficult since there a Lot of places I would like to visit, such as, Switzerland, New Zeland, Australia, Greece, China, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, England, Scotland, and well... actually pretty much all Europe.
But if I had to choose a place to start, I guess it could be Japan. I’ve been dying to go there for quite some time now. Japan is an archipelado (a chain of islands) composed of 6,852 islands, the bigger four being Hokkaidō, Honshū (the main one), Shikoku and Kyūshū.

I’m highly interested in their ancient culture, customs and landscapes. Curiously the technological aspect of the country doesn’t interest me at all.
One of things that I would like to do there is to attend a Kabuki play (a form of highly stylized classical theater) and a tea ceremony. I would also like to visit an Ikebana museum (Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement) and if possible I would love to learn how to make flower arrangements myself, although this is a little more complicated since Ikebana implies a lot more than just putting flowers togheter, it’s actually a very complex discipline. Other places I would absolutely have to go if I ever travel to Japan are Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples (Shintō and Buddhism are Japan’s two main religions).
It would also be nice to spend new year there and visit a temple on January 1st (this is a tradition know as Hatsumōde).

During the year many festivals take place in Japan. Attending these is another of the activities that I would like to do there. For example I would like to attend Sapporo’s snow festival, lake Shikotsu’s ice festival, lake Towada’s snow festival (these 3 are held during February since they include ice sculptures exhibitions) , Aomori Nebuta festival, and Hanabi (also known as the cherry blossom festival). I would also like to visit some traditional hot springs (known as Onsen in Japan) and Mount Fuji (the highest mountain in Japan and also an active volcano).

Of course my visit to Japan wouldn’t just involve activities related to old traditions. I would also like to visit a particular Tokyo neighborhood called Akihabara. There I could buy lots of mangas and anime DVD’s. Being in Japan would also allow me to attend several concerts of artists I like that pretty much only perform there.

Another mandatory stop is TokyoTower. Tokyo Tower is a very popular communication and observation tower located – as the name itself says it- in Tokyo. It’s structure was actually inspired by the Eiffel Tower.

Something I have to clarify is that eventhough I would absolutely love to visit Japan and spend some time there I don’t think that I would actually like to live there or at least not in a big city. Japan is an extremely high populated country (about 30 million people live just in the Tokyo area) and I wouldn’t stand to live in such a crowded place.

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