Mi practica en Puente Alto

I have obtained a special study project to be conducted in Puente Alto which is at the end of my metro line very close to the mountains. Once I get off the metro, I take a collective taxi and make pleasant conversation with the cab drivers every time. Last Tuesday the cab driver was playing Sarah Brightman! :) Dad, I know you are super happy right now...and so was I. It was 'My Heart Will Go On' actually so it was the best of both worlds. I get to the school and always look first for my mentor Paola who agreed to supervise me during my time at the school until December. She is the school nurse who works in the Enfermia where she deals with cute kids all day who come in complaining about this and that. Paola always knows what to do and often sprays some concoction on the area that "hurts" according to the kid, kisses them on the cheek, and tells them to go rest. She is so awesome...and she is going to be my mentor for these next 4 months. Here's the project proposal that I am submitting to the study center so that everyone knows mas o menos what I am looking at.

RESEARCH TOPIC
We live in a world obsessed with beauty. In the United States, every person is exposed to over 3,000 advertisements daily that tell him/her what is considered beautiful. There is immense pressure on women and men to meet a certain criteria which the media promote as ‘the ideal’. However, in a world where even celebrities are airbrushed on magazine covers, this idea proves time and again to be unattainable—for the sake of the media’s own profit. Thus everyday men and women after left to interpret the media’s messages as they will. Furthermore, these advertisements are being broadcasted all over the world which has created a worldwide problem of youth who are unhappy with their own body in comparison to their unattainable ‘ideal’.

For my special study project, I hope to investigate how Chilean youths (approximately aged 13-18) view their bodies and how they feel they have been affected by the media’s image of ‘the ideal’. Is there are influence from the United States’ media in Chile, and if so, how has that affected the Chilean youths concept of beauty? What is the perfect body to the Chilean youth—voluptuous, athletic, skinny?

I understand that an issue like body image is very subjective and may be difficult to investigate. Thus I will begin my research looking at the perception of food in Chilean culture. I want to learn the youth’s perception of a healthy, balanced diet and how these perceptions affect their body image? How is food viewed in this culture? Do the media have an effect on their concept of health and on their daily diet? All of these questions are examples of what I will talk with the students about in hopes of determining how the Chilean youth’s view food and how those views affect their body image, health, and concept of ‘the ideal’?

SO...that's the project theme and the school is so perfect because not only is Paola super helpful but there is also a special degree that students can earn in Gastronomia (the science of cooking). Basically, I get to hang out with the Gastronomia estudiantes for a couple hours every Tuesday while they cook and ask them questions about the food culture in Chile, why they chose this enfoque, and how it has affected their view of food/body image. It is all a work in progress...but the point is I am enjoying the process of making that progress. Not to mention, I get to converse with teachers, students, and everyone in between at this school. I have really impressed myself time and time again by how capable I am of holding a conversation...albeit broken at times. I can really use some Spanish when I want to. :) So I will keep everyone posted on my progress and what I am able to uncover in regards to my research topic. I have until December but I am going to be writing 8 pages on my findings so it is good to start now.