Inside the Googleplex

Source: http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9719610
Date: Aug 30th 2007

Vocabulary

1. Mainstream: the principal or dominant course, tendency, or trend.


2. Hammock: a hanging bed or couch made of canvas, netted cord, or the like, with cords attached to supports at each end.



3. Fumbling: The act or an instance of fumbling.



4. Computer worksheet: a type of software for microcomputers that offers the user a visual display of a simulated worksheet and the means of using it for financial plans, budgets, etc.



5. Wary: watchful; being on one's guard against danger.



6. Wince: to draw back or tense the body, as from pain or from a blow; start; flinch.



7. Livelihood: a means of supporting one's existence, esp. financially or vocationally; living.



8. Incubent: obligatory.



9. Sauce: any preparation, usually liquid or semiliquid, eaten as a gravy or as a relish accompanying food.



10. Negligible: so small, trifling, or unimportant that it may safely be neglected or disregarded.



11. Kudo: honor; glory; acclaim.


12. Dystopia: a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.


13. Rogue: a dishonest, knavish person; scoundrel.


14. Trade off: an exchange of one thing in return for another, especially relinquishment of one benefit or advantage for another regarded as more desirable.
15. Log: any of various chronological records made concerning the use of a computer system, the changes made to data, etc.

Summary

This article is about the way in which Google has increased the amount of users all over the world. And what is surprising is that it is all for free. Google evokes ambivalent feelings. Some users now keep their photos, blogs, videos, calendars, e-mail, news feeds, maps, contacts, social networks, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and credit-card information—in short, much of their lives—on Google's computers. And Google has plans to add medical records, location-aware services and much else. It may even buy radio spectrum in America so that it can offer all these services over wireless-internet connections.

Google's success still comes from one main source: the small text ads placed next to its search results and on other web pages. The advertisers pay only when consumers click on those ads.

The machinery that represents the fixed costs is Google's secret sauce. Google has built, in effect, the world's largest supercomputer. It consists of vast clusters of servers, spread out in enormous datacentres around the world. The details are Google's best-guarded secret. But the result, explains Bill Coughran, a top engineer at Google, is to provide a “cloud” of computing power that is flexible enough “automatically to move load around between datacentres”. If, for example, there is unexpected demand for Gmail, Google's e-mail service, the system instantly allocates more processors and storage to it, without the need for human intervention.

But the privacy problem is much subtler. As Google compiles more information about individuals, it faces numerous trade-offs. At one extreme it could use a person's search history and advertising responses in combination with, say, his location and the itinerary in his calendar, to serve increasingly useful and welcome search results and ads. This would also allow Google to make money from its many new services. But it could scare users away. As a warning, Privacy International, a human-rights watchdog in London, has berated Google, charging that its attitude to privacy “at its most blatant is hostile, and at its most benign is ambivalent”.

Personal Reaction

I beleive that google is an unending source of information. And that we all take advantage of this. But when it gets to the extreme of going into the personal life of people it becomes something to pay attention to.

All in all, there is a lot to be said about this because technology is in constant growth. The need to be comunicated increases and computers are here to stay.

AFTER ALL, IT'S ONLY ENGLISH

Sundays are special days for me because part of my family comes to my house to have lunch.In between mates, we have the opportunity to catch up with the lives of all the members. Due to our activities, we do not have the chance to see each other as often as we wanted to. Therefore, sunday's meals have some sort of magic that keeps us in unison.

In one particular opportunity, one of my relatives asked me how I was doing in my carrer. I told him that I was about to finish. Perhaps, in December or March. But this was the end of my time as student. He looked at me and said "another year?". His tone of voice was quite ironic, and suddenly my Mr. Hyde appeared. After a short pause and a deep breath, I said that it was not easy for me to finish this career because it involves having to read and prepare many things. I tried to explain that it was not only the language itself, but other aspects of it as well.

I guess people in general tend to think that studying English is like learning to sew or going to an intensive summer course to learn a foreign language.

I do not know if this is the case of any other English student, but this happened to me in my own house and with my own family. Can you beleive it?

Since I can remember, my family asked me thousands of timeswhen I was going to finish my studies. In one way or another, this constant enquiries put a lot of pressure on meBut they do not care about this.

Anyway, I did not reveal my anger in front of everybody because it was not the perfect occassion. But i wll do it in time. Comparing people is not always healthy for one's self-steem because it makes you realize how dumb you have been and you are the one to blame for not finishing your career in time. But every man's life has its own mountains and valleys. Nobody is entitled to judge other people's flaws and misfortunes.

All in all, I guess that my relatives' opinion was out of ignorance. After all, it's only English and not medicine or Law.

AND THE WINNER IS...NOT AGAIN!

Yesterday all the citizens of Tucuman had the chance to elect the its new governor. Unluckily, the results were not as I expected. José Alperovich was by far the winner. It was said during election day that he was going to be chosen by most citizens but I had a small illusion that somebody else would.

During four years, the re-elected governor probed that he was determined to do many things for the welfare of those who were kindly enough to vote for him. Indeed, he showed us he was doing something. I beleive that he used his previous mandate to win this time. Anyway, Everyone of us had the chance to see the way in which we vote here in Tucumán. Politicians hire citizens to work for them. Consequently, these people offer those who were about to vote bolsones and money to vote for a particular candidate. Moreover, in my neighbourhood, if you wanted to be taken to the place you voted, there were many cars and chauffers waiting for you and willing to take you back home. Along the ride, they provided you the vote with which you had to enter the dark room. Isn't it amazing?

I was mad when I saw this. But I guess it is part of the Argentine folklore. Corruption is all around. Undoubtedely, it is our fault too because these ñoquis are lay men and women that do this because they will get something in return. Those who received the bolsones and the $20 are guilty too. If all of us would have being against all this mafia, this would have ended long ago.

It seems that Alperovich will try to do his job during this four coming years. Maybe, he will not steal so much, and pretend that everything he does is because he is a kindhearted fellow. God helps us! Poverty, education, salaries among other issues requiere the compromise of someone who really cares about the needs of others. As Mother Theresa used to say: "To talk about poverty you have to live it" Otherwise, politicians will enrich their existent fortune and forget about those who once gave them the chance to rule their future.

SEX SLAVES

Last Friday I saw a terrible report about women who are kidnapped in different parts of our country to be solved to a chain of sex dealers. Moreover, girls from other countries such as Paraguay are broght illegally to our country, and they are oblished to have sex with whomever pays for this "service".

The girl's ages go from 9 years up untill 15 or 18. They are kept in rooms with no clothes and scarcely any food. Consequently, these sex gangsters inject drugs into the girls' body so as to keep them right.

The different testimonies that were presented in the show were really dramatic. There is one particular case which was known widely. Namely, Marita Veron's case. She was kidnapped five years ago. Since then, her mother has struggled a hard battle to find her daughter. At the beginning of the year 2007, this desperate woman decided to dress herself as a prostitute and she went to all these places were men pay to have sex with women. She and two more policemen dressed as civilians helped 100 girls and women who were trying to escape from this nightmare. Moreover, several gungs and drug dealers were taken to jail because of this investigation. She has guts! Veron's mother has also received a anonimous letter saying that her daughter was dead already, but she promised herself that she will not stop searching and trying to find her daughter because she beleives Marita is alive.

The emotional, pshychological and physical damage that these girls have will not be recover. Never did they imagined all the pain. THey were normal girls who dreamed with a better break of day. But now all they wish is death because their wounds are still open and they will be open forever.

I wonder if there will be some kind of punishment for all those who were in charge of ruinniing the lives of others. And I hope Marita's mother can be with her lovely daughter some day.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?

Today is one of those days in which I feel the whole universe is upon my shoulders. But it helped me realize once more that people are not the same. That there are some who are kindly eager to help you and some whose only purpose is to take advantage of you. This morning I went to ask permission to do my teaching practises at Normal school. The teacher who happened to be quite rude said to me she did not accept practicantes because she has had bad experiences with them. I still wonder: Is it my fault? Maybe, I have to pay for bad things others said or did? I guess that what made me go crazy was her rudeness. Supposelly, teachers have to teach respect and other values. Well, once more I have learned things I should not do in the future.

On the other hand, my students in 2nd grade did no behave at all. So, I had to yield and scream to keep them quiet. Children nowadays are difficult to handle.

Anyway, everything will go away some day. And a door closes but more will open. It is just a matter of trying.

GUILLERMO JAIM ETCHEVERRY

Yesterday my friends and I had the opportunity to go to a lecture about Educating in the Modern World. The speaker was Jaim Etcheverry; a doctor who has been dean in an important university of Buenos Aires. He was really great because he explained very clearly and accuratelly the problems that education in general has to face nowadays. In my opinion, he based his talk in three important items: Youth as a long lasting stage; educating by rules and the idea of equality among relationships in the classroom.

The modern trends leads us to beleive that the younger you are the better. Consequently, Etcheverry says that we want to be friends of the younger generations, and more especifically of our students. But this is not so. In the equation teacher student there is a major power in the hands of the first. They cannot be equals. I have to say that as a teacher I really like to talk to my students and try to help them with some problems they are going through. But I try not to get involve; mainly, because our job is to educate them. Anyway, it is inevitable not to do so because we are in front of people not plants. The passing of time is unstoppable. And adults should take advantage of this and try to help the youngest what they have learnt through their experience.

On the other hand, he talked about rules. We have to be governed by rules. Otherwise, everything would be a caos. At school, these set of norms are extremely necessary to keep the system going. I know that in this respect parents do not participate. Moreover, they see the teacher as the bad person who is trying to harm their innocent sons or daughters. My God!
How mistaken parents are! School and family should work together, I guess. Mutual colaboration is the key to solve many problems we have such as lack of students efforts to study to pass the subjects, and try to learn something. Teenagers do not want to use their brains at all. They do not have an opinion on anything. It's terrible and depressing at the same time because you wish them to think by themselves and they cannot do it.

In addition, Etcheverry also talked about the inequality of the relationship between students and teachers. And this is absolutely true. We as teachers have the responsibility to educate our students, not make more friends. In my experience, I have met one teacher who was friend of his students and it was terrible. During adolescense, this cannot be done I beleive.

All in all, I really liked this man. I hope he comes again. He has been really enlightening.

The Night the Andes Shook

Source: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1653614,00.html?iid=sphere-inline-bottom
Date: Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007.

Vocabulary

1. To sway: to move or swing to and fro, as something fixed at one end or resting on a support.
2. To pop out: to burst open with such a sound, as chestnuts or corn in roasting.
3. To shed: to cast off hair, feathers, skin, or other covering or parts by natural process.
4. To overrun: to run over; overflow.
5. Dire: urgent; desperate.
6. Swelling: to increase in amount, degree, force, etc.
7. Pledge: a solemn promise or agreement to do or refrain from doing something.
8. Aftershock:
   A quake of lesser magnitude, usually one of a series, following a large earthquake in the same area.
9. Shantytown: a section, as of a city or town, characterized by shanties and crudely built houses.
10. Outskirt: Often, outskirts. the outlying district or region, as of a city, metropolitan area, or the like.
11. Iffy: full of unresolved points or questions.
12. Breadbasket: an agricultural area that provides large amounts of food, esp. grain, to other areas.

Summary

This article is about the terrible earthquake that took place in Peru last Wednesday. 7.9-magnitude earthquake that shook Peru for more than two minutes caused the capital only cosmetic damage and one fatality. But as rescue firemen try to remove the wates of thousands of adove houses the death number starts to grow. Pisco, a city of 116,000 in Ica province, suffered the worst damage and most of the 450 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries that Peru's Civil Defense Institute have so far reported.

In any case, the needs in Peru are dire and immediate. Production Minister Rafael Rey said the most immediate needs are food and water, since Pisco's water system had collapsed. The civil defense institute has begun flying in supplies, including tents for the swelling numbers of homeless. "The President has pledged all the resources required to attend to the needs of the victims and repair damage to infrastructure," Rey said in a telephone interview. Approximately 20% of the city's buildings were damaged. The quake also destroyed some stretches of the Pan-American Highway, which runs along the Pacific coast and is Peru's principal highway — as well as the link between Lima and Ica. Other major roadways, like the Central Highway, which connects the capital to the country's breadbasket in the central highlands, were also damaged.

Personal Reaction

I was shocked when I saw the images on TV about this earthquake. Lima was completely destroyed and rescue workers were trying to find more people among the remains of what once were houses. Peruvian citizens lost everything they had; and more importantly, most of them lost their lives in this fatal aftershock. It will take some time before the city of Lima goes back to its beginning, and much more before the victims recover from this catastrophe. God help them.

HOW DARE YOU?

Yesterday I had the chance to chat with an old fellow of mine. He was part of my promocion when I was at University. He was a very good student. Though he was able to pass almost all subjects and do some tutorial classes as a student assistant in Phonetics, he is still struggling with some subjects he cannot pass. But this is the consequence of something he did. Never did he imagined all the difficult situations he would have to go through before getting his degree.
The thing is that when he sat for Language 5 for the first time he failed. When the teacher showed him his test, this woman did not give him clear reasons why he could not pass it. A few months later, he went again through the same situation, and having to sit for a third time made him want to tell the teacher some things he had being keeping inside. What he did was, after receiving the results of the test and seeing that he had failed again, he started to tell this teacher a lot of insults and bad words. Consequently, he was able to pass Language but now, he is stucked with Linguistics because the same teacher is in charge of this subject too, as well as Shakespeare, with which he could not easily make it either.

On the one hand, I admire him for doing what I did not have the courage to do. That is, sending some teachers to hell. I know he will be a teacher some day soon because of his temper and self- steam. On the other hand, I am still wondering if this is the best method. I mean, as a student, I have to say that we have to go through really unfair moments. But this is part of being a student and having less power than the teacher. But insulting him or her is not the best solution, I guess.

Anyway, I would have paid some money in order to be able to see this moment. Watching, the teachers face when she was listening a this cry of injustice we all carry inside. I beleive we tend to forget that we were students once; and that they deserve respect too. And that it does not care the level or the stage (University, secondary school, etc) people are there to learn. And there is always a chance to learn from your students and viceversa.

I hope my frind gets his degree some day. And that he finishes with this nightmare soon. All in all, I thank him for donig what I would have liked to do three years ago.

Adiós to poverty, hola to consumption

Source: http://www.economist.com/displaystory.
Date: Aug 16th 2007 .

Vocabulary
1. Breeze-block: a light concrete building block made with cinder aggregate; "cinder blocks are called breeze blocks in Britain".
2. Depot: a bus station.
3. Fourhold: in fourfold measure.
4. Sewage: the waste matter that passes through sewers.
5. Grinding: the act of grinding.
6. Club: to gather or form into a clublike mass.
7. Shantytown: a section, as of a city or town, characterized by shanties and crudely built houses.
8. Sewerage: a system of sewers.
9. Ply: to run or travel regularly over a fixed course or between certain places, as a boat, bus, etc.
10. Nadir: the lowest point; point of greatest adversity or despair.
11. Abjured: to renounce or give up under oath; forswear.
12. Pampered:
To indulge with rich food; glut.

Summary
This article is abouta faster growth, low inflation, expanding credit and liberal trade that are helping to create a new middle class in Latin America. Signs of progress are all around. New tower-blocks, of the kind ubiquitous in the smarter parts of São Paulo, now jut up from among the houses of what still resembles a favela, or shantytown. Public services are improving fast: nearly everyone has electricity, piped water and sewerage. Smart new school buses run by the municipal government ply up and down the hillsides. And the mood of optimism is palpable.
They are members of a new middle class that is emerging almost overnight across Brazil and much of Latin America. Tens of millions of such people are the main beneficiaries of the region's hard-won economic stability and recent economic growth. Having left poverty behind, their incipient prosperity is driving the rapid growth of a mass consumer market in a region long notorious for the searing contrast between a small privileged elite and a poor majority. Their advent also promises to transform the region's politics.
The kind of people who call themselves middle-class in Latin America tend to be at the top of the scale: prosperous professionals with several servants, children at private schools and holidays in Europe or Miami. From the 1940s to the 1970s, state-led industrialisation and the growth of public employment saw the rise in some Latin American countries of a middle class of managers, bureaucrats and a labour aristocracy of skilled workers. But the policies that pushed them up proved unsustainable; they were abandoned after the 1982 debt crisis, which triggered a decade of mediocre growth and high inflation. Since then, partly because protected industries were subjected to privatisation and import competition, this group has struggled.
The middle class that is emerging now is very different. It is more accurately described as a lower-middle class. Many of its members have small businesses, like Mr Gonçalves. Others act as consultants to larger concerns.
In Mexico, argues Jorge Castañeda, a political scientist, some of the new middle class come from the informal economy, others from new industries or service businesses. The class is less concentrated in Mexico City and is rougher-edged, culturally and socially, as well as darker-skinned, shorter and more Mexican-looking than its predecessor, he says.
These trends are furthest advanced in Chile. But they are most dramatic in Brazil and Mexico, which between them account for more than half of Latin America's 560m people.
Something similar is starting to happen in Colombia and Peru. In Argentina the decline of what had been a predominantly middle-class country until the 1970s reached its nadir in the economic collapse of 2001-02, when a majority of Argentines fell below the poverty line. But a rapid economic recovery has been mirrored in a revival of the middle class. Ernesto Kritz, a labour economist in Buenos Aires, reckons that around 40% of Argentine families, up from 20% in 2003, have the monthly income of $1,000 that he sees as necessary for a middle-class lifestyle.
Several factors lie behind these trends. The first is that, since 2004, the region's economies have grown at an annual average rate of 5%. That is not spectacular, but it is not bad (the population is growing at only around 1.4% a year). And the growth is having a bigger social impact than in the past.
In the early 1990s Latin America saw a burst of growth driven by an inflow of capital and accompanied by overvalued exchange rates. This combination tended to boost the relative price of non-tradable services, and the incomes of those in the informal economy. This period is different, says Guillermo Perry, the World Bank's chief economist for Latin America. Exports are booming, partly because of high prices for Latin America's raw materials. But the export growth also follows a round of devaluations and two decades of market-opening economic reform. This time the growth is generating more jobs in the formal sector. In Mexico the economy grew by 4.8% last year and created 900,000 new jobs—in line with the growth of the labour force. In Brazil, too, the proportion of the labour force employed informally is starting to shrink.Another new element is innovative social policies. In both Mexico and Brazil, one family in five now receives a small monthly stipend from the government, provided they keep their children in school and take them for health checks. Lastly, in some countries remittances from Latin Americans who have migrated help their poorer families back home. The result is that in both Brazil and Mexico the incomes of the poorest half of the population are growing faster than the average. In both countries poverty is falling steadily, and income distribution is becoming less unequal. In Mexico, although growth has been only moderate, poverty, defined as income insufficient to feed a family, fell from 37% to 14% over the decade to 2006.

Personal Reaction

I was really happy when I read this article because it was opptimistic with regards to the economy in Latin America. It seems that the lower classes are beginning to increase their incomes a bit more. What is particularly stricking about this middle class is that they are proffesionals. They have gotten a degree to be able to find a better job but the different situations of the third world countries did not allow them to grow. I think that there is no clear cut between Middle classes and Low classes. Nowadays, people are rich or poor. No way out.
In one of the paragraphs, the article mentions the Argentinian growth economically speaking. It says that a family income has incredibly increased in comparison with the 2003 crisis. Today we can see this is true but prices are going up every minute, so salaries go up and prices too. What is the difference? We gain more money but we spend even more. I hope this changes in time. Otherwise, more and more people will not be able to have enough food and supplies for surviving.

ASIGNATURA PENDIENTE

One of my dreams when I started to study English was travelling to London. My first encounter with the language was in 1996. A friend of mine recommended me a private institute where I could learn English. So there I went. The name of the institute was and still is Dickens. I spent there 5 years. It was an incredible time because people there are great, especially the partners I had. There was also one particular teacher who was fond of The Beatles. Therefore, she used to teach us many songs from this band.

When students reached the last course, the owner of the institute offered them a trip to London. It was a really nice one because you went to the houses of native speakers and you could have the opportunity to learn more about the language and put into practise what you had already learnt. Anyway, there was one problem: money. My family was not able to afford it. So my dream remains there in my head and in my heart.

Hopefully, after hard work and saving, I would be able to fulfill this desire of mine. I know it is very expensive and requires a lot money. But I know I will make it.

FOURTY LOVE

This is the last time I call you
And the last time I shall
Share a word with you.
Fourty times I have forgiven you
Fourty times I have listened to all your stories.

Fourty times I've loved you
And in fourty times
I shall discover
I will not forget you.


(These couple of poems were written by me during a class)

THIS IS JUST TO SAY (2)

This is just to say
the world is going unsane.
Boms. Weapons. A black air
full of blood and misery.
Nobody cares.

Are we just blind?
Or lost in the one-way road of ambition.

This is just to say
We are not dead.
We still struggle
for a better break of day.

THIS IS JUST TO SAY

In a few days, the city of Tucuman will have the chance to chose the destiny of the city. Politic campaigns are all round. And politics try harder to make us beleive the unbeleivable. The fact is that most of those who run for a chair in the gouvernmental palace persue their own interest and just forget that we are not stupid, and that people in Tucuman have needs which need to be solved.

Since Peron and Evita, most of the Argentinian politicians tried to imitate the kind of governmet these two had implemented in Argentina. But the idea is not to copy what others have done but to see how what is the main concern and problems of a society who is constantly changing.
It seems to me that the only reason why people enter politics is to gain more and more money, and use citizens necesiities to cover their desire to be richier. I wonder if these politics of our would change this sometime, or they just do not realize that money cannot be taken to the grave.

The current governor of Tucuman has proved that he is "working" for the welfare of all tucumanos y tucumanas. He has built new houses, tried to buy more eqipment for the public hospitals and many other things. At least, he did something. The other day I happen to take a taxi, and the driver was telling me that Jose Alperovich did many things. But all of them were in project many years ago. The only thing he did was to put them into action. This cap driver also told me that the governor's wife has some trouble with the law for a big amount of money she robbed when Palito's wife had an association which helped poor children. And this is something ordinary people do not know because police hides this information. Another good example of the corruption there is in politics. If this be true, I cannot say.

When election time comes, we would see how the right to vote becomes a fraud. Some citizens who are poor can gain a bolson or just some money for voting this candidate or the other. The candidates even pay cars which will pick you up from your house and take you to the school where you vote. Isn't it amazing? Gone are the days when there was some honesty in us.

My point is: Who can we chose this coming August 26th? There is not good answer because all the candidates will do the same. And if they happen to have some pure wishes, the system is so corrupted that they will end up stealing and pepeating the wrong deeds of their predecessors.
There is always the desire for a change, and I hope that we, as the ones who have the power
to change the future, are capable of thinking before putting the vote in the envelop. God help us.

AN EMPTY CHAIR

Psychologists say that it is a good exercise to put an empty chair in front of you and imagine that somebody important is sitting there, and you have the chance to tell this person whatever you want to. Consequently, I have decided to follow this advice and try to do it myself. I do not know what is going to come out of this. I hope something good.

A few years ago, I met a man who is an engineer and a professor. He knows a lot about everything. Mechanics, electronics, computers drive him mad. He would spend the whole day working and working with no stop. Last year, his mother was very ill. She had cancer. He was devastated. The fact of his mother's death was something he could not understand. After a time, this woman passed away. And the world was upside down for my friend. I tried to be with him all the way long to support him because I had undergone the same experience once and I know about the pain and suffering. Anyway, I tried to be there and help him some how.

The problem arose when my feelings for this person started to changed. He was no longer a friend to me but the person I had fallen in love with. For a while, I had tried to avoy the fact of my wanting to be with him. The worst part was watching him cry and not being able to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be ok. Foolishly, I began to think that after all this sad period I would have the chance to tell him what my feelings were toward him. But this did not happen.

For a year or so, I had kept this secret in my heart. The desire to be with him did not go away. And neither my love. One day, I talked to a friend of mine who happens to be my best friend and he is a priest. I told him everything. Surprisingly, he advised me not to tell him. He did not say why. I was so sad. Since then, I continue to carry this on my own. But the burden was getting hevier and heavier.

A month ago, I told all this to a female friend because I was desperate. She told me to let him know the truth. That in this way, I was going to be at ease with me, and if this guy felt the same about me we could be together. Therefore, I called him and asked him to meet me whenever he could. Unluckily, this meeting never happened because of his job and mine also. One evening, he calls me. And he tells me that he did not have time for a reunion, so it was better to talk on the phone. I was so nervous. But I had a gold and I had to accomplish it.
After talking for a while, I tried to explain what was the purpose of this talk, and what my feelings were towards him. And that I did not expect nothing from him, except that he knows that I love him. At this point, all I wanted was a reasonable answer, but he only said that he was glad for knowing this, and that he appreciated all this love I had in me. And this was the end.

In my empty chair, I would like to sit him. I have got so many questions to ask him. So here I go.

First of all, I would like to know WHY did you disappear since that telephone call. I did not tell you a terrible thing. I said I loved you. Nothing else. Secondly, you told me once that once you were in my place, so WHY didn't you send me a message at least to know if I was ok. Not just some stupid e-mail with words that were not even yours but from Garcia Marquez. Thirdly, WHY is it that when you said you were sorry for making me undergo this you felt I was passing judegement and blaming you for all my sorrow. I was not. I just wanted to let my heart shout the truth. I do not blame you. I think it just happen that why. Love is blind I guess.
I just wanted you to care about me the same why I did to you. But this was my mistake. ONE CANNOT ASK ANYTHING FROM OTHERS. It is a matter of giving. As simple as that.

After this, I think that if I have the chance to meet him I do not know what my reaction would be. But, at least, I could say these things out loud. Love is something good. Do not run away or lose hope in it. Happy is the man who has found his or her love. I do not want to give up upon it. Hopefully, I will find mine.

BACK TO CLASSES AGAIN!!

Today my partners and I went back to classes. The crazy time is chasing us again. But this was inevitable. Holidays are so nice but so short!! The first part of the year was a hard nut to crack. We had to do a good effort and push ourselves to the limit in order to pass the subjects we took. And there are still some others which are throughtout the year. I hope we can cope with all the pressure of this part. Moreover, this stage in our carrer as student trainnes is full of expectation and anxiety because it is the last step for having our teaching degree, and this adds an extra ingredient. But I think we are going to do well, as we have always done because we did the best we could to study.

Anyway, there is a lot of work to be done. And there are people willing to make of this few months an unforgetable journey.

MY TEACHING PRACTISES!!

Today is one of my happiest days because I finished the first part of the teaching practises thanks God. I was lucky enough to be allowed to do them in Santa Catalina school. The girls there were really nice and caring about me, especially because I had to talk to them in English, and some, if not most, were completely lost and did not understand anything. But I told them that I had to do that because it was my duty. Generally speaking, the girls paid attention to the classes, did their homework on time, and more importantly, have some fun doing their major task: learning. I think that this was the hardest part: finding interesting and fun material and activities which they could enjoy. From all the things I have done in class, the one that they liked the most was working with songs. Music has its magic I beleive. And some artists have good lyrics that help you move to different fields and enrich your classes. That is, by reading the stanzas from any song students can reflect upon feelings such as love, hate, sadness; or the lyrics can be related to the conservation of nature and many other kind of general interest.
Students have a big imagination as well. This contributes a lot with the development of the class because they reach to conclusions that you have not even thought about. And this is great!
During this period, I was able to meet really amazing people like the course teacher Pamela Robles to whom I am tremendously thankful because she is a true teacher in my opinion. She did not only care about what I was going to do with the girls but also about my comfort and welfare. This is the kind of teacher I do not find quite often. She says that teachers in general should not forget that they were students once. And this made all the difference.
The school, and the principals, were really nice too and generous. So I would like to thank them too.
This has been a profitable journey. I hope the second one is as good as the first. And if not, I hope that I would have enough strength to be able to get over it.

HANDS READY TO HELP!!

These days I happened to come across with a book about the life of a simple nun who had given her life for the welfare of thousands of Indian citizens. She was given the Peace Novel prize for all her work in India. She was born with the name of Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. But we all know her as Mother Theresa. Her place of birth was Skopje in Macedonia. When she was 18, she joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. After a few months' training in Dublin she was sent to India, where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948 Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, but the suffering and poverty she glimpsed outside the convent walls made such a deep impression on her that in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. Although she had no funds, she depended on Divine Providence, and started an open-air school for children who were living on the streets and were very poor. Soon she was joined by voluntary helpers, and financial support was also forthcoming. This made it possible for her to extend the scope of her work.
Mother Theresa did not only tried to end up poverty. She wanted make poor and ill people know that they were cared and loved. She said that Western civilizations had more money than the Oriental countries but that the first were in need of love, and affection. Not being loved was worse than poverty she said.
She died at the age of 83. Once a journalist asked her if she was tired because of all the activities she had done throughtout her life, and she said that never one is too old to love.
Today the order comprises Active and Contemplative branches of Sisters and Brothers in many countries. The Society of Missionaries has spread all over the world.
At last, One of Mother Theresa's thoughts was that if any person wanted do the same as she did in India did not need to travel to this country because in every country there are many poor people to look after. She was right, don't you think?

IT'S PARTY TIME!!!

Last Saturday, I went to a birthday party organized by a friend of mine. It was her 28th birthday, so she decided to celebrate it in a different way. The only thing you could not forget before going to the party was the costume. Yes, the costume was a must. You could not show up at the party in normal clothes. You had to be dressed up in a funny way.
It was hard for me to choose which character or animal I would be because I was not accustomed to going to this kind of parties. But, in the end, it was worth the effort. After too much thinking, I made up my mind with regards to my outfit. I decided I would be a ladybird.
The worst part of all was when my sister, my aunt and me had to get into the taxi. Oh, my goodness. I was so embarrassed. I felt as if I had made the wrong decision. Anyway, when we got to the saloon and we started to see the rest of the group, we could not stop laughing. Moreover, some of them had their faces painted so we did not recognize each other at first.
After a time, it was time for karaoke. Again, laughter was inevitable. Up to this moment, shame was no longer around. We sang or tried to, broke some glasses, and performed some kind of musical show. A couple of drinks were of great help. I think through the effect of alcohol we were able to release and do things that we would not do in normal life. Then, we danced all night long.
In the end, it was a good idea. The costumes, I mean. We enjoy and could pretend we were somebody else. Some of us were magicians, some bugs, others angels, the devil or even priests. But there was one thing that united us all: happiness.

FRIEND'S DAY

On July 20th, most of us celebrated Friend's Day. It is said that on this date the American astrounauts reached the moon surface, or something of the sort. Consequently, this event is conmemorated on this time of year. In my case, I do not have a lot of friends because I beleive that it is difficult to find good friends with whom you can share your life and will not let you down. I think that there are two types of friends; those who are always near you. They know you as well as all your life. These friends will accept you as you are and will not turn your back on you no matter what. In adittion, they will try to help you grow by letting you realize of your mistakes as a fraternal correction because it is done from the love this person has for you. More importantly, these people will forgive you if you hurt them in any way because they know that you are not perfect, that you are a human being who can make mistakes. When a person is lucky enough to find a FRIEND like this, he/she must consider oneself to have found a treasure. And this treasure must be carefully taken care of, and never try to do any harm to it. I am a person full of flaws, but I was blessed because life has given me some of this FRIENDS. And I would like to tell them that I am thankful for all the help and support throughtout my life. And I wish I can have you near me forever. Because of life's plans some of them have travelled to different parts of the world and are not here anymore. But I carry them in my heart. And I want to say that I miss them so much.

The other type of friends are those people who are around you, who share some time of the day with you and think they know you, or, what is worse, you think you know them. But, in the end, you realize that this is not so. In a way, they also help you grow up because they teach you things you would not learn in any school.
I do not know if I am wrong, but this is what I feel. I am just in the middle of the road and there are still many things to learn.