"So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye"

This is my last post ever. After I’m done here I won’t come back. I don’t like having a blog so I won’t continue writing. However, I have to admit that having an English blog didn’t bother me that much. I will explain myself so don’t go away!

The final post is about discussing the advantages and disadvantages of using blogs in the English classroom. This is actually a good opportunity to explain the idea I just told you, so I will begin with the advantages.

As I already said, I don’t like blogs because it’s like showing everybody your personal diary. I don’t feel comfortable writing about myself so anyone can read it. Anyway, this blog actually gave me the chance to talk about many things with all the freedom in the world. I learned that having a blog is a good way of expressing yourself with no embarrassment. This is even more important in an English class because it’s not our language. Having the chance to talk about many topics in English it’s not only great practice but a good thing for expressing ourselves. It even became enjoyable to have the chance to write about a good piece of art or movie. I believe now that using a blog in the English class was a very good way of practicing my English (grammar, sentence structure, etc.) and communicating with my classmates. I actually learned many things by reading my classmates blogs: I learned from their strengths and weaknesses in terms of grammar, spelling, etc.

Despite all that there are some disadvantages, at least in my opinion. Even if writing every week was a very good practice, and I feel I improved considerably I think there should exist also a moment to practice the abilities in oral expression. In classes we’re always talking and expressing ourselves but in an informal kind of way. I think we need an instance to practice more formally our conversation skills. Besides, and as I said at the beginning, I don’t like having a blog because it’s public. It’s not like I published anything personal but I would like it to be private because I don’t feel comfortable with the whole “blog system” (anyone in the world can read and comment your posts). I understand the point of having a blog, but I don’t like them and never would have created one by myself.


That's pretty much it. I guess this is goodbye then. It was actually not that bad! :)

BYE!

P.S: This post's title and image are from "The sound of music" when the kids go to bed. It's silly, I know.

“I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!”

Into the Wild is a movie based on a real-life novel by John Krakauer. It was written and directed by Sean Penn. It stars Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden and William Hunt among others. It's the story of Christopher McCandless, a young man that after graduating leaves everything behind to go living in the wilderness in Alaska. Christopher feels the need to go on an adventure traumatized by his parents' bad marriage. Through the whole film we watch him trying to prove how much different he is from them, rebelling against what they had planned for his life. During his journey he meets different people that not only help him but teach him many valuable lessons about life and relationships.

Christopher McCandless decides to leave in order to defend his freedom, to decide for himself what he was going to do for the rest of his life. And he decides to go live into the wild. Sean Penn shows us his character’s story in a very objective and unbiased way. Some people may think that McCandless was an idealist who could have survived if he just measured the consequences of his trip to Alaska. Others may feel that he’s just a spoiled and selfish kid that ran away with no reason to find death in an avoidable way. Instead of that he lets us decide for ourselves and get lost in his character that’s truly hypnotic.

What’s interesting about this movie it’s not only that the main character actually existed and experienced what’s shown in this film, but also the relationship between Men and nature. I got the feeling that we’re so small and insignificant in front of Nature and wilderness. McCandless went to Alaska looking for answers, something to prove he didn’t need anything or anyone. However, at the very end he’s wrong. He realizes that happiness and life itself is better when you can share it, and even if it’s heartbreaking to see that he realizes when he’s about to die, we know he’s happy. We know (or at least I felt it that way) that he doesn’t regret anything but eating that poisonous fruit by mistake. Actually, the title of this post was found on a note written by the real McCandless.


The film is just beautiful, not only because of its’ message, but the images shown are gorgeous. The mountains, rivers, plains, skies are breath-taking. The acting are very good, especially the main character that surprisingly resembles a lot to the real-life person. I personally got very emotional watching this film because it makes you experience so many different emotions and realize of many things about life. People surrounding McCandless, the way he talked and saw life, everything he had to go through was really inspiring to me. Even though it is a very long film it’s totally worth watching.

If you want to learn more about the film go to www.intothewild.com



You can also watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LAuzT_x8Ek

Talking about someone's blog

Today's assignments is to criticize someone's blog. I don't why but I better just do it. Ok, so I chose Camila Viteri's blog. Shocked? I don't think so. When I chose it I had the impression that I wouldn't be the only one to choose it. Now I'll explain why.

Camila's blog is called "Laaaou" and is the only one that has a design. I think it is quite artistic and creative of her because she made her blog "cute" and herself. Now, it's not just an English assignment but her own blog, representative of her personality. I don't know why she named the blog the way she did but it's also a creative way to do it. I'm comparing it to my own blog that's called "this is for the english class"; ok, not a display of creativity, I know!

If I hadn't had to do this assignment maybe I wouldn't have read all Camila's posts. Now I did I actually liked them. You can tell when reading the posts that she knows her English very well. Moreover, she writes in a relaxed way. Even if I like her writing because it's friendly, I'm always hoping for, I don't know, a joke maybe. I don't know Camila's personality, but since her blog's so personal and creative I would hope to read posts more like everyday talk; not trying to sound good for the teacher but to show her real English because I can see it's good.

So I read the posts. I felt that we have similar taste because of the piece of art she chose or the website she always visits. Actually, that one is my favourite post, the one about our favourite website. I haven't seen the website she chose yet but I surely will. By the sound of it I think I will like it because I'm always browsing for new stuff to make my life easier or just losing time in front of the computer. Whatever, the thing is that it's a kind of website I would enjoy.

So, balance. I'm looking for balance in this critique. Is there anything I didn't like? Is there something that could be improved? Well, not really. I like a lot her favourite website because I felt related to her situation of browsing to find a solution to something. I liked the post about Stonehenge because I really like archaeology too. I liked the Rodin she chose because it reminds me to my favourite sculpture: psyché ranimée par le baiser de l'amour.
Iwould say that the colours are not my favourites. I don't like grey and I really don't like yellow, but that's just me!

In conclusion, I like very much Camila's blog. I feel we have many things in common, and I admire the fact she has a beautiful design. However I do think her posts should be more representative of the way she is and talks to people.

I'm loving it

What a nice change to talk about art! I'm no expert on the matter, but I really like it. In fact, I feel very interested to study for example art's history. But let's get straight to the point. I chose an artist I like very much: Wassily Kandinsky and the painting I chose is called "Yellow, red, blue" (1925). Kandinsky was born in Russia and he's one of the first creators of pure abstraction in modern painting. Music had a big influence on his work. I first heard about his work on an art's history class in 2006, here at the University, when I was in Bachillerato. Then, last August, when I visited Paris I was in a store inside de Pompidou Centre looking for a poster to take home, and I saw this painting and loved it. I got so obssesed with his art that later I bought a book that compiled all his work.

I like Kandinsky because, to begin with, I like abstract art. I don't really like realism or naturalism for example. I like to see a painting and to try to find a meaning, to look for a shape. I like that it's like a dream, that it's not obvious. I guess I feel like getting into the mind of the creator. I specially like this painting because of the colors and the meaning of the situation when I first saw it. When I first arrived to Paris I thought that the one thing I wanted to buy for myself was a poster of a Kandinsky painting to hang on my wall. When I went to the Pompidou Centre my last day in France (hopeless that I wouldn't find what I wanted) and saw this painting, everything changed! I left that store with a huge smile on my face.

That's it. I hope you like it too! =)

A random article I found

I found on the website of The Guardian an article (actually, it's more like a piece of news) called "University to investigate drinking initiation ceremonies" about initiation ceremonies in Gloucestershire University. This article was written by Anthea Lipsett, and she explains that a secretly-filmed video was sent to the BBC showing some students with plastic bags over their heads vomiting because of drinking alcohol. Moreover, the guy leading the action was dressed like a Nazi. According to the author, these ceremonies are held by students from sports clubs, and they make the new students drink, obey orders and go through different initiation tests. University authorities declared themselves against those kinds of activities saying they are dangerous and violent. They claimed that the university "takes bullying and intimidation very seriously". Student spokesmen also said they were against it, and that those practices didn't tarnish the image of the university; those who intimidate and do weird rites are a minority. The majority take their studies very seriously and that's the external image of Gloucestershire University.

I think this article is interesting because there are initiation rites, on the first year of university for example, in many countries. It's a way of getting yourself in and being accepted. To me this article is worth reading because I think those kind of activities are unnecessary, cruel, humiliating and should not be done. I think it's good that not only the University's authorities declare themselves against it but also the students themselves. You may have an initiation ceremony where you can have fun and meet new people, but not drinking until you faint or doing nasty things.
The whole initation matter is very interesting because you always want to be accepted and sometimes you go too far.

If you want to check it out go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/oct/02/students.highereducation

a website I enjoy a lot and I shouldn't...

I don't remember how I first found this website but since I did I visit it almost every week...

the website I'm talking about is....drums please! http://www.pointlesssites.com/

I know I should be ashamed of admitting such a thing but it's a fun website!

This is a website that reunites all kinds of websites, mostly useless. You can find games, odd websites, tools, all kinds of stuff! It's really fun! Actually the other day I was visiting it, and I found a link to a website where you can choose a pet (like a dog or a cat) and make it talk! I thought it was hilarious so I sent my friend Valentina (who is also in our class) one that looked like her dog Marrón.

I've also found links to websites where you can play very strange games, send e-mails to yourself or to your friends in the future, make different voices say whatever you write down, send bottles with messages through a virtual ocean, know how many people there are in the United States that are named like you, etc.

I know it's a huge loss of time, but it's different from what I am used to seeing on the internet. Plus, as the website itself says, it's for bored people...

Enjoy!

Finally! The last assignment!

Sue Cartledge wrote an article called "Mayans sought wine not chocolate" where she describes how archaeological research found out that the Mayans made wine out of the fruit of cacao plants before chocolate. In the article she explains that Cornell University Department of Anthropology discovered some pottery shards in northern Honduras that date 5oo years earlier than the first chocolate evidence, which was 3000 years ago. So, this is the earliest evidence of cacao consumption. Cartledge then explains the pottery shards archaeologists found and what substances they had that made especialists think it was an alcoholic beverage made of cacao. Finally, she explains that knowing about how to work the pulp and seeds perhaps made them discover accidentally chocolate, while they were trying to make their drink more powerful.

Something I like: Models of migration to the new world.

This semester I had a Prehistory class where I studied a topic I liked a lot: the arrival of Men to America.

This is a topic I'm very interested in because I like History and I like the mystery that surrounds the first peopling in this continent. In general, I like all prehistoric subjects, like the first human being, how he evolved, peopling routes and how great civilizations were created. I guess history is what I like the most right now.

So far, about the peopling of America, I've learnt that there are different hypothesis, like the one that's most accepted that establishes that men first arrived through the Bering land bridge, which joined what we know as Alaska and Siberia. So, according to that hypothesis men came from Europe, entered through North America and then peopled the rest of the continent.
There are other hypothesis, like one that's not very different than the above, but the difference is that this one establishes that the peopling was realized through the coast of the American continent. Another hypothesis is that not only men arrived trough the Bring land bridge, but also from the sea, from Europe or Australia for example.
All this hypothesis have some archaeological proof, some more than others.

I would love to work on this, because it's not all said about how it happened, so sometimes I imagine myself being an archaeologist so I can work on finding the answers that are missing. Of course this is just a dream because it's not that easy. But, anyway, I would love to work on prehistoric related subjects.

I felt attracted to this topic of the career I'm studying because since I like history and I like great civilizations I also liked what's before: the first human beings.
Actually, I don't know another reason why I like this subject, I just like it, I don't have another reason because it has been kind of a struggle for me to decide what I want: social anthropology or archaeology so, since I haven't decided yet I can't say nothing more, because honestly, I don't have a clue.

some websites:

• http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Chumash/EntryDate.html

It's a very simple web site that compiles everything that's been said about the topic. It's brief and clear.

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/stoneage/

This is web site has some interactive material about the first Americans. It's very interesting and clear too. They have videos of how to make a stone weapon or how they could have arrived.

some interesting web sites.

I browsed in the internet for a while and I found some interesting web sites. I had a surprise when I found that there are all kinds of web sites about anthropology and there are a lot of universities around the world that research many interesting subjects. So, I chose this two web sites for different reasons:

The first one is http://www.ethnologue.com
This is an encyclopedic reference work that catalogues all the living languages in the world. You can search for something specific or just see a complete list of all the languages that exist and choose one. You can also choose to view the different languages in a world map. When you select a language the web sites gives all the information about it: from which country it is, how many people speak it, etc. You can also see some of the work and research that has been done about that language or culture. I think it's interesting because personally I never imagined there were so many and the information is very specific and useful, at least for me because I really love languages and one my goals for the future is to learn more of them.





The second one is the well known http://www.nationalgeographic.com
I think almost everybody is familiar with this magazine and TV channel. I chose it because it has very valuable information, great researches and papers. I remember when I was little my father used to buy it every month. We had a big collection of magazines that my father gave to my older brother later, when my brother first went to college to study anthropology. I think it's a very interesting magazine, they study so many different topics and they always take beautiful pictures. For me this magazine has been very inspiring. I also like the TV channel but I'm not going to be cynical: I don't always watch it :)










So, two different ways to get close to anthropology in a very wide sense of the word. Two interesting web sites to visit, for different reasons of course, one is kind of an index and the other is a type of entertainment, but both captivating. I hope somebody will agree with me.

Just another weekend

So, I have to talk about my last weekend. What did I do? Let's recall...
On Friday night I met with two friends I know from Bachillerato. We went to the house of one of them and watched "Pretty woman" because none of them had ever watched it. On Saturday I got up late (as usual) and helped my mother cooking (as usual). After we had lunch a friend I know from High School picked me up and we went out. We went to a store because she wanted to get new socks and then we went to her house. Later at night she gave me a ride back home and I got into bed and watched a movie. On Sunday, I got up late again (as usual) and I helped my mother cleaning the house. After that, I went to Homecenter with my parents to buy a new desk for my bedroom. When we got back home, we spent all afternoon trying to assemble the desk. After that, I had to clean my pets cages (as usual) because I have a hamster and a hedgehog and they get very disgusting, so every 5 days I have to clean their cages.
So that's it. That was my last weekend. A normal weekend.

My favourite song

I think most people would agree with me that is almost impossible to only have ONE favourite song when there are so many! So, I decided I was going to pick not only one of my favourites but also a special one. A song that meant something to me. That's why I chose a song by Michael Jackson called "Thriller".

Michael Jackson was during the 90's the King of Pop music. His songs and dacing moves (his "moon walk" will never be forgotten) marked a generation of teenagers all over the world. He was a great artist until he got involved in all those problems with plastic surgeries and weird relationships with children.

I chose the song "Thriller" because it reminds me that when I was younger, let's say around 6 years old, I just couldn't watch his video because it scared me so much! Now, even if it was filmed during the 80's I still think it's a great video because it is like a horror film in a song. Personally, I'm not a romantic person and I'm not a big fan of traditional love songs, of course there very good ones but songs like "Thriller" there are not. This song is special, it's not about missing a girl or saying how much you love someone, it's about being scared, frightened, it's about the worst feeling you could have: feeling totally unprotected. I love this song because even if finally it's about "love", it's different, it's a different way of calling the girl's attention: he promises he will protect her from the evil that's trying to possess her.

Lyrics:

It's Close To Midnight And Something Evil's Lurking In The Dark
Under The Moonlight You See A Sight That Almost Stops Your Heart
You Try To Scream But Terror Takes The Sound Before You Make It
You Start To Freeze As Horror Looks You Right Between The Eyes,
You're Paralyzed

'Cause This Is Thriller, Thriller Night
And No One's Gonna Save You From The Beast About
Strike
You Know It's Thriller, Thriller Night
You're Fighting For Your Life Inside A Killer, Thriller
Tonight

You Hear The Door Slam And Realize There's Nowhere Left To Run
You Feel The Cold Hand And Wonder If You'll Ever See The Sun
You Close Your Eyes And Hope That This Is Just
Imagination
But All The While You Hear The Creature Creepin' Up
Behind
You're Out Of Time

'Cause This Is Thriller, Thriller Night
There Ain't No Second Chance Against The Thing With
Forty Eyes, Girl
You Know It's Thriller, Thriller Night
You're Fighting For Your Life Inside Of Killer, Thriller Tonight

Night Creatures Call
And The Dead Start To Walk In Their Masquerade
There's No Escaping The Jaws Of The Alien This Time
(They're Open Wide)
This Is The End Of Your Life

They're Out To Get You, There's Demons Closing In On Every Side
They Will Possess You Unless You Change The Number On Your Dial
Now Is The Time For You And I To Cuddle Close Together
All Through The Night I'll Save You From The Terror On The Screen,
I'll Make You See

That This Is Thriller, Thriller Night
'Cause I Can Thrill You More Than Any Ghost Would Dare To Try
Girl, This Is Thriller, Thriller Night
So Let Me Hold You Tight And Share A Killer, Diller, Chiller
Thriller Here Tonight


It's funny what men can do to convince a woman. Anyway, I prefer this than a corny love song.

This is me

Hello, my name is Barbara Rivera Amaro, I'm 20 years old, although I'll be 21 on April 11th. I study Anthropology and I'm in second year. I chose this career because I want to know about people, about our society and others, I want to know about the origin of men, about our history, etc. I also like many other disciplines, like History of art, Psychology, among others.

My expectations for this class are very high because I like languages a lot, actually I can also speak french and I hope I'll learn many other languages. I'm interested in improving my English because it opens doors, English is like a world language and my ultimate dream is to go abroad, so learning English is basic.

About this assignment, I don't really like blogs because I don't understand how people choose to publish their lives so everyone can read and judge! I'm not interested on having a diary that everyone can see, it makes me feel naked. I know it all depends on what kind of blog you have, but even so, I think it's strange.

Well, I guess that (against my will) there will be more posts. Until then!