A Special Memory

In my whole life I have had really nice memories, most of them with my family. We used to go to the beach on vacations, but the last vacations we went to Orlando, Florida.


We were there once in 1998, but I was 4 years old, so I don't remember anything from that trip.


My mother and my father decided to go to Florida, and they told us (my siblings and me) that we were going to Orlando in January at the beginning of this year.


My brothers, my sister and I were so excited, also my  parents, but I started to think: How am I going to do with my little dogs?. So my mother got the idea to call my aunt and asked her if she could take care about them and she said: Yes! 


We went to Florida for 9 days and we had a lot of fun. Actually, I consider that trip like one of the best trips I've ever been to! I went with my parents, my brothers and my sister, and we enjoyed so much, but I really wanted to be there with my dogs too. 


When we return to my home I saw one of my dogs really fat, so I was kind of scared and the next day we went to the veterinary.


The veterinarian was thinking in a pregnancy and my mom was "in shock", so he decided to check Samy (my dog) and be sure at all. After 2 minutes he finished the checking and gave us the huge surprise: SHE WAS PREGNANT 


:D 

My mom was speechless and then she asked how many dogs were going to be and the doctor said "5 or more!" and my mother didn't know what to do.


After 22 days Samy had her puppies but she just had 2 and I convinced my parents for keeping them in the house (It wasn't easy at all, but at the end I got it). 


Now I have 5 beautiful dogs in my house that make all my family happy, sometimes they drive my parents crazy but it doesn't matter, we do love them, they're part of our family.


˂3

The Goonies

I think that the most similar character to me is Brand. He was very scared at the beginning but at the end he was with his brothers and friends, supporting them, all the time.

Actually he's not a risky person and is scared about the consequences that can happen doing something wrong but at the end you just do it but being very careful.

Most of the time I'm like him. I'm afraid of the consequences of doing something that is not safe at all, so at the beginnig I prefer not to do it but finally I ended doing the risky thing. Like Brand, at the beginnig of the movie he was an undecided person and then, when he analyzed the situation and think for a while what can happen, he decided to help his brother and friends with the adventure, and they had a unforgetable time.

A Puerto Rico's Urban Legend

In a place in Puerto Rico, there's a "well" that once was called "The Pronounced Vagabond's Well", where a farmer, named Jacinto, goes everyday with his cow's. He had his favorite cow tied up in his hand just because he didn't wanted to loose her. On day this cow went through other way and they were surprised by a giant wave which made the farmer and his favorite cow fell down deep in the "well".


Now people say that if you go to that place and scream so loud "Jacinto traeme la vaca" ("Jacinto bring me the cow") you will be very lucky. Also, they say that if you can take a picture inside the "well" you will see Jacinto's face watching over you.

My first time singing on a stage...

My first time singing in public was the biggest challenge I've ever had in my entire life. It was at night and there  were a lot of people so, I was totally scared and nervous because I'm kind of shy and it's not easy for me talk in front of lots of people. I went to singing classes for 6 months and then the FINAL CONCERT! 

I was the 12th one of 24th students and when the student 11th finished her permance I thought: "I'm the next one!!!!!" and I felt something so weird, like I was exited but totally scared at the same time and I was shaking when I was upstairs and my teacher said: "Everything will be alright just relax and do it if you were alone!" but I was still shaking and really nervous.

Then when I start singing I was so afraid but going good and I sang till the end of the song. When I finished I returned to my sit and I wanted to do it again, it was one of my best experiences in my whole life.

The video that I attached is about me singing the song "The Climb" in a presentation the last year in my "Singing Salon". x)

Thanksgiving Day

A. What is thanksgiving? 
Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Is a holiday to express thankfulness, gratitude, and appreciation to God, family and friends.

Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday in November. Schools, banks, post offices, and government offices are closed. This day was the first holiday celebrated in America. 

B. Who were the pilgrims?

The pilgrims were a small group of people who sailed to North America in order to start a new life.They sailed on the Mayflower ship and landed on Plymouth Rock. They wanted religious freedom.

C. What is the Mayflower?

The Mayflower was the ship that transported the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflowers Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts. There were 102 passengers and a crew of 25–30.

D. Who were the Wampanoag?

The Wampanoag were one of many Nations of people all over North America who were here long before the Europeans arrived, and have survived until today.


E. What happened to the Pilgrims during the first winter?

During that first winter over half of them died. Frequently two or three died on the same day. Four entire families were taken, and there was only one family that didn't lose at least one member.


F. What do the Wampanoag do for the Pilgrims?
Wampanoag teached the Pilgrims how to get food. So, they had some "classes"  in order to know how to get food easier, also how to hunt.



G. Why did they celebrate the first Thanksgiving?
The pilgrims and Wampanoag people celebrated because they were thankful for the food (corn and animals) they harvested and hunted.



H. When is thanksgiving celebrated now?
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated the fourth Thursday of November every year.

CSI: Las Vegas

CSI: Las Vegas (Crime Scene Investigation) is a TV fiction series that is about a group of forensic scientists that work in a city called Nevada in Las Vegas, USA. They investigate the crimes that happen there analyzing the proofs that they have.

The criminalits go through the crime scene, they look for some proofs and some objects that can be useful to resolve the mistery. The series mixed novel arguments with black film and scientific research necessary to find evidence to illuminate dark crimes, while adding stories of ethical concern among researchers and victims.

The series finds its appeal in the alternation between pure and dramatic story, but also benefits from excellent performances, a few dashes of high quality and depth, special effects and a little different routine.

This TV program shows the private life of the police officers, scientists and other people that is related with the crime.

The CSI team is made up of Raymond Langston, a forensic pathologist doctor, Catherine Willows, night shift supervisor of the unit in Las Vegas, his assistant, Nick Stokes, Sara Sidle, Greg Sanders, Dr. Al Robbins, an expert in medicine Coroner, David Hodges, a specialist in traces, David Phillips and Homicide Captain, Jim Brass.

Halloween

Meaning

Halloween means "All hallow's eve". Time ago it was used to celebrate the saint's day eve but things have been changing by the years and now people celebrate this like the day of the witches, ghosts and things related to them.

Origin

It started with the celtics customs and now the anglo-saxon culture celebrate Halloween as a holiday. At the beginning people used to celebrated as the Saint's Day and nowadays some people still celebrate it thinking about some dead people but other people are always thinking and relating this day with witches, ghosts and thigs like that.They look for some costumes days before the main day, also kids go house by house asking for candy.

I didn't know anything about Halloween but I consider it like a holiday that its meaning has been changing by years and know people are confused and don't know the right meaning but they still celebrate it, most of the time in USA.

Goals

My mission statement at the beginnig of this course was like the same for everyone:

* improve my english, learn more about it, practice the language, have fluency...

Also I wrote about be on time in class, but I couldn't do it, because I got up and do all the things really fast trying to finish on time and be there early but when I see the clock was late.I know that I have to change this bad habit.

Even though, I think that I practiced a lot my english. It was just like some hours of talking this language. I don't think that I learned so much english but I really practiced the english that I've already learned talking with my classmates and listening to my teacher in those hours which was good.

In general I liked the course. I thought it was going to be harder but it wasn't! It was more like kind of relaxing and talking in english all the time. 

The homework was something that kept me in touch with all the things related with the english classes and the classes were most of the time good and with lots of activities.

=D

News Items

Vitamin D prevents breast cancer. If they had known about this cure before, probably no one had died.

Dozens of overdoses reported at a party in Washington state. If that party had had responsable people, maybe it wouldn't had happened.

Hundreds flee threat of new toxic sludge spill in Hungary. If there weren't less pollution maybe this wasn't happening.

Miners in Chile are trapped in a cave. If they had been more careful when they were digging the cave they probably weren't in that situation.

The police found a dead woman that was missing 13 days ago. If they had found her before these 13 days, maybe she hadn't been dead.

An airplane with lots of cocaine fell down in a river last sunday. If the airport had had better security this whole thing never had happened.


Hitler becomes tourist attraction in Berlin museum. If this guy hadn't done what he did, he probably wouldn't be a tourist attraction.

Someone killed a truck driver when was going to Nicaragua. If Costa Rica was safer and have more police officers maybe this hadn't happened.

Forecast strong waves in coastal. If the air wouldn't be that polluted maybe waves were less strong and no one would be affected.

Soon Microsoft is going to sell smart phones. If Microsoft wouldn't be doing this life could be less easy.

Cartago, CR

Cartago is recognized as the country’s religious center and is the home of the historic Basilica de Los Angeles. Citizens from all over the country make a pilgrimage to the church each August 2nd in a spirit of gratitude and personal reflection.

Being designated a national holiday makes it possible for more than a million people to participate in this annual “walk,” some walking more than a week because of the distance traveled and others walking on their knees as a form of penance. 

Also in Cartago are located: the beautiful Orosi Valley by the Irazu Volcano crater, pre-Columbian ruins and the largest botanical garden in the country. People choose to live in Cartago because it retains the flavor of “old” Costa Rica. 

It has escaped the commercial activity of malls, fast food restaurants and major developments that are part of life in the greater metropolitan area of San José. Cartago has managed to maintain a peaceful way of life. Although an oasis away from the city, it is still close to the conveniences and shopping of the city as it is only 45 minutes from San José.

 Costa Rica offers several choices of climates and environments where you can live. Cartago is an area that is a little cooler than the average valley town, that has historical character and charm and that is removed from the hustle of city life within a short drive of it. 

Angela's Fast Food Restaurant

Angela's Foods is a fast food restaurant where I love to go because the food is really delicious. The prices are cheap and the service is excellent!

I visit this restaurant around twice in a month and I used to go there with my friends and my family. Also I like to go there because the waiters and waitresses are very polite!

My Personality Profile by Marvin

María Gabriela Rodríguez Araya

María Gabriela is a 16 years old girl from Palmares. She loves the music, the movies and to play basketball. She's studying at the Palmares Bilingual High School and she wants to learn languages and go to an exchange the next year. Her biggest love are the animals; she said: "I have 5 pets, all dogs, of 10, 5, 2 years and also two puppies of 5 months", so is not strage her dream to be a vet...

Unquestionably she looks like the daughter dreamed for all the parents in the planet and she said: "The living person that I most admire is my parents" and her best decision was "hear my parents' advices", so her life looks perfect. But sometimes she looks different. She defines herself like a dreamer but she's not sure about it, when she talks about it, she looks like a bird wanting to fly but with fear. She sings and dream with traveling around the world.

I could say that Mª Gabriela is a normal teenager and maybe is true but all the normal teenager girls are dreamers and only needs time to figure out if their dreams will be true or not. 

Interviewing a Classmate

           Marvin lives in Naranjo, but he works in San Carlos, so he lives in San Carlos on weekdays and in Naranjo on weekends. He's 32 years old and he's a social studies teacher. He has one sister and one dog.

           As a teacher he loves to read history books and watch movies on TV. His favorites writters are Jorge Luis Borges and Paulo Coelho.

           He really admires Nelson Mandela: "He was in the jail and the only thing that he did was write every single day. He's an awesome person!", Marvin said.

           Marvin started studying to be an industrial engineer in college, but then he changed the career to be a teacher because he realized that he loves history and it was perfect for him.

           He said that one of his negatives characteristics is that he's always saying the true. 

           "I'm learning English because I do need it!", he said during the interview. Also he said that he admires when someone say the true and have no fear about it!

           At the end he said that he wishes were more diplomatic and cautious.

The Angels Planet

                                                                                

In Angels Planet people are alike Venusians because they really care about love, helping other people, their communication and the way to express themselves. They're also similar to Martians because they like to achieve their goals.

This planet is similar to Rainbow Land but is not the same, for example: in Rainbow Land people are more active than people in Angels Planet, and we're not always that kind of passive person.

I think that I'd live in Angels Planet, because we have a lot of things in common but sometimes things that we don't have they can help us, so it's kind of coupler which is good! ... :D

Rainbow Land

People from Rainbow Land are friendly, cheerful, kind, conservative and loyal.

They're very alike venusians because of their values. Also because they like the love, communication, beauty and honest relationships.

They love to help different people that need them. But they're pretty different from martians because we're not very competitive and we're not showing all the time our skills.

In rainbow land people love to have fun being cautious and they're very sensitive, organized but sometimes lazy. (:

It doesn't matter the differences between each other. Everyone has something that makes them unique!