Teen Life Project Reflection

Now that I have finished working on the teen life project I feel very relieved. It was a lot of hard work to make our posts: the introduction post and the research posts. We needed to find many sources for our research posts which indeed were very difficult to find. Because we didnt have much time to work on our research posts and I had other things to do, most of the time I stayed after midnight working at my posts which needed to be done by Sunday morning. Sometimes you needed to regret invitations with your friends because you needed to do the posts and believe me that it was very depressing. Maybe some people wont think this but I thought that the easiest part was putting all the research together and making the actual documentary.

I thought that the teen life project was a great experience to all of the students that have been participating. It was a fun way to learn to work with partners or groups and it was specially fun to work with people from other countries all around the world. We got to know each others and we even become friends. It was also very cool to express our beliefs and thoughts, and to hear and learn from others.

The teen life project inspired me because now I know that if every child in the world is consious of what is happening in present day Earth, these childs could come over with all the problems that we are facing. For this reason we need to train children so when they grow up they dont follow the problems. It would be great to also make adults consious about all these issues so that they would begin the process of overcoming all these problems. The teen life project taught me that if I propose something and I work to accomplish it, I would accomplish it.

Campaigns and Organizations

On this last post I am going to focus on other smaller groups that are trying to prevent and/or reduce global warming specially in Australia and the United States which are the only countries that haven't signed up for the Kyoto Protocol. An organization in the United States that I found interesting to research on is called the Environmental Defense. This are the links to two of the web pages where I got some of the information. The first web page is called Can You Prevent Global Warming? The second web page is called Barbra Streisand.

The Environmental Defense campaign is a public service campaign made to aware people about global warming and to teach people what they can do to prevent it and help. This campaign has focused on Global Warming for several years and also on it's objective that is the Kyoto Protocol.
Barbra Streisand is an actress and a singer too. She has a foundation called the Streisand Foundation which supports the Environmental Defense campaign. This is what the executive director of the Streisand Foundation, Margery Tabankin, said: It is very rare in philanthropy that a foundation is able to start with something from the beginning stages and get to see it accomplished. How rewarding to see this go from a scientific theory to a concern of every government in the world. The whole planet has a vital stake in the Environmental Defense Fund's accomplishing its objectives in Kyoto.

The Environmental Defense Fund is also trying to make the United States to have a smaller population. Members of the campaign say that with a smaller population they can keep growing and having a more efficient economy but without harming the environment.

The United States sends 21 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person to the atmosphere. Most of this carbon emissions were because of the combustion of energy fuels. It is predicted that the average emissions of carbon and greenhouse gases send by the United States will continue rising by 1.5 % a year. it is also estimated that there would be 1,803 million metric tons of carbon emissions in 2010. Bush says that he wont sign up for the protocol but that he would encourage citizens to reduce 4.5 % of the emissions by 2010 and his goal is to make 70 million cars off the road. The Senate and Bush say that the signing up for the Protocol will result in great harm for the United States economy.

In Australia, there is a campaign against Global Warming that is called GetUP! Action For Australia. I found this cool web page in Google; There are more interesting things that you could find here. This is what they say about global warming: "It is bigger than party politics, bigger than special interests and more important than short-term economic gain." "I want my government to take sweeping action to dramatically cut greenhouse pollution, shift to clean energy and solve the climate crisis now." I think this is very true but I don't understand why the governor of Australia don't accepts the Kyoto Protocol. Australia's farmers are in a big problem because they are in a drought, bush fires are happening every year, there are many heat waves that are the cause of water scarcity and storms and cyclones. I keep on don't understanding, they are having so much problems but they don't act. Australians say that they need to act now but they don't do a thing! The Federal Government doesn't want to sign the Kyoto Protocol, they only worry about their coalmines and coal.

In Australia, 27 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person are released into the air. In Australia one of the main problems is the coal beds because it stores many carbon dioxide. Australia has one of the highest greenhouse gas emissions per capital in the world. Some researchers say that they could use the methane in coal beds to generate power. I think this is a good idea because the methane will be used for something and it would not be wasted; it wont harm the environment either.

I think that all this information that I researched in this post is very important for the making of the documentary. I needed to know why did Australia and the United States haven't sign up for the Kyoto Protocol. Now I know that Australia has a great production of coal so it's governors think that if they sign up for the protocol the production of coal will be smaller and they would lose money. I also know that the United States has a lot of population and industries that release a lot of carbon dioxide emissions but they don't want to sign up for the Kyoto because of it's industries and the harm that it will make to the economy.

This is my last research post and that's why I cant write about how I am going to expand my topic. I will use all the information that I have researched earlier to film a wonderful documentary. I hope that the students from the United States and Malaysia do a great job in the poems and the effects.

The Kyoto Protocol

As I had said in my last post, the next thing that I would like to research on is organizations that fight against global warming. One important organization that I founded interesting to research on is the Kyoto Protocol. This are two cool links that I found about the Kyoto Protocol: To visit the first web page click here. To visit the second web page click here.

In my research I found cool facts that I would like to state. The 160 countries that are involved with the Kyoto Protocol need to reduce their carbon dioxide and greenhouse emissions; that is their goal. This is the professional way to describe their goal or objective: "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system." This agreement was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan. That's where the Kyoto Protocol's name came from. Australia nor the United States have worked to reduce the greenhouse emissions event though they have signed up for the protocol. I think this is really bad because the United States is one of the largest countries in the world and also has a lot of population so they send a lot of greenhouse gas emissions which produce global warming. In the BBC News web page I found that the United States is the world's top polluter!!! At least the United States has a group of students that want to be part of the Kyoto Protocol. This group is called the Kyoto Now!. Canada has increased 20% of it´s emissions during the last 17 years. When Russia signed up for the Kyoto Protocol it strengthen the protocol and made that 55% less greenhouse gases were sent into the atmosphere. Each country's goal must be achieved by 2008 to 2012. The actual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions must be higher than the 5%. The most developed and industrialized countries must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by a 10%. Some countries use a particular way of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. They practice "emissions trading" which is the buy and sell (trading) of emission credits among the countries themselves.

What I thought about all this information about the Kyoto Protocol is that it's really good to know that at least 169 countries around the world are working against global warming. I think that this 169 countries should convince the remaining countries so they also help reduce global warming. I think that even a small group of people from the remaining countries should convince their own country to sign up for the Protocol. It would be great if the United States and Australia sign up. This would help a lot because the United States is one of the biggest polluters of the world. I think that if the United States ever signs up, it would happen the same as when Russia sign up; it strengthen the Kyoto Protocol. I don't think that Australia pollutes a lot because it is well known for it's fauna and not for it's industries. Sydney could probably pollute. I also don't think that "emissions trading" is a fair neither good thing to do. I think that the Kyoto Protocol would not get anywhere if this continues because there are some countries that send less greenhouse gases than others so these countries would sell their credits to other countries that do send a lot more of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

What I would like to research on next is about the United States and Australia. Why haven't they signed up for the Protocol? Do they have any small groups that are working against global warming? Do they send a lot of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere or not?

How To Reduce and/or Prevent Global Warming

I found a very interesting article called How To Reduce Your Greenhouse Gas Emissions on del.icio.us in a page called wikiHow. This article gives steps of how to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. The greenhouse gas emissions are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone. This are the main causes of global warming. The adding of carbon dioxide or methane in the atmosphere will increase the temperature on Earth's surface. The greenhouse gases could also produce the greenhouse effect which can lower 30 degrees Celsius of temperature on Earth. Earth would be uninhabitable if something like this happens. This web page gives steps of how to reduce global warming around the house and garden, on transportation, during a diet, at the cash register, and in your community. Water conservation can also reduce and prevent global warming.

Here are some steps on how to prevent and reduce global warming around your house and garden. Don't use a leaf blower because it would make your get a little of sun and oxygen.Also avoid using other yard work tools. Soil fertilizers are made from fossil fuels so don't use them either. Plant a tree or trees because they will store carbon dioxide. Repaint your house with latex paint instead of oil-based paint because it will release fewer harmful fumes while drying. Buy appliances that use less energy (ex. Energy Star label.) Sign up for renewable energy and if it is not available ask why not. Get a home energy examination. Move your thermostat 2 degrees down in winter and 2 up in summer. Unplug your things when you are not using them. Turn off lights when they are not in use. Replace your light bulbs with fluorescent ones. They will save carbon dioxide. If you are not going to use the computer for a while put it on stand by and don't shut it down. Buy durable products. The last step on how to prevent and/or reduce global warming is to try your best to save water.


You can also prevent global warming by transportation methods such as buying a bike. A bike is helpful because it conserves the oil resources and it doesn't pollute. Walk to nearby places instead of driving. When you are on a trip to far away places use public transportation or travel with someone else, as in a carpool. Organize your labors so you do every one of them on one day. Use less gas because they come from fossil fuels and fossil fuels can send emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Use new ways of diesel, such as bio diesel which comes from animal fat.

During diets, buy local-produced foods and use reused bags. Use organic foods because inorganic foods can be produced with the help of chemicals or fertilizers that come from fossil fuels.

When buying something you should buy recycled paper products and certified wood. "The paper industry is the third greatest contributor to global warming emissions."

In your community you can also do things to help prevent global warming. Such things are writing a letter to the editor of your community's newspaper, join a group that is fighting against global warming so they have more force, write to the council and ask for a recycling collection. There are much more things that you can do with the community to help prevent global warming. If you are into this you can get a greenhouse gas calculator to keep track of your greenhouse gas emissions.

I think that there are also many things more that you can use to prevent global warming. You just have to think about it and ask yourself; Is this good for the environment? More questions that you could ask yourself are: Do I want Earth to collapse? Do I want human life to exctint? Do I want to give the opportunity to live happy to other people in the future? Do I want to live longer? Do I want to live the rest of my life happily? Then of asking yourself this questions you should try to answer them and at the same time try to meditate about them. This will help you a lot in the big project of how to save Earth from "melting".

I would like to expand the understanding of my topic by hearing or reading people's opinions on global warming. I would also like to interview people and ask them what they think about global warming and what would they do to prevent it. I would also like to research on the internet for groups or organizations such as the Kyoto Protocol that are fighting against global warming and that are on present day working on the project. It would also be fun to research about groups of students that are working against global warming. It would be super cool to learn their opinions and their methods of how they fight against global warming.

Global Warming Research

My theme for the Teen Life Project is Global Warming in general. As I was looking for some web pages to research on, I found this Wikipedia Global Warming Web Page.

I learned many things in this web page. Some of the things I learned is that global temperatures will be increasing from 1990 to 2100. I also learned that global warming can increase the rise of sea level and can change the pattern of precipitation. Global Warming can also have other causes such as the increases in frequency and intensity of weather events such as floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes, and tornadoes. In this web page I also learned that global warming is the term used for climate change and in this case it is used for recent warming. 1998 was the warmest year on history and the second warmest was 2005. The main cause of global warming are the greenhouse gases which are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone. The adding of carbon dioxide or methane in the atmosphere will increase the temperature on Earth's surface. The greenhouse gases could also produce the greenhouse effect which can lower 30 degrees Celsius of temperature on Earth. Earth would be uninhabitable if something like this happens. The ice-albedo feedback is an important feedback process which happens when carbon dioxide warms earth's surface and then ice near the poles begin to melt. Land or water takes the ice's place but land or water absorb more solar radiation than ice. This causes more warming and this warming causes more melting so the feedback process continues. The Kyoto Protocol is an organization that works against global warming. The science of nanotechnology could also help to defeat global warming. Global warming can also produce ocean acidification which is when carbon dioxide mixes with ocean water and makes carbonic acid. Global warming can also lead to ozone depletion which means that the ozone layer is getting thinner and there are some holes called ozone holes appearing on the ozone layer. Aerosols can also cause global warming by global dimming.

Now that I had read this web page about global warming, I think that global warming can really destroy our Earth. Global warming cannot destroy Earth only by causing the rise of temperature but by the increase of frequency and intensity of weather events. What really grabbed my attention is that there are so little things that we can do to fight against global warming. Not using aerosols could be one way of preventing global warming. Not using refrigerators that produce CFC's could also be a possible alternative of preventing global warming. When I think about this I feel like crying because Earth is so beautiful that I don't want it to destroy. I don't want human life to extinct and I don't want to die either! I think that if every one of us, residents of Earth, would help against global warming, we could save ourselves our at least save Earth.

I want to expand my topic by watching some interesting documentaries and by reading some more articles. Another way I could expand the understanding of my topic would be reading other people's posts. The last idea I would use to understand more my topic would be watching discovery channel programs about global warming or anything related to it.

"Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in arthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations." This is the scientific opinion on climate change.

Respond to Sarah's Blog

For this week's post, I decided to write a respond to a blog. I was looking for a blog to respond to and I saw one that really grabed my attention. It was Sarah's blog. She wrote about poverty, terrorism and stress/pressure. Well, I am mostly interested in poverty and terrorism but in this post I want to focus on terrorism, which is very serious in Colombia.

In Colombia, we have several terrorist groups that make our lives almost impossible. They want to change they way of governing Colombia. Several people that thought this way began forming groups that later ended in a real terrorist group. More and more people began to enter the group so they had more power. They wanted money to take over the government so they started kidnapping people, putting bombs on places, killing people, etc. Practically, terrorist groups are doing such things for fun.

In Cartagena, a counselor was kidnapped for six years while he was jogging on the street in front of his building. He escaped during an attack between the military forces from Colombia and the terrorist groups. He classified himself as someone lucky because he would have probably been killed during the attack and he survived 5 days without food, running in high grasslands where many terrorist camps are. In fact, that man is part of my family.

Now, the biggest preoccupation is that this terrorist group called the "FARC" would take revenge against the man's family and against the country, especially, the military forces, the police, or the government. An attack occurred in a place near Cali, Colombia, called Buenaventura in a police station. This attack was made bu the "FARC" because they wanted revenge. During the attack several polices were killed and also other people.

I don't only know stories about terrorism in Colombia but also in other countries such as the United States and Venezuela. Venezuela is one of Colombia's bordering countries. Right now, Venezuela is in a crisis because they have the worst president in history. His name is Hugo Chavez, and he wants to ally with Latin American countries to fight against the United States. He is spending all the money gained by petroleum on buying weapons and he is giving money to all the people that vote for him and like him. Instead, all the people that don't like him are poor.

My grandfather was once kidnapped in Venezuela. Him, my grandmother, my uncle, and my mom, were coming from vacations in the United States. They were leaving my other uncle in his school in Florida. My grandfather worked in Nelson Rockefeller's farm and they lived in a huge house there. Someone knocked at the door, it was a captain. My grandpa went to open the door and my uncle went after him. The "captain" was not any captain, he was the ELN captain. The ELN is a terrorist group from Venezuela. The captain took my grandpa but my uncle heard everything he told what had happened to my grandma. The captain wanted money but my grandpa didn't have so they said that they wanted Nelson's money.My grandpa was took to the house of the man that fixes the garden and he asked the man for the keys of his jeep. The captain and the rest of the group took the jeep. My grandpa and the accountant, which was also kidnapped, sat in the back of the jeep. Both of them were took to where the safety box was but neither the accountant nor my grandpa knew the code to open it.They had a shotgun in their stomach and they were very scared. My grandpa told the captain that the only person that knew the code was the secretary so they went to find the secretary. The secretary was so scared that she gave the wrong code and the ELN couldn't open the safety box. Finally, my grandpa and the accountant were left free. Fortunately they were only kidnapped for four hours. This kind of things can leave marks on people as they did to my uncle who was about seven years old. Every night he went crying to my grandma's bed because he was scared.

I also know another terrorist story that happened in the USA. A boy was with a friend in a car and they stopped in a groceries store to buy something. There was another girl which the boy already knew so he went to talk with her. She was in a van with some other guys. The van's door opened and someone took the boy inside. The van left. The boy´s friend thought that the boy had gone with the girl and that he would come again. The boy´s friend was preoccupied so he went to the boy´s house and told the boy´s family about the situation. The boy´s family decided to separate and look for the boy. One of the boy´s brothers received a call from the kidnappers and they told him that they wanted 30 thousand dollars for the boy. The boy's family contact the FBI event though the kidnappers told them not to. The FBI had organized everything with the boy´s family to capture the kidnappers. The boy´s brother would leave the money in a empty parking lot and then the FBI will capture the kidnappers or at least some of them. That was what happened but the boy didn't appear. The boy was in an apartment with the rest of the kidnappers and he was shot. The FBI and some detectives couldn't fin the boy. One day the boy was found laying on a street and badly hurt. The ambulance came for him and took him to the hospital but he was so hurt that he died. Later, the FBI could capture some of the other kidnappers but there was one missing. The FBI is still looking for him on present day.

Now that you have read my post, you know how serious could terrorism be.

Hanging Out

In the Teen Life Project Wiki I saw two questions about Social Environment that I wanted to answer. These questions asked: Do you have any special places where you and
your friends can go and have fun? If you do have special places where you and your friends can go and hang out, how often do you go, and how do you feel afterwards? Well, my friends and I usually have fun at the Club Cartagena, at the campito, at many restaurants, and at our houses. We go to these places once or twice a week. We feel very tired after we had gone to these places. This days are long days of socializing (taking), and walking.

The Club Cartagena is a super cool place to hang out because it has tennis courts, a micro football court, two pools, and two restaurants. Many people go there throughout all the week. I go to tennis classes at the club from Mondays to Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:00. The Club has four tennis courts and people use them all the time. The courts are also filled of people that come to see their children play and nannies that come to take care of their little kids that also have tennis classes. I love to go to tennis classes at the club because I encounter with my friends from school. They are called Valeria, Valentina, Isabella, and Juan David. I also like to go to tennis classes because I get to see little kids that are very cute. I have become special friends for them. During my tennis classes I meet new people from other schools; I think this is very cool. For me, the most important thing about tennis classes is socializing with other people.

Some other people don't go to the club to play tennis but instead they go to play micro football. Going to play micro football is another cool plan to do, especially for the boys. They all meet there and play a couple of games until they get tired. Some boys usually go to the pool after the game. The pool is mostly used on Saturday and Sundays when adults don't go to work and students don't go to school. People mostly spend half of the day at the club taking a bath at the pool and then having lunch. That's what I do with my friends sometimes.

The "campito" is a micro football court that many teenagers go to because there's a softball field, a desert stand, a pizza stand, and a groceries stand around there. Girls come to eat pizza and a milkshake with Oreo cookies and vanilla ice cream while they see the boys play. The "campito" has organized two tournaments, one for boys, and the other one for girls. I just want to add that the seventh grade boys won the male soccer tournament. Right now we are having the female soccer tournament. Girls from all Cartagena will be competing. I just like to go to the campito because of the great pizzas and milkshakes.

Personally, I think that our houses are the best place to hang out with our friends. We don't cover any risks of being kidnapped, mugged, or anything like that. In our houses we could see movies, lean back, order food, play games, use the computer and talk freely. We are very relaxed when we go to each others houses. When my friends come to my house we can do may things more than what we do in the other houses. My house is special because it is located in front of the beach and it has a pool and a park. I have a kayak so when my friends come to my house we take the kayak to the beach and row for some time until we get tired. When we get tired we go to the pool and play some pool games. Then we go upstairs and do something else as watch some TV or play other types of games. My friends and I always have much fun at my house. At Natalia's house, one of my friends, we often see some movies and then walk across the street to the "campito". We also have much fun there. At Juliana's house, another friend, we spend some time at the computer and then we go to "El Otoyal" which is a restaurant specialized in hamburgers or we go to the Club Cartagena. At "El Otoyal" I don't order a hamburger but I order a meat "pincho" which is a kebab. Meat kebabs are delicious at "El Otoyal". At Sara's house, another friend we talk until we get bored and then we usually go to McDonald’s or Crepes and Waffles which are near by. At Mari Pau's house, another friend, we don't go so often. I haven't gone there in years.

As I have already mention, we go to eat at places such as McDonald’s, Crepes and Waffles, the Club Cartagena, the "campito" and "El Otoyal", but we also go to El Corral. El Corral is another restaurant specialized in hamburgers. In El Corral I order chicken fingers which are not so good. That's why I don't like to go so much to El Corral. When I go to Mc. Donald's I usually order a happy meal because I don't like fast food so much. Fast food is usually cold and it makes you fat. Instead, Crepes and Waffles is a healthy restaurant and they serve you warm and delicious food. Crepes and Waffles also have delicious deserts but we mostly have the desert at McDonald’s because it is cheaper.

As I had already told you, my friends and I go to these cool places once or twice a week. We always go on Fridays and sometimes on Saturdays. After going to these places we feel very tired because we get to our homes very late and after a whole night of socializing and walking. I think that what makes us tired is that throughout all the week we have been doing many projects and homework and our Fridays we need to rest. Another thing that makes us tired is that throughout all the week we have been sleeping very early to wake up early in the morning to go to school and then on Fridays we are breaking the routine.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Paulina and I study in the Colegio Jorge Washington of Cartagena, Colombia, a beautiful city located on the coast along the Caribbean sea. I live in a cool apartment in Castillogrande, our neighborhood, in front of the beach. In the apartment I live with my mom, dad, sister, cat, and a maid. My cat is five months old, he is a pussy, little, cute persia. I know that is not usual to have a maid living at home but this people need a job because they are very poor. My maid gets vacations from Saturdays to Sundays. In my free time I practice tennis which is my passionate hobby. I practice it in the Club Cartagena with a couple of friends. After tennis classes which end at 5:00, I go home and finish my homework. When I had finished my homework I eat and then go to bed. On weekends I usually go to my farm which is located about 20 minutes from Cartagena. In my farm I have four dogs that I love very much. I have a lot of fun in my farm but what I like to do the most on weekends is got to the beach, the pool, or the Islas del Rosario.

My 7th grade English teacher is called Mr.Hide and he assigned us a cool project called The Teen Life Project. In his speech about this project, he announced that we needed to choose an issue of our world today that we minded about. He also told us that we, the seventh grade, were going to work with other students from many parts of the world such as Malaysia, Canada, and the United States. When he told this, I got very excited. Our first step of the project was making this introduction. In here we needed to tell the other students what are the issues that we mind about.

The first human issue that I mind about are wars. I think that is something criminal and unjust, many innocent people die. I have never understand why are wars formed. Do they have a reason or all what they want is to cause damage to the the country and to this people. Many people get affected by wars and mostly the familiars of the people who die. It should be very sad to know that someone had died in a war defending his country.

The second issue that I mind about is sexual abuse and physical abuse especially in my country, Colombia. In Colombia many bad people force women and young children to have sexual relations with them. This had become a serious problem because kids think that sexual abuse is normal and some are being paid to have sexual relations with men. In the worst cases a woman can abuse of a men. Other bad people practice physical abuse where they hit and torture others causing them a lot of damage. There was one case in Barranquilla, a close by city from Cartagena, that a women lost her baby because her husband punched her all around her body.

The third issue that I mind about is poverty and all the causes of it. Someone that is poor doesnt have enough money to support their family, they cant have an education or give their sons an education, they suffer from hunger, they dont have enough money to pay taxes, they dont have enough money to buy clothes, they dont have enough money for a home, and they dont have enough money to pay electricity, gas or water. People like this ones dont have opportunities in life.

The environmental issues that I mind about is that the ozone layer is getting thinner because of CFC´s that are produced by refrigerators. If the ozone layer gets thinner more rays can enter to Earth's atmosphere and touch the surface causing skin cancer and global warming. Global warming is kind of melting the planet. The poles are melting and they are giving more water to the oceans. Global warming is causing Cartagena to sink. Cartagena is officially sinking also because there are lots o buildings being built and there´s a lot of weight on it's surface. Global warming is causing fishes to die and to move to a deeper area where the water it's not so hot.

Another environmental issue is deforestation. Many beautiful forests are being cut down to make paper and furniture which benefits us but they do not benefit the animals that live in the forests that are loosing their homes. In some way way deforestation doesn't benefits us completely because trees are the ones that give us oxygen and if people cut down trees we would have scarce oxygen.

My biggest preoccupation is that if humans, residents of Earth, don't take care of our planet, It would soon destroy and collapse killing everyone.

My Trip To Punta Iguana

The idea of going to Punta Iguana, a club in the island of Baru, started when a friend was inviting me to go there with her. At school we had been talking about the idea but wedidn'tt com to an agreement. One night, I asked my mom if she would let me go to Punta Iguana and she said "I will let you go but then what is the rest of the family going to do? Whydon'tt you tell her to invite the whole family?" The next day at school I told my friend if she could invite the whole family and she said "ok, I will talk with my mom." I was hoping that I could go either with my family or with my friend but I wanted to go.
One night my mom was talking with my friend's mom and their conclusion was that the whole family could go oneweekendd and then my friend could invite me, only, on the other weekend. So we got prepared to go to Punta Iguana.
I love Punta Iguana because you can do many sorts of things such as snorkel, fish, ride kayak or water bikes, sail, and play in the beach or pools. What I like to do the most when I go there is to fish because there is a long pier surrounded by rocks where many sorts of fish live and there is also a small fort but it's not such a good place as the pier. The pier is very comfortable because at the end there is a kind of bench with a wood rough where you could put all your fishing tools or even rest.
We went to Punta Iguana by car but it was very fun because it had rained and there had formed huge and deep mud holes where the water reached about 1/3 of the car. I felt like in an African adventure through a Safari. Sometimes the car tilted downwards because the drivercouldn'tt see what was below the water.
When we got to Punta Iguana I was very excited and Icouldn'tt wait to dive into the pool and slide through the water slides. I looked for the cabin's key in the reception and I went running with my sister to find the cabin. We put all our things in the right place and went to the pool, we had lunch, went to the beach and fish. One day I got scared while I was fishing because one of the employees got a dangerous eel but he threw it back to the water and then I went to fish again and caught a couple of fish.
During my stay in Punta Iguana I made some friends from Barranquilla, SantaMarthaa and Cartagena and I even met coincidentally with some familiars that were cousins of my grandmother.
I think that Punta Iguana is a great place to go during short vacations and is also a good place where you can relax. The cabins are very comfortable, with air conditioner and t.v. The food is also very good, of first quality. The services are the best and they arealwaysy available for your use. I would really like to go again to Punta Iguana, I always enjoy it a lot even though I don't stay for a long time.

The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street

"Understand the procedure now? Just stop a few of their machines and radios and telephones and lawn mowers...Throw them into darkness for a few hours and then you just sit back and watch the pattern."
"With few variations. They pick the most dangerous enemy they can find... And it's themselves. And all we need to do is sit back... And watch."
"By no means. Their world is full of Maple Streets. And we'll go from one to the other and let them destroy themselves."


The meaning of this closing comments is that the aliens are controlling Maple Street and the residents don't have the least idea of what is happening. The aliens were the ones that turned on Mr. Goodman's car and that turned off all the electricity in the street. They were the ones that turned off and on the houses's lights. Any resident was guilty for all this, the aliens were the ones controlling the electricity of Maple Street and even the same people. The aliens act as bad feelings that are controlling the residents. It's themselves, the residents of Maple Street, the ones that are blaming each other and fighting.The message of this story is that other people or even your feelings can control you and your life without noticing. If you try to solve problems in a positive way you can suceed but if you solve problems blaming each other without kwowing the truth you will certainly not suceed. Everyone needs to have a possitive and a conflict manager way of thinking. I think that this story was made to reach beyond the mind of the espectators so they could know that you need to control your life and yourself, don't let fear and prejudice control you. Sometimes you don't seem to notice but its happening that things are overtaking you and are changing your attitude and your relationship with other people. In the worst cases, many serious problems will result because there are so many things controlling you that someday you will explode.

I feel that this message is useful in any aspects of life and is also very important. I also feel that this message can help me improve me as a person because we have discussed this message in class and I really know what is the story trying to tell us. We should tell everyone about the importance of this message so they could also have the opportunity to hear it, everyone needs it. I loved to learn this message by reading Monsters Are Due On Maple Street because I liked the way that the author of the teleplay made us know about the message. I think that this message still has significance today even though this story was written in the 1960?´s because many peopledon'tt think before acting and are getting controlled by their feelings, they justdon'tt know what's happening. Messages should last for ever because it isalwaysy good to receive some suggestions and messages that would help you improve in your attitude and way of thinking.

If the play would be updated I would change several things. One of those things would be that people would have know at thebeginningg of the play that itcouldn'tt be an electricity failure because the electricity never goes all of a sudden in such a dramatic way. Every city would have had an electricity power plant to replace the gone electricity so theelectricityy cant never go, there will always exist electricity in the cities. It alsocouldn'tt be a meteor because there would be a very dark sky because of the dirt lifted when the meteor hit Earth. The equipment affected by the blackout would be ipods, laptops, computers, televisions, photocopiers, scanners, printers, palms, walkmans, stereos, cellphones, microwaves, refrigerators, air conditioners and much more. The story could have been setted in a developed city such asTokyoo that has many technology and many people. Tommy would have know that the aliens were the ones causing the problems because he would have seen a discoverychannell documental where it talked about aliens and that they can control whatever because they have extremely advanced technology. With a remote control they can control the whole planet's electricity.

Help!

"I love this forest and I love Mars, we are so happy here," said Mr.Bunny. "I know but it's getting late to go to work, we have lots of carrots and lettuces to harvest," said Mr.Turtle. "Wait I want to see my children play." "Oh well, I'll see you there."

"The police reported five missing animals, where could they be?" said Melchor. "I don't know," said Mr.Bunny, "it's the first time that something like this happens."If more missing people are reported you should stay with them at home but there's no problem now, they could be camping in the tall pines." "Okay, call me if someone else is reported missing." Don't worry, I'll protect all of you residents of this beautiful forest."

Many stores were seeing their security's video tape because the missing people were last heard to be in a store. There was something strange there, something like a dragon.

"Yes, a dragon!" said Melchor. "Someone needs to react rapidly," said Mr.Turtle. "We don't have enough bunnys to help us harvest the crops and there is only a small amount of food." "I am going to be the hero, I am going to get this dragon and send him far away to Pluto," said Melchor.

Melchor started to investigate. He once saw the dragon that was kidnapping the bunnys and he followed the dragon to a weird cave. Melchor had discovered that Gerferd, a terrible monster ordered the dragon named Elliot to bring him bunnys for his dinner.

Melchor was spying Gerferd when Gerferd came up to him and said "What are you doing in my cave? If I see you again I would kill you and I would destroy your planet completely." " But you need to stop taking our rabbits, find food somewhere else!" said Melchor. "You dont talk to me again. Bye forever !!!!" Gerferd screamed.

Melchor went running away, he was afraid that Gerferd would kill him. Even though Melchor was away from Gerferd he could see everything Elliot and Gerferd were doing because he had supervision.

Melchor decided to dress up as a Dragon so he could win Lucifer's attention and then it would be easier to get to Gerferd. Melchor could change Elliot's way of thinking so Elliot became a good person. Melchor and Elliot now worked together to send Gerferd to Pluto where he could be very far away and never to return.

"Hurry up Elliot!" Melchor said. "I am coming," Elliot responded. "We are so lucky that Gerferd is asleep so we need to act rapidly," said Melchor. "Ok, I´ll get the high speed traveling spacecraft."

"Got it. Now place him carefully without waking him up." Elliot said. "One, two, three. All ready, now turn this spacecraft on and say goodbye." "Bye Gerfered" said Elliot. "Ha, ha, ha... there he goes never to return." Melchor said happily.

Now Gerferd was living alone in Pluto and there was happiness in the forest and in Mars. There wasn't such a dramatic loss of people in this forest of Mars again.

Through the Hot Sahara

I just read an interesting article about people in Africa that travel through the Sahara desert to trade salt for gold or gold for salt. The first thing that amazed me was that the journey was 450 miles, I think that is pretty long!! The temperatures are really high, I dont understand how a human being could walk across the Sahara wrapped with robes and turbans all around his body. I would never do that kind of trips. Those Africans need to be very srong to support the high temperatues and the lack of fresh water. Another thing that surprised me when I was reading the article was that it said that camels could last a whole month without water, I wouldnt last even a day without water.

I think that Africans are such great workers because the Europeans once had them as slaves so they learned how to work hard and how to win their independence by working together. I would honor Africans because they are people that suffered very much and they got discrimanted by others especially the Europeans. Africans need to have rights as everyone does and they need to be respected even if they are people very different from you.

If you are buying salt in Timbuktu, Africa, it's good to think how much work the people needed to do to find this salt. This happens as well with king crabs of freezing oceans, many people die in this jobs and they need to suffer very much but at the end they dont gain the money they deserve. Miners and camel-drivers make a living by the markup price or the money they gain when they sell the good to another person. For example, if you buy a bag of salt by 2 dollars and you sell it by 4 dollars, the money you gain is 2 dollars.

I think this is an unfair system of selling goods across the Sahara because you work more than what you gain. The system should be that you work the same than what you gain. Many people also have an unfair working system but we cant do anything about it, they choose the job that they want to do.

There is a good thing happening and it is that there is forming a new way of selling goods through lorries. I think it is a great opportunity for miners and camel-drivers because camels take a month to cross the Sahara but lorries, or trucks, only take a week. I dont think that people will continue walking across the Sahara, this tradition will disappear in a few years because so many people will be shipping their products in lorries or by boats through rivers such as the Niger River.

Joey Pigza.

I have been reading a book in Spanish class called Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, it talks about the hyperactivity of kids. This story makes me think that how could a child be so hyperactivity when he is trying to control himself. Sometimes you do things that you don't really think of and it may cause you problems. This doesn't only happen in hyperactivity but with normal persons like when you hurt someone's feelings and you didn't knew that this person felt bad and that what you said was wrong. This is a lesson for everyone: to think before acting because if you don't think well what you do, it would sometimes result in great damage.
I think that Joey wants to grab the attention doing this strange things such as swallowing a key but he just brings more problems. Joey needs someone that would make him feel important and that would give him love so he recognize what he really is. If I was her mom or teacher I would have maid sure that he has at least one friend to hang with, a sport or an art where he can express his feelings. I wouldn't keep Joey from not doing things that his classmates or other people can do because then he will feel terrible and he would like to grab the attention again. I wouldn't fix hyperactivity with drugs because then that person will be sad all day long and it is like there wasn't any more solutions to the problem and there really is.
I really don't know the exact explanation of how Joey acts the way he does, I just think that this problem or sickness passed from generation to generation because his grandmother and dad had also hyperactivity. Maybe when Joey was baby he played too much or had another similar problem that could affect him with hyperactivity for a long period of time. The only thing that I am sure of is that kids with hyperactivity want to grab everyone's attention.
Joey makes me think of a special boy in school that I know, he is not the way he wants to be and he is always grabbing the whole school's attention. This kid that I know says weird words from a sudden and he laughs all day long. One time a person told me that this kid hopped on the library's tables and danced. Kids like him and Joey need great parents that would teach him manners and how to behave properly. This kid wants to be popular and cool but nobody likes him, he is known in the whole school for the stupid things he does. He talks to strangers and says whatever he has in mind.
I would like to study more things about hyperactivity because I would have like to handle this strange boy and help others that have the same problem. Maybe later on I would become a psychologist or something, I have the talent to go well with kids.

A Terrible Holiday

Once I lived a terrible holiday, it was December in a farm in Panama. I was with all my family including 1 cousins, uncles, parents, and grandfathers. We had a great week in the farm and all what we did was ride in motorcycle. The farm was very 2 pleasant, relaxing, and urban. We had a stream that flowed near by and sometimes we went there to have a very cold bath. Other times we did picnics and we also went to find adventure walking or swimming along the stream. Every day in the early morning we went to the barn to feed the pigs and to milk the cows. My uncle worked at the farm in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening. He also 4 jogs, he travels, and he cooks.
5 No, this is not the terrible thing, it all started when my dad decided to skate. He said that he was a skater in the university and he knew how to handle the skateboard really good. My cousin that was a skater, tried it first. 6 Picking up speed, he balanced himself moving from one side to the other. My cousin was a professional. Then, it was my dad's turn, he wasn't nervous at all but I was. My dad hopped on top of the skate and headed to the end of the steep street. I saw that something wasn't right, few seconds later my dad was in the ground all scratched and hurt. His problem was that the skate couldn't support his weight, and he didn't balanced side to side as my cousin did.
We picked him up very carefully and we went very fast to the farm to heal him. This was very bad because it was Christmas eve and the next day we were going on a trip to a nearby island. For me it was very sad seeing my dad in those terrible conditions while I was having fun.
7 Whenever we were going to the beach, I stayed with him to make some company.
Me and some other family members took care of my dad for the rest of the vacations and believe me that is not so cool. 8 Back in Cartagena, my dad was healthy again.

1. Series of objects.
2. Series of modifiers.
3. Series of phrases.
4. Series of independent clauses.
5. Introductory yes, no or interjection.
6. Introductory participial phrase.
7. Introductory adverb clause.
8. Introductory prepositional phrase.

Cartagena during this season...

In October people have a very mean way of thinking. The city gets noisy and very disorganized because of Halloween. One thing that is very common during this time is a type of firework that we call "buscapie" which means feet finder. People of all ages light them for fun especially at nights were they cant be seen so much. I don't know why October is so violent in Cartagena, people start kidnapping, stealing, and killing others. I always prefer to stay at home relaxed seeing movies or something like that. I had known about people in school that have been victims of robberies where they get fooled by robbers, we always need to have some security rules such as not talking to strangers, not giving out your personal information and not being with people that you suspect from. It is also important to call the police and know it's number when something happens to you or you are the witness of some case.
In October the candidates of miss arrive to Cartagena when the new miss will be elected so there is also some a source of disorder in that. We are famous for the carnivals, parades and parties that we make. Each representative is on a wagon decorated with many things and she is disguised as something typical of it's region. Because we have beaches and bays we also make water parades where each candidate waves at people from a boat. In all this "parties" Cartagena residents and other people throw water and flower to other people, sometimes they throw things worst than that. The participants also enjoy Cartagena's hotels and beaches while they have pictures taken.
All this things would make this beautiful city a mess but we also have a major problem that is that the tide is getting higher and higher every day. The streets are almost not transitory and in every corner you would find a big "lake" of water. Maybe this has to do with "el ni?o" when the climate is kind of crazy.
The making of the movie written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez also affects Cartagena because there are many famous actresses and actors in the city. People are making castings so they could be an extra or something. In the movie Cartagena should look like if it was in the 1800's so the streets of downtown Cartagena had been changed, there are like tents around the streets. Women are dressed with long dresses and men are dressed with jackets and ties.
Some times there is a lot of traffic because of the new transport of fast buses that is going to be called Transcaribe. The city is redoing the streets so the buses can have it's own path.
There are other many things that are affecting Cartagena but this are the main ones.

Problems

I like to solve problems making a compromise where the people in the problem give up something but at the end they are all happy. Sometimes a bad habit is to say bad words but this is very difficult because in Cartagena we do that a lot. Other bad habits is to kick or punch the person, I only do that with my sister that is 11 years old. When I am under pressure I often use the strategy of walking from the person and leaving them discussing alone. A strategy that I sometimes use when I have time to reflect is to think first what I am going say or do and then act. This helps a lot and it would be good that I could do this when I am under pressure.

I had a problem very recently with a friend when we were in tennis classes. I had finished doing the laps around the court when I asked my friend this stupid question: "isn't that shirt a pajamas? Because I have one that is very similar and it is a pajama..." She told me "don't be so rude!! You are so bad educated!!!" and she gave me a frown. I was in shock, I didn't know that it would be such a thing, but she was right. This person told what had happened to a friend so I was left like trash. I felt really bad about what I have done. I didn't need to ask her that kind of question, it was my mistake. I try to fix my mistake by offering her some water and treating her like if nothing had happened. I think this person is really cool and I hope that she still likes me after this situation because I like us to be friends for ever. I learned that I need to think what I am going to say not one time but two or three times. Also I need to say:"would I like someone to tell me that?" and if not I wont tell her what I was thinking.

Novembrinas

On the next vacations we are planning to go to Santa Marta and to the Tairona park. I haven?t visited Santa Marta but some people had told me that is very cool. The weirdest thing about Santa Marta is that it has 2 climates: hot and cold. At sea level or near the beaches is hot and at the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, which is a mountain, it is cold.
Santa Marta is also known for the Indians that live in the Sierra or in the Tairona park. Once those places were dangerous because the military groups were stabled in those places to kidnap or do any similar things to people. The problem is that I am a little scared and I don?t want to go but my mom says that if we die will die happy and that she wants to go no matter what. Another option is to go to Medellin or any other part in Colombia, we don?t want to get out of the state. I would like to visit Medellin again because I have only visited once when I was about 6 years old and I don?t remember anything about it. Susana and Natalia Y had told me a little bit about it because they have paisa blood. Someone that is paisa is someone that is from Medellin. I would like to go to the farms in Rionegro or to the shopping malls which we don?t have good ones in Cartagena. What I am sure about Novembrinas is that we are not going to stay in Cartagena because many people will come for the election of Miss. Colombia and it would be a disaster.

My Reflection About Blogger

I think that the idea of creating a blog was very good because we could learn how to edit and how to correct our mistakes. It was a really good chance for us to have someone like Mr.Hide that could teach us how to use technology in a good way. All the students in seventh grade are almost experts in using Blogger and I think this would help us very much in the future. When I first heard our teacher telling us about blogger I thought it was going to be hard but is all easy,
I really like it.
Mantaining my blog is not such a big deal. About four times a week I entered to my blog to make two posts andd three comments. It is easier than I thought because the ideas are fluid and is easier to write in the computer than by hand. You dont get so tired and if you plan your days and hours and use them wisely you could finish all this work rapidly.
I feel that bogger is a really safe place to post things, you can change the settings to make your blog even safer.With Blogger you can do many things that other sites cant do. It is a good website because it shows the date that you published your post and it is also actualized every week. I like the fact that if you find an error on your post you can edit it so its right. I also like that other people can make commments to my posts because that helps me to see if I am doing a good post or what things do I need to improve.
My feeling of Blogger has changed from the beggining because I am discovering new things about blogger that are helping me to improve my posts and are changing my prospective.
I think that the technical aspects are amazing because I never thought that you could make links to another post or another webpage. Blogger is very serious, formal, and organized it s not a simple web page where you post things, you have technology involved.
What has amazed me during my Blogger experience is that is very popular and people all around the world are using it. This week I received an e-mail from a cousin in Bogota that was using Blogger to take people's comments of the new logo of Davivienda. This is what surprised me because I thought that blogger wasnt so common.
In Blogging I learned how to posts pictures, how to create links to other websites, how to use apostrophes, how to make comments, and many things more. Iam thankful that I learned all this stuff because it will help me in the future.

A Disgusting Story

When I read The Three Skeleton Key, one part of the story reminded me of my last apartment. Three men that lived in a lighthouse were getting invade by rats, it happened to me when I lived in the Villa Del Mar building. The situation was similar because in both stories the people that were affected were desperate because there was a bad smell and the rats were leaving poop behind and made a lot of noise. I think it was a disgusting story and I could imagine me being in the worst situation ever living with the rats. I think that rats are disgusting because they can live everywhere like in the underground sewage system or in the garbage. Rats carry many bacteria so they can be disgusting and harmful too.

I am having problems understanding why did one of the characters in the story was sent to an asylum. I thought that rats could be harmful but not as harmful to change his mind and make him crazy. Maybe that character was having really bad nightmares that made him think that the rats would eat him alive and that he would die. I can imagine how serious and crazy this character needed to be for the people to sent him to an asylum.

The New Pet

Since my sister turned 11 this Tuesday, September 12, my mom decided that her birthday gift would be a white ,Persian cat. She had been dreaming of having this cat for about a year. When we went to the United States, she bought the collar and a kind of house for the cat. She had everything except the most important thing which was the cat. We looked for cats but they were too expensive but my cousin's boyfriend had bought a cat in Bogota for a cheaper price. Finally we decided to buy it but there were only two options that were only a week old so we have to wait twenty days until the cat is big enough to come to Cartagena. My sister was very happy, as I was too. The only person in the family that it's not so happy is my dad because he doesn't like to have animals in an apartment. We will be waiting anxiously for the cat to come.I am waiting for him to come and I hope that he won't be a problem.