What would you do..?

"THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF"

Franklin Roosevelt

Hi people. How are you? Here I am, I'm catching up with the blog. I think this is one of the greatest tasks we've been asked during the Teaching Training Program. I really enjoy it! 

Well, I had been trying to find a thought-provoking topic for the blog during the weekend but nothing really catchy came to my mind. 

But today, while I was coming back home from work by bus, I was caught by a quote that is written in one of the walls of our city. I always see the quote when I go by, but I've never paid very much attention to it. The quotes says: "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" (In Spanish , of course.)

The quote got me thinking the whole way back home. However, I couldn't find any personal answer to the question. I want to do many things in life, I AM A DREAMER as Lennon put it. 

I want to be independent, I want to work a lot, I want to keep on studying and developing some skills, I want to have some spare time to do all the activities that fill my soul and make me feel alive, I want to TRAVEL THE WORLD, I want to follow the process of construction of my own house, I want to be a good mom and have a "perfect" family. I don't know. I want EVERYTHING that could make me happy. Nevertheless, I still don't have these things because I think it's not the time yet, it's not because I'm afraid. 

I think I'm only afraid of little bugs and those tiny and flying insects, ha ha. 

So, as I don't completely believe in my not being afraid of anything I would like your comments to be full of questions in relation to this. Questions like "are you afraid of...?" "Aren't you afraid of..?" Or things like these. I will definitely answer and I will thank you for making me think about it.  And I also would like to know about your fears, if you happen to have any.. :)

Hope you like it. 

See you then. 

Bye :)

Unplanned plans

If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.

George Bernard Shaw

Have you ever realized that the more you plan, the less things work out? It's incredible. It seems there's someone up there or down there or wherever observing you and witnessing how hard you work for things to go the way you want and then this being says: "Sorry, but I'm gonna mess everything up". 

This can be analyzed from different perspectives. On the one hand, this is something positive. This has the factor of the unexpected which, sometimes, can be surprising and great and can light up your day or, why not, your life. A clear example of this is what happened to me last night. 

I finally came back home after work. It was 8.30 p.m. My mother commented me that she was going with a group of trekkers to Cerro de la Cruz. I've trekked this hill several times so I said: "Ok, nice! Have a good time". But then I realized that I had never trekked at night. Suddenly, this idea crossed my mind and I decided to go as well. I invited my boyfriend since we didn't have any plan and most of the members of my family went too: my aunts, my uncles and my dad. It was an unforgettable familiar experience. The weather was good to us, even though there were some parts in which the wind blew us all haha. We had some sandwiches when we reached the peak. We listened to music, we talked, we laughed. The conclusion is that this wasn't planned and everything was OK. We had fun and wasted some energy at the same time. 

(Good for you, Carl)

Now, I work really hard during the week, I study a lot and try to be responsible and fulfill all the requirements. Taking this into account, you can imagine how much I wait for weekends. I do everything I can during the week so as to have free weekends. I don't plan anything I just want to rest and enjoy my free time. Well, this unknown being that seems to enjoy ruining everything appears from time to time. I would like to ask him/her/it why? Why are you so mean? Why don’t you let me enjoy my weekends!

What do you think about this? Is there a similar being in your lives?

Fortunately, there is something good about the unexpected and unplanned. I'm not completely against this and I receive with a huge smile everything that can bring something positive for me. However, I hate it when it happens that you are striving for something or waiting for something and you work hard to get it and this being says HA HA as Nelson from The Simpsons does. 

IT'S SATURDAY, SO THERE IS A CHANCE YET. The weekend is not over. Everything can change in a day.

Thank you for reading

See you soon, girls! J

(I add a photo for you to see how beautiful the view from Cerro de la Cruz is)

OUR TIME

Hello there!! How are you doing? I'm quite relaxed I must admit and I don't know why. 

I enjoy so much posting in my blog and commenting yours and I hate the fact of not being able to post when I have to: On Fridays. 

This is related to TIME. The time that we don't have or the time we have but we don't know how to allot to our daily activities.

But, first of all, what is time?  I share with you this definition of TIME taken from Wikipedia (such a reliable source, but well, we all go there from time to time, haha)

"Time is a dimension in which events can be ordered from the past through the present into the future,  and also the measure of durations of events and the intervals between them"

Now, have you ever thought about how relative the concept of time is in relation to each individual and the context in which we are? I always complain about the difference between the duration of hours during the week and the duration of hours during the weekend. Technically, there are 60 minutes in an hour. However, it seems hours are looooooonger when we are working or studying and when we are having fun time flies. This is completely unfair, don't you think? 

Time dimensions also depend on the people and the moment they are living. 

For instance: Some of us are about to graduate, right? And, technically we'll be "free" in two months. Now, TWO months is just two months, 8 weeks or 60 days. No more than that, no less than that. But FOR ME, and for sure for the rest of the girls, two months is like TWO DECADES. WHY? This may happen to most students. The last two months are the busiest ones. We have to hand in billions of practical works, assignments, and we have to deliver oral presentations and finish our practicums, and then we have the colloquiums, the final exams, and .. and... and.. EVERYTHING IN TWO MONTHS. So, two months seem to be so far away from us and maybe, for a person that has an ordinary routine two months is nothing in comparison to the whole year. That's why I'm saying it depends.

What follows has nothing to do with my reflection about time. The thing is that I love IDIOMS and IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS. It's really hard for me to learn them. That's why I try to add some of them to all my writings. 

Here you have the ones that I learnt today. 

TIME AND TIDE WAIT FOR NO MAN. This can be applied to those moments in which we have to hand in something and we wish time to stop for a while. It's impossible because time and tide wait for no man. 

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Time+and+tide+wait+for+no+man

LIFE IS SHORT AND TIME IS SWIFT. We have to appreciate our time and our lives because they are not going to last forever. 

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Life+is+short+and+time+is+swift

TO HAVE A WHALE OF A TIME. When I finish the training program and I go on holidays I'll have a whale of a time, haha!

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/have+a+whale+of+a+time

QUALITY TIME. You know this one. Even when I'm running out of time or I am in a rush I try to spend quality time with my people. 

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/quality+time

RACE AGAINST TIME. That's where we are. 

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/race+against+time

TO HAVE TIME TO KILL. That's what I want!! 

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/have+time+to+kill

SEE YOU GIRLS AND HAVE A GOOD TIME!

SECOND PART

Hi Girls! How are you doing? I’m fine. REALLY REALLY TIRED. I’m waiting for this year to come to an end once and for all.

As you know, last Wednesday, Nadya and I gave a presentation about interesting facts about the animal world. Did you enjoy it? WE CERTAINLY DID. The presentation was supposed to last half an hour and, of course, we couldn’t talk about everything we found out on the web. That’s why I decided to post the TOP 5 of the EXCLUDED from AMAZING AND INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE ANIMAL WORLD THAT MAKE OUR WORL WONDERFUL (The title of our presentation, remember? Haha)

Let’s start.

NUMBER FIVE

SEA HORSES (hippocampus)

Beautiful Creatures. I know we included this animal in our presentation, but I wanted to add more information. We said that they are monogamous life mates and travel holding each other’s tails. Another interesting fact, which Valeria mentioned in class, is that the male is the one who carries the eggs.  Take a look at this explanation.

“Male seahorses are equipped with a brood pouch on their ventral, or front-facing, side. When mating, the female deposits her eggs into his pouch, and the male fertilizes them internally. He carries the eggs in his pouch until they hatch, then releases fully formed, miniature seahorses into the water.”

Here, unlike most species, the male is the mom. Really interesting.

Source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/sea-horse/

(Just in case) Brood pouch: a saclike structure in any of various animals, such as the abdominal receptacle marsupium in marsupials or the cheek fold in rodents  http://www.wordreference.com/

NUMBER FOUR

GEESE

These animals are well-known for the long-term relationships they have. It would be great to believe that they have a never-ending love just for LOVE’s sake. But the truth is that they have this agreement, let’s say, in order to maximize breeding opportunities. However, they are not always faithful. They tend to engage in extra-pair mating. Just like some humans, right? Haha

Source: http://ingenira.hubpages.com/hub/Do-Animals-Fall-in-Love

NUMBER THREE

HORNED TOAD

Even though the name is HORNED TOAD, this animal is, in fact, a lizard. “The short-horned lizard is often referred to as a “horned toad” or “horny toad” because its squat, flattened shape and short, blunt snout give it a toad-ish look.” Interesting, uh?

Now, you won’t believe what’s next. I couldn’t believe it when I read it. Imagine when I actually SAW it. THESE ANIMALS SHOOT BLOOD FROM THEIR EYES AS A DEFENSIVE MECHANISM. Yes, girls, that’s what I’m saying. And, as I know this is hard to get , I added a short video for you to picture it.

Source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/horned-toad/

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI5t_VmHWWI

NUMBER TWO

PENGUINS

Penguins are beautiful to me.  While searching the net, I found out that they have a lot of fun. How do they do it? They do TOBOGGANING. What’s that? Look at the picture! They slide on their tummies over the ice and the snow. Of course, this has a more useful function. Penguins use this part of their body to travel more efficiently.

Source: http://facts.randomhistory.com/penguin-facts.html

NUMBER ONE.

GIANT GOLDEN-CROWNED FLYING FOX (or Acerodon Jubatus)

The name of the animals says it all, doesn’t it? Ok, I’ve just realized that the name just confuses everyone. This is A BAT! Of course, the largest bat in the world. And, as human beings are always there ruining everything, this not-ordinary-at-all animal is on the verge of extinction thanks to poaching and forest destruction. Take a look at the images. Rare, uh?

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_golden-crowned_flying_fox

I’ve enjoyed pretty much writing this post, I hope you enjoy it as well.

I will be looking forward reading your opinions, your reactions, and everything you want to add.

See you soon!