Happy New Year !!!!

Math vocabulary

Christmas is coming ....

Part 2 - Essential Adjectives

Where are you going?

The most beautiful song made a poem, a reflection that nourishes us and revives the best that there is in our interior .... to give  for no reason whatsover ... to receive without having  wished ... This is the true and greatest  essence of life .. . give light ....  give ...

Handy Adjectives

Gender Equality

Undoubtedly speaking about the differences between genders nowadays, it is like opening Pandora's box, because although many people want to claim labour, social and family rights among many economic policies, paradoxically they resist it.

We can not deny that there are clear differences between genders, the most obvious biological and perhaps psychological ones are usually "manipulated" in some way. Socially, since our parents have knowledge of our gender, a specific arsenal of behaviors is employed towards the new being that will be part of that family.

As a professional in the educational field, I have always wondered if we could develop the same skills in both genders. Being a mother I have been able to put this question or hypothesis to the test. I realize that regardless of our gender a boy or girl can learn to have skills supposedly characteristic of the other gender. The ability to express our feelings is not reduced, or should not be reduced only to girls or women; teaching to be assertive, proactive, resilient is possible in both genders. Likewise, it is also possible to develop spatial-logical-mathematical abilities in girls, but of course if this is possible, something is failing or needs to be done. Because even in the 21st century the work developed by women is undervalued even if it is the same and/or of a higher quality than that of a man.

It would seem that to be a woman is to be destined to choose between professional aspirations or motherhood, and in the best of cases, when these two roles can be balanced, we can see the enormous social pressure that this entails. Nor is there an economic reward for this double effort. In fact, it is inexplicable why an actor earns more than an actress for the same job, why an executive can have unlimited aspirations just for being a man.

These differences between genders are even more marked in my country (Bolivia) as in many others in Latin America. I still do not understand how the percentage of women graduates in universities has tripled and very few or almost none have access to real command posts.

Hypocritically, equality is sought for and even claimed; however, roles and even salaries are defined, the proof is in the pudding: there are more women nurses, nursery education teachers; there are more firemen or pilots, there are more midwives, more maids, there are more men presidents, politicians or businessmen ....

I'm not sure when or how to achieve a theoretical-practical equality, hopefully my daughter or my grandchildren will live it ... but I think in a pessimistic tone that this will take another century or more for it to become a reality.

I really miss this smell

Typica

Free Time Activities

To be honest, when I think of free time, I think of those activities or chores that I have not been able to complete during the week. I realize that my free time in the last years has been focused on family activities with my daughter and husband.

In this sense, I am still not able to get the hang of breaking out of the routine and finding or having time just for myself. I must admit that I love the time when my family goes to bed and the house is completely silent and only for me. Many times, I put my headphones on and start listening to music while I read and / or write. This activity in my free time is very rewarding.

In general, I think my hobbies are not only solitary but also therapeutic (I like doing origami, reading, writing, hiking, making amigurumis, weaving, watching movies in their original version, among others). For this reason, I guess these hobbies do not have a great impact on my current social life. Do not get me wrong, I think I am a sociable person; however, San Martin de Valdeiglesias is okay but nothing to write home about. I can not find the cultural activities that I would like to do in my free time. For instance, when I lived in Alcalá de Henares, I had a group of friends with whom I would read books which later would serve as a debate for movies, then it was great to be able to read the book and then compare it with the movie. Thanks to this group I learned a lot about cinema and literature. I also had another theatre group, who were real culture vultures so with these people I went out to see plays regularly. Without a doubt, the best memory, getting to know the Teatro Real. These friends are simply fantastic, in fact thanks to them I had dabbled in the art of acting,

As well as this, I used to go out to concerts, with another group of musical friends and thanks to them I first went to the most special place for me: Clamores Jazz in Madrid, a place that is as simple as it is varied. And something that I enjoyed a lot, was going to the Irish bar (near to the soportales in the main square) once a week, to speak in English with unknown people, just for the pleasure of practicing my speaking.

Finally, I would like to take up scuba diving, because among other things I love the sea (I come from a country that has no access to the sea), so I would like to feel the sensation of deep diving and, of course, explore the marine world, but I know this is and unrealistic dream. I believe that my second option is more real. I would like to take up transverse flute classes, because I adore its sound, and the music in my life has always been an unfinished business.

Song to wake up a little boy ...

It's funny, but as time goes by, just listen to a melody or feel a scent to inevitably see the sky and think of you ... I miss you so much Dad

There ain´t no mountain high enough !!!

We are about to finish the holidays ;( a time for others full of joy, laughter, play, sea, sand and a lot of sun ... more than I like ha ha ha .... my little girl, this year as always we get warmed up to face a new course, full of challenge and of course learning....

Doping

When I think of any sport that is practiced on a professional level, I consider that it's one of the best ways to be self-disciplined, to learn to work in a team, to learn to give your best effort (people always want to break their limits), to learn that winning is more than being the first; it's understanding that it's part of a hard work process, that losing doesn't mean being the worst or the last, but it could be the golden opportunity that teaches you to see your mistakes as part of your training and/or growth.

However, when an elite athlete reaches his peak of performance and savours the pleasure of being recognized and admired in his discipline, he could be tempted to make this performance something continuous and / or permanent. Or conversely, if an elite athlete, despite what he does, doesn't reach a high level of performance, he could also resort to substances that stimulate and improve his performance.

In both cases, I think the problem lies in the fact that not all elite athletes are tolerant of frustration; considering this type of behavior is feedback from when we are toddlers. Obviously, we all like to win and we enjoy it a lot when we are the winners, because since we are kids, competitiveness is encouraged more than cooperation. Up to a point it's good that we all have the motivation to win, but not at any price. Not everything can go in order to be the first and/or the winner; or not everything should be allowed.

This idea would theoretically be the ideal, but in reality we see in the press that there are many cases of doping in the sports world. On the one hand, I think retroactive punishment of an elite athlete who has used illegal substances, is not ideal, because if you want to modify or penalize a negative behavior it would be more effective if it is immediate. But on the other hand, I believe that it's better to correct an improper act , even if it is extemporaneously: better late than never.

In this sense, the message must be clear: doping to win is cheating, and this act will have a double penalty, at the sports level (suspension of the practice of said sport) and at a social level (the loss of prestige from being a winner to being an imposter). The point is that every person has his own scale of values and priorities.

Consequently, I believe that it's equally or more important to train elite athletes in social skills than simply to develop their sporting discipline. It's so or even more important to learn from error (often losing is part of winning, losing you gain experience, you can develop new and different strategies, you strengthen and temper your character), to understand that as an elite athlete you are fallible, in addition your career has a date of expiration. Likewise, it would be very important to develop techniques of physiological deactivation, among many others, to achieve the full performance of an elite athlete.

I think that if you invest in all these aspects, it would be more effective than the simple punishment and /or penalty of an athlete. And on the other hand, we could break the stigma that falls on some elite athletes: all brawn and no brain.

Days like these, I can't help thinking about you ..... my dear daddy

Last dance?

One of the pleasures of this world of which I could not do without ....  dancing

Summertime

Maybe this is the best summer holiday of my life ...

 I hope not the last  :) 

It's only about living ...

Undoubtedly,  this year was horribilis, from beginning to end,  ... but fortunately, there is always a hope, the one that sustains me and keeps me standing.

The voice!!!!!  Isn't it ?

Through the mirror

They say that energy is neither created nor

 destroyed, it is transformed. 

Perhaps this morning I understood 

this chemical principle much better, 

when the person who woke up next to me 

called me by another name and when I was astonished 

to see my new appearance.

Perhaps, perhaps ....perhaps

Me too !!!!!

It seems a lie that in the 21st century we continue with the debate of what harassment is or is not, what a rape is ... in case it is not clear, you can see the following:

 

“ 2075: A DYSTOPIA … A LETTER FROM THE FUTURE”

I have decided to write this letter, with the aim of trying to understand the relationship of the human

being with nature, with the world that surrounds us, that shelters and nurtures us ...

I have always been taught that: Water is life! This message seems clear and evident; I could not mention any species including the human race that does not need this liquid element as an essential part of its life cycle.

However, this reasoning that seems obvious and even elementary has become a serious problem. Considering that, for the last 200 years, the human being has unbelievably not only abused this natural resource, but we have also squandered it and contaminated it. Nowadays, the rationing of this vital element is inflexible ... we are running out of water !!!, and although our society has progressed technologically, we are still unable to invent water, or another element that would replace it.

I am still trying to understand why you have insisted on damaging and destroying so much of our home. Those who read these words should know that today we know many species only through images or documentaries; millions of species have disappeared. What was the purpose of hunting, fishing and indiscriminate felling of trees? What were you thinking when the ecologists showed with alarming evidence the madness of your behavior with the fauna, flora and nature?

I still can not believe the indifference of your behavior, I cannot believe that economic punishment was not given to those who polluted more, it has not been worthwhile for you to see and feel in your own flesh the natural disasters provoked by the lack of conscience. We have received a terrible inheritance from your hands: a polluted planet, tons of garbage, the melting of the North and South Pole, the disappearance of Spring and Autumn ... yes! we are living or surviving in extreme climate conditions, yes!... Climate change is a real fact; it is not a fairy tale.

I am so sorry to finish this letter in this way, as my intention was to be reflective ... but soon I realized that this was a chimera. Many people tried to tell you at your time that, your active and conscious participation was crucial to modify climate change; and instead, as many of you thought it was not your responsibility, that this problem was only a question of the developed countries, you simply passed the buck!!! ...

However, I harbour a last hope; hopefully my letter will help you to be more aware of your role in the environment.

Cry Me A River

Simply....fabulous!!!

Insult Generator

Yes, it is possible to have class & humour even when you are so angry that your thought does not connect properly; if you have a problem with this, the solution is:

                                        THE INSULT GENERATOR !!! ... 

Probably, using this generator, you have a fit of  laughter   ... in my case, I must confess that I have written some ingenious insults ... I may never say them, but I will keep in mind more than one ha,ha,ha ;)

                                             http://insult.dream40.org

Earth Day !!!

The Starry Night

An unforgettable trip

Maybe one of my holidays of a lifetime was when I went to the Chiquitania (in the East of Bolivia). I travelled there with a group of friends and the man who would be my future husband. As the majority of this work team were Spanish, I thought that it would be interesting to get around to the Chiquitania route for many reasons (cultural diversity completely different from the west of the country, diversity in fauna and flora and above all because of the incredible historical Jesuit tradition of its churches, its architecture, art and music offered by the towns that make up the Chiquitania area).

The first part of the trip was by plane, which apparently did not involve much difficulty (1 hour or so). However, we had the bad luck of losing some of my husband's luggage, which was strange because it was a very short flight and with no flight change. After making the corresponding claim in addition to the paperwork, my husband began this adventure only with the company of his philosophy books. Far from looking like a set-back, my husband took this mishap philosophically (never better said).

Once we arrived in Santa Cruz (the closest city to the Chiquitania) we rented a car, we took on a guide, who at the same time would be our driver, and whose references that had been given to us were great but we certainly did not know him at all. That is how it all got started.

Without any more ado, the first day we could arrive without problems in San Javier, the first town that is included in the Chiquitania route. We were all amazed by the landscape, weather, people, and so on. At dinner we decided to spend the night in the village, especially because one of the team members is a biologist and needed more time to make his photographic record. The funny thing was that the only free place we found was a guesthouse and it only had double rooms. We had no problem sharing the room with the team, until the guide told us in a regretful tone that he would sleep in the car. All of us decided to include him with one of the team in a room ... sorry for the friend who shared the room with the guide, because he said that his snoring did not let him sleep for a moment and that if he repeated this experience he himself would be the one who would sleep in the car.

The whole route to San Ignacio was great, until we decided to stop in the middle of the road to walk and swim a little. By the time we realized, the guide-driver was not among us, nor the car, nor our ID, passports, money, etc. I must confess that I was so scared because we were in the middle of nowhere and I was the only one responsible for this group. Finally and fortunately for us, the guide reappeared and he told us that he had relatives near that place and he had decided to go and see them. Fortunately, nothing had disappeared. On the contrary, we were invited to a very special barbecue with the guide's relatives.

With this fact, life gave me a lesson of faith in some people. I was surprised, not only myself but also the entire team, by the behaviour of this family, that they had not only welcomed us all that night, but also when they learned that my husband had lost his luggage, they gave him typical T- shirts and shirts of the area. We were all thrilled to see so much generosity. It was undoubtedly a night of great surprises including a jam session.

Along the route I was able to learn and discover much more about my own culture and its history. It was also the first time I had the experience of sleeping in hammocks, in a kind of a tatami, of tasting fruits that I had never heard of, enjoying baroque music live, admiring the skill of the artisan carving of each and every one of the churches, to be involved in pre-Hispanic rituals, to get goose bumps when a young man explained to us that Chiquitania's churches were built on a horizontal level because God is among us and not above us, to enjoy dreamy landscapes, to get back to nature and perhaps the most impressive of all of this, to see the most breathtaking sunrises .... what colors!

Our adventure that initially was going to last for five days was extended to ten, and returning to our homes became much more difficult than we had imagined, we had created some bonds that continue right up to today.

El camino del guerrillero

I must admit that since I have lived in Spain, it is not that I now have a chauvinistic feeling towards my country of origin, but yes, I have been more interested in what happens there.

That is why in the few opportunities when there are news or talk about my country I am hooked. Precisely this happened to me last summer, while I was zapping channels, I was amazed to see a scene well known to me. It was the case of a kidnapping that happened in the 90s. Although the film was halfway through, I could not stop watching it.

For this reason, the last time I was in my country, I looked for that video, which left me with a double sensation. On the one hand, that the social injustice that exists in my country is the engine of many types of endless struggles. And on the other hand, that even the "bad guys" can and do have a good side.

The film which I refer to is: El camino del guerrillero, made by Von Andreas Pichler in 2007. The video begins with the news of that moment, reporting the tragic decade of the kidnapping of businessman Jorge Lonsdale in 1990, as well as the capture of some of the members of the armed group Comisión Néstor Paz Zamora (CNPZ) and identifying the leader of said group: Miguel Nothdurfter.

Pichler, far from focusing only on the kidnapping, tries to make the spectator know, and tries to understand what led Miguel Nothdurfter to take up arms. For this reason, the cinematographic work revolves around the figure of Miguel Nothdurfter, a native of the alpine region of the Tyrol, who received his basic training for the Franciscan order in the city of Bolzano. 

In the first part of the video, we can see and meet Miguel Nothdurfter from childhood until his youth, through the eyes of his mother, his relatives, his friends and his teachers. We can see that Miguel Nothdurfter was a charismatic leader, restless and a dreamer. Feeling a call to serve the most disadvantaged, Miguel Nothdurfter was ordained as a Jesuit and then went as a missionary to Bolivia in 1982.

From his arrival in Bolivia he could see and live the worst face of inequality and social injustice from the front row. He soon realized that being a priest was a privilege that contrasted to the way of life of many poor people. And feeling that from that figure of priest he could not reach the working-class and, even more, could not achieve any change, he decided to leave the Jesuits to study sociology and feel part of the ordinary people.

As a university student, he understood the reality of Bolivia and its problems. As a result in 1987, Nothdurfter created the Ejército Patriótico de Liberación Nacional (EPLN) and later the Comisión Néstor Paz Zamora, with the intention of transforming society through revolutionary action.

From this moment Pichler skillfully intertwines the events, (the kidnapping of businessman Jorge Lonsdale -representative of Coca-Cola in Bolivia-, the attack on the American embassy, ​​dynamiting the Kennedy's monument, among many), with the comments of the survivors of the armed group, with the letters that Nothdurfter sent to his mother and friends). The impact of all this is to identify that the armed group was made up of young people no older than 19, 20 or 22 years old. It is compelling to hear their dreams of wanting a different country, their audacity, their loyalty, their fears before those facts and their tragic descent. Likewise, you can detect the lack of experience and naivety they had when facing the police agency.

The descent in many ways was fatal, the death of Lonsdale, Nothdurfter, some members of the armed group, the suffering of Nothdurfter's mother, who like many of us could not stop thinking about whether this fight made sense or not. I was shocked by all the testimonies of the survivors on the other side. But undoubtedly I am disturbed to listen to Nothdurfter still with a very German accent singing the most popular cueca of the country, which says: long live my country Bolivia, a great nation, for her I give my life too, and my heart too.

It is incredible how he loved this country and gave everything he had for a change that we are still waiting for.

A fit of laughter

I grew up in a Jesuit school and for this reason it was usual to prepare and/or participate in the church

services. I remember that once a friend and I had to write the petitions. We agreed that if I wrote them, she would read them. As it seemed a good idea to me, we did it.

The day of the mass, I passed her the paper on which I had written the petitions. When it was her turn she got stuck in one of the words. At first, I thought she had not understood my handwriting; but no, the truth is that in her second, third and other attempts, she still got stuck while reading... The sympathetic priest told her to pass on to the next one. When my friend finished reading, the priest added:  

Lord. listen to our requests and also please we ask you to enlighten us with reading.

I could not help having a fit of laughter and even more so when I saw that my friend also took it with humor. The truth is that this Mass was so prolonged because of the attacks of massive laughter.

The last look?

Logically, since my father passed away, I have not stopped thinking about what it implies or means and what death leaves behind. Being in the house where he had lived his last years, the inevitable was present: to see him in every corner, to await his arrival as not so long ago, to still feel his scent, to get his things together without feeling his absence, or embrace his clothes waiting for his affectionate hug back. His huge collection of Long Plays, as well as his books and plans, or his huge photographic records are the evidence of how he had grown in size and wisdom from childhood until his last days. Each one of his belongings told us who he was, and at the same time they seemed to deepen his absence.

When the spate of memories became unbearable, I naively left his home, to try to forget him. It was an impossible mission, because just as in his house, out of it there was also reason to see him. My father was a very active person, so every corner of the city of La Paz ​​was reason to remember him; his university where he lived and gave his best years, his office, the stadium where he lived as a true fan, his favorite restaurants, the Plaza Murillo where he would read the newspaper so many times or where he would have his shoes polished, churches in which his faith grew, shops where he bought his magazines, the record store, the school where he studied, the house where he was born and grew up ... Maybe what I am trying to explain seems crazy, but even seeing older or young people, was a reason to remember him ... I suppose that I am still unable to understand or accept his absence...it is not true that time heals all wounds!

The good thing about all this was that being with my mother and my brothers, living for a few days in the same house like when we were kids, we started remembering my father's way of being, anecdotes that my mind had already forgotten, his peculiar humor, and in the end, all of us could only see the good things about him. Obviously, there were some not so positive things; that being said, time showed us that my father did the right thing and / or the best he could.

I naively believed the Chinese proverb: eyes that see no heart, do not feel (out of sight, out of mind), so I thought that when I returned to Spain, that pain that my heart occupied in all this trance, would diminish; but on the contrary, I discovered that my dad is in me and it's hard for me to accept that the person who I loved a lot and who loved me most in this world... is no longer ...

Many say life goes on ... and that makes me depressed, because for me life is not the same anymore, at least right now, so I do not feel the same and of course I am not the same person. I can not hold back the tears coming to my eyes in the most unexpected places and situations.... I guess I am stuck with what they call sadness ...

Wednesday, 13rd December

Maybe this day is one of those that will remain so intact and painful in my memory at the same time. I remember that, as always, when I got up I saw my father´s picture, but this time I had a feeling; I'm not superstitious, but I thought this day would bring bad news ... Finally, when I got home around 11.20 I saw that I had a voice message .. My soul shuddered to see that the sender was my younger brother ... I thought, humm he almost never sends voice messages; something had happened ... and indeed, that message was the atomic bomb that just destroyed me on the inside.

The incredulity, the sadness, the rage and impotence took me over; yes, it's true my father´s health was very delicate, but how to accept that he was gone, how to accept his farewell, how to accept that I could never hug him again or tell him I love you, how ...

I remember how my mind almost stopped working, I could not figure out what to do, I immediately called my parents' house, my brothers, but nobody answered, maybe it was the time difference ... but no, they were in the middle of the sad task of the medical paperwork and the death certificates ... only with the help of my husband could I get the ticket for the longest and saddest flight I've ever had.

In less than 18 hours I stepped on Bolivian soil, and of course, how to forget all those occasions when my father waited for me at that airport; even then I missed his absence. The next thing happened so fast, seeing my family broken in pain, seeing his room and his things again, with a terrible silence, with a huge absence, dressing for the wake, and maybe the most terrible thing to see him without his vital energy, without hearing his strong voice.

But it was when I stroked his face, his hair and saying goodbye for the last time when I felt myself dying, when I felt that life no longer made sense; lo and behold, in a spontaneous way when his friends, people with whom he worked and shared a lifetime, began to give testimony to what he was, once again my father surprised me, that rock of leadership, that charisma, the ability to be the best friend and make friends, that headstrong and quixotic attitude of he who gave his life for what he believed, made me feel so proud and blessed to be his daughter.

Knowing that my dad marked the lives of so many people was the best farewell we could give him.

The normality of crimes

A couple of days ago a friend told me about a criminal act. Her friend, an elderly woman who was returning from work at night, was beaten up by a group of teenagers apparently for no reason. This fact made me think that nowadays, crimes seem to be inevitable, like illness, death or pain.

Under this assumption, I would like to present the following argument: If all societies impose systems of norms on their members, these rules would comply to the attempt to serve the purpose of normalizing behavior and prohibit deviations that society condemns. However, since human beings are very different and have tendencies to be original and creative, some of the forms of behavior they undertake will be among the prohibited ones. These prohibited actions range from prophetic statements condemning the existing society to antisocial behaviour classified as "criminal".

As long as a society imposes regulations, it will necessarily condemn actions that ignore those rules. If the punishments against for certain acts, for example -murder, is very hard, the violent crimes in that society can be reduced. Nevertheless, once this has been achieved, attention can be diverted to deviant behaviour that had been particularly tolerated. To illustrate this idea, we could think about a developing society where there is a lot of violence. In this society, differences in the norm of conduct are probably tolerated. But in a highly regulated society as in a class, where violence has been completely eliminated due to heavy punishments, the actions that are considered infractions would be whispering, chewing gum, using the mobile and similar things. In this way while there are rules, there will be infractions. Consequently, these deviations will be considered as regrettable and will be classified as deviant or inappropriate behavior. Therefore, wherever there is a system of norms, there will be deviant behaviour.

Considering the previous reasoning, there will be people who can affirm that human beings are educable and that antisocial tendencies can be eliminated over time. Others may say that as long as the differences are not eliminated, that will be useless. As I see it, all that is needed is for people to learn to be more tolerant of interindividual differences. I just wrote this and the following paradox arises: if, assuming an extreme position, it could be that the real origin of the problem is in the rules themselves, and/or if all of them were abolished and people could manage their free will, would the the antisocial behaviour disappear? .... Humm I just could not find an answer ...