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Today I realized next Friday is a holiday and therefore, thought...Oh no....No class next week, too bad. It made me think and  I’ll write to you about a thing I find funny about our culture.  I remember when I grew up I had only heard about Halloween in books. But we celebrated all saints day and sometimes would visit relatives at the cemetery. I am not sure when in the past few years, things changed so drastically, all I know now is  in Santiago from children to adults all celebrate an initially  “Irish celebration”. I do understand with globalization it was only a matter of time before this became a huge thing but if you look at the rest of Latin America, none of the countries participate as actively as Chile does.

I suppose I would not mind it if we also celebrated some important indigenous  dates or local dances but I feel my issue with this is that  we are always embracing things which are so foreign to us and not paying attention to what is right here. I do understand we have a need to party and are always looking to have a good time, and I think this responds to a very sad fact; People are always tired and many of them unhappy in a very unequeal society.

how do you guys feel about this?

Okay Blogheads,


This week you have a free post.



Write 250 words about something you care about, find interesting or like a lot. It could also be something you dislike a lot, from the most simple thing to the most complex. Remember to give some structure to the text.


Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates. I will start writing now.

Today we are going to write about something very interesting.

It has been hard to choose because I am often reading more than one thing at the time.  I read the newspaper, academic papers, stuff on meditation, essays, my students' blogs, etc. 

I started reading about the brain some years back when I studied language acquisition and education = learning processes.

However, later I decided to read beyond linguistics and education, and bought a really interesting book called “Mind map” The book I am devoting most time to at the moment is called “The emotional life of your brain” It is written by a neuroscientist (R. J. Davidson) and a health and science journalist (S. Begley).  I suppose I am reading it out of pleasure. The book is about different research done on the human brain and the different emotional styles, how genetics and environment influence them and how they develop. It also includes  the mind – body connection. Although I have onlt read about 80 pages, I'm really enjoying seeing how certain personality traits can be linked to certain hormones released in certain areas of the brain and some of these processes could be modified if there is will. It is  fascinating.. Chemical processes were never thing at school but now it is fun. It also touches “abnormal “ conditions such as autism, which I find interesting.

I think I am enjoying it because there is no pressure involved. I just read a while before I go to sleep or during the day if I have the time.

Write about something you are reading at the moment.

Say

What it is called

Which genre it is ( novel, academics, manga, newspaper, blog, etc)

Whether you are enjoying it

What it is about

Include anything else you find relevant.

Here is a link if you are interested in your brain

https://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih2/addiction/activities/lesson1_brainparts.htm

Write a minimum of 220 words and 4 comments on different class blogs.

Just in case you did not see the previous assessment explanation (22/8).

On this post, I will explain how the blog work will be assessed.

Two marks will be averaged. Mark 1 is for continuous assessment (i.e. coming to class and posting IN class).If you come to class & write the right number of words, plus the ideas your are asked to express AND comments, you get 2 points. If you don't come to class & post from anywhere else within 24 hours, you get 1 point. After that there are no points, but you can still write for the sake of learning & because of mark 2.
Mark 2 is for 2 particular posts that will be evaluated in terms of (ideas (n° of words), word range & grammar). If the post is not there when it is marked, you get a 1.0 for that post. These 3 marks are evaluated and give an average final mark.

Ps: You can use www.wordreference.com but NO translators. If you do the latter, you get a 1.0 & no points for your post. The worst of all, you don't learn. :(

MARK 1 +MARK 2= /2 = FINAL MARK

These two marks will be averaged and will give your final mark :) If you have any doubts, let me know.

Well, to me celebrations are most of the time a reason for fun. I remember one time in 2003 I was invited to the city of San Juan in Argentina, and it was something more or less spontaneous so I just got a couple of things and left. When we got there, we were received by some friends’ family members and after a while left to meet some friends of my friends. The following day  was December 31. They told us they would have a little celebration and we were invited, too. Since I was a vegetarian, I told my friend that my (back then) boyfriend and I would only eat salads. She said “no worries”.

On the actual 31, I just grabbed a couple of trousers, a T shirt and left. I remember I was kind of excited to celebrate New year’s eve in Argentina.  We got to the place and realized it was not a small party. There were many tables and many barbecues. We had a few glasses of champagne and chatted to different people. To my surprise, the starter for the evening was half a chicken, YES, half a chicken per person. I could not believe it. When they saw we would not eat, they said. "No problem, we’ll sort if for you". Half an hour later, someone arrived with the biggest fish I’ve ever seen in a barbecue. Massive, just for my boyfriend and I, which we had to eat since it had been bought especially for us. The meal was really nice with a lot of friendly people. Then midnight arrived, and I don’t think I had ever greeted  and hugged so many people at a party before.

All in all, it was a really memorable occasion. We talked, we danced, and we laughed and had a grand time with a bunch of strangers.

Write about a memorable celebration you can remember.

Include:

When/Where you were

Who you were with

What you did

What made it special

Include any other info you can

Write a minimum of 250 words. Write a comment on your teacher's blog and 3 comments on your classmates’ blogs. Add a picture if you like.

Today's post

Hi everyone:
I'd like to talk about a good friend of mine. I met Ivonne in around 2000 because she was my sister's classmate at Uni and they were pretty close. Later, my sister left to live in the UK and I didn't see Ivonne again until around 2005. I am not sure how we got in touch again but I am glad we did because I feel she is really nice company. I like talking to her about anything because most of the time she has wise words to tell me. Plus, she has a great sense of humor and is a very active woman.
I'd say we have various things in common. We like music and arts in general, and we share our sense of humor & love for animals. We don't eat them! I really enjoy our evening meetings to have a drink and play music. Ivonne plays the guitar magnificently and can pick like few people I have met. But she is very humble about her guitar playing and that is nice too.
She is a lawyer, but one of the smart ones who will always tell you about the details of the legal actions you take. Furthermore, most of the time she knows what is going on with the laws they will pass or if they already passed them and how they affect us. It is a pity we only see each other 3 or 4 times a year.

Write about a good friend of yours:
Say:
Who it is,
How you met,
What things you have in common,
How often you see your friend.
Put up a picture if you like (Mine is pending!)
Write at least 230 words. Leave a comment on 4 classmates' blogs .