20 facts about me.

1) I was born on a Tuesday.

2) My sign of the zodiac is Pisces, that is why I am very empathetic and sensitive.

3) My favourite number is 18 since childhood.

4)  I want to learn German and Russian.

5) When I become old, I want to be able to say that I have seen the whole world.

6) I overthink about almost everything.

7) My number one fear is losing the people I love.

8) I like to think that coincidences have a special meaning.

9) I have a good memory, for better or for worse.

10) I would like to design my own house one day.

11) I like horror movies but I cannot watch them alone.

12) If I could choose a super power, I would choose the ability to fly.

13) I have no tattoos but I have always wanted one.

14) My laugh is contagious.

15) I will never tire of watching The Lion King.

16) I want to go on safari in Kenya.

17) My personal motto is: ‘live like there's no tomorrow’.

18) Before I die I want to go to a Lana del Rey concert.

19) I love the smell of rain.

20) Before I reach the age of 20, I want to make one of my dreams come true: to swim with dolphins.

What makes you happy?

How would you reply to somebody asking you ‘What makes you happy?’ I have been asked many times if I was happy or how happy I was, however only one person has dared to ask me what makes me happy. To be honest, it took me a long time to answer since I had never thought of it before, but even so, I managed to answer properly. Do you want me to tell you what my reply was? All right, if you insist, I will do it. ‘For me, happiness is to achieve my purpose after being fighting for it for a long time, especially when nobody believed in me or trusted me; to be close to the person I am in love with as well as to share unforgettable and precious moments with him; to see my whole family gathered; to know that my sister will always be there for me and that she will support me unconditionally; to walk down the street and that an unknown person smiles at me or to get into the car and that my favourite song is playing on the radio. For me, happiness is that moment in which everything is absolutely fine and I feel that I do not need anything else because I have everything that I want. I wish happiness could be permanent, but I suppose that it was not meant to be gained and maintained so easily.’

Zoo animals deserve a better life.

Last weekend my family and I decided to go to Madrid (it may sound unbelievable but it was the first time I went there) since Monday and Tuesday were public holidays. Visiting a city as big as Madrid and managing to see almost everything you want to isn’t an easy task, however, we made it. For instance, we visited the Prado Museum; the Reina Sofía Museum; the Retiro Park, where I took a picture of the statue of the Fallen Angel; the Casa de Campo, which is five times bigger than New York's Central Park; as well as its zoo. I must confess that it was also the first time that I went to a zoo and I have no intention of going back there. It saddened me very much to see hundreds of animals living imprisoned, far away from their families and natural habitats. Those people who defend zoos assure that they are places destined to protect the animals which are in danger of extinction, but the truth is that in these sites there are also many species which, fortunately, are not endangered. Therefore, the main goal of zoos is to exhibit animals from all over the world, as if they were artworks. A visit to any zoo is enough to realize that the animals are stressed, unhappy and bored. I do not mean that the people in charge of looking after them do not do their work properly, I mean that these animals do not feel at ease due to the fact that they have been deprived of their liberty. They are living beings which, like us, have got feelings and therefore they suffer. I do not want to even imagine how awful it must be to live always into a cage. From my point of view, the best way of saving the poor species which are endangered is imposing financial penalties and putting the poachers in prison. Furthermore, I strongly believe that it would be better to create natural reserves in the zones where these animals live instead of zoos. In this way, they would be in their natural habitat and protected 24 hours a day at the same time. However, there are other animals, such as polar bears, which are endangered not only because of the hunting but also because of the global warming. In this case, I consider that it is appropriate that some specimens live in captivity so that the species do not become extinct. All in all, it is necessary to take measures to avoid that animals such as Sumatran elephants, polar bears, rhinos or Siberian tigers become extinct, since it would be a pity if within 30 years the only possible way of seeing these animals was through photographs.  

A letter to my future self.

Dear future me,

By the time you read this letter, I hope you stay the same. Always be proud of yourself and don't change for anyone. I hope you have learnt from your past mistakes and that not everyone will be there to pick you up when you fall. Never ever give up and be strong when things get tough. I hope you laugh every day and you make others smile. I also hope you are doing something that makes you want to get out of bed in the mornings. Did you finally go to Australia? I hope you have made most of your dreams come true, like visiting all the countries that you wanted to. Make millions of photographs although you are not a professional photographer because those memories will be some of the best ones of your life. I really hope you don't be afraid of anything, always remember that you can handle whatever comes your way. I hope you keep doing all the things that made you feel alive. I want you to live like there's no tomorrow and your heart to explode with joy.

Never stop exploring. Never stop loving. Never stop trying. Never stop dreaming.

But above all, I hope you laugh when you read this letter, sweetheart, because it will mean that you will have done all of this and more.

Love,

Me 

Punctuation marks.

1. The men in question (Harold Keene, Jim Peterson, and Gerald Greene) deserve awards.

2. Several countries participated in the airlift: Italy, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.

3. ‘Only one course was open to us: surrender,’ said the ex-major, ‘and we did.’

4. Judge Carswell - later to be nominated for the Supreme Court - had ruled against civil rights.

5. In last week's New Yorker, one of my favourite magazines, I enjoyed reading Leland's article ‘How Not to Go Camping’.

6. ‘Yes,’ Jim said, ‘I'll be home by ten.’

7. There was only one thing to do - study till dawn.

8. Montaigne wrote the following: ‘A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself.’

9. The following are the primary colours: red, blue, and yellow.

10. Arriving on the 8:10 plane were Liz Brooks, my old roommate; her husband; and Tim, their son.

11. When the teacher commented that her spelling was poor, Lynn replied: ‘All the members of my family are poor spellers. Why not me?’

12. He used the phrase ‘you know’ so often that I finally said: ‘No, I don't know.’

13. The automobile dealer handled three makes of cars: Volkswagens, Porsches, and Mercedes Benz.

14. Though Phil said he would arrive on the 9:19 flight, he came instead on the 10:36 flight.

15. ‘Whoever thought,’ said Helen, ‘that Jack would be elected class president?’

16. In baseball, a ‘show boat’ is a man who shows off.

17. The minister quoted Isaiah 5:21 in last Sunday's sermon.

18. There was a very interesting article entitled ‘The New Rage for Folk Singing’ in last Sunday's New York Times newspaper.

19. ‘Whoever is elected secretary of the club - Ashley, or Chandra, or Aisha -must be prepared to do a great deal of work,’ said Jumita, the previous secretary.

20. Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) caused a great controversy when it appeared.

21. We had a great time in France – the kids really enjoyed it.

22. Some people work best in the mornings; others do better in the evenings.

23. What are you doing next weekend?

24. Mother had to go into hospital: she had heart problems.

25. Did you understand why I was upset?

26. It is a fine idea; let us hope that it is going to work.

27. We will be arriving on Monday morning – at least I think so.

28. A textbook can be a ‘wall’ between teacher and class.

29. The girl’s father sat in a corner.

30. In the words of Murphy’s Law: ‘Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.’

The purpose of education.

What does education mean to you?  For me, education is much more than simply sitting in a classroom lecture or knowing what you can do and how you can do it. For me, it is the ability to grow and mature, that is why it is so important and necessary. Education gives us a chance to have personal achievement and professional development, and to contribute to the greater good of society. However, our educational system is a complete failure because it is badly designed and it is variable, since it changes depending on the party in government.

One reason the current educational system fails is because it is unable to maintain the students excited about their own learning. From primary school, children are taught to memorise, to study the same words which appear in the textbook. Other elements, such as creativity, are not valued. And at secondary school, especially in the latest courses, students are tired of studying, of devoting numerous hours to learn things which many of them are unnecessary and useless. They just memorise everything in order not to fail their exams.

The big problem that our educational system has is that it varies every four years, when the party in government changes. This method should be removed because it does any good. One solution to this problem would be that all politicians gathered and discussed about which system is better. They should also ask the students of all ages which system they prefer, since students are the ones who have to study.

Some proposals to improve the system are: a personalized teaching based on the needs of the student; to make the most of the taught classes so as not to do additional work at home, in this way, students will be happier because they will have free time; and fianlly, creating a system which achieves that students enjoy learning. This could be through experience and practice. However, it would be necessary that the government invests money in education instead of cutting back it.

All in all, education is something essential and vital in order to have a bright future and so that a country can be developed. Nevertheless, our educational system is not the appropriate and the people in charge of the government do not use the necessary means to improve it. They need to understand that to pass the exams is not learning.

                                                                                                                     

Christmas is coming.

My favourite time of the year is… undoubtedly Christmas. Are you wondering why? Although this question seems straightforward to answer, I do not know where to start, but I will try. I love Christmas so much for hundreds of thousands of reasons, and even though I would really like to let you know all of them, I cannot because it may take several hours. I can guess what you are thinking right now and you are wrong, I am not exaggerating at all. Well, I am digressing from what I wanted to talk about, aren’t I? As I was saying, I like Christmas because it is when I write my wish list for next year, I draw up a balance about what went well this year, what went wrong, and what needs to be improved, and I suggest several plans and activities to carry out during Christmas time, too. I love putting up the Christmas tree while there is a Christmas movie on the TV, decorating my entire house, listening to old Christmas songs and carols, as well as snuggling up with a blanket while I drink hot chocolate. I also love its atmosphere full of cheer, joy and happiness, and to see the city streets lighted and the shop windows decorated with coloured lights and Christmas trees. But what I love about Christmas above all is the fact that my whole family comes together, since I miss them, we laugh a lot and share great moments. To sum up, the end of the year is always exciting for me because I have endless things to do, but at the same time, it also saddens me to see it end.