Alligator River Story

There is a story that I really like it every time I read it, and I use it when I have to teach the topic about moral and values because I consider that the story is suitable.

The short story is called the alligator river. It has 5 characters. The story says that there is a couple, Gregory and Abigail, they were in love. but they were separated by a river that was full of alligators. The bridge that connected the two lovers was destroyed by storms.

There is Sinbad, it was river boat man, so Abigail went to talk to him in order to help her to cross the river, however, he offered to help if she accepted to go to bed with him. At the beginning she did not accept the proposal. After that, she went to her friend Ivan, but Ivan did not want to get involved in the whole situation. So, at the end, she decided to go to bed with Sinbad. He kept his promise, and crossed her to the other side of the river. 

Once there, she talked to Gregory and explained to him what she had to do in order to be with him. Gregory got furious, and rejected Abigail. She was heartsick, and she talked to Slug, a friend of hers. Slug went to Sinbad and beat him. When Slug was beating Gregory, Abigail was happy and laughed at him. 

I like to discuss this story with the students because they mention what character they consider is the guiltiest one and which one is not. They express what things each character could have done in that situation according to their perspective. Recommendations and suggestions are always welcome in the discussion. We can highlight the good and the bad things about each character. It is a great idea to say that there are not bad and good answers because everyone thinks differently. 

There are similar stories that we can use in class with the purpose of teaching values and morals. 

Studying Techniques

The way students study might influence in our results. In terms of studying, there are a lot of factors that we can take into account in order to success and achieve our objetives. Some of these factors are the environment the students are and the way pupils eat.

I had students that mentioned that if they might have studied more, they might have a better grade. But, when I asked them, where do usually you study? most of answers agreed. The common place for a teenager to study is in their room laying on the bed.

According to studies, people should study in a place where they feel comfortable, but the body must have a good posture, otherwise it could be very difficult for the brain to focus when it has to think about finding the correct posture even when we are not conscious about it.

At the moment of studying students should have all the needed material.They must be in a calm place; some classic music can help the brain to be focused. The better conditions students have, the better resutls they might get. 

The other factor to take into consideration is the way students eat. It is not a secret that everyone needs a healthy life style in order to be have a well performance in different fields. Some students are not well nourished, and this aspect clearly affects the way students study. If students are hungry, their brain is trying to fulfill that need, and it is not paying so much attention to what pupils are studying. There are a lot of students that barely eat because of his economic condition. In most of those cases, their grades are affected. According to nutritionists people should eat at least 5 times a day; each meal should be well balanced in order to provide all the nutrients our body needs for its well performance.

They are more aspects that determine the results students have in their studies, but the ones mentioned before are quite important and they are on top in the list. 

If students change some of the aspects in their daily routine, they might have good results. 

Meryl Streep

It was 2011, and Mary Louise Streep, best known as Meryl Streep received her Oscar for her outstanding role in the Iron Lady. 

By that time Meryl Streep had received 18 Oscar nominations, more than any actor or actress in history. 

Before this, Streep had received other 2 academy awards.

In 2014, She got her 19th Oscar nomination. This places her in one of the most successful actress in Hollywood, but Meryl had become a successful woman way before that time.

In 1995, she participated in the Bridges of Madison County. Although she had already acted in many other movies and won many awards, she got her biggest recognition with this movie.

By that time, Streep had won two Academy awards, one for Kamer vs Kamer in 1979 and the other one for Sophie's Choice in 1982. but according to many critics say that her fame started after that.

In 1978, Meryl Streep got married with the actor Jhon Cazale. They had been working working a lot when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. 

She has been filming the French Lieutenant's Woman when he died.

6 months after her husband had died, she got married with Don Gummer. They had been married for almost a year when they had their first kid. They had 3 more children after that. 

Meryl and Don are considered as one of the strongest couple in Hollywood, since they are still together.

Nowadays, Meryl Streep has been more active than ever. She is an outstanding actress, a producer, a singer and a presenter. The show business has considered her as the greatest-living actress.

This year has brought many changes to my life, however, I have tried to stick with the things that I am used to doing.

At the beginning of the year my father died. Even though it was not difficult for me, It was for my mother. We had to help her with the mourning period.

Then, after being working for 5 years in the same place, I was relocated. I started working in Alajuela. This year has been very difficult to me since I live in Cartago. I spend a lot of time driving. So this year I have been behind the wheel so much time. Situation that with the rainy season has increased because there are more traffic jams. Besides all that I have been tired and exhausted lately because the load of work is a lot.

This year I wanted to study something else; that is why I got into the university to study photography. I have been taking two courses, introduction to digital photography and photoshop I. I have been learning how to use the camera properly and different techniques in order to take good pictures.I have been motivated; however all this is time consuming, and when I put everything together, work, commute, university, exercise, and family; the situation is tiring. 

In the past recent days, I have been feeling excited and happy; since I got a tenure for next year. I am going to be working a place near home. Knowing that has made me happy.

This year is almost finishing and I have been planing my vacation period. I am going to travel to Miami and Chicago; so I hope to visit all the landmarks that I want.

I know that we can'y foresee what is coming but next year I hope to continue with all the projects I have.

We Have to be Ashamed

Costa Rica is a beautiful country; it is a wonderful destination if someone wants to get away from big cities and be in a relaxing spot

Costa Rica has been known as a paradise. Its beautiful beaches that are international well-known, its great diversity of flora and fauna, its weather that makes your vacation quite comfortable, but not everything is what it seems. This small country differs a lot from the image the Costa Rica’s government wants to sell and from what ¨Ticos¨ sometimes show off.

Every year, in rainy season, there is a magnificent natural phenomenon at Ostinal Beach.  Hundreds of thousand sea turtles come to the shore to nest. Once at the beach, the turtles drag themselves, dig a nest in order to deposit the eggs, and then they return to the ocean. 

This natural process do not occur all year long; there are periods when the number of turtles increases significantly. Due to this, Ostinal is the only beach in the world where harvesting the eggs is permitted. However, people have abused, and over the past years this whole process has become a circus.

In September 2015, the number of people who went to the beach was surprising. People crowded the beach, and without any consideration or care. They walked along the shore when the turtles were dragging themselves or digging a nest. 

All this process was interrupted, a lot of sea turtles were disturbed and they returned to the sea without completing the nesting. 

Authorities are concerned about the situation, but the sad part is that we have not heard a solution for this problem.

How much longer do we need to understand that we are putting animals in danger, and if we do not do something about it, we will regret it.

Source:

http://www.ticotimes.net/2015/09/09/crowd-tourists-costa-rica-prevent-sea-turtles-nesting

This week I am quite excited because this coming Saturday I will be starting my photography courses at the university.

As I mentioned in the other entries, photography has been one of my biggest interests and now that I am about to start makes me feel motivated.

In two years from now I will be taking pictures as a professional photographer. My idea is to have another activity to do and to have my own business related to it. 

I really like landscape and urban photography, so in a long term future I will travel around the world capturing the beauty of our natural environment and the extraordinary things that human beings have built during centuries. 

In terms of my current job and career, of course that I am not planning to quit teaching. I like teaching english, and I will continue doing it. 

Another activity that makes me feel alive and active is exercising. This year I am into running and cycling a lot because any time soon I will participate in a duathlon competition. 

Next year if i have time, I will continue swimming, because someday I will love to participate in a triathlon. 

In my life there are a lot of projects that I would like to accomplish. The problem I have is that in some moments I have no time to do everything, especially when I want to do all at once, but I know that I have to be patient and step by step I will get things I want.  

This is a picture I took some weeks ago at Florencio del Castillo Highway

Sixaola: A place to remember

When I think about my childhood, I do not have a lot of memories, but what I do remember is the place we used to visit every vacation. 

My parents had a house in Sixaola located in Limon. My father worked as an engineer at Chiriquí Land Company, in Changuinola, which is near Sixaola and my mother had a bar and a small hotel there. 

During every school year we did not see our parents very often because we were studying in San José and they were working in Limon 

We used to live in Tibas because my parents had a house there. An aunt and my grandma were taking care of us while we were living there.  

That was the reason we usually went to Limon for vacation. Once there, we used to spend time with some other kids there. We would play with them all the time and we would go to the nearby beaches. 

When I was 9 years old, my mother decided to move to San José because she wanted to spend more time with us. My father could not do it because of his job, and they both left someone in charge of the family business. 

When my mother decided to move to San José, my aunt had to leave. It was really difficult to see my aunt leaving since she was taking care of us for so many years.

While my mother was living with us, she used to go to Sixaola frequently because she wanted to see my father and she wanted to know how the business was going. 

Nowadays, I do not go to Sixaola. The last time I went there was 3 years ago. It was like a time machine, I had a lot of flashbacks because It has not changed that much. 

Sixaola is not a nice place, I do not like it, but I surely have wonderful memories there.