.:My Old Friend Rae:.

My mom was cleaning all the archives and folders we have and while doing so she came across my english book from Australia 2003. She gave it to me and I started glancing at the past and came to find a poem I had written back then for school; it brought back really good memories and specially of school. The poem is not inspired in something that happened to me, it was just a seek through my imagination.However, it has a double meaning that I can relate now to what I was going through back then; the loss of valuable and treasurous things for me.

The Poem goes like this:

My old friend Rae

On the seventh of May
My old friend, named Rae
Contacted me
And we met beside the lake

I found out with a start
She had a problem with her heart
So I tried to support her
But nothing did help her very much

I went to the doctor
And asked him
What can I do!?
The answer he gave me broke my heart in two

So I waited and waited
Until the day came
When finally my old friend Rae
Slowly faded away

In the following days
I missed her so much
That I cried and prayed
For her soul far away

.:Images from the past for those in the future:.

(The importance of paintings)

It was a cold winter under the branches of the peach, pear and plumb trees, were the colours of the leaves combined to portray a dreamed scenario.

The sound of earth’s smooth, soft, comforting breath took care of reorganizing the beauty of nature. The crisp grass gently accompanied the movement of the air; a substance for which the planet exists. A planet that spins with certain laziness around infinite moderate waves of sunlight; sunlight produced by the light of all times, where cotton surrounded the sun in a perfect amount as to combine with the endless bluish sky.

All made part of a picture that had occurred into someone’s eyes as reality, and later transferred into this persons’ mind as a thought, thought a long time ago. This someone caught raw beauty like no one had done before, not even when it came to its loss.

.:Hugs:.

In those desperate times where tears and sadness attach to us, or when we are cold, or just because; there is nothing better than a hug. An action as simple as it is that expresses love, consideration, friendship, protection, warmth; endless meanings.
I wonder; how would the world be if hugs did not exist? Well, we would still have pats in the back, and kisses, and holding hands, and talking, etc…. But no hugs, none what so ever? You can not imagine it. Hugs can mean and express almost anything, from sympathy to sensitivity. They can cheer you up; they can give you strength, warmth, a place that is incomparable.
So why in earth are people throwing them away? Not appreciating their significance? Who knows…? But a thing I am completely sure off, is that no matter how cold, expressionless, shy, careless we are, we will always surrender to a hug!

I leave you with a video that made me think of this. Hope you appreciate it as I did!

.:Radio Program:. Stem Cell Research

Dr. Kirstead is the first scientist in the U.S. to start an investigation to pass embryonic stem cells into humans, by which spinal paralysis could be inverted. The process consists of injecting around 20 million stem cells into the spinal chord. These travel to the damaged area where they enclose the existing cells, enabling the nervous impulse to transmit from the brain to the rest of the body and vice versa.

Stem cells have become revolutionary in medicine, since they are capable of becoming, replacing and reproducing any cell. By these means, any disease could be treated or/and cured. Scientist already believe that syndromes like Alzheimer’s, diabetes and heart diseases can be treated without major operations or medications; just with the right doses of stem cells injected, the illness eventually improves. Furthermore, the progression of fatal diseases may be slowed down and made less severe with Dr. Kirstead’s method.

However, to acquire stem cells, embryos have to be killed. This has caused great ethical problems in between Bush’s government and scientists that are willing all for an exhaustive research on stem cells that have shown dazzling successes on experiments, and expecting so for humans. But Bush has yet not granted permission for the development of the research, maintaining federal funds banned.

In my opinion, as Dr. Kirstead says, we can bring good actions by using the stem cells of those who will be aborted anyways. We can create a better life for those who are suffering, who want to be capable of living independently of others, of useless medications.

In conclusion, federal funds should be unfrozen to allow scientist to proceed with the study of stem cells. By which, they will be able to discover the unknown consequences of injecting stem cells into humans, and also unearth their potential to cure and save us from inexistence.

.:Transition Times:.

Times where you have to start taking important decisions and being more responsible, some may call it growing up are quite harsh on my life at the moment.

Suddenly I see my self in the hideous queue to pay the bills, consulting the doctor and getting analyses done, shopping for groceries by myself to feed our refrigerator, attending parent meetings ‘cause mom ain’t at home, and etc etc; parts of life that will eventually come easily to me because that’s what getting older implies, becoming more responsible and independent.

But then I see I’m only 16 and I’m taking care of many things besides keeping up with school work, and my mind is going bezerk because there’s so much information and concern in it that it’s screaming that’s enough! But it doesn’t end there, emotions appear out of the blue and hey I just let go of the leash; life take what ever path you find ‘cause I ain’t living you.

In one week, 2 deaths; one that hit an unknown feeling in me showing how I don’t even know my self; plus pulling a muscle by doing the most stupid movement ever, being unable to do any physical activity for three weeks, just when I’m head over hills with working out, give me a break!

So hell, I’m physically and emotionally broken and with no support from any side, what could I do? Sit and be sad. But thinking became a much more recurrent activity, what do I want? What am I doing? I want to grow up but my childish side pulls me back, it was so confusing! So what best than to rebel, just go living life as if nothing mattered. But deep down I was screaming for limitations and someone to put things straight.

So then, and finally, mom (I hadn’t seen her in more than a month) came back together with my dad (hadn’t seen him for three months) as a surprise, and at last I tied loose ends (look back into tear heal), got grip of the leash and pulled a stop to the rebellion.

Through this I want to point out how transition times in life are very hard, but though they may bring us right down and glue us to the pavement, there’s always a change of winds and things just fit in its place and get back on track. Now I’ve recovered from wavy and shaky grounds, and I’ve gotten my laughter back, and I have a hint on how to deal with things the next time. Life is full of ups and downs that we must learn to recover from, otherwise things would be just too easy and cheesy.

.:Tear Heal:.

It was one of those days where you wish you were Snow White, just to sleep and sleep and not be distressed by what’s going on outside the glass box.

Somehow I had brought the problems upon myself; somehow I needed to process and think what was going on in my life. I wanted to feel sad, angry and melancholic; deep down inside I desired those cold water drops, hidden in the very bottom of my essence, to run down my face just to get me thinking straight, just to put my cheer back in place.

I, as an observer, got my feet back on the ground when I heard the tear drops crush into my green bed cover; such a beautiful sound; how wonderful the feeling of feeling and manifesting it through a drop of what is essential in our lives. Water, so clear and pure, healing and refreshing, how it gets the dust and sight of being buried far down out, and brings light back into our eyes as soon as they start their trip down through the flesh of our bones and off our prominent and particular features.

In the end I wake up from the so called fairy tale, and take a deep breath that seems as the first, giving me the strength to stand up for my self and confront the outer and inner issues that scared me at first. And as soon as my head makes contact with the soft feathers of my pillow, the sky clears. And before I know it, I’m awake to a new and fresh day, to give the world another chance.

.:Today:.

What am i feeling right now?
Well for starters i'm happy because i had a great weekend and had lots and lots of fun! We threw a going away party with fer for flor, who is leaving tomorrow, going to the U.S. to visit her sister and be there for her graduation. We went to maccas for "dinner" jaja and then to my apartment. Later on we continued our trip towards La Boite (a club). At first it looked as if there was not going to be dull and boring, but later on, it was just packed! we had do much fun dancing and joking around, the music was awsome, just a great night out!

I'm also feeling happy because i'm more open now, and i've been talking more with my family, just letting my self be. I'm getting along with my brother and having more substantial conversations rather than a yes no one. Besides i'm accomplishing some goals i set for myself and proud of it! Changing the way i look at life.

On the other hand, i went to a burrial today so that got me thinking about death and looking back at my past experiences. It also made me reflect, and at some stage i just wanted to burst into tears, just because of the memories. But hopefully i got my head back on track.

In general i am feeling great, and open for new challenges and also for the many tomorrows to come, at least I hope!

Cya

.:Up and Down:.

Up and down,
Like a rollercoaster ride.
One day up,
The other down.

Hey! I seem to be ok!
Such a pretty day!
Oh! Just threw it all!
Clouds black, there was no sun!

There goes the swing,
Up and down.
Fighting all the way up,
Suddenly I’m back on the ground!

I wanna fly!
And reach the sky!
You fool!
Don’t you know the gravitational rule?

So what I do?
When I’m up
I fall back down,
As if I had soap on my feet.

It just takes time
To go back up.
And once you’re there,
You may fall again.

But keep in mind,
Though up and down,
Ain’t nobody
Keeping you on the ground.

.:Railway Extasis:.

It’s just amazing how much you can see
If you open your eyes wide,
If you look beyond the reflection of you in the glass.

It seems as if you are going fast,
But when your mind focuses,
You see beyond the blur of the speed.

Dad’s teaching him how to ride.
Oh my god!
There is just one wheel on the back!

“Hey granny, what is that!?”
The excitement of her first ride,
So much to see, learn, observe, ask about!

The lover that hops on,
Waiting anxiously for the last stop,
Where the rest of his heart waits.

People in and out, in, out, squished up.
Many with buzzing bugs in their ears,
Others absorbed in a juicy page of who knows what.

It’s just amazing how much you can see;
If you take those minutes from the speed
Just to observe.

.:Deceiving Eyes:.

In my eyes I see
Who I am,
And what I wanna be.

In my eyes,
I a good person
And them great, mysteriuos.

In their eyes,
No good comes at all
When looking at this abstract thing.

In their eyes,
I paint a picture
That is no Van Gogh.

So then I wonder,
Are my eyes wrong?
Or do theirs interpret what I am not?

Whose eyes should I believe?
Should I combine both?
Or should I not see at all?

.:Who am I?:.

Who am I?

I am 16 years old living in Tucumán, but my roots are set in San Juan.
I was born on a Sunday at 7:30 am in Sanatorio Argentino.
My grand parents from my mom’s side are Rafael and Ana; Rafael parents were Italian, and Ana was born in Spain; she came to live to Argentina when she was 4, 78 years ago. She has two sisters, Antonia and Mercedes, whose son is Leonardo.
My granddad died before I was born, so I didn’t get to meet him nor much of his family. Ana and Rafael had 5 children: Cristina (married Gringo/Héctor), Susana (married Raúl), Silvia (married Luis), Elena (my mom) and Jorge (married Matilde).
I have 12 cousins on my mom’s side of the family, Diego (married to Natalia who have Martina), Franco, Lizandro, Andrés, Ma. Emilia, Olivia (her partner is Gonzalo and they have one year old Valentino), Victoria, Barbie (married to Martin and have Amparo and Ignacio), Nahuel, Carla, Agostina and Ivan.
I’m the youngest of all the girls.
On my dad’s side, my grandparents are Barbarita (mostly known as Elisa) and José. They are both direct descendents of Lebanese and Saudi Arabians’. My grandpa died when I was 3, so I barely remember him. They had two kids, Laura and José (my dad). On this side of the family I have two younger cousins, Josefina and Victoria.
My mom and dad married in 1985, on the 27th of September. In November 12th of 1987 my brother Octavio was born, and almost three years later, I was born, on the 7th of October of 1990.
These people have paid a great deal of importance in my life and altogether brought me up to be what I am now.
San Juan has been my nest until I was 11 years old, and is one of my best memories.
I have left many people and things there, but they have taken a big piece of my heart and space in my memory that will never be erased or destroyed.

.:Tears in Heaven:.

In my opinion this is one of the songs with the best lyrics ever, because it's significance is very strong and it shows how the death of Eric Claptons' son pulled his world down. From that point onwards his life turned into a mess, and drugs and alcohol started playing a bigger role in his life to contrarest this feeling of emptyness and death. Through these words I want to point out how from a second to another our lives can radically change forever, so we must learn to be strong, and carry on.

Tears In Heaven
by Eric Clapton and Will Jennings

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would it be the same
If I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong
And carry on,
'Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven.
Would you hold my hand
If I saw you in heaven?
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven?
I'll find my way
Through night and day,
'Cause I know I just can't stay
Here in heaven.
Time can bring you down,
Time can bend your knees.
Time can break your heart,
Have you begging please, begging please.
Beyond the door,
There's peace I'm sure,
And I know there'll be no more
Tears in heaven.
Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would it be the same
If I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong
And carry on,
'Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven.

.:Radio Programme:. Workaholics ----> Relation to my life

Today we've listened to a radio programme in which selected workers from the U.S. spoke about their experience with work and technlogy.

The participants spoke about the downside of technology, saying that the conversations in between the family or couple aren't substantial, and they mostly don't pay much attention to the conversation because they are multitasking while doing so.

This is kind of my case when I'm with my dad, since his work occupies most of his time, and he has become so attached to it, that he depends on his gadgets and his mind evolves around it. This means that when we talk to him we have to repeat the answer to his questions many times because he is thinking of work in his subconcious mind. It sometimes is frustrating because you feel left out but we know he doesn't do it on purpose. Other times, for example when we are on holidays, he gets phone calls from his co-workers and my mom and I get worried because that call may mean that he has to go back to work because there was a problem, or something needs to be taken care of. Hopefully he doesn't have to leave now because he can do it through internet with his computer or blackberry, but he gets so absorved by his work that it makes him really stressed and us worried.

I've come to get used to it, to his absence even when he is with us, because he has been working far away and very busy with work since I was seven. We used to see him only 3 days a week because he had to travel to Tucuman and we were living in San Juan. Then we went to Australia where he came back home every night, which was really nice, having the chance to share more time with him. After two years, we came to live to Tucuman and we would see him every weekend, and now he works in Peru, so we only see him in between 3 or 6 times a year.

Throughout these years he was promoted which meant more and more work, so his mind is full of work of this and that; is like work turned into his life. This is why I relate my experience with the radio programme, because I've come to know that my dad is a workaholic and by this he dedicates most of his spare time to himself.

Whithout no doubt, being a workaholic is not something that we should be proud of, because it separates you from your loved ones, but we must be thankful of technology because we can talk and spend less time away from our families.

But on the other side, although we don't share as much time together, I can see that he is happy with what he is doing, and his hard work has given my family and me what we have today and more possibilities in life.

In conclusion, every effort has its rewards, and what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

Top Ten Experiences in my Life

I think that there are many I don't remember, but these are some of the ones I do:

1. Going on a Cruise for 9 days, visiting the coast of Argentina and Brazil.
2. Living in Australia for two years, pretty lonely but it brought many rewards afterwards.
3. Having the opportunity to go back to Australia after 3 years for a Holiday, travelling just with Laura (my friend) and visiting places that I had been to! And getting to know others.
4. Discovering new things in my life, discovering myself.
5. Going paragliding in San Javier. It was AWSOME!
6. Doing white water rafting in Salta, Dique Cabra Corral, another incredible adventure and experience worth trying!
7. My fifteenth birthday! Everybody from San Juan came, and we all just had a blast enjoying the time together, reatives, family friends and my friends.
8. Going for a holiday with all my family and relatives, and with my best friend after coming back from australia in 2003 and not having seen them for a year.
9. Going skiing in bariloche, although it was hard and painful (and frustrating), and while we were staying there, it snowed downtown; just amazing!
10. Going 4x4 in the outback in Australia. And also having the chance to "try" water skiing and tube riding in a very beautiful lake. So much fun!

..Follow up.. You 2.0

"Overcome your fear of failure" & "Embrace Risk and Novelty"

These sections of the article caught my attention because we tend to leave things behind because we are scared of failing or disappointing others, which leads us to imagine, as the author says, the worst-case scenario.

Apart from this, we also have a tendency of judging before hand, just because our minds only let us see humilliation or failure overcoming us through the moment that is taking place, no matter what it is. However, this process of denial could be related to our past, due to the way we were brought up or prior relationships that did not work as planned, or rough times through our childhood, that evolved into what we now are. So when we are put in the position of taking decisions for ourselves ( that might or not be important) we make ends meet with the past, resulting in a situation in which we repel the proposal in order no to suffer the consequences that ached in the past.

However, we should come to understand that pushing things back is not the solution to our problems and through this we lose or self-confidence and optimism, making our thoughts grey. But it could turn out ok, and if it does not we should think that , as Carlin Flora states, shaky startups, missteps or broken hearts can be remedied.

In addition, when we make a wrong step or if it does not work out as planned, we do not have to put our selves down, because that error or misstep could lead us to our success. We then must learn to aknowledge our wrong doings and remember always, that if it does not kill you, it will make you stronger.

Anyhow, stepping up for new territories and challenges is terrifying, making us avoid any minimum risks that were emphasized most of the time by our overpotective parents. This ends in a vicious circle in which we claim our problems to the unknown, because it has been a life threatening icon during history, as the author quotes. This will end up in making us imagine the worst-case scenario that coud ever happen to us if we ever changed prespectives. But something everyone should keep in mind is that we will not regret what we did in the past, but we will regret the ones we did not do or try.

In conclusion, in order to get going with your life, is to question yoursef honestly, reflect on the assets and liabilities of your life, but what ever you do, do not hide behind the sad situation you are living, because that way you will always be stuck in a rut. Learn to plan steps for your improval, analize what you did wrong if you misstepped and do not raise your expectations of achieving your goal with everything perfect, because we are meant to learn that pain and suffering is part of life.

My first concrete encounter with death

I was reading the journal entries that have been proposed on the class blog, and when I read Write about your first experience with death. Who died? When? What did you know about death before the event, and what did you know after?, I had a huge Flashback.

When I was around ten or nine years old, a very good friend of mine from primary school lost his two year old brother, so I decided to go to the funeral and pay my respects. As soon as I got to the funeral home, I went to find my friend, and his devastating face was heart-wrecking.

I had known the family for many years, and I was quite fond of them too. So me and my curiosity went to the seperate room in which his tiny body lay eternally resting on the coffin. I grew closer to the casket until I could see him completely. He had died from severe chicken pox, so his face was full of pink and red spots. In that moment my heart beat went faster and faster, so I left the room, and before I left it completely, I saw my friends' grandma and I can't remember exactly but she grabbed my hand and said something to me. Once again, her wrinkled face with that sad looking image was smashing my heart in pieces.

After that I just headed for the front door and I stayed there talking to another friend, and soon my tears came.

That was my first true encounter with death, since I hadn't gone to my grandpa's funeral because I was too little, but I knew what death implied and it's consequences. However, the impact of seeing the body was what made the difference from what I knew and didn't before and after.

Through other experiences that I've had in the past, I've learned that no matter who the person was, if I knew him/her or not, death always grabs a piece of my heart and pinches it. Sadness and tears overcome me in those moments no matter what.

12 Apostles Australia

This is one picture of the 12 Apostles, of course you can't see them all and some have fallen down from the erosion. However, it is an unbelievable place!

Introduction to A2

We were introduced to a whole new idea concerning english this year, which is quite interesting but I must add it is pretty scary :S because I don't know what to expect. However, it was said that curiosity plays a big role in this subject, something that will help me through.

I'm happy with the new activities added to the subject, which sets standars higher and things become catchier and also more challenging!

When we were first told about the idea of keeping a blog, I was quite concerned because I'm not very fond with writing, but undoubtedly it will be a good way to communicate, and get to see our improvements during the year.

Well that's all for today!

Hope you like the picture of the twelve apostles in Australia.

Cya!

.:ValeMé:.