Lizzie Velasquez

I will never forget all the feelings that I  felt when I first listened to a motivational speaker coinning  a speech. Furthermore, it was an experience that I  will always remember  owing to the fact that I was watching the video and crying at the same time. Therefore, that is the reason why now, I can't  stop watching videos of motivational speakers. Hence, I am going to enclose the first one that I saw in order to let you feel the same things that I felt. In addition, the speaker is Lizzie Velasquez and she is supposed the be the ugliest girl all over the world. However, she is the strongest girl I have ever met. I wish I had the strength that she have in order to make negative things of my live on positive and also to find what difines me. Thus, I encourage everyone to see motivational speakers because it really helps you.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c62Aqdlzvqk

(For or against) What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a smartphone?

Nowadays having an smartphone is the most usual thing, in fact, people that don’t have an smartphone do something out of the ordinary and we look at them like if they were weird people. It seems that everybody is interested in smartphones , and that most people would not be able to live without having one . However , there are advantages and disadvantages.

The main advantage of having an smartphone is probably how easy is your life with this on it. You can talk with a friend that it is a thousand kilometers away from you and on a free way . This really help you to keep on touch with your friends all over the world. In addition , because of recession people are moving on into another countries. In old times you  could only talk with your family by letter. Fortunately , now you can be talking with them all the time  without paying anything. I hold the view that that is a quite good improvement in our lifestyle.

On the other hand,for every plus there is a minus. Every time we go out we need to take with us our phones because If we don’t take with us our phones, we feel like naked. That’s because we know that we miss something. We are losing manners . When we go out with our friends pretending to have fun we can not have fun because we are all the time playing an chatting with our phone . So it’s difficult to pay attention to our friends at the same time that we are paying attention to our phone.

In conclusion , it’s true that having a smartphone help us to have friend but also makes us lose real friends just because we are more interested on our virtual friends when we are with the real ones. I think that having an smartphone it’s really good but the only way to keep having manners it’s by trying not to pay attention to our phones when we go out . We should pay attention to our  phone just in case anybody needs us.

Point-by-point organisation

Going on holidays can sometimes be a lucky dip. That is just because you want to spend your money in a place that you really like. Vacationing in the mountains or in the beach is really different, but they have some similarities.

 First of all, on  both places is easy to relax and forget about your duties. When you go to the beach you can easily get a tan, and going to the mountains allows you to do the same even though you don't realise. Hence, be sure to have with you your sun cream when travelling to these places. Another similarity between the two places is that they both are really popular. It is impossible to go to these places and be completely alone. Normally, the Beach  is fully booked on summer while mountains  are more visited whenever there is snow, which is on winter. The last similarity to highlight is that, if you want to go to a great place, you'd better board an aeroplane. The best mountains all over the world are on the north while the best beaches  all over the world are, for instance, in the Mediterranean sea. However, although they both seems to be relaxed places; dpending on what beach you are you can easily see or suffer a tsunami. Likewise, on the mountains you can presence either a landslide or an earthquake. A last similarity between this places is that you have to be aware of wearing   specific clothes. When going to the beach it is compulsory to wear summer clothes while on the mountains you'd better wear winter clothes,  if you don't want to die frozen! Nevertheless, In both place you have to take with you either you suncream or sunglasses.

Maybe the similarities between the two places explain why holidaymakers always hesitate when choosing the destination.

Beach or Mountains?

class assignment (Opinion paragraph)

Swapping could be the best solution in recession times. Nowadays, we wish we could have the same habits as we used to have when there was no crisis. In addition, Most of the people have mortgages and they would like to spend the same money on leisure time as they used to do. Nevertheless, they cannot do this any longer owing to the fact that, sometimes, they don't even have enough money to eat. However, there is a solution for this issue. There is no doubt that the problem is the money. Thus, Why don't we try to share with the other our talent? Of course, they would do the same with us. In other words, Imagine that you are a teacher and your neighbour is a vet. Why don't you teach your neighbors’ kids so that she can take care of your dog for free? . In this way, is kind of an exchange of knowledge. Therefore, I encourage everyone to practice swapping. 

Example of Swapping

Describe someone... Class practice

When I was young, I was a lonley person until I met my best friend. She is not bery big. In fact, she is petite. Furthermore, she is very strong. Although She has gone through many difficult situations, She has had the strenght to carry on with a beautiful smile on her face. In addition, She has always being a happy person; Thus, She can cheer me up and also cheer herself up. Moreover, I am never afraid of telling her how I feel , no matter how silly it could be, I feel save and sound with her on my life. Added to this, She is unique at listening to me; Therefore, I can be myself, which I consider really important in a friendship. When I was young, I didn't use to have a best friend, but now that days are gone because I have the perfect one with me.

Rome

The place that I hope to visit in a near future is Roma. If you had asked me: Wich place would you like to visit?   three years ago, I would have said America... However, as I studied the latin culture I am really impressed by it . Therefore, I could say that going to Rome would be a dream come true.

Rome , a popular destination for many visitors each year, is an amazing city. Personally speaking, the story of how Rome was established is amazing. I can't even believe how Roman people tend to create a myth in order to explain anything on their lives. It is simply amazing. Due to the fact that they had a lot of myths, we can see them represented in many fountains like this one:

Neptune's fountain , Bernini

I would dare to say that you can feel a lot of magic there while you are watching this fountain, you feel as part of the marvellous work from Bernini. Moreover , Rome is quite known for its monuments such as the Roman theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre, The Roman Circus... Someone could say that you can easily find them in some cities of Spain, and, it is true indeed . However, I think that is compulsory to travel to Rome if we want to know where all these amazing buildings were born

Roman Anfitheatre

Despite this, the place in Roma that made me completely fall in love with latin culture , was the Agrippa's Pantheon. It is a breathtaking  building. For me, it is hard to believe how in ancient times they could build amazing things like this. I know that , If some day I have the chance to be inside the Pantheon, I will be  crying for a week.

Agripa´s Panteon

Luckily, there is a solution for those spaniards who love roman culture but don't have enough money to go to Rome. The perfect solution is visit the little Rome of Spain ,which is located in  Mérida.

This is me in Mérida

Quiche Lorraine

As this week we have been learning how to write process paragraphs, I'm going to write one of my favourite recepies. 

It is one of my favourites, not only because it taste really good but also because it's really easy to do.

Thus, here is the recipe of the   Quiche Lorraine

Ingredients 

Ingredients

-Two sheets of puff 

- 5 eggs, 

-two small cartons of cream (in liquid form) for cooking, 

- a pack and a half of grated cheese (It can be gruyère, emmental, cheddar ....) 

-300 gr. strips of bacon,

How to make it

Quiche Lorraine, as I said before, is a simple and delicious meal to make. First,  preheat oven to 200 º. Then,  stretch the dough with a rolling pin. Next,  put baking paper on the baking sheet. After That, You have to put the two sheets of puff. It does not matter if it does not look beautiful, due to the fact that you Have to put the other ingredients on it, Therefore, nobody is going to see the puff. Now, It is time to mix the eggs with the cream ( in liquid form ) in a bowl. After that , to put  the mix  - that you have already done- over the puff. Now,  add the grated cheese and the bacon. Finally, before putting the quiche on the oven,  stab the quiche with a fork.

And C'est fini! The Quiche is ready to be put into the oven. It needs  30 minutes at 200º.

As French people would say BON APPÉTIT!

My grandmother

Today I'm going to talk about the person who has influenced me most.

When I was young, I didn't used to admire none from my family. That's because I was more worried about my favourite singers or movies than about my family. Fortunately, Nowadays I can say that I really admire my grandmother for her strength and kindness.

The person who has influenced me the  most is my grandmother , Consuelo. I used to be a really lonely person and I had never been able to talk about my feelings with anybody. I used to keep them inside of me although little by little they were killing me.

Then I realized that I had to change because I wasn't happy so, I decided to speak my mind with my grandmother and She become a 'key piece ' in my live. She used to help me in everything , She would cook for me everything that I wanted. She made me strong and helped me to go through the worst situations of my live. She was really zealous and for me she is the wittiest person I’ve ever met 

 Despite of her age, now she’s still being the person who has  taught me everything  I know about life. Therefore, now  I’m able to face everything. Although my grandfather died she is still being a fighter person. Most of the people when they suffer the loss of a close person, they want to end their lives because  it is useless for them, due to the fact that they don't have the person who passed away with them. Nevertheless,  my grandmother gives me hope and makes me believe in myself every day.

To sum up,  I wish I could spend more time with her. I can't Imagine my life without her on it. I'm pretty sure that I will never get used to not having her with me. Fortunately, I see her everyday. Thus, for these reasons  and  many others ...  I really love my 'granny'.

My trip to Ireland

I'm going to talk about my amazing trip to The Republic of Ireland.

This is my friend Sorscha and I in Dublín.

Kilkenny´s Castle

Last summer, a friend of mine and I went to The Republic of Ireland not only to do an English course but also to see the stunning views that you can easily see there. First of all, We arrived in Dublin and , of course, we  visited it. Although Dublin was amazing, the weather was really upsetting because I'm not used to the English weather.However, There were amazing places to visit like the Trinity College. Furthermore, I went to The Trinity College in order to meet my Irish friend, who I had met in a summer camp in Almería two years ago, Her name is Sorcha. When we were staying in Dublin we caught a bus and travelled to kilkenny to visit its amazing castle. I must confess that the weather was incredibly awful, I've never seen as much rain as I saw that day.Nevertheless, I was not scared of travelling by bus with rain because drivers in Ireland are used to it. What's more I'm more afraid of travelling by bus on Murcia  while it is raining..

Cork's Cathedral 

The amazing Blarney 

After spending three days in Dublin we went to Cork , which is the second most important city in Ireland, and we stayed there for two weeks. Cork is in the south , and for me it has a microclime because when in all Ireland is raining, in Cork  you have to wear your sunglasses all time. I really loved Cork. Maybe it is because I'd rather be in a small village than in a big city. When we were at Cork, we stayed with a host family , the Peytons, they were really kind with us and they told us very interesting things of Ireland, its culture and its people. In addition, the thing that was told by them that I really couldn't believe was the fact that, all their family got married in Spain because of its weather and because it is cheaper, but, of course, every guest have to pay their own flight ticket.

While we were in Cork we visited places that really took my breath away , such as Blarney, killarney and Kinsale. In my opinion, the place that I loved the most from Ireland was Blarney , it completely stole my heart. I've never seen so many green together. It was full of flowers and trees and , of course, the amazing Blarney castle. As I said before , we also went to Killarney , in which you can find an amazing waterfall after 8 km walking, You can also see an incredible forest. For me, it was like being on a film. I wish I have stayed there a bit longer , but, It was just a day trip.

Killarney´s waterfall

Jame's fort 

Fortunately, I really got on well with my classmates, even though, I was the younger one in the class. I had an amazing teacher whose name was Finbar. He had a really irish accent, he was really funny and he taught us a lot of things about the irish culture. However speaking about british and American people in class was not allowed! Furthermore, almost all of my classmates were teachers so, I have  learnt a lot of things from them. In addition, the more amazing thing is that in my class I was the only spanish person , it was really unusual.Furthermore,  In my class we were 12 students and 8 of them were german students. Moreover, My class and I went together to Kinsale. In kinsale they have the best fish of all Ireland. However, the thing that I loved from Kinsale was the  fort of James. When I came into the fort , I started to  cry because I felt like part of all the stories  that have took place there.

From left to right: Cristiane, Hans, Me, Pablo,
who came with me to Ireland,Patrick
and Millou.

I must confess that, I had the best classmate I could have ever wish for. His name is Hans and He is a lecture teacher in Switzerland. I am really happy because we still in touch by e-mail and He told me really interesting things about him . I wish I could speak with him forever.

To sum up, I would say that travelling to Ireland really changed my life . That's because it was a new experience and made me love Irish people because they are really polite, kind and helpful. They are always saying "hello" "thank you" "how are you?" While in Spain, sometimes, when we are trying to be polite they look at us as if we were weird. I also learnt, even though it may sound strange, how to love our food because veggies and fruits there , are really expensive. Nevertheless, if you ask me if I would like to come back to ireland, without hesitation I would say YES!

This is me in Killarney