C1

What can I say about C1 If I have always wanted to join it ?
Having been part of these group has greatly enriched my life . Apart from  the vocabulary , active and passive , Grammar, and  all the academic issues  that I have studied , there are things that I would have  never learnt if I hadn´t have the professor I have had .

Learning a language means to pull off layer upon layer of its nature  until  you  penetrate its core and grasp the meaning of every single word , expression, idiom or collocation but,  to do so , you need to learn to think , to read to speak your mind and defend arguments , although those arguments have nothing to do with your ideas and convictions .

Being here has made me feel interested in matters such as politics , history or psichology . Listening to the radio in English or watching documentaries have became a habit .
When I studied 5th course, I have a great teacher , Jacqueline, She taught me how to write , and I still remenber that course as the one I learnt more,.Most of the expressions she taught us are still etched on my memory , they are "real life" things like " going with your guts, mind you, turn a blind eye to sth , you will be better off without...and so on .

In these course , as I said above, I have learnt to think among other many things.
I remenber when we watched  the first movie of the course  entittled "Mountains of the moon " .I thought that it was sad that Speake , who was a great explorer too,  would have been  shadowed by Burton who was  both a charismatic and controversial figure. Emilio also told us that Burton´s wife loved him unconditionallity  and loving like that was a great virtue because most of  us don`t have that ability . I thought  that loving someone unconditionallity was dangerous  since it can lead to a sort of emotional/psichological  dependence ,triggering internal struggles for being yourself.
I also loved " The road from Colonus " by Foster, the improvisation, working on my own , the stories that we had to tell connecting parts and characters, my blog ,and so many things that summarizing them would take me pages .
I honestly think that having been here has been a great experience , I have enjoyed every single minute and even , in my dark days , joining a lesson made my problems fade away for a while.
 I have had the exceptional privilege of having a professor like a Emilio who not only is able to teach us English , but also inculcate us love for learning and abilities for our personal life.
Thank you Emilio for everything I have learnt.,


Here is my stanza.

C1 is not only about the way the wind blows and stars align ,
or how the time stalls when you laugh or whine,
It ´s also about breaking rules and pushing the boundaries
It `s passion and action, the first stone on making a memory .

SELFPORTRAIT

 Flyaway brunette hair, which has a tendency to remain untidy, almost messy, despite my fruitless trims and attempts to give it body.

Tanned complexion from the long hours spent outdoors . Small forehead in which some fine lines are starting to be  drawn  tenuously:  lines that are nothing  but emotions lived throughout the years , expressions of hilarious moments,  sadness or uncertainties about life itself.

  Big , dark eyes framed by thick eyelashes, although shorter  than I would like to , eyes particularly prone to show tiredness from living against my body clock .

My face used to be round with chubby cheeks , which  have sharpened over the years,    leaving any trace of my childhood behind . The sun and the sea have flecked my nose and cheeks with freckles .

When I look at myself in the mirror, my reflection sometimes seems to show another woman dwelling in my own skin , shier, quieter, happier and sometimes less confident than myself .

Living in my skin , there is someone whose mood and ideas are sometimes a bit unstable , who finds inspiration from stormy writers although she loves swinging social life , who is  grumpy and impatient  maybe a bit selfish when things come out wrong and troubles crop out  ,because  at the end of the day, when time and dreams slip away  I consider acceptable to be a bit cowardly  , even commit small misdemeanors  if ,with that , you can be moderately  happy .

DISCOVERING THE POEM INSIDE YOU

Some days ago a friend told me he considered  songs as the new poetry . Serrat voiced Miguel Hernadez`s  pain and grief and as his voice raised and dropped  we also mourned Ramón Sijé´s death .
Leonard Cohen turned in poetry his bittersweet  Hallelujah and his biblical references and comparations take us to the soul of a man who has been overthrown by a earthly desires and left  alone with nothing, but a sad Hallelujah.

Some songs are poems , some just meaningless words . Music embellish poetry but poetry is still poetry without music although what you feel when you read it is bound to your inner life .  I do not read too much poetry , I am  much keen on reading novels  but  when I used to do so , either because it was compulsory or because my curiosity  I  enjoyed myself  with poems without puns of too much metaphors . I consider the coldness and indifference of someone you have loved more literary  moving  or touching  that love . Happiness or Beauty are not my cup of tea. Some years ago , I read a poem entitled "Elegy written in a County churchyard " by Thomas Gray . There is a stanza that goes " some mute inglorious Milton here may rest / some Cromwell guiltess of his country´s blood (...)  It was a poem which made me think since it  tell us about Death  I how life goes on while you from your grave comtemple that life that does not belongs to you anymore and how sometimes what makes a poet or a writer is the chance, and the person who is buried will never have the chance of showing the world how talented he could have been if someone had given that opportunity .

Writing poetry means bare your soul and baring the soul is more difficult than bare the body . All the poems imprinted on the book and read during the poetry perfomance are part of their authors inner life how they feel and life different situations , the voice of the reader , and the music during the intervals made  the atmosphere that cosy than some of us lingered for a while hoping to have a little bit more . Everything was very tidy , being at the same time natural and relaxed , and Emilio´s short  speeches acquainted us with the topics and background.

I am not either  an expert on literature or a great reader of poetry , and I believe that you like more one poem than another  is sometimes something  personal ,maybe because of your situation or maybe because of the  the way it is written , I couldn´t  exactly say  what the reason is.
"Time to go, lady Death" is the poem I would choose if I had to choose one . It is very visual and I guess she has gave words to the fury, fear and desperation that a human being can feel seeing helplessness how someone is wasting away.

The performance was great and  everyone did his best . I would like to congratulate my class mates on their staging and to thank Lola for  reading my poem so well ,impregnating it with emotion  and strength .

Medieval craftmanship at The Gate of Justice ( Alhambra)

http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2014/04/03/andalucia/1396540904_479497.html

 Restoration work at the Gate of Justice has brought to light a marquetry carved in white  marble inlaid with slate.  Both,the masonry and technique are different from the rest of the Gate. The way of  working  the slate shows great skills at carving .

Many years have gone by since the Alhambra was built and what seems incredible is that ,after all these years, the Alhambra itself, its paintings and monuments still elicits the interest of historians and art critics . Islamic vs Christian art , paintings and walls that keep secrets and whose function is still difficult to be interpret but essential for schorlars to  find new ways of approaching to the cultural heritage that Islam left in the culture of  Iberian peninsula.

A sad Goodbye to García Màrquez

This morning we woke up with the this piece of news . Although it was something expected, he suffered from Alzehimer´s , the announce has come as a surprise .
There is no much to say which haven`t been said yet since his death makes the  front pages and headlines . Presidents and ministries pay homage and the world literatura is in mourning .


Garcìa Márquez and José Saramago are my favourite authors in Spanish language , and although I am not a expert on the subject, I consider García Márquez as one of the  best  writers using the Spanish  language . It was at High School  when I  I read him  for very first time and although the reading was compulsory I finished the book the same afternoon that it fell into my hands . His words are able to create numerous feelings and landscape and to turn  the impossible and magical events into daily facts . In his work, the livings and the deads,purity and lust live together, characters are condemned to solitude because of their inability to love  , the patriarch never finishes dying and the colonel waits for an allowance which will never get.

One of the most famous García Màrquez `s quotation says "one person doesn´t die when he should but when he can" I think he should have never died , but although the human being has passed away his work will remain eternally.

Saffron against depression , purple tomatoes to prevent oxidation .

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25885756

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2013/jul2013_A-Safer-Alternative-for-Managing-Depression_01.htm


Depression is one of the greatest evil of XXI century . According to the recent reports  , about 121 millions of people worldwide suffer from  some form of depression , ( http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/how-many-people-experience-depression), hence the use , or abuse , of antidepressants has gone up at alarming rate .


Antidepressants can be useful but they, as many other medicaments, have side effects , some of these undesirable effects are : weigh gain , anxiety , constipation or insonmia . One extremely common side effect that afflict people who is on antidepresseants  is sexual dysfunction .

Trying to avoid the adverse reactions , people and laboratories have started to seek other alternative treatments without the unwanted side effects .


( ...)Scientists randomly divided 30 depressed patients into two groups. They gave 30 milligram capsules of saffron 3 times daily to one group. The other group received 100 milligrams of Tofranil^® 3 times daily.(...)Just 6 weeks later, the saffron dose was declared to be equally as beneficial as Tofranil^® in the treatment of mild to moderate depression. Next, scientists compared the potency of saffron extract to the antidepressant Prozac^® (fluoxetine ) .


In short , saffron extract , is safer and "equally effective" against depression. Some companies have commercialized  saffron capsules mixed with  magnesium  and B6 vitamin ( both of them famous for boosting  mood and resilience to stress). Afran by Narvalpharma or Optimis by Aquilea are some of the names under which the capsules of saffron have been commercialized in Spain .






  It is time for  us to turn our attention to another issue, " Purple tomatoes to keep cáncer at bay " but still exploring the  same topic , Health .



(...)The  pigment called anthocyanin which is thought to have anti-cancer properties,
found in particularly high levels in berries such as blackberry, cranberry and chokeberry, have been shown to help significantly slow the growth of colon cancer cells. They are also thought to offer protection against cardiovascular disease and age-related degenerative diseases. (...)


People rarely eat these fruits since they are both seasonal  and  quite expensive  fruits while tomatoes are quite affordable and widely  eaten  . According to British people,  were the use and sale of   purple tomatoes to  approve , they would  boost  the quality of our ketchup and pizza and ,therefore our health .


Personally ,  I am not able to see the point in stuffing myself with  ketchup made from purple tomatoes , after a while sprinkling all my meals with it ,I don´t think the doctor gives me a clean bill of health .

What Freedom looks like to you?

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26614481








Depending on where you  live , where you were born or what your living or working  conditions are , freedom means what thing or another .


Suppose you are living under the yoke of tradition and unfair family commitments , as was  Eveline in the Dubliners , then Freedom means to be able to set free from that "asphyxiating" love moral or protection .


Were you to be ill , Freedom would be define as being healthy and being able to do things that you used to do.


You can also set free from addictions which kill your hopes .   If you live in a country devastated by the war or famine,when you free your mind and imagination there are no fences that restrict  you  from living or finding a new life.


This video shows different opinions and answers ,  from all ages ,all nationalities ,all languages.
Freedom for me is not to have timetables or  money troubles that my phone doesn´t sound and taking a plane or being somewhere very far away from your daily life.


What is freedom for you ?