The Wheelchair

About twenty days ago my younger son hurt his leg. He was playing football (soccer)* in the break. Not even it was a sprained ankle. It was an insignificant fissure in his fibula. As he had a prominent swelling the orthopaedic surgeon put him a plaster splint, which my son had to wear about a fortnight.  Can you imagine a child of seven years on crutches, up and down the stairs at school?. The first view I had was my son rolling across the stairs. Formerly, in Spain, medical centers provided crutches or wheelchairs to the patients. Today, only do it mutual medical companies of work ¿?. Well, I looked for information and, finally my son had a wheelchair for two euros a day. To my son it was an interesting and complicated experience. Sometimes funny and other boring. To my legs, it was a torture. The School is too close to home as to take my car (I had to do it twice because the rain) and the path to the school is full of very steep slopes.

football / soccer. Curiously, in Spain to say football, we use "fútbol" or "balonpié" because is a sport where you play with a ball with your feet.

Humor visual del día

UPPER CASE

lower case

rAnSoM nOtE cAsE

o:

MAYUSCULAS

minúsculas

lEtRaS dE nOtA dE rEsCaTe


Creo que es más humoroso en inglés. Puedes usar el "ransom note case" cuando quieras enviar un mensaje amenazador.

La moto mangada

El martes por la mañana mi hijo salió de su apartamiento y descubrió que se había robado su motocicleta. Llamó a la policía, quien vinieron y le hiceron varias preguntas y recordaron la información. Mi hijo no esperaba ver la moto otra vez. Sin embargo, menos de 8 horas después, recibió una llamada de la policía, que indicó que habían encontrado la moto, con un joven montándola. Todas las cerraduras de la moto estaban dañadas (por ejemplo, la del tanque de gasolina). Está ahora en un taller donde nos enteraremos de cuánto costarán las reparaciones. Es bueno que tenga seguro.

No sé lo que motivó al joven robar la moto, pero supongo que esperaba quedarse con ella más de 12 horas. ¡Qué impresionante trabajo por la policía!

Descarcelado

"Me dejaron salir otra vez." Esto es lo que le digo a mi esposa después de cada visita a la cárcel, donde estudio la Bibla con algunos presos. Esta noche he visto a solo tres personas. En la segunda área estaban comenzando una película cuando llegué, y no podía competir con "Los juegos de hambre". No me molestó poder terminar un poco temprano, y como resultado puedo escribir un poquito de español.

Siempre es bueno pasar tiempo con la gente encarcelada. Sus problemas son mucho más difíciles que los mios. Me recuerda a dar gracias por todos los bienes y las oportunidades en mi vida. Además, creo que los presos valoran poder hablar con alguien que no vean cada día. A veces considero que la conversación no ha estado tan inspiracional, pero todavía no dudo que sea un esfuerzo digno.

Globos

Mi hija tomó esta foto anoche mientras estaban persiguiendo los globos aerostáticos. (Yo estaba demasiado cansado para acompañarles.) Me gusta la foto porque muestra mucha actividad, y voy a tratar de describirla. Por supuesto, hay 3 globos en el aire, y todos de ellos están buscando un lugar para aterrizar. El globo de color rojo metálico es mi favorito entre los más de 30 que vimos la otra noche. La camioneta debajo del globo rojo es probablemente la del dueño del globo. Después del aterrizaje, empaquetarán el globo y lo cargarán en la camioneta. A la derecha de la foto se pueden ver muchos coches que han parado a lo largo de la calle, y mucha gente admirando los globos. Al centro está un granero blanco. Creo que esta foto está bien compuesta. La valla blanca y su sombra que pasa desde la esquina izquierda en la parte inferior hasta la derecha atrae el ojo hacia los 2 globos, los coches y la gente, pero el globo rojo, la camioneta y el granero forman un triángulo igualmente interestante. La gran porción del cielo arriba de todo enfatiza la amplitud del paisaje, que está a una distancia de sólo unas pocas millas de mi casa.

Oraciones útiles

1) Yesterday, my mp3 player broke while I was running along the streets of my city. If I had had a little bit more of care, I wouldn't have broken it.
2) Last week I met a new friend in Lenguajero. If I hadn't been in the group I couldn't have met him/her.
3) Two weeks ago I ruined my old trumpet trying to fix it up. But, if I had known how to do the task I wouldn't have broken it.
3a) I took very positively my last exam at my work today, but if I hadn't felt so confident I wouldn't have taken it.
4) My friends say my school is as big as two blocks linked together.
5) My teacher speaks English as a native speaker does.
6) That guy was driving me crazy as my cousin usually do it.
7) I usually had too many subjects at Uni.
8) I am used to have too much snow around my house during winter.
9) I was looking for a nice, cheaper cars but I found them too much expensive.
10) There are a lot of Cd's in my brother's room as well as too much disorder everywhere.
11) By that hour, their time was running out.
12) He had to get used to work before starting the work He did.
  

En el aire

Este fin de semana tenemos un festival que incluye vuelos de varios globos aerostáticos. Tiene lugar en un parque cerca de mi casa, puesto que en algunos años los globos han flotado directamente por encima de mi casa — ¡muy emociante! También nos gusta seguirlos en coche y ver dónde aterrizan. Un aeronauta en particular, después del aterrizaje, amarra su globo a tres árboles y deja que personas suban a la cesta y ascendan unos pocos metros, cuanto dejan los cuerdos.

Aumentado el placer está el tiempo hermoso de esta temporada, especialmente en la tarde, unas horas antes del anochecer. Pero el tiempo puede ser también un problema. Hace dos años casi todos los vuelos fueron cancelados a causa de lluvia y viento. Tengo ganas de ver lo que sucede este año.

Televangelists

     No se si este es un fenómena americano o no, pero aquí (EUA) tenemos muchos predicadores evangelistas (Televangelists) en la TV. Normalmente, a mí no me gustan porque la mayoría estan como actores malos en una telenovela. Entonces, descubrí un programa evangelisto muy bueno. Creo que está titulado Israel: land of hope. Hay que decir que es un programa muy inspirador.
     Pero ahora tengo un problema. Sin duda ¡mi familia va a burlarse de mí cuando descubra que miro ese programa! ¡Espero que pueda tomarme sus risas a broma!
   

Restless

This is the last book I've just read.
I've written a summary but it's too long. Sorry about that.

I had never  read a book about spies. This book, in my opinion, tells us about how important were the Secret Services at the beginning of the Second War World, which members were hidden in newspapers, radio stations or the most unexpected places, in order to make governments and countries take important and transcendental actions by publishing or broadcasting false news.

Everything starts when Eva Delectorskaya, a beautiful 28-year-old Russian woman, is recruited by a mysterious man, Lucas Romer, who belongs to the British Secret Service (BSC). At first she does not want to accept but in the end he strikes her a chord by telling her that his brother, Kolia, who belongs to the BSC too, has just died in an important mission. Eva accepts to be enrolled in the BSC because she thinks that this will be a perfect way to revenge his death.

Eva is hard trained, she is very clever and can speak three languages and, after a short training time, she becomes a master of all spy tricks. Romer is very proud of her so she soon starts working for a BSC false broadcasting company in Belgium as a journalist.

After several successful missions in different countries, Eva is sent to the USA, which were not involved in the Second World War yet, to fulfill what, in Romer’s words, ‘was going to be her most difficult and important mission’. Eva’s work consists in trying to give, through different couriers, a new distribution of South America’s territories map which has been drawn by the Germans to the President of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt in order to make the USA feel threatened by the belief that the Germans were going to take over South America and, in this way, make them involved in the war and help the other allies to beat the German Army.

Eva is about to be killed. At first he doesn’t know what has happened but little by little she puts things together and with the help of some BSC friends she finds out some evidences that point out that Romer, who is her boss and lover, turns out to be a Russian agent.

Eva flees. From now on Eva’s life is restless. She is always looking at her back looking for shadows, trying to hide her identity, going here and there. Finally she goes to Ireland where he meets her husband, rebuilds her life and starts to plan her revenge.

Eva has a daughter, Ruth. When she is a grown up Eva, who is now in her seventies, explains Ruth about her life. Firstly Ruth doesn’t believe anything but in the end, her mother gives her a manuscript which contains her whole secret life in detail.

Ruth finds Romer’s address, now Lord Mansfield, following her mother pieces of advice and they both go there together in the middle of a dark night. When Romer sees Eva, he doesn’t show any gesture of surprise and he even threats Eva by telling her  that she is still a traitor to her country. Despite of feeling threatened by him Eva knows that Romer feels defeated. He has a good position in the British Society and now Eva was going to tell everybody that he was a traitor and a Russian spy. Romer feels the pressure on his shoulders and that very night he commits suicide.

I have found this book very interesting because I have learnt how important decisions can be influenced by the actions of cunning spies and consequently how much power they had. I think that now things have no changed too much. They are even more powerful due to the development of electronic devices that allow them to get inside the entanglement of Governments’ structures.

¡Saludos co-scribblanderos!
     Espero que todos ustedes estén bien. Hace mucho tiempo no he visitado este sitio porque simplemente no tenía el tiempo. Tomaba dos clases de español en la universidad y tenía que escribir un verdadero montón de ensayos. Es una lastima que siga comitiendo errores. Se pensaría que ya sería una experta. Pero, no es el caso. ¡Ay de mi! De todo manera, me alegro estar aquí otra vez. ¡Hasta luego!

El subjuntivo en inglés

Estaba leyendo ayer un pasaje de la Biblia cuando me asustó encontrar un uso raro del subjuntivo en inglés, en la oración siguiente:

Fear and dread she brings upon him and tries him with her discipline until she try him by her laws and trust his soul.

Los verbos que he subrayado son en la forma subjuntiva. Normalmente esperaríamos "she tries" y "she trusts". Le pregunté a mi hija si algo le sonó mal, y replicó que debía ser "she tries", confirmando que hemos perdido el sentido del subjuntivo, por lo menos en expresiones que comienzan con "until". Por supuesto, me di cuenta de esto probablemente sólo a causa de mis estudios de español. (También confirmé que la Biblia española usa el subjuntivo aquí.)

Dos minutos más tarde, estaba leyendo un comentario del mismo libro de la Biblia, y dijo algo como "This book treats of friendship, education, poverty, etc." ¿"Treats of"? ¿Qué es esto? ¡No es inglés! !Es español! (tratar de algo) No decimos "treats of" en este contexto, sino "is about". ¿Qué está pasando? Me parece que el español se está filtrando por cada grieta del mundo angloparlante. ¡Tenemos que luchar para preservar la integridad de la lengua materna! ¡Abajo con el subjuntivo! ¡Abajo con "treats of"! ¡Vivan los "phrasal verbs"! ¡Viva la ortografía horrible!

Conflicto interpersonal

Mi hijo se va hoy, regresando a Nashville donde se ubica su universidad y donde estudia la música. Vino a casa hace sólo 10 días, así que estamos un poco decepcionados. Habíamos creido que encontraría aquí trabajo para el verano, pero ha decidido que hay más oportunidades en Nashville, donde tiene más contactos. Mi esposa se preocupa que estará demasiado cómodo aquí, donde tiene amigos y una novia, y perderá el tiempo en lugar de ganar dinero. Ya veremos. El hecho es que tiene un trabajo en Michigan que comenzará al fin de julio, así que estamos hablando de sólo 7 u 8 semanas, no más.

Colgando sobre todo esto está la melancolía de un hijo convertiéndose en un adulto independiente y saliendo del nido. Ya hemos pasado por estas emociones con nuestro hijo mayor, y nos lastimaron mucho más, pero todavía es un periodo de cambio e* incertidumbre. Mi esposa y mi hijo estaban riñendo ayer mientras traté de ser la voz de razón y paz. Pero mi esposa me dijo que quiero sólo evitar conflicto y a veces una discusión difícil es lo que se necesita. Tiene razón que no me gusta el conflicto interpersonal, pero me fue claro que su conversación no iba a producir buenas frutas. Todo lo que podemos hacer en situactiones como esta es hacer lo mejor que podemos, y rezar que Dios nos dé la sabiduría y gracia que necesitamos.

Wow! I remembered to use "e" here! ¡Increible!

El cumplimiento

Estoy estrenando este verbo.

Las Familias disfuncionales

Ha habido un caso recientemente en las noticias sobre la desaparición y luego la muerte de una niña que se llamada Tia del sur de Inglaterra.  La familia es típica de muchas familias disfuncionales en el UK.  Ha sido revelado que la niña fue asesinado por el novio de su abuela.  Durante algunos meses este hombre era el novio de la madre de Tia y entonces se mudó a la casa de la abuela y se convirtió en el novio de la abuela, mientras que la madre tomó otro novio nuevo.  Toda la familia vive en beneficios del estado.  El hombre que vive con la  abuela se llama Sr. Hazel se ha procesado muchas veces por violencia y delitos de drogas.  Tia le gustaba pasar tiempo con su abuela, porque siempre había peleas en su casa entre su madre y el novio.  Un fin de semana Tia quiso ir a la casa de su abuela, pero este fin de semana ella se desapareció.  Hubo un gran búsqueda de la niña y pasaron muchas semanas sin encontrarla y eventualmente el cadáver fue encontrado en el ático de la abuela por la policía.  Sr. Hazel ahora está en el cárcel y pasará al resto de su vida allí. Evidencia fue encontrado en la casa que mostró que el Sr. Hazel era un abusador de menores   Pero lo que me encuentro muy extraño es que ¿cómo se podía, una madre, confía en un hombre con una historia de violencia y drogas?  ! Eso no era un secreto entre la familia!   También, me parece que la familia no le importa nada sobre la muerte de su niña.  Desde entonces los periódicos les han pagado mucho dinero por su historia, miles de libras y también han aparecido en los estudios de la televisión hablando sobre el muerto de su niña y  aparentemente, cuando estuvieron allí, pidieron los autógrafos de la gente famosa en el estudio!   Hay muchas familias así en el UK y la situación está empeorando, familias que no tienen valores, no trabajan y viven en el dinero que reciben del gobierno y ni siquiera querer trabajar.  Hay otro caso donde un hombre se quemó su casa mientras que sus niños estaban durmiendo dentro, porque él quiso pedir al ayuntamiento por un casa más grande.  Él había planeado a  rescatar a los niños pero los planes no fue bien. Así que  le acusó a su ex novia de quemar la casa, seis niños murieron en ese incendio.  Este hombre tiene 17 niños en total con varias mujeres y por eso recibía mucho dinero del gobierno para cuidarlos,!es increíble no!   Que ha pasado a los familias cariñosas que cuidar a sus familia.  Lo peor es que hay más y más familias disfuncionales y menos de las familias que cuidan de sus niños.

No hay ningún lugar como la casa

He acabado El maravilloso Mago de Oz. Me sorprende que la película sigue tanto la linea del libro, desde el comienzo al fin. Por supuesto, a la película le faltan muchos de los detalles del libro, pero es inevitable cuando un libro se convierta para el cine. La más grande diferencia, sin duda, es el papel de la Bruja Malvada del Oeste. En el libro es un personaje menor, solo uno entre muchos que encuentran los viajeros en la tierra de Oz. Otra diferencia es que la historia en el libro se presenta como una realidad, no como un sueño. Relacionado con esto, el Espantapájaros, el Leñador de Hojalata y el León Cobarde no aparecen en Kansas como trabajadores en la granja. De hecho, el descubrimiento de que los personajes de Oz son también personas en la vida normal de Dorothy es una admirable manera de llevar la película al fin.

Ahora puedo devolver el libro a la biblioteca, y pagar una multa ¡por quedarme con él tanto tiempo!

Thank you.....

I didn't know that this blog existed several months ago. I had always been looking for a blog like this. I have to confess that I don't know if there are more similar blogs on the Internet, but this  is a special one  because people who write on it are very friendly and I could say I feel at home.

I found this blog by chance. When Kathy recommended it to me after being talking on Skype, I couldn't believe it!. A place where people shared their feelings either in English or  in Spanish and collaborated each other  checking their publications in order to help the bloggers to improve, so I told myself, 'I have to try it'.

I started writing everything that came to my mind, everything I wanted to share with you, everything my heart felt and I needed to tell you because I had the need to get it off my chest. 

The course has already finished, as I told you on my last entry, but I'll carry on writing on it, because apart from improving, I have found by writing a good easy way out for my mind and, when it feels shocked it asks me to turn on the laptop and start writing to make my fears disappear. 

Somehow I know that behind my laptop's screen are my Scribblando's friends, most of them far away from me, but I can feel their hands  almost touching me each time I'm writing my thoughts.  

I would like to thank you everyone for helping me.

I will never get tired of saying thank you.......

 Vicent

I feel relieved.....

This year English course has just finished.

Yesterday I went to class to pick up my marks. I'm very happy because I've passed the four skills so I don't need to take more exams this year. The only thing I have to do is waiting for next course enrollment date.

This will be my last course at the Official Languages School and I should be happy, but I am not, and maybe you wonder why.

On the one hand I'm very happy because I'm about to fulfill one of the goals I had in my life which was learning English. This makes me feel good with myself because when I thought that my studying time had finished and my mind was about to give up thinking about goals and challenges everything turned out to be bright and challenging again at the moment I enrolled in the school.

On the other hand, I'm not happy. I have met a lot of people, most of them are only acquaintance but in the time I've been at school I've found some close friends. This is the main reason I wouldn't like to finish my studies. I know that everything has a beginning and an end but I wouldn't like to lose touch with my close friends. They make feel alive, they make me feel loved and I feel my heart full of love for them.

I hope next year will be my last studies year but I wish they were my friends forever.

Vicent

My Oldest Friend Pedro

Today thursday my English classes are going to finish. On June 3 my exams are going to start. Several subjects are being considered for the oral examination. A recurrent matter is "describe a friend".
In late February I had to talk about this issue in front of the whole class for ten minutes. On that occasion the time was ten minutes because the teacher wanted that the pressure were lesser than in an official exam and you could speak more slowly, more relaxed.

Now, the time will be 3 or 4 minutes, I am not sure, but I want preparing another speech because I have been going over the previous topic in my head and I always forget something or I already think it has been told.

Well, then, I am going to talk about my best friend. Well, maybe I Should say about my oldest friend Pedro Mari because Pedro and I have known since childhood and we have maintained, in  a greater or lesser extent, a friendship relation to this day.

We met in a Church. When I was a boy of about six years I used to accompany my mother to hear Mass on Saturday evening at a nearby church. By then, my two brothers and two sisters went to hear Mass at another church with my father on Sundays morning. Luis, my youngest brother had been born recently and my mother had to look after him.

A Saturday, when I was sitting on a bench next to my mother, I was felt a bit bored. I was looking at everywhere and suddenly I saw a boy sitting alone two benches further back in the right row.

I remember that day in a special way. Pedro was quite a peculiar boy. Something older than me, short blonde hair, very white skin, taller and stronger than me, perhaps with some kilos of overweight but athletic looking. He looked German. His clothes was a little strange. He wore white trousers with large gray boxes and a green very tight polo shirt. He attracted my attention from the first moment.

The curiosity I felt for him increased the following Saturday. He also was in the church, sitting in the same place. This fact was becoming in a habit and I found a way to start a friendship with him.

When the Mass was over, he left shot out to his house like a rocket. He ran very fast, but..... I ran faster. One evening I told my mother I would wait her at the corner and thus, I could overtake him like a ray. Thus, Saturday after Saturday, I managed to get his attention.

We became good friends. I began to sit with him in the church. My mother used to stay with some neighbor. After Mass, Pedro and I always came back home together and we used to stay chatting a long while.

Time was spending and our friendship grew. We were the best friends of our area. We spent a lot of hours playing in the street and in our houses.

Pedro is a year older than me and has a sister, Aisa, who is of my same age. She is quite pretty and this fact was one of the main reasons why Pedro was well accepted in my group of friends. On the other hand, it was thanks to us that she was part of my two sisters's group of friends.

Pedro and his sister were born in the Spanish Sahara. Their father was a primary school teacher and he was destined there. After a few years he was destined to Logroño permanently.

Their father was, in all respects,  a very strict person. This fact marked their childhood, and probably, it marked them for the rest of their lives.

Pedro and his sister trained as teachers but never were in teaching. His sister is a civil servant and Pedro worked in a bookshop for ten years during which he developed a great interest in the birds and the ornithology. Today, fortunately for him, he works as forest ranger and he loves his work on the same way he loves the nature.

Today Peter and I keep having the same physical differences and regarding to character we have some similarities. For example, both of us are a little shy and introverted. I hardly could say something bad about Pedro. I think he has an unhealthy envy to the success of  the rest of the people. It's something that I could see in a couple of occasions. Here is where I notice the influence of his father.

Two years ago Pedro met a girl, Loreto, who, curiously, is a primary school teacher. It seems that Pedro is being hounded by the ghost of teaching.

Lately, Pedro and I meet less often. From time to time Pedro, his girlfriend, my wife and I meet for dinner and almost always we end up talking about the old days.

Mis Vacaciones

Volví de vacaciones el sábado pasado.  Los vacacions fueron bien.  Hice todas las cosas que quiso hacer, ví los delfines y ballenas cuando estuvimos en la excursión en la catamarán.  Probé las papas arrugadas en salsa rojo, que mis amigos me recomendaron.  No hablé español mucho debido a que me parecí que mucha gente habla inglés en Las Islas Canarias.  Me gustó mucho la ciudad de Santiago de Compostela, nuestra última parada en España, pero cuando llegamos llovió.  Tuve que comprar un suéter de deportes para mantenerme caliente, hizo frío allí, es igual que el UK en el norte de España.  Mientras que estuve de vacaciones, el verano había llegado en el UK, pero inmediatamente que regresé, la temperatura bajó de nuevo, y mi amiga quiso que yo saliera de Inglaterra de nuevo. !Siempre es igual cuando estoy en extranjero!  Ahora hace frió y hay viento y lluvia y mi marido ha cogido un resfriado.  Tengo que pensar en donde quiero ir la próxima vez.

My elderly aunt

When I look back in time, I soon realize how quickly time goes by. I say that to you because today I was visiting my ninety years old aunt in her new house, a house where she had never wanted to be before, a new house that has been waiting for her for ninety long years, once  her body told his mind that he could not live on her own. I think you have already guessed that I am referring to an elderly house.

After a multi-functional organs failure, my aunt spent three weeks in hospital. She had never been there before. Can you imagine? Ninety years without being in hospital. She is very strong, it runs in her family. Her father died when he was ninety eight without going through a hospital door!

My aunt did not have children. My two brothers and I are her the only relatives she has but you know what happens nowadays, everybody is too busy to take care of elderly people and this is the reason why elderly houses have become popular in the last years. In my opinion elderly houses take advantage of this situation an charge a lot of money for taking care of our relatives. This is a service that should be entirely covered by social services but, instead of that,  everything in Spain is being cutting down so elderly people could not be an exception.

I have never been to an elderly house before. I have to confess that after my visit I did not feel well, my mind was concerned and worried, concerned because I wondered if my aunt was receiving the appropriate cares and worried about my old age.

Last morning I could see myself sitting in an enormous  living room facing a big flat TV the whole day, without friends, looking at the ceiling, thinking about the blueness of the sea, my best friend, patiently waiting to see the friendly faces of my relatives that come to see me once a week, waiting for the friend that you are never going to see again, waiting for the death.

Last morning, after visiting my aunt, I did not feel well, and I cried.

Vicent

 

La ciudad de esmeraldas

(El maravilloso Mago de Oz, a continuación) Nuestro grupo ha llegado a la gran ciudad, donde todo y todos están de color verde: los edificios, los trajes de los habitantes — y sus tezes también. Como en la película, el grupo es enfrentado en la puerta por una guardia que les interroga y, por fin, les deja entrar. A partir de aquí algunas diferencias de la película comienzan. Primeramente, los personajes se presentan al mago a solas, no juntos. Además, a cada uno el mago adopta una forma diferente. A Dorothy es una gran cabeza sin cuerpo. Al Espantapájaros se presenta como una bella dama. El Leñador encuentra una bestia enorme con 5 brazos y 5 patas. Ultimamente, el león se enfrenta con una bola de fuego, violento y vivo. El mago habla de cada forma, y en cada caso, rechaza la solicitud del personaje, hasta que mate la Bruja del Oeste (matarla, no conseguir su escoba como en la película). Todos están muy decepcionados porque no tienen ninguna idea cómo matar la bruja. Además, esta es la primera referencia a la Bruja del Oeste desde la llegada de Dorothy a la tierra de los Munchkins, puesto que la demanda de Oz viene como un choque, a los personajes y al lector también. ¿Qué van a hacer? Quizás nos relate el siguiente capítulo.

Debate: The New York Times vs Spain

After writing my last post about the article published in The New York  Times. I would like to know if all of you agree with these arguments.

CORRUPTION is something that we have to suffer in all democratic countries. It is a pity but it is a reality. We, the citizens, can't fight against our politicians. The only way to solve this situation or change the people who is managing our countries it would be changing them for another ones. But I wonder, is Democracy the best politic system. Or we should think in changin for another new system, where the people had more impotance to take decissions.

We can't fight against  our politicians, because if they weren't there, presumably there would be another ones and surley they would do the samethings.

In Spain, we are suffering a lot of economic problems, as all of you know. There is more unemployed people, companies that have to close because they don't find market where can sell their products or services. Most of people are in red. They can't afford their mortgages, they are overdrawns, and in a lot of cases the evitions are a real threat.

I agree with the article about the CORRUPTION, but do you think all spaniards are corrupts.

How do you see us?

Thanks for letting me to express my opinion, but i would like to read your opionions about us. The Spanish's imagen has been damaged. But in my opinion in this newspaper, they are writting all that it is happening in my country.

The New York Times vs Spain

Having read some news published on The New York Times about Spain, specifically about corruption, I would like to show you my opion about the spanish situation.
As all of you know, in Spain ( like in a lot of europeans countries), we are going through a huge economical crisis. This problem affects as Government as citizens. But we are, the spanish civil population who are suffering the problem.
In a society, where each time the number of unemployees is higher, where the problems of the most families to pay their mortgages are very serious, where the number of evictions is more increased...... Which do you think that it should be the attitude of our politicians?
What question!
The consequence of a bad management of our politicias, and the result of their own ambitions are the main arguments for the situation that everybody is living.
Never had I thought that our own politics mainly choosen by the citizens in the general or local elections, would finish working in their own benefit.
The fact of building a new airport is sended us like a new fresh air for our local economy. More tourism, more work ..... Great ... but after having our new airport builded, or a new motorway or new public works ... the situation each time goes worse. But as a consequence of all these enormous develpments of our local eononies .. we find that the most of our politicias are earning a lot of money. Whereas the majority of the Spanish society  ( not only we, but also the rest of society of the world) are earning our salary with our own work, our rulers are earning a lot of money thanks to the favours that they have done to allow the constructions of all these "monuments" to all the companies that have been working for them.
Favour is paid with another favour. It looks like a children game, but not, my dear readers, unfortunately it is a real reality. Everybody know who is the culprit, but they never will admit it. It is a real evidence. They will be judged but they will never go to the jail.. Why?  I don't know why. If i steal something, surely I would go to prision. Why they not? Can we rely on our own justice?
All these acts are damaging our own imagen in the exterior.
Not all the spainsh people are like the majority of our rulers. We are people that we can't relay on our politicians.
I feel very bad when I read all these news. They are right but the reality is pretty different.   Please rely on us. Not in our polical society.

 

Curiosities

My oldest son likes powerful, fast and expensive cars... (And, whom does not?). The thing is that he does not understand about cars a lot. He has heard of makes and models because his soccer idols are owners of some of the more expensive and luxurious cars of the market. His favourite idol has a Bugatti Veyron and, therefore, this car has to be the best car of the world.

The point is that the other day I heard on the radio when I came back from the work that the police of Dubai need fast cars to chase to the fastest cars of the world, which, obviously, they are found there.

I wonder who will be the lucky police officer in charge of driving the Lamborghini Aventador which the news said it was the latest acquisition for the police car fleet.

A new eccentricity of this surrealist emirate. I also wonder... when oil runs out, who will tour round Dubai?, Are there so many multimillionaires in the world?........What a crazy world!.

         

The truth is that the "toy" is amazing.                       (( I want one like this when I be older.))

Servicio para la comunidad

Mañana es el día de "Hands On Greenville" ("Manos a la obra para Greenville"?), un día de servicio para la comunidad, en que muchas personas participan en una variedad de proyectos en muchas partes del la ciudad. Yo participaré por primera vez (con mis 3 hijos). Nuestro proyecto tendrá lugar en un parque de la naturaleza que incluye un lago, un pantano y muchos senderos para visitantes. Nuestro trabajo es quitar pequeños árboles y maleza para crear "ventanas para ver la vida salvaje" (al parecer los árboles y maleza no son la vida salvaje que quieren ver). Trabajaremos con otros voluntarios por unas pocas horas por la mañana, y después, habrá una fiesta con almuerzo y refrescos para todos en el centro de la ciudad. Es un buen ejemplo de la comunidad colaborando para mejorar nuestros espacios públicos. Esperemos que no llueva.

A Foolish of the History

Some Sundays after to have dinner I watch TV before go to bed. The other day I watched an episode of the serie: "Towns under ground". I do not know the american series original title. It seems to me a very interesting and attractive series. Attractive because it is well done, with some pictures / images  made in 3-D and well explained things. You can see as the places are nowadays and as they were formerly.

Well, this episode about which I am going to talk deals with Dracula and Bucarest. I like the series because not only shows the subsoil of the towns but also of singular buildings as castles, churches, forts, amphitheatres, etc. And in this episode it is told the story of the castle of Count Dracula. In itself is interesting but there are some facts about the life and customs of the Count which, frankly, give a lot to think about the human condition or better said, on our wild human condition.

I already had heard to talk about the "impalements" (I do not know if this word exist, I meant "empalamientos") when I was a child, at the school but it is hard to believe when you hear it again when you are older.

In the episode they talk about the castle of Vlad Tepes III, prince from Walachia that with Moldova and Transylvania constituted the kingdom of Romania. A lot of characteristics of the character of the Bram Stoker's novel of 1897 are based in this "individual".

When I could hear with great detail the "hobbies" of this "type", I tried to put myself in the place of the inhabitants of the surrounding area and imagine the fear and anxiety that they had to suffer during the existence of this "twit".


                               

Sometimes the Memory Plays Tricks.

I said here, on some occasion that in my work I have too much time to think because it is very monotonous. I have been some days thinking about a mistake or perhaps better, a confusion.

I say confusion because when I wrote the summary of the film "The Shawshank Redemption", I mixed memories of several films.

My brain with the help of my memory devised a new plot. Actually, the plot was related more or less correctly but when I got to the ending I left out the escape. I, by mistake, talked about his release and new trial, when, in fact, the main character made a tunnel with a geologist hammer that the second character gives him.

In this film, hardly is given importance to this fact, however in others like, for example, "Escape from Alcatraz" the whole plot revolves around the escape.

In short, I wanted to explain it in case someone reads the post and  this did not fit to the plot and above all, as a debt with Matt, who very kindly and patiently corrected my written.

Toledo

If I had to choose among all the cities and towns I have visited in my life, I would choose without any doubt the city of Toledo. Toledo is situated in the centre of Spain,  only 100 hundred km from Madrid, the capital city. It is on a hill beside the river Tajo and you can glimpse its silhouette from several km away.

I remember arriving in Toledo. It was a sunny Saturday of May and I had to park my car before going into the city centre, because cars are not allowed there.  Toledo’s old town is entirely pedestrian, what it is perfectly understandable because of its narrow and medieval stoned streets. Sometimes I thought that a caped Spanish man was going to appear suddenly wielding his sharp sword!

Toledo has a big range of monuments due to its history. For example I would encourage visiting the Gothic cathedral which, despite of the fact that I am not very religious, made me feel absolutely astonished.  Other sight I visited was the Greco’s house, one of the most famous painters of the sixteenth century.

People living in Toledo are very friendly and they manufacture and sell crafts for a living.  They always receive their visitors drawing a smile on their face.

I would like to visit Toledo again. It has been twenty years since I was there, I was very young and I am positive that now, with the experience, knowledge and wrinkles that age has given me away, I would enjoy the visit much more.