JERUSALEM STATUS: WORLD CONDEMNS TRUMP’S ANNOUNCEMENT

This news was published today, on December 7^th, 2017, by the BBC newspaper. It talks about some of the reactions the announcement of Donald Trump got from Palestinians, Israelis and the main countries of EU. 

According to the news, Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital had different impacts. The Israeli PM said it was a historic day, while the Palestinian President said it was a deplorable move. Palestinians will protest, and plan strikes in order to “confront” Israel and the US.

Finally, the Arabs countries condemned the Trump’s decision, while Theresa May, the British PM, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and Emmanuel Macron, the French President, didn’t support the decision.

The following video is an analysis from BBC focusing on what Mr. Trump said and what it means for peace. 

OPINION:

The president Trump’s announcement about Jerusalem being the Israelis’ was hard to swallow, even if it was quite predictable, considering that the US is the biggest ally of Israeli government. It looks like Trump's politics is not that different to the Obama's one. Keeping in mind how powerful the United States is, the decision they took yesterday was important even if countries like UK, France and Germany doesn’t support it, taking into account that it breaks the peace accords from 1993 and the US declaration as a neutral ally.

From my point of view, the US announcement is just another political move, just like all of their participation in each conflict throughout history. I think that supporting the Israeli country is definitely a point in favour in the US interests in the Middle East. So, the best way to secure the growth of Israel and to maintain it powerful is to recognise Jerusalem as their capital. As a result, the Israeli illegal settlements will keep going, the repression towards the Palestinians will increase and so will the attacks. 

Finally, I would like to say that Palestine must keep demanding the recognition of their country. It is not fair the occupation Palestine is suffering since 1947. Also, focusing on the current situation in Spain, comparing the wanted independent republic of Catalonia with Israel is in poor taste, meaning that what really have in common is the illegal action they make and the Zionism character both have.

VOCABULARY:

Deplorable: lamentable. 

JULIA ROBERTS ROLE IN WONDER LEFT HER 'SPEECHLESS'

This news was published on December 1^st, 2017, by the BBC newspaper. It talks about the Julia’s Roberts reaction when it comes to the movie Wonder. 

According to the news, Julia Roberts declares speechless when it comes to her role in Wonder, which is a mother of a boy with a rare congenital condition that has affected the way his face is formed. She also says she thought that the book was so special and incredible, when she first read the book. What left her speechless, she says, is how her character spends time with the boy and how she decides to send him to school.

Jacob Trembay, who plays the main character of the movie, had to spend a lot of hours to do his make-up, according to Roberts. He also maintained contact with different patience who are suffering from that illness and sent letters to him. 

Finally, both actors agreed that the main message of the movie is to choose to be kind but also true to yourself and never give up.

OPINION:

I haven’t watched this film yet, but it is a thing that I will have to do as soon as possible. As far as I am concerned, I think that Jacob Trembay is right when he describes the main goal of the film, the big message which is given to the audience which is to always act with kindness, be true to yourself and, one of the most important thing, to just never give up. I have to say that I have high expectations when it comes to the film and I hope I’d like it as much as I do without even seen it.  

THE DISEASE THAT COULD CHANGE HOW WE DRINK COFFEE

This news was published on November 6^th, 2017, by the BBC newspaper. It is about the disease that could change how we drink coffee. 

According to the news, Colombia’s coffee has been traded since 1960, when people started to bring plant materials from abroad.  Because of that, coffee plants are suffering from a rust, which is a disease with power to wipe out the production of coffee.

Considering that coffee is the base of one of the biggest industries in Colombia, that disease could affect the economics of the country and would affect the price of the coffee we drink everywhere.

Finally, researchers from Colombia are trying to investigate how the plants can survive to the disease, if it’s even possible. The disease is caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix, which causes discoloration to the plants’ leaves, which end up falling. The plants lose their ability to produce beans.

Coffee rust looks like a brown powder on the leaves.

OPINION:

From my point of view, I think that if the coffee rust will not be stopped, will have a problem. Considering that as a human being we consume a lot of coffee, the importation will be more expensive if we keep in mind the reduction of production of coffee. In these cases, the role of the scientists is important to find a possible solution to this problem. That’s the reason why the Colombian researchers are working hard to solve issue that concerns a lot. I know that there are other countries where is posible to import coffee from but, imagine one day waking up without coffee. 

VOCABULARY:

Rust: oxidación.

Cripple: paralizar.

CHINESE POLICE CRACK DOWN ON FAKE PEPPA PIG PRODUCTS

This news was published on November 30^th, 2017, by the BBCnewspaper. It is about the intervention of Chinese police into the fake Peppa Pig products fabrication. Peppa Pig is a British children’s cartoon which is very popular in China.

According to the news, Police in Chine raided various places where it took place the manufacturing of counterfeit Peppa Pig products. This act took place because the British company Entertainment One complained about it, after they spotted the products on commercial websites. The raids took place in the city of Yangzhou on November 4^th, days before the country’s biggest annual online shopping event.

Finally, the head of the company which faked the products was arrested and apologized.  

OPINION:

From my point of view, from one hand, I think that it is not fair the fabrication of fake trademarks products, because the brand doesn’t win anything for its own work. That’s the reason why I think that the Chinese police did an excellent job with the raids. From another hand, I think that the head of the company which did all the counterfeits did such a good action when it comes to admit the wrong thing he had committed.

VOCABULARY:

Counterfeit: falsificación.

Raid: asalto

Trademark: Marca registrada (logo). 

PRALJAK: BOSNIAN CROAT WAR CRIMINAL DIES AFTER TAKING POISON ON COURT

This news was posted on November 29^th, 2017 by the BBC newspaper. It is about the death of the Bosnian Croat war criminal, Praljak, who took poison in court, during an appeal hearing in The Hague.

According to the newspaper, Praljak was sentenced for crimes in Mostar during the Bosnian war in 2013, next to five more formers. On this day, it took place the final appeal judgment hearing where Praljak was sentenced for 20 years on jail because of the crimes he committed, which were crimes against humanity.

After he drunk the poison, he was immediately assisted by the medical staff and transported to a hospital, even though, he died.

Slobodan Praljak, in the middle. 

OPINION:

From my point of view, I think that Praljak drinking the glass of poison is just a coward action. If he truly believed that he wasn’t a criminal, he wouldn’t drink poison, he wouldn’t give up on himself. Otherwise, he would go to jail and fight for his thoughts, but that’s impossible to do because even himself knew that he was such a big criminal.

When it comes to the crimes he committed, they are horrible. As far as I am concerned, one of the worsts wars was against Muslims. He destructed as many mosques as he could, leaving aside the city’s historic Old Bridge, and tortured them as bad as he could.

The problem I see in here is what now for the victims. Now that the ex-commander is dead, that doesn’t take away the pain people had suffered and all what they went through, for not talking about the losses of their loved ones.

MUSIC INDUSTRY

Lately, I have been shocked when it comes to the different songs are very successful nowadays. As far as I can remember, I didn’t really know the reason why the songs achieve such an overwhelming victory in the music industry and, most important, how did people like it. However, I think that know I might be conscient of it. To explain the possible reasons why some current type of music is so overrated, I am going to give different examples.

When it comes to the rappers, I could say that there as been clearly changes. I still remember the time when Lil Wayne, Eminem, Jay Z used to sound on the radio. I think that the current style hip-hop music isn’t what it used to be anymore, mainly because of the lyrics of the songs and how they don’t treat the same themes as before, considering that hip-hop was a way to recriminate the injustices people where suffering, specially in the United States. Even thought, I think that a lot of people made and make money by making rap songs, even though, in my opinion its lyrics is just a bunch of nonsense sentences. Despite that, I have to say that the songs can be hilarious, and that’s maybe why those singers have so much audience. Big Shaq song is clearly an example of what I am saying. In the following video, you can hear his song which reminds me of the beginning of Stormzy.

Additionally, we must keep in mind that music industry tries to get the higher number of earnings, as any other industry. So, how could I talk about music and profits without mentioning the one and only Jake Paul. The YouTube star has revolutionised the social media since he dropped out his song It’s everyday bro. The problem comes when he and his brother got into the music industry. In my opinion their songs are an example of what music shouldn’t be but, even so, they seem to succeed taking into account the number of visualizations they get in each song they post in YouTube and Sotify and, the number of sells in iTunes. 

Finally, I would like to talk about the classic pop songs which are basically made for boybands for commercial interest. I can not stand to that type of music anymore just because it has turned into weary music style. 

As a conclusion, I can say that the music industry has every right to promote and sell any type of music, but it depends on us in making it succeed or fail and since now, it looks like people just makes victorious the kind of music which discriminates, disrespects and is characterised by being lacked of talent. 

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

One of my favourite tv series is How to get away with murder. It was premiered on Semptember 25^th, 2014 by the original network ABC. The series was created by Peter Nowalk. The genre that characterise it are legal drama, mystery and thriller. The cast is formed by Viola Davis (as Annalise Keating), Billy Brown (as Nate Lahey), Alfred Enoch (as Wes Gibbins), Katie Findlay (Rebecca Sutter), Jack Falahee (Connor Walsh), Matt McGorry (as Asher Millstone), Aja Naomi King (as Michaela Pratt), Karla Souza (as Laurel Castillo), Charlie Weber (as Frank Delfino), Liza Weil (as Bonnie Winterbottom) and Conrad Ricamora (as Oliver Hampton). There are 4 seasons with 15 episodes each of them.

When it comes to the plot of this series is quite difficult to explain because of the mechanism of order follows each episode and to avoid possible spoilers. Despite that, I can say that How to get away with murder is about a law professor, Annalise, who works at a prestigious Philadelphia university who, next to five of her students, becomes entwined in a murder plot. With the help of her employees and a detective from the Philadelphia Police Department, she tries to investigate who are the murderers and the reason why she was entwined with them.

The first episodes of each season are always a short anticipation which leaves the audience with suspense and curiosity. Then the episode goes by until the last minutes where there’s another anticipation leaving a clue for the audience so that we can make our own hypothesis once the episode is finished.

As a lot of the Tv series I have watched, how to get away with murder was recommended to me by my sister. She was always talking about it, especially when she was finishing some episode. I don’t really get how the writers and director are able to think about the amazing plot of this series. I really like how each action and move of any character throughout the season might seem to be insignificant but at it end it is not. I can say that is one of that Tv series that I could watched on repeat without getting tired of it. I’m looking forward for the premier of the second part of the last season.

This is the trailer of the first season of How to get away with murder:

WOMEN

As the title says, in this post I will talk about women; huge problems women still face in 2017 and how they face them. I decided to talk about it because the latest news about masculine domestic violence, the sexual raping a lot of women are suffering, between other facts, have been the straws that broke the camel’s back.

One of the many horrific problems women face is domestic violence and oppression. Women are not safe from violence; it’s a clear fact. Last month was the national domestic violence awareness month and according to the statistics, there has been 15 victims because of gender violence, which most of them are women. This number should be 0, that’s the reason why we must keep fighting for safety and non-violence assaulting.

Another of the problems women face is sexual assaulting and rape. The following table shows the statistics in Spain throughout the years, according to Instituto de la Mujer y para la Igualdad de Oportunidades. The numbers talk by themselves.

Worldwide, the picture is just as bad. The world Health Organization estimates that 35 percent of women internationally have experienced domestic violence or sexual violence in their lifetime. The International Center For Research On Women estimates that there are over 70 million child brides worldwide. 

Globally, as many as 38 percent of female homicides are committed by an intimate partner.

Unfortunately, women not only have to fight for her safety but for equality in different areas. For example, in the labour area, in politics, …

Furthermore, the reaction of women should have when it comes to all the problems they go through or even how they face the world can be summarised into a word: strength. Women have to be strong. They must fight against expectations, specially when they have to face obstacles, and bounce back, even if they have been hurt, they must keep going on no matter what. Women are just fighters. As a conclusion, I could like to say that as a woman an most of all as a human being I am obligated to fight for our rights and equality. 

GAP YEAR IN ATHENS

Link: http://www.workaway.info/639218849353-en.html

WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF IDEAS

In this post, I will talk about a thing that has bothered me since some time ago. About a year or so, I noticed that some of my posts have been copied. I am not talking about the idea or the theme of the posts, I mean that some of my writings have been copied by someone else literally; word by word.

At first, I didn’t focus on that too much. I didn’t give it importance, until one friend told me that I should tell my teacher or someone. I thought: “What a stupid thing to do, go and complain to the teacher. We look like children”. I don’t like to make people feel uncomfortable and telling them about it would be a bit awkward. This mind-thinking, however, changed recently, when I saw that nothing's gonna change if I don’t do anything. Then, I had a brilliant idea. I decided to make a “your-say” where I would talk about it and see if it would make any difference, and here I am.

On one hand, when it comes to the idea of working on a blog in English, it is quite hard. I think it is difficult to make yourself start to write the posts, mainly because of the limited time. On the other hand, it is a laborious task to think about the topic you could write about. In my case, every time I have any idea, I write it down. Then, when I think it’s time to start to write some posts, I really go for it. I must say that I end up enjoying it. I also like to make it perfect (even though it is impossible). I always think that considering that I will have to start someday to do the posts anyway, why doing it wrong? Let’s do it right and feel proud of it at the end. That’s the reason why it feels horrible when, after  putting so much effort into something, someone else takes it without even asking, without sacrifying their time. It is not about egoism, it’s about the work I put into it.

Finally, I would like to say that there is always a positive part in everything. In this case, I have to thank them. I get to write this post without even have to think about an idea or a topic.

I really hope this will never happen again.

EUROVISION 2017: PORTUGAL'S BALLAD WINS CONTEST

Salvador Sobral with his award.

This news was published on the 14^th of May by the BBC newspaper. This news talks about the Eurovision Song Contest hosted that same day in Kiev, Ukraine.

The news stats by announcing the winner, Salvador Sobral. It was the first time Portugal won this contest. It was Salvador Sobral who broke the bad streak of his country with his song Amar Pelos Dois in Portuguese. The love ballad was written by his sister, Luisa, who later joined him for a duet.

According to the news, Sobral was in a serious heart condition. That’s the reason why he missed the first week of rehearsals. The song won by 758 points.

On one hand, there has been other actuations which were the odds-on-favour. For example, Francesco Gabbani, representing Italy. On the other hand, there has been an incident in this event. During the actuation of Jamala – the winner of last year-, a man was flashing his bottom, wrapped in an Australian flag.

OPINION:
This year, the Eurovision Song Contest surprised me a lot. It has been the first time I liked some of the songs. My favourite one is Occidentali’s karma by Francesco Gabbani, who was representing Italy, even though I didn’t understand the meaning of the song. After making some research, the song was about how Westerns use Easters philosophies and culture but they will always be tourists or even immigrants.

I totally agree with the audience and the judges in awarding Salvador Sobral. His actuation was surprising for good despite it was also a little bit creepy his movements. It looks like there’s a full story about him behind, without considering his health condition which, by the way, it was so brave of him acting in that condition.  

BRITISH LAW STUDENT CAUGHT USING INVISIBLE INK TO CHEAT IN UNIVERSITY EXAM

This news was published on 5^th of May of 2017 by the Huffington post newspaper. The news talks about a British student who is studying Law in the University was caught cheating in an exam in an original way.

According to the news, the student was caught with 24 pages of notes written in invisible ink, hidden inside a book, which she was going to use for the test. It looks like she was inspired by James Bond when it comes to the gadget she was using during the exam.

However, the student was spotted cheating by her classmates. Her notes were immediately confiscated and she failed the subject as a punishment.

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator explained that this occurrence took place in 2016. They also revealed that in the past four years the number of cheating has increase a 42%.

When I read this news, I found it very funny. I was impressed by the technique the student used to cheat on the exam, but, unfortunately it did not work out well for her. It is quite sad that her classmates informed the teacher because it looks like she put so much effort to make 24 copies of her notes and to make work everything with the gadget. But, on the other hand, it’s unfair for the rest of the students who studied.

VOCABULARY:

Ink: tinta

Red-handed: con las manos en la masa.

Breach: infracción, violación

PARENTS' MOBILE USE HARMS FAMILY LIFE, SAY SECONDARY PUPILS

This news article was published on 23^rd of April by the bbc newspaper. It talks about the overuse of mobile phones and other devices by parents.

According to some studies made by the Digital Awareness UK and the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, secondary pupils reported that the use of mobile phones by their parents stopped their families enjoying each other’s company, leaving behind the fact that most of them use it in meal times.

Most of the children said that after asking their parents to put down their phones they didn’t took no notice, which that led them to feel ignored and upset.

However, children are also very addicted to different kind of devices, being online between three and five hours a day at weekends or even 15 hours a day. This causes tiredness and a lack of sleep but most of the parents aren’t aware of that.

When I read this news, I immediately thought of my parents. They often stay starring at their phones in meal times. They use their mobile phones even more than me. I don’t really like it. I really like when it’s meal time because it’s the time of the day where I sat with my family and when we talk a lot. With the homework and studies, I barely have time to even spend time with them. That’s why I really take advantage of that time.

I think that these devices will always be a discussion. On one hand, I think that it consumes you little by little, pulling apart the real life and people, but, on the other hand, I think that these technologies can be a beneficial use for everything.

VOCABULARY:

Lack of: falta de

Poll: votació, enquesta.

HAPPINESS

One of the most important topics about life is happiness. If you are unhappy, you are not really living your life. Happiness is just a state of mind, a good one, unique for each person. Sometimes it might look impossible to achieve it considering the bad things someone can go through, but, depending on the behaviour they have when they face those situations, happiness can be reached easily.

On one hand, the most important thing that makes me guarantee happiness is the circles. It’s primordial to surround myself with positive people: good friends and family. Only the real ones. That makes people feel loved and wanted.

On the other hand, I found it essential to tap into gratitude.  Sometimes the only thing we have to do to be happy is to stop for a moment and think of something or someone in our life that you are grateful for. Sometimes we only focus on bad things and with only changing that focus, we can end the pain easily. Be thankful always for what you have and appreciate the smaller things in life which we usually take for granted.

There can be a different cause of unhappiness. Some might be unknown and some we might have conscience of. Stress, the feeling of being useless, alone, lost and little in this big world, can be the reason of the sadness.

However, people can be unhappy not because of their life but because of the others and the world in general. I think this happens because we think just way too much. All the unfair things and situations in the world makes us feel sad. But it’s important to remember that being happy doesn’t mean being careless. It has nothing to do with the idea of “happy idiot”, the belief that anyone who is too happy must be not intelligent enough to see potential problems.

I think that the best think to do when you feel sad is to disconnect from everything. Going somewhere you like by yourself can help you to reduce stress, anxiety and sadness, without bringing any devices obviously. Even so, sometimes we can find the solution with social media. It is kind of stupid but, the idea of watching your favourite youtubers can help you to take off of your life, specially the funny ones considering that humour is a good ingredient to be happy.

In the following video, Will Darbyshire explains what exactly means having a happy place.

ISLAMOPHOBIA

Recently, the word Islam has been everywhere. If you turned on the TV, the media would be probably name it. If you checked the social medias you would see how many hashtags were dedicated to Islam. The mainly thing in common about it is that the word Islam is always related with something bad. It is quite funny because the word Islam and what goes behind it is the opposite to bad. This wrong comparison happens when people don’t bother themselves to do some research.

Since I was younger, I thought: “After all the mistakes the humankind has made throughout history, when it becomes to the discrimination of people and hate, they didn’t change anything about their mindset”. But as soon as I got older, I got to know that it’s all about the interests of people. It interests a lot the existence of hate.

A few days ago, I found a video where the 2016 finalists from the National Poetry Slam where performing such a good poem. The poem was about islamophobia. They talked very well about this issue, giving convincing arguments during the whole video.

I think that we don’t usually give importance to islamophobics because we rather focus on racism on black people, South Americans or Asians. Muslims have been forgotten about what they go through for something which is not even they fault. Hating Muslims for the actions of some is like hating Germans for what some of them did during the Nazi period to Jewish people, for example.

Here's the video which in 3 minuts leave things understood:

In the following video, we can see how Adam Saleh, a well-known New Yorker youtuber, was kicked out from the airplane from Delta Airlines because some passengers felt uncomfortable when they were talking in Arab, their native tongue. I have to say that it was the most ridiculous thing on behalf the passengers’ behaviour, waving their hands in the back, so disgusting.

In my opinion, I think that the worst thing is when low key racist people act against racism. I really hate when people complain racist people, saying that it so bad or unhuman, when in real life they are the ones. A clearly example could be seen during the election of the USA president. I had been hearing on repeat how Trump was so racist by people who actually are or act like it.

REVIEW: "GAP YEAR"

Last Wednesday we watch the first episode of the series Gap Year in class. This is an English TV series which its premier was on February of this year. It is characterised by being a comedy and dramatic series.

In the first episode, Dylan and Sean travel to China. Sean thought the travel was about escaping life back in the UK, with a purpose to live adventures However, as soon as they arrived, Dylan revealed that he booked the whole thing just to get back with his ex-girlfriend, Lauren. After, the two friends met a in a public toilet a group of American people who are also traveling: Ashley, Greg and May. Unluckily, Dylan left his money in there which, after, Greg found. Later on, the two groups met again. Dylan got back his money and then, they went to a festival next to the Great Wall of China. There, on one hand, Sean got into a fight, accidentally. He run out of the scene which is why he got lost. On the other hand, Dylan met Lauren. That meeting didn’t end well considering that Dylan was worried about Sean. Finally, the episode ends by Sean getting in a car, thinking that the driver might take him to the festival. Unfortunately, the driver was friend of the person Sean fight with before. He got kidnapped by them considering that he could get out of the car.

As I said before, this TV series is about Gap years. The episode starts with a good talk between the two friends, Dylan and Sean, with a woman about what they had in mind to do in China. She immediately denied those things. The two friends might have had elevated expectations about the trip and the woman knew that. Everyone thinks that traveling is fun, but in real life, it all depends on where you are going to. It is not the same going to China than to Thailand.

Another thing that I found it relevant is the tiny details in some of the characters’ behaviour. The first one was Sean’s impression about a natural park in China. Dylan kept saying how traditional and important it was but once they were there, it looked insignificant. Also, when May wanted to see the sunset from the Great Wall, they looked at it as if it was something they had to do because everyone does it.

Finally, when Dylan took a photo from the two strangers who were camping in the Great Wall, the couple pose like if it was the best time of their life, but, however, it wasn’t like that.

In my opinion, this TV series shows how Gap year works and tries to break the cliché in one way. The series represent how Gap years are not about having always a good time and living life freely because it’s very important to be responsible.

This episode was very funny, mainly because of Sean. I quite liked it but I don’t see myself watching the rest of it. I don’t really like the topic.

THE BEST EUROPEAN CITIES TO TRAVEL TO

In this post, I will talk about some of the cities which I would like to visit. There are European cities which are highly recommended to travel to and others which are not that famous.

Starting with the bests ones for me, Dubrovnik and Prague are the current cities I want to go to.

Dubrovnik, just like Split, Pula or Poreč, is one of the most symbolic town of Croatia. Dubrovnik is characterized for being and old town with a determinate aesthetic, when it becomes to the buildings. Apart from that, the most beautiful thing about the city are the views to the Adriatic Sea. I got to know this town because of Game of Thrones. It looks like King’s Landing is Dubrovnik in real life.

On the other hand, Prague, unlike Dubrovnik, is in Czech Republic and it hasn’t got a coast, but, even though, the city is full of rivers. It is considered a city with a bohemian heart, considering its architecture. I think the best time of the year to visit it is in Spring because of the vegetation. It must be such a good feeling waking through the city with a green landscape.

Moving to the northern cities, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Edinburgh are the most interesting for me. These cities are quite different to what I am used to.

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark. The city keeps various lakes and rivers, where you can take a ride with a boat while visiting the city. There are a lot of palaces, cathedrals, parks and squares to visit. Copenhagen is well-known for being one of the most expensive city. This says a lot about the standard of living.

Edinburgh is a unique capital in Western Europe. There, you can find a medieval Old Town, which is the most iconic place of the city. I could like to go there in Winter because the city looks cosier.

Finally, Oport is one of the cities which I like most of Portugal. The reason why I really like the city is because of the colorful neighborhoods and its views. I would love to go there to get off everything, because it looks like really relaxing.

Dubrovnik, Prague, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Oport, respectively.

"VICTUS: BARCELONA 1714"

Victus: Barcelona 1714 was written by Albert Sánchez Piñol and it was published in 2013 by La campana editorial.

This novel is about a man, Martí Zuviria, who hires a German writer to basically write up his earlier life. The novel starts with an epic adventure he lived. After that, Martí had to go to the Bazoches castle (France) to prepare himself us a military engineer. After hard-work and the death of his great professor who was a famous engineer, Martí lived a battle in Almansa even though he didn’t pass the final exam which would make him an official engineer. After going back to Barcelona - where he met a woman –, he fought in a lot of battles in favour of the French monarchy. But that didn’t last forever. After the retirement of the ally, Martí decided to join Antonio de Villarroel’s army. Unluckily, after working so hard on the planning of the trenches, walls and other important war important elements, the war was won by the Borbon’s army.

The title of the three parts of the novel is very curious. The author based on the famous Latin expression Veni Vidi Vici to name each part, but, the last one is called Victus, because, on September 1714, it took place the fall of the city of Barcelona where the Catalans lost the war. That is also the reason why he named the book like that.

For the Spanish class, we had the opportunity to read a book, which apart from help us with the mark, it is a great excuse to read. In this second term, I decided to read this novel because it gained me a lot and I wanted to read it since the first term of school. I must say that It has impressed me a lot. A part from being a historical novel, which I like them a lot, this novel has something different. The author, from the firsts lines of the book, makes the reader feel like one of the characters, like if they were there, living the story.

The way the author made the character’s talk is amazing; the dialogues between each character made me being stuck with the book during days, without leaving it. But, the best thing of all is the way that the plot makes you think about the little details of life. The death of your loved ones, the struggle you suffer to become who you want to be and the most difficult sacrifices you have to do to make a better place for your loved ones are the top things that this book shows you.

DESCRIPTION OF A PERSON

In this post I will describe my sister. My sister is older than me; she is nineteen years old. There is just three years of difference between our ages, that explains why we are so close and we comprehend each other without any difficulties.

From the psychologist point of view, my sister can be described from a lot of different ways. She is an open-minded person and this helps a lot when it becomes to talk about something. Apart from that, I must say that she knows everything about everything. She can talk perfectly about politics and economy situation, science novelty, music, films, etc. That is why I always tell her that she is a very cultured person. She perfectly knows how to argument her thought.

When it becomes to her personality, I must stand out her sense of humour. She is very cheerful and such a joker. She is always laughing, even in the most serious moments. She knows how to cheer up a person who is having a bad day and knows when and how to help people when they don’t even ask her.

What she can’t put up with two-faced people and those who only act for their interests. She is a hard-working and a strong person. No matter what she goes through she never gives up. That’s one of the best things about her and one of the things I look up to. She fights for her dreams and demonstrates day after day the reason why she is where she is now. She is very organised, but even though she sometimes gets stressed considering that the career she is studying at this moment is hard and it requires a lot of work.

Physically, she is not that tall but neither short. She has dark wavy medium-sized hair and dark eyes too. I can’t describe her style because she doesn’t follow any. She just wears what she likes without having to discuss if it is trendy or not.

She loves to read books. If she had her own library, she would go out of there. She also likes to go to the cinema and watch series. I have to say that she has a good taste for it.

Finally, I would like to say that being her sister is such a pleasure but it has also its negative part, I will always be compared to her and that’s bad because I can never be as perfect as she is. I am happy to have someone like her in my life. It is so good to have a best friend forever.

SCIENCE LIMITS ON GLOBAL ISSUES

As we all know, science has changed our lifes mainly for good. However, science has its own limits, for example, when it becomes to the global issues. In this post, I will talk about a global issue which is the violation of human right and the intervention of science on it.

Human rights are the basic rights and “freedoms” that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death. They apply regardless of where you are from, what you believe or how you choose to live your life. They can never be taken away, although they can sometimes be restricted. These basic rights are based on values like dignity, fairness, equality, respect and independence.

The problem comes when these rights or “freedoms” are not respected. There are a lot of facts which infringe them. For example, the West Bank barrier or the current settlements in Palestine, the immigration and refugees banning and the utility of chemical weapons on civilians.

If we look at the science role in these violations, we can say that science helps a lot to carry through these actions. All the chemical weapons created, the machinery and equipment used between other many devices are designed from science. With this idea, we could say that science has its own limits which create a lot of problems in real life.

Some of the science limits which influences some of the human rights violation are obvious but some of them are not. On one hand, science does not make moral judgments about anything. On the other hand, science doesn’t guide us when it becomes to know how to use the scientific knowledge.

As a conclusion, I must say that science limits influence a lot some of the human rights violations and, at the same time, these science limits are an important weapon for industrialised countries to take advantage from poor countries which doesn’t have power to own scientific knowledge.