NEW YEAR'S EVE

A month before Christmas was going to start, my friends and I were trying to prepare all the stuff to have the best new year's eve ever, well that's why we all have come of age and we wanted to waste our energy staring at all the things we've got and proving we did it our best.
Firstly we decided the place we were going to spend that kind of event, and after looking for some different choices we realized that the best place to go was Lleida. Lleida is a town nearby Barcelona, where a friend of us is living as an university student, she's living there sharing a flat with two more guys.. so we decided to go there for pouring out onto the flat (besides being a save for our pockets, that's what crisis does). So we booked our round-trip ticket from December 29th to January 1st and it was something reassuring. Then we started collecting all our ideas of what would be necessary to carry there, all kind of things like clothes, money, papers... and that's nice because there's always someone who reminds you something that if you hadn't brought may be you would had got a terrible shock, and vice versa. We are 9 friends who are going to share together all the wonderful moments to save as memories, and well, I also say that because of "share"...we will share a flat, bedrooms, bathroom, snapshots, food and even some hot arguments... the last thing is because of the tiredness, sense of humour and life together that make us a group of stupid and annoying girls, it is like "well stop being so childish" (that's just for certain situations). Another thing about we had troubles were clothes, that's the point of being 9 teenaged girls and the thing is: "why bringing 4 outfits for 4 days if you can even put all your wardrobe into your suitcase".. but I sometimes stop thinking about the word suitcase, and I suppose it comes from something which suits you.. yeah it should be that, but I can't even guess why I always have to force my suitcase doing things like sitting down on it, punching it or so. Besides, our friend told us we should bring up blankets, towels, thigh coats because that town is pretty cold. (something that didn’t happen, perhaps it was 16ºC)

Apart from that which sounds “not so good” there are also good things that happens in there. When we arrived to Lleida it felt like to get some fresh air because everything is new and then I realized I needed a change of scene. We took the bus and went to my friend’s flat, we started organizing suitcases, clothes, etc. And after that we went to buy food for these 4 days but new year’s eve. That already was a problem because of dividing the money. Later we came back to the flat for resting because of the trip and the following day (30st) we decided to go to Barcelona by train to spend a sunny day; it was a day full of shopping, strolls and tiring faces… but when we arrived at home we had dinner and made mojitos and it was very funny. The 31^st we waked up later, more or less at 11.30 because we needed to rest for new year’s eve but we couldn’t get up later that that because we had to complete things and we wanted to go for a walk and take photos. That day we had lunch at 4.30-5 approx. and after that we went to buy the most important thing: the bunch of grapes… and well, the dinner too. We spend new year’s eve at the flat and then we went to a disco and we came back at 7 am or so. The 1^st We had to get up at 11 because we had to pack our belongings and in this very moment we also had to pick up and clean all the dishes of the last night. Our train leaves at 1.30 pm and we were in a hurry but we finally got it.

After meditating this kind of things, I recognise it all is not so easy as I thought because when you are a child, your parents do it all for you and of course they always do anything better than you; though I say this ironically, sometimes I would not like to be an “adult” anymore because in some certain situations you have to show how much brain you have and may be a mistake penalizes you forever. I say this because you realise of it when you have to live with 9 different people with 9 different characters and 9 different viewpoints. But I think it makes you mature because there are life experiences that sooner or later you’ll have to live. I am happy, it was a great adventure.

MASS MEDIA

Mass Media are strategic phenomena which involve our society making us some kind of puppet which follows products. Entities like radio, television, newspapers, magazines or shops are the leading companies whom ads or subliminal messages influence our level of anxiety for buying more and more every day. It’s sad to admit it but we all fall into the temptation and it is like the sign we need to blame them without thinking if it is our fault to answer their appeals. That is why they are clever than us and they know how to sell or incite us to do what they want. STOP, may be they know how to cheat us but we must be stronger and more realistic to understand that there are things we don’t need or even we haven’t seen for years as a need, so it is not now the time to make it ours.

Besides this part of an objective criticism, Mass Media are a good and consolidated source of information that helps us to know what is happening all around the world just taking a glimpse on internet or turning on the television or the radio (the newspapers or magazines too). Behind this title “Mass Media” is hidden a lot of people who works without resting (travelling, investigating) for showing the last minute news at all costs. These people deal with economy, policy, culture, yellow or red press and even gossip magazines, etc. Mass Media have grown up since internet appeared.

An advice is to be conscious and impartial about we watch or read because loads of sources of information are not speaking or writing on an objective way and that can spark off in what each person thinks. There are so many channels and newspapers that make up or distort what they are talking about influenced by political views that it is hard to distinguish what it is true or to discover what is missing.

HOW TO USE IT

Sometimes I think that people are insulting others every time. I mean, I hate it when you buy such a stupid thing such as a pocket ashtray and even it has instructions divided into 4 points. The first one says that you must put the cigarette, still lighted, in the pocket ashtray (without crushing it). The second one orders you to close the pocket ashtray using the “push button”. The third point indicates you to make sure that the cigarette is put out before inserting the ashtray in your pocket. And the last one suggests that: “Once the ashtray is full, empty the cigarettes in a garbage can”. And to end in it is something written like “ the pocket ashtray can contain up to 5 cigarettes butts at the same time and the ashtray is intended to contain cigarette butts exclusively”.

Well, let’s stop for a minute, who doesn’t know that you should close the pocket ashtray once it is into it? Or are you going to let the cigarettes and the ash to spread all around your bag or wherever you put your pocket ashtray? Besides, due to the fact that the pocket ashtray can also contain 5 cigarettes, what happens if you put 6 into it? Will come someone to say you how wrong you are using the instructions that they told you? Or perhaps the pocket ashtray will disappear if it contains a number of cigarettes higher from 5? There is another funny thing that seems a joke, and that is when you read “Once the ashtray is full, empty the cigarettes[…]” and in that very moment you understand you don’t need to continue reading at all; may be because they have just called you an insulting name, “stupid, fool..” or whatever because they are sure that if they don’t tell you that you must empty something when it is full, you won’t do it (ladies and gentleman, we are not robots any more, we have feelings and habits to do things). And who doesn’t laugh at the thing of “cigarette butts exclusively”, let me consider it dear employee who writes that instructions, do you seriously believe that people who smoke grass joints is not going to buy a pocket ashtray because you have decided that point? All these reflexions make me laugh a lot, and I am sure that is thought by loads of people but we are not got used to say it.

TO TAKE ONE'S DEGREE

The day when you graduate, in my opinion, it is that kind of day that a teenage boy or girl is waiting to come up. The fact of being the star for a day between the seniors of your school, and when all the professors are staring at you with admiration (almost all), or it is that day when you are wearing that dress you have always dreamt of, and while you are on the stage with all your mates you believe that the guy who you like is thinking how pretty you are or the most gossip girl in the university is jealous because of your shoes in which you have spent 300 Euros.

There are a lot of factors that you consider, so you prepare everything 2 months before because you can not admit that there is something failing, you can always solve it if something does not work a week before or so, but not later than that. Everything has to be all right and nothing or anyone can stop it.

I wish that day I had a personal assistant who did my hair, paint my nails, apply my make up, bring me up my special tea that I drink and my Vogue magazine… I also want that there is a limousine in front of my house waiting for me to pick me up and bring me to the event.

Maybe it sounds vain or dreamy nevertheless it is my dream and I do what I want with it. I also want that my bedroom has tons red roses and they smell like a green park in spring. Of course, these roses should have cards congratulating me by such an special day, my graduation. To take one’s degree sounds something insignificant if you use it rashly but if you stop thinking what it means…you do realise that word means the end of a large path, metaphorically speaking, where you have grown falling down and learning about the mistakes you have committed. You also remember all the people that you have known all over that way, from your childhood to that day. Friendly or unfriendly ones, but each of them has meant something for you. All your teachers, friends, relatives, families, etc... have been with you in that big moment.

When that day comes around, you are staring at all the people who are around you, and well, you are waiting for the headmaster to pronounce your name and you are getting anxious and tears are starting to flood down above your face. When he finally says it, you go in a happy way thinking that the world has stopped for you in that very moment. When all your mates already have their diplomas you all shout and cry because of the happiness and freedom of that moment.

ABOUT DRIVING A CAR

In Spain, you can get the driving licence when you have come to age, I mean, at 18. There is another law in America, for example, where you can already be a driver at 16. My very close friend, Jona, has had a large and unbelievable history with his driving licence test. He was 16 and then he decided to prepare his driving test because he had nothing special to do in summer time so he enrolled to a driving school and he started studying the book they have given him. When September came up, he was not very sure to take the exam because he only had done few tests and he did not feel ready, indeed. Besides, he was the one of his friends who was going to take the exam so he did not feel very stressed for being the first one, but he wanted to try it and finally he took the exam. Here in Spain you only can commit 3 mistakes of your driving test if you want to pass it, well, then he did 6 so obviously he failed. Actually, there is no problem with that because you have another opportunity to get it so he thought “I will took it later, I am not in a hurry because I couldn’t get my driving licence until 18” besides the guy of the driving school told him that his file would expire in two years. That’s right, when he was 17 (almost 18) he was ready to take the exam for the second time and he went again to the driving school to tell the guy to enrol him for the exam, but surprisingly that boy told him that his file had been expired and he was like “ what is happening here”, then the boy told him that there was a new law which says that the driving files expire in 3 months, my friend was arguing with him because no one had told him it and he is not responsible of that problem because the driving school should be which calls the students which files are going to expire for advising them. That boy only said “I am sorry but you will have to pay taxes again if you want to take your exam”. So Jona went out annoyed and when he arrived home he told everything to his family; their relatives said that it should be a kind of a cheat. So his brother Fernando asked the problem to a friend whose uncle is a teacher of another driving school and that man said to Fernando that it was not true, there was no new law, so Jona has not to pay taxes again because he has already paid his file and he had another opportunity to try it. So Jona went to speak with that man and he admitted him in his driving school without paying no enrolment for going to his classes. Finally, he felt ready to take the exam and when he was to that place to take it, there were a lot of people and a man who was saying names of people to enter the class. The time was passing by and the man was not pronounce his name so Jona said “excuse me, I am enrolled to take this exam today at 8 am and you have not said my name” so he checked it with his laptop and said “oh boy, I am sorry but here it appears that your file has expired and you have to pay taxes and enrol for the exam another day” my friend started to cry and he almost have a black out when he heard that hurting words. Anyway, he went to speak with the person who was at the public department in charge of controlling traffic and trying to be polite, he told that women all his history and she said she could not do anything because she was not in charge of that and she admitted that there was true that a new law existed but it has be working only a week ago; because before all of this, there was also another new law but they were not paying it much attention and they did what they wanted to. Jona get nervous and said to her that it was not fair and he was not going to pay again something he had already paid once. He said to that woman that they were a group of incompetents and it was not possible that they lead with the law in their own way because that was a cheat and he would do a claim.

Well, after this messed history, that is how the law acts in front of that kind of situations and the effects of the crisis, where everyone, even the government wants to rob our money with excuses like this one.

IBIZA,THE WHITE ISLAND

Ibiza is a new paradise, this was the place where my friends and I went for summer holidays when we finished 2^nd bachiller (the last grade at the high school). And it was there where our challenge started. We went from Valencia to Ibiza by boat which spent 3 hours on arriving to its destiny.

When we arrived to the hotel, there started troubles to choose who was the leader of delivering our rooms. We were disturbing so much at the hall so the receptionist asked us to turn our voice down. Then we unpacked all our suitcases and quickly went sunbathing to take advantage of a sunny day like that. At night we went out partying to a disco called “Privilege” which is the biggest in the world by now. It was such an amazing place that you could easily get lost hundred times. We had a lot of fun but we waked up at 5 pm the following day so we went to have lunch at burger king and then we went to Bora-Bora that is a kind of a pub where makes party afters non-stop and there we enjoyed a lot. After that we come back to the hotel to have dinner because the dinning room closed at 9 and after that we had to get dressed for going to another disco again. The disco chosen this time was “El Divino” and it was nearby PACHA. Before going partying, we went for a walk after dinner and it was pretty nice because of the sea, the lights and people wearing white clothes. After that, we went to the disco by motorbikes because my friends had rented ones. When we arrived there, we find a group of taxi drivers who where seeing us in a weird way so we did not say anything, but suddenly one of those said something to one of my friends and started hitting him, we all went running to them and tried to separate the taxi driver from my friend, the last one was so annoyed that he was on his nerves and wanted to go hitting that man but we stopped him because we did not want to be in troubles, we only wanted to be there to have fun and not to go to the police station. Well, we insulted the man and told him we were going to DENUNCIAR him because we still do not know how a 50 years old man can hit a guy of 18. Anyway, we continued partying and enjoying a lot forgetting what had happened. The discos chosen for the next 4 days were: Space (water party) on Wednesday, Pacha (for the fuck me I am famous’ party) on Thursday, Privilege (again) on Friday and Amnesia (Matinee party) on Saturday. They all were very good but where I enjoyed most was in Pacha… there were plenty of people, above all the rooms were amazingly decorated with cutie things like sweets, lips… besides and the most lucky thing was that David Guetta (one of the most famous DJs all over the world) came to dijockey there and he did a wonderful performance and its atmosphere was great. Speaking about atmospheres… I have to say that he atmosphere of Ibiza was pretty nice, I loved it because I recognise I only have seen “party-time” in Ibiza so I checked that it is also a calm and beautiful island. What surprised me is the quantity of different people, you could find: Chinese, American, English, African, Spanish, German people all around you wherever you were at any time. I liked to see these mixed-cultures sharing the same place and space, it seemed a cosmopolitan island. When we walked down the street we could realise that Ibiza is like the city which never sleeps, apart from being the white island. Everyone is partying at any time, it does not matter where they are… streets, hotels, beaches, flats, discos, etc. I loved joining that experience with my friends but I would not want to imagine how would be to live there, with all these hard noises all day long around my head. Well, they have an advantage: the pay much less for entering to the discos.

CLOTHING

I am crazy about clothes, I fall in love when I see a wonderful shoes (Vivenne Westwood is my inspiration) the same thing occurs with bags, accessories, etc... I think it comes from my grandma who was the most stylish and beautiful woman I have ever met, as an actress. When she became a grandma, she never died her hair so it remained white and brilliant ant it gave her a stylish and smart look even more than before. Whatever she wore, she was so magnificent, everything suited lovely on her.

I believe that my anxious for following my style comes from her and the scent she dislodged. I love reading fashion magazines to find what is “IN” on every moment, though later I prefer mixing things from different styles and decades. Vintage, retro, indie.. are my favourite ones because it brings me to the past and it is a way of not wearing the same as every one. In my opinion, everyone has to choose its style, it is boring to see people who is wearing something very similar to the person who is next to her/his. Or what I like best is when you are walking down the street and suddenly you see a group of teenaged 15 years old guys with the same kind and style of hair, they all with long hair, they carry a cap and I can always see the horse of Ralph Lauren sticked to their shirt. They are like tribes which wear, act and do the same things. If there is something that I can not stand is that one person criticize someone by the way how is wearing clothes. We all are free for wearing what we want to and there is no one who bans that. Kids are bad and they use to offend at the first opportunity, hurting other kids’ feelings.

Another topic that I want to speak about is “designer clothes vs. zara clothes”, well I have written down “zara” as I could write “lefties” or “h&m”, what I mean is that they are shops that work with no-brand clothes. I understand that there are particular people who hate wearing what shops like zara, h&m or lefties offers. I understand them in the way that they are looking for places where the brand can guarantee a top-quality products, but I disagree them when they buy in these places just for saying their neighbours how much was the coat they have just bought. In my modest opinion, if you buy something from a designer clothes shop that costs 200 Euros, you can later go to any shop like zara, h&m or lefties and you could invest the fact of buying 9 or 10 things for the same price.

MONSTER

This film is a drama. The main stars are Christine Ricci and Charlize Theron, they are well-known actresses.

The plot of the story takes place in US, and it is about two girls who meet in a bar and fall in love.

The film is very sad, because they always are arguing, but anyway they are still living together.

It is also surprising, because Charlize Theron plays the role of a prostitute who kills her clients because men had been evil with her and she wants revenge.

In my opinion the photography is good, but i am not an expert on this aspect. The soundtrack is good as well, because it matches the plot.

I do not like very much this kind of films, but this one is very entertaining, and strange at the same time, besides it is based on a true story and it makes the film more interesting since the main character kills a lot of people.

I would recommend this film only to people who likes thrillers or intricate plots.

SEXY MONEY

Every week, on Sunday, my family and I watch a TV series called Dirty Sexy Money.

This series is about the richest family in USA and a lot of crazy things that happen to them.

The wife cheated his husband with their lawyer, and now the lawyer’s son works for them as the new lawyer of the family.

Everyday, they are in trouble, because of their money, and the way they waste it.

It is very strange, and it is really funny, I like it so much because I always watch TV on my own and it is the only day of the week which my father and I watch this series together.

I am looking forward to watching the new chapter, because the last one ended in the middle of a conversation between Tripp and his lawyer, so I wish today were Sunday to know how it continues.

SCOOP

This film is a comedy, directed by Woody Allen, one of the greatest directors of Hollywood ever.

The main stars are Scarlett Johanson and Huck Jackman, and Woody Allen is an actor as well as director.

The film takes place in London; most Woody Allen’s films are shot in London, but he usually shoots films in Paris, New York and Barcelona too.

The plot is a little bit intricate, since Woody Allen always seems to be in trouble, he always talks too quickly and it may make viewers feel nervous.

In this film he explains how the life of one student of journalism, Scarlett Johanson, changes completely, due to the fact that she goes to a magic show and the spirit of a journalist appears and gives a message to her. He knows who the murderer of a lot of girls is. They have been estranged and all deaths seem to be made by the same killer.

The rest of the film is how she tries to accuse that man (Huck Jackman) by being his girlfriend and she tries to get evidences to send him to prison.

You should see Woody Allen’s films if you want to be glad after watching this one.

YOUNG PEOPLE ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH SPORT

The aim of this report is to let you know that it would be advisable that children and teenagers did more exercise.

This problem has been shown by a recent survey and I am worried about it.

The survey shows that nowadays, young people are more interested in playing games and chatting with computers than practising sport.

Doctors and specialists on this subject think that it is no good at all, because in this way their muscles and bones do not have the same development than the ones of somebody who does exercise.

Parents and teachers should promote how they can improve their lives with a daily sport activity.

Even if they exercise twice a week, it is good for their health.

So, one solution might be to put their name down on some activities such as football, basketball or any sport and also they must not eat too much sweets and chocolate, because they are harmful.

I think that if parents and teachers take this problem seriously, youngsters’ health will improve at least in our town.

DEATH PENALTY

Death penalty is abolished in some countries but it is not abolished yet in many others.

A lot of people think that criminals deserve this punishment, because they have to pay for their actions, but in fact, they would pay for them harder if they stayed for some years in prison.

The number of years depends on the crime but sometimes criminals get rid of their sentence or a part of it, due to the fact that they have had good behaviour in prison.

This is unfair in some cases, for example if a thief robs a bank and he is convicted to two years supposedly, however these two years may become a year or even some months.

I think that no country should permit death penalty in any case, but criminals must therefore serve their whole sentence.

So, in my opinion death penalty can never be justified.

WHY DO SOME STUDENTS EXPERIENCE BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS?

Nowadays, many children and teenagers are likely to have some behavioural problems at school, and the reason why it happens is as far as I can tell, problems with their familiar atmosphere such as divorces, separations, drugs or alcohol, children who are an only child, or maybe one relative of theirs has died accidentally or of a disease.

All this sort of problems causes on pupils changes in their behaviour, and they may become more violent towards their classmates or even their teachers.

Specially, when pupils are so young, they are more likely to suffer from these problems, because they feel things more inside than an adult and they are in a learning process.

So, I think that when a family has a problem like these ones, first of all they should take their children to an expert for help so that the kid does not fall into violence.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BRITISH AND SPANISH KIDS' PROBLEMS

Spain is a country with a mixture of cultures due to the immigration, so some of the kids’ problems are connected with racism.

Some cases of violence are due to the rejection towards foreign people, who are sometimes involved in fights by Spanish kids, or in the other hand, maybe the people to blame for are foreigners who sometimes became violent because of their family background.

Of course, Spanish kids have the same sort of problems as British ones, but maybe in a lesser degree.

Alcohol, drugs and violence are the daily routine for dome of the Spanish teenagers. Above all, alcohol is the biggest problem, since drugs are taken by teenagers in a lesser scale than alcohol.

So, kids in Spain have similar problems to British kids, but I do not think they have a lack of affection, perhaps the reason why they behave in this way is a divorce or a death, and then they are sad and start drinking and taking drugs.