Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Blog #10 due Wednesday May 25

Blog #10 historical spanish figure


Nicolas Cabrera was alive during 1913 until 1989.  He, like his father Blas Caberea, was a famous physicist.  He is famous for his work on the theories of cystal growth and the oxidisation of metals.  During his many years of exile, bcause of Francisco Franco, he worked as the Profressor of the Department of physics at University of Virginia.  There he was known for his interests in engineering and material science.  He founded the physics department and was the Professor at Autonomous University of Madrid(UAM).  When he returned to Spain he was considered to have been the one to give Spain its impulse to the study of physics.  The Nicolas Carera Institute was founded in 1989 at UAM is named after him.

"Nicolás Cabrera comes as close as humanly possible to the ideal figure of a renowned scientist and a perfect gentleman, someone who has a keen insight in the ways of nature and at the same time is fully at ease with his fellow humans, always benevolent and encouraging, yet also reserved and detached in his judgment."-V. Celli (Department of Physics, University of VA)

Blog #11

Blog#11 what do you think they should do w/ the money

    Since the senior class made the video that resulted in the winning of the 10 grand, I think they should decide what to do with it. 
     The school is in very poor shape, decoration wise.  I think a portion of the money should be spent on renovating the bathrooms because they are very gross and they need to be redone. Most of the doors don't even lock and some of the bottom of the doors are like 3 feet from the ground which is very ridiculous.  Some other money should be spent on getting new tables outside of the cafeteria, I suggest plastic or something other than painted wood because kids always peel of the paint and it looks unappealing to eat on. 
     I also think the money should go to updating the software technology so that you don't have to worry about making sure you saved your document to the correct version of word.
     The money could also be split up among the clubs so that they can recieve some benefits as well.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Blog #8 due Sunday May 22

Telenovela

Title: Alma de Hierro
Airtime: Friday May 20 at 6pm

The characters were a couple named Jose and Elena Antonio with three children Sebastian, Sandra, and Luis.
     In the beginning Elena has coffee with her friend and they are talking about something that is sad and it involves family, I think the friend misses her family or maybe she is having family problems.  
     During this time the blind boyfriend of the friend enters and then the friend and her boyfriend go and visit an elder gentlemen Don. Don tells the blind man something that seems to upset him.  I think people are wary of their relationship.  There seems to be a problem involving a Maria Cruz.  The blind man goes to see this Maria Cruz and they have a conflict, I think maybe she used to be his girlfriend.  Maybe his new girlfriend and her had a chat and he didn't like it very much.
     Another young girl,Sandra, has just found out that she is pregnant.  Her grandmother comforts her while in her bedroom.  In the same house four men are fighting in the kitchen.  I think it is the father of the pregnant girl and the father of the boy.  The mother Elena walks into the kitchen and hears her family talking about her daughter being pregnant.  Judging from her facial expression I gather that she didn't know about it before hand. 
     Later on in the show the blind man, I think maybe he is a son of Elena and Jose goes to Sandra's room and talk about things.  I think the baby's father's name is Padro and the baby is due in May.  His phone rings and she tells him to answer it but he doesn't want to.  I assume it is his girlfriend.
     The grandmother shoos everyone out of the kitchen so that Elena and Jose can talk.  I gather they that were supposed to do something romantic before everything happened and have decided to have their romantic getaway anyways.  They are in a hotel and discuss how silly this is, Jose says that it isn't silly and they have a good time.    
     At the very end the blind man's ex-girlfriend and her family appear to be going on a camping trip.     
     
I thought the show was really good and I loved the dress that Elena was wearing.  I think if I had watched more then one episode I could grasp more of what was happening and who the people were.  It was kind of confusing to follow because they talked very fast and I didn't know most of the words so I couldn't understand that much but I could follow the facial expressions.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Blog #9 due Friday May 20

The video I found was about nouns, definite articles, and it included some class vocab.  The teacher was a guy wearing a resees shirt.  The video was called ...01025 Spanish Lesson - nouns, definite articles & class vocab... I found it by searching for spanish vocab and it was the second video.

 

I liked that he included written verbs as he talked, which made it easier to follow.  I could learn from this video and it was good quality because the words were easy to read and the teacher said things simply and was easy to follow.  I think I could watch videos like these to enhance my learning. 

 

He talked about how a definite article denotes that a noun is coming next.  He said that we need definite articles when we use nouns.  Definite articles are: the, an, a, and some.  He talked about how in spanish you say el, la, los, and las for THE and he explained how words must be matched by gender and number.  He went on to show classroom vocab words with pictures.  Then he related the vocab words with the spanish lesson by showing the pictures and changing the vocab word to plural with the definite article or keeping it singular with the definite article. 

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Blog Entry #6 due Sunday

The poem I read was by Gabriel Mistral and is called To See Him Again.  I found it on this website.  I think that it is about someone that she once loved very deeply.  He is now gone and she wishes to see him again and it does not matter where she sees him.  I also think he must have been killed because it mentions "united in one anguished knot around his bloody neck!" which leads me to believe that he committed suicide.  


Primavera con
mariposas bonitas
y arco iris...





Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Blog Entry #7 due Friday



If I could go to any Spanish speaking country, I would travel to Spain. Their exchange rate is .69 euro for every dollar.  This means that the dollar has less value then euros so I would have to conserve my money. I suppose I would bring 3,000 dollars because hotels and meals would be expensive plus I would need spending money for shopping. I would travel with my mom, Madison, and my Aunt Sheila because they would be the most fun to be with. I would not want to travel with Patrick because he would just want to sit at the hotel and play videogames. I would travel to Barcelona, Valencia,and Madrid. The most memorable activity would be going to Barcelona because I have always wanted to go there since I watched the Cheetah Girls when they went to Barcelona in their second movie. 






In Barcelona, I would like to see the Montjuic Magic Fountains.  They are free to visit and offers a "fantastic' view of the city.  It was the place of the summer olympics. The fountains are designed to change the shape of the water. I think this would be interesting because I like to go visit specially designed water fountains like the Fountains of Bellagio in Vegas. I would also like to visit the Port Vell Antique Fair.  It is a "modern beachfront boulevard" that has a lot of antique setups. I help my dad when he sets up at antique shows and I would like to see how antique shows are done in other countries. Plus I think that vintage artifacts are cool and different. I like to visit Museums and Barcelona has  Picasso Museum that is free to visit.  It only shows Picasso's work. If I went to this museum I would probably have to do some research on his art works so that I can get the most out of the visit and so I can know that background of the famous works of art.  I would also visit the Las Ramblas which is a street that houses "fabulously designed buildings, outdoor vendors, and street performers."




Montjuic Magic Fountains
    
If I went to Spain, I would definitely have to visit their beaches because I love any and all beaches.  I would visit Valencia because it is along Spain's Levante coastline.  It is famous for its beaches and for its nightlife.  They don't have many beach bars and their seafood restaurants are lined along the boulevard, giving you plenty of room to enjoy the beaches without feeling claustrophobic.


Valencia's Beach




I would also want to travel to Madrid since it is the capital of Spain.  Madrid offers the Royal Palace of Madrid.  Unlike other palaces, this one grants access to a "large number of rooms to the public" like the throne room, dining room, and the ballroom. It has ceiling paintings form Goya and Velazquez and a design of the Royal Theater Opera.  I think going to a palace would be really interesting and it would offer an idea of how Royalty lives in other countries. It also has courtyards that have good views of the city and the countryside.  I would also want to visit the Teatro Real (opera house) where Diaghilev's Russian Ballet performs.  I have seen the nutcracker at the DPAC and found it quite good.  I like watching ballets and would like to watch one with a Spanish influence.  




Madrid's Royal Palace


RESTAURANTS
Barcelona- Con Gracia-It is rated number one on trip advisor and it offers food with Mediterranean flavors.  I think I would order the surprise menu in which the chef surprises you with seven different courses.
Madrid-Lo Scolapasta-It is rated number five and offers Italian Cuisine.  I would try the Gnocchi with Gorgonzola cream, truffle honey and pistachio and for dessert the ice cream with berries and cream.
Valencia-The Ginger Loft Cafe-It is rated number three and offers Asian food. I would order the fresh fruit caipiroskas.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Blog # 5 due Wed.

     When I was young I played mostly with my brother and sister in the backyard.  I liked to jump on the trampoline we received from our neighbors.  I used to jump on it everyday.  I remember one day when I jumped on it and Patrick came outside and wanted to have a lightsaber war I did not want to and proceded to push him off the trampoline.  He got mad and broke my two ended red Darth Maul lightsaber. I was very upset.  We all three used to play soccer together and we would kick the ball on the bricks or on the fence.  Sometimes my dad would take us fishing at the park by our house.






During the summer we would each spend a week at my Grandparent's house by ourselves.I remember one day when my grandpa and I played baseball together.We were running the bases and my grandpa ran a homerun.It was amazing since I've never seen him run before.After that we went in and had some ice cold sweet tea. :D