Lights out!

This day in age with almost 7,000,000,000 people on the planet, we use a lot of resources and make a lot of waste. It is not uncommon to hear of a campaign to clean up a certain area or save a certain species. In many of the classes this year, we've talked about the ways that we can contribute to keeping this earth livable for the next generation. In English the three words to remember are the three R's: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

By reducing the amount of resources that we consume we leave more for the future. We can also try to reduce the amount of waste that is left behind, making sure that we only prepare enough food for what we need, instead of having leftovers that will only be thrown away.

By reusing we also reduce the waste that goes into landfills. Instead of throwing away your water bottle to get another, try refilling it, for example.

Finally, recycling programs allow us to reduce this waste as well, by melting down plastics and glass so that they can be remade into new products.

Recently there was a global black-out sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature to try and reduce the amount of electricity used. Many cities all over the world participated and for one hour on this specific day they turned off the lights in the public areas of the city. Read about this event here.

What do you think of this type of event? Have you heard of anything like it happening in Spain? Have you ever participated in an event like this? What are some ways that you can reduce, reuse and recycle in your own life?

A United States Visit

After spending two weeks in the U.S. I wanted to share with you a little bit of my trip. The main reason that I went home is that I was a bridesmaid in a wedding. The wedding took place on top of Jockey's Ridge, the largest sand dune on the east coast of the US. We were really lucky because it rained all day before the wedding, but it cleared up just in time for a beautiful outdoor ceremony. Here is a picture of the bridal party after the wedding.


During the weeks I spent a lot of time with my family and friends that I haven't seen since I came to Spain. It was really good to see everyone, but somewhat stressful as well, because there just wasn't enough time to see everyone!

March 17 was Saint Patrick's Day, a day where we celebrate everything Irish. Its good luck to wear green on Saint Patrick's Day and its tradition that if you don't wear green someone can pinch you....I'm not very fond of this tradition. I celebrated St. Patrick's Day by going to a small concert. The first performers were local bluegrass enthusiasts. Bluegrass is a type of country music that usually includes instruments such as the guitar, the mandolin, the bass, and the banjo.

After they finished playing, a guitarist named Stephen Bennett played. He was amazing! Sometimes I couldn't even tell how he was playing all the notes his fingers moved so fast. He played 5 different types of guitars during the show. I have a couple of videos for you but I'm having trouble uploading them, so here are a few pictures in their place.

Black History Month

In the United States February is Black History Month. It is a month, created to celebrate the accomplishments of the black population of the United States. It was created in the early 1900´s when black people were generally considered lesser human beings and were denied many of the rights given to white people, including voting and sitting anywhere in a bus or restaurant. In the 1960´s there were many protests to try and gain equal rights for black people in the United States. Here is a video that shows a little about black history month.


To many people Black History Month is a good thing because it is a time to celebrate how black people have risen out of the racism that used to be normal in the USA. But, some people see Black History Month as another type of racism. One actor, Morgan Freeman, speaks out about this in an interview on 60minutes a news show in the USA. Freeman´s view is that it is racist to separate black history from American history as a whole. Here are some of his thoughts:

What do you think about Black History Month? Do you think that it is racist? Does Spain have anything like this?

Too much info on Facebook?

Try to watch the video found at this site by clicking "Watch Video." If you can't watch the video read the text.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6966861/

This news story comes from Raleigh, North Carolina, the city where I lived last year. It seems that social networking sites, like Facebook and Tuenti are starting to be used as a way to get better idea of what potential applicants are like. In the article it shows how universities are starting to check on people this way, but I have also heard of employers checking Facebook to get to know potential candidates. When you are filling out an application it is very easy to put your best foot forward, or make yourself look good, even if you aren't exactly what you say you are. But now it is easy to check the facts by simply searching one of these social networking sites. Personally, I don't think that this is a bad thing. If you are doing something on Facebook that shows bad character, you will probably continue to show bad character on the job or at a university. What do you think? Is it ok for employers to look at your Facebook page when considering you for a job?

Amazon's Kindle

Continuing last week's technology trend, I want to discuss the Amazon Kindle. The Kindle is an electronic book. It is about the size of a DVD case, but a bit thinner and is able to hold thousands of books at a time. To download books to your Kindle you simply buy books off of Amazon.com and they are automatically downloaded to the Kindle via Whispernet, a type of Wifi that is only available to Kindles. You can download books, newspapers and magazines the Kindle, and you can even buy subscriptions that will be automatically downloaded every day. You can watch the video below for more information.
I recently bought a Kindle for myself and have been very pleased with it. The screen looks just like a book, so it never hurts my eyes like a computer screen can. I have bought several books, but found that there are many books that you can download for free and I am greatly enjoying reading these without spending any money. I think that this will prove to be a smart purchase for me, because I love to read and have already read some fifteen to twenty books on my Kindle. Do you think that you would want to own a Kindle? In your opinion, what is the best feature of the Kindle? Can you think of any improvements that could be made? ~Mariah

A 3D exploration of Picasso's Guernica

Hi

Have a look at this interesting video

Apple's Newest Release

As you may have seen, Apple just released its "magical and revolutionary" iPad. I'm not so sure that these words really describe the iPad, especially not revolutionary. To look at, the iPad is basically just a larger version of the iPhone. As far as what the iPad can do, it has all of the abilities of the iPhone except they're somehow "better." After watching the promotional video found at www.apple.com, I am not convinced that the iPad does anything other than give you a bigger screen to view your movies, email and games. I don't think I'll be paying the $499 any time soon. What do you think? ~Mariah