one of the things we didn't know

it can be difficult to believe if you hear it for the first time, but the fact is true.

Although being in a awful period of Spain caused by the worst financial crisis for decades,  the Spain’s king  Juan Carlos decided to take some personal free time to go on holiday, what’s more the holidays weren’t cheap at all, so it seems he doesn’t mind the economic problems.

The trip consisted on going to Botswana, Africa, in order to spend some time hunting.  Firstly nobody should know about this private trip but unfortunately while he was there he had an accident.  as I see it if the accident hadn’t happened nobody would know about it because the palace wanted to keep it as a “secret” trip. I think maybe he and his family have done many trips and we are really innocent and we don’t know any of them.  In addition, when the accidents had recently happened the palace said the fall in Botswanna was “accidental” but gave no further details, they didn’t want to mention why he was there. But  the Spanish daily “El pais” said the truth at the time. After the surprise of the king's trip it has also come to light the journeys of the Queen, one of them to Greece.

When the king suffered the accident he was immediately flown home by private jet. Juan Carlos had a hip replacement because he had fractured his right hip in three places, and the following day he had begun walking with crutches. The king was expected to spend ten days in hospital and another six weeks recuperating.

Considering the sort of the trip and the time that it was made I don’t find strange that king Juan Carlos has come under a barrage of criticism for taking the trip while his country faces financial crisis. May Spaniards took to Twitter and other social networks to criticize the monarch for shooting elephants. Many photos making fun of Juan Carlos posing next to a dead elephant or holding a shotgun were published on Spanish news websites these days too.

In addition the king has had four operations since May 2010, the kink has had a benign lung tumour removed, a torn Achilles repaired and was given an artificial right knee joint.

It is know that hunting trips to Botswana cost more than Spaniards earn in a year. “El pais” said the cost to arrange a hunting trip in Botswana to kill an elephant usually comes in at 44,000 €, about twice the country’s average annual salary.

In my opinion the king had a disgusting behaviour, how the king could do things like this while he is showing at us at the same time that he is against animal abuse.  He has proved us that he isn’t the person who everybody thought. He pretends to show us that he takes part in association of protections of animals and he is against killing them while in the real world he likes hunting. Only an irresponsible and impolite person could spent for private reasons money which is from Spanish people.

Everyday the monarch is becoming less important, so why we have to have a royal family? They don’t do anything for us and they only spend our money. I guess that the world would be better if our money were spent in necessary real thing such building hospitals, helping poor people, distributing food and a lot of more things.

In the past monarchy was really important but currently their roles of monarchies have decreased significantly. The most important thing which they ordered to do is a representative function of the state to other states. However I’m not  enough informed about it, I’m sure that they do more functions than I know so I can’t judge correctly if monarchy should continue existing or not, but one thing which I can say is that they should rethink their current behaviour.

TESTING NEW EXPERIENCES

Two days ago I participated in activity which I had never done before, it’s paintball. We played it to celebrate two friends’ birthday.  

The boys who celebrated the anniversary had two flowers on de mask to distinguish themselves.

Paintball is a sport in which players compete, it can be in teams or individually too, with the aim to eliminate opponents by tagging them which paintballs.

The games is played on outdoor or indoor fields of varying sizes, in our case we played on a outdoor field in where were different types and sizes of boxes and trees in order to facilitate the tactics of attack and defense

We had to wear a suit of clothes, gloves and a mask with glasses to protect.

Rules for playing paintball vary, but it can include capture the flag, elimination, defending or attacking a particular point or area, or capturing objects of interest hidden in the playing area. Depending on the variant played, games can last from seconds to hours, we spent there all the morning. We ended up really exhausted.

Before leaving we made the last surprise, we had a croissants in which they blew the birthday candles.

EASTER

The Easter week has passed fast than I thought it would pass. I planned to do a lot of different things during those days, and now I’m in doubt about If I will be able to complete it or not. A part of the things which I wanted to realize I must study because next week we will have some exams in addition I must do a lot of homework from school.

From now until the end of course we have exams every week, we won’t have more free time until the summer so we had to take this week like a really short holidays.

Las Saturday my friends and I went out to celebrate the beginning of the Easter week, if it had been an usual weekend with exams during the week probably we wouldn’t have gone out. I spend a great night with my friends.

On Sunday morning instead of staying at home like I usually do, I went for a walk to Vic with my sister to see the market stalls. However the market stalls are used to be the same as always, for this reason I found it a bit boring.

On Sunday afternoon I washed my dog, it needn’t have to be washed but as it was a sunny day I did it.

From my point of view of Monday the rest of the week was supposed to be a normal week, but suddenly I received a call which changed my way of seeing it, I was invited to go to the beach and obviously I accepted.

I was really looking forward to go to the beach in order to sunbathe, hang around, and maybe put our legs into the sea’s water. Instead of it the only things that we could do were watching films and walking under an umbrella because it was raining the most of the day.

We weren’t very lucky, what’s more the next day we had left it was a sunny and hot day, knowing it it’s a bit frustrating.

I wish you had passed a fantastic easter too!!.

WHERE'S WALLY?

This weekend Carnival was celebrated in Torelló. It is one of the most anticipated nights of the year for many people. It is celebrated in a lot of villages and towns but in different days.

Carnival is a pagan festival that takes place days before the arrival of Lent.

Carnival is celebrated before Lent and is preceded by La Candelaria, Three Thursday and the week of bearded.

According to some historians, its origins can trace the times of ancient Egyptians and Sumerians, about 5000 years ago.

During median age there was repression to pagan cultures, this repression couldn't eliminate the "crazy parties" in which citizens celebrated carnestoltes or carnival in a funny way, they used to drink, eat and dress up. Given the fact that they weren't able to eliminate this kind of parties they tried to turn it into a more catholic party than some time before.

On Saturday night Torelló was full of float and people dressed up. There were a large number of floats, there were all different and original. It is said that the carnival of Terra Endins is one of the most famous and popular carnivals of the region.

We disguise ourselves to Wally. Wally is a character of a series of books: Where’s Wally? The books consist of a series of detailed double-page spread illustrations depicting dozens or more people doing a variety of amusing things at a given location. Readers are challenged to find a character named Wally hidden in the group. Wally's distinctive red-and-white striped shirt, bobble hat, and glasses make him slightly easier to recognize.

  

Yesterday we went to Torelló by train at six o’clock more or less, there we went for a walk to see the floats, the carnival was starting and we could breathe an interesting and amazing atmosphere. During the carnival we danced, sang and we had a really great an wonderful time. Finished the carnival we went to “carpes” which is such a disco. Finally we left and went to sleep. It was a great night.

This weekend we celebrated the carnival but we celebrated that the day before we had finished the final exams too.  It was a hard week, with a lot of hours of study and exams, so we were really looking forward to the carnival day.

I wish carnival was in summer because the temperature is warmer than this station of the year. Although, even if the carnival is in summer or is in winter we will go surely.

" BOY TOYS" and " GIRL TOYS "

 The design of toys has changed over time. Many years ago it was believed that girls only could play with dolls and girls toys and boys only could play with cars, guns and boys toys. So, children must play with their gender toys. However, there were some toys such as animals and building-simulation which were unisex.

It is always said too that the world of girls is pink and the world of boys is blue.

This division between toys for girls and toys for boys also existed in the real world.

In the past, the role of the woman consisted in taking care of children and home, they weren’t able to have a job and they only could do some specifically things, but man were considered perfectly to have a work, hunting, driving, earning money and a large variety of things.

In conclusion the consumer world had a very extreme of masculinity and feminity. Although over the years this roles which were supposed to be followed by men and women has changed.  Woman have introduced in the man’s world over time. Woman has started driving, having a job, earning money and so being more independent.

This evolution is taking place very slowly and is reflected in various aspects such as in toys for young children. Some years ago if a boy played with girls toys it was considered a really bad thing, it couldn’t be accepted and vice versa but nowadays if a boy or a girl plays with toys of opposite gender it is accepted and it doesn’t matter. However, as I see it there’s still discrimination between two genders. In fact we want to seem open-minded and moderns but it isn’t the truth because conscious or subconsciously we make a distinction between girls and boys toys.

In recent years the government is pretending to change this discrimination between genders which is included in many events and aspects.

In my opinion I don’t think that toys are either for boys or for girls I don’t believe in  “boys toys” and “girls toys” and I don’t think that shops have to separate the toys which are intended for boys from the toys which are intended for girls. As I see it this separations of two genders that people is used to make is like a topic because it is always have existed, but if in the births of toys no one had made distinctions currently it wouldn’t exist.

To finish I would like to write about Hamleys sexism. It is one of the world’s largest toy shops. This Christmas Hamelys shops separated areas to boys and areas to girls and this generated controversy because it represented a several problem of inequality. As a consequence Toy store Hamleys has stopped labelling floors in blue and pink for boys and girls. But the question if it will change the way children play,  but what is truly important is that Hamleys has made a step towards gender equality.

In the next photo you can see Toys signs which  changed after Hamley was accused of sexism. You can see before (left) and after (right) the complaint.

A DIFFERENT WEEK

Today I am going to tell you  something about my life,  specifically about this week. 

Today is the end of the holiday week, we have to come back to the routine, but I’m not worried because I’m used to it, getting up early, doing so much homework, studying, and so many things.

However, this week has been a different, we haven’t done classes. This week Vic has celebrated “Mercat Medieval”, it’s a traditional trade show for a long time. I went once this week, and I really enjoyed it in spite of being every year the same.

The streets were crowded by the people and some animals too, there were food stalls and things handmade. Sometimes I wish I knew how to do some of these things.

Another day I was talking with my grandmother about “Fira de Santa Llucia” in Bcn, and she said that she would like to visit it. My sister who was listening suggested going there the same day that she had lectures at the university.

After finishing my music lessons in the morning my grandmother and I wanted to take the bus and went to Bcn, but when we were at the station bus it sprang up a problem, the fact was that the bus schedule has changed in order to the holiday week so we went to caught the train.

In Bcn we met with my sister, we were talking and walking all the afternoon, and obviously we visited the “Fira de Santa Llucia”. I wanted ice skating but my sister was exhausted and we didn’t do, I regret not skating but I hope I will do it in Christmas.

I hope you have had a great holiday week too.!

LIVE TO DIE

In a few weeks the research project will be finished. When we started “batchillerat” last year this research seemed a distant thing. However, this week we are required to submit the draft. We have been working hard since the end of the last course, everyone has done her best.This research seemed an endless project  but now time is running out to finish it.

Firstly, I didn’t know what research to  do, then I decided to do a research about suicide and attempted suicide. During the summer I went to HGV (Hospital General de Vic), there I had to review all the clinical records of people who had made attempted suicide between 2006 and 2011. It was a slow work to do, but finally I finished it. I got the information about accomplished suicides from "Partit Judicial de Vic". I had to analyze and compare all the information carefully, make graphs, and finally make conclusions.


I am loking forward to finishing my  research project and not have to think again witht it.

I would like to understand why some people decide to finsih with their life with this drastic way.

“The obsession with suicide is characteristic of the man who can neither live nor die, and whose attention never swerves from this double impossibility.”

Emil Cioran (1911-1995) Romanian philosopher and essayist.

“Nowadays not even a suicide kills himself in desperation. Before taking the step he deliberates so long and so carefully that he literally chokes with thought. It is even questionable whether he ought to be called a suicide, since it is really thought which takes his life. He does not die with deliberation but from 

deliberation.”

 Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher and writer.