Equality

Equality for me means, “The condition of being equal, of the same political, social and economic rights.”  The idea of equality reminds me of the importance of the rights that everyone has in the United States.  Under these rights, equality must exist among all citizens.  No person is above or below those rights.  I always say that it is not fair to treat minority groups and women differently just because they are different.  The basis of the Constitution is to protect a persons rights.  We as Americans have many rights and the most important right to be treated equally.  Times have changed since the beginning and end of slavery and the civil rights movement and women gaining the right to vote.  Great leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. opened the door so that minorities could be treated as equals, giving them the opportunity to study in a school where previously it had been all white.  A lot of minorities are poor and need extra help to achieve a better life.  I think that by giving them these opportunities they will have a chance that they wouldn’t have had before.  

Shakira

Shakira is a very famous singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer from Colombia, who has become very well-known around the world.  She was born on February 2, 1977 in a beautiful and touristic city called Barranquilla.  She has a lot of good songs and has appeared in some Colombian telenovelas; El Oasis, Ugly Betty, the Bahamas Triangle and many others. She is also known for her dancing and videos.  I love the way she dances which is based on belly dancing.  She learned to belly dance by trying to flip a coin with her belly.  She likes to help poor children and that is why in 1997, she founded the Pies Descalsos Foundation.  This foundation is located in Colombia with special schools for those children, which focuses on education.  When I was a child I used to watch her videos with my friends we started to try to move our body as her.  I remember my friend that made three dance competitions and she always won because she made a lot good movements from the Shakira’s videos.  The people loved the way that my friend who was only seven years old made those movements.

Christmas Shopping

It seems like last Christmas just happened, but decorating the tree really made it feel like Christmas.  After thanksgiving I was thinking about going shopping on Black Friday, but I couldn’t get myself to go.  This past week everything changed, and decorating the Christmas tree got me in the Christmas spirit.  I love going Christmas shopping yet I never know what to get.  I go with an idea of what I want to buy but it’s never that simple.  Even with a list in my hand I always seem to have a hard time making a decision.  I like giving presents more than I receiving them so I really want the presents I give to be something the person would really like.  It does get frustrating though with everyone in the stores at the same time but little by little I’m getting all my shopping done.  Hopefully with a little Christmas spirit.  I will be able to het all the right presents.

Christmas Tree

Last Sunday we went to get a Christmas three.  Everyone wants the perfect three and finding the perfect “real” tree almost doesn’t exist.  The selection at the first place we went to wasn’t good, or at least didn’t have what we wanted.  We decided to see what we could find somewhere else.  After walking around for a little while we found the best tree we could.  In the lot it seemed a lot smaller than it really was; something that we would realize when we got home.  When we got to the house we put the tree on the stand and brought it in, only to see that we couldn’t stand it up because it was hitting the ceiling.  We had to take it outside to try and cut it to make it fit.  After cutting a little of the top we used a chainsaw to cut the bottom.  In the end we were able to get it in the house and it really did turn out to be the perfect tree.

TSA's New Pat Down

Security is something every human being wants.  It is instinctual for survival, but what happens when security comes at a cost?  The TSA has implemented new rules for traveling that allows for TSA agents to pat you down while moving through security.  While everyone would like to be assured that they will be traveling without the worry of terrorism, the TSA’s new rules are a violation of rights.  There is a difference between a pat down and the new safety rules where agents are allowed to run their hands in much more personal areas.  It is a humiliating procedure for anyone having to go through it.  We also have to worry if it’s being done correctly and not in a sexual nature by TSA agents.  Another problem associated with the pat downs is the longer lines going through security and the added travel time on trips because of it.  Also where do the new rules end?  If the pat downs aren’t enough are strip searches next?  While security is extremely important it is not more important than your rights to not be touched and humiliated just to travel and it is not worth the extra time now needed to go through security. 

Something to Never Forget

One of the worst experiences of my life happened when I was nine years old.  In 1999, at around 1:20pm, there was a terrible earthquake in Armenia, Colombia.  I had just finished eating and I was about to take a nap when I started hearing explosions and the house started to shake.  My father grabbed me and we tried to get out of the house as fast as we could with my mom.  When we got outside everything was still shaking and houses were falling all around us.  I remember my father leaving with my mom and getting into his car to drive to my grandparents house.  When he got there he saw his brothers outside and that my grandfather was still in the house and that the water tank had fallen on him.  My grandfather died in that earthquake along with so many people from my town and the towns close by.  The aftershocks lasted throughout the night until the morning and for a few days.  For a week we lived outside and in cars while we could get our homes ready to actually live in them.  We were lucky that our houses were not that badly damaged but so many people lost everything in the earthquake.  I remember leaving for two weeks to live with my aunt in Bogota while my parents stayed with our house.  When I came back so much of my town was still like it had just happened.  Being so young and experiencing something so tragic was very difficult.  Till this day I remember it all like it was just yesterday.

Food for Thought

I have always been good with food in that I’m not afraid to try new things.  There are of course some types of food that I don’t really like, like fish and mushrooms etc.  Growing up in Colombia I was accustomed to the foods there and how they were prepared.  When I came to the United States I saw that there was such a large variety of foods here from all over the world.  I was able to try so many good types of food like Italian food, Mexican food and Peruvian food that don’t exist in Colombia.  I love pasta so Italian food is ideal for me like chicken francese over spaghetti, it is so good.  As much as I enjoy the new foods here I will always love the Colombian arroz con pollo, a bandeja paisa and frijoles.  After trying a lot of different foods my favorite food now has to be ropa vieja with congri which is a Cuban dish.  Its shredded flank steak in a tomato based sauce that served with fried plantains and congri which is rice that is cooked in a black bean stock.  It is definitely worth trying if you ever have the opportunity, you won’t regret it.

Meteor shower

On Wednesday night into Thursday morning was the peak of the Leonids meteor shower.  It is one of the best chances to see shooting stars.  It happens every year when the Earths orbit passes through the Tempel-Tuttle comet’s particle stream.  I had read about it and decided to wake up during the night to see them.  I went outside and of course it was really cold but it was a clear night so I was optimistic that I would be able to see a few shooting stars.  I waited and waited and I didn’t see a single star. I didn’t want to give up after waiting so long.  I felt that as soon as I went inside that that’s when I would have been able to see at least one go by.  I decided to go inside and make a hot glass of tea and came back out for one last try before going to bed.  I couldn’t believe it when I finally saw one!!!! It went by in less than one second after I had waited close to 45minutes.  In the end it was worth it because it’s not something you get to see very often and I was also able to make my wish, which I hope comes true especially after waiting so long to make it….

My First Football Game

I went to my first football game on Sunday with my boyfriend. The New York Giants were playing the Dallas Cowboys. I really don't know much about football but it was a really fun experience. I have never seen so many people in one place. During the game my boyfriend was explaining to me what was going on and how the game is played. All of a sudden some of the lights went out at the stadium. After a few minutes they decided they could still play until all the lights went out and we were sitting in complete darkness. I was scared because I didn't know what was happening. The lights came back on and they finished playing the game although the Giants lost which I guess was a bad thing seeing as how my boyfriend was really upset lol. My first game and the lights going out is an experience I will never forget.

A Father's Story Part Fifth

The night was coming and finally we found two men in which I don’t remember very well because we were very weak.  The only thing that I remembered was when the two men took us a car came and the next morning I woke up in a bed next to my wife.  Those men helped us and we spent two days in that home while my wife felt better.  Two days after, those men brought us to the bus station in Texas and I was happy because I was stepping on America land.  We were very thankful to those men but they made part of our guide from Colombia.  My wife and I took a bus and everything was fine but we spent one day and that bus that was very difficult because we didn’t feel good but the really hard part was when the driver moved all of us into a truck.  That was very hard because the people were crying and I felt unable to breathe.  Finally arriving in Stamford the truck left us near the bus station of the downtown and my wife and I were very scared because we felt strange.  We knew nobody, but the only person that I knew was my cousin who was very happy to see me and I felt very emotional because our trip was over.

I was very thankful to God for having me stayed here with my family and my beautiful girl, who is now going to college.   She is studying to be a lawyer and my wife and me are very proud of our girl.  The only thing that we are waiting is the day that we can go back to our country to see again our family and especially our parents.

A Father's Story Part Fourt

Three weeks later a beautiful lady came to our room and to the others.  She gave us a map and some instructions to how cross the border.  My wife and I follow the instructions one by one as how she explained to us. When we arrived at the border I felt so nervous but I knew that we had to continue.  This place was very different of how I had thought.  We started to walk, but the other people that were with us we didn’t know where they went.  We walked and walked, but this was very hard because for more that we walked we thought that never going to end.  That experience is an experience to never forget.  We had to run and run because there were some “coyotes”, the people that catch the people that cross the border.  But we escaped them, although that was difficult because my wife was pregnant and we had to pass a deep lake that had all kinds of animals. We have to pass that lake with our clothes in our hands without letting them get wet.  My wife was sick and I was very worried because she had fever and she needed to drink some water but we didn’t have anything to drink and eat.

 

A Father's Story Part 3

The day of our journey had started morning in which my wife and I took the bus to go to the bus station toward Cartagena.  That is one of the coast of Colombia, and is near to Panama which would be our stop arriving in Cartagena.  My wife and I waited ten hours while a bus coming for us and bring us to a boat during five hours.  In Panama we didn’t know anyone and we didn’t have the correct change to buy something, but a solitary person helped us buying us some food.  When the bus arrived for us, it brought us to a small town of Panama.  This country was very beautiful for us.  We stayed four days in Panama in a house were the family of the person that would help us with the visas to go to like touristic to Mexico.  My wife and I were very nervous but the day to go to Mexico had come. The day twenty of February 5:00 a.m we went to the airport in which departs 8:00 a.m without any problems, but everything was fine. Arriving to Mexico I felt happy but and the same time nervous because I didn’t know how it was going to go.  We went to a hotel in the D.F of Mexico.  There we stayed with ten people more. 

A Father's Story Part 2

My two brothers were finishing the last year of their school and my sister only had two years left.  One year later my two brothers continued help to my mother to make and sell the empanadas, bunuelos and coffee, but my sister was the unique one that went to the university because she had moved to another city and found a woman to help her pay two years of university in the which she was graduated as nursing. One year later I got married to the woman that was going to give me the most precious gift of my life.  I know that I wanted the better for my baby so; I decide to go find a better future for my baby and my family and logically for me too.  One day I had the great idea to immigrate to the United States and be somebody important.  I decided to take strict measure and this was to plan the way to go the U.S.A.  The only way that I knew that was more ease to go to cross the border that connects to Mexico but I knew too that this way was dangerous for me and for my wife.

A Father's Story

A father always wants the best for his children and I am not an exception for that rule.  When my dear wife revealed the surprise that she was pregnant, I felt very happy but and the same time, I knew that many things were going to change.  A child for me is the most important thing in my life.  Immediately, I started to think about my child’s future. It all started in a small town in Colombia named Bogota. I knew that with my income misery was only in store for my family and especially to my child that was going to born.  I didn’t want my child to go through the same bad moments that I lived in my childhood.  For example, being out of my school to help my parents and my little brothers that are two boys and one girl for what they continued studying.  When I was seven years old I started to work with my mom.  She woke me up at five o’clock A.M to help her to make “empanadas, bunuelos and coffee” and than I went to the bus station, some towns and parks of my city. I continued to do this until I was eighteen years old.

Dancing and Music

I love music and I love to dance.  In Colombia music and dancing are a part of life.  I grew up in a Colombian family that truly loves both.  Whenever we get together we always play music whether it’s a birthday party or a holiday.  Once music is playing we can’t help but dance.  My favorite dance has to be salsa or cumbia.   I learned to dance salsa from my mom when I was a little girl.  We would dance around the house listening to music.  When I was in middle school I used to go with my cousin to see her and her friend in salsa competitions.  Since music was instilled in me from such a young age it is a part of my life now.  When I wake up I always put on the radio or my iPod.  In the car the first thing I do is turn on the radio.  I can’t imagine myself driving without music.  In coming to the United States I started to listen to different types of music.  Earlier this year I was able to go to an Aventura concert.  Aventura is a musical group that plays bachata music.  I had one of the best times there.  I found myself dancing right at my seat.  For me music and dancing is a way of expressing a wide variety of feelings and makes me who I am.

Hybrids

Cars and transportation that are electric/hybrid are helping to protect the environment because they will not pollute the air and they could save you some money because you don’t have to use gas.  Hybrid cars are better forms of transportation because they help reduce the amount of CO2 we release into the environment. Toyota and Honda are some of the companies that are creating some the majority of the hybrids or electronic cars. This is where hybrid cars get in. They're called hybrid because they still use the traditional engine but also includes another source of propulsion or energy. Two types exist - the electric hybrid which uses an electric motor in addition to the diesel or gasoline engine and the hydrogen or water hybrid which uses hydrogen extracted from water and adds it to the fuel-air mixture of the engine. Hybrid cars produce fewer fumes that can cause respiratory ailments like lung cancer. If all cars were hybrids then pollution will greatly be reduced. Hybrid cars also tend to produce less noise pollution as they go. In the case of electric hybrids, they go totally silent when the electric motors are turned on.

MY BEST PLACE TO LIVE

Where is the best place to live? It is one of the questions that I frequently ask myself.  Some people love the big city life while others prefer the solitude of country living.  I enjoy the cities, but I prefer to live in a small and quiet town.  I would like to live in a house surrounded by trees and plants.  For me it is fantastic to wake up every morning with the singing of the birds and be away from the noise of the city. In Colombia I use to live with my family in a great house in the outskirts of the city, where every morning I listened to the birds sing close to the window where I slept.  In the mornings I would go with my uncle and get fresh eggs and milk from the farm for breakfast.  During the day I could just hang out and spend time with friends.  It was very relaxing to live somewhere where I could go take time for myself and not have to worry about anything.    Even though cities offer many things to do, suburb and country towns offer things that a city never could.        

The importance of Animals and Plants

Humans are suffering in this world because of our own actions, which are only to fulfill our needs.  It is important to protect the plants and animals because they protect us, help us and they give us the most important thing that is the food.  First of all, they protect us.  The plants give us the oxygen to breath.  They also convert CO2 which helps the hole in the ozone layer not to grow.  The animals like dogs help people.  For example when a person is blind, he can use a dog as a guide.  This shows that the plants and animals help us.  They are excellent for medicine and raw materials.  With plants we can make paper, houses, furniture and others.  Some animals like certain types of birds kill insects that are bad for people’s health.  With that we can prove that the animals and plants are very helpful for the human society. Animals are important for ecosystem, and useful in many ways.  Animals support life by serving as food for the people.  It is important to take care of animals and plants because they are our life-support systems.  Finally the plants and animal play a very important role in the humans’ lives.  It is important to protect them, even when there are some people who are suffering.  Plants and animals are living things.  We do not have the right to kill them just because we’re unwilling to change. 

SECOND PART

Diana and I use to spend all the weekends together.  Every Friday when we finished school we took the bus to go to my house.  She loves to cook, so when we arrived to my house she would ask to my mother if she could make something for us.  Diana, my mom and I would cook together. For me the best day was Saturdays because we use to rent movies and make popcorn and watched movies all night until we fell asleep.  She also taught me to be stronger.  She gives advice when I need it.  She always looked at the positives in life even when there were negatives.  It has been a hard life because her grandmother is now sick and she and her brother try to do the best they can to help, but she still stays strong and helps her brother. When I came to this country it was hard for me without my “sister.”  We talk every night and still try to help each other but this distance is hard.  I wish I can go back more to Colombia to help her and be with her, but she wants me to stay here.  She wants me to live a good life because of the opportunities I have.  I know that whatever opportunity I have I can bring her with me.  I want her to come so she can be happy here with her brother, I wish I could give her the opportunity.

               

The people in my life....

FIRST PART        

In my life there are some special people like my mother and my father from whom I have been learning a lot thing since the day that I was born.  I feel like I wouldn’t be who I am if it weren’t for those important people in my life.  Besides my family I have my best friend of who I would to talk about.   Her name is Diana Carolina.  I consider her my best friend but I see her like the sister that I never had.  She is twenty years old.  Diana is a sweet girl that loves to help the people who need help.  She likes to study and loves romantic music. We went to school together since we were five years old.  She lost her father when she was six and her mother at the age of fourteen.  She tried to make the best of her life.  She is a very responsible and strong girl after all she has been through.  Although her mother is gone she still studies and completes her goals so that where ever her mother is, she will be happy.

Success ...continued..........

Success has different paths.  These could be good or bad.  The good ways are the things we fight for every day doing it with honestly and responsibly.  The bad ways are things we do by taking the easy way out.  The easy things at first are happiness and fun, but not everything is good because at the end you will get sadness and loose everything that you had. Furthermore, the hard work we do helps us to create success in our lives; success is based on our future which is achieved with hard work.  Many people dream of fulfilling all their goals one by one throughout their lives.  Achieving each one of our goals make us successful people and makes us proud of ourselves.

In conclusion a good future is made by doing the right thing and putting in effort in everything we do.  True success is the one that we achieve with sacrifice.  Success is what we wish to have every day.  Being responsible helps us to grow as a person who appreciates what we have gotten.  A true measure of success is not taking anything for granted.

Computers

The first computer was invented in the year 1936 by Konrad Zuse. Computers have been one of the most interesting inventions in technology. In the market we found diversities of styles, colors and size for the likes of people. The computers carry out logical concrete functions with information like words, images and sounds. With the computer and the help of internet we can realize projects and we can also look for help for our homework. The computer also contains entertainment like the games and instant messengers. The messenger is one of the most entertaining uses by people, many people like to talk with their friends or their family in another country, also some people likes to meet new people on chat rooms. But nowadays there are people who abuse the advantages of the Internet and especially commit many abuses like kidnapping or presenting/displaying programs of inadequate subjects to other people especially to the juveniles. I think that the computer is one of the technologies most important that satisfies us but as long as we make a good use of it.

Success

Success has a different meaning for each of us.  For some people success is what gives you money, prosperity and everything that you want in life, but there are others that think that success is what gives you a good feeling and the motivation to work further.  The definition of success is highly individualistic and we should respect each of these definitions. What success means to me? For men success depends on each other.  A good future is created by our success.  Many people are going to have different ways to build their own success.  To have success we may complement it with good feelings, optimism, and think and plan all our goals to fulfill one by one.  In other words success is what we are going to achieve. A person’s future is done by our successes that each day we build.  Although not everything goes the way we want to.  To achieve all goals we have to pass some obstacles, but these obstacles cannot stop us from following our goals because these help us to become a stronger person and learn from our mistakes to not make them again.  The mistakes help us to fortify our plans that will take us to a better success.

Consequences for our descendants

We are destroying our own world without thinking about ourselves and our descendants.  God left us a treasure called nature where we can find every single thing needed to survive.  The earth is suffering alarming changes.  The environmental problem is caused by our ignorance.  This problem started many years ago.  The pollution in the air is around the world blocking the sun rays between the earth and the ozone layer making the earth being in exhalation and inhalation in a certain stage on the earth rotation. So this is making the earth warmer and producing hurricanes, inundations, the melting of the poles, the death of polar bears, but this pollution is also going to produce many diseases like Ebola, Arena virus, respiratory, etc. These effects are going to increase more and more depending in how fast we can act and solve the problem.  The carbon dioxide is also destroying our world and we could reduce it by creating cars that avoid environment contamination in others.  I think that everyone should buy efficient electric home appliances, more ecological cars, recycling, etc.  If we continue with a close mind we would have many consequences to the limit of “The disappearance of the earth”.  Now we need to make the decision of save our world because our children are going to suffer the consequences of our acts.  

Relationships Online...

There are many people that get married to someone that they met on the internet but it could be a dangerous mistake.  For example my friend’s mother got married to someone that she met on-line two years ago.  She started to chat to him every single day for five months.  He was from Spain and she was form Colombia.  He was a very sweet and a quiet boy when they chatted on-line.  After five months he went to Colombia to marry her and she was very surprised because he looked so different from the pictures she saw.  Without thinking much she got married to him but three months later they got divorced because he was an angry man that only wanted her to do everything that he told her to do.  She couldn’t work or got out with friends.  The sweet man she met on-line never existed in her marriage.  Many of these people that are using the internet to find someone are disappointed because the majority of these people whom they met on the internet are dangerous and liars.  When you start talking to a person on the internet you never know if they are talking honestly and truthfully because in the internet you can change your real name, age and you can be a person that you’re not.

A talk with my friend...

One month ago I was talking with one of my friends about his goal.  He told me that after working for many years in different kinds of hotels, country clubs and restaurants, he has learned a lot about hospitality industry.  So he said that now is time to open his own place and take advantage of his experiences from restaurants.  Even after years of taking the orders from many different kinds of managers, he has learned something from each one of them.  However he is getting tired of following orders and not being able to make his own decisions.  So a good solution to stop following orders is to become our own boss.  His idea of opening a restaurant is not only to be the boss, or get more money, it is also because he loves to cook.  He has never worked as a cook, but he has cooked many times for his friends and family.  His goal is not to have a fancy restaurant.  His plan is to own a restaurant with affordable prices for everyone, but he knows that the success on a new restaurant could be difficult because there is a lot of competition.  This conversation was very interesting for me because I like to listen to my friend’s goals and share my opinions about that.  I just hope that his goal comes true.

My Dreams

My dream is to be a successful dentist.  I really want to realize my dream because that is what I really wanted when I went to middle school in Colombia.  Being a dentist for me is really interesting because I love medicine and I like to help people.  When I started middle school, I always talked to my friends about what I wanted be and I always said that I wanted be a great dentist who could help poor people that did not have the money to pay for the dental work.  My dream is not only to be a dentist; my dream is also to have a wonderful family with whom I can share my experiences and make many more with.  I hope that my sons/daughters will be proud of their mother and will follow their dreams as their mother did. My plan is to continue studying hard and look for a good university where I finish my studies.  I have to be very responsible and be careful of what I am doing because I know that being a dentist is not a game.
Finally I hope that my dream will come true, I thank God and my parents for giving me the motivation to continue with my studies. 

Secret of Happiness

The secret of happiness for me is in every one of us.   Happiness doesn't mean that you need to have all the material things like big houses, the best clothes, the best car or a lot of money.  For me the secret of happiness is very important.  If I have to give a piece of advice to someone on the secret of happiness, I would say to that person that the secret of happiness is to follow your dream regardless of what the people say or think about your dreams.  Following your dreams is the secret of happiness because it is your dreams that make you continue life without thinking of the obstacles that you could have.  Your family is also a part of the secret of happiness because they are the ones that are always going to give you the courage, the enthusiasm, and the energy for you could accomplish your dreams.  Finally, I conclude that the secret of happiness is to simply be you and follow your dream without letting the marvels that are around you pass you by and don’t forget that money cannot buy the happiness.

Working =)

After two months of arriving The United States I started to work as a packer in a supermarket.  I worked there the seven days of the week after school.  It was a nice experience because I never thought that one day I would work in a supermarket because when my parents went to the supermarket to do shopping I never went with them because it was the worst for me.  A year later I decided apply in Target, where I started to work in the summer of 2008 as cashier.  I was scared because I know that I have to speak more English than I used to speak at the supermarket, but it was fine because one of the girls that works there helps me a lot with my English and after a few weeks I started to feel more comfortable.  After six months later I started to work at Starbucks that belongs to target.  It was very fun working there because it was a nice experience to learn how to make the different kinds of coffee that they have.  When I started working there I always started the day taking my favorite drink that was caramel machito.  Two years later I started to work in a dental office.  Working in this office has been great because this job is closer to what I want to be.  The people that work there make me feel very comfortable and it is very important for me.  I hope to get a lot experience there because it will be very helpful for my career as a dentist.