Sports and women

Today the majority of the sport's news talks about men's sports. Maybe 10% of it talks about women's sports, but not more.

When you watch the TV, the sport that you can see is male sport, like football, basketball, formula 1, but, what about women's sports? What type of sports do they do? Do they do the same sports? Yes, they do the same sports, but they also do some different sports. So, why don't we know any female football team or why don’t we watch any women basketball matches on TV?

At the very beginning, when sports became popular and the first television was invented , people believed that sports were only for men, they said that men were stronger than women. Now, women are still fighting to be recognised in sport. However, we know some women who are popular like Serena and Venus Williams or Sharapova, tennis players. That’s why tennis is the female sport of excellence.

To sum up I can say it must change. We must fight more for the equality of men and women in sports, because we can both do the same things.

The week of Penélope

Penélope Cruz is a Spanish actress who has already won an Oscar award and who has been nominated, this year, for another one for her character in the film, "Nine". In this film she has been working with some of the best-known actors and actress like Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard, Kate Hudson, Daniel Day-Lewis and many more. Some of them gave their opinion of Penélope as an actress. They agreed that she was a hard worker, she was one of the best actresses of the world and that she was very sexy,too.

Penélope has made lots more films apart from this, like 'Volver', for which she was nominated for the first time for an Oscar, 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona', which enabled her to win her first Oscar and which enabled her to work with the well-known actor and director Woody Allen, who said: “Penélope is one of the most beautiful and sexy women I have ever worked with”; 'Jamón, jamón'; 'La niña de tus ojos'…

The Award’s gala is going to take place next 7th of March. So, that means all the people, especially her fans, already have expectations as to the result of these Oscar awards.

What Pénelope thinks is, that’s very difficult to win it and she doesn’t want to defraud the people who are hoping to see her win an Oscar.

Magazine- La Vanguardia (28th February 2010)

Comparing UAB and UdG

All the students of “batxillerat” from “IES Castelló d’Empúries” have been to Barcelona and Girona to see two different universities.

The first we visited was the “Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)” which is in Bellaterra. It is a very big campus where are lots of different faculties, a students residence, some flats for students, an hotel, a sports centre, some libraries, shops... So, it’s like a little city full of students at the age of 20. What we did there was to go to a conference about the degree that we would like to study in the future. We could go to two different conferences. Then we had lunch and we came back by bus to Castelló.

One week later, we went to the “Universitat de Girona (UdG)” which is smaller than the UAB. It is divided all around Girona city, but there’s a little campus in Montilivi. First, some teachers from the university showed us what the university was like and then, we went to the conference about the degree that we wanted to hear about. Later, we were accompanied by some voluntary students to see the classes and laboratories there. After this introduction to the university world, we came back to Castelló.

I went to hear about medicine studies at two universities and what I saw was that UAB had an old method of teaching which was competitive, that there were too many students per class and that the installations were older than UdG which had a newer method of teaching: there were classes of ten students and the teachers were closer to the students, not like in ”UAB” where the teachers we met were very cold to the students.

So, now, if I had to choose between UdG and UAB I would select UdG. Anyway, I would like to study in Barcelona because it is bigger than Girona.

Recording "Pastorets"

Since 2006 the "Orquestra Jove Versatile", where I play the saxophone, has accompanied the actors and actresses with their songs during the catalan Christmas play called Pastorets, more precisely the "Pastorets" of Figueres.

Last week-end we went to record the music of this theatre play, in "La casa de cultura" of Llançà.

The musical takes place in the Christmas holydays because of the plot. It is about what happened on the first Christmas Eve, when Jesus was born. There are three main characters, which can be represented by more than one person: the devils, the angels and the shepherds. All of them sing in some part of the play.

Now you know what I’m talking about but maybe you are still asking yourself why we decided to record this music.

It was an idea of the Pastorets mistress and, when she told us it, we became very happy because of two things: we thought it was a really good opportunity to have the experience of being in a recording studio and we also thought it would be the last time we played this musical live. But, unluckily, we haven’t recorded it in a studio and we are also going to play the musical again next year!

So, we spent all last week-end, long tiring moments repeating again and again these exhausting songs (they’re exhausting because we have been playing them too many times) in ordes to make a good recording.

Apart from that, we enjoyed the break times and it is also true that we learnt a lot seeing what a recording session was like.

Now it’s the time to record the voices on our music and, perhaps, next year we’ll have the CD. I hope it sounds good.

CARNIVAL :D

This year I‘ve been to two carnivals. The first I went to was in Sant Pere and the second was in Castelló.

I didn’t go with my friends from Figueres, I went with some friends from Castelló. We dressed in painters costumes which we first bought and then we painted. It was comfortable and nice, too.

The Carnival of Sant Pere was really good; it was in the “Centre civic”. When I arrived there, at midnight, I immediately found my friends, the music was already playing and the people were following it dancing. So, I bought a glass of lemonade with a little alcohol and I started dancing with them. The music was quite good and the people, too. That’s why I didn’t come back home until half past four.

The carnival of Castelló was quite different; there were more people than in Sant Pere and the music was better, but it started later. The friends who wore the painter costumes were a little more and we spent the night all together. It wasn’t really good, it was fantastic! The group of music was The “Orquestra Di-versiones” which plays and sings songs which are famous and easy to sing. We enjoyed the night a lot!

Some people say this year, the carnival, has been the coldest for years. But I haven’t noticed because I didn’t go to any parade, only to the dance floor.

I’d like to repeat it next year!

Podcast

TRANSCRIPTION

In another ocasion...

A- Hey Gisela, hold on! Relax... and tell me why (you) are so stressed...
G- Who told you I was stressed? You! Yes! You are stressed!
A- Don’t get angry! It was only a joke! Have you slept OK this night?
G-Oh! Don’t be silly! Of course I’ve slept and for your curiosity I’ve slept very well!
A- OK, OK... I asked it because you look a bit tired.
G- Yes, I know... I’ve studied a lot! That’s why I’m a bit tired. I’m sorry for my angry voice.
A- Oh... yes I also had lots of exams this week... How many exams do you still have to do?
G- I’ve got two exams... but, please! Try to talk about something else.
A-Ok, but think tomorrow it’s (is!) the last day of the week. Simile a bit more! And... don’t (do) you think you will pass them?
G- Of course! What do you think about me?
Don’t you listen to when I’m speaking? I’ve said I didn’t want to talk about that! OK?¿
A-OK! So... What are you going to do this week-end?
G- I think I’m going, I’m goooing to sleep all the time and, on Monday, I’m going to a party with my friends, and you?
A-I hope I’ll go to a Japanese restaurant in Figueres because someone told me it is really cheap and very good, too!
I only want to finish this week and feel like being in heaven.
G- Jajaja yes, me too! Oh! You look like a heavy man! Have you changed your style?
A-Yeah! Do you like it? I think it’s really comfortable this style and it also goes with the type of music I’m listening now.
G- Jajaja OK! Oh! It’s the time! Good luck with your exams...
A-Oh! Well, thanks! you too! Bye.
G- Fucking stupid!

Amelie

This is a mixture of a comedy and alternative film. It is from France, which means it has a French humor.

Amelie is a “special” young woman who likes things which no-one else likes. She didn’t go to school because her mother taught her at home and she couldn’t do exercise or play with any friend because her father, who was a doctor, thought she had a heart problem. So, her parents are also special. She lives alone, she works in a cafe and she goes to visit her father sometimes (her mother died when she was a girl). One day, by chance, she finds in her flat a little box which belonged to a boy who could have lived there before her. What she decides to do is to return it unknowingly to the owner because she thinks it would make him happy. Of course, it makes him happy and it is now when she starts to make the people around her happy. But, how does she do it? And, what about her love life? I can only tell you it finishes happily.

The plot which I like the most is when Amelie makes some changes in her neighbour's house like changing his alarm clock, his slippers to a new ones with a lower size... I like it because this character, her neighbour, is a stupid fat man who has a little shop of vegetables down the street, near Amelie’s house, and who is always shouting at his employee, who is a bit stupid but a good boy, too. So, I was waiting to see this bad man cry! It made me laugh a lot.

If you like laughing and thinking I recommend you to see it.

*** Excellent

Christmas is comming

Today it's the 13th of December, so that means it's only missing 11 days to be Christmas Eve.

All the places: shops, houses, streets... are decorated by Christmas lights, small Santa Claus going up to balconies, Christmas trees with beautiful silver balls... There are lots of people down the street going in and off the shops; they want to have all the presents: toys, jewelery, perfumes, clothes... bought for the magic night. There are children playing with a little train which represents the sleigh of Santa Claus. Their mothers are talking about the clothes that they've just bought and, at the same time, their fathers are arguing about the last football match. At the same square there's a man who's selling chestnuts, mmm! that smells very well. Behind the men there's a litle bakery where is an old woman who is buying three little cakes of chocolate for her three grandchildren who are waiting for them. Everybody look happy. Christmas is comming.