Chunk

Chunk is a cute boy that is part of Goonies., he is a little bit fat and the most part of the time is thinking about food, also he is a liar and likes to invent false stories to his friends and the police. He is fearful and at the end of the movie he saved his friends with Sloth.
I like him because of his personality, and during the movie he made me laugh, he really called my attention with his funny actuation. Without this boy the movie would not be as funny as it was.
My favorite part was when he was talking with the criminals, also when he started talking to Sloth.

La Segua

Many Years ago, when the TV didn’t exist, most of people met together telling stories about different topics, especially scary stories.
One of these stories is “La Segua”; it says that when men went to parties and returned late at home something bad would happen. A beautiful woman seduced men who came late at home, and once she was near them, and went to kiss them, her face turned into a horse. He He ... if that happens now days men could have a better behavior out of home...

Thankgiving

Pilgrims were the first European settlers in North America. They were religious England people who tried to separate the church from England. They protested about Church of England, so they suffered persecutions and decided to go to Holland.
For this travel they use a ship called Mayflower, it was the first ship used by Pilgrims. They traveled through the ocean were the Mayflower cloud easily suffer a lot of damages.
Many people were seasick on this ship, but just one person died. Also, one person was born during the journey as well.
After two months at sea English people arrived at Cape Cod on November 11, 1620.
Wampanoag is a nation of people who are still alive, they are described as Indians and helped pilgrims during the first winter.

After Pilgrims landed on Massachusetts, they did not have time to plant food for the winter, for that reason the first winter was very hard for the new settlers. The weather destroyed their settlement and only about half survived the first winter.

One Indian named Samoset tried to help pilgrims during this hard time, they had difficulties with communication, so Samoset returned with an English speaking Indian called Squanto.
Because of Squanto's help, the Pilgrims had a very successful harvest in October and had plenty of food for the upcoming winter. The Pilgrim's Governor William Bradford proclaimed the celebration one day in the middle of november.

After everything has passed, in 1863 the President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the fourth thursday in November the official day to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Now this event is celebrating one day per year in USA and Canada.

Exit U2

It is about a crime I couldn’t understand if the crime would happen or it had been passed.
Everytime the song shows him and that girl it is a flashback also when it shows him at the grave its a flashback.
Also you can see a man in a dark room, looking his environment, looking at the stars and thinking about a decision. This person thinks that is doing something bad and at the same tame knows that he can take a better decision with love. He is standing with a gun in his pocket that means that a crime should pass.
This person might kill someone or probably he is planning to commit suicide, but at the same time he thinks that with love, he would find a better way.
I like this song; most of time crimes are committed because love doesn’t exists for someone, and at the same time love is the way to solve many problems without use violence.

U2 EXIT *** Music Video *** JOSHUA TREE

Halloween in Costa Rica

There’re many ads in internet about places that celebrate Halloween, those ads are guides that show you information about them.
I read an article about Costa Rican Halloween parties, it shows places in San Jose where you can go and celebrate Halloween, it also has information the from most expensive bar through the cheapest one.
When October 31st gets closer Costa Rican people find their costume and prepare to celebrate this foreign custom. People go out with a costume, dance and go party… But basically that’s all what we do in Halloween. In this country there’s no children asking for candies or doing “trick or treats”, people don’t decorate their houses, they just use this day to have fun.

Goals

This bimestrial has passed so fast. I liked it a lot.
I think that the blogg is the best way to do homework, I’d never seen a practical way to be in contact with classmates and the teacher, through this blog you can read your classmates opinion and so the teacher, the most interesting part is that you don’t have to use papers.
Taking about the class my favourite part was warm-up activities they always include contests, songs or games. I liked role-play activities in which we acted, they were so funny.
My favourite topic was food, talk about it and when we created our restaurant poster, is very nice observe people’s creativity and thoughts.
I liked less when we talked about places and its story this topic was boring.
I think that my class work was good because I paid attention every moment; also I participate during the activities done.
I think I did a good job; I tried to do my best when we worked in groups and individually. I learned a lot but I wanted to improve my knowledge about phrasal verbs I really have problems with that so I think that a little bit more of this topic would help me more.

Unreal Sentences

1. Last Saturday I was sick. If I had been in class last Saturday, I would have fewer difficulties doing the homework.

2. There’re a lot of floods around the world. If people had taken care about planet, the weather wouldn’t be doing that kind of damages.

3. San Jose-Caldera Street is still closed. If they had done a strong street, they wouldn't be in trouble now.

4. In Alajuela more than 1.404 cars had been stolen. If people were more cautious, they wouldn’t lose their cars.

5. Chile’s rescue tunnel is already done. If this tunnel wasn’t done, miners would be trapped more time or they would die.

6. Miners trapped in Chile will have an ipod, money, one trip to Grecia and to Real Madrid as a gift after their nightmare. If miners weren’t trapped in the cave, they wouldn’t have any gift.

7. Last month San Juan de San Ramón was affected by a flood. If people had constructed theirs houses far away of a river, they would safe their home.

8. Rain has stop during this week. If rain had been falling, more people would be affected.

9. People from Zaragoza-Palmares are happy because the celebrations there already stared. If there were no celebrations, people wouldn’t be as happy as now.

10. Zaragoza’s parties stared last Friday. If it had rained an hour ago, Zaragoza’s tope would be ruined.

Liberia

Liberia-Guanacaste-Costa Rica.

Liberia is located in Guanacaste, it is called “The capital of Guanacaste”.
Once considered little more than a dusty cattle town, Liberia is now a hub for the many travelers that are coming to the beautiful Guanacaste area. Liberia was founded in 1769 and is known as the “white city” for its whitewashed adobe houses with the terra cotta tiled roofs. Many charming colonial-era homes can still be found in the city- many with the charming architectural details unique to the area, including the puertas del sol-which are the double doors- one on each side of a corner- designed to catch the sun in the morning and afternoon.
Previously, the sunny capital of Guana¬caste served as a transportation hub connecting the capital with both borders, as well as the standard bearer of Costa Rica’s sabanero culture. Even today, a large part of the greater Liberia area is involved in ranching operations, and still much enamored of Clint Eastwood movies, cowboy hats and machetes. However, as more and more gringos are stumbling off their international flights and seeking out the nearest cerveza in broken Spanish, Guanacastecos are starting to realize how lucrative the tourism industry can be.
These days, the public schools in Liberia have expanded the number of English courses on offer, private clinics catering to moneyed foreigners are popping up all over, and some folks are even looking into renovating the 150-year-old downtown with a full facelift and expanded pedestrian mall. But, like most tourism projects in Costa Rica, development is a double-edged sword, and the nearby Papagayo Project is no exception.
Liberia has long been a base for visiting the nearby volcanoes, national parks and beaches, though the multinational corporations who’ve already invested heavily in the project have other ideas.
Liberia has grown considerably since the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport opened in December of 2002. The airport saves many visitors almost half a day of travel and has saved many travelers many hours driving from San Jose.
Finally, Liberia is finding a balance between its past as the capital of Costa Rica’s “Old West” and its future- as the jumping off point for many visitors to the area.

If you want to visit Liberia you can do it by bus or by car.

Bus
Buses arrive and depart Terminal Liberia (Av 7 btwn Calles 12 & 14) and Terminal Pullmitan (Av 5 btwn Calles 10 & 12). Routes, fares, journey times and departures are as follows:
Cañas US$1, 1½ hours, departs Terminal Liberia 5:45am, 1:30pm, 4:30pm and 5:10pm. It’s quicker to jump off the San José–bound bus in Cañas.
La Cruz/Peñas Blancas US$1.25, 1½ to two hours, departs Pullmitan 5:30am, 8:30am, 9am, 11am, noon, 2pm, 4:45pm and 8pm.
Managua, Nicaragua US$10, five hours, departs Pullmitan 8:30am, 9:30am and 1pm (buy tickets one day in advance).
Nicoya, via Filadelfia & Santa Cruz (Alfaro Buses) US$1.25, two hours, hourly from 4am to 8pm.
Playa del Coco US$0.75, one hour, departs Pullmitan 5:30am, 8am, 9am, 12:30pm, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm.
Playa Hermosa, Playa Panamá (Tralapa) US$0.75, 1¼ hours, departs Terminal Liberia 7:30am, 11:30am, 3:30pm, 5:30pm and 7pm.
Playa Tamarindo US$1.25, two hours, departs Terminal Liberia 5:15am, 7am, 10:15am, 12:15pm, 2:30pm and 6pm.
Puntarenas US$1.40, 3 hours, seven services from 5am to 3:30pm. It’s quicker to jump off the San José–bound bus in Puntarenas.
San José US$5, four hours, departs Pullmitan hourly 6am to 7pm.

http://www.liberiacostaricainfo.com/BusScheduleLiberiaCostaRica.html

Car
Liberia lies on the Interamericana, 234km north of San José and 77km south of the Nicaraguan border post of Peñas Blancas. Hwy 21, the main artery of the Península de Nicoya, begins in Liberia and heads southwest. A dirt road, passable to all cars in dry season (4WD is preferable), leads 25km from Barrio la Victoria to the Santa María entrance of Parque Nacional Rincón de la Vieja; the gravel road to the Las Pailas entrance begins from the Interamericana 5km north of Liberia (passable to regular cars, but 4WD is recommended).

La Peña Bar and Restaurant

La Peña Bar and Restaurant.

I have been there just few times, but it was the best experience I had talking about restaurants.
This great restaurant is surrounded by a nice garden, this bar and restaurant takes the traditional Costa Rican cuisine one step beyond with its preparation and presentation.You can enjoy all these delicious dishes on a brick terrace outdoors ina fresh setting.
This is a bar and restaurant that offers traditional food for very reasonableprices. Dishes include fried plantains, beans, chicken, beef and variousrice based recipes. I ate fried plantains and I really recommend this dish, it is delicious!
There are also a number of vegetarian options, mostly involving eggs.
From the windows of the restaurant, you can enjoya pleasant view. The atmosphere is very relaxed and it is easy to spend a few hours over a coffee here.
On Friday nights there are Cantares performs. Also, I went there one Sunday and a wonderful buffet is offered, with a wide selection of dishes, so you can try a little of everything.
It is collated in Santa Ana, 8 blocks to Cruz Roja.

Andrea is a nice girl who lives in Palmares and work as a preschool teacher in San Agustin School. She started as a teacher assisstant and then got a job as an english preschool teacher, job that she prefers because she has more freedom to work at her own rate.

She grew up in Palmares, and when she was in High School, she and her family moved to Guanacaste. After that she stared the university in San Jose and during this time she got pregnant and her son Alejandro borned. Nevertheless, she finished the University. Now she's a Master in Education. She's studying English and she thinks that she will pass all their life studying, because that's something that she loves.

"The real love is the love of your family" she said when she talks about her son. He's her reason to live. "I don't know what I´d do without him" she said. Alejandro is four years old and he's a little naughty kid, also he is very smart for his age.

Andrea loves to be fashionable, buying new clothes, perfumes and accessories. "I love to be a woman" she said, because all the fashionable things that women can use, but I think that's because she can use her feminine power to manipulate men.

Andrea is a very versatile woman, with many goals and a lot of energy to do whatever she wants.

Jean Carlo's Profile

Jean Carlo:

Jean Carlo is a 23 years man who lives in Zarcero. He has lived there during his whole live.
When Jean Carlo was little he traveled with his father buying cheese all around Costa Rica, “I traveled a lot with my father, for that reason I enjoy traveling” ; he said when we was talking about his live.
Jean Carlo is an outgoing person; he likes to go out with friends, especially, out of Costa Rica. “If someone invites me anywhere of Costa Rica, I check my time and money, and I just go”; he said; that justify my theory about Jean Carlo’s outgoing personality.
Jean Carlo hates routine, few years ago he worked in a bank as a cashier, he told me that he hated that job because he had to do the same every week. Now he works in a physical therapy center where he have to do different things every day, “Some days I just do anything, some days I have to do a lot of things” he said explaining why does he love his work. He is very happy working there because of the schedule flexibility and the variability of his responsibilities.
Finally, Jean Carlo remembers his past very well, what he likes most about it is his university because he stared knowing people and friends. Now he has a lot of friends and coworkers, so he can go out with many people.

Never Land Planet

Life on Never Land Planet.

In Never Land everything can happen.
Never Land people are friendly, sociable, extrovert, intelligent and honestly, they really value love, religion, fashion, beauty and relationships.
Never Landers, also, like to study and improve their selves with new knowledge. They are responsible with studies and work.
These people like new things for that reason it is covered with new buildings, highways, parks, gardens and shopping centers, keeping nature at the same time. There are recreation centers and clubs because Never Landers love to have fun.
Everything is clean and well organized there.
There are no dirty animals in Never Land, no abandoned dogs or cats on streets. People there prefer children rather than animals.
In this planet everybody enjoys wearing new outfits every day, people don’t use the same cloth in some weeks, they always try to combine their shoes with accessories and cloth. Also they really use body lotions, make up and perfumes because they smells good and had a great appearance.
In Never Land simple details are important, everything is planned with anticipation.
People are very intuitive, they have a sixth sense that allows people to know if something is right or wrong, this presentiment lets them know people feelings better.
Never Land is very similar with Venus it is beauty, people are intuitive, sensitive and value relationships.
In Mars people love work and so in Never Land, but in Never Land it isn’t a priority.
Never Landers are more interested in fashion and love, Martians couldn’t care less about romance and relationships.
Mars habitants prefer technology and people in Never Land objects and things are not important.
Rather than wear uniforms (like in Mars), they prefer to use different outfits each day (like in Venus).
Never Land people prefer work than novels (like in Venus) they are sensitive but not as much as a psychology.

Universal Behaviors I Observed;

-People marry for many reasons, including one or more of the following: legal, social, emotional, economical, spiritual, and religious. Yesterday I went to a marriage ceremony. I saw one of my best friends getting marriage with her boyfriend; they went to the church together, the churchman blessed them and after that a little party celebrating the occasion. It is a universal behavior because that happens in all over the world. Ceremony and celebration might change drastically in each place, but the behavior has the same objective.

-I was in a delicious fast food restaurant and I saw people doing line for get their orders, immediately I thought that it is a universal behavior because in all the world people line-up. It is like an organization rule to get what you need in a populated place, people in line (first-come, first-served) wait for goods or services. Examples include checking out groceries or other goods that have been collected in a self service shop, in a shop without self service, at an ATM, at a ticket desk, a city bus, or in a taxi stand.

Cultural Behaviors;

-I went to work training; it was a meeting with an important psychologist to talk about children and their needs, the event was at 6 pm, but it started at 7:30 pm because the “important psychologist” arrived late. I think it is a cultural behavior because in this country is common observe how important events start late. That happens from small meetings through big concerts and political events.

-That example is something that happens to a friend, so I didn’t observe it, but I think is a great cultural behavior.She was invited by a Russian friend out to dinner. At the end of a wonderful meal her friend asked if she would like a banana. She politely declined and thanked him, and explained she was most satisfied with the meal. But the whole while her mind was racing: "What do I do? Do I offer her a banana even though they are as close to him as they are to me? What is the polite thing to do?".
The cultural behavior is that in Russia, when a man peels a banana for a lady it means he has a romantic interest in her.

Personal Behavior;

-One day during my English class children were seen a movie, at the end of the movie one of them started crying a lot. He was crying because of the movie. I think it is a personal behavior because is his own way to react to different life circumstances. Also it is personally because this reaction can change individually and doesn’t depend on culture.

Costa Rican people culture and behaviours

Costa Rican people behaviors:

• Women have to cook and be in the kitchen while men just wait for her to serve the food: this is just one “machismo” example, in Costa Rica chauvinism covers more than an 80% of families. This behavior is usual; in most of the cases is common to see the wife serving food while her husband waits on his chair, so happens with cloth washing, dish washing and so on…
Cultural value: Chauvinism. Of course those behaviors don’t represent the whole Costa Rican population. Men and women are expected to act differently from each other, and to respect their roles. A large proportion of Costa Rican women are professionals and hold important positions in both businesses and the government, but they still retain some traits that are traditional and conservative.

• Holy week free of work and school: In Costa Rica Holy or Easter week celebration is great because in most of cases schools don’t work and so many companies around the country, that makes an excellent opportunity to go on vacations and share with family. However, some people choose to stay at home and to join religious celebrations that include masses and processions. Nearly everything shuts down from Thursday to Monday, which is why it's a good idea to stock up on goods before then, and to avoid traveling, since some transportation services also stop completely.
Cultural Value: Catholic Believers.

• Give seat to pregnant women on a bus: when you travel on a public bus is usual and nice to see people giving seat to a pregnant women that is a good example that represents Costa Rican’s hospitality, but that behavior doesn’t happen just on a bus, you can see it in a bank, stores, markets, etc… and that isn’t just for pregnant women it is so for old people and disabled people. There’s an important law to respect people needs; Law No 7600 Equal Opportunities for Persons With Disabilities.
Cultural value: Friendliness and hospitality.

English... What I like about this Language....
I like English because is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. As in most parts of the world in Costa Rica it is a big opportunity to get job and it opens many business doors. That English is used almost everywhere is only one of the many advantages of learning the language.
I like everything about English, but I think that it can be difficult to learn if you start practicing it late… If you are in an English environment since you are a child learning English skills would be easier.
My strongest language skill is pronunciation, it isn’t difficult to me, and also fluency I have no problems talking English because I’m not shy. My weakest skill is grammar most of the time I forget simple English grammar rules such as adding letter “s”, plural things, tenses and so on.
I really want to improve grammar and vocabulary. Grammar because, as I said, most of the time I have problems in this area, especially with tenses. And vocabulary because it is a large area with many things to know, I think that English vocabulary never stops.
Well, in my opinion talk with a native speaker is the best way to learn English, also by internet or watching English movies.

A. What advice would you give to a friend suffering from culture shock?

• Being in a different country doesn't mean you have to take on a different personality. If you're naturally shy at first, don't beat yourself up about it.
• Be friendly, and people will respond.
• Respect your feelings, too - don't expect to fall in love with a country and its hole-in-the-ground toilets immediately
• Take your time and allow yourself to appreciate it at your own pace.
• Also, Being open to new experiences will be helpful. Explore and get off the tourist track. Take an interest in the culture, ask questions, and be enthusiastic.
• Don’t be alone, find someone to talk and for share time. Take the initiative to make new friends.

B. What personality traits do you think could help prevent culture shock?

Certain personality characteristics can help foreign people feel better in another country. Be open and receptive to learning the norms of new cultures and try to understand the visitors.
Initiate contact with host nationals, to gather cultural information, and to handle the higher amounts of stress associated with the culture shock.
Be friendly and sociable.
Help foreigners with information about the culture of your country.

C. What variables might make culture shock more or less severe?

Culture shock is feeling lost or uncomfortable in new surroundings. I think that before travel you have to help yourself by being prepared for your new world and getting an idea of what to expect - read up about the country or speak to an adviser, that will make culture shock less severe.
I think that language is one of the things that makes culture shock more sever; it will make an enormous amount of difference to you if you learn a little or as much as possible of the local language before you leave.
Food can be another severe reason of culture shock, it probably will make you feel sick and miss your home food.
Personal traits have a big responsibility on culture shock impact, the way people trait you will mark a big difference making it more or less severe.

A. Why is culture important in studying language?
I think that culture is an invisible rope, which ties people of an specific place together...Language is the most important component of culture because much of the rest of it is normally transmitted orally. It is impossible to understand the subtle nuances and deep meanings of another culture without knowing its language well.

B.What aspects of your culture are most interesting for foreigners?
Costa Rican cultural is very interesting, in my opinion Costa Rica is attractive fot its hospitable culture.
Also I have hear that the food is another interesting aspect of our culture.
Costa Rica is a clean country with lots of nature, the culture of preserve this nature is other thing that is attractive for tourism.

C.What aspects of your culture are most challenging (difficult) for foreigners?
Something that represents a challenge for foreign people is the language.

D.What do you like best/least about American culture?
Somethings that I like about american culture is the technology advance, the accesible of it for citizens, the social economy is stable so it is good for culture.
On the other hand, I dislike american food, and the diet of this country I think that this culture aspect is killing lots of people.

E.What do you like best/least about Costa Rican culture?
I really like Costa Rican typical food, also the nature and how some people take car of it. I diskile "ticos" punctuality.

F.What would you change about Costa Rican culture if you had the chance?
As I said the punctuality.

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