NEW YEAR´S RESOLUTIONS!!!!

Guys!!! Come the last few days of the aging year, we all start making resolutions for the new one: gonna do more exercise, gonna write more in our English blog, start a diet ( impossible with Iñigo and Rober at the community), take up a new hobby, even quit smoking blah, blah, blah...Then, one way or another, most of our good-will intentions gradually fall on stony ground don´t they? But It is always nice to kind of try and "mend our ways" isn´t it???
That´s why I thought I could sort of say a musical goodbye to 2011 on our blog and at the same time wish you all the best for 2012. And there is a delightful song by a fantastic artist called Jamie Cullum: "Next Year Baby" and I think it suits today perfectly. My favourite part is when Jamie sings: " But if there´s one thing I must do/ Despite my greatest fears/ I´m gonna say to you/ how I´ve felt all these years"
I´ve chosen the longer live version because at the beginning of the rendition, before the actual song, you can watch Jamie deliver one of his renowned, physically charged impromptus on stage. A great entertainer, he really is!
Anyway my dear students, I do hope you all have well-meant resolutions for the new year, many of which, despite your greatest doubts will be fulfilled to make you feel better, nicer, healthier people. It was a pleasure to share with you the end of this year and the coming one. Thanks God for everything lived during 2011 and please pray a little bit for my operation that it will be on Saturday 17th at 1 o´clock.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR´S EVE EVERYONE AND A BLISSFUL 2012!!!

4. LOSER´S PLACE

4. Loser’s place

- He is there- he said pointing at the left tent.

The base camp was really huge. There were hundreds of people always waiting for the end. When the life is good, the time doesn´t exist, but when the life is war, the time shrinks the heart. Now, the life is war.

He walks slowly as far as the tent. At the door, he waits, takes the paper, reads it again and he crossed the door.

- Hi Sir- No movements, no noise. One fly crossed the air. Flies always remember him the death- Sir, you don´t know me. I´m soldier James and I was looking for you during two months.

- Soldier, What do you want?

- You are the writer.

- What are you talking about?

The soldier read the paper: «Something I woke up by night and I think it was a bomb».

- Shut up. It is enough- he scared- What do you want?

- I live the same.

- Everybody lives the same. It is a war: people kill people, because one of them hates the Jewish people, other hates the different people, another wants more and more, other…- he coughed and he covered his face. He was ill.

- I´m sorry, I´m sorry, I just…, I´m sorry- he was living the same. He always lived the same.

- Listen to me. Listen…- he said whispering- Could you make me a favour?

- Yes, yes, sure.

- If you survive at the war you will say to her that I didn´t suffer.

- She? Who?

The unknown man put on his hand a picture.

- This one.

She was really pretty.

- How can I meet her? -He waited- Ey! Answer me. How can I meet her? - He answered scaring.

-…

- Oh! No. Come on, come on.

-…

When he left him he went at the other side of the river near there. He took the paper, he read it again and he was one with the picture. He lost, like ever.

In the war, everybody loses. The war is the loser´s place.

By Carlos Muñoz Novo.

3. THE DAILY ROUTINE.

The corn sings at six thirty. At this time she is thinking about taking a shower. She organizes her morning: First, the coffee; two and half spoonfuls of coffee, a little bit of milk and what is most important, no sugar in it. Second, the newspaper, she hates this one, the newspaper that he prefers, but it does not matter, he prefers it. Third, flowers.

-          Hi darling!

-          Good morning Lise- her smile was like the Giaconda’s smile: happy or sad. The woman couldn´t know it.

-          Take it: two white roses, two black roses, two poppies. It´s the same everyday- Lise looked how the peculiar woman was nervous- Ey! I don´t want to know why- she said smiling.

-          Thanks- the peculiar woman said with a beautiful smile, (now yes, really).

-          This is a present for you- the woman said, giving her a pink rose.

When she arrived at home, she put the flowers in a vase.

Nice picture: the hot coffee, the most beautiful flowers, the newspaper and she standing up  opposite his chair.

At eleven o´clock she wiped the table, she took the flowers and then, she went at the cemetery.

-          Good morning mom. I´m here another day. I don´t know nothing of him yet- she wiped away her tears- I´m fine mummy, I´m ok. I know he will come back. He promised it and I believe him.

She put the flowers on top of the stone plaque: two white roses, two black roses, two poppies, but not the pink rose, it was a present.

The daily routine.

By Carlos Muñoz Novo.

A REAL NUN´S STORY!!!

Hi again, guys! I’d like to share with you a sad piece of news I just received

last Tuesday. It’s about Sr. Valsa John, a Sister of Charity of Jesus and Mary involved in a movement against displacement of tribal people by coal mining companies in Jharkhand, an Indian state in the eastern part of the country (as you can see in the picture). She had been protesting against the exploiting ways of a private coal mining over the Santhali tribe, and because of this in 2006 she succeeded in getting a compensation for their land, some employment and even education and medicines.  But the tribals were still exploited so she continued with her fight.

On 16^th November 2011 (just 1 week ago!), at midnight, a man knocked her door, and when she opened the door, she was brutally beaten with sticks and hacked to death with machetes.

Perhaps we sometimes think of martyrs as stronger heroes from the past, but nowadays there are lots of people risking their lives to protect the weakest ones, following their faith. Maybe the Church is not going to call them martyrs, or saints, but in front of God’s sight I’m sure they are so.

 BY JOAN.MORERA.

2. THE PAPER!!!

Hi guys!!! How was your weekend?? I miss some comments on the blog from Nubar, Imanol, Rober etc...Try to do your best and take advantage of this tool. I know writing is hard but... who dares...who is so brave to do it right now????

Have a nice week and I hope to see you all on Friday 2nd December at 5.30. Keep fingers crossed!!!

Enjoy Carlos' short story!!!Here it is:

2. The paper

A few months later: in another country, in another city, in another field, in another way, with other people, but with the same feeling, a man found one paper and when he read the paper, he understood everything. He lived the same. He didn’t know if it was a letter or a poem, but the paper was long and narrow. Written on a paper.... sentences are written in a chaotic way. 

He read it.

«Something make me wake up on the night

and I think it was a bomb.

Like this bomb

of this night;

and there´re dead people,

like the dead people of this night,

dead people.

There´re always dead people and pain.

A lot of pain.

Alive people´s pain.

The pain of people that have not died.

The pain of people who wish to die

and  died.

The pain of people who haven´t died.

Dead people.

There´re always dead people».

Since this day, a man exists to find out the writer. 

LOOK, FEEL, LOVE…! AS JESUS DID

Hello everybody!I´m going to talk about my last weekend experience with teenagers in San Miguel de Valero.

 First of all, I would like to say that I had a kind of feeling we all have felt several times throughout our lives: I felt myself tired and happy at the same time. it was such  a typical feeling in faith´s life.

The topic of these three days was: look, feel, love…! As Jesus did. Nade –mi partner- and me, we both chose it after two weeks of thinking and talking about it. We wanted boys and girls to look at their own life and to look at the other people as Jesus looks at them.  We were interested in helping teenagers become conscious of whatever they feel. It´s not a wrong feeling: happiness or sadness, love or hate and so on. However, we all are expected to ask Jesus for his own feelings. Jesus looks at us with tenderness. Jesus feels tenderness to us. And we wanted boys and girls to experience themselves the fact of being invited to love as they have been and they are being loved. We tried to and we trusted in God´s help.

Every day we started our time with a morning prayer. Twenty minutes in order to be aware of God´s company. And at the end of the day, we had the ignatian examination to thank the Lord what we had lived and to ask Him for energy the next day.

It happened two exciting moments. The first one was the moment when each boy or girl was talking with Nade or me about his faith, about his life and about himself. That morning we were doing personal work in depth. We invited them to discover their own masks: the things they usually show and the ones they don´t like to because they hurt them. And they all were able to talk deeper than I expected. It was a nice surprise. The other moment was the mass and lunch with all of them and their parents. Gerar was the priest who celebrated the Eucharist and I felt we all were a small real community. We hadn´t ever met each other but our behaviour was very familiar. Thanks God.

I said I arrived home exhausted. I mean we had a long long Saturday night. We were singing and dancing until 4 o´clock in the morning and then –remember, they are teenagers- they wanted the party to continue in their own rooms. Impossible to shut them up. Youth involves happiness and power. Maybe this is God´s language. I´m sure.

Alberto Cano.

1.DEPARTURE!!!!

She made coffee, like ever, while he was slept. His favourite smell is coffee´s smell. But this morning, when he smelt the coffee, it was served in his son´s cup. He thought: “today I must be punctual, probably, today it is the last day”, or not.   He didn´t know yet. But he stood up and he went to the bathroom.

He took his shaver in this room, with the right hand, thinking “today it is the last day”, again.

When he was dressed, took her photo and put it in his bag caressing her face. Yes, he stole this photo. He wasn´t guilty, he was a lover.

Then, at the kitchen, he took her hand and kissed it. Her face burst into tears and he, who was a robber before, now, is redemption.

And these were the things that will remember in a future.

To be continued...

Short story written by Carlos.

CORCOS OF THE VALLEY, WHAT A WONDERFUL VILLAGE!

The festivity of all the Saints, two weeks ago, we decided to have a community day, so we were visiting Corcos of the Valley, a wonderful village in the middle of Castilla.

Our tour started early in the morning, although the previous night Íñigo was cooking for so long to prepare our lunch. We drove to San Isidoro de Dueñas, one of the most important Trapa abbeys all around Spain. It´s also famous because of  Ruiz Mateos´ chocolate factory-. The monks were celebrating the mass and we joined. I was really impressed by their silence. It was not an empty silence but a total silence full of sense. Sometimes our silence means we have nothing to say or nothing to do. However, their silence showed they have all the time to praise God quietly. After the mass we went to the abbey´s shop to buy something to the community and to talk a monk we had previously arranged with.

It was one o´clock in the afternoon and our stomachs started to feel hungry, so we went out to Corcos. There is a new little bar and it´s typical to go there after the mass. That day we wanted to become a typical “corqueño” and we met there with people from Corcos.

The most expected moment in the day was about to arrive. My mother and Íñigo had prepared a lot of meal and we started to eat.  It was all delicious! My brother, my cousin, his girlfriend and a seminarian friend of mine joined us. Around the fire, we were talking a long time and then we decided to go for a walk. There are two important monuments in the village to be visited: the church and my grandfather. A dominican neighbour showed us the little church where people usually met to celebrate Sunday mass in. And my grandfather doesn’t need explanation.

The sun is setting and we must leave the Land of eternal values... but not for a long time. If possible, we will go back in December to see the pig “killing” and to fill our stomachs with fat! You are all invited. It will be thrilling!

Alberto Cano.

THANK YOU FOLKS!!!!

There are no words to describe what we felt with you all last Saturday. We are impressed with your tapas, they were kind of original, tasty and chic...good job Íñigo and Rober!!! However, what we admired most was your community, a wide range of gifted people, giving their time, their life, their great sense of humour for our God. Congrats, honestly it is not easy to find out in our current society people who risk their life in this type of missions...you all have our admiration and our wish to go on this adventure with the same passion, joy and energy as we saw and shared with you while having a delicious lunch.

Have a nice week and thanks a lot guys!!! By the way, I have written all your emails on the blog for you to be able to receive our publications and comments. Ckeck it out and tell me if it works ok??? This week I will post two articles written by Alberto and another one from Carlos.

Do your best and see you on Friday at 5.30.!!!

BEST REGARDS FROM OUR COUSIN CLEMENTINE!!!

GUYS!!! How´s it going?? I´m really impressed with you all. Last Friday, you made me laugh, the atmosphere you created, allowed me to encourage you all to speak, to communicate...no matter the level you are, you are gonna talk, you are gonna learn and you are gonna know each other in depth. Take advantage of this adventure. By the way, I found out some gifted people in the group who sang  as a cherubims chorus!!! Thanks a lot!!! Here you are the secrets, you can find under the story of Clementine song, written by Damian. Enjoy the gossiping and have a nice weekend!! Don´t forget to post comments or write articles on the blog. Ascen.


 

Dear friends, pay your attention, please: I’m telling you an important secret about me!!

Yesterday, when I was singing “My darling Clementine” with Borja and Iñigo, a big emotion came over me and I was about to shed tears… Why? Oh, my friends… when I was younger, I was in love with Clementine for many years!!

On the left photo, you can see my old horse and I, talking to Clementine about my deepest feelings of love for her. On the right photo, you can see the poster of the John Ford movie “My darling Clementine” (1946). The song plays during its opening credits and also runs as a background of the whole story.

The song has a long history; so it has even an article in Wikipedia!! Each important song of the history of music has a lot of versions and fathers… Please, link here to study this topic, which is an essential part of your Jesuit formation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_My_Darling,_Clementine.

Step 1: Learning song lyric

Well, the song lyric is very interesting for me, as the poor Clementine had a serious problem with her feet… Here you are the standard version:

In a cavern, in a canyon,excavatingfor a mine

Dwelt a minerfortyniner, and hisdaughterClementine

Oh mydarling, oh mydarling,Ohmydarling, Clementine!

You are lost and goneforeverdreadfulsorry, Clementine.

Light shewas and like a fairy, and hershoeswerenumbernine,

herring boxes, withouttopsies,sandalswereforClementine.

Oh mydarling…

DrovesheducklingstothewaterEverymorningjust at nine,

hit herfootagainst a splinter,fellintothefoamingbrine.

Oh mydarling…

Sawherlipsabovethewater,blowingbubbles, mightyfine,

but, alas! I was no swimmer, so I lostmyClementine.

Oh mydarling…

HowI missedher! How I missedher, How I missedmyClementine,

But I kissedherlittlesister,I forgot my Clementine.

Oh mydarling…

Step 2: Singing practice

Fantastic! Now, we’re singing together… One, two, three… Clic on the link!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylBGdjsq2hE

Step 3: Another level, playing song on the guitar!!

As we all play the guitar, I think we should learn the chords. I fall of you get it, I’ll play the song with my harmonic!!

Important: the girl who speaks in the video uses the american way. So, when she said “F”, is equivalent to “FA MAYOR; “G minor” is “SOL menor”, and “C7” is DO séptima”

And her rhythm on the guitar is equivalent to the second most famous rhythm in the world: our “pa-pa-pe-pa” (The most famous rythm is “pa-pa-pe-pe-pa-pe-pa”)

Clic on the link and enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S946TJ0sBI

COOKING FOR THE JESUITS COMMUNITY!!!!

Well guys!!! I introduce some anecdotes about your life in community. Enjoy the adventure and see you on Friday at 17.30!!!!

Hello my friends! I do not know if you remember that the saints’ day Joan and me made the typical Cataluña´s biscuit  that most people from there make in  these days. I really enjoyed making   that recipe because I like doing new pastry that I have not made before. Actually I don´t know the Spanish traditional pastry very well.

It was very late by night I was cooking the day off lunch in Valladolid when Joan arrived to the Kitchen and started following his Panellets’ mother’s recipe. Panellets  are a kind of very interesting pasta made with almond and potatoes  mush.  Joan  was very concentrated  on that thing and for me it was funny watching how he was cooking as a real good Chef.  But in one moment he told me that he was making the recipe for 116 pieces that was very good because cook is not mathematics and I told him that it was impossible to make that exact number. Finally I helped him and we elaborated a wonderful plate of biscuits that all the community has had the opportunity to taste: a nice  Cataluña’s typical dessert.

Iñigo

LOOK AT YOURSELF AFTER WATCHING THIS!!!!

Hi all!!!

Here you are an amazing video sent by Iñigo. I hope you put forward your ideas and don´t waste your time thinking you are not able to do anything...all of us guys are precious so, GO AHEAD!!!!

LET´S GO TO THE CINEMA!!!

Are you fond of cinema?? Do you like watching films in their mother tongue??? These coming two weeks, you have got the opportunity to attend to amazing sessions in different languages with Spanish subtitles.

Here you are the link: http://www.cinesvandyck.com/Ciclos.aspx

Enjoy guys and have a nice week!!!

THE WORLD AT SEVEN BILLION!!!

Hi All!!!

Do you know the world´s population is now at seven billion??? Read the link and try the game if you want to know where you fit into this story of human life. Afterwards make a comment on it. Well guys, that´s all for now.
Happy week!!!

Here it is the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15391515

 

JESUS´FACE!!!

Now, an interesting article whose author is Joan!!! Let us know your opinion!!! BFN.

Jesus’ face

How Jesus’ face was? How did Jesus look like? This question has been asked by many people during centuries: painters, sculptors, arquitects, philosophers… and specially theologians. Actually, we are used to see a long-haired white man with bright eyes, but this is not exact. I’ve just read an interesting article (I recommend it to you, here) about a research on this topic.

According to Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi, the main investigator in this project, in the 1Corinthians epistole Paul wrote: “If a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him”. This sentence proves that Jesus could not have been long-haired, since this looking was not well-considered in that culture. In addition to this, in Saint Mathew Gospel, we can read the famous Judas’ kiss, because Jesus looked like any other semitic man.

                That’s why Cardoza-Orlandi, associate professor of world Christianity at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta (USA), gathered several skulls from Israel, dated as Ist Century A.C., and with advanced computer-scanning techniques, he got this face as the most probable: short with tight curls and bear, dark hair and eyes, and this face shape. Jesus’ height could be 1,55 meters, and Jesus’ weight 55 kg, although being a carpenter maybe more.

                If you are interested in this research, I encourage you to read the whole article. It’s fascinating!

FOLLOW JESUS, ONLY JESUS!!!

What´s up mates?? Here you are an article written by Borja. Feel free to comment on it as much as you want. Take care and enjoy this short week.

FOLLOW JESUS, ONLY JESUS.

Just one week ago, we woke up with an article in the online newspaper “El Confidencial” talking about the Jesuits. Two days before, the Provincial of Loyola sent a letter to his Jesuits brothers encouraging them after the recent news in the process of the terrorist group ETA in Spain, especially in the Basque Country. The journalist who wrote the article thinks the provincial, JuanjoEtxeberría, doesn´t make difference between the terrorist and the victims. This article and the reaction of many people close to us, made me think about the answer we must have as Jesuits, who want to give words of peace and mercy to the world.

I think it´s important to know the history, and take care about everyone. It´s not easy and we must be clear enough in our words. First of all, we are in a democracy since the year 1975, and no one can kill anybody to defend his political ideas. Any activity we will do with the terrorist, must be focus on changing their hearts.

We also must take care about the different type of victims. They are lots of   people, that have been killed, and we must remember their lives and try to defend their families and their memories. We must be always with them. They are also many people who have been unjustly imprisoned. They weren’t enemies of the terrorist but they weren’t terrorists, so we also must be with them.

After this explanation, I want to finish, saying that we are not following any political party, which have a political project; we are following Jesus, who eat with the publicans trying to change their hearts. Maybe, be in the middle make us part of the conflict, but we must remember how Jesus used to live and always try to follow him.

WELCOME TO OUR ENGLISH BLOG!!!

Hi guys!!!
Here you are an amazing tool for you to put in practice your English and do your best in terms of oral and written skills. Feel free to participate and encourage your classmates to do so.
From now on, your are the main author of this blog. Take advantage of it!!!

The video I´ve just downloaded is called "onwards". I´d like you to comment on it and introduce yourself in this new blog!!!

Let´s start now guys!!!