Every cloud has a silver lining

 Estelle had founded an enormous and heavy book on her father's old wardrobe when she was six, it was a very ilustrarive and colorful book, so immediately cathed her eye. Her father used to be calm person, always sitting in the garden of the house just appreciating the beauty of the sun hiding, she always had felt him like a very mysterious person, always telling fantastic tales about mosnters, fairies and a lot of incredible things. That was the only memorie that Estelle had of him, he died when she was five, so that book was her only and most important thing of his father. 

She lived in a little department with her mother, the city was really tiring, with a lot of busy people and noises of cars everywhere. Her mother was tired of that all so decided take her to the old house where she lived with her husband, Estelle's father, it was in the forest, the place where all her father's tales had taken place, she was in certainly way, excited, all the way read the book.

All the excitement went away when her mother prohibited her go to the forest, obviusly was upset and dissapointed, had been waiting all this time to finally meet all the places where her father lived that amazing histories and were forbidden, it was the worst. Night fell and Estelle was sleeping when a noise made her wake up, it looked like if something had fallen of the window, something bright, her thoughts were telling here to follow it, and she did it, but it wasn't the best idea...

Estelle had been wandering around that enormous forest for hours and her muscles couldn't afford anything more, she just sat down on the branch of a tree, she was trembling from the cold and tears had started to fall down of her eyes. She couldn’t understand why life had put put her in that horrible situation, nothing was like in the tales. She had started getting lost herself in her thoughts when suddenly all around her started to quiver, the ground below her turned into an enormous turtle that was walking right to the light of the sun, a breathtaking landscape appeared in front of her eyes which were filled of sparkles, the most beautiful rainbow was there. Then everything was making sense, it was like in the book that she found in the forest and which had put her in that situation, quickly she took out the ancient diary out of her bag and noticed that she had found the answer!. Finally the turtle had arrived at its destination, the end of the rainbow, there was something incredible that made her dreams come true and she discovered that every cloud has a silver lining.

 NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED 

        My mother was the principal of the elementary school where I studied, she was a very busy woman with many responsibilities, however she made sure that my twin sister and I learned very well the importance of collaborating and participating in all the matters and events of the school without our age mattering, for that reason we always participated in sports contests, speech, poetry, dances and any event that meant to represent our elementary school and make it known. when we finished elementary school, we continued to high school, now my father was the principal,  so history repeated itself. we continued to participate in competitions of all kinds to represent the school, we won several events and I became very competitive so I continued to enter any type of competition that was held even without my mother and father asking me to do it.  I remember once there was a poetry contest in high school and the winner would go to the state contest. I was very excited because competing was already part of my life and still is. so I signed up without telling my parents. why didn't I tell them? Because When my mother heard about the contest she decided that my twin would be the one to participate in the contest. since I am a competitive person, I didn't care that my parents didn't tell me to participate in that contest and I signed in on my own decision.  the first thing that I needed was someone who would train me, although I constantly would compete in poetry contests I needed someone expert in that topic to have a chance to win. Unfortunately, nobody was available to train me; but I decided not to give up.

    Then I decided to recite a poem that I knew perfectly well. The name of the poetry is ESPERPENTO by Oscar Wilde. The poetry is about a love story between a deformed jester and a princess. I love that poetry but that's another story,...I participated in the contest won second place, and went to the state contest. I remember how excited I was, especially because I had achieved it using the knowledge learned through all those years of competitions.

     I constantly told myself: NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, which is my motto.

     When I arrived at the school where the state poetry contest was being held, I was surprised to see that there were contests in different disciplines such as drawing, chess, dance, oratory, etc., and poetry of course.  The poetry contest began, it consisted of two qualifying rounds so I had to recite two different poems and I decided that my second poem would be THE SEMINARIST WITH BLACK EYES; again a love story, it tells the story of a girl who fell in love with a seminarian who daily passed under her balcony on his way to the seminary. I am a romantic woman

When the qualifying rounds ended they announced that the winners of the first three places would be announced, but suddenly they announced that there was a tie; what was my surprise when they said my name and that of another boy; my heart stopped when they announced that there would be a tiebreaker, I didn't remember any other poetry. At that moment the other boy and I approached the jury to give the name of the poem we would recite and what was my surprise when the other boy said that he would recite a poem different from the previous two, I immediately thought that he would win because I wouldn't remember any other poetry and again I decided to take a risk and told the jury that I would recite ESPERPENTO's poetry again.

At the end of the tiebreaker round, they changed the stage for the awards. They announced that the name of the third-place winner who was a tiebreaker would be announced and they said my name. I jumped out of my seat laughing and raising my hands in the air, practically running up to the stage to receive my trophy, when I returned to my seat I thought nothing ventured nothing gained. I took a risk and won. I will never forget those moments in my entire life.

 

My personal profile

 About Me:

I was born in Mexico City in 1997, I spent my early years in Tultitlan, State of Mexico. In 2013, my family and I moved to Merida, Yucatan, where we embraced a new culture. I pursued a degree in Software Engineering at UADY, participating in activities like teaching kids to program at a Book Fair and participating in fencing competitions. I make a thesis project involved Augmented Reality in a museum app, winning first place at the Yucatan Science Fair. I aspire to work in Augmented and Virtual Reality company one day. Currently, I maintain a hotel system for a company in Phoenix, Arizona, but my passion lies in VR app development.

Mariana’s Test Challenge

 

In Mariana’s English class with books, pencil, and pen,
A curious skeleton arrived, seeking a new ability to gain.
The classroom was silent, filled with dread,
With hope and joy, the bony student sat with an empty head.
 
Mariana’s exams were a challenge, long and deep,
With grammar and vocabulary, they made all her students weep.
The skeleton ignores the challenge to face,
Confident that he’d conquer it with grace.
 
Mariana’s questions were tricky, the language so deep,
Conjugations and grammar, in a jumbled heap.
The skeleton tried, with all its might,
But alas, in the exam, it couldn’t take flight.
 
In the realm of learning, where challenges reside,
The skeleton faltered, unable to hide.
Yet Mariana’s guidance persisted, with kindness so sweet,
Cheering up the bony student, making their success complete.

Death Takes a Holiday

 By María Alejandra Bisogno Sauri

As October was coming to an end,

Death started to prepare herself.

She was planning to travel somewhere fun

Perhaps a place to run away the sun.

Sadly, her plane did CRASH! BANG! THUD!

And she landed in a town in Mexico.

But she realized she was actually very welcome

as she learnt about the tradition of the “Día de Muertos”.

She had tequila, mezcal and tepache,

and she tried chilaquiles, pozole and tamales.

Death had become the “life and soul” of the parties.

But deeply sorry she was for the dead bodies.

YUCELY NARVAEZ, LEVEL 9 ENGLISH COURSE

PERSONAL PROFILE
NARVAEZ YUCELY

                                                         

About me
I’m Mexican 100 percent . I was born in Mérida, Yucatán.
This state is located at south of the republic from Mexico next
to Golfo de Mexico wich is between Campeche and Quintana Roo.
Nowadays I’m living in the Merida, in Fidel Velazquez neighborhood.
I’m working as an accountant in a private office called MD ASESORES
CONTABLES and the same time I’m entrepreneur with my boyfriend
in business called TACOS ARABES LA GIBA when we sell grilled meat
kind árabe and roast. We have been together since 10 years.
In addition to all the above I enjoy hanging around with my parents,
my sister and his sons every weekend. I just have a Little sister who
had 2 sons , my first nephew has got 7 years an the other is a babe still.
I like learning new things every that I can. 

My personality

I’m a person out going almost always. I make Friends easily and speak with them quickly without grief. But I prefer surrounding with people with open minded and inspirational people.

Sometimes I’m very obstinate when we speaking about my job, of which are the procedures to do a certain action.

I have a tendency to share my ideas with similar people to me. I avoid the busybody people.

I'm prone to be a Little chatterbox when I want to 

share a gossip or speak about interesting topics.

MY FIRST CALAVERITA

CALAVERITA 💀

 

The Death comes to Cephcis School 

with a beautiful dark dress and 

a bouquet of cempazuchitl, that 

it'd want to exchange for someone 

who'd like to dance with her 

and after traveling to the beyond, 

but quickly Teachers ejected her and 

her bouquet they kept.

By Adri Ramos C 🎃

English level 7

Cephcis 

My Personality in 100 words

 By Alejandra Bisogno Sauri

I’m an introvert and solitary person. Actually, I’m extra circumspect when making friends. Nevertheless, as a human being, I’m still gregarious. So I’m always looking to surround myself with open-minded and easygoing people. Most of my friends are the considerate and perceptive type, who will listen to you and make you feel seen. I don’t get along with apathetic or neurotic people. They’re a pain in the neck. As a fact, I’d say I’m prone to avoiding chatterboxes, busybodies or wet blankets. Individuals like that will just rob your energy. I have an inclination for conscientious, inspirational and unprejudiced people.

Personal Profile Essay

My name is María Alejandra Bisogno Sauri, but I like to be called Ale. I‘m from Mérida, Yucatán and so are all my family members. I studied Modern Language and Literature at Universidad Modelo. I have worked in a school’s library since September, 2022. Currently, I’m taking an online publishing and editing course given by Abismos casa editorial. In the future, I‘d like to study a master’s degree in Literary Translation. My dream is to become a translator and a professional photographer.

I‘m an introvert with an artistic personality. I usually spend my leisure time taking and editing photographs, reading, drawing, writing, or watching films. Last year, I took a couple of photography courses. 

I also have a passion for languages. I studied French for almost five years (2018-2022). Recently, I‘ve been interested in Korean. Someday, I would like to learn other languages such as Japanese, Mayan and Swedish.

I consider myself someone curious, creative, organized and flexible. These traits have helped me to achieve my goals in my different pastimes. If I had to describe myself in one sentence, I would say that I’m a passionate learner.

Alejandra Bisogno Sauri

Marcela Esquivel, level 9

 Calaverita

By Marcela Esquivel

I´m afraid of this level nine

But I know it is going to be fine

I just want to catch 

all the listening have

Because if I could  not

this skull is going off

If only I could think 

in all the grammar things!

But I don´t want to regret

because I have to accept 

everything I´ve learnt.

Personal profile draft:

 

My name is Marcela Esquivel. I´m from Costa Rica but I have been living in México for five years. I have two sisters and one brother, all of them are living in Costa Rica with my parents. 

I like sports, that is why I studied Physical Education at university.

When I finished my degree, I went to Germany to study volleyball and also I visited several countries in Europe. 

Travel is one of my favorite things to do, so when I started working I used to save money to go and visit other countries.

About my skills at work, I am a very responsible and hardworking person, those characteristics have helped me to get good job positions. Also, I have a master degree and now I am studying English, which makes my professional profile more complete. 

Every day I try to balance my professional and personal life to feel happy and satisfied, most of the day I achieve it.

My personality

When I was young, I didn't have the elements to express my feelings assertively.  I used to be obstinate. That's why I tended to be a black sheep. I had a tendency to focus on the things I wanted, so I kept getting annoyed.

Nowadays I'm more conscientious about other people's needs. I´m always looking to understand the situations and adapt myself to things I can´t change. 

I´m not the life and the soul of the party, but I have an inclination to enjoy meeting people.

I know I will continue learning how to relate effectively with others. 

*Calaverita* by Silvia corzo

Death is looking for a good English language school 

someone told him that in Cepchis they give a Lot of tools. 

Death ran to the school and found the teachers Bernicia and Mariana, they were eating a banana.

Death asked them level 7 students, what the classes were like, 

Death felt like a Star and left in a car.

Aged people, do they really become useless?

 By Carmen Calderon

As years go by we become more aware of the deterioration of our bodies and "minds". It should be considered that ageing (could be) is “normal” (without chronic diseases or pathological mental states) 

Among the causes we can mention is the increasing mental inertia of routinary lives, without stopping and asking ourselves “Is there anything else I would like to achieve?”, which triggers the little or no contribution to society by our generations and the resulting feeling of despair in a stage in which learning to be "with oneself" becomes vital.

Research carried out on the social image of the elderly has concluded that the social perception of older people is basically negative.

Therefore, in this sense we have the responsibility to inform ourselves in order to treat older adults in a dignified, comprehensive, and non-discriminatory manner, considering them to be the socially active subjects they really should be.

Furthermore, speaking integrally, we quote Peck (1959, 1968)1, who establishes four stages:2

- Appreciation of wisdom versus physical strength.

- Socialisation versus sexualization in human relation.

- Emotional flexibility versus emotional impoverishment.

- Flexibility versus mental rigidity.

Science is currently demonstrating through its research how a good quality of life in the Third Age is a necessary and achievable aspect by making use of the resources and potentialities inherent to the Human Being, and which far from being limitations at this stage of life, are capacities that keep on developing.

One possible solution is the creation of spaces where the elderly can socialise and use their talents, in the activity they enjoy the most. It would be a place for entertainment, a place of respectful coexistence between people of similar ages and/or interests. The activities to be developed there could be a reading club, dancing lessons, or putting into practice talents to express themselves in a creative way, such as painting, singing, public speaking, and many others.

To conclude, older people would take advantage of their experience and talents to learn how life can be enjoyable regardless of how old they are. Being aware of this, we can enjoy life much more than our predecessors did as we age and the incidence of mental and emotional disorders could be reduced to its minimum level ever!

1 https://www.gob.mx/inapam/articulos/envejecimiento-y-vejez?idiom=es

2  https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/3498/349832315005.pdf

 Pride & Prejudice 

The film has setting in England, and represents the life stile of late 18th century and is about a young couple who will have to overcome their prejudices of the time to engagement and finally get married. The main roles in this film are played by Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen.  

The story opens with the five daughters of Bennet family, Jane, Lizzy, Lydia, Mary and Kitty,  who live in a rural property called Loungbourn. That property coul be loosed when their father, Mr. Bennet, has died, so, their mother is desperately finding gentlemen to marry off their daughters to protect their future, economy and surname. Some of them, wish to be married and accept their destiny without rejects, but the second daughter, Lizzy, met to Mr. Darcy, a rich, apparently arrogant and proud gentleman with who will have a kind of struggle of personality, influnced by the customes and beliefs of the period of time. 

This film is based on Jane Austen's novel (1813) with the same title, which was launched in 2005,  skilfully directed by Joe Wright, with an incredible and well selected cast, it's romantic, gripping and moving, because, shows the old English customes and how the brave people manage their feelings, personalities, how they deal with own beliefs, morality and challenges of time, to find love. 

Lizzy, interpreted by Keira Knightly show us a smart, laughinh and single woman whose behaviour is always finding the true love. Her role in this movie invite and encourage us to reject things that don't make us happy and to be brave to defend our essence as a person. I would highly and thoroughly recommend this movie and I am sure that you can enjoy it. 

By Lucia Moo. 

Arrival (2016) 👽

Arrival is set somewhere in the US, in the present and in different periods of the near future. The movie is based on a book "Story of your life" by Ted Chiang, which is absolutely amazing. It stars Amy Adams as Louise Banks, a professional linguist, and Jeremy Renner as Ian Donelly, his academic colleague.

Imagine one day 12 alien ships landed on earth in different countries and there’s no way to know what these creatures want. That’s the challenge that Louise Banks has to face, who is taken to a military base where there’s one of the alien ships. Her task is to communicate with the visitors and figure out their intentions. Surprisingly, these creatures have a message to humanity, what is this message about?

Poignantly directed by Denis Villeneuve, the film assesses language, memory and life in a singular and brilliant way. The scenes are fast-paced, so you need to pay attention to every detail. However the soundtrack is beautifully composed by Jóhann Jóhannsson. The best part? There's a track written by Max Ritcher that is the theme song of the movie.

This movie is widely praised by academics and other directors who saw how outstanding the plot is. With its mystery and gripping story Arrival is a film that I highly recommend. ✅

Andrea López.

 Forrest Gump

This great movie is set in Greenbow, Alabama in the 60s and 70s. It is based on the novel Winston Groom. It stars Tom Hanks as the main character, Forrest Gump, Robin Wright as Jenny Curran, Gary Sinise as lieutenant Dan, Sally Field as Mom´s Forrest and Mykelti Williamson as Bubba.

Everything starts with Forrest sitting on a bench waiting for the bus.  While his transport arrives, he tells about his life, how his Mom wanted that he went to the school as any child, where the school principal said that Forrest doesn't have the same abilities as other children, and how he met toJenny on the school bus and they became best friends.

Although at first Forrest couldn´t  walk very well because he had to use special appliances, he became a good runner, with this skill Forrest could go to the University playing American football in its team. After winning an important game of American football, he met the USA´s president  and later he went to the Vietnam War, where Forrest met Bubba, his best friend, and the lieutenant Dan. When the war finished, Forrest received a medal for saved his companions and he mets USA´s president again. In that time Forrest discover a new skill, playing tennis, with it he became famous and a rich player so he bought boat and with lieutenant Dan they fished and sold shrimp, their business named “Bubba Gump”  but Forrest comeback to home because his mom was sick and  after some days she died.

At the end, Forrest discovers that gets a son with Jenny so he married with she and takes care of them.

Skillfully directed by Robert Zemeckis, who is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. Convincingly and poingantly acted by tom Hanks, also known for the movies “Naufrago, Milagros inesperados, Salvando al soldado Ryan”, among others.  The movie Forrest Gump was widely praised by the public.

It's a moving, hilarious and dramatic movie where Forrest has several historical events like teaching Elvis Presley how to dance and meeting John Lennon. I am sure that you are going to love the plot, I would thoroughly recommend it.

Social media use and depression during the pandemic confinement (Problem-Solution Essay)

Can you guess how many people who you spend time every day are depressed? Let me give you a word: - many – yes more than you’d ever imagine. Depression is a state of mental illness. It is characterized by deep, long-lasting feelings of sadness or despair. It can affect people of any group, including young children and teens. 

Some of the common factors that may cause depression are genetics, high levels of stress, schizophrenia, drug abuse, bad medical conditions, alcohol, and trauma. The worst fact about depression is that nowadays there are thousands of people suffering in silence.

It has been published a large number of studies that reveal that one of the causes for depression is social media, more than 90% of social media users are pretending to look happy, which has as a consequence, superficial relationships between people, so, there is no place for sad people. Currently, another cause of depression is the confinement during COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of personal coexistence with family, friends, co-workers, etc. has affected the mental state of many people.

There are several medical treatments to deal with depression, for instance, psychotherapy and pills, but actually, prevention is the best option, to practice regular exercise, a healthy diet, and stable relationships can be helpful in keeping stress low and thereby reduce the chances of feeling depressed. Veronica, who was depressed for more than one year during the pandemic because her father died and she could not visit him, and she decided to start practicing gym and yoga, activities that she did not do before, after that she made many friends and now she is calm and accepting that she mustn’t blame herself for not being able to visit his father during the quarantine.   

In conclusion, we should change the way we currently socialize, avoid the excessive use of social networks, find opportunities for real interactions with people to restore social connections lost during confinement, and, of course, reinstall activities that improve life quality and mental health to improve moods, clearing thinking, have a greater sense of calm or inner peace, and increased self-esteem, etc.

HANAL PIXAN

 

HANAL PIXAN.

This documentary would try to spread the importance of a traditional festival: Hanal Pixan…Food of the Souls, which takes place in Yucatan and reflects the history and culture of the Mayan people. It is an important original Mayan celebration of 3 days of festivities (from October 31^st to November 2^nd ).

Before these three days, the Walk of the Souls takes place where people paint their faces and dress up as a catrina, the traditional skeleton woman. The first day is dedicated to deceased children, so toys and sweets are included on the altar. The second day is dedicated to dead adults. On the third day, a mass dedicated to all the dead is generally held in the local cemetery.

Other different events are included throughout the week such as decorated streets and parks, music and night shows in the Central Plaza, and other parks in the center of Mérida.

Families prepare the traditional Mayan dish called Pib, a chicken tamale (wrapped in banana leaves) that is cooked underground in a hole for several hours before being placed on the altar.

This documentary would highlight the atmosphere of this festivity, filming "The Walk of the Souls", the altars, and interviewing young, elderly, and locals to gather opinions on the value of protecting our traditional customs.

Carmen A. Calderón R.

Festival de las ánimas

 This documentary would examine the importance of festival de las ánimas in Mérida, Yucatán. This festival also is called Hanal Pixán and is so important because the people remember their ancestors. During October thirty-one until November second this festival celebrates. The state council organize the “festival de las ánimas” in which the main objective is to take a tour in the streets downtown in which you can see all the altars of the ancestors of the different families. The tour realizes between the Church of the Hermitage and the General Cemetery. 

The aim of the documentary would be to film the festival in order to show the culture of Mérida, Yucatán and all the activities which involve this celebration. 

During the festival, you can see altars exposition, a sample of Mayan ceremonies, regional gastronomical sample, reading of stories and legends of the region, typical dance and guided tours in the general cemetery. These dates are important here so in that way the documentary is going to talk about it and show all the activities which concerned. 

The documentary would highlight all the history of this celebration. First, we are going to talk about why this celebration is realised then we are going to film Merida’s downtown and the streets in which the tour realizes. In the same way, the typical dance will be shown all this documentary is going to have typical music. 

Veracruz Carnival (PROPOSAL)

Veracruz Carnival is said to be Mexico's best carnival! This documentary would examine the importance of the Veracruz Carnival in our country. Carnival is some of the most exuberant celebrations that you will find in Mexico. It is a celebration that unites everyone regardless of class or ethnic background and gives them an opportunity to enjoy life, have fun, eat and drink in excess, and party until the break of dawn! 

The city of Veracruz practically shuts down during carnival. The aim of the documentary would be to film the Veracruz Carnival in order to encourage hundreds of thousands of visitors from all throughout Mexico descend on it to join in the carnival celebrations.

The Zocalo is where many carnival activities take place, this place is filled with amazing parties, parades, live music, and events. The documentary would highlight the main events of Veracruz Carnival which are the 'Preludio de carnaval', 'The burning of the Bad Mood', 'Coronation of the Children', 'Coronation of Reyes de la Alegria', 'The Carnival Parades' and 'The Burial of Juan Carnival'.

The dates of the carnival are not always the same because it depends on the dates of Easter, which is based on the lunar calendar. With this documentary we hoped Carnival would provide Veracruz with an opportunity to celebrate after years of social strife and unite people of different classes and ethnic backgrounds!.

 NASA scientist arrested at climate change protest

After a startling new climate report released by the U.N. more than a thousand scientists protested around the world. The latest U.N. report states that emissions reductions are urgently needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the century’s end.The effects include dramatic natural disasters, between them rising sea levels between 1-and-8 feet before the end of the century.

https://www.12news.com/article/weather/nasa-scientist-arrested-climate-change-protest/75-0ed2eacb-322c-4d38-a676-475f10a2ebba