ENGLISH LANGUAGE CHALLENGES

Before this year i was very used to hear the English language through music and different series and movies, but I wasn’t used to talk nor write in english, since it’s also something I didn’t exercise on school it’s been great to have the opportunity to exercise that this year. Most of the time I’m exhausted because of the class schedule summed up with my house environment, my family around, my pets etc. But at the same time it gives space for socialization and a bit of fun, especially with the presentations, I had fun with those. The blogs were great to exercise writing and also knowing each other and I’m glad we reached an agreement about the times of submissions, and with the activities in general.

I think the thing that I need to improve the most is my speaking, it’s very hard because you have to think in what you’ll say and immediately translate it, and to me is hard enough to give my point across in spanish so.. One way to improve could be to read articles or writings in general that are in english out loud or to translate what someone is saying to me also in english (but this process would only happen in my head) I actually sometimes do that during some Spanish speaking classes.

This year I started to watch Youtube and Twitch streamers, and all of them are english speakers, so hearing them and also watching series in english without subtitles is one way I can access to the language aside of the classes.

CHANGES TO MY STUDY PROGRAMME

 

Right now I’m studying Plastic Arts, in general I like it a lot although there are things I think that might be lacking and others that are not entirely necessary.

In terms of subjects specially in Art’s History almost everything is based on European world and Painting, I think all that makes sense, but sometimes they tend to repeat some authors and even paintings over and over, it would be great to have more Latin and Oriental references and to talk about other practices like Pottery and Textiles. About the Workload and length of studies I think is well placed, but I know of some workshops that can give too much work and too little time to do it, I haven’t had that problem but some classmates are frequently overworked and get tired of it.

About the teaching methods, it depends on every workshop teacher, in that case some tend to be more close to the students and dedicated than others, I think it would be great for them to talk about their experiences with their students and maybe give each other’s some tips, it would be good for them to have more communication in general.

Now, about the faculty facilities I think that might be the biggest problem, our faculty is a mess, we have asbestos ceilings, when it rains, everything floods, and is impossible to work in it. The building structure is basically falling apart, there are rats and birds inside and they tend to get super nervous, there are some workshops that barely have the required tools or even chairs. I think the only thing good about that space is the food casino, which I hold dear to my heart <3.

NEW lEISURE ACTIVITIES DURING PANDEMIC

The new activity that’s been keeping me entertained is coming from the textiles world. Well, most of the things i‘ve done so far are unfinished, is a bad habit i’ve always had actually haha.
For many years I’ve had interest in embroidery so i started from there.

I made these like ancient letters (I don’t know the specific name, they’re from the 16^th century though) 

 This is a replica of a Matisse painting of a cute cat in cross stitch.

Then I learned to crochet, I started with thin threads, I remember at the start it was so hard to get the stitches right, I used to make them too tight but with time and practice you learn the movement and just get it right out of nowhere.

This is some sort of mini tablecloth, 

I really love these colors combined

                              This glove took a lot of time and patience,

                             one of the fingers broke for some reason :(

Then we bought a missing piece from my mom’s and I sewing machine.

I’ve tried many times to do garments too with this but I always mess up something and then get frustrated and leave it there. 

The last projects I’ve done are these stuffed toys, I use to draw characters when I’m bored in classes so I wanted to make them in 3d, I’ve only done two and now I’m starting a third. I like them so much <3

The crochet helps me a lot during some classes bc most of the time I find it hard to have my hands unoccupied, knitting also keeps me alarmed and in some way more concentrated, all these things provide an outlet for creativity and in general they keep me entertained when I don’t have much to do, it’s been amazing to learn all these techniques because my mom also loves it and has helped me to connect with her too.

THE MANY PETS IN MY LIFE

To start this, i have to say i've had a lot of pets in my life, so i'm going to briefly mention the first ones since i don't remember very much. When i was around five- six years old i had a beetle dog called Barry, a black dog called Blanco and a cat named Cleopatra. Then when i was around ten, my brother and i, each got hamsters, i don't really remember their names and i feel like a horrible person for this lol. 

When my mom moved to La Florida in 2010 (the house we still live in), we got two cats: one named Lancerlot and another one called Pancha. Lancerlot scaped after a few months, and Pancha is still with us, she's been the pet we've lived with the most time yet. 

Pancha is black an white, very cute and wise-looking (i don't exactly know how to explain this).

Pancha has had two litters since she's lived with us, the first one of three cats and the second of five, form all of them i'm going to mention one from the first litter; Yoda, he was adopted by my mom's best friend, David, he changed his name to "Pilucho", he was a super lovely cat and always wanted people to pet him, sadly Pilucho died recently this year, but we know he lived very happily.

I think it was in 2014 when we adopted an old dog we named Albahaca, i would discribe her as grateful and lovely, she still lives with us. 

(This is the faculty's computer, unu) 

Now moving to my dad's house, also in La Florida, in 2015 we adopted a black cat named Raymond, he was nice and adorable only with me, i consider him the closest thing to a son i've ever had, unfortunately he was ran over by a car in February of 2017. I remember i cried for the next three days after that, i was so sad. I guess my dad was also grieving a bit so later that year he brought a black female cat, i called her Yoko, even though she's a bit gruff, and won't let anyone pet her for more than 10 seconds, we still love her a lot.

   

 This is Raymond

                                                                                      This is Yoko

                                                                                     

                                                                                 

That same year my brother found a cat in a bus stop, after a lot of efforts on finding her family through Facebook, we decided to just keep her and we called her Rosemary. In 2018 she gave birth to just one cat, which is very weird by the way, they usually give birth in litters, his name is Gordon, both of them are very tender and affectionate.

The last member 

we've added in 2019 is Alcaparra she's a three year old dog who loves to run and play, and has lots of energy. I actually find her a bit anxious and jittery at times.

Also, Albahaca kinda hates her, this is them arguing:

I tried to keep this as short as possible, i didn't mention a lot of animals we've had and i can easily make a 5000 word essay about my pet history. I'm sorry if it's a bit messy but i'm a divorced dads child who has lived in two houses at the same time all my life and i adore animals so...

LIGHTING COLDPLAY

I attended to the Coldplay concert in 2016 in the National Stadium.

Coldplay is a band constituted by four members, the most known being Chris Martin, the lead singer, their style has varied through the years, merging between alternative rock, rock pop, upbeat rythms etc.

Is a band i've listened to my whole life, since a lot of members in family also like them, and when i was little i remember i used to watch them a lot in VH1.

I went with my brother and a friend of his. In the entry they gave us bracelets that had a peculiar mechanism, they lit up in different colors according to the song, so the show aside the music and performance also had this lightning aspect that made it so magical since the lights matched with the mood and beat of the music. I remember the bracelets were supposed to be reusable so you had to pass it on to the staff at the exit but because i'm a child i decided to keep it with me and brig it home.

It was a very beautiful concert, it felt very magical, and had the oportunity to listen to a bunch of songs i listened to my whole life in live, overall i had a wonderful time.

PRAGUE

 PRAGUE

I would love to visit Prague, the capital of Czech Republic. A long time ago i was reading a book, called Daughter of smoke and bone by Laini Taylor, and the story (mostly) was based in this city, reading the descriptions on the book, about the architecture, the cold weather, and the general feel to it made me love the city.

Short time after i had a history class and we talked about Prague Spring, a period of political liberation and massive protests right after the second world war.

This city also has an artistic cultural event every two years called Prague Biennale.

Other than that and the wide range of architectonic designs its buildings have, i don't know much, but i've always been intrigued by this city.

I'd like to go to the Biennale, walk around the city, maybe go on a boat ride across Moldova's River. I would go to the Biennale and extend that as a long-time vacation during three weeks. And if i really really fall in love with it i may stay, but that would also mean that i'd have to learn Czech so...