One beautiful message for the world

Several weeks ago, we watched a video in Spanish that really touched me. It affected me so much that today, sitting in my bed, writing my journals, I still remember this video. So I thought I would share it with you. And for you, non-Spanish folks, yes, it is in Spanish but there are subtitles so you will be able to understand.
Enjoy!



So, What do you think about this video?
I think this video has a beautiful message that each and everyone of us should try to apply everyday: help each other. Life is already hard enough the way it is so if we can help each other in order to make it even slightly better, it is worth it. And like the man in the video, our actions do not need to be extraordinarily exceptional to be powerful. The smallest gesture can bring happiness and comfort to someone. So, IB students, men, women and children of the world, gear up because it is time to make the world a better place! And just look around you; there are plenty of things to improve or people to help. And yes, we all have our own problems, preoccupations and doubts but if we just put them aside for one second and use this second to help someone else and if everyone does so, the world will soon become a better place.

What outrages me

I consider myself a pretty open-minded and tolerant person but there are certain things I cannot stand. The first thing that probably outrages me the most is injustice. I just cannot stand when someone get something he or she did not deserve or when wrong is done to someone for unjustified reasons (not that I am implying that it is okay to wrong someone even with reason to back it up). When in a situation that I consider unfair, I usually talk about my concerns to someone who has the possibility to make the situation fairer, such as an authority figure that I thrust will act. One other thing that particularly outrages me is narrow-mindedness and intolerance. When I moved, my adaptation was made harder by people who did not realize the difficulties I had or just did not want to reach out to help me. That is when I became aware of how important it is to be surrounded by open-minded people who understand the difficulties you can be going through and do not hesitate to help. On a more practical level, I cannot stand when people purposefully deteriorate the environment by throwing trashes in the street. Seriously people, can’t you just wait to find a trashcan and throw your trash in it? Is that really too hard for you? So, when I see litters in the street, I usually pick them up and wait for the closest litterbin to throw them in.

What idea challenges me the most

Recently, someone asked me what idea most challenges me. I have to admit that I had to think for quite a while to come up with an answer that truly reflects who I am and what I think. What would you have answered? Not easy, right? I thought about what I really like and what is important to me. Since I was young I wanted to become a doctor. To me, medicine was the one way to allow people who had a car accident or were diagnosed with a disease to live long and happy lives. I thought that medicine could cure every wound and avoid pain and misery to spread. However, as I grew up I realized that the world had too many incurable wounds that all the medicine could never make them go away. I realized that civil wars, misery, pain, poverty and cruelty would always exist. Then we learned at school the atrocities that happened during World War II. But what we were not taught at school is that similar atrocities are still happening everyday in some developing countries in Africa where civil wars are raging. So I suppose the idea that challenges me the most is to become a doctor and work in a refugee camp in a developing and try to avoid as much as I can the wounds to bleed, the pain to paralyze and the misery to spread and, by doing that, I would little by little begin to cure the world.

The Town

Once upon a time, when I had time to breath and other things than constantly working, I went to see a movie with my mom called The Town. Heard of it? I have to admit I was pretty reticent about spending two hours in the movie theater watching a movie that did not intersted me in the first place. I was wrong. It is a great movie. The story takes place in Boston, and more specifically in a part of Boston where bank robbery are omnipresent. The story line has nothing exptional but I really appreciated the fact that the whole story is viewed from the point of view of the criminals, not the police like most of the movies opposing criminals and justice. Although a little bit long this movie goes more in depth into the emotions of the characters and do not just show a succession of of bank robberry (not like Public Ennemies that simply showed a succession of random events and robberies that had no connections one another). I like the whole atmosphere that the movie created. It is not one of these movies where you just feel so uncomfortable you want to run out of the movie theater (which surprisingly enough happens a lot). Even if a movie needs to be really good to have my approval, I think I can say without a doubt that this one should be on you “must see” list (yes that’s right I have a “must see” list of movies!!). Before watching this movie, I had no idea that Charleston was considered “the bank robbery capital of America” or something like that. Some people say that TV inhibits your mental capacities to develop. But what they don’t tell you is that it can also teach you some things. So if you can find time and if you have an extra $8 you want to spend to watch a movie, go see The Town.

Strikes in France

We just received at home a French magazine that has a very interesting article about the strikes that are going one right now in France. From what I understood, France is going through tough times now. Almost everyone is stricking including the refining industry, an industry that is extremely important since it is the one that allow oil to be usable. So due to strikes in the refining industry, France is experiencing a shortage in oil, causing the price of oil and of means of transportation such as bus tickets to be exessively high. However, these are not the only problems that are cause by the shorage of oil. Stores will soon be no longer approvisionated, causing a food shortage and slowing even more the economy down. The aviation industry is also impacted since kerozene is no longer available so less and less planes are able to leave France. I think that it is in that kind of situations that you really realize that the people are the real instrument of democracy (or self-destruction in that case). I just hope the the president will do something soon to ameliorate the condition of workers and avoid the upcoming problems that will undoubtably have disastrous effects on the people and the economy.

The best country in the world is...

So which country do you think is the best in the world? No it has nothing to do with the World Cup or the Olympic Games. Do you think that is the United States?... Well, I am sorry to disappoint you but the United States is far from holding the first place. And the winner is … Finland!! That’s right Finland was estimated as being the best country in the world by a study conducted by Newsweek. The top ten is:

1. Finland

2. Switzerland

3. Sweden

4. Australia

5. Luxembourg

6. Norway

7. Canada

8. Netherlands

9. Japan

10. Denmark

We can find the United States right after holding the eleventh place. As you can see the top ten countries tend to be small, rich and quite cold. But Finland had not been chosen randomly. Compared to other countries, Finland is very economically dynamic and was evaluated as offering a good quality of life to its citizens (which includes factors such as health coverage, security and chances to make a decent living). Education is also a determining factor that place Finland as the best. We talked about this in TOK last year and we looked at the revolutionary educational system that Finland uses. There are no tuition fees for students; these are paid by the government (that has a budget of 5.9 billion which is a huge number considering the size of the country). Now I know which I am going to live in when I graduate from college. Finland.

Quick question/opinion

I have a quick question for everyone. Last month I received a Newsweek that had a very intriguing title and I would like to have your opinion on what you think it means. So what do you think the phrase “The making of a Terrorist-coddling Warmongering Wall Street-loving Socialistic Godless Muslim President” means?

Espuna y nada más

No don’t worry this post is not in Spanish (although I am in the mood to write in Spanish!). A couple of weeks ago, we read a story in Spanish that left me disconcerted. The story is called “Espuna y nada más” written by Hernando Téllez. The story takes place in a country where rebel movements are widespread and where the government troops actively suppress them. It is the story of a barber, who, as the reader learns later in the story, is a member of the rebellion. One day a man enters the barbershop and asks to be shaved. As soon as the man enters, the barber recognizes him as being Captain Torres who is responsible for the arrests and executions of rebels. All along the story, the reader knows that the barber knows who the man is but we have the impression that Torres on the other hand does not know that the barber is a rebel, as he openly speaks about the arrests that took place and the next executions of rebels that will occur. The reader therefore thinks that the Torres believes the barber is a supporter of the government. As the barber shaves Torres he thinks how easy it would be for him to kill him without anyone noticing. However, his moral sense prevents him from murdering Torres. The last sentence of the story is “Me habían dicho que usted me mataría. Vine para comprobarlo. Pero matar no es fácil. Yo sé por qué lo digo” which could be translated as “I was told that you would kill me. I came to see. But killing is not easy. I know what I am talking about.” This last sentence reveals that Torres actually knew who the barber was. However, it also causes the reader to think. From the barber’s point of view, Torres is the reason for the death of many of his friends and maybe even of some members of his family. However, he finds himself incapable of taking revenge by killing him. As Torres says, killing is not easy. Sometimes someone’s moral values are stronger than any rivalry that may exist.

Rallies for America

Are you all excited for October 30? You may, ask what is on October 30? Well, for those of you who remember October 30 (a date that has absolutely no significance whatsoever) is the day when the Rally to restore sanity and the March to keep fear alive will take place in Washington DC. I have to say, I really would like to go. In this atmosphere of intense political debate, I think it would be interesting to hear the opinion of people who are not afraid to offer critical points of view on very current topics that affect us day to day. The thing I really appreciate about the concept of these two rallies is that it appeals to everyone, common people like you and I, who are too busy with their jobs and other obligations to participate actively in political demonstrations (referred as the Busy Majority by Jon Stewart). These two rallies allow diverse political opinion and views on actual events to be shared and openly criticized. I actually marked my planner. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend the rally, I have to take the TOEFL instead L. But for those of you who are available, go and help saving sanity in the United States (of keep fear alive, whichever you prefer).

Whatever Works

One Friday evening, when life was easier, Reshma and I watched the movie Whatever Works. Although being a hilarious movie, it also underlines very important aspects of our society. Here is the opening. It will give you a better idea of what I am talking about and maybe the wish to watch it!!

So, what is you first reaction? Not bad right?!

Later in the movie Boris shares his opinion about life when he says: “I happen to hate New Year's celebrations. Everybody desperate to have fun. Trying to celebrate in some pathetic little way. Celebrate what? A step closer to the grave? That's why I can't say enough times, whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filch or provide, every temporary measure of grace, whatever works. And don't kid yourself. Because its by no means up to your own human ingenuity. A bigger part of your existence is luck, than you'd like to admit. Christ, you know the odds of your fathers one sperm from the billions, finding the single egg that made you. Don't think about it, you'll have a panic attack.”

And I have to admit, even if it is quite pessimistic, it’s true. Because our lives is filled with troubles, responsibilities and constraints (without even mentioning the pressure and expectations that we can all feel), and because our society is defined by horrific events, we should try to find happiness, love and relief wherever we can. So the conclusion we should come up to is whatever works!

... not so extravagant after all

So, to continue on my previous deep reflections about my future… Oh by the way you should read the previous post before reading this one otherwise it won’t make a lot of sense to you. A couple of weeks ago, I had a meeting with my guidance counselor to discuss my situation and college applications. During this meeting I learnt that I will not be able to receive any federal aids or any scholarship from universities because I am not an American citizen. After this very depressing meeting, I had what you can define as a panic moment. To not be able to get scholarships means that I will probably not be able to go to the college I want and even if I cannot admit it out loud that is the reality. So in the car on the way home, after having cooled down, I started talking to Reshma about my potential future. On a joking tone I told her that I would not go to college and instead open my first prestige hotel. And because this hotel would be so amazing and the demand would be so great, I would have to open another one and another one and soon create a hotel resort. I would be rich before the age of thirty, would have time for my personal life and would not even have to worry about working to earn money since the hotel resort would do so well, money would just flow in my bank account. Anyone interested in a potential partnership? Think about it, it could be a great business opportunity!! Even if I was saying that just to joke around, I realize that even if it can be dangerous, it is not completely unrealistic. After all, many people who did not go to college and dared to take risks ended up very successful and sometimes even more successful than some who went to college. To do what is expected of you is not always the solution.

To be continued…

What to do with my life?...

Hi, I am back!! Yes I know it’s been a while since my last article. But don’t worry Mr. Wilcox I did not stop thinking in the mean time. Actually, the past events have stimulated my mind quite a lot (that may be part of the reason why I feel so exhausted right now!!). But it is not time to complain. It is time to get to the topic that made me think the most these past few days. As everyone else, I am preparing my college applications. The other day, I was looking information up about the medical program of some universities when I stopped for a second to think. I realized that I was already a senior in high school, that next year I will be a freshman in college in whatever country I will be in at that time, that I will spend the next ten years of life studying medicine to finally reach my goal in fifteen years and become a neurosurgeon. I will then start working (in a hospital probably) at the age of thirty and that it will take make my about ten extra years to built a good reputation. And because I will be so concentrated on my work and my patients, I will not have any time to dedicate to my personal life and will wake up one day realizing that my life passed without me realizing it. I will not have realized any of my dream, will not have had fun and will have dedicated my life to work. I will die alone with tones of diploma and recognition that will bring me no comfort in the end. That when I started to depress a little. But when I think about it I don’t even know if my life will be different if I choose to rethink my goal of becoming a surgeon. And really what could I do except medicine? My art skills are inexistent, I don’t have strong enough nerves to become a lawyer, becoming a teacher is completely out of the question because I would not be able to handle kids who do not care enough to try. So that where I am at. I don’t know.

To be continued…

Genetic Diseases

I finished a chemistry project on Saturday. We were able to choose a topic of our choice to research. Each person in the class had a different topic. Mine was Wilson’s disease. It is a genetic disease (autosomal recessive), which cause an accumulation of copper in the body. The excess copper first attacks the liver, then enters the bloodstream and attacks vital organs such as the brain, the liver, the kidneys and the eyes. We did another project in bio about genetic disorders. I had Huntington’s disease, which basically is a progressive degeneration of brain cells. The patient looses his ability to control his movements, his peripheral vision and faces many other symptoms. After having finished my paper, I stopped for a second and asked myself questions. Since all these diseases are genetic, a person is born with the abnormality. So I thought, omitting the scientific explanation of the mutations, why does a specific person get a disease like that? I mean you are born with it and your entire life is then based on and shaped by it. Is God have a role to play in all of this? If so, why would he punish a baby who has done nothing wrong? I do not know. I did not find the answer to all these questions yet.

We sometimes talk about this in biology class and I always find myself without any answers. People with that kind of genetic disorder usually have a 50-50% chance of having the disease (like with Huntington). If you knew you had a chance of having such a disease, would you want to know in order to get treated and live with the fear of the disease getting worse with time or would you prefer to stay in ignorance and live your life without worrying about it (with the risk of dying younger and transmitting the gene to your children)? It all comes back to the same question: is ignorance bliss? It is certainly easy to give an opinion when not actually experiencing a situation like that. But if I were in that position I think I would prefer to not know and live my life as I want and enjoy every second of every minute of every day. We all die after all (does it remind you of somebody?).

Designing a ideal school… not that easy

Reshma and I just finished the project consisting in designing our own school. Well, I do not know if it was the all point of this project but it is VERY hard to do. At first, when we were assigned the project, I thought in my head, “Oh, it is going to be an easy thing to do. There are so many things I would like to change in the current system…” I am sure of one thing. I was wrong. In the current system, especially as a student, we feel that many things could be changed, which would make the school day way better and less stressful. We would like to make classes and school day shorter, lunch breaks longer…. But when we think about it, many of these ideas are very hard to apply to real life when we take into consideration the curriculum to cover, bus schedule, safety of the school and plenty of other factors. When Reshma and I were designing our ideal school, we realized that our ideal system, when thinking of all these factors, was very close to the current one. So students, we complain a lot about an educational system that is not so bad. Of course, there are some things that could be improved to make the system better and when reflected that in our project but there are not as many as we thought there would be. And also, I thought it quite hard to think of an ideal system different to one (well actually two) I have known my all life. I just thought that would be interesting to point that out since we will present our project pretty soon. And I have the feeling that we (Reshma and I) will not be the only group having an ideal school strangely close to the current system we are used to.

Reliquias encontradas (¡en español!)

Yo no lo sé porque pero me siento en una humor de escribir un diario en español hoy entonces es lo que va a hacer (¡ya empecé si no lo nota!). Entonces voy a hablar de un tema de actualidad que se pasó esta semana o la semana pasada (yo no ya había decidido) que me interesaba o que era extranjero. Leí un articulo la semana pasada en el periódico español El País sobre estatuas griegas antiguas que habían volado y que se encontraban entre las manos de contrabandistas.

La policía griega recuperó dos estatuas que representan a dos jóvenes que datan del siglo VI antes del Cristo. Estas estatuas fueron volados por dos contrabandistas de antigüedades. Las autoridades griegas recuperaron las estatuas el lunes pasado antes que los contrabandistas las vendan. Ahora las estatuas son en seguridad en el Museo Arqueológico de Atenas. Los expertos afirman que es le descubrimiento más importantes de los últimos cuarenta años en arqueología y las estatuas son prácticamente intactas. Pienso que este descubrimiento es fantástico y que es una gran suerte que nosotros podemos contemplar reliquia tan antiguas. También es una buena cosa que las reliquias son en seguridad en el Museo de Atenas en lugar de el los manos de contrabandistas. Espero que los arqueológicos encontrarán más reliquias en el futuro.

Economy and furniture

Yesterday, I went to IKEA to buy some furniture for my bedroom. So after two hours in the car, we finally arrive to IKEA in Pittsburg, PA. When we arrive on the parking, the number of cars astonished me; we hardly found a place to park! The first interrogation that came to my mind was “do all these people have money to buy furniture during this economy downturn?” Apparently yes! While we hear everywhere that the economy is very bad, that layoffs are more and more common, that people are losing their jobs, … so I was surprised to see that people still have enough money to spend it on new furniture, something that is not fundamentally vital. Do not misunderstand me. I think it is great to see that people are spending money. It indicates that they have the financial means to and it helps the economy in a way. I am just wondering if some sectors on activity are very damaged by the economy crisis while for some others the crisis does not have any impact on them. In any case, it is a very good sign that people continue to spend money. I am just hoping that they spend money because they have the financial mean to and can afford it and that they are not making a tone of credits that they will not be able to pay off later (plunging us all again in a economic crisis).

How Internet-depend we are…

Last summer, my mum and I went to France and Spain. I took Macbeth with me (for those who do not know who Macbeth is, it is my computer!). And of course, because it is an American computer, I did not have access to Internet. No need to tell you, I was miserable. I did not know what to do. Moreover, my mum worked and all my friends left in vacation in another part of France. I was alone. So I did things I never do: I cleaned the entire house, I mowed the garden, I cleaned every single plate in the kitchen … I missed Internet. And then I realize how Internet-dependent I was, which when you think about it is kind of scary. The same thing happened a couple days ago; I could not connect to Internet. Once more, I felt lost. I talked to my mum about this and the conclusion I can withdraw from this is that our generation always had known and lived with Internet while for the previous generations, it is a relatively new tool. When Internet did not exist, people had to go to the library to find information for example. However, because our generation has always known Internet, some ways to do things were lost between two generations. I am not saying that Internet is a bad thing (I personally love Internet!) but by making every thing easier, Internet made us forget some basic ways to do things.

Ignorance is Bliss…or is it?

Since we wrote this Matrix essay, I encounter several times situations in which I would have preferred not to know what was going on. These were usually things that one I knew them, hurt me profoundly and left me confuses. I surprised myself to tell myself “ignorance is bliss after all”. But now I am reflecting over these situations and I am wondering, “is ignorance really bliss?” Undeniably, ignorance can protect one from being hurt emotionally. On the other hand these experiences, although hard and sometimes disturbing, allowed me to put myself in question, thing I would not have done if I did not face these situations. They allowed me to improve myself and to not do the mistakes I once did. However, I think it is easy to fall in ignorance again because I feel that a part of me does not want to face hardship and prefer to stay in wonderland where things are surrounded by illusions. I believe it takes courage to face hardship. So I think what I can conclude from all of this is that when one is in complete ignorance and does not have doubt about anything, ignorance can be bliss and protective. However, ignorance can hinder improvement of oneself. I feel this post is a very confusing one but if you understood what I am trying to say, do not hesitate to give your opinion about it!!

What makes a good commercials?

So as I was saying in a previous, I went to the shopping mole and, I waited for my mum to choose cloth. Without realizing it, I began to pay attention to the commercials for this particular shopping moles. After hearing it three times, I surprised myself of being able to remember almost half of the commercial. The way this commercial was pronounced was particularly annoying but I realize now that it is probably one of the reasons why I remember it so well. In general, there are so many commercials on the loudspeaker (usually with the same voice, or close to the same) that try to make you buy something that most people (at least me) do not even pay attention to what it talks about. However, this commercial, although very annoying, was different from the other and this allowed me to remember it. So after realizing I remembered the commercial, I began to think about what makes a good commercial. Difference and repetition are the two things I came up with to answer this question. What do you think? Do not hesitate to give you opinion about this post!!

Newsweek Front cover

A couple months ago, my mother took out a subscription to the magazine Newsweek. I personally like reading it to be aware of what is going on in the world and also to find ideas to write journals and give my opinion about current events. I also like the article in this magazine because many of them are critical and bring a new light on certain events. However, the thing I like the most in this magazine is the front cover (as you may have guessed from the title of this post!!). Although sometimes controversial (such as the one with Sarah Palin making an advertisement for Blackberry, they are usually shocking or enigmatic. I remember one of them represented the White House up side down. I think they are always perfectly well chosen. This week, we received the new Newsweek and the front cover was, as usual the first thing that struck me. So I started to think what make a front cover a good front cover. Taking the example of Newsweek again, I usually remember very well their front covers; therefore it has to be memorable. It also has to be insightful and summarize in a couple words and a picture the main points the author of the article want to express. The front cover also has to attract the reader to learn more about a certain topic, to open the magazine and eventually buy it. Therefore, the success of a magazine relies a lot in the first place on its front cover. Personally, I know that I remember better the front cover of Newsweek from every week than the actual articles in it. I just found this interesting and I wanted to share this with you.