Ambar

[ambarrm]

WHAT DOES "GIGIL" MEANS?

It is a philippine word which is used when someone has an extreme urge to squeeze or shake someone or something,usually brought about by a cute or irritating object. A lot of filipinos associate the word with a cute child that makes them want to squeeze his or her cheeks. But it is not always a sweet feeling, people can become slightly violent: when people get frustrated with someone they can have a "gigil" reaction too. It is a gut reaction, a surrender to cuteness or frustation.

References: http://wwword.com/2867/words/untranslatable/gigil/

[ambarrm]

STRESS DURING THE EXAM PERIOD

Nowadays students tend to feel stressed about school, especially during the exam period, sometimes we feel worried, more than it should be. As a result we feel mad, tired, angry and the worst of all is that at the time we have to study we feel without energy, and sometimes time is not enough to finish studying. And all of this is the consequence of the fact that we are under pressure because we want to get good notes. A big mistake of us as students is that sometimes we believe that our intelligence is the note we get at the exam. Maybe schools can help students to not suffer from stress.

On the one hand a support from tutors could be a good idea. Maybe they should be more comprehending with students. If we are close to the day of the exam and we have not understood a topic yet, they might could change the schedule and have the exam two or three days after and of course solve our questions. Or maybe if students are working on an academic project and for any reason they get stuck or have difficulties, tutors should give them the opportunity to have more time to present it, or if not, help them but never ignore them and unfortunately some tutors do it.

On the other hand there is the option of time for relaxation and leisure activities. Those kinds of activities reduce the stress level on students. The best option is allowing students to do the activities in their schools, because sometimes we as students stop doing what we like (sports, dancing, acting, etc.) because we feel we do not have enough time to do something else besides homework. Having a time to calm down would make us feel better and maybe to understand more some difficult topics.

In conclusion, it is important to understand for us as students that life is not only exams and projects, there is more, but in this stage of our lives school is one of the most important things and of course we have to care about it, but stress is unnecessary, it affects our health and social relations, and we do not get nothing but more uneasiness. For me the best option is the second one, I think we can deal with all the exams and responsibilities, that is why schools let us all that work, we just need to relax and get distracted for a while and the best way is by doing some activities.

[ambarrm]

PUREPECHA CULTURE

Territory

The Purepecha culture, also called Tarascos, is an ethnic community of Michoacan, Mexico, and also of some valleys in Guanajuato and Jalisco. They inhabited between 1200 A.D and 1521. Nowadays some of them are still inhabitating in some parts of Michoacan but they are not an empire anymore. Its capital was the city of Tzintzuntzan. This culture is characterized by being able to defend itself against the attacks of the Azteca culture. They were used to built letter t-shaped pyramids.

Social structure

The most important person was the "cazonci" (the king).

Then nobles.

Priests.

Warriors.

And at last inhabitants (fishermen, peasants, artisans, etc).

                                                  Language

It is called Purepecha language and nowadays it is only spoken by a small group of just a few more than 100.000 people in just 22 municipalities of Michoacan. It is considered as an isolated language. There are three variants in the language, they depend on the region: lake region, central and the region of mountain range.

Religion

Their religion was polytheistic. They focused on an universe divided in three: heaven, Earth and underworld (hell). Some of their principal deities were:

Curicaveri: the fire god.

Cuerauáperi: all gods' mother and father.

Xarátanga: the moon god

They were used to do human sacrifices to calm down gods or to show them respect, though they were the civilization that did it less than the other civilizations.

Economy

Their principal activities were (and still being) agriculture, fishing, shoot, craftwork and business. Principally they used to sow beans, corn, chilli, pumpkin, amaranth, etc., next to lakes. Also they used to make ceramic pots, pipes, metallic rings, masks, etc., nowadays they also embroider clothes, make pots, ladles, plates and so many things with copper, only to mention just a little of the whole variety of craftworks they make.

 References: 

http://www.historiacultural.com/2011/10/cultura-purepecha-o-tarasca.html

http://es.slideshare.net/vickiaibaluz/cultura-purepecha-16245738

http://www.cdi.gob.mx/pueblos_mexico/purepechas.pdf

[ambarrm]

Please don’t laugh at me, it’s my first time and I was nervous, but I did my best (: 

[ambarrm]

WE NEED A CHANGE

Nowadays we live in a society where is very important what people say about us, but why? It doesn't have to be that way. It is common that most of us at least once have been tied to other opinions which maybe don't have any value. If we could stop for a moment and look carefully all around us, we would notice there are many people who are not being theirselves, they behave in a specific way to be accepted by the others, but what happen with people who don't do the same? Well, maybe they are more quiet or insecure, maybe they are the ones who dress in a different way, not as stereotypes, or maybe who choose to study something that everyone believes is useless even their parents, could be the pregnant girl who everybody criticises or the man who made a wrong decision and now he has a low-paid job...that kind of people whom others call "weird" and laugh at them. It is surprising that, as I said, most of us at least once dress, listen to a kind of music, try to read a specific book (and I say try because we can't read a book if it defenitely is not interesting for us) or give certain opinions just because so many people do it too, being conscious or not. Sometimes we have to take decisions but we are afraid of what they are going to say, that is not correct! We need to have courage to choose whatever we want, no matter what, and if someone asks about it we would choose it over and over again, never doubt it! I recognise that sometimes I care about it, but as one of my best friends told me: "You don't have to care about it, they will be always talking, gossiping and criticising. You have to care about what your real friends think, your family...people who you love, they are the important ones".

We need a change, we need to stop believing we are who the others says...and stop criticising to the others too!

[ambarrm]

ABOUT ME

I am Ambar, I'm 17 and I was born in Querétaro in April 25. I love music, my favorite bands are The Beatles, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons and U2. I enjoy reading and watching movies. I like to go out and walk while it's raining. I also like italian food and tacos. What I hate the most are lies and selfishness. I am curious and I like to learn new things.