y u v u v o u v o v o u o l u y v u l l b l
_________________________________Lifestyle 2
The daily routine stresses us out, therefore we need to find an activity which relaxes us; for people who enjoy cooking being at the kitchen is an opportunity to forget about everything. That is why this activity for them, more than a duty, is a good therapy. In addition, they try new flavors and combinations, could gain some knowledge and satisfy family and friends by their food. In brief, cooking is a chance to have fun and recover yourself.
_________________________________Lifestyle 3
I plan to be living and studying in another country by the age of 30. How am I going to make it possible? The first thing to do is get into the university and get a great GPA (grade point average) therefore; I could have access to many opportunities and specially travel chances. Then, I hope traveling to any country before finishing my major and meeting people who can help me later around; besides, learning about other foreign cultures. The next step is to graduate from the university and try to study another major, while working on my first profession. Once I have finished my other major or have saved enough money, I will find the most appropriate place to live outside Colombia. In the end, I expect to keep studying at an international university a master degree and being working hard, hopefully by the time of my 30’s.
__________________________________Culture 4 style evocates the majesty of the French
palaces
with
comfortable spaces. Similarly, the
modern
architecture
is
thought to be as practical as possible taking also into account the amenity. As the classical and The history of architecture in
republican
architecture,
the
BogotĂĄ may be divided in two
modernism
aim
the
ages, since the foundation of the
representation
city passing through the colonial
Bourgeoisie and Nobility, the
times, until the Republican Style;
place
and
could get united without social
other
around
the
age 30’s
that
begins
when
the
where
to
be
of the
the
Bogotanos
stratum matters.
modernism came to Colombia as the new and predominant style which would change the way the city was thought and design. The Republican and the modern movements have in common their final purpose, their daily use, including dwelling or governmental issues, both are meant
to
be
functional
We
may
also
find
many
according to the times they
differences in these two kinds of
were used in. The republican
architecture in BogotĂĄ, besides the time each one lived its boom.
__________________________________Culture 5 The Republican Style is known for its rich and elegant details; in addition,
the
astonishing
hand, The Republican architecture try to keep the traditional and conservative guidelines according
to the
majestically combined with fancy
European tendencies
of The
floor
time. On the other hand, the modern architecture
moldings
and
columns
patterns
and
are
luxuriant
wallpapers, an example is one of the most representative buildings in Bogotá, the
“Palacio Lievano” the current town hall located in the “Plaza de Bolivar”. Contrary, the modernism is very clear and simple, the minimalism is predominant and white is the main color, for instance the “Ciudad Universitaria”
approaches to new and original tendencies, the innovation is the focus and we may distinguish a sense
of
eclecticism.
conclude,
these
architectural identify the
To two
movements way how Bogotá
was built, both always looking for the
functionality;
but,
the
former accompanied by the a
complex
buildings
of
with
purposes. On one
innovating
ornamentation and luxury, the
academic
latter
evoking
the
simple guidelines.
fine
and
______________________________Community 6
68H 72-25 Street Las Ferias Bogotá, Cundinamarca February 26, 2015
Transmilenio Offices 66-63 Dorado Avenue Bogotá, Cundinamarca
To Whom It May Concern: My wife and I are frequent users of the buses of transmilenio; these are our only possible way of transportation to commute to our jobs and places of education. My wife has suffered and accident, that is why she must use crutches for around two months. We cannot afford a private transportation, so we need to keep using the transmilenio buses. The service is acceptable in general terms; nevertheless, a common complaint on these days is the frequency of alimentador buses in rush hour, these are being sent around 30 to 35 minutes. My wife’s situation does not let her stay too much time on feet and the stations do not have sits where she can wait. This is not only unhealthful to her, but also annoying. The frequency of the alimentador buses must be improved, especially in the rush hours. The affected users like my wife pay for an inclusive service, and their difficulties are not being taken into account. The good functionality of the transportation system may be improved just by little changes as the frequency of buses.
Cordially,
____________________
_____________________
Alejandro Forigua Marín
Andrea Ramirez Buitrago
______________________________Community 7
66-63 Dorado Avenue Bogotá, Cundinamarca February 27, 2015
Mr. Forigua and Mrs. Ramírez 68H Street Las Ferias Bogotá, Cundinamarca
Dear Sir and Madam:
We thank you for your suggestion. We are currently working on solving these kinds of problems and the company has been developing a system to inform people about the schedules of the buses. Also, in the meantime, we are fixing the stations so that people with similar problems can wait comfortably for their transportation. Transmilenio S.A. appreciates your comments and will work on satisfying your needs as soon as possible.
Respectfully,
____________________
_____________________
Laura Catalina Arias Barragán Manager
Miguel Ángel Orozco Urueña Operations Coordinator
__________________________________Society 8
Gay Adoption in Colombia The discussion about gays in Colombia is still in its process. Until now, they are trying to find a place in this complicated society, fighting for their rights, struggling to be respected by everyone. The gay adoption reached an important point of discussion in the congress; nevertheless, not much came out of this, due to a judgmental moralism. Even though our country is a secular state, the religion is one of the most influent aspects, talking about governmental issues; most of Colombians follow the Catholic-Christian Church values and moral, which are against homosexuality. Certainly, we may find here the breaking point of any gay proposal to advance in the Colombian society. It is time to look forward to a new conception of family. The main reason exposed against the gay adoption is that family must be formed by a masculine and a feminine role, otherwise children would be raised in the wrong way, and they could not get the gender difference (Thomas, 2015); besides, they would be susceptible to be gay as well. This statement is nothing more than discriminatory. First, the gay condition is defined as the worst role in society, therefore, no one must be encouraged to accept and love itself. Second, it is strengthening biases, as if the
role of man or woman were already imposed and immutable. These conceptions should be rethought, we just have to remind how many single mothers are in Colombia, how many children have never been with their parents, but were raised by another family member, no matter the gender. Still, it does not necessarily implies that children are going to be hideous people; as the Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar (ICBF) Familiar said: “American Academy of Pediatrics concluded in an investigation made in 2013 that there are a lot of factors influencing the integrated development of children, such as poverty, parents’ psychological disorders, parental divorce and domestic violence, but parents’ sexual orientation is not a risk factor to the proper development of children.” (ICBF, 2014). The other discussed fact about the gay adoption is related to the psychological and sociological effects that being raised by a gay or lesbian couple could imply to the child. Many people think that homosexual environment is full of promiscuity, alcohol, drugs and diseases; this thought is somewhat old-fashioned, (Bonilla, 2015) we cannot generalize; the homosexuals more than this are citizens (common
people). Therefore, that crazy environment is just the city or town. Many opponents affirm that children with same sex parents are going to be rejected when they grow up, they will suffer identity crisis and will not fit in. We must now return to the discrimination issue; the ones who declare the previous affirmations, I guess, are the same people that tell their children being gay is wrong. Thus, if they do not follow a determined stereotype, they will not fit in. If no one had any prejudice about being gay, the homoparental kids would not suffer rejection. Yet, as they are normal people, they would have difficulties too, as ‘common’ families do. On the other hand, we may find the religious issues. As I already said, Colombia is a religious nation; consequently, the main opponent to any homosexual matter are the Catholic, Christian Churches and their congregations, they proclaim ‘the word of God’ as the one and only possible path to follow. The holy bible as the sacred document enunciates that sodomy and other kind of homosexual activities are unnatural; the straight manner is man and woman. Following this conception, the point here is not to stablish the gay procreation, is to give the opportunity to a same sex couple, who has the necessary, to raise an abandoned and needed child. The bible also says, we must accept and respect every single human being on earth, if there is a chance for someone to be happy, why not allow it.
The family unreal stereotypes which are stablished right now have to be reformulated, the traditional moralism is crumbling down, the family as it used to be 50 years ago does not work any longer (Thomas, 2015); the role-gender stereotypes and the stigmatization of the gay condition are things to get over. The discrimination is founded on oldfashioned conceptions; it is a matter of time the acceptance of gay issues, as once the women and black people broke their chains and aimed their freedom. Besides, the religion is a big wall to overcome; we just have to remind each parishioner the real sense of religion and faith, the tolerance and love to others. Finally, the most important subject, all human beings are equal, being gay is just another characteristic, and they have the right to be happy, although it implies to get married with a same sex person and adopt a child (Argüello, 2015). References Argüello, A. (2015, March). El rechazo del amor (o sobre la adopción igualitaria). El Tiempo. Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.eltiempo.com/opinion/columnistas/el-rechazo-delamor-o-sobre-la-adopcion-igualitaria-arturo-arguello-columnistael-tiempo/15334165 Bonilla, F. (2015, February). Respuesta a la senadora Viviane Morales. In Las 2 Orillas. Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.las2orillas.co/respuesta-la-senadora-vivianemorales/ Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar. (2014, October). (Scientific concept related to the effects for the overall development of a child or teen may have being adopted by a same-sex couple). Retrieved March 13, 2015, from https://www.dropbox.com/s/qi68vs97pw4zthp/Concepto%20ICB F.pdf?dl=0 Thomas, F. (2015, February). ‘Modern Family’/Opinión. El Tiempo. Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.eltiempo.com/opinion/columnistas/modern-familyflorence-thomas-columnista-el-tiempo/15270177 Thomas, F. (2015, February). ‘Seamos Serios’/Opinión. El Tiempo. Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.eltiempo.com/opinion/columnistas/seamos-seriosflorence-thomas-columnista-el-tiempo/15228077
_____________________________Community 10
The effects of urbanistic sprawl can be managed by the new urbanism, for instance the young city of Celebration. The unplanned growth of cities has brought within it the negative effects to the nature and environment; besides, the lifestyle has been deteriorated as well as the traffic junks and insecurity are part of the reasons of this problem. Consequently, a new urbanistic wave has arrived aiming to fix the problem in big cities.
The urban sprawl is a big problem, which is attacking the nature, many zones were devastated in order to build houses and amply cities, these areas will never come back to life. Besides, more big the city more the lifestyle is deteriorated, people tend to live far away from their jobs and schools, this encourage the use of cars and public transportation that damage the environment as well as The new urbanism aimed to fix this problem proposing a city where everything is
planned and densified. They say there must be protected nature areas, in contrast with the size of the cities, furthermore, the use of bicycle and walking should be encouraged. For instance, the city of celebration in Florida, where everything was planned, and people tend to socialize everywhere. Where the common zones are centralized, but not far away from houses, these ones are designed as well in order to encourage socialization, with small yards and porches.
_________________________________Society 11
Growing up with siblings is very important for many kids in their life, nowadays families tend to be smaller than before, which means many kids are being raised alone or lonely. Siblings sometimes are necessary and help to the good development or children.
First, there is always a companion, kids are never going to feel alone, they will have someone who to spend time with. Majority of kids need someone different from their parents to play, talk or even fight, in that case siblings are always going to be there giving another point of view and supporting or bothering, but making things more interesting. In the same way, the
companion of siblings tend to improve the moral values of a kid by sharing, since we are kids with siblings everything is shared and we got used to it, maybe a lonely kid never know the advantages of sharing because the kid never has done it before. Second, when you are growing up a brother or a sister can be your support or role to follow. Many times the older sibling in the one who guides during the puberty and adolescence, because he or she has already pass through it, so the know how it is and if they love their sibling they would not want them to suffer. At this age, we tend to be rebel and anarchist, but if we have a good advisor this age will be great making the right choices. In the same way, while you are getting older you will have who supports your decisions and be there for you in the difficult times. Third, siblings in many cases become the replacement of a parental figure, when parents are absent and there is not an older person who protect the kids, the love between siblings become the most important thing.
______________________________Technology 13
The graphics illustrate the computer ownership during 2002 and 2010. It is going to be shown the changes per years and other important aspect in the charts is the education level of the people of the surveyed people. In the first graphic is shown the change of computer ownership every two years, since 2002 until 2010, so there are five columns. 2002 is the year with lowest computer ownership, around 55% percent, this percent increase by 2004 with 60% of ownership. This increase is also seen in the next years until reach out more than 70% in 2010. In the second graphic is presented a variable in educational level, and its increase is compared between 2002 and 2010. The first lines correspond to
people with no high school diploma, and they are the least percentages, but the highest variation, between 10% and 40%. The second lines are people graduated from high school, their percentage variation is between 30% and 70%. The third group correspond to people with incomplete college, their percentage variation is around 50% to 80%. The fourth group is people with a bachelor degree between an 80% and a 90%, and the final group is people with postgraduate studies and have the highest percentage of the survey, with an 80% to a 100%. The final results of the survey showed that, year by year the computer ownership increase in a bug manner and most of the people who acquire a computer is studying or have already finish a degree.
_________________________________Society 14
The colonization of American indigenous communities by the Europeans brought within it the decimation of these ancient civilizations. Although the settlement in Colombia was strong, many indigenous communities have prevailed and defended their lands. Nonetheless, the imminent contact with Spaniards provoked the loss of their language and culture in several cases. Furthermore, the socio-political situation of Colombia throughout the last century has also negatively impacted on indigenous societies. All these factors have been causing a hostile process of acculturation where outside lifestyles has been introduced to native groups' cultures. The first reason why indigenous communities have lost their identity and culture is the invasion of Spaniards, who first sent missionaries all over the country to learn the native languages, so that evangelization was possible; hence, they could govern the indigenous, take their possessions and enslave them. In addition, the communities who fought against the colonizers were killed, just few of them survived intact and others were enslaved. Throughout this period, many human groups were exterminated and with them their culture and language, for instance the Quimbayas, whose particular art has been subject of extensive studies. (Organizaci贸n Nacional Ind铆gena de Colombia)
The last century was also determinant to the indigenous fall, taking the case of Amazon’ th communities on early 20 century, when the rubber exploitation boom took place, the harm caused was irreparable; besides the environmental damage, the indigenous people were dispossessed, enslaved, prostituted and assassinated due to the intrusion of foreigners with selfish interests. (Survival, n.d.) Consequently, many cultural traditions ended and indigenous lifestyle was transformed. In that connection, is pertinent to mention the socio-political context that has surrounded the indigenous groups in Colombia during the last 60 years, the violence leaded by terrorist groups has plunged the country into an endlessly internal war that has harmed all Colombian population, particularly the peasant, indigenous and black people, who were once again homeless; as a result, these human groups moved to cities and safe places, but in precarious conditions and suffering discrimination. The indigenous who remained on the countryside have struggled for their rights, in order to keep their legacy; an example of this is the conservation of native languages, which favour the maintenance of cosmogony and beliefs, in spite of most of them are catholic. (Correa, 2006) To conclude, the current cultural diversity of Colombia is not comparable to 500 years ago, the contact with Spaniards was a devastating event to the indigenous communities, many of these historical civilizations died and much of his culture legacy disappeared. Moreover, the constant war in modern times has condemned the survivors to the loss of their identity by the
dispossession and violence on them. (Bello, M., 2003)
References Bello, M., (2003, October). El desplazamiento forzado en Colombia: acumulación de capital y exclusión social. Globalización, migración y derechos humanos, Revista Aportes Andinos, 7. Retrieved June 10, 2015, from http://portal.uasb.edu.ec/UserFiles/369 /File/PDF/CentrodeReferencia/Temasd eanalisis2/globalizacionmigracionyder echoshumanos/articulos/marthabello. pdf Correa F., (2006, December). Interpretaciones Antropológicas sobre lo «Indígena» en Colombia. Universitas humanística, 26. Retrieved June 10, 2015, from http://www.javeriana.edu.co/Facultad es/C_Sociales/universitas/62/correa.pd f Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia. El Desarrollo Globalizador y los Pueblos Indígenas de Colombia. Retrieved June 10, 2015, from http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colo mbia/doc/inglodes.html Survival (n.d.). Why do they hide?. Amazon Rubber Boom. Retrieved June 10, 2015, from http://www.survivalinternational.org/ar ticles/3104-why-do-they-hide
______________________________Technology 13
Since the first car appeared there has been an important increase on its use, it has become the most important way of transportation. Currently, the car is being overused and the roads in every country do not support the amount of cars, creating traffic jams and diminishing the efficiency of transportation, besides the huge contamination problem. Regarding to this problem the use of car must be decreased and more efficient ways of transportation should be introduced. Firstly, in order to reduce the amount of cars in the roads a possible recommendation is to encourage the use of a variety of transportation. For instance subway, which is a transport with great dimension and
may transport many people at the same time, instead of each of them in a car. In the same way, eco-friendly vehicles must be introduced, instead of the cars that use burn fossil fuel contaminating the environment.One more suggestion is to propose a global decree to control car ownership. Increasing and adding taxes to car owners, especially old car owners that contaminate the most, so that they feel needed to use another type of transportation.
Furthermore, a plan that control car usage in rush hour should be presented, so that congestion and traffic jams diminish and roads could work efficiently enough. To sum up, some recommendations were suggested in order to face the problematic caused by the increase of car ownership all around the world. For instance, introducing different kinds of transportation and adding laws that regulate car usage and contamination.