The wire grey second edition

y u v u v o u v o v o u o l u y v u l l b l

_________________________________Lifestyle 1

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 2

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 3 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 4 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 5

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 6

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 7

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

__________________________________Culture 7

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.

__________________________________Culture 7

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.