Bogotree magazine by Tom Osoro

ADVANCED ENGLISH 1

BOGOTREE A MAGAZINE FOR THE YOUTH Students Advanced English 1

Edited by Thomas Ndonyo Osoro

ADVANCED ENGLISH 1

BOGOTREE A MAGAZINE FOR THE YOUTH Students Advanced English 1

Edited by Thomas Ndonyo Osoro

BOGOTREE CULTURAGE “Back to the Future”

Advanced English Students’ Magazine, LEBEI Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas Bogotá, Colombia Lecturer, Layout design and General Editor Thomas Ndonyo Osoro CONTRIBUTORS RAMIREZ CESAR EDWIN OLIVARES JULIO ANDRES MORENO PABLO ANDRES DIAZ DIANA MARCELA SIERRA MARY PAZ VALERO ANA MARIA RODRÍGUEZ FRANCIA

We want to show, in this article how was Bogotá’s way of life, during the 40s and 50s, through pictures taken in those years. This quest is a kind of time travel as a Sci-Fi movie which seeks painting Bogotá way of life in those years. Also, different issues such as: historical monuments, historical places, buildings, and transport are portrayed in these pages. Finally, we can imagine important events as “El Bogotazo” in order to know a little bit more about the city where we live. “Pacho” The Changing Face of Bogotá Bogotá has had a lot of changes that underlay its history. In recent times some aspects in the city are different; they include people, places, transport, infrastructure and other aspects that have changed with the passing of the time.

VILLARREAL LAURA

Macarena is your home, Cherish it!

ACOSTA LEANDRA VALERIA FORERO ALBER JOSUE CRUZ KAREN JANNETH RODRIGUEZ MOTAVITA FRANCISCO GUILLERMO SOTO SOFIA YESENIA VELOZA DIANA CATHERINE LONDOÑO PAULA SALAZAR MAYRA MARTINEZ SANDRA MELISA LOPEZ ANDREA CAROLINA GAITAN MARIA FERNANDA MENDEZ ANDRES CAMILO SILVA KAREN ANDREA SANCHEZ VIVIANA PAOLA OSORIO GERMAN ALEXIS ROSAS CAROL TATIANA PARDO PABLO GILDARDO

CASTAÑO HEIDY SUSANA LEON CAMILA ANDREA ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ

Editorial ............................................................................................................................................................................. 5 FORWARD ......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Coverage and Quality of Bogota´s Educational System .................................................................................................... 7 EDUCATION ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Science and Technology .................................................................................................................................................... 8 HEALTH.............................................................................................................................................................................. 9 A Healthy Life is not Rocket Science .................................................................................................................. 9 A banana does it! ............................................................................................................................................................ 10 GASTRONOMY................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Sweet Revenge ........................................................................................................................................................ 11 Eating Nuts ...................................................................................................................................................................... 13 ECOLOGICAL ISSUES ........................................................................................................................................................ 13 Macarena is your home… Cherish it! ................................................................................................................... 13 Petro bets in favor of the environment .......................................................................................................................... 15 THE WALL ........................................................................................................................................................................ 16 My Autobiography, Edwin Ramírez ..................................................................................................................... 16 AUTOBIOGRAPHY: KAREN ANDREA SILVA ................................................................................................. 17 Why Tobacco among the Youth? ......................................................................................................................... 18 Bogotá, an off-the-wall art gallery..................................................................................................................... 18 The side effects of drugs .................................................................................................................................... 20 ENTERTAINMENT ............................................................................................................................................................ 21 SOMETHING YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT BOGOTÁ ............................................................................. 21 Jokes about teachers ............................................................................................................................................ 22 Jokes about eggs .................................................................................................................................................... 23 CULTURAGE ..................................................................................................................................................................... 23 “Back to the Future” .............................................................................................................................................. 23 The Changing Face of Bogotá ............................................................................................................................... 25 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................................................... 28

Editorial At the university level, students are required to develop a critical attitude towards their area of expertise. Students enrolled at a teacher’s degree training program at the State University of Bogotá are in the process of questioning different realities that surround them, analysing the arguments and positions of other people regarding certain issues, thinking of alternative points of view, treating opposing arguments fairly, correcting false assumptions based on false logic and irrelevant persuasive devices, making or deriving sound conclusions from their critical analysis, presenting their oral and written texts in a structured, untainted and well-reasoned texts (somewhat similar process in academic writing). To be critical thinkers is not equivalent to being fiercely opponents of any views, opinions or arguments that we come across. On the contrary, this involves a process to reflect sceptically and think in a reasoned way as Ennis (1987) would have it. “Scepticism in critical thinking means bringing an element of polite doubt. In this context, scepticism doesn’t mean you must go through life never believing anything you hear and see. That would not be helpful. It does mean holding open the possibility that what you know at a given time may be only part of the picture.” Similarly, critical thinking is often taken as the argument, or message that is being put across through different mechanisms: videos, movies, speeches, writing, performance, or any other media. The articles herein presented represent students’ arguments regarding different realities. Critical thinking in this realm helps us to accurately see the obvious and hidden messages here expressed and as well understand the process through which the authors underwent while constructing their arguments. To sum up, language learning has got to do with the use of this medium to express out arguments effectively without any limitations. Arguments that are not well conveyed lead us to think of the psychological state of the person who claims ownership of an argument. Could be that the person does not know exactly what he or she wants to communicate. This reality is well treated in discourse analysis that is not the focus of this edition. Thomas Ndonyo Osoro

FORWARD In a culture devoid of English cultural substratum on which the language can be learnt and used in everyday life, it becomes imperative to create contexts in which people can encounter it and more especially in written texts. For this reason, the group of Advanced English 1 enrolled in a teacher training career at the Francisco Jose de Caldas State University sought to provide for this void through their own collection of articles based on their experience with the life in the city. Such articles have been fruit of their search into different realities that circumscribe their upbringing and professional formation. They raise their critical concern on different aspects that range from education to cultural issues as reflected in the opening paragraph of Andrea’s article: “Nowadays, the physical structure of the Macarena branch has had several changes which have improved the image of the university and its surroundings. There is a new, enjoyable and comfortable place in this building in which students have taken a positive attitude towards it through taking care of the new structures. for instance, it is common to see some students doing some little but significant acts like throwing garbage into trashcans or not scratching and scribbling obscenities and irritating expressions and images on the walls.” Similarly, Andres Camilo and the group concludes their text: “To sum up, we want to state that problems not only exist here in Bogotá; the different artistic expressions that we have presented before, are conceived and perceived as a manner for some citizens to show the non-conformity in a pacific but meaningful way of the realities that Colombian people live. Besides, they are not only trying to express disagreement and rejection; all these manifestations of art allow learning outside the classrooms, in a real and social context, to take place. Thus, the main point here is that art has to be considered as a medium to start thinking critically and more preferable to foster critical thinking in a city where people sometimes seem not to live but only exist and struggle to survive.” Definitely, all these and more others here expressed show students’ awareness of the reality that surround them that forms part of the contents for discursive interactions in class. It is therefore our humble hope that you find this collection interesting and helpful in your search for texts to enrich your word power in English. Thoma Ndonyo Osoro

EDUCATION

Coverage and Quality of Bogota´s Educational System By Mary Paz Sierra, Marcela Díaz and Germán Osorio LEBEI Students at Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas

Universidad Distrital 1

Colegio Distrital 2

This article is fruit of surveys that we carried out among university students regarding their opinions about the two main issues here treated: the first one is coverage, one of the most controversial topics in the recent Colombian educational context, and the other one is the education’s quality at schools. We here discuss our views and the ones of our interviewees regarding the two mentioned topics. It is our hope that you find this text useful in your reflection on the current issues affecting our educational system. In order to have a broader vision of the topics under discussion, we interviewed ten students from Francisco José de Caldas State University. The questionnaire had six questions related to the issues of coverage and quality of education that is offered in the metropolitan city of Bogotá. From such survey, we realized that factors such as infrastructural investment, teaching contents, the state of development of education at the national level and the individual needs for learning are the main issues to consider while dealing with coverage and quality education. According to the students’ response regarding coverage, educational investment is an issue that has always been a very problematic matter. The interviewees reckoned that, “corruption and the way that budget is administered are questionable”. For this reason, the distribution of capital is the main and the most controversial issue. Let us take the investment in mega schools as an example. While we applaud these mega schools project that indeed show some good level of development in the educational sector, there is a vast majority of educational institutions that do not have the basic conditions necessary to meet the many different needs of students and learning as such. Similarly, unevenly distributed educational funds lead to some challenges regarding the question coverage.

We understand coverage, in the thinking of Bogoya (2003), as an attribute of quality which guarantees the access to the different educational levels of all Colombians. This is what the educational system of Bogotá seeks to achieve as in the vision of city mayor, Gustavo Petro, who is dedicated to improving education and educational resources like libraries in the city. According to the chart below, we can notice that coverage in primary and secondary schools is 100%. Nevertheless pre-school and university levels are not so well covered. Regarding the second issue, we realized that educational quality is currently linked to the type of education provided to students, the curriculum and even how teachers have been trained. Similarly, we noticed that the respondents have first-hand information about the topic as they could easily state factors such as the content offered by the education system among others should be updated periodically, the need to use updated teaching methodologies. Thus, quality can be considered one of the greatest challenges in Colombian education because it is a subject that depends on both local and global changes. Nevertheless, as far as the teachers’ training is concerned, we need that these professionals receive a good formation and training that would account for the salaries they earn. To sum up, coverage and quality in education should handmaids, that is, one should imply the other if we want to improve students formation. Nevertheless, these two aspects are widely affected by the state’s funding on education that guarantees the necessary provisions like infrastructure and hiring of quality teachers. Science and Technology Did you know that India’s Rocket Science sneaks into

Space? It has been almost two months since India launched its spacecraft enroute Mars. It is a mission that will last for 9 months. I first learnt about this venture from the CNN and Caracol news channels. It was something exciting for a country often termed as third world to attempt. At the same time, the Caracol news reporter struck me with her attitude about India, commonly prejudiced as a poor country, and her exorbitant spending on rocket science. Then, I asked myself if scientific engagement and discovery was only a topic or an issue for the economically prowess. By extension, we could ask if educational research, scientific investigation, epistemological pursuits are proper and only for materially well of people, societies or countries. Nevertheless, we should not lose sight of the fact that the mars Orbiter mission cost the Indian government 4.5 billion Indian rupees or US $71 million and what this implies to the local people. 8

All in all, it is something the country needs to be proud of as this is India’s first mission into space that launched on November 5th at the top of a Polar Satellite. This spacecraft is scheduled to arrive in mars’ orbit on 24th, September, 2014. The mission seeks to study the planet’s composition and survey the atmosphere for methane, a potential indicator of life. Now, check out! It is a US $71 million worth mission while a good number of Indian people go without the basic necessities for life like food. Do you think it is necessary to venture into this discovery in a country that has her people hungry? By Thomas Ndonyo Osoro

HEALTH A Healthy Life is not Rocket Science Nowadays, life and lifestyles seem to be changing faster than before. This is because our contemporary society changes so fast. Look, for instance, at the environment, economy, technology, among others. It all a race! And, in this “life race”, we have left behind the most important aspects of life like health. Chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are increasingly becoming our major concern. It is for this reason that we suggest the need to lead a healthy lifestyle without necessarily going to the gym or becoming vegetarians. We know that our bodies are like complex machines; if they do not receive the right care they break down. Hence, we here recommend the following steps in order to maintain bodies in a good and healthy state:  First, identify the most important components in the foods that you eat frequently.  Second, from the information you have got, you can then balance nutrients in your diet in order to obtain enough calories to do the normal daily activities.  Third, a balanced diet includes the following nutrients: Carbohydrates, Proteins, and vitamins. This is commonly referred to as the rule of three.  Fourth, being on diet is not for everybody; it is very important to take into account the age, the illness, the physical conditions, anthropometric values, intake analysis, vitamin and mineral situation and immunological condition; in other words individual needs. As a conclusion, people do not have an obsession in knowing all of the nutrients and their quantity in the meals; the idea is that we must create awareness about our daily routines, especially in the food aspect. Thus, the general recommendation is that we strike a balance in all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and we can do it with a general view of the food properties. Remember that: “A balanced diet is the solution to many health problems”.

A banana does it! Camila and LEBEI Students from Francisco José de Caldas State University

BANANA: A FRUIT THAT MANY PEOPLE TEND TO AVOID

this wonderful meal has.

It is better to eat it well ripe (with a kind of “freckles”). “Don’t eat banana!” it is a phrase that some people say, with arguments such “it has lots of sugar”, “lots of carbohydrates”, “many calories” and others. However, banana has a lot of benefits which many people do not know. Let’s see some of the benefits that

 Banana has lots of vitamins: it is very rich in potassium and magnesium, low sodium, also has some iron, beta carotene, B vitamins, especially folic acid and C, good fiber and some vitamin E.  The presence of the three antioxidant vitamins (A, C and E) causes listed as 'fruithealth', slightly diuretic and mild laxative, energetic and remineralizing.  It is a natural energy source and tasty, great for kids and athletes, because their starchy carbohydrates digest very well when the banana is ripe.  The fructose (the natural sugar in fruits) is quickly digested, so it could help in slimming diets.  Banana is not fattening: contrary to what many people believe, bananas only provides 100 calories per 100 grams. Let’s compare with bakery products: 100 grams of pastries have 400 calories and obviously, these products do not have the same vitamins and minerals that the banana has.  The better way to eat is raw, because in this way you can take advantage of its benefits for the body.  Furthermore, there are three important aspects to have good health: drink lots of water, sleep well and do exercise, then, if you are doing these aspects well, you can be focused on nutrition, on what to eat. Noticeably, try to decrease the consume of sodas, junk food, salt, pastries, sugar, which do not bring anything good for the body and on the contrary, could have adverse consequences.  On the other hand, if you incorporate more fruits and vegetables to your diet and then, bit by bit, you will be able to see the differences not only for your body, for also for your health. As you could see, banana is an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and it is not fattening.

GASTRONOMY

TIP S

To avoid mourn when we chop onions put it a couple of minutes in the freezer

Sweet Revenge With a triumphant smile, the woman was celebrating what happened at “Déjà vú”, the famous restaurant that remind her every moment, every doubt and idea that came to her mind that afternoon, thanks to a particular and unforgotten sweet smell that caught her attention. She felt that very moment like if she were able to describe each one of the ingredients that made up the source object of this delicious smell, the Sweet Revenge:

To know about eggs: Fresh eggs are rough, old eggs are smooth and shiny.

The restaurant “Las Margaritas” was born in 1902, a whole century making honor to the Colombian food, especially the one from Bogotá. Dishes as “El ajiaco Santafereño”, “cuchuco con espinazo “tamales santafereños” usually accompanied by “chocolate santafereño” make of this place a synonym of the delicious traditional preparations that make up Bogotá’s culture.

To prevent odors, place in a small saucepan water, cinnamon, orange peel and a little vanilla. Simmer it over low heat while you are cooking.

To make the rice does not stick to the pot; just add a tablespoon of lemon juice in the pot.

Restaurant “Las Margaritas”

Taken by: Melisa Martinez

From all these would result the mixture of flavors found in the Sweet Revenge, the perfect appetizer, the representation of the end of someone now edible, and the rebirth of something. And how did she prepare the dessert: It was at night when she got started; she cut the two cakes into little slides and put these in a recipient. She mixed the coffee; the wine and the vanilla extract and put this mixture on the cakes. Then, mixed the cream cheese, cream, cocoa powder, milk and powdered sugar, she strewed the mixture on the cakes… But she included this day her secret touch, because she and her special guest was sharing the new beginning.

Taken from: Colombia.com

So, what are you waiting for? Don’t miss the chance to visit this spectacular place; you will be delighted and amazed to be in a unique place where the past is cared with dedication.

Taken from: Colombia.com

TIP S

If you burn the rice, enter a piece of bread in the middle. Cover it for 5 minutes and the bread will absorb the burnt taste. The same is done when you spread salt.

Do you turned off the fire and rice was raw? Cover with a clamp and let stand for a few minutes. With this, you'll have well cooked rice. Do not use metal containers for mixing salads. Use crystal, glass, wood, plastic or porcelain containers. This will prevent legumes or vegetables rust.

To avoid shedding tears, cut the onions into two parts and place them in water for 15 minutes before chopping them.

Madhouse In a routine visit, Mr. Littman a health officer discovered that Madhouse an old cocktail recipe of the woman’s restaurant was not done properly. The cocktail was made up by200 cm3 of coffee, 10 cm3 of Irish Cream, whipped cream, and one cherry being the alcohol adulterated. The woman had received the liquor one week ago. She did not worry to check if this product were in proper conditions, and anybody realized that either.

Restaurant “La Juguetería” A very particular restaurant that is sure to bring back memories of childhood. Original decorated with dozens of toys collected for seven years. Grilled meats, fish, and chicken with a Colombian touch. There are so many soups and desserts.

Taken from: La Juguetería

In the kitchen she prepared it putting in the bottom of the glass the Irish Cream. Then, she served the coffee in the same glass, topping it with whipped cream. The kitchen employee used to decorate it with the cherry. The next afternoon they served it, Mr. Littman probed it, and a horrible headache followed by an apparent partial blindness took the man to shut this place. The woman was totally blinded full of anger and resentment. So she began to create a paln against Mr. Litman, in all the ways, she tried to get out of this misfortune, her new beginning was "Déjà Vu", a new restaurant where she included new recipes and created a modern atmosphere: The darkness is a perfect camouflage for her sweet revenge. The perfect murder

Inform Advanced English 1 students

Why try to travel to Neverland, if in “La Macarena” there is a house where the years never pass by, the time stops and childhood never ends? If Peter Pan could eat here, this would be the place where he would spend most of his time.

Taken From: La Juguetería

Where to go? Cl. 27 # 4A-03 La Macarena, Bogotá.

Eating Nuts Did you know…? Despite of many beliefs about eating nuts, the article “The health benefits of almonds” asserts that almonds is an excellent and healthy snack. Some people think that eating nuts makes them fat, but these nuts have lots of benefits: vitamin E, vitamin B complex, monounsaturated fat, and minerals such calcium, magnesium, potassium; also fibber and proteins. It is low in carbohydrates! On one hand, the vitamin E is a natural antioxidant which defends us from the sun and from the environment. On the other hand, the monounsaturated fat that almonds have is healthy fat, so it helps to replace bad fat. According to a study mentioned in the article, it helps to lose weight when you replace them with other meals. As a conclusion start eating almonds instead of eating unhealthy ones is an excellent way of taking care of health. Writes Camila ECOLOGICAL ISSUES

Macarena is your home… Cherish it! Written by: Andrea López, Ana María Valero, Alexander Rodríguez

Nowadays, the physical structure of the Macarena branch has had several changes which have improved the image of the university and its surroundings. There is a new, enjoyable and comfortable place in this building in which students have taken a positive attitude towards it through taking care of the new structures. For instance, it is common to see some students doing some little but significant acts like throwing garbage into trashcans or not scratching and scribbling obscenities and irritating expressions and images on the walls. Nevertheless, in some cases and situations, there are some disgruntled students who create an uncomfortable and annoying atmosphere that affect our general wellbeing. We could attribute this attitude to a lack of belonging to the university community and also to a lack of environmental awareness from the part of those students. This attitude unfortunately is a factor that has undoubtedly contributed to creating an unpleasant environment. Hence, if students could change this behaviour, the university could be a much better place to stay and study without any qualms. To illustrate the foregoing assertion, it is evident that, most of the time, some current physical structures like bathrooms, classrooms and outdoor spaces are dirty and remain in this condition for most of the time in Macarena’s campus. Similarly, some things are still being broken, the bathrooms stink most of the time and this condition persist over a few weeks before the situation is rectified. Frequently, in some places like Latin America Square, the presence of pests such as rats becomes constant. Furthermore, the lack of awareness in tak13

ing control on the common physical structure as can be reflected when some students break doors, scribble unworthy and impolite expressions and caricatures on walls, mishandle the desks or make lines and all kinds of drawings on them. Usually, we can see people throwing garbage on the ground without any remorse. Similarly, some students can see litter lying on the floor and they do not pick it up. As if not enough, many times they do not mind throwing cigarettes butts on the green while still on fire. In short, such behaviour prompts us to think and assert that a vast majority of us, do not feel part of the university; we have lost the sense of belonging and so do not care the common public places like university space. On the other hand, in order to pursue on the issue, it is necessary to consider general perspectives of the community. The main aspect we found in surveys was that the opinion of the university students is not good because as we mentioned above, some spaces are always dirty and the smell is terrible; take an example of restrooms. Additionally, they said that the academic community overlooked the responsibility of our “second home” and no one tries to keep it clean. Thus, we are for the fact that some changes or initiatives should be carried out. As part of the solution, some students proposed a creative pedagogical program in which, through paintings and drawings, we can promote students’ concern and care of the University structure and public spaces. What is more, strategies such as a fine or monetary payment for those trying to damage the physical plant should be levied. Accordingly, the task of all, which must be collective, is to protect what we have now and stop damaging what we will receive in the future. In a word, as suggested, it is necessary to create a program with the aim of creating awareness and so reduce the rampant environmental pollution as we maintain the current spaces and new buildings in the best ever conditions. The lack of environmental awareness is not just a Macarena’s branch problem; this also concerns the whole of Bogota. In the article “Recycling comes to Bogota”, the author mentions the main factors that have led to the lack of environmental awareness of Bogota’s habitants. Some of the reasons the author propounds include the bad habits from the inhabitants in general. For example, the household waste is thrown in the same trashcan; this implies that many people do not take into account the correct way to separate the waste. Unfortunately, many citizens will only be ready to collaborate with this type of hygienic measures if some kind of compensation or punishment is imposed on them; otherwise, everything stays on just future aspirations. Unquestionably, the projects are established and these have gained ground in governmental policies as in the case of “Basura Cero” promoted by the Mayor Gustavo Petro. But, there is no environmental education offered to the city to bring up these ideas on the recycling plan. As the author said, “the ideas to improve the environmental conditions are nice” because there are people who are interested in the environmental problems and want to improve the surroundings of the whole city. In a summary, the lack of environmental awareness is not just a university issue; we can see it on a large scale in our city, too. People need to see the importance of taking care of the public goods because those are ours, they are a common good. These are for us and if we do not take care of our things, we will not have a place for our children. We have to know how to 14

respect these aspects because it reflects the education we have received. It is not enough with just picking up the papers; we need to go a step further. Also, it is an essential point to know how to manage the garbage and to reuse material. Change begins from us; it begins from our homes and then take it to the place where we stay most of the time, study, and work. Petro bets in favor of the environment Written by: Sofía Yesenia Soto Bucurú Many are the arguments advanced in favour or against our current mayor Gustavo Petro and his city plan. However in this article we want to focus specifically on two points of view: in favor or against, the management that Petro has been implementing with the Bogota’s environment. The first point of view is in favor and it is also defended by a journalist of newspaper ‘La Nación’ Alexander Molina Guzmán and the second point of view is against as defended by the politician Miguel Gomez. A network of cities worldwide, called C40 Climate Leadership and City, in conjunction with Siemens Company, gave the city of Bogota an award for urban transport model, taking into account the effort of the administration in adopting clean energy for taxis and buses. What was recognized in this administration lead by Gustavo Petro is its attempt to implement clean energy in its public transportation system; clean energy like water or electricity, a system that does not pollute the environment. Furthermore, Molina thinks this policy of implementing other non-polluting energy should not only be an example to all capital cities, but also should be a state policy, since environmental problems are deeply rooted in our way of life, consumption and transportation. He says, “this is an idea that society should demand that was developed generally because the pollutant load that public transport emits, in all cities, already is intolerable both to the environment and for human beings” (Molina, 2012). In opposition to Molina, the politician Miguel Gomez exposes that in December 18, 2012 Bogota dawned full of garbage, forcing the mayor to negotiate on those days with companies that had rejected a few months ago. He says that ‘the lack of planning and irresponsible execution plunged the city into crisis hygiene’ and in his opinion ‘the situation of garbage has generated widespread dissatisfaction about the cleaning service in Bogota’. As a conclusion, we can see that Petro’s environmental management has been good because it has been recognized and awarded by important institutions. Hence, we can see that this administration has not been perfect, and in any case, Bogota has never had a perfect administration in history. Making use of the above arguments, Molina Guzmán says that although this government has not been perfect, it has been the only administration that has implemented a structured and sustainable plan in order to improve the quality of the environment of our city and therefore, 15

the quality of life of all its citizens. In other words, it has been the administration really is concerned with the welfare of Bogota, its inhabitants and the environment. THE WALL

My Autobiography, Edwin RamĂrez I was born on an interesting day, the day of December 11th, 1989, in Tumaco, NariĂąo. My life has been interesting since then. When I started the school, I had lots of problems with other guys because they bothered me because of my disability. I have always felt stupid since that moment. I thought that once I was in the high school or university things would change, but unfortunately I still had a hard relationship with some other students due to this fact .I often felt alone in those horrible days, my mother was my only best friend; sweet words that made me stronger to continue on my life. When I lived in Tumaco my life was normal and wonderful. However, I suffered a lot when my parents splitted up. At that moment, I felt hurt because everything what was special around me had changed or was gone. A year later, when I was 16, I met a beautiful girl, and I fell in love for the first time. Her name was Magda. She studied at the same place where I was. I began studying with her so we could spend some time together. All things were nice but eight months later we met Magda broke my heart. Undoubtedly, I was worried for a long time, nonetheless, despite of this experience, I wanted to become an engineer but it was difficult since she had some economic problems to cover the costs of my career. So I made the decision to study English. But, sadly, this has been difficult for me due to fact that when I was in the high school my English teacher was not prepared as language teacher. My life has had lots of difficulties but I have been able to overcome most of them. When I was a teenager, my parents told me that life was a challenge for everyone. Since then, I have realized that my life would be tough and I would have to be stronger than most of people in order to solve all the trouble that could appear along the path of my life. Those were advices have made me think about my future as a person. I grew up with values and principles I am thankful. Thus, with all of the knowledge and experiences that I have gathered along this path, my goals for the future are to graduate from an Industrial Engineering school and to be an excellent professional. I also would like to continue learning foreign languages (French, English and German). I would like to work for an important company, buy a house, get married and start a beautiful family and enjoy a comfortable life.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY: KAREN ANDREA SILVA Throughout my life, like any other human being, I've had to deal with several events in order to grow into the kind of person I am today. From my childhood, I lived in a town away from the noise and danger of urban life. I was then coping up with the death of my father until my adolescence, the same time when my little brothers arrived to this world. At the same time, I was slowly growing into age in this big city of Bogota. I grew up, a spoiled child of the family: I had all I wanted, was capricious, whiny and misbehaving to the extreme. I never missed something for me or the company of brothers, because I had too many family members to have fun and share with. I enjoyed all these privileges until my 15 years. During that time, my mom offered herself with much effort to protect and educate me even with the absence of my dad. Indeed, she has been an exceptional woman who takes her responsibilities and decisions in the best way. I guess that it was for this reason that, after a while, she decided to have more children. Even though her pregnancy was a family issue, kept secret from me as it was feared what my reaction to the news would be. But later, what had been kept hidden for some, prudently found its way into my ears. As that time of such great news came, all were very nervous except me. And when my mom and my stepfather told me that they had something to tell me, I assumed it was a pregnancy and I prepared to hear them say, "You're going to have a brother ". At first my attitude was one of total sobriety, but I congratulated them. I thought I was ready, and apparently for my family it was something unexpected that I was feeling really moved and replaced by a new member in the family. I was still in confusion as I could not really understand the magnitude of the event. Time passed and after several complications in pregnancy and with only 8 months of gestation, Sara was born, and a year later, Alejandro. Those two babies are my brothers, who in spite of being kids, have changed my life from that capricious and spoiled girl I had been during my life, to that of a responsible older sister. Even though it did not stop my mom to pamper me, or replace me as I thought, it was not an easy process; I had to get used with that as I assumed a new role in the family with different priorities to meet in life. It was a beautiful lesson and challenge which has contributed to the improvements of different aspects of my life. I feel I have improved several aspects in my life; I have grown as a person with values overcoming most of my vices and bad attitudes. Today I think that the experience that once terrified me a few years ago is just one example which shows us that, facing fears brings us a great lesson and joy in life. 17

Why Tobacco among the Youth? It is really common to see smokers almost everywhere: men and women, old and young people alike. Every day the figures of addicted people are on the rise. This is indeed a worrying issue taking into account that cigarettes contain several harmful substances such as nicotine and tar (among others), which cause diseases for the smokers and non-smokers. Anyway, the matter would not be so worrying if teenagers did not consume too much tobacco and its derivatives albeit contra propagandas. However, we need to question the effectiveness of those warning advertisements against smoking because, if they were apt, why do so many kids and teenagers smoke at all? Well, the problem may lie on imitation of older generations. This is due to the fact that imitation is an inherent activity in children and youths. It is well known that since the first developmental stages to the latest ones, human beings tend to imitate behaviours, customs and habits from other people. The Tobacco consumption is a difficult reality to control as cities and villages are all covered with publicity on smoking even though warnings are therein included in the packages. Similarly, most smokers influence their family members into this vice. Hence, immersed in a “ProTobacco atmosphere”, is so hard for kids and teenagers to say “no”, unless they have a determinant and strong character to stand on their own and say no to such habit. Sometimes this vice may crop up among people with some emotional gaps such as lack of love and resilience as once happened to me. This habit still remains a big challenge for us as inhabitants of a polluted world, even more, as parents and teachers of the younger generations. The challenge of building some consciousness of the setbacks of smoking remains our task to lay hands on work instead of empty speech. Josué Forero Bogotá, an off-the-wall art gallery Laura Villareal, Andres Camilo, Sofia Soto, Francia Rodriguez

When talking about graffiti and urban art the assumptions are the main course of the lunch, and we could get into big and perhaps sensible discussions. Taking into account art, there are different ideologies tied up to different art movement. In this text we encompass the perceptions that we as group have around some expressions, ideas and representations we found through several pictures we took at specific places near the downtown of our city, namely Bogotá. Such perceptions convey 18

the impressions we had according to our own likes in terms of Urban Art1, which made us choose some particular pictures in order to establish remarkable differences between pieces that lack concept and those that do not, of course in terms of street on-lookers and critics. Nevertheless, we consider these several kinds of expressions as contents that belong to our culture. These expressions, considered as cultural products are highly important and meaningful regarding symbolic connotations which go beyond the design and the concept therein embedded in order analyze them from the point of view of our cultural practices. Finally, we show our perspective of some remarkable problems we have historically had and how the citizens can face them through graffiti and urban art. In some of the pictures we include here, we easily found more conceptual basis of different themes in terms of color, design, managemant of the space, layout and typography. However, in some others, there is little awareness of the same concepts. Though, both of them are related to a theme or issue in particular, namely population rights and ancient indian cultures, and it was not hard for us to notice it despite de design features. Thus, taking into account the Urban Art reference we took, the previous ways of art must be seen not only from the perfectionist aesthetic point of view but also from the particular characteristics and tools that a group of people use in order to express themselves as a community who take part of a social and cultural phenomenon. We perceive this phenomenon as a critical condition that belongs to our culture and most especially regarding the violation of human rights, the forced displacement and exodus we suffer in the whole country. Then, why should we consider this type of art that shown our suffering nation? We think that this kind of art attends to our national problems as opposed to a proliferation of advertisements and urban art allusive to western culture that actually neglects our situation. We are well aware that Bogota is one of the most important touristic points where a lot of people who come from different parts of the world can enjoy cultural shows and performances created by the most talented artists from the country. In that way, paintings and graffiti are not the only artistic expressions: music is also a common reason for people to come and enjoy such spaces. In picture on the left, which was taken at the municipal theater “Jorge Eliecer Gaitan”, we can see a group of students who are showing their ability to make good music. Besides this spot people can also enjoy of free entertainment in which children are also protagonists demonstrating that being a good musician is not manda1

Urban art (from Latin urbanus, itself from urbs (“city”)) is a style of art that relates to cities and city life often done by artists who live in or have a passion for city life. In that way urban art combines street art and graffiti and is often used to summarize all visual art forms arising in urban areas, being inspired by urban architecture or thematizing urban live style. – Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_art

tory to spend a lot of years enclosed in a conservatory. The picture on the right side is a clear example of work-place where artists take advantage of public space and spectators. It is not a requisite to be a music expert to enjoy those performances; everybody likes to appreciate it. Good musicians as the clarinetist and trombonist use to do this work to entertain all the population and they receive some economic remuneration. In this picture we can see the convergence of several cultural aspects about our city: paintings, music, performances, working, and the Colombian idiosyncrasy that fill the streets with the best pretext to underlie our multicultural essence. Of course the theater is another way to express art. Here we present the image of the theater “Jorge Eliecer Gaitán” where the representation of various plays that come from different stories and outside cultures show the utopian places where most of us want to live and travel. To sum up, we want to state that problems not only exist here in Bogotá; the different artistic expressions that we have presented before, are conceived and perceived as a manner for some citizens to show the non-conformity in a pacific but meaningful way of the realities that Colombian people live. Besides, they are not only trying to express disagreement and rejection; all these manifestations of art allow learning outside the classrooms, in a real and social context, to take place. Thus, the main point here is that art has to be considered as a medium to start thinking critically and more preferable to foster critical thinking in a city where people sometimes seem not to live but only exist and struggle to survive.

The side effects of drugs Camila León Drugs like alcohol, heroin, pills, marijuana and more bring big problems to our society when you get addicted to them. To begin with, I am going to talk about the abuse of drugs. First, I will discuss about its probable causes; secondly, about symptoms and finally about its consequences. It is probable that the causes of drug addiction could be due to lack of love; sometimes there are people who are so lonely that they do not have anybody in their lives to share with. They live without family members and friends, a situation that makes them feel depressed and as a solution, they make a defensive flight to indulging into drugs for some temporary happiness. Another cause could be that they taste them and they like because these substances cause pleasure and make them addicted to them at the point of not feeling well if they do not take them. Hence, they want to take more and more. On the one hand, talking about the symptoms, it is known that people sometimes get crazy, compulsive, and aggressive but sometimes they can feel good without upsetting anyone ex20

cept just themselves. Sometimes, such people neglect their appearance and grooming; they lose appetite and much more just because they want to escape from reality. Similarly, people who are addicted to drugs can do things without thinking since, from the point of view of the ethics, for instance, they can hit, kill other people as they are not conscious about what they are doing. They hurt themselves in all aspects. As a conclusion, I can say from my point of view that the abuse of drugs is a bad option for us; it does not bring any good for ourselves and conversely brings bad things to us. ENTERTAINMENT Valeria Acosta, Camilo Mendez, Laura Villarreal, Francia Rodriguez

SOMETHING YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT BOGOTÁ Making a plan for weekend in Bogotá can become something complicated talking about money; couples looking for the perfect plan, parents wanting healthy entertainment for their children, always limited with what is offered on television and radio, that in most of the cases is really expensive, but, instead of see what is shown in these mass media (visit amusement parks, movie listings, etc.) why not look for what the city offers?. Here there are some options to take into account in Bogotá.

lows to appreciate the cine in other way and go beyond from what is shown by Hollywood blockbusters. Here you can find not only movies but documentaries about some unknown places and towns in Bogotá and around the world. In general words the Cinemateca has become in an observatory for audiovisual culture due its research and publishing.

One of the recommended places to visit is the scenario “La Media Torta”. Located in the downtown of the city, is one of the most representative places to enjoy and appreciate the variety of music where people can dance and sing outdoor. Despite it is far and you have even to climb for arriving there, you can enjoy and meet new music groups that show the young talent of the city and not only the bad things of Bogotá. Did you know this place? Well, we present you others.

Despite the entrance has cost, it is cheaper than movies presented in the Malls. But whether we talk about sports or not, along the Seventh Avenue you can enjoy a trip on bicycle, program offered by the Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá, which looks for promote the exercise and caring the environment by the citizens. Here we present you some stations where you can find the bicycles:  Carrera 7ma con Calle 24

Since 1971, on the often busy Seventh Avenue, you can find the “Cinemateca Distrital” which offers different kind of movies from the Colombian and all the world cine; it al21

Parque Santander (Carrera 7ma con Calle 15)  Plaza de Bolívar(Carrera 7ma con Calle 11 It has been planned to open other streets to enjoy a long trip for Bogotá, but, well it requires time, meanwhile you can ride for the downtown of the city.

you come and enjoy all the activities and places that Bogotá offers to you, you will really know more about the city and even more about your children, couple, etc.



Really affordable plans even for free but at the same time give entertainment and culture for all kind of public, so… what are you waiting for? What happened on “Nuestra Tierra”? Here some of the most representative things and characters of this golden night.

Those are only some plans you can share with all your family and do something different; we know that staying in home, watching TV and sleeping all the day sounds like perfect activities for weekend but if This celebration had space in the beautiful star’s city, Bogota D.C in a special place called “El palacio de los Deportes” the last

New bands and artists like Wolfine, Monsieur Periné and Mojito Lite were a big surprise with a lot of nominations and also by the results of the categories, but not only pop and rock bands were the protagonist, also Jhonny Rivera won the award for the best Popular Artist, the best popular interpretation was won by the young singer Pipe Bueno and Adriana Botina shone with their beauty. Citizens had space in this golden night, awards as the best Fan club that was given for the J Balvin’s Club was very important for all the Colombian people.

March 13th of this year. A lot of important Colombian celebrities met in this place for know the honorees who were chosen by all Colombia during months. The biggest artists and singers were the attention’s center in this night, Carlos Vives, Fonseca y Andres Cepeda went to their houses with a lot of awards.

Beautiful women, excellent clothing designed by the best American designers, strange looks for rock stars and a lot of fashion and talent were the principal attraction in this red carpet.

Jokes about teachers A Collection by Pacho *Teacher: ‘Craig, you know you can't sleep in my class.' Jaimito: 'I know. But maybe if you were just a little quieter, I could.' *Teacher: Why have you got cotton wool in your ears, do you have an infection? Juanito: Well you keep saying that things go in one ear and out the other so I am trying to keep them it all in! *Juanito comes home from 1st day at school. Mum asks, 'What did you learn today?' Juanito replies, 'Not enough. I have to go back tomorrow.' 22

*Juanito: Teacher, would you punish me for something I didn't do? Teacher: Of course not Juanito: Good, because I didn't do my homework *Teacher: You copied from Fred's exam paper didn't you ? Juanito: How did you know ? Teacher: Fred's paper says "I don't know" and you have put "Me, neither"! *Juanito wasn't getting good marks in school. One day he made the teacher quite surprised. He tapped her on the shoulder and said ..."I don't want to scare you, but my daddy says if I don't get better grades, somebody is going to get a spanking."

Jokes about eggs A collection by Marce Diaz 1 Pepito is selling eggs inside a church. "Eggs! Eggs! Ten pesos each! The priest becomes angry and yells, "Remove that boy with the eggs!" The priest becomes angry and yells, "Remove that boy by the testicles!" Pepito frightened tells him, "Father, I prefer by the ears!" 2. - Mum, mum, in school everybody tells me that I'm confused! - Hey, kid, this is not your house... you live opposite the street!

teacher

My name is Diana Marcela Diaz Herrera, I am 20 years old and I am a student of sixth semester of Licenciatura en Inglès, I am an outgoing person, I like jokes and the fun, I like the university, for me is a nice place to share with my friends. I read a lot, enjoy poetry. I love what I do and I will be a great CULTURAGE

“Back to the Future” Francisco Rodriguez We want to show, in this article how was Bogotá’s way of life, during the 40s and 50s, through pictures taken in those years. This quest is a kind of time travel as a Sci-Fi movie which seeks painting Bogotá way of life in those years. Also, different issues such as: historical monuments, historical places, buildings, and transport are portrayed in these pages. Finally, we can imagine important events as “El Bogotazo” in order to know a little bit more about the city where we live. The famous movie named “Back to the future” made in the 80s, tell a story about Matin McFly. This guy is a mainstream teenager, who travels along the time. In the first movie Martin backs to the 50’s and finds how his parents were when they were teenagers, he discovers similarities between him and his parents. However, the movie’s cinematography takes some features which are part of the 40’s too. This travel pinpoints the American way of life. Hence, we represent Bogotá`s way of life travelling through pictures which show the architecture of the city, the public transport system, and even the fashion. This period has a historical importance because it was at the same time that “El Bogotazo” took place. Further23

more, we can see photographs that portrayed a modern city into the middle of the Andes Mountains. The streets are pretty similar to the actual avenues. We observe traffic jam, crowding buses, informal work, strikes against the government, a lot of cops, and the fashion. For instance, the main streets in those days were the same as take place nowadays, 19 th Avenue, 7th Avenue, Jiménez Avenue, Caracas Avenue. These avenues were the main routes in order to move us around the city. Some important places appear in the pictures such as: Independence Park, Bolivar Square, Luis Ángel Arango Library, White City, Government buildings, Farm Markets, National Panoptic, Santander Park, Saint Victorino Square, and the Monserrate Cathedral. These places were always crowing. On the other hand, the citizens that were photographed look like the “cachaco” stereotype. They wore hats, coats, ties, dress shoes. Consequently, we can say that they were groovy. Even, the working folks wore suspenders, berets, scarves and vests. The radio was the most important mass media. It was a source not only for information but also brought entertainment for the family. “El Bogotazo” refers to the massive riots which were followed by the assassination of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on 9th April, 1948. The 10 hours riot left 3,000 to 5,000 dead with Bogotá destroyed. Despite the riots, many places were protected and refurbished by the government. For instance, the neighborhood named Santa Ines during many years after the riots was becoming a dangerous zone in the middle of the city, its inhabitants were homeless. As a consequence we find there a noisy place, with overpopulation, and homeless walking around. In summary, Bogotá has a history of progress and violence, this history teach us some causes the make possible Bogotá’s actuality, and shape the way of life in this city.

To be continued…

The Changing Face of Bogotá terms of transport, infrastructure and environment as a result of social and cultural demands in every governing body of the city. Furthermore globalization has influenced not just only the city but also the whole world. In the past, the number of people was less and consequently the environment was cleaner and with just a few buildings. Regarding to those issues, we can notice in the pictures that the city has undergone by various processes that have marked the history of Bogotá.

In order to see what some people think about these changing processes in the city, we interviewed some people on how they imagine Bogotá to be like in the future taking into account the three important aspects: infrastructure, environment and transport that shape of the city and its future. One of these told us that Bogotá in the future will be a big city without space to breathe. Concerning infrastructure, the city will have a lot of buildings, more than it has now and those buildings will cover the whole city. From her point of view, Bogotá won’t have any green place where people can breathe. On the other hand, taking into consideration every change taking place in the city, and with the passing of time, Bogotá won´t have enough space to walk because of the number of cars, buses, and other ways of transport that will cover the entire city. The other person that gave us his opinion is Samuel Quintero. He studies Graphic Design at Uniminuto. He thinks that the city will have a better system of infrastructure taking into account that now the government is advancing in this way, so spaces for exercise and sport can be offered in the future for each person. The environment will be a problem for the city. Problems with trash could cause pollution every day. He also includes environmental problems taking transport as

Bogotá has had a lot of changes that underlay its history. In recent times some aspects in the city are different; they include people, places, transport, infrastructure and other aspects that have changed with the passing of the time. Specifically, changes in Bogota have been in 25

an example because of the quantity of buses and cars that Bogotá will have. Taking another point, this person told us that the roads in the city will be in a bad condition.

In a general, there would be good and bad changes for Bogotá but “We can’t forget each aspect that can affect the people and the city”, Samuel said. Similarly, our interviewees converge in the issues that we have discuss in this article. This implies that, Bogotá will be a large city with various changes that we can see even now. In the development of the city, we can find that the transport, the environment and the infrastructure have transformed and with the passing of time everybody could realize each aspect of the life and history Bogotá. The importance of this is that each person thinks about what he or she can do to help, taking into account that some of those issues could affect or contribute to the development and wellbeing of the city. Alejandra Salazar Zubieta

Bibliography McColl, R (2007,21), Recycling comes to Bogota, The SUITE101, 2 PAG, http://suite101.com Photo credits:

http://portel.bogota.gov.co/portel/libreria/php/decide.php?patron=01.281501 https://www.google.es/search?newwindow=1&biw=1366&bih=666&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=universida d+distrital+photos&oq=universidad+distrital+photos&gs_l=img.3...353926.361817.0.365255.26.26. 0.0.0.0.297.3205.7j16j3.26.0....0...1c.1.32.img..22.4.641.OLON3QKx50I https://www.google.es/search?q=smokers+photos&newwindow=1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ &sa=X&ei=SNuSUpiWHIzMkAeWxoHYBA&ved=0CCwQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=666 Petro es de ambiente. Article available in http://www.lanacion.com.co/index.php/opinion/item/223492-

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