ALLEGIANT

Book Review

``Allegiant´´

 the third and final book from Divergent trilogy
 

Review:

Tris has revealed the secret that her faction, Abnegation, has been killed for, broadcasting the shocking truth to all within the city’s walls: 

The factions were created in the city of Chicago in order to cure the corruption and chaos of the world outside. The Divergent are not a problem that need to be killed, but an indicator of strength – when those identified as Divergent increase in number, the city’s walls are to be opened, and the city’s wisdom is to be shared with the outside world.

This truth, however, comes at a great cost. Tris’s home city is in chaos, the factions – those carefully ordered and selected tribes based on dominant personality traits – are no more. After opposing the Erudite, the Factionless led by Tobias’s mother, Evelyn, have taken over the city and their rule is as absolute as it is Evelyn’s new rule is filled with unrest, however, a new rebellion brews – the “Allegiant” are recruiting, and they want Tris and Tobias to join their cause and venture beyond the city walls

What Tris and her friends find beyond Chicago’s borders, however, will once again upend everything they thought they knew about their world. The world is much larger than they ever could have imagined; the truth of the factions, of the founding of the city, of their very way of life, is not what it seems. 

Once again, Tris must make a choice. Once again, everything will change.

COP21

COP: a few letters with a lot of impact

What is COP21?  
     The COP, or Conference of Parties, is a meeting where political decisions related to climatic change are hold. Between 30 November and 11 December 2015, at the United Nations 21st Conference of Parties (COP21), a bunch of politicians and global leaders from over 190 countries will gather in Paris to try and agree a global legally binding climate treaty.

Why is it important? 
     The talks will be about agreeing a plan to keep global warming below 2°C if we are to avoid catastrophic effects of climate change. Some nations are already feeling climatic change impacts even now, at the current level of just under 1°C of warming. There are already people seeking to be official climate refugees; and conflicts exacerbated by climate change and extreme weather caused by climate change are on the increase. The COP’s aim is also to support vulnerable countries in adapting to the impacts of climate change that are happening right now. Some nations think that we should stay within 1.5°C of warming, which is the level of warming we may already be locked into.

Government and people’s role
     Countries are already in the midst of implementing commitments through 2020. Now they are turning their attention to preparing their commitments for the post-2020 period through pledges known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). These are the pledges that countries responsible for over 80% of emissions have made towards emissions reductions in advance of the talks. Overall, things are looking promising but it's important to remember that each country will be looking for a deal that fits best with its own national issues and planning processes. Also, these aren't legal commitments, so there will need to be a mechanism that reviews INDCs and one of the aims of COP is to try and get parties to agree a level of legal obligations at Paris.
     There also appears to be a buildup of pressure from civil society ahead of the COP, and it's expected that hundreds of thousands will attend mass climate marches in the days before the COP starts. It's important for our leaders to know that we want real and tangible action on climate now. That's why hundreds of thousands of people will be marching for the climate in cities around the world on 29 November. 

What can you do? 
     So, I invite you all to sign a petition to demand our government a 100% renewable future: https://heroesporelclima.org/firmar  and to come to the Climate March in Madrid on 29 November: https://secure.avaaz.org/es/event/globalclimatemarch/Marcha_Mundial_por_el_Clima_Madrid

María Berjano Torrado 

PARIS

Our hearts mourn once again and the question remains still the same; why?  But the answer, regardless its polyhedric complexity, is as simple: Evil exists.  We are certainly walking through hard times for our living together it is true, but what we are currently facing is not a war of religions as it might first appear for simple minds, turning so unfairly all muslim individuals into suspects or wrongdoers according to our polite western standards, we are really facing a war against evil and so we must fight it wherever it is and whoever stands it for.

Religion means peace.  No god compels his followers to erase the other gods off the face of Earth but just the opposite, I would say; we all are compelled to be hospitable and welcoming, to be respectful with the others, not to murder or to rob… no matter what or who our god might be if any, simply because everything responds to the most basic human natural order, these principles lay on the deepest layers of our essence and no written laws or commandments should be necessary out of those natural principles.

Evil is in extremism, evil is in barbarism, in savagery; evil as the real root of all.  Deads are deads wherever they die, no matter if in New York, London, Madrid, Paris… or Baghdad and every one of them leaves a trail of immense pain behind so it is the extremists who we ALL must fight to; and I’m saying “all” appealing to my childish naïve sense of the utopia longing for a common front of All The Goods defeating the Evil. It is for sure that if this ever happened all our gods would agree on being so proud of us.  We are more, we are better, we are stronger and we are right so what else do we need?

Today my heart mourns for the casualties in Paris as it mourns every day when I see the images of the drowned ones in the sea or the deads under the bombs, and of the children… those so many thousands of helpless children!  I hope my shrunken heart of today would never end up getting used to just hearing the numbers without listening.  May they all rest in peace.

Luis Martín

AMUSINGLY WEIRD BORDERS - Pt. 1

Amusingly weird borders – Part 1

Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog political map

Everybody knows what a country border is. It is the imaginary line where a country ends and another one begins. But in some cases a definition as simple as that can be so tricky that you may have to move your house’s door or even live without water if you want to stay loyal to your country because of it. “How is it that those problems come from borders?” you may ask. Well, in this article (series) I’ll be explaining you some of the weirdest borders in the world.

Two door numbers and bells in one door

One of the most well-known devious border is the one between Baarle-Nassau (Netherlands) and Baarle-Hertog (Belgium). This settlement basically consists of half a Dutch city and half a Belgian city within it, both with bits of the other country within them too. A total of 22 Belgian exclaves and 14 Dutch ones are found in the city. Over the map, the borders are a complete chaos, that’s clear – but they are in reality too! Every border is marked – every single one! These borders divide neighbourhoods, streets, shops and even houses. Some people wake up in the Netherlands and take their breakfasts in Belgium. One could even pay at two different tax regimes in different shops in the same street!

But, what does this absolute chaos come from? Well, as well as fairly everything chaotic, it comes from the Medieval Ages. About the 12^th century, the Lords of Breda and the Dukes of Brabant negotiated unfortunately a number (big number) of land sales, land swaps and agreements, which left the borders as they are. But it was not up to 1836 when Belgium split from the Netherlands, when they started to be cared about, and it was not until 1995 that they were finally traced clearly up. By the time they were finished, some people thought Belgians were instead Dutch, and vice versa. Instead of gettil all needed papers in order, those people just used a simple trick: they moved their front doors to the country they previously thought they lived in.

                           

If you want to see more, here you have the following links:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtLxZiiuaXs – (main source of the series, go check it and his creator's channel out) 
• http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/11/the-curious-case-of-baarle-nassau-and.html

Interview to PALOMA BERJANO TORRADO

Hard work always pays off  

Paloma Berjano, who was a student in our high school last year, won on July 2015 the silver medal in the Dance World Cup competition in Romania. 

How long had you been preparing the choreography?
I’d been preparin
g it for four months. Once I had learned the choreography it was just a matter of time to repeat it one time after another. That’s the way I become confident enough to dance on the stage.

Tell us something about  your dance, Esmeralda.
Esmeralda is a very expressive dance in which I have to act in a cheeky way and to dance showing a lot of strength and self-confidence. I enjoy it a lot because of its strong message.

Where are you currently training?
Now, I’m studying in the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza Mariemma in Madrid. This is the first year I study here. It has supposed a big change in my life as I spend the whole morning dancing and during the afternoon I have to take lessons of the science A level.

Which are your expectations for the future? 
I want to continue my training and, if possible, I would like to dance in a professional company. And, of course, at the same time I prepare for becoming a professional dancer I would like to achieve good marks at high school.

Had you taken part in any other international competition before?
Yes, a year ago I participated in the DWC here in Spain. Also I took part in another competition out of Spain, in Lyon. That was two years ago when I got a very high score at another National competition that allowed me to dance in Lyon.

SLAMED

 Slammed-Colleen Hoover

“Life happens. Shit happens. And it happens a lot.

To a lot of people.”

Book information

English title:  Slammed

Spanish title: Amor en verso.

Author: Colleen Hoover

Nº Pages: 292

Editorial: Planeta Internacional

Approx. price: 17,90€

ISBN: 978-84-08-13461-9

Set in: Michigan,Nowadays.

Life can change in just one moment. Layken – our eighteen-year-old protagonist- knows that very well. After the unexpected death of her father she becomes the strong member of the family, formed now by her mother and her little brother Kel. She appears to be mature, calmed and open-minded but inside she´s losing hope day by day.

When her mother decides to move to Michigan- apparently to start again-she meets Will, the new handsome twenty-one-year-old neighbor who takes her on a date during which each of them recognizes something has connected them in a strong way, maybe the passion of Will for poetry.

But, not long after their heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking discovery brings their new relationship to a sudden halt : Will is Layken’s new poetry teacher.

In the High School, interactions become painful as they struggle between the feelings that pull them together and the forces that tear them apart. Only through the poetry they share they are able to speak the truth that is in their hearts.

This is a romantic, emotion-packed novel that captures all the magic and confusion of first love, as two young people who want to become one fight against fate, which has other plans for them.

“Don't take life too seriously. Punch it in the face when it needs a good hit. Laugh at it.”

Opinion:

First of all, this book has a potentially controversial story: the relationship between a student and her teacher. So, I´d like to quote one of the sentences of Hoover for her own book: “Keep an open mind; it's the only way new things can get in.” 

If you want to read this book, keep that phrase on your mind constantly.

Secondly, I want to warn our Spanish readers that this is a trilogy-what a surprise, ah- that only the first book has been translated, which could mean that Planeta Internacional won´t translate the other two or that the waiting will be eternal. Anyway, I only have read the first one and I consider the plot pretty interesting and I liked so much the fact that poetry is something essential-and sometimes it adds some humor- for the story to know the feelings of the characters.

Sooner or later I will have some free time and without any doubt, the sequel of Hoover´s novel will be my next reading-despite the fact I have a never-ending long-lasting list of to-be-read books.

 THE SLAMMED TRILOGY

 

You can find different covers. These two are the recent American ones and below you can find the first book covers. (I like more the recent ones). The one named “This girl” is only available with the old cover. If you continue, there´s my copy in Spanish and the UK covers. (They tend to simplify)

   

Celia  M.G