Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Someone great came to Drake yesterday

Her name is Neenah Ellis and she came to my JMC 98 class yesterday morning, and then in the afternoon I went to her speech at Cowles Library. She read part of two of the stories of the book and I really like her voice and intonation reading. She is just great. I hope one day I would be like her. And she graduated from Drake in Radio and Television! :o)
I read for my class her book "If I live to be 100: Lessons from the Centenarians" and I really like, but after listening to her yesterday everything she does looks great.

Ellis at class- Ellis en clase
Neenah Ellis 007
Ellis at the library- Ellis en la biblioteca
Neenah Ellis 011

This is part of the paper I wrote for my class talking about her visit:
I really like her speech this morning. She looks very interested in our opinion and in our questions. All her answers sounded very sincere and in my case they were very helpful.
“You have to know what you are selling, what do they need, what do you know and what can you offer to whom,” said Ellis to a question about who buys freelance work. I was impressed because she decided to change her job when she had almost everything at NPR to be a freelance.
I think her experiences writing the book "If I Live to Be 100” were very important in her life. When she told about the people she interviewed, as in the case of Anna Wilmot when she showed her picture, it seems like she really love this person, and a special relation has growth between them.
I think she is a good example for us. Not just because she is the prototype of journalist that all media wanted now: she has experience, she travel a lot, she knows how to do interviews.
But also she has the view to do more things that just questions. She knows how to record the sound, edit it, take pictures, write a book, develop a web page, etc.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Time with family and friends

I spent a lot of time of the break with my friends. I decided not to bring my Drake books and homework to Spain. First of all because my baggage always has problems and then because I decided to have a week without homework.
So from Sunday to Sunday I spent time with family and friends. I cook, I went to some dinners, I drank a lot of coffees, I went to Madrid one day and I read another book of Paul Auster.
Lorena and Iria- Lorena e Iria
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With Ana and Lara- Con Ana y Lara
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Cristina eating ice cream- Cristina comiendo helado
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Rita drinking a special coffee- Rita tomando un café especial
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And now in Spanish...
Y ahora en español...

Pasé mucho tiempo de las vacaciones con mis amigos. Decidí no llevar mis libros y la tarea de Drake a España. Lo primero porque mi maleta siempre tiene problemas y porque decidí tener una semana sin hacer deberes.
De domingo a domingo pasé tiempo con mi familia y mis amigos, cociné, fui de cenas, bebí muchos cafés, fui a Madrid un día y leí otro libro de Paul Auster.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

What are you doing here?

I am in Spain. I arrived on Sunday at Barajas airport in Madrid and then I went to my hometown. It was a big surprise to all my family because only my parents knew about it. So, I arrived at my house, I opened the door and my uncle was there sitting on a chair, he moved his face and asked: "What are you doing here?". I continued giving surprises. I went to the kitchen and my grandmother was there, when she realized that someone was waiting at the door, she turned her face and looked at my, "What are you doing here?." And finally, my grandfather. He was sleeping, so I decided to wait until he woke up. I was talking with my family and then he went to the kitchen where we were talking. He looked at all of us and then he realized that I was there, "You are here! What are you doing here?."
Sunday dinner was great. My other grandparents and my uncles came to my home and we have a big dinner together.
I happy end after three days traveling to arrive.
The plane at JFK airport- El avion en el aeropuerto JFK
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Friday, March 16, 2007

Have a wonderful break!

I am going to Spain during Spring Break. I have to spend some time with my family and do some papers that I need for this summer.
I hope I can do everything in this few time. In just a week I have to flight from Chicago to Spain, go to the US embassy in Madrid, go to my hometown, the doctor, the laptop company, and the best of all, see my family and friends.
I am at Chicago now, at a friend's house and I will flight tomorrow from Chicago. I am not going to translate this post to Spanish because my family reads it and they don't know that I am going, just my mum. And that makes me happy but also very nervous. I hope they like the surprise.
Today I put this picture of snow at Drake campus because this last week the weather was great and I could walk without looking to the floor.
Nieve hasta la rodilla 009
Have a wonderful break! I will write from Spain some time.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

A busy weekend

This weekend was amazing. Everything started on Friday. I went to the Salsa Night sponsored by La Fuerza Latina.
On Saturday the sun appeared. We could open our dorm windows for a long time and I saw some squirrels on campus. I went shopping and I saw a vegetables shop that reminds me my mother's shop. And at the end of the day I went to see the Cirque du Soleil.
On Sunday I went to women's basketball game and in the afternoon I had a three hours long meeting for our trip to China. We watched a documentary and we talk about some issues about China politic system.
It is crazy but most of the days I leave my dorm at 8 in the morning and I don't come back until midnight.
Dancing salsa- Bailando salsa
Salsa 015
A squirrel on campus- Una ardilla en el campus
Ardilla 002
The vegetables shop- La tienda de verduras
Shopping 006
Cirque du Soleil- El circo del sol
Circo del Sol 007

And now in Spanish....
Y ahora en español....

Este fin de semana fue increíble. Todo empezó el viernes cuando fui a una noche de salsa que organizaba La Fuerza Latina.
El sábado el sol por fin apareció. Pudimos abrir las ventanas de la residencia por un buen rato y vi algunas ardillas alrededor del campus. Por la tarde fui de compras y vi una tienda de verduras que me recordó la tienda de mi madre. Y para terminar el día fui a ver el Circo del Sol.
El domingo fui al partido de baloncesto de las chicas y por la tarde tuve una reunión de tres horas sobre nuestro viaje a China. Vimos un documental que hablaba de la historia del sistema político en China.
Es una locura pero la mayoría de los días salgo de mi residencia a las ocho de la mañana para ir a clase y no vuelvo hasta medianoche.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Final!

We are going to play basketball final! Women's basketball Bulldogs are going to play the championship of the MVC Tournament.
We are going to play against Creighton at 2:05 p.m. at the Knapp Center. And the best thing is that the price for students is going to be just $1.
This morning I was complaining because the tickets costs $10 for the female games. I paid $10 on Thursday and today I watched the game on television. But tomorrow I am going for sure to the stadium. Let's go Drake! Let's go Bulldogs!
Drake Women´s Basketball

And now in Spanish...
Y ahora en español...

¡Vamos a jugar la final de baloncesto! Las chicas de baloncesto van a jugar la final del Campeonato de MVC.
Vamos a jugar contra Creighton a las 14.05 en el Knapp Center. Y lo mejor es que las entradas sólo van a costar sólo un dólar para los estudiantes.
Esta mañana estuve protestando porque las entradas costaban 10 dólares para los partidos de las chicas. Para ver el partido del jueves tuve que pagar 10 dólares y hoy vi el partido en la televisión, pero mañana por supuesto que iré al estadio a animar a las chicas. ¡Vamos Drake! ¡Vamos Bulldogs!

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