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THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE MAGAZINE LE MAGAZINE DE LANGUES ÉTRANGÈRES

VOL. 20 No. 29 February 2010

By Alfredo Castillo

I can’t believe it now that I see my daily planner that December is here. This year has gone by really fast. It´s going to be four years since my dad passed away. It seems like yesterday when this avalanche of bitterness and pain appeared in our lives shaking all of his descendants. No doubt that year wasn’t a happy one because we lost our chief, our anchor and our spiritual guru. Unlike other years, that one in particular wasn’t what it is called a lazy year, term given by Angela Mastretta to some years that come and go without so much agitation.

According to her, there are years that won’t crack and break our future with the memory of a mystery or a loss that still hurts. Years that would carry us away with the beginning of a new love. Years with low-key days that made us live normality in the most abnormal way, where the hot afternoons would return exactly the same, sticky and slow, as if they weren’t special because of the monotony in their com-ing and going with the same repetitious duties.

I have had lazy years in which God didn’t deny protection and shelter to me, years that went by through my life without much commo-tion, years in which nothing bad made me stumble and fall or that made me believe I owned the bluest star or that pushed me into pain or that took away my joy, it´s just that those years crossed my shoulders without tak-ing away my tranquility and hope that I could

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have had back then. It´s not that I had lost my eternal gastritis or that my debts had been paid off and my insomnia had vanished or that I hadn´t been in a rush as I always am. It´s not that time had covered me with tediousness while I observed the same landscape, it is just that during those times, I had what Mastretta calls a lazy year. Lazy years in which adventures, anecdotes or travels weren’t worth writing about because nothing extraordinary happened and as a consequence nothing was printed, photographed or shared.

I have had lazy years for which some day I would feel nostalgia and yearning…

When my mother didn’t respect my Master´s and still forced me to go get tortillas while I lived at home. When together with Mauri-

cio, my Jewish friend, we used to dodge traffic at Reforma Avenue in Mexico City, paying no attention to the curses coming from irritated drivers.

When my nephews were much younger and they would hold my hand to cross any wide street here in Tampico. When I stayed up late with my friends drinking a good red Chilean wine, knowing for sure that the following day I would have a terrible hangover accompanied by a headache. When I observed from the window of a Mexico City apartment, how the oak trees bent due to the strong winter wind blowing.

When I found myself at 25 thousand feet above sea level, on a Mexicana Boeing 727, hid-den in a rear galley listening to my flight attendant friend, narrate his latest adventures while he illegally poured champagne into my coach class glass. Shame on him, instead of attending passengers, he chatted with me and he was happy I had bumped into one of his flights bound to God knows where.

When I didn’t go out and happily anchored myself to the sofa watching TV with anyone at home who wanted to keep me company. When together with my dad, we read the Sunday paper deciding where we would have lunch that day. When I had to make a stopover far away from home and spend the night either at a bus terminal or a cold airport gate.

When I headed for the beach on a freezing January night carrying a thermos filled with hot cocoa. When my dog “Huggie” splashed me right after bathing her and I ended up as soaked as she was. When I ate roasted chestnuts together with a Diet Coke in Madrid, while snow-flakes fell on the Cibeles Fountain, wondering where I would spend the night with little money in my pockets. When I pushed the cart at Comercial Mexicana while mom constantly com-plained about prices as she continued filling it up to the max. When I kidnapped dad and and went for some coffee at Supercream while he listened to my new projects and new possible photographic trips. When I taught the kids how to make a wish by throwing a coin in any fountain in their paths without ever telling what they had wished for. When I thumbed rides and ended up in Tijuana meeting a lot of people whose lives and experiences contributed with material for articles I later wrote.

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When I sat on the old boardwalk at the Chairel Lagoon while a beautiful thunder storm soaked both the city and me. When I experienced a tootsie pop-sticky kiss from Pamela and Arturo while they said a “Hello, Uncle Freddy”. When the kids and I made paper boats and sailed them in the water from the broken pipe on our street, courtesy of COMAPA. When lying on the grass, I used to look for shooting stars in the vast stillness of a summer night.

I don’t ask for anything else in my life except for blessings and many of those lazy years that will make me live normally in the most abnormal way.

By Alejandro Palafox

Feelings is what I have

Confusing me, inside my mind

Taking away all I have

Without destiny to arrive.

Don’t try entering my dark domain

It will destroy everything within your heart.

It doesn’t matter how much you could love me. This loneliness will

never go away.

Without love, without faith

That’s the way I am living right now

In the most private moment

This is like a nightmare.

Don’t let my body

Surrender to the loneliness

Please keep the flame

So that I can’t lose the way

To your endless beauty.

Without boundaries or frontiers

To love you from the beginning to the end

Life turns me around

You are the joy in my suffering life.

This way I confess

Since my poems aren’t in verse

That If reason has no logic

It’s because you make my world go nuts.

I don’t want to hide anymore

I need to tell you my truth

My heart is screaming out for you

Since it´s the silence which is kill-ing my soul.

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Let me write a poem

For your love, and let me win Your heart with my words.

My soul flies through the sky and reaches your hand, hold me tight

Never leave me alone

I don’t want to miss you anymore.

You are the princess of my dreams

The reason of my absent mind

Without you the poetry dies and loses the charm, disappearing in the dark nights.

Let me love you in silence, so that way my love for you never dies

Let me write you a poem, so everybody knows that you are the one that I love.

Maria Emilia Rodriguez

I decided to follow her. I don’t know why but I just did. I’m not an impulsive person. I thought...How odd, I’m attracted to someone’s back. Old pair of Keds, jeans and a purple sweat-shirt, brown hair, no purse. So I entered that shop she got in. It was a tattoo shop , I didn’t want her to think I was some kind of stalker so I put on my headphones pretending I was listening to that song that was being played on my iPod , and I started to hear her voice. She was talking about how bad she wanted to get an orchid tattoo in her right wrist. There was some-thing beautiful about orchids, but I couldn’t listen much. I finally figured out her name. It turned out to be Becca , and she was 16. She said -Hey, What do you think about me getting an orchid in my right wrist, do you like it ? She was looking at me, –Well.. Yes, -I stuttered- I think it’ll fit a Becca for sure.

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-So, Dean, Come on, I want to see it. – Umm... What do you want to see? -The tattoo you’re getting, I mean you didn’t come here to listen to your ipod, did you?

- I.. I was.. Umm, I don’t know yet... I’m not planning on get-ting one soon, until I find a good reason for it. It sticks with you your whole life after all...- Well I’m sure you’ll find one.

And that’s the way it all started. We hang out almost every day after school. Talking on the phone wasn’t boring with Becca; she always had something to say, so we became close a little bit fast. Okay, too fast. But close in another way, at first I had a crush on her, but the last thing I needed was a girlfriend, she was more like a friend to me and I meant the same for her. Becca turned out to be a rare, one of a kind girl, I mean the way she talked and danced and just...didn’t care much about the world helped me change my perspective about life - You take life too serious, my Dean- she would constantly say, and she was my best friend. I guess that’s why we were compatible, because in order to have that with someone you need to be different than the other person. I was always the shy one, -“Is that really what you’re wearing to the concert Dean, for God’s sake! You’re so boring!

-Boring? Please, I’m normal, something you’re not. And we could go on and on with stupid fights, but at the end we always laughed about it. I’d never understood that quote that goes : she lights up the whole room , until I met Becca . We had so much fun together that sum-mer… I remember everything like it happened yesterday.

But things started to be different. At first I refused to deal with it , but eventually I knew I couldn’t deny it anymore. Becca changed, we changed. She didn’t act the same or smile the same; I knew what was going on even though she wouldn’t tell me. -What are you saying, that all of the sudden I’m the boring one? Hell no! Dean, that’s you, not me! There’s just no way I’m going to Laurie’s party, she’s so stupid!

And suddenly all of the parties, the visits to the art gallery, the times we would go dressed up as rockers on the subway, the milkshakes at the Waffle House, they were all gone. She was becoming too tired; sometimes I had to hold her hand when she was walking so that she wouldn’t fall. She was so thin and fragile, it just made me sad thinking about it. -You know that I know what’s going on, right Becca? -What are you talking about, leave me alone! And she didn’t want to see me or answer her phone, until one day, she admitted it...- I’m sick, you jerk! and there’s nothing I can do about it , I’ve been sick since the day I met you, but it’s getting worse now, the doctor says I’m running out of time. Tears formed behind my eyes but I didn’t cry, If Becca told me something, it would be easy how to be strong and laugh about problems and life...so I did exactly that. I wanted her to smile and to sing just like she used to, I wanted to bring Becca back. There was one time when she didn’t want to take her pills, so I said to her: - I dare you, to take your pills and I’ll do anything you want. - Anything? Her eyes brightened up...

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We had a blast that night , she took her pills and felt a lot better , we went to see The Arctic Monkeys play and she made me wear this ridiculous wig which was pink, and of course I looked horrible, everyone was staring at me, even that girl I liked , but I didn’t care. I was with my best friend and she was happy. When she was feeling fine she invited me to watch scary movies and eat pizza, I would get so mad at her because she wasn’t even allowed to eat that, but I knew it made her happy so I never told her mom. Then she had her bad days and I felt sad to see her like that. -Are you never getting out of those pajamas or what! Come on, get up grandma! , I’ll bring your meds, it’ll be fun! -

-Stop being so nice Dean, I don’t want to get out. I’m tired, I swear, all I want to do is sleep...

It made me angry, the fact that she didn’t fight against leu-kemia at all, it’s like she wanted to die already... But then I understood her, she was sick. And her days were almost over; I was so scared to lose her. I spent the next month almost every day in her house, I didn’t care if she didn’t talk or See me because she was sleeping, and I just stood with her.

I used to cheer her up with stupid jokes I had thought about, you know what they say about sick people, they can’t see you but they can hear you... That was the time when I started to realize...she really is leaving this world..And it’s happening all so fast.

Of course I cried a few times at night, remembering all of our great memories. I was only go-ing to buy supplies, but then I saw her, and she talked to me being a complete stranger and let this complete stranger into her life.

If God really was taking her, I would have to face the world all by myself. -Do you really want to go to the prom with Laurie, well just ask her, be a man Dean... My god what would you do without me!! Don’t be afraid to be different, “different is better”-

She’s right, what would I do without her, without Becca I was nobody, she was the only friend I had. The guys at school, they were a bunch of jerks, Becca and I made a real pair of friends.

The night of the prom, she wanted to make sure I was wearing the right clothes for Laurie.

-Well, you don’t look too bad… kidding, you look amazing Dean , really , have lots of fun , don’t bother calling me, because I won’t answer, I’ll probably be asleep.

And I did exactly as she said. I didn’t call her; I got drunk and made out with Laurie for the first time, so I forgot about Becca. The next day, I had a feeling I couldn’t explain. 22 missed calls, She must be wondering what happened yesterday at the prom.

I found out it wasn’t Becca who was dialing my number, it was Mrs. Wilt. The next minutes were the longest I’ve ever had in my whole life, there I was, facing her final steps, moving nonstop at the emergency room. I finally took a seat, until a gentle nurse let me in her room. Finally, visiting hours, I felt relieved. Where are you, Becca? How would you be like in case you wake up ? Will you remember me or will I have to tell you about everything we’ve been together?

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-God help your friend-, a lady whose little girl was also suffering for leukemia told me. I started to cry. Visiting hours were over. The only think I can remember about that endless day, was hearing what the doctor was saying. – I’m sorry for your loss, mam, there was noth-ing more we could do – Those words were the only words I could think of for days. She was gone. She had passed away to another life, young and kindhearted…I have a reason now, I kept on thinking.

So I decided to go to that place , where we had met…You take life for granted until you lose someone you really cared about and you don’t dare telling your best friend that you admire her until you’re not able to do it anymore. But I guess that’s just the way life goes. Whenever I look at my tattooed wrist I think of her and I smile. I sure did find my reason Becca, and it’s you. I had to write this because whatever I don’t write my memory forgets, so what better way to say my final goodbyes to you, Becca, than writing about you. I’ll be seeing you soon, love, your best friend Dean.

L’origine de la fête de Saint Valentin

Le valentinage de la cour d'Angleterre

Les sources avérées des origines de la saint Valentin remontent à la fin du moyen-âge. C'est au XIVème siècle que l'on prit l'habitude de former un couple au hasard en Angleterre. La cou-tume du "Valentinage" est née dans l'aristocratie anglaise à la fin du Moyen-âge. Une jeune fille était associée à un jeune homme et durant la journée ils avaient des obligations l'un en-vers l'autre. Le valentin et sa Valentine devaient s'offrir en secret des petits cadeaux et se fai-re des galanteries. Cette coutume est arrivée à la cour de Savoie puis elle s'est répandue dans les régions voisines. Le "valentinage" s'est enrichi de l'envoi de poèmes. Depuis Valentins et Valentines Anglo-saxons s'envoient des "Valentines" Cette coutume d'échange d'amitié se transforma peu à peu en fête des amoureux.

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Dans les pays anglo-saxons les amis échangent aussi des mots d'amitié pour la Saint Valentin.

Depuis le XVIII e siècle la coutume de l'envoi des "valentines" s'est généralisée en Grande-Bretagne puis en Amérique du Nord ou elle prend le nom de "Valentine's day". La coutume s'est répandue en Europe avec l'arrivée des GI à la fin de la seconde guerre mondiale.

Quelques symboles de la Saint Valentin Il y les symboles classiques de la Saint Valentin : Cupidon, les couleurs rouge et blanc, les cœurs, les fleurs ... et les éléments qui sont associés à la saint Valentin comme le chocolat.

Les symboles de la Saint Valentin sont nombreux, en voici un petit rappel :

Cupidon symbole de la Saint Valentin. Le Cupidon représente le dieu de l'amour dans la Rome antique. Cupidon est représenté sous la forme d'un jeune enfant de 7 ans environ ailé peu vêtu, qui porte un arc et une flèche. La légende veut que toute personne touchée par l'une de ses flèches tombe follement amoureuse de la première personne qu'elle rencontre.

Le Cupidon symbolise le coup de foudre amoureux.

Cupidon et Psyché illustre le couple amoureux de la Saint Valentin. Selon la légende Cupidon tomba amoureux d'une simple mortelle Psyché qui était d'une grande beauté. Cupidon voulu l'épouser, mais sa mère Vénus s'y opposa et soumit Psyché à de nombreuses épreuves. Cupi-don plaida sa cause auprès de Jupiter qui donna l'ordre à Mercure d'enlever Psyché pour la conduire à Olympe. Psyché but l'ambroisie, le nectar des dieux, devint immortel et pu enfin épouser Cupidon.

Le cœur : Le cœur est le grand symbole de la Saint Valentin. Offrir un cœur c'est offrir son cœur.

Le rouge et le blanc :

Le blanc symbolise la pureté des sentiments et de l'amour alors que le rouge est la couleur de la passion, du dévouement et de la loyauté.

Les fleurs pour le message symbolique :

Depuis toujours les fleurs sont porteuses d'un message secret. Elles s'accordent parfaitement avec l'esprit de la fête des amoureux et l'habitude d'échanger en secret des messages d'amour.

La fleur reine de la Saint Valentin est la rose :

• Rose blanche : Virginité, Pureté, Amour platonique

• Rose en bouton : Amour naissant

• Rose jaune : Amour déclinant, Infidélité, Jalousie, Amitié

• Rose rose : Peur, Serment d'amour

• Rose rouge : Amour ardent, Passion

Le chocolat : Le chocolat est un symbole de la saint Valentin pour sa volupté et pour le plaisir des papilles partagé.

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My first week at school was amazing, I made friends right away. I met the most won-derful people you’d ever imagine. They were already a nice and compact group of friends from different countries: Brazil, Switzerland, Germany and South Korea. They took me in quickly and without questions, they made me feel welcomed.

I felt like I had found home in the hearts of people I’d never thought I’d meet. I opened my thoughts and my heart to these strangers only to find appreciation. Nobody judged me, nobody messed with me. I was happy, comfortable and safe. I felt, like I said, at home. Those were the best six weeks of my life.

Vancouver, and my friends, gave me the chance to rediscover myself. I now find myself a happier and self confident person. I left Vancouver with e-mails, home addresses and prom-ises; promises that I’d e-mail, send letters and postcards but most important, promises to meet again. A few people thought it’d be too hard but I believe it’s possible.

To this day, I keep in touch with some of my friends. Some others are busy still travel-ing around. I think of Vancouver and the people I met there every day. I see the pictures they upload of things they’ve done after I left.

For my next vacation period I have so many choices: South Korea, Germany, Japan… I have a hard choice ahead of me, but this is a long life, there will be time. I’ll see them again someday, I’m sure.

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Une expérience inoubliable Par Ana Silvia Casanova.

Il y a un an, ma meilleure amie et moi avons décidé de voyager à Québec pour faire une immersion dans une école là-bas pendant six mois. Au début on avait peur parce qu’on devait aller vivre dans une famille, une culture et une lan-gue complètement inconnues et différentes. Finalement, ce jour tant attendu est arrivé. Nous avons at-terri à Québec le 21 Juin et ma famille d’accueil est venue nous chercher à l’aéroport. Dès que je l’ai vue, j’ai su que c’était la meilleure famille, même si je n’avais ni frères ni sœurs qui habitaient chez moi. Mes parents d’accueil, Carole et Guil étaient les personnes les plus aimables et les plus gentilles qu’ils soient. L’école a commencé en Août et le premier jour nous avons connu environ 20 autres mexicains qui étaient aussi en train de faire une immersion dans la même école. On a aussi fait connaissance avec beaucoup de québécois qui sont devenus nos amis très rapidement.    Les premières semaines étaient un peu difficiles parce qu’on devait s’adapter à beaucoup de nouvelles choses, par exemple on devait faire notre linge, aider dans la maison,

bien connaitre les routes des autobus, s’habituer à parler en français dans tous nos cours et à la maison, spécialement s’habituer à la nourriture complètement différente, et nos familles et amis nous manquaient mais après, tout a commencé à aller mieux.

Octobre est arrivé et les feuilles des arbres ont commencé à changer leur couleur et à tom-ber. La température a commencé à descendre et le temps de mettre des vêtements chauds était déjà arrivé. C’était très difficile parce que mon corps n’était pas habitué à ces tempéra-tures mais heureusement j’étais très bien équipée pour le froid.

Des gants, pantalons thermiques, grosses chaussettes, chapeau, foulard, bottes et un para-pluie étaient les choses qu’on ne devait pas oublier avant de sortir de la maison. Il a commencé à neiger et peu de temps après on ne voyait plus que du blanc. Quand le vrai froid a commencé, je pensais que je n’allais jamais sortir de chez moi mais finalement je me suis habituée et j’ai appris à vivre normalement même s’il faisait moins 20 de-grés.

En Novembre, le directeur des programmes d’immersion de mon école à Québec a organisé un voyage a New York pour les mexicains qui faisaient l’échange.

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On a passé une semaine là-bas et on a fait beaucoup de choses comme visiter des musées, faire du shopping, mar-cher dans Central Park, aller voir « The Lion King » dans Broadway, etc. On est presque tous allés et ce fut vraiment un voyage incroyable.

Décembre est arrivé et déjà il ne nous restait que 20 jours. J’étais super triste parce que je ne voulais pas partir, je savais que mes nouveaux amis et ma nouvelle famille allaient beaucoup me manquer, j’aurais voulu rester 6 mois de plus mais en même temps j’avais vraiment hâte de re-voir mes parents, mes sœurs, mon frère et mes amis du Mexique. Maintenant, je suis vraiment heureuse parce que je peux

dire que j’ai profité à 100% de mon voyage au Québec. Je me suis fait beaucoup d’amis avec qui je parle toujours, j’ai perfectionné mon français, j’ai connu les plus gentils parents d’accueil mais surtout, j’ai appris à être indépendante, chose très importante! Grâce à ce voyage je sais maintenant que je suis préparée à affronter différentes situations. Je suis certaine que jamais, je n’oublierais mes amis, mes parents, chaque fête, l’école, les professeurs, ma maison, le cli-mat, toutes les activités auxquelles j’ai participé. Toutes ces choses que j’ai faites en 6 mois et qui ont fait de mon voyage une expérience magnifique et inoubliable.

By Oscar Chavolla High School Student

It’s very an-noying when someone asks which sport I practice, and my answer,” row-canoe”, and the second question that

usually follows, what's that?. In fact, rowing-canoeing is not a very popular sport in the whole continent, but still it doesn't mean it is not practiced at all. I would like more people to know about it, so next time I don't get a "what” as an answer.

Rowing-canoeing is one of the oldest Olympic sports. Competitions began among the pro-fessional watermen that provided ferry and taxi service on the River Thames in London, but actually the place in which is more practiced is in Hungary and Romania, fact that is really strange since the rivers of Hungary and Romania are most of the time frozen. Indeed, rowing-canoeing is the official national sport in Hungary.

In our country, it is only practiced in very few cities, including Tampico. Then, there are dif-ferent types and modalities in rowing-canoeing. It can be practiced in the ocean, where you need a different racing boat (often called "kayak") that has less speed and more stability. There is another type, which is practiced in rapids and is commonly called rafting, it only uses the rapid as a force to move through the river and it uses a raft.

And the last type is practiced in a river or in an artificial course, where there's no water surge. For this, you need a special racing boat, very light and with very little balance so that it speeds up to 6 miles per hour. This one is the more common, and the only one included in the Olympic sports. Also it has different modalities. There are racing boats for a single, double or a fourth person boat. Each one can use different types of oars that are used to propel the boat. In addi-tion, there are official distances for the races; they consist in 1000 meters, 500 meters and 200 meters. The goal, is to make each distance in the lowest possible time, the first boat that crosses the finish line, wins.

In my opinion, it's a very exciting sport, which requires a lot of energy and strength. Unfortu-nately in México, CONADE (the national sport commission) does not support it, and many tal-ented canoeists give up because of the bad aid. In fact, there is one canoeist in México named Manuel Cortina, who participated in the last Olympic Games, and nobody noticed him.

I hope this short information gave you an idea of what rowing-canoeing is, and the next time, you can answer anyone who asks you about what it is.

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By Karina Alvarado

An earthquake is the sudden release of strain energy in the Earth’s crust resulting in waves of sharking that radiate outward from the earthquake source. When stresses in the crust exceed the strength of the rock, it breaks along lines of weakness, either a pre-existing or new fault plane. The point where an earthquake starts is termed the focus or hypocenter and may be many kilometers deep within the earth. The point at the surface directly above the focus is called the earthquake epicenter.

W h e r e d o e a r t h q u a k e s o c c u r ? Anywhere! However, they are unevenly distributed over the earth, with the majority occur-ring at the boundaries of the major crustal plates. These plate boundaries are of three types: destructive, where the plates collide; constructive, where the plates move apart; and conser-vative plate boundaries, like the San Andreas Fault, where the plates slide past each other. Earthquakes also occur, less frequently, within the plates and far from the plate boundaries, as in eastern USA, Australia and the United Kingdom.

W h y d o e a r t h q u a k e s h a p p e n ? Most earthquakes occur along the edge of the oceanic and continental plates. The earth’s crust (the outer layer of the planet) is made up of several pieces called plates. The plates un-der the oceans are called oceanic plates and the rest are continental plates. The plates are moved around by the motion of a deeper part of the earth (the mantle) that lies underneath the crust. These plates are always bumping into each other, pulling away from each other. The plates usually move at about the same speed that your finger nails grow. Earthquakes usually occur where two plates are running into each other or sliding past each other.

Earthquakes are usually caused when rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault. This sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shakes. When to block of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other, they stick a little. They don’t just slide smoothly; the rocks catch on each other. The rocks are still pushing against each other, but not moving. After a while, the rocks break because of all the pressure that’s build up. When the rocks break, the earthquake occurs. During the earthquake and afterward, the plates or blocks of rock start moving, and they continued to move until they get stuck again.

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A Special Friend By Andrea Amieva

We always try to find a good friend, someone to trust in, to share good moments with, to talk to and much more. In life, friends come and go, but real friends al-ways stay there for us and when we need some help whenever we have problems, our friend will be there and we know it. If we need some advice or just some company, we can always count on a friend.

I have many friends and I love them. Each one with his or her own personality. Some are crazy, some others are serious, shy, outgoing , etc... Sometimes I have problems that I´d rather share with a good friend and of course if they feel sad or something, I will help them and try to make them happy again. I don't have brothers so I think it is because of this, that I care about my friends as if they were my “brothers” and I love them so much.

Of course, a good friend doesn't always have to be a person, it could be a pet too, like my little friend “Markys”. Markys was my special friend in the whole wide world. He was a dog, a little terrier that changed my life. I’ve always loved animals and had a lot of pets but this one in particular changed my life.. On Christmas 2007 my mom gave me a big present and it was a little puppy (originally I wanted a bunny) and I was exited because very few times, my mom had let me have a pet. His name was Marko Antonio (long story..) but I always told him “Markys” .

He was so frisky and crazy, full of energy and always doing new things. Once he ate a little bit of poison and he was so sick and I was so sad and I made a promise that if sur-vived , I would take care of him and never leave him alone. He lived inside the house be-cause he was small and I taught him to do his duties outside and it wasn't much of a problem. Because of my mom´s job,, she had to work all day so after lunch I was always alone but things changed because I had a new friend that made me company. Like all puppies, Markys was so naughty he would bite everything but he was a good friend though. When I felt sad he always tried to make me happy. He was so curious and intelli-gent, I had a visual problem and when something fell down , he gave it back to me like if he knew that I couldn’t see. It. He also slept with me on my bed (well.. sometimes) he used to go with me everywhere.

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Finally I have found a friend but life can be cruel. My mom decided to send me to Canada to learn French just for 4 months and I had to leave Markys alone. I didn’t want to, I cried but I didn’t have any other option and when I came back to Tampico I found out that my best friend had been stolen. I was so sad you don’t know how much. I lost my little brother, my company, my friend. Nowadays, I´ve tried to have another pet, but it isn’t the same , I can’t get over it. I do have a lot of good memories of him and that is the most important thing.

As I have been practicing Muay Thais, not for so long ago, I have dis-covered that this is more than exer-cise, but is a great sport which I pre-fer among others. I’m not a profes-sional and it will take a long time to become one, but the more I prac-tice , the more I love it.

It is a martial art that involves styles like kickboxing, pradal serey, tomoi, Ethwei and Muay Lao. It is

Thailand’s national sport and it has been practiced since 1868. The word muay derives from Sanskrit mavya and Thai comes from the word Tai. Muay Thai is referred to as the “Art of Eight limbs” because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows ,and knee strikes ,thus using eight “points of contact”, as opposed to “two points” (fists) in Western boxing and “four points” hands and feet) used in sport-oriented martial arts. A practitioner of Muay Thai is known as a nak muay. Western practitioners are sometimes called nak muay farang meaning foreign boxer. The modern Muay as we know it now it was first declared as a national sport by the King Rama the VII,he set the rules for modern Muay Thai. The first boxing ring was built in 1921 at Suan Kularp.

Rules are simple, make a good visible effect on the opponent and your technique, you can’t wear shirt or shoes. Girls have to wear a top and have their hair pulled back. In both cases (men and women) you have to use a Thai Short, which looks like boxing shorts, do the Ram Muay ritual and you win because you are the strongest, by K.O. or because the referee sees that one fighter can´t continue.

There are two Muay Thai techniques, which are divided in Mae Mai which are the major techniques and Luk Mai, the minor techniques. The common techniques are Mud Trong which means jab, Mud Wiang San which is the hook, mud wiang glub that is made with your fist, mud wiang yao also using the fist, kra-dod chock to punch your opponent, mud suey to the chin, sok tee with your elbow, tae trong a kick, and many others.

Muay Thai also involves meditation, we use a dance that is called Wai kru and you do it be-fore you start training and it shows respect to your teachers and the special bond you create with them. The other dance is the Ram Muay (Muay Thai’s music) and you do this dance be-fore a fight. It also shows respect to your teacher.

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INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS SUPERIORES DE TAMAULIPAS

Avenida Dr. Burton E. Grossman 501 PTE. Col. Tampico-Altamira

C.P. 89609 Altamira Tamaulipas México

Tel. ( 833 ) 230-2566

DAVID GOMEZ FUENTES

PRESIDENT

ALEJANDRO MONTANO DURAN

ACADEMIC VICEPRESIDENT

KAREN BEATON ARVES

LANGUAGE CENTER COORDINATOR

ALFREDO CASTILLO

EDITOR

There are some Muay Thai amulets in different colors, which you use to show which level you are in, there’s a kind of bracelet called prajed which you put on your arm whenever you are fighting. You can’t never wash it because it is your lucky amulet and if you do it you will wash away your luck. The other amulet is called mongkon and it goes on your head, it’s a head circlet which you use before a fight while doing the Wai kru dance or the ram muay.

Muay Thai involves a lot of cardio exercise, you have to run , jump rope, hit a boxing bag and many other things. To get prepared for a fight you must train at least 3 months for your first fight, 3 more for the second, 4 more for the third and so on. It takes a lot of time to be-come a master,and it even takes a lot of time to become an amateur, this will take you about a year.

Muay Thai is not only a sport, it’s a way of living for many people in Thailand. Since they are 4 years old they start to train , so by the time they are teenagers they become profes-sionals.

There’s a fight of Muay Thai everyday in Thailand, they are very aggressive and you can al-ways break a bone while fighting.


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