Sharon is a WRITER, yes, capital letters. Judge for yourselves!
Two and a half years ago Dario Gaivao came to our school with great expectations, and even tough he was not bilingual, he joined us, accepted the challenge. These are two of his writings, that show us than if you want something, and work for it, you will get it.
Moving to Barranquilla
My father has always hated--- strong word, I know, but I mean it, --- the cold and specifically, Bogotá city.
This is something he would let pass unnoticed to anybody out of the close family I have there, for being very cautious at sharing his opinion and also because he had lived in Bogotá for thirty years. Therefore, really, who would sense his great dislike in a city that had been his home for so long?
My Dad had been brought-up in places where the sea he adores so much was close. Thus, when sometime in early 2002 he received an offer from the Jewish community of Barranquilla to go and live there, he instantly told my Mum about it. After some arrangements, the decision had been made. This was just a wonderful opportunity... I have heard of taking chances, and making the best of them, and I consider this to be a great example of it.
I can perfectly recall the moment when they told me the news: we were walking on a sidewalk coming back from Atlantis Plaza, a shopping centre, to my apartment, from which we were a block apart. My mother carried my month-old brother in the stroller, while my Dad held my hand as I walked balancing myself on the top of a wall. As we carried on, they told me we were to move to a warm place (rather too hot, I’d say!) and close to the sea. Excitement and joy filled me entirely. Warm climate meant resorts, right? How fantastic, huh? Living in a hotel! Well, at least so I thought...
After a sad goodbye to my friends and family, we left life as I knew it on the morning of December 5th of 2002.
I don’t remember well if I started school just after our arrival, or in January of 2003, though I suppose it was the latter. Still, dressed in jeans and a cherry printed T-shirt I went to my new school, Colegio Hebreo Union. I hadn’t my uniform on because they had not yet given it to me. My greeting in transition was very pleasant; and it glows in my memory as though it had happened yesterday, despite nearly eight years have passed by... In a humid, hot, bright sunny day I entered the room that was no my classroom. It smelled fresh and clean. This smell remains today in all preschool rooms, reminding me of childhood. Our pretty blonde teacher, Miss Jessie, softly held my shoulders as I stood in front of the whiteboard, which impressed me, for I was used to blackboards (the ones on which chalk is used instead of markers to write). I was the centre of attention, making my happiness to clash with my timidity. My parents starred from me to the room, from it to the children and then back to me. A tall boy with a dark complexion, big head and eyes that reminded me of a lazy sleepy frog spoke with a deep (for a child of six) terribly high voice, he shouted: “Hey! Look! It’s the new girl! It’s the new girl!” Kindly but in a slightly higher tone than usual (to me), all the girls invited me to seat with them in artificially wooden hexagonal tables. Confused about where exactly to go, I walked to the further middle table in the room, and sat next to Valery Rozen, and some other kids I don’t really remember anymore. “I like your tee”, she said. I smiled and plainly replied “thanks”. I am quite shy nowadays, so you wouldn’t imagine me how shy I was at the time.
I spent very happy days with my new friends, and gratefully, we’ve developed a truly nice relationship, which I dearly hope will last...
***----*****Two and a half years ago Dario Gaivao came to our school with great expectations, and even tough he was not bilingual, he joined us, accepted the challenge. These are two of his writings, that show us than if you want something, and work for it, you will get it.
Of all the houses I’ve have seen there is one that is most special to me. When you’re in front of that house, you notice the old looks it has; it is like a little palace guarded by an old man.
At the front terrace you will always find my grandfather, Umberto; the door is white, before the white door there is a white fence that gives the house its look, like a little palace. This little palace has a mini-garden where my Grandmother has some plants, she get mad when Andres, my cousin, and I play soccer there. After you pass that cold fence you start to feel the warmth of that place.
Inside, the house has many old things that give the place a special essence, the color of the floor is red, and with years the color has faded, but the heart of the house is still red and alive.
This beautiful house has a big backyard, which I use to play with my cousins. Sometimes we play soccer, some other times we play with Frisbees and occasionally I practice tennis against the wall.
The backyard is full of plants and flowers that are all around it. My grandma uses it to treat us. She cooks the most delicious BQQ that I’ve have ever tasted, to which I add some hot sauce prepared by her with a mixture of some vegetables and a secret ingredient. We eat that for lunch, and for breakfast she cooks delicious arepas with fried eggs and pork belly or chicharron. Oh, that aroma, this is my favorite breakfast!
I always have good times in that house, if I am not playing I am talking with my grandpa, Humberto, he´s a very intelligent man that knows a lot of things, and he teaches me his knowledge.
Something that disturbs the peace and tranquility of the mood, are the noisy neighbors; they are always with their stereo on, at high volume, and they aren´t playing good music, they love champeta, which very corroncho, but I soon forget about it since I am in the midst of the harmony of my family.
I joke a lot with my grandparents; they tell me stories about old times. For example once they went camping and fishing to the seaside, and they only took with them food (fish, meat) and some whisky to have fun. They took all their six sons, every one of them with a friend. When my grandpas caught a fish he saw the kind of fish it was and threw it to the sea.
Finally I want to say that my grandparent´s house is something amazing, and is like my second home, and I can’t express my feelings with words when I am there, those family moments, the happiness, the pleasures, the joy, that uniqueness cannot be compared to anything in this world.
*-*
An Unforgotable Experience
Sometimes things do not come out as we plan them. I remember the day that my uncle Carlos´ was going to celebrate his fiftieth birthday. We were on his farm having a party, outside the sky above us was turning as black as night.
- “Hey Taty, look at those clouds”- I said.
- “Don´t worry, those clouds will go far away, and if it does it will be just a little rain”- She said.
Instead of the party a big storm started. Suddenly that beautiful moment was interrupted by a terrible blast; we heard the most scary and loudest sound ever.
- Did you hear that?- I shouted
- What was it?- Someone cried
An electricity tower had fallen down and the whole farm lost its power. We were very scared, my cousin Tatiana tried to call someone, I don’t remember exactly whom when her cell phone gave her a kick in the ear:
“Ouch!” she yelled; and then we heard the noisy thunders.
We stayed the whole day together on the house of the farm, with neither electricity nor communication; oh, this was a new experience for me and the rest of the family: the music stopped and we were not used to the sounds of nature, they were very unfamiliar to us. Thunders, darkness and the fact we were not able to use our electronic devices, contributed to make the scene even creepier.
That night we had to stay in the farm due to the fact that the road was in very bad conditions, and most of the cars were small cars and couldn’t get out. “I´ll go!”- said Tio Carlos, my uncle, who had a big Nissan with a double transmission.
When the hurricane seemed to be over he took his car and went to town to buy things like food and water, because we had only a little bit left, also wood to make a bonfire.
The storm started again, I was very scared, although this time it didn´t come with thunders. When it finished we got out of the house and made the bonfire, and we stayed there most of the night.
The next day we traveled to our homes, and I was very happy to be there and very proud for having a house. I thought about all the people that do not have a home to be safe from the storm.
Next morning we went to my Grandparent’s house to celebrate we were all alive.
What can I say, this boy ALWAYS amazes me, there is no challenge bigger than him: It was almost nine o'clock and I told my wife, "Elliot said he would send something to publish, and it is is not here yet.....but I´ll wait until nine..." I had not finished saying that when my "bri-ba" vibrated letting me know that I had an incoming message... this is it:
UNDERWATER ADVENTURE
Elliot Besalel
Hook Have you ever wanted to try something new? Are you bored with living the everyday routine? These were the questions I asked myself every day, until I learned about scuba* diving. At the end of summer vacations, my friend Julian told me about a scuba diving course he took with his brother.
IntroducTion He described his amazing experiences in the underwater world, watching thousands of different species of fish, watching out for corals, and enjoying the view of the pretty treasures of the sea.
Body I enrolled at the diving center Nauta* with my friend Dario. We were very excited to start diving, but we had a long road to travel before that happened. It was a Monday afternoon, the first time we sat on the comfortable red and white sofa of the living room of the diving center. Aristides Mendez, our Padi* diving instructor, explained the course to us. First, we had to watch five modules, each one thirty minutes, and take a short quiz, then we will practice at the pool, and finally go to Santa Marta to dive in the open sea.
From then on, every single day I went to the diving center, watched a module, and took the quiz. It took me from Monday to Friday, from 2pm to 6pm. I had also to read my diver’s manual at home, until I finished every module and Aristides said, “Guys, tomorrow we will go to the pool.” Hearing those words made me the happiest person in the entire world. Sleeping was a challenge for me because I could not wait to enter the pool.
The next day Dario and I went to the diving center at 10 o'clock. We put on our flippers and snorkel, because now we had to pass a very thought physical test called Advance Muscle Status Physical Test (A.M.S.P.T) which consisted of hard swimming exercises that left me exhausted. “The fun starts now,” said Aristides. “Its time boys, to use the scuba gear.”
CONCRETE
DESCRIPTION It all happened in the blink of an eye. In seconds, I was at the pool equipped with scuba gear, the regulator in the mouth, going slowly down into the water. The compressed air was cold and dry. But as the time passed, I got used to it. The regulator was very comfortable; I could cough and even spit on it. Suddenly I felt freedom running through my veins. There, underwater, I could perform rolls, jumps, and tricks like the acrobats on the television.
After twenty minutes, Aristides gave us the signal to go up. I had a thousand wonderful thoughts to talk to him about, but he didn't let me talk. I think it wasn't the right moment.
“Easy, easy, guys,” Aristides said.
“It was amazing!” I said.
“Just be sure to get some rest. Tomorrow we will go to the sea, and you will be certified as Open Water Padi Diver” he said.
RECAPTURING
ATTENTION
THROUGH HUMOR Commentary: I will skip my trip to Santa Marta, and move on to the time where I went to the Tayrona Diving Center Because it is a long trip without any interesting events and I don't want you to fall asleep.
The Tayrona Diving Center was huge! It has a big sign with its name colored in a pale blue that gets the attention of anyone wandering past. Dario and I went together with my dad, who is an advanced open water diver, to the diving center.
We were all waiting for Aristides and my friend Julian (you might remember him from the beginning of the story). Aristides arrived ten minutes later. With his arrival, he started handing out the respective diving suit and gear for each person. Finally Julian arrived along with his older brother, Jorge Andres, and his cousin, Luz Andrea. We waited for them to gear up and then the big party consisted of: Dario, Julian, Jorge Andres, Luz Andrea, my dad, Aristides and another instructor named Victor. Eight gears, eight divers.
“Let’s do it!” I said.
Once at the boat Aristides gave us a small briefing about the place and the weather.
DESCRIPTIVE
PASSAGE “Today we will be diving at Punta Guja. The weather is fine, a little current to the right but when we reach ten meters it shouldn't bother us. Now everyone get your tank ready, and check air with your partner next to you. We will arrive in fifteen minutes, how to enter the water is your call: you can do the big foot entrance* or slide down.”
Each person entered the water as they chose, most of the group entered by the big foot entrance, including me. It was Luz Andrea and Victor that sledded down the boat. By now everyone was in the water. “Regulators to the mouth, and down,” Aristides said.
We started to do a slow descent, I stared from left to right and looked at everyone through the visor covering my eyes to find them regrouping at five meters. From there on we followed Aristides, who was leading the group. The sea immersion was amazing! it was greater than what I was expecting. The pool stage was incomparable to the immense and wide sea loaded with lots of creatures and plants. We made a stop to see a macarena, a sea snake that hides in the sand. Aristides was capable of picking it up and let us touch it. I saw a lot of lion fish, but we had to be careful because they are poisonous, but not fatal. I had the privilege to touch one Victor took along the way, but suddenly it swam away so fast that I could say it disappear in less than a second.
SUPPORTING
PREVIEWS
PARAGRAPH I also see some clown fish, brain coral, and some very funny fishes called yellow jelly beans that got my attention. These are fish that live in groups and shelter in a rock, then they pop out of the rock and start moving from left to right as they were dancing, then they cover again in the rock, and repeat this process. They were very funny and we all laughed and stayed watching the show.
After all this enjoyment, we kept going further until we reached twenty meters and made a stop to rest. During this five minutes rest, Aristides took pictures of us. we posed and jumped for the camera.
Conclusion The time had come, and we had to return to the surface. After all that hype and adrenaline, I returned to the hotel to tell the rest of my family all my experiences. Now I have my certificate and can dive anywhere in the world. Scuba diving is one of the best experiences I have ever had and, as my friend Julian did, I recommend anyone to try this and make one of the best decisions of their life's.
*SCUBA: Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
*NAUTA: A brand of Scuba gears, they bring courses and certifications to people
*PADI: Professional Association of Diving Instructors, the largest diving company in the world.
*Big foot entrance: technique to enter the water in which the diver stands on the edge looking straight ahead, and takes a big step forward falling into the water
Judge by yourselves, here is a great talent, great imagnation and great use of words......I just love the way Valery Rozen expresses herself. Sweetie thank you for sharing with us, you have blessed us
No other
Valery Rozen
And no other could make me laugh the way you do it.
And no other could hear my problems as you hear them.
Remember yesterday?
Yes. It seems so close, so unattainable. Wasted time, could I say?
Your hugs, your kisses? Your smile.
Can a dreamer abandon his own beliefs, his own shameless, and his own dreams? Probabilities?
One of billions and billions…
I was the one that found you in the corner.
The corner of what?
Pain?
Or could I say that you found me,
when I thought I was all ready found?
Am I lost?
Am I really exaggerating,
or I’m in my right?
Blame me!
Blame me for no reason.
lame me for been such a whiner,
for been so tragic,
for been in love.
Blame me for letting you go.
And have you noticed
that I’m still waiting?
Watching up, sitting in the floor,
is not always easy.
Can you feel my tears,
touch my pain,
and hear
the unspoken words ?
And no other could love me
the way you did it…
+_+
Presence
Valery Rozen
I was near home, sure I was. I had a new residence, but this street was so confusing that even sometimes I had to leave my light on, so I could recognize my house, as in this street, all the houses were the same. Fifteen was my house number, but as you know me; absent-minded and clumsy, this different didn’t count.
When I finally arrive, I took my bonnet off. The warm feelings of home embrace me. Joanne was probably coming home right away, and Steve was in George’s house.
Duffy’s barks inundate the house with a high echo, I let him lick me, as in other occasions, neighbors complain.
That was when I heard it.
Duffy’s barks moved me away from this great sound, but I was completely ignoring this, as the saxophone melody broughtg me a lot of memories, a lot of faces, a lot of love.
I search for the sound. “Where is it, from when it comes?” that’s when I find the mysterious melody in front of my residence.
I stood in my balcony, that astonishing melody retain me. Was an old man. An old black man. I stared at him for a long time. “Why we are so different, when in fact, we are so alike”? After he finished, I started to clap with happiness.
“Cool” I said, knowing that he wouldn’t hear me, but knowing that still I had to say something to that glorious music.
“Randie, Randie!”
My eyes immediately rolled from the man with the saxophone to my furious neighbor.
“Could you please shut up your dog? I mean, who could rest hearing those annoying barks?”
*_*
My journey to Chicago
Valery Rozen
I even remember the day. I arrived to Chicago at four p.m. I remember I had flu, fever, and my cheeks were burning, and that uncomfortable feeling was getting away my happiness. Gratefully, it only lasted one day.
Was amazing, mostly because I stayed in my uncle’s house, the company of Jaime and Reena was as comfortable as being in home.
“I wish you could stay with us!” Reena used to tell me. “Now that Arianna went to college, I’m the only woman in the house!”
Their house was located in the suburbs, only a few minutes away from Chicago. It contain three floors, the first one had the laundry and the office of my uncle. In the second floor; the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, and the garden were located. The bedrooms and the bathrooms were in the third and last floor. Their house had a big backyard, I loved to go there in the morning still with my pajamas on and drink hot coffee with my uncle. The amount of marquises was incredible; they were such a funny company!
The smell of the chocolate chips cookies made by my cousin Daniel made me get dizzy, I just wanted to die because of excess of chocolate chips cookies.
Each day was a new adventure, so I could say that I had ten new adventures. Each day we made something different, I didn’t want the days get over, everything happen so soon. I enjoy the time with my uncle; we really are very close to each other. He took me to Navy Pier, an amusement park located near the Michigan Lake. There I took a ride in a big white boat, the wind in my face and the drops of water over me make me enjoy the moment till the end. “You should stay with the monkeys!” My uncle used to tell me between laughter while been in the zoo. We also went to the beach, how could not remember the coldness of the water!
I also enjoy the company of Reena and Daniel; Reena had the best advices of styles while we went shopping, and visiting her parents was awesome. I enjoy my talk with them, how sweet they were! Their house was located in a beautiful neighborhood, surrounded with tall, green trees, which had a lot of nests and birds on it.
Oh! And how I laughed with my cousin Daniel! He had always makes me smile, his jokes and sayings were always funny. I played tennis with him, I really laugh at his madness when he lost, but he took vengeance when he won me on bowling. I won the final jam, winning him on golf. His madness got us laugh a lot!
But after all, going out in the night was the best of all. I enjoy the big lights, but nothing could compare the parties of my uncles. He is a producer, so each night he had to record a party. What a parties!
But definitely, I enjoy the company of my family, and as a famous quote say: “Nowhere is better than home!”
*************************************************************************
