In the summer of 2018 I went to a beach in the north of France, the beach of Biárritz. I was staying with both my parents and my cousins and their parents. We stayed for 2 weeks in a big hotel which looked like a castle; I remember the delicious breakfasts they served, it was a buffet with lots of bakery, different types of fresh fruit, hot plates such as bacon, sausages, eggs… and many different drinks. Everything tasted delicious! My cousins and I spend the whole day at the beach with my aunt and played in the sand and jumped waves. A couple of weeks before going to the beach we saw in the news that there were appearing some jellyfishes that were endangered in the north of France but we did not think anything about it. We were impressed when, in the last day of our stay I found one of those jellyfishes at the beach and remembered about the news. I told my cousins and we got a big bucket and carefully managed to get the jellyfish in. Then, we got the jellyfish in the sea and left it there. We were so happy that we saved one of those specimens. When we told our parents, at first, they got scared that it may had stung us, but after some time, they realized that we did a great job saving it and took us to a big toy store and bought us some toys. This was one of my best trips ever.
Author: Ana
PW#3 Spooky weekend
Last Friday I got ready for the Halloween dance, I dressed as Super Man. I made a DIY costume; I used a dark blue dress and painted the logo then stuck it to the dress, I used the Brookes P.E. t-shirt as a cape and used red fabric to make red leg warmers. In the dance, I had such a great time, I talked with a lot of new people and made good friends. I partied and danced a lot.
On Saturday, I had a sleepover with my friends and watched a horror movie; later that night we started to hear steps and we got really scared.
On Sunday, I had to sing in the schools Halloween Show. I got ready with my friends in Dalia’s room and we used a glitter spray I bought last week. We were glowing! At 6 p.m. the show started and I sang “Perfect”, “Fuentes the Ortiz”, “House of the Rising Sun” and “We didn’t start the Fire”. I laughed so much and had a great time.
On October 31st, I woke up with the song “Thriller” and danced to the rhythm, once the song finished I got on my phone to see if my friends had texted me and I realized I had put the alarm an hour earlier than I was supposed to. I woke up at 6:40 a.m., danced to “Thriller” and then gone to sleep again. I went to school dressed as Super Man and in the afternoon, I got changed into my princess-angel costume and went out trick or treating. I had so much fun but I got so cold my fingers turned purple and I couldn’t move them.
I liked this Halloween a lot because in Spain we don’t celebrate Halloween as a big party so this was a new experience and I had so much fun.
(IRJE#2) Too Late
His classmate from Spanish class works for her mate and he is trying to help her to get out of the house in which they run parties every night but the consequence to that could be even worse.
Because she’s right. I can’t save her. As much as I want to, we’re both stuck. I can’t ruin something that is so much bigger than just the two of us. I can’t sacrifice what it is I’m here to do for the sake of helping her to leave (P. 85)
I think this is a good quote because sometimes, as much as you want to do something, you con’t. You know doing it would help you, it will make you better, you will be happier, you really want to do it; but your destiny is to not do it. Sometimes it is hard to accept it and move on from the fact that you are not going to do it.
(PR#1) Master and Man
When I first got told we had to read this story I was sad, I did not want to read “Master and Man” because I thought it would be a boring book.
When I started reading it, I realized Vasili was not a good person and started to hate him a bit. He was selfish, and dishonest, and did not think about others at all. For me, his kind of behavior are frustrating and boring, and I don’t like this kind of person.
On the other hand, Nikita was very empathic, honest, and respectful. Most of the time I felt bad for him because he did a lot of things to help Vasili, even if those things didn’t benefit him at all, and Vasili did nothing but lie to him. I also understood how Nikita was feeling because at some points if my life I was like him, I gave everything to someone who did not contribute anything good to me.
I was surprised reading the book because I expected it to be boring but was not. Some parts of the books were hard to read because it goes by very slowly and becomes boring. For me, as it is written in a formal language, numerous words were difficult to understand.
While reading the book I was intrigued by what was going to happen next. I really liked the suspense that was going on throughout most of the story.
The story somehow felt realistic, but some details seemed to be less likely to happen than others, yet they could happen in real life. For example, when Vasili decided to go in the night instead of staying the night, was less likely to happen, he probably would have stayed the night in real life.
I think the story focuses too much on when they were lost in the snow; the main point is that they were lost in the snow in the middle of the night, but it still felt tiring reading a bunch of pages explaining how they were lost. I personally would have liked the story better if that part would have been shorter and less detailed.
When Vasili died, I felt bad, not only for him but also because of his family; even if he was not the best person, he tried to get what made him happy and, in the end, that is the point of living. I felt even worse for Mukhorty because he did not deserve to die, he only was there because Vasili brought him there, he always did what he was asked to, and still, he died.
Even if I feel bad for Vasili dying, I feel happy that he gave his life for Nikita.
I was surprised by the plot when Vasili drastically changes and gives his own life to save Nikita. I never would have expected it and I think that is the most important part of the book.
This story could be considered both realistic and something more like a parable. Even if it is considered a realistic story, it has a teaching behind it. It teaches us that good people are put under difficult circumstances but in the worst times they are helped.
Summer 2023
This summer I went to Mojácar, a town in the south of Spain. It is known for its white houses that often remind people of Greece. The original town is located on a hill but nowadays there is an expansion down the hill next to the Mediterranean Sea. I had never been there, but my friends recommended me to go. This year I had the opportunity to decide whether to go to the same place as other years or somewhere else, and I decided to go to Mojácar. I had such a great time there, my parents and I went to several beaches with transparent water and precious environments, including Playa de los Muertos, Playa del Mónsul, or Playa de Marina de la Torre. The food there was amazing; I mostly ate pasta, pizza, chicken, or beef, but my parents tried many other different things they assured me that they tasted really good. The hotel we stayed at had a big pool where we stayed either in the mornings or in the afternoons. The weather was really hot at first, but once you get used to the 45 degrees at its coolest, it is nice. The sea water was also hot; you could get into the water without even noticing. It was great to stay by the shore reading a book or just looking around. The last day we stayed there my father and I woke up early to go to the beach to watch the sunrise and, even if the sunrise was not the best one I have ever seen, the moment made it super special. Being inside the water, the beautiful views, and the peaceful moment of having a whole beach for yourself created an unforgettable memory. I also visited the Alhambra of Granada which was really beautiful. It was my first time there and I enjoyed it very much. The building was really impressive, but the gardens were what truly impressed me the most. I visited the Mezquita of Córdoba for the second time, but this time I visited it at night and I was even more impressed than the first time. I really recommend visiting it at night; it would be a unique experience you will never forget. I enjoyed this trip a lot.
(IRJE #1) Keep up appearances
Sloan has the necessity to live with Asa, an alcoholic person who parties everyday, because she has nowhere to go.
I have to keep up appearances by acting like I still owe my life to Asa, when in reality, I feel like he’s ruining it. Don’t get me wrong, I do love him.
I love who he could be someday, but I’m also not naïve. (P. 17)
This could be interpreted in different ways for a lot of people and still hold the meaning of having to pretend someone or something is doing what is the best for you when you’re suffering because of that.
My Rome trip
Last year I convinced my family to go to Roma, I was super excited to go. The first day we arrived I was impressed by all the buildings, the food, the nature and the people. I already knew Rome is one of the best cities in the world, but when I got to see it on person it was a lot more beautiful than I expected. As I went in spring, all the trees were the kind of green color that gives a feeling of peace, happiness and serenity all together. There were many flowers I hadn’t seen before, I don’t know if my family name has something to do with it but I love flowers more than anything, seeing all kinds of flowers in their best way, being each one of them more colourful than ever was a shot of serotonin. We visited the Coliseum, Pantheon, many churches, Palatino, Vatican City… and being honest I really cannot decide which one of all the things we saw was my favourite, I can just say that it was the best trip in my whole entire life and I would repeat it a thousand times if possible.
Everything to need to know about me
My name is Ana, I was born on January 20th 2009, in Spain. I live in a town near Madrid. I don’t have any siblings but I do have a rabbit, called Lucas, and two cats, Cabezón and Morroblanco. I have been dancing since I was 3 and I will continue doing it for as long as I can. This is my first year at Brookes and I’m looking forward improving my English skills, make friendships and get better at socializing. I am good at maths and I love everything that has got something to do with astronomy.
I really like reading but I don’t read as much as I would like to because I don’t have enough time. I prefer stories that progress faster so it’s easier to read and does not feel that tiring. I think sometimes larger books tend to get left for the last book to read and finally never gets to be read so I personally choose thinner books over larger ones.
I write a lot, mostly when I’m feeling down. I am not the kind of person who writes stories or someone’s life, I’m the one who puts their feelings into paper as a way of letting those feelings go. My first language is Spanish, but when I write I usually do it in English. One thing I’d like to get better with is writing so that way it would be easier for me to write down my feelings without needing to think about how something is spelled or how to form a sentence.