Lately, we've heard the bad news about Syria. It is a country in the Middle East that is now suffering an internal war. The worst thing is that not only they have an internal conflict, but diplomatics and important people from other counties are making pressure over the president to stop what he is doing.

We know already that all this internal conflict they have is about politics, but this has already went too far. In my opinion, is not fair at all that innocent people is dying because of unfair causes. The Syria situation right now is very dangerous, not only because The United States has intervened, but because the own president of Syria has been using chemical weapons to attack his own land! When the attack was held, around 1400 people died. From those, about 400 were kids. It amazes me to see that the own president attack his people. What I didn't like was that the United States got into the situation without having any right to do so. 

The United States has been presenting all kinds of threats to the president of Syria, which only caused more rage from him to the U.S.A.. I honestly think that the United States does not have to do anything in this situation, this is something that just Syria as a whole has to solve, not with the influence of other people. What worried me the most was hearing the news and listening that the United States threatened with attacking Syria with his army... this was something that really shocked me because this only represents a bigger conflict, which can led to a war, and also represents the death of more innocent people.

I know that the rest of the world's countries have been trying to have a dialogue with the President of the nation because they want to make the human rights possible; I think that is totally right. What is not right is just getting involved in a determined situation without knowing what is really happening and just throwing threats to stop something. Things don't work like that.

Fortunately, the president of Syria agreed to stop the chemical attacks to his people. He only did it because he received a "very convincing and tempting" offer from Russia, not because of the threats he receives from Obama. In there, you can clearly see that talking makes things better, it can led problems to a solution and talking always offers us the opportunity to know someone else's point of view.

Besides all, I think respect should be the number one key to solve issues. Why? Because we need to listen first, analyze, and respect other people's opinion before giving out ours. And the dialogue is a fundamental thing to solve problems too. So I think that the U.S.A should step out of the situation and start worrying more about their issues before trying to make something dumb that will cost the lives of thousands of innocent people.

Everyday, if you take a look in the newspaper. T.V., radio and other media you can find great quantity of bad news. Most of them are about violence, corruption and negative aspects of education, health and other topics.

Unfortunately, in our country, people get used to bad news because the media only focuses on transmitting bad or negative news instead of good and positive news. This might happen because we live in a country of poverty and slow development in which we tend to see only the bad side of things. People in Guatemala are so used to these kind of news that when they hear or see good news, they are not even surprised!

In our opinion, we think that the media should publish or broadcast more positive news. By doing this, people can open their eyes and that Guatemala has more to offer than just negative things. In consequence, people people would get used to good news, so when they see bad news they will want to do something to change the issue.

We also think that the government does not help to make any change in the country for people's needs because they are more focused on getting rich. So these bad decisions and actions get the media's attention and all they want to publish are these bad actions and decisions that were made instead of the good actions and decisions they make for Guatemala.

Lately, we can see that guatemalan sports occupy the first in Central America, Guatemala's tourism is one of the highest in Central America as well and we can also see that the communications ministry is worried about building new roads... the media should publish these type of news more often to let people see that we -as a country- have more potential that we normally think we have; we tend to underestimate Guatemala.

Getting used to good news will be a slow process, but it will be worth it. Changing the people's point of view about the country will create a positive effect because they will not only see the good in Guatemala, but everywhere and in any situation.

So in the end, publishing good news will make a radical change in people's way of thinking. They will have more hope in the country's development and they will see that Guatemala has more to offer.

We had an activity in history class that was about making ancient pottery; I have always been the type of person that likes when things have a meaning behind them. So I took advantage of the activity and I gave a special meaning to mine. I chose a Mousterian-like pottery.  

I made a woman inside a seashell, an oyster to be more specific. This woman is fat, has big breasts, and she is also pregnant. I made this woman to represent beauty and fertility according to the mousterian culture. Mousterians thought that a woman with big breasts, fat and with a big stomach (that in my case represented a pregnancy) represented what a every woman should be like. The big breasts represent fertility, the fat in her body means abundance and her hands in her pregnancy-bump represent the capacity women should have to take care of her children and also her family. 

I chose this because I found it very interesting to compare yesterday's opinion of beauty to nowadays beauty stereotypes. First because it has a lot of characteristics that the majority of men today, would find ugly in any woman, so it helps me to make people realize that beauty is relative and nobody has the same perspective that we have according to beauty.

Cooking or eating out? This is a question that most of us ask ourselves at our lunch times or any meal... Maybe because we do not have enough time to cook, we think we are spending less money or just because we do not know what to choose. But the real question is, which one is better for us and our body? Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and analyzing both before making a decision can be crucial for your health...

The majority of people work, are busy most of the time and they really do not have time to cook their meals, so they end up eating fast food. Fast food can be defined as any type of food that can be acquired quickly and cheaply, usually when people are on the go or need something to eat quickly. That is why most people choose this type of food when they go out of work for lunch or do not have that much time to cook because they are always in a hurry. But, let's think, is eating fast food good for our bodies and wallets? Fast food can be cheaper, faster and most of times with a good taste... but it actually has a lot of negative effects in our bodies and even if you do not believe it, in our economy as well. Doctors and scientists have made some research about the side effects of fast food, and there are five that caught my attention a lot. The first one is that eating fast food produces headaches, because the processed meat restaurants use in fast food contain nitrates, nitrites, artificial sweeteners and monosodium glutamate which increase blood flow and can trigger a severe migraine attack. The second one is the collection of trans fat; the processed food these fast food restaurants use is loaded with trans fat, which increases the bad cholesterol and lower the good one. The third one is that fast foods can cause depression because they do not contain antioxidants, foliate and omega 3's which are necessary for a good mental health; instead, they contain preservatives, emulsifiers thickeners, stabilizers and flavor enhancers which can affect the mental well being of any person.  The fourth one is that fast foods can cause sexual dysfunction; it affects the physical, mental and sexual health because the fatty acids in fast food can trigger biochemical changes which affect the libido, sperm count, and also female ovulation. The last and most-known effect: weight gain. The high levels of trans fat and calories in fast foods lead to accumulation of abdominal fat and even insulin resistance, which is an early indicator of diabetes. And obesity can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart problems, hyper tension, blocked arteries, increase of cholesterol (as mentioned before), malnutrition, loss of muscular mass, and of course depression too. This are just health issues of fast food. But also our economy suffer with eating out because you end up spending more money.  

Now, cooking at home can take more time, it can turn a little bit messy and it might be complicated or frustrating if you are not used to do it. But in reality, cooking at home has a lot more benefits than eating out. The  best benefits are that it is way more cheaper than eating out, so you save money; you know what you are getting into your body because you bought everything and you know it is exactly what you wanted; you can spend time with your family cooking as a group, so you encourage unity and love; accommodating a special diet can be much easier, because you can avoid temptations; you can control the size of your portions, you can live a healthier lifestyle, you will lower your health care costs because you will not have the problems you probably would if you ate out, you increase your energy, because since you are eating healthier foods you are more likely to be more active; and have more energy compared to a sedentary and fast food eating lifestyle. Most people think you need chef skills to cook at home...This is totally a myth. You DO NOT. There are so many simple and good recipes that you can make on cooking books and internet, and you do not need that much time to make them. So, cooking at home can be a good experience with family, friends and even yourself. So, cooking at home makes you live healthier and can even make you save money.

In my opinion, I prefer eating at home. I have always been a woman that likes to dedicate time to cooking for myself and the people I love. So, I rather eat at home, make my own dishes, try new things, and as I try new things, I improve my cooking skills. To me, cooking at home is more than eating healthy, it is a joyful experience to share with the ones I love. Of course health takes a major place to me and my family when it comes to food. For example, we only cook with olive oil, we like to use organic products, we like to make our own sauces, etc. I think everyone can learn to cook, all it takes is dedication and time. I would totally recommend men and women to learn how to cook. You can make it even via internet! You can easily enter to YouTube and search videos of cooking recipes for beginners and there you will find such a wide variety with very easy steps. Or, if you think watching videos can be boring and you want to try by yourself, you can do the same in Google. You just search cooking recipes for beginners and there you go! With time, you can increase the difficulty and try new things. I promise it will be a very joyful experience. :)

In the end, eating out and cooking at home have positive things and negative things. But if all you want to do is take care of yourself, I recommend you to eat at home, cook your own meals and live a healthy life. Take care of your body, you only have one. It deserves the best. Are you willing to take the risk and start cooking instead of buying fast food?  

Fast food

Obesity VERSUS

Cooking at Home

Healthy Body