Constanza Giacomelli. De Canadá a un pueblo de Córdoba…

They say that everything in life happens for a reason, although we cannot seem to understand why until much much later.

The day I turned 14, my world collapsed on me and I could not do anything about it.  My parents went through a devastating crisis, my mother got sick with a horrible big depression, and all led to a very painful divorce for all of us.

Mum and I went to live with my aunt and uncle, leaving everything behind us… and this happened more than once, when we moved back and forth the endless times my parents tried to make things work.  But at the end, despite all efforts, it was impossible.

Each one of those times I moved leaving something dear to me behind, such as my drums, my basketball practices, and more importantly my dear cat, Snow.  In one of the trips I lost my beautiful and shy cat, breaking my heart in pieces.  But I still had Smokey, my other adored grey, lazy furball, Smokey.

And after living a very easy and comfortable life, having almost everything I wanted, all I could do to ease my pain then was to sing.  I was singing in the shower, in the car on my way to school, in the basement of the house or simply in the backyard, where I would look for refuge to avoid listening to fights and problems.  And it always seemed to work.  As soon as I started singing, I could feel relief and my pain would go away mitigating my sadness and my fears.

Life went on and so did our problems and pain.  The situation seemed to get worse by the day, and I was terribly lonely and scared, but during all this time I could not bear to trouble my family and make them more worried or burden them with my feelings and problems.  The most logical thing would have been to socialize with my friends.  But during all those difficult times, they all avoided me, and never once invited me or included me in their plans the way they used to up until the crisis hit my family, afraid I would bring my problems to them. Nothing was further from the truth.  All I wanted desperately was to have a blast with them and forget everything for a few hours in their company.

And I kept singing.

Things only became more difficult when my mother decided to live in Spain, where she would publish her books and find peace for the two of us.  The idea seemed awful to me. The small town where mum wanted to live, without a mall or a movie theatre but with plenty of churches and processions almost every week, was very boring and old fashion to me.  We headed back to Montreal giving up the project and the dreams of my mum.   But once I was back to my friend’s indifference with temperatures dropping to minus 40 degrees and all the problems arising again, my memories of what I had just seen, in that peaceful little town in Cordoba became a mirage in my desert.  As soon as summer arrived and I finished my school year, we left Montreal, my piano, my friends and my gorgeous Smokey behind.  That’s how we started a life in Spain, in a small rented house in the idyllic heart of la Villa, the artistic, historical and most traditional barrio in town, where everybody seemed to love us instantly.  Strange as it may seem, I never needed my playstation, t.v., or any electronic device, which I replaced very soon with unforgettable moments in the company of all those wonderful friends we made and for the first time in my sixteen years I learned the true values of life.

And I kept singing.

I admit it hasn’t been easy to go to public school in a small town in a language I had never studied before, change my eating habits replacing my cereals with ‘tomate y aceite’ on my toast, and hardest of all spending winter without heating in a house, although very soon I found the pleasure to spend my evenings studying incredibly warm with a brasero under the dining table.

Nevertheless, I decided to make it.  I studied really hard, never cried or complain much, just got up every day and made it work.   I decided to use adversity in the best way I can, and that’s what I keep doing every day.   I’m certain dreams can come true for everyone, no matter how many obstacles we find along the way.

We only have to believe in them.  And work hard.

And I kept singing…

EL 23 de febrero asistimos a una charla que el periodista Gervasio Sánchez daba en el Caixaforum, el objetivo que nos planteábamos era mostrar a nuestros alumnos una de las tristes realidades de las guerras: “La población civil, y sobre todo los niños, son las verdaderas víctimas”. Click here to read more »

In a bilingual-multicultural school, it is not just encouraged to think outside the box; it is required.  One size fits all is never a great solution in education, and even less so in a second language classroom.  Recently Class 1A jumped outside the proverbial box of text books and science experiments in a cooperative learning project about Spring.  The guiding question of our project was “What does “Spring” mean to you?”  First we asked ourselves what words we could use to describe springtime.  We thought of various things:  Playing in the park, rollerblading, the beach, flowers, bugs, butterflies, life, music, happiness, sunshine…Then we thought about how we could show “Spring” in a different way: through art.  We thought of some images that might reflect our idea of spring: flowers, a ladybird, a butterfly, a caterpillar, a rainbow.  Each group chose an image, and decided what media to use in creating that image.  Click here to read more »

Suenan tambores y matasuegras en los pasillos de Primaria… ¡Es Carnaval! Un desfile interminable de disfraces puebla cada rincón del cole. Vemos pequeños elefantes paseando sus orejotas, domadores indómitos y tamborileros inasequibles al desaliento (esto es: jarana y fiesta de lo más ruidosa, como corresponde en estas fechas); en cada rincón encontramos feroces tigres y sonrientes payasos. Vemos también a los mayores cantando y aplaudiendo el desfile, con pèlucas y máscaras hechas por ellos mismos. Una verdadera fiesta que solamente duró un ratito pero fue un ratito intenso y muy muy divertido.

Una vez más encontramos en el fantástico blog de Literatura infantil y juvenil de SM un motivo para acercarnos al mundo de los libros. Esta vez la “excusa” será el inminente Día del padre. Desde la editorial nos proponen un catálogo de lecturas cuya temática gira en torno a la paternidad. No son solamente libros que nos hablen de las relaciones entre padres e hijos, son también lecturas para papás con ganas de aprender y, sobre todo, sugerencias de lecturas para compartir y leer en familia. Os dejamos el enlace para que no os perdáis esta colección de libros para todas las edades.

Una vez 3ºE salió del colegio Brains para ir de excursión a Cuétara. En el autobús íbamos viendo Bob Esponja y nos dijeron que el conductor se perdió.
Las niñas: Emma, Elisa, Cristina, Lucía, Berta, Anna y Rocío empezaron a jugar al Toma tomate. Los chicos también empezaron a jugar: Enrique, Guillermo, Marcos, Álvaro y Carlos. Tardamos en llegar una hora y 55 minutos. Todos estábamos impacientes.
Cuando llegamos había muchas sillas con batas y gorros. Carlos se puso el gorro y Patricia le regañó.
Primero entró 3ºC y después nosotros, era una fábrica de galletas. Subimos por un puente y Emma se tropezó pero menos mal que se agarró a Lorenzo. El puente era estrecho y muy largo y no parecía un puente, y desde allí se veía cómo se hacían las galletas. Click here to read more »

Ahora que los ladros perran,
ahora que los cantos gallan,
ahora que, albando la toca,
las altas suenas campanan,

y que los rebuznos burran
y que los gorjeos pájaran,
y que los silbos serenan
y que los gruños marranan,

y que la aurorada rosa
los extensos doros campa,
perlando líquidos viertas
cual yo lágrimo derramas,

yo, fritando de tirito,
si bien el abrasa almada,
vengo a suspirar mis lanzos
ventano de tus debajas.

Tú, en tanto, duerma tranquiles
en tu camada regala,
ingratándote así, burla,
de las amas del que te ansia.

¡Oh, ventánate a tu asoma!
¡Oh, persiane un poco la abra,
y suspire los recibos
que este pecho exhalo amanta!

Ven, endecha las escuchas
en que mi exhala se alma
y que un milicio de músicas
me flauta con su acompaña.

En tinieblo de las medias
de esta madruga oscurada,
ven y haz miradar tus brillas
a fin de angustiar mis calmas.

Estas tus arcas son cejos
con que, flechando disparas,
Cupido pecha mi hiero
y ante tus postras me planta;

tus estrellos son dos ojas,
tus rosos son unas labias,
tus perles son como dientas,
tu palme como una talla;

tu cisno es como el de un cuelle
un garganto tu alabastra,
tus tornos hechos a brazo,
tu reinar como el de una anda.

Y por eso horo a estas vengas
a rejar junto a tus cantas
y a suspirar mis exhalos
ventano de tus debajas.

Así cantaba Calixto
a las ventanas de Carmen,
de Carmen, que, desdeñosa,
ni aun se acuerda de olvidarle….

José Manuel Marroquín (1827-1908)
(fragmento del poema original “La Serenata”)