South Africa

Hey bloggers! I'll start my post showing you a fantastic country located in the southern hemisphere. I think you will know it from the football World Cup won by Spain in 2010! The country is really amazing. You can see big advanced cities such as Johannesburg or Cape Town, and then have a rest and enjoy the nature and wild animals that are impossible to see in our country. You can go on very exciting safaris for around twelve hours in the sabanah and see the Big Five (lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and hippo) in their natural habitat, as a result, you can see their way of life.

 Firstly, I'll speak about the origin of the country, its development. The Portuguese were to discover it when they were travelling to America, they found the Cape of Good Hope, located at the southern most part of Africa. The Dutch went there to plant lettuce and tomato, they were white people invading a place inhabited by negroes. They had more authority than them and for that reason, more money as well.

In South Africa there is a great difference between rich people and poor people. Rich people are very rich and poor people are very poor. On the one hand, you can see the big houses of the rich and on the other hand, the suburbs were poor live, of which mainly all of them are negroes. At the beginning there was a lot of discrimination from white to black people, nevertheless, Nelson Mandela has contributed to the disappearence of it and nowadays the fight against racial discrimination is being supported.

The big cities, Cape town and Johannesburg for instance are amazing, they have very beautiful sights, high buildings and have great financial influence and importance. People there in their free time go at night to pubs where most of them have concerts or a small group of people singing while others have dinner or just go there to have a good time.

Safaris are perfect to forget about big cities, noise and to escape from our normal life. They normally take place over a few days from dawn until dusk. You can enjoy them and you will like seeing animals that you have loved since you were young in their own habitat, with their family or individuals of their species.

To sum up, South Africa is a marvellous place where you can find everything that you want, big cities with great influence and importance, and relaxation in a different area surronded by nature, by amazing animals that you have always dreamed to see. It is fantastic, isn't it?

Peruvian cuisine

We know about many important gastronomies like the Italian, Spanish, French or the typical U.S. food but one of the best and unrated gastronomies in the world is Peruvian food and gastronomy. Their food is very ancient and you can find the typical food in each house of Peru, everybody prepares and cooks it and the recipes are transferred from generation to generation, old people teach the youngest to prepare the food.

 

Peruvian food is quite popular because of its colourful appearance and the way they use the spicy products that they add to their food. Peruvian people use a wide variety of ingredients, but the most important ones are the "papa", a type of tuber mainly used all over South America and in particular in Peru; also the "aji", a spicy plant used in Peru and some fruits like the"chirimoya" (custard) and the "locuma".

 

Like in Spain with the excellent 'Spanish omelette' and in France with the not as good 'French omellette' or in Italy with their pasta, in Peru they have some typical and famous dishes like 'cebiche'. In this plate Peruvian people include fish, lemon juice, red onion, salt and aji and they also add shellfish or vegetables to it. Another special dish is roast chicken, you will never eat such a good roast chicken as in this country

A little bit of polemic: Green with envy!

“There is something I don't understand…I think that because I am rich, handsome and a great player people are envious of me… I don't have any other explanation".

These are the words that Cristiano Ronaldo said after playing against Dinamo Zagreb. Real Madrid won 1-0 in the first football match of the Champions League in 2011. Throughout the match CR was booed and whistled at. What is more, he received several kicks, one of which caused him to have three stitches on his right ankle.

Did CR act in the proper way? Is it good to always tell the truth? 

From my point of view he did the right thing. However, he might have used other, more polite words. It is undeniable that he is rich, handsome and a great player. Nevertheless, declaring ithimself is not elegant. Actually, there are others who could have said it (such as his coach José Mourinho). CR said he was also angry due to his lack of protection from referees:"I hope we never have this referee again. People talk of fair-play, of protecting good players, but I never get any of that.I'm sad because I hear referees saying they will protect skillful players, but while some are untouchable it seems I can be mauled”. Ronaldo complained about the referee SveinOddvar Moen who sent Marcelo offdue to some irrelevant acts. However, he allowed hard tackles and didn’t punish them. 

Since football was invented, it has always been a reason for debate. Moreover, in the last few years not only have matches been commented on but also football players, coaches, chairmen… Actually, the ones that are criticized the most are those who keep everything aboveboard. In contrast, those who talk in a general way, without referring to themselves (Messi, Guardiola…) are liked by most people. I prefer the ones that say what they feel, those who don’t care about what other people will say about them.

Here I leave you two links to the videos where Cristiano Ronaldo talks with TV presenters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lb77UkvxbE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=kvuM7b9GAD0&NR=1

DON’T THINK, JUST SHOOT!

“Lomography is an analog camera movement and community, and is also a commercial trademark of Lomographische AG.”
Summarizing, lomography consists of taking photos with a special camera which creates special effects, such as producing a gamma error, a saturating of the colors or the appearance of frames.

It appeared in the 80’s in Russia, when a general decided to copy a Japanese camera for the Soviets. But it was in the 90’s when two students bought two of these cameras in Prague and started shooting without looking through the viewfinder. When they developed the photographies, they discovered that the photos were out of focus, brilliant, saturated and fresh, which transmitted vitality. After this, they decided to create a business.

Some years later, lomographic exhibitions and associations of lomography fans were created. At the end of the century, a website and international conferences were created. By this time, lomography had become important in the photography world.

In the year 2005 the manufacturer decided to stop producing these cameras because it was very expensive: the LC-A cameras became LC-A+ produced by China. These new cameras have a different lens, and there are 7 different models.

 

 The Lomo cameras are different because of their lens: it’s characterized because it intensifies the colours, especially at the centre of the photo, so it creates a tunnel effect. The excessive exposition created in the photos can be in automatic mode or manual. You can even create movement effects! Thanks to its rudimentary focus, the photos are out of focus but, at the same time, very artistic.

So, if you ever buy this kind of camera, remember its philosophy: Don’t think, just shoot!