Answers to Tatiana and Federico

1- How far are you from the Amazon?

I am a bit far from the Amazon, because it is in the North, and I live in the Center, closer to the south. Come to think of it, I've never visited the north of the country, and I would really like to visit it someday. I would also like to visit your country, and see all you've mentioned in your blog.


2- How does your government fight pollution?

In Brazil we have stations to do the water treatment, which is very important for the country. The government does recycling activities as well. When we are talking about pollution, I think it's important that the government tries to do everything to avoid it, but then it's also true that people should worry about it, and do whatever they can to help the environment.


3- How do you celebrate carnival?

Well, carnival it's one of the most popular brazilian parties, and it is celebrated with big, different parties all over the country. In my city, there are places you go to celebrate carnival, where you will listen to music related to carnival, including a few old songs people use to dance when this holiday began to get popular.


Well, I hope you have learned a bit more about Brazil. Take care.

Answers to Irene and Diego

3-Would you like to visit our country? Why? Why not?

Yes, because I think Argentina is a great country. My parents have been there four times and they loved it, they talked so well about Argentina that it really made my mind about visiting it. They were celebrating their wedding anniversary and they found Buenos Aires perfect for the occasion, especially the tango apresentations.

4- what can you tell about crime and insecurity in your country?

In some parts of the country it's a really complex problem. The security isn't so good in the outskirts of the big towns, so assaults and thiefts are common. but in the most part of the country, the security is good, and we hardly ever have problems with these things.

Raphael and Lucas

To Irene and Diego

1. When you go out with friends, what do you usually do?

We don't have many options in the city we live, so we always go to the same places. More than everything, we like to go to discos or parties in general. Also, we like to go to the movies or to restaurants. :)


2. What kinds of music is it played in discos nowadays?

We have different kinds of discos here, but most of them play the same styles. The most common kinds of music are eletronic music and funk, a very popular hit in Brazil. But if you want, you can find rock shows and whatever. ;)

Thaís and Luciana

Answers (to Matías, Narella and Macarena)

1. What are the most beautiful and important beaches in your country?

We think Copacabana's and Ipanema's beaches are the most important and famous beaches around here.

2. What do you usually do after school?

Most of us have extracurricular activities after school, so we're usually busy with that (like English courses).

3. What is public education like?

Public education in Brazil is not good, because the investments in education are insufficient. All the money goes to the politicians.

4. How do you celebrate Christmas in Brazil?

We buy presents to friends and family and spend quality time with them.

5. Where is your city located in Brazil?

It's located in the middle of our country. It's called Brasilia.

Awnsers to Mariana A., Sheila and Mayara

Hey!
We were glad to hear from you and your country. Also to know that you have the curiosity to visit our country, which would be great. Here are your awnsers:

1. Who is your favorite football player? Do you practice any sports? If not, do you have physical education at school?
We don't have a favorite favorite football player, we like everybody. None of us practice any sports, but we do have P.E at school.

2. When is "student's day" in Brazil? How do you celebrate it?
The student's day in Brazil is on August 11th, and ironicly, or not, we celebrate it at school.

3. What do you do in your free time?
Normaly, when we have a free time, we wacth TV, go to the movies with friends, go to parties and sleep, a lot!

4. How do you celebrate Easter in your country?
We eat chocolate eggs, we gather the family on Sunday for lunch.

Gabriela, Luciana Dantas, Larissa and André

Memorable Friend

The human being has a natural necessity to keep social bonds with people around them. The best example of a relationship between two people is a friendship. It is often thought that no one could ever live without having a friend, because, in this capitalist world, to trust someone is something that has to be well thought. When I was ten years old, I had a terrible fight with one of my best friends at that time; therefore, I started to meet other people and try to make new friendships. However, during this time, I met Fernanda, who was unlike everyone I had ever been friend before. That aroused my interest about her and we started to spend more time together. Since then, our friendship has just grown fonder and now we are best friends.

In the beginning, I thought my friendship with Fernanda wasn’t going to last a long time, because we had very different interests and our lifestyle didn’t match. She liked to wear flamboyant clothes, while I preferred the more common ones. Furthermore, we liked different kinds of music: while I enjoyed Rouge, Kelly Clarkson, Capital Inicial; she liked Beethoven, Mozart and classical music in general. However, as time passed by, we realized that we also had many mutual interests: we liked pink, going shopping, eating chocolate, reading books.

In spite of having had other memorable friendships, this one has been the most special I have ever had. I used to tell many secrets to my previous friends, but this was the first time I heard somebody’s secrets too. Fernanda and I also had many adventures together like when we tried to make our own lunch by cooking rice, beans and frying steaks. We just did a big mess in the kitchen, but it was very funny. Moreover, we love gossiping about other people, how their personalities are, the way they talk, their clothes. However, the biggest reason why this friendship is so special is because we are very sincere to each other. This sincerity sometimes hurts one of us and makes us fight, but, when we get over the crisis, our friendship has become stronger than before.

Every experience people have in life teaches them important lessons. Being friends with Fernanda made me realize that it doesn’t matter the other people’s opinion about you, you must always be yourself. Moreover, our different lifestyles made us be more mature and changed the way we saw the world. Nowadays we are so close to each other that we think we will never separate from one another. We have already made plans to travel the whole world together and maybe buy an apartment to live without our parents when we turn eighteen. However, the future is always a mystery, all I know is that Amir Klink couldn’t be more right when he said that the ones who have a friend, even if just one, it doesn’t matter where they are, will never be alone.

Bárbara Fernandes Maranhão

4B

Second Composition: Friendship

The first time I saw Carlos Henrique, or Caíque for the friends, was about three or four years ago. We used to play basketball together at our old school, “Santo Antônio”, but we didn’t have a long talk due to the fact of being two years younger than he. Fortunately, we have changed to the same school, Galois, him in the first year of High School and me in the seventh grade. In fact, we only became friends in the beginning of this year, at SINUS, a kind of United Nations Simulation organized by UnB students, when we started to talk about politics, international issues, law and ideologies. Currently, the topics we are used to talking are about University courses, because he is in the third year of high school, the Honduras issue and Supreme Court decisions.

Despite the two years old of difference between us, we have a lot of mutual interests, probably because we are compatible, we both like UN Simulations, law, basketball and, mainly, we like a lot to discuss, to controvert other people’s ideas. Nonetheless, we disagree with each other in some topics; I am against social projects, it hides social problems, but he participates in Galois’ projects. Furthermore, I am against abortion, Brazil is officially a non-religion country, we must not follow Christianity ideas, but he says it is against the Constitution principles; however, it is not written in the Constitution.

Caíque has been more than a friend for me, he has helped me in some troubles and undecisive moments I had. Usually, he has very good ideas and he thinks very fast and we have also made an ideology based on our point of view about some world problem. Basicaly, it is very simple compared to the magnitude of the problems, but it is very pleasurable to discuss. Together, we realized that the UnB International Relations course, even though being the best in Brazil, is not complete or enough to prepare us to this area, so he decided to study Law at UnB.

Nowadays I have made a lot of decisions based on our conversations and our debates and I have decided, for example, that I’m going to study Law too. Maybe we will lose contact, unfortunately, because he is going to University and I won’t see him at the breaks in School. However, I would like to find other people to discuss, to debate, so I won’t lose the pleasure of contrasting ideas.

Guilherme Silva Chacon
4B

Disney

My first trip abroad was to Disney two years ago. This trip was my fifteenth birthday present, the best present I have ever gotten. It was the first time I traveled without my family, so in this sense it was a little strange, but special as well. My friends and I went with a tourism group. Not only were our guides very cute and thoughtful, but also very responsible. We just loved them.

We visited many amusement parks and malls there. We bought many things, took many pictures and met some new people. We had many things to do there, so we couldn’t even sleep at night. We used to sleep on the buses when we were going to the parks.

I have had the dream of going to Disney since I was a child. My friends and I were so eager to travel that we started to pack our suitcases in January and we just traveled in July. We arranged all the clothes we would take with us. Even so, we just wore our bikinis and shorts because it was summer there.

The trip was better than what I could imagine. People say that Disney is the place where dreams come true, and I agree. I have been very happy since I came back. If I could choose somewhere to visit, I would choose to visit Disney again, but now I would like to go with my brother because he loves Disney too. I hope I can go there many more times.

BFF.

The first time that I met Camila was on our first day of school in 2007, we were both in 7th grade. I remember that she praised my bag, but the first impression that I had of her was that she was that kind of girl that cares just about the appearance. Nonetheless, time passed and we had the chance to get to know each other. I started talking to her about all the things and then I realized that Camila was one of the most important and nicest people that I have ever met in all my life.

One of the most important days that we had together was on our last day of
school in 2007, when I invited her to go to my house and sleep there. Since that day, our friendship is getting stronger and stronger. We are not very different and not very similar.
However, we have many different points of view, but I believe that this is one of the reasons that has made her one of my best friends. Camila likes parties, dancing, eating, surfing the web, listening to pop music, meeting her friends, while I’m more interested in country music, in books … In fact, to be honest, we have many things in common. But what really makes us enjoy is our company to each other.

I really want to thank Camila for being one person that is always with me. She is
always listening to me and making me laugh and I know that I can count on her. When I
look at my friendship with Camila, I wonder how many people I’ve known whom I
have disliked just because of the appearance that they showed. Since this, I have begun
to have more determined effort to find friends without seeing what they just look like.
My friendship with Camila represents a lot to me. She has taught me many good
things that I can never forget. But I know that the first time I saw Camila, I only saw a
material girl, but after some time, I realized that she became a great friend. So, I would
like to thank her for teaching good things that will be in my memory until the last day of
my life.

My first day at school

My first day at school was unforgettable. I woke up early that day. I was five years old and I remember feeling very exciting and scared at the same time.

When I arrived at Marista, my classmates came running up and asked my name. However, the teacher didn't let me answer, so I entered in the classroom and my teacher told me to sit on the first chair, which was the best thing that has ever happened to me. Because of this, I met Jéssika and we are best friends until today.

During the break I was very happy to eat with my new friends. After that, my teacher told us stories and showed us pictures. When the bell rang, I was sad because I had to leave my friends, but I knew that I could come back on the next day.

Well, I thank God for having met Jéssika on my first day at school. My impressions were all good positive about that day. It remains fresh in my mind and will remain forever.