Twelfth day - Tuesday 24th, 2019

           My classmates made some interesting remarks during the forum's second part about "Notes from the Underground". Everything started normal. The groups gave a summary on their chapter and asked an open question related to it. I sincerely do not remember what chapter it was (and do not want to look at it since I am kind of lazy) but, what I do recall is a discussion on how important it was to know someone else's background before becoming either friends or couple. For some of them, to have knowledge of this new acquaintance or pretender was quite relevant; in fact, in my opinion, even though we have to be friendly with new people, we need to be cautious who we deal with. This does not mean to mistrusts every single human being (if we do, we are prone to be alone forever), but to be alert on who could harm us (either physically or psychologically) in the future. If we see bad signs in the beginning, we better not culture a relationship, so to avoid problems in the time to come. We have just to check what has happened to many women in our country (feminicides for instance) to have a glance in this situation. On the other hand, one classmate uphold the no need to enquire into other people's past. He said he had met gang members with whom, in the end, he got along well. I understood his point of view; nevertheless, it would be not easy (at least for me) to befriend people who probably have damaged or intimidated others (it gets harder when referring to these groups). Mmmm, while writing this, I question myself if this would not be a double-moral issue since no one on earth is a complete saint (excepting babies). As a half-conclusion, I can say that according to what I heard and my beliefs, we need to be aware that not all people cares about our welfare, and we have to be sensitive on who we share our life with; finally, we can accept as a couple or friend someone with a dark past, but knowing the risks.  

  

Eleventh Day- Friday, September 20th, 2019

No classes!!

Tenth day - Tuesday 17th, 2019

   Today, we had a mini forum about Dostoevsky's book "Notes from the Underground". First, we received a Facebook notification from Mr. Rodriguez. It said we had to work in groups of two to three members according to the list order. My colleagues were Jennifer and Daniel, and the chapter we were assigned was from the second part, specifically number 9. This chapter was revealing, since the Underground Man explained what he really felt inside the first time he met Liza. Second, we were asked to organize with our group members as you can see in the picture. Some classmates had the opportunity to share what they had summarized from their chapters and ask a question to the whole class. In the end, we did not complete the activity, but we had to post our points of view in the course's Facebook page.

 

Ninth day - Friday, September 13th , 2019

     Had you ever heard about utilitarianism before attending this course? I had never, until this Friday. To start the class, the teacher wrote some questions to be discussed. They were related to our memoirs; the society and how comfortable we felt inside it; the last one was morality (also implied within society). Later, Mr. Rodríguez explained the reason why he proposed these questions. He linked them with the story we are supposed to be reading: Letters from the underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Furthermore, this new concept "utilitarianism" was introduced. Maybe I am going to be mistaken, but I remember it was something about doing what you love doing without caring of others viewpoints; however, one colleague added that these actions must not harm anyone; in that case, they are allowed. I think it was an interesting class. Then, we read the handout. It was an explanation of Mr. Dostoevsky's ideas on life in XIX century Russia, and their influence in "modernism". To finish, we were asked to continue reading the book and be prepared to a mini forum we will make. 

Eighth day- Tuesday, September 10th, 2019

This was a really funny day. We told our stories! Some people did a wonderful performance. In fact, I remember one lady's imitating a hen, just marvelous the way she did it. Another guy, from the same group was very excited; he told his part with feeling and emotion.. About, my group... what can I say? Well, it seemed to me we had the shortest of all other stories. I tried, although I must admit, my participation lacked a lot of elements to be considered decent. Moreover, I was scared, since I saw almost all my classmates had memorized their texts. In the end, I thanked the heavens this exercice was not assessed.

Seventh Day - Friday, September 7th, 2019

          This Friday, we had an introduction to poetry. First of all, we were supposed to begin with an oral presentation concerning "storytelling"; however, many of our classmates did not attend classes, so teacher Orlando started to talk about poetry. Some points were discussed: what kind of poets we would be, the purpose of poetry, the requirements to write poetry, and what is needed to recite a poem. The second activity consisted in listening some music; while doing so, we had to jot some aspects like the stylistic devices, the feelings and emotions and if there were narrative features in the songs. I must admit I did not like them, but there it was a good exercise. In the end, it was decided to present the storytelling for next Tuesday. 

Sixth Day - Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019

        Storytelling was today's topic; it was... spooky. At around 4:00 p.m., teacher Rolando sent some instructions to work in before his arrival (you will see Fabiola giving them). So... we gathered and talked a little bit about our performance. Then, in class, we refreshed some Salvadoran's Myths and Legends; we mentioned: "La Siguanaba, El Cipitío, La Carreta Chillona, El Padre Sin Cabeza, El Cadejo" and so on... After that, we saw a video, it was titled "Resurrection Mary"; moreover, we listened to an audio about the same legend with some modifications. My conclusion was that we all have similar legends in the continent, specially in the Mesoamerican region, also, that it is really important to use the most adequate intonation and "expression" to bring a story alive. Finally, we were given a child's book with which we have to practice storytelling (this story has to be adapted to our days), just like the one we listened to; that is our homework for next friday.