In my opinion

Chile is an extraordinary place to live and learn.... A distinctive mountain range,  deserts, rivers, lakes, beaches, islands, seas... together with warm people inhabiting every place in our country should lead us to be proud of and take better care of our enviroment, our culture, our history, our surroundings... 

Cóndor

Outlanders enjoy their holidays by doing a countless number of activities that range from skiing on the snowy slopes of Andes' mountains to fishing in rivers or lakes, or surfing the long waves in Pichilemu coast or .... The activities are so varied that I could spend hours describing them in a post like this.

Foreingers certainly want to know how people live in small towns as well as in big cities and they usually feel pleased with the warm welcome of our people.

In my opinion, we have much to do to be really proud of ourselves in relation to our way to communicate with one another and  how we take care of our environment and our belongings. We still have much to learn to love our country, our people, our history, our folklore...

Not long ago, Santiago was chosen as one of the most beautiful cities in America by an international  tourism organization; yet we hardly find information about the origin/history of the names of some places or streets. Did you know that Manquehue comes from "manque" meaning "condor" and "hue" that stands for land or site? That Nuñoa is a native term that means "a placed filled with Ñunos"? I think that we should spread this kind of information via information displays not only in Santiago, but also in other big and small cities and towns with the names of rivers, lakes.... Another example: Curicó comes from "curi", meaning "black" and "co", meaning "water".

As citizens of a big city like Santiago is, we should also take good care of our language, which reflects our way of living and thinking; we should also try to keep places clean, which shows your education... and so on and on...

Chilote's minga

Some years ago, my family and I were spending our summer holidays in Chiloé and I couldn't but feel proud of the historical information that we spontaneously received from a family living there. They told us about their traditions, folklore, cuisine, local attractions as well as their daily life activities and the future of their island... They actually felt proud of themselves.

I would have liked that this experience were commonplace all over our country, ...

In my opinion, globalization, especially via internet, is making us informed citizens and as such we should learn to become better individuals, exhibiting respect to our environment and to one another. There is still much to be learned ...

“Do not Do unto others what you don’t want others Do unto you.”

Confucius

Now, your turn,

 Choose 4-5 of these questions. For each of them , write a 40 - 50 word response describing your personal opinions on the topic.
 Total number of words: aprox. 240
 Leave comments on 3 of your classmates' posts + a comment on my sample post.

What is your opinion about women in the military?
What is your opinion about the Chilean politicians?
What is your opinion about violence on television?
What is your opinion about buying instead of adopting pets?
What is your opinion about having an exotic pet at home?
What is your opinion about legalizing marijuana and other drugs?
What is your opinion about climate change?
What is your opinion about cloning?
What is your opinion about recycling?
What is your opinion about Immigration?
What is your opinion about legalization of abortion in the 3 cases?

Our smart brain and its mysteries

"Everyone walks by him, moving randomly and watching nowhere...images like thieves moving in his mind come and go...perhaps illusions that will fade away any minute..."

In times of loneliness, our imagination is a faithful company. We create our own friends who will be what we want them to be: someone to talk to, to love, to care, to hate, to dismiss, to feel pity on, to play with...

Our smart brain provides the input to satisfy our needs. This situation lasts for some time until someone from the actual world talks to you and you realize your own existence and importance. A smiling face in front of you can take you away from your abstract world and be a good company for a while. But, if you are not in the mood,  you shortly afterwards look through that face and immerse again in your own imaginary world. The smiling face says goodbye and fades away, while you only want to dream away...

Today is an awesome day. Early this morning I realized that the sun shines over me, the sky is bluer, the grass is greener, birds fly and sing, the weather is warmer, people walk and greet me. I smile back and say nice words to everyone along the street. I am in the mood for smiling, talking, touching, watching, feeling. I call a friend to have lunch with... It seems that my brain has shifted from the inner, private space to the outer, common place; perhaps it needs input to enrich its library with information from the outside world.

At noon, I enjoy my lunch, sometimes a brunch, in a cozy cafeteria; a good-looking girl waits on me and brings a dish that seems to be better than earlier ones. By the time I get home, I recall the activities done with a feeling of being in command, in closer contact with the real world.

But I wonder if I was in command of my decisions. Scientists have observed that mental processes occurring in our brain are faster than our (sometimes crucial) thoughts or decisions, e.g., when crossing a street, you jump away from a high-speed car before you realize that you are in danger of being hit by the car, even before thinking of the danger, otherwise you might be dead.

What about lunch, sex, sleep, .... ? Hormones and neurotransmitter cells are in charge of stimulating us to take some actions and others to delay or stop them. Thus, when we have lunch, dopamine is produced in the brain, giving you a sense of pleasure and stimulating you to go on eating. If you have eaten too much, another kind of neurotransmitter counteracts dopamine and you stop eating.

A few neurotransmitter cells

Significant changes occur during childhood, but as teenagers, and later as adults, you feel the urge of touching, kissing, loving the opposite sex. Why? Hormones and neurotransmitters are sending messages to brain cells to trigger the sex drive that will eventually lead to reproduction, and thus preservation of the human species... and here serotonin, another neurotransmitter, keeps you pleased as oxytocin and vassopresin help in creating a stronger bond with your partner.

Adrenaline is another neurotransmitter that plays an important role in our lives. Just an example: if you have been severely injured, this neurotransmitter gives you enough strength to withstand acute pain until help comes and/or pain subsides...

So, if my brain et al. are in charge of most of the living  processes, what decisions can I make?

I want to believe that I make the most important decisions in life, such as the kind of person I want to be, the girl I marry, the healthy dish I should have for lunch, the kind of book I want to read, the places I want to visit, the exercises I want to do to keep fit,  the number of hours I want to sleep,the career I want to study, ... are part of my free will.

And I always will be grateful to the mental processes ocurring in the 1.4 kg brain encased in the skull of my head, which is the major organ of the central nervous system and controls most processes and permits that I enjoy living.

Help our faithful brain et al., by having a healthy diet and doing exercises, preventing stroke and other undesirable illnesses.

Now it's your turn:

What organ(s)/system(s)/substance(s) /sense(s) of the human body is (are) amazing to you. Why.
What role it plays
Where it is located.
What size it has.
What illnesses can alter its normal functioning.
How you can help to keep it healthy.

or

Mental disorders or diseases

Name main characteristics of the mental disorder you are writing about.
Population that is prone to have it. (male, female, kids, old people)
Treatment used to control it.
Impact on work force of the mental disorder you describe.
Impact on family
Impact on society
Add any additional information to find relevant

Total Wordcount: 230 words minimum.
Remember to write a comment on the teacher's post and also to 3 classmates' post.
Remember to write comments on 3 classmates' posts and the teacher´s