Michelle Obama ( By Margot , 2ºA-NB )

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is the first lady of the Unated States and the wife of the forty-fourth president, Barack Obama, and she is the first African American First Lady.
She was born and grew up in the South of Chicago and graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. When She finished her education, She started to work for Sidley Austin, a Law firm where she met Barack Obama after his election for the U.S. Senate.
After this. she worked helping young people and women to live in comunity for the University of Chicago medical center.
Michelle Obama has a brother, a basketball coach. They grew up in the South of Chicago with their parents. Her father was a pump operator of the Chicago water Department and although he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis he hardly ever missed a day of work.Her mother stayed at home looking after their children.
Her paternal great-great grandfather, Jim Robinson, was an American slave in the state of South Carolina and her great grandfater worked with his only hand making and selling shoes.
Michelle and Barak Obama have two daughters: Malia, aged 10 and Shara, aged 7, who were born in Chicago.
I think Michelle Obama is an inteligent, smart , brave, hardworking woman and American people will do better with Obama's couple.
This is just an opinion, of course.

A Holiday in León ( By Guty,1ºA-NB )

I went to Leon last August with my girlfriend.
We went to Leon by bus. We stayed in a big hotel in the centre of the city.
The hotel was very nice. We could see a very beautiful park in front of our window.

During the day we walked around the city. We took a lot of photos.
We visited the Cathedral. It was very big and we couldn't see it because it was closed. At night we went to a restaurant and then we had some drinks.
Leon is very beautiful but it was very hot.

Andres's Easter Holidays (1ºA-NB)

Last Easter I went on holiday with my wife. We travelled in our car.

We planned a trip visiting several places,. First ,we visited Pamplona, walked along its streets and The places where the "Encierro" (Running) takes place during its famous "Fiestas de San Fermín" (Saint Fermin's Festival). We also saw its "Plaza de Toros".

We visited "Monasterio de Leyre" (Leyre's Monastery) and "Castillo de Javier" (Javier's Castle).
Then we left for Sos del Rey Católico, a village in the province of Zaragoza, where the "Rey Fernando el Católico" (King Ferdinand the Catholic) was born. It's a charming place, with nice streets, houses and picturesque views.




We stayed for several days in Boltaña, a village in the province of Huesca, in the Pyrenees, in a nice and cozy hotel.


While we stayed there we visited several places in the area: "Parque de Ordesa" (Ordesa's Park) and Monte Perdido, and very nice villages: Ainsa, Bielsa, Plan (famous for being the first places which received a "Caravan of women") .We also went to Gistain (said the highest village in the Aragonese Pyrennes), Torreciudad (a shrine built by Jose MªEscribá, the founder of Opus Dei) and Barbastro (the land of "D.O.Somontano",the famous wine).

Finally we moved to La Almunia de Doña Godina, a town in the province of Zaragoza, where my sister lives, and visited the Easter processions in Calatayud, but because of the bad weather almost all of them were cancelled.



During the ten days trip, the weather was not very good, the first days we had good weather, but the last days it was very bad, and we saw snow.

However, the trip was worth it......

Silver Spinning Top for ESL Bloggers

I'm delighted to tell you that our blog has been awarded a prize in the third edition of Premio Espiral Edublogs.09 .
This prize, which has made me extremely happy, belongs to my students as much as it belongs to me, for they have contributed with their posts, comments and suggestions to make this blogging adventure such a satisfying experience.
ESL Bloggers was born in July 2008 and our journey in the blogosphere has only started, so this prize has encouraged us to go on with even more enthusiasm.
I am most thankful to "Asociación Espiral" and to all the people who have made this blog possible with their contributions, encouragement and support.

A Visit to Sorolla Museum ( By Chema, 1ºA-NB)

On Saturday, March 14th, I visited Sorolla Museum

In March I went to Madrid to see my son. I did a lot of shopping but I also took the opportunity to visit the house museum or Sorolla, "the painter of light." It was easy to go by bus. I got off at “Glorieta de Emilio Castelar” and from there I went to number 37 “Paseo General Martínez Campos”.


When you enter, you find a beautiful garden inspired by Andalusia, with large plants and some fountains. At the semi-basement there are varieties of pottery, which Sorolla collected, and the only sculpture portraying his wife, Clotilde. The entrance to the museum-house is not through the main door, but by a side door that gives access to a chain of rooms:

Room I) Biography and introduction to his painting.
II) The release and pictures of beach scenes.
III) workplaces where there are great portraits, beach scenes, gardens, as well as furniture, containers, utensils, paint resting place .. and a selection of sketches of his painting in three phases: initiation, development and consolidation.

Then you find the hall of the house, where the parlour, dining room and stairs leading to the first floor are. Here we find furniture, desks, cabinets, sculptures, vases of various styles and locations, as well as tables that dominate nature, the sea and characters, full of light.

On the upper floor rooms you can visit rooms IV-VII where you can find an exhibition of the most of the most characteristic items (portraits, gardens, typical environments ,..). The original Museum of Joaquin Sorolla Bastida (1863-1923) retains the atmosphere of the house and the workshop or work area, where the bulk of his collection and collections of sculptures, furniture, jewellery, textiles, and so Special Spanish pottery, mainly from Valencia and Aragon. I you pay it a visit , you won’t regret it. It’s worth it.

Links:
http://museosorolla.mcu.es/historia.htm
http://pemgila.blogspot.com/2005/11/joaquin-sorolla-y-bastida.html
http://www.estadistica.net/Masoneria/sorolla.html

March in Norway (By Reyes-1ºA-NB)

I know Oslo in summer and I like it very much, but Oslo in winter is beautiful.

I stayed in Norway for ten days and the countryside was surprising : the houses covered with snow, the trees, the frozen lakes etc.

Norwegian houses have many colours. People go to skiing around frozen lakes and go skating on the frozen surface.

At night, all the houses have their lights on and their windows don't have curtains, because daylight is very important for them.

Everybody speaks two languages, English and Norwegian.
In Oslo, the shops open at 9'00 am and they close at 5'00 pm. They don't close for lunch. Norway' s currency is Norwegian Krone.

Pilar' s holidays in Lanzarote (1ºA-NB)

I went to lanzarote last July. I travelled alone. I flew to lanzarote with Iberia Airways.
I stayed for two weeks in my brother’s house. His house is in Playa Honda. It is very near the beach.
We went to the beach by bike every day. We visited wonderful places like Timanfaya National Park, Jameos del Agua, Teguise, Puerto Calero, Famara, Nazaret, Puerto del Carmen, Femes, Playa Blanca, etc.
My favorite place was Timanfaya National Park, because it is an amazing place!
We walked around the town. We took a lot of photos and we bought a lot of souvenirs.
At night we went to restaurants and ate typical food from Lanzarote, then we went out with friends and had a drink.
We had a great time. Lanzarote is very hot, but it is very beautiful too.