Windmill of Gregorio Prieto

Windmill of Gregorio Prieto

Gregorio Prieto (acclaimed local painter) was a true admirer of the most typical Manchegan constructions, our windmills. These were a common theme on all his paintings and exhibitions all over the world (London, Copenhague, New York, etc.) As a result of that passion we have the windmill of Gregorio Prieto, built during the fifties, the largest windmill in the world. It was built by local masons and carpenters from Valdepeñas. This windmill was the first museum in our city and it is a tribute fromValdepeñas and the painter Gregorio Prieto, to these pastoral monuments that honoured -not so long ago-, the plains of La Mancha.

La Galana

La Galana

This sculpture honours all the women from Valdepeñas, specially Juana Galán "La Galana". She was a brave fighter during the encounter with the French troops of Napoeon in Valdepeñas on June 6th 1808. The sculpture represents the historic moment of the battle, the gesture simbolises the courageous fight of the people of Valdepeñas to stop the troops of Napoleon.

Juana Maria Gabina Galán y Heredia was born in Valdepeñas on the 25 October 1787. On the day of the battle (6 June 1808) she went out of her house, wielding a baton to fight the French soldiers. She was barely 20 years old. She took part in the Junta de Defensa (defense command), training women to pour boiling water and oil from their windows to the enemy. On the 2 May 1810 she wedded Don Bartolomé Ruiz de Lerma Fernández-Escribano. On 24 Septemer 1812 she died from a miscarriage at the age of 24.

Author: Javier Galán
Title: La Galana
Technique: melted bronze.
Size: 2,50 x 1,20 x 1,50 m.
Year: 2008.

El texto argumentativo

Como ya hemos visto en clase, un texto argumentativo es frecuentemente utilizado para defender o criticar un tema en concreto. Aquí podéis ver un resumen de las características de un texto argumentativo tal y como trabajaremos en clase.

Basándote en estas características resumidas, ahora es tu turno de elaborar un texto así. Aquí debajo tienes varios temas de actualidad, escoge uno y elabora un texto argumentativo que critique o defienda una postura determinada. No olvides hacer buen uso de los conectores y la división de párrafos:

- Medicina alternativa: una propuesta eficaz.

- Festejos taurinos: ¿Tradición o maltrato animal?

- Cámaras de videovigilancia en las ciudades: una medida necesaria para frenar el crimen.

- Una educación gratuita para todos.

Características del texto: haz una clara distinción entre párrafos para que coincidan con las diferentes partes de un texto argumentativo. Además, no olvides desgranar las ideas principales, apoyándote en ideas secundarias. Intenta que tu opinión no sea muy "afilada"  El texto debería fluir poco a poco hasta una conclusión clara y concisa, sin ser demasiado crítico. Límite: 250 palabras.

Puedes consultar aquí un modelo de texto argumentativo:

Las bicis en las playas de Valencia

No sé si sabéis que en Valencia, dónde estáis ahora estudiando, está prohibido entrar con la bici en la playa. Tienes que dejarla candada en algún sitio antes de llegar a la arena. Si no lo haces,te pueden poner una multa de unos 300 euros más o menos, lo cual es mucho.

No estoy de acuerdo con esta norma porque no entiendo qué hay de malo en llevarse la bici en la playa. Creo que tendrían que cambiar esta norma y dejar que la gente pueda llevarse la bici a la playa sin miedo a ser multada.

Normalmente, en las playas de Valenciahay siempre mucho espacio libre, por lo que no molestan a nadie. Sobre todo en la playasal sur de la ciudad, dónde hay kilómetros y kilómetros de arena en los quela mayoría de los días apenas hay gente. Incluso en julio y agosto, cuando hay más gente que va a bañarse, hay espacio suficiente, porque son playas muy anchas. Además, las bicis no son peligrosas ni pueden morder a nadie, como sí que podría pasar con algunos perros. Creo que es mucho más peligroso, por ejemplo, volar una cometa en la playa que aparcar una bici. Además, si vas a la playa en bici y tienes que dejarla lejos de dónde estás, te la pueden robar y seguramente tengas que volver andando a casa y perder mucho tiempo.

Por todas estas razones creo que tendrían que cambiar esta norma, ya que no tiene sentido y no aporta nada bueno a los ciudadanos de esta ciudad.

Recordad que entre todos nos ayudaremos a corregir y revisar nuestros textos. Para justificar vuestras opiniones, podéis consultar esta parrilla de co-evaluación en la que aparecen los criterios que yo uso normalmente en mis correcciones: 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/brwlwwmij1w6wur/parrilla%20de%20coevaluaci%C3%B3n.pdf?dl=0

Además, entre todos, comentaremos los textos de nuestros compañeros en la página de facebook de la clase, justificando nuestras opiniones a favor o en contra. 

¡Que empiece el debate!

Chapter VI: The awakening

Hi there!! It's been a long, long, long, long time... For two months I've loosen up more than I wanted and more than I expected. Many adventures have taken place within these past sixty days: Mysore, Madikeri, Malpe, Kodi, Chennai, Mamallapuram... And with many interesting people I've had the pleasure to talk: Suprit, Prabhu, Srini, Kumar, Thanesh... I've also crossed out many animals of my to-see-wildlife list: monkeys, snakes, more dogs, more cows, moongooses, crows, elephants, camels... Before starting with today's chapter, I fondly apologise for not having kept up with my writing routine. I'd like to blame my late facebook updates about India, for it's mainly due to that that I haven't written anything many things on my blog. Sorry for those who were patiently waiting for a new post.



Today we have spent the evening in Udupi. Tradition says that Vishnu (and possibly other gods which I don't recall now) has woken up after four months of rest (correct me if I'm wrong, I possibly am). Due to this, the town is lighted up with hundreds of clay lamps and decorated with chariots and ornaments of every sort all around. Local traders warm up the atmosphere with their noisy toys, fruit items, flower chains, mini statues of Hindu gods, wooden flutes and of course, snack stalls. First we saw some brief show inside Krishna's temple pond. There was a wooden boat turning around the central structure while traditional music was playing on the background. After that I escaped to see my beloved Subhadra. This time she was wearing the nicest of clothes, and she was basically smooching people for a few rupees. I couldn't miss this chance so I went there and gave her a two rupees coin to receive her blessing.

 Then something amazing happened. People started pulling the chariots with a long thick rope. Absolutely anyone wanted to pull, from the oldest locals to the most innocent toddlers. Everyone barefoot yelling two different words I couldn't quite discern to be honest (it must be something in Kannada or Hindi). With the widest of grins in their faces, you could appreciate the religious fervour of Indians towards Hindu traditions (key point to understand India). After this demonstration of faith and devotion we stopped to see some beautiful fireworks lighting up the starry sky for some minutes. As a lovely ending to this story, we had a nice dinner at Woodlands, one of the best veg restaurants I've ever been to so far.

And now, to make it up for my loooong absence, here you have some pics about today's evening.

Shub ratri dost!

Chapter V: "Sand smugglers"

Hi there!

Almost two weeks without updating this blog... And almost one month already in Manipal! Today I bring good stories to be read and good pictures to be seen. Let's start with the Spanish lessons.

I'm working 10 hours a week for two batches: one for weekdays and one for weekends. So 5 hours for each batch. Weekend batch is especially tougher as I teach 3 hours in a row on sundays. Hence, my working week consists of: monday to wednesday for weekdays; saturday and sunday for weekends. I did this on purpose so that I had thursdays and fridays for free, although I'll have to screen a Spanish movie every three fridays...
So classes are going well. Although some students seem to be more gifted towards language learning, for the time being, overall they struggle to learn the new concepts and structures for each lesson. Granted, things will get more difficult as course goes on, but I try to keep them motivated with many games and activities to ease the learning process. (as a sort of acknowledgment and not spamming, I overtly thank May and Helena for the CLIL and Applied Linguistics courses I enroled on my last year; some contents result really helpful for me now).
Apart from teaching, I was also offered to study a PG diploma in Ghandian and Peace studies. Unfortunately, part of the staff responsible for the course left this year. Then I'll be studying other courses, probably an MA in European studies and some certificates from the Hotel and Management school (yes, kitchen courses).

For those exotic animal lovers out there, I've been told there was a HUGE snake roaming around my neighbourhood, namely a python. It seems that the caretakers captured it and send it to somewhere over the jungle.

So we went to a canteen near the river for having lunch. After that we went down the shore and saw the river. Yes, it's immense. Nothing like Jabalón or Azuer, this one was at least fifty metres wide (at least from where we stood) but surprisingly, it's not very deep. Its shallowness it's more than alluring to sand smugglers in Manipal and its surroundings. When there are works at a building, sand is commonly required to mix some materials. Due to the high cost of it, people are badly payed for smuggling sand from the river. Sand is eventually filtered and used in construction. That's why you can find hundreds of shells near a building under construction (e.g. near my house).

Finally we went to the beach! Stefano and I took the bus to Kapu beach, one of the many paradise retreats that spread along the west coast of India. Palm trees scattered along the shore (with huge coconuts) and some big rocks and a lighthouse on the right side (together with a "restaurant" where we had lunch). So we were walking along the shore up to a point where some rocks blocked the way. We stopped there and had a bath until we saw some people coming out a house. They were a lovely family living 30 metres away from the shore. We talked to them and they offered us sugar canes! It was quite addictive to be fair, We also took some pictures with them and finally we left to the restaurant and lighthouse before going back to Manipal.

And then we arrive to yesterday. I went to Udupi with Srini and we visited the "Big Bazaar": a three-floored supermarket with a wide variety of items: more than 10 different types of rice, saris, kurthas, kitchen utensils... After having dinner near a park Ghandi visited many years ago, we went to see our friend Subhadra (and it was raining like hell). Our four-legged friend was gobbling up some plants when I spotted two white-skinned monks (apparently they were from Russia). Once we bode a proper farewell to Subhadra,  we headed to Srini's flat and watch "Despicable me". Another thing that struck me is that Srini's flat has no mattresses. He told me verbatim: "In Chennai (where he is from) it rains a lot so if you have a mattress it can get humid and harbor germs and fungus, and people can die from these things. So I've been sleeping on the floor for many years, it's not a problem for me. I have even slept on a road with no pillow nor anything". Crap, that's manly. I tried to pile some blankets as a sort of mattress and had one for covering myself. Honestly, it wasn't that bad (I slept on a steel bed with my brand new "mattress").

So this is all for today, here you have some pictures with their explanation. Acknowledgments: to Stefano for taking some of these awesome pictures in Kapu beach.

   

                                  Even kids climb those palm trees. There are small cracks on the sides where they put their feet.

    Chewing sugar cane

      Sand smugglers at the bottom of the picture

Vertebra from a 50 feet long whale (it was stranded on the beach long time ago)

Keep calm and Namaskara!

Interludio: "Un día en Manipal"

Precioso vídeo que narra la vida que trascurre en Manipal y alrededores (Udupi y la costa) a través de los ojos de la gente, los animales y los paisajes. Adjunto un poema de David Pedrero:

¿Cómo es la India? ayer me preguntaste
y yo, que aún llevo su polvo en mis sandalias,
y su luz, como un ascua en la mirada,
medité, y no supe contestarte.

India es agua sucia y sol brillante,
polvo grisáceo entre el oro y la plata,
un viejo en cuclillas trenzando sin pausa
y una niña de mirada penetrante.

Como una noria que gira incesante.
Un beso ardiente a la persona amada
y un cuerpo que, en la tarde, se hace llama,
poemas de amor y muerte en un instante.

Saris de colores deslumbrantes
entre miseria de gente reposada.
Gente sencilla, religiosa y clara
visitando monumentos de gigantes.

Impenetrable, de misterio llena,
no puedo definirla. Se me escapa
cual pájaro que eternamente vuela.

Un gran deseo me ancló en el alma.
¡Volver! volver de nuevo a aquella tierra
antes de ser ceniza de la nada.

PD: mañana comienzan las clases de español. Dividiré a mis 41 alumnos en dos grupos: uno durante los fines de semana y otro a diario. 5 horas semanales por grupo = 10 horas de trabajo a la semana. Saludos desde Manipal, espero que os haya gustado el vídeo y el poema, resume bastante bien el espíritu de este sitio mágico.

PD: muchísimo ánimo a mi banda Caipiroska que mañana toca en la Plaza de España de Valdepeñas a las 22:00. Aún con dos miembros ausentes espero que se conserve el espíritu que nos hace conectar entre nosotros. Desde Manipal van todas mis fuerzas, SALUD Y SKA.

Chapter IV: Subhadra...

Hi there!

Busy, busy week! Let's start with a little bit about Hinduism. After Srini's effortless attempts to explain me some of the Hindu deities, I came to the conclusion that it is impossible to recognise every symbol and god/ess in just two weeks time... (yes, today's 14 days since I arrived). One thing is for sure, there's not only one deity (like Catholicism ), and there are different asigned roles for each deity, as well as family bonds among them, even aliases for a single deitiy. Srini explained me some of the main Hindu deities by drawing their bonds in a piece of paper which, unfortunately, I don't have right now, so I cannot explain what I learned that day.

So yesterday (29th) was Krishna's birthday. Hindus fast for the whole day (28th) to focus on this festivity until 00:00 on the next day (29th) were all the people gather at the temple and pray for Krishna. It's also the end of their fasting time so they have lots of food and even Hindu music. I could see dozens of people gathering at Venugopal temple (near my house), even with an unexpected downpour above their heads. They queued at the entrance of a small cabin where the statue lays and people offer herbs to it as a worship.

Yesterday we all gathered at the MCES and went to an office to celebrate Krisha's birthday. We stood in front of a small wooden Krishna temple and listened to a man dressed in typcal Hindu outfits chanting some prayers. Then we were given some flowers or small green leaves to be offered to Krishna's statue while a young cute girl sang some words in Hindi or Kannata (I don't know how to distinguish them). After the Pooja (celebration), we had some Indian sweets and went back to work.

And big news! Yesterday I had my first lecture at university. For one hour I spoke about Spanish culture and socio-cultural impact across History. I explained a little bit about Spain's history, from the foundation of Cartago Nova by the Phoenicious until the glorious Spanish empire and its decadence. They were quite amazed by our traditions (San Fermines, Tomatina), our Islamic invasion and its vestiges across the south, and also some of the Spanish inventions that are more popular nowadays: table football, mopping stick, submarine... We ended up watching some videos about Fogueres de Sant Joan, San Fermines and even Paco de Lucía playing "Entre dos aguas". A short journey through our different architectonic currents, artists, golden century, landscapes etc. After explaining all these concepts I though to myself how lucky I am for having the chance of knowing my culture, for understanding our history and for how rich and multicultural we are if compared to other nations. I don't feel patriotic, I don't feel proud. One cannot feel proud of something that happened by chance, we didn't choose to be born in Spain, it's all about luck. So I can only think of fortune when I think about this. Still there are tons of people who ignore our History and our culture, who just live the present without caring about how things evolved up to now. We must acknowledge the importance of knowing our past to understand what's going on at present.

And drawing this post to a close, yesteday evening we went to Udupi! Udupi is the main city near Manipal, just 6 km far from here. Lots of people celebrated Krishna's birthday there. We visited the temple and its amazing pond. There were a lot of things to be learned but, seriously, I just cannot learn everything at first, it will take me some time... We saw a show where some young boys dressed like tigers and danced in circles while music just played by some. We had a nice stroll around Udupi's streets among the crowds, it quite resembled like fairs in small towns from La Mancha: men selling tacky (very tacky) souvenirs, street food, kids playing with balloons, lights... And here I come to the most exciting fact of the day. I finally saw my first elephant!!! Its name is Subhadra (as in the title) and apparently it sleeps at Udupi's temple (meaning that I can go and visit her everyday!!!). The coooooolest thing of it was that people gave money to Subhadra in order to pet her. Then, the elephant would touch your head with the tip of her trunk, and later (how cool), the elephant gives the money to its owner (LOL). Basically, the elephant works as a money-maker machine. Still I've got to love it.

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Quick update: I went to the FRO (foreign registration office) at Udupi to sort out all my paperwork. The VERY KIND policeman (notice my sarcasm) told me to go back to Spain and issue another visa for me because mine was wrong. Apparently, after learning how to read a **** text, he realised I was right so my Employment visa is completely valid for my stay (it was just some strange exception concerning language trainers). Btw, I have 40 pupils so far which will be divided into two batches. Next monday I'll start my Spanish lessons, so I will tell you how it is going. Stay tuned and...


SUBHADRA!

    Subhadra taking a walk around Udupi. I'll visit her more often, I promise

    Udupi's temple pond. Beautiful, huh?