Los Olivos Magazine March 2012

Los Olivos welcomed a group of 20 Eton College boys on 26th March as they spent the day with our Year 11 students. A talk was given by both sets of students on life at school at Los Olivos and the world famous public

More photos on page 2

ISSUE 2 SECONDARY MAGAZINE

Dolor

April 2012

Inside

ETON BOYS VISIT

• Sixth Form Berlin Trip

• Year 8 Castles Project

• Short Story and Poetry

• Interviews

• Ex-Alumni

• Eton Boys

EASTER EDITION

Year 12 and 13 visit Berlin

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ETON COLLEGE VISIT 2012 Year ll had a great time in this cultural exchange

of games, talk and arroz al horno !!!

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INTERVIEW with IVANA LIS by her sister in Year 8, Olena Lis.

Ivana Lis graduated from LOS OLIVOS last year and now she is studying Political Science and Dance in one of the BEST universities in the USA: DUKE UNIVERSITY, which is in North Carolina.

v Why did you want to study in an American university?

I knew I wanted to study abroad since I was around 11. I visited Oxford University and I fell in love with the idea of living the actual college campus experience. Adding America to the list of possible places to study happened when I studied in San Francisco ( year 9). I loved their system of education, their way of combining extracurricular activities with academics and the fact that they focused their attention on making each and every one of the students a leader in whatever they wanted to do. I guess the main thing that made me apply to an American university was when I decided that I wanted to continue dancing in college, and this is the only place where I could do that and of course, there´s no need to say Duke is awesome!

v What was your reaction when they told you were going to DUKE University?

I was extremely happy. The whole application process was really stressful and I just wanted to know where I was going to end up. The day they told me about Duke, was the day that all the other universities gave their acceptance letters. I remember that my mom bought a box of chocolate and every time I was rejected from a college I would eat one. Lets just say I ate a lot of chocolate… but Duke´s letter was the last one I opened and when I read that I had been accepted I could not believe it.

v Was there a lot of competition to get in?

Definitely, Duke is one of the top ten universities in the states and last year when I applied they received 30,000 applications and they only accepted 1700.

LOS OLIVOS ALUMNI This issue has a new feature which interviews an ex-student to find out how they’re getting on in the big, wide world. Our first alumna is Ivana Lis who is now studying at a top U.S. university.

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v How much time did you dedicate to the applications? How many did you apply for?

I invested a very long time in the application process, I applied to around 13 universities in America (some of them were dance conservatories) and to 5 in the UK. I started working in the application process when I was in year 12, I had to start doing research and taking some exams (and I normally had to travel to Madrid or Barcelona to take them) Over the summer I made a “college tour” with my mom, we visited a lot of the schools I was applying too and made sure I knew a bit more about them. I also took math classes over Christmas break. The first trimester of year 13 was definitely the worst, I had to work on every single application, I wrote about 50 different essays and went to 10 different interviews. By the time the deadline was approaching my whole family was involved in the process, college applications and essays were the topic at the dinner table and we all tried to come with original and impressive answers to questions like : “ If you could have dinner with someone, dead or alive, who would it be and why? “. It was a long and stressful process but it was worth it.

v How were the first days at duke? What do you think about the orientation week? Was it fun?

The first days at duke were very intense. I assisted international orientation and I got to meet people from very different countries and cultural backgrounds, which was amazing ( most of them were Asian though). When the rest of the students came in for the normal orientation week everything became very confusing, you found yourself having the same conversation over and over again with a thousand different people and realizing that by the time you finished talking you didn´t remember their names. With time this got better, I got to meet a lot of my friends and I managed to not get lost, and that´s hard at a place like Duke. Orientation week or O-‐week as they call it here is supposed to be one of the best weeks of college, in my opinion it was great because everything was new and exciting but at the same time it was a bit awkward as you didn´t really know how to behave around all these people you´ve just met.

LOS OLIVOS ALUMNI……….IVANA LIS

Ivana studies here at Duke University, North Carolina, USA.

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v What did you think of the people when you first saw them?

I thought most of them were very nice, you could feel that everyone was going through the same at that moment so even though someone may have seem weird at first you didn´t really judge them. I must say thought that American people are very different from Europeans. They are sometimes overenthusiastic and even “too nice” when they don´t really know you but at the same time they can be really distant.

v What is the thing you most miss from Spain?

I obviously really miss my family ( you Olena) and my friends. I miss Los Olivos too but let me be honest…where can I buy Spanish Ham in America?? I really miss the food!!!

Happy Family: Olena, mom and Ivana pictured outside Duke University last summer.

LOS OLIVOS ALUMNI……….IVANA LIS

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RISING STARS This issue we feature another Los Olivos Rising Star. This time it’s the turn of Alex Brown in Year 8.

Alex Brown, aged 12, is 1 metre 90cm tall and plays for Valencia Basket. He is one our Los Olivos sporting stars. Aleida Mellado meets this talented youngster in an interview for the Los Olivos Magazine.

Los Olivos School Magazine: How many years have you been playing basketball? Alex Brown: I’ve been playing basketball for seven years and for Valencia Basket for the last year LOSM: In which team do you play? AB: In Valencia Basket in the junior team (infantil “A”) LOSM: Have you ever played in another country? AB: No, but I’ve played against foreign teams. It’s a great experience to get used to the different systems and styles of play. LOSM: Have you ever been seriously injured? AB: Yes, three times in total. Two times in the ankle and one time in the hand. LOSM: How many days a week do you train? AB: Three days for two and a half hours. It’s quite hard work! LOSM: Do you plan being a professional basketball player? AB: Yes, but it is very hard to become one. I just want to keep improving and enjoy the game.

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BERLIN With a population of 3.5 million people Berlin is Germany's largest city. Some of our Year 12 and 13 students went to explore this capital of culture. Quique Fayos gives his impressions of one of Europe’s most fascinating cities.

Communism, Imperialism and pure American capitalism are all very present in the city’s landscape having their climax in the Reichstag building which fuses Norman Foster’s vanguard architecture within a formal neoclassical Prussian design. This is the reason why Berliners are one of the most open-‐minded and tolerant people in the world due to the continuing clash of cultures that the city has been exposed to through time. Similarly, this diversity has given birth to a thrilling night life, full of trendy pubs and cosy restaurants. Hence, once in our lifetime we are obliged to visit this European Capital of Culture to become what Kennedy once said in one of the most famous quotes in history: “Ich bin ein Berliner!”

Berlin represents a cultural boom in which different ethnicities, traditions and cultural movements combine to create an exotic and exciting cultural landscape. Vital landmarks for the world’s modern history such as the Berlin wall, Checkpoint Charlie or the Brandenburg gate all contribute to the formation of Berlin’s unique identity making the city one of the most diverse of the world. It seems incredible that so many different cultures can coexist in the same city, offering the possibility of enjoying one of the best kebabs in Kufürsterdam, admiring the impressive graffiti in the East Side gallery while peaking through the vintage shops around the area, or gaze with astonishment at the futuristic skyscrapers in Potsdamer platz while passing through Friedrichstrasse or visiting the iconic KADEWE in order to taste the luxurious and opulent face of Berlin.

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teacherbook In this issue we interviewed the history teacher, Claire Thompson. Year 8’s Kelly Orta and Nora Solaz asked the questions.

What have you noticed about the difference between London and Valencia? Here you have to do A levels and all the Spanish work, schools in England are much busier, stressful. They take their studies more seriously here. Which is your favourite film? My favourite film is Before the Sunrise. Which is your favourite group/singer? My favorite singer is Lana Del Rey. Which is you favourite type of music? My favourite type of music is electro.

What do you think of this school? I like it, there’s a real sense of community, everyone’s friendly. Where did you work before you came here? I worked in a school in London. With which teacher have you connected the most? The teacher I have connected with the most is Alicia, we went to Berlin and we had a great time together. Did you notice any difference between the children here and the children in the other school? Yes, London and Valencia are very different, in London, the schools are larger and it was all boys. The school was state, not private. It was more culturally and economically diverse.

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This issue’s winner of the Short Story Competition is Valentina Taylor of Year 10 – she explores her Australian cultural heritage for this tale of prejudice and intolerance.

THE BURNT TRAIL

There are some experiences you will never forget because they have been ingrained in your blood, in your being, in the way you think and the way you see things. This was all because of my father, mother and extended family. We were a tribe, we lived together, we moved from place to place together, a nomadic tribe. Father used to look for places where there was plenty of water. Mother helped the children collect sticks and light the fire ready to cook the food father and the men would collect, spearing kangaroo, possum or crocodiles from near by water holes. The women and small children would go out looking for berries or small roots. Father showed us how to cook, use various types of plants for medicines and what it meant to be an aboriginal.

Once a month was always the dark period. Dad used to get paid by the white fellas. The fathers used to waste the money on what the white fellas called liquor. It was like poison to the black fellas. It was on one of these black nights the trouble started. All the black elders drank too much and started fighting amongst each other. It was bad and out of control, someone called the police. When they turned up there was big trouble. It seemed like all of the parents got taken away and for some reason. they piled me and all of the kids from my tribe into another van. We got driven to a big house with many beds.

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We were stripped, washed and given white fella clothes. In the morning we had to eat white man's food which we had never tasted before and use knives and forks. We were always thinking where our parents were and why we were separated and put here. No one told us anything, no one cared. This went on for week. We felt lost and everything we had known had vanished. We were enclosed by a huge tall fence that went all around the camp. Every Sunday we walked to church and had to pray. I think all of us prayed for the same thing. After the second week school started but still no explanation about what was happening. We were forced to learn the English language, the English history. We weren't interested in the English system but they tried to change us. I still dreamed every night about the aboriginal way and the aboriginal stories. I was never going to be an English person. Everyday became worse, children started to get sick. We had to escape from here. One night the older girls and boys met together before the lights turned off.

One of the boys who worked in the garden would clip the wire in the fence, right at the bottom but only a couple a day so the white people didn't notice. They thought we were dumb but clearly they didn't know us. We had to get out back to freedom, to our land, to our real home. After two weeks when the bottom of the fence was big enough for us to squeeze through we got out of our beds and quietly one by one crawled under the fence. When we were all out we started to run away from the camp. Only the six children from our tribe could leave because it would be hard for all of the children to escape. We used our traditional methods to eat and our natural instinct to get home.

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Thanks to the wise elders we knew what to eat, how to travel at night when it was cool and we hid from the white fellas in the day when it was hot. We knew our way home because of the sun and the moon. We followed the north-east direction. Everyone helped each other. It was the only way of surviving. We became alive with the feeling of freedom. It took us just two weeks, I think. We found another tribe after the two weeks that fed us, looked after us and sent word to our tribe to come and get us. When I was the men that came for us it was a feeling I will never forget. We belonged with them and our tradition. The white fellas have to accept this. I know we are different form them in many ways but this is how it should be.

I have learnt that. It gets harder and harder for us as they take away our land and there are no jobs for us but I know that we must keep our traditions and the tribes for a long time. We will never be English, we are aboriginals. By Valentina Taylor Year 10

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By

Jose Enrique Salom

Our class, year 8, was assigned by Claire, our history teacher, to construct, in pairs or alone, a castle. We were told this before Christmas, and it was due in the 1st of February 2012. At first we thought it was going to be quite difficult and challenging, but at least it was better than doing a written exam, it was very different to normal assessments. We also had to do a PowerPoint presentation explaining the history of the castle and its different defensive features, which we previously studied in class. We could use any materials we

wanted, from card and cardboard to paper mache, cork and even Lego! We tried to use as many recycled materials as possible, so we could help the environment. Building the castle was very hard but fun, so I think everyone enjoyed it. In my opinion, the hardest thing was to get all the materials and get started, because, once you start making it, you don’t want to stop. We were marked on how realistic the castle was but also on our choice of materials. We had to present them in class and we were all very nervous.

Each presentation had to be about five minutes long. We were marked for our design and for our presentation. We marked each other as a class, so our general opinion was the grade for each person. After the presentations, we had to complete a sheet on what we enjoyed, what we didn’t enjoy, what we were proud of and what we could have done better. Overall, we think that this assessment was very useful to us because we learnt a lot about medieval history and castles.

YEAR 8 CASTLES PROJECT

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C A Y L E I A G de R R A 7 M A S

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Carlota, Year 7

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POEMAS Y.8 y Y.9

EL GATO DE DOÑA LEONOR Un gatito blanco y negro tenía Doña Leonor. Un gatito blanco y negro tenía en su comedor. Pobrecito se murió, Sin poderlo remediar Y quedó Doña Leonor En la más triste soledad. En el jardín de su casa al pobrecito enterró Y de luto riguroso cinco días se vistió. Todas las vecinas van a ver a Doña Leonor Que no cesa de llorar Pues murió su lindo amor.

Mar Torreño Lanuza

MI AMOR

Tus ojos son faroles Que me guían en la oscuridad. Tus labios son las flores Del jardín de la sensualidad. Tu piel, blanca Como la nieve. Tu mirada, franca, De color chocolate leve Tu pelo suave y sedoso, Es como el mar, preciosos. Cuando pasas a mi lado, Mi corazón late sobresaltado

Paco Navarro, Y.9

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UN AMOR PERDIDO Entre las flores te vi brillar Y mi vida empezó a cambiar Despertaste en mi corazón, Un mundo lleno de ilusión. Tus ojos son como estrellas, Que en la noche deslumbran bellas Y cuando llega el amanecer, Comienzan a desvanecer. Nuestros destinos se han cruzado Esto es amor inesperado, Y aunque caiga en el olvido Sabemos que ha sucedido. No sé si esto es una ilusión De mi solitaria imaginación Mi alma ya ha ardido Y mi corazón ya está partido. Javi Y.9

MI SAXOFÓN Tiene una preciosa forma, Parece un cisne dorado, En alegría mi día transforma, En él mis penas habré borrado. Se necesita tiempo, esfuerzo y dedicación, Para llegar a este nivel de amor. El que le tengo a mi queridísimo saxofón, Cuando lo toco con esa alegría y frescor. Sé que mi esfuerzo premiado por aplausos estará, Así que mi obra perfecta intento ensayar, Porque así sé que a la gente le encantará, Cuando muy nerviosa y contenta salga a tocar. Sofía, Y9.

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VUELVE Te fuiste de mi lado, y hoy estoy abandonado. No quiero que me hables solo quiero que me ames. Dejaste triste mi corazón, ahora me sabe a limón. No te preocupes, yo te recuerdo, con toda mi alma en este lamento. Cada vez que yo pienso, me quedo sin aliento. Fuiste mi alimento durante esos momentos. Solo quiero ser feliz, contigo, hasta morir. Por favor vuelve conmigo, y te prometo amor y vino.

Sol Ros. Y8

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AMOR ETERNO

Aquellos tiempos Tan bonitos, Nuestra juventud Llena de plenitud Tú, mi primer amor, Mi río de ilusiones También mi mar de dolor, Mi verdugo de pasiones Ahora que el amor he encontrado Con los 100 años que tengo Mi vida ha acabado Y mi amor aún no lo mantengo.

Olena Y.9

La isla

Después de tres meses viviendo en una cabaña construida con restos de un avión y efectos personales e los pasajeros (ahora cuerpos inertes esparcidos por la playa). Después de un suplicio eterno, John, halló la solución a su problema. Escaparía de la isla es una balsa si se le podía llamar así a un montón de troncos y a una sabana atada a un palo. No sería fácil. Si sus cálculos eran correctos que normalmente lo eran, los vientos del sureste empujarían a su balsa hasta la costa de Sidney. Allí intentaría averiguar como y por qué se produjo el fallo en los motores del avión, pero antes de nada debería prepararse para la partida. Esta resultaría muy difícil debido al fuerte oleaje que azotaba la isla a estas horas. Aunque John tenía otra posibilidad, pero salir de noche no era lo más adecuado debido a la poca visibilidad y ala abundancia de tiburones.

Juan Lorca, Y.8

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POEMAS PRIVADOS Borja Gonzalo, Y.12

LA VOZ COMÚN Y vienen los barcos a parar a aquella ISLA y nos encontramos todos cantando la misma canción. Reunámonos hermanos! todos tenemos algo privado que contar … Siempre encontraremos tiempo para hablar y en nuestros labios encontrar las palabras que calientan esta hoguera. (Nota de “autor”: como siempre en mis poemas, la interpretación es libre, y es justo eso mismo lo que en muchas ocasiones busco: una visión privada de unas palabras)

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El tiempo emergente (a dos voces: Belén y Borja)

Emergente de la nada, y parecía aire, y chocaba contra nuestras caras, suave, pero nos atravesaba, y nos hacía respirar lo que llevaba, sin que nos dejara pararnos a pensar que con la inmateria nos sobraba, la inmateria que resucitaba y nos mataba.

Y sentados sobre un colchón inmaterial, pensando que el universo estaba equivocado y que la ley de la gravedad era en realidad nuestra imaginación, pensábamos y debatíamos formas de vivir, buscábamos la fórmula social y universal para dejar de pensar, lanzarnos sobre azoteas y despegar, y gracias a la inmateria que nos rodeaba pasábamos de la teoría y empezábamos con la práctica porque siempre se nos había dado mejor. Práctica de la inmateria y dolor de cabeza.

Cuando no podíamos más, dormíamos inmaterialmente, y alguno de los dos que creo que éramos, despertaba para hacer vida de ejecutivo agresivo, pero siempre le esperaba alguien durmiendo en el colchón inmaterial de alguna casa inmaterial. Y dentro de la inmateria yo, penosamente, sobrevivía sabiendo que mis manos, mis piernas, mi obligo y mi tórax vivían demasiado tiempo… sin más sustantivos, vivían demasiado y pesaban, me impedían dibujarme alas.

Hasta que nombré la inmateria por su propio nombre, y su nombre la transformó. Dejó de ser nada para ser todo lo que escribía en el paréntesis del colchón. La inmateria fue materia, fue un charco, fue un globo, fue un instante perseguido por dos caracoles, fueron calcetines que se me amaban, y sobre todo fue inmateria.

Sólo se me ocurre una larga lista de películas, ilustraciones, libros y canciones. Gracias, y de nada.

ELEGÍA PARA MI ABUELO Mi abuelo supo que se iba para cumplir una promesa: convertirse en el señor del tiempo. Me acuerdo que los relojes se pararon y el tiempo sólo podía ser contado con lágrimas. Cuantas más almacenábamos en frasquitos pequeños, más tiempo teníamos. El año pasaba, cuando durante la Navidad (si podíamos llamar a eso Navidad pues no estábamos en Diciembre, pero hacía frío), los frasquitos se congelaban. Cuando volvía el calor, bebíamos de los frasquitos, sabíamos que así el tiempo pesaría menos. Creamos relojes privados, con lagrimitas. Al final dejamos de llorar, pero nunca volvieron los relojes a ser como antes. Una noche los frasquitos desaparecieron, y en su lugar alguien dejó un arbolito.

Los Olivos Magazine March 2012

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