Great IB News again! :)

All of the students that signed up and took the IB exams have PASSED! This includes both levels of English B and A2. CONGRATULATIONS Class of 2008!!!

The impact of technology

Each time we study technology in class, almost every year since primary school, I find it more interesting. This year we studied its positive and negative consequences, how it reaches every part of the society and how it can impact our daily lives. People see technology as the greatest thing that has ever happened to humankind but what I want to emphasize is the negative impact it has.


The impact of technology in almost all the people in the world is incredible. We notice it mostly in the behaviour of children, how they see things that we did not know about until a couple of years ago, as every day things. It is unbeleivable that a three year old boy says after taking a picture, “Let me see”and runs to the camera to take a look. Or that a girl who is only five can say, “Please,let me play Play Station”. The point is, that it is amusing how technology is being progressively incorporated into daily lives.

As everything in life, this impact has good and bad consequences on societies.
The improvement in some areas, like communication, is overwhelming. Thanks to the telephone you can have a conversation with anybody who is in any part of the world. Nowadays, through Internet, we can buy things without leaving home,search for information, or even study and get a degree. It seems that the impact of technology is the best thing that ever happened to human beings, but, is it really like that?

For almost everybody, life is easier now, but they do not realize that it is causing a huge dependency on technology. This dependency is not good, because as we have everything done by technology, we become more sedentary. This is happening a lot among young people who are not used to reading a complete book. It is easier to read summaries from the Internet than spending time reading. Time they can spend playing video games or chatting with friends.
It is the wrong use of technology that leads us to negative aspects of it. Not only because we become lazier but because of the lack of privacy we can perceive. The most exposed are young people who publish their pictures on the Internet so that anybody who is surfing con have access to them.They do not realise they are allowing the intrusion by publishing them. They only think about having fun. The Internet is not always a safe place as it is a sort of spider web where everything is connected and so companies know which sites are visited every time you log in.
Another consequence of the wrong use of technology is that children in many cases do not need help from other people so they start isolating themselves with the computer and they even stop frequenting their friends because they can comunicate with them through the Internet or cellphone. The family is, of course, left a side too.

As the Internet has become part of our daily life, the cellphone also has. Everybody has one in fact, many of the users are young children. Something that no one is aware of is that it can violate your privacy as the cameras in them are taken as the phone itself, everywhere, and so anybody can take a picture whenever and wherever they want. Also, the cellphone companies, as the Internet, can know exactly what number you are calling and what messeges you send.
Other very popular device these days are the MP3 players. They allow us to listen to our favorite songs whenever and wherever we want. The negative aspect of these devices is that some people isolate themselves, listening to their music even when they are in social meetings or walking next to someone on the street.

And a really worrying consequence of technology is that today’s students are no longer the people educational systems were designed to teach years ago. Marc Presky, specialist in the subject, explains that, “Today’s students have changed amusingly from those of the past. A really big discontinuity has taken place. This discontinuity is the result of the arrival of digital technology in the last decades of the 20th Century”. Today’s students represent the first generations to grow up with all the new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by, and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cellphones, and all the other toys and tools of this digital age we are living in. People refer to this new generation as “digital natives”and say they are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet. The rest of the people, those who were not born into the digital world but have, at some later point in their lives, become fascinated by, and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology are, and always will be, compared to them as digital immigrants. Marc also says that, “It is very serious, because the single biggest problem racing education today is that our digital immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language”. Of course, it is not easy for grown ups to feel into the digital natives’ world.

As I have mentioned through out the text, there is a huge number of negative aspects of technology that we are not aware of. This lack of capacity to descern this negativity is one of the characteristics of the new digital era. Era in which we are so familiar and dependent on technology that we do not realise that it has terrible consequences in ourselves and the society that sorround us. We must continue using technology because it helps us in an overwelming way but we must also learn to find a balance so that our lives progress and yet our humanity does also.

Fear and Redemption in The Kite Runner

How many times in our life have we felt the kind of fear that paralyzes us and does not let us do what we want to only because we are scared that something bad will happen or that it will not end as we wish?

Everybody goes through fearful situations in their life but there are some that have everlasting consequences just as the guilt that does not let your life continue normally. Some can change your perspective of the world and it is up to you to make this guilt disappear and find redemption. Although it is not easy, there are people for whom this takes years. “I remember the precise moment crutching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek[…] Looking back now, I realise I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years”(page 1). This is how The Kite Runner begins, a book that tells us the story of Amir, a boy who controlled by fear betrayed his best friend Hassan, and how his life continued after that.

As it happened to Amir the most complicated and harmful consequence can be the necessity to make the guilt of what he did desappear, “Hit me back” I spat “Hit me back, goddamn you!” I wished he would. I wished he’d give me the punishment I craved, so maybe I’d finally sleep at night”(page 92). Or the necessity to find the way back the situation. ”That was the night I became an insomniac”(page 86). To ask for some help instead of evading it. ”School gave me the excuse to stay in my room for long hours. And, for a while, it took my mind off what had happend that winter, what I had let happen”(page 21).

It is the same fear that leads you to make a mistake and after that it does not let you confront the situation. Just as it happens in the book, it is his fear that made Amir betray Hassan, the same that did not let him fix his error and then determined his shyness.This trait did not help hi make some decisions in his life. He found a way out of his fear by redeeming himself.
You find redemption when you pay in some way for what you did wrong.In this way the good things you do will replace the bad ones and you will feel like you have paid for your error. Having betrayed his best friend, Amir was looking for it. “…for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt in peace[...] in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I’d even been looking forward to this”(page 289). These words let us know that as every person who has made a mistake, he was looking forward to the relief of knowing that in some way he had paid for it.

“A way to be good again”(page 192) said Rahim Khan, Amir’s close friend. This helped him to realise that it was time,after twenty-six years to let the guilt go away. It was time to confront the past and to search for redemption. He finally redeemed himself when he started doing the right thing as Rahim Khan has recommended him ”…I believe,is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good”(page 302).

Amir decided that to find redemption he would look after Hassan’s orphan son..In order to do this, he had to leave his home and wife in America to travel to Afganistan to look for the boy. There he would have to fight against his childhood enemy, the man who had caused his twenty-six years of suffering and guilt. Once he had been brutally snapped by this man, he started laughing. ”My body was broken-just how badly I wouldn’t find until later-but I felt healed. Healed at last.I laughed”(page 289). These words show that his guilt and anxiety of finding redemption were really huge.He felt he deserved to be punched to the point of almost dying, he needed to feel punishment for what he did.

The Kite Runner is a wonderful story about love, honour, guilt and, mostly, fear and redemption. It is a story that illustrates very well what happens when fear is so big that it controls your
actions, and the way you can over come this kind of situations.

Words:725

American and Argentinian Values

by Daniela Calvo

Nowadays societies share some cultural and moral values but each person has different expectations and beliefs. These principles are, of course, important to people because they define and represent them as a society. It is easy to understand this if we focus on two different cultures.

Americans see independence and individualism as very important values. Parents teach their children to make their own decisions in order to be responsible when they grow up. Teenagers study very hard while in high school in order to have a successful life when they enter the adult world. They must get good marks and make a lot of sacrifice to go to the best universities and, afterwards, become great professionals; that is why they take the whole process of education seriously. After high school graduation it is not common for teenagers to continue living with their parents. Young Americans are expected to live in college or to pay for room because that is their way of showing they are independent and responsible persons because it is their time to grow up and become adults.

In Argentina, independence and individualism are taught in a very different way than in the United States. Children are not expected to make decisions about money when they are very little. Parents expect their child to make important decisions from what they teach them and from what they learn at school as they grow up and become responsible and mature persons. During high school, teenagers do not make a lot of sacrifice to later be a good professional; the education system is not very strict so people do not study as hard as they should. It is easy to enter universities because it is not necessary to have very good marks. Both in high school and in university, people study in groups and live with their parents until they graduate from college. People do not make a lot of effort to become a professional like they do in the United States but it is not easy to earn money and that is why some of them make sacrifices in order to have a home and an honest job.

Another aspect that can be taken into account of the American society is time. For Americans this is a very important value if you know how to use it. They are very organized persons; their future depends on time because, if they use it for constructive activities, they will never be late so they won’t waste other people’s time. They make good use of their time. As they are organized they do not do things quickly or wrong. For Americans time is their way of making good money. If they respect their schedules and others' time, they will continue being successful in everything they do.

On the other hand, Argentinians do not have the same attitude toward time as the Americans. It is an important value because you need time to have a better preparation to do you job and to organize your studies but it is also very common that people, especially teenagers, waste their time doing activities that are not as important as getting a good education or being well paid. Most high school students and also college students spend their time doing whatever they want. While at school usually they do not study, they use that time to be with friends and talk about the weekend or parties; after school students watch TV, go to the gym, play computer games or sleep instead of studying. Of course, this is not the same with everyone because adults, especially the ones who have families, are mature persons who use their time to work, to be with their family or to do other important things.

Every society has its own values but they have different ways of teaching them. If we take as an example the countries analyzed we will see that the United States promotes individualism and makes a better use of time than in Argentina but maybe they expect a lot for their future instead of spending time on their own or sharing with their families or friends. All persons are different and have their own culture and principles and it is important to respect and accept them because everyone is special and we should never forget that.

Friendship and redemption in The Kite Runner

by Daniela Calvo

The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal and the price of loyalty between two boys growing up in Kabul. Amir and Hassan grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a rich man, and Hassan is the son of Amir’s father’s servant, a Hazara. The Kite Runner describes the life of these boys and how they and the place where they live, Afghanistan, changes.

FRIENDSHIP is clearly shown on page 54 when Amir asked Hassan if he would eat dirt if he tells him and Hassan answered “if you asked, I would”. Amir was not always a good friend because he was an immature boy, like when he bothered Hassan when he did not know some big word, but Hassan was a loyal and honest friend and he would do anything for Amir.

Amir was served breakfast every morning by Hassan; then he was driven to school while his friend stayed home to clean the house. Hassan had no resentment to Amir and was a loyal companion to him, like when he protected Amir from neighborhood bullies. Then, during the Kite-flying tournament, Hassan was raped by a boy called Assef. Amir never defended his friend and that is why he could not forget that episode for the rest of his life.

This friendship is also presented in Hassan’s letter to Amir, written when both of them were older, living in different countries. On page 218 Hassan tells him “”...I dream that someday you will return to Kabul to revisit the land of our childhood. If you do, you will find an old faithful friend waiting for you”. This quote clearly represents Hassan’s loyalty to Amir he had forgotten about that terrible episode and he had continue with his life, something that Amir could not do because he felt responsible of what had happened, because he had only stayed there to watch when he could have done something about it. Amir was sorry for leaving his friend there and this could not let him continue with his life, mostly because they had never talked about it they just acted as if nothing had happened.

The main theme of The Kite Runner is REDEMPTION this friendship and feeling of guilt lead to it. Amir’s life changed when Hassan was raped by Assef. On page 289 Amir says “...for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt in peace”. This happened when Amir went to look for Sohrab, Hassan’s son, to take him home. In order to do this Amir had to find the man who was in charge of Sohrab and when he found this man he discovered it was Assef, his old enemy. If Amir wanted to take Sohrab home he had to fight with Assef and win him. During the fight Assef hurt Amir, because he was bigger and stronger, and at some point Amir started laughing because he remembered of Hassan and the fact he had not been happy or felt better in all those years. He felt guilty and hated himself for not talking with his friend during all the time they were separated, and now it was too late, he laughed because he had kept the truth for so many years and now he was there. Like in the beginning, with that same boy who destroyed everything.

Another important episode is Rahim’s letter to Amir. On page 302 he says “...true redemption is, Amir jan. When guilt leads to good”. In this letter Rahim is trying to say that there is a way to be good again, that Baba had make a big mistake and for this he made good actions and helped people because it was his way of redeeming himself. He also said that he hoped Amir could forgive his father, him, and most important, to forgive himself because Rahim knew everything and he knew Amir he was like a father to him.

Amir decided he was finally going to end with this guilt by taking responsability of Sohrab, by giving him a home and most important love and after all those years he finally finds peace.

The Kite Runner is a great book about father and son relationships, betrayal, loyalty, friendship and redemption. It describes the life of two friends, how they changed after a horrible episode takes place, and it also describes the process that leads to the destruction of Afghanistan. It is a useful book to learn about the history of that country and while reading it you will discover new things that will increase your interest in the book.

Language and culture

American lifestyle : on the eye of the hurricane

American lifestyle is usually a topic of analysis among sociologists and psychologists. Other cultures may find it hard to understand some of their behaviors and customs, tagging them as aloof, cold and calculating people. But this pre-judgment of American culture should not be considered without first understanding their motives to follow some of the behaviors they are so criticized for.

Americans worship individualism, always have, probably always will. They need to follow that simple statement. Since Thomas Jefferson signed their Declaration of Independence, back in 1776, their ideals of Enlightenment and Capitalism were clear to everybody’s eyes. Both ideals needed strong, capable and independent men and women to build the powerful country the U.S is nowadays. Americans are raised to push themselves to be better in every way and to seek for a prosperous future. Since childhood they are told that, as free human beings, it’s in their hands to find success. But they have to fight and compete for it, for no one else will do it for them. These teachings have helped their economic system enormously, capitalism by excellence, to work so well all these years with its ups and downs. Capitalism’s first and most important rule relies on supply and demand. To optimize this, a good consumer market is also needed. One most U.S inhabitants can relate to very well. Independent youngsters and materialistic behaviors help the massive consumption cycle to work so beautifully. Most American teens only seem to want to leave their homes for college, have a good paying job and make millions. These new adults are hungry for brand new cars, houses and better material facilities .They work hard and grant themselves nice and new material goods.

But Americans are far from being the unsociable brats their appearance can give. They do sacrifice for what they have. Competition is taught. But this sense of competition, followed by a great national spirit, has helped them to overcome the Great Depression in the 30s. Their confidence in progress and prosperity has helped the New Deal and its policies to rebuild their economy. It has worked so well, it's become a model followed by Europeans and other countries as well. Americans understood about legitimacy, which brought them back their trust and stability. Also president F.D.Roosevelt created an atmosphere of equality and informality during his fireside chats bringing hope and unity to the country once more. He used to give radio chats every Sunday in which he explained to common Americans the government’s plans to find a way out of the crisis.

Most Americans feel comfortable following that type of behavior. Most of their practices and habits are just a response to their economic and political system. And it’s imitated all over the world. Americans value and stand up for their national progress and are not willing to throw away what their ancestors achieved just to answer to criticisms about their lifestyle. Many times Americans' friendliness and warmth are not perceived because of their natural competitiveness. Their family cell works as their national boundaries. Each state is independent; they have four different time zones, and different legislations. Still they all respond to one big nation that seeks for each American protection, stability and wellbeing.

The reason why many other cultures find it hard to understand the Americans lifestyle and criticize it is more related to the fact that most Americans are ignorant about other cultures. They do not understand the diversity and complexity of other culture’s behaviors and beliefs. Many times this is closely connected with the fact that many Americans are not aware of the stark realities of the world since it is not that common inside their country’s reality.

One would probably believe that in the globalized world, wrong and unfair pre-conceptions of other cultures would be over, but it seems that it is far from being so. American values and assumptions probably wouldn’t be in everybody’s mouth if they were not a political, economic and military superpower. Their lifestyle wouldn’t be so well known if it wasn’t for media divulgation, such as American movies, sit coms and books that are popular all over the world and only reflect a part of their culture. But, on the other hand, maybe Americans have gotten used to living in a blinding nutshell for so long that they've forgotten that this world is inhabited by more than six billon and that we all have to work on our tolerance a little more everyday and have a very different view about what constitutes happiness.

Love remained the same

Creative writing - Rosario Gonzalez Plaza

For my writing task I chose to write a fictional letter from Sanaubar, a minor character in The Kite Runner, to her son Hasssan. In it she finds the atonement she had been looking for for so many years. Despite the very little information the readers are given about Sanaubar’s character, I felt this fictional letter would return her the honor she was deprived of. On the other hand, I felt that Hassan’s character, his tenderness and kindness, had to have a more profound origin, and by giving the creation of his life such a passionate encounter I believe the reader would have another reason to feel touched by the story.

Love remained the same

Hassan agha,

There are certain things about life we are not given the right to understand. There must be, for unfairness seems to be present in our blood.
Memories, my dear, have the power to shed tears of joy… and pain as well. I remember the moment I saw your eyes for the first time while you were being delivered as well as I remember the moment I turned to see my front door for the last time …
The word LOVE never made more sense than the day I found out I was pregnant. It s out of my capacity to describe the million things I felt at that moment. Because the creation of a new being whose soul is the fusion of two passionate lovers can only be compared with the elation of daydreaming.
And that’s why my heart bleeds so much when I think of the pain and loneliness lies might have caused you, the most innocent of all. But I am not writing to discuss my feelings, I am not writing to be reasonable either. And I don’t want to preoccupy myself either with what my actions might have caused you. Instead I just want you to know the truth you deserve to hear despite all the years you were deprived of it. I want you to feel, for once, the love that’s inside you.
So this is love, this is you. I remember the first time I crossed looks with your father. Your father, not the honorable man who raised you. Yes, I remember. It was an unspoken secret; we had fallen for each other. We shouldn’t have. Yet we couldn’t help it. It was not meant to be. He took the risk of coming to my window one night and stared into my eyes… I will never forget the tenderness of his look, window of the sweetness of his temper, the benevolence of his heart and his sparkling soul. We kissed. There was no need to chat. Kisses reveal the unspoken. We made love with the clarity of passion. There were not two people on earth with more purity of love than ours. There were no two people on earth with more opposite destinies either. I opened my eyes the next morning to find myself next to the man I loved and praised, and to shed a tear for what was about to come.
Baba loved you, he loved you infinitely. He loved you so much he would give his dear son to his servant and best friend to make sure you had a better future than the one already written for you and to have you close to him, even if that reminded him of his guilt daily. He would love you so much he would do everything in his hands to be sure I was still alive, saving me from my fatal destiny for violating my family’s honor. There were lies to disguise the truth … lies whose cost you probably had to pay; lies about me that my imperfect memories try to vanish but the burden on my consciousness is still on my fragile shoulders.
We never saw ourselves again closely enough to find in each other’s eyes again the peace we both so much longed for. I had to run away right after you were born, for we could not risk the life of the three of us. If someone else had found out we would have been chased and stoned to death .Our family honor would have been stained forever and we, remembered as criminals. It was only me who ran away, but we all made sacrifices. And we did it for love. We did it for you, the blossom of our connection.
There’s no shame in truth. Men seem to find shame in freedom. Regardless of everything and upon reflection I have felt like the most blessed woman on earth ever since I saw your father for the first time. There was no room in your father’s heart, great as the world, to feel anger or resentment as he understood about honor and responsibility. But I understood about unfairness and sorrow. Away from the man I loved and my adored son, it took me a long time to find peace with myself and the world again. It took me more than it should have. But that’s why I came to you, my son, with no more mourning or crying or pain, but with just the treasured gift of truth and the healing power of love.
I hope you can forgive us.

Loved you always.

Sanaubar

Capitalism as the basis for the main values in American Society

Liberalism is a political system based on a major concept from which the whole theory derives: freedom. The United States has always self proclaimed as the main role model of capitalism in all aspects, including the economic side of it, capitalism. The institution of this system has led to setting its main values and has been the main cause of what modern American society is based on. The basic framework which sustains this society can be identified with three concepts, from which many others can be deducted: materialism, individualism and competitiveness.

Capitalism inevitably goes with industrialization which, added to the free balance of supply and demand, has led to the creation of a competitive environment in which industrialized products have to compete to be more in demand. The over production and the constant technological advances have resulted in a fast and uncontrollable race. Competitiveness among people exists as a result of the growing capitalistic race that started as an economic phenomenon and has transferred to society as a way of living. Nowadays, most Americans are ambitious in the sense of seeking for better facilities, opportunities and material goods: a bigger house, the newest car, the latest technology, or a higher job position. Competitiveness can be clearly seen, for example, in the academic environment; it is a fact that most high school students in the US compete with their classmates to get the best grades and SAT scores so as to get to a good college, where scholarships are limited to a small privileged part of the applicants, in some cases less than 10% of them.

The constant competitiveness in which people live immersed leads to a big appreciation for time. As part of the consumer society, Americans tend to measure time with production, that is as a direct comparison between time and how much someone can produce in that period of time. Competitiveness provokes this characteristic of the US society, based on the concept that time is advantage, so better use of time means being ahead of the other “contestants” in the race.

The second main concept to be analyzed is individualism. This derives directly from capitalism’s base: freedom. The value of freedom and independence is basic for every American. Most of them tend to think of themselves more as individuals than as a part of closed groups. Many Americans usually feel less attached to family, friends, classmates etc. than in many other countries. This individualistic conception that exists among most Americans can be clearly seen in the popular model of the typical American Family. Children are usually more independent and self sufficient than in other cultures. They are taught by their parents to be independent and self-reliant, and as a consequence, to be more responsible for their own actions. It is a common custom to let teenagers move out to college when they finish high school, and let them decide for themselves in which part of the country they want to study. Individualism can also be related to competitiveness, since the fact that this appreciation for being individuals among people exists, most Americans feel comfortable with the idea of openly trying to be better than the others.

As a result of individualism, privacy can also be considered an important value for many people in the US. This also derives from another main idea that capitalism promotes, and that is the existence of private property. People that live in the United States tend to be very respectful towards others’ personal space. For example, mail and packages that are delivered into someone’s’ house are usually left on people’s doors, and no one even thinks of going into someone else’s yard and touching the package. A general belief among many Americans is that everybody needs their time for themselves and their personal space to relax and keep their belongings. Individualism goes closely connected with privacy, since, on the contrary of many other cultures, many people do not feel the need of constantly sharing with others.

The last main concept characterized as an American value is materialism. Most people in the US have a deep attachment to material goods. Since the US is a deeply industrialized country, citizens have developed an inevitable result: the ultimate consumer society. Most Americans live surrounded by a constant flow of new and innovative products that are advertized everywhere creating the need in people for something that serves as pleasure.

Capitalism can be considered the basis of what the modern American society is. This economic system has led to the setting of what the American society stands for nowadays. Whether it is materialism, individualism or competitiveness, people that live in the US have very defined principles that can be considered a perfect match with the system they live in.

Caught from the beginning in The Kite Runner

The novel read in class The kite runner by Khaled Hossein caught my attention from the very first chapter. The fact that something that seemed very important was mentioned in the first chapter by the protagonist made me interested in the story behind that unspecified event that seemed to cause huge effects on the protagonist.
The author’s method on how to catch the reader’s attention worked on me, since after reading only a few pages I felt like reading the whole book. The depth of some of the phrases used by the author captivated me, and made me curious about what I was going to read next. These were the reasons why I decided to analyze the author’s methods used on the first chapter that proved to be so effective in catching my attention. In my review, I intended to go beneath the words of the novel to discover where the real hook was. As I could conclude after writing it, the mentioning of some ghosts from the protagonist’s past was what caught me from the begging of the story and incentivized me to keep reading it.


The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein is a novel that takes place mostly in Afghanistan in the 1970s. It tells the story of a young boy growing up and how he has to deal with several realities from his country that he cannot understand. The novel is narrated by its protagonist, who starts the story of his life at the age of 12, when he experienced his first life-changing event. The first chapter of the novel serves as a proper introduction of the whole book; it sets up how the whole story is going to be developed and gives a hint of what the main conflict will be.
The narration of the protagonist’s life starts when, in his adulthood, he receives a call of someone from his past in Afghanistan, who brings back a very important issue for the protagonist. After this the story goes back twenty-six years in time, to the point in his life where he experiences a traumatic event. Later in the novel we learn that this event, the rape of his best friend and the protagonist’s inability to stand up to defend him.
The narrator lets the reader know that this event will haunt him for the rest of his life. ‘Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.’ This quote gives a clue of the impact that this unmentioned event in the first chapter will have on the protagonist. Its importance is clear in the fact that it’s been in his mind for twenty-six years. The passage of time and the fact that the protagonist still looks back on this event tells that this has been very painful, and we can infer there’s still some guilt in the protagonist.
The narrator’s feeling of guilt underlies the whole quote, since it shows a process of reflection on what happened from the part of the protagonist. The quote gives the idea that he has thought countless times about this hurtful past event and that he still cannot face the whole situation. The fact that the narrator writes the story many years after it happened enables him to state that he did think about this memory and can now try to look at it from a different perspective than the one he did years before in his life.
Another characteristic of the protagonist is showed on the quote. His peeking into that deserted alley’ gives the undeniable hint that he was, or still is, afraid or coward. Cowardice is showed as part of the character’s personality because he clearly says that he was afraid of really looking at this bad memory. The narrator’s fear may have two reasons: he cannot look at this ‘deserted alley’ because he cannot face the fact that he was a coward and did not respond in the way he should have; or because he cannot accept that although he covered his eyes, the rape did happen.
Although it is the real place where the event took place, the deserted alley mentioned in this quote has a symbolic meaning. The fact that the alley has no way out and is deserted, is a symbol on how the character feels about what happened. The loneliness within the alley shows that the protagonist knows that only he can solve this issue, since no one can take the guilt of him but himself.
The first chapter in The Kite Runner clearly shows what the whole story is going to be based on. Many characteristics of the character are presented in it, as well as a preview of what the main conflict will be and how the protagonist feels about it. His guilt and his fear are the ghosts from the past that he will later face in the course of the novel. The intention of the writer was to show a clear introduction to what the whole novel will develop. The author’s method can be considered to be effective since he manages to build a strong base for the future development of the story and also creates a bridge between the historical past, present and future in the story.

Violence: an urgent problem

Violence: an urgent problem

We hear everywhere that our society is in crisis. They say people lack values. They say there’s no more love, no more hope, no more tolerance, and that nowadays’ most important social features are selfishness and greed. And this is supposedly reflected by the increasing amount of violent episodes all over the world, especially among the new generation.
In Argentina, the situation is getting out of hand. Most public and private schools have witnessed some kind of violence: students attack students, students attack teachers, teachers attack students, students’ mothers attack teachers, teachers attack teachers… We find out about a new case every time we open a newspaper. It has even got to the point where a Psychology student gun-threatened another one just because the other had sat at her place.
In Europe and in the USA the situation is no better. Around 20% of European students report having been bullied.
When we look for the causes, most Argentineans believe this extreme violence is due to the poverty and low accessibility to education existing in our country. According to them, violence would be a “third world disease”. This can be a minor factor, but apparently not the main one. How can we explain then what happens in Europe and the USA, where there is more economical stability and equality of educational opportunities? Violence is certainly present in all socio-economical classes.
Some experts find an answer to that question in the fact that nowadays parents spend most of their time at work, not with their children. As watching their parents is the best example they can get, the only example left to follow is what they see on TV and other media. However, TV doesn’t pretend to educate or teach any kind of values, b but to get more audience all the time. And, let’s face it, violence is one of the themes that sells the most.
Their behavior is also influenced by their friends’ attitudes. The problem is most of their friends are in the same absent-parents situation, which is the same as saying that they also have no one to tell them what is good and what is bad; no one to tell them how to behave and how not to.
The question is: what will those kids, with no real model to follow, become? ‘We are the future, right? Then if we’re violent, we’ll be living in an even more violent world when we grow up. A world closer to chaos than to civilization’, says 17-year-old Maria. Her friend Virginia also states her opinion: ‘I think adults just enjoy over-simplifying and saying things like “modern youth is lost”. Maybe today’s situation is better than it was forty years ago, but they will insist on saying we’re lost. It’s nonsense.
Even if, as I explained, they could be blamed for youth violence at a certain level, adults are the ones who complain the most about the situation. ‘Yes, I am afraid. I don’t let my children go out after a certain hour, because it’s son dangerous. We know about a lot of cases where innocent people got attacked for no reason at all. So, yes, I’m scared.’ says 39-year-old Stella.
What are we going to do about youth violence? Sending children to reformatories has proved to be useless. The key must then be prevention through a solid educational program combined with social assistance in the poorer areas. In that way we will be helping the youth develop in a less violent and more secure environment that supports them. Unfortunately, implementing this important prevention program turns out to be extremely expensive and complicated, and, even if it is implemented, it would only help the violence rate to go down in a very slow way. It’s a long-term program.
We come back then to the parents’ issue. Family is responsible for kids’ attitudes. But, can somebody force parents to be good parents? Or is there a way to teach them? The XXIst century has just started: let’s do our best so that it doesn’t end with this problem still unsolved, because violence affects us all.

Author: Valentina Pastore

Education: the point of view of developed and developing countries.

Some of the differences between developed and developing countries go beyond the economic or social aspects. One of the most important and discussed topics is education and its impact on society.

On one hand, in developed countries such as the US, students are constantly trying their best to succeed. This happens because as of young ages they are educated to be constantly thinking about their future. In order to get into a prestigious college, a student needs very high marks in high school and outstanding achievements that make the applicant different from the rest of the students, so it is normal for them to spend this period working very hard. The most important universities are private and really expensive. This only gives the opportunity of a college degree to people who can afford the universities and to a few that can get scholarships, making them another reason to be the best among their classmates. A consequence of this is the competitive environment that is created among peers that makes high school less enjoyable because the goal of people is not to make friends, but to learn in order to reach their goals.

In Argentina the situation is completely different: universities are mostly public and it is really easy to be admitted. Sometimes students have to sit for an exam in order to get in, but most of the time the only requirement is just a high school diploma. As a result, most of the students’ concern is just to pass their exam with a mediocre result as outstanding marks are not necessary. In the end a six and a ten make no big difference - on a scale from one to ten (one being the lowest mark, ten the highest and six the minimum required to pass). It is harder to get a a high mark in Argentina than in the US, where there are only five grades: A, B, C, D and F (A would be the highest mark, like a ten, C would be equivalent to a six). This lack of interest has negative consequences on the future of society: there is no hard work to be the best at what they are. Also there is no interest in being recognized and there is no competition at all among peers, which leads to no progress.

Of course, not all the consequences are negative: the fact that the best universities are free and it is easy to be admitted makes the system more democratic. By studying, you can climb the social ladder and reach a very high position regardless of your past situation. This makes high school a place for social activities and a friendly environment where marks are not that important, as long as you pass your exams, and there is spare time normally used to spend with friends or on activities that have nothing to do with school.

Both systems have negative aspects in their structures; the differences between them can change the values of both societies entirely. In order to be better, perhaps it would be necessary that they combine the best of each to create a more appropriate condition for students to try their best but still enjoy this period of their lives.

My Confession

Through this short story I tried to give a voice to Sanaubar, a minor character in The Kite Runner. The only thing we know about her character is that she leaves her family and runs away. I wrote a story narrated by her, trying to explain the reasons why she did this. She is a very cold woman who blames life for her own faults and who is not sorry for the things she did. This is my version of her personality and this is also how I felt when I read about her in the book.


It is really hard to describe what I felt when I got the news: it was simply… unbelievable. I felt guilty enough already, that feeling of bretrayal was eating me inside, but we all make mistakes, don’t we? We’ve got to deal with them and just get over them, and I thought I had, until I found out I was pregnant and it wasn’t my husband’s baby, it was actually his best friend’s.
It might seem terrible, but it wasn’t. I mean I don’t want to sound like an awful person, but let’s be realistic: a woman’s dream is, and will always be, getting married with the perfect man, have the perfect family and live happily ever after in a perfect house. At least that was my dream, my idea of the perfect life, but it never came true: I married a man who, to be honest, was really far from being perfect, we didn’t have babies and we lived miserably, but when you’re young and in love… again, I guess we can make a lot of mistakes in life and this was a really big one.
There was something I couldn’t live with, and it is hard for me to face, but I was so jealous of her. She had everything I had ever dreamed of, my ideal of the perfect life: she was married to that strong, powerful and wealthy –wealthy above all- young man. They lived in the perfect mansion and she was pregnant, and the baby was obviously supposed to be as perfect as they, as their love, as their family, as their life. And who was I? The insignificant wife of that hideous servant and our lives were devoted to serving them. Why was I supposed to watch how their lives blossomed every single day while I was sleeping next to a man who would never give me babies? I didn’t even choose to live with him, my whole life had been planned since I was young: our families knew each other and they figured we should get married, even though we weren’t in love, at least I wasn’t. I have to admit it wasn’t that bad, Ali was a nice man and all but once you start to realize none of your dreams is becoming true, it all gets boring and life just doesn’t make sense anymore.
Oh… it makes me so mad even to think about those times. I never, ever felt like a woman until that unique day came, one of those days you remember for the rest of your life even though the consequences were terrible. It was another happy and lovely day for the perfect family: that child was already born and their lives couldn’t possibly get better. But it happens, I mean, nothing can be THAT perfect, can it? She died, some complications after labour, I heard. She seemed fine at first, but she didn’t last too long, those weak women who know nothing about life never do so.
A couple of months later, Baba and I made what he calls ‘the worst mistake of our whole life’. What were we supposed to do? Lie? We all knew Ali was infertile so the baby was obviously not his. So we just pretended, the three of us, that everything was just fine, I still cannot understand Ali’s reaction: he didn’t say anything, anything at all! Always with that smile and that understanding look on his face. What the hell was going on? Some months after the big news he confessed he could understand me as he was never able to give me what I always wanted: a family. How can someone understand something like that? I cheated on him and all he could say was that he understood my reasons? So he forgave me and promised to raise that child as if he was his own, but no! It wasn’t his baby! That made him even more disgusting to my eyes. Couldn’t he get mad for once in his life? I hated him for loving me so much and for being so forgiving. What can I say? Women can be very complicated sometimes.
Don’t missunderstand me, it’s not like I felt fine with the situation. I had made a terrible mistake but it was already too late to do something about it and at least I had a moment of happines in my life, I deserved it. The lousiest 9 months of my life went by slowly, and they were torturing: Ali was around me all the time and Baba played the friend role the whole time, as if the baby wasn’t his. It was absloutely irritating as you can imagine. That fake situation was driving me crazy. The day Hassan was born finally came. I didn’t know what to feel: I was not happy or pleased at all, but everyone around me seemed to be so, again, I had to pretend that that was the happiest moment in my whole life but I kept feeling so depressed. Wasn’t this what I’d always wanted? Maybe it was, but that wasn’t how I wanted it to happen.
A few days after giving birth I grew restless, suffocated. I couldn’t stand that situation anymore: we were still servants at that luxurious mansion and there was something even worse than that, Hassan was in our lives now. Having to look into Hassan’s eyes every day of my life made me feel really nervous, it’s actually kind of hard to explain. Who was he? It seemed it was Ali’s baby even though I knew very well who his father was, a small version of the man I hate, it was exactly like him, that smile, that gentle look… Running away was my best option. So that’s what I did.

Geraldine Galvez

My community values

Every community has its own values which characterizes it and gives it an identity, a tradition. Mine, here in Tucumán, Argentina, is one more, but at the same time, being part of it makes us feel special.

To begin with, and to more easily understand my community’s culture, the most important value is family and friends. Spending time with them is a priority and this distinguishes Tucumán even from other provinces in Argentina. Firstly, family is present throughout all your life as people usually live with their parents until they get married, at around 30. After this, parents continue seeing their children as families usually get together every Sunday at lunch time to eat a barbecue because this day is considered to be spent with them. Birthdays, Christmas and some important dates are spent with family too. Also, one of the things our parents teach us is to have a close relationship with our brothers or sisters and to help each other, if that is the case you will share with them all your life. Secondly, friends are very important as they are the ones who you share your life and your experiences with. In schools and universities we are used to studying in groups, helping each other with work and homework; friends are really supportive and necessary in life. They are present at every stage of life. We spend every weekend with them and during the week we see each other in the afternoon generally. The usual meeting place is a house where we drink “mate”, or at a bar, to have a coffee, a coke or a beer. At night, the typical and best social encounter is a barbecue with alcoholic drinks and a guitar, which are combined with jokes, anecdotes and laughter, the perfect plan. The most important days of the year for friends here are friends’ day, students’ day, New Year and birthdays, that can be shared with family.

Secondly, my community is not from the first world so the system is not strict or structured. In the first place, we think we rule time as we are not accustomed to being on time, and timetables and schedules are not respected. Our system is rather informal, queues are usually long and people have to wait a lot to be attended to. To sum up, Tucumán is a little province which makes everybody be related and know each other. This makes professional and formal relations even more difficult to exist. Also contacts are very important: you can avoid long lines, tests for the driver license and job interviews by them.

Everybody here has similar lives: people usually spend all their lives here, not everybody manages to have a university degree, so some people begin to work very young, others after university, then they get married, have children and grandchildren. Our daily lives are like this: shops and offices open between 8 o’clock in the morning until midday and then open again at 5 o’clock in the afternoon until 8 or 9; at schools classes can begin at 7 a.m. if you go in the morning or at 2 p.m. in the afternoons. At 8 p.m. people are returning home, then comes dinner and then people go to sleep. Some traditional activities are done at certain hours: in the morning the sidewalks are cleaned, after lunch everybody takes a nap and soap operas are seen in the afternoons. People begin to go out to have fun on Thursdays and also on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, so during these days there is more traffic and more people on the streets and public places. On weekends, teenagers go out around 12 o’clock at night, and return home around 5am as discos close at 4; many return later. Adults also go out, usually to have dinner with friends, but they return earlier than adolescents.

In conclusion, this society forms mediocre and lazy people but teaches you to love and value your people, your town, and your traditions and to accept the failures in it, as nothing is perfect. It is an informal and unstructured system but that is what makes it fun and adventurous. Here you can enjoy life and relationships, which is why I love it!
Eli Chaila

Intercultural Communication

MAIN VALUES AND HOW THEY MARK DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SOCIETIES.

In the modern world the differences between the cultures are bigger each day. People who grow up in a certain culture share certain values which, influenced by the economic system of each country, are what mark the differences between countries, states, provinces and people.

In the United States there are three values that are considered as the most important ones. Those values are individualism, freedom and competition. People who live there share these values so they behave in a very similar way. They follow the economic system called capitalism.

Most of the countries from Latin America also follow this system but, what marks the difference in the way of living between these countries? Why if they follow the same economic system the people in both countries think and behave so differently?

Americans raise their children in a very different way than people from other countries do. Kids are trained from very early to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own actions. They are taught to make their own decisions and to be accountable for their own money.
As they conceive themselves as separate individuals, they assume everyone else in the world is too. Showing independence is very important in the USA. For example, when teenagers graduate from high school they are expected to live apart from their parents, either on their own or in college. Otherwise they risk being viewed as immature or unable to lead an independent life.

On the other hand, in Latin America, children are raised very differently. Parents are concerned about teaching their children how to be responsible with money. Teenagers do not have to show that they are independent, not even if they have already graduated from high school. They continue living in their parents’ house although they are grown ups, and they are not criticized by the people their age.

Another value that has a lot to do with individualism in the United States is competition. People in America are always trying to be more efficient and better in their jobs, in this way they will be more successful economically and this will improve their way of living. The system encourages them since they are little children to get good grades so as to be admitted in a good university. That makes them very competitive, especially at school and with their classmates. In Latin America this concept is very different. The system only asks students to pass their subjects and they do not care too much about getting high grades, they will be able to go to University anyway.

These values are directly related to the use of time, which is considered as a very important resource in the United States, where it is synonym of productivity, whereas in Latin America, people think they owe time. This marks a huge difference between the two cultures. Since Americans use time to study, improve and work to get ahead and be better than their neighbor, in Latin America people use their time in other activities, as joining together in groups to studying for an important test or socializing with their classmates.

There can be noticed that, although these two countries follow the same economic system, they face life and business in a very different way. The reason of this can have to do with the values that are considered as more important in each country. If we take as an example COMPETITION we can notice the different connotations this value has in the different places. For example, in the United States people are always trying to overcome themselves and to be better than his/her partner, whereas in Latin America this is not so important. While people in Latin America form groups to study for an important test for example, in the USA students study alone and make a big effort to have a high grade. Another example could be the use of time. While in the USA they use it to improve and produce, in Latin America people prefer to share more time with family or friends or to relax than to work and be better each time.

It is important to remark the role the different economic systems have in the way of living in a certain society, but the values that are considered as more important in that country have also to be taken into account, because that will be what marks the difference between them. By analyzing this we can notice how the economy has an impact on several aspects of our lives, but it also depends on the values that prevail in each society.

Maturity and redemption

In class we read The Kite Runner, a novel that I loved because it told a very realistic and interesting story which made the readers feel a great variety of feelings. Amir, the character is the one who writes the story, he tells his journey for redemption. We get to know him and in the end he and us learn to forgive himself. The character matures, grows and presents a great evolution through the story. This is what called my attention and that is why I wrote about it.

The Kite Runner is a fascinating novel about friendship, loyalty, guilt and redemption. Amir, the narrator, became obssesed by an event in his childhood that changed his life forever and led him in a journey for redemption, which he finelly gets.
Hassan was supposedly a friend of Amir’s, he was also his servant, they spent all day together playing and learning from each other except when Amir went to school. They shared their childhood, lived in the same house and were breast-fed by the same woman as Amir`s mother had died and Hassan’s had abandoned him. But Amir was jealous of Hassan as Baba (Amir’s father) gave his Hazara servant a lot of attention and accepted him more than he accepted Amir. Because of this and the fact that he was his servant, Amir did not feel Hassan was his true friend, but Hassan did consider Amir as a friend whom he loved and to whom he was extremely loyal. Also, Amir was a Pashtun and Hassan a Hazara which means that the latter belonged to a discriminated part of the society that Pashtuns felt was inferior.
“For you a thousand times over” said by Hassan to Amir, shows his loyalty, admiration and devotion to his friend. He said this the day he was raped by Assef while defending the kite he had run for Amir, the winner of the winter kite tournament. When Hassan was raped that day Amir saw it and did nothing, which marked his consciousness for the rest of his life. “I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan ... or I could run. In the end I ran”. Since that day he felt guilty and could not take it out of his mind, he could not be in peace with himself.
Around thirty years later, Rahim Khan, and old friend of Baba’s, very special to Amir and a great influence for him, appeared in his life through a phone call telling him “there is a way to be good again” and “true redemption is when guilt leads to good...forgive yourself”. He knew what had happened so many years ago in that alley and what a huge weight that meant to Amir. Those words transmitted hope to Amir and made him talk about that event for the first time in all those years. This pushed him to begin his journey for redemption, in which he rescued Hassan`s child, Sohrab, from Assef. Amir adopted him and took him to live with him and his wife, Soraya. Sohrab was not a happy boy, he had suffered too much and he did not communicate with his new guardians.
At the end of the novel Amir and Sohrab are running kites and at a certain moment Amir offers to run the kite for Sohrab. “For you a thousand times over”, Amir finds himself saying to the child. This reminds us of Hassan’s words to Amir and shows us how the role of Amir has changed and that this is a way of redeeming himself. It seems that now he is on Hassan’s side and he has learnt from him.
That same day Sohrab gives Amir a smile (he had hardly uttered a word) to Amir, “it was only a smile, nothing more ... but I’ll take it. With open arms” says Amir and shows how significant just a smile is for him now, how much he values it. This is important in his journey for redemption; here he shows he has learnt to appreciate little moments in life from Hassan.
Finally, Rahim Khan`s word became true, Amir forgave himself, learnt to live with that mistake and learnt that there was a way to be good again, to be in peace with himself finally, “I ran. A grown man running with a swarm of screaming children. But I didn`t care. I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the Valley of Panjsher on my lips. I ran” He feels free, the weight of the guilt he had on his shoulders had disappeared, or was still there but he had learnt to live with it, by forgiving himself.
To conclude, we can see the evolution of Amir’s character in his journey looking for redemption. There are some patterns that appear in two moments of the novel with different connotations that show Amir`s growth. When Amir says “for you a thousand times over” to Sohrab, he shows he has learnt from Hassan’s humility, learnt to value little moments in life as his old friend did. Assef also appears in two moments, he represents evil to Hassan and Sohrab; the first time Amir did not do anything, but the second he knew he would not make the same mistake, he fought Assef, this sacrifice is a way of making up for what he did not do for his friend and in that way he began to redeem himself. Also, the phrase “I ran” is at the beginning and the end of the story with different connotations, at first, it means cowardice, fear, betrayal, and immaturity and finally it means freedom, acceptance, happiness, humility, and growth.
In my opinion, at the end, Amir learnt that Hassan was his true friend but in the past he had not allowed himself to accept him as such because he felt superior, as he was young, immature and confused. When he grows up that changes, he does not feel superior anymore because he has realized and learnt he is not, he accepts his mistake and his situation, learnt to be less strict with himself and to love what he has, Soraya and Sohrab. So the character of Amir evolves throughout the story, he matures and learns to see things from a different and better perspective and in the end he is a happier man.

Creative writing - The Kite Runner

FATHER AND SON.

In class we read the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I really liked the story but I considered that the end was too precipitate. In my opinion, how the relationship between Amir and Sohrab continues deserved more space, so I decided to write an extra section in the novel related to that. Besides, I also wanted to write a happier ending, where Amir has the possibility to redeem himself completely and where we can see how his relationship with Sohrab improves and they can be considered as a happy family from now on.
I also tried to make the reader feel relieved and, in a way, to make them “forgive” Amir. Another intention is to show that nothing is impossible, and that the most unbelievable things can happen if we have faith, tell the truth always and are willing to face the consequences of doing so.

Five years have passed since Sohrab moved to America. Now he talks and lives happily with Amir and Soraya. He went to school and loved running kites, just as his father did. The phrase: `for you a thousand times over´ was usually used in the house, as it used to be in Baba’s house in the old times. His relationship with Amir had improved a lot, and they liked spending time together, talking about Hassan and Ali, Rahim Kahn and Baba. They would sit for hours and remember all the moments Amir and Hassan had spent together, their adventures, their fights against Assef, the kite tournament, winter time in Kabul...

Amir loved Sohrab as if he was his own son. He would do his best to teach him what his own father taught him once. They always talked about Amir’s childhood in Baba’s house and Amir used his experiences as an example to teach Sohrab. He told him how Baba’s relationship changed over the years and he would also talk about the guilt he felt because of his mother’s death. He remembered once when Baba was talking with Rahim Kahn and said: “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he is my son”. They also talked about the important role Rahim Kahn played in his life since, unlike Baba, he gave Amir his support and understood him. “A boy who won’t stand up for himself is a boy who can’t stand up to anything” – remembered Amir that Baba would tell Rahim Kahn.

– “My father was worried because the neighbourhood boys pushed me and took my toys and I never fought back. Your father would step in and fend them off. You see Sohrab? We got home and Baba would ask, `How did Hassan get that scrape on his face? ´ and I would answer `he fell down´. That is not how things are supposed to happen, you know?”

This was a really useful way to teach Sohrab. Amir also told him about the day that Baba said “no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft (…) when you kill a man, you steal a life, you steal a wife right’s to his husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness…”

At that precise moment Amir knew what he had to do. He didn’t want to steal Sohrab’s right to the truth so he decided to tell him everything. He mentioned how jealous he was, he talked about Hassan being raped, he talked about the watch and the money, he talked about everything. Sohrab was confused. Actually, he was disappointed. He didn’t know what to say or think. He was sad because he thought Amir was different. He started yelling and said he would have preferred to stay in Afghanistan. Amir felt horrible…

As he already did once, Sohrab stopped talking. He needed to think and reorder his thoughts in his mind. He wouldn’t eat or get out of his room. He wouldn’t want to run kites or go to school. Amir let him alone, he didn’t bother or try to talk, he wanted to give him his space.

Sohrab was really sad because he knew that things could have been different. Hate started to grow in his heart. He couldn’t understand how it could be possible that what happened so many years ago could hurt him that much.
He knew that if Amir had reacted in a different way, now, his most beloved relatives would have been there with him, happy all together, being a FAMILY…

It was almost a month and Sohrab would continue locked in his room. He barely ate what Soraya jan gave him. Amir was really concerned about his health. He was afraid that he would try to kill himself again. The situation continued the same until one day Soraya went in the room to give Sohrab his meal and she stood there longer that she usually did. When she went out she sat in the sofa, next to Amir and told him: “Don’t worry, he will be fine. We just need to give him some more time. Don’t feel guilty, he also understands you, he just told me that. His problem is that he is too young and it is very difficult for him to accept this”

Soraya’s words were very important for Amir. Now he felt better and he was calm. She made him feel that way… she always did. Amir fell asleep and when he woke up, Sohrab was sitting next to him. Soraya wasn’t there anymore. At that moment, Sohrab started to cry and gave Amir something he had in his hands. Amir opened it and saw a kite Sohrab had made for him. On it there were some photos of the five of them; Baba, Amir, Hassan, Sohrab and Rahim Khan. Amir gave him a hug and after a while Sohrab said:
- “When guilt leads to good, that’s what true redemption is”. Rahim Kahn told me that once, Amir agha. Now I understand what he meant when he said that. I felt sad and disappointed when you told me the truth but now I see. It is hard to accept that things could have been different and we could all be living together now, but this is my reality, this is my life and you are my family. Thanks a lot Amir agha. And thank you for telling me the truth”

Amir didn’t know what to say. The only words that came out of his mouth were “for you a thousand times over”

At that precise moment Soraya came in the room again. In her face there was a tear and in her eyes a strange but happy look.
- I’m pregnant! – She said.
- I’m going to have a brother! – Sohrab answered while a big smile invaded his face.
Amir couldn’t believe what he was hearing...

The First Goodbye

“I just can’t stand waiting this long everyday. What do they talk about anyway?” José whispered without moving his lips too much. “Oh! At last, why did it take so long?”
“You should have gone then, I wasn’t going to end the conversation because you were waiting ”, said Raúl, “I enjoy talking to people who actually know things. This teacher, Enrique something, I don’t remember his surname, is probably the most learned person in the whole school. Yesterday he was giving me some advice...”
“So, wanna do something at my place?”
“No, I’m not in the mood right now, in fact we’ve got homework for tomorrow and I want to sleep well tonight.”
José was already walking out, “Doing homework, huh! See ya later then.”
Raúl sighed.
The following morning, they were laughing about a classmate who once farted in History class and the teacher locked the boys in until the smell was gone. It was one of those past events that were brought up constantly and they laughed as hard as the day it actually happened. Outside it was misty and the windows were blurred because of the cold, no-one could see the schoolyard from the inside, and the room looked much smaller. Suddenly, when the laughs died down, Raúl said, “What are you going to study when we graduate? If we graduate, of course.”
“I want to be a doctor,” said José.
“That was a quick answer. So... when did you make up your mind?”
“Last year I guess. Why are you so interested?” His eyes wandered over the classroom and seemed to be reading what Mrs Ortega had been writing on the board.
“What? Why shouldn’t I? It’s your life, you’re my friend. Do I really need to ask you those things? I mean, why didn’t you tell me before? It doesn’t offend me though, well to some point it does. We’ve been friends for more than four years now, four years of having the same conversations, telling the same jokes and you don’t take just one minute to tell me that. Are we not supposed to talk about serious stuff?” Some people turned around, but as neither of the two spoke they turned again.
“I’m sorry,” said José, “but it’s not such a big deal.”
The bell rang and Raúl turned to his left to clear the window.
“It’s just drizzling. Let’s go outside,” Raúl said as he stood up. “I feel kind of frustrated, you know. At this point of my life all I want to do is have fun, enjoy the time left. But I can’t do it this way, not without sharing it with you. Anyway, are you even interested in what I’m going to study? Do you already know?”
“I am interested” said José.
“I don’t know what I’m going to study, really, and we are almost four months from graduation! I can’t think under pressure. But that’s another problem.” He cleared his throat and spoke in a lower voice. “I think I’m not ready to leave school right now, leave these people or leave you. I would give anything for one more year.” He scratched his forehead roughly. “You know what’s funny? I have always had this thought that we were meant to be friends. We like most of the same stuff, we have the same sense of humour and we never had a problem with each other. And now we’ve got one.” José stayed still. “Or that’s how I feel these days, because I’ve realised that what I know is your favourite food or what you do on Thursday afternoons, you get what I mean? Knowing how you react, what’s your opinion about anything, what you like or dislike about people including me is what I want to know. In fact, I have never known what you don’t like about me.” A cool breeze was blowing and they walked towards the classrooms for shelter. “I’m sorry, going back, I think a four year experience should have told us something about each other, but they didn’t seem to be enough. The way I see it we have never been ourselves, we always tried to be someone else to get on well. You with your ever lasting good humour, your pessimistic view of the school and teachers, and any other attitude that’s typical, just don’t seem to be right. I can feel it, you are different.”
“Well,” said José, “being optimistic I think I know one thing about us; we’ve still got so much to learn. I certainly know that. I am happy to have you beside me.”
Raúl rearranged his hair, “I am too, believe me. But university won’t wait and we don’t have much time to learn from each other as you say, it will lead us to different paths and we won’t see each other as often. I can’t even imagine myself next year”
“Ok, change subject. It’s depressing”
“Right...” minutes passed, they ejoyed themselves watching their classmates play football. “So... how’s Julieta doing?” Raúl asked, “I haven’t seen you together since, I don’t know.”
“She’s fine, we’re fine, it’s all going great, as usual.”
“Not convinced?” He smiled. “Where is she?”
“Somewhere south I guess. Family trip.”
“And you’ve been together for... two and a half years?”
“I guess, but I’m gonna dump her before graduation. After that I want to start a new life alone.”
Esteban, one of the football players, approached them. “José, Raúl, wanna play? We need you both to have a game. It’s not so cold once you start moving”
“Sure, I’m in” said José.
Raúl looked unsurprised, “I’m not playing. Thanks anyway”