100 WORDS

Last Thursday we could enjoy the magnificent combination of languages in a small circle of people. The presentation of the book Cien Palabras put us together in the situation of reading in front of others.  Not only were we pleased to do it, but we were also delighted by the live classical music pieces that some students from the Conservatory of Motril interpreted for us, in between the reading of the stories.

The cover of the book represents a circle divided into four, like four were the languages in which the stories were told.  As for the interpretations of the circle, these can be varied: it can refer to the circle of teaching and learning, the beginning and the ending of the course, and so on.  As Emilio said in his witty introductory words, the cycle of telling stories is ancient, and has passed from generation to generation.

Finally, the combination of music and reading stories is always a pleasant one, and the venue made it also very worthy to visit, and it will be kept in my memory as another stimulating activity that Emilio has organised during the course.

VISIT TO THE ALHAMBRA

After the Alhambra visit, there are a few things I would like to mention:
The Alhambra is the best reflection of the culture of the last centuries of the Moorish rule of Al-Andalus, reduced to the Emirate of Granada.

Many tribes, religions and races coexisted in Al-Andalus, each contributing to its intellectual prosperity.  In fact, literacy in the Andalusian civilisation was far more widespread than in many other Western nations at the time.
The quality of life, the access to education and to spiritual resources was much higher, something to which Europeans only got closer in the nineteenth century.

In addition, another thing that struck my attention was the fact that the windows were designed especially low so they could sit on the floor to pray or meditate.

Finally, what stands out for me is the Patio of the Lions, for the omnipresent symmetry and the symbolism that it has: the twelve lions representing the twelve tribes of Jerusalem and the courtyard divided in four parts, each one of them symbolizing the four parts of the world.  Each part is irrigated by a water channel that symbolizes the four rivers of Paradise.

It is therefore an architectural materialization of Paradise, where the gardens, the water, and the columns form a conceptual and physical unity.

RICHARD HARVEY'S LECTURE

Although in one hour or so, Richard Harvey spoke so much and so clear about love and relationships as I had never heard it before.
What can you say about love and relationships that has not been said before?  First of all, I would say that very few people know the difference between love, desire and need.
Today, we do not distinguish when one begins and the other ends.  Some relationships are based on sex, on that passionate desire of encountering their bodies in a physical act, whereas I can see other relationships that start as a social need, just because they are too afraid of living alone, yet they do not feel their lives are complete without a boyfriend / girlfriend.  In this sense, I would dare to say that those people that relate each other by need do not love themselves very much.

According to Richard Harvey, the perfect relationship lies in the balance between loving yourself and the other.  I could not possibly agree more.
In order to start a healthy relationship, you must know yourself first, who you are, what your story is, how you judge yourself, etc.  This may sound simple, but some people spend their whole life without knowing themselves, what they want, where they are, or the most important, where they want to be. This will lead them to immature, childish relationships, where they depend on each other.

On the other hand, and talking from experience, you find people that love themselves so much that they are unable to love others.  They just do not contemplate that idea, because they follow their own path, without allowing anyone enter it.

As a conclusion, only people who are really concerned about being involved in the realtionship, having a previous rich knowledge of themselves and being emotional intelligent, and sensitive enough to communicate with the other would be in the perfect relationship.

The rest (that unluckily involves most of the relationships we see around) is only a bunch of failed, useless and unhealthy relationships.

    TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

Today, we are overwhelmed with such a variety or Information Technology, and such is the influence of technology in our lives that we cannot escape from it.
We are indeed told that technology makes our everyday life easier, but does it?
The good news is that technology has ALREADY made us smart.  But the bad news is that technology can also make us stupid, since they can entrap us with their seductive powers -such as television commercials- or frustrate us through their artificial complexity.
It is also technology that gives power to those who have it, thereby disenfranchising those who do not.
On the one hand, some of our abilities have been enhanced, and this is attributed to some computer programmes or web or mobile applications which educate us, entertain us, or even develop our musical and artistic side.
On the other hand, it is getting more and more common to see people easily distracted.  Their attention wanders, but the truth is that they'd rather concentrate upon a task.
Another problem derived from the use of technology is the clumsiness with which humans relate each other.  We are able to be the first ones in pressing the like button of a picture on Facebook, or we base our popularity on how many likes or comments one of our pictures gets, yet when it comes to the basic human feelings, we do not know how to control or express them.
To sum up, technology is good in terms of HOWwe use it: I wish people did not use it as the basis to everything, but only as an accessory.

                                                     SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Among all the global issues I read, I thought this could be a good one, because it affects directly to all of us.  I will try to summarise the main ideas.

This overused term could be defined by:
Advancement that meets the needs of the present without wasting or losing the natural resources that need to exist for future generations.
It covers two terms: development, understood as the progress in different areas, such as economy, trade, agriculture, and so on.  And sustainability, the idea of environmental, economic and social breakthrough and equity, all within the limits of the world's natural resources.

This seems like a simple issue, but it implies so many areas that make it so difficult, even sometimes impossible to understand and change what is being done wrong.  Because there are a lot of things that could be done to guarantee the natural resources to future generations, yet very little has been done. As a proof of this, there are terrible data: 1.3 billion people have no access to clean water, half of the humanity lacks access to adequate sanitation and is living on less than 2 dollars a day.

There have been several summits talking about the issue, but they have reached very little.  As a consequence of this, in March 2005 and after 4 years of work, appears the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, where a number of conclusions are pointed out.

• Everyone in the world depends on nature and ecosystem services to provide a healthy life.
• This ecosystem has been changed constantly to provide food, energy, water, and this has weakened, at the same time, the purification of air and water and the provision of medicines.
• We have reached the extremes of putting some species in danger of extinction, when this can be a threaten for us.
• The loss of services derived from ecosystems supposes the non achievement of reducing poverty, hunger and disease.
• Sharing the benefits in small communities can make measures to keep natural resources a success.
• Everybody has to take part in this, the government, businesses, international institutions, and individuals through their attitudes. 

                                            ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT

When a resource becomes scarcer, then the price rises.  But the price does not always reflect the cost of production.  Sometimes this happens too late, like in the case of greenhouse gases.
Also, appropriate investment in renewable energy could threaten the fossil fuel industry.
And if they are able to use renewable resources, they will be less likely to find themselves spending so many resources in geopolitical areas.

                                                 THE POLITICAL CHALLENGE

We have not still learned how to use the environment sustainably.  Environmental protection becomes a conflict with development.
What we need is to empower the environment to provide jobs and prosperity for all, as well as make use of technologies that are environmentally friendly.