"Wavin´ Flag"

I guess that if you ask people which the Official World Cup song is, most of them will say “Waka Waka! By Shakira!”. If you gave me that answer, let me tell you it isn´t right. Though that song is really boosting and energetic, the official one is sung by “K´naan,” a South African singer, and it´s called “Wavin´Flag”.

The song lyrics are really insightful and quite loaded with meaning. The singer has managed to explain how the rest of the world has usually considered the African continent and how the Africans see themselves. It expresses quite clearly that many Africans have been forced to work and to serve the rest of the world under promises which have never become true. Africa is portrayed as a hard working country which has suffered (and still suffers) a lot, where people starve to death and where hundreds of battles have taken place. It seems sort of paradoxical that the word “freedom” is mentioned so many times in the song, since most slaves in history have been Africans. It seems the African continent cannot forget about its past.

Then, it appears to me that there is a shared thirst for revenge among all Africans for everything they´ve suffered and for the way the rest of the world has always referred to them as if they were the last butt of the planet. It seems (and in fact it is stated) that they are all patiently waiting for the day things change for them.
Finally, I believe that this song doesn´t only represent all Africans´ thoughts and feelings but it clearly represents a whole continent´s suffering and struggle to live. Maybe it is time to stop being arms crossed and star doing something so that no one feels an E.T. in his own world, don´t you agree?

After my long, unsolicited speech, you can see the lyrics in this web page.

And of you want to see K´naan´s face and listen to the song, then watch this video:

And what is happening meanwhile?

These days I can´t avoid saying something about the World Cup. The only thing people are interested in today is watching football matches and listening to the players and coaches speeches. It seems as if at least for a month there is no famine, wars or economic crisis. It all revolves around the football ball. I must admit I myself am a football fan and I find pleasure in watching matches and in talking about them with my family, my boyfriend and friends. But I was just wondering what will happen when the tournament finishes. Or what will happen if Argentina looses the next match against Germany, on Saturday (by the way, I hope it doesn´t!). Well, surely newspapers headlines will be utterly different. So, what is it that we are doing wrongly, as society members, letting ourselves be deceived by a tournament? If the media don´t manipulate our thoughts and interests, then what does “manipulation” mean? It seems we´ve forgotten about insecurity, about hunger, about poverty, about the so-criticized government.

Years of strike have come to an end in Entre Ríos, where people spent hundreds of days and nights blocking the “Gualeguaychú-Fray Bentos” bridge in order to prevent the “Botnia” paper factory from working and polluting the Uruguay River. This month, people had to retreat. And I am sure not all Argentinians know that.

Then, it seems there are no swain flu cases yet. Is this true or is it just that we don´t hear about it on the news or on the radio? And do you know something? At least in my town, chemists’ don´t know what to do with all the vaccines they have now – people have stopped buying them.
Finally, there is something else I keep thinking about. When the World Cup finishes, will the actual union and comradeship among Argentinians come to an end? When I look at the flags on flats, houses, cars and on every single corner, I always hope this fervent nationalism doesn´t end the day the Argentinian team comes back. I wish the World Cup could make all of us feel closer to each other, not for a month, but forever. Wouldn´t that mean our country has truly won?

Teaching

Learning English at the Teacher Training College

My experience with the language

ICT

I.C.T. was, until one year ago, a completely new acronym for me. I had no idea of what it meant until I learned in the Workshop, about I.C.T. learners. Since then, I´ve tried to get in tuch with as much technology as I can. Let me tell you it hasn´t been easy at all. In fact, apart from visiting only a few pages on the Web I didn´t use the computer much.

But now I try to explore the world of technologies a little bit each day. I´ve learned to use the computer as much as I can -at least this is what I think- and I´ve learned to handle pen drives quite easily, for instance (I must tell you I first bought a pen drive last year and I had no idea of how to use it!).

Then, I usually try to learn about state-of-the-art technology since I am quite aware that lacking knowledge about certain gadgets may make you feel dated in front of friends, relatives and, of course, students.

Let me tell you an anecdote: I asked a private students to describe his house. At the moment of correcting his compisition I read "... and there is a WII". He had also drawn a huge flat screen T.V. with two speakers. I had no idea of what he meant and, instead of finding out, I thought he meant a "home theatre". Two days later I saw through a shop window a WII: A video games console. I felt so old-fashioned and self.embarrased at that moment! I told some friends about this and, to my surprise, they all knew what a WII was... Fortunately, I hadn´t met my student again by that moment!

Has something like this happened to you? It´d be great to know!