Narcos

This year almost every conversation with my friends started and finished with discussion about the new episode of Narcos. Believe me, if you have some free time – watch this TV show and you will not be disappointed.

There are two main advantages of this action drama: the plot develops at a fast pace which keeps you entertained all the time, and the characters act realistically enough to pump your adrenaline up. It made me want to keep coming for more and more episodes. I just couldn’t stop watching it!

The first two seasons, which were filmed in Colombia, tell a true story of drug lord Pablo Escobar. This man earned billions through production and distribution of cocaine. Escobar's life, his influence on the political system and the history of Medellin Cartel gives us a real insight into new things. As some reviewers say (even those who are native Colombians), they are " pleasantly surprised with the show" because they thought "it was going to be another bad gringo movie about Columbia with lots of inaccuracies and not even Colombian landscapes in the background", but they were wrong, and the cast was perfect. Pablo's accent did not sound like real Paisa one, though. Let's give them credit as most of us are non-native Colombians and just want to enjoy the great show.

So, the story itself is incredible. Real Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (1 December 1949 – 2 December 1993) was a drug lord and terrorist who supplied 80 percent of cocaine illegally transported to the USA. His nickname was "A King of Cocaine". After giving up the Medellin University, he started being involved in the criminal world with the cigarette contraband and vehicle theft. In the 1970s, he worked for various contraband smugglers, often kidnapping and holding people for ransom. Then he started distributing cocaine himself. In 1975, he established the first smuggling routes into the US. In 1982, Escobar got into politics and was elected as a member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia. Despite all his crimes, he helped his country by donating money for the construction of houses and football fields in western Colombia. This gained him popularity among the locals. In 1993 Colombia was announced the "murder capital of the world". Escobar was shot and killed in his hometown by National Police.

Narcos is a realistic TV show and you will not want to skip any part of it for sure! It shows you moments from Pablo's future and then immediately goes back to his past to help you to resolve the main question – how did he reach the highest point and become so popular?

If you enjoy the first seasons, there are two more, as far as I know.
Some Colombians blame this show for drawing "so much attention to an aspect of their culture of which most of them are not proud". I accept this, but still I was impressed by the plot, cast and technical aspects.

Hope my review was useful 😊

“Love that Dog”

“Love that Dog” is a book by Shanon Creech which tells the story of a kid in Mrs Strachberry’s poetry class from the kid’s point of view. In fact this is a diary the teacher requires from each of her students to write. What is interesting about it is that the reader has to fill in the gaps, mainly the teacher’s part, inferring from the students’ numerous replies to her.

There are many reasons why I chose to read this book with my class:

Introduction

There is nothing special about me or about my life.

 If you have happen to have read a book about someone else's life you have probably enjoyed it. However, writing about yourself can be challenging. So here I am, having my cup of tea sitting and wondering what to write.

Traveling is a Part of My Life

Since very youth I have liked to travel. Traveling gives me a feeling of freedom, filling my life with new and interesting events and impressions, meeting new friends, absorbing the beauty of Nature.
When I was a student we liked backpacking, mountain skiing. There were not a lot of opportunities to travel abroad from the USSR, so we crossed the country from south to north, from west to east. We lived in the camps, tents, caves and youth hostels. Our favorite place was a huge cave in the rocks of the Crimea, 10 metres from the Black sea edge. I was happy to see the polar day in Kola Peninsula in the far northwest of Russia, where me and my friends went to ski in May (!!!) We went skiing in the Carpathian Mountains, ascended and descended Trostyan mountain and Mezhgorje hills multiple times. We saw the "two-headed" Mingi-Tau, widely known as Elbrus, from the point of 3070 metres above the sea..

How to make students more curious about learning tow short stories?

How to make students more curious about learning tow short stories? I would like to tell about the way I use to teach the theme of the relationship between generations: Adults and children in two short stories:1/ "The Treasure of Lemon Brown" by Walter Dean Myers2/ Thank You Ma'm" by Langston Hughes

My thoughts on classroom management.

One of the most difficult parts of teaching for me is classroom management. What kind of teacher should I be, whether to be a "strict" teacher or a "kind" teacher? Should we "demand" homework from students or just "ask" them to do it? Should we be in touch with parents all the time or try not to contact them until they need to talk to us? Should we smile or put on a serious face? Should we try to make students think that we know everything or should we admit that we are not very experienced teachers yet and we are learning things exactly as they do? Should we write letters to their personal files at school or try not to do that? We, as teachers, face many challenges that make us ask ourselves many personal questions about our identity.

Escape room adventure

I would like to share with you an interesting experience I recently had. Last month, I celebrated my birthday. Every year I go out with my family to a restaurant but this year we decided to add something different. We went to an "escape room".