Here I send these compositions that describe my country, they are not ten because I found out that they repeat the same ideas, so I just chose 6. As we agreed, your students write the same about their countries and then my students write an article using the information got (it is not necessary to research for further information) . Then I send the articles to the librarian of Southview School, in the US and he makes some comments or corrections, as a native speaker. Later on we publish the articles or display them in our schools. It is supposed to be a kind of international motivation, to have real audiences.
I hope we have a nice experience, thanks a lot for your participation!!!
Yours, Charo
PD. IREX (Catherine) told me it is an experience they want to know about.
A wonderful country:
Bolivia (by Alejandra Montaño)
This country is rich in culture, vegetation and
wild animals and history. Bolivia is located in the middle of South America.
Due to its location and geography it has a diverse weather. It was colonized by
Spain and there are some constructions left from that time. It is formally
called Plurinational State of Bolivia. We have thirty six different ethnic
groups.
The bolivian territory is divided in three big
sections. The “Altiplano” are the high fields and have a big production of
potatoes and animals with beautiful fur. The Valleys are in the middle of
Bolivia, so they have a warm weather and a huge variety of animals and plants.
The third part of Bolivian territory is all green with a wet weather, and is
called “Llanos”. All over Bolivia there are beautiful animals that are almost
extinct like the wild cat and the “quirquincho” which is like a desert turtle.
The agriculture is the most important way to get incomes for families living on
rural areas. The variation of weather and earth let Bolivia have different
plants and varieties of vegetables. For example, we have over 400 types of
potatoes.
If you like visiting colonial constructions
still preserved and in use there are plenty of them all over Bolvia in small
town in the country. It was colonized by Spain and the colonial houses like the
mayor’s house/office are still used and in good conditions.
Bolivia has thirty six ethnic communities, all
of them are different and most of them are only found in this country. Every
cultural group has its own language and traditions, some of this traditions are
practiced and have been adopted by the rest of the population. For example, the
Aymara New Year and The Day of the Dead.
If you choose to come to South America, visiting
Bolivia could be compared to see an entire continent. The variety of culture,
traditions and places to go is astonishing. So, you are welcome to my wonderful
country.
A Beautiful and
Diverse country: Bolivia
Bolivia is a beautiful country where you can
find all kinds of people that come from many different cultures. That is why
Bolivia is a very diverse country. Also, this country is characterized by its
food and many traditional dishes that are a big part of its places that you can
visit and see how wonderful they are.
First of all, Bolivia’s full name is
“Plurinational State of Bolivia” because it is conformed by 36 different
ethnics such as Quechuas, Aymaras, Guaranies, Chiquitanos and others. As a
result of those cultures, in Bolivia people speak different languages. They
have different languages, have different traditions and even dressing ways. So,
the culture of this country is like a mix of all those ethnics.
To
continue, there are lots of traditional dishes that are delicious. One of the
most common dishes is “Silpancho” which has boiled rice, fried potatoes, a slim
fried portion of meat in a pizza shape, fried eggs and a salad of onion and
tomato cut in cube style; it is so common that you can find it easily in any
menu and it is not so expensive. In general food in Bolivia is very traditional,
so there is not too much junk food that actually produces health problems.
Besides,
you can find many touristic places that have beautiful views. One of them is
the “Salar de Uyuni”. It is a kind of lake of salt where everything is white.
It is actually a newfangled touristic place because there is the salt hotel
where everything is made of salt, even the beds. Another important touristic
place is San Pedro Hill where you can find the tallest sculpture of Jesus
Christ in the world. It is located in Cochabamba city.
Finally,
people in Bolivia are very nice. As this country is diverse there are different
kinds of people but most of them are very welcoming. Bolivian culture is also
famous for its delicious cuisine. I suggest you to come and enjoy our warm
weather and our variety of touristic places.
Cozy Bolivia (by
Damaris Rios)
In this
essay I am going to write about my country, Bolivia. It has a nine cities or
departments, some of them have cold weather and some others have hot weather.
Bolivia is located in the center of South America and it is a country that is
not very developed, we do not have a sea and we are surrounded by countries
such as Brazil in the north, Paraguay and Uruguay in the east , Argentina in
the south, and Chile and Peru in the west. The cities are rather small but that
is good because somehow you do not need a car to go from one place to another,
you can just walk or take a bus that takes you exactly where you want.
In Bolivia,
the cold cities are La Paz, Oruro, Potosi, it even snows there, the temperature
in winter can be under cero Celsius and in summer until 18 Celsius. While Cochabamba, Tarija and Chuquisaca are
warm, with temperature from 12 to 28 Celsius. The hot cities are Santa Cruz,
Beni and Pando, in summer they are really hot. My city, Cochabamba, is the best
because some days it is hot and others are warm and I really like the variety
of weather to wear different clothes or to do certain activities according to
it.
It is said
that Bolivia is the heart of South America because is located in the center of
it. Many countries in South America have had an amazing development that makes
them look like some cities in the United States or Europe. Instead, Bolivia
conserved its nature. We even have some natural reserves with wild life,
perfect for doing kayaking, hiking, climbing, skiing, mountain biking and so
on.
Living in
Bolivia is also healthy because you can go walking in the cities or towns,
because they are not so big. The exception is Santa Cruz, which is the biggest
city. There you need a car or to take public transportation. There are taxis,
buses but not trains or metros nor subways. The buses have a number and a specific
route. So, you can know where to take one of them. Nowadays, traffic could be
stressing and it is really inconvenient if you are in a hurry. But you can
always ride a bike,, which is healthier.
Brief,
Bolivia is not a large country, but its 1,000 000 square kilometers make it
remarkable in South America. Most of the cities have a different kind of
weather. In this way, you can decide if you want a hot, warm or cold place to
visit. There are mountains, lakes, jungles waiting for you.
Bolivia’s Beauty (by
Pamela Caero)
Hi, my name is Pamela Caero. I am a student at
CENDI School and I come from Cochabamba, a city in Bolivia. My country is one
of the richest in the whole world because it has diversity in weather,
gastronomy, traditions, minerals, wild life, vegetation and so on. What I like
the most from my country is the food, traditions and biodiversity.
Bolivia is located in the South American
continent, surrounded by countries such as Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile
and Peru. It is considered the heart of South America because it is in the
center of it. There are 36 different ethnic groups spread all over the country.
The main cultural groups are the Aimaras, Quechuas and Guaranies. People from Cochabamba belong to the
Quechuas. So, let me tell you more about my amazing country.
First of all, Bolivia has nine cities.
Geographically talking, Bolivia is divided in three zones: the high terrain
which is semi-arid and cold, semi-tropical valleys with humid climate and
tropical lowlands. The high plateau or
altiplano includes de cities of La Paz which is the highest of the world’s
capital cities with 3,600 meters (11,800 ft.) above sea level, this city also
has the highest lake in the world. Oruro is famous for its traditional Carnival
which was declared human patrimony according to the ONU and Potosi which
exported silver to Europe in the XV century. It was said that with all that
silver it would have been possible to build a bridge between South America and
Europe. The cities from the valleys are Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Tarija. Mainly,
the temperatures in those cities are from
18 to 28 degrees Celsius. In cold season they are from 0 to 17 degrees
Celsius. Cochabamba is famous for its good food with a large variety of dishes
that include poultry, meat, pork with a lot of vegetables. Chuquisaca is the
capital of Bolivia. It is important to mention that the independence revolution
of South America started in Chuquisaca, in times when we were a colony of
Spain. In Tarija you can find one of the best wines in South America. And a
traditional alcoholic beverage called “singani”, unique in the world. The
cities of the tropical lowlands are Santa Cruz which is rather industrial and
cosmopolitan. Other city is Beni which still has some virgin jungles with wild
life like the Pink Dolphin, unique in the world, the museum of fish in there is
the second of importance in South America with an amazing variety of fish. And
with products such as cacao beans; high quality ones. Pando is another city, up
in the north of my country with a lot of wood forests. Santa Cruz, Beni and
Pando have humid tropical weather, but in winter (June or July) they have cold
weather with “Surazos” or cold storms.
Our national parks have beautiful high
mountains with much vegetation and some of their rivers have waterfalls. We can
also find some Inca (our ancestors) ruins. The Sajama Mountain offers an
amazing view with dry vegetation and some ice on the top. In Toro Toro, an
archeological zone you can find stalactites caves and dinosaurs tracks, with
their foot prints on the rocks. In Tunary Park, Cochabamba’s lung, you can find
a lot of vegetation and wild animals.
As you can see, Bolivia offers you a variety of
culture, geographic places, weather and languages. You are always welcome,
please write back soon.
Bolivia: Almost a
Paradise (by Andrea Titizano)
I write
this composition to give you an idea about my country. I am going to write
about Bolivia’s location, traditions; especially food,
Bolivia is located in the center of the western
hemisphere. I live in Cochabamba where the food is delicious, for me, the best
in my country. We have some main dishes such as “Pique macho” which is made of
French fries, slices of fried meat, sausages, boiled eggs and tomato and onion
salad. We also have “Charquekan” which is dried meat from “Llamas” a kind if
big lambs whose meat is high in proteins and low in fat. Actually, we export
this meat to Europe. This dish is made with the dried meat fried, with boiled
eggs, boiled potatoes and corn. Then, we have the “Picante mixto” which is a
mixture of slices of cow tongue, chicken and meat all boiled with onion and
other species. It is served with potatoes. So far, we serve most of our dishes
with potatoes because we have like 200 varieties of them. And we have
“Chicharron” which is made of very fried pork chunks, served with corn. We can
eat pork, because we are mainly a Catholic country. But there are also many
dishes with fish. But we do not have sea food because my country does not have
a sea.
You can go sailing in Titicaca Lake, which is
in La Paz. There are also other important places there, such as the moon island
and the sun island where indigenous people make religious ceremonies like our
ancestors did in the past. In the past, our ancestors worshiped the sun, so
they built many temples where lived the most beautiful young women to serve the
temples. In those ceremonies there were animal sacrifices, but now there are
only ceremonies.
A place that shows some characteristics of
Bolivia in the colonial age (when we were slaves of the Spaniards) is the Money
House where people made gold and silver coins to be distributed in South
America and even in Europe. There you can learn about our history, how the
Spaniards made the black slaves work in the coin factories or in the silver
mines, the indigenous people of that time did the same jobs. The black men were
brought from Africa. Nowadays, their next generations are not slaves anymore.
They live in the tropical areas of my country. They have plantations of banana,
cocoa beans, coffee and coca leaves.
The variety is our richness, we are very proud
of our country. And of course, we are very willing to meet you.
A Beautiful country
called Bolivia (by Alexandra Rivadineira)
Streets full of history, amazing landscapes and
traditions, such is my country; Bolivia. The sun rises and you can immediately
see a lot of smiles that invite you to stay. The rain falls and you still feel
fresh, the sound of the wind sings in your heart telling you that you are in a
paradise like; it is an exciting place with a lot of biodiversity. I am going
to try to tell you the Bolivian traditions.
The most important traditions of ours are the
“Koa” which consists on burning some smelly minerals and plants in honor of the
mother earth. Here in Bolivia people practice this tradition every first Friday
of each month and it is supposed to bring you good luck for business and peace
at home. The “Challa” is another important tradition; it consists in offering
some beverage to the Mother Earth, dedicating our new house, car, diploma,
contract, marriage or any new activity to her. After the short ceremony there
is a popular party with a lot of music and lots of food. In The Day of the
Death we make a “Mastaku” which is a table full of food and muffins with human
shapes. It is dedicated to the dead person who is believed to return to the
living world to visit us on the second of November. Later that day, other
people come to pray Catholic preaches for the dead person, so he or she can be
forgiven of his or her sins. Then we have the Carnival party, it is celebrated
in February. It is a happy week when youth play with water, there are parties
all around, and people wear colorful clothes and masks. In carnival we eat
homemade candies and dishes made with fruits. It is also important to mention
“Saint John’s night” which is celebrated in winter (June), for us, that night
is the coldest of the year. In that night you can make a small fire and people
dance around it. But now, to make a fire is forbidden in some cities because of
pollution problem, but the parties are not. There you eat hotdogs and they
display fire games. It is really exciting.
One of the things I am really proud of is our
folk music, our colorful national costumes, the diverse dances we have, one
more exciting than the other. As I said before, Bolivia is a place that every
visitor keeps in his/her heart. I personally love it. It is a magic place that
nobody can forget.
