Some about my life in Calgary like a UOC's student

I arrived at Calgary on September 13 – 2007 to improve the English language, for several reasons: first because I always wanted to do that and because for my it is very important, second because my friend Hugo animated me and supported to do it, and third because ECOPETROL SA me allowed it. The city is very ordered and calm, I understand them the language to people because their pronunciation is very good, they are very friendly and polite, the transit is organized although it is not enough and the climate is very hard to me, and the global warming is affecting it still more.

In the university, the professors are difficult, we studied from the 9 a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m., they give us too much homework, presentations in power point, reading journals, reading books, etc. but in general, they are excellent. All Fridays, the university has prepared some activity to amuse to us. I study with people of many countries and that is very interesting, I can share and learn of other cultures. People in general are very friendly and outgoing. Finally, I want recommend this experience to whoever can do it, that will help you much in your future.

I will come back to my country on December 18th with too much happiness because I could be in Calgary and I could study in the UOC, in addition I miss very much to my family and my people.

Ecopetrol S.A., Colombian Petroleum Company, the best of my country

ECOPETROL SA is the Colombian Oil Company for which I'm working at the moment, this has 56 years of history and I want to share with you something about this one. The company is very organized, has good leaders and it’s excellent to work there. All Colombians wish to work in ECOPETROL SA because it allows the personal and professional growth and for being the best company of country, in addition because it has very good opportunities. At the moment, the company is modernizing its image to adjust it to the conditions of competition that demands the market, with the goal of become a company of world-wide level. Of same way, by means of the sale of actions, is being capitalized and turning a company of mixed economy (capital state and private).

Finally, I want to express my happiness because I’m working with the best company of my country, my gratefulness because it allowed me to grow and for this way I want present them the best of the best companies in Colombia, which we hope that it will be the best one in the world.

The wedding of my best friends in Canada

The last Friday 09 November 2007, I was an accomplice to the marriage of my friends Hugo Garcia and Marcela Barahona, with whom I am living in Canada, he is from Bucaramanaga-Colombia and studied with me all the career and she is a beautiful girl from Honduras.

The civil ceremony was in a lounge in Calgary, Canada. Some Canadians and many Colombians attended to the wedding, so the meeting was excellent, the food was typical Colombian and merengue music varied between Juan Luis Guerra, Roberto Antonio, Bacilos, Bonka among others, and obviously Carlos Vives, Shakira and Juanes.

The ceremony was very nice, people behaved very kind and everybody enjoyed, the bride and groom receipted good gift envelopes and the meeting finished around the 2:00 a.m. of Saturday.

God bless this marriage.

My natal city, Cúcuta (Colombia)

Cúcuta is the capital and most populous city of the North Santander Department in Colombia. Due to its proximity to Venezuelan border, Cúcuta is an important commercial center. It is situated in the Cordillera Oriental in the Andes.

It has an area of 1176 km², an average temperature between 28-30°C and 2 million people. The metropolitan area of Cúcuta has undergone rapid population growth since the 1960s, largely in the peripheral municipalities of Villa del Rosario and Los Patios. There are many schools, colleges and private and public universities.

Your people are very friendly and among outstanding people are Francisco de Paula Santander who was the first President of Colombia, the expresident Virgilio Barco graduated in my College Sacred Heart of Jesús of La Salle, the classic musician Elias M. Soto and the most successful Colombian tennis player named Fabiola Zuluaga.

Cucuta has beautiful and wonderful landscapes and all people on the world is welcome there.

Autobiography in brief words

I was born in Cúcuta (Colombia). I grew up in Cúcuta (near to Venezuela) with my dear parents Gisela and Raul, and my two brothers, younger is named Juan Carlos and older is named Nelson. My family is great and they are my life. I studied my basic school in the College City of Cúcuta, my high school in the College Sacred Heart of Jesus of La Salle, and when I was 17 years old, I had travel to Bucaramanga, there I studied my career like Petroleum Engineer in the Universidad Industrial of Santander (UIS). I began to work in OXY (Occidental Petroleum Company) and after I came in to ECOPETROL SA (Petroleum Company of Colombia) in Villavicencio (Colombia) like treatment and production control engineer, after became in company man at workover ,and now I am working like reservoir and engineering professional in Bogotá (Colombia) and I am single yet, but I hope find a excellent woman to integrate a good family. Actually, I am studying at the University of Calgary and I hope come back to study my master in Canada. Finally, I want to say that I am very happy because my life is God, my family and my job.

An famous colombian artist...Fernando Botero.

He was Born in Medellin, Colombia in 1932, Fernando Botero moved in 1951 to Bogota, where he had his first exhibition at the Leo Matiz Gallery.

He studied in Madrid at the San Fernando Academy and in Florence. In 1956 he taught at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Bogota. In 1957 he exhibited at the Pan American Union in Washington. Botero developed a mix in the painting between Renaissance, Barroque and the colonial tradition of Latin America. In 1969, he was established as a big painter when he exposed the Inflated Images at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1993 Fernando Botero was honored with an exhibition of his sculpture along the Champs Elysees, the first non-French artist to exhibit at this venue.

His work is characterized by inflated, rounded forms, painted with smooth, almost invisible brushstrokes, and an exaggerated size on human figures, natural features, and objects of all kinds, celebrating the life within them while mocking their role in the world. He like constantly referring to his native Colombia and also creating elaborate parodies of works of art from the past.

In the decade 1980, Botero became one of the most sought artists in the world and a lot of his art (paintings and sculptures) became an integral part of the landscape of many cities.

Fernando Botero is proud of Colombia, and personally I like his art because is excellent, his sculptures and paintings are very interesting and fun.

Rodolfo Llinas, a Colombian Neurologist among the best in the world, he works at NASA.

Rodolfo Llinas was born in Bogota, Cundinamarca (Colombia), in 1934. He studied at Gimnasio Moderno School, received his MD for Javeriana University in 1959 and his PhD in 1965 for the Australian National University. Actually, the Dr. Llinas is the Thomas and Suzanne Murphy Professor of Neuroscience and Chairman of the department of Physicology & Neuroscience at the NYU School of Medicine. Professor Llinas had written around ten books, 500 publications in Medicine and Science.

Dr. Llinas has wide researches, varied and complex but his main researches are based in hyphotesis about origin of the conscience. He also discovered the electric activity in the neurons and the ions of calcium that make a bridge between electricity neuronal and chemistry. Now he turns to develop a new technology for a cerebral exploration.

Rodolfo Llinas is considered one of the fathers of neuroscience.

He has contribued in:

-Discovery dendritic inhibition in central sistems
-Utilization of magnetoencephalography in clinical research.

He was also the chairman of NASA/Neurolab Science Working Group and has been recognized with doctorates honorarium, numerous prizes and distinctions.

He is a great Colombian and an example that we can do things well done!

Colombian Scientist: Manuel Elkin Patarroyo

Manuel Elkin Patarroyo was born on november 3rd-1947, is a Colombian pathologyst, who developed the world's first synthetic vaccine for malaria, a disease transmitted by mosquitos that affects many people in the World. The Dr. Patarroyo studied medicine at the National University of Colombia, received a scholarship to Yale University, and a PhD at Rockefeller University in New York.

The vaccine has been proven effective between 30 and 60 percent of the time to those over one year old. There were discussions with a major pharmaceutical company to manufacture the vaccine in Switzerland, but that would have made the price very high. Patarroyo insisted that the vaccine be produced in Columbia, in order to keep the price low. If produced in Europe or the US, the price per dose would have been $10, but by producing the vaccine in Colombia, it is estimated that it will cost 40 cents per dose.

He is other person pride of Colombia.

I'm proud of Colombia,... a great country for the world

Bogota Bucaramanga

Cucuta

Barranquilla

San Andres

Cartagena

Colombia is one of the best countries of the world, although the rest of the world speaks bad
for lack of culture and knowledge about really happens in this country. It is certain that the country has problems, but It is not certain that they are over all the Colombian territory , in Colombia, the people can live happily, because I have been living all the time there and never I have seen close those problems; mainly the problems are in the forests and really is more a political problem that another thing.

Contrary to its depiction in the ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ film, Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, is one of the largest and liveliest cities in Latin America. The city has been working successfully along the lines of the Colombia Country Image Campaign to change negative perceptions.

This country, Colombia, has beautiful and dear people, amazing landscapes, pretty cities, development in all the areas, It is one of the best countries in education, one of the countries where it is good spoken the Spanish, with personalities, prize novel of literature, good singers, scientists, soccer players, personalities in golf and in Formula 1, delicious food and plates, finally, Colombia is a grandiose country for rest of the world.

I invite to see the following page Web where there are several videos about the passion that surrounds to Colombia, you don’t regret to see them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7uqvOVRIuE&NR=1

A study in Canada shows pay is less important to this generation when the people choose a career

An article of Gauntlet Magazine of the University of Calgary that was emitted on 20th september-2007, expose actually when every person is choosing a career lees important at this moment is the salary, then it’s means that the money isn’t always the happiness. The consulting firm has done a lot of recruitment in different universities and the results explain that people actually are looking for stability and to be happy at your work place, that is, a balance between their careers with their personal life.

The top three of careers preferred in Canada is the following: academic research, healthcare and education/teaching.

For more information about Career Services visit http://www.ucalgary.ca/careerservices, where they will assist students with resumes, interviewing skills and job searches.

Biography of Shakira

The real name of Shakira is Isabel Mebarak Ripoll. Shakira was born in Barranquilla (Atlantico-Colombia) february 2nd, 1977; her mother was a native Colombian and her father was of Lebanese descent. She began in the music at age five, wrote her first song at age eight, began entering (and winning) talent competitions at age 10, and learned to play the guitar at age 11. In 1990, at age 13, Shakira moved to Bogota and she did a deal with Sony's Colombian division and in 1991 presented her album Magia (Magic) and although with this she didn't break internationally, the album was very good in Colombia. Dissatisfied with the pop inclinations, she changed at 1993 her direction joining the cast of the Colombian soap opera El Oasis in 1994. When Shakira returned to recording in 1995, she asserted more with her thirth album Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet). Shakira decided learn english to maintain control over her songs because Gloria Estefan offered to translate "Ojos Así" into English and with this song she won in the year 2000 a MTV Video Music Award. In the next years 2001-2005, she was became in a star of English-speaking world, specially with the song "Whenever, Wherever". Actually, she is a great colombian like many people of my country.