POST#62: GOOD FRIDAY

Hey! Today is Good Friday so we're going to be discussing that. Good Friday is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Black Friday, or Easter Friday, though the latter properly refers to the Friday in Easter Week. Based on the details of the Canonical Gospels, the Crucifixion of Jesus was most likely to have been on a Friday (the day before the Sabbath). The estimated year of the Crucifixion is AD 33, by two different groups, and originally as AD 34 by Isaac Newton via the differences between the Biblical and Julian calendars and the crescent of the moon. A third method, using a completely different astronomical approach based on a lunar Crucifixion darkness and eclipse model (consistent with Apostle Peter's reference to a "moon of blood" in Acts 2:20), points to Friday, 3 April AD 33.  According to the accounts in the Gospels, the Temple Guards, guided by Jesus' disciple Judas, arrested Jesus in Gethsemane. Judas received money (30 pieces of silver)  for betraying Jesus and told the guards that whomever he kisses is the one they are to arrest. Following his arrest, Jesus was brought to the house of Annas, the father-in-law of the high priest, Caiphas. There he was interrogated with little result and sent bound to Caiaphas the high priest where the Sanhedrin had assembled. Conflicting testimony against Jesus was brought forth by many witnesses, to which Jesus answered nothing. Finally the high priest adjured Jesus to respond under solemn oath, saying "I adjure you, by the Living God, to tell us, are you the Anointed One, the Son of God?" Jesus testified ambiguously, "You have said it, and in time you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty, coming on the clouds of Heaven." The high priest condemned Jesus for blasphemy, and the Sanhedrin concurred his sentence of death. Peter, waiting in the courtyard, also denied Jesus three times to bystanders while the interrogations were proceeding just as Jesus had predicted. Coming before the crowd one last time, Pilate declared Jesus innocent and washed his own hands in water to show he has no part in this condemnation. Nevertheless, Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified in order to forestall a riot and ultimately to keep his job. The sentence written was "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." Jesus carried his cross to the site of execution (assisted by Simon of Cyrene), called the place of the Skull, or "Golgotha" in Hebrew and in Latin "Calvary". There he was crucified along with two criminals. Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus' body, wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and placed it in his own new tomb that had been carved in the rock in a garden near the site of crucifixion. Nicodemus also brought 75 pounds of myrrh andaloes, and placed them in the linen with the body, in keeping with Jewish burial customs. They rolled a large rock over the entrance of the tomb. Then they returned home and rested, because Shabbat had begun at sunset. On the third day, Sunday, which is now known as Easter Sunday (or Pascha), Jesus rose from the dead.


Happy Easter weekend!


Maria.

POST#61: FIELD TRIP #2!!!

Hey! Yesterday, I went to my official 5th grade field trip to La Cueva Del Indio in Las Piedras Puerto Rico and the Humacao Wildlife Reserve in Humacao, Puerto Rico.  We went on a charter bus, which meant we had reclinable seats (ahhhh), a bathroom and air conditioning.  We first went to La Cueva del Indio where we walked through a really dark tunnel, a natural cave, and saw Taino Indian sites. We then went to a local mall's food court and ate lunch and stayed for one hour. We goofed around the food court and hit the little quarter and 50 cent candy and toy machines... I got a ring! We then went to the reserve where I bought a book about hurricanes in the gift shop. We hiked along trails to the beach from where we saw Monkey Island and Vieques Island. We went back to the bus to have a snack and then we returned to school. Yesterday was also my last day of school before Easter Break so the teacher chose a very good day for the field trip! It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy weekend!

Maria. 

POST#60: WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 2013

Hey guys! Today, we're gonna be talking about sports, and by sports I mean baseball... The 2013 World Baseball Classic is an international baseball competition. The main tournament is being held from March 2 to March 19. For the first time, a qualifying round was played during the second half of 2012. It expanded tournament participation from 16 to 28 teams. Japan entered as the defending champion. It had won the prior two World Baseball Classics, in 2006 and 2009. Although the 2006 and 2009 editions of the World Baseball Classic were contested by the same pre-selected field of 16 teams, for the 2013 tournament only the 12 teams that won at least one game in 2009 were guaranteed a berth in the main tournament. The automatic qualifiers were Australia, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the United States, and Venezuela. The other four teams from the 2009 tournament (Canada, Taiwan, Panama, and South Africa) contested a qualifying round in late 2012, along with 12 additional teams invited by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). The qualifying round was organized as four independent modified double-elimination tournaments. The modification was that the final game was winner-take-all, even if won by the team emerging from the loser's bracket. Although this modified double-elimination format was used in some rounds of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, in that tournament the final game was only for seeding and never for elimination. As practiced in the 2013 qualifiers, the team emerging from the winner's bracket might be eliminated from the tournament despite losing only one game (as, in fact, happened to Israel in Qualifier 1). The composition of the qualifying pools was determined based on geographical location, competitive balance, and regional rivalries. In Qualifier 1, South Africa took on France, Israel, and Spain, with the games taking place in Jupiter, Florida, United States. In Qualifier 2, Canada took on the Czech Republic, Germany, and Great Britain, with the games taking place in Regensburg, Germany. In Qualifier 3, Panama took on Brazil, Colombia, and Nicaragua, with the games taking place in Panama City, Panama. In Qualifier 4, Taiwan took on New Zealand, the Philippines, and Thailand, with the games taking place in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Canada and Taiwan dominated Qualifiers 2 and 4 (respectively) to advance easily. In Qualifier 1, South Africa was eliminated in the second round, and Spain narrowly defeated Israel to advance to the main tournament. In Qualifier 3, Brazil narrowly defeated Panama to earn the final berth in the main tournament. Pool A games were held in the Fukuoka Dome, in Japan. Pool B games were held in the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, in Taiwan. Pool C games were held in the Hiram Bithorn Stadium, in Puerto Rico. The Pool D games were held in Chase Field, and in Salt River Fields, both in Arizona. The Pool 1 games were held at the Tokyo Dome, in Japan. The Pool 2 games were held in the Marlins Park, in Miami. And the Finals will be held in the AT&T Park in San Francisco. 

Pool A      Pool B                    Pool C                             Pool D
Japan       South Korea          Venezuela                      United States
China    Netherlands           Puerto Rico                    Mexico
Cuba        Australia                Dominican Republic       Italy
Brazil       Chinese Taipei      Spain                               Canada

So far, the games to qualify for the finals have been:

Italy 4 - 5 Dominican Rep. (WINNER)
Puerto Rico 1 - 7 USA (WINNER)
Italy 3 - 4 Puerto Rico (WINNER)
Dominican Rep. (WINNER) 3 - 1 USA
Puerto Rico (WINNER) 4 - 3 USA 
Puerto Rico - Dominican Rep.

It's gonna be a really, really, REALLY good game! Hope you guys liked this post! Go Puerto Rico!


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#59: FIELD DAY AND SCHOOL TRIP!

Hey guys! Today, I'm going to tell you about two things: my Ecology Club field trip (it was yesterday), and my school field day (which was today).  The field trip was AWESOME!!! We went to a prestigious investigation station belonging to the University of Puerto Rico in the El Yunque National Forest, and then we went to the Outlets of Canovanas' food court and we could buy whatever food we wanted. I ate KFC, then I bought a churro from the churro stand. Since there was a WiFi hotspot in the food court and I had my phone, I connected to it and checked Facebook and my email. Then we went back to the school. OK, now on to the field day. We warmed up a little bit, then we participated in some events including:

75 meters race
Obstacle course race
Tug of War
and more....


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#58: SCIENCE FAIR!!!!

                                                                                                                                                                     
Hey guys! Today we're talking about my school's upcoming 
science fair. As one of my 5th 
grade requirements, I have to participate in my school's science fair. You either partner up or be in a group, or do the project alone. I chose to do it alone. I'm doing a hypothesis that suggests that volcanoes destroy land, but at the same time create land because when the lava or magma solidifies, it becomes rock (like in the case an underwater volcano erupts and creates a new island). Is it a good subject? My presentation will be a volcano and on one side it will be destroying a nearby village on the island, and on the other side, it will be expanding the island as the lava reaches the ocean and solidifies into rock. I will update the post with some pics of 
the setup so you can see it! 

Happy weekend!


Maria.