Success comes to he who is willing to work hard, fight a good fight and sacrifice everything when necessary. (Brenda A. Ysaguirre)

As we near the end of another year we are faced with many new challenges. The economical situation at home and abroad dims the festive moment. If what the analysts are saying is true, we can look forward to a new year filled with more hardship as more people lose there jobs and many others graduate into a world that offers very little for them. Only the strong will survive. Only those who know the true meaning of sacrifice will succeed. Only the fearless will attain the satisfaction of a hard day's work for a well earned pay. I do not mean to dampen the eve of New Year's Eve. I only want to make sure we all understand that there will be a lot of hardship but that we can win the battle in the new year if we use stamina and sacrifice.

Good Luck to everyone and do have a Happy New Year. Go out or just stay at home and eat some grapes (12 actually to follow the Spanish tradition of one for each month of the year. You eat them just before midnight and our ancestors believed it would give you a good year.)Have a Blessed New Year.

Remember, we can make 2009 all it was meant to be if we work hard and sacrifice when necessary.Brenda A. Ysaguirre

QUIEN INVENTO EL TEMAZCAL?

Parece que los Mayas lo inventaron.
Es un baño de vapor prehispánico utilizado actualmente por los mayas, que por sus cualidades terapéuticas es complemento importante durante sus rituales y ceremonias de purificación.Es parte de una tradición muy antigua para limpiar el cuerpo, la mente y el espíritu que se trasmitió a través de las culturas de el norte de América y sigue en práctica hasta el día de hoy gracias a la tradición oral que de padre a hijo se trasmite en las comunidades mayas.

El ritual del Temascal se realiza dentro de una estructura de piedra como cúpula que el sacerdote ceremonial,. (chaman) limpia y prepara con humo de copal (incienso derivado de una resina de árbol) convirtiéndolo en un lugar sagrado. En el interior del Temascal se acomoda la gente sentada alrededor de piedras volcánicas calientes, previamente preparadas en el fuego del ritual, que se reciben con respeto como “viejos sabios” (abuelitos) , y que son bañadas de te de hierbas que produce un vapor para curar la mete y el espíritu. Dentro del Temascal nos acompaña el Chaman que nos guía por este mágico momento en el vientre de la madre tierra para renacer purificados.

RENACER COMO GUERREROS
En la simbología maya la entrada al Temascal representa el regreso en el vientre materno que nos recibe para curarnos y renacer purificados. Cada uno de los participantes vive la sensación de armonía pacífica gracias a la oscuridad y silencio, que da la posibilidad de conectarse con su interior debido al correr del tiempo que no tiene modo de ser medido, en las practicas mas auténticas puede durar hasta 4 horas. En la antigüedad esta práctica era considerada una prueba para renacer como guerrero.

I AM BUILDING A TEMAZCAL IN MY GARDEN FOR MY SPA.

Once it is done, this Temazcal will house up to 25 persons. I have presently open a massage spa and the plan is to get a mud bath on the premises, too along with beach benches. It will be opened to the public and you are all invited to check us out if you are in the area.

The name of our SPA will be:

Brenda's Recreational Club

Rustic prehiSPAnico

WE WELCOME YOU!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE

Carolyn, Ciarra and Miya

EL GRUPO MAS SUPER DEL UNID, CHETUMAL, Q. ROO

MI QUERIDO AMIGO y MAESTRO, ABEL. Felicidades y amor hoy y siempre. S.Q? T.A!!!

Finally the day is here. Today we celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Millions across the earth rejoice in the coming of this day. Many will be in church, with family and friends or they will just relax at home to a quiet day.

In the past all my Christmas' were spent with my daughter, Carolyn and the past five years also with my grandaughter, Ciarra. This year due to inforeseen circumstances I have not travelled to the USA like I always do. As I write this blog, I am filled with thoughts of the child I brought into this world and the child she brought into this world. So much love and happiness they have brought me and today I am thousands of miles away from them. I can only say that while I will be with other loved ones, it is going to be hard to not remember last year and the years gone by and wonder if this year should have been this way. Unfortunately, it is beyond my control and I can only pray that it is all worth while - this sacrifice I make today. I will be calling them and across the miles I will be hearing that little voice that was so disappointed when she found out that her grandma Brenda was not coming this year.

Ciarra Alexander, my darling granddaughter, I love you and I always will. I am so sorry I cannot be with you this year for Christmas but I promise to try my best to be there in the coming year when I get a longer time off. You see this year we had a really bad time with the flooding in Belize and the school I work at had days off that had to be made up. So, I worked until yesterday and will have to work next week so that I can know if my students passed their classes and can move on to the next level in January. Anyway, the sacrifice will be all worth it if, and only if, the majority of my students pass their courses and can move on to the next level.

I know there is a reason for eveything in this world and so I am filled with the satifaction that they know I love them and that they know i will always be there for them even though I am miles alway.

At this time I would like to send my love to Carloyn and Ciarra. Darlings, you are my light and my happiness. I love you both and Miya, my son-in-law, I love you too. Sorry for changing your Christmas tradition but I will be there in the heart! Have a Blessed Christmas. We are alive and well. That is more than we could ask for. Trust in God and know that everything that happens in life is for a purpose. Like the love of my life always says and I quote: " We have so much to be thankful for. We are alive and millions of people did not wake up today. We have our health and many are sick. We love and are loved. Even when we are miles away, we are never apart. LOVE IS ALL WE NEED. "

Love Always,

Grandma Brenda/Mama

In the light of all this, I reach out to Abel for comfort and happiness. Thank you, dear friend, for being there for me. I sometimes fall beyond your expectations but you pick me up and lead me on. My love for you grows with each dawn and heightens with each dusk. Whether we are together or apart on each given day, you add to my life knowledge, peace, joy and happiness that has grown with each passing day.

Abel, te amo, y siempre te voy a amar. Mi quierido Desestress, tu y solo tu has llegado a un nivel en mi vida que ningun otro ha logrado. Todo mis ayers son necesarios para que mis hoy sean realidad y para que mis mananas sean posibles. El amor que me das, y el amor que te doy son dos distinctos formas de ese amor profundo que nace cuando dos personas apoyan uno al otro. Gracias por ser parte de mi vida. Gracias por abrir mis ojos, para encenarme que la vida es diferente de lo que yo vivia. Mi amor, mi cielo, mi corazon. Hombre en blanco, hombre con tanto, hombre sabio, hombre de mi alma. Feliz Navidad. Mucho amor y mucho deseos. A tu lado estoy. A tu lado abri mis ojos hoy. A tu lado, quierido Abel, a tu lado. No te tengo que decir mas porque lo sabes todo. Te Amo. Paz, querido amigo. Eres el unico hombre que me ha llevado a la luna, y has hecho que toque las estrellas. Besos Especiales siempre.

Tu Chica de la Nueva Vida

A mis companerios de UNID. Felicidades a todos. Espero que nuestro amor y amistad sigue. Eres parte de mi gran familia. Disfruten cada minuto de cada dia como si fuera el ultimo. Vive hoy. No se preocupen por ayer. Ya no existe. (Pero si reprobaron, ayer si no lo vas a olvidar, verdad? jajaja) Viven hoy. Disfruten HOY. Haz de HOY una cancion, una lucha, una felicidad como que si manana no llegara. Y cuando llegue vas ser otro HOY asi que ya saben. LIVE IN THE NOW!!!!

A los profes: Eulises, Adrian, Veronica, Yasmini, Sra. Blanca y Daniela, muchas gracias por su ayuda con mi espanol, gracias por lo que nos encenaron y gracias por su amistad. Les mando un afectuoso abrazo en esta temporada. Feliz Navidad. Mucho amor, paz y esperanza.

Remember everyone: He is the reason for the season. El es la razon por la temporada.

WHO INVENTED THE OBAMA SODA?

The election of Barack Obama has inspired one French entrepreneur to create a new soft drink. The maker of Obama Soda says he hopes his beverage, and its namesake, will inspire young people living in some of France's grimmest housing projects by giving them a little taste of the American dream.
La Courneuve is a working-class suburb only 5 miles from the center of Paris, but it seems a different world from the glittering City of Light. In the drab housing projects — or cites, as they are called here — rows of gray cinder block apartments dominate the landscape.
It is here that 31-year-old Jean-Jacques Attisso has decided to base his advertising business. Attisso grew up in a nearby housing project; like most young people here, his parents were immigrants from Africa. The energetic entrepreneur says one of the biggest problems in La Courneuve is the apathy and hopelessness among young people.
"There is like a gap between this area and Paris," says Attisso. "And for me, it's really important to be here and to try to give a positive message."
Attisso gives back to the community by mentoring young people in his spare time. He says President-elect Obama has inspired young people like nobody else. That, and the fact that one of his clients is a can manufacturer, gave him the idea to create Obama Soda.
The drink comes in a red and blue can featuring Obama's photo and the slogan "Yes We Can." It's the perfect tool to get young people to listen to his message, says Attisso — even if the success story is from another country.
"They know that Barack Obama is American, and here in France, the situation is a bit different," says Attisso. "But still, if someone is able to do that in the biggest country in the world, why not? It could happen in other countries."
On a recent afternoon, Attisso took his energy drink and his motivational message to the La Courneuve youth center.
After astonishing a few adolescents with his cans of Obama Soda, Attisso begins his spiel. He describes Obama as practically an orphan, a guy whose father left him and who was raised by his grandmother. But, Attisso says, Obama studied and kept going.
He tells the boys that they, too, could do anything they want if they work hard and set their minds to it.
Jean Marie Cyrelli, 19, says his father, like Obama's, was African. And he says young people in the French suburbs feel they have no future.
"People don't believe in France anymore," Cyrelli says. "They feel stuck out here in these ghettos in the suburbs, and the young people don't feel integrated with the rest of the country. It's an identity problem.
"They can't find their place in society, and they don't feel French," he says.
Unemployment in La Courneuve and other minority-populated suburban areas is nearly three times the national average. Residents say they face discrimination and exclusion.
And just three years ago, this area and others like it across the country exploded in violence. Young men of African and North African background burned cars and fought with police during nearly three weeks of nightly rioting.
In front of some small shops that include a halal butcher and a grocer advertising African specialties, Attisso stops some younger tweens on their way home from school. They all seem more optimistic than their older neighbors.
"I love Obama cola. This is the first time I've tasted it," says Muhammed Cherki, 11. Cherki says he's sure he could become president of France — but that he'd rather be a chef or the mayor of Hollywood.
When Attisso tells him that African-Americans couldn't even sit down in the front of a bus 50 years ago, Cherki replies that now Obama doesn't need the bus — he's got limousines.
Maria Tudjay, 14, and her friends say they love Obama Soda because it tastes like bubble gum, and that the can is pretty because it's in the colors of the French flag.
"And I'm very proud to drink it, because Obama is such a good example for black people," she says.
When asked if anyone would like to try a soda named for French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the response was unanimous: a chorus of "Non."
"All Sarkozy wants to do is bring the cops here," one boy says. "We don't like him at all."
Despite Obama Soda's success among these young people, Attisso says the cans are not yet on supermarket shelves. For now, he wants to use the drink to convince young people that a French version of the American dream is also possible.

WHO DISCOVERED THE GOLGI APPARATUS?

A Golgi apparatus is an organelle (a structure within a cell).
Other names for the Golgi apparatus
The Golgi apparatus is also known as the Golgi body, Golgi complex, or (in plants) dictyosome.
Why is it called "Golgi"?
It is named after an Italian microscopist, Camillo Golgi, hence the capital "G". Dr Golgi announced his discovery of this organelle in 1898.
Structure, appearance, and location
There may be a number of Golgi bodies in a cell. They vary in size, but a typical diameter is 2 micrometers. In an electron micrograph, each one can be seen to consist of a stack of flattened sacs, each sac (cisterna) bounded by a membrane. A Golgi apparatus is often found in a perinuclear location, i.e. near the nucleus of the cell. It is also typically close to the rough endoplasmic reticulum.
Receiving, sorting, modifying, and dispatching proteins
There is a continuous movement of vesicles (small, more or less spherical membranes enclosing, in this case, proteins) to one side (the cis surface) of the Golgi apparatus.
These vesicles have budded off the rough endoplasmic reticulum, and contain proteins that were synthesized within the lumen of the rough endoplasmic reticulum.
On reaching the Golgi apparatus, a vesicle fuses with it; its membrane merges with that of the Golgi cisterna. The proteins enter the lumen (cavity) of the cisterna.
Within the Golgi apparatus, the proteins are sorted according to their eventual destination. Some of these proteins may be destined to be secreted (released from the cell to perform a physiological function elsewhere) e.g. as digestive enzymes, others will become proteins of the cell membrane (plasma membrane), and yet others will end up in a lysosome or back in the endoplasmic reticulum.
The Golgi body also modifies proteins (e.g. by adding a polysaccharide chain).
Proteins are moved from stack to stack of the whole structure in vesicles that bud off one layer of the Golgi apparatus and carry the proteins to another.
From the opposite (trans) surface of the Golgi apparatus, vesicles bud off and are moved to their various destinations.
Polysaccharide synthesis
A number of other chemical processes occur in the Golgi body, including polysaccharide synthesis. The Golgi body makes the materials of which new cell walls are made during plant cytokinesis.
Does the Golgi apparatus replicate?
No. It is dismantled at mitosis, and reassembled later.
Analogies
Some people like to make comparisons between parts of the cell and other, more familiar, places or processes. A Golgi apparatus has been likened to a business department that handles receiving and dispatch. The items received must be sorted by destination before they can be dispatched. A postal service is another metaphor.
But what about packing and secretion?
Textbooks sometimes say the function of the Golgi apparatus is packing and secreting proteins.
By "packing" they mean that proteins are surrounded by a membrane in the form of a vesicle before they leave the Golgi apparatus. However, the rough endoplasmic reticulum does this too, before sending proteins to the Golgi apparatus. Endocytosis involves something similar. So there is nothing so very special about the Golgi apparatus here.
Secretion means the release from the cell of a useful substance (as opposed to excretion, which is the release of a waste, potentially toxic substance). Secretion happens when a vesicle reaches the cell membrane and its contents leave the cell by exocytosis. The Golgi apparatus prepares proteins for, but not does perform, secretion.

THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE FOR ME

A lot has changed since I last wrote. I became a student at the University UNID en Chetumal, Q.Roo, Mexico in the day sessions, I still am Director of CCC ACE and CJC ACE, I have opened a Health SPA in Corozal Town, Belize and my once calm world now is filled with work, friends, problems, sleepless nights, in all A NEW LIFE. While much has changed, much has remained the same and for that I am grateful. I thank all those who give meaning to my life: my daughter, Carolyn, my granddaughter, Ciarra, Miya, my son-in-law, Triccia, my stepdaughter and Abel, the light in my world and the brain behind many of the wonderful things that I now experience. As this year comes to an end, I give love to all my readers, friends and family for being a part of my life. Thank you for being there and for being energy to my sometimes tired bones. Life is a miracle of people, places and things. How we live it makes it worth living or worth dying for.

The Man who walks this world alone has nothing while the Man who struggles down the path with the help of family and friends lives a life of many splendours. (Brenda A. Ysaguirre aka Brenda Izaguirre Gill)