The "mandioca" story (a Brazilian tale) There was a girl called Mara, she was the chief tribe's daughter. She always dreamed about true love and happy marriage. One night, she slept and dreamed with a young, blond and beautiful boy who came down from the moon. Mara fell in love, but soon the boy disappeared from her dreams. Although she was a virgin, she was pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl, who had very pale skin and blond hair. Mara chose the name Mandi to her daughter. Mandi was adored like a goddess by the tribe, but she got sick and died. Mara buried Mandi in an "oca" and everyday Mara kneeled on the top of Mandi's sepulture. She dropped tears from her eyes and milk from her breasts. One day a bush sprouted there. Mara dug the soil and found a lot of white roots, it had a good smell and flavour and it was white like Mandi. The tribe understood that the child came to the Earth to feed them. "oca" is the name of Brazilian native people houses. "mandioca" is called cassava in English.

Personal Possession One of my favourite possessions is a golden ring that has my name engraved. When I was a baby my parents gave a golden bracelet which had my name engraved. I grow up and the bracelet didn't fit anymore. So, when I turned fifteen my parents asked the jeweler to melt the bracelet and make a ring. I use it almost every day and the ring reminds me of my parents because we don't live in the same city and we don't see each other frequently.

Children's leisure time Internet and mobile devices became available everywhere to everyone in the last years. Nowadays, it's usual to see adults and children distracted in their laptops and smartphones. Many parents encourage the little ones in this kind of activity because it stimulates their intelligence. And it's an easy way to entertain kids. However, specialists believe that virtual entertainment has benefits, but negative effects as well. The time spent online could be dangerous to the children. Because they don't need to develop only their intelligence and logical abilities. They need to develop their social skills too. Zumarova claims that the development of personality is affected by the social environment. In summary, the virtual life is a fact in children daily life and could be a good leisure time when used with wisdom.

Writing There are a lot of benefits in to make writing a hobby. If you are learning a new language, writing will help you to improve your vocabulary. Writing is good for your memory as well. Moreover, writing is a good exercise to your brain because you need to use your creativity. And, in my opinion, writing is excellent to express yourself in an organized way. You can start this activity little by little, maybe to write one or two paragraphs in a week and increase the frequency gradually until you are writing every day. You can use a laptop to write and enjoy the facilities of the text corrector. Or you can do it in an old fashion way using pencil and paper. But if you are the hipster type, you will need a typewriter. But about what to write? If you were in an inspired day, you could invent a fictional story or even write poetry. Or you can only do a journal and practice to write about your day.

Buildings I'm from Brazil and in my country there are a lot of famous buildings made by the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer. The Brazil's capital is the city of Brasilia which is a planned city and Oscar Niemeyer helped to plan it. In Brasilia, there are amazing buildings like the "Planalto" Palace. This palace belongs to the pilot plan of the city, so is one of the oldest buildings that Brasilia has. Furthermore, when we see the city from the sky, we can see the airplane shape of the city.

Bucket list I have an English homework to talk about life experiences. I've never climbed a mountain but I climbed a hill in 2013. (I'm not sure about the difference between mountain and hill) I've never won an Olympic gold medal, but I have won a trophy from a running in my city because I was the faster one in my category. I haven't been on The Antarctic and I don't know if I wish to go someday. It seems really cold for me. I've never met any famous footballer. I haven't run a marathon but I have run the Saint Silvester Road Race. The course is 15 km (9.3 mi) long. The race is hard because it always happens in Brazilian summer. I have never played the piano, but when I was younger I studied the guitar. What about you? What have you done? =)

Learning Firebase - Back to the codes My team and I have been searching new synchronization technologies for Android apps recently. In a meeting, a co-worker told a little bit about Firebase, a Google product that called out my attention. Then, I decided to learn more about it. I found an online free course and this course led me to do something that I don't do it for a long time: write Java codes. I'm enjoying a really good time doing this course. All lessons are in English so I can practise listening and reading while I'm at the office. This is amazing!

Verbal combinations - UP/DOWN Some sentences about my day to practice verbal combinations with up and down. - Today I didn't get the elevator. I walked up the stairs to burn the calories of the weekend. - My husband slow down the car because of the traffic. - This morning was so cold that I need to heat up the temperature of the shower. - I like to listen music while I work, but sometime I turn down the volume to be more concentrated.

BEING HAPPY There are a lot of things that makes me happy, for example, spend time with my husband, visit my family, go out with my friends. However all this things don't be enough to be happy, because we only can find happiness in the world when we're fine with ourself.