Article summary : the mighty Mississippi During the winter when his surface is covered by ice, you can walk accross Mississippi in the north of America. Nevertheless, beneath the Old man River continues his road towards the gulf of Mexico. A distance of 2500 miles with the meanderings of his flow represents his course before mingle with ocean. It was Indians who called him Mississippi, that means the great river. De Soto, a Spanish explorer was the first to interest in the river in 1541, but La Salle, a French, in 1682, embarked on the exploration and called the Mississippi basin Louisiana in honour to the French king Louis XIV. During a century, Mississippi was French, and nowadays, alone names of cities like St Louis or La Crosse stayed French. Americans began to settle after 1783. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, cotton plantations were in full swing and the river helped to get produce down to New Orleans to be exported everywhere in the world.

COFFEE Do you know that coffee has been discovered in Ethiopia around 850 by a shepherd ? His goats were excited after eating leaves and fruits of a shrub. Its role in nature is to act as a natural insecticide in order to avoid being eated by little insects. Since this discovery, coffee is becomed the second more beverage consumed in the world, after tea. And it is the second exchanged good after oil. USA is the eleventh bigger consumer of coffee, the first country is Finland. I consider coffee like an essentiel partner against tiredness feeling. My days never begin without a cup of coffee, I must admit that I am hooked, and I enjoy the smell of coffee. It is said that the French writer Honoré de Balzac could drink until 50 cups of coffee per day, he could work on his manuscripts until 18 hours per day. As for the composer Beethoven, he had a weird obsession, no more and no less than 60 coffee beans had to be used to prepare his beverage. Today, many people depend on caffeine to help them to start the day. But there are negative results from drinking too much coffee. Caffeine is a light stimulant that increases focussing and vigilance, but can affects sleep. Personally, if I drink coffee after 3 pm, I woud have difficulties to sleep. It has a diuretic and desiccant effect, so it is important to drink water after coffee. A massive dose could generate heart palpitations and tremors. And it is easy to become dependant, I can not do without coffee during the morning and after lunch. What about you ?

My first marathon I remember my first marathon. My purpose was to finish the race, I didn't want to target a specific time, just finish. For my preparation, I ran three to four times per week with a long outing once a week during twelve weeks. The D-day arrived fastly, and lack of chance, the weather was execrable, I should deal with rain and wind. I didn't feel the thirst so I think I didn't drink sufficiently. Until the first thirsty kilometers, my course was flow, but after I began to have muscle cramps. More I advanced, more they intensified, they seems to be electric current, I suffered a lot, it was if I struggled against myself. Fortunately, my friends ran with me, and they supported me, they gave me their hands, and it pushed myself to continue. Finally, I had arrived after four hours and thirty minutes, but I didn't know walking. In despite of the pain, it was a good experience, I accomplished my objective and I am proud of it.

Friday the 13th For some people, this day is a sign of misfortune. The bad reputation of this date is mostly based on religious believes, and strengthen by various historic events. For other, certainly more optimistic, this day is a sign of chance. By the way, the french national company of games uses this superstition to offer special jackpots. Personally, I am not superstitious, so today is a day like any other.

Learning English I devote some time every day to study and review English. I consider that all aspects are essential, I read some lines of a novel the evening before sleeping, I listen podcast the morning in my car as I go working, and I note vocabulary during the day. The more difficult with learning english for me is conversation. I'm an introvert and I always strumble over my word during an exchange, it is like a big black hole. So, to avoid this difficulty, I prepare my topic before discussing. Four weeks ago, I have found a native conversation partner, we agreed on alternately sending messages every day with a question, so she answered me in French and inversely, and having a conversation once a week. Everything worked well during two weeks, but since, messages become rarer, and we didn't still discuss. I'm frustrated because I'm motivated, and I think I must speak to make progress.

Banalities It's a quiet day, the weather is gloomy today, so we stay at home. I made a strawberries pie, but my pastry was missed, it was a bit too harsh. That didn't stop me from eating it, I'm greedy. Now I'm going to flick on Netflix, trying to find an interesting documentary.

SOCIAL NETWORKS Social networks could be useful for little companies, it is a way to become known. And, It could be a marketing tool. But they have another sides that don't please me. Especially the fact that a lot of people spread their life on social networks while another spy them, I call that unhealthy curiosity. Everything that is published stays for ever on line, and these, could be reappear at any time in another form or context. Furthermore, some people use social network to settle accounts. Putting someone down in writing is easier and more hurtful than saying it to his face. On the other hand, social networks could be dangerous for children, some people up to no good hide behind a false profile to abuse them. It also exists cyber harassment that could have disastrous consequences on a weak person. Today social networks are inavitable, but should be used with moderation, excessive use could conduct to an addiction.

A lack of confidence Yesterday at the office, a young intern who had finished her training period, talked to me that she had a lack of confidence. So I explained to reassure her that it isn't always a negative thing. Indeed, I think that a person who lack of confidence, by fear of being judged, will be more intent on doing his work correctly, and will try to do his best. On the contrary, a person too confident could overestimate his skills and rush his job. Lack or excess of confidence could be disastrous, we should find a balance.

Documentary : Rats The last week-end, I watched a documentary on Netflix called Rats. It related the infestation of rats in big cities. It is worth of an horror movie, I jumped several times ! (Rats are one of my phobias). It shows neighborhood in New York invaded by rats. This little animal lives in sewers and appears at the evening to feed in the trash of restaurants. Researches are made to determinate what diseases they bring, and deducted they carry plague, ebola, leptospirose and a lot of parasits. It's an animal very smart and organized, more and more resiliant to poison. In India, population is paid to eliminate them because over there leptospirose is very widespread, and it's a deadly disease. On other hand, in Vietnam, traffics of rats are frequent in order to cook and eat them. Vietnamese tell they have the taste of chicken. During this time, in England, hunting parties against rats are organized. And in Rajasthan, rats are sacred animals, so they respect them, there is even a temple that is dedicated them. Rats can live in every environment because they are very coriacious, their predators die of poisoning after eating them while rats stay in good health. I recommend to you this documentary very interesting.