AN URBAN MYTH: COKE’S FORMULA

People think only two Coca-Cola executives know Coke’s formula and each of them knows only half of it. It is only a mediate and publicity strategy of this company in order to give an exclusive character to the mark.

Coca-Cola has a lot of ingredients common in other gas drinks such as water, caffeine, vanilla, citric acid, sugar, coconut, caramel, lime juice, flavoring (oil orange, oil lemon, oil coriander...). Nowadays, Coke is manufactured like syrup and after this supplied several franchises, which reconstitute, bottle and distribute it. Coca-Cola company has a lot of production centers around the world. So, we can imagine that the process to produce the syrup needs many people in each factory.

Moreover, Coke’s taste changes depending on the mixture of sugar, lemon and orange oils. The other ingredients change the flavor lightly. In some countries, like Argentina, Coca-Cola is sweetened with maize syrup (fructose). In Europe, Coke continues using sugar (glucose).

Another myth about Coke, people believe Coca-Cola has corrosive properties. Certainly, this drink contains phosphoric acid, which is corrosive for a lot of materials. However, its effects, when we ingest it, are really different. Coke’s pH is between 2 and 4, which is similar to lemon juice. So, it cause neither gastric problems nor tooth corrosion unless people consume in large quantities of it.

Another polemic substance is the cocaine that has never been used like ingredient. People think the name of this drink is related to cocaine.

TELLING A STORY

I must have told you about the time I witnessed a robbery in the underground. I used to go everywhere by railway because Barcelona has a lot of traffic jam.

A few weeks ago, while I was crossing BCN by underground, I saw that an old couple got in train. They were foreigners and carried several suitcases. Later, the railway stopped in a station and was almost full of people. Curiously the train doors remained opened for two minutes.

All of sudden, three men get out the railway and the woman starts to scream telling us that their suitcases have disappeared. People help them explain the way took by the thieves. Several people push the man so that he could run to the thieves. Then train doors are closed, she remains inside railway and he outside. Next she says to us that her husband has Alzheimer and starts to cry.

Luckily, in the next station the woman could talk with a couple of guards. I suppose at least she met him.
Looking back on it, it was all very quick surprisingly!.

NATURAL DISASTERS AND POVERTY WALK TOGETHER!

Hurricanes, floods or earthquakes cause more important damage in poor regions than in rich regions. Generally, when a natural disaster affects a region, its effects are amplified whether people are not prepared to face it.

When a earthquake happens in a poor region such as Latin America or Asian, it causes many deaths. Nevertheless, in Japan earthquakes do not cause many victims because the Japanese build their homes with strong materials and advanced constructions. Sometimes even in rich countries, like the USA, natural disasters affect with different ways depending on economic level of citizens. For instance, many of Katrina´s victims were groups of people economically disadvantaged, mostly African-Americans.

Fragile homes built in places with high risk of flood or earthquake, the non-existence of urban planning, low preparation for a possible evacuation… They are some of the factors that cause more victims when a natural disaster happens.

IS CITY BETTER THAN TOWN TO LIVE?

Nowadays we don’t have great difference between living in a town or a city because you can find many things in a city as well as in a big town. Years ago, we had to go to city in order to do anything, but now there are things that you can do in town too.

Living in a town has a lot of advantages but it has also some disadvantages. If there isn’t public transport, you need a car in order to move to city, for example, when you must go to hospital or university. In a city you can find more shops, restaurants, cinemas… Usually, city shops are cheaper than town shops, above all in food and informatic products. Moreover, you mustn’t worry about saying hello to everybody that you find in the street.

Nevertheless, town life is quieter than city life because town has less noise and traffic jams than city. So town people are less stressed than city people. Another advantage is that you can find cheaper flats.

In conclusion, you can live in a town as well as in a city. The best option depends on interests that each person has, but many people prefer to live in city during working week and in town at weekend.

WHO CAUSES WARS CURRENTLY?

From the Second World War to 1990, world polarization was evident. This period of time was called the Cold War because it was a time of hostility and tension between the Soviet bloc and the Western powers. This fact was used by both blocks in order to create a huge weapons business. Later the URSS and the Maoist communism disappeared. Then the end of the Cold War and the decline in armaments spending started.

After that, USA governments needed to look for new reasons in order to justify the production and consume of nuclear weapons again. In other words, some of USA politicians looked for new enemies such as Sadam Hussein in Iraq or Bin Laden in Afghanistan, who were close allies during the Cold War. The United States helped Sadam and Bin Laden fight Iran and URSS respectively, selling them weapons and maintaining forces there for its defence.

Nevertheless the new enemies couldn’t compete in armament with USA armament. So USA government had to invent new wars, Iraq or Afghanistan wars, and sell them to the American public in order to get their support. For this purpose, war’s men expressed their opinion repeatedly with really false and simplistic arguments that if they weren’t serious topics everybody would have laught. For instance, before the “Coalition” attacked Iraq, George W. Busch and their allies said Hussein had massive destruction weapons and NATO countries had to remove his armament. Moreover they also said Iraq people were being killed by a tyrant. Many people are dying since war started and USA government had to confess they didn’t know whether Sadam had biological and nuclear weapons before attack.

On the other hand, some of the most important American journalists, writers and actors try to open the eyes of the American people expressing their opinions against wars. In this way, Norman Solomon with “War Made Easy” or Michael Moore with “Stupid White Men” criticized that politicians who believe to have an absolute monopoly on the truth.

To sum up, unfortunately USA politicians look for new justifications in order to spend and sell more weapons, which they make, using unethical practices.

BLUE SEA AND ITS POPULATION

Sea and its mysteries fascinate many people because currently it still hides a lot of secrets. I’m an explorer and an adventure traveler. My great passion for sea is similar to what Jacques-Yves Cousteau felt in his expeditions aboard the Callypso. Cousteau’s mission was protecting the Blue Planet for future generations.

Sea is a source of inspiration, symbol of infinite and omnipotence. In antiquity, people thought sea was populated by more or less benevolent monsters and Poseidon was sea’s King. In the Middle Ages, international shipping and knowledge about sea were increased. Later, in the Modern Age, there was great captains such as Colon, who crossed the Atlantic Ocean in order to arrive at America, Magellanes bordered the African Continent or Captain Cook colonized the Pacific Ocean. It inspired science-fiction authors like Jules Verne with “20,000 Leagues under the Sea”. A fantastic submarine with a mad captain, where a French professor and his companions come face to face with exotic ocean creatures and strange, forbidden sights hidden from the world above.

I’ve sailed around the world filming every sea and the marvelous creatures that live there. At this moment, I remember crowded scenes of turtles, sharks, whales, birds… For instance, we can find happy dolphins jumping, sharks (superstar predators of nature), whales turning frantic somersaults, turtles crawling on beach to lay their eggs, emperor penguins huddling on masse on the frozen sea…

Moreover, I’ve also known a lot of cultures that have always lived respecting sea. They use sea in order to fish, buy, sell or exchange their products between themselves. For instance, in our Mediterranean Sea; Rome, Constantinople (Istanbul), Carthage, Cairo and Athens were capitals of the ancient maritime empires, which should be visited by anyone who has an innate, adventurous desire to travel, explore, learn and discover.

In conclusion, in this blog I’ll tell you my adventures lived aboard a fantastic ship named Challenge. I’ll explain my journeys and expeditions to the Warm Seas (Mediterranean or Caribbean Seas) and the Frozen Seas (Antarctic and Artic Oceans).