Rodrigo Malta

           Last year, when my class was starting the last year of the junior high school, I had a teacher, Iomar, that seemed not to be a friendly person. He was known as an evil man, who does not care about his students. My classmates and I were not afraid about him and we did not use to listen his advices, once he said: "Who hasn't started to study for the test will not succeed."

            Two weeks passed since his advice, and he was with the result of the tests on his hands, he was looking very upset and then he started to talk to us as no one has done before. He asked why we did not study and what was the reason for those results. To conclude he said "I am not going to show you these results today. These tests are going to be with me until you show me that you are capable, and deserve a better grade."

            Two months after, we would take another test. On the other hand, we knew our responsibilities, and I believe, until today, that everybody has studied for that test. Some days after the second test, Iomar called me to go to his own office and said: "Rodrigo, I noticed that you are a good student on the first test, although you didn't get an excellent grade. However, somebody told me that you could get better grades, because of this I didn't show you your first test."

            Iomar was an excellent history teacher, he could link facts and tell us what was happening in the world and why. However, he was more than a teacher, he was our second father. As a result, he taught us more than a subject, he convinced us to always do our best.

Tesalanius was the most famous dragon hunter on the fifth century. He lived on England, where there were hundreds of monsters. It was thought that he had already killed around 25 dragons. His best friend, Philip, was one of the smartest guys of that country, what nobody knows was that he has brought a female dragon up.

The king of England was a very generous person, he used to pay twenty thousands pounds sterling per a dragon. As a result, Tesalanius has became really, really, really rich. And so has Philip. However, Tesalanius has never gotten even close from one of those big monsters. Everything was a swindle, Philip has trained Melisa, the female dragon, to pretend that she has been murdered.

One fine day, the England king ordered Tesalanius to kill a strong male dragon that had kidnapped princess Tamina, the England king's daughter. The prize would be his own daughter. Tesalanius got scared, he couldn't kill such thing. On the other hand, Philip, who was in love with Tamina, made a plane: Melisa would attract the devilish dragon to a cavern and there she would kill it.

Nobody has seen Melisa and that dragon again, they might have fallen in love. Philip and Tamina got married. And it is said, until today, that Tesalanius has been murdered by a dragon.

Five years ago I moved from Belo Horizonte to Brasília. Everything was new for me; I didn't know anyone or anyplace. Then I have met Klaus, the person that would be one of the most important friends for me. On the beginning we just met each other at school, but with the past of the months our friendship got stronger; we started to go out and to study together.

Klaus is an enigmatic and easy-going person. I always laugh of his sayings, the most famous one is: "Anyway, it's a good story, whether or not it's true".  He doesn't use to do usual things, for example: his favorite sport is archery; once he has gotten first place in an international competition. However, he always forgets to study for the tests and I believe he has never done homework. We had to study a lot on the end of the last year, because he was not going to be approved at school. 

Klaus's parents are German, because of that he has learned a "different culture" from mine. He is less trustworthy than I, and sometimes I get ashamed because I notice that I could do many things without my parents.

Nonetheless, this year our friendship has changed a lot, he had moved from my school and now we only see each other at weekends. On the other hand, when I call him we talk a lot.  Probably I will make many other friends on this life; many of them would have mutual thoughts, but Klaus will be my friend forever.

Last vacation, my parents, my brother and I went to Atacama Desert, Chile. We have spent there one week and we have had a lot of fun. That was the best vacation trip of my all life. We have been there because two years ago we traveled to Chile, and many Chileans have mentioned about Atacama Desert's beauties.

We have gotten there by plane, because it is not so near from Santiago. Our plane spent three hours to go from Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama, if we had gone to the desert by bus we would had spent eighteen hours. 

We've stayed there on a small hotel; on the other hand the beds were really, really, really big. One of the problems of the desert is that there is almost no water; in addition the water was salt. As a result, one small bottle of water costs more than two dollars. However, there were so many things to do that we have almost forgotten the price of the water.

My brother and I have done many unusual things, we have also walked a lot. One of the most exciting things was climbing Licankabur, an Inca's holy volcano. My father has planned many things to do, for example: one day we woke up at 4 o'clock to see the geysers. That was a unique experience, unforgettable.

My brother and I always behave as a traveler; we like to camp and to climb. However we enjoy our parent's company, and they are not travelers. They use to take a lot of photos, have lunch on good restaurants, etc. So, I am a mix of traveler and tourist.

I learned an important thing with this trip: we should wear many clothes on the winter, mainly when you are in the desert.

My most treasured possession is my video game, a Play Station 2 (PS2), that my mother gave to me on my birthday party, when I was eleven years old.

With this video game, I had the best times of my childhood. I always played it with my brother, who is living in São Paulo. When I was young, I used to play video game almost every day. However, today I do not have time to do it. As a result, today, my PS2 is inside my trunk.

It is special to me because when I play it, by my-self or with my friends, I remember my brother. We spent a great time playing with this toy. We fought and apologized many times in front of this video game.

Nowadays there are thousands of new types of video games, and all of them have incredible technology, but I would never buy another video game because this one is my most treasured possession.