Joyas Voladoras

Joyas Voladoras literally means Flying Jewels in Spanish. Brain Doyle wrote this essay that has a meaning that can be... manipulated.  This essay perfectly captures how a heart pains and loves. I love his opening, "Consider the Hummingbird for a long moment." Meaning that you shouldn't rush through the essay. It makes you curious on why you should take your time on concentrating on such a small insignificant creature. He goes on to explain how hummingbirds have an incredibly fast heart rate that makes their life short and brief, yet adventurous. In contrast, whales however have big, heavy hearts that take in so much. And so he writes, "But we know this: the animals with the largest hearts in the world generally travel in pairs, and their penetrating moaning cries, their piercing yearning tongue, can be heard underwater for miles and miles." What Doyle is saying is that even though these magnificent large creatures are not "flying jewels", that are adventurous, they have a longer and potentially a better life. Whales generally travel in pairs so they have a better support system, others that want to hear their cries. My favorite part of his essay was when he said: “So much held in a heart in  lifetime.  So much held in a heart in day, and hour, a moment.  We are utterly open with no one, in the end–not mother and father, not wife or husband, not lover, not child, not friend.  We open windows to each but we live alone in the house of the heart.  Perhaps we must.  Perhaps we could not bear to be so naked, for fear of a constantly harrowed heart.  When young we think there will come one person who will savor and sustain us always; when we are older we know this is the dream of a child, that all hearts finally are bruised and scarred, scored and torn, repaired by time and will, patched by force of character, yet fragile and rickety forevermore, no matter how ferocious the defense and how many bricks you bring to the wall.  You can brick up your heart as stout and tight and hard and cold and impregnable as you possibly can and down it comes in an instant, felled by a woman’s second glance, a child’s apple breath, the shatter of glass in the road, the words I have something to tell you, a cat with a broken spine dragging itself into the forest to die, the brush of your mother’s papery ancient hand in the thicket of your hair, the memory of your father’s voice early in the morning echoing from the kitchen where he is making pancakes for his children.” We're meant to experience life deeply. We are meant to get hurt and so we try to shield ourselves form the pain. As the hummingbird, that only works for a while before it all comes crashing down.  We have to move and go on in life with all those scars of sorrow, but what about the ones of joy and love- real love. They are there and that's what helps you keep going. So buckle up; life has a lot to throw your way. 

Hitler vs Mother Teresa

A man capable of killing 6 million Jews in vain is one who was difficult to find someone of equal opposite. Yet it was ever so obvious since this person was one many of us have heard about. Mother Teresa dedicated herself to better the world. Mother Teresa showed compassion for those who were less fortunate than she was. She gave them food, lifted their spirits, and helped them survive. She established hospices and hospitals for the sick and dying, starting in Calcutta, India. She opened up orphanages all around the world. She started "The Missionaries of Charity" in 1950 to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after in Calcutta, helping people in the slums. She believed in God and did most of her work in his name, promoting Christianity. So, unlike Hitler,  Mother perfectly displayed selflessness and devotion and we must follow her good-hearted nature to make the world that much better. Mother won this battle for sure.

Life Quotes

http://prezi.com/brhnzd6yu7ls/life/

Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen

Baz Luhrmann's song "Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen" has given very true advice that will certainly help many. He has directed his song towards young people who are about to sail on the big ship of life. One of my favorite lines in his song was when he said, "Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements." You shouldn't dwell on the depressing things in life. Instead, you should always look at the things that make life happier. I will certainly follow the song's advice when it said, "Don't mess too much with your hair." So do not dye your hair a zillion different colors because you are harming yourself. Take care of your hair, love it, and be gentle with it. "Or by the time you're 40 it will look 85." Life moves fast, but that doesn't mean you have to be reckless. Advice I would give many would be to take life as it is given. Everything that happens is for a reason. There is no need to get hung up on anything. Just figure out what your net move is going to be and proceed.
Don't forget to wear sunscreen!

What Is Worth Knowing?

What Is Worth Knowing? I asked myself this question a countless number of times until I came to the realization that you must know your yourself before anything. Nobody can teach you how to look in your inner self and see your limitations, desires, and everything that makes you, you. Knowing your mental,emotional, and physical limitations can save you a lot of pain and misery. Lets say you run track, its important to know when you have to slow down so you don't injure yourself. It's good to know how long you can study without you hurting yourself. Knowing how much bad or good news you can take in can save you a lot of metal agony. So, before you try learning about the vast, complicated world, try knowing yourself because its more complex then you have ever reilized and thats the most valable thing.

What the World Eats

(This is for class)

1. Germany ($500) and Luxembourg ($465) spend the most on food every week.
2. The United States, Germany, and Mexico consume the most food per week.
3. The Revis family from North Carolina had the most packaging.
4. The Mendozas family of Guatemala has the healthiest diet. Their diet included of a lot of vegetables, especially green ones. It looked like the vegetables were freshly picked and that means no excess chemical preservatives.
5. The Aboubakar family from Chad has the least healthy diet. There isn't enough nutrition to satisfy the needs of all six people in the family. All the Aboubakar family is basically eating are grains and water. 
6. As relating to the answer in question 3, The Revis family from North Carolina may be the most wasteful because of all of the packaging on their foods. The soft drinks, chips, vegetables, and more all have packaging that can't be recycled, but sent to a landfill and will take a very long time to decompose. The actual food may not be what's wasteful, but what it comes in is.
7. I was surprised when I saw that the Casales family that has five people, in Mexico needed twelve bottles of soda for one week. All that soda defeats the purpose of all of those vegetables.
8. The photo where the customers were picking out their food with chopsticks from the street vendors really interested me since in America we use a very different approach.
9. My families' diet shares some similarities as well as some differences with the diets depicted in the pictures. I don't receive my food the same way as some people do, and that includes not catching seals. I saw some people in Chad face not having enough food, and I'm blessed to have not been in that situation. But, like some people in Bosnia and elsewhere, I get my food from a supermarket. I eat many of the same foods as some people do all over the world.

Waste Land

Recently, in class we watched a documentary on the world's largest landfill, located in Rio, Brazil. The most memorable part of the film was when the workers at Jardim Gramacho helped blowup the photos he took. It shows how other people’s trash can be someone else’s treasure. I learned that you should find as much value as you can with the things you have because if you don't it will be left in a waste land never to be seen or used again. Let's say you go grocery shopping and you have your food items bagged in plastic bags. Once home you unload the food from the plastic bags and throw them away. Those bags could have been used as a trash bag or to carry books, but it wasn't. Instead it was thrown away and will end up in a landfill. Plastic bags take 500 years to decompose. Now image all 8 billion people on Earth throw away 1 plastic bag every day. There wouldn't be enough room to fit all of them. You should find as much value with the items you got before you throw it away. The way I think the people in the picture felt about the photo is proud. Not many people know that there are garbage pickers. The art bring awareness to them and appreciation to what the pickers do. They want to be seen and I believe that the subjects were very happy to finally be looked at. If Vik Muniz had made me the subject of his art, I would feel embarrassed but excited. I would be worried that the photo wouldn't give a true representation of me; however, I think it would be cool to see a photo of me be fun sized. There aren't many aspects of my life that would lead to the same type of art Vik Muniz created, but there are times. The times in my life when I feel accomplished, determined, lonely, etc. are the times when similar art can be created. These emotions go deep down to a place that is very delicate and so, when photographed, it reaches out to people.

Photo Essay on deforestation

Please click here.

Turning Tables

I am running, my white dress stained green as grass, the bottom of my feet caked with dirt. I swing my arms up and twirl around, letting the moonlight claim my porcelain face. I look down to check my mother’s ancient leather watch that has been passed down through my family for generations.

"Shoot, I'm late!" I whispered to myself. I sprinted back to my mansion that was surrounded by a ten foot wall. I quietly squeezed under a small gap where not many guards were patrolling. I approached the door which I always kept unlocked and soon found myself standing behind my aunt, or as I like to call her the Wicked Witch of the West. Auntie Leslie has been my guardian ever since my parents were killed in a tragic car accident. She stood there, tall, dressed in my mother's veil. The fact that she had the nerve to wear my dead mother's clothing sickens me.

"Oh daring there you are!" the Witch screeched with her raspy voice. She had her backed turned, admiring her reflection in the mirror. "I have some very exciting news for you and that is..." her eyes rolled to see the maid standing by.

"You," she barked at the maid, "Leave!" Dawn, the maid, pinched the ends of her skirt, bowed, and headed for the door.

"Good luck Skylar." she whispered to me before leaving.

"Oh daring, I have to tell you something, which I know your parents would be so proud of if they were here today. You are betrothed to the son of the very wealthy Sir Richard." I think I just had a mini heart attack.

"But how am I to marry, for I am only sixteen? Do I not have school? Do I not have a say in whom I marry?" I questioned.

She turned around and then walked up to me, "You ungrateful child, you have to do as I say or I'll...," she smiled, "I'll use all the money your parents left for you on a face lift."

"No, you can't" I begged. The money my parents set aside was the only way I could pay for a ticket out of this hell house.

She grabbed my face with one hand and I felt her fingernails leaving another mark of abuse. "You will do as I say." she growled. "Now go get dressed. Sir Richard and his son Alexander will be here in an hour." She turned her back, once again, to admire her reflection.

 I ran up the stairs to my bedroom and closed the door. I couldn't take it anymore; I swiftly packed up my belongings and tip toed down the stairs and out the open door I went. I pulled my body through the hole under the wall and once again I am running. My white dress stained green as grass, the bottom of my feet caked with dirt. I swing my arms up and twirl around, letting the moonlight, once again, claim my porcelain face.

Victory over Death

I am running, my white dress stained green as grass bottom of my feet caked with dirt. I swing my arms up and twirl around, letting the moonlight claim my porcelain face. I look down to check my mother’s ancient leather watch that has been passed down through my family for generations.

"Shoot, I'm late!" I whispered to myself. I sprinted back to my mansion that was surrounded by a ten foot wall. I quietly squeezed under a small gap where not many guards were patrolling. I approached the door which I always kept unlocked and soon found myself standing behind my aunt, or as I like to call her the Wicked Witch of the West. Auntie Leslie has been my guardian ever since my parents were killed in a tragic car accident. She stood there, tall, dressed in my mother's veil. The fact that she had the nerve to wear my dead mother's clothing sickens me.

"Oh daring there you are!" the Witch screeched with her raspy voice. She had her backed turned, admiring her reflection in the mirror. "I have some very exciting news for you and that is..." her eyes rolled to see the maid standing by.

"You," she barked at the maid, "Leave!" Dawn, the maid, pinched the ends of her skirt, bowed, and headed for the door.

"Good luck Skylar." she whispered to me before leaving.

"Oh daring, I have to tell you something, which I know your parents would be so proud of if they were here today. You are betrothed to the son of the very wealthy Sir Richard." I think I just had a mini heart attack.

"But how am I to marry, for I am only sixteen? Do I not have school? Do I not have a say in whom I marry?" I questioned.

She turned around and then walked up to me, "You ungrateful child, you have to do as I say or I'll...," she smiled, "I'll use all the money your parents left for you on a face lift."

"No, you can't" I begged. The money my parents set aside was the only way I could pay for a ticket out of this hell house.

She grabbed my face with one hand and I felt her fingernails leaving another mark of abuse. "You will do as I say." she growled. "Now go get dressed. Sir Richard and his son Alexander will be here in an hour." She turned her back, once again, to admire her reflection.

 I ran up the stairs to my bedroom and closed the door. I couldn't take it anymore; I pulled my father's dagger off the self that was hanging above my bed. "I'm coming mom." I whispered, only a single candle to witness the most drastic thing a person could do. After all these years of being beaten and tormented both mentally and physically, I will no longer give in to what she wants and I shall fulfill my needs. I held the dagger in front of my chest and moaned softly as I took my last breath.  I had finally found my peace.  

Delicate

The first thing I thought of when I was told to take a picture of something delicate was of something vulnerable, something that could be easily broken, left there, not being able to yell for help. Of course capturing delicacy in a human would require someone willing to stand there and act like their life has been shattered into a million pieces, and sadly my brother wasn't up for the challenge. So I settled for something, surprisingly, better. I took a photo of a glass vase that so clearly showed delicacy. From it being able to shatter so easily to its fine texture and intricate workmanship, it is the tangible form of delicacy.

A Closer Look Outside

A White Disaster

I chose this picture because of the irony of a firefighter at an ice-covered warehouse.

The man who is pictured is Lieutenant Charley De Jesus from the Chicago Fire Department.
At first glance you might miss the fact that firefighter is at a warehouse that caught fire.
This picture tells a story of a tragic incident that has come under control and has been met with help; the firefighter is walking through the ice-covered warehouse. Ask yourself these questions how long after the fire was the picture taken and, if that is so, how is the warehouse already covered in ice if a fire had taken place?

 

Looking Into

Looking into the laundry basket.

This picture gives a better view of where the picture was taken; the laundry room.

Colorful

My dress is very colorful!

Texture

The pedals on this white flower were very soft.

This blue and white blanket was very smooth. 

The red braclet was fluffy.

Underneath

Underneath my pillows I keep a journal. In that handcrafted journal, I unwind myself by writing about my thoughts and feelings about my day. So not only does my journal lay underneath my pillows, but my innermost self as well.
 

One Week Family Food Supply

My family spends around $350-$400 on food each week. Some family food staples include roti (Indian bread), curry, yogurt, and oranges. Daal and rice are my family's favorite foods. Our diet contains of tons of protein and dairy since we are vegetarians.

                                                                                                       My Dinner

Looking towards becoming a doctor.

My whole life I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, a doctor. From looking at the structure of a cell to watching open heart surgeries, I knew that my one and only love was medicine. So, if I had 20% of my Gifted Program dedicated to doing anything I wanted, there was no question to what I was doing. I was going to be researching common diseases that affect many every day and every year. Then I will turn all of it into a book. What I need: a computer and printer. Problems that I may encounter are nothing major but I may not be able to find all the information I set out to look for (for each disease). Someone who I can consult is my doctor. My doctor has obtained a great amount of knowledge that may be able to help me with my research on the many common diseases in our world. The extra time I have been given will help me explore the medical field that much more.

If Only You Let Me Work...

When I was in kindergarten we were asked to draw a picture of what we wanted to be when we grow up and so I drew a doctor while the boy next to me drew an astronaut.  He looked up, saw my drawing and made a face that said: She’s a girl, she can’t become a doctor.  Flash-forward eight years and we are in class raising our hands to volunteer to help set up props for a play. My teacher called on five boys and me. When we got to the stage room all the boys went straight for all the big, heavy props, leaving me with a cardboard cutout of a snowman. “Hey Girl, don’t break a nail moving that heavy snowman,” a boy yelled.

Girls and women, if you must consider the difference, have always been thought less than men in jobs, school, and just about everything in life. It is a testament to the power of institutional sexism that women, despite making up 51% of the population, are a minority group.  It has been almost tradition for men to belittle women for their own comfort and to prove that they are more superior. I know that times have changed and women and men are now equal, but are they truly equal?  Women often work more than men, yet are paid less. Take Lilly Ledbetter for example. Ledbetter worked as production supervisor, not long ago, at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama. She filed an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination, since she discovered that a man doing the same work as her was getting a significantly greater pay. Just because Ledbetter is a women doesn’t mean she’s any less human, and Lilly made sure that wouldn’t happen again. Her proposal was a success; getting a law regarding pay discrimination, signed by President Barack Obama in 2009.

Discrimination against women started from for them the moment they are born. In many parts of the world, people put babies up for adoption just on the fact that they are a girl.  Some 50,000 female fetuses are aborted every month in India. Baby girls are often killed at birth, either thrown into rivers, or left to die in garbage dumps. It's estimated that one million girls in India “disappear” every year. But discriminating doesn’t stop there, it continues throughout their life. During childhood, many young girls suffer from educational disadvantage. As it so happens, girls in third world countries usually don't even attend school due to the belief that they are only good for cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the kids. The people who restrict girls (usually men) are so simple minded that they can't even see that some educated girls grow into the world's greatest leaders. Indira Gandhi, India's Prime Minster from 1966–77 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984, was a very powerful women who lead India. Gandhi became known for her political ruthlessness and unprecedented centralization of power. She did the most unexpected thing a women could do, rise to power. This clearly showed many that women are not their slaves that they could push around.

For many girl's adolescent years onwards abuse and discriminating of women only gets worse.  Adolescent girls are, typically, more prone to depression and being sexually and/or physically abused by men. On average, 1 out of 5 girls have been abused in some way during their teen years. Among women who report having been mistreated in their lifetimes, 54% say that it occurred before the age of 18. As in comparison to men, it is minimal. Statistics show that neglect continues as they grow up. Also, girls receive less food, healthcare and fewer vaccinations overall than boys. Not much changes as they become women. Tradition, in India, calls for women to eat last, often reduced to picking over the leftovers from the men and boys.

When a boy is born in most developing countries, friends and relatives exclaim congratulations. A son means insurance. He will inherit his father's property and get a job to help support the family. When a girl is born, the reaction is very different. Some women weep when they find out their baby is a girl because, to them, a daughter is just another expense. Her place is in the home, not in the world of men. In some parts of India, it's traditional to greet a family with a newborn girl by saying, "The servant of your household has been born." Though times are changing and more and more women are taking a stand when they feel like they are being discriminated, women discrimination is a major problem in our world.

Reflections and Resolutions

2012 is a year I cannot summarize in a few lines. It was a year of both ups and downs. Maybe I have even unlocked a whole new version of me, but more of that latter. Right now I'll tell you about how I learned that I have a really good memory. I use to think that I couldn't remember anything. Thus I locked the door to trying to remember or memorize anything. But in 2012, I decided to take a risk and peek through the key hole only to find that I misjudged myself greatly. I was listening to We are Never Ever Getting Back Together and after listening to it once I found myself residing all the words perfectly. I was surprised that I was able to continue doing this with other songs I heard. So, finally, it struck me that I have a really good memory. The way I unlocked a whole new me is that confidence in what I say and do skyrocketed; I realized that I'm more than what I think. In 2013 I want to stop procrastinating. I procrastinate a lot, and I mean a lot. Once I had to write a ten page book on dolphins and I waited until the day before. I think I might have a problem... I guess I have to drive myself out of my habit of procrastination habit! What I also have to do is practice old and current dance routines so I don’t forget them
Till next time!