Blog #6 E.M

The movie Eleven Minutes it’s a really matured book talking about sexual things. In the beginning the book settled with Maria falling in love and having to lose that person then see though about the aspect of being able to pleasure herself without going through trouble and the best way for her was being able to do it alone. Then she was able to go to Europe and leave her family she got herself into prostitution but she can leave the place till she completes her task. She also needs to be able to raise enough money so she can be able to pay for her ticket to go back home to Brazil. Maria is the main character she’s really pretty but she seems to give up on love and she says it really not for her. Now with her beauty she can capture anyone’s eye. There’s a really well known painter who is in his late twenties but became famous at the young age of twenty. She was just their but the painter admired her beauty and ask if she would stay so he can be able to finish her painting. He asked for her to order a drink and be able to stay so he can finish. The guy seemed to be interested but Maria knew that love wasn’t really for her. She seemed to keep seeing the guy and they chatted but Maria didn’t seem like she would give him a chance so they go out even though you can tell that the painter was interested in Maria.

Blog #5 E.M

Dear Readers of E.M.
The book seems to be getting intense with what’s going on I really seem to enjoy it a lot. I wonder if anything random will come out of no where in which it brings suspense. Just right now Maria is going out to dinner with a guy that seemed to be interested in her photos but she thought he was interested with her but it didn’t turned out to be like that. He turned out offering her to go to his hotel and he will pay her but he ended up regretting what he said. I would love to know what will happen next. The only questions I can think off that I will love for the book to answer for me right now is if Maria will ever be able to return back to her home in Brazil and if she is how long will it take for her to be able to go back home. This is a really book and I cant wait till I’m done with the book so I will be able to think what happened with the book and be able to make sense of it. It’s an amazing book with a well plotted structure.

Blog #4 E.M

Dear Paulo Coelho,
I love the book eleven minutes and the plot structure seems to go well because Maria seems to be running through many obstacles like different things seem to get in her way. Now she’s just worrying about going back to her homeland but all she can just do is save money so she can leave where she’s at right now. You started introducing Maria in her childhood and how love didn’t seem to workout with her because she didn’t know how to act like when she walked to school from her house and a boy walked her same path she fell in love with him but when that incident happened when the boy asked for a pencil she seemed to reject him and after that she never ever saw him again. Maria felt bad because the boy left to another place which seemed to be far away and she feels like love just keeps escaping her. Maria had troubled with love and she did the rare things so she can please herself which I really don’t want to talk about. Now that Maria is older her beauty seemed to get out. Now that Maria’s beauty is revealed she seems to go through obstacles from her boss falling in love with her but her not being interested and her leaving her job so she can go on vacation. Now she’s in a whole different place that she’s been trying to leave but for now she can only have hope and just wait for that day. This book seems to be dramatic and new things popping out of no where without you knowing.

Blog #3 E.M

Dear Maria,
I bet you miss your home, your mom, and not being able to see the beauty of Brazil. It’s going to take some time for you to be able to raise enough money to go back home. I understand how you feel being far away from the things you love my situation is different mine is for school and for you it was thanks for the Swizz guy that got you into this mess. I read the part that you were taking pictures and that you wanted to send them to your family to make them believe you’re having the time of your life and you’re being successful when really you feel home sick. The people that took you photos seemed to love them and the Arab person seemed interested. You guys went out to eat and like you said you guys went to a Chinese food restaurant since Chinese food is cheap. The Arab person said, “If you come up and have a drink with me in my hotel room, I’ll give you a thousand francs” (52). The Arab person told you were pretty that most of been awkward and he was probably hitting on you. As time kept passing by in your dinner you started crying the guy didn’t know what to do he felt pretty lost and confused how this happened so randomly. You just kept going and asking for more wine. When the dinner was almost over you asked again what about that date but we actually regretted asking you so, what ended up happening?

Blog #2 E.M.

Maria decided to go with the European guy and in order for her to receive the job she had to get a document provided from the Swiss consulate. In the Swiss guys eye this seem demanding to him but his used to it. The Swiss guy didn’t care he seems very interesting in Maria and with the document Maria is receiving for sure she will get the job. The best thing for Maria is she’s getting five hundred dollars paid a week which is good. “Up until then, travel and the idea of going far away had just been a dream is very pleasant as long as you are not forced to put your dreams into practice”(27). Maria felt like this is a good opportunity she’s receiving but she can back out when ever she feels like it even though it’s a more than a thousand kilometers. She’s a beach person she saw several tourists at the beach and they were getting in and out of the water laughing she was just happy to go to the beach and wear her new swimsuit. Maria is very religious every time when she heads to ocean she prays to the Virgin Mary and she looks all calm. She always comes back safe since she loves going all the way and not staying on the shore. She wasn’t used to the life in Europe life in Brazil was different to her she was used to going to a good school, soap operas. Something Europeans won’t be interesting like watching soap operas.

Blog # 1 E.M

The book Eleven Minutes is a very interesting book with the main character Maria who is seeking love. When she was young there was a cute guy she fell in love and she doesn’t know to react to this things so when the guy asked her for a pencil she didn’t know what to say and she responded in a bad. Since then now on he didn’t spoke to her and then he left the town. Poor Maria didn’t ever see him again and she knew that love wasn’t made for her. “At the same time, she grew more and more insecure in her relationships with boys, and more and more determined to leave the place where she lived”(Coelho,13). By saying this we can see that Maria wasn’t secure with her self time passed she grew older and prettier she was nineteen when she had finished secondary school, found a job in a draper’s shop in where her boss fell in love. She didn’t let him touch her and didn’t let her beauty be threatened. Maria’s mom said, “Beauty, my dear, doesn’t last” (17). Knowing this she knew it good she had her boss in her arms she got a good salary. Finishing two years already there she had gave her parents enough money and decided to go on a holiday. Her boss decided to go with her on the trip and she said know its fine she noticed his eyes and saw the flames of love even though she thought he was only interested in sex it was the exact opposite. This week she wanted to be free and be able to meet her prince charming with a forty-eight hour trip. She met this guy that didn’t speak her language at all. Not knowing how to communicate with Maria he tried and said, “Supper . . . tonight?” Then he said: Switzerland!” (20). Maria was really pretty she knew her own beauty seem to be a threat for her with people that seem to be interested in her weren’t the people for her she wants her prince charming to soon arrive.

Outside Reading Book

I chose to read the book Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho he was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a young boy he wanted to become a writer but his mom seem to bring down his passion by telling him it takes more than just saying you want to become a writer. Now his known for several famous books like the Alchemist has become one of the best-selling books in history, been translated in 67 languages and won a Guinness World Record for having the most translated book by a living author. The novel Eleven Minutes is about a character Maria who is in search of love but she ends up losing hope and comes across a painter with whom she falls this book is described as an erotic novel for their contents because of their graphic descriptions. I decided to read this book because a friend told me it’s a great book and she said you need to have a maturity level in order to read. It seems like an interesting book so far but will see how it goes.

S.2 Q.3 Someone Overcoming Odds Blog #15

Overcoming odds is hard many people go through hard times or suffer from unexpected things. A fire occurred in New York early in the day on Saturday killing four people in a mentally disabled residents place in upstate New York. The fire was said to happen at 5:30 a.m. in Wells, New York. The incident occurred about a distance of seventy miles north of the state capital Albany. When the fire just started nine residents lived their, two staffers were on duty. According to Gov. David Paterson’s office two victims died on the site of the fire and the other two died during hospitalization. They tried to evacuate the people some were sent to the closet place and one was sent by a helicopter. People still don’t know how this occurred and is still under investigation. Many things just happen unexpected without you knowing when it occurs it just hits you.

CNN NEWS. “4 dead in New York group home fire”. CNN NEWS. 21 March 2009. 21 March 2009.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/21/group.home.fire/index.html

S.2 Q.3 Love Blog #14

Love can be referred to many things loving a person loving something that means a lot to you and you really can be away from it. Edgar and Nina Otto live in Boca Raton, Florida they had a dog for a long time that they love and adore so much sadly it died a year ago. About a month ago from now they received a yellow Labrador puppy that they went to go pick up off an airplane at Miami International Airport. They named the dog Lancelot Encore or Lancy for short. This dog they received acts a lot like their older dog so they assume its Lancelot’s clone. They seem to want to have a dog like that for more 11 ½ years. They didn’t just receive the dog like that they had to pay an amount of $150k on just a dog. The owners are really happy and they don’t seem to regret this decision they made. Even though money wasn’t an issue for them since Edgar Otto is son of Edward Otto a co-founder of NASCAR. They seem to love the dog and not regret for purchasing it especially when it looks like their old dog and acts likes it too.

Phillips, Rich. “Couple Loves Cloned Best Friend”. CNN NEWS. 6 February 2009. 15 March 2009.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/02/06/cloned.puppy/index.html

S.2 Q.3 War Blog #13

The Rwandan Genocide has caused many horrible things occurred on 1994 killing many people. Like in one hundred days it had killed Juvenil Habyarimana on April 6 all the way to July killing about 500,000 people. This is a really big amount of people to be killed on about three months and some days. Other genocides are occurring now in our time with the Darfur Genocide. This all started with Hutu-Tutsi ethnic divide and it led to large number of Tutsi refugee around Rwanda by 1990. Rwanda has been having several conflicts with the Hutu and also had the Rwandan Civil War. The fact that seems to bring this devastation was the assassination of Juvenil Habyarimana and brought this mass killing of Tutsi and pro-peace Hutus carried out. All this genocides have been killing several people in their homelands and be separated from their love ones and losing them and knowing they won’t ever see them again.

Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. “Rwandan Genocide”. Wikipedia.15 March 2009. 15 March 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rwandan_Genocide&oldid=277426118

S.2 Q.3 Imperialism Blog #12

Imperialism is a term that not many people know it has many meanings but there are two that describe an action and other one describes an attitude. The action one talks about the practice of extending the power the control over other countries outside its border being controlled. Imperialism is on the branch of colonialism when the controlled areas are declared to be its “colonies” or “protectorates”. The other terms talks about attitude when imperialism in which it refers to political or geographical domain such as the Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, or the British Empire. The term imperialism is known a lot through history and imperialist practices have existed for thousands of years known as the term “Age of Imperialism”. The term imperialism came to be known in the sixteenth century. Imperialism doesn’t only describe colonial, territorial policies, but also economic and military dominance and influence. The term has been about a lot and past through many years of history people have different perspectives of what the term means but attitude and action seem to be correct.

Wikipedia contributors. “Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia”. Imperialism. 10 March 2009. 11 March 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imperialism&oldid=276258340

S.2 Q.3 Global Issues Blog#11

Poverty is one of the biggest global issues. They are asking if it’s their problem why they are in that position if they struggled in life or if they were just lazy. There’s a lot of poverty in the world in every country. They are associations that try to help this people but not many people benefit from this. Many people are on the border to become homeless about 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. Many people can read or sign papers with their name. With the world being on a recession people are being hurt more losing jobs and not be able to support their family. One billion of children live in poverty which is 1 in 2 children in the world which is really sad. Many are suffering with having no health services about 270 million people are suffering with this situation. Not everyone is lucky in the world some suffer way more than others.

Anup, Shah. “Causes of Poverty”. Global Issues. 27 December2008. 7 March 2009

http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty

S.2 Q.3 Holiday Blog #10

Chinese New Year is a traditional Chinese holiday which is known as Chúxī meaning Year-pass Eve". It’s really important for the Chinese it’s celebrated in large populated areas with ethnic Chinese. Every year they have different animals to represent the year their on the animals they use are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, dog, rooster, pig. This year on January 26, 2009 it started being the year of the ox. Everybody knows the lion dance or the dragon dance, during the Chinese Year it’s really big and there’s a big spectacular. Another tradition is the red envelopes usually given by married couples or elderly people. They are passed on to younger kids or unmarried people money is usually given. It’s meant to be given an even amount of money since an odd number is given at funerals. Normally eight dollars are given since it’s said that it’s the lucky number. It’s just a great spectacular with traditional food, clothing, exchange in gifts, fireworks exploding in the sky, and dances. What makes it better is being with the family and being with friends.

Wikipedia contributors. “Chinese New Year”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 March 2009. 3 March 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_New_Year&oldid=274789691

S.2 Q.3 Bollywood Blog #9

“Slumdog Millionaire” is the most talked about movie right now it just premiere in the theaters and it won eight Oscars on Sunday night. The movie talks about Mumbai’s poverty and comparing it to the new India. They announced how no stars were used in the movie that was known to us here in the Western audiences. Now they are asking if India’s huge production in Mumbai should come to America. Bollywood is a huge production it’s basically the number 1 movie production in the world releasing about 1000 films each year. The movie “Slumdog” uses vibrant colors, fairy-tale love story and a feel-good musical dance ending. Basically the movie slumdog has the whole package that Bollywood movies have. Bollywood movies are known for the dances color the plot of the movie in which they tend to stand out a lot. Hollywood is a big movie industry but Bollywood is more brought out with very successful movies.

Khatami, Elhan. “Is Bollywood coming to Hollywood?” CNN News. 23 February 2009. 1 March 2009.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/23/bollywood.hollywood/index.html?iref=newssearch

S.2 Q.3 Culture Blog #8

India is very unique it’s geography and it’s long history. India is very diverse with culture practices, languages, customs, and traditions. Many languages are spoken there about one thousand languages which are spoken by a group of more than ten thousand people. The main languages that are spoken are English and Hindi. The population in India was 1,028,610,328 Hindus is 80.456%, Muslims 13.434%,Christians 2.341%, Sikhs 1.868%, Buddhists 0.7773%, Jains 0.411%, Others 0.6454%, religion not stated 0.07%. Religion plays a big part in India, which is the most diverse nation when it comes up with religion. India is very different compare to the United States their animals are all basically cattle and sheep. Also there’s arranged marriage so you don’t get the opportunity to choose your own partnership your parents get to make that decision. For clothing it’s traditional for women to wear saris and men Dhoti, Lungi, or Kurta. For little girls they wear pavada which is a long skirt worn under a blouse. Every place on earth is different with food, clothing, religion, etc.

Wikipedia Encyclopedia. “India’s Culture”. Wikimedia Foundations Inc. 22 February 2009. 24 February 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_India

S.2 Q.3 Change Blog#7

Everyone in the country has seen how the economy is doing very poorly and they are hoping for a change and soon. People don’t trust banks anymore and of course Wall Street crashed. This is what we like to call the Great Depression of 1873. It’s basically what was going through right now the same crisis all over again. This is just causing people to value the dollar more and protecting their money. The country has been to several recessions according to James Kolari who attends Texas A&M University said the two rough recessions occur in the mid-1970s and the early 1980s. He said, “A recession is generally defined as a decline in the Gross Domestic Product for two or more consecutive quarters”. Nelson is a historian who new a lot about the panic of 1873 and he announced the today’s economy is probably the worst than the American economy in 1873. People are just looking for a change, jobs so they can support their family. We just have to wait for that change and it won’t be anytime soon.
Blake, John. “So, just how bad is the economy?. CNN NEWS. 20 February 2009. 22 February 2009.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/20/economy.history/index.html

S.2 Q.3 Hope Blog #6

Life in Islam is pretty hard Gul Bibi and her three kids left their home hoping to ever return and trying to overcome the Taliban’s bloody interpretation of Islamic law in Pakistan's Swat Valley. When your country is being invaded your seeking for help by running away, and fleeing to another place where they will be in peace. It’s hard for people in these types of periods because it’s not easy to just leave you never know you can be killed through the way. The Taliban’s interpretation is horrible their making girls leave schools which is not even right everyone needs education and they aren’t being fair. This is like 9/11 because they have SWAT invading them and that’s how Gul Bidi said it seemed like that to her. People are just seeking for peace and they are hoping that this will end anytime soon. Bibi said, "I want peace more than anyone else," Bibi said. "It's my home, it's where I want my children to go back to, it’s where I want to live. Bidi actually announced that she used a different name to hide her identity so it won’t cause her harm. She also said "They are killing people, they are beheading people, and there is no accounting for what they are doing". Now she is only seeking for hope to return to the picturesque Swat Valley with her three children.

Grant, Stan. “Pakistani woman watches Taliban take over town she loves”. CNN NEWS 17 February 2009. 17 February 2009.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/pakistan.taliban/index.html?iref=newssearch

S.2 Q.3 Religion Blog #5

An interesting article on CNN was posted called Muslim in America: a 'voyage of discovery' which talks about how Muslim people first came to America and how they said it was hard for them to get to adjust here to this environment. She talked about how the last that she wore her Muslim dress and her head scarf how it covered her whole body except her face. How many stares she received when she was at the Miami Airport when she had to go to security it was horrible. It’s just hard to get adjusted and after a while you start getting use to it she said when she was making her way to the bathroom one woman’s jaw dropped but then she smiled back at her and the Muslim woman said even a little smile make you feel a little better. There are many stories behind this case like Madeeha Hameed who is 21 and is a Senior at the College of William & Mary in Virginia she moved to Virginia from Pakistan. She said, "It was very difficult for me. ... You know how high school is," she said. "I did not want to be known as a Muslim or a Pakistani, because I just wanted to fit in. I had a lot of anger toward my identity." It’s just hard for everyone not just Muslim people to get accepted in other countries and practicing their religion to your ethnic background.

Ravitz, Jessica. “Muslim in America: a 'voyage of discovery'”. CNN NEWS. 9 February 2009. 15 February 2009.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/02/09/muslims.america/index.html?iref=newssearch

S.2 Q.3 Gender Roles Blog #4

An interesting article on gender role was posted on CNN called Women gaining political power about Shirley Chisholm being elected in 1968 as the first black women in the U.S Congress. It was really hard for women to get all the way to that position back then. Now we had a woman running to become president (Hillary Clinton) and people like Condoleezza Rice. Women were known not be able to take control over things especially trying to control a country. Now women have succeeded a lot and putting the women in a different place and showing that they can do things like men. Many women have accomplished like Jeanne Shaheen a Democrat of New Hampshire who is now the 17th female senator. She accomplished a lot by becoming New Hampshire’s first female senator and defeating John E. Sununu for the position. According to the National Organization for Women they said, "We elected the women who talked about issues that we care about -- child care, minimum wage, health care, equal pay." Now at least women aren’t known as the ones that need to take care of the household and the kids but was one they can do things that men do.

Fantz, Ashley. “Women gaining political power”. CNN NEWS. 13 November 2008. 10 February 2009.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/13/women.in.politics/index.html?iref=newssearch

S.2 Q.3 Culture Differences Blog #3

An article in the New York Times talks about culture difference or more based on two culture rivalries called Two Taliban Are Killed in Revenge by Afghans. Sadly two Taliban were assassinated by Afghans. They were wounded and when they were captured instead of being turned in they were trussed onto the tree, punched, and kicked to death this all occur in eastern Afghanistan. They said that revenged in Afghanistan is unusual. A local tribal elder said that a mob took them to a hideout and he also said, “The people punched them with their fists and kicked them with their legs and whatever they had in their hand” until they were dead. Apparently to Mr. Khan when the people get angry they keep going and they don’t stop so they kept kicking them with all their force until they were declared dead. Sadly they didn’t think at all and brutally hit them till their last breath.

Oppel, Richard. “Two Taliban Are Killed In Revenge By Afghans”. New York Times. 8 February 2009. 8 February 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/world/asia/09afghan.html?ref=asia