In some of my classes we are reading the book The Little Prince in Spanish. It is one of my most favorite books, and even though my students are struggling to grasp the deeper lessons of the story, I find it very powerful to see them think critically about the language and the words that they are reading as they search for the deeper meaning behind the words. If you haven't read The Little Prince, you need to. In my opinion, if you are going to read a non-Christian book about life, this is the one to read. In the first couple of chapters of the book, the main lesson is that people perceive things differently. With a focus on grown-ups versus children, the author points out the differences of interpretations of a drawing. Children can understand things and see things that aren't explicit or obvious, while grown-ups need long explanations because they just don't get it. Children can find joy in the simple things, and grown-ups need numbers, names, and facts to attribute value to something. When talking about their friends, children focus on things like their laugh, their smile, and the way that they make you feel. Grown-ups focus on things like their age, socio-economic status and education. In my current day-to-day life I am finding myself surrounded by more and more "grown-ups" and fewer and fewer "children". I find myself surrounded by people concerned with appearances based on superficial numbers that supposedly give value to work and to life. Jesus said, "unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven". I think that God is using my current study of The Little Prince to teach me a lesson. I am struggling. I am trying to hold on to what I know to be true, everyday is a battle against people telling me that it isn't real and that there are things that are more important.
Well, people, you're wrong. It's not a hat, and it's not about the box - it's what's inside the box.
miércoles, marzo 10, 2010
jueves, octubre 08, 2009
One man's trash...
People often seem to want what they can't have. The grass is greener on the other side, and a lot of the time it doesn't really matter what the grass is, the neighbor's grass is better.
People think I'm crazy, but I want something that I have never been able to have. I have never made a C, and it's due to no fault or "good doing" on my part. No matter how much I slack off, I always make good grades. On one essay that I wrote during my undergrad the professor wrote the following "Everything that you wrote is completely wrong, but I like the way you wrote it." and I got a B+. How can a person make a B+ on an essay in a literature class when they don't even know what the book is about?? When I was applying to do student teaching I asked my very favorite professor, Dr. Brown, for a recommendation. He told me the following "You are an awful student and there's no way that you'll be a good teacher." He wrote the recommendation anyway, and I hope that I've at least sorta proved him wrong. All throughout college I never studied and never worked hard, but I still never made a C. Anyone who has ever had a class with me, sat beside me in a meeting or conference knows that I do not pay attention and do not listen. And there never seems to be any consequence for me.
My time as a student will be coming to an end this summer. I'm tired of "studying", so I decided that beginning this semester I would slack off and make Cs for the rest of my student days. I have been working hard and have been making a conscious effort to do mediocre work. I have only read 1 chapter of over 20 chapters of assigned reading in the past 6 weeks, and that chapter was read during a teacher training when I was supposed to be listening to something else. Last week I turned in a project. I turned in 10 pages stapled together, bullet points instead of paragraphs, and did not include concrete examples that the professor asked for. I have no idea what my classmates wrote, but they turned in binders and portfolios full of papers with something written on them. I was so sure that I had earned my C. Got it back today, and I got a 96. Took a midterm tonight, and I hadn't read any of the books for this class, and had taken no notes in class because I was too busy playing with my pipe cleaners and play doh. I don't know my grade yet, but I knew how to answer all of the 6 essay questions.
People think I'm crazy, but I really want to make a C before my days as a student are over. I'm mad and disappointed because I don't seem capable of doing it, no matter how hard I try. I am really frustrated, and I know that people think I'm just being a brat, but this is something that I really want. What good is making good grades if you have done nothing to earn it? If I got my C, it would mean something to me. Education is nothing if it is not meaningful.
People think I'm crazy, but I want something that I have never been able to have. I have never made a C, and it's due to no fault or "good doing" on my part. No matter how much I slack off, I always make good grades. On one essay that I wrote during my undergrad the professor wrote the following "Everything that you wrote is completely wrong, but I like the way you wrote it." and I got a B+. How can a person make a B+ on an essay in a literature class when they don't even know what the book is about?? When I was applying to do student teaching I asked my very favorite professor, Dr. Brown, for a recommendation. He told me the following "You are an awful student and there's no way that you'll be a good teacher." He wrote the recommendation anyway, and I hope that I've at least sorta proved him wrong. All throughout college I never studied and never worked hard, but I still never made a C. Anyone who has ever had a class with me, sat beside me in a meeting or conference knows that I do not pay attention and do not listen. And there never seems to be any consequence for me.
My time as a student will be coming to an end this summer. I'm tired of "studying", so I decided that beginning this semester I would slack off and make Cs for the rest of my student days. I have been working hard and have been making a conscious effort to do mediocre work. I have only read 1 chapter of over 20 chapters of assigned reading in the past 6 weeks, and that chapter was read during a teacher training when I was supposed to be listening to something else. Last week I turned in a project. I turned in 10 pages stapled together, bullet points instead of paragraphs, and did not include concrete examples that the professor asked for. I have no idea what my classmates wrote, but they turned in binders and portfolios full of papers with something written on them. I was so sure that I had earned my C. Got it back today, and I got a 96. Took a midterm tonight, and I hadn't read any of the books for this class, and had taken no notes in class because I was too busy playing with my pipe cleaners and play doh. I don't know my grade yet, but I knew how to answer all of the 6 essay questions.
People think I'm crazy, but I really want to make a C before my days as a student are over. I'm mad and disappointed because I don't seem capable of doing it, no matter how hard I try. I am really frustrated, and I know that people think I'm just being a brat, but this is something that I really want. What good is making good grades if you have done nothing to earn it? If I got my C, it would mean something to me. Education is nothing if it is not meaningful.
lunes, agosto 03, 2009
Trip to Europe 2009
I just returned from a really great trip to Europe, I went to Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Florence, and Venice. I went with my friend, Becky, and we were gone for a total of 3 weeks. We did a lot, saw a lot, ate a lot, and sweated a lot. It was great!!!
A few things from the trip that I will never forget (in no particular order)
1. Barcelona's nude beach. I think that's really enough said, but the day before we actually went to the beach we had a little extra time, so we thought that we would go check it out. We were in our clothes, and just kind of walking around. We noticed some topless women, but that didn't really come as a surprise. We went down to walk in the water, and as we walked, we came to a part of the beach that was almost all naked people! Talk about awkward. Not really an enjoyable experience...there were some funny moments, but really, most people just need to keep their clothes and swimsuits on.
2. Getting pooped on. in Paris. It's just really hard to forget poop falling from the sky and landing on you.
3. Eating over 17 pizzas. The week that we were in Italy I ate pizza for every meal, and I had a couple before we went. My favorite was hot dog pizza, or pizza viennese, but unfortunately I didn't find it until the next to last day.
4. The crepe man by Notre Dame. By far the best crepes in all of Paris...I think I ate about 7... He remembered me, and one day we chatted a bit and he told me to come back, so I did about a week later and he still remembered me and gave me a free bottle of water!!! I have a huge crush on him.
5. Sagrada Familia. After seeing Macchu Picchu, Sagrada Familia became the thing that I most wanted to see in the world. It was pretty amazing. I'm still not sure what my next travel dream is going to be...
6. Movie theater in Rome. You get assigned seats, and there's a bathroom in each theater!
Of course there's plenty more, but those are the first that I thought of....all the pictures do a better job of telling about our trip!
A few things from the trip that I will never forget (in no particular order)
1. Barcelona's nude beach. I think that's really enough said, but the day before we actually went to the beach we had a little extra time, so we thought that we would go check it out. We were in our clothes, and just kind of walking around. We noticed some topless women, but that didn't really come as a surprise. We went down to walk in the water, and as we walked, we came to a part of the beach that was almost all naked people! Talk about awkward. Not really an enjoyable experience...there were some funny moments, but really, most people just need to keep their clothes and swimsuits on.
2. Getting pooped on. in Paris. It's just really hard to forget poop falling from the sky and landing on you.
3. Eating over 17 pizzas. The week that we were in Italy I ate pizza for every meal, and I had a couple before we went. My favorite was hot dog pizza, or pizza viennese, but unfortunately I didn't find it until the next to last day.
4. The crepe man by Notre Dame. By far the best crepes in all of Paris...I think I ate about 7... He remembered me, and one day we chatted a bit and he told me to come back, so I did about a week later and he still remembered me and gave me a free bottle of water!!! I have a huge crush on him.
5. Sagrada Familia. After seeing Macchu Picchu, Sagrada Familia became the thing that I most wanted to see in the world. It was pretty amazing. I'm still not sure what my next travel dream is going to be...
6. Movie theater in Rome. You get assigned seats, and there's a bathroom in each theater!
Of course there's plenty more, but those are the first that I thought of....all the pictures do a better job of telling about our trip!
jueves, julio 23, 2009
BARCELONA
We are still here for a couple more days, but I´d like to share a few thoughts about Barcelona.
1. Catalan is a very intriguing language. It is a mix of Spanish and French, both of which I can understand (well, my French isn´t so great, but I get the gist when I read), but when mixed together it can be a little tricky. They also like to leave the last letters off of words, such as -o, -a, and -n. Examples: informacio, turistic, pa
2. Mullets are cool. We have seen so many!! More than I´ve seen in my entire life previous to this Tuesday. And the best ones are the dreaklock mullets, which are quite interesting. I´m considering growing one myself.
3. Man capris are hott! I am loving the man capris, and I wish that American men would get over their ¨manliness¨and not be afraid of the capri.
4. Midriffs and bras were designed to be shown. It doesn´t matter if you are hugely overweight and unattractive, if you´ve got it, show it!!!
5. Everything costs lots of dinero.
6. There are so many international people here!! We have only actually talked to one other American the whole time we´ve been here. There are tons of French people and I like them.
7. If you get hot, just take your shirt off.
8. Armpits are smelly. You don´t need deodorant, just a little sweat and you´re good to go! It´s most important to stand really close to other people on the subway.
9. Baguettes are very common here. Something that we have noticed is that if you buy one, you shouldn´t cover it or wrap it up, just stick it halfway into your bag and walk home. This is very unlike our need to cover up food to protect it from the unknown environment, but I like the ease of just tossing your bread into an open-air bag and carrying it home. We have also seen a huge head of lettuce sticking out of a bag.
10. This city is amazing. The scenery and the buildings, and the people. Don´t get the wrong impression from my previous notings, I love it here!! There are things that are very different from my culture and things that I am familiar with, but I love getting to observe the differences and realize certain things about myself and the place that I come from that tend to go unnoticed. Although we laugh and kid about certain differences in cultures and places, I think that the most important thing is to notice the differences and appreciate that they exist. I love this place and can´t wait to come back!!
1. Catalan is a very intriguing language. It is a mix of Spanish and French, both of which I can understand (well, my French isn´t so great, but I get the gist when I read), but when mixed together it can be a little tricky. They also like to leave the last letters off of words, such as -o, -a, and -n. Examples: informacio, turistic, pa
2. Mullets are cool. We have seen so many!! More than I´ve seen in my entire life previous to this Tuesday. And the best ones are the dreaklock mullets, which are quite interesting. I´m considering growing one myself.
3. Man capris are hott! I am loving the man capris, and I wish that American men would get over their ¨manliness¨and not be afraid of the capri.
4. Midriffs and bras were designed to be shown. It doesn´t matter if you are hugely overweight and unattractive, if you´ve got it, show it!!!
5. Everything costs lots of dinero.
6. There are so many international people here!! We have only actually talked to one other American the whole time we´ve been here. There are tons of French people and I like them.
7. If you get hot, just take your shirt off.
8. Armpits are smelly. You don´t need deodorant, just a little sweat and you´re good to go! It´s most important to stand really close to other people on the subway.
9. Baguettes are very common here. Something that we have noticed is that if you buy one, you shouldn´t cover it or wrap it up, just stick it halfway into your bag and walk home. This is very unlike our need to cover up food to protect it from the unknown environment, but I like the ease of just tossing your bread into an open-air bag and carrying it home. We have also seen a huge head of lettuce sticking out of a bag.
10. This city is amazing. The scenery and the buildings, and the people. Don´t get the wrong impression from my previous notings, I love it here!! There are things that are very different from my culture and things that I am familiar with, but I love getting to observe the differences and realize certain things about myself and the place that I come from that tend to go unnoticed. Although we laugh and kid about certain differences in cultures and places, I think that the most important thing is to notice the differences and appreciate that they exist. I love this place and can´t wait to come back!!
lunes, julio 13, 2009
Happy Birthday, Val
Today is Val's birthday - she's 18 and she's all grown up.
There are many reasons why I love my little sister, but here are just a few....
She loves to be hugged.
.JPG)
She loves Spanish music...well, maybe not love, but she went to a concert with me!
She runs into tree branches...or did once.
She'll let you know if she smells something.
She is always ready for a good time..jpg)
She loves to sing very loudly.
.JPG)
She loves animals, especially her dog, Bella.
She lets me come into her bedroom unannounced.
She always listens.
.JPG)
She lets me and Jess try to drown her.
She is always happy...unless she's mad or pouty.
She isn't afraid to try new things...like my bra
She can impersonate statues.
She always tries to look her best.
She loves to match me.
.jpg)
There are many reasons why I love my little sister, but here are just a few....
She loves to be hugged.
.JPG)
She loves Spanish music...well, maybe not love, but she went to a concert with me!
She runs into tree branches...or did once.
She'll let you know if she smells something.
She is always ready for a good time.
.jpg)
She loves to sing very loudly.
.JPG)
She loves animals, especially her dog, Bella.
She lets me come into her bedroom unannounced.
She always listens.
.JPG)
She lets me and Jess try to drown her.
She is always happy...unless she's mad or pouty.
She isn't afraid to try new things...like my bra
She can impersonate statues.
She always tries to look her best.
She loves to match me.
She is good at taking naps.
No matter where we travel she never brings enough clothes and always gets really cold.
.jpg)
sábado, julio 11, 2009
Rest of the days in Antigua
I don't really remember where I left off, but we left the hotel with free internet so I kinda gave up on the blogging, but I figured I'd splurge for five minutes this last night.
We started work with the clinic on Sunday - I again translated for the optometrist and gave people sight, or so I like to think. We didn't see a whole lot of out of the ordinary things.
Monday we went to a rural school in a pueblo about 10 minutes outside of Antigua, it was a Monday, which is market day in Antigua, so the place was deserted. We were literally sitting around twiddling our thumbs for most of the day. My favorite part of that day was the ladies grilling chicken off to the side, it was yum!! Too bad most of our people were too scared to eat it, but I loved it!!!
Tuesday was a LOT more eventful, our line was forever long!!! Even longer than the line for the dentist, which never happens! We saw a lot of people and gave out a lot of glasses, it is so cool to see a person's face light up when you put a pair of glasses on them and they are able distinguish faces and figures for the first time. That happened a lot that day, we also got a lot of people complaining of not being able to read in the dark and their eyes burning when they look at the sun. We laugh and make fun of them a little, but it is really eye-opening to realize that things that we consider common sense are so foreign to these people.
Wednesday was free day - Becky and I went to an old convent, the best cathedral in town, and a boring museum (we only went to the museum because my book said they let you hold guns, but it lied). After that we went to the market then had lunch at Pollo Campero. I spent my last night at Bill's this day.
Thursday I was sick....so I took some Benadryl and Fenagran(sp?) and slept the entire day. I was sad to miss out on the clinic, but I felt way better when I woke up.
Today was our last day and we spent it in Chimaltenango...it was pretty busy, but not as crazy as I had thought it might be. We did more glasses stuff, and overall it was a pretty good day. We just ate dinner and are about to just chill before hitting the sack and heading home tomorrow.
BYe.
We started work with the clinic on Sunday - I again translated for the optometrist and gave people sight, or so I like to think. We didn't see a whole lot of out of the ordinary things.
Monday we went to a rural school in a pueblo about 10 minutes outside of Antigua, it was a Monday, which is market day in Antigua, so the place was deserted. We were literally sitting around twiddling our thumbs for most of the day. My favorite part of that day was the ladies grilling chicken off to the side, it was yum!! Too bad most of our people were too scared to eat it, but I loved it!!!
Tuesday was a LOT more eventful, our line was forever long!!! Even longer than the line for the dentist, which never happens! We saw a lot of people and gave out a lot of glasses, it is so cool to see a person's face light up when you put a pair of glasses on them and they are able distinguish faces and figures for the first time. That happened a lot that day, we also got a lot of people complaining of not being able to read in the dark and their eyes burning when they look at the sun. We laugh and make fun of them a little, but it is really eye-opening to realize that things that we consider common sense are so foreign to these people.
Wednesday was free day - Becky and I went to an old convent, the best cathedral in town, and a boring museum (we only went to the museum because my book said they let you hold guns, but it lied). After that we went to the market then had lunch at Pollo Campero. I spent my last night at Bill's this day.
Thursday I was sick....so I took some Benadryl and Fenagran(sp?) and slept the entire day. I was sad to miss out on the clinic, but I felt way better when I woke up.
Today was our last day and we spent it in Chimaltenango...it was pretty busy, but not as crazy as I had thought it might be. We did more glasses stuff, and overall it was a pretty good day. We just ate dinner and are about to just chill before hitting the sack and heading home tomorrow.
BYe.
viernes, julio 03, 2009
Day 2: Antigua, Guatemala
Today was way exciting!!!
Luckily I was feeling all better when I got up (which was way early) so we headed to the volcano. Since our key broke last night, we were having issues and couldn't get out the front door, so our van almost left us, but luckily I ran up to it fast enough once it started moving that we could get on. The hour or so drive to the volcano was pretty uneventful, I ate some granola and fruit snacks. We started the hike up, which was really hard!! I climbed this same volcano a few years ago, and it was way easier. I blame the difficulty on my ever increasing age. Anyway, pretty soon Becky and I decided that we needed help, so we paid these guys to ride their horses up. That was a very smart decision, and fun, since I like to ride horses. I had to pop some pills pretty quick, though, since I am allergic to them. So we rode and rode, and the views were spectacular!! It was really cool to see the other 3 volcanoes in the distance, and we even saw one of them erupt! Once we had ridden the horses as far up as they could go, we got off of them. Becky didn't wanna go all the way to the top, but I did.... I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The climb was extremely steep, and it wasn't a normal path either. It was all the little lava rocks piled up together, and you just had to climb up them. It was hard because every rock that I touched moved, and all the rocks touched by people ahead of me also moved. It was fun trying to maneuver and not sink into the lava, but it was hard, and I got tired and sore pretty quick. As we got higher, we started to be able to feel the heat from underneath, it was such a cool feeling! When we got to the top and I could see the lava it was unbelievable! There it was, right in front of me, red lava actually flowing out of a volcano. It was extremely hot up there, and it smelled sulphury and little ashes and things were blowing in my eyes. As awesome as it was, I didn't linger long because my body just couldn't handle the temperature, smell, and ashy eyes. So began the descent....which was a lot like the ascent, except 100% harder. It is very difficult to climb down a steep mountain of little lava rocks that move and start to roll down as soon as you touch them. When I could I just scooted down on my butt, for a few minutes I tried going down backwards like it was a ladder but that was too hard because I couldn't really see below me, so I mostly just climbed down like a normal person. I slipped and fell several times, and ended up with a pretty big scratch on my wrist, and it hurt, but I didn't really mind because I at least had a battlewound. When I was about halfway down, I heard cries from up above yelling "Watch out!", in both Spanish and English, and I looked back, and a huge boulder, about half my size was rolling down the mountain straight towards me. I didn't know what to do, there was no way I was going to beat it down, so I did the only thing I could do and caught it. Yes, I caught the boulder, and used my body weight to hold this giant rock. And so I was just standing there, because I couldn't really move or it would crush me and push me down the volcano. Eventually a few strong guys caught up to me and held onto the boulder from above, and said that I had to move over to the side as fast as I could because they wouldn't be able to hold onto it from above for very long, so I let go and jumped to the side as fast as I could. The boulder rolled on down and I was saved. A few more slides and I made it down. And so we hiked back down and arrived back in Antigua.
We went to Pollo Campero for lunch and ate fried chicken and mashed potatoes, and had an amazing dessert that Krispy Kreme needs to get...it was a glazed donut with ice cream on top. Talk about delicious. Yum. Next we came back to the hotel and rested for a couple hours because we were very tired.
We headed back out and went to see an old Guatemalan movie about the Cold War and stuff. It wasn't very good, but I'm glad that we saw it.
Next was very fun. We went to this restaurant that had live Andean music - we LOVED it!! Not only was the music cool, but the food was delicious - we had a brownie with ice cream for dessert. This is also where I met my Guatemalan crush, Bill. Bill is 70 years old, originally from Nashville, but moved here to Guatemala to open the restaurant and play the drum in the band. He is awesome, and so cute when he's dancing, singing, and playing his drum all at the same time.
I can't wait to see what adventures await us tomorrow!!
Luckily I was feeling all better when I got up (which was way early) so we headed to the volcano. Since our key broke last night, we were having issues and couldn't get out the front door, so our van almost left us, but luckily I ran up to it fast enough once it started moving that we could get on. The hour or so drive to the volcano was pretty uneventful, I ate some granola and fruit snacks. We started the hike up, which was really hard!! I climbed this same volcano a few years ago, and it was way easier. I blame the difficulty on my ever increasing age. Anyway, pretty soon Becky and I decided that we needed help, so we paid these guys to ride their horses up. That was a very smart decision, and fun, since I like to ride horses. I had to pop some pills pretty quick, though, since I am allergic to them. So we rode and rode, and the views were spectacular!! It was really cool to see the other 3 volcanoes in the distance, and we even saw one of them erupt! Once we had ridden the horses as far up as they could go, we got off of them. Becky didn't wanna go all the way to the top, but I did.... I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The climb was extremely steep, and it wasn't a normal path either. It was all the little lava rocks piled up together, and you just had to climb up them. It was hard because every rock that I touched moved, and all the rocks touched by people ahead of me also moved. It was fun trying to maneuver and not sink into the lava, but it was hard, and I got tired and sore pretty quick. As we got higher, we started to be able to feel the heat from underneath, it was such a cool feeling! When we got to the top and I could see the lava it was unbelievable! There it was, right in front of me, red lava actually flowing out of a volcano. It was extremely hot up there, and it smelled sulphury and little ashes and things were blowing in my eyes. As awesome as it was, I didn't linger long because my body just couldn't handle the temperature, smell, and ashy eyes. So began the descent....which was a lot like the ascent, except 100% harder. It is very difficult to climb down a steep mountain of little lava rocks that move and start to roll down as soon as you touch them. When I could I just scooted down on my butt, for a few minutes I tried going down backwards like it was a ladder but that was too hard because I couldn't really see below me, so I mostly just climbed down like a normal person. I slipped and fell several times, and ended up with a pretty big scratch on my wrist, and it hurt, but I didn't really mind because I at least had a battlewound. When I was about halfway down, I heard cries from up above yelling "Watch out!", in both Spanish and English, and I looked back, and a huge boulder, about half my size was rolling down the mountain straight towards me. I didn't know what to do, there was no way I was going to beat it down, so I did the only thing I could do and caught it. Yes, I caught the boulder, and used my body weight to hold this giant rock. And so I was just standing there, because I couldn't really move or it would crush me and push me down the volcano. Eventually a few strong guys caught up to me and held onto the boulder from above, and said that I had to move over to the side as fast as I could because they wouldn't be able to hold onto it from above for very long, so I let go and jumped to the side as fast as I could. The boulder rolled on down and I was saved. A few more slides and I made it down. And so we hiked back down and arrived back in Antigua.
We went to Pollo Campero for lunch and ate fried chicken and mashed potatoes, and had an amazing dessert that Krispy Kreme needs to get...it was a glazed donut with ice cream on top. Talk about delicious. Yum. Next we came back to the hotel and rested for a couple hours because we were very tired.
We headed back out and went to see an old Guatemalan movie about the Cold War and stuff. It wasn't very good, but I'm glad that we saw it.
Next was very fun. We went to this restaurant that had live Andean music - we LOVED it!! Not only was the music cool, but the food was delicious - we had a brownie with ice cream for dessert. This is also where I met my Guatemalan crush, Bill. Bill is 70 years old, originally from Nashville, but moved here to Guatemala to open the restaurant and play the drum in the band. He is awesome, and so cute when he's dancing, singing, and playing his drum all at the same time.
I can't wait to see what adventures await us tomorrow!!
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