Friday, November 16, 2007

HW35: The End of the Journey

Dear Readers,

The time has come to put and end to this blog. The journey has been fun and i have learned a lot from everything. Blogs are a great way to express feelings and personal views on issues of interest. It can also teach you about views of others as they leave comments on your blog that can agree or disagree with your own thoughts. I know i am not the most experienced the blogging society and i am still learning new things with each blog post. All i am hopping is that readers enjoyed reading my posts and come out with at least one detail they didn't know. It could be about old spice deodorant, A Room of One's Own, or the views of Riverbend as long as it is meaningful to you. When looking back on the posts i can't decide on a particular favorite. The posts i enjoyed the most are the ones that allowed me to express my personal thoughts the most. It is for this reason that i am going to keep my blog running so i can focus more on issues of my personal interest and create higher quality posts of my own thoughts and less research. Though i may not post as frequently i have enjoyed the ride and am looking forward to future posts.

Thanks

HW34: Palms and Tea

Baghdad Burning

On Monday, October 13, 2003, Riverbend wrote a post about date palms. “A palm tree is known as a “nakhla” and never fails to bring a sense of satisfaction and admiration” (Riverbend, 103). The palm trees are beautiful and also very useful. They serve as resorts for various birds during the winter time and provide them plenty of their 300 different types of dates. Dates are used to make an alcoholic beverage, a dark, smooth syrup for rice and bread, as well as other seasonings for food. The leaves of the trees are used to make baskets, brooms, mats, bags, hats, wall hangings and it can be used for roofing. Riverbend says she enjoys using the roots of the dates as beads. Tea is also very important to Iraqis. Tea is not as easy to make as we Americans might think. “If you serve “teabag tea” to an Iraqi, you risk scorn and disdain—a teabag is an insult to tea connoisseurs” (Riverbend, 108). There are hundreds of different types of tea and the best types are from Ceylon. People drink tea at all times of the day and with all meals. Tea in Iraq is special because its flavored with cardamom and served in istikans which are small glasses shaped like the number eight. So most gatherings are usually accompanied with a nice glass of tea.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

HW33: Alive in Iraq

“Iraqi Teens Work to Help Their Families”

On October 15, 2007, Alive in Baghdad posted a podcast entitled, “Iraqi Teens Work to Help Their Families.” It showed interviews of young teenagers who have been working since their child hood to help support their families needs. Children were working on furniture, and expressing their own opinions as to the terrorism and bombings of the Americans. These children are scared. One boy by the name of Mustafa Malek fathullah Ali was only 14 years old and putting hard labor in everyday by painting furniture. He also knows how to make doors, sofas, and bedrooms. He said that the security situation is very hard and nobody can protect themselves. He also states that there is no peace in Iraq and he asks neighboring countries to look out for them, stop bombing, and stop sending terrorists. By viewing this podcast and listening to the words of the boys, we can learn that life for them is difficult and they do not have the freedom of the American children. Their families need them for financial support and they understand their importance. It would be very hard to picture an image like this in America as no parent wants to put their child through this challenging lifestyle.

HW32: Shopping for School Supplies

Baghdad Burning (94-96)

On October 5, 2003, Riverbend wrote a post in her blog on the issue of school supplies. Riverbend went shopping with her cousin and his wife and her brother to get school supplies for his daughters. Every year his wife takes the girls shopping for pens, pencils, and notebooks but since the war they have not been allowed out of the house. The girls instead went to a relatives house while the others went to a stationary shop to purchase the girls supplies. Riverbend helped to pick out some Barbie and Winnie the Pooh notebooks as well as strawberry scented erasers even though the kids had never tasted strawberries. Back at home the girls waited impatiently and immediately grabbed the bags from their mothers hands. The older girl was very pleased with her supplies but the other claimed she was too old for Winnie the Pooh and wanted a Barbie copybook instead.