THE ZOO

I am waiting at the gate of the zoo in New York. I am watching from the top, where the entrance is located, and I can see so many different animals that I could not imagine exist. I am so excited and I am getting so curious to see what else is inside.
Now I am walking through the zoo’s main path. In the first part of the zoo I find the birds. They sound so nice. I feel like I am at Broadway watching some musical. I am buying food to feed them. One of the birds has so beautiful, blue feathers. Walking around the bird’s cage I am watching some baby birds and I cannot reach them, to give them some food. I am walking to the end of the den and trying to feed them. I think that I see smile on their little faces. An employee is saying to me that one of the birds was born two days ago. I continue walking and now I am passing the section where snakes are. I do not like snakes and I prefer to skip this part. I am hearing some noises and it comes from elephants. I am walking faster because on the P.A. (power amplifier) they are saying that there is show with the elephants shortly. They are very smart animals and one of the trainers is showing us what they can do. They are dancing and doing everything that the trainer says. For the end they are taking some special food with their proboscis, showing us how the proboscis is useful for them. My friend is telling me that we have to go to see the llamas. She is telling me that we have to be very careful with llamas if we want to continue visiting this beautiful zoo. The llama is not a friendly animal and if they do not like somebody they can spit on you. For me the llamas are very beautiful and they walk so elegantly. I am starting to get tired, and before we continue we are going to rest for a few minutes. This zoo has so many benches, trees, looks more like a park. We are talking about what to do next and our decision is to take one more step, to visit the aquarium where the fishes and dolphins are. I am trying to walk faster because I want to see dolphins. I am going to see them for the first time. If I am lucky maybe I will have the chance to touch one of them too. They are so beautiful and their skin looks so shiny. Yessss, one of the trainers is taking me to their pool and I am going to touch them now. I am walking through the small hall and finally I am there, next to the dolphins. I am thinking that one of them wants to kiss me. They look so smooth.
Unfortunately it is time to go home. I feel tired but happy. Our bus is coming and I am looking one more time at the zoo. Now I have time to think about my experience. It was great!

Bowling

I have played bowling two days ago with my friends. It was the first time that I went bowling in my life. One of our friends invited us to go and I told my husband that I would like to go and try. When we went there I was surprised how nice the place looked; it is located in Norwalk, right in front of Wal-Mart. I saw this building so many times and I was always curious what it is. Finally two days ago I went there and I played bowling. It was difficult to throw the ball because it is very heavy, and the day after that I felt pain in my hand. I had a very nice time with my friends and enjoy being with my husband. He helped me to understand the rules and to be the second place at the end of the game. It was very interesting and probably I will go again.

The Bracelet

The story “the Bracelet” by Yoshiko Uchida talks about a girl named Ruri and her family, who was taken to the concentration camp in the United States. It was World War II between the United States and Japan and every Japanese person or descendent of one, was taken to a concentration camp, because they were considered spies. Ruri was very scared because she did not know what to expect and she did not know what was going to happen to them. Most of all, she was scared because of the soldiers who were standing at the doorway with guns. On the way to the camp she saw and remembered a food store, where her mother used to order beans – curd cakes and pickled relish. One detail that she noted was sign in the bus “We are loyal Americans”. At that moment she was thinking that they are really loyal Americans, because they had been living in the United States for very long time. Even her sister and she were citizens because they were born in the United States. However, her parents could not become citizens because of the law where any Asian could not become a US citizen. It was a very hard time for Ruri, and she felt like she was going to prison, even if she did not do anything.
When they arrived at the camp, after doctor controls, they went to see their apartment assigned with the number 40. Ruri was very excited because she was going to live in an apartment. She remembered when her piano teacher lived in an apartment and the building had an elevator. She was very excited because they were going to have the elevator. However, her apartment used to be a horse stall, very small and with two small windows. Her mother told them not to worry about how the apartment looks, because they were going to make it very beautiful. After some time Ruri noticed that she lost the bracelet that Laurie gave to her. She looked everywhere and she felt very bad when she realized that the bracelet was not in camp. She did not stop looking for it all the time that they were there. When they moved to the other camp she gave up, but her mother told her that it is more important what we have in our hearts than what we take with us. She realized that her mother was right and she was never going to forget Laurie.

What happened after "Earth Day"?

All of you know that I was part of a group that made a presentation about plastic bags. It was very interesting and after “Earth Day” I started to think about what we are doing to our planet. I was not so much into It, and I have never paid attention how we are destroying our planet. I got scared because of how global warming is going to affect to my kids, so I have to think how to protect them and try to leave a better place for them. I did not know some of things about plastic bags before I started presentation. Now when I really know what happened with plastic bags I am trying to do something to change my habits. I do not use anymore plastic bags when I go store, and instead of it I use cloth bag. A cloth bag is one of the solutions that we can do to stop using plastic bags. I still cannot believe that plastic bag stay in landfill for more than a hundred years and even after those hundred years it still there. They are smaller and smaller by the time, but actually they never disappeared. Trying to not use plastic bag is just only one small step that we can do to save our planet, and I think that every person on this Earth should think more about consequences.

Peru

My husband Alan is from Peru. Before I met him I did not know so much about South America and which countries we have there. However, he told me so many stories about history of Peru and what you can do it there. Here is something that Alan taught me about Peru, but I hope that we will go this winter there so I can see it too. Peru, the famous home of the Incas is one of the most intriguing countries of South America. The Republic of Peru is located in western South America. Peru limit with Colombia and Ecuador on the north, Brazil is located to the east, and Chile is to the south. The narrow plains are located on the coast of Peru toward the Pacific Ocean. This area's temperature ranges from 66 to 73 degrees Fahrenheit (Weil, 40-41). The highlands are located in the central region of Peru. This is the region where the Andes Mountains are found. Rain seldom falls below the five thousand foot level on the slopes of the Andes Mountains (Weil, 40-41). The temperature is very high in the summer time in the highlands region. He told me so many stories about Macchu Picchu, the lost city of Incas, and I would like to go to see it.

Bride Wars

I watched with Alan "Bride Wars" last night. I saw the advertisement on television and from the beginning I wanted to watch it. This is what happened in the movie. Two best friends Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Liv (Kate Hudson) become rivals when they schedule their respective weddings on the same day. The problem was that they have dreamed of a June wedding at the Plaza hotel since they were kids, so when they realized that the wedding will happen at the same time and the same place, they started the war. The bronze tan, the blue hair it is something that they did it to each other. At the end, when they were on the wedding, Liv played a very embarrasing video about Emma. After she had a conversation with her future husband she did not get married. After one year they, Liv and Emma, gather in a restaurant. Emma got married with Liv's brother, and guess..... Both are pregnant and they will deliver baby on the same day.

Scotland

Scotland is a foreign region in the United Kingdom with much culture and heritage. The history of Scotland goes back many years and can be looked at as an evolved system where culture is the foundation of all of society. Because culture is the learned set of practices, beliefs, values, and rules for proper conduct and material objects that are shared by members of society, one can only want to look further into what makes the Scottish culture so unique. There are eight regions within the Scotland territory. These include Aberdeenshire and Grampian Highlands, Central Scotland, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Highlands, Orkney and Shetland Islands, South West, and West Coast. The land mass of Scotland is about 78,133 km2. The weather in Scotland is the main topic of conversation from January until December from one end of Scotland to the other. Rumors abound that it is always raining, always below freezing and always under seven feet of snow. However, one thing you can be sure of is the weather is changeable and local to the extreme - it can be raining at the front of a house and not in the back. There is a local saying that says if you don't like the weather just wait’ a wee while and it will change.

The preventation of Heart Diseases

My husband Alan has a heart disease inherited condition. When he told me that it was enough for me to research and try to find what I can do it to help him to live as long as he can and to be with me all my life. Here is something that I found interesting and maybe help to prevent the heart attack.
A recent study reveals that taking a combination of medications for your heart may be more beneficial that taking a single drug. The researchers followed a great number of men and women diagnosed with coronary heart disease, to look at how the medications they were taking affected their lifespan. They found that individuals who took a combination of aspirin and a beta blocker had a lower risk of dying, compared to those not taking any medications. Aspirin has been shown to be helpful when used daily aspirin to prevent hearth diseases. Many doctors prescribe aspirin to prevent heart diseases. Beta blocker has been shown also to be great ally against the heart diseases. Beta blocker block the effects of adrenaline on your. This shows the nerve impulses that travel through the heart. As a result, your heart does not have to work as hard because it needs less blood and oxygen.
Source: Johns Hopkins Institute web page and Texas Heart Institute web page

Montana 1948 - II

David's mother Gail Hayden was a religious woman who works as secretary in the Register of Deeds Office, and Gloria and Frank, David's aunt and uncle who returned home as a war hero. At that time, the status of war hero was very much appreciated and he will become one of the most important characters of the story. An unfortunate case of possible pneumonia sets the events of the story. When Marie falls ill, David's mother, Gail, realizes the she had a very high fever and she was coughing much; she decides to call Frank, the family doctor, even in opposition to Maria's will. When rank goes to see Maria, she had a strange reaction against the doctor, and attitude that nobody understands. After the visit of the doctor Marie tells Gail the truth about the doctor and she narrates how the doctor was taking advantage of his doctor's position to take sexual advantage of the Natives. When Gail tells this to her husband Wesley, first he believes that everything is Marie's invention, but then realizes that she was quite true and there it is when the story begins more exciting part. One of the main themes of these novels is recognizing the difference between family loyalty and justice; another theme that is not emphasized, but definitely present, is the treatment of whites toward Native Americans, and its abusing power. From my point of view, these facts will unleash a series of events between the Hayden brothers, where an investigation will be held by the Sheriff who will have to decide between what is right and wrong, between justice and family.

Montana 1948

"Montana 1948" is a book by Larry Watson and tells the story of a family who lived in Montana. The setting of this novel takes place in a small, rural town called Bentrock, a little city in Mercer Country Montana, in the summer of 1948, during the post war years. The town of Bentrock is described as hard country; the land is dry and sparse and the wind never stops blowing. The heat and thunderstorms in summer can be brutal, and the winters are legendary for the fierceness of their blizzards and the depths to which temperatures drop. In this little town the Hayden family controlled the law and the medicine; this implies that this family had a lot of influences and power over the people of the town. In this story we found a great group of characters. David Hayden the one who relate this story is a twelve year old boy, who was tired of his life and always was dreaming of living through a wild life to his style; Marie a Native American Indian who was the housekeeper but the family really hired her as babysitter; David's father Wesley Hayden was the Sheriff of the Country, a position that he inherited from his father since always the Hayden family was trying to find the way of possessing this position.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Civil Rights. Unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favor, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome. Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including the victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. Though the reports demonstrate that the great part of case of sexual harassment are against women, for person of the opposite sex, there is also a great number of cases of harassment towards men, which mainly by a question of prejudice are not denounced. The particular facts of each situation determine whether offensive conduct has "crossed the line" from simply boorish or children behavior to unlawful gender discrimination. Not always when we said "sexual harassment" we suggest that conduct constituting sexual harassment must be "conduct of a sexual nature," but it is just as wrong and just as unlawful to harass people with gender-based conduct of nonsexual nature.

Source the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The importance of education

In my opinion, education is the base of the society and a country without education has no future. Nowadays the degree of education is the matter of the development of the society. If a society lack of education, it is condemn to fail, for the reason we should be more concern about the education in the world. The education benefit the society because it helps it to be stronger in acknowledge and more respected above all the world. The education benefits the society because it creates stronger persons, well educated, that can represent them at international organizations. A society without lawyers, statesman, or politics, it is not be recognized at international levels. All well conform societies need people that represent them and defend their rights. Because of that every government in the world should be fighting to improve the education in their countries, creating more schools, especially in the farthest places; training their teachers by sending them to educational congress to try to improve their skills; updating their technology; creating a program in the universities and colleges to improve the educational level in order to be above educational average of the world and also to train more efficient professionals.

When is the best time to visit the Salar de Uyuni

Every November, Salar de Uyuni is also the breeding grounds for three species of South American flamingos: the Chilean, James's and Andean flamingos. It is also a significant tourist destination; highlights include a salt hotel and several so-called islands. Also, Salar de Uyuni holds half of the world's reserves of lithium, a metal which is used in high energy density batteries.
The best time to travel is the season from July to November, when the salt bed is very dry. The major attraction of this area is its landscape, the Salt Hotel, and Fish Island (Isla de Pescado). The activities that you can do it there are landscapes, wildlife observation, and ecotourism. Travelers can soak in hot springs, watch flocks of flamingos feeding in the lakes and observe the simple but hard life of Andean villagers. Isla Del Pescado (Fish Island) is located at the centre of the Salar de Uyuni this fish-shaped island is the largest in the group of oasis-type ecosystems. Its landscape of rock and huge cacti in contrast with a pure white sea of salt is very photogenic.
The wet, and warmer season, is between November and March when flood waters turn the Salar into a giant mirror. However rain can also make roads impassable. The dry season, April to October, is much colder (temperatures can be as low as -20C) but a more popular time to travel. While the flamingos are always there, they are more numerous in September.

What is the Salar de Uyuni?

In my project I am doing story about Salar de Uyuni. You can read here part of my project and I decided to include it in my blogger because I think it is very interesting story. Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat at 4,085 square miles. The largest Salar in the world, Salar de Uyuni, is located within the Altiplano of Bolivia in South America. The Salar de Uyuni covers approximately 3,100 square miles, and it is a major transport route across the Bolivian Altiplano due to its flatness. In the wet season flood waters produce a surreal mirror effect. On this vast white plain there is only one building, the Salt Hotel. The Salar de Uyuni, a salt desert, was once an inland sea, or giant salt water lake, but the water vanished into the thin dry air of Andean altitude. All that remains is the salt, tens of meters thick, lying stark beneath bright sky: a sun-bleached skeleton of a dead sea. Some 40,000 years ago, the area was part of Lake Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake. When the lake dried, it left behind two modern lakes, Poopó Lake and Uru Uru Lake, and two major salt deserts, Salar de Coipasa and the larger Uyuni. Uyuni is roughly 25 times the size of the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. Salar de Uyuni is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt, of which less than 25,000 tons is extracted annually.

Summer vacation

This summer break I am planning to take some vacations with my husband. We are planning to go to Florida. My husband has some friends and relatives there too. First, we want to go to Fort Lauderdale. His friend Daniel lives there. He has a house close to the downtown and the beach. He also plays in a band and we want to go to see him in the bar where he plays. We are planning to stay there for 4 days after that we are going to Disneyworld in Orlando. I have been there once and for me was fantastic and I want to share that experience with my husband. When I was there I went to watch the “Cirque du Soleil” in downtown Disney. It was a great show. It is not a conventional circus with animals and all that stuff. The name of the show is “La Nouba” and is entirely with acrobats. It is one of the most wonderful shows I have ever seen. We will go there in our first night in Orlando. We will spend the next three day in the parks. The first day we want to go to Magic Kingdom, the second in Epcot Center and the last in Animal Kingdom. I am more exited to go to Epcot because its fireworks. Magic Kingdom has own fireworks, but I think that Epcot’s are the best. I am also excited to go to Magic Kingdom because I have always liked the characters from Disney.

History class- Incas

In Peru in sixteenth century Spanish people killed Incas. In November, 1526, Francisco Pizarro had headed an expedition from the south of Panama and explored the Santa River in Peru. Pizarro found out about the wealth of the Inca’s Empire and came back to Spain to collect money and recruit people for the conquest. In 1530 he arrived in the coastal zone of the Ecuador and began his march towards land in. In November, 1532 he reached the city of Cajamarca, where the Inca Atahualpa was residing in that moment. Pizarro and his men captured Atahualpa being useful of the advantage of the armor that his men were dressing and especially of the horses that were not known in America, what made to the Spanish in advantage with regard to height and protection. After that the men of Pizarro captured Atahualpa, Pizarro imprisoned Atahualpa and asked for a rescue in pieces of gold, enough to fill the room where they enclosed Atahualpa. With the excuse that the Atahualpa’s people delayed the rescue and fearful that the Atahualpa’s people were planning a rescue, Pizarro arranged Atahualpa's execution immediately. After this nothing stopped the Spanish to conquer and destroy all the Inca’s Empire killing and almost eliminating the whole Inca race.

Organic food

In the rush to produce more and more crops to satisfy growing demand, producers have had to resort to using lethal pesticides to control diseases and insect attacks. The quality of food has definitely gone down since the Second World War. Organic food is known to contain fifty percent more nutrients, minerals and vitamins than produce that has been intensively farmed. The word "organic" refers to the way farmers grow and process agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meat. Organic farming practices are designed to support soil and water conservation and reduce the pollution of the land. Farmers who grow organic produce and meat do not use conventional methods to fertilize, control weeds or prevent livestock disease. For example, rather than using chemical or pesticides, organic farmers may recur to the use of natural fertilizers. This is one of the best ways to avoid the exposure to the chemicals in food. However, there are some cases where this organic crops have been contaminated by near crops that use chemical or crops that have been genetically modified. Other great disadvantage of this is that not all the people have access to this kind of food because of the price of it. Since this product demand more dedication from the farmers and also the high cost of the products to grow up the crops the price of the Organic products are more expensive and in that way less accessible to the regular consumer.

Bilingual

Being bilingual can bring us better opportunities to find better jobs. Speaking more than one language can make easier to communicate with people. Nowadays, companies find more valuable the employees who speak more than one language. It can help to the company to work better, for example if the company has business in other countries a bilingual employee can be very useful. Even bilingual workers earn more money than monolingual. The New York Times recently reported how much money earns monolingual and bilingual employees. People who speak only Spanish earn $3000 per month; people who speak only English earn $5000, and people who speak both earn $7000 per month. With this example we can see also how being bilingual can help us to have better future and help us to survive in this economical crises.

There are number advantages that bilingual children have over monolingual children. Learning a second language can help them in education development. At young age they have opportunity to learn a second language which will help them in the later education. Recently, I read on Web site how the bilingual children are smarter than monolingual (www.multilingualchildren.org). They show better results in mathematics and science. Children who are bilingual also have an increased capacity for learning languages as adults. However, in my opinion they will have better chance to enroll in one of the best colleges.

Waiting in Line at the Drugstore II

His journey to the drugstore was the most challenging part of his day, as he was faced with racial discrimination as he was forced to wait in line until every white customer had been served first. He felt terrible every time he had to go to the drugstore. Waiting in the line while white people stared at him, made him to feel humiliated as a human, and he knew he could not change this. However, he won at this game of waiting; he found the successful way against all these prejudices and against the painful wait in the line in the drugstore. He found his own refuge in the books, he noticed one day in the store’s “lending library”, and in this way he overcame some of his feelings to feel less important in this world and lost himself in the wonderful world of literature and knowledge. He discovered that these books were a window into the culture and wisdom of great writers. Sometimes, we should take as an example what this boy did. He defeated all the existing prejudices against the blacks in that time and he moved forward, becoming a better person, with a better education and culture ultimately, he became a writer and a well educated man.

Waiting in line at the Dragstore

“Waiting in Line at the Drugstore” written by James Thomas Jackson, is the story about a poor young black boy who lived in the Southwest part of the country, during the ‘40s. This young boy lived in a time when the black people were discriminated from the white people. Reading this article, I started to think how some situation can affect us, like this boy who was waiting on the line of a drugstore and discovered his passion for books. He was thirteen years old when he had to drop out of school, and started to work to help support his family. He decided to buy a bicycle and looked for a job, finding one as a messenger at a photography studio called, “The Owl Foto Studio”. It was an interesting job for him, but one, part that he did not like was when he had to go to the drugstore to buy breakfast each morning for the white employees in the photography studio.

Salar de Uyuni

I have decided to choose Salar de Uyuni as a topic for my lab project. It was very difficult to decide what to do. I changed my mind three times. First time I wanted to make a video about Disneyworld, but the teacher said that is not good choice and to try to find something else. After that I decided to make a video about my country, but first thought was that I am not going to be interesting enough to finish it. However, after that I asked teacher if I could make a video about Amazon rainforest, but I realized that Hugo has the same topic, and I did not want to do the same. Finally, I chose Salar de Uyuni and I hope that I am going to be the only I am doing this topic. Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 km² (4,085 square miles). It is located in the Potosi and Oruro departments in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, 3,650 meters high. The largest salar (salt flat) in the world, Salar de Uyuni, is located within the Altiplano of Bolivia in South America. When I saw pictures of Salar de Uyuni I was impressed. It is so beautiful.

The public informations II

Last year, I read and watched on the television about Ms Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for the Vice Presidency. The press talked and wrote about her personal life, her family, and about personal conflicts in her family, issues that should stay in her personal life and not be published by all the means of communication. The stories and pictures were in newspaper, television, online and every time when I turned on television or stated to read newspapers I would find something about Ms Palin. I was thinking, how this lady could leave with all this public pressure, it must be hard. It is my opinion that, if one is a public person it does not means that everybody has to know about their personal life.

The public informations

Nowadays you can read in newspaper, books, and online different stories about people, events and even different opinions. Sometimes they can support government, and sometimes simply give their personal opinion about any subject. People have the right to have a personal opinion about politics or social movement, etc, and they can express it in the newspapers, television, and radio or by others means like the Internet that in the present time has become a massive tool of communication. In my opinion, I think that people need limits when they try to explain or describe somebody or something. Sometimes the press can be very “nasty” and can create a problem for a person. I have read a lot of times when the press insulted somebody and sometimes they did it without any proof or control. I know that that is part of the “freedom” of the press, but sometimes people abuse that privilege and libel or slander is not a “right”.

how I changed my mind - III

My mother had taught me to be patient with my sister, and that she was going to be the best friend in my life, so I talked to the girls and tried to explain that to them. They are still babies, but in one year they are going to understand better and to realize how important they are to each other and how they need to be a “team”. Every day was a great new experience and discovery for us. Even today, when I have spare time, I like to visit them just to see their honest smiles and feel their warm hugs. Always after that I feel completely filled.After that great experience this summer with the twins, I realized that I wanted to be a teacher of little kids. The day I went to school to complete my registration, I chose Early Childhood Education as my major. In those moments, I thought “There’s nothing better that can happen to me”. I am going to be one of the most important persons in their life, even if they are not going to know that. They are going to be with me when they learn a new word, or the meaning of some word. That feeling makes me so happy, and I am going to enjoy every moment that I am going to spend with all those kids.

How i changed my mind - II

However, teaching them how to recognize colors left me with special memories. For example, one rainy day, I decided to stay in the house with them. A few days before that day, their mother had bought them a new game, but we did not have the opportunity to open it. It was a bowling game where each pin has a different color, and they have to arrange the pins on a board where each of the colors of the pins is indicated. Whenever they place the pin in the corresponding color, the board “congratulates” them and indicates to them that they were correct. Only a few minutes after we started playing, they had already been the difference in the colors, and they were placing pins in the correct spot on the board. I was so proud of them and myself. I was very patient and relaxed and I surprised myself at how patient I was explaining to them every time they made mistakes.

How i changed my mind

The last summer was very different from others and I change a lot of things in my life. First of all, a friend asked me if I can help her to take care about her kids, during the time her Au Pair was on vacations. I accepted even I did not know how I am going to do it, because before that I did not have opportunity to do something like that. Those two weeks were amazing. I took care of two years old twins girl. Experience was incredible. I was so proud of them and myself. We learned a lot of new word, games, and numbers. Every day was new experience for us. After that time I realize that I wanted to be teacher for little kids. The day when I went to school to make registration I choose Early Childhood Education like my major. In those moments I thought “that’s nothing better can happen to me”. I am going to be one of the important persons in their life, even if they are not going to know that. That make me so happy and I enjoy every moment that I spend with all those kids.

Women in 21st century

Even today in the 21st century we still confront with discrimination, for example women are not yet accepted in some part of our society, though they have managed to occupy high positions in the government, the society does not believe that a woman could play a good role in the president's position. In my opinion, many people still believe, and cannot accept or trust enough in what women can do. They are good at different works and even better than the men. One clear example of this is Mrs. Hillary Clinton, she ran for president, and in my opinion, she is the better qualified than the other candidates but a great part of the population gave to her the back for just for the reason of being woman.

Tuition

For me as a foreign student one of the obstacles is the tuition. Since I am not an American Citizen, I am considered as an “Out of State” student which means that I have to pay the highest tuition. I can deny that for me sometimes it is very difficult to pay the tuition, but my personal commitment makes me keep on going. I have planned to graduate from College and if it is possible to obtain a Bachelor Degree from a University. In these times when the economy is not strong as it is just to be, I am struggling with my payments. But I know that in the future all this situation will improve, and better times will come. Meanwhile, the next semester I am planning to apply for a scholarship at the college. My grades and my GPA make me eligible for a scholarship, and that could help me to achieve my goal of finishing my major, without worrying about the payments to the school it is going to give me more time to study without worries.

Taxes for Bonuses

In recent days the government gave bailout money to several companies, money that has been spent paying bonuses to their C.E.O’S or managers. This situation called the attention of the senate of the United States of America and now they are trying to fix this situation by applying taxes to that money, 90% in federal taxes and 10 % in State taxes, leaving this people without money. In my opinion this measure is trying to fix the mistake that the government did when they gave the money to these companies without a plan that shows how this money should be distributed and how this companies will use that money.
The government created this bailout to save some companies from the bankruptcy. Saving these companies from the bankruptcy the jobs of thousands of American should not be at risk. Instead of that these companies have been using this money to pay to their executives enormous amount of money as bonuses. This caused great discomfort to the public opinion because in one way or other these money belongs to the tax payers and they are going to pay for many years the debt of the country.

My first swim class

I was five years old and, like every summer, I went with my parents to the Greek sea, Aegean Sea. I was always scared to go the water and my parents always asked themselves how long it would take until I learn to swim. One morning I woke up earlier and I asked our family friend, who was swimming instructor, if he could teach me how to swim. He accepted, of course, and that was the first step I made to learn swim. After a few hours, how long it took me to get in the water we started with learning. First, I had to learn how to use my hands, then legs and after that, he taught me how to keep my head and body on water, which were the crucial things in learning how to swim. Probably, like every other kid, I had an air muscle around my hands to keep me on water, that big blue sea which looked like there was no end. The most interesting thing was that I first learned diving instead swimming. Me, who was so scared of the water. Now, they could not force me to swim with my head out of the water. After that, swimming became very interesting for me and I enjoyed exploring what is hiding under the sea. There was so many seashells, rocks, small fish etc. The next problem my parents had was how to get me out of the water! This was not most important event of my life but it was the most interesting. For me, the sea represents a real oasis of peace and rest. The sunshine, wind slowly blows, and when it becomes too hot, I just go into the sea to refresh myself. Everybody around me enjoys it and lives that day, as if it is their last.

Books

When I was two years old, my grandmother gave me a book for my birthday. That was a very, very big book, with a cover that moved when the light hit in a certain way. It had only pictures and small stories. I found animals like elephants, giraffes, lions, zebras, and flowers like cactuses, banana trees, olives, lemons, figs, oranges. I was delighted because I saw it for the first time in my life. Every night when I went to sleep, I asked my mom to read me a story or to show me a new picture. While she was reading me stories, I would often fall asleep in the middle of a story. After that, I always asked my mom to buy me at least one book per month. I was six years old when my dad first time took me to the city library, and since then the library becomes my playground. Like other children, I liked to play with toys, but I enjoyed reading books more.
For me one of the important things was when I learned to read. After that, everything became interesting for me. Reading books, I learned every day something new. Every day, after or before school, my dad used to take me to the library. The library was like another home. I was excited when I saw so many books in one place. I asked my dad:” Would I have enough time in my life to read all this books?” He told me:” Yes, you have, but tried to learn something new in each a book”. I spent in the library hours and hours. When the weekend came, I usually took a book and read it at my home. While was I read a book, I was going to a new world, and travel all around the world, meeting new interesting people, trying delicious food. In that moment, that was only my world, made with stuff that only I like. Today I like to read books more online. One of the reasons is that I do not have time to go to the library. I find my favorite books on Internet and read them online.

Sara

On August 1st 2008, I received a text message from my sister in Serbia telling me that she had a surprise for me. I do not know why, but in the first moment I thought that she was pregnant. I preferred to wait to talk with her and I called her. Those few seconds, while the phone was ringing, felt like an eternity for me and my heart was pounding. In my head I had millions of thoughts and I was thinking maybe something happened to my parents, or to her. When I heard her happy voice I knew that something nice had happened. She told me that she had one month of pregnancy and I was going to be an aunt. It was a big surprise for me. I could not say anything. Even today I cannot believe that she is pregnant, maybe because I am not in Serbia and she is not here and I cannot see her belly. She was engaged but not married. They got married on November 1st and that had made me very sad. She got engaged in March this year, and I missed it. That day I promised her that I was not going to miss her wedding, but, unfortunately, I was not able to be there. Money and school were disabling me to be there. These days we are expected a little baby girl Sara, and I am so exited.

Being lost

Being lost and afraid is situation that I would not wish to anyone, especially if you are a kid. My story happened when I got lost in a market while I was with my mother. One day when I was four years old I went with my mother to a market but it was not a regular market it was “the market”. I remember that day; I was staring at the food stands especially at the desserts; since I was a little kid I liked to eat. At that moment a big crowd came to me and I lost contact with my mother, but I realized that after ten minutes because I was still concentrated on the desserts of the shelves. I was quiet and relax at the beginning, but I was telling to myself “Do not worry Tatjana mommy is coming for you”. My mother always told me “If you get lost do not worry I will find you”.
I waited for her for almost thirty minutes, and after that time I started to cry. At the beginning was an almost imperceptible sobbing, but after some minutes I became louder. An owner of one of the stands asked me if I was lost, but since my mother told me to do not talk with strangers I did not answer, I just cried. One lady decided to take me to the market radio station, so she took me to the D.J. booth, but I started to cry louder than ever. At that moment I thought that the lady was trying to kidnap me. I thought that because a couple of weeks before my cousin were kidnapped by a woman who lived in my neighborhood, who had some serious mental illness, and I related that situation to that moment I was living. I do not know why she did not explain me in that moment her intentions maybe that could be more helpful. She had to carry me in her arms and finally she could take me to the D.J.’s booth. When I arrived to the booth with my “Kidnapper” I saw a man on the microphone, he was talking something related to the market and finally I could understand the intentions of the lady. I ran desperate to the microphone and I began to call my mom. The D.J. took the microphone and began to talk through the P.A., he gave my description and he asked me for my mother’s name. After a couple of minutes my mother came to my rescue and my odyssey finished. I never went back to the market, until I turned 12. It was almost funny to go back to that place and remember what I lived that day.

Lie

Trust is one of the most important things in my life. My mom taught me that I have to respect other people and I have to gain their trust. I needed time to learn what was good for me and what was wrong, but now I know.
It was winter 19 years ago. I was a 9 years old girl and I went to second grade in my elementary school. My teacher was so mad because of our long bangs. He thought that because our long bangs we could not follow class, and he told every girl in class that next time we had to cut our bangs. I had long, curly, brown hair and my mom made me braid it every day. I was so afraid about, how to tell my mom that she had to cut my bangs. At that moment, I thought that it would be better for me to do it myself. I didn’t have scissors, real scissors, and I found some very small paper scissors. It was very difficult to cut my bangs with those scissors, but my teacher told me that I had to do it. I felt so bad because I lied to my mom, and after when I finished, I looked like a doll. I took a bobby pin and tried to cover up what I did. All the while, I had the feeling like my mom was looking at me. Seven days later, I felt much better. My teacher was happy, my mom didn’t notice anything and I felt more relaxed. When I thought that was the end of my problems, my aunty asked me:” What happened to your bangs? Did you cut them?” I told her:” No, why do you think that?” My mom and aunty started to look at me, and my mom told me to take my bobby pin away. I started to cry, and told her:” Please don’t be mad. I played a game with Andrea, and she cut my bangs.” She didn’t believe me and asked me to tell her the truth. When I told her that the teacher had asked me to cut my bangs, she was surprised. She asked me many times why he had asked me to do that. After a 30 minute conversation, she decided to go to school and check with my teacher. When she returned from school, she hugged me and explained to me where I made my mistake.
After this situation my mom and I learned that we need to have more belief in each other. If I had a problem, my mom will be there to help me with everything. Trust is one of the most important things.

Danube Park

I lived in Novi Sad for eight years. I went there after my high school to work and study. Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia and one place that I will always remember is Danube Park. I liked to spend my free time at Danube Park, most beautiful park in Novi Sad. When I wanted to relax I usually went there. That is a small park with a lot of different trees. There are fifteen different kinds of trees, and some of them are very, very old. Linden tree is one of my favorite trees, because it has so strange and nice smell. The flower is very white with yellow bulk, and when I have chance, I take small brunch and enjoy in smells. When you walk through the park somewhere in the middle you will see three very small lakes. In the spring people who take care about the park, always let go two beautiful, white swans in the lake. They are real attraction and decoration of the park, for people whom walk over there. It is very relaxing to go over there and to read a book. Children enjoy playing in the park, because that is real paradise for them. The park has small playground with very interesting toys. Children sometimes make so much noise, so it would, in normal circumstances; disturb people around, but not and in the park. When spring comes grass becomes so green and so soft it is a real pleasure lying on it. While I lie on the grass, I can see how the Sun is trying to get through thick brunches. Sunday was my day for resting and on that day that is the only place where people could find me.

Healtcare

I chose to write about healthcare because I am thinking to enroll in some program for my healthcare. It is very important to have it and I feel so unsafe without it. If you have some advice of good healthcare please inform me.Healthcare is one of the investments which should help us in our entire life. Investing in healthcare is good decision, but we always have two sides of it, what is good or what is not good for us when we want to make this big step of taking health care. In my experience I had chance to read and go through what is good healthcare. Healthcare programs in the United States are different from my country, Serbia. What I could not understand is why American people pay for insurance when on the day when they have to go to hospital they have to pay some amount, and usually it is big numbers. In my country, Serbia, insurance cover all bills and even if we have some accident insurance company will we cover that too; actually they will send you a check. I got confuse about all this companies who offer a healthcare. I really do not understand what part of your cost they will cover. On commercial all of them look so perfect they I want to call them at that moment. What is really important in choosing healthcare? The amount what we have to pay for each month is so big and on the end we do not get anything because we have to pay again to doctor. I hope that this new government we will think more about it and how to help people. Perhaps, decreasing cost of healthcare will be helpful for people in this economic crisis.

My sister

It is so difficult to be in country where you do not have your family, and probably I cannot count how many people are in the same situation like me. Sometimes, I feel so lonely when I think about my family, and I just want hug from my mom, dad or sister, just to feel warm of their hearts. I was not in Serbia almost one year and I cannot wait for the day when I will go. It will be this summer of course; do not think that I will leave them to wait some more time for me.

My sister Tamara is pregnant and I am very excited because she will deliver a baby in March and when I go I will have chance to be with her too. Yes, it is a little girl, little Sara. I am very close to my sister and I feel bad because I cannot be with her in these moments. However, we talk every day and even I can see her. We use famous program Skype where you can talk and see people without paying any amount for it. It helps me to not feel so far from my family.
I love my sister so much but we are so different. Although, it helps us to understand other people because we learn together what is good and what is not for us. Also, I am always for adventure and I think that I can do everything alone, like traveling around the world. She is more dedicated to our parents and she is not an adventurer as I am. Tamara is a more introverted, shy, and very sensitive person. I have a feeling that she will always call me just to check that I am not doing something crazy. People usually think that we are twins. We always laugh about that. We look at ourselves in the mirror to try to see what is so similar between us.

Where to go for vacation

I was talking with my husband these days about going on vacation after this semester. Actually, we got married eight months ago and we never had our honeymoon, so probably that trip will be our honeymoon. I would like to go to Disney because I always dreamt about it as a kid. Now when I am living in the United States I have chance to go and visit it. I was a little bit disappointed when I realized that we will need three hours to travel to the first beach. However, I do not doubt that will be an amazing experience that i will remember all my life.

In June, this year we will go to visit my family in Serbia. I was not there almost one year and I really miss them. Also, it will be Alan's first trip to Serbia and he is very excited about it. He does not speak Serbian and it will be one problem for him in my country because in Serbia people do not speak English, not in Kikinda, the town where I grew up. I will try to show him all beautiful parts of my country and to enjoy in every day of his trip. I am very excited because he will meet my parents for the first time. They saw each other only by camera on Skype, but it is not same when you meet somebody personally.

We are planning to go to Peru too, because Alan is from Peru. Probably, we will leave this trip for the end of the year.

I like to travel and all our plans for this year are not finished, what makes me happy. Perhaps, i will have chance to go somewhere else in the middle time.

Places I Call Home

Our home is what we consider for home, not a place where we were born, especially if we live in other town or country. I was born in Kikinda, a small town in Serbia, Eastern Europe, and I lived there for nineteen years. After my high school I moved to Novi Sad, second largest city in Serbia, to study. It was very interesting for my parents to listen my speech when I told them that I consider Novi Sad as my home. I lived in Novi Sad for eight years, and living without parents made me more independent. However, after some time I decided to make a new step and to try something different in my life. I decide to go to the other part of the world, the United States, and to live and study there. Nowadays, I was thinking a lot about what is really my home. I live now in the United Stated, and it is my home. However, I am thinking to move to Canada when I finish school, and that makes me to think more about what is and what will be my home.

Our home is what we consider for home, not a place where we were born, especially if we live in other town or country. I was born in Kikinda, a small town in Serbia, Eastern Europe, and I lived there for nineteen years. After my high school I moved to Novi Sad, second largest city in Serbia, to study. It was very interesting for my parents to listen my speech when I told them that I consider Novi Sad as my home. I lived in Novi Sad for eight years, and living without parents made me more independent. However, after some time I decided to make a new step and to try something different in my life. I decide to go to the other part of the world, the United States, and to live and study there. Nowadays, I was thinking a lot about what is really my home. I live now in the United Stated, and it is my home. However, I am thinking to move to Canada when I finish school, and that makes me to think more about what is and what will be my home.