Introduction

Starting a new stage in life is not something easy to adapt to. Having the courage to face it is admirable. This new stage in my life is a new beginning, the start of new era and self-exploration. As I say goodbye to the years of innocence and nonsense, I open the doors of information, awareness and knowledge. Today I set foot to a whole new world in which I will discover and conquer the unknown. Soul Feelings sums up the first semester of exploration as a college student. This is a way to connect all together the knowledge and reflections I obtained during the beginning of my new era.

A Mango Dialogue

It's amazing how a simple word can be as an inspiration and be created into a masterpiece. Just a single word can make you think of so many things. It was funny but yet very artistic and deep to make such a nice poem about a mango. I just imagine how good the mango tasted to inspire someone to create a poem about it. Sometimes I wonder how powerful writing is because is not only giving the reader a story but it also gives a vision, a picture.Both poems were deep and so very true because the poems were not only talking about a mango itself but about life and our existence. The lines that I sincerely loved were:

"How does that song go About eating life
Until it drips all over?
About taking in
The juice and flesh?
About passing body sin?
Souls at a feast of life
Biting down to the seed"

Like I was saying it does not talk directly about a mango it expresses how fast life can pass by just like eating a mango, it passes by as fast as a blink. So live your life to the fullest and suck and squeeze all the juice until there is no more juice left.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

The article “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua was long and somewhat boring but the author made sense in some things that she talked about. I do agree in the sense that once you get here you are forced to speak proper English. All Hispanics kids that arrive to the U.S. have trouble adjusting to the new language. They are placed on the E.S.O.L. classes/programs to slowly help them learn English. The majority feel stress because they do not understand the language but they wish to understand it. Due to this pressure the kid tent to combine both languages because in a way it helps them understand English by relating it to Spanish. The combination of Spanish and English words is called Anglicism. Words such as parkiar (parking), textiar (texting), locado, (located), chatear (chatting) and many others are Anglicism that is used on the daily bases. So we are not talking English nor Spanish is both.I can assure you this is true because I personally went through it. I got here at the age of 11 and I was place in E.S.O.L. like all Hispanics kids who get here. To try to have a better understanding of the language you tend to combine Spanish and English words and that's when the whole Spanglish era originates.I'm from Puerto Rico and because P.R. is a U.S. territory we tend to have a lot of Anglicism in our vocabulary. Many Hispanics in the here dislike a lot the way we talk because our Spanish is not pure or properly spoke. Adjusting to the language wasn't as hard as to other Hispanics who migrate to the U.S. because I was thought how to write it and read it but my biggest problem and fear was my pronunciation. It was difficult because I had that constant fight between the English and the Spanish because I was use to mix them both, so I was a little confused. I still have problem with the pronunciation, but I know that as a “Latina” I will never loose my accent.

KAE (Kick Ass Essay)

When it comes to writing, the writer has to be specific and detailed. You have to give the reader the emotion that will keep the reader wanting to continue reading your paper. For example, when you are fascinated with a new blouse, you want to explain every little detailed that it had, from the style to the little decorations it contains. Apart from that explain why is so fantastic, what is it exactly that fascinates you. Do not just say how pretty it is and that fits nicely, that is not enough; elaborate show your feelings, do not limit yourself, say it all.I think that when you write you should balance between the subjective and the objective. It is excellent when you relate your writing to yourself and reflects certain aspects of your persona, but you should make some objective points, because you never know if people might get offended. It's not good to have more of one thing, always try to balance, equalize.There is not an exact classification for an "EXCELLENT" essay, apart from organization, structure, punctuation and spelling; a KAE must make the audience not just want to read it but to connect to it, to make them think beyond and learned from that piece of writing. By writing a KAE, the audience may want to read more of your writings and even try to investigate the author for such an EXCELLENT writing.

Greg Bowe

The lecture was really entertaining. I never thought that an English teacher could be so open and understanding on the mix match situation of languages. I was surprised in the fact that he liked the song "Chongalicious"; it totally shocked me when he gave examples from the lyrics and that he actually brought the video, although he did not show it to the class. I think is amazing how calm and wasn't alarmed he reacts to this concept of the Spanglish, and specially coming from someone like him that he only speaks English. I noticed that he is passionate about different cultures and languages. He demonstrates that he is not afraid of change, or combination of different culture. Also he exposes himself to this kind of rebellion and barrier between languages because he chooses to.Another thing that I want to point out is that he is a very understanding teacher that does not pay attention to little mistakes and tries to correct those little errors in a pacific non-insulting manner. I think that teachers like Bowe, that are so open to change is what this Latin community needs.

Last Visit of Service Learning

Today as I usually do I sign up and went with the kids. When I got there I found the kid in the cafeteria having a snack. They stoop up to hug me and to say hi. I sat down with the kids but a couple of minutes later the teacher told me that I had to go help the class next door because one of the teachers was absent. So I switched to the other class and my friend came along as well. I stayed in the cafeteria because the other class stayed there until the rest of the kids arrived. There were only five kids but these kids weren’t like my previous ones, they were imperative and knew things that kids that age shouldn’t know. By all means these kids required more patience and time. There was a kid that was constantly hitting the girls and saying bad words. Also he was constantly observing the bigger kids like if he wished to be just like them. I noticed that he idolized the older kids. His behavior concerned me and I decided to ask him some questions. In conclusion I understood his behavior. The reason he was like that was because he has an older brother that he constantly fights with. His brother says bad words, listens to music and shows him movies that the kid shouldn’t be watching.
Finally the rest of the kids arrived and we headed to the classroom. Once I got there I stayed in the table where the five kids that were in the cafeteria where sitting. Not so long the teacher said that I had to go to the previous class I had because the Head Teacher some one to help her but my friend had to stay. I noticed that the kid were a little disappointed that I left because they said that everybody that goes to help never goes to their table. I went to my previous class and they were watching a movies, it was Scooby Doo 2. As usual Yesenia and Seth were apart from the class, they were sitting all the way back. When the kids saw me they smiled and said hi. I sat Seth and Yesenia next to me and we watched the movie. Today was an especial day because all the kids in the school were going to receive a gift from Santa. They were called class by class to distribute the gifts. All the kids had a gift in their hands and their happiness was enormous.
After getting the gift we came back to class and the teacher decided to play music chairs. Everybody was excited to play. In the first round a girl named Sasha won and in the second round another girl won her named was Elizabeth. They had to pick a gift from the treasure box as a reward. Today was a fun day, no homework!
The moment I was told to go with the other class made me feel terrible. I didn’t want to leave my kids because well they were my kids. I was comfortable and I didn’t want to leave them. Shortly I realized that sometimes it is hard to let go but you have to. In order to help other people we have to learn how to let go and meet other people that need even more help than those previously helped.
Serving the community is something that everybody should do. It is with immense gratitude that they see the help that you give. Helping the community makes you see things in a different perspective. It is not until you experience on your own the feeling of learning something new by those whom you never thought you can learn something from, that you realize the true meaning of service learning. Service learning change my live because it made me realized what I really like, which is being with kids.

Black Culture

An image just popped into my head in where I was sitting and somebody (I didn’t see the face) saying “ Aquel quien trata a la iglesia como una fiesta esta deshonorando no solo a la iglesia pero a Dios y todos los valores que como religiosos debemos seguir. En la iglesia no se baila ni tampoco se canta por que estaremos desvergonzando a Dios.”I was raised to believe that in church you do not dance nor sing because that is an aberration against the church.I was thinking all day about this because in the Black culture when they go to church they sing, they dance and they have a good time. So in reality when you talk about their religion, there are people that think that Black faith is not real and that the way the practice religion is incorrect. This happens because people do not accept change or different styles and cultures.

Relating this to the June Jordan article, I think that to be able to understand their culture or their language they have to first let everyone else know that if you understand them they could understand you. By writing the article strictly in Black English causes commotion and you confuse those who are trying to read it but do not understand it. If you first explain clearly (Standard English) so everyone else could understand and then you could write it in your own style (Black English). In that way you get your point across and show everybody that you are educated, you speak both Standard and Black English that you can easily speak and understand both of the equally.

Path to Happiness

In a colorful tiny island once lived a humble rose. Her vibrant red color captivated many wondering eyes. There wasn’t any creature in the island that didn’t love her, from the animals to the trees, from the insect to the sky everybody cared about Joyce. She had no preference she loved everybody just the same and enjoyed everyone and each of them. Her only problem was that she needed a purpose in life, therefore she wasn’t complete.

Through life people have wondered and asked themselves who they are, why are they here, and what is their purpose? Everybody always tries to seek happiness and wealth but they don’t find the way to conquer their most precious dreams. Most of the time, we don’t feel smart enough, and make stupid excuses that simply force us to quit without trying, which at times makes it seem impossible. This happens because what we fear the most is the fear of failure or just doing something wrong. Our lives are journeys, a path that serves as a privilege that makes living our most precious possession. Live to love and love to live; laugh to live and live to laugh. We exist because we have the power to do anything we want and desire. Happiness is one of the many things people desire but fail to have it, due to their negative thinking. Our power is limitless, we can control anything we set our minds too. “There is no black board in the sky on which god has written your purpose, your mission in life.”[1] There is nothing written that state what is expected for you to do next. Your life is concealed in a book with blank pages where you have the power to write your next move. The purpose of life is represented by the meaning you give it. Life is a mission where your quest is to give life your meaning.

One morning an enormous and furious wind was approaching Joyce. Wind angrily tore up her roots. Crying with pain little Joyce was hopeless and had no help from this tragedy. Joyce flew and flew farther away disappearing in the horizon. When she finally touched ground, it wasn’t the same warm and gentle soil as her island ground. It felt fake, artificial; it just wasn’t home. While looking around she found herself with unfamiliar faces staring at her. Little Joyce shyly smiled and saluted by introducing herself but yet no body answered.

Be aware and eliminate negative thoughts that may lead you to insecurity. Do not let opportunities and experiences pass by hold on tight to them. Make any situation a new learning experience and do not take it as a punishment.

Everybody lived in the same area for years but yet nobody knew each other. Nobody says “Good Morning” or “Good Night”, not even “HI”, or a simple smile.The days passed and Joyce seeing herself alone falls into a deep depression. Not having someone to talk to, not being able to tell when the sun wakes up and when it falls asleep made her missed even more her little island.

While sleeping she noticed that she was being watched. At first it didn’t seem to be important, but the constant disturbance at her sleep made her scared. Not knowing what to do she didn’t ask for help and besides she was among strangers. Night after night Joyce slept with one eye open because of the fear of being spied. She didn’t say anything to anybody neither tried to get help; she didn’t know what to do or who to talk to. One silent night, a malevolent creature, a monster approached Joyce. This Beast knew that Joyce was alone; she had nobody to protect her; the perfect prey. With no sense of guilt or regret, it managed to violently destroyed Joyce’s most valuable and secret possession, her innocence. Rapidly her roots became stiff a sudden cold rush flows all over her tiny silhouette, from her leaves to her petals transforming into ice.

One morning she decided to take a walk with the intention of finding a way out of her misery. In her way she found a book. It had no cover and no title. Noticing that nobody claimed the mysterious book, she kept it. She was anxious to know what the book was about; without thinking it twice, she sat next to a tree and began reading. First page in big the title was revealed “THE SECRET.” Next page: “Dedicated for You, I hope that the Secret brings you love and happiness during all your existence. This is my wish for you and the world.”[2]
Without hesitation she began reading; the first section of the book “The Secret Revealed”. What is the Secret? The Secret is the law of attraction! Everything that comes in your life is because you had attracted it. And you had attracted it by the images that you have in your mind. It’s your thoughts. You attract everything you think about.

An easy way to understand the law of attraction is by thinking that you are a magnet, because a magnet attracts things to itself. You are the most powerful magnet in the Universe! You posses a magnetic power within you that is more powerful than any other thing in this world and this magnetic power emits through your thoughts. The law of attraction says that the similar attracts the similar; therefore when you have a thought, also you are attracting similar thoughts.

Joyce paused and asked herself how could’ve I attract misery to my life; if the last thing I wan is misery. I don’t want sadness and even less, loneliness.

When you constantly say things such as, I don’t want to rain today; I don’t want to be lonely; or I don’t want to have a bad day. You have to understand that the Universe doesn’t hear or listen to neither likes nor dislikes; what you’re really saying is; I want rain today, I want to be lonely, I want to have a bad day today. Change your thoughts, and the main key is positivity; you have to think positive. Next time say, it’s going to be a sunny day, I’ll be with a lot of people today and I’ll have a great day.

Joyce started understanding the significance and the importance of the Secrete. Rapidly she began applying it to her life.

Next section “How to use the Secret.” First thing you have to realize is that the Universe is your gene and it will always respond: Your wishes are my commands! The gene is the law of attraction, and he assumes that the things you think about, you want them.

Joyce quickly thought about what she really wanted. She let the genie know her wishes. “I want happiness and a purpose in life!” She repeated it a couple of times with great confidence and enthusiasm.

Last section: “The Secret and You” Everything is energy. You are the magnet of energy, in this way you energize electronically everything to come towards you. You are a spiritual being. You are energy, and energy is not created nor destroyed; it only changes in form. The Universe has emerged by a thought. We are not only the creators of our destiny, but the Universe itself. You are the only one that can create the life that you deserve. The only you thing you have to do now is to feel GOOD. The more you use your interior power, the more power you will attract. Do what you like to do. If not ask yourself: What makes me happy? The moment you connect with your happiness, you will attract a surplus amount of good things because you are radiating happiness. Now that you know the Secret, what you do with it it’s up to you. Everything that you choose will be the correct thing. The power is yours.

Joyce closed the book and a bright light strikes dissolving the book and transforming it into a mirror. The mirror reflected many paths, now Joyce has to choose which way to go there isn’t any right or wrong choice, just choose your destiny.

Regardless of how hard life has treated you, never stop trying to be better and keep going. Only you can decide if you want to be happy, you create your own happiness, your destiny. The Secret is the path through happiness.

[1] Walsch famous quote from the book “The Secret”
[2] First sentence from the book “The Secret”

Girl in the Mirror

Every time I looked in the mirror I see a girl pointing out my defects. Oh your cheeks are too big, you are too short, your nose is slanted, your eyelashes are not long enough, your breast are too big, your hair is not straight, your lips are not pink enough, your teeth are not perfectly aligned, you are too fat. Everywhere I go, she follows; she is in the mirror, in the shadows, in my thoughts and even in my dreams. I don’t seem to escape from her; she is a plague, an epidemic, a parasite that feeds out of you.

Sometimes I question myself, is there really something wrong with me? Do I have to change my appearance in order to be happy, to be “beautiful”? Do I really have to become something that I’m not, in order to fit in with today’s society and its misconception of true beauty; being thin? Why can’t I be beautiful the way I look? What is beauty anyways? Today 3 out of 5 girls fight against the girl in the mirror every day. They can not escape from her because she follows them day and night. The girl in the mirror has no compassion. She criticizes girls as young as 7. What she does is build insecurity and low self-esteem, later on leading to depression.

When we go shopping, does the mannequin looks like you? No. Of course not, the mannequin is the concept of the perfect body; its slender, tall, it’s beautiful. It’s the image, the goal we all want to achieve, and that’s how we desire to look like. The clothes look perfect on the mannequin and you fall in love with the clothes but when you try them on it doesn’t look as beautiful in contrast with the mannequin. In that precise moment that you see your image, you start to hate it because once again the girl in the mirror appears to criticize your imperfect image. You leave the store empty-handed, depressed and with no desire to go to other stores. Also, clothes are designed to fit a standard body proportion. If you are a size 10, the pants length automatically is longer than the size 3 pants. So what is a size ten petite girl going to do? Obviously she can’t buy the pants because they are extremely long.

Not only has the fashion industry set in this absurd rule but also the media. Every time we see a commercial or an advertisement, the individual that is successful, happy and around many people is thin; then they show you an overweight person sitting in front of the T.V. lonely and eating. Every commercial made, the models used for the ad are skinny. Commercials like Cover Girl will never choose a thick woman to advertise their products. You will never see a chubby or petite Victoria Secret model and if you do you’re either dreaming or hallucinating. Not even to promote plus sizes clothing, they use thick models instead they keep the slender model and waste their time fixing the model in the computer to make it seem heavier.Also movies portray thick women as something disgusting and repulsive. Most of the time when thick women appear is either to make fun of them or they are villains. “Date Movie” is a perfect example for the prejudice against heavy woman. In the movie every time thick women appear everyone seems to get grossed out making facial expressing as if they were going to vomit. The movie shows if you are not slender you will end sad and lonely.

Don’t we all love Barbie dolls, aren’t they beautiful? Don’t we always used to play with them when we were little? But have you ever seen a chubby Barbie doll? Is there such doll that looks like we do, normal? I know the answer is no, but why isn’t there any? All of them have what we all idolize, perfection, long flowing hair, thin waist, curvy body, firm breasts, and perfect facial features. All of their clothes seem to fit perfectly. These Barbie dolls are creating a false illusion in little girls; they love the doll so much that they want to be like them. These little girls grow up with the concept of how a girl should look like. They do the impossible to look exactly like them; they constantly fear the fact of gaining weight and they even dye their hair blond to be just like their role model, Barbie.

Beauty is relative and a misunderstood concept which can be defined in superfluous ways. Many think that beauty is art; others may say is life and the rest may say perfection but I don’t think they even know what perfection is. I say beauty is in every single person and everybody has being blessed with beauty because beauty can be manifested in many ways. For example, Cassie is beautiful because she is friendly. Rosa is beautiful because she can turn words into a magnificent poem. Karla is beautiful because she helps others. Carolina is beautiful because she is an understanding mother. Kate is beautiful because she makes others laugh, and the list is infinite. Beauty is in your character, beauty is who you are. Accept yourself so once and for all the girl in the mirror can no longer control you, liberate yourself and destroy the uncontrollable plague.

Holy Grail Analysis

The issue is that for many years I thought that the Holy Grail was cup or plate that, according to medieval legend, was used by Jesus at the Last Supper and that later became the object of many infinite quests but never found. As realizing that the Holy Grail can symbolize or be something or someone else got me thinking. I am not saying that what Dan Brown theory is the actual true but it can be correct. Nobody knows what really happen and the secrets behold in La Iglesia. The unsolved mystery makes everyone get to different conclusions. The author of the Da Vinci Code Dan Brown comes up with a very creative and convincing theory. His theory got me thinking in that it might be certain and partially correct. Maybe the Holy Grail was in fact a woman. If we look back through history women were always classified as inferior and below the man regime. They were persecuted and brutally murdered for supposedly being witches. The church says that Jesus did not marry anybody but the Bible doesn't mention that he did neither did not had a relationship with a woman. I wonder if God created the man and the woman why could he get married. The church made believe neither everyone that neither priests nor popes can get married, which I sincerely think is ridiculous. Have you noticed that the nuns are there to serve the pope/priest, they clean, cook, wash clothes, isn’t that a little weird. Even in the church the women are below men. I think that the church always knew that the truth and they tried to hide it because nobody would contradict the church; well I say the church is wrong and absolutely sexist. Why can’t a woman be a pope or a priest, why because the church says so, I don’t think so? The church knew all along that the women carried an intense special power that threaten them and their suppose values they created.I know that I come a little strong and I might sound feminist but it gets me frustrated and angry, to see all injustices that were made towards women.

Women were in controlled not because men treated them equally it was because they were alone for such a long time that they felt the need to keep everything running smoother. They didn’t have the consent of men because if men stopped and realized that everything was under the women control they would have stopped it long time ago. Men always thought that anything women do they could do it a million times better; they always saw women as an inferior race. Like you said and I quote you; “The problems started when the hunting instruments became more advanced and agriculture and the taming of animals became more common, then the men didn’t have to die or go away for along time to get food .So now there were a lot more men than women in the villages, and they wanted power. Power here in this world and power in the next .They thought they didn’t need women to communicate they thought they could do it themselves and they could do it better.” The moment they realized that women were the ones in control they rebelled and took absolute of everything. Their anger (jealously) made them commits infinite injustices against women.Now regarding Jesus’ supposed wife; you said that the church did not hide the secret because of the fact it was a women but because it would destroy the illusion, the views of Jesus being pure and sinless. But the again you prove my point, the church is lying, it’s not being truthful to their followers. Although I think that they don’t want to actually accept that there is a Jesus descendant because they fear that the descendant will reveal the real truth and the church and religion will totally collapse. "But at the end the question remains how could a man in his thirties, who lived in a culture in which people got married before they were even 16 years old, in a culture that revered marriage as very important part of society, remained unmarried till the end of his life." That statement is my favorite in the entire response or history lesson. Again is Jesus as pure and as perfect as the church pictures him to be. If he was a human and it is a law that all humans make mistakes, there is 99.9% that Jesus could have made a mistake.
The church was and still afraid of the people (their followers) to know the hidden secrets. They are afraid of causing a revolution against the church as well as religion in general. If religious come to senses and start questioning, and doubting, then chaos will fall in the church. This entire situation is just a misunderstanding that the church made even worse. The church only says what is best for them and manipulates rules and their loyal followers (whom I think they should be smarter and not listen to what people say and should think for themselves).I know that this topic is never ending, and it will always end up with the same question, WHAT REALLY HAPPENED? We will never know...

Jonathan Kozol

Reading the passage I confirmed that people don’t get along and history repeats it’s self over and over. We will never get along with each other due to the fact that we are in constant fight on who’s better than whom. The problem is that we have the illusion of a perfect society that isn’t there. We think that we have a multicultural society in which we all learn and appreciate new and different things. The reality is that we are all segregated in one way or another and this does not only happen in schools like Kozol states.Let’s take Florida for example, better yet south Florida, it is very true that we have people from all over the world but we still are segregated. We are know that south Florida is mostly Hispanic, we don’t see a pure white American walking in Hialeah having a conversation with a Hispanic. Also is rare if we see a black family living there as well. Another good example is Overtown, I assure you that you will never find a white person or a Hispanic living or even walking in Overtown; and why’s that? Because they know that is a black territory and by the way they are scared of simply pass by in their car. Now central and northern Florida as you go up the Hispanics population gets fewer and more white neighborhood (territory) appear. Once you hit Orlando you see the difference instantly, even the aspect (visually) and environment is different, it even smells different, and if you go to Saint Agustin, they even talk and look different; it’s a whole new world. You will see so many white people that you wouldn’t believe your eyes you don’t see that here in Miami or Hialeah.It is a shock that we have the illusion of a segregated society but we all live in our own shell our own little crystal ball hidden from the rest of the world. The whites have their own territory, blacks have their own; now even Hispanics and Latinos are segregated because Cuban have their own, Puerto Ricans have their own, Nicaraguans have their own as well, and the list keeps going.

We are segregated and we don’t get along and that’s a fact!!!

Jena Six

The Jena case does not surprise me, even dough many years have passed since segregation was abolished by law does not mean everybody listens and follows it. There is still segregation and racism against blacks; but nowadays is not only blacks but against any minorities living in the United States or in any part of the world. We see and hear some things (not everything, only what it is allowed to be seen) that happen in the U.S. but there is racism all over the world, and even slavery. Yes in the U.S. there is slavery, but you don’t hear much about that because of course, it will cause an immense commotion. There are many horrible things happening all around the world but yet nobody seems to care or maybe is also because we are not informed and we are kept ignorant.This is nothing new because it has happened before and is still happening today, people will never change the way they think, especially those who are born or has been raised in a racist environment. People will always be segregated and against each other do to the fact that “we are not all equal”, and we will never be because as humans and as imperfect as we are, we are always going to try to be better and superior than others. Unless we all (by all I mean the entire world) agree that we are all equal segregation and racism will never end.

http://freethejena6.org/

Derrick Jensen

The beginning of the passage sounded a little cocky, "I’m glad I was born white". But as I kept on, I realized it wasn't a racist passage. Basically what the author is saying is that, he has been lucky, by not receiving mistreatment and police abuse due to the fact of the color of his skin. Also, is not that is he proud that he is white or superior is that because he is white he gotten some privileges that minorities haven't, he hasn't suffer from racism in the U.S because of the color of his skin.I liked the analogy he used with the shirt. It is very true that you can get rid of the shirt or just take it out to avoid conflicts or if is insulting someone in any way, but you cannot change the color of your skin.It makes me really sad that policemen abuse their power and use it for the wrong reasons. It is very true that many police officers are corrupt and unjust, but not all police officers are unjust. Like the author said the list of police abuse can go as long as u want it to be but you have to remember that there is another list of admirable actions from other police officers.

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn Reflexion

Ishmael is a controversial novel but also one of those novels that contradicts itself. It explains that the world belongs to men. “The world was made for man, and man was made to rule it.” (72) Through the first chapters of the book, it said that the world was made for man. Then later on in the book it says that the world doesn’t belong to man instead man belongs to the world. I do understand that as humans we try to conquer everything and we do whatever it takes to have all the commodities no matter the cost. Since the evolution of man kind and as we became rational, we created things (tools) to make our lives easier. Ever since we created and built more and more destroying anything that gets in the way. In order to obtain what we want we have been destroying, exploiting our environment and we don’t seem to care. We destroy trees because we need more wood or they are obstructing the creation of a new building. By this we are leaving a surplus amount of animals without a home in addition that we are destroying natural beauty. I do agree that we as Takers ―those who know the difference between good and evil, live under a system of domination, today’s way of living― try to reach perfection and us by trying to reach perfection we get rid of anything that blocks our path to perfection. The issue is that we are extremely hardheaded to understand that perfection can not be reached. In contrast I don’t think that the Leavers ―those who live in the hands of God, think of themselves as an earth community, primitive― have the better life or that their way of living is the correct one. We have the choice to live however we want to. We can not be forced to live a certain way just because somebody tells you that how you are supposed to live.Although the book makes you think and wonder if we can save the world or maybe is already too late. The only thing is that the novel tells you that by saving the world you have to live like the Leaver which I think that you don’t have to be a leaver to be able to save the world. Since the book has already its own theory and absolutely bias towards it, did not make a great impact in my way of thinking. It did not pursue me to save the world because maybe we are destroying the world but there is the other maybe that says hey the world is immense there is no way we are destroying it.I am sure that the intentions of Daniel Quinn were good and he is very worried about our environment. Also I know he wanted to give an idea on how we can safe the world since we are the causers of the earth’s collapse. As well as our ambition and desire to reach perfection is making our environment suffer.

Second Visit of Service Learning

Today as usual, I sign up in the office and went to the class. When I got there the kids where so happy to see me but they where asking why didn’t I come the day before. I had to explain that I didn’t have a car and I had to come with my friend whenever she has time to come. One of the kids named Isaac asked me, why I don’t buy a car, if they are free, but only the ones that are outside the store. Since they were in the playground, I played with them hide and seek. They were having so much fun!

After the play ground, we entered the class room for homework time. Every kid sat on their corresponding places and took out their homework. As usual I sat on the last table with Yesenia and later on Seth came to our table. I helped them finish all the homework on time. Later on the kids were given paper and crayons for them to color; we even played Tic Tac Toe. They gave me some of the drawings they made.

It was lunch time and they all formed a line to go to the cafeteria. Yesenia grabbed me and asked me to have lunch with her. We went back to the classroom to have lunch. I sat on the middle table with my friend and the rest of the kids that still were there because by that time most of the kids left already. When we finished eating there were only three kids left, Giorgio, Yesenia and Elizabeth. The teacher gave them blocks for them to play. A few minutes later I decided to make a competition for the tallest tower. They were super excited to create the tallest tower. At the end Giorgio and I had the tallest tower and we won and it was a lot of fun.

It was as much fun as the first time, but this time I was more comfortable with the place. The sense of fear that I had the first time I visit was no longer with me. This time I felt that I belonged there and everything seemed familiar. I was very happy not just for being there but to be part of that little community. When I am there it’s a feeling that can not be describe with words, you have to go and experience it for yourself to understand what I feel. It‘s a feeling of joy combined with feeling that you get when you know you have done something good.

This second visit made me realized that once you get comfortable with a certain environment it makes you want to come back. Being a part of different places and being able to adapt to it, it’s amazing. This reflection made me think about Ishmael and some of the discussions we had during the semester in class. For example the book Ishmael talks about different environments and self adaptation. I think that some of the theories that Ishmael talks about contradict with this experience that I had because he says that the only way or better yet the right way of living is the leaver’s way. What I have noticed is that anybody can adapt to any environment and live happily, there isn’t a specific way of living.

First Day of Service Learning

When I got to Centro Mater I was a little scared. Many people have said that Little Havana is a little dangerous. I never thought that it was dangerous, at least not like the reputation that Overtown has. On my way there I noticed it was a poor neighborhood. Its appearance was old and abandoned; at least that’s how it seemed to me. It looked dirty and the houses as well as the stores weren’t property maintain. The paint was decayed and for some reason everything was smooched together, I guess because it had limited space.

Finally I enter the place and the first thing I noticed was the security. There wasn’t enough security, there was only one security guard and it was an old man. I found that a little strange. I went to the office to sign in, and fill out the papers necessary to be authorized to volunteer there. I was assigned the same class as my friend, so we became partners. On our way to the class we passed through the cafeteria; it was very small. During that time the kids were in the playground. They were running around and laughing. Some of them where riding the tricycle and others where under a climbing play set.

I introduced my self to the teachers and I sat in a wooden house. Next to me it was a little blond boy sad and with his eyes watery. I asked him in Spanish what was wrong but he didn’t answer. I asked him again and he still didn’t answer, finally he angrily said; “I don’t speak Spanish”. Astonished to his reaction, I never thought that kids in little Havana wouldn’t speak Spanish. I kept asking and trying to make him open up to me. After a little while he told me his named was Seth and the reason he was there and not playing was because the teacher was mean. He also confessed that he didn’t like school because the teachers didn’t understand him. He showed me a fake tattoo that he had in his right upper arm of a blue dragon and a scar in his knee. After a long conversation he stood up and asked me if I wanted to see a magic trick and he asked for a quarter. His last words before heading back to class were “are you a teacher, you are nice”.

I entered the classroom; it was very small with limited space. I sat all the way back in a little blue chair. Next to me it was a little table with a black and a white doll, which reminded me of the doll test. Soon it was home work time and more kids entered the class. One of the teacher sat in the table I was sitting a little girl. The teacher sat her apart from the other kid because supposedly because she has a bad behavior. Her name was Yesenia and she doesn’t speak a lot of English. I noticed that she was very quite and smart. A couple of minutes later the teacher sits Seth in the same table because he wanted to the homework with me. The teacher gets close to me and says; “I don’t know what are you going to do because these are the worse kids in class. I doubt you will get them to finish the homework, especially Seth’s”. I helped them with their homework and they both finished their homework and stayed calmly talking to me. They behaved excellent.

Soon it was time to eat, all the kids lined up to go to the cafeteria. Although the place looks poor, the food served was appropriate. They have a chicken sandwich, salad and fruits accompanied with chocolate milk. When finished all the kid returned to class to draw, but by that time most of the kids had left already. The last girl to leave was Yesenia.

At first I have to confess I was a little uncomfortable, maybe the reason for this feeling was the fact that I was in an unfamiliar place. As the time passed I became familiar with the place and the kids made it easier for me to adapt. Thanks to the kids and their acceptance I was able to enjoy being there with them. They don’t care neither they judge on your appearance. They don’t look on how well are you dressed or if you are fat or too skinny, they have the power to see underneath, they see your heart. Seeing them play and laugh made me feel immensely content. Not only they lighted up my day but see that they appreciate the time and care you give to them it’s the greatest reward I can receive.

I learned that no matter what you do or where you go kids will always appreciate any little time and care you give them. They are joyful and very understanding. Although people think kids are annoying and the only thing they do is play, well I can sincerely say that they are wrong. By all means, they are smart, they understand many things because they are fast learners, and their minds are like sponges that absorb everything. Also they have feelings and anything that you say or do to them, they will remember. If you have patience you can conquer anything with kids, all you need to do is be calm and try to be as fun and as understanding as possible. At the end you will see how satisfying it is to be able to teach them something and that they learned from you.