The Test is Friday and I will Remember!

I’m super happy to know I’m going to remember the test for Friday! I made sure I wrote it down on a sticky note on my computer and in my agenda. Now all I have to do is study for the test. Today we went over two other religions. Also my group finally got to finish our presentation, which I thought was pretty awesome! The other two religions was Buddhism and Christianity. Buddhism has a lot of notes involved! I mean a lot! I never knew that America had a stereotype for Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. He was actually a fat go happy guy, he fasted a lot and I could see why people would be offended by this. Next was Christianity. Something I barely know anything about hint the sarcasm! But we went over the basics like Jesus is both human and divine. We believe in one God. Also how our holy book is the Bible. That kind of stuff! In the end we didn’t have time to go over Judaism, but were going to review it Friday morning! I look forward to doing well on the test!

Go Hindus! :)

Last mod on Tuesday is way better than having human geo on a Monday morning first mod! Anyways today we went over the quiz we took Friday, you know the one a B on! That totally deserves a happy dance! Well my suspicions were confirmed, I mixed up NATO and NAFTA! In my defense they both start with NA and that threw me off! The funniest part about checking our papers, was that one of my fellow classmates couldn’t leave until we finished going over the paper, and trust me there was a lot of distractions. For instance someone ended up sitting in the back of the room! After looking over the test we moved onto our PowerPoint presentations on the five biggest religions! The first group was Islam, and I learned it’s very similar to Christianity! We all believe in one God, but the only difference is they believe Muhammad was the Prophet they had been waiting for. Christians believe the prophet was Jesus. After that it was my group’s turn to present, except we didn’t finish because the bell rang! I still think our PowerPoint is the bomb! Go Hinduism!

Karma is More than it Seems!

Well today it finally seemed like everyone was awake! Last Monday we were all dead. But today in human geo we were assigned a project where five groups were given a religion to find information on! I got Hinduism. In my group is Alyssa and John. I think we are a group of super smart people so were bond to do well I hope! It turns out Hinduism is a very interesting religion! They are the third biggest religion in the world. Their system of beliefs revolves around four life goals. Hindus believe in karma. It’s not just about what goes around comes around, it’s a way of life for them. Hindus believe if they live of full meaningful life they will be reborn to even a better one. To them the Earth is one big circle we always come back to where we came. Their religion seems so beautiful to me, they believe that life to them is about being the better person for the good of mankind.

Happy/Sad Friday

Happy/Sad Friday. Finally its Friday it only took like forever for today to come. On the bright side I get to go on the NYC trip this weekend with my friends! On the down side today, I have two quizzes, the sinking feeling I forgot something very important, and a viewing to attend for my friend Rachel DiCamillo’s dad. Anyways the human geography quiz we took was worth fifty points! The worst part was I totally forgot about in yesterday and didn’t bring my notebook home to study. I have two or three concerns on the test. The first one was I think I got NATO and NAFTA mixed up. Now that I think about it I think I mixed NATO, NAFTA, and OPEC. Well there goes my good grade. Abbreviations are the most confusing things! This just proves I probably would have done better if I studied. Now our tests just came back from being graded and I’m scared to death! Please, please, please let me do well, I really want at least a B. I just found out I got an 80! Right now I’m doing a happy dance in my head, considering I thought I was majorly doomed!

Nationalism & Marijuana

Today, in human geography we discussed some more about nationalism. But somehow that turned into us discussing marijuana, and it seems like some people are really for it. We began the discussion, along about how America is number one in imprisonments. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? On the bright side that means less criminals are roaming the streets. On the down side one out of every eight prisoners are in jail because it has something to do with marijuana. Either selling it or using it, they ended up getting tossed into jail cells. But with all the marijuana users in jail, there isn’t room for the other criminals. Then the legalization of marijuana came up and it turned into an entire discussion about if we should legalize this drug. In my opinion yes and no. I really don’t want a bunch of weed smoking hippies roaming the streets, but then again these people take up the jails. If they take of the jails where will we stash are murders? The solution in my mind is simple, well not really. This is an idea I got from the movie, but what if we had the Purge? It’s just a thought, and I really hope it doesn’t all come down to one night where everyone is free to do whatever they want. 

How Great Our We?

Today in human geography we went further into the topic of nationalism, the belief that your country is the greatest. But every country is going to have its problems. Especially now, America is far from great. We have poverty, a 7.2% unemployment rate, and a bunch of other things wrong with it. Who is to say we are the greatest? There always going to be something another country is better at than your country. People always say we are the greatest because we have freedom. That’s true we do have freedom, and about another 190 countries do as well. If that makes a country great, doesn’t that make all 190 free countries great? If we want America to be the greatest country in the world we have to work at it. Not just sit around and look at our phones and eat cheeseburgers from McDonalds. We Americans are ultimately what will make our country great, so we have to become the united country were named after and take a stand.

Why Can't We Be Friends?

I don’t know why someone ever thought human geography first mod was a bright idea. I was not awake at all today, and it was super hard to focus because I was freezing. I had goose bumps covering my arms and legs and it felt like an icicle was growing on the tip of my nose! We started talking about cultural groups. We discussed how language, ethnic groups, and religion play a big role in it. Like some countries have multiple languages, but some have only one. We discussed religion a lot. Religion is the main cause of war! The five largest religions are Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Judaism, and Hinduism. Christianity, Judaism, and Muslims are very alike. Our main roots go back to Abraham. Yet somehow it is those religions that have the most conflict with each other. Each of these three religions believe the Holy Land (Jerusalem) belongs to them. It hard to believe that religions based off of peace have the most violence and war. Why can’t we just accept each other’s differences? Why does Jerusalem have to “belong” to someone? Why can’t we share this sacred land that is none for peace and not war? We shouldn’t let our differences come between us. We should be united and live in peace. I know that sounds cliché because there is always going to be a conflict, but we should at least try to stay sane for the sake of religion.   

Died from AP Human G. RIP!

Today, in lovely Human Geo we took a test on AP Human Geo! A topic in which I’m far from familiar with! Thank goodness it wasn’t graded or I probably would have died. They could write of my tomb stone, “Died from AP Human G.” That sounds kind of cool actually. When I took the test there were a couple things I knew and maybe if I’m lucky I’ll get a D! Then there were some things I’ve never heard of in my life! Not to mention some of the pictures on the quiz, I couldn’t even tell what they were! So in that case I may or may not have closed my eyes and picked one at random. Okay, I did, but it was a hard test! For the majority of the test I guesstimated. Some may call it a bad method but once you narrow down your answers to about two answers you wing it and hope for the best! Let’s see either than that test today, I had another in Spanish, which I’m pretty sure I did well on. Also, its school color day! Go Patriots!

Soda, Pop, or Coke?

Today in Human Geography, I was the only person to get an ‘A’ on our POPulation Quiz! I do realize that it was a super hard quiz! Considering no one checked the blog page for our class so none of us knew about the test. The shadow did better than some people! What does that say about our class? I only got one wrong, so it was a good start to my day. Then we began talking about immigrants from Mexico, and started debating about that. Then we learned about how cultures are different in different places. The main factors are languages, religions, and possibly one other thing, that I can’t think of at the moment! It will come back to me eventually. So we looked at a chart of America and how in different parts of America people call soft drinks different thing. On the east coast a lot of people call it “soda.” In the northern part of America they called it “pop.” In the south they called it “coke.”  By the people were around growing up we start to talk like they would. It’s not like they tell their child right to their face you will call soft drinks pop. But the influence of people around them saying that causes them to become accustomed to saying pop! It’s pretty cool how stuff like that works! 

Pop(ulaion) Quiz!!!

I learned a very valuable lesson today in Human Geography. Always, and I mean always, check the human geo blog! I didn’t know we had a quiz today at all! I was in shock when I walked in and heard we had a test. Lesson learned. The quiz was on the terms we learned a month ago, and I have a selective memory and I remember the weirdest stuff, but of course my brain didn’t remember those terms. I think I got a B on the test (well I’m hoping I did.) There were one or two I didn’t know but overall I think I did well! Our shadow Darren got an 80! He probably did better than me! He was only here for twenty five minutes and he managed to get a B. I wish I could learn stuff that quick! Well, I’m looking forward to starting Kiva, and I really want our class to win and get a Chick-Fa-Le party! Oh and helping someone is also cool. 

Population Pyramids!

In the beginning of human geography class, we went over the quiz on the Lost Boys of Sudan. I got a ninety percent! I even did a fist pump when the bell got rung! After that we discussed the answers, we moved back to the topic of population pyramids. There are three types of pyramids: the box, cup, and triangle population pyramids. The triangle means the birth rate is high and the life expectancy is low. The box is almost like a 50/50. Last, the cup has a lower birth rate and a longer life expectancy. So in developing countries in Africa are the triangle. America, a developed country, is a box. Japan is an example of a cup pyramid. We looked at different examples of pyramids. A lot of the pyramids have to do with what’s in the area. For examples in areas that have military bases there will be a lot of males and some females in their early twenties, because some of the men are in the military and the women could be military wives or be in the military. So basically in a sense location and what’s in a place is essential in the statistics in a population pyramid!

Happy Birthday to Me (LOL)

It’s my birthday today! Yay me, I can barely believe I’m fifteen! I brought in donuts for the class and got to wear the birthday hat! (My only question is do you ever clean the hat? I’m not in the mood for lice!) Anyways I successfully completed my test, even though I think I spelled one thing wrong and the last question stumped me. Technically they built a better life for themselves and for their “mother land.” Either than that I think I did great! It was really cool watching the documentary of these three men and how they made a difference for their country even though they didn’t live there anymore. Overall the documentary was awesome, and I’m looking forward to trying the “Keva” thing with the class! The idea of being able to sponsor someone and help them start their lives is pretty cool. I hope our class does look into this idea, because honestly it’s a win win situation. I know that even if our class doesn’t go through with this, I want to! I believe that we should all do our part and make a difference in our world one step at a time.

The Journey of John, Panther, & Daniel Comes to an End (Or has it Just Begun?)

Today we watched the last bit of God Grew Tired of Us. It was a beautiful way to tie up the story. After three years of being in America john has become the secretary of “The Lost Boys of America.” We also learn that John Bul Dau was able to bring his mother and sister to America. We he went to the airport and saw her they both broke into tears. John’s mother was so overwhelmed she fell to the ground and John held her in his arms. It was truly amazing to see them reunited after 17 years of being separated. The best part was after they reunited John’s mother began singing and dancing through the airport! Towards the end we see that Panther is packing his bags, getting ready to go to Africa. It is there he is going to marry his girlfriend. The documentary ends with him walking through the airport off to Africa. We find out that John started a foundation and opened a clinic in Sudan. Panther got married and got his master’s degree in economics, and plans on opening a school. Daniel is still in America and is working toward getting a college degree. This documentary was inspirational and it inspired me to do more in the world.

I Liked the Facebook Page!

No offense to the whole blogging thing and all, but I really didn’t feel like doing one today! Considering I “liked” the page I believe I shouldn’t have to do this! But here I am typing away on my Saturday morning. Okay back to the documentary on “the lost boys.” The Lost Boys ending up having a reunion all thanks to John Bul Dau! (John is pretty awesome!) We learn that John wants to help out his people back in Sudan and he starts making awareness for the war going on in Sudan! He even made t-shirts that say “fight for the New Sudan!” But we also learn how important it is to John that the lost boys who came to America don’t just forget who they are! No matter who you are and where you came from, there will always be a piece of you that will always think back to your roots. I admire John Bul Dau for making a difference for his people, and never giving up hope! As this movie comes to an end I look forward to seeing what John can accomplish.

What does John Bul Dau Plan on Doing?

Today, we continued watching the journeys of John Bul Dau, Daniel Abul Pach, and Panther Bior in America. John got a job as a factory worker in the day during the early morning and towards the afternoon he worked at McDonalds. Panther got a job as a bus boy at a lovely restaurant, and Daniel got a job at a bank. They seemed to be getting the swing of things! Except one of the problems for them was they weren’t used to how Americans communicated. Back in Africa everyone was friendly. But to Americans these men are seen as a threat when they walk in groups because they are tall black men. It’s almost sad that they categorized them as bad people even though they had no clue who they were. Meanwhile Daniel and John got to go to community college to get a better chance at career opportunities. After years of trying John got a letter back about his family. They had been separated during the night raids in their village. John learned that his mother, father, brother, and sisters were alive, but ill. This is when John Bul Dau said that he was going to make a difference for his family back in Sudan. I look forward to finding out what John plans on doing!

Panther, John Bul Dau, & Daniel Abul Pach Start a New Life in America!

It was crazy watching a lot of the “Lost Boys” getting the opportunity to go to America. We watched them get on the airplanes, leaving the refugee camp behind. When they traveled to America they had never seen electricity. They were all amazed by light switches, the TVs on the plane, and the remotes. One of the people ate hand soap believing it was food! When they were at the airport they almost tripped getting on the escalators. When they got to America they moved into their new homes. They were fascinated by everything from the refrigerator to toilets. They have 90 days to get job permits and start paying back the government for the flight over to America. Panther was especially excited to stand on his own two feet. Even though they were in America and loving it, they retained their ways. They still ate their meals with their hands, like they did in Africa. It was very sad to see that even though they were happy to be in America, they missed their fellow brothers back in the refugee camp. I believe that they will make a difference for their people. I can’t wait to see what happens next.