Latin American Project

I interviewed my roommate Indira. We originally had a superficial sort of friendship and were more acquaintances than friends. This interview definitely allowed me to get to know about her cultural background and it has set the foundation of our growing friendship. We have become much closer in comparison to how we were before the interview. I am very inspired by Indira and everything she has gone through. I am very interested by her point of view in terms of social, political, and cultural statuses.

My name is Indira Costamente. I was born December 12th of 1995 in Venezuela in this place called Valencia; it’s spelled like Valencia College. Venezuela. My family came from Venezuela. 8 years ago I came here. My parents come from Venezuela and I think my mom’s grandma is from Colombia, and I think one of my grandmothers is from Lebanon. I think the one from Lebanon is my dad’s grandmother and she escaped Lebanon and went to Venezuela. And then my mom’s grandma, she came from Columbia to this little city that’s like in-between…it’s like right on the frontier between Columbia and Venezuela. She lived close by either way so it was like a jump from one place to the next. But I don't know too much about that.

We came here because of the political state that Venezuela’s in because my parents don’t really agree with the…well, the president then was Hugo Chavez. Um, they thought of him as a tyrant and ever since he became the president he was basically getting reelected even though he wasn’t supposed to. He was there for like 6…like 14 years or so. More maybe. Yes, until, like, he died. He went into presidency in like 1998 and then he died, like, a couple years ago. um. But basically the country was going down the drain and everything was deteriorating. Like, um, there’s like a lot of crime. Now there’s like famine and like craziness everywhere. So yes, that’s why we came here, to like escape all of that and because they thought that, you know, in this place, like, my sister and I would actually be able to have a future and grow and work and actually be able to get things and not like work a lot to not really have anything and just barely survive. 

We originally moved to Merimar; it’s near Miami, like 40 minutes away. We moved there because my uncle lived there so we had some family connections. We just speaker Spanish and my dad has had a tough time learning but my mom has had a better time. My dad can still communicate with people though. 

I lived through these experiences. My mom usually doesn’t let my dad tel us some of his crazy stories. The story they told me about my great-grandmother, is that she was like poor and I think her mom died and she used to live with an aunt. She lived with her aunt and it was alright but I was kind of a sucky life and they didn't have much money. They left there and she went to haciendas which is like a ranch and they mostly had vegetables and horses there but it wasn’t quite a farm. She started working there kind of as a maid. Then the owners son and her  got together and had like a bunch h of children. He did marry her so one day she kind of like just left; she took her children an left. In total she had like 6 kids. Three from the first guy and 3 from the second guy. Later the guy's brother contacted her and offered her their last name but she said no becomes family is very prideful and it weird because the guy’s brother was one of the presidents of Venezuela but my grandma never took advantage of that. The guy’s second wife wanted to take my mom over to the U.S. when she was 14 but my grandma said no because she didn’t quite trust the situation. She’s a non-risk taker. That was it. 

 I like Day of the Dead and I just turn on a little candle for the dead but it’s more of a Mexican tradition. We make tamales with like stuff in it. You put like dough, meat, olives, peppers, onions, garbanzo beans and other ingredients wrapped in a  plantain leaf. We have ensiled galena and we put peas and i think it also has mayo and stuff like a potato salad along with chopped salad. What’s different about us is that we kind of just sleep on Christmas Day and for New Years, we do this this where we take tangerines, or mandarins, mandarinas, and on the 32nd countdown your supposed to count how may seeds you have and its supposed to bring you goo luck or something. And you also take out a dollar and exchange it with somebody before the following year. You also take a bag out and symbolize good traveling and stuff. 

We usually speak Spanish and English at home. When I was growing up, we lived in these townhouses kind of but they were connected to each other and they were really big. Like they were back to back but the houses were kind of like a mirror of each other. All the houses were pretty much the same and all the neighbors knew each other and all the kids would like hangout or play together and eat together, We would go to each others houses and like have coffee or have tea or we would pass by. We all knew each other and it would be better when it was holidays and they would put out the grill in the middle of all the houses. The birthday parties had so much food too and that’s another thing that is different. Like they would have a  main theme with the goodie bags, the cake, the flan, hotdogs, burgers, chips, and candy everywhere. The pinatas were also part of the theme and they are’t like the target pinatas and they aren't small, like its a real life sized thing. You're like so tired by the end of the party that you go home and sleep. The cups, plates, tablecloths are all the same. They would go all out. 

Yes there’s been a change. I mean I’ve been gone for like 8 years but I mean, people were leaving before anyway and nobody really stayed there because it was kind of isolated and away from the city.

Well, I speak Spanish but I remember when I was like younger and stuff and I couldn’t speak English at all and they kind of just threw me in with the other kids and I couldn’t understand anything. The teacher tried to hold me back a grade but my parents refused and spoke with another administrator and then after awhile, like, they put me in an ESOL kind of program.

Sometime people assume that if you're Spanish then you speak some kind of Spanish. But I feel that Hispanic people are very discriminatory. I personally don’t like speaking Spanish. I like reading it and writing it but since I don't know the slang I don't really like it. When I speak Spanish to other people they kind of just look at me like where are you from? I’m kind of just here like, Im Venezuelan. Like my family and just who I am are part of me.

Friendship in the Good Life

People tend to live in a social environment. We have become so advanced in technology that we use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and all of this social media to "stay connected". People base their social status on how many friends or followers they have or how many likes they get. Is this really an intimate friendship?

Now, this generation does seem to be spending a lot of time socializing but the most common activity during the time they get together is to use their phones. Although sometimes, it is to play games, most of the time, people are on their phones talking to other friends and socializing with others. How is it that you are going to make plans with one friend, only to pull out your phone and text another friend or snapchat someone else. Shouldn't we want to spend time with the people we are currently with? 

Is it possible that although social media has made it easier to connect with people, they have also made is harder to find genuine friends? Innumerable superficial friendships can be made using Facebook and other social media. It's the easiest thing to make a friend on snapchat without having to actually be friends with that person.  

Such superficial friendship have also been leading to easier ways to bully and harass. Social media has made it so easy to communicate with friends that even people with malicious intent can take advantage of this. Beforehand, we just had bullies; now, we have cyberbullies. Also, hackers seem to have more fun breaking into social media acconts than anything. They share all the things that were meant to be private and hidden behind the thin veil of secrecy that the internet has.

Personally, in terms of the good life, I would support the claim that friends are a good advantage in the good life. Although social media can lead to some new great friends, it has a relatively equal amount of disadvantages as well. I would encourage the use of social media because of its evolvement but I would not recommend basing your entire social life on social media. I feel that it is easier to make a superficial friendship via social media but creating a true lifelong friendship on social media is harder to come by. Not only should people focus on more intimate relationships but they should also properly use the tools given to them to allow their friendships to grow.

Politics in the Good Life

Personally, I have never been a fan of politics. I find the idea of needing to classify oneself as a Republican or Democrat ridiculous so I identify as Independent; I am the neutral party. Politics is almost always about conflict. There is always 50% who are happy while the other 50% are dissatisfied. More and more, politics is becoming about pride and popularity. In order to be elected for anything, you must have a balance of insults to your competition, offers for the people, and charm. 

Based on the recent Republican debates, our charming Donald Trump is a professional, when it comes to insults or "throwing shade". He is constantly judging his competitors appearances other unique qualities about them. I find this an obvious sign of immaturity. If the only way you can get votes is to bully others, you don't belong in office. Although it is alright to be truthful in politics, there is a fine line between exposing their political flaws and just being rude. 

Along with this, as a politician you should at least tell people what you are planning to do for them. We are electing these people to serve us, not the other way around. These politicians feel like they own whoever is in the sam party as them. Even people who have chosen a certain political group seem to limit themselves to the only people in the same political group. Acting in such a way is childish. That's basically saying, "Those people disagree with me on the group I choose  so I don't want to hear what they have to say." This elementary way of thinking closes people off to many ideas that could actually be useful. Limiting oneself in this way is a primitive way of thinking that just gives politicians more power over the people than they deserve. 

Another part of politics is charm. There is no way one can be elected for anything unless they have some sort of charm. Even Donald Trump is able to charm his audience because of his witty comments. Politicians usually need charm so when people are watching them in debates or looking at their previous political actions, they aren’t completely dulled. Everyone wants to vote for a people pleaser. 

Personally, I feel that sometimes, politics can help people achieve a good life. Politics effect everything people do and therefore it is important to stay updated but I don’t believe people should be so closed-minded. It prevents innumerable relationship from being created between political activists and it also increases the lack of understanding between both political parties.  I feel like one can still achieve a good life with politics if they maintain an open mind. 

Happily Ever After

In the movie Cinderella, the original version from Walt Disney, everyone is invited to a ball by the King who is making a desperate attempt to find a wife for the Prince. The Prince is not very enthusiastic but agrees to the ball. As everyone knows, the ball is where the Prince meets Cinderella and they immediately fall in love with each other. Would you say they were soulmates? Does everyone have a soulmate?

According to Merriam-Webster.com a soulmate is defined as “a person who is perfectly suited to another in temperament". Another description of the word soulmate by Merriam-Webster.com is “a close- friend who completely understands you”. Most people tend to have several close friends. Let’s say the average person has about 3-6 close friends. Of those close friends 2-3 are of the opposite gender. Logically speaking, this means that people have more than one soulmate. For the people who don’t really have any close friends, do they have a soulmate? Aren’t people supposed to marry their soulmate? 

There are people who prefer solitude and there are also priests and nuns. These people have committed to a life without a husband or wife either because they would rather not be in a relationship or for religious purposes. When it comes to soulmates, does this mean that these people have met their soulmate but rejected an intimate relationship with this person or have they just kept their relationship on the friends level. As soulmates they should be close friends and understand each other really well but do people who become nuns and priests still end up loving their soulmate? As soulmates, do both people have to love each other romantically? 

Personally, I believe people choose their own soulmates. Just because you get along with someone doe not mean you and them are destined soulmates. It just means you have found a good friend to be with. Although, I do believe Cinderella and the Prince have set standards for what a soulmate must be. People in this generation think that anyone who they get along with or have intimate feelings for must be their soulmate. Everyone has one soulmate. Whoever you marry must be that one someone. I disagree. I feel that everyone has several people who they are compatible with but sometimes you may not recognize this based on certain circumstances. I feel that although people should marry their soulmates, it doesn’t always happen that way. This doesn’t mean they are preventing themselves from having a good life, it just means that they are able to adapt to other people and therefore are able to become soulmates. In relationships, people change and grow together. Through the trials, they learn new thing about each other and base future actions on what they have observed.  I believe people who are nuns or priests have adapted to a life without a soul mate by focusing all their emotions to a supernatural being. Whoever was supposed to be the nun or priest’s soulmate before they devoted themselves, surely has more that one “soulmate”.  

Honestly, I don't think people should base their happiness on one person and wait for their happily ever after. Make it happen yourself. Whether you have a soulmate or not doesn’t mean you'll be forever alone and wont be happy. You may end up marrying someone else and you will grow together with that person and be happier. Even if you don't end up being married, you still have friends who are there to support you. Happiness can come in all different forms and usually comes through unexpected ways. 

Adi Alsaid: “I urge you to please notice when you are happy.”

Father Business and Mother Nature

On November 12th, my Intro to Humanities class took a field trip to the Harn museum. On display were innumerable pieces of art, each individual piece was completely unique but they all seemed to belong together. It seemed as if each piece was a part of a body, the body being the museum. Although I really enjoyed looking at many pieces, several pieces stood out to me.  There were two particular pieces of art that seemed to interact. 

The two pieces that interact are "M is for Mao" and “Scene on Snake Key, Gulf Coast”. Although they seem to interact with each other they seem to be yelling at each other. They have a love hate relationship in my opinion. 

The piece “M is for Mao” puts emphasis on China, Mao Zedong and McDonalds. The art piece uses the colors red and yellow. According to www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html, the color red symbolizes “strength, power, and determination”. Yellow is usually an “attention getter” and is often used by food industries. Together, red and yellow have been shown to cause people to become more hungry. McDonalds uses both red and yellow to their advantage by using this color scheme throughout their restaurant. This business strategy increases their consumer spending thus giving McDonalds more power in the fast food industry. 

The colors red and yellow are both found on the Chinese flag. China itself is a communist country. They seem to be building up more power each day and have become extremely military defense. This power hungry country was once ruled by Mao Zedong. He started off wanting to change China for the better. As he began to gain more and more power, he was increasing education, promoting women’s rights, and making positive changes in healthcare. Despite these improvements, he faced problems and rashly began putting his opposers in prison. He showed his fear of losing power because of his reaction to this opposition. 

In the art piece “Scene on Snake Key, Gulf Coast”, the piece is focused on nature. The art work uses the largeness of nature and compares it to the minuscule strength of humans. Within the picture the artist uses a man walking with his dog to show off the greatness of nature. They are surrounded by large trees and a vast sky. Within this picture, the sky seems to be grey and symbolize a storm. Is the storm coming? The storm symbolizes the dark future mother nature faces. 

In today’s age, businesses are constantly trying to expand. In order to expand, they destroy beautiful nature sites such as Snake Key, Gulf Coast. These business do this in order to gain more power within their industry. They fail to realize the true power of nature and forget how powerful storms can be. Once in awhile, mother nature strikes back taking businesses down through hurricanes and other occurrences we call natural disasters. 

Comparing the two pictures, there is a tension between business and nature. Businesses are extremely power hungry whereas nature is just trying to protect what it has left. Is power really what can give us a good life? Based on “Scene on Snake Key, Gulf Coast”, the grey clouds show that there will be another power shift. We just have to wait and see if the businesses or mother nature will win the next battle.

Traditions

As many of you know, Halloween just recently passed. Most college kinds students tend to stay at home whereas younger kids go out trick-or-treating. Of course, I went trick-or-treating because I really enjoy getting candy. But as my friends and I were walking up to a house, we were all really excited because of how much candy we had been getting. As the woman opened the door, she said "Aren't you all too old to be trick-or-treating? Next time I won't give you any candy?" At first I presumed she was joking but the more it replayed in my head I realized she was sort of rude about it. My friends and I started talking about what age people stop trick-or-treating at. Technically speaking Halloween is a tradition for all ages. There are no rules saying you must be under a certain age in order to go trick-or-treating. Why is it so wrong for a college student to want free candy?

Halloween is a tradition for all people to participate in. Children are able to both go trick-or-treating and give out candy yet adults are limited to giving out candy because they are “too old”. Although Halloween can be associated with different religions, unlike Bat Mitzvah’s and other traditions, Halloween has no specific age or clothing requirements. People should not be judging college students for taking advantage of this wonderful tradition of collecting free candy. 

Where did Halloween come from? I’m sure Halloween didn’t originally start off as a holiday for people to get candy. Some people view it as the Devil’s Night whereas others view Halloween as a fun made-up holiday for children who want candy. 

Why do people have traditions in general? most people celebrate certain holidays because of religions. Others prefer the more secular aspects of holidays. For example, Christmas is  a holiday that was supposed to be the day to remember Jesus Christ’s supposed day of birth. Today, atheists, Muslims, and a variety of religious people celebrate Christmas because they like the idea of giving and (moreso) receiving. This tradition has been so watered down that even some Christians have forgotten the purpose of the tradition because they get so caught up in the presents or the food or the music or just being with family.

Personally, I am satisfied with the traditions we have today. I know the origins of the holidays I celebrate and so far I have not forgotten the reason why we celebrate most traditions. For example, Halloween was originally a tradition to celebrate dead saints and send away the devil. Christmas is a holiday to celebrate the birth of Christ and act as the wise men who brought gifts for the new born king. Although, these traditions have been extremely watered down, I feel that I have done my part and learned why we even celebrate to begin with. 

Ghost and Entities

According to the story “Ghosts and Entities” by Lauren Groff, she begins by telling the reader how she vents. Throughout the story, she explains everything she observes. She never quite gives any details of the exact sights she sees while she is out venting. The imagery she creates in the readers mind is created out of general terms. 

Referring to the beginning of the story, Groff portrays the narrator as the main character who tends to go on runs to vent. Is venting a good thing? In a way, isn’t it like running away from problems? For example, when she came home and found her husband satisfying his sexual desires, she went on a run. Nowhere in the story, does she confront her problems. She continues to go on runs. Perhaps, she felt the need to remove herself from situations so she could think rationally an avoid making the problem worse. 

I believe, part of the reason she covers up the problem because of society. Her neighborhood, is covered by a happy go lucky exterior. Although the houses are superficially happy, when she runs, she observes more of the hidden flaws of the perfect neighborhood. She sees a fat boy running on a treadmill, a couple arguing, and an elderly woman walking a dog. During the day, all of the houses give off a perfect image and keep their problems hidden in the night. It’s possible that she was able to see these people as possibilities for herself. The fat boy running on treadmill with the sad expression on his face could be representative of how she continues to vent on a constant basis and continues to run away from her problems, but just like the fat boy, she is stagnant and her situation is not changing. Additionally, the couple arguing is her viewing a consequence of addressing the situation with her husband. A confrontation such as this would lead her to nights of arguing with her husband. The elderly woman can be interpreted as a result of the confrontation. She may never be married again but she won’t need to be tied in this relationship.

Additionally, Groff refers swans and nuns. She is symbolizing the swans and nuns as contrasting points. Swans are often used to represent love and companionship. The nuns are included to symbolize independence, purity, and love for the church. Each symbol, faces the same type of end. The swans and nuns, both face death. In a way, this could be her way of realizing no matter how she lives, she will still face the same end. One way she will die with her husband, the other way she will die by herself.

Focusing in on the author, the story itself was extremely vague. I would describe it as a descriptively vague story. Although she does include that it was based on the Duckpond of Gainesville. Similarly to one of my previous blogs, the author adds to the idea that each house and each family has its own history. No story is exactly the same. Although both the swans and nuns faced death, they lived completely different lifestyle. One was more animalistic, whereas the other was more based on human community. Both had different identities and therefor different lives. In the same way, the narrator, had an opportunity to take actions that would alter her lifestyle. 

In conclusion, no matter what lifestyle you choose, we all face the same end. Death is inevitable and people are free to do as they please. Before taking action, one should still consider the possible results of their actions.

Santa Fe Dance Show

On Wednesday, October 28, Santa Fe College was hosting a dance show that I attended. The performances were all student choreographed and each dance came with its own storyline. Some of the dance s included, Human, Carried Away by Love, and Thriller. Each of these unique pieces portrayed a story that was expressed through each dancer. 

Human was a dance involving several people. Throughout the dance, there were 3 people who were synchronized. The other dancers around them were dancing more liberally and on their own movements. The music of the dance was very dark and was likely chosen to evoke strong feelings of grim actions. Dim lighting and slight color changes added to the feelings of mystery and danger. The dance itself was very contemporary and abstract although it had a powerful message. 

The inspiration for this piece, according to the student choreographer, said that she was inspired by a piece of art. She elaborated and described the picture saying that it was full of average people, but something about their eyes inspired her to create her piece. The student choreographer suggested that her interpretation of the art was expressed through her dance. She wanted people to realize that in relationships or even when walking down the street, the strangers and everyone else, “they see you, but they don’t really see you.” Although she explained the original story of the message, she left the detail of the dance up to the audience to interpret.

I agree with her message. I believe that people tend to have more of a superficial communication when encountering another human being. You can never really tell how a person will react or what they are truly capable of. Despite the relationship you have with someone, you never know their true intentions. Often times, people even hide their own intentions from themselves. This makes it hard to truly determine the character of a human being. Despite this, we can all still be certain that humans in general have some sort of insidious quality to them. It is suggested that this intangible quality exists in every human being. 

During the dance, I interpreted the independent, liberal dancers as stranger who walk by and are sometimes affected by others but not affected enough to change their entire life. The synchronized dancers showed that through relationships, we are able to be a part of the community despite our true self. There are certain action we do on our own but, in certain relationships, your actions, no matter whether they are good or bad, are affected by the people around us. 

Personally, I believe dance is a great form of expression and a beautiful way to communicate your feelings. The only thing you need to do is determine how you feel. Despite the way someone acts, they only have a vague idea of who they are and what they are able to accomplish. Their actions only give people around them an vague idea of what kind of person they will truly become.

Chinese Art Exhibit

On Wednesday, September 9 of 2015, I attended an art exhibit at Santa Fe College. The exhibit Florida Impressions, by artist Dr. Runa Peng, reflects her observations and feelings about her experience in Florida from 2013 and 2015. Her printmaking expertise and Florida experiences show in all of her pieces displayed in the exhibit. Of her many beautiful pieces, two of them stood out to me.

The first striking piece was called “Lake Alice I”. Dr. Peng created this 21”x 42” piece while she was located in China during 2014. I found this piece extremely bold because of the contrasting colors she used within the piece. Her varying nuances of blue also created an effect to separate the body of the lake from its setting. The black represents the trees and gives off a woodland forest feeling to the artwork. Additionally, her use of colors including orange and purple allow one to have an idea of the sky giving off vibrant colors towards the end of a beautiful day. The focused area of light blue above the body of water is presumed to be some sort of building, such as a house on a lakefront. This house is also reflected in the water and should the surrounding colors allow the house to be a part of the forest area even though it is not a part of nature. The setting gives off calm emotions, a sense of serenity, and a hint of mystery found in the black representation of the forest. Overall, the picture personally puts a clear image in my head of returning home, after a tiresome day, to my comforting home where relaxation fills the air. I feel that Dr. Peng was portraying home as a sort of safe haven during days of large amounts of stress.  It was extremely interesting to see the way she portrayed home though a small house on a lake.

The next eye-catching piece I observed was call “Make A Wish”. This 34”x 20” piece was made in 2015 while she was visiting Florida for her second time. In this piece, Dr. Peng uses blue as a contrast color again. This time, she uses it to create a shadowy effect for her main color, green. With a blue emphasis, Dr. Peng uses green and her main center to create an abstract genie in the bottle image. The muddled green and blue towards the bottom of the piece create a cloudy image that can be considered smoke coming out of a genie lamp. This creates a mystical aura for the picture which adds to the supernatural feeling. The solid structural lines create a strong and powerful feeling that genies usually have. Dr. Peng’ also includes a yellow background that puts great emphasis on the green center genie and allows the vapid image to catch complete attention. The image itself creates a feeling of hope because of the yellow background. Dr. Peng is able to also create an unsure yet eager feeling of anticipation throughout her piece. She is also able to continue her sense of mystery from the last piece and incorporate it into her “Make A Wish” piece. Through this piece of work I can imagine a powerful, confident genie emerging from an ancient golden lamp or bottle. Dr. Peng used this to represent her eager anticipation during her second trip to Florida.

Conclusively, I saw and felt Dr. Peng’s excitement to be in Florida and experience the new culture. She was able to experience the home living of the average American. Her “Lake Alice I” clearly showed her point of view from where she visited. Her image of the house in Florida also revealed how she may have felt hints of homesickness while visiting Florida. In addition, Dr. Peng was able to express her excitement during her visit through her “Make A Wish” piece. Additionally, she was able to display all of this through Chinese print making, a traditional art style. She was able to express her experiences clearly in her pieces put on display in the exhibit

Duckpond

The Duckpond of Gainesville is a beautiful place. 

Upon arrival, my friends and I were greeted by loud quacking. We were surrounded by a beautiful neighborhood with a pond right in the center of several houses. Of course, we responded to these animals by tossing bread to them- as we had seen some other girls doing as we arrived. There were white, brown and multicolored colored ducks. In addition, there were two beautiful black ducks with red beaks, one in the water, the other hidden away by the tree shade. 

After feeding the ducks, we all decided to explore the nice little neighborhood. The roads around the pond itself are confusing to navigate when in a car. Personally, I had a more difficult time locating different landmarks when I was in my car. Also, while enjoying the serenity of the pond, a woman in her late 40’s/early 50’s pulled up to my and companions and me asking for directions to a particular place we were unsure of. Unfortunately, we had told her that we were unfamiliar with the area and we were just visiting. The woman thanked us and continued on her search. One of my companions, Andre, convinced our group to walk around.  The more we walked, the more little quirks we noticed. For example, several of the houses had plaques on them with the year. It seemed as if each house had its own unique appearance. None of the houses were the same but none stood out too vapidly. The Fagan House was constructed in 1910 but renovated in 1982. The original owners of the house, the Fagan family, owned a downtown shoe store. The house itself sticks out because it is on the corner of the boulevard and has beautiful shades of blue and white that show off the house's own antiqueness. 

Based on my observations, most people in the area walk. They are able to go to the downtown area without relying on buses or automobile transportation. Seeing bicycles was also very common. One of the benefits of walking is avoiding having to find a parking spot. Also, the houses are less than 15 minutes of walking distance of the restaurants and little shopping areas. 

Despite the closeness of the restaurants and boutiques, a majority, if not all, of the houses had cars. This infers that the residents usually have to drive to a work place that is too far for walking. Additionally, many of the residents had a variety of beautiful plants.  Several houses my friends and I passed had fruit trees such as lemons and papayas. The fruit all seemed as if they were begging us to pick them, but that may have just been our hunger teasing us. 

Subsequently, we started walking toward the downtown area to find places to eat. On our way there, we found a park that had a few families in it. We had stopped at the park for awhile and began to absorb the scenery. There are several different structures for children to play on and it is a very safe environment out in the open. There is much shade from the trees in the park and there are also benches to rest. The children who came to the park were around 6-9 years old. The parents who accompanied them were in their late 20’s, early 30’s. The families all seemed content with the park but mainly kept to themselves and kept a close eye on their children. The park’s vibrants colors oddly enough didn’t contrast the the more calm colors of the surrounding houses. The laughter of the children seemed to echo through the relatively empty streets. 

The further we traveled, the more busy the streets became. As we continues, we began seeing buses, busy cars, and mopeds. We passed through an event that was occupying one of the streets. There were tables set up and little carts selling cheap hot dogs, chips and icees. Some of the tables set up were selling trinkets or jewelry and other tables were set up to promote politics. For example, one of the tables set up was to gain support for Bernie. As we reached the end of the street, we saw some people dancing and singing and just celebrating. There were people on the grass near them sitting on blankets eating foo for just watching and having a great time. Although the event was fun, we still hadn’t found anywhere to eat. 

Around the corner, my companions and I decided on a small pizzeria to eat called Big Lou’s. The outside tables were mostly full so we seated ourselves inside. Big Lou’s tables were wooden and seemed like it was a little old fashioned but still flourishing. The waiters were running around frantically serving guests. Everyone there offered amazing service and had a great attitude. The food was especially good and came in generous serving sizes. Although there are other places to go to eat, I look forward to returning to Big Lou’s and sitting outside with the other customers who were taking advantage of the great weather.

In conclusion, places as simple as the Duckpond can have their own uniqueness underlying the normality of everything. This place was more than just a nice little neighborhood. Sometimes, its hard to see the beauty in places or things as simple as a Duckpond. I believe the Duckpond of Gainesville is a beautiful place. It is full of character and has little quirks that add to its overall beauty. I look forward to returning there soon.

Destiny

Oedipius Rex is a twisted story about a boy who kills his father and marries his mother despite being told his future. The entire story revolves around prophecy. This story brings up the question: can you change your destiny?

When you look at the story of Oedipus, the whole reason he was given the opportunity to kill his true father is because he left his home, Corinth, to avoid killing his father.  At that moment he planned to leave and choose his own life by denying his destiny. As you progress through the story, Oedipus is faced with another choice. He meets strangers while he is traveling to Phebes (his original hometown). During this encounter, he is infuriated and rashly murders all the strangers except for one who escaped. Unknowingly, Oedipus continues on his travels and marries the Queen of Phebes. Together they have several sons and daughters. Soon, Oedipus finds out that he was truly the one who killed his father. 

At first, he denies this truth and further investigates. Despite everything he had done, Oedipus continues to search for answers. He reveals his past murder to the queen, who then realizes the  horrific truth, and continues his search for understanding. Once he discovers the truth, Oedipus tears his own eyes out and exiles himself.

Referring back to the question (can you change your destiny?), is it possible that if no one knew the prophecy that the whole situation could have been avoided? If the King of Phebes had not known the prophecy, he would not have any need to order his servant to kill his son. Again, if Oedipus had not heard the same prophecy, he would not have left Corinth. Therefore, this would have avoid the entire story of Oedipus, because he would not have encountered his real father. 

In our lives, can we change our own destiny? Personally, I believe the only true destiny that we can count on and truly anticipate is death. Since the beginning of life, people has been creating their own destinies or at least putting twist on them. Jesus for example, was supposed to be the Messiah born into riches and of high class with lots of wealth. Jesus was supposed to come in as this great power with and bring a lot of religion changes. Surprisingly enough, he came in through a lower class family. He was born in a manger and suffered a horrid death. Despite what the pharisees expected, the Messiah did come and die but just not how they expected and Jesus did choose the lifestyle of a lower class citizen. 

In conclusion, destiny can be altered but the final outcome cannot be changed. 

Service Learning Project

On September 19, 2015, I participated in the 2015 Gator Plunge. I volunteered with Alachua County Animal Services for 4 wonderful hours. Alachua County Animal Services promotes adoption, sheltering, and rescuing of animals with all sorts of backgrounds. They serve the community by encouraging the safety of the public and animals.

Furthermore, the Alachua County Animal Services are partnered with Puppy Hill Farm Animal Rescue, Pet Harbour, Paws on Parole, and other organizations in order to promote the welfare of animals. On their website, Alachua County Animal Services shows statistics from 2001 through 2011 on their animal intake, return to owners, adoptions, and euthanasias.  According to the Alachua County Animal Services website, their mission is to promote public safety for the welfare of citizens and animals. Their goals include increasing the awareness of their presence and their mission. The Alachua County Animal Services encourage the adoption mostly of dogs and cats. They serve the human and animal population through their inexpensive adoption opportunities. Not only do they prepare the animals for a new home, but they also spay/neuter, microchip, basic veterinary care, rabies vaccinations, and shelter for lost animals.

On arrival, we were introduced to the volunteer supervisor, Hilary Hynes. She explained to us that Alachua County Animal Services takes in as many animals as possible and has several dogs transferred to the Paws on Paroles program for training. Many of the dogs that participate in this program find new homes quickly by getting adopted by the inmates who trained them. Mrs. Hynes continued on to explain how they are always accepting new volunteers to help out with the animals. Next she informed the group on a few basic rules for everyone to follow. Subsequently, Mrs. Hynes handed us over to Lola, one of the volunteers, who gave us a tour of the facility. We were given time to take some of the animals out of the cages and give them time out in the open yards. Many of the dogs were extremely excited to explore the yards, play with chew toys, and have time to interact with people and other dogs. There were a few dogs who were more timid but still eager to explore the yards. 

One of the dogs I saw in the cages caught my eye. Not only was this dog out of place because of her breed (Pekingese, whereas the other dogs were pitiful, american bulldogs, or mutts) but also because of her lack of energy. Wendy, the Pekingese, had extremely long hair and was not a puppy like her fellow canine orphans. Her black hair was covering her face and matting on her body. I immediately decided to take her out into one of the yards to give her some fresh air. Once we took her out, she started limping and Lola and I noticed how bad her hair condition appeared. Her white paws had a nuance of yellow and were turned out and she had knots on her ear, stomach, and all over her body. When Mrs. Hynes saw the condition of the Pekingese, she was delighted that I offered to help give Wendy a bath. I was allowed to help Lola groom Wendy by assisting her with a refreshing bath, quick hair cut and removal of all of her matted knots. 

After Wendy was cleaned up, she looked much healthier and happier. Her mobility was increased because there were no matted knots to cause her pain. Also after her grooming, one of the female workers decided that Wendy needed a foster  home. Wendy is currently residing in a foster home but she is still available for adoption. She is just one of the many animals in a foster home who is one step away from being adopted.

The root of the issue being addressed by Alachua County Animal Services is the problem of stray animals with untreated health problems without owners. This not only leaves a window open for these animals to reproduce, but also spread whatever diseases they have. The Alachua County Animal Services has shown a increase in their adoptions of dogs and cats. For example, the number of dog adoptions in 2001 was 1,071 and the number of cat adoptions in 2001 was 887. Since then the average number of dogs adopted has increased to 1,500 and the average number of cats has increased to 1,200. If Alachua County Animal Services and their partners are able to continue this increase of adoptions, there will be fewer occupied kennels and less stray animals wandering around.

In summary, by promoting adoption from places such as Alachua County Animal Services, this allows them to open up more kennels to take in more animals and reduce the amount of stray animals. Also, by encouraging donations, people can provide funding for more neuters and spays to reduce the rate of reproduction. These generous donations also pay for basic treatment for these animals including rabies treatments. This will allow the amount of strays animals  to reproduce at a slower rate therefore the future population of stray animals will decrease. Ultimately, the Alachua County Animal Services is making a huge impact on the animal and human society. 

Latino American History

On September 24, I attended a screening and discussion of the documentary, Latino Americans, 500 Years of History Episode 1: Foreigners in their Own Land (1565-1880) at Santa Fe College. This event was lead by Dr Bill Little. He is a professor of Romance Languages and Latin American Literature and has a rich background involving Latin American history. He has taught at California University, West Point, and currently teaches Latin American Studies at Santa Fe College. He has studied abroad in countries including Spain and Mexico.

When it comes to culture, Dr. Little has a lot to say. He believes culture is powerful and we cannot avoid it.  According to Professor Little “It precedes us accompanies us, and pushes us forward.” Culture helps us cope with the present and helps us create the future. In terms of Spanish culture, Dr. Little suggests that we are the foreigners to their land who have made them feel like foreigners in their own land. He elaborates on this idea by giving examples of Spanish missions that occurred between 1565 and 1823. Dr. Little mentions the missions in New Mexico and Texas but he gives a little more detail about the missions in Florida and California. He informs everyone about how the missions in Florida were scattered without any true pattern. In California, the missions were founded all along the coast. Professor Little jumps back to New Mexico and states that it is a bilingual state. He continues to elaborate on this fact by promoting multilingual skills. He suggests that learning more than one language is extremely human. By this, he is explaining how people have branched from one common language to several different languages and from those languages, hundreds of languages have resulted. The human desire to communicate is astonishing. Due to the variances in language, translators have come about to reconnect and allow easier communication. Overtime, Spanish, and English have combined to form a sort of in-between style of communication known as Spanglish.

Back to Latin culture, the first European language spoken in the New World was Spanish. The British, French, and Russians all came after the Spanish branched out in the New World. Along with every single Latin American, the Latinos from the PBS showing were robbed of their property because of racism. Once colonists and other Europeans began coming to the “New World”, the Spanish government decided to send out more people on missions. They spread all throughout Florida, Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Unfortunately, after Mexico won its independence from Spain, the Mexico American War had a huge loss for Mexico. Mexico had to surrender half of its territory to the foreigners who were expanding and robbing them of their hard earned land.

During the PBS video, the lives of proud Latinos, who were wronged by Americans, were discussed. Each of them profited from their Latin missions but once Americans moved in, their lives were shattered. Many of them lost their wealth or power status due to Americans. One of the people in the film was a Latina who originally gained two ranches from Mexico and was able to purchase a third. When the Americans colonists invaded, she was forced to abandon her property and live in poverty. Several of the other Latinos in the video had similar experiences. All of them involved some sort of mistreatment from the American mostly due to racism. Each situation shared similarities but the most prominent similarity was the fact that they were treated like foreigners in their own land. Their Latino hospitality was abused and they suffered for welcoming these American aliens.

Personally, I feel that Latin American history is the root of American history. We cheated them out of what was truly theirs to begin with. Not only were they judged racially, even thought they were the original owners of the land, but they were also kicked out of much territory. They should be the ones kicking us out of their land. Latinos were nothing but hospitable to their fellow human beings, who in turn made the Latinos subject to racism. I find all of this an outrage! I think the least we can do is put forth a little more effort to bridge the gap between the American and Latino communities.

Conclusively, Latin American culture should be more welcome in the United States. Professor Little supports and encourages more understanding and unity between the American and Latino culture. Rather than having such a great social gap between Americans and Latinos, more unity would provide for a stronger society and create a greater bond between people despite their cultural background. 

Thinking about a Good Life...What is the Purpose of Life?

According to several philosophical speaker such as Alan Watts, there is no true meaning to life. He  portrays people who realize this either choose to believe in something to comfort themselves. They may believe in a religion or scientific explanations and proclaim life has a meaning or they may choose the other option and commit suicide. 

Interestingly enough, Alan Watts believe that although life has no meaning, we should still live passionately. He encourages living a life full of experiences and passion. Watts encourages passionate living despite its lack of purpose. If you live a life full of passion then you have lived a good life according to Alan Watts.

In my opinion, life has no purpose....but, I have a reason for this belief. I am a Christian who is an average person. I attend church often and go to youth group on Wednesdays. I participate in volunteering activities and I also went on a mission trip during the Summer of 2015. You may be thinking that my belief on the meaning of life contradicts my religious beliefs. Hear me out. The God I believe in (in my religion) is a perfect being who created right from wrong. Also, I believe he made many things that could start an entirely new discussion on philosophy but I would like to focus on the fact that he made freedom. The freedom to choose right an wrong. The freedom to choose our favorite things. The freedom to choose what college to go to. The freedom to choose the purpose for our life. 

We can choose anything to be the purpose of our life. Some people believe making a mark on the world is the purpose of life. Others believe it's all about experiences and doing as much as you can. There are also the other people who recognize there is no purpose of life and they don't really live passionately. These people go through there day to day life always waiting for something to excite their spirit fully but they don't quite find it. 

Personally, the purpose of my life is to serve and be a willing companion of God. This is what I have chosen as the purpose of my life. He has given us all of these choices because he is a god of freedom. I have chosen my purpose to match what He wants for me and everyone else. Some people turn away from religion in general and strive after passion or money. I have a passion for God so I have made him the purpose of my life. To me the purpose of life is choosing and living for God.

What are the humanities and why should we study them?

What you might think: 

Of the three people I interviewed, I got the same mixture as the people who were interview in the New Hampshire Humanities video. The first person I interviewed was a 20 year old male. He is a future diplomat who is pursuing a major in International Relations and is a current sophomore in college. His exact response was “I think humanities are the study of people and cultures and I think we should study them because it is important to know about other countries and cultures.” This was the best response out of the three. The other two people were caught off guard by the question. The next person is a 15 year old sophomore in high school. She is still in high school and is unsure of the profession she wants to enter. Her response was “What does it mean? Are you talking about classes…or…what does it mean?”. The last person had a similar response. He said “What are what? What do you mean…what are they?” The last responder is a 18 year old freshman in college. He is a male student pursuing a major in Pharmacy so he can become a Pharmacist. The majority of people are unsure how to answer this question because they aren't familiar with the term "humanities".

If you ask me, I think:

The humanities are a vague subject that touch most, if not all, aspects of human life. According to Stanford Humanities Center, the humanities “can be described as the study of how people process and document the human experience.” I find this definition the most suitable and vaguely accurate summary of the humanities. The humanities is a study of many groupings that each have innumerable sub-groupings. Several examples of the humanities given by the Minnesota Humanities council include civics, literature, language, history, religion, ethics, archaeology, and philosophy. Each of these subgroups have been recorded in different ways thus expanding the definition of humanities.
 
These have been recorded through visual arts, written stories, and many other ways. Each of these recordings is based off of some sort of interpretation. For example, art is often interpreted in several different ways but each interpretation shares the same origin. In the same way people observe art, they study the humanities. Each interpretation is different but all the interpretations share the same origin. Exploring these ideas allows a variety of new ideas to form. R. Howard Bloch scrutinized the humanities and recognized the various styles of interpretation. Not only does he feel that the humanities have been taken for granted, but Bloch also feels that the humanities have had an enormous effect on “the way we behave in love, in our social arrangements, in the economic marketplace, and in the public sphere.” I agree with this statement because of how they are the core of humanity. The was we socialize and connect with one another is another part of humanities that is hard to define and can still be interpreted in many different ways.
 
Alongside the interpretation and socialization aspects of the humanities, David Belong offers another similar idea. He suggests that “the humanities are at the core of a Liberal Arts education because they are about understanding how people are active creators.” This new definition is separating people from their known habits of tradition and proposing the idea that the humanities are the study of creativity. Not only does this lead into the idea that the humanities is the study of creating but it also infers the study of choices people make. The humanities can be seen in all aspects of  human life because they are answering the question “What Does it Mean to be Human?” Even science cannot go unaffected by the humanities. The humanities cause skepticism, doubt, and uncertainty which all provoke research and continual observations. Without doubt, there is no need to research or question so much of science is based off the same skepticism found in the humanities.
 
Generally speaking, the humanities are a broad spectrum of groupings that all surround the question of “What Does it Mean to be Human?” Each grouping and sub-grouping may seem unrelated when glanced at, but with a closer look, its obvious that the humanities are at the core of each group. In a way, the humanities are the trunk with its branches being groups such as philosophy, art, literature and many others. The humanities are the study of interpretation, socialization, and creativity.

What is a good life?

What is a good life? A good life is a life filled with joy. A few months ago, the University of Florida admission essay topic was to describe the good life. I responded with “To me, living the good life means being successful.” Now that I really think about this response and scrutinize it, I realize that just because someone is successful, doesn’t mean they are happy. Dictionary.com defines success as “the accomplishment of one’s goal” and “the attainment of death, position, honors, or the like.” When you look further into this response you begin to question the reasons of accomplishing the goal. If success does not make happiness, then is it really the good life?

The Dalai Lama’s belief on what the meaning of life is has redefined my notion of a good life. He states “The meaning of life is happiness.” Despite this classic statement, the Dalai Lama was able to make a point and change my response. Not only is this response simple but it is also logical. Doing what makes you happy gives you the freedom to do whatever you feel the urge to do. This does not limit you to only doing what it takes to achieve your goal. Your ability to be happy becomes an extremely broad range. Happiness is found in many places but I do not believe that living the good life means being happy.

In contrast, people who are willing to mistakenly suggest that success is what fills them with happiness, are being deceived. Living a good life does not mean being happy. Present day culture portrays being happy and having joy as interchangeable terms. People fail to realize they happiness is only temporary. Joy, according to Christianity, is a lengthy feeling of euphoria. I believe that living the good life is living joy filled life. According to Christian belief, the fruit of the Spirit is joy. Leszek Kolakowski states “the true God of the Christians, Jesus Christ, was not happy in any recognizable sense.” This does not necessarily rule out joy. Furthermore, the Bible constantly gives examples of Christians feeling joy. This joy seems to offer more pleasure than being happy. Jesus was able to prove that joy lasts through the tough times because it is not the same as happiness.

This being said, my notion of a good life is not happiness. There will be times when age, suffering, and death cause me to not be happy. There are innumerable reasons to not be happy. Being happy while being conscious of the poverty, struggles, and problem of this world is naive. There is no reason that people should not strive for a good life. A good life is life filled with joy.