Gender Roles in soceity (#4)

This week I read an article about the treatment of women in immigration centers. The women staying in these centers are treated horribly and many result in sickness or bad health and the officials deny medical help. These women do not deserve to be treated so terribly and the government is trying to step in to help the women in these centers. This kind of treatment is not right and is not fair to people who should be treated just as any other person would. A law has been passed to improve the conditions but will not be put into affect until 2010 which will be too long for many women. In one specific case a women had been in the center for months with horrible stomach pain was told to escercise and watch her diet from theh staff at the center she was at. When she got out after alsmost six months, she was taken to a hospital where they found a cyst the size of a five-month-old fetus and the center did not do anything to help her with this treatment. Another case that they studied was a women who was six months pregnant. They put her on a top bunk and denied help or a sonogram for five weeks that she was there. These detention centers for women are not treating the women they get with any respect or fairness and the new rules in 2010 will hopefully start to change the ways that they are treated.
Frosch, Dan. "The New York Times Log In." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 21 Jan. 2009. The New York Times. 10 Feb. 2009 .

Different Cultures (#3)

I read an article about a West African culture and how they rely on the price and productivity of rice to earn their living. Already this year they are not planting over 500,000 acres of land and people do not have the money to put into producing the rice on that land. The price of rice has already dropped eight dollars this year and nobody knows what will happen next year with how unpredictable the market is. If people don't sell enough rice this year than there is a likely chance that they will not plant next year and then their market could get even worse. The people in this village don't know what will happen with their money they can either make a lot of money or lose their whole fortune over how much rice they sell. This culture is very different from our culture because of what they rely on to make a living where as we rely on office jobs and modern technology to make our money they rely on farming and stuff that not many people have practiced for year.
Polgreen, Lydia. "The New York Times Log In." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 25 Jan. 2009. The New York Times. 8 Feb. 2009 .

Overcoming Obstacles (#2)

In the city of Akiachak, Alaska they have many struggles withing their city and have to deal with the amazingly high prices and the thought of paying for things on the same tight budget as the rest of the wolrd. They pay eight dolars for a box of cereal while we can sometimes get it for close to two dollars. These people have to live with some of them not even being connected to water and havng to deal with that and not having a sewage system. because of the extremely high cost of livng many have had to abandon their homes becuase they can no longer afford to live there. The people j this community live by three simple ways of living: respect for elders, keep the languange and culture, and do not waste food. One important food to them is salmon wilhich they as careful not to waste. Even with all of these struggles the ones still livng here find a way to manage and make do with what tuey have. Even wih all that is happening in their community they still manage to go to school and amid it throug with their everyday lives. This community is one with very strong people left and ones who will fight for what they believe in and what they want done wig their community. These are people who will always try to see the best and show us what it really means to vercome struggles up matter how hard you have to try or what you have to do.
Barry, Dan. "Remote and Struggling but Still a Bit of America." New York Times. 5 October 2008. 2 February 2009.

Natural Disasters (Blog #1)

This week i am reading The Problem with Pardsise. In this book they have to overcome a huge hurricane as their natural disaster. They are on vacation with their dad on an island where they are the only house on it for the whole summer while their mom gets to stay at home all summer. While they are on the island a hurricane comes in unexpectdadly and their dad and neighbors are on the neighboring island while they are stuck home alone in their house. They have to wait in the basement emergency room while they wait for the storm to pass over. The storm lasts for days and their houses are ripped up and the whole island is torn apart. They have to clean up the island and find out if everyone is okay before they can go to the main island to get their brothers broken arm fixed. Their boat got blown away and their neighbors roof was blown off their house and there was so much damage that had to be fixed before they could go back to having a normal day on the island again.
Dahl, Lesley. The Problem with Paradise. New York: Yearling, 2008.

Just Listen Part 2

I am still reading Just Listen this week. Since my last post Annabel has made a new friend or boyfriend, they are not calling themselves anything yet. She met Owen at lunch one day and they have been hanging out a lot in and out of school. Her sister, Whitney has also gone to rehab and wouldn't come out of her room forever after she got out of rehab. Their parents have not given her any freedom and she feels like she is locked up in her own house. When her parents start giving her some freedom, she starts showing up around the house more and is not always in her room. Annabel has also been doing more modeling lately and made it into the Kopf's fashion show at the mall. Lately things have been looking up for Annabel and her life has been getting better even with Sophie.

Just Listen

The book that I am reading this week is called Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. It is about a girl named Annabel Greene and hwo her life seems so picture perfect on the outside but when you really see what is going on, it is anything but perfect. Annabel is a model for one of the biggest modeling agencies and is in high school at her local school. What people don't know is that her sister has a serious eating disorder and no one is realizing except for her other sister, even her family doesn't know. They finally see what is happening when she collapses and the ambulance has to come and get her because her body couldn't handle it anymore. Annabel's sister, Whitney is going the be staying with them for a while until her parents let her go back to LA. Annabel has also recently lost her best friend, Sophie. Annabel and Sophie had been the best of friends forever and becuase of Sophie Annabel is no longer friends with Clarke anymore either. Annabel is slowly coming to realize who she is and what high school is going to be like for her, and so far it hasn't been good.

114-year-old woman to be the oldest

Gertrude Baines is 114 years old and is currently living in a California nursing home. Baines was first born to a family of slaves in a little town south of Atlanta in 1984. She spent most of her long life in Ohio as a house mom at a university and eventually moved to Los Angelos to retire after her divorce. She has no reason to why she has lived for so long other than that god wanted her to. She is living happily and seems cheerful and talkative. Baines did have one child, who died at 18 from typhoid fever. She has not yet been given the title or worlds oldest but will be soon after further investigation. The current oldest women just died on November 26,2008 and lived to be 115 years, 220 days old when she died. Gertrude Baines is a happy women in California who will soon be named the worlds oldest women.