Travel

I have always played with the idea of having endless money and traveling to unique, exotic places as an adult.  When I was very young, my family and I took great vacations to far away places, but unfortunately I don't even remember where I have been, and now that my sisters have moved, family vacations are rare.  My "bucket list" of countries continually grows, but the other day I asked my self what top five countries I would visit.  If I could only travel to five countries on my "bucket list," which ones would I pick and why? After hard deliberation and much research, I have compiled a list:

1. Syria: Obviously my number one country for many reasons.  My 50% Syrian heritage, and my dad's childhood in Syria makes me so hopeful to visit this extraordinary country, as I would love to visit the apartment building he lived in and his favorite places to spend time. My sister lived in Syria for a year and loved every minute of it, and of all my 50 cousins, aunts and uncles, the 5 I have never met live here.  My growing interest in Arabic also makes it obvious that I should vacation to this historically rich country.  

2. UAE: Although it seems I add this to my list to see the amazing Dubai and Abu Dhabi, full of majestic malls and over-the-top tourist attractions, and I would be lying if I said that wasn't the reason, I also would love to embrace the mixed cultures of the UAE.  My sister plans to move here in the summer and she has told me about her fascinating experiences in the two big cities.  She told me that although it seems like Dubai and Abu Dhabi would be fake, due to the multitude of immigrants from around the world, she reassured me that each culture that settles in the UAE seems proud and strong to make it's heritage prevail.

3. Spain: After 7 years of studying Spanish, I wish to visit this culturally diverse country.  Known for it's Latin, Roman Catholic, and Islamic inspirations, Spain would be a perfect vacation and a great place to study ancient history, as well as improve my Spanish.  Not only would I enjoy shopping in Barcelona, but visiting the Cathedral of Seville for it's unique antiquity and architecture seems like a great way to spend a vacation.  

4. Morocco: I wish to visit this ethnically diverse, African country for many reasons.  I would love to see it's two prevalent Spanish and Arabic cultures, as both languages and histories greatly interest me.  Moroccan cuisine is also famous for it's Middle Eastern, Spanish, African, Berber and Portuguese roots, which makes it considered very diverse and unique compared to most other cuisines around the world.  Overall, Morocco's strong Arabic culture mixed with Spanish and other cultures makes for a wonderful country and a place I cannot wait to visit.   

5. Greece: I hate to say it, but after reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in seventh grade, I knew that I wanted to travel to this Mediterranean and historic country.  Although Greece has a culture and language I hardly know anything about, pictures of this ancient country always make me long to travel here.  The pride of Greeks and their enriching culture leads to my desire to visit the beautiful and enticing country.

I hope that someday I will be able to travel to these exotic countries.  Although I have many more on my "bucket list," I am now confident of which countries are most important for me to visit in my mind.  Hopefully I will be graced with the opportunity to travel to these unfamiliar countries in the future.    

Don't Think About English!

As the week progressed, my mind occasionally wandered to the blog, trying to come up with a creative and enlightened topic.  However, all I could think to write about in my next blog post was how something in my life relates to English.  I know with the new semester, blogs can be about whatever we like, and when I first heard this I smiled at the thought of having less direction with the blogs.  Now, I still appreciate this new freedom, but it seems to make the whole blogging process harder for me.  I cannot think of any intriguing, intelligent topics to ponder on my blog, and everything thing I come up with always relates in some way to English.  I cannot escape the constant reminder of this class and it seems that I can now relate almost anything in my life to English class.  Now, as I read through my post, I cannot help but laugh at the irony of a post dealing with English. 

Pondering About the Blog

As I sat down to write my first blog post, I stared at the computer screen for at least 15 minutes, worried about what exactly I should write, what other people would think of my post, and many other useless thoughts.  That first time, I decided to write an analytical post, which made me feel the most comfortable and confident.  However, as the weeks went on, my posts became more creative and focused on unique topics.  The blog has helped me open up and become a more confident and stronger writer, for which I am thankful.  Analytical posts became monotonous after the second week, so instead I enjoyed writing about real-life connections to English class and giving information pertaining to books from class.  My creativity has increased immensely as each week my mind periodically brainstorms blog ideas.  Overall, the blogs seem very beneficial as they increase my originality and confidence.

Schedule

As finals approach and I seem incredibly busy with everything I have to do, I find myself making between one to four "to-do" lists everyday.  I do not know why, but the action of crossing off a completed item on my lists seems extremely satisfying and motivates me to get more things done.  I even write schedules for my days with alloted times in which I need to complete tasks.  Unfortunately, the other day I realized the parallels between my obsessive scheduling and Nurse Ratched's control over her ward.  As Bromden explains her strict and controlling personality, he states, "The Big Nurse tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running like a smooth, accurate, precision-made machine" (28).  Kesey metaphorically centralizes Ratched's outfit as the perfection for her scheduled days on the ward.  He generates a precise tone with the positive adjectives "smooth," "accurate" and "precision-made," which enhances the unnecessary perfection of Racthed's predominate manner of running the ward.  All though Ratched and I seem to have a similar way of getting things done, I feel relief at the fact that her actions seem much more harmful than my own. 

St-st-st-stutter

The first day of the new year, my family and I enjoyed a fun day out.  After  a busy day, we sat in the crowded movie theater and watched The King's Speech.  Mesmerized by the great acting and inspiring story line, I walked out of the movie in a great mood.  As we drove away, my dad reminded us of his brother, my uncle, who has a stutter, just like the King George VI in the movie.  He compared the two; both affected by what people think of them and their stutter.  After contemplating the hardships of people who suffer with a stammer, I though of Billy Bibbit, the mentally ill patient on Nurse Ratched's ward who stutters.  While reading Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I felt the most sympathy for Bibbit because of his pitiful stutter, which increased the compassion I felt for him more than the other patients.  Overall, The King's Speech really encouraged me to contemplate the unusual misfortune of a stutter.

Left: The King's Speech

Above: King George VI and his wife

Below: Billy Bibbit in the movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest