Christmas storms and sunshine

This story that I’m going to be writing about in this essay is the story of “Christmas storms and sunshine” by Elizabeth gaskell. Im going to be mentioning some things before i begin about Elizabeth Gaskell’s life. She was born on September 29th in 1810. She was born in London and lived in the Victorian period, as well as the setting of the story. Elizabeth Gaskell was the daughter of a unitarian minister and her husband was one as well. The death of her only child was what inspired her to write her first novel called ‘Mary Barton’. Elizabeth died on December of 1865, and left her longest work called ‘Wives and Daughters’ incomplete. Now to continue with this essay im gonna relate the values of citizenship and commitment to the story, but before beginning with this, it is important for the meaning of these values to be left clear. Citizenship is the position or status of being a citizen of a particular country. It is also carrying out the duties and responsibilities of a member of a particular society. While commitment is a willingness to give your time and energy to something that you believe in, might be a promise, or firm decision to do something. 

I could only see the value of commitment at the beginning of the story by the men of the family but throughout the story went on we could point out the value of citizenship in the story. 

This story talks about two families called the Hodgsons and the Jenkins. The men of these two families work and fight for different positions on a newspaper. Mr hodgson works for ‘The Examiner’ while Mr. Jenkins works for ‘The Flying Post’. They both are the compositors of 2 local important english newspapers and they work for them. Their career is what mostly tears them apart and does not let them live in peace between each other nor even be around each other from the hatred they feel. These two men are committed to their work and they both work really hard to be the best English Newspaper in their country. They are very commited to their work as we can see since their work is what somehow makes them enemies for fighting to be on the best newspaper position. Mrs. Jenkins owns a cat and Mrs Hodgsons has a son. Mrs.Jenkins envys in a way how Mary has a son she takes care of and everything while she doesn’t have any children, just a cat.

Mary gets furious and bothered when mrs jenkins cat enters her house and gets on the dining table and starts eating me jenkins food. This act led to even more problems between the conflicts of these two families. She obviously couldn’t do anything to her cat but she does complain to mrs jenkins about what her cat did. Now the two parts where i could point out citizenship was when mrs hodgsons son got very very ill that he was at the point between life and death. We could see citizenship when mrs hodgsons went to her neighbour, the jenkins, house and asked for advice and help on what to do to help her son get better. Mrs jenkins decided to help her theoughout her harsh time. Mrs hodgsons was very grateful to receveive her enemies help whom is not that much of an enemy anymore. At the end of the story we could see the value of citizenship since despite the two families conflicts and disagreements, they found a way to handle each other as citizens and leave behind all of their worries and all of their arguments.

The Lady of Shallot

“The Lady of Shallot” is a very interesting story where we can relate the values of patience and caring to the story itself. Before getting to move on with the essay, it is important to know the definition of the two values mentioned before. Patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious. It is the ability to endure difficult circumstances and stay calm. While the word caring is when you feel or show concern or kindness towards other people, usually caring people think about others and give them emotional support as well. Now these two values i can clearly see in the Lady of Shallot, since she is trapped or imprisoned near Camelot, in the Island of Shallot. She has to work on weaving a magical web and can not look directly at Camelot, or she will be cursed. She hears voices in her ear at times that tell her that she will be cursed if she looks directly at the outside world. She could only see by the reflection and shadows on the mirror in front of her. A woman that has to go through all of that by herself is the definition of patience. She takes her time weaving that magical web and doesn’t look directly into Camelot for a while. One day, the Lady of Shallot was tired of seeing the shadows through the mirror that she wanted to experience something real, something in real life, and that was when she commited the huge mistake of looking into Camelot because of her curiosity. She risked getting cursed to look at a handsome man named sir Lancelot whom she saw pass by through the reflections on the mirror she had in front of her that gave her the ability to see from outside her tower. Her patience was lost at that moment. She describes sir Lancelot as a star in a galaxy. He catches her eye and heart as she was weaving the magic web and as he rides the banks of the river while singing. I believe she was not caring on herself when she did that because she already knew what was to come, and the consequences which is the curse that whispered in her ear. She may not have known what the curse would be but it still brings danger. She ran out and got into a boat to run away. She saw she was cursed when the web flew outside her window, but as mentioned before, she didn’t care about it nor the huge and bad stormy weather that the island had and went on her way. She froze to death and was found there laying on the boat and that was when people gathered around wondering who that woman was and at that moment sir lancelot showed care, he showed that he cared about the woman that was in front of him, and that was when he got closer to take a better look and held her and recognised how beautiful and pretty her face was.

A modest proposal

In this story, A modest proposal, i’m supposed to find two important values which are fairness and justice. The story does not necessarily need to have these values mentioned before. Before continuing with this essay it’s important to know the definition of these values. Fairness and justice are two very similar values after all. Fairness is an impartial and just treatment or behaviour without favouritism or discrimination. It is the quality of being reasonable, right and just. Not to choose someone after the other for selfish reasons, but to be reasonable or fair about it, fairness also means equality. Justice is fairness in the way people are dealt with, it is the condition of being morally correct or fair about something or someone. Now, to be honest about the story and these values, i did not see them in any character nor point it out in any part of the story since what it talks about is how Jonathan Swift makes a shocking and cruel proposal to the town. This proposal consists in killing innocent children, children of the poor, to be used as food for the wealthy and rich. He made this proposal as a response to the economic crisis Ireland was suffering at the time, and because of the overpopulation Ireland had as well. This story took place at around late 1720s and it was the time when Ireland was suffering for several years if poor harvests that even farmers had trouble paying the rents demanded by their English landlords. This problem is what caused Jonathan Swift to come to this decision.It is something that has no fairness nor justice in any way. Jonathan Swift is a man that has never had kids so he doesn’t know what the parents are feeling towards his proposal, and what they should have to go through because of their economical resources. These families had more kids, children they need to take care of, and feed as well that they had to agree with this proposal. They actually fed their 1 year old babies too much so they would become chubbier and have extra meat for the wealthy people to buy from the market, cook, and eat these poor kids. They also used their skins as accessories which as horrible at it sounds is true. This is not fair at all, where had justice gone to? The act they were making was just cruel and selfish, taking away a babies life for those reasons when there are many other ways to find a solution. The baby is not mature enough to make these type of important decisions, so it wouldn’t be fair at all to just take their life away and let the wealthy take away their baby from them and use them as food.

The Diary of Samuel Pepys

The Diary of Samuel Pepys has two values that are shown in this story but before naming them; the definition or aspect of these two values which are thankfulness and trustworthiness should be left clear for your own knowledge.

Thankfulness is when you are grateful or show gratitude towards someone or something for doing something you appreciate. While trustworthiness is the ability to be relied on as honest or truthful.  It’s deserving of trust and confidence, being reliable.

At the beginning of the story we can say that these two very important values weren’t shown, it didn’t make part of the characters’ traits; but as the story evolved and went on, we could see that when the fire happened, there was an act of trustworthiness since the people of the city helped each other out when they saw the houses getting burnt down. This act that was done showed me that the people living there in the neighbourhood are the type of people you can rely on for anything and are trustworthy. It was an act of empathy and compassion to help each other like that as well. Even tho Pepys just stood there watching the fire from the window and did nothing at all, not even react to it. It was like he didn’t care about it, he felt more important than his lovely and trustworthy neighbours that do have empathy.  There’s another part of the story where i believe Pepys shows some humanity and it’s when his nice wife goes inside the dining room with his plate of food and gives it to him. He shows thankfulness and he thanks his wife for preparing him that very delicious meal.

Those are the only two values i got to see in the story for those people, the people from the neighbourhood and Pepys.

Virtues a person must have

What virtues must a person have today to make Earth a better place to live in? This question is important for us to read about since it’s a way to opening our eyes and minds and realizing the things we need to make our environment and what’s around us a better place, but before getting to answering the exact question, we must leave the aspect of “virtue” clear. A virtue is a moral habit which generally results in the gaining or maintaining of your values. Your values are based on your moral standard which should be your own life. Virtue is a characteristic of man that involves choice and there are two different kinds: intellectual virtues and moral virtues. Some might say that good qualities are innate and developed through good parenting, which they are, but we’re not perfect. Virtues need to be cultivated to become more prevalent and habitual in daily life. With the habit of being more virtuous, we take the helm of our own life, redirecting its course towards greater fulfillment, peace and joy. 

Now that the aspect of virtue is clear we can get to answering the main question. If you want to become a better human being, then you are going to have to see the world beyond yourself. And if you want to see the world beyond yourself, then you are going to have to see the world from other “selfs”, which means from other people’s eyes or perspective. This is called empathy— it is seeing, feeling and understanding the world as if you are the other, and it is the most important practice you can do to make the world a better place. Our default mode and most common problem is egocentrism— which is important to own; that you are a self that exists on its own — but the primary cause of unhealth in our lives, our relationships, and the world; is our failure to move beyond ego-centrism. Consider the unjust, frustration, ignorant, or, even, evil effects you see in the world. There is a good chance that it’s root is someone or some group who has failed to move beyond themselves. So yes, begin with the good of the self, but at some point, you must also be intentional about the good of the other — seeing them, not as an object or stranger or an antagonist that you must work around in order to achieve something for yourself, but as a fellow human being with whom you move through the world with, interdependently. You want to create a good world? You want to be your best? The foundational ingredient, then, is empathy. It is the bridge that exposes and embodies the connection you have with the world around you by seeing the world around you with the same intimacy and assumptions that you see with yourself. Empathy is what many religious & philosophical traditions laud as the central virtue of being a flourishing human being. Empathy is the foundation that makes a healthy, thriving world possible. Attribution is seeing someone or witnessing something happen and attributing what is going on internally to manifest the behavior, thought, or effect of their existence.

Now, this is never completely accurate as you aren’t even able to attribute your own behaviors or thoughts perfectly because of how complex your existence is let alone someone whose identity you don’t inhabit. But the goal of attribution isn’t to know perfectly what is going on in another person’s internal state, the goal is simply what the attempt does — it forces you to see the world outside of yourself.

A better world starts with ourselves and it might just come through empathy where your interests become the interest of everyone. Where we navigate the world through a shared, collaborative perspective as opposed to our own, separate, defensive ones. 

The Monster at your Door

This legend was originally from Lebanon but it has become an international one. This legend talks about a “monster”, well it is said that its a figure that looks like one, no one has ever prooved it obviously. It is described as a big, hairy, monster-like figure and the legend talks about how it goes to families with misbehaved kids houses at about 3:15 am and knocks on the door. If the kids open the door, which most likely they shouldn’t do as they are taught by their parents not to open the door to strangers, they would be taken away by this “monster” and disappear for a while. The legend says that when the monster basically kidnaps the kids, they would disappear for about a year and come back with no memory of their disappearance, they would come back as a totally new kid with better  behavior and with respect to the elder.

My country

Colombia, the country we are living in, is a country located at the north tip of South America. It is bounded by Panama and the Carribean Sea in the north, by Venezuela and Brazil in the east , by Peru and Ecuador in the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Colombia is one of the largest South American countries at 439, 733 sq. miles. Colombia is a mainly Spanish speaking, Catholic country, but has a diverse population. The capital and largest city is Bogota. The 2018 population of Colombia is estimated at 49.46 million, which ranks 28th in the world. Colombia has an estimated 2018 population of 49.46 million, up from the 2005 census population of 42.88 million. It is one of the top 30 most populous countries. Colombia is officially known as the Republic of Colombia, it consists of thirty-two departments. Our Colombian people have a very diverse culture. About 58 percent of the people are of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry, or mestizo, about 20 percent are of unmixed European ancestry, and about 14 percent are of mixed black and white ancestry, or mullatto. The other 8 percent is made up of blacks, Native Americans, and people of mixed race. Colombia also has the largest Catholic population in the world. Colombia's 1991 constitution, which replaced a charter dating from 1886, gave Colombia a highly centralized republican form of government. The constitution is based on three different branches of government: the executives, represented by the president and his cabinet; the legislative, which is made up of the senate and the house of representatives; and the judiciary, which is responsible for the legal admisitration. The president is elected by popular vote, for a four year term. When his term finishes he cannot be reelected for another term. There is also a vice president. Senators and representatives are elected in the same year as the president. There are seats that are designated for minority groups such as the Native Americans, who have two seats in the Senate, and the blacks and guerrillas, who also have two seats. Barranquilla is my city, the capital of Colombia’s Atlántico Department, is a bustling seaport flanked by the Magdalena River. Y This city has a population of 1,218 million people. The city is known for its enormous Carnival, The Carnival of Barranquilla or as people from other countries say, “The Battle of Colors” is a unique festivity which takes place every year during February or March on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Cumbia, both music and dance, is considered to be the main essence of the Carnival. A colourful mixture of the ancient African tribal dances and the Spanish music influence – cumbia, porro, mapale, puya, congo among others – hit for five days nearly all central streets of Barranquilla, the capital of the Atlántico Department. Those traditions kept for centuries by Black African slaves have had the great impact on Colombian culture and Colombian society. In November 2003 the Carnival of Barranquilla was proclaimed as the Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Every year people from around the world come and visit our city Barranquilla to live and experience of the carnival. It is easier for tourists to afford a ticket to Colombia rather than Brazil, which is a country that is known for it’s greatest and biggest carnivals out other countries that do celebrate these sort of things. My neighborhood is a simple and quite one, i love the place it’s located in because getting anywhere is easier since everything is close by. I live a block away from my school, a block away from the Buena Vista mall, a few blocks away from home center, and from the park; which are the benefits i have of living in this section, i can go anyplace at anytime by walking.

My life

My name is Shadia Zalaket and i was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. I live with both my parents and two siblings who i love very much. I’ve moved a lot from one country to another as a child because of my dad’s work. Most of those countries are Middle Eastern ones. We left Colombia when i was just a kid  and went to Lebanon, which is where my dad is from. It’s a very beautiful country and i enjoyed living my childhood there and getting to meet a new culture and new people. Unluckily, we got to experience war in Lebanon on the year of 2008 so we went to Syria for a while. My dad also took us to Saudi Arabia with him for his great job opportunity and we lived there for about 4 years. It was a whole new world for me because the women there had to cover up their whole bodies, and women couldn’t drive by then either, but after all it is a very beautiful country and i would love going back for a visit. We came back to Colombia mostly because of my sister’s university and the better opportunities she can get here since her arabic was not that great. After all, Colombia is a beautiful country and it wasn’t that hard making friends here and i am really happy with my life and the people surrounding me.

Why women are rejected from some work fields

        Many women have been rejected from jobs because of various reasons and this is a problem that has been held since decades ago. In old times, women could not work because of their gender, they didn’t allow them to study, learn, nor work. They believed that women were born to be housewives and not to be successful. But as our generation has grown by time, this has not been that big of a problem anymore.
         Some women have been denied job applications because of their gender. They’ve been told that they couldn’t work a specific job because it’s supposedely “according to them” a job that only guys can do. This issue is called masculism. Many Americans believe that men are more capable at handling politics and leaderships, but the truth is that both men and women are both capable of being as equally good at something as the other one. It sucks but it’s true: If a woman’s been in the workforce long enough, there’s a good chance she’s experienced some type of discrimination.
Some women are paid less just because of their gender, they work the same job as some men do but are still paid much less while they work as hard or even harder than other people do, so this would be very unfair for them. And when we talk about earning less, we’re presuming that a woman got the job in the first place. Not only do women face lower pay, they also face lower odds of internal promotions or receiving a job offer. Fostering a culture of gender diversity isn’t just good for women, though–it’s good for men, and it’s good for business. Girls and women are outranking boys and men more and more when it comes to education at school and university, yet that success does not generally translate into equal opportunity for women in the workplace.Whether you've experienced sexual harassment, a corporate outing to a strip club or are called "young lady” in the office, sexism is pretty common in 2018. There is less overt discrimination today than several decades ago, but there was "still plenty around", including when women become pregnant.
Women are more likely to take care of their children, or look after elderly parents. Combined with the rising costs of childcare, there are various barriers which hinder women from reaching the top jobs. It appears the old adage remains true: a woman will see one skill on a job spec that she does not feel confident about and ditch her application, while a man will apply for the same job based on the one skill that they do have. Because the top levels of most sectors are already dominated by men, there are plenty of people that younger men can relate to and receive a helping hand from as they climb up the ladder. Sectors that are dominated by women, such as teaching and nursing, tend to be underpaid relative to other sectors. This is the most controversial point but, the most interesting one to grapple with.Men might generally cling onto the greasy pole of higher management, but women are more likely to weigh up their work/life balance. So long as mothers are the ones more likely to take time off after having children, women’s full-time work is always going to struggle to match that of men. One issue however is due to the changing nature of the economy and the industries which mostly employ women.
      All of these problems mentioned have their solutions. Women should not be rejected just for their gender, just for being women, because us women are as strong and have the same capacity and ability to do all of the things men do.

Economical, political, and social situations in 3 southern countries

           South America is one of the most biodiverse continents on earth. Brazil is the largest country in South America, encompassing around half of the continent's land area and population. The remaining countries and territories are divided among three regions: The Andean States, the Guianas and the Southern Cone. This continent is built up from 12 countries and 3 dependencies.
            I have decided to talk about our country Colombia, about Venezuela which is it’s neighbor and about Argentina in this essay.
Colombia’s government is a republic with the separation of powers, that is divided into legislative, executive, and judicial branches. It’s legislative has a congress, it’s judiciary has a supreme court, and it’s executive branch has it’s president. One positive aspect that Colombia has is that there have been more movements and groups because before it was only divided into the liberals and conservatives, and by time this has changed and progressed. Our country has its problems, sone examples would be the corruption the country has and the peace process conflict. These two conflicts mentioned before are a big problem our country faces since it has its controversies. The peace process has its negative and positive aspects. We all know that if that contract is signed, then the displacement of people because of violence would end, and lands would be given back to their own farmers. Its negative side is that when that contract is signed, then the participation of the guerrilla groups in the politics would be made and no one would want that. Colombia is a society characterized by its deep social exclusion. More than 60 percent of the population is poor—more than 11 million Colombians do not even earn a dollar a day and cannot maintain minimal levels of nutrition. Furthermore, 80 percent of the rural population is poor and nearly 60 percent is destitute. Our economical situation is a problem since teachers and workers are not being paid the fair amount of money they should be winning, and I believe that all of these problems would be resolved of the government does something about it for the better of our corrupted country.
Venezuela is a country of natural beauty, ranging from the snow-capped Andean peaks in the west, through the Amazonian jungles in the south, to the beaches of the north. It is also among the most highly urbanized countries in Latin America. The country has some of the world’s largest proven oil deposits as well as huge quantities of coal, iron ore, bauxite and gold. Yet many Venezuelans live in poverty, often in shanty towns, some of which sprawl over the hillsides around the capital, Caracas. Venezuela is now in the midst of an unprecedented economic and political crisis marked by severe food and medicine shortages, soaring crime rates, and an increasingly authoritarian executive. It was once a rich country held together by strong leadership and heavy social spending, and it is now in economic disaster and could slide into widespread social disorder, triggering instability throughout Latin America. I believe that this country can get back to where it was before all the chaos and crisis there has been.
Argentina is the 2nd largest country in South America that is best known for it’s tango, the elegant architecture, steak, wine, and soccer. The country remains locked in a territorial dispute with Britain over the Falklands Islands, which are governed as a British overseas territory, but have been claimed by Buenos Aires since the 1830s. Despite recent economic struggles, Argentina continues to play an important role within the global economy, especially with regards to its agricultural production.
             I conclude from everything said that every country has its own economical, political and social problems but the citizens of the countries try to deal with these circumstances and try making it a better place to form a better living in.

Violence against women and children worldwide

To begin this essay, the definition of violence must be clear. Violence is the use of physical force to injure people or property. Violence may cause physical pain to those who experience it directly, as well as emotional distress to those who either experience or witness it. Individuals, families, schools, workplaces, communities, society, and the environment all are harmed by violence.

Violence is actually a very serious situation that can be seen all around the world. Violence includes:
•Physical (slapping,hitting, choking...)
•Sexual (rape, harassment...)
•Emotional (controlling behaviour)
•Economic (controlling finances)
•Stalking (repeated following, watching)
The statements mentioned before are problems that people have to face in their everyday life. Not only women and children face violence, men do too.
Many cases have been reported of sexual assaultment and one of those many cases was about a girl named Anita Lorraine Cobby. She was a 26 year old Australian nurse and beauty pageant winner who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and then murdered while walking home after dining out with 2 of her hospital colleagues. Investigations led to the arrest of five men who were later convicted of her abduction, rape and murder.
Another case that has to do with man violence was when Lionel Richie’s ex-wife, Brenda Harvey, was arrested for spousal abuse in 1988 for besting Richie after catching him in bed with another woman.
The 2012 Delhi Gang Rape case involved a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka.  The incident took place when a 23-year-old female, Jyoti Singh Pandey,was beaten, gang raped,, and tortured in a private bus in which she was traveling with her friend. There were six others in the bus, including the driver, all of whom raped the woman and beat her friend. Eleven days after the assault, she was transferred to a hospital in Singapore for emergency treatment but died from her injuries two days later.[
These 3 cases mentioned all happened in different countries.
Now child abuse, or child maltreatment is physical, sexual, or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or other caregiver. Some parents take advantage of their children and change their minds into doing and obeying things that are not right at all. So do babysitters, they use physical violence on the child if they don’t do what they are told. There have been many cases filed of children abuse but not as much as women abuse since more men use violence on their partners than parents would on their own children. Some children are afraid to speak out when violence is being committed on them because they are afraid they’d make things worse, or sometimes they don’t know what to do about it and are threatened so they don’t speak up.

Violence is not nothing, it is a big deal since many people are dying from it all around the world. People should start doing something about it, or if they get to see any act of violence, they should call the police at least because if something happens to the victim, the person would feel guilty for not doing anything about it.

Elections in Colombia

Elections in Colombia are regulated and controlled by the National Electoral Council which also gives information on elections and election results in for the politics of Colombia. Colombia elects on national level a Head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a four-year term by the people. The Congress' has two chambers. The House of Representatives and The Senate of the Republic

The violence that occurred between 1946 and 1964 resulted in over 200,000 deaths. An estimated one million people were displaced from their rural homes. Guerrilla movements arose from the anarchy to fully establish themselves in the 1960s and still trouble Colombia to this day. Historically, the two mainstream parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals, had dominated Colombian politics from the 19th century onwards, both enjoying large periods in power. These periods of hegemony were more partisan than personal because politics was characterized by voter affiliation to either party, based on social and economic class, regardless of who led them. However, after 1946, traditional party competition had broken down in Colombia. Mariano Ospina Pérez, the newly elected president, and his Conservative party government used the police and the army to repress the Liberal party. The Liberals then responded by arming peasants to fight back against the government. This created pressures within civil and political society, and violence began on a small scale.
In colombia, the citizens have the right to vote and make a very important decision that may provide for our country as well as affect it, these decisions can be made by people from the age of 18. It is supposedly an obligation for all citizens to vote, but there are still many people who don’t do so because of their personal reasons. Some people don’t vote because they simply don’t like to get involved in any type of politics or because they don’t have the time to do so.
The votes this year are a bit complex and troubling because the possible candidates for the presidency are candidates from the F.A.R.C (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) which was a guerrilla movement involved in continuing Colombian armed conflict since 1964. It was known to employ a variety of military tactics in addition to more unconventional methods, including terrorism. They are a subversive guerrilla group which signed peace agreements last year and they did so with the intentions for people to allow them to reach the government. People were furious and they were very unhappy because they do not consider that the  people who were in the army, who killed major quantities of people, who are drug traffickers and Organ traffickers as well, should not reach that power and should not be on the votes.

I believe that the political election for presidency has many incorrect and suspicious things because how is it possible for the voting cards for a winning candidate be done or run out? An election like this is very important because it defines the future of our country and citizens should be the only ones with the right to vote. Every person has their own opinion about each candidate at the end, so there is no reason to cheat if its the majority of the country who is making the choice.

How do you think Christmas must be celebrated?

Christmas is celebrated to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (our saviour). Christmas is celebrated in different ways by many and not celebrated at all by others. It is also celebrated on the 25th by most and on the 24th by other people.

Christmas is one of those holidays that just seems to be filled with cheer, wonder and happiness. Whether you are celebrating a religious or a secular Christmas, your day is sure to be filled with happines at the end. Christmas should be a religious, and social day for all of us. Not everyone believes in going  to church on that special day but it is one of the most important things to do on Christmas. It is a way of showing our love and thankfulness to Jesus for dying on the cross to save us. There are several and different ways of celebrating it, as mentioned before. It is a tradition all around the world to hang a Christmas tree in our home and decorate it beautifully. The christmas gifts are put by Santa Clause on the 25th just under the tree. People decorate their homes with colorful and cheerful lights, candy canes, santa clauses, reindeers and many more. Many people like to donate gifts to charities for the poor people on christmas. It makes them happy to know that they made someone else’s day on christmas when no one else would have!  It is a very generous act to show to others, it is all about spreading joy, kindness, beauty, and love during the Christmas season. Christmas is celebrated as well by gathering up with all of the family and having a great and delicious dinner. It is about sharing time with your loved ones, singing along to Christmas carols, having fun and playing games, praying and eating dinner after, being thankful for what you have, and watching Christmas movies all night long.

Christmas is truly one of my favorite holidays since its a very special day of the year where we can share with our loved ones, make other people happy, have fun ourselves, and celebrate christmas all together.

Christmas- Religious practice or commercial date?

     Is christmas actually a commercial date or a religious practice? This is a question that might be asked by many and i am going to be defining Christmas and giving my personal opinion about it as well.
      Christmas is an annual festival in which people celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, observed more commonly on december 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. In general it is a festivity that is celebrated by christians but that does not stop other people from celebrating if they wanted to. The reason of celebrating Christmas is what makes it a religious practice. Now since when did christmas become all about buying things in a store and not about our youth, family and goodwill? This is a great question we should all be asking ourselves! Christmas should be all about god, christ and family but instead it is all about some meaningless presents or about buying some gorgeous outfit from your favorite store because you want to look pretty that night.  Christmas is when most people take advantage of the date for personal reasons and to make more money. They use christmas in commercials for their own benefits. They wait for Christmas time which is the 25th to do some discounts for more people to buy things. They put special offers on tv to gain more customers when they barely care about christmas celebration.
        Now to answer the exact question, i believe that christmas is both, a religious practice to some and a commercial date to others, and i think it is time to change the thought of it being all about the hair, makeup, clothes, and presents and make it more about Jesus Christ which is the main reason why Christmas is celebrated.

Human rights

     Human rights are rights that belong to all human beings; whatever their nationality, color, religion, language, place of residence, or ethnic origin are. I believe we are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination.

      International human rights law lays down obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to prohibit certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups. Human rights exist to stop other people from the ignorance, abuse, violation and discrimination that others commit on them. All of these situations mentioned icluding terror and disappearances are everyday ocurrences  in Colombia. There is a population of approximately 45 million here in Colombia where about mostly half of these people have possibly gone through those situations or worse. The threatening human righhs situation in Colombia is the worst in the region. Most of the human rights violations are executed by the guerrilla groups, laramilitaries and government forces. These include massacres, killings, torture, kidnapping and extortion. Human rights workers, lawyers, judges and even peasants are among the most common victims of terrorist groups and drug lords. The colombian government has come up with a military-economic plan for the removal of coke that has threatened to increase the armed conflict. The law offers a reduced sentence to members of groups who have committed crimes if they participate in demobilization. The law only applies to paramilitaries; not the mafia-like miltary groups who are funded by drug trafficking. The law provides no justice for the victims.

     I believe that the only solution for all of these problems is to open our minds and respect other peoples beliefs. Not to discrimante or distinguish other people because at the end of the day we are all humans and we are all equal. All  these problems would lead to war and what we all would want is  to live in a peaceful world and society.

Animal Abuse

        Abusing is the action of mistreating and causing pain or damage to others. In some countries  it is very common to find animal abuse,and it a nationwide problem that grows rapidly in today’s society. Year 2006 was the year that had the most cases of animal abuse in the U.S  which was approximately 2700 number of abuse cases.
     
        About three hundred thousand animals die each year from animal abuse. Some animals are used for scientific reasons. It is said that it is necessary to form experiments and do researchs on the poor animals for products, medicines, and economic reasons. The biggest problem with animal testing is that the animals suffer a horrible experience just for us humans to do experiments on them and learn more about their race. It is not fair and very selfish of us for animals to lose their hair or fur just for us humans to have nice clothing. They do not deserve that harm. Many scientists use the “its for science” excuse while there are other scientists and successful companies out there that don’t have the need to use these animals for testing their products yet they have very popular products that are bought daily. Cosmetic items are mostly tested on animals just to see the reaction of a particular product. If the product does react, it could harm very deeply that animal and may cause it to be blind or to die. This is the worst type of abuse because it can actually harm the animal for life. Some heartless people even use dogs for money. They put on a show and their owners put them up for a dog fight just for people’s entertainment and for the selfish reason of making a lot of money themselves if their dog gets to win.  Abusing an animal like that or using it for games is highly unacceptable and it is against the law and should be reduced because it is affecting them harshly.

         Honestly, no one deserves that kind of treatment. What if it was your pet or my pet that they were using and putting chemicals in with unknown reactions, how would you react? What if it was actually you instead of the animal being abused?  You have to put yourself in others shoes because they can  also get hurt the same way us humans do. It is inhumane to make a living creature suffer just for our benefits or for our entertainment. Animal abuse must stop immediately.

         

The Person I Admire Most

The person i admire the most is my mother. She’s the person i look up to the most, the one that has been there for me through thick and thin, the one that has given me advice whenever i needed it, and the one i trust the most and can actually call my best friend. Looking back at my childhood, it was filled with love and happines. My mother along with my father, they made sure my siblings and I grew up to be as strong as them and they made sure we lived in a house full of love and laughter.
My mother’s name is Claudia Ingrid Moscarella Acosta, she was born in Barranquilla, Colombia on the 5th of July, in 1968. She studied in the Polytechnic Atlantic Coast two carreers but only finished one, which was marketing and publicity. She has 3 nationalities, Italian (which she got from her father), Lebanese (which came from her husband) and obviously Colombian (her place of birth). Her mother, Sarah Acosta, is from spain, while her father, Boris Moscarella, is from italy. She met my father, Antoine Zalaket Sayegh, in 1995. They met at a church here in Barranquilla, where they went on road trips. In 1996 , after dating for a while, they decided to get married. My sister Pascale, was born one year after their marriage. After that came me, and then my brother Angelo was born. There are 3 years difference between each one of us. All 3 of us look up to her since she is a very strong, brave, beautiful woman. She used to pay for her own university when she was younger, and we admire her for her independence, intelligence and how strong she is. She will always be the woman i admire the most, she is everything I strive to be as a mom and a woman. I love my mother.

The hunted hour (Legend)

 Once there was a couple who had recently moved to a small town in Florida.  They had to unpack all of their bags as soon as they arrived. The boyfriend was called Steven and the girlfriend was called Claire. They were a very happy couple who were deeply inlove with each other. They were young in age, about 22-24 years ols.
One night, after the few days they have spent there, they decided to go clubbing and meet new places since they were new to town and there was not much to do. They drove the car for a long while searching for a club, but they didnt find any. They then saw a young man on the road and decided to ask him for directions since they were new in town. The man seemed nice but was a little bit weird since he spoke to them as if he has seen them before. They didn't give much importance to that detail and they let the man give  some directions of where to go. They thanked him and continued their way to the club. Once they arrived, they noticed it was a decent place where many people went to in that town, and It was very known by people there. They had some few drinks and danced all night. About 2 am when they were feeling a bit tipsy and tired after all the fun that they had, they decided to head back to their place since it was getting late and the roads were very dangerous and alone. They reached their place, and as they entered, they felt all tingly and weird inside as if someone has been there since they were gone or as if someone broke in. Things were unusual and out of order. They  searched up the house with a knife in their shaking hands, but didn't find anything so they decided to go to bed. Claire  woke up at around 3:00 am after hearing a loud noise comming from the living room. She was scared to go check it out by herself that she had to wake her  boyfriend, Steven, up. He woke up and they went to check it out. Claire saw a shadow of someone standing in the corner of the living room. They called 911 immediately  since they were so afraid and they told them they'd be there in 10. They hid in an abandoned basement where they thought the man wouldn't find them. They heard footsteps above them. Steven decided to leave the basement and find out what the man wanted. Claire saw the man stab her boyfriend in the heart. She got out of the basement and out of rage took a shovel and hit the man at the back of the head with it. She started crying because she couldn't believe what was infront of her. She had just killed a man, and the idea of that and the idea of her boyfriend being dead shocked her. The  police never arrived. The next day, at around the same time, she woke up because she was hearing noises and seeing shadows again. And now not only one shadow, but two. She got off her bed out of nowhere, and started walking towards the kitchen as if she were sleep walking or possessed. She slowly grabbed a knife without making any noise and stabbed it through her heart.
Since then, people heard noises comming from that house and saw unusual things happen at 3:20 am.
It has been abandoned for a long while  after the tragic moment that was experienced there.

Starred Sky (myth)

A long time ago, when the land of earth was ruled by the higher gods from the sky, a baby was born from a  Goddess named Josephine; queen of all gods. Josephine was married to the most powerful God there was at that time, and he was called Jacob; king of all gods. The child they had was a girl named Evelyn. She was a beautiful girl; born with long, soft hair and had crystal blue eyes, she even had the cutest two dimples on her cheeks. As Evelyn grew, she knew that one day she would have to marry another God which her dad has chosen for her.
When Evelyn finally turned 18 and celebrated it with her loved ones, some handsome Gods began to come day after day asking for her hand in marriage while scared Evelyn did not approve of any. She has always wanted to get married after she finds true love and not any prepared or forced marriage. As days turn to weeks and weeks to months, Evelyn's heart grew colder and darker since no one loved her.
One day, as gorgeous Evelyn was wondering through the green gardens, she came across a large hole that couldn't be missed, she got on her hands and knees and looked into it out of curiosity. Down that hole was something she has never seen before, it was like a new world for her; it was the middle world where the humans lived. Evelyn had been warned by her father before to never go near there, he tells her its a very strange and dangerous place. As she stared into that somehow dark hole, she fell in love with the middle earth and with all the humans inside there. Well in particular, with a very handsome fisherman  named Ethan. He was a gorgeous man; aside from others, he was free and open minded and a very brave and strong young man. Evelyn laid there the whole time staring into Ethan's green eyes, until she finally made the decision to abandon the father's dreams he had for her, and ran away with Ethan thinking it was the right thing to do. With one last look, she stepped into that hole and ran to him sure about herself. As soon as she saw him standing that nearby to her, they fell inlove with each other instantly. They decided to run away to the sea together, and hid in a hidden cave where no one would find them with magic upon it so it would stop any eyes from finding them; Including all powerful gods.
As soon as her father (king Jacob) found out that his young daughter left all her god duties to run away with a silly man she just met, he stormed around with rage trying to make a plan to find her, but no matter how hard he tried looking for her, he couldn't find his sweet and loving daughter Evelyn. He even tried lighting the whole sky and calling her name, but never was there an answer. The devastated king went back to his kingdom to never seeing Evelyn again.
Since then, he lights up the sky every year and calls her name hoping she would appear, yet she never came back.

COMPARE:

• A God is creating each day new things in both stories
• There is a sun and moon in both stories
• There is a land and an ocean in both stories
• There are powerful gods in both stories
• There are animals in both stories

CONTRAST:

• In the world on the turtle's back there are two gods while in genesis 1 there is just one god.
• In the world on the turtle's back the twins were both creating new thing while in genesis 1, there was just god.
• In the world on the turtle's back there was already a world that existed while in genesis 1, god was just beginning to create thing.
• In the world on the turtle's back there was bad and good (the twins) while in genesis 1 there was just good.
• In the world on the turtle's back the moon was made with the head of the grandmother while in genesis 1 god simply said "let there be a moon" and there it was.
• In the world on the turtles back, the world they lived in was on a turtles back while in genesis it just existed.