blog #7

I read an article in the newyork times about St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Connecticut pastored by Stephen DiGiovanni brought back the idea of confession booths. When DiGiovanni first entered the church, confessions were told in reconcilation rooms. These rooms were face to face confrontations between a member of the church and a priest. Many people thought that this was awkward and embarrassing and many either rarely did them or refused to do them in general. With the reintroduction of confession booths, about 450 people a week confess their sins to priests using this new way to confess sins. Sin confessing is available in 5 different languages: English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and French. St. John's church is trying to promote other churches to do the same so that people can more openly confess their wrongs they have committed. Some ways in which they are spreading the word is highway billboards, radio commercials and tons of paper handouts.

blog #6

I am currently reading the second book in the Twilight series, called New Moon. In the book the main character, Bella, is in love with Edward who is a vampire. They would do anything for each other and promise to be together forever. But one day Edward is forced to move away from Forks, where they both live, and has to say goodbye to Bella. He tells her that they cannot communicate in any way because it will only make things harder for them. Bella does not belong in the world the way Edward does. Once Edward is gone, Bella can't even function. She can't eat, she can't sleep, she can't even see her friends because she is so miserable without Edward. But even through all her suffering, Bella still has hope that Edward will come back for her one day. She believes even after everything he said, he still loves her and they will be together forever. This reminds me of Nathan in Nectar in a Sieve because he has hope that things for his family will get better even though they have hardly any money or food. If I ever were to be left by someone I loved very much, I think I would try to get on with my life and not wait around for them. To me, that is kind of pointless because if they really did want to be with me, they would try their hardest to and not just leave me.

blog #5

i read an article on cnn.com about Los Angeles, California sets the scene for 90% of the entertainment industry found in the U.S. Throughout time, people have moved here from their homelands to pursue acting or film careers. Carsten Kurpanek recently moved to LA with his girlfriend in order to start up a film directing career. He found getting jobs was nearly impossible and he had to take an internship that paid him no money. He did however manage to find an apartment that could be paid for by his girlfriends warehouse store job. At the University of Indiana, Joe Misiewicz from the department of communications warns his students of the struggles they may go through to find jobs in the tough entertainment industry. He said about 10-12 make the trek to LA in hopes of finding a good paying job and maybe even being lucky enough to becoming famous. With the huge competition factor, the entertaining business is one of the riskiest businesses out there but if you have hope you can someday achieve your dreams of becoming famous and recognized.

blog #4

i read an article on cnn.com about Muslims first arriving in America and the ways they had to adjust when arriving here. One women talked about wearing her Muslim dress with a head scarf covering everything but her face. When she reached the Miami Airport, many people stared at her even through security check. One said, "I expected people to say, 'What is this terrorist doing here? We don't want your kind here,' " said Woldt, a 22-year-old blue-eyed Catholic, recalling her anticipation before stepping into a local barbecue joint. "I thought I wouldn't even be served." I think its weird how when someone dresses different or is from somewhere else, they are always looked at like they are a terrorist or what not. Usually they are not. From the quote, you can see that she wasn't treated like one. I think it is just hard for people to adjust and get started in new places. It's hard for everyone, including Muslims, to get accepted into other countries and practice their religion in different cultures.

blog #3

I read an article on Wikipedia about Muslims. I learned that they are much more religious than Christians are. They have prayer at least 5 times a day, and have rituals/religious gathers throughout the day. Muslims have certain foods they can and cannot eat. Arabic names are now being called ''Muslim" names because they are being passed down from their families. Regardless of their religious beliefs. 99.8% of Turkey is Muslim, however one can accept Muslim aspects without accepting all of the Islamic theology. This is unlike the Western part of the world because they base statics on the religion as a whole that a person follows. As you can see, Muslim culture and Christian culture differ in many ways.

blog #2

I read an article called "Remote and Struggling, but Still a Bit of America" I found out a lot about present day Alaskans and how they live. I did not realize that Alaskans still live in little huts and hunt for all their meals, i thought they had developed more then that. "Past a fish camp at the river bank, where caught salmon are cleaned and smoked, with carcasses saved for mush dogs. Past the boat he uses to travel hundreds of miles in search of moose and bear and caribou. Past small ducks that he says make for good soup." Can you imagine almost all of your meals you have to hunt, kill, cook, and eat? People would be a lot less busy with sports and homework. Everyday people have there own little struggles like not having food on the table, but there is always a way to over come them you just have to try. Like in Alaska they have many elements against them while there doing there daily routines, but it doesn't mean that there wont be food it just might take longer and there might be less time to do a fun activity.

blog #1 natural disasters

All over the United States, horrible ice storms have been occurring leaving cities covered in sheets of ice from the ground up. These ice storms took places in cities all over from Texas all the way to Maine. 17 people have died and millions of people were left powerless in the cold winter with ice keeping them stuck inside. Not only did this storm bring a ton of ice, but alot of snow as well with 10-17 inches in some places of the U.S. With being able to drive being put at a standstill, cities everywhere became deserted with the inability to drive because of the icy roads. Weather is a huge factor of life and can make or break many situations. Storms can be deadly and or destructive leaving people sad and in trouble.