OR Blog #37: Today, I read an article from CultureGrams called Personal Appearance. This fits into today's assignment because it talks about the culture of Kenya through their appearance. The traditional clothing is similar to that of the Indian traditional clothing. In Kenya women wear dresses just like that in India. Something different in Kenya is something called the kanga. A kanga is a rectangular piece of colorful cotton fabric. It's worn as a skirt, to cover their clothes, or to shield themselves from the rain and wind. Some women will use the kanga to carry their children on their backs. The article also said that some women wear scarves. I think this is also something that's similar to the Indian culture. I think I've said this before in one of my other blogs, but I'll say it again, without different cultures the world would be pretty boring. You to have diversity to make the world more interesting.

Citation:
"Personal Appearance." CultureGrams. 2009. ProQuest LLC and Brigham Young University. 25 Feb 2009 .

OR Blog #36: Today, I read the book, "The Giving Tree" , by Shel Silverstein. I thought it fit well with today's topic of change because through the book the little boy gets older and changes his appearance and matures. So, I thought this was a kind of change. The tree also changes. The tree loves the boy and tries to help him when she can. As the boy gets older he starts to ask for things from her. The tree gives him her apples so he can sell them to make money. She also gives him her branches and leaves to build his house. When the boy gets even older, the tree gives him her trunk so he can make a boat. Then at the end when the boy is an old man and the tree is just a stump, she offers him to sit and rest on her stump. So, this book shows a lot of change. Change in people and I think it also represents a change in the earth. Like, the cutting down of trees and things like that. I like this book of Shel Silverstein's the best, you can see that he's trying to show us something about friendship and change. That's what I read for today's outside reading blog.

Citation: Silverstein, Shel. The Giving Tree. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1997.

OR Blog #35: Today, I read an article from the BBC news website called, "Obama's housing plan 'to help 9m'". The article says that President Barack Obama has announced his plan to take on the US housing problem. He's hoping to help up to nine million families across the country. This article fits into the assigned topic of hope because Obama is giving the families that have struggled these past years hope for the future. Also, not only hope for keeping their houses, but also for keeping their kids in school and be able to afford that too. I hope that President Obama's plan works out because one of my friend's family is struggling to pay their mortgage. He says that he will help the families who have "played by the rules" and who are "responsible homeowners". This shows that doing the right thing can pay off and that nothing good will come of doing something wrong breaking the rules. This was my article that I found for the topic of hope for this Wednesday's outside reading blog.

"Obama's housing plan 'to help 9m'." BBC NEWS. 18 Feb 2009. MMIX. 18 Feb 2009 .

OR Blog #34: Today I read an article from CNN.com called "Israel expects pope to visit in May." This fits into today's blogging assignment because it has to do with religion and belief/non-belief. In the article they're saying that the pope's visit to Israel is right after the controversy about the Holocaust denial within the Roman Catholic Church. One of the Bishops, Bishop Richard Williamson has outraged Jewish leaders and people by saying that he doubted the number of jewish people killed and he also said that no jewish people were murdered in gas chambers. I think that guy is crazy to say something like. Especially if he's a Bishop for the Roman Catholic Church. I also think that there is know a lot of tension in the Church because of Williamson's actions. The pope says that he had not been aware of Williamson's views when he lifted the excommunication. This article has to do with disagreements between religions, so it fits the assignment. It talks about believers and non-believers. I can compare this to Nectar in a Sieve by saying that there was a time in the book where Rukmani felt uncomfortable around people that weren't the same religion as her. That's what I read for today's outside reading blog. 

"Israel expects pope to visit in May." CNN.com/world. 15 Feb 2009. Cable News Network. 15 Feb 2009." style=""> .">.

OR Blog #33: Today, I read an article from Culturegrams called "Family". In this article it talks about how the father is the head of the household. This fits into the blog topic for today because it's saying that the male in the family is the head of the household and that's talking about both gender and gender roles. In this article it also says that women are responsible for the children and household. That's another gender role. This article is similar to the book we finished reading in class last week because Nathan was the head of their household. Also, it seems that once the man of the household leaves (dies or actually leaves) the women is kind  of stuck. I feel like that kind of thing shouldn't happen. If the man leaves then the women should be able to keep her life going by herself. That was my blog for gender and gender roles.

"Family." CultureGrams. 2009. ProQuest LLC and Brigham Young University. 13 Feb 2009 .

OR Blog #32: Today I read an article from culture grams called "Personal Appearance". It told about the clothes that the people from the Indian culture wore. "Women generally wear a saree or a colorful pantsuit with a knee-length shirt", the article stated. This article shows a different culture through the way people dress. Inside of the indian culture, there are many appearance differences depending on your religion. For example, Sikhs may be seen wearing a turban, where as Hindus and Muslims might be seen wearing a long shirt with pants, possibly accompanied by a jacket/vest. I also think that it is cool to see the different clothes that people of different cultures where. It would be boring if we would all were the same thing. This blog topic relates to the book, Nectar in a Sieve, because Rukmani and Nathan see differences in culture when they are kicked off their land and travel to their sons home. Most of the things they see are different from what they are used to at their old home. That's what I read and blogged about for this Sunday's outside reading blog.

"Personal Appearance." CultureGrams. 2009. ProQuest and Brigham Young University. 8 Feb 2009 .

OR Blog #31: Today, I read an article from BBC.com called "Teenage girl dies in sledge crash". This article shows someone overcoming a struggle and facing a difficulty because the family and friends of the girl who died had to face a very tough situation. It was a tragic accident and that is definitely considered "facing a difficulty". This relates to Nectar in a Sieve  because Rukmani loses two of her sons and the teenage girl's parents had to deal with a similar situation. Rukmani's family has had to deal with many struggles like starvation, not having enough money, marrying her daughter off, and keeping her whole family in good health. That's why I picked that article because I thought it related well to the book we were reading in class. This is my post for this Wednesday.

"Teenage girl dies in sledge crash." BBC. 4 Feb 2009. MMIX. 4 Feb 2009 .

   

OR Blog #30: Today, I read an article from CNN.com about an earthquake in Costa Rica. An earthquake is considered a natural disaster. This earthquake killed two little girls. The girls were killed a landslide the quake produced. This article relates to another article that I saw on CNN.com about an avalanche killing ten people in Turkey. They are similar stories because in both situations people got hurt by a natural disaster. I think it's hard to protect yourself from natural disasters because they can't be stopped. I feel bad for the friends and family members of the ones who died. This article talks about natural disasters and how people are affected by them. I also see how this is related to the book we are reading. In Nectar in a Sieve they have monsoons which can be considered natural disasters because they can ruin your crops and destroy your home.

"Strong Costa Rica quake kills two girls." CNN.com/world. 8 Jan 2009. Cable News Network. 1 Feb 2009 http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/01/08/crica.quake/index.html#cnnSTCText.