Big Fish Story

About three years ago we look our first family road trip. We aren’t fans of driving and usually fly. But instead we thought it would be fun to spend the whole day driving to New York. Map Quest said it would take about ten hours. But it took a lot longer then just ten hours. My grandparents decided to come with us. We didn’t let them drive because they have a habit of getting into fights and almost causing accidents on the road. We left the house around 6 am. About 20 miles into Ohio between Toledo and Sandusky we were stuck on a bridge. Everyone was tired and annoyed, and we weren’t stopping until we got to Sandusky. I looked into the rear view mirror and saw a semi coming straight towards the car. My mom swerved onto the side and the car almost crashed through the side of the bridge.
We just got into Pennsylvania and there was a huge hail storm, hail the size of baseballs were denting the car and nearly breaking through the windshield. About 10 miles up the road, there was a ten car pile up that was backed up about 5 miles. After about an hour of waiting my mom drove on the side, to a median and turned around taking a “back way” through the mountains that she thought would get us their sooner. There were no guard rails, between the car and the mountain edge. The road was small, unpaved and bumpy. Half way into the mountains something hit the car from behind, it was a deer. The deer kept hitting the bumper until we were almost off the edge. Once the deer left my dad got out of the car to see the damage and realized we had a flat tire as well. We didn’t have a spare and none of our phones had service to call AAA, so we continued to drive until we got to the first mechanic we could find. They said the car couldn’t be fixed until the next morning so we stayed in a hotel for the night.
The next morning the car was fixed and we got back on the road. We were only two hours away from New York now. Everyone was so relieved and happy to just get there and as far from the car as possible. We were at a stop light and the car shut off. It wouldn’t start up again and people behind us were honking and yelling. We had to push the car to the side of the road. My dad opened the hood. A squirrel jumped out, attacked him and bit his arm. A man pulled over and rushed him to a hospital. The emergency room was very busy and by the time he was checked out it was late, so we got another hotel room for the night. It was over 24 hours later, and we were still not in New York. A 10 hour trip took more than twice as long.

The UN should become more involved in helping the people of the Congo.

Millions of people have died in the Congo since the Rwandan genocide ended in 1994 . 30 times the number of people died in the Haiti earthquake. The Hutu militias are mostly responsible. The UN needs to put more troops in the Congo to protect the people from these militias. Women of all ages, even children and being gang-raped and husbands and sons cut to pieces in front of their families. They have no defense or protection.

“It’s awful to see 300 women in need of help and you can only take 10 because the ambulance can only take 10,” said Dr. Mukwege. The hospital can only take 3600 women each year. The UN needs to provide more medical and mental care for the women. The home of an 8 year old girl was invaded by the Hutu militia. Her father was killed, her mother was raped and the girl was raped for a two-week period, and then abandoned. She is so ashamed and traumatized that a missionary had to persuade the little girl to accept a hug from her.

The Invisible War of the Congo

My Semster Reflection Blog

One thing I learned this year was how the Tutsis were treated in Rwanda. Before we learned about the Rwandan genocide, I didn’t have a clear thought of what genocide actually was. I thought it was just a fancy word for being in a war. But it isn’t anything like that. The Tutsi’s were killed slowly and painfully just for who they were. Even if their relatives were Hutu they would still be killed. And the Hutus killed each other if they were helping the Tutsis. But what really showed me a clear picture of how the Tutsis were treated was in the movie Hotel Rwanda. When Paul and one of his workers were driving to get food and the road was very bumpy but they don’t know why because it was so foggy. And when they got out of the van to see what it was. Paul fell into hundreds of bodies of dead Tutsis that were left all over the road and were falling into the river on the side. Tutsis weren’t treated as if they were even human beings.
Another thing I learned was that myths aren’t just made up stories that have no correct information. Most myths did originate from a logical story that at one time was probably true. Making up our own myths in group helped me understand it a lot better. I had to write a myth about where the Earth came from. So my group’s myth was that two planets met on an online dating site, then had Earth. And the Sun watches over the Earth because the Sun is what gives us light and warmth.
I learned how to become a better write from the endless revisions we did to our weekly papers, such as the Iran paper, China paper and Our First Day Paper. I thought at first that I did a really good job writing them because I spent so much time on them. But as we started revising I learned that my resources were horrible and my support didn’t really make that much sense or didn’t relate. I learned how to use action words in my papers to make it seem like the reader is actually there. And when writing a paper you have to either pick past tense or present tense and to always have correct punctuation.
Blogs taught me how to write without a topic given to me. It showed me that you can write about almost anything and if you have a topic given to you, how much detail you can put into four hundred words. Writing seems fun after writing blogs because it doesn’t just have to be about school topics. In the free write blogs I’ve written I got to write about plans for the weekend, homecoming, cheer, my birthday, Christmas and things that interest me.
Learning about South Africa taught me how colonization can affect the people living in places. When the British started colonizing in South Africa it was almost like they kicked the Zulus and other tribes out of their homes and forced them to go north. And when they did they got kicked out again by the Boers. Unnecessary battles killed tons of people. The Zulu people thought that if they shared with the British then the British would share with them. But the British seemed to be careless for any people there but themselves. It showed me a different perspective on colonization and why some people are still colonizing today.

Christmas!

There is eight days left till Christmas. It's a big holiday in my family. On the first weekend in December we put up decorations inside and outside our house. My mom doesn't like having a real Christmas tree because the pine needles need to be vacuumed off the ground everyday and she hates having to water it while getting stabbed by pine needles. So we have a fake tree. It's about eight feet tall and every ornament has to be put on a certain part of the tree. Outside we have icicle lights hanging from the roof. Our big pine tree in the front yard is usually covered in colorful lights and we have a Rudolph that is helping Santa out of a chimney.

This week is when my mom and I start baking Christmas cookies! Every year we bake the same cookies and we try a new recipe. We make biscotti, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon cookies, peppermint twists, peanut butter cookies and gingerbread men. The weekend before Christmas my cousins and aunts come over and we decorate gingerbread men and ginger bread houses. The houses usually don't last even till Christmas Eve. By then most of the candy has been picked off, eaten and half the roof has been bitten off.

We had a HUGE Christmas party at the Italian American Banquet Hall with all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, parent’s cousins, grandparents, great- grandparents and great aunts and uncles. My cousins and I had to set up a nativity scene and I was the narrator. As everyone got in his or her costume we realized we didn't have anything to wrap my cousin Seth in, who was playing as baby Jesus. After brainstorming, we decided we would take a pillowcase my cousin had in her car still from a sleepover the night before and wrap him in it. Of course the play was a disaster. The baby started screaming after almost being dropped by my little sister and the angels were running in circles until they got sick and fell over.

I'm really excited for tomorrow! It's our last day of school until Winter Break! This day every year is traditionally a blow off day, no matter how old you are or what grade you're in. Teachers either make us watch an "educational" movie, like Elf or do an "educational" snowflake project. Third hour is what I'm really looking forward to though. My homeroom won the can drive for the freshmen class so we get a pizza party!

Christmas is almost here and I can't wait!

Rwandan Genocide Debate

It was different stepping outside of character and looking at the Rwanda genocide is a different countries point of view. The debate was crazy! A lot of countries were pointing fingers and blaming other countries for their own mistakes. France, the MNRD, and the U.N. and U.S. were blamed several times. Danny, Matt and I as Belgium believed that France was promoting violence by “training” the Hutus to fight. The debate on the topic was that France believed they were helping the Hutus defend themselves. The MNRD was blamed the most. Almost all the other groups, especially the RPF believed that they were brainwashing the Hutus, telling them that they must kill the Hutus. We ended the debate with talking about how the U.N. and the U.S. didn’t do anything to help the Rwandans in the genocide. The U.S. said that they were scared to get involved with the genocide because they were still frightened with the way it turned out when they helped Somalia in their genocide. The U.N. said that they didn’t have the support or supplies. When they went to the U.S. for help, they refused to help. The U.N. also said they did not have enough facts to consider it genocide.

The debate from my point of you was actually really fun. I learned a lot the effort it takes for countries and groups to get along, agree and communicate about tragedies. Even though I didn’t agree with the way Belgium handled things in the genocide. I still had to try to convince the other groups that Belgium was innocent. I didn’t think the debate would have been as chaotic as it was. As myself then as Belgium I believe that Belgium actually had a lot to do with the genocide being so violent. They owned Rwanda and when the genocide began they simply sat back and hardly did anything. I still believe that France was guilty as well. France said that they were helping the Hutus defend themselves. They trained the Hutus to fight and are responsible for the Tutsi lives lost in the Rwandan genocide. I also thought that the MNRD was being blamed for a lot more than actually did. A radio station can’t possibly make a group of people turn on another group in their country without other causes. The debate helped me realize what SIMUN will be like and how much preparation and hard work it will take.

Halloween(:

To most people Halloween is just a day to run around TPing houses, ding dong ditching and running from house to house in your neighborhood getting candy. But for me it’s a bigger deal then just that. It is also my birthday! Tomorrow at 10:56 p.m. fourteen years ago is when I was born. Every year my birthday weekend is very busy. Tonight I am going to the first Play Off game at Stevenson then after I’m going to a Halloween costume party at my friend Paiges house. When the party is over a few of my friends are sleeping over and we’re going to stay up all night watching scary movies! Then Saturday is my birthday!!! Before I do anything that day my mom is forcing me go to gymnastics. I am a little disappointed I have to, but my best friends Heather and Kassidy are coming with me so it should be fun! They also sing the Happy Happy Birthday song when it’s someone’s birthday and throw them into the foam pit. When gymnastics is over I’m going to Heathers house to get ready for Jessies Halloween Party. Heather is going to be a cat, and I’m going to be a bumble bee. At some point Halloween night I want to go to a haunted driveway on Doris by Coolidge Elementary School. A person living on the street has a circle drive way and have scary mannequins. On Halloween night people in that neighborhood hide in the mannequins and as you walk up to the house to get candy they jump out and grab you! If you can make it all the way to the front door to say, “Trick or treat” without running down the street screaming for your life, you get a huge candy bar. I’ve never made it to the front door. Every year I go, and every year I run away screaming. Last year I was chased down the street by a man in a mummy costume hiding in a coffin that was underground. This weekend is going to be so much fun! It will be a hard day for my mom. She is over dramatic and will cry because, “Just yesterday she was taking me home from the hospital” and now I’m all grown up and have my own plans. Halloween is definitely my favorite holiday! It's a day were you can dress up, hang out with your friends, and just have fun!

Health Care in the U.S. vs. Other Countries

In the United States we have some of the best health care available in the world, if you can afford to pay for it. 68% of Republicans, 32% of Democrats and 40% of Independents believe that health care in the United States is the best. This excellent health care is extremely expensive and health insurance is becoming more and more difficult for most Americans to keep. 1 out of 3 Americans under the age of 60 will go without health insurance for a few months every two years. Of those Americans living temporarily without health insurance, 1/3 of them will be uninsured for at least nine months, according to www.sharedprosperity.org.
The cost of merely paying for your health care or insurance out of pocket is very high. Those who have little money or are poorer, but not eligible for our current system of government medical aid, Medicaid and Medicare, find it impossible to afford adequate insurance nor are they able to pay for medical care out of their own pockets. One major illness or injury could bankrupt a family or the patient would not receive this same excellent care since they can’t afford. Those who are fortunate to have insurance through an employer often find that the parts of medical care not covered by the insurance to be very expensive.
Many other countries use a government run health care system, including Canada and parts of Europe. People who are against a government run health care system will argue that the care received in those countries is inferior to care received in the United States. However citizens of countries with government health care seem to get broken bones taken care of and citizens of Canada do not seem to be unhealthy. Their choice may be limited, but they are able to receive affordable health care when they are ill.
Our country has excellent health care, but the question is how can some people afford it? Obama is trying to make our health care system run like Canada’s. But by the time the government gets a new health care system set up, we will probably have lost even more citizens in our country because they can’t afford the cost of medical treatment. Our country is one of the top advanced countries in the medical field. But Americans can’t take advantage of that, if they can’t afford it.