Culture Shown in Soda

Mr. Schick presented us was a map today. This map wasn't some boring map about financial debt or a geographical map. It was about soda. Well, it was also about pop and coke. It turns out that people all over the Untied States of America call something as simple of the word soda differently. More people in the south call the concept of soda coke and more people in the north call the concept of soda pop. More people on the east and west coast called the concept of soda soda. This map just shows how diverse our country is. On the map, there was a section color coded purple for an others section. This section could include the words seltzer, or fizzy along with the words used to express the idea of soda. Anyways, we have a new kid in our class from Nigeria. His name is Mike and he is very nice. I bet he loves out class because we always have fun and make him feel included and welcomed. I hope that Mike enjoys our class and feels welcomed in our school.

Our Second Power Point

These power points were about the explorers of the Americas. These explorers include Native Americans, Vikings, and Christopher Columbus. My group was responsible for gathering the information about the Vikings. I realized that I should really start to bring home my book that I take note in because I should re type my notes on this blog. Tomorrow I need to remember to bring my book home so I can type up the notes. Our presentation went very well and I positive we all got a good grade on this project. When the Christopher Columbus group presented the first half of their power point, I was intrigued with one interesting factoid on their slide. If I do remember correctly, the slide stated that Christopher Columbus captured some of the Native Americans and made them slaves. He even raped some of the Native American women. I do not want to celebrate Christopher Columbus day anymore because of his disgraceful actions and because he wasn't even the first person to find America; the Native Americans were the first people to find America.

Lost Boys Quiz Rview

So if I am lucky, on the next Human Geo. test or quiz, Mr. Schick will allow us to use our blogs. Because he let us use our blog for the previous quiz, I will blog about the answers to the quiz in hope that I will be able use this blog for the next quiz or test about The Lost Boys.

Three names of the boys: Daniel, Panther, John
Born in the country of : Sudan
Members of the: Dinka tribe
War in Sudan fought between the: Muslim North and the Christian/ Animist South
They left Sudan and crossed the boarder into: Ethiopia
When that country's government fell, they fled to: Kenya
The refugee camp they stayed in we run by the: Untied Nations
They organized themselves into a group to entertain themselves and discuss their situation  This organization was called: parliament
Two of the young men went to the city of: Pittsburgh
The third went to the city of: Syracuse
They noticed a big difference in the way Africans and Americans celebrated the holiday of: Chirstmas
They were required to pay back the money spent on: Air Travel
The "lost boys" held many different jobs including McDonald's: Security Guard and waiter in a restaurant
They were instrumental in building a: school and health clinic back in their "mother home land."

Quiz?

I was completely unaware that we had a quiz today. I came in and Wilfred told me good luck on my quiz. I was so frustrated when I found out that we actually had a quiz on the God Grew Tired of Us. I was thrilled when he gave us 15 whole minutes to quickly study out notes. It was like a roller coaster of anger and happiness in class today. I think i did pretty well on my quiz. I got all the answers write but I misspelled most of them. I would have definitely got an A on the quiz if it was multiple choice or i spelling didn't count. The movie would have been easier to follow if it only about the two boys that lived in Pittsburgh or just about the one lost boy that lived in Syracuse, New York. Alice was wearing a Syracuse sweatshirt when we were talking the quiz and I didn't know how to spell Syracuse so i could have easily looked at her sweatshirt and go the correct spelling but I didn't notice it and took a guess on how to spell Syracuse. I can't wait to get my quiz back.

Helping Out As A Class

I am so excited that we are actually getting involved in an organization that helps people in need. I don't think that we will be able to have John come to our school and speak for a few reasons. One is because it takes $6,000-$10,000 to even have come a speak to us. We also have to pay for his air travel fees and we have to house him. That is a lot of money and I know that it goes to an organization, but I  just don't think that we will be able to raise that significant amount of money. We could try to compromise with him. Maybe we could raise $1,000 and ask him for an hour of his time to Skype with him. That wouldn't be a horrible idea but we wouldn't get the real, true feel of his sufferings if he just Skyped with us. I also could not see how tall he is. Anyways, I hope that by next class we can find a great organization to sponsor.

Helping Out

We all need to help out in some way during our lives or else we will not be purely satisfied with the true happiness you get when you help others in need. I really love to donate money to organizations and help out by volunteering. I just get this awesome feeling inside of me when I help people in need. Getting our class involved with charity and outreach programs is a great idea. I love how Mr. Schick let us take control of the project. I liked how everyone in all the sections could work as a group on one power point document, but sometimes it got annoying. I remember beginning to type up m first charity group, Smile Train, when someone just deleted everything that I types. So I made a new page and began to type on that. Then, more people found my page and began to type on it as well. I didn't mind this but they were moving my words and messing up my spacing. I ended up typing the rest of the charity and outreach groups on a Word document and then pasting them in the online document. This was a pretty neat project and I can't wait to get involved.

Finishing a Great Film

The movie "God Grew Tiered of Us" was institutional and educational. The film inspired me to really look into helping countries that are in distress.  I have looked into participating in the Kony 2012  project and I think it is a great way to help people in need. It would be absolutely amazing if we could get John, a lost boy from the movie, to come a speak to John Carroll. I would be ecstatic if John could come and tell us about his tragedy but hopeful story. This wonderful film also educated people about the issues in Sudan. This movie taught about the war in Sudan, the lost boy's journey, and the hardship immigrants face when the come to America. The ending of the movie was toughing. The movie's main characters, Daniel, Panther, and John, all make a decent living in America. John went began an organization that helps to build health clinics in Africa and, another lost boy went  back to Africa to start a school there as well as marry his girlfriend. My favorite part of the whole movie was when John was reunited with his mother in the airport. You could definitely tell that his mother was so thankful to have her son back and to see him after being separated for 17 years. I am so thankful that I live in America where I don't have to worry about the problems that Sudan's people face.