Final Blogpost Reflection

      As part of our methods of evaluation in the Journey in Literature English class we had to create a blog. The main purpose of it was to make us, the students, reflect about the readings made in class. After each reading and/or activity we attended we had to write a blogpost about it. One of the various requirements for the blog was to layer it. It was necessary to add links, pictures and videos to make it more interesting. Also, another requirement was that we needed to have a total of ten blogs. I know to some it may not seem like much, but to me it did. At the beginning, I wasn’t very fond of the idea of having to do a blog; I guess it was because I had never done one before. 

 

    At first, it was a little tedious learning to set up the blog but I quickly got the hang of it. I really started to enjoy having to write the blogs because, in fact, it made me concentrate on the readings even more so than before. One of my favorite things to do was to read my group’s blogs and give them some feedback. Furthermore, to me it is always interesting to see how various people can interpret the same reading in different ways. You can always learn a great deal from other people’s points of view. Looking back, I got to say that my top two favorite posts from my blog have to be Day as a Tourist and Life is a Trip, because those were the ones that I liked writing the most.

     Overall, even though it is time consuming, I think that the blog is a nice and different way to evaluate students. Some students like it and some don’t, but it’s cool to change things up every once in a while.  If it had not been for this class assignment I don’t think I would have ever done a blog. Nevertheless, I am glad that I got to experience what doing one is like.

Geography of Bliss

     In his book, Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner talks about his search for the happiest places in the world. During chapter 10 titled “America” he describes how happiness is perceived in the United States. A few of the things he mentions are that, the United States is the world’s twenty third happiest nation and that it is not as happy as it is wealthy. In the following I will discuss some interesting quotes from the reading.

“Clearly, one dynamic at work is rising expectations. We compare ourselves not to the America of 1950 but to the America of today and, more specifically to our neighbors of today. We give lip service to the notion that money can’t buy happiness but act as if it does. When asked what would improve the quality of their lives, Americans’ number one answer was money” (Weiner, 424).

     People will always have rising expectations that prevent them from being happy as long as they keep comparing themselves to others. Humans can never be truly happy if they are always wanting, what the other person has. Furthermore, being the capitalist and consumeristic society that America is has definitely influenced their views on happiness. To most of them money equals happiness, money is everything.  Hence, the more money you have the happier you are supposed to be. If they act like this it is because they were taught by society and learned to be this way.

"We are able to acquire many of the things that we think will make us happy and therefore suffer the confusion and disappointment when they do not" (Weiner, 425).

     This quote is the perfect example that money cannot buy happiness. The reason why people feel disappointed and confused when they acquire things they thought would make them happy and they did not, it’s because people tend to have the misconception that money can buy happiness, when in fact it can’t. Sadly, some people have a bad habit of measuring happiness with wealth and the amount of materialistic things they can possess. How they should really measure happiness is by quality of life; as long as you have health, family and a home you should be happy.

"The problem with finding paradise is that others might find it, too... Paradise is a moving target" (Weiner, 437).

     You do not want your paradise to be another person's paradise. Paradise is someone's happy place, where they feel most comfortable and at home. When other people find paradise in the same place you found yours, there is a chance that it will stop being your paradise because it will have lost what made it so special to you; and you will move on in search of a new one. Therefore, paradise is a moving target; it is a place that may or may not change throughout your life.

 

Teaching English

      In chapter seven titled “Teaching English”, Jim Copper, talks about his experience as an English professor during the 1950’s at The University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez; also known as el Colegio. During his time there he was named chairman of the Committee to Discuss the English Syllabus. After noticing that the students were struggling with learning English, he along with the help of some colleagues changed the syllabus and created a new outline for the English language program. They did this as a way to help the students in their learning process. Up next I’ll discuss some quotes from the reading.

 “He was one of many continentals who didn’t believe Puerto Ricans were capable of learning anything anyway” (Cooper, 69).

     It is terrible to know that this is what many continentals thought of Puerto Ricans. They saw us as inferior people who were not capable of learning anything. As a matter of fact, I find that to be extremely insulting and unfair, because they were most likely basing their opinions on the fact that most Puerto Ricans had a difficult time learning English. But, how would they not have a hard time learning it when the models and methods that were being utilized on the island were originally made for other countries with dissimilar ways of teaching? It was definitely an unjust situation.

“Despite the failings of the syllabus, we did have one very important thing working in our favor in the classroom. The students wanted to learn English and wanted to communicate in it” (Cooper, 69).

     This quote immediately makes me think of that proverb that says “were there’s a will there’s a way”. Even though the first syllabus was not tailored to the specific needs of the students, they were not going to let that stop them. They wanted to learn English and were willing to work hard in order to do so. It was the student’s sheer determination that made Cooper, and a few others, work hard to develop a new syllabus better suited for the students.

“I cannot pretend that our program was any model of its kind , but it was tailored to the specific needs of our students, recognizing that while many of them were reasonably fluent  in spoken English and able to carry on a social conversation on an elementary level, they could not read or write the language at all well”(Cooper, 71).

     Here we can see that Cooper fabricated a program that was not perfect, but contained what was necessary to specifically help the Puerto Rican students. It is important to keep in mind that a single program or model will not function the way it is intended to for every student out there; due to the fact that ways of teaching may vary from place to place. That is why programs or models should be individually tailored to the specific needs of the students.

Life is a Trip

     In chapter five of her book Life is a Trip, Judith Fein, talks about searching for forgiveness in Vietnam. In this part of the book she recounts the story of when she went to Vietnam because she wanted to know what had happened to them since the war, and how they felt toward Americans after all those years. What she found out surprised her; the Vietnamese felt nothing but forgiveness for the Americans and their country was thriving.  In the following I will discuss some quotes that stood out to me the most from the reading.

“I didn’t want to go to war either. What did I know or care about Lenin and socialism at age eighteen? I wanted to stay home and play rock ‘n’ roll songs on my guitar” (Fein, 35).

     How many soldiers from both sides must have felt this way? Some were drafted and others volunteered, however, there were those who did not know what they had signed up for. It is shocking to think about how many of them did not actually want to be there. Also, some did not care or really understood why they were doing what they were doing. They were much too young; a teenager who’s mind is on teenage stuff and is not mature enough to understand what is going on does not belong in a war. Sadly many of them died before they even had a chance to really start living life.

“We have even met with American soldiers who came back here. They arrived full of guilt and some went to apologize in villages where they had killed people. We embraced them and we even cried together” (Fein, 32).

      What is stated in this quote would not have been possible without forgiveness. Forgiveness is a very powerful and beautiful thing that not everyone is able to give to others or to themselves. These soldiers had been carrying around guilt and resentment for years if not decades. All these are feelings that eat at, destroy and kill you little by little each day. The only way to move on from those weights that pull you down is to apologize, seek forgiveness and to forgive yourself. If it takes a big person to apologize, it takes an even bigger person to forgive. This quote is filled with great emotion that represents the power of forgiveness.

“There was no difference between the American soldiers and me. We were both caught up in a situation and circumstances. When I realized that, I could give up my anger. Now, I think of those soldiers with compassion” (Fein, 35).

      Indeed, there was no difference between them because both sides were fighting for their homeland and what they believed was right. That is what they had in common. It is possible that he saw himself reflected on those American soldiers and realized that in that sense they were just like him. Then, somehow because of that he started to think of them with compassion, maybe even hoping that they would feel the same way toward him. It was that feeling of sameness and identification with the other that helped the Vietnamese soldier give up the anger he felt for the American soldiers.

 

In closing I leave you, the readers, a video of a song called Civil War by the band Guns N' Roses. This is a song with amazing lyrics that refer to "war" in general. I hope you enjoy it!

 

 

 

Student Research and Writing Conference Reflection

     This past Wednesday, I attended the 8th Annual Student Research and Writing Conference. It was mandatory for me to be there because some of my classmates from The Journey in Literature class were going to be participating in the conference. Their panel was going to be about "Jungian Journeys: An Analysis of Memories, Dreams, Reflections". For this activity I, along with some classmates volunteered as ushers. My job was to welcome people and help them register before they entered the amphitheater were the conference was taking place. Honestly, I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did. But, in the end, I really liked interacting with people. This took place during the morning and in the afternoon I returned to see the presentation my classmates had prepared.

     Everybody from our class that was not presenting was there in support of those who were. As they took the stage I was really excited for them, and at the same time I was hoping that they wouldn’t get nervous because nerves are horrible to have; especially if you’re talking in front of large groups of people. However, they all looked pretty confident and in control as they talked to the audience. When the time for questions came around, each of them was asked a couple of ones, to which they all answered very well. Then, as they left the stage, the crowd burst into a big round of applause. In that moment, I could not have felt happier and prouder for my classmates.

     Afterward, I stuck around a little while longer and listened to the following presentation which was about "The Arrabales of Puerto Rico: An Ethnographic Approach". The presenter was an economy graduate student. Among the things he talked about, he mentioned the struggles that certain Puerto Ricans faced back in the day while trying to make a better life for themselves. As he spoke, I couldn’t help but to think about a play I read back when I was in high school named "La Carreta" by René Marqués. In fact, it depicts what he was talking about remarkably well.

     In short, the conference was really informative and there were some good presentations that took place. Also, I had a lot of fun being an usher and I enjoyed watching my classmates give their presentation. I hope that this activity keeps going strong year after year, because it’s a good way to showcase different educational themes, and to give student who like it, the opportunity to get in front of an audience and present those themes.

My Day as a Tourist

      As a class assignment I had to spend a day as a tourist in any place I wanted in Puerto Rico. When I think about places of interest for tourists in this island, I immediately think of Old San Juan. So, when the time came for me to decide where I wanted to go, I chose Old San Juan as my destination.

     I started my day thinking about what I was going to wear, so I would be able to look as much as a tourist as possible. After giving it some thought I ended up wearing jean shorts, a tee, sandals, a big sun hat, sunglasses, and a fanny pack. In my eyes, this is how most stereotypical tourists look like. Once I figured out how I was going to look the part, I decided that I was going to pretend to be a tourist from the United States, because for me it is easier to talk in English than to imitate a Spanish accent from another place.

     When I got to Old San Juan the first thing I did was to take a tour of El Morro. It had been years since I’d done it, so it felt like I was seeing all of it for the first time. I quietly observed everything around me, took it in, and relished in the beauty of my surroundings. The people who work there were very helpful when I asked them for directions on how to get to Raíces, the restaurant I went to for lunch. When I got to the restaurant I ordered a piña colada and one of their specialties, a skirt steak mofongo stuffed with chimichurri. The waiter was very nice and the food was delicious. The all-around service was excellent. Then, as my outing began to come to a close I went to Señor Paleta for dessert and got a strawberry cheesecake popsicle.

 

     In Short, I had a fun and relaxing time during my day as a tourist. At the beginning I was a little skeptical because I thought I wasn’t going to look and sound the part, but in the end I was able to pull it off. In fact, various times I was spoken to in English before I even said a word. The people I interacted with were very kind and friendly; some even went out of their way to make sure I was having an enjoyable time. This goes to show that people want tourists to leave the places they visit with a good impression. Furthermore, this activity was a great way for me to appreciate my cultural heritage even more.

 

 

Journey Journal Completion

     This past week I finished my Journey Journal assignment. It had a duration of eight weeks and it consisted of forty entries (five per week), and twenty four life compasses (three per week). I had to write whatever came to mind during ten minutes while following the five anti-rules which were: keep your hand moving, don't cross out, don't worry about spelling, punctuation or grammar, lose control, don't think don't get logical, and go for the jugular. The objective of this journal was to help us, the students, reflect and learn more about our internal journeys.

 

     At the beginning, some of the anti-rules were difficult for me to follow. When I first started writing I would get logical because I am used to writing about specific subjects and not about whatever comes to mind; as I realized that I would stop moving my hand and then my mind would go blank. Also, being the perfectionist that I am, it was hard not to cross out words because I had misspelled them. Nevertheless, after the first few entries I started getting the hang of things and my writing process improved. My thoughts became more continuous and fluent, therefore I didn’t stop moving my hand. Moreover, as the weeks went on I realized that, for the most part, I was actually enjoying the whole writing process. My mood definitely influenced how I felt about it; most days I looked forward to writing, others not so much. There were times that going for the jugular was easy, whereas occasionally it was not. For me it is riveting to see how one’s mind-set can affect the writing process.

     On the other hand, the life compasses were fun to do. A life compass consisted of a circle with a swirl in the middle to represent that it’s ever-changing, and its four categories were: spiritual, mental, emotional and physical. In each one you could put 1-3 depending on how you were feeling and then you had to write why you put that certain number. The bar graph below represents the numbers of all my life compasses.

 

     In the graph above we can see that in twenty one of the twenty four life compasses I had a total number of eight through twelve, and only in three I had a total number of six through seven. Evidently, the average numbers show that in general I am a content person who feels she is in a good place, most of the time.

     In short, I started this whole Journey Journal thinking that it was going to be horrible and that I was not going to like it. However, I was wrong because as time went on I started to realize that I actually enjoyed it. One of the things I learned is that I should be more open to trying out new things such as writing; even if I think I won’t like it because you’ll never really know until you try it, and when you do you might even surprise yourself. Furthermore, a thing that I already knew about myself but saw reflected in the life compasses is that I’m a happy human being. Lastly, what I hope to take away from all of this is the daily habit of sitting down to write whatever I’m feeling and thinking as a way to keep track of my lifelong internal journey.

A Small Place

     In her book, A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid talks about her native Caribbean island, Antigua. She does this through the perspective of a tourist, this being the main theme present in the reading, aside from the political theme which is present as well. In this post I will discuss three quotes that caught my attention, regarding the tourist topic, as I did the reading.

"Oh, what a marvelous change these bad roads are from the splendid highways I am used to in North America" (Kincaid 5).

     In this first quote, Kincaid is giving us an example of a thought that a tourist may have in relation to the change in scenery and roads between their homeland and Antigua, the place they're visiting for vacation. For me this quote is very relatable because in Puerto Rico most of the roads are in a bad state. Therefore, the times that I've been in other places one of the first things I notice is the difference in the quality of the roads. Usually they're smoother and it feels like you're walking on clouds. Nonetheless, coming from a tourist a comment like this one may be interpreted the wrong way by a local. It may seem to them kind of ignorant for someone to actually enjoy traveling on a bad road, when most likely they want it fixed and have been waiting for a long time for the government to take action.

"The thing you have always suspected about yourself the minute you become a tourist is true: A tourist in an ugly human being. You are not an ugly person all the time; you are not an ugly person ordinarily; you are not an ugly person day to day" (Kincaid 14).

     Indeed, a tourist can be an ugly human being, especially from the point of view of the native. One may ask why or in what sense? Well many people see tourists as ignorant individuals mostly because when they vacation somewhere, they tend to think the place is perfect based on what little time they spend there and the handful of pre chosen places they visit; meanwhile being completely oblivious to the political, economical and social problems that local people endure every day. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean that they're like that in their every day life. Countless Puerto Ricans feel this way toward tourists. However, it's important to recognize that not all tourists are the same. There are those who are informed and know about those types of problems.

"That the native does not like the tourist is not hard to explain. For every native of every place is a potential tourist, and every tourist is a native of somewhere. Every native everywhere lives a life of overwhelming and crushing banality and boredom and desperation and depression, and every deed, good and bad, is an attempt to forget this. Every native would like to find a way out, every native would like a rest, every native would like a tour. But some natives -most natives in the world- cannot go anywhere" (Kincaid 18).

     Certainly, there are locals who do not like tourists. In fact, they think that they are a hindrance and that they damage the view and landscape of the city. Every native can be a tourist and every tourist is a native. Kincaid establishes that every native would like a tour but that most cannot go anywhere. This is most likely due to economical reasons. Also, it may be a factor that fuels the locals dislike of tourists. They want to travel, get to know other places and relax just like the vacationers that come to their country, but sadly it is out of their reach. This is the case of many natives all over the world.

Literary Contest Reflection

     This past Wednesday I attended the English Literary Contest Awards Ceremony. Our class group was there in support of three of our classmates who got recognized for their participation. The awards given were distributed into the following categories: essay, poetry and short story.  In general, the activity was good and mostly organized. It began with an introduction and then it was followed by a presentation with tips on how to improve as a writer. They exhorted aspiring writers to enter in literary contests, seek mentors and read contemporary fiction or poetry, among other things. The tips given were really nice and I found they were very helpful if you’re someone who is interested in that area. 

       After that, came my favorite part of the whole activity. The university's Tuna band performed a few songs and it was great as always. I never get tired of seeing them preform and I enjoy listening to the music they play. When they finished their part, it was time to present the winners of the competition and hand them their awards. One thing I noticed during this part was that most of the winners were girls. Every time one of the winners would get called to go onstage the people in the audience clapped very loudly. It was pleasant to see that many of the people in the audience were the parents of student who were being recognized.  All of them were there in support of their children, beaming with pride and joy. I was happy to see my classmates get acknowledged for their participation. The activity ended right after that with the whole group of winners being photographed onstage.

     In short, this was the first awards ceremony of any sorts that I’ve attended in college up to now. It was brief and precise but very enjoyable. I think it is important to do activities like this more often, where students are recognized for their literary creations. There are many with great creative minds and immense potential who need to be heard.

   

The Roots of Caribbean Identity

     In his book, The Roots of Caribbean Identity: Language, Race and Ecology, Peter Roberts talks about what type of criteria is commonly utilized today to identify human beings with. The ones he mainly mentions are: country, language, race, and sameness/difference. All of these intertwine and have a correlation with each other. In the following, I'll discuss three quotes that stood out to me the most from the reading.

"Language therefore establishes bonds between all communities of human beings but at the same time set up barriers between communities. Human beings, however, are not restricted to use of a single language and cross barriers" (Roberts 2).

     In this first quote, Roberts basically says that people who speak the same language can be united by it, and those that don't can be separated by it. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that there aren't people who learn more than one language and break down the barriers between communities. For instance, when Puerto Ricans and individuals from other nationalities, move to another country and have to learn another language, at the beginning they tend to be tight knit with those that share the same one as them and separated from those that don't; until they start learning the new language and become a part of more than one community, breaking down the barriers. I think that when you're an immigrant you need to learn the language of the place you're going; and if you are one of the locals you have to be more accepting of those who try their best to fit in. This is something that everybody should always remember.

"The perception of sameness logically implies the perception of difference, which in turn implies that those who are perceived as different are treated differently" (Roberts 3).

     You can't have sameness without difference. Indeed, those who are perceived as different are treated differently. Morally it's the wrong thing to do, but I've seen it happen. A good example can be the way- I emphasize NOT ALL- but some Puerto Ricans perceive immigrants that come to the island. When they don't find sameness with them, most of the time they get treated differently. Nonetheless, the same happens with immigrants almost everywhere including Puerto Ricans. Most of the time I think it's because people have very little acceptance for those who have different cultural identities and beliefs; because they don't want to be influenced by them and think they may be damaging to their own culture. However, I think one should treat those who you perceive the same, as those who you perceive different. That's how I try to be, equal with everybody.  

"While behavior may in some objective way be the best criterion for judging sameness, it is the sense of sight (color/race) and sound (language) that provided the initial and usually most deep-seated conclusions about sameness and difference in identity" (Roberts 5). 

     I couldn't agree more with what he establishes here. We as individuals tend to make assessments of how similar or different a person is from us based on appearance and make conclusions based on that. But the reality is that it isn't a good way to judge sameness because not having similar appearances doesn't mean that you won't share the same type of behavior. In fact, I think it's something that we get influenced on by society from a very young age. They say that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but most of the time that's what we as people do. It's a defective quality to possess as a person, but it's one that's sadly present in many Puerto Ricans and individuals from other nationalities too. Personally, I tend to judge sameness and difference in identity based on behavior and personality instead of doing it by sight and sound, because humanity is composed by such a wide array of color, race and language that if that's the first thing you look at then you'll always notice the difference first instead of the sameness.

My Journey Journal

     Hello! Welcome to my blog. My name is Natalia Soler. I am currently in my sophomore year at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus; and I major in Environmental Science. Once you get to know me I am a nice person who is always willing to help those in need. I started this blog as a project for my Journey in Literature English class. One of the objectives of this class is to make us, the students, discover and reflect about our life journey. It can be divided into internal and external journey. The first assignment we did to represent this was a journey journal and we had to cover it with pictures that reflected our journeys. These are some pictures of my journal:

    

     The collage making process was really fun. I truly enjoyed searching for the right pictures to represent my journeys.  I consider my internal journey to be self-discovery. I want to know who am I really, what inspires me, what fills me and what moves me. I want to find my own way. That's what the compass picture represents. The picture of the owl to me represents wisdom, something I hope to achieve. I love the idea of wisdom being something that you gain through life experiences and self-growth. It's a quality that you accumulate throughout your lifespan. Moreover, my external journey is world travel. I would like to travel the world, learn about different cultures and meet new people. We as individuals are always learning and growing and I think it's very important to exploit that to the maximum. Never stop learning and never stop growing. Lastly, I hope that this class will help me expand and acquire new knowledge. I am really excited to see what is in store for me this semester.