Just Me

The Nutcracker

2008-12-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

This ballet performance has to be the most beautiful one ever. I went to the Miami Dade Auditorium on saturday and was taken away by the amazing dancing and music. The show was about 2 hours long, but it flew by so very fast! I usually get bored at shows, but this one kept me entertained. In the finale,the SugarPlum Fairy dancing with the Nutcracker combined with the classical peice of music brought chills to my spine and tears down my cheek. If anybody ever wants to see a great ballet, attend the Nutcracker ballet, it is playing this saturday again.

Family, what does it mean anymore?

2008-12-09T14:56:00.000-08:00

I remember always waking up and eating breakfast with my parents and my sister. When my dad would drop my off and pick me up from school, he would park the car and always get down. Family seemed more important back then, I would make things for my parents on christmas becuase I had no money to buy them gifts. Now, it is like all of a sudden things just changed. Parents drop off their kids from the car and leave them at school afterhours becuase of work. Everybody wakes up at different times. therefore eat breakfats at different times and the same goes for dinner. Now during the holidays is the time to be with family and cherish them, but people are out and about doing their own things with friends. Some families don't even buy a christmas tree becuase they say that there is no point in having one becuase you have to go through the trouble of taking it down. What is going on ? =(

handeling school, work , and home... not as easy as I thought

2008-12-09T14:42:00.000-08:00

So I recentley started my job at Macy's, go to school everyday, and still manage to keep my home together! At first I thought it would be a piece of cake to work mondays, wednesdays and fridays in the evening after school and on the weekends as well, but then reality struck and I literally found a white hair on my head! I wake up at six a.m., get ready, make breakfast, go to school, then drive to work (changing clothes in the car) and later get home around seven p.m. to spend the next few hours with my son. It's overwhelming and I think that maybe I should tone it down a bit and work less hours. My grades haven't been effected but I find myself very tired at the end of the day.

Job hunting

2008-11-08T07:07:00.000-08:00

I would say that looking for a job is so irritating. You think you found the right job, and then the hours get too long or they cut them short. Managers seem to take advantage of young adults and think that becuase they are young, they somehow don't have a life. I am looking for a part time job nearby, and it is very frustrating. I tell all the managers that I go to school full time and they don't seem to admire that. I mean I would never want to quit college for a minimum wage-paying job, but I understand why college students slack off or drop out in the middle of the year. I am now considering not working at all just becuase I don't want to get cuaght up in that habbit.

"Santa's"

2008-10-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

The local fair that only comes around once a year is called Santa's Enchated Forrest. At this event, there are thousands of trees covered with christmas lights and many christmas decorations. There are also many rides and some rollercoasters. The food at this fair is the usual "fair food", such as popcorn, cotton candy, corn dogs, elephant ears, ice cream, pizza, corn on the cobb, and different meats on a stick. The idea of this type of food at the fair is that it is easy to eat as you keep walking. It is sort of like "food on the go".

Those who attend this fair for the first time would learn alot about christmas and the way America celebrates it. Many other countries celebrate Christmas differently than America. They would learn about Santa Cluase, his elfs, and the "North Pole". The way America values the concept of Santa Clause bringing toys to children all over the world at midnight would probably be new to them.
When it comes to food, what makes a dish traditional is it's cultural background. For example, if one serves you a plate of black beans with rice and fried plantains, yuca and ground beef, you would probably figure out that the dish is hispanic. Or if you go to somebody's house and they serve you pasta with tomato sauce, parmaesan cheese and some garlic rolls, the word Italian would probably come to your mind. The difference between calling a food traditional and simply describing people's eating preferences is that a dish with certain types of food brought together is already a tradition. For example, if you eat black beans you'd probably want some white rice. However, people's eating preferences differ from traditional dishes in different ways. One way, is maybe one person likes to eat their eggs with onions and peppers, but the other just likes their eggs with ketchup. Another way is when a person prefers their meat rare, and the other person prefers their meat well done.

Traditions

2008-10-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

I really like the subject that we are learning about. I never really stopped to notice how our lives revolve around so many traditions. Ask yourself this, why do we eat cake on our birthday? Or, why do we buy a christmas tree and decorate it? It is amazing to think that all of these traditions didn't exist at one time. I just heard today, after class, of a new tradition in which on new years day, one has to wear a brand new outfit (underwears and all), and also the shirt or dress must be red. My family has this belief that when the clock strikes twelve on new years, you must eat grapes and drink wine for good luck on the upcoming year.

Moving

2008-10-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished moving houses for like the hundredth time in my life. I really dislike moving. Who doesn't? You end up throwing away half of your things, loosing important papers, probably breaking or wasting away your furniture and having no cable or internet for like a week. My parents seem to love moving alot. I was born here in Miami. Then, when I was almost two years old, we moved to California. In California, I remember living in about seven different houses and attending about four different elementary schools. When I turned ten, my parents decided to take a road trip to live in Miami again. Ever since we moved back here to Miami, we have owned three houses and have rented about seven. I always wonder if maybe they just like change. Or maybe this habbit of moving so much represents instability. Now they would like to buy a house in California. I'm going crazy here. I hope that when I own my first house, that I stay there for a very long time.

How does one choose what they want to be?

2008-10-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

I am having difficulties trying to decide exactly what career path I should choose. In my first semester at Miami Dade College, I had this freshman class that was supposed to help me in this situation, but it really didn't. I mean I do not want to be one of those people that keep changing their majors and stay in college for too long. I wonder what motivates a doctor to become a doctor, a teacher to become a teacher, and a lawyer to become a lawyer. I love to read (sometimes), don't like the nursing field, can't imagine becomming a lawyer (boring), dislike offices, love children and babies and... oh yea, I love dogs. I wonder if a good percentage of the world choose the wrong career for them and end up being miserable for the rest of their lives. That's pretty scarey. I have taken the career assessment exam and it insisted that I become a farmer. A farmer? What kind of money do farmers make? I found that kind of silly.

Is Spanish the new English?

2008-09-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

So, I was with my bestfriend who is Colombian, one day at her uncle's house. I didn't know how to speak spanish as well as I do now, but my bestfriend spoke spanish so fast and so very well, that there were times I wouldn't clearly understand what she had to say. Her family, as well, spoke spanish very fast and very different than my family. As her uncle began to speak to me, I would answer some questions and then nodd my head as if I were agreeing with everything he said. Finally, he noticed that I was nodding too much and asked me where I was from. I told him that I was Cuban, but he wouldn't believe me. He asked me if I was born and raised there, and I told him no. My parents were born and raised in Cuba. He and the family insisted that I was a "gringa". A "gringa" is an all American white person to Hispanics. Of course I obviousley was the only "gringa" there, so I felt out of place. I'm not a "gringa", I'm actually very cuban, but of course Cubans are so different than Colombians that I stand out in the crowd. I never told my bestfriend, but it really hurt my feelings. I felt kind of discriminated. So, to get my point accross, is it now a requirement to speak spanish in Miami? On the radio the other day, I was listening to an issue that a woman had with a cashier in a fast food drive-in. The cashier did not speak good english, and the customer did not speak spanish. In the end, the customer was rediculed on how she lives in Miami and does not know spanish.

Identity

2008-09-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

To me, identity means alot of things. It is who you are. It is where you came from, how you became to be, the choices you've made and experiences you've been through. My personality, I would say, is nice. But my identity isn't just nice. I'm also a very picky person. Sometimes I have a short temper and blow things out of porportion. I am Cuban American, born in Miami and raised in Simi Valley, California. My parents are both Cuban and I have an older sister. If you see both my sister and I, we are completely different. My sister came out like my mom (personality wise) and I came out like my dad (personality and physically). Therefore, some aspects of identity you are born with. Over the years my personality, attitude and character have changed alot. I think that without an identity, people would just be lost and confused.

Hectic semester!

2008-09-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

For the past semesters that I have spent in Miami Dade College, I've never seen such busy parking lots! The moment I enter through the west side of the campus, cars are already parked along the grass. Even the furthest parking lots get filled up quick. Plus, the moment you find a person walking towards the parking lot to leave, there's already at least one or two cars chasing them. This morning I had some luck! I spent about 25 minutes driving around each parking lot of Miami Dade College. Then finally, I saw that a car was leaving it's parking spot. It was the most perfect parking spot, closest to school. As I already had my turning blinker on, I start opening to make my turn into the open space. Before I knew it, some little white car managed to slip through and steel my parking space! As usual, I got very late to my 9:50 am class. I think the college sould consider making more parking lots, another parking garage, or some sort of valet parking for students and professors. If there is that many students and professors attending the college, there should definately be available parking.

Writing: a complex process!!

2008-08-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

From reading the beginning of chapter 3 in The New Century Handbook, I have discovered that writing is more complex than I imagined. Sure I've written many essays and journals throughout highschool and some college, but I really wasn't aware of rhetorical stance and persona. I would usually just brainstorm ideas, then I would just put them together in an essay. It would make sense to prewrite and revise what I write. This class seems very interesting so far and I plan to learn a whole lot from this class and apply my learnings to my writing.