HW: 45, #rd and Final Podcast
http://www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&query=&b=play&id=8538&cast=74156&castPage=&autoplay=true
Posted by: qtkel101 | 04-28-2008 | 08:04 PM
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HW: 44, Podcast # 2
http://www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&query=&b=play&id=8538&cast=73357&castPage=&autoplay=true
Posted by: qtkel101 | 04-23-2008 | 07:04 PM
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HW: 42, My First Podcast
http://www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&query=&b=play&id=8538&cast=72888&castPage=&autoplay=true
Posted by: qtkel101 | 04-21-2008 | 07:04 PM
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HW: 41, Date Palms
After reading the assigned reading for homework 41, I was unable to answer the question. But I did however find the reading about Date Palms and their importance to the Iraqi people.
Date palms are almost like oases in a desert. They are green in color and you can see them from a far distance. Riverbend says that just seeing them, bring a sort of peace (103). They bring a sense of satisfaction and admiration. Riverbend also says that they are the pride and joy of a farmers work and that no garden is complete without some type of palm tree (103). During the winters they are very helpful to some species of birds. who come to Iraq to escape the cold weather. These trees also produce dates. There are three different kinds of dates, each with their own texture and flavor. The birds eat them as well as people. There are many different ways to eat them and Riverbend says that you are bound to like at least one of the three types of dates (104). Date palms are important to the Iraqi people because they give them an interesting type of food as well as a sense of peace.
Posted by: qtkel101 | 04-16-2008 | 06:04 PM
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HW: 40, Live in Baghdad
Live in Baghdad
“Iraqi Teens Work to Help Their Families” 10/15/2007 http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/10/15/iraqi-teens-work-to-help-their-families/
This podcast on Alive in Baghdad was about many young children, specifically young boys helping their families by working. Most of them have learned their skills from their fathers or uncles. These kids are beginning to learn these skills at a very young age. Hussein Kamal is a 15 year old boy who used to do carpentry but now he paints furniture. He works with his father and it takes about one hour to get to his work but it should only take about 30 minutes. It takes so long because the routes are not secure. There are many traffic jams and sometime killings on the way to work. When things are really bad, he and his father and younger brother work at home just to be a little safer.
Alive in Baghdad
“Challenges at a Girls School in Baghdad” 5/21/2007 http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/05/21/challenges-at-a-girls-school-in-baghdad/
Al-Safina Middle School is a girls school in Baghdad. There are 225 students but at the beginning of the year there were about 300 but it is because of sectarianism and displacement that forced some girls to leave and join other schools. There is a wide range of experienced teachers and they all say that they risk themselves to help the children learn by walking to school. Some girls say that they are not afraid of hearing the shootings, they just pray. It is tough to be a student in Baghdad because of the danger. There have been many searches and no one know what it will turn out to be.
Posted by: qtkel101 | 04-14-2008 | 06:04 PM
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HW: 35B, Al-Hakim
Al-Hakim was the leader of the supreme council for the Islamic revolution in Iraq. He was a very important figure and he was assassinated on August 29, 2003. There was a massive terrorist car bomb and Hakim along with about 126 others were killed and about 300 more were injured from this attack. Many people saw Hakim as the most powerful moderate voice among the Shiite establishment in Iraq (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan). Hakim has six other brothers but they were all killed. Most of them were killed under Saddam’s rule. People were talking about the death of Hakim, but no one seemed to be very traumatized over it. Many people believe that he was behind some of the bad things that were going on in Iraq, so some people were some what relieved that he was dead.
Posted by: qtkel101 | 04-09-2008 | 06:04 PM
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HW: 35A, Open Letter
After reading the first couple of entries, I became very interested. Hearing your point of view about what is going on between my country and yours, makes me more sad about this whole thing. The only time I hear about what is going on in Iraq, is when I hear it on the news. Listening to the news does not even begin to explain what is really happening over there in Iraq according to your stories. I would be terrified to walk outside of my house at any time because I would never know what was going to happen to me or any where around me. Reading your blog makes me feel like I am actually there and experiencing the same things as you are. On the other hand, I know that I am not. I greatly appreciate that you are sharing the details because it gives us Americans an idea of what is actually happening over there in Iraq.
Posted by: qtkel101 | 04-09-2008 | 06:04 PM
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HW: 33, Annotated Bibliography
Riverbend. Baghdad Burning (2005) New York, New York
This novel is basically a web blog that tells the story of a woman during the Iraqi war that began in 2003.
This book relates to the course because although we are reading it in novel form, it started from a blog. Riverbend is the name that she goes by and she can be found on Blogspot. Riverbend tells her story about the Iraqi war and how she survived it. As we read along we are always wondering what is going to happen next because the way she write, she draws you in and leave you wanting more and more. She writes about politics and her opinions about it and who she likes and who she dislikes. She knows that people may disagree but she is just telling her thoughts how she sees it so others can read it and visualize what it is like to be an Iraqi during this time.
This novel relates to this course because Riverbend is writing a blog and that is what this course is all about. She shows how you can write a story on a blog and how you can have people comment and express their thoughts about what she is writing. Politics is also a very important thing to learn about and although this is not a politics course, it is always good to get some in there so people can have a better understanding of what is going on in the world and what some other people are going through.
Posted by: qtkel101 | 04-01-2008 | 05:04 PM
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HW: 32, Baghdad Burning
The foreward of the novel Baghdad Burningby Ahdaf Soueif is and introduction of the blogger named Riverbend and her experience with the Iraq war. She is a women living in the mist of all the action. She is experiencing the war first hand yet she is quite often receiving e mails and messages from people who fully support the war. She believes that those people who are sending these e mails are doing that because they know that they are behind a computer screen safe and all they can get back from it is another comment (Soueif vii). During this whole thing Riverbend is sharing this experience with her brother. This is a blog where she talks about her experiences with the blog world and people have a chance to comment back with their opinions. This book is basically her blog in novel form.
The introduction is written by James Ridgeway and he is introducing the young female blogger who goes by the name of Riverbend. It is described as a “girl blog from Iraq” (Ridgeway xi) He states that this novel about her blog will make you think and her war becomes your war (Ridgeway xii). Ridgeway also says that there is a lot of talk about politics in this novel and some of it is criticizing our current president George Bush. This novel is supposed to be a great read and some say that once your start reading, you will not be able to stop.
I don’t remember much from when the war started in 2003 but I do remember that we were learning about all the past wars in my social studies classed and it was brought up that we were at war with another country. All I can remember thinking was that it was so weird that we are going through all of the horrible things that I have been learning about the past wars. It was all happening in my lifetime, which I never thought it would. Now I think back and I realize that it will be my children who will be learning about the “war on terror” in their social studies classes.
Posted by: qtkel101 | 03-31-2008 | 08:03 PM
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HW: 30, A Room of My Own
“They shared a laboratory together…” (Woolf 83) is a quote from Virginia Woolf’s, A Room of One’s Own. In this novel, Woolf is describing some of the lives of women through the years and their ability to have freedom or in other words, a room of one’s own. I live in a college dorm therefore I share my room with one roommate. Although I am never here alone, sometimes I feel like I do have a room of my own. I have been friends with my roommate for many years, so we are very comfortable with each other. We respect each other. We have talked and if one of us needed privacy, whether it is to do some work or we just want the room to our self, that we would respect the other and try and give it to them. Although it is not like actually having my own room because I have to make sure that I keep my things on my side, etc.
Another quote from Woolf’s novel is, “The fascination of the London street is that no two people are ever alike,…” (Woolf 95) This is a very true statement. Everyone is different and sometimes having two people together that are very different can cause problems. I do not have that problem with my roommate. We get along very well and we love living in the same room together. Some people on the other hand don’t get along. They don’t respect each others things and they make the experience miserable. Having a room of one’s room can sometimes help people get closer to each other because it leaves no room for fights. Living alone gives people the opportunity to be an individual.
Posted by: qtkel101 | 03-26-2008 | 06:03 PM
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