Immigration Reflection
I thought that I made a good choice in choosing the book Brother I’m Dying. I actually found myself enjoying my book from the very beginning. I liked how it started off with a crisis, so it kind of throws you off guard at the very beginning and also how even after they finally get to America, they still have very many hardships to overcome. I learned that you can always change to something you want to be, but it is impossible to change who you are, because you can never forget who you were to begin with for if you do, you might as well have never existed.
I believe that in some ways just blogging about it instead of the sheet was better because it seemed like more people did them then when we had the sheet, so there really was no reason why anyone should not be able to complete one if everyone has a working computer. I did feel that the meetings were a good thing to get everyone caught up or if someone was lost or didn’t understand something. That being said, I think that we should have probably had two, maybe three check-in meetings to hopefully grasp other ideas and to get a deeper meaning out of our peers about the book. It would be a way to get peoples thoughts going again when the book gets a little dry. These would be a good way to refuel people’s thoughts and jumpstart their interest a bit more.
I found it very funny that even though everyone in our group read the same book, the interpretations and reactions as well as comments and responses to certain things, were so very different from one another. Just how everyone can just pull something different out something completely the same was just so phenomenal to me. A lot of times I asked myself, “Are we reading the same book?”
For my art piece I wanted to choose the biggest and deepest part of my book and rip it out from the pages and writing and lay it gently onto a blank white canvas. I wanted to do this so that all may enjoy what the book was all about, for what is a book with no meaning in its words. It’s the same as a treasure chest without its gold or diamonds; an empty trunk. I chose to paint what I thought the moral of the story was so I could bring the heart and soul of the book out for everyone to see whether they read the book or not. I wanted them to see my painting and already have an idea of what the book was about. I tried to paint the struggle between losing what they newly obtained, and losing what they already had. I think that the two sceneries fading into each other really brought out the “push and pull factors of either place.
During the interview process of this project I felt as though I had many problems with contacting my interviewee, I could never get a hold of him or he wouldn’t reply to my emails. My original person was from Latvia and I was very interested in learning about a place I never even knew existed, let alone all the wonders from that place. Places so wonderful like manors and castles dating back as far as the year 1205. It felt as though I was pulling teeth to get some answers and the whole time I'm thinking, has he responded yet? Am I going to be late on my assignment? What’s going to happen? I had to switch all my research and papers to Panama where a different person was from and I had to interview a different person. I had to do background research to find out things like how Panama is the most southern of Central America, Panama is south of Costa Rica and north of Colombia. The Panama Canal allows a passage from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Panama is just a little bit smaller than South Carolina. It is has chain of mountains in the Westside and hills throughout the interior. There are extensive forests in the Caribbean area. I found out that Panama’s government is a Constitutional Democracy.
I learned that Panama was explored by Columbus in 1502 and by Balboa in 1513; Panama was the main shipping point to and from South and Central America in colonial days. In 1821, when Central America fought against Spain, Panama joined Colombia, which had declared its independence. For 82 years, Panama attempted to break away from Colombia. Between 1850 and 1900 Panama had 40 administrations, 50 riots, 5 attempted secessions, and 13 U.S. interventions. After a U.S. proposal for canal rights was rejected by Colombia, Panama declared its independence with U.S. in 1903. The common foods in Panama include ohaldres (pancake things) pollo (chicken), ceviche (raw fish in lemon juice and cilantro), patacones (fried plantain slices), corvina (a white fish from the Pacific), and camarones (shrimp). Though a variety of fruits are grown in Panama, fresh fruit is not served in restaurants as often as in other countries; fruit can be purchased in outdoor markets and at stands along major roads.
I also learned that total population of the Republic of Panama is almost 3,191,319. Mestizo is the largest population in the country. The other minorities of the country are Amerindian and West Indian, white and Amerindian. Spanish is the official language of the country. However, English is also widely spoken in various regions of Panama. Their music is very much appreciated in Panama. The different forms of music in this country are salsa, reggae, merengue, vallenato, etc. However, the local music of Panama such as folklores are also popular here.
Overall, I have learned a great deal of how America came to be from its discovery and first settlements throughout the immigration to Ellis and Angel Island and the Triangle Trade system all the way to our fifty states we live in today.
I believe that in some ways just blogging about it instead of the sheet was better because it seemed like more people did them then when we had the sheet, so there really was no reason why anyone should not be able to complete one if everyone has a working computer. I did feel that the meetings were a good thing to get everyone caught up or if someone was lost or didn’t understand something. That being said, I think that we should have probably had two, maybe three check-in meetings to hopefully grasp other ideas and to get a deeper meaning out of our peers about the book. It would be a way to get peoples thoughts going again when the book gets a little dry. These would be a good way to refuel people’s thoughts and jumpstart their interest a bit more.
I found it very funny that even though everyone in our group read the same book, the interpretations and reactions as well as comments and responses to certain things, were so very different from one another. Just how everyone can just pull something different out something completely the same was just so phenomenal to me. A lot of times I asked myself, “Are we reading the same book?”
For my art piece I wanted to choose the biggest and deepest part of my book and rip it out from the pages and writing and lay it gently onto a blank white canvas. I wanted to do this so that all may enjoy what the book was all about, for what is a book with no meaning in its words. It’s the same as a treasure chest without its gold or diamonds; an empty trunk. I chose to paint what I thought the moral of the story was so I could bring the heart and soul of the book out for everyone to see whether they read the book or not. I wanted them to see my painting and already have an idea of what the book was about. I tried to paint the struggle between losing what they newly obtained, and losing what they already had. I think that the two sceneries fading into each other really brought out the “push and pull factors of either place.
During the interview process of this project I felt as though I had many problems with contacting my interviewee, I could never get a hold of him or he wouldn’t reply to my emails. My original person was from Latvia and I was very interested in learning about a place I never even knew existed, let alone all the wonders from that place. Places so wonderful like manors and castles dating back as far as the year 1205. It felt as though I was pulling teeth to get some answers and the whole time I'm thinking, has he responded yet? Am I going to be late on my assignment? What’s going to happen? I had to switch all my research and papers to Panama where a different person was from and I had to interview a different person. I had to do background research to find out things like how Panama is the most southern of Central America, Panama is south of Costa Rica and north of Colombia. The Panama Canal allows a passage from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Panama is just a little bit smaller than South Carolina. It is has chain of mountains in the Westside and hills throughout the interior. There are extensive forests in the Caribbean area. I found out that Panama’s government is a Constitutional Democracy.
I learned that Panama was explored by Columbus in 1502 and by Balboa in 1513; Panama was the main shipping point to and from South and Central America in colonial days. In 1821, when Central America fought against Spain, Panama joined Colombia, which had declared its independence. For 82 years, Panama attempted to break away from Colombia. Between 1850 and 1900 Panama had 40 administrations, 50 riots, 5 attempted secessions, and 13 U.S. interventions. After a U.S. proposal for canal rights was rejected by Colombia, Panama declared its independence with U.S. in 1903. The common foods in Panama include ohaldres (pancake things) pollo (chicken), ceviche (raw fish in lemon juice and cilantro), patacones (fried plantain slices), corvina (a white fish from the Pacific), and camarones (shrimp). Though a variety of fruits are grown in Panama, fresh fruit is not served in restaurants as often as in other countries; fruit can be purchased in outdoor markets and at stands along major roads.
I also learned that total population of the Republic of Panama is almost 3,191,319. Mestizo is the largest population in the country. The other minorities of the country are Amerindian and West Indian, white and Amerindian. Spanish is the official language of the country. However, English is also widely spoken in various regions of Panama. Their music is very much appreciated in Panama. The different forms of music in this country are salsa, reggae, merengue, vallenato, etc. However, the local music of Panama such as folklores are also popular here.
Overall, I have learned a great deal of how America came to be from its discovery and first settlements throughout the immigration to Ellis and Angel Island and the Triangle Trade system all the way to our fifty states we live in today.
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