i finished reading the short story "Escape from Saddam" and thought that this was another great short story that the group picked out for us to read. i like the stories that are real and very descriptive, because it is something that you remember, its not fake or put on its real and is happening. They also make you think. i thought that it was sad how the main character did not want to be in the army but had no choice. he had been called for duty in the army and if he did not join the army then he would be labeled as a deserter. how sad, to not have a choice of your life. when the uncle Saad described what would happen if you did not join the army i was scared for him and the families.

" If any of my colleagues were caught deserting during the Iran Iraqi war they were shot in front of their relative and the families had to pay for the ammunition. they were told it was their fault their sons were being execute because they had allowed their children to grow up into opponents of the regime. "

How sad that the family would have to watch their child die.

Another part in the story that i had to think about was when it said " The officers could not have cared less about our mental education it was our physical education with which they were most concern.

when the main character had to crawl under the barbed wire in 60 seconds while an officer was firing a a machine gun, i would panic. when the main character did this in 68 seconds and the officer wanted him to follow him, i thought that he did a good job for his first time, i had no idea that the officer was mad. then when i read how he beat him up and then said " Next time i tell you to do something in 60 seconds do it in 60 seconds, understood" i was angry and wanted to beat the officer up :)/

What a great family (Army) if their clothes became dirty they were hosed down and then had to wear their wet uniforms.

in class we watched a film called " Waltz with Bashir" this was such a great film. thiw film was a documentary but not like most documentary. this film was almost like a comic book with its pictures and the way it was set up.this was a great animated movie. i believe that this was a smart thing to do because most documentaries are slow and boring, but this film was like a movie. i kept wondering what was going to happen next. i believe this was a great way to show what and how the characters were thinking. something that i thought was key in the movie was when one of the characters was in the tank and the other officer in the tank with him asked him what they were supposed to do, what they were supposed to shoot at. the main character said he did not know, just keep shooting. These soldiers were in the war but had no idea what they were supposed to do , what they were fighting for! i also thought that in the beging when the soldiers were at their destination and they all grabbed their guns and began shooting, at nothing. then a random car with civilians drove to where they all were they shot at it not know what they were doing. they had killed those innocent civilians becasue they did not know what they were doing and becasue they were scared. i also liked how the main character who was doing the documentary kept having the same dream and thoughts about the war but could not remember what had happened. The ending of this documentary was very difficult to watch, it was real and is happening. seeing those women cry and wondering what had happened made me want to cry for them. just seeing the look of pain on their faces was very hard to watch.

A while ago we watched a short film called "Talk to an Iraqi This American Life" i really enjoed watching this film because you had the opportunity to see how an Iraqi answers any questions. i thought that it was very brave for the main charcter, haider Hamza to set up a booth labled "Talk to an Iraqi" knowing that so many citizens have questions about the war. i really enjoyed seeing and listening to everyones concerns and comments. i especially liked listening to the little girl who appologized.Even though her father is in the war she still feels bad. i was caught off guard when the Haider Hamza was on the beach and 2 soliders came up to him and asked him to take off his glasses off and then he put them on, just to make sure that he was not lying. i dont know if i could have sat and set up a booth in the middle east saying "Talk to an American".

our class also read the short story "beheading the cat". i really enjoyed reading this book and knew that the "women" he was talking too was some sort of spirit, ghost. the spirt ends up being his aunt who wants to match him up with a wife. the way the aunt explains the wife was not like a wife but more like a servant or slave. She kepts saying that your wife will do whatever you want her to do. i thought that it was sad how the aunt was demeaning women, isnt she a woman, was she not demeaning herself? Abdul is having trouble dealing with traditional arranged marriages, but values his aunt comments.i really liked how nadine played the part opposite of what hte aunt was trying to convince abdul to marry. Nadine was confident and knew what she watned.

our class had just read the book "Does my head look big in this?" This book was about a 16 year old girl named Amal who decided to wear a hijab. Amal thought about her decision for 4 days. our class was talking about the time she gave herself deciding on if she watned to wear the hijab. we were talking and thinking that 4 days to come up with a decision is a big deal! i dont think that i have thought about a decision for that long, so this was a big deal for her. when Amals mother did not want her to where the hijab i thought about my guest speaker, Gulunar when she did not want her daughter to where the hijab yet. i belive that the reason why they did not want them to where the hijab at that age is becasue thats when they are concidered grown up, they are not kids anymore.:( Especially at the age of 16 your a teen now and a junior in high school. This is definatly huge because at that age there are alot of teasing and immaturity. and for Amal to decide to where it at that age it is alomost like she wanted to remember that day. She put her religion first and did not care what would happen because of her decision. to me this shows who she is. she is very confident, sure of herslef, positive, patient...even when it came to boys she put that on hold because of her religion.She knows who she is as a person!

I really enjoyed the film Arranged. i thought that it was a great introduction to their topic, East mets West. I really liked how these two women met and interacted with eachother. i thought that the principal at the school was a great example of western culture and how we sometimes look at the East. i liked how one of the women left her house beause her mom was driving her crazy about her arranged marriage. i thought that it was great how she went to her cousins house and asked her what she thought. the cousin could not live in her house anymore because of her family, so she went of and lived the way she wanted to. she became westernized, wearing what she watned, saying what she wanted, and lived the way she watned. She then invited her cousin to a party to have her see what it was like. i new that she was going to feel awkward and out of place and unconfortable. i think that this was a wake up call for her that life at home is not all bad. i think that she appreciated her culutre more because of the party.
i loved the activity that the two women did in their class about allowing and knowing others differences and to be accepting of them. i believe that this shows students not to judge because you are different. i really enjoyed this film! great Start GROUP!!

Last week our class finished reading "Memed, My Hawk". Our class had a discussion about this book. This book was about a boy whose family is being starved and punished by a controlling landowner. He then ends up killing the landowner and his nephew. The boy goes to his uncle and tells him that he needs to tell him something. The boy confessed to his uncle that he had killed them, and his uncle was happy and proud of his nephew. PROUD? killing someone. i do understand that this man was a very mean landowner but killing?? nobody has the right to kill. the boy is then has no other option but to live in the mountain side becoming a brigand
when i think of an outlaw i think of the tv show Bonanza. this is an old tv show that takes place out west in Texas. the people have guns and horses, bandannas.