Blog Post #16: Goodbye, we had lots of good times!

I had a lot of fun using Blogger for this unit, I can't wait to start my own real blog.
Thanks to Marina Budhos for writing this book, to Dan, for being sure we did our homework properly (annotation and all), and to the class for being great about blogging and commenting.
I also found out that Flushing is really a real place, so hopefully I'll visit it someday.
That would be really fun!
Bye until next time!

Blog Post #15: Chapter 17, 18, & Endnote Reading

I really didn't like these two chapters very much, they seemed a bit unrealistic, if very hopeful, which we must give them credit for. The comparisons and visuals are so good, I feel like maybe the author should concentrate on poetry or something so that the grammar that she uses could be more selective and brief; I feel like she got a bit tripped up on all the technicalities and that it dimmed the light of the comparisons and other parts of the book.
On with it:
Interesting sentence:
"When the gavel cracks, wood on wood, the air seems to explode with light. Abba turns around and I see he is crying silent tears." page 159
I felt that, as I just said, this ending was slightly unrealistic. I do not really think that anyone could go into a courtroom and have their problems solved just like that. But hey, I've never been to court, so I how would I know?
As I was reading the end-note, I thought that the government's treatment of the Muslims was extremely unfair. The govt. was viewing them as one whole group when I'm sure they felt that there are huge differences from the Muslims of Bangladesh are different from Muslims in other places. If you look up Muslim, you find out that Muslims are not JUST from one place. Minority groupings of Muslims can even be found in China, North and South America, and Europe. If you are a Muslim from China, you would not look anything like a Muslim from Bangladesh. The govt. of America was not being kind to these people and as Aisha said at her graduation. She wants what they want. A future.

Blog Post #14: Chapter 16 Reading

Interesting sentence:
"She laughs, tipping the can against her teeth, her voice sounding hollow and tinny. 'Do you really believe that?'
'Yes.'
She snorts." page 147
I could really hate her right now, if I didn't think that she is SERIOUSLY misunderstood and would benefit from a good long session (a few of them) with a psychiatrist.
She needs help. She's just not getting it.
Help for her could be anything, it could be as simple as telling someone what's really going on, which is what Nadira was suggesting, going to tell Mr. Friedlander, I really think that they should tell him. They would totally make Aisha Valedictorian, but I'm not sure if she deserves it because she's been so rude to Nadira. I know that her relationship with her sister has no direct impact on her studies, but I believe that the Valedictorian should be a kind and respectful person as well as excellent at her studies.
I don't feel that Aisha is very respectful of Nadira and her feelings. She (Aisha) needs to grow up a bit and then take another look at things. That's what I think anyway. Not everything is about what is going in school or your academic achievements and I don't think that Aisha's quite realized that yet.

Blog Post #13: Chapter 15 Reading (x-ray vision and arm waving)

Interesting sentence:
"I have my papers in my backpack, and I want to run down the aisle like I'm in some movie scene and stop in front of the defense table and wave my arms." page 129

I really liked this chapter, besides Nadira's apparent paranoia. People do NOT have x-ray vision to see through your backpack. No worries though, you might get called out on something, but it won't be taking money from a family account. Nadira seems like she really has taken a step forward, but she still seems too timid to me. Ah well... can't have everything!
I really like that Nadira took a step out for herself and her family.
It makes me really happy but she needs to let go of some of that paranoia or I will personally slap her (figuratively).
: )

Blog Post #12: Chapter 13 & 14

Interesting sentence:
"We walk in closer, and then I notice it, right next to a dish or rice and meat. A revolver. No one pays attention -- it might be a carton of milk for all they care."
page 122

This really scared me. What kind of person leaves a gun lying around?! And if they do, would you (or should) you be friends or acquaintances with them? I'm very glad that Nadira turned tail and ran the other way because I believe that there is a good chance that she would have gotten hurt had she actually stayed to do business with them. Just the idea of Tareq taking her somewhere so far away from Flushing to do something that is illegal makes me feel creeped out. No one should go with someone else that their entire neighborhood calls 'shady.' The older people are probably a bit smarter, no offense to the young ones. Truly, pay attention to your elders, dont' go with strangers! Nadira really knew hardly anything about Tareq. He was basically a stranger to her, whatever she might have said before that evening.

Blog Post #11: Chapter 12 Reading (mad as a March Hare)

Yeah, that'd be Aisha. She's clearly snapped and I don't think she's comin' back!
Oh well...
Interesting sentence (paragraph, really):
" 'Nadira, I've always been like these guys out here, running. You know me. I'll run in any weather. You give me a test, I'll do ten times better than you expect. I'll do anything.' She pushes her hands deeper. 'But what if I put myself forward, and then they take everything away?' She shakes her head once more. 'And then I realized. I can't do this anymore. It's too hard. Too big. Nothing's working. Not the letters. Nothing. Maybe if I just stop wanting so much, they can't hurt me. I don't want to stand out anymore, Nadira. It hurts too much. I don't want to stand out. Not anymore.' "


There are so many times in the past few months that I have felt like this, and been on the verge of a breakdown, just like Aisha, except she actually fell over the edge into 'breakdown' mode, and I didn't. It can hurt so much if you think that your teachers aren't apreciating you, or you think you didn't make the cut for something, but you tried so hard it hurt you, even when you knew you couldn't try harder. There is NO name for this hurt, and it goes beyond what a parent or friend can fix. I know that you just have to get up and keep going, but I don't have any idea how Aisha's getting up from this one! She got hit pretty hard. It's like a boxer. They hit and get hit, and when they get hit hard enough, they don't get up again.
It's sad, but it's life.
I recently read a book called 'Crank' by Ellen Hopkins and it mentioned that a ton of 'brown-nosers' become druggies because they can't handle the pressure after so long. I believe it too, it's really hard doing your best on everything, and then some. It gets very wearing and I sincerely wish Aisha the best.

Blog Post #10: Chapter 11 Reading

Interesting sentence:
"She leans back on the pillows. "I'm so tired," she sighs. "So very tired." "
This is never a good line. When one of the main characters says that they're tired like that/in that way, especially with a reference to pillows, it usually means that they are going to die. In this case I think it means that the old Aisha has died and a new one has emerged, or is going to shortly.
As Samara said on her blog post about this chapter it seems as though Nadira is just sort of sitting there, watching her sister change and not doing much about it. That sort of disturbed me. When I commented on Samara's I said that I thought maybe Nadira didn't know how to help Aisha and I still think that's the problem. Aisha has been so inaccessible for her whole life with Nadira, how is Nadira supposed to know how to help her now?

Blog Post #9: Chapter 10 Reading (bionic zap guns!! tehe)

Sorry this is very early, or late, but my head felt like it was getting squeezed by Zeus or something. Rather painful and annoying, I really couldn't think at the time.
Interesting sentence:
"Like Taslima, Tim uses his cell phone to point and gesture, jabbing the air, but eventually they turn away." Nadira about Tim trying to help, on page 83.
She's correct, when she says Taslima uses her phone "as if it's some kind of bionic zap gun." But really, why are they doing that? The only thing she is doing by waving it around like that is sending cell phone 'waves' in a different direction or take someone's eye out with the little antenna thing (if her phone has one of those). And it doesn't really seem to get them anywhere with the officers at the station or the immigration check people.
Really, people? The thing to do when you are in trouble is to wave a cell phone around like it will sprout magical powers and save you? Nuh-uh. Doesn't work like that. Sorry to burst your bubble. Oh, that's right, you just forgot to by the 'zap gun included' package, didn't you? Well, Taslima, it's not happening like that. If you want to get somewhere, talking logically and calmly might have done the trick, but you blew it.
Moral: Cell phones are NOT bionic zap guns.

Blog Post #8: Chapter 9 Reading (Specifically)

SORRY THIS IS LATE
I HAD INTERNET PROBLEMS LAST NIGHT AND COULDN'T POST ANYTHING! AHG! I HATE THE INTERNET RIGHT NOW.
moving on.....
Interesting sentence from Chapter 9:
"But Aisha's got this fire in her. It's different from Taslima's, which is more like a lot of words that ignite and spark around us and fade out once she's done yelling. Aisha's burns slow and steady." Nadira on Aisha's energy on page 70.
I'm sort of wondering how they became a team so fast, really. If you think about it, one chapter they're at each other's throats and the next they're all buddy-buddy with each other.
It's a bit odd, really.
Anyway, I think that Nadira's got Aisha's energy a bit wrong. I think Aisha burns quickly and erratically, and Nadira burns slow and steadily. But that's just me.

Blog Post #7: Chapters 7, 8, & 9 Reading

Interesting sentence from Chapters 7, 8, & 9:
"Here I was, feeling sorry for Aish, and then she calls me names and bosses me around. Still, I hike myself out of bed and stumble into the bathroom." Nadira from 'Ask Me No Questions' on page 59, about Aisha being bossy too early in the day.
I think that Aisha is really mean. She called Nadira 'fatso' and all Nadira was doing was getting some sleep! It's not like going on diets is extremely healthy and I doubt that Nadira is THAT overweight. If she were that bad, she'd be having more trouble than she is. I also thought that the story about Abba and Ma was terribly sweet, and a bit romantic. Kind of a 'girl next door' thing.
I think that it's really great how Nadira and Aisha finally teamed up, but I have a really bad feeling about going to Ali-Uncle and having him show them the money books. They can't just take stuff out of there, and they should know that, but I don't think they really do!
Also, Aisha seems to have snapped a bit. This is the second time she's broken down/gotten really mad/sad at Nadira. I have a feeling that what we saw is not all she can do. What would happen if she really snapped?

Blog Post #6: Wetbacks and Immigration

I think that it is unfair to call people who immigrate 'wetbacks.' They are just trying to find a better place to be and it is no fault of theirs that their country has worse systems than a different country.
I believe that we should facilitate easy immigration, or at the very least, help their country so that the systems there are no longer failing. It is not fair to arrest people because they want something better than what they have, or that they are trying to make more money or help their families.
The situation that the people from the video are in is somewhat different from Nadira's family's situation, from what I can tell. The people from the video seem to want better jobs and better educations, and more money for their families. Nadira's family just wants to get out of Bengal because they are being oppressed and the country is divided and very messed up. I admire anyone strong enough to start a journey like that, to just get up and leave with what they can carry in a small pack and walk until they get to where they want to be. That must take a huge amount of moral and physical strength. I do not think I can even begin to imagine how strong you would have to be to do that. I very certainly do not think I would be able to do leave like that. I wish the people who are traveling and immigrating the best, it would be hard enough to be crossing countries like that, but harder still if you were sick or hurt somehow. I hope that Milton and Niyo make it safely. I know that we'll probably find out at the end of the video, but still, I hope they make it safely. I don't know if there's any way to 'not have too much trouble' crossing from South America to Canada, but if there is, I hope that they don't have too much trouble.
In 'AMNQ' Nadira talks about borders and maps when she says: "That's why I'm fascinated with maps: They tell one story, yet no matter where people draw the borders, the land tells another."
It's very true that the land doesn't know where it starts and stops. The earth is just one big ball, spinning, not chunks of one place next to chunks of another.

Blog Post #5: Chapter 6 Reading

The sentence that I chose from Chapter 6 was:
"Daughters are not daughters, and wives don't act like wives." Uncle from 'Ask Me No Questions on page 43, about America and how people change.
I think that Uncle was acting very selfishly and not very politely at all. He was making rude comments and then blew up at Nadira for just being who she is. I don't like him much, I think he's too judgmental and doesn't wait to hear the other side of the story. That makes me mad, because I love to look at both sides of the story and if someone doesn't get their chance to talk, I get frustrated because then you can't look at both sides. I wish that he would just get over himself a little bit. I understand that they have different customs where he comes from, but does he have to have such a stick up his butt attitude about it?
It also seems like everyone snapped a bit in Chapter 6. That was scary, I really never would have imagined Nadira standing up for herself like that!

Blog Post #4: Aisha & Her Alter Ego!

As Lyndsay said on DaVaughn's post about Ch. 5, Aisha has more than one side! The goody-two shoes side and the little miss bossy-booty stuck up side. When she is around all the elders and her parents, she is very nice to Nadira, but when they are alone, she gets very bossy and tells Nadira to go on a diet. Her whole attitude changes and frankly, I don't like either side of her. I wish she would just get hit upside the head or something like that, so that she could realize that she's not being fair to Nadira or other people in her life!
Nadira is much more stable and I believe that she is a better person as a whole.

Blog Post #3: Chapter 5 Reading

The interesting sentence from Chapter 5:
"Whenever we talk about Aisha I feel two things: I'm proud, like I get to rest for a minute in the glow of being her baby sister, but then I get mad ans wish there were some way I could make them notice me too." Nadira from 'Ask Me No Questions' on page 38, about Aisha and her parents talking about Aisha's achievements.
This chapter explained yet another dynamic of Nadira's family. Nadira's mother trusts her to watch out for her sister and cousin, yet Ma doesn't tell Nadira to 'do well in school' or 'keep doing your best' or any of the things that a mother might usually say in a telephone conversation! Ma probably would have said those things to Aisha, but not to Nadira, apparently.
I also came up with more thoughts about Aisha and Nadira. Mostly, it was just that she copies everyone around her to find some way of being 'herself' and has to practice it out and lay everything out and set it up perfectly before she's happy. Nadira still maintains a sense of self, and doesn't feel the need to conform to the mainstream American norm. I think that Nadira is even braver than Aisha because she stays true to herself without letting anyone sway her true ideas. Aisha (and Taslima as well) has been sucked into the 'high school' look part of clothes and society. Taslima is going out (presumably) with a white guy, who seems nice enough, and Aisha has a Britney Spears poster on her wall and begged her mom to take her shopping for 'American clothes'.
Another thing that is different between Nadira and Aisha is that grow-ups tell Nadira things that I'm positive they wouldn't tell Aisha. None of them would tell Aisha the things that make Nadira feel weighed down as if she is becoming stone.
I think that Nadira is a very special girl, her inner butterfly just needs the right chance to come out of her coccoon and fly.