Daniel Alarcon

People who are not from third world countries have a very interesting view on them. Daniel Alarcon, a half Peruvian half American journalist and writer is one of them and has suffered only slightly the problems many other third world citizens have regarding how other people look at them. Daniel himself does not really know where he is really from, what country he really belongs to. In comparison to many immigrants, he hasn't suffered much from financial problems and has lived a pretty common life. The most interesting story he tells is the one where he is interviewed by an old woman from the USA which really sets Daniel Alarcon's temper off. The interviewer asks him about the usual things people has immigrants which is why they have come to their country, what their backround is, if they are poor and things that a lot of immigrants have to go through. Since it is so common and people outside of those countries are so use to listening to the same stories from immigrants, the interviewer does not believe Daniel at all when he says that he has gone through some rough time but not really at the same time. Many of the things the interviewer asked him did not apply and she did not believe him which is why it ticked him off because people have such a set view on these people and sometimes it is the complete opposite of what they think. Since he hasn't really gone through hard times, and people look at him this way, he feels he is not really the person he should be. He feels like he should fall in the bandwagon of immigrants and be part of the same view but at the same time is mad that everyone thinks that way of third world citizens. He wants to be part of a reocurring stereotype seen especially in America but feels that it is not correct. Putting myself in his shoes, I can see why he would feel this certain way but also I majorly disagree on him saying that he would have liked to live the hard life many immigrants have lived throughout their lives because eventually and maybe one day people will stop thinking such thing about them, so why be part of them. A few years back we had a speaker come to school to talk about this very specific topic on third world children and I could relate so much but not for me as a person but for the Indian people who live in this country. Of course I am asked all the time where I come from, what my parents do and if I am actually a Chilean citizen and goes even more for the older people who have been living here for countless years. I feel it is ridiculous how people view and sometimes even discriminate immingrants from other countries and feel they are being invaded. It goes back to the interview that Daniel Alarcon has with the interviewer and the stupid questions she asked him. Aside from me, going to an international school I am sure many other students can relate to my self and Daniel Alarcon. It is an interesting way to learn about the topic.

Book Paper - "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell

The book written by the author Susan Campbell called "The Boy Who Dared", is a interesting book about WWII, focusing more on the Hitler Youth. The Hitler Youth were a large number of students going into middle school who were taught and convinced that Hitler was a good person whom should be looked up to and should always stay by his side. The main character of the story, Helmuth Hubener did not think the same. As this book is based on a real life story, it was interesting to get to know this character and understand what he did and why he did it. Although the book does not display what were the reasons behind his actions, the suspensive and interesting storyline kept me latched on allowing me to finish reading the book in only a few days. But since the story does not explicitly describe the character but has more of a narrative feel to it, I went ahead and researched this young boy who rebelled again Adolf Hitler in WWII. He was only 17 years old and was the youngest person to be sentenced to death during that time being caught by German soldiers whilst setting up pamphlets around town for people to inform themselves on why Hitler was not a good person. The fact that he was German is the best part in my opinion. He even tried to convince other people in and outside of the Hitler Youth to stand by his side and do what the right thing was and bring down Hitler because of causing war and damage to other people. Others did not follow him just because of the fear they had for Hitler and that makes me think why people standed by Hitler's side so much if they feared him? He was supposed to be the good man of the story so having fear to him is a little confusing. Anyways, with suspicions about Hitler's ways, Helmuth Hubener proceeded to his rebellion against Hitler but failed instanstly. Even though he failed, he tried his best and is an admirable character since he never gave up on what his mission was and had a sense of patriotism because he was not doing this to satisfy his own needs but he knew that Hitler was not a benefit to the German people so he was doing this for the wellness of his country. The worst part is everyone else just saw him as a pest and nobody even realized he was sent to prison, concentration camps and later guillotined. Other than this interesting character the book has to offer, the story has no reocurring themes nor symbols. The author, Susan Campbell directed most of her books and short stories to the younger audience, which makes the book such a fast one to read but also gives it that intriguing feeling of wanting to read more. The book it self is an interesting way to learn about the Hitler Youth but can also be considered redundant since there are countless other WWII and Holocaust books out there but just because it focused on the Hitler Youth made it a bit more unique. It would have been nice to have the author include more depth into her style of writing like including those missing literary devices but at the same time cannot be blamed because it is not a book meant to have a high level of complexity. Overall, it is a reccomendable book for one who has spare time on their hands but it is not a must read book which deserves a lot of praise.

WWW Preperation

(Writing this after the trip…)

For the past three years in high school I have done the same trip involving community service. It is called Habitat for Humanity. The initial reason for choosing this trip in my freshmen year was because all the other trips were very expensive. The two years after that I chose it again because I really enjoyed it the first time. As well as the first time, I enjoyed it the second and third time as well. This year I chose the same type of concept but with a different foundation. They are called Vision for Chile. It is the same thing and that being going to a construction site and helping out the people who work there in order for people with no homes to have one. I don't expect much from this trip. It will probably be the same thing I have done for the past three years and I am prepared to take on any challenge that has to do with construction. Other than that I expect it to be a reasonably fun trip but at the same time hard to make it fun because I am going with people I do not know. Hopefully the trip lives up to the expectations I had these past years in high school considering it is a whole different foundation and because I am going with people I don't know.

WWW Reflection

For the past four years in high school I have chosen to do community service in Week Without Walls. The first year being because I simply could not afford any trip so I picked Habitat for Humanity. That year, my freshman year, my idea for that week was to go somewhere interesting out of the city, have fun with your friends and bond with other people. Since I chose Habitat for Humanity, I wasn’t too excited about it. Honestly, I was not motivated at all and would have rather stayed at home. The week started off and little did I know how much fun I was actually going to have. Not only fun but also by the end of the week have this amazing feeling of having helped those in need. The next two years of high school I picked the same trip and even I did not know anyone on those trips, I bonded with new people and kept on reliving that feeling of lending a hand for the people who need it more than I do. This final year of high school, my last Week Without Walls, I had the same idea that had come up my freshman year which was to go with my closest friends to a cool trip and have fun. This time for an unknown reason my mother would not let me so I picked another foundation called Vision for Chile to vary a bit. I was not bothered to attend this trip and was actually looking forward to it.

This year, in comparison to previous years was the most touching. I knew exactly what I was doing and who I was doing it for. Usually we would just show up and start constructing things without having any context. With this foundation, the first day and even before the trip we were told where the construction site would be and thats the most important detail. The location of the trip was in La Pintana, Santiago. It is the most dangerous area in the city and one of the poorest too. Houses are broken down, people are getting constantly mugged and robbed, there is no hygene and many other details that make it an unpleasant place to live but I was extremely glad I got to know a place like this.  Going there made me realize a lot of things about myself and about the people in this country. With the context provided by the people at the foundation like who we are helping, why we were helping and why in that specific suburb of the city, motivated me even more and let me come to know that I lived a very luxurious life in comparison to other people in Santiago. People not only in that area of the city but everywhere in the city have no place to stay, no education and no food to eat whereas I am here living a life completely opposite to theirs. Basically, this trip involved a lot of reflection and why I should value the things I have in life because a milion other people do not. Also, my contribution should not stop here. It cannot be that I did the same type of trip in WWW for four years straight and just leave it there. If I have any chance again to get involved in community service, I will not hezitate. I think it was a great decision to have done Habitat for Humanity in 9th grade because if it not for that, I would not have this mindset of caring for others. It was a nice way to spend my trip this last year and is extremely proud and satisfied with my actions towards the people who need it more.

Q1 Final Piece: Camila Vallejo

During this quarter of school during class at times we have discussed about a concept known as first contact. Also throughout the few writings I have posted on my blog, I have always brought this idea up and has been the main topic of them. Being more specific, the idea of first contact usually refers to how we see or react to something or someone the first time there is any type of interaction with that other source. The type of interaction can be anything. It can go from meeting someone all the way to reading about someone or something like an idea in your local newspaper. The last article we have read this quarter is about a very well known woman in the Chilean society and her name is Camila Vallejo. Although she does have some strong points regarding her view of education and how it should be, many people still tend to frown upon her ideals, even though they do not know what it is she is trying to say. This is a perfect example of first contact because anybody can immediately just judge something by looking at only the surface. Like many say, "Don't judge a book by its cover" and Camila Vallejo is a good example on how people portray their first contact on this woman. 

One thing to point out before going on is that I am not writing to defend Camila Vallejo by saying that people instantly criticize her thoughts and ideas. It is just a generic way to demonstrate how people say things so fast about something and don’t even give it a second to think about it again. First contact can be so powerful at times because it sometimes means that there will be no second contact and it doesn’t only happen with one person but its exponential. People will usually think one thing and tell others they know and be suckered in to think the same and it goes on forever, leading everyone to think the same. In my case, I do not really know who Camila Vallejo is but according to the article and people I’ve talked to, not a lot of people seem to like her but that doesn’t mean myself should not like her just because everyone else does but that also doesn’t give me a reason to defend her like I said before. It is such a common tendency to fall into the bandwagon of ideas all because of that first contact someone had with something and personally I think it is stupid that people would not be open to new ideas, including Camila Vallejos’s. Of course, some people who judge something at first contact may be right, but looking at the big picture, first contact is an easy way to find something bad about a person or idea. I say this both in a good and bad way because looking at the ISIS, what good is there to be seen in them? Anybody including myself, including the president of the United States feels that there is nothing good that they show. In the bad way because like I said, something may be viewed and considered bad when in reality, if you gave it a small chance, could turn into something great.

This is a different approach to explaining how first contact works in relation to my previous pieces of writings but also in my previous pieces, I have said that first contact has so many variables. This is only one of the many. Throughout the whole quarter we have seen many different things but the most in depth one has been ISIS. The Islamic State was the perfect way to analyze first contact but I’m glad we got to read this article about Camila Vallejo and write what we felt about it. It is such an important thing to think about when it comes to reading about something or meeting someone for the first time because first contact does not just means that it will be the only contact. Someone should not immediately criticize but better yet get to know something well and being open to new ideas. Once again this is not to defend any person or group, just a general way of seeing things and a different approach to first contact.

ISIS Review

There are news being updated on ISIS every day now. At the beginning, when I first learnt about them, I mentioned the different variables within first contact when it comes to learning about this topic and how different context leads to different reactions or thoughts. Previously in my last ISIS post, I wrote about a few examples like the decapitation of the journalist, child suicide bombers and basically the fact that at this point, all they are doing is committing barbaric actions. All those examples commonly would trigger some sort of hatred towards them because of these unspeakable crimes. Also I said that their actions are up for discussion. After reading more and more and watching Obama's speech about the Islamic State, I think it is safe to say that there is nothing to be discussed. Alongside with Obama, I have heard many people say that the ideals of ISIS is not a religious defense. "No religion condones the killing of innocent people", says the president of the USA, so after learning more about ISIS and watching Obama's speech, I completely agree with him and the many other people who have said this. It is nothing more than a terrorist attack, but a very serious one that should be treated sooner rather than later. I said that many people might think different things about ISIS depending on how much they research, but having seen this speech and just with all the updates on ISIS, it can be concluded that they are only doing what they are doing to cause harm. 

I was very interested when first reading about ISIS or the "first contact" I had with ISIS was shocking and made me think about it a lot in terms of what really is their final mission or what they want to get out of their actions. In relation to first contact, people just learning about it as of today, will probably think the same way Obama and many other people have. Again, it is a terrorist attack. In this review, all I'm trying to say is that it is pretty clear now to what the ISIS is doing rather than having to sit down and think about what and why they are doing what it is they are doing. Obama is taking action towards this and will do anything to protect the lives of good people and I agree with his methodic plan to attack and defend his own people. 

Hemingway and DFW shorts story writing

"Incarnations of Burning Children" by David Foster Wallace is fast paced traumatizing story which leaves the reader really thinking about who was to blame and what happened to the baby at the end of the story. Basically what happens is that hot water falls over a baby because of the mother being carless and at the same time the father trying to calm the baby down but not realizing that there was piping hot water in his diapers. This story creates a lot of discussion when being viewed from the parent's point of view. As a reader, taking a look at this piece for the first time, like I said before leaves me very puzzled at the end because how can someone really determine who had the fault of the baby almost dying and what really happened to the baby at the end in the ER. From the mother's point of view, the father can be blamed by not having realized that the baby's diaper was filled with hot water but at the same time you can't really blame him because everything is happening so fast. The mother does not even have a chance to explain how and what happened while the dad rushes giving his best effort to save the baby. From the father's point of view, the mother is the one to blame by being careless leaving the baby in a dangerous spot which would be underneath a pot with hot water and not having done anything about it after it happened. All she does is screams and cries for help. How first contact is emphasized here is trying to understand how to the parents react and what their obligations are towards dealing with a situation like this and in the future, preventing one. Also, as mentioned before, trying to figure out what happened to the baby at the end is also something that can be discussed. Many speculations say that he was gravely injured, scared for life or died. Again, whichever may be the case, the blame is traced back to either the mother or father. Personally, I had read this story once a few years ago and that was when it struck me the most but I had never thought about it analytically with the concept of first contact.

Moving on to "Hills Like white Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, first contact is not so clearly displayed when reading the story once. I had to read the story more than once to answer questions such as what did each one of the characters want? It is important to point out that at the beginning of the story the girl seems more enthusiastic than the woman by having found attractiveness in the mountains and stating that they look like white elephants, while the American simply responds by saying that he has not ever seen one. By saying that, I think that the American is self centered and selfish. What if the girl had never seen a white elephant but just uses imagination to think about something like that? It seems like the girl wants to establish a lost connection with the American but he just wants to satisfy him self and that is shown as the story progresses. Like said before, the girl seems more enthusiastic at the beginning but later in the story, when the American mentions the operation, he is thinking of it as a benefit only for himself, where as the girl asks her whether the operation will enhance their relationship in the future? Although the American says he cares for her in the story, the tone I got out of the dialogue between them seemed as if he was doing this on partially for the girl's sake but more for his own purposes. An important thing to note on the side is that during the entire dialogue, the bartender keeps on bringing alcoholic drinks for them to enjoy and that can be a effect on their conversation but is not clearly displayed. Anyways, the woman's tone as the story progresses becomes more melancholic and a little bit questionable. In the first contact way of thinking about it, what I think of the American is that yes he does in fact care for the girl and wants the relationship to move forward but for his own benefit but the girl wants overall satisfaction within both of them.

Comparing both the stories, the thing I found the most important and is really highlighted in both pieces of writing is that they are narrowed down to two important main characters. In DFW's writing it is the mother and father while in Hemingway's piece it is the American and the girl. Both also have what can be considered a bystander one being the bartender and the other one being the baby. In both stories one can think about who the good character is and who the bad character is. In other words, is the mother to be blamed or the father and who really wants the best for the relationship, the girl or American? Bartenders usually have the freedom to overhear a conversation happening at the bar and he can be considered the judge to which is more "correct" in the dialogue between the girl and the American. The baby also can be the judge whether he survived or not after being burnt with water. Out of all, he knows the situation the best because the tragedy happened to him so in the future he can decide if he wanted to whether the father should have realized that water was in his diaper, or the mother was careless enough for it to happen in the first place. Such short stories lead to so many speculations on who really is the hero and the villain or who is right and who is wrong. The intriguing feeling one gets while reading these stories usually happens at the first reading since they are quick yet intense stories and it is this way that first contact is applied. Right off the bat one can start to think about everything mentioned. These are piece of writing which lead to a lot of debate and a good one because of the many factors to be considered when thinking about first contact.

ISIS Value App

ISIS Value Application

Learning about the Islamic State or ISIS now days can go both ways. It can be shocking to read and watch actions that they have taken on minor things but at the same time, it can interest someone to learn more about the topic. My self had not researched this topic at all before the beginning of the school year when it was mentioned during class. During the first weeks of school, the class had discussed the idea of value and the diverse ideas within value, one of them being first contact. First contact can really connect to the topic of ISIS because the articles someone read on the Islamic State for the first time, can make them be very judgmental right away. This is something that happened to me. Although in my case it did not make me judge the ideals of the Islamic State, but more than that it interested me to research more on them. Having said that, and connecting my research to first contact, I was intrigued by my encounters of some brutal things that the ISIS has done in the past month.

First of all, a lot of people have come to watch on the news and read on the newspaper is the american journalist James Wright Foley being decapitated by the ISIS and them having filmed the moment. This matter is very important towards the idea of first contact. My self and I am very sure that other people in the world must have felt the same discontent towards their actions for something that was not even the reporters fault. The US government initially sent this reporter to Syria a few years ago and from there the rest happened. This was actually the first major thing I read about the ISIS coming from online newspaper called, “Truth Uncensored”,  and it brought my attention to what they are capable of. This means that the first “contact” I have had with the Islamic State, really puts me off guard to knowing what they would do to such innocent people, and I am sure other people and not only my self would have had the same reaction. On the other hand, people who learn about the ISIS for the first time through these news, could immediately feel offended and disgusted to research or learn more on them and would judge their actions. Again, in my case, it just pushed me to find more interesting things on the topic. Like this, I encountered another shocking article on atrocious actions they have committed.

The weapons that ISIS possess are out of this world. They have all types of weapons for all types of situations. Some of the weapons that they hold are unethical as seen in the article from the “National Post”. The title of this article states the following, “ISIS captures major military air base in Syria using child suicide bomber”. From my perspective, it was experiencing the first contact or learning for the first time all over again by reading this article. Just by reading the title of the article, I was already amazed at the actions of ISIS. This article made me think of the all the other things the Islamic State has done, can and will do. Just by the simple fact that they took a newborn child as hostage and used as a suicide bomber is an impacting thing to relate to someone’s first contact towards ISIS. I started off reading something quite strong regarding the decapitation and following it up with this article just raises my amazement towards what they do and how they get away with it. Some of these atrocities are not even captured by reporters so one might wonder what else has the ISIS done? As said by the online newspaper, “The Guardian”, the UN is sending investigators to Iraq, also to find out what they have done. A lot of political parties and citizens of many countries are interested in what the Islamic State is capable of doing. Everyone who is new to the topic and has just started learning about it will surely have the same reaction my self and many other people have had. The human rights commissioner of the UN says that, “Jihadis and Iraqi government forces both carried out 'acts of inhumanity” Generally speaking, first contact or slowly learning about the Islamic State is a shocking yet intriguing topic to discuss.

Having researched quite a bit on the matter and connecting it to the concept of first contact, I think it is safe to say that my reactions are relatable to others. There are so many different variables to first contact and it really depends to the situation and context. This being the Islamic State and so many people reading and learning about at the same time makes it a controversial topic and up for discussion. A lot of people might think differently based on the amount of research they have done and exactly how much they know about ISIS, but at least for me and a lot of people in the world, including people in this class may have the same reaction by learning just now about the topic. As said before, first contact and the Islamic State can make people judge their ideals, it can make someone feel the need to research more and others might just simply not be interested. For me, I was interested by reading many things on ISIS and I researched more on the topic.

Bibliography:

"American Journalist James Wright Foley Beheaded by ISIS in Chilling Video to Obama." TruthUncensored. TruthUncensored, 19 Aug. 2014. Web.

"ISIS Captures Major Military Air Base in Syria Using Child Suicide Bomber." National Post News ISIS Captures Major Military Air Base in Syria Using Child Suicidebomber Comments. N.p., 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 25 Aug. 2014.

Black, Ian. "UN to Send Investigators to Iraq over Islamic State 'atrocities'"The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 02 Sept. 2014. Web. 02 Sept. 2014.