Blog Log #6

"Aisha and I can't stop laughing, and the sounds widen, making bright circles in the room."

I picked this sentence because the whole storry is basically about the hardships that Nadira and Aisha have to face, and then out of all this stress and fright, Nadira and Aisha are finally having as good a time as can be managed. It was this bright light in the middle of complete darkness. I didn't really get how the sounds could widen, but I imagined the sound of laughter filling the room and filling Nadira and Aisha's heads, mometarily forcing them to forget their troubles. It made me feel good, that even in the hardest of times, you can still find a laugh inside you.

Blog Log #5

"Generation after generation, the water and the land melt and blur; people move across borders that make no sense."

I thought the quote was really interesting becuase the part about the land and water melting and blurring made this mental picture in my head of a landscape melting and mixing with an ocean and covering the world. It was like the world was being liquefied, or being stirred around in one of those chocolate mixers at the chocolate factory. Then the part in the sentence about the people moving across borders that make no sense made me think of the movie The Labyrinth. In the movie, the main character tries to get to the center of a huge labyrinth, but the walls are camoufaged and can change, which makes it super hard to find the center. This reminded me of that movie because I pictured people trying to find a place where they would belong and could settle down, every time they find somewhere, everything changes and mixes again and they have to keep searching.

comment on my own blog.

(it wouldn't let me post my comment on my own page. so imagine this as a comment...)

i didnt say this in my blog, but i think that Nadira wants to be as strong as Taslima and as liked as Aisha. I mena, what qualities does Aisha have that Nadira wants? is it that she has friends? Nadira has a friend, but Nadira is sort of shutting her out. Is it that Aisha is smarter? Aisha is a senior in high school. Of course she is smarter, shes in a high grade. I don't really see why Aisha wants to be like Aisha, which is why i think she should want to be like Taslima, because Taslima is a lot stronger then Aisha? Do you think Taslima would go running off crying if her little sister yelled at her? Probably not. 

Nadira probably does want to be like Aisha, but i don't see why. This will be interesting ot discuss in class....

Blog Log #4

"'Becuase she will always fight. Fight, fight, fight, even when it's time to run.'"

I thought that this quote showed the type of girl Nadira wishes she could be. Nadira says she wishes she could lift out of herself and do something that really counts. I think that if Nadira could lift out of herself and settle into another person, she would stay in Taslima (the person who is being described in this quote). Nadira's mother says that Nadira is "sweet and patient", but then Nadira says that thats not all she is. In my annotations, I asked: what else is Nadira? When I read this quote, it sparked an idea in my head and I asked a new question: is there someone else in this book who fits the type of person Nadira wishes she could be? Personally, I think that person is Taslima. From what this quote tells me about her, she is a strong and independent person who does what she wants, and would never be dragged around by an older sister... which is exactly how I think nadira feels. 

What I think of Tareq

One of the character that we met recently is named Tareq. From what we know, he dropped out of high school and he likes to drive around in his care blasting music. We know that he makes Nadira mad and anxious, Aisha thinks he is a low-life, and their mother calls him "Bagh'a" which means Tiger, becuase he has a wide face and small eyes and a bad temper. 

Tareq actually kind of reminds me of someone I know. His name is Jack, and he is my friend's older brother. Jack hasn't dropped out of high school, but he blasts his music so loud in his car, he once got a ticket becuase his music could be heard from over 500 feet away or something. We call it the "thump", becuase the bass thumps incredibly loud. 

I think that Tareq is not a bad character, and he might actually turn out to help Nadira in her act that "really counts". 

Blog Log #3

A quote from chapter five that I thought was really great is "Sometimes I wish I could lift out of myself and do something that really counts." This is the last sentence of the chapter, and I personally can sense a little foreshadowing in it. It seems like Nadira really wants to do something that "counts", but can't bring herself to do it becuase perhaps she feels uncomfortible stepping up and speaking her mind. I think she sees Aisha as the person who speaks up in the family, and she is the one who shrinks away from the spotlight. I think that something will happen to Aisha or someone in her family, and Nadira will have to step in and save them, even if she seriously doubts herself.    

Responce to Julia's supercali blog

In Julia's (b)log from this weekend, i can totally tell from the writing that it was Julia's. It seems like something she might say. Although I do disagree with something she said in her blog. She says that "Nadira is much more comfortible with who she is", which I don't really think is true. In chapter one, Nadira calls herself the  "fat and dreamy second daughter" and the "slow-wit second born", which does not seems very comfortible. 

One thing that I did like in Julia's log was that she said exactly what she thought and how she felt. To me, her log has a lot of great points and quotes from the book that support those points. I really like Julia's style of writing blog, how she is so sure of herself.