Interview with the openly Gay

Interviewing someone that was gay was very interesting. There is a girl I work with and she is openly gay and not ashamed of it. She told me that day to day it is hard because of the struggles you face from being judged. She said that her parents are ok with her being this way and think it is natural for her to be this way. Another point she made very strong was that she didn’t grow up this way, she became this way very late in life and met someone she fell in love with who happened to be a girl. She is going off to Canada to be officially married to her partner in hopes of being legally binding as a spouse to the girl. Another interesting point she made was that her sister was gay as well and she was always gay. I asked her if that influenced her decision to become that way and she said no. She was seemed to be very comfortable with the conversation and seemed as if she didn’t care if everyone in the world knew. Her insecurities seemed to go away as soon as I didn’t say a critical comment and she seemed very comfortable in her own skin. She said in the end of the interview that she wouldn’t want to be any other way and she loves who she is despite all of the controversy behind the homosexual movement.

Amistad

The movie Amistad affected me deeply. Watching through the movie of the degrading and torture the African American slaves faced was brutal. I find it hard to believe that the oppression they faced wasn’t that long ago. Its hard to think about those times and what they went through and how much suffering they had to endure just on the ships alone. To see what they went through on the lower decks of ships made it seem that they weren’t treated as human beings. They treated as if they were animals and to see what the women went through when they were pulled out of their children’s arms was home hitting for me. There are really no words to explain the useless death of the Africans and there are no ways to say sorry to them in my opinion. They sacrificed their lives to become the inhuman slaves that got the worse side of everything. To see someone who would fight for them made me proud. I felt a sense of relief in my stomach after the care the man expressed for them when he tried to set them free. The visions the young slave had of his wife hurt even more during the course of the movie. The movie was hard- hitting and very emotional for me as an American. I am glad I got the opportunity to see this movie.

Blindfolded Morning

When I got up out of bed I stumbled a lot. Trying to get to my closet was definitely hard and I ran into a wall on the way. When I got to my closet I had no idea what I was choosing and I could not find pants to wear. I put on a shirt and it didn’t fit. So I had to find another one. When I finally located pants I put them on and went outside the closet. I went feeling around for a shirt and I finally found one and put it on. I kept running into walls and hurting myself. When I tried to brush my teeth I realized after words that I didn’t use MY toothbrush. I thought that was not very appetizing. I attempted to go to my front door and put on my shoes and found two I thought were alike. When I got done I opened my eyes and found that I had put on my husbands shirt and I had on his pants as well. Well, being pregnant I figured the bigger pants were mine as well as the shirt but I was completely wrong. I learned through this experience that if I was blind I would have to be extremely organized and have help to locate things in the morning when I was getting ready. I couldn’t imagine being pregnant and I have much sympathy for those who are.

Restaurant-- Bayridge Sushi

The authentic restaurant that I went to is Bayridge Sushi in Longwood. When you walk in the restaurant there is a sushi bar and Japanese sushi chefs. The smell is good because it smells like soy sauce and sushi mixed. The decorations resemble an authentic Japanese restaurant. All of the waiters were Japanese and most of them you can barely understand because of their English skills. They were very kind and I enjoyed the music as well because it was Japanese meditation music. I ordered the sushi and sashimi and it was very different to what I am use to. They offered so many different Japanese foods and drinks. Sake was among the popular they would sell and they are famous for their sushi. My experience was great and I would go back because the food was really good and I enjoyed the people

Religion Study--Judaism

Judaism refers to the Jewish people who are alike to the Christians. They believe what is called the Old Testament of the Bible and they do not claim to believe the New Testament because they believe the Messiah has not arrived yet. They believe in the God of the Bible and are major followers of Moses, Elijah, and Abraham. Jews are often called the children of Israel because they are known to be God’s chosen people. Unlike Christianity, Judaism has no official creed or universal doctrinal requirements for membership. In general, a person can be considered "Jewish" whether he adheres to a complete system of beliefs about God and the afterlife, holds only a few simple beliefs that give meaning to ritual, or even in Liberal Judaism they don’t have to believe in God at all. Jews follow what they call the Torah which is the entirety of Judaism’s ethical laws and religious texts. The Torah has a great deal to say about God, humanity, and the meaning of life, and Jewish history has seen significant theological and mystical inquiry into religious concepts. They have what is called the “Thirteen Articles of Faith” that they follow. These are they God exists, God is one and unique, God is incorporeal, God is eternal, Prayer is to God only,The prophets spoke truth, Moses was the greatest of the prophets, The Written and Oral Torah were given to Moses, There will be no other Torah, God knows the thoughts and deeds of men, God will reward the good and punish the wicked, The Messiah will come, The dead will be resurrected. These beliefs were constructed by a man named Maimonides. Judaism is one of the oldest religions ever recorded. It began as the religion of the small nation of the Hebrews, and through thousands of years of suffering, persecution, dispersion, and occasional victory, has continued to be a profoundly influential religion and culture. Today, 14 million people identify themselves as Jewish.

Holocaust Museum

My visit to the Holocaust Museum was impacting. When you walk in the museum I figured that you would walk into a huge exhibit of artifacts and history readings. I walked into the room and saw little amounts of the artifacts and history readings and was shocked by the amounts of things in such a small museum. Walking around, I saw the story of Elie Weisel and his impact when he wrote the book on being in the Holocaust and I remembered him from his book I read in high school. It became one of my favorite books and that part of the museum stood out to me the most. Looking at the pictures of the people in the Holocaust really made an impact on my heart for the Jews that had to go through the judgment of the soldiers and Hitler. I had a rough time looking at some of the pictures because there was piles of dead bodies and soldiers holding guns to the foreheads of small children. The museum visit was difficult.
My personal reflection of the Holocaust and evaluation of the Holocaust is, “Why?” I don’t see or get the whole point in the heinous acts that were committed against innocent people and their peers. I find it hard to believe what they went through and the humiliation and torture they experienced throughout the years of the war. The numbers of countless piles of bodies laying in a grave made me question the sanity of anyone who did the acts on these people. It made me realize how disheartened people can be for loyalty to their country. I have a hard time thinking about it or reflecting on it. Overall the museum visit was hard and made be silent and think for a while afterwards.