Interfaith Healing: A Lesson from Newtown's Vigil

The tremendously heart-wrenching and sad massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, resulting in the death of 27 innocent lives, has sparked a wave of grief in the humble town of Newtown and the nation as a whole.  As we heal from this tragedy, it came to my attention how beautiful and amazing the interfaith dialogue has been, in helping to alleviate the grief or at least hare it with others.

After watching CNN's broadcast of the Vigil in owner of the victims  I realized many of the commonalities of the religions' messages.  These messages of peace, comfort, healing through prayer, and community strength, all seemed very close to my heart.  It was a joy to see how each major religion had a representative and advocate for peace from their perspectives.

In line with the Vigil at Newton were the International Conference on World Religions  and Blair's creation of its very first Interfaith Club, founded by Juliette Provost.  For me faith and dialogue are too methods of not only healing, but also UNDERSTANDING and AWARENESS.

Prisons: Permanent Punishment or Road to Recovery?

Prison, to me, is not a widely explored social topic.  They are places where the criminals, murderers, robbers, rapists, and fiends of society are locked away, shunned, and kept safely away from the outside world.  This however, raised a question in mind.  Can prison systems around the world serve has a rehabilitation effort rather then total life punishment?

In many instances, American prisoners are often wasting time in their cells, doing some service work but not learning much.  In Turkey and Kuwait, torture is a huge mechanism of fear, thus instilling the concept of a punishing sentence.  However, a unique, strict, yet cleverly effective system is Japan's.

In a Women's Prison near Tokugawa, discipline is taught through doing tasks, such as laundry, meditation  constant cleaning, housekeeping and other sources of occupation.  Creating and maintaining a disciplined lifestyle is often the key to rehab and bettering oneself in prison.  I think other nations should following the Japanese Model.  Rather than having prisoners waste their lives away, why not be productive and turn them into positive members of society instead of returning as  what they were before.

Documentary Ideas: Dance, Language, and Refugees

Although a few vague ideas for the documentary project have been swirling around in my head, its time to solidify them into clear visions.  Here are three.

Bilingual at Blair

Everyday at School, I notice sooo many languages being spoken.  As a group of individuals we are so diverse in our speech.  I want to pinpoint on both ESOL learners and students of equal fluency in two languages   The Documentary will be thus two fold, uncovering the challenges of learning English as well as the ups and downs of being bilingual   The project will be mainly interviewed-based, consisting of real-time footage of students   Shots of classrooms, cultural shows and exchanges will also be included.  The purpose is too relay the diversity and usefulness in being Bilingual.

Documenting Dance

Through both Blair dance classes and local studios, I want to document the learning of dance among teens and kids.  Specific styles such as flamenco, interpretative, Chinese or Indian Classical, and Hip-hop are too be concentrated upon.  The purpose is to relay the pressure, purpose, and craft of learning dance as a process and a journey in learning.  Animation visuals will portray this as a road to becoming that never quite ends, but continues in fruitful quest.

Refugee

A strong number of refugees are present in the DMV area.  Through interviews both far and close, the documentary will portray the story of being a refugee immigrant in the U.S. and how it differs from just normal immigration.  I plan to use poetry as a catalyst for narrating the film.  Historical facts about refugee history will also be given as well as everyday perspectives from refugees, teachers, policy-makers, and refugee organizations such as the Association of Bhutanese in America.

Fall Video Challenge- Leaves and Harvest

1. Tree of Red Leaves

2. Teeny-tiny Pumpkin 

3 Ingredients 

4 Raking the Leaves 

5 Fall Harvest

6 Tracing a Leaf 

7 Basket of Apples 

8 Apple Crisp Ready to Bake

9 Apple Crisp Ready to Serve 

10 Happy Autumn!

Fall is a time of incredible fruit desserts, cool breezes and more fruit desserts.  The foliage is earthy and rich and its a great time of transition but also favorite holidays.  In filming this short video, I use an ipad 2.  I made use of different camera angles and did some preliminary set up of scenes, especially in shots 5 and 10.  I tried to use the movement of the camera to around certain displays of foilage, color, and apples, but also to move toward things such as the tree.

Autumn is a very calm season too me (which is why its most favorite).  As a result, I used calm vocal music and a cheerful Ukulele tune to exemplify the mood.  I did some light blurring of shots just to make it dreamy.  Again, this is to exemplify how I feel about the season.

A Cooking Quest

Now I have to admit.  I may LOVE to cook, but by NO means am I super GOOD at it.  My ideas usually require the help of an adult to be really put into edible form.  However, my ideas are many and here a few.

Middle Eastern and Mediterranean ingredients are some of my favorite.  They encompass many different cultures and influences (spices, herbs, liquids, meats, vegetables).  Here are some of new favorite things to cooking with.

Sumac- a Persian herb that I think gives a nice citrus, yet dry flavor. Great in salads
Mixed Herbs- Fresh of course is best.  Parsley (curly or flat), basil, and MINT!
Pomegranate Syrup- Sound kind of unusual? Yea..kind of.  Its got a sweet/tart flavor and surprisingly goes great with lamb.
Fennel- A vegetable that's divine when roasted, and with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of salt.
Zests of any kind- the zest in my view contains the most intense flavor of fruits (usually lemons or oranges).  Candied zest is great as well.

So, the above ingredients are somethings I'm trying to use more an more in my cooking, yet slowly.
I love making new versions of traditional recipes, but also don't mind have clear cut instructions,  My roasted potatoes with peppers and cumin is a recipe that I whipped up out of the blue but still love.

I also love Christmas and the food that comes along with.  My family loves to make fruit based desserts, along with our family recipe for a dish called "Chicken Korma."  Below is an open tart that I made with store-bought phyllo dough, last Christmas.  At the end I thought the apples were kind of dry so I made a topping with some jam!

Now, I know that CAP students love to bake and cook.  I especially loved Grace and Amy's cooking show.  I am definitely trying their recipe for Pumpkin Bread, as the holiday's roll around.  For all the CAP student/teacher baking and cooking aficionados reading this post, comment below on what your favorite recipe is (if you can).  Why? Well, because I still don't have one and love learning about how other's cook, and their favorite tastes:)

Rock Climbing, Maybe?

Rock Climbing was not a hobby that I expected to get into.  In fact, my interest in climbing stony, spiky walls only sprung after a friend forced me to give it a try at the Earth Trek Climbing Center in Rockville.

I first decided to start out small, at the junior level, with no harness/rope. The walls and courses were short yet still complex ranging from big grip stones to small ones that were further apart.  Mats also provided an extra support in case of fall.  The center does a great job at suiting to your level and interests, with Rock Climbing Instructors helping you along the way.

The point is, a self-paced sport is something I have been looking for forever.  This way, withing a few points I can progress to being in spotted rock climbing settings, and start my way up to higher heights.  I'd also love to extend my interest to outdoors climbing expeditions.  Some possible settings include Sugarloaf Mountain or perhaps Garrett County in Western Maryland.  We'll see! An adventure of possibilities awaits.

A fun place to start and learn!

Where I hope to be (A boulder near Deep Creek Lake)

Career Thoughts: Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine

Dr. Karev of Grey's Anatomy carefully
monitoring an incubated neonatal

My recent obsession with the show Grey's Anatomy has sparked an interest in me for a possible future in Medicine. However lofty this seems, an episode I saw just yesterday really made me curious about the medicine of Neonatals (Newborns), particularly in Intensive Care Units. The delicate care that Newborns undergo (especially when at risk) was fascinating, especially for pre-mature ones. In the episodes "Dark was the Night" and "Suddenly," Doctors Karev and Grey care for a premature neonatal who experiences and ambulance crash on the a journey to the hospital. The emergency care and sacrifice that goes into saving babies was not only heroic but also scientifically and emotionally stimulating.  From incubating the infant, to providing ventilation, fluids, and all core life supports seemed like an inspiring task.
            My research in this field was further driven after watching the episode. I found out that Neonatologists require three years of pediatric residency and additional three years of fellowship. And yes, I am aware that Grey's Anatomy is a dramatized account of medicine, but it still gave me some exposure to a career I think would be interesting.

For a REAL LIFE account of Neonatology, here is an informative video that I found:



Some things I learned from the video:

1. Caring for Neonatal patients is a team effort of nurses, physicians, and parents
2. Emergency situations are common and often times, newborns at high-risk are transported my helicopter
3. A Pediatric Residency must precede Neonatology Training
4. Newborns can have a range of problems as a result of the pregnancy, or in the delivery.  While congenital abnormalities, lung problems, and infections are common, one disorder that interests me the most is hypoglycemia (low-blood sugar) in infants.