The veil and the challenges

 Hebah, who is 32, and Sarah, 28, wear the religious clothes of Islam. A loose outer garment called a jilbab; a khimar, a head covering that drapes to the fingertips; and a niqab, a scarf that covers most of the face. When the sister's got out of the minivan, everybody in the parking lot were staring at them. The sister's knew that most people in the parking lot were staring at them but all they did was ignore the people. They were going to go grocery shopping.
   Two Hispanic children ran to their mother and asked why they are dressed that way. The mother replied saying "Islam". Also telling her children that the women are from Saudi Arabia. Hebah is from Tennessee and she smiled at the children but all you can see is her eyes. But those eyes can tell you that she is smiling.  Hebah said she has been kicked off planes by nervous flight attendants and shouted down in a Wal-Mart by angry shoppers who called her a terrorist. Her sister was threatened by a stranger in a picnic area who claimed he had killed a woman in Afghanistan “who looked just like” her. These are the very few people who go through these on a daily basis.
   In my opinion, these sister's are very very strong. For me wearing the Hijab is very hard. When I'm on the train people stare at me with nasty looks and I feel very insecure about myself. But the hijab gives me power in a way. It makes me confident for who I am and my religion. I am proud to be a Muslim and i don't care what other people think.

Reading Response

   I am currently reading the book Reached by, Ally Condle. The book is about people trying to start over. Make changes in the society. The society controls the people and everything around them. The main character is Cassia and Ky, they both love each other and are going to join the rising. The rising is a group of people who are against the society and want to take over. The risings leader is called a pilot. Ky is not currently with Cassia right now because, she is in Central spying. Xander, which is Cassia's best friend has also joined the rising.
   The society is very weak right now because a disease is going around. And everyone is getting very sick. So the rising had a plan that they would attack and be in power because the society is very weak. So, the rising had attacked and was very successful with it. Many people had joined the rising because they were tired of society controlling their whole life.
   Cassia is just finding out that the rising attacked because, she isn't with Ky. Xander has a secret to tell Cassia. I don't know what it is but Ky read a piece of paper that was in Cassia's bag and found out some how. Ky burned the paper. In my opinion, Ky and Cassia will find each other in the end and Xander will fall in love with someone else. The book is very good.

Nonfiction Reading Response

   In the article "Muslim women uncover myths about the hijab" Rowaida Abdelaziz, explains what the hijab means to her. She doesn't care about the stares she gets, and the whispers behind her back. She love wearing the cloth that covers her hair. And shows the world that she is a Muslim and proud. She wants you to understand that she doesn't wear the hijab, because she was forced to wear it. It was all her own choice.
   "It represents beauty to me," says Abdelaziz,
"My mom says a girl is like a jewel," Abdelaziz says. "When you have something precious, you usually hide it. You want to make sure you keep it safe until that treasure is ready to be found." The hijab is a veil that Muslim women wear around the whole world. It basically is a cloth over a women's hair. Some women says that when they wear the hijab, it seems like they are locked in a cage. But other women says that it leads them to personal freedom. Teenagers who wear the hijab also have pressure on them because, they wonder how they are going to fit in when they stand out the most.
  As you know, I wear the hijab myself. I know how all these girls feel wearing it and not feeling as if they don't fit in. When i first started wearing the hijab, two years ago. It was very hard for me. The first year I wasn't even wearing it correctly because I wore it one day and took it off the other. But then, I gained the confidence of wearing it and slowly I became who I am today.  When I go outside the hijab goes with me. It became a part of me now, I am attached to it and I will hopefully never let it go. But as Abdelaziz said, it is some type of beauty to me and I love wearing it. I don't care what other people care about me. I am wearing it to practice my faith. And no one can take it away from me :)

Website:  http://articles.cnn.com/2009-08-12/us/generation.islam.hijab_1_hijab-muslim-women-muslim-americans?_s=PM:US

   I am currently reading the book "Extraordinary" by, Nancy Werlin. The main character is Phobe. Her best friend is Mallory Tolliver, they had been best friends 7th grade. But secretly Phobe is in love with Ryland (Mallory's brother.) Phobe and Ryland is together but Mallory doesn't know. But that's not the only secret...
   Phobe Rothschild is a ordinary girl. Phobe just found out that Mallory and Ryland is from the faerie world. Sent to the human world to get Phobe. They want Phobe because a generation ago Mayer Rothschild promised the queen that he will give her a daughter. But not any of his or grandchildren but the generation after that. So the queen of the faerie world had been waiting for Phobe to come. To get phobe, the queen put Phobe's mother in a coma so Phobe will be weak. The queen isn't mean.She just wants her promised full filled.
   What I think will happen next is, that the queen will heal Phobe's mother from the coma. And let Phobe go to the human world. Or the queen will die and Phobe is released. In my opinion, putting Phobe's mother in a coma was a very cruel thing to do. But there is one question that I have.
Why does the queen want a daughter ?

Nonfiction Response

   I am going to write about the article named "The Drug-Dose Ginger Cap" By, Roni Rabin. According to the article, women respond differently to medicine then men. They also use more medications than men. The author wants me to know that scientists discovered something new about medicines. How it affects women more than men. This article shows me that women take alcohol, tobacco, and cocaine differently. Everything women take and do is a lot more different than how a man does his things. One example is, because of the opposite sex.
   I think the author wrote this towards women because, it's all about how women take medications and other stuff way differently than men do. "It’s not just because women tend to be smaller than men. Women metabolize drugs differently because they have a higher percentage of body fat and experience hormonal fluctuations and the monthly menstrual cycle. Some drugs are more water-based and like to hang out in the blood, and some like to hang out in the fat tissue, said Wesley Lindsey, assistant professor of pharmacy practice at Auburn University, who is a co-author of a paper on sex-based differences in drug activity. This quotation makes me feel a bit relieved because, now I know why women act so differently towards certain types of medicines and many other things. Also this quotation shows that women have more fat then men do.
  “This is not just about Ambien — that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Janine Clayton, director for the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health. “There are a lot of sex differences for a lot of drugs, some of which are well known and some that are not well recognized.”  This quote shows that, scientists and researchers are still looking for answers and cant quite but the conclusion to this result. This makes me feel like there is still a lot more important information out there. The author wants the reader to know that this research is still going on.
   After reading this article, I have come to understand that even both sex are humans; we are very different in every way. And both male and female respond differently to many things. Example is, medicine, alcohol, tobacco, and many other things. We all are the same but different every way.

Website : http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/the-drug-dose-gender-gap/?ref=health

Work Cited : Rabin, Roni. "The Drug-Dose Gender Gap." Well The DrugDose Gender Gap Comments. N.p., 28 Jan. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.

Pretty Little Liars Unbelievable

I am currently reading the book "Unbelievable" By Sara Shepard. The book is about these four girls Hannah,Aria,Spencer, and Emily. They have been getting these really scary text messages from someone knows as "A." A knows everything about them, and is scaring them by giving threatening texts. Their best friend Ali got murdered by someone. They still don't know who it is and it was four years ago. But the four of them is still very close.
   Hannah went to her best friends birthday party, and something terrible happened. Her best friend was Mona Vanderbilt, and she did something to Hannah. She made fun of her and they got into a huge fight. Then somehow Hannah knew that Mona was "A." She quickly told the other three to meet her up. Before they could Mona hit her with a car and Hannah was in a coma.
   After Hannah woken from the coma and was released from the she forgot everything that happened that day in Mona's party. So nobody knew anything about Mona and she totally forgot... Until Mona and Spencer threw her a welcome back party. And all the memories came flooding back to Hannah. She finally remembered that Mona was "A" and that time Spencer was with Mona! This story is just getting real!!!

How does money show in the text?

   I am reading the poetry book named "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by, Shel Silverstein. The book is poems made by him. All of the poems are so different from each other. Some serious others funny. His poems are so unique and each and every one of them have a message. Even though many of them are funny, in the end it gives a message to the readers. I love Silverstein's books and poems.
   The poem "Smart" goes like this:
My dad gave me one dollar bill
Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
Cause two is more than one!
And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes I guess he don't know T
That three is more than two!
Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickles for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!
And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!
And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head--
Too proud of me to speak!
   As you can see, the poem is for small children. This text contains money because the son traded the dollar for five pennies in the end of the poem. This poem shows that the son is smart, but he didnt really know what the money was worth. But it also shows that the son can count. The message in this poem is the journey of a little boy trading a dollar bill and counting the coins he got from other people. 
   In conclusion, I can relate to this poem because when I was small I did the same exact thing! I showed it to my mom and she just laughed. But I learned to count and my mom explained to me and I learned what a dollar bill was actually worth. But what I am trying to say is that I learned to count!