Trip To The Holocaust Museum

     On Thursday my class took a field trip to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. Since we were learning about the Holocaust in school some facts my class and I were oblivious of but others we already knew. I learned a lot from going to the museum. Something that I found interesting was that there were opera singers singing in some ghettos. There were many virtuosos who performed in the ghettos.
     People who worked as part of the Resistance had to be very diligent otherwise they could get caught. Some workers in ghettos and concentration camps showed big acts of Resistance by taking apart gas chambers. This was not extemporaneous. They planned it all out. Others showed small acts of Resistance too. For example, at the museum there was a picture of a menorah in front of a window and there was a Nazi flag right outside. That isn't very prudent because the people living in that house could have been apprehended by the Nazis because the Nazis were not altruistic people who cared for others.
     The museum was layed out in a way that it started out dark and towards the end it became lighter. We had a tour guide who explained the rooms of the museum and we asked questions. Overall I think we had a good morale. Towards the end of the tour, we went inside a train car that the Jews were put int to travel to places. It was big but not big enough for about a hundred people to fit in there. People would sometimes die inside those cars. It would smell really bad and people would be so uncomfortable. After we went inside the car I had a greater contempt towards the Nazis.

July 20, 2011

Dear Diary,
     I'm so tired and my feet hurt. Today I probably walked like twenty miles. This morning my family and I drove from Angamaly, Kerala to Velankanni, Tamil Nadu. It was a 10 hour drive. I checked on google and it said that we basically crossed the whole country of India! We went on a big bus with my cousins, aunts, uncles an grandparents.
     As I said, we got to Velankanni which is a city in South India. Not many tourists come to places in South India but this place was packed with people. This city was named after Our Lady of Good Health. People usually visit this city as part of a church pilgrimage because there were so many miracles that occurred here with Mother Mary.
     I was really surprised when I got here because this place wasn't like anything I expected. Since so many people come to visit, I thought that the city would be more cleanlier than other cities in India, but that wasn't the case. Our hotel was... let's just say it didn't look like hotels that we have in the U.S. There were poor people out in the streets begging for money. It was really sad to see so many poor people in such a holy place. There were stay dogs out in the streets which was normal but here there were so many. Also, the beach was like gray. I was disgusted. My grandma said that it was the natural color of the sand but I was still kind of scared to sit down.
     The only place that was actually pretty clean was the church. I mean the basilica. A basilica is way bigger than a church or cathedral. It was so big and white. My family and I attended mass there. It was too crowded, so we couldn't get inside. I bet there were more than a thousand people. I was holding onto my grandma's hand the whole day because there were probably kidnappers and I could easily get lost. Overall, this trip was very tiring but it was really worth it.

~Aneena

My Loving Grandmother

"We must live, and when this is all over, we must work to make the world a better place. And if we die, we will die knowing that it was not our fault, that we did our best, and we can go to our deaths in dignity...I want you to both live...And to remember...You must choose love. Always choose love." 

     This is a quote that Erika said to her brother, Daniel and her friend, Rosa. When I read this quote, I thought of my grandmother. I called her Ammama, which means older mother in our Malayalam. She may not be with me me now but she was the most loving person I have ever known. Till this day my whole family talks about how amazing, kind and spiritual she was. I may not have known her for long but when I look back at pictures of me and her, both of us would always be laughing or smiling. My parents would tell me that if I cried she would be the only one to console me.
     She was loving to me just as Erika was loving for her brother and friend. Erika told her brother and Rosa, "...You must choose love. Always choose love." My grandmother was the kind of person would would say something like that because she cares for me and she wants me to have a good life. Erika looked at both sides of the situation and made it positive. She said, "We must live, and when this is all over we must work to make the world a better place. And if we die, we will die knowing that it was not our fault, that we did our best, and we can go to our deaths in dignity..." By all this she meant that whatever happens to them, everything will be okay. Daniel and Erika were very lucky to have a person like Erika in their lives just as I was so lucky to have my loving grandmother.

It's Leap Day!

     Wow, four years went by pretty quickly. Four years ago I went to a different school and lived in a different house than I do now. I've come a long way in these past couple of years. There are times I'd like to remember and times that I'd like to forget. When I started fourth grade in a new school I didn't really do so well in school but now I'm happy to say that I don't completely fail classes anymore :) I used to live in a tiny house where I shared a room with my brother. Our room also the computer room. I'm happy that I have a new house and my own room now. Also, four years ago two of my siblings were born. I guess I'm happy about that even though they drive me crazy.

     Back then I was the most introverted person ever. I wasn't in church choir and I never knew how to play the violin. I have played keyboard in choir for the past three years and that really boosted my confidence. I go to a pretty big church, so there are hundreds of people attending and that kind of scared me a little knowing that every mistake I made would be heard by everyone but now I'm over that. I also joined orchestra which also boosted my confidence. I honestly don't know what I would do without my violin. #orchdork Overall, in the past few years my life has changed for the better and I'm grateful for that.

     Now that I looked at the past let's head to the future. The next Leap Year will be 2020. Let's hope that the Olympics are in Chicago and that I can go and watch it. In four years I'll be a senior in high school and I'll be in Symphonic Orchestra which is the highest orchestra that we have. I'm also hoping to crush other high schools in badminton. #badmintonislife All in all I'm just hoping that every years just keeps getting better and better. Happy Leap Day!

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

August 19, 1914

Dearest Papa,

                      I got your letter. I miss you a lot too. School closed a couple weeks ago because of the war. Before I left school, my teacher pulled me aside and gave me a book called, "There Is Hope." It's about a boy whose father is in a war, just like you. 

                       Do you remember when you were back home, I would always read to you and Mamma? I wish I could still do that. Mamma seems really perturbed lately, so I didn't want to pester her with my reading. Since I couldn't read to you or Mamma guess who I read to? An elephant. Yeah, I know it's hard to believe but listen, I'll explain.

                       The day I came home from the last day of school I was really anxious to read the book my teacher gave me. Mamma was really mad because Amanda and Alice were both crying. We were out of food. Mamma was waiting for me to come home, so I could go to the market. Why does Africa have to send so much food to other places? We are already poor. The prices here have gone up, so Mamma can only afford one meal a day. I went to the market, got some rice and dropped it off at home.

                        I wanted to get away from all the commotion, so I went to the dessert carrying my book. That's when I saw him, the elephant who weighed probably a thousand pounds. Each step he took forward, I took back. To tell the truth, I was actually kind of scared, just a little. He noticed the fear in my eyes, so he turned around and started walking in the other direction. 

                        I yelled, "Wait!" I needed company and I guessed that he did too. He walked towards me and sat down. Sand flew at my face but I covered it with my book. Then, I sat down, opened my book and began to read, " There is hope..." I guess you can never be too big to get read to. We finished the whole book. It had a happy ending, which made my glad. I'm sure there will be a happy ending for our country too.

Sincerely,

Amal

                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                          

                  

Carrot Cake

     Fitting in is hard sometimes, especially if you look really really weird. In science class we were learning about Meiosis. Meiosis is a process that happens in the cell. It makes gametes and when two gametes combine they make a person such as carrot Cake here. Carrot cake has both characteristics from her mom and her dad. She ha a circular head, five fingers, two toes, no knees, square eyes, a pig nose, a big belly, short arms, fat lips, eye lashes, little ears, a long neck, big feet, long hair, a little thumb, eyebrows, curly hair, horns, a tail and a halo.
     As you can tell, Carrot Cake doesn't really look normal. Being different from others can cause some problems for her. She may not fit in. One problem she may have is touching her toes. her arms are very much shorter than her legs. She also has small ears,so she may need a hearing aid. She may not fit in but that doesn't necessarily mean that she won;t have any friends at all. As you can see, she has a halo above her head, so that probably means that she is a really nice person. Some people may think that her features are pretty cool, so that would be a way for her to have friends. She may be different but there may be other people different like her. Something that everyone should no is that, everybody is different. We should not single people out because of their differences.

Semiya Payasum

     I'm from Kerala, which is a southern state in India. Wherever you go, no matter what restaurant, not matter what city in the state, there will be Semiya Payasum. It is one of my favorite desserts from my  culture. There are different types of payasums such as paal payasum, rava payasum and many more but semiya payasum is just my favorite.

     At my house, we don't make it all the time although I wish we would. Usually my mom makes it for my birthday because she knows how much I like it. Even at my house in India, we don't make it all the time. We make it on special occasions such as birthdays and weddings.

     Approximately, this takes twenty minutes to make. That's not too long. There are different ways people make it but I'll tell you about one way. First, you have to heat a pan with ghee. Then, you have to add nuts and wait till they turn golden. After that, add raisins. I personally add a lot of raisins because they just taste so good. After these steps just set this pan aside. Take another pan and put the semiya in it. You can buy a packet of semiya from a store which sells food from India. After putting in the semiya, you have to wait until it turns a golden brown color. After it turns brown then add milk and water and wait for it to boil. Also make sure the semiya is well cooked. After these steps, add sugar and stir everything together. Then, pour the payasum into a bowl and garnish it with the nuts and raisins we set aside. Now you're done! I definitely recommend making this, its delicious. Enjoy!