Lap 5, Blog entry #3. From Rags To Riches.

In my personal opinion, I feel that anyone can rise from rags to riches. If someone is born into poverty, or had a bad upbringing, that doesn't mean that they have to live their entire life that way. Anyone, with a little faith and dedication, can overcome many obstacles in their life. As long as the person strives hard enough, and gets an education, they can do anything. You don't need to be born into a wealthy family to have a good life, or get a good education. You don't have to be born into money either, to earn a good living. With education, dedication, faith, talent, and common sense, anyone can accomplish anything. Also, 'riches' doesn't necessarily mean that you have to make a lot of money. Some of the 'richest' people in the world, live in poverty, or don't make a lot of money. However, they are rich, because they're happy. Happiness, is even better than having money.

Lap 5, Blog Entry #1. China now, America then.

Currently, workers in China have very bad working conditions, and at the turn of the century, so did Americans. The Chinese workers, are treated unfairly, belittled, and have to work long hours under unsanitary conditions, for a minimal amount of money. The Americans at the turn of the century were treated almost the exact same way. Many Chinese workers have to suffer through long hours of working without break, and some even live where they are working. Most of these workers can't provide for their families, therefore they have no choice but to take the job. Americans at the turn of the century also couldn't provide for their families well, so they too had to suffer through the hardships and continuous hours without a break. These workers, Chinese and American, were living in poverty, and barely made enough to keep food on the table. What's honorable about it though, is that they actually made an effort to provide for their families, although they had to go through some terrible things to do so.

Lap 5; Blog #2. "Children In A Playground."

I chose the Jacob Riis photo, "Children In A Playground." This photo depicts, literally, children playing in a playground. The main focus of the photo is a young child giving an even younger child a 'piggyback ride.' In the background, you can see more young children climbing up ladders mounted over a wooden beam, and you can also see a swingset to the far right of the photo.
I chose this picture, honestly, because of the title. The title made me wonder what playgrounds from back then looked like. I was surprised to see that the playgrounds actually had swing sets, and that they had something similar to a jungle gym. It didn't really surprise me though, that the jungle gym was nothing more than a piece of wood mounted between two more pieces.
The fact that the children appeared to actually be waiting in line to climb up the ladder made me realized how content these children were with something so simple. Things like that make you really appreciate what you have.

Spanish American War Battles. (Timetoast timeline. Activity 6, LAP 6.)

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/events-from-the-spanishamerican-war

Blog Entry #6; Culture's Influence.

I come from a diverse family. My mother's side of the family is Hispanic, and my father's side of the family is European. Ironically, the beliefs of my parents aren't too different. In other words, my father and mother are almost always in agreement about most things, such as discipline, and respect. My parents raised me to respect myself, and others.
My household is predominately Hispanic, since we live with my maternal grandparents. However, the primary language is English, although almost everyone in the house speaks Spanish as well. A lot of things that we do in our household is strongly influenced by the Puerto Rican culture. For example, in the Puerto Rican culture, they believe that licking a string and placing it on a baby's forehead stops hiccups. Needless to say, when I had hiccups as a baby, my mother would always place that string on my forehead. Towards my father's culture, we tend to eat a lot of Ukrainian food, and always attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
If I was born into a different culture, I wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't eat certain foods, do certain things, attend certain places. I'd be a completely different person based on the beliefs amongst the culture.

Six Word Story.

Pilgrims landed. Declared peace. America discovered.

Wordle.