Week Eight

This week we learned about arranged marriages in India. We also started researching and learning about Mt. Everest, the world's tallest peak in the Himalayas. We read about the different rest or camps spots along the route to the top of the peak. We also read about what it takes to get up to the top and what dangers the climbers and the Sherpas, the guides, experience on the way up the mountain. In class we also got assigned our last project of the year and we are looking up recipes from Asia and researching the origin and the main place the ingredients are grown.
This week I am working downtown at UT at the UIL state meet for theatre. UT is the University of Texas in Austin and the UIL state meet is that competition of theatre and other fine arts. This level of the competition is where the best plays from across Texas come and compete with each other. Nine kids from my school and I are working backstage of the competition and helping the casts and crews of the plays get ready.

Week Seven

This week in class we are learning about different cultures in Southwest Asia. We are mainly focusing on the religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. My group is researching Judaism and we learned that one of their holy places, the Western Wall, was once the Jew's Second Temple, but was destroyed by the Romans. Also, Judaism is the influence of other major religions, like Christianity. We also had a map test over Southwest Asia, where we have to study the maps of the Middle East and then have a test over their physical features and the countries and cities.
Tomorrow I have going to Zilker Park and Barton Springs, again. It is supposed to be really nice weather so I have excited to spend the day outside. I'll try and take more pictures to put up.

Week Six

This week in class we are beginning our unit on Southwest Asia. We turned in our political and physical maps. Our physical was colored due to the elevation of the countries and our political map was based on the major religions of the region. Yesterday, Wednesday, we watched a movie about "bloody sports". The series of the video is called Taboo and it teaches the listeners about other cultures and practices of other countries that the Americans may think would be inappropriate. Today we are starting a small project about the three major religion groups of the region (Kurds, Shiite, Sunni). We divided into six groups so two groups are researching the same religion. Because there is conflict among the religious groups, at the end of the researching period, we are going to get together as a class and see if there is a compromise to the conflicting.
This week in my life the play and all the performances are over with so there hasn't been much going on. I have actually been able to come home after school and do homework instead of coming home four or five hours after school is over. In theater class, we are having to memorize and perform a Shakespeare monologue. It's pretty hard to memorize because the way they spoke back in the 16th century is so different from how we speak today.