graduation.

it is kind of hard to believe that i will be graduating in less than two weeks. i may have been waiting for this day to come for a long time. but deep inside me i am scared and really don't want to leave the small secure school i go to presently. leaving ecs will be exciting and sad at the same time. leaving behind so many laughs and tears seems so hard but it is coming at me so quickly. it will be tremendously hard to leave behind not just the familiar school itself but everything and everyone in it. i have made some great friendships with teachers and with girls from all different grades. but the hardest thing to leave behind is the family of thirty-eight girls i have been living this amazing journey with for five years. the girls of grade eleven are truly amazing. they all may be very different some quiet some loud some tall some short, but i think that that makes us who we are. in grade eleven we all love each other for who we are and what we have become. i will miss everyone so dearly but i think that it is good to grow up and fly away. times will change, the clock will tick but we will always be there for each other, whenever, wherever. because we are family, we've been on this journey for a longtime but the journey hasn't ended it has just begun.


peace
jm.

this doesn't really have a title.

who are you, who am i?

it's really annoying that people plaster these stereotypes on other people. i hate stereotypes. i hate even the thought of them. what stereotypical group do you belong? which one do i belong to? in the end, i feel like i don't belong to any of them.

i don't have a certain persona, or personality.

i am, who i am.

The Tranquility of Traveling.

Looking at the headlines of the newspapers, the riots in Kenya, the darkness of Gaza City, the state of Pakistan and the million and million of more unspeakable headlines facing this world, I feel close to them. I feel the need to go to the remote places in the world where no one else wants to go. Personally, in a blink of an eye I would go to Afghanistan and learn about their culture and they way they live or to Kenya and see the riots for myself, even though they are extremely exaggerated I think that it would still be tremendously interesting. There are so many atrocities that occur everyday and millions of people don’t even turn their heads, in many ways I would love to be the person who does.

While, reading the news I find every single article so interesting, and traveling to some pretty mind blowing places in the world every human being out there is so different and incredible to me. I don’t know why and I don’t know if I ever will but the cultures, the people and their stories are so captivating that I encapsulate each of them and treasure them in my mind. Speaking of traveling I think that it is the best schooling anyone can get, learning about another individual’s life is so fascinating and comparing it to my own. I mean every single person on this earth lives so differently from one another and every human being believes and cherishes different things. I find it so mind boggling to understand how we can all live on one planet and be so different, but I guess that is the beauty of the earth.

“Why would you ever want to go there? It’s so dirty.” Someone told this to me when I was about to travel to India and a year and a half ago. To me India is not a “dirty” place; to me India is a land of beauty and spirituality containing some of the oldest and most outstanding creatures and monuments on this earth. Although, not everyone sees it that way, going more into the traveling aspect; some see traveling as a place to get away and to relax and to party. Well I don’t, traveling to me is to make a journey anywhere at any time, to experience one other’s culture and their lifestyle; to see different views of the earth and to see different landscapes and distinctive scenery. Individually, I don’t see traveling as just a vacation I see it as experiencing and wandering throughout the earth and discovering places and people. Traveling brings serenity to my life and I love encountering and capturing every minute of it.

Food of the Culture or of the Common?

I recently wrote an editorial for my english class on the Globalization of Food. This topic is one that interests me a great deal.

When was the last time you weren’t in a rush? You didn’t have to time make dinner, so you just went to McDonalds or Burger King? When was the last time you ate a home-cooked meal, not just from your home but also your homeland? These days our world is obsessed with fast food, because it taste good, it is very cheap and fast. This trend had become the global norm, the life of living in the express lane and rushing into devouring our food faster than we bought it.

The Western world is partly to blame for this globalization of food. They are the founders of McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Burger King and KFC, whom are all international companies. These companies certainly do not bring any culture to the table; all they bring is grease and salt. The cultural globalization of our world has eaten away at food, because food is one of the oldest parts of one’s culture. The world’s society has become a money-driven society and these companies globalize their company each day and make their food the food of common and not of culture.

What ever happened to cooking at home and eating what we find from local shops? After traveling a lot, we see that there are fast-food restaurants everywhere, from India to Tunisia. Their ads flood the media, like McDonalds taking home to over 119 countries worldwide. When traveling you would like to eat the food of that country to try their culture, what happens when all you can find is food from America? What about an American style hamburger in Tunisia? Our world has turned to the quick, convenient and button-pusher meals, but are we really satisfied? Globalization has brought on the time saving factor, the ready-to-eat meals do not always have the same aroma that a cultural meal does, we are missing out on the diverse taste of cultural food.

Some find it disgusting that our world has forgotten where they have come from and what they used to eat. Some just eat anything they can find. Countries like Barbados, Bhutan, Argentina and Cambodia are opposing the fast food trend, but there are not many. Some of the developing nations desire this rush, therefore they too are participants of the fast food fanatics; on the opening day of the first McDonalds in Kuwait, and the drive-thru line was longer than 10km long. Developing countries are running into the line of the rushed lifestyle, but what does this give you? An unhealthy diet, thousands of obese civilians and empty pockets.

In the end, fast food restaurants have flooded our world and greased our hands. This trend has taken away the remarkably distinct cultures from around the world and traded them in for the food of the common. Next time you have the desire to gobble down your meal, take some time and create a wonderful meal and an extraordinary aroma.

The End.

Photography

I may not be any good, I may not be a professional, but I love photography. Every aspect of it, it really brings me joy. Capturing moments, landscapes, fruit, trees or even the feet of my dog. Although, it is not just about capturing moments, it is about capturing stories; photographs are meant for laughter and for tears. They are meant to show beautiful and horrid things; photographs are meant to remind someone or show the world what really is going on. Photography is meaningful; every photo has a life and significance to it. Behind the angles, lighting and all the other aspects, photography is something real; every picture speaks to me in some way or another; they all illustrate breathtaking moments.

Peace.

Realization.

I remember taking this picture. It was around noon and it was freezing outside. My mom and I were caneoing alone in the most amazing marsh I have ever seen. My favourite things about that marsh were the trees, they were normal trees. They were more like straight sticks coming out of the marshland. The other thing I love about this photograph is the stillness of the water and how all the trees and foliage reflects on the water. After talking to the Blue Duck, I realized that I really love stillness. Just sitting there with my camera staring at the serene landscape was breathtaking. Thank you Blue Duck for this realization.

Fall

My favorite season is fall. I love the beauty of the trees and the serenity of the leaves and the all around nature. This past weekend I went to Montebello and stayed in the middle of nowhere; it was amazing. There were the most beautiful colours not created by paint or a computer but by a simple leaf. On the lake and in the marsh, the water was so still and everything was so quiet I swear I was not on earth. I took many pictures of the stillness and the beauty of my surroundings. I think that everyone should stop in their day and look at the leaves falling and the geese flying, because nature is real beauty.