A Final Reflection at the Zoo

I love animals. And I love seeing animals that I have never seen before or don't get the pleasure of seeing very often. The Fort Worth Zoo is fantastic in my opinion and it never lets me down. As I was trying to take pictures of people for the final assignment I was also taking some time to see what I wanted to see. I wanted to at least get my money's worth while I was there too.

The zoo wasn't very busy today so I wasn't having to fight a crowd or jostle around with people to get a good look at the animals. While I was walking through the big bird section that has the eagles and all those kinds of big prehistoric-looking birds, I was reminded of "A River Runs Through It" and how nature can help us reconnect with God and ourselves. Those giant birds with huge, gnarly talons and beaks that look like they could quickly shred something apart reminded me how amazing His creations are. And how beautifully dangerous they are. I could just sit there and watch them. I would stare at them and they seemed to be staring back. I wish animals could talk so I could ask them what it is like to be in a zoo where all you do all day is watch people come and go. I feel sad for the animals in zoos even though I like to go see them. Granted, these animals have a pretty good life. They are always fed and always kept safe. But I know that they somehow know that they are in cages. They are always confined. One blue magpie really made me feel sorry for him. He was flying back and forth across his enclosure. He was carrying a stick in his beak and it was like he had a purpose for it. He would stop and purposefully look at me from a spot in the fence that did not have a plexi-glass cover. He knew that there was something there keeping him from me. He was beautiful, but unhappy. I don't know if it is a good thing in the eyes of the Creator that we have caged his animals. Some of them are better off in a zoo than in the wild because they are becoming extinct or what have you.

So, I guess I kind of have a love-hate relationship with zoos. I love seeing the exotic animals, but I can't help but feel their sadness. I am able to witness God's magnificent creations because they are in a zoo. Did he intend for us to do this though?

THE ZOO

One little boy happily strolling by the Orangutans and the other strolling not so happily.

Happy onlookers taking pictures of the Orangutans.

A father smiling at his daughter in the parrot aviary.

I finally got to visit the zoo today. It wasn't super busy and the animals seemed to be pretty sleepy. I managed to get some pictures of a few people, but I felt like a creeper! I saw a lot of people smiling and laughing but it was hard to snap a picture at the right time and not be obvious about it. There were several school groups at the zoo so I saw kids walking around in big groups. I was never able to get a good picture of them, but they were evidence as to how contagious laughter is. I believe they were about middle-school age. I remember how everything at that age is funny. They were all smiles and giggles that's for sure. 

The pictures I managed to get are shown above. My favorite is the third one. I figured the parrot aviary might be a good place to find people laughing because you can buy little sticks with food and go inside to feed the little cockateels. The man in the blue shirt was carrying his daughter on his shoulders. She was smiling and giggling at the little birds flitting all around her. He was smiling and giggling too. Probably for the same reason or because he was happy his child was having fun. I snapped this picture when he set his daughter on the ground and turned around to look behind him. Granted the picture looks like I am spying on him because of the fence that is between us, but I caught something genuine that would not have been possible otherwise. 

The other two pictures posted above were at the Orangutans enclosure. They are pretty funny animals to me and I thought I might be able to get some good stuff there. The little boys were running around on the boardwalk peeping through the fence since they were not tall enough to see over the rail. One Orangutan was climbing around with a big mouthful of green grass. It looked pretty comical with its cheeks full and even more grass poking out of its mouth. The little boys thought this was hilarious. In my picture the one little boy is smiling and the other is not. I think I just caught him at a bad time! The couple observing the Orangutans seemed to be enjoying themselves. The man is concentrating on documenting the hungry Orangutan while the woman can't help but smile at it. I couldn't either! 

After getting sufficient paparazzi pictures of random people at the zoo, I chose to make my $5 parking ticket and $6 zoo ticket worth my while. I wandered around and visited my favorite animals. It was a nice treat before I had to get back home and study for my next test.

P.S. Here's some more picture I took that might make you smile.

Apparently the tree tastes pretty good.

I am super jealous of this big guy's cat nappin'.

As I was leaving, this face told me I needed to stop being a creeper and get back to studying.

Thoughtful Jacira

Ever since I first met Jacira I could tell that she was very interested in me and not just checking off another task she had to do for school off her list. Every time we meet she asks about things that we talked about the previous time and follows up on those things. I am not the type of person to confide in people that I do not really know, but Jacira is one of those people who you can feel comfortable with. I think that we both are honest with each other about our thoughts and feelings about our lives.

I think that she does a better job than I do when it comes to remembering little things about each other sometimes though. For example, when I was in New York for my internship interviews she text messaged me one day asking how my week was going and such. Totally caught me off guard, but it made me feel good and like someone was thinking about me. She was genuinely curious how my interviews were going. She also text messaged me on my birthday the other day and said a very heartfelt birthday wish. It was more than just "Happy Birthday, Hannah!" which is the norm when it comes to birthday text messages from people that are not those that you really know. Her birthday wish was sweet and thoughtful and genuine. That text message caught me off guard too! She continues to surprise me for a young woman who is in a different country learning a different language. I feel like if I was in that situation I might not feel like I could show my personality and be thoughtful to someone I did not know very well. But I can see how I might behave as Jacira has. I would be thankful to have a person that was close to my age and had similar likes that I could develop a relationship with.

Thank you, Jacira.

Unrestrained Laughter #2

Today, Maddie and Sruthi came to my apartment so we could figure out what we were going to do for our final presentation for this class. As everyone in class has probably noticed the three of us are often giggling and laughing to ourselves in class. Well this group meeting was absolutely full of laughter. Sometimes uncontrollable laughter. I don't want to give away what our video will be about so I will try my best. We are going to make a music video and we made our own lyrics to a known song. The lyrics that we made up were the source of our laughter. Also trying to practice singing this newly renovated song was pretty hilarious too.

Our goal for the lyrics were definitely not serious at all so that is part of the reason that they made us laugh so much. Having three people blurt out random words trying to rhyme with a previous line can easily spark unrestrained laughter. Searching through rhyming dictionaries is entertaining in itself. I can't count how many absurd lines we came up with. I think the fits of laughter fueled our song renovating skills, if you can call them skills. I guess you can decide when you see the finished product in class.

We basically laughed throughout the entire meeting. We laughed at how awful we sound singing and how much we are probably going to auto-tune our voices. We laughed at our funny lyrics that are surprisingly clever. It made it enjoyable and not just like any other group meeting. We were all in good moods as we wrapped up our meeting and were looking forward to finishing our video. I hope that everyone who sees the video will understand what we are trying to get at. I think you will. If you know Disney. Hint. Hint.

The Trinity

Dr. Williams organized an excursion to go canoeing or kayaking on the Trinity River for this class (Thank you Dr. Williams by the way!). Those of us who picked Monday to go picked a great day to be outside. The weather was prime that's for sure. So, we had the choice of either getting into a canoe with a partner or a kayak by ourself. I chose a kayak because I did not really want to be going slow on the river and also I didn't feel like working in a team that day. Maddie and Sruthi grabbed a kayak as well so we could all go around together. Sruthi won too. She would want me to mention that. I had not ever kayaked before but I took a leap and did it. It's not hard to get the hang of it, but my shoulders and traps did get pretty tired as we went on. If I could kayak regularly I would have a pretty sweet upper body! Maddie, Sruthi, and I kept a pretty fast pace the whole time too for some reason. We stayed at the head of the pack for the majority of the trip. And we started off our kayaking with passionately singing Disney songs as we rowed down the river. I hope the rest of the class didn't hear us very much because we did not sound good! I'm sure y'all heard a little bit though...

Singing those good ole Disney songs from our childhood and being on a river on a beautiful day was a fantastic experience for me. Maddie mentioned at one point that that was probably a dream come true for us that we had hidden somewhere down in our inner child. I totally agree. I never knew that kayaking and singing Disney songs was a dream of mine, but I think it became one and was answered all in the same day. The best song that we sang was from Pocahontas and it was quite appropriate for us at the time. It was the "Just Around the River Bend" song. Fitting right? So basically it was a pretty dang good day.

And now thinking back on it and relating actually being on a river to "A River Runs Through It", which is the point that Dr. Williams was wanting to reach by taking the time out of class for this I'm sure, I can think of a couple things that I learned from the river. I can also relate "Just Around the River Bend" to this trip also, but I will start with "A River Runs Through It".

The rivers that Norman, Paul, and their father revered so much are a bit different than the Trinity here in Texas. Those Montana rivers are beastly compared to the Trinity. That's beside the point. God created all of the rivers and they all can bestow upon a person the same kind of awe. The river and fishing was how the Rev. Mclean reconnected with the Lord and found the topics for his sermons. His sons used the river maybe not to write a sermon, but they still were able to connect with each other and God. Kayaking with Maddie and Sruthi connected us in a way that I think could have only happened on this type of trip. On this trip, we had a goal to reach (the end point) that we had to work for in a way. We did it together and by that we learned new things about each other like Norman and Paul could do while they were fishing.

Now, a little about how the Pocahontas song was relatable for me. In the next weeks and months I will be turning a bunch of "river bends" in my life. I will be finishing my junior year, going on a cruise, then going to New York for the summer. And when I get back I am moving in with a friend in a new house. That songs just reminded me that even though we do not know what is around the bend, we should not be afraid and we should embrace what comes next.

Thanks again Dr. Williams.

New York City

This past week I went up to New York for three summer internship interviews and I just wanted to share some things that I learned while I was up there.

For my Fashion Merchandising major we are required to complete a full time summer internship in our field the summer before our senior year. This summer it is my turn. I have always wanted to spend at least some time in New York in my life and this is a perfect time to do it, not to mention it will get me credit for my major. My sister did her summer internship in NYC which also made me want to do it even more because she had a great experience and learned a ton.

My mother, sister and I planned this trip so we could all be up there together. First, so my sister could help me navigate the city and second, so my mom could spend some time with us. My sister had to cut her trip very short because of some unfinished business with a speeding ticket from a mean police officer. It ended up just being my mom and I in the city the whole week. It was a great week. We had some days to spend doing whatever we wanted to do when I was not interviewing. We made some tracks! Uptown, downtown, midtown, you name it. We either walked there or took the subway, which is one of the things that I had to conquer that week. With the help of an app containing the subway map and my metro card, mom and I did not take one wrong train. I definitely studied that map a lot last week. I managed to successfully navigate it without my sister there to help me. It's really quite easy once you figure out how it operates. It's safe to say I overcame my apprehension about using the subway last week. How? Because I HAD TO. Isn't there a saying that says something along the lines of necessity is the mother of invention? I didn't invent anything but I conquered a challenge that was before me because it was necessary.

I think I came back from NYC a little bit braver than I was before. My mother and sister are both very outgoing. My mom could carry on a conversation with a fence post. I'm not joking. My sister is a go getter through and through. To give you and example, when she was interviewing for internships she had five interviews and was offered positions at all five places! This trip helped me become more like my mom and sister. The city itself had a role in this small journey of self discovery. If you have never been to Manhattan then it is kind of difficult to imagine it. There is a sense of if you don't keep moving and don't pay attention then you might get trampled by the crowds. Hypothetically and figuratively. You have to survive in that city. Spending five days there and actually doing the things that real New Yorkers do made me realize that. And I am so excited to spend the summer there and learn more. I think I will come back to Texas a slightly different person. Just after this trip I am more confident and unafraid of some things.

Bring it on New York!

Lunch with Jacira

I met with my friend Jacira again the other day before leaving for my trip to New York. We met at our usual time and place. I was hungry so we walked over to the Chick-fil-a on campus so I could grab a bite to eat. Jacira had already eaten lunch but she was happy to keep me company while I ate my deliciously unhealthy meal.

Small talk started our conversation off. The normal "how are you" and "how is school" topics were discussed while we waited in line at Chick-fil-a. She talked about how she had two tests the next day and I talked about my trip to New York that was going to happen that next week. She is always very attentive when we meet. It's refreshing.

So, we sit down so I can eat and continue our conversation about random things. Jacira confessed to me that she does not really like Fort Worth. She likes going to school at TCU but she spends her weekends in Dallas with her brother and her friends in Dallas. We discussed why she didn't like Fort Worth and we came to the conclusion that it is because she is used to bigger cities. She did grow up in a big city so that makes a city like Dallas feel more like home to her. Jacira would really like to move to Dallas next year. I asked if she would still go to school at TCU. Probably not since she does not have a car. We didn't talk about what other schools she could go to in Dallas. I think she will be done with her English schooling after this year so I believe she could enroll in a Dallas university if she wanted. Most of Jacira's friends are in Dallas and she wants to be closer to them. They are out of school I think and are a little bit older than Jacira. As far as living goes, Jacira does not know at the moment where she would live in Dallas or who with. I hope she gets to do what she would like to do as far as moving to Dallas goes, but I hope that she finishes her schooling too.

While I was in New York, Jacira texted me a couple day asking how everything was going. I had told her that I was going to New York to do some important internship interviews for the summer. I was surprised she remembered and cared enough to ask. It was super nice of her to do that. She uses a lot of smiley faces when we message each other back and forth. It's quite funny.

Communicating with Jacira is not very difficult. Occasionally she does not know the correct word to finish a sentence but I always try to help figure out what she is trying to say and teach her the right word. It's kind of like a puzzle to me or maybe more like playing real life catch phrase. It is satisfying to help her learn English better and to help her understand the words that she is using. I have thoroughly enjoyed our meetings so far and I am sure I will enjoy all of them.

Until next time, Jacira.

Some Negative Humor

For spring break this year I went with my boyfriend and a bunch of his fraternity brothers to Destin, Florida. We rented a five-story house right on the beach, which was pretty awesome. Literally the beach was our backyard, but that's beside the point of this blog. Spending a week in a big house full of fraternity boys was fun and different from anything I have ever experienced before. I lived with my sister when I came to TCU in an apartment close to campus and now I live alone with my cat and chihuahua. So I have never had more than one roommate or a roommate that was not family, let alone a roommate of the opposite sex. Don't worry I wasn't the ONLY girl in the house....there were two others! I got to know the two other girls a little bit when they weren't somewhere with their boyfriends. For me, getting along with boys is easier than getting along with a bunch of girls. That's probably because my sister and I are the only girls in a big family of boys. Basically all of my cousins are boys and I grew up on a ranch out in the middle of nowhere west Texas. I'm used to dirty boys.

Anyway, back to the reason for this blog post. I heard and experienced and participated in A LOT of negative humor. I can't count the amount of jokes that were said at the expense of one of our fellow TCU spring break crew. It didn't bother me. I'm pretty sure it didn't bother anyone else either. Of course, I was a focal point of some of the jokes. No big deal.

The best situation that I can describe as an example of some of the negative humor from spring break happened when my boyfriend, three of his brothers, and I were driving back to Fort Worth. Somebody mentioned the Thursday night occurrence that involved one of our friends after everyone got back to the house after hitting the bars. I will give you a little background information first. He had brought a girl back from the bar. Everyone was kind of hanging out on the fifth floor which was the kitchen and living area. After a little while, the girl got a phone call from one of her friends. She ends up leaving much to the dismay of our friend. I had gone down one floor to my room to go to bed before she left, but did I hear about when she did. Our friend proceeded to scream and shout in anger (not aimed at the girl) that she had to leave. You can probably assume why he was angry that the end of the night came so quickly. I could hear our disappointed yelling and stomping and throwing a temper tantrum upstairs for a good 45 minutes. I could not go to sleep! I think he could have woken the houses around us if it wasn't for the sound of the waves outside.

So, this is what started about an hour rant on our friend in the truck. We all reenacted how he sounded and what he said numerous times. We pointed out other funny things he did that night and the rest of the week for that matter. We passed our time making fun of him. If I think about it now it is a little mean and sad. Our friend is not unaware of us poking fun at him about this certain incident, however. He has laughed with us since then about how ridiculous he was that night. Does that make the truck ride laughing session about him ok? I'm not sure.

Meeting Jacira

I finally was able to meet my conversation partner today. We had had a little trouble finding a time that worked for both of us, but have now figured it out! 

I met my convo partner, Jacira Dombolo, at Union Grounds after walking all the way across campus in the bone-chilling wind. 

I went to shake her hand with my icy fingers, but she greeted me with a hug. I knew in the back of my mind that this would happen because I have Brazilian friends who greet everyone with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Since Jacira is from Angola, a Portuguese speaking country, I figured the greeting style might be similar. 

After introducing ourselves and clearing up how to pronounce her name, we began asking each other questions. They were simple questions. Small talk questions like "what are you studying?" and "is English hard to learn?" Jacira speaks English pretty well and is not shy. She told me her father speaks English well because he has been in America for business before. She started learning English from him and her older brother before coming to study in America. Her older brother will soon graduate from TCU and after Jacira is finished with the English program, she will begin taking classes at TCU. 

I asked her if learning English was difficult and she said yes of course. Well, I told her that learning Portuguese was hard too! It’s funny how one’s native language seems so easy to them but when a new language is introduced how difficult it is to learn it. I wish that learning new languages was not hard because I would love to be able to speak in other languages and communicate with more people than just English speaking people. I don’t know if it would be a good or bad thing to be able to learn languages easier. The world would probably be a lot different than it is.

So, first meeting with my conversation partner went awesomely. There really was not an awkward feeling between the two of us, which I am thankful for. I am excited to get to know Jacira a little bit better this semester as we continue to meet.

Until next time Jacira!

Unrestrained Laughter #1

The other night my friend Ally and I were watching a new TV series on HBO when we probably should have been studying, or doing something else productive. This new show is called Togetherness. I think it is pretty good and is worth a watch.

In this one particular episode the two male best friends are driving in the car on their way back home from sort of a disappointing evening. One of the friends is an audio technician for movies and the other is an actor who has been out of work for a good while. The audio technician tried to make amends with the director of a new film that was just released, but the director basically laughed in his face. The actor's night started out fine when he got to meet one of his idols in the movie industry. It all started going down hill when his friend (who is a woman) started hitting on the actor's idol. Well, at the end of the night the more famous person gets the girl and the out-of-work actor goes home with his best friend.

So, back to the two friends driving home. The one driving the car suddenly pulls the car over to the curb in an attempt to cheer his friend and himself up. He turns on a song. Cranks up the music. And the two immediately and simultaneously begin air drumming. This is the scene that brought on our fit of laughter. For some reason the air drumming was comical to Ally and I. Of course it is acted out and not real, but this scene brought tears to our eyes because we were laughing so hard. After we tried to mimic that scene, but it's harder than it looks!

We are still working on our choreographed air drumming by the way.

WHAT IS HUMOR?

I asked two girls in one of my fashion classes and my boyfriend (just because) about humor.

Here are their responses:



David Birkes

Melanie Arango

Jamie Samel