The Doha Insider!

I think Ms. Rumford chose to do this (blogging) instead of the traditional writing activities, because it’s a new experience, and this allows you to think outside the box, and put in your own voice into the writing. Also, in traditional writing activities, those aren’t things you might want to talk about. In our blogs, we get to choose our topic, and put in facts, opinions, everything. Activities are limited and don’t have a variation of options to do that makes your writing better and more interesting, like adding photos, linking words, adding videos and so on, because you’d only be writing on a regular piece of paper. Also, having something like blogs, like hands on kind of, makes it stick in you’re mind and if you don’t delete you’re account, you can always see what you did wrong, and improve, unlike with paper, you might lose your things and might not remember it as easily as you do with blogging. Something also that really caught my attention while blogging, is that when you start typing, your ideas keep coming and coming and it’s easier to write down, rather with writing activities, you might not be able to have an open mind that much and have restrictions in what you’re supposed to do. Plus, blogs are actually a lot more enjoyable, so we, especially me, would put a lot more effort into it.

            During blogging about my topic, I got to discover how I write and what kind of writer I am, and more about how my mind works and how I react to things, which is quite an accomplishment to me. For example, with my blog about the Kuwaiti man and his daughters, the way I reacted to it and how it deeply affected me, made me write about it, which meant that it was something that I really got interested to. After I saw everything I wrote about, it all had my opinion in it and how I feel about the topic. Also, knowing that you might be anonymous (like the wikis) I felt more comfortable writing everything in my mind without being judged. I basically came out of my shell and opened up, since I’m usually the kind of girl that keeps everything to herself, and doesn’t open up to anyone but her closest friends or some one she really trusts. Blogging has also helped school-wise, with my grades. I’ve been so open that it shows a side of me I hope shows readers that I’m not the quiet girl they see all the time. It made me right so much and want to reach a goal and not be so conscious of myself.  

            We learned many things during our blogging period in class; sentence structures, voice, vocabulary, technology, research; many things indeed. I really improved my skills in writing sentences, like using compound sentences, complex and compound-complex sentences, and I learned their significance and how it can make a piece of writing more interesting or simpler. With our vocabulary, we learned how to make a piece of writing seem more complex and serious, but at the same time put voice into it, and make it seem like you’re actually talking to the reader instead of just the reader reading it. For example, if your friend reads something, and they can easily tell this is you by the way it’s written or by the way you react to the topic, it shows a good example of having voice. For technology, I really think Edublogs have taught me quite a bit; adding links, videos, pictures, HTML links, which made my blog posts more interesting, and by adding a video or picture, it’s more eye catching and not boring with only a long essay-like blog.

How does this benefit us? Well, firstly, it will if you want to continue writing in your Edublog account. Also, it helps if you are the kind of person who really enjoys writing or might have difficulties writing, especially essays or short stories. With the sentence structure lesson, I was able to cut a summary of 10 sentences, to 5, to 3, to one sentence. Yes, one! Even though that wasn’t in our blog, it was something that we learned to apply to our blog posts, and other assignments in school, like a History essay, or a presentation where you have to summarize something. Also, if you really enjoyed this, you might continue writing and posting posts, so you improve more and more, and also do what you really enjoy doing, about something you like. Blogging also showed me the skills of my friends and classmates. They really have put effort into this, I think everyone has. It’s very interesting seeing their opinions and their style of writing and what topic they chose, so it makes you more of an open minded person. For example, I read a good friend of mines blog about online safety and how teenagers use it today, and it really opened my eyes how unsafe it is. And seeing all the opinions they listed and their feelings about it, made me think twice about what I do on the internet. So lots of things you read in blogs can help you in life.

         The time you become a teenager is the time you’re life turns completely different, you go through experiences and obstacles, but it could be a troubled journey. No matter what, it will always go through the normal and expected problems, for example, gossip, rumors, peer pressure in doing things, and change into a completely different person, for either the good or worse.

            Something that really opened my eyes about this, is a movie called Thirteen, written by Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, who was a main character in the movie. The movie revolves around a 13 year old, straight-A student, named Tracy Freeland, who gets teased a lot in her school by the popular kids. So just to fit in, she befriends with Evie, the most popular girl in the 7^th grade. She is then invited to shopping with Evie, but what she didn’t know is that shopping to Evie, was shop-lifting. Tracy takes the chance, and steals a lady’s pocket book, and goes shopping. As they become closer, Evie leads Tracy to the life that includes drugs, smoking, sex and alcohol, so she’s leading her to danger. Tracy starts lying to her mom, her mom’s boyfriend and her brother, who catches her later in the movie, thinking she was another girl and was just trying to hit on her.

 When Evie moves in Tracy’s house, they both go in a downward spiral, experimenting with the drugs, with smoking, with alcohol, with piercings and crimes, like shoplifting. At the same time, no one is aware of that Tracy actually cuts herself, and puts her self in harms way, just to relieve the stress. After a whole lot of trouble, Tracy gets a wake up call, and her mom finds out the truth about everything, and gets heart broken.

The movie, in my opinion, is a very educational movie, even though it might be a little inappropriate, it explains real situations that could happen in many teenagers’ life, and could be happening to someone as you read this. It’s all peer pressure and the environment you live in, you get affected and you just change. It was really interesting seeing the change that the girl goes through, from a “goody goody” to such a different, troubled teenager, because of one girl. It showed me how you have to have a balanced life in those years, and that life can really get out of control if you don’t teach yourself right from wrong. Anything could happen when you’re a teenager, you might think you know how to control yourself, but when you start doing something that you really enjoy, you’ll see how hard it is to stop or to control yourself, like smoking or drinking. So I think people my age should think before they act, and think what could happen to them, because everything isn’t planned out in life, it’s all a journey with unexpected events.

Thirteen; The trailer.   

This heart wrenching story happened way back in time. It all started in Vienna, on March 2^nd, 1998. First off, Natascha Kampusch was born in Vienna, 17 February, 1988. She was raised by her parents in Vienna, Austria. She had two older sisters, 5 nieces and nephews. Her parents split when she was just a kid, but she still spent time and visited them both.

          On March 2^nd, on 1998, a day after she came back from visiting her dad during the holidays, 10 year old Natascha left her house and was on her way to school, but reports say she didn’t arrive to the school or back home. A witness said that they saw Natascha being hauled into a white minibus by two men, which then was confirmed by Natascha that there was only one man. Then it was later reported that police checked about 776 white buses, even the kidnapper’s car, but he proved to them at the time that he wasn’t involved in any way. Natascha was captured by Wolfgang Priklopil, who was a technician, for a long and frightening eight years. He held her captive in a small cellar, under his garage, in his grand-father’s house, that was built during World War II.  The cellar was hidden behind a cupboard, and had very little space, and had a steel door, with no windows and was completely soundproof, which made it hard for Natascha to escape.

          In the first frightening months, she wasn’t allowed out of the cellar at all, and then after a few years, she’d always have to be in it at night and not upstairs or anywhere else. Then, Priklopil would let her go out, but threatened to kill her if she did anything that would bust him and would get him in danger. Even though he kidnapped her, Natascha didn’t quite resent him as much as a normal person would.  A colleague of Priklopil said that she appeared happy, but at the same time, she’d have some sort of hatred. She said that Priklopil “would beat her so badly she could hardly walk. When she was beaten black and blue, he tried to smarten her up. Then he would take his camera and photograph her.” Natascha said she thought about escaping many times, but the man told her that all windows and doors had explosives, and that he had a gun and would kill her if she attempted to.

          Then on August 23^rd, 2006, Natascha had the best opportunity. She was vacuuming and cleaning Priklopil’s car, and when he got a call, he decided to go somewhere else to talk because of the background noise. When he did, Natascha took the chance, left the vacuum on and ran for it! She ran about 200 meters, through streets, gardens, and jumping over fences. She then reached a 71 year old neighbor, stating who she was. The neighbor immediately called the police, who took Natascha to a police station. On the other hand, Priklopil managed to escape a police chase, and committed suicide, by jumping in front of a moving train. He actually planned to die, rather than go through consequences and get caught, by telling Natascha that they wouldn’t be able to catch him alive.

          After her escape, she released a statement, that actually shower her sympathy towards her kidnapper, saying “I feel more and more sorry for him – he’s a poor soul.” According to the police, Natascha actually cried when she got the news of his death. She even attended his morgue, and lit him a candle. With all the media attention, Natascha kept to herself, and didn’t talk so much about all details. But at the end, she had her own talk show, and she had many interviews.

          In my opinion, I think that Natascha’s feelings towards her kidnapper really surprised a lot, especially how she defended him, and cried over him. It just shows how she isn’t judgmental and still thanks him for how he taught her how to self teach herself. Also, he stopped her from going through all the teenage problems, like smoking, and drinking, that she says she’s thankful for. That’s something so many people go through, so I think she thanks him for not letting her go through that trouble. But at the same time, I don’t understand how she hasn’t had much contact with her mother, and why she hasn’t opened up about this a lot, especially since a lot of teenagers, like myself, have had their attention caught by it. It’s a true and heroic story. I don’t know how I could survive 8 years of torment and usually isolation.

Wednesday, May 6^th of 2009, a day that made complete history, a day that broke every Chelsea FC fans’ dream.  It was the second leg match versus Barcelona, and whoever won this would go to the finals, versus Manchester United. On behalf of all Chelsea fans, and people who admit the truth, that was the most unfair game of 2009, and maybe in Chelsea’s long history of soccer. Before I continue, I should state that I am a true and sincere Chelsea fan, and that this game affected me so much, it’s still not out of my mind.

First the two powerful teams faced each other in the first leg match, with a tie, 0-0, an advantage to Chelsea, but at the same time, not so great, since away points mean more than home points. Next, was playing in the great Stamford Bridge, the house of the Blues, which is what Chelsea is usually referred to. We were very hopeful in winning because our new manager and coach, Guus Hiddink was able to improve the player’s skills and effort in general, that it provided many wins and much fewer losses than we used to have under Luiz-Felipe Scolari. Also, we had one of our best left back players, Ashley Cole, who would be one of the best to be in Barcelona’s scorer, Lionel Messi’s way to the goal and give Chelsea the hope and chance in winning. Also, we had our major scorers, like Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, and ofcourse, in my opinion, the best goalie in the world, Petr Cech. We had our best players in the field, and we were sure we had as good of a chance of winning as Barcelona did.

We were in the lead, 1-0 till about the 93^rd minute, Barcelona scored an unexpected and lucky goal. So the race was still on. Even though we had the chances to score goals, something that almost everyone noticed is how the actual referee of the game wasn’t calling the right shots. Well, I don’t know with Barcelona, but he definitely missed quite a few with Chelsea, which caught many peoples attention. For example, the biggest one was at the end of the game, how the ball touched one of Barcelona’s players’ arm, and was supposed to be a penalty, but the referee didn’t count it, and continued running the other way, making Ballack chase after him, furious and shocked that the referee didn’t call the obvious penalty. Right after, the game was over, Barcelona the winner of the game, and the one to go play Manchester United, but that wasn’t close to the end of it! With all the fans screaming with rage, all the Chelsea players couldn’t believe it. What just happened? Not only did the referee miss that obvious penalty, he misses many others! It was obviously cheating, so Drogba, who got substituted during the game unleashed his anger and started pushing himself to the referee, guards holding him back from hitting the man! He then turned to the camera, screamed “He’s a f***ing disgrace!”

                No one can ever forget that heart wrenching game, I definitely can’t. Even though some might say, it’s just a game and there’s always next year, the fact that the way the game was handled makes everyone mad and it got so out of control, that the referee actually got death threats and had to leave the hotel he was in, go to another one and leave the country right after.  Here’s a video to show the things he missed that really made all Chelsea fans infuriate.

Chelsea Vs Barcelona. 2009

I think some of you may have heard of a story that has shocked a lot of the Arab world, and all households, about the old man, Yousef, who got kicked out of his own house by his own blood, his daughters.

The story was on a famous Kuwaiti show, that’s owned by a lawyer, and that’s where I actually saw the tragic story. It’s about a 75 to 80 year old Kuwaiti man named Yousef, who has 4 daughters. So this all started once his wife died, the mother of the 4 girls, and two of the girls, the older ones, convinced their dad into buying a new and big house, and sell their 2 houses, and to register the house under their name, and not under his name. After they convinced him, he sold the 2 old houses, bought the house that his daughters had in mind, and registered in the name of the oldest daughter. When he was out of the house, the two oldest daughters kicked their two younger sisters out of the house, plus the dad himself and into the streets.
               

The young girls called their dad, telling him about the situation and that they’re in a specific hotel, near the area of the new house. The dad rushed to the hotel, and found out that the hotel was very expensive for 3 people, the price being 60 Dinar per night, and 10 Dinar per breakfast. So then, the dad went and looked for a cheaper hotel, which he found eventually, and stayed in a week with his two younger daughters. During the time, he went looking for a cheap apartment to live in while he tries to fix whatever was happening, so he found one, simply decorated and furnished it, and lived there with his daughters.  Then he went to his daughters and tried convincing them to let them back, and confronting them, and demanded to know why they acted like this. He told them he loved them and that he can’t get used to the fact that they did what they did. Instead of taking him and the girls back, one of the daughters pushed him to wall, hurting his head and back, and pushed him 2 a chair, put on a robe , and tied him with a belt, and took him to the mental hospital.

After 3 days of analyzing him, they found out nothing was wrong with him. Yousef said that the psychiatrist told him that he’s not crazy, but his 2 daughters that admitted him in are. Later on, he went back to the apartment and found out that the older girls got a cook and housemaid under his name, and his payment. After a few days, the neighbors found out this dreadful story and told a lawyer, and so the lawyer went to him and interviewed him. Yousef then appeared on the lawyers’ famous TV show that a lot of households around the Arab world follow time to time.

It was a very heartbreaking interview, which got me and my family to tears. The way the father looked and cried and begged to the camera, begging for an answer stating why the girls did what they did, made me want to help him and just find those girls and show them a piece of every one’s  mind, which I think was probably all the same. A very sad part of that interview was when he faced the camera telling his daughters how much he sacrificed for them and how he did nothing but provide love and bliss for them, while having tears fall down his ageless and tear-jerking face. Also, I’m glad that he made it clear how he forgave them, but that god will make their children do what they did to him, but worse, because I don’t think they should go unpunished. I just hope he finds an explanation and the girls get their consequences.

I bet you all have heard of Susan Boyle!

She’s a 47 year old Scottish singer, and a church volunteer, who got a lot of the world’s attention when she went on the British show Britain’s Got Talent and auditioned as a contestant. She sang the song “I Dreamed a Dream”.

Before she sang, I think almost everyone, the judges, the audience and all viewers, doubted her because of how she looked, since her appearance didn’t look so tidy. But the minute she started singing, everyone was caught off guard, especially Simon Cowell! She shocked him so much, she’s being known as “the woman who shut up Simon Cowell”

She got through to the next round, with a standing ovation and three yeses, one being “the biggest yes I have ever given somebody” from Piers, one of the judges of the show. And also, tears from Amanda, the only female judge.

Her singing and the shock has made her an overnight hit, and she’s been interviewed on many TV shows, like Good Morning America. Her story has also been in many news channels, like Al Arabiya, and many others in places like Israel, China, and Germany.

To be honest, I had my doubts about Susan Boyle when I saw her for the very first time on YouTube. I thought she wouldn’t be a good singer because I was being stereotypical judging by appearance, mainly because I, and so many other people, didn’t think a person that looked like Susan Boyle would have such an amazing voice. But after she performed, it caught me so off guard, and taught me and I think everyone else a lesson, a very important one too.  I think what makes us think that, is the media. We are so used to seeing amazing singers looking so thin and “perfect” that we don’t acknowledge the fact that not all singers might look like that. It really connects with the whole “Don’t judge a book by its cover” idea. There’s a lot more than meets the eye, and this definitely proves it!

Susan Boyle – The auditon!

Okay, I know Disturbia was out a while ago, but I recently saw it, and it scared the living heck out of me! [Excuse my language if it's offensive to you.]
The effects, the music, the creepy neighbor; I mean, how can you even stay living there, I would have gotten out of there right after I called the police!
For those who don’t know what I’m even talking about, it’s ‘Disturbia’. No, not the song; the movie, which was about a boy who got under house arrest for “popping his Spanish teacher”, basically punching him. He then finds hints and clues that leads him to thinking that his neighbor, Mr. Turner, is a serial killer, and tries to catch him in the action by videotaping him. It starred Shia LaBeouf, who played Kale, the main character.
It’s a must see movie, but make sure you’re not watching it in the pure dark, at 2:00 in the morning! Disturbia Trailer!