Pobre Ana Moderna Project

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For the past few weeks, our Spanish class has been reading the book Pobre Ana Moderna. This story is about a girl named Ana who is fed up with her family and decides to go on a school funded trip to Mexico. To get there, she takes a flight from California to Guadalajara, and then another flight the rest of the way to her new temporary home in Nayarit. Our teacher assigned us two projects to go along with the reading of the story. The first project included a blank map, and we were tasked with labeling all important municipalities and their respective capitals in Mexico. With this, we also labeled populations of those cities. Our second project was to create a slideshow or Pinterest board of 10 places to go or things to do in Mexico, two of these had to be from Nayarit. What surprised me about this project was the rich culture in Mexico and the history behind many of its ancient structures and museums, and the geography was strange if you look at the population differences between cities. Two places that I would travel would be Oaxaca and Mexico City. Mexico City is the capital of Mexico and the most populated city in Mexico. With a giant capital building, numerous thrift stores, and great food around the area, there would be almost no reason not to visit on your way to another city. I chose Oaxaca for the celebration of Dia de Los Muertos or Day of the Dead in English. There is a major celebration that goes on in this city every year, which makes it a major tourist attraction.

Family

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 “Aaaah!” My grandma screamed surprisingly loud. I could tell she was having the best birthday ever. Possibly the best birthday in the world!
 Though at this point, we were standing in line to ride Splash Mountain at Disney World. I was getting very anxious standing in line; however, my grandma was having a whale of a time. This line could’ve been the longest in the world. Although,to my surprise, this was one of the only times I had glee standing in line. “I wonder how thrilling this ride will be?” she wondered. ” I don’t know grandma, but I hope the wait in this heat will be worth it.” I explained sarcastically.
 After a very long time, we finally got onto the ride. The man operating the ride told us to clutch onto the safety bar and pile in. The tension was rising as we got closer and closer to the plunge. My grandma was grasping onto my grandpa, laughing at the same time. We came up to the peak, it slowly came to a standstill, and then we plummeted into the water. My grandma held her hands up and squealed as loud as she could. We were drenched by the time we hit the water. Also, my dad’s hat flew off his head and landed in the line we were in. “I thought the line was worth it!” my grandma shouted.
 As we exited, we were ring out our clothes to get dry. “That was the most fun ride I’ve ever ridden in my life,” My grandma exclaimed ecstatically. “Let’s go on it again and again and again and again!” We rode a few more rides before the sun set. The day went by surprisingly quickly. We had fun, laughed and screamed a lot.
 Afterward, we went to our grandma’s room, played games, and ate cake and cookies. While my family was heading back to our room, I acquired that having quality time with family is important…. And fun too!

The Betrayal

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My tornado-explosion is coming,

And I can’t control it.

 

Why did she do it,

I don’t understand.

 

I can’t go on,

There’s no way out.

 

I want her back,

If I can trust her that is.

 

I feel like I’m going to be sick,

The tension is killing me.

 

This is what I feel,

When my friends betray me.

 

Nowhere to go,

I’m so lost.

 

No one will care,

They say I am useless.

 

She can’t be like “them,”

I know she’s not.

 

This is what I feel,

When my friends betray me.

Knowing Now

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One lesson I’ve learned from the Holocaust is to treat people equally. It doesn’t matter if a person is from another country, has a different skin color, or believes in a different religion, we are all equal. There shouldn’t be a reason why everyone can’t get along. God meant for everyone to be equal. Everyone needs to remember human rights.

Another lesson I’ve learned is to not go crazy with power. Hitler thought Germans were perfect and that everyone should know it. If we had not stopped him he could’ve taken over the whole world. You need to respect other people and their decisions. Power is great and all, but I’ve learned to not take advantage of my privileges as a leader.

Number the Stars Diary Entry

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September 30, 1940

Dear Diary, today my best friend Ellen has come to stay for a while. My parents informed us that Peter, The Free Danes newspaper boy, has taken Ellen’s parents somewhere safe to stay clear from the Nazis. Apparently, the Nazis have taken lists of all of the Jews from the synagogues in Copenhagen.

 

This means that they are going to take the Jews somewhere really bad, though I still quite don’t understand where. It also means that Ellen and her family are in trouble. I think they are starting to take them away because Mrs. Hersch’s button shop was closed and had a sign with german writing and a swastika on it.

 

I am really worried for Ellen and her family. I don’t want them to go away ever. I honestly couldn’t live without Ellen. Tonight I’m going to pray to God Ellen and her family won’t be taken away. She means so much to me.

 

Until next time,

Annemarie

Good Times

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Christmas is whimsical,

Best time of the year

My Christmas was amazing,

My winter break was a thrill

 

My family and I had so much fun,

I was so sad when it was all done

We played a lot of games,

such as Monopoly and Checkers

 

There were many wins,

and also many defeats

I had good luck,

although my dad had some bad luck

 

We did the BeanBoozled challenge,

there was a barf flavored bean “Ewww!”

My dad was too wimpy,

and didn’t do the challenge at all

 

My family played Guitar Hero Live,

the last two days

My Mom could complete any song with 100%,

she was as good as the guitarist on stage

 

I’d have to say it was an amazing break.

The Breakout

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      I will always remember when my family and I went to the Central Park Zoo. I would have never imagined what happened that day…never.
      One day while my family and I were in Central Park taking a hike, my mom spotted a ticket booth through the bushes. “Yes!” she shouted. She was as happy as a mouse with a ginormous wheel of cheese! “We found the Central Park Zoo!” she exclaimed with excitement. Wait, before I go any further, let me present you to my family.
      For a start, there’s me, Ethan, I am an intelligent 6th grader with an attitude. Next, my brother Christian, a 3rd grader that adores everything. To that end, my dad, Matt, a tranquil and collected gentleman Equally important,my mom, Ida, a genius that can also be a hothead at times. She can be as mean as a bunny without its carrot.
      “Let’s go in!” my mom said. I really just wanted to have a walk around Central Park, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We got in and walked around for a few hours and my brother found the monkeys. “Yes!” he screamed. He idolizes monkeys for some odd reason. I really can’t figure it out it’s almost puzzling. “Calm down son, you’re going to have a heart attack.” my dad said smoothly.
      Afterwards, we decided to go to the Penguin Cafe to eat some Penguin Pizza and some drinks. Suddenly, the intercom turned on,”Beeeeep!” and a woman said, “Excuse me travelers,please walk calmly out of the zoo, we are having some difficulties with the animals. Do Not Panic!” We looked behind us and a lion was setting all of the animals free! People were being trampled everywhere but I knew what to do.
      I walked in front of the animals and my whole family shrieked,”Ethan Nooo!” The whole group of animals took a good look at me and the lion stepped in front. He had drool dripping out of his humongous mouth. Then, I pointed a laser at the cages and the animals put themselves back in their cages. Although everyone thought of me as a hero, I told my family,”We should’ve gone on a nature walk!” We all laughed.
      After the escape I felt relieved, I walked away with my head held up high. Wait a minute, what’s that ginormous shadow?! It turns out the escape wasn’t over yet.