Week One: I N T E R N S H I P

I am interning at a London Interior Design Company, Casa Forma, in the Kensington area of London. This week I had my interview with the company that was a brief introduction to the designers and tour of the studio. My duties will range from creating concept boards and drafting plans on AutoCAD to visiting clients homes and assisting on installations. 

Bedroom

I just moved into my very first house with 4 roommates and this is my room!

gapminder

http://graphs.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=30;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=6;ti=2005$zpv;v=0$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj3yZD8W32UtKA;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0Zbn8wVYsEHQ;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL%5Fn5tAQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;by=grp$map_x;scale=lin;dataMin=5.05;dataMax=54$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=3.9;dataMax=101$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;bd=0$inds=

The graph (the screen shot)

50+ word description of the graph

50+ word justification of the indicators

50+ word discussion of possible limitations of the indicators

I looked at the new cases of breast cancer per 100,000 women compared to the total percent of female labour force and found an unpextexcted result. Against my assumption, the comparison actually did relate to eachother. The middle east has a small amount of women working probably due to the religion and policies in that region, with an exception of one country, Israel. Over time, Israel has reached a high number of breast cancer cases as well as an increase in the amount of women who work. The graph goes up in a backwards ¨L¨shape showing an increase in breast cancer cases as a result to how many women are working.

The indicators in this graph are showing us that the amount of women with breast cancer is resulted in how many women work. As small of a difference that it may be, it shows how the two can be compared and the effects of medical situations on a country. For example, the United States has a great number of new breast cancer cases, as well as 46% of the women working which may show us that it also has to do with a countries expectations and statistics. The Untited States is a rich country with a good medical system. The countries with medical systems that cannot cure the cases of breast cancer may not have as many women working due to their fragile stage. The rich countries all have a high rate of breast cancer patients, yet they also remain equal to how many women are working. This may tell us that because rich countries medical systems have the money to cure these cases, therefor allowing more women to remain working. The poorer countries however have less causes of breast cancer and less women working giving me the impression that because there is more poverty in the poorer countries they are unabe to get women jobs. 

Possible limitations of the indicators may be the relationship and the effect of culture with women working.  The country with the lowest rate on both breast cancer cases as well as women labour force is the united arab emirates. One of the reasons why they are so low in both categories is because the UAE has a strong understanding of health care and feminism. Strong health care has a lot to do with the amount of breast cancer ratios which contributes to the number of women who work. If you have a large population of women with breast cancer and no money to cure it, that decreases the amount of women that are able to work. However, why does the United States have such a high number of breast cancer cases because they are such a rich country? Maybe breast cancer rates has nothing to do with how rich of a country you are. In this map we see that many of the richest countries in the world, also have the highest breast cancer cases.

War

“What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.” ~Robert E. Lee, letter to his wife,1864 In any obvious situation where humans have come in contact with war, it has been evident that the most innate aspect of human nature has been shattered; trust. War has put a dent on all families not only for a short amount of time but also for a lifetime. It is said that as Americans, we are free people and deserve the right to pursue happiness. However, what happens when you find happiness with someone you love and that person is dragged off to war unsure of when or if they are ever coming back? Yet still the effect of war on human psychology is greater than the issue of trust. War targets 3 particular things being; the soldiers, the civilians, and the economy. Our history visualizes proof of the effects. Civilians have decreased in cities such as after the Thirty’s War in Europe people fled and the population decreased. Our soldiers often come out of the war suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. And for our economy just look at the great depression or even today’s economic crisis. Every aspect of our world is crushed by war. In the quote above, coming from a soldier himself, describes the uttermost disgust for war. It is truly a sad world if small children are already from a young age learning to hate rather than to love everyone no matter who they are. War is upsetting the human mind and distorting it more than anyone knows, this is not a short-term mindset it determines generations of the way our children think too. The first effect of war on human psychology begins and ends with the soldiers themselves. Many of the soldiers suffer from a severe condition given the convenient name Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is a disorder that people often get after dealing with a vast tragedy or any ordeal in which you were surrounded by harm. This is very common in war victims. Not only does this have an effect on the soldier, it is also a tragedy for the family because they have lost a part of that member. People with this disorder often have flash backs of what happened and are numb to any emotions. After the Vietnam War the most PTSD cases were produced, given to show how much war effects the human mind. In Clint Eastwood´s Flags of our Fathers, PTSD is a common trait that many characters endear. In the film, we see both Hayes and Bradley suffer from this, however they undergo in different ways. The disorder is not always clear in a persons social actions; many cases of the disorder are found to be silent depression, which is proven equally as dangerous. Bradley experiences many of the symptoms in the film caused by health conditions and of course the traumatic experience in the war. This causes many habits to come about such as alcoholism and unremitting mood-swings. War affects our opinions on everything in life to come. The way we teach, the way we see things, how we feel, and our actions towards obstacles. Peace has already been strewn out of the picture and replaced by war. We are not working together. The day that a child looks up at her mother and asks, ”What was war?” is not even close. The fact that it is laughable to even think that someone wouldn’t know about war is proof in itself that everything in life is viewed as war. A husband and wife split up; automatically it is war between the two. Rivalry has been taken to a completely different level. People today are a mess. It seems that we repeatedly discover the effects of trauma on humans every time we go to war. We try to be at combat with everyone that we can because we are so caught up in how we will feel after that dispute. War with what exactly? Neighbors, our enemies, teams, countries, politics, or ourselves. It has been injected in our head that we gain something from fighting. Selfishly, human kind beats each other up and gets so worked up over hurting someone else. In Letter’s to Iwo Jima, coming from a Japanese point of view, the exact same message is depicted. War is pointless. No matter who you are or where you came from the message stays the same. War has a great effect on human psychology, why cant we just end the pain?

The Lemon Tree–Post 5

Bashir writes a letter to Dalia while on his way back to Palestine. Before this, Bashir gave Dalia words of wisdom teaching her a bit of history behind all the hatred.

Throughout the story I knew that what Bashir experienced through his years was more than words could explain; only words did explain. Bashir explained in the form of stories and a series of questions, “The ship was sunk before it sailed. They sunk it so that we would not return…why aren’t we given a right to return? (218)” Bashir went on about his childhood life and I could not help but feel sorry for him. No wonder he was so cold, anybody who had to go through suck torture and terror as a child has the divine right to be stubborn. These Arabs were forced out of their homes, never to see their family or homeland again. It was sad to see Bashir react so sensitively with Dalia. When we think of true suffering, we think the hollocaust, wars. In reality, there was so much more. These Arabs lost everything, some even lost their hands like Bashir. The Jews took over their land, their home, and they were selfish.

The Lemon Tree–post 4

Bashir traveled back to his home to see if maybe the people who lived their would allow him to look around. Lucky that Dalia lived there! Dalia decided to let Bashir and the other Arabs into her home which they lived in years ago. While Dalia trusted them, Bashir was upset and cold towards Dalia for “taking their house from them.”

I really like Dalia’s characteristics in this book, she seems to always act in a manner that is all around genuine to everybody. It helps me relate to the book better when there is a sane character that is not completely different from yourself or someone that you know. While the Arabs want what (to them) is rightfully theirs, the Jews act with stubborn anger however is was very similar to the way Bashir acts here. He questions himself in this passage “Should a person be a guest in his own house?(106)” Dalia was so kind to let them in in the first place and Bashir responded with demands and bitterness. Bashir’s character really is enhanced in this part of the book; he is a strong and seemingly capable man. To me, he seems like the type of person you wouldn’t want to cross paths with. I imagined him looking somewhat bold; someone you see and wonder  “what happened to that man?” because of his never fading scowl. Its a great addition to the story to have a curious girl cross paths with a curious man, it makes it all the more interesting.

The Lemon Tree–post 3

Dalia is having trouble with the european and Polish girls at school who are trying to seperate light and dark skin. Dalia struggles with her background;her roots were in Spain yet her skin is light and she is Bulgarian. In this part of the book Dalia questions her true identity.

“Where did you say you came from?” she asked the Ashkenazi girls. “And remind me, what happened to the Jews there? She paused. Of all people who should know better.” Dalia announced, “then I am going with the black group. (p. 117)” Dalia, a Jewish girl born in Bulgaria, is confused on her background. Its similar to growing up with a Jewish mom and a Christian dad; the kid never quite knows where they fit in. I understand that a parent cannot change where theyre from but in these times what you believe and where you are from could cost you your life. I think Dalia is a little lost about this causing her to be curious of her heritage. It is unfair for someone to not know what they are. Sometimes people need a title to feel like they fit in.

The Lemon Tree–post 2

As more people fled to Palestine, people begin to get to a point of starvation and severe health situations.  The Soviets are now in favor of a Jewish state and this causes some Jews to want to emigrate however they may not e aloud.

Bernadotte writes in her diary “The car was literally stormed by excited masses shouting with Oriental fervor that they wanted food and wanted to return to their homes. There wer plenty of frightening faces in the sea of suffering humanity. I remember not least a group of scabby and helpless old men with tangled beards who thrust their emaciated faces into the car and held out scraps of bread that would certainly have been considered uneatable by ordinary people, but was their only food. (89)”  I think that by reading this passage you can see what desperate measures you would go to just to satisfy your needs. High -class people digging through crumbs on the ground. The people were sick and tired, the last thing they wanted was to be surrounded by nothing but body heat and smell. To me this quote brought emphasis to the fact that this even did in a way untie the people; ignoring the class, the color and enemies, they were a group together against another group. These people seem proud of where they came from but still to me they seem a little unwilling to stand up for what they know to be right.

The Lemon Tree–Post 1

In the beginning of the story the Khairi family is introduced as a middle class Arab family with children. The author approaches the beginning chapters with Bashir Khairi leaving his home as he waits for the bus to arrive.

Reading the first few chapters of the book i grasped onto a quick opinion of the Arabs and the Jews. I was surprised to see my views on Arabs and Jews shift as i opened the book. I was expecting, with my knowlege on the history behind the story, that my opinions would favor in support of the Arabs however I stumbled across a passage that caught my attention; “the Arabs robbed the Jews then shot and killed them. (14)” It later talked about the British addressing the seriousness of what had been occurring between the highwaymen and the Jews, yet I found it odd how casually they talked about the murders. I questioned the characteristics of the Arabs here. Were they all of this violent nature? I felt sorry for the Jews, they have my sympathy. To me, in general, it seems like they always get the short end of the stick. The Khairi family is conveyed as very kind, very traditional, and I like that because It shows me a balanced opinion on the Arab people.

trial post

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