Blog Assignment #6- Narrative.ly Literary Profile

Response to "The Simple Science of Mary Roach" by Kyria Abrahams

(www.narrative.ly)

“I wasn't academically worked up about science, but I still spent all my time outdoors in the natural world. I remember watching frog’s eggs turn into tadpoles and picking them up.”

This profile of a book writer and journalist writes about science – Mary Roach. She is naturalist, explorer, observer and a person who still has the childlike curiosity for the world. Roach's love of writing started in grade school then she started to write graphic novels. Her love for nature and experiments started even before that, in her early childhood when she played with her neighbors .As she simply puts her childhood memories and resonates with many children and adults, she makes others wonder if something as simple as enjoying nature can lead to a world of science.

It is as if Mary Roach never grew up – she was not interested in science as many scientists would – however, she writes about science without any advanced degree in it. She admits her imperfections in a same honest way as she talks about her childhood. She says, “When I am talking to scientists, I sometimes experience a certain amount of anxiety about being able to get it right. Sometimes, I think that I've understood something and I actually have some element of it wrong.” She does not feel the need for perfection. Instead, she follows her inquisitive nature.

“We would ride bikes outside during that time of dusk when it was just a little bit dark. There was just always something new.” Roach while showing the sides of a tomboy, also reminds to the readers the times when inquisitiveness was a driving source of life – for her, it still is. 

Blog Assignment #5: Planning an Interview for a 'Personal Profile'

I want to interview a good friend of mine - Vinny. He was born and raised in the United States. He is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Vinny served two years in Kazakhstan while he has worked on numerous organizational development projects, primarily focusing on AIDS prevention and youth empowerment. Since I am from Kazakhstan, I was always curious how he and other foreigners experienced it. Also, Vinny and I spent a lot of talking about different philosophical points which I would like to explore more. While we are very different from each other, I learn from him regularly. I was thinking to ask a few different question that are connected to his experiences and the way he leads his life.

What do you think about Kazakhstan?

When did you found that life is not fair?

What are you most proud of?

How do you want to be remembered?

Blog Post #4: Response to "The Omnivore's Dilemma"

Each person has a very different from another and yet very personal connection with food. In Kazakhstan, most people still are not too far removed from garden full of vegetables and fruits, yellow fields of wheat and villages where many own cattle. I have seen all of those things as I lived there, however I took it for granted. Michael Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma exposes not only questionable policies applying to farms, but also the distance between food and consumer. Michael Pollan makes a reader question how far removed do you feel comfortable from your own food. He gives an example of Joel as a person who knows what he eats since he grows it. Michael Pollan explains what Joel gets in return for his knowledge, when he states “Joel’s reasons for wanting to do this work here himself are economic, ecological, political, ethical and even spiritual.” During his experience, Michael Pollan questioned if the practices at hand were morally acceptable for him as a meat eater and the person who is extensively removed from his food. He writes, “I don’t know if there is a more humane way to catch three hundred chickens, but I could see why doing it as fast and as surely as possible was best for all concerned.” while he thinks about how humane the procedures should be, Michael Pollan acknowledges that there is hypocrisy when it comes to food. Michael Pollan confesses, “It seemed to me not too much to ask of a meat eater, which I was then and still am, that at least once in his life he take some direct responsibility for the killing on which his meat-eating depends.” As a reader, I was happy to see than he recognized that there is certain falseness in consumer’s behavior when consumer is removed from production. 

Blog Post #3

Diary of a working mother

Yana is three and a half feet full of seriousness, steadiness and silence. Her overseer would describe her as a good worker unlike many other children she does not cry or ask for mommy. She works as steady and well as many adult workers. I am her mom. I can say that too, she works as much as I do and as well if not better than I do. We work at the Loudon Hosiery Mill together – we are knitters. Most of the day we stay on our feet, me bending over the machines and her barely reaching it on her little wooden stoop. When we just arrived to Tennessee (which was less than a year ago), she had to learn how to balance herself on two of those just barely rising over machines only in order to bend herself over it. I was so scared she would fall. I kept looking at her during work, so that overseer without a warning moved me to work to another end of factory. I was devastated that I will not be able to help my little baby. It took me another six months and a bribe to overseer to move back closer to my daughter.

She is only nine now, but her brown hair keeps growing past her knees. I cut them shorter to make it easier for her to move around but not too short. I like braiding her hair in the morning because it is the only time when I feel like a good mother. I wish I could do it all day. During that time, she behaves like a child. She talks to me about her dreams from last night, asks for extra sugar in tea and smiles. Yana is very smart girl. I wish sometimes that she would not be that smart. It will be hard for her in the future, if she is smart. She looks at me with her big brown eyes and says everything straight forward without trying to hide the truth. It makes me angry. I would prefer her to select what she says but her brown eyes are too truthful for that.

I made her a brown dress to match her beautiful eyes. It is simple but she kept asking me to make it shorter. I wonder what she had in her mind. She is too serious to ask for short dress just because she wants it. She had something on mind that she did not want to share. I think I know, she wanted to move freely instead drugging the dress behind. It looks very pretty with white collar that she wears on holidays. I am making a new one since she is growing fast. I still have the same brown fabric that I made this dress from. This time I will teach her how to make it herself. She is a girl – she needs to know how to make things.

It has been just a few years since we moved from Poland to the United States.  I dreamt of big beautiful house and dinners with meat and wine. I dreamt of many pretty dresses for Yana and myself. I dreamt of big garden with flowers that fill the air with colors and sweet smells. Instead, I wake up in the mornings to get her up and ready for work. "Good morning, mama!", she says brightly at me. My little baby washes her face and gets ready for work. I, too, am ready for work. I have my hair in a bundle so it is not on my way. I am already wearing my white and yellow striped dress. A bit of tea before work for both of us. She is so sweet my little girl as always asking for more sugar in her tea. It is my favorite time of the day – my morning routine – the time where I sit down and braid her of my daughter. The time when I feel like a mother.