Sunday, November 16, 2014

Chapter 1: Scared

He was gone.
           
            The room was bare. No more paintings or pictures hanging on the walls. The air was different. The room was quiet. I was alone. I thought if I should follow him or stay behind. I heard my dog barking outside. I went outside and saw my cat was stabbed. Dead. I wondered if my boyfriend killed her, but then again he was a lover of animals. My dog was scared. I could see it in his eyes.
            I had to get away from here. I did not know where I would go, but I had to leave immediately. I started packing and found my besties’ phone numbers. I phone the first one, Rachel. Rachel was always the popular one, the one that always scored the hotties. She did not pick up. I thought she was probably on a date, so I called my second friend, Ashley. Ashley was the girl always asking for attention, but the joker in our group. She answered, but started babbling at me and joking around. So I hung up.
            I prayed for my last friend, Miley to listen. When Miley picked up, I told her everything - from start to finish. When I finally finished, Miley said I should come to her.
            Miley lived in a small house over looking the view of Australia’s downtown. She had a dog named Crystal who was in love with my dog, Buddy and a cat named Sparkle.
            Once I arrived in Australia, I phoned Miley and told her I had just landed. She told me that her dad, Tim Whiteman was already on his way.    
            Big, bright, and beautiful, were the three words that were in my mind when I saw the Australian Airport. I forgot what it had looked like. I am now twenty-three and the last time I had come, I was sixteen to celebrate Miley’s Sixteenth Birthday.
            When I was grabbing my luggage, I heard my name being called. I turned around and saw Tim. Tim recognized me, and I recognized him. When he asked me if everything was okay, I told him that there was a problem but would wait until we saw Miley.
            In the car ride home, Tim told me that had redone their home.
            When we arrived, I was in amazement. When Tim told me they had redone their home, I thought, just a few changes. But what Tim actually meant, was that they had redone the whole entire house from top to bottom.
Now it looked really cool! It was a big, two story house. The front yard was small, but in the back you could see the ocean and downtown Australia. As we walked inside, Miley came racing toward me saying, “SAM! It’s been forever! Didn’t you get my letter?”
            Miley and I are very best friends. We have been friends since the seventh grade. When we see each other, we are really happy.
            When Miley asked if I had gotten a letter, I replied, “What letter?”
            Miley looked at me as if I had never gotten a letter. First she thought I was joking, but she saw in my eyes that I was confused.
Miley asked, “You didn’t get a letter? I sent it one month ago?”
“I never got it. Either it got lost or someone took it and exchanged letters, because I got a different letter. This brings to me, why I came. Here is the letter I got.”
            Dear Samantha,
            Do not be alarmed that I know your name, just listen. Your boyfriend will come and break your heart. If you break up with him first, someone’s life will be spared, but if your boyfriend breaks up with you, the life will not be spared.                                                                                                                                              Signed,
                                                                                                            XXX
            Miley was looking back at me has if she knew what had happened to me because afterword Miley told me the exact same thing except the person who signed it, only used two “X’s” not three. We were both puzzled. We thought that maybe it’s the same person just trying to get us off track. Miley showed me her letter and it was the exact same thing.

Miley decided we had enough and we walked to the nearby park.

Kite Flying


Kite Flying
The sky is blue
Kites are beginning to take flight
Kids cheering with joy
Kids waiting for kites to fall
Waiting to be the winner
Waiting to catch the winning kite.
The joy, the screaming, the fighting
Gone.

Nothing is the same
Kits not soaring the skies
Children on streets
Starvation.
Kite fighting,
Gone.

But there is hope
The future holds the power to love again.

         This poem that I created has to do with Kite flying. From the book "The Kite Runner," the most fun Amir and other children had been was kite fighting. I wanted to emphasize that in the beginning kite fighting was huge but when the Taliban came in, all that change. The picture symbolizes the kites that children used. The last verse talks about how, when Amir came to America and brought Sohrab, Amir taught Sohrab kite fighting.
Vanessa Lieberman

9/28/13

Polaroid Photo

Polaroid Photo

I’m eighteen and alone
I’m so afraid
Fear is everywhere.
I wish Hassan had been with us today,
The Sultans of Kabul
Kabul was my home
Pink house at the end
Where are the trees?

Zendagi migzara, life goes on
Brother’s face
Broke into tears
Taliban banned kite fighting.

Kites will fly
For him,
For you a thousand times over!


         I created this poem based on Amir’s emotions. I wanted to show how Amir felt toward Hassan and how much pain went through him. The reason the title of this photo was also one of the words I used was because I wanted the reader to create their own vision of the Polaroid Photo.
Vanessa Lieberman

9/28/13

The Desert of Darfur

The Desert of Darfur

Alone from family
No friends, no one to talk to.
Children running and playing
Not enough food for everyone.
Where’s the money?
People continue to come
Looking for shelter or a relative
Seeking help, seeking education.
Everyday new people come
Some more injured than others
Some still crying over love ones.

The Desert of Darfur
Tribes being bombed
The Janjaweed attacking their villages.
Children miss their home and family,
Knowing they cannot return until it is safe again.

Seeing children coming in alone,
I think of my own.
How lucky I am to have a family,
Yet, we do not realize it.
Taking things for granted,
While these kids have nothing.


The Desert of Darfur

 Vanessa Lieberman

            I did a poem as if I was an aid worker. In the poem the message that I want to get across, is what is happening in the Desert of Darfur. I did a poem because in poems you can create your own visual representation.






Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Trapped

Close your eyes and imagine being taken away from your family and friends at two years old. Imagine being transported thousands of miles away from your home and living with strangers for the rest of your life. Overtime you become stressed out and go insane. This was the situation Tilikum the killer whale was in. Dolphins in captivity have a similar life story of how they got to captivity, too.
Tilikum was taken away from his pod when he was only two years old. He was brought to Sealand Of the Pacific in British Columbia, Canada. There were two female killer whales living with him that would bully Tilikum. During the night, when the park was closed, the orcas would be kept in a module until the park reopened. In the morning, one could see scratches and blood on Tilikum due to the rakes done by the female whales. During the day, Tilikum would have to perform every hour (SeaWorld of Hurt, 2014), and if he did not obey the trainers, then food was not given to any of the killer whales. This most likely ended up leading to aggression and mental disorders. After a performance at Sealand, one of the trainers, Keltie Byrne slipped into the pool with the orcas. Immediately, Tilikum dragged Keltie to the bottom of the pool. Tilikum’s action instigated the female orcas to join in and they all tossed Keltie around until she was dead. This was the first death of a trainer staged by Tilikum and two more would come.
When Sealand closed, Tilikum was put up for sale, and SeaWorld hastily reached for him. SeaWorld did not care about his reputation; all they wanted was to have a male orca so that they could use his sperm to reproduce inbred orcas. Today more than half of the killer whales at SeaWorld have Tilikum’s genes.
Not only was Tilikum kept in a small tank at Sealand, but also at SeaWorld. Orcas swim up to ‘a hundred miles’ a day in the wild, (SeaWorld of Hurt, 2014), while in captivity in order to reach that, it would mean swimming one thousand nine hundred laps in one day. In a small tank, that is swimming in circles all day. Not only do the orcas swim in circles all day, but also have to perform the same routine each day. This daily repetitive activity becomes stressful for the orcas.
After the death of Keltie in 1991, Tilikum struck again in 1999 and then again in 2010 when he killed Dawn Brancheau. Although, SeaWorld called it “trainer error”, there may be some truth here, but it should not be believed as the main reason for the tragic accident. Rather, it should be believed that all orcas in captivity are capable of killing a trainer and more precautions should be taken. The orcas in captivity, not only swim in circles all day, but also are fed dead fish and gelatin to keep them hydrated. However, gelatin is not part of their natural diet, (PETA, 2014) which can be concluded why orcas either regurgitate or throw up their food. In the wild, the fish that the orcas go after contain freshwater in order to keep them healthy and hydrated. In captivity the orcas are also given “psychoactive drugs,” (Bardroff, 2014). This definitely leads to uncommon behaviors such as chewing on the metal bar gates, vomiting, suicide attempts, and aggression toward other orcas.
Not only are the orcas suffering in captivity, so are the dolphins at SeaWorld. The dolphins at SeaWorld have likely come from drives and were transported away from their families. Keeping dolphins in captivity started with Ric O’Barry. Ric O’Barry kept a dolphin and called her Flipper. Flipper was kept in a small pool and had to perform tricks for people. Upon the death of Flipper, Ric realized keeping dolphins in captivity was a bad idea, but unfortunately for the dolphins it was too late. The drive captures and displays the dolphins. Now every marine park is trying to recreate the Flipper experience.
Every year, from September to March, in Taiji, Japan, there is an annual dolphin drive and slaughter. Dolphins are driven into a small cove that is sectioned off and covered so photographers cannot see what is going on. Fortunately for the dolphins, a number of activists were able to capture on cameras the action of the local fishermen. The movie “The Cove” and what goes on in the cove has been released through social media. Though these fishermen continue to slaughter the dolphins and pick the younger ones for sale to perform in marine parks, people in Japan know what is going on and are protesting.
Supporting places like SeaWorld and marine parks that have dolphins and killer whales in captivity, means supporting the Whale and Dolphin slave trade. Still today, dolphins are illegally transported to other countries in Asia, but not in the United States. Dolphins kept in captivity in the United States come from breeding programs. That does not mean however that life in captivity for such dolphins is free of worry and should continue.
Recently, it was reported in the news that dolphins at SeaWorld and the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, are suffering from diseases like dolphin pox. This is caused by bad health and stress. The dolphins at SeaWorld are touched by thousands of humans each day and just like the orcas, are fed dead fish and gelatin. This could contribute to some bad health issues the dolphins are having. In addition to dolphin pox, some dolphins bang themselves into the tanks and there is no council at the parks to help these dolphins. Besides slamming into walls, a dolphin at a Japanese Marine Park tried to kill itself. During a show, the dolphin was hesitantly looking over the tank wall. Eventually, the dolphin jumped over the tank and flopped around on the ground. The trainers were shocked at first, and then rushed over to help the dolphin while the audience still watched and caught the footage on film. Another dolphin at SeaWorld jumped out of the dolphin pool when it was done feeding. The SeaWorld trainer did nothing to help this dolphin. A bystander caught on video a dolphin flopping around on the concrete and one can see blood coming from the dolphin. A number one reason why these dolphins could have done this could have been a suicide attempt; tired of being fed dead fish or tired of swimming in circles everyday and performing for food.
Looking toward the future, we can hope that marine parks will release their animals back into the oceans. Though this does not look like the case for SeaWorld in San Diego, where they are creating a bigger pool for their orcas. We can predict that this will then lead to bigger pools in Orlando and San Antonio SeaWorld parks. Hopefully other parks will realize keeping orcas and dolphins in captivity is the wrong way to go. There are many people already boycotting marine parks and educating others; in the future even more awareness will rise and more people will be educated. A captive orca or dolphin swimming in circles will not be a magnet for people and hence a moneymaker for corporations owning marine parks.




Reference

"1 Million to free tilikum." Behind the smile. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. <http://www.freetillynow.org/behindthesmile.htm>.
"10 Signs Whales and Dolphins Do NOT Belong in Tanks." One Green Planet. N.p., 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. <http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/why-whales-and-dolphins-do-not-belong-in-tanks/>.
"30 Years and Three Deaths: Tilikum's Tragic Story - SeaWorld of Hurt." SeaWorld of Hurt. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. <http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/30-years-three-deaths-tilikums-tragic-story/>.
"8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld - SeaWorld of Hurt." SeaWorld of Hurt. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. <http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/8-reasons-orcas-dont-belong-seaworld/>.

"Orcas on Psychoactive Drugs: Is it the Worst Thing SeaWorld Has Done?." One Green Planet. N.p., 2 Apr. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. <http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/seaworlds-orcas-on-psychoactive-drugs/>.