Farewell Song

Sueli is heading back to Angola on Sunday, so today was our last Monday meeting for this semester! Since today was our last meeting, I decided to bring a fun song for us to play.  We usually just do theory and play songs that correlate with the theory book, but I thought it would be a nice treat to play something different.  I was so impressed with how quickly Sueli caught on.  The song is not too difficult, but since it is a duet it can get tricky at parts.  I think Sueli was really proud!  It sounded so pretty when we both played our parts together.  It is one of those songs that sound hard, but it really isn't.  I always like to play it whenever I have an audience because people are always impressed by it.
She has done really well this semester.  Her English and piano playing have both improved tremendously.  Whenever we meet, I forget she has only been speaking English for 7 months.  She speaks so clearly and understands so much.  She started the semester with no knowledge on how to play the piano, and now she can sit down and read music.  She knows musical terms and definitions, and she has even grasped basic rhythms.  I cannot believe how much she knows!!!  
We talked about going home today, and she is really excited.  She is dreading her flight though.  I can't imagine not getting to visit home until December.  She took the first part of her English test today.  She was really excited because she got a great score!   She is confident that she will be moving up to high intermediate next semester.  Writing is the most difficult part for her.  She is nervous because she takes her writing portion on Thursday.
Sueli and I have been meeting every Monday since this project started, so I have been thinking about how weird it is going to be next semester if we do not meet.  However, I found out today that Sueli does want to meet next semester.  Before we started our lesson she asked if 2:00 will still work for me.  I am so glad she has enjoyed our conversations and playing the piano.  It has been a great learning experience for me and I am so glad I have had this opportunity to participate in this project.  Through this project I have gained a new friend, and I have learned how to communicate better.  Teaching somebody who is not fluent in English how to play piano has been a fun challenge.  The project has forced me to sit down and play piano once a week, which is something I haven't done since starting college.  I forgot how much I love playing, and I have realized how much I enjoy teaching. 
It has been a great semester and I look forward to next semester!

Similarities between "Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog" and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"

I enjoyed reading "Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog".  I usually have difficulty figuring out what Ernest Hemingway is writing about, but this short story was easy to understand. 

As I began reading it, I immediately noticed similarities between it and The Snows of Kilimanjaro.  Both stories revolve around a hurt husband and his wife.  There is also traveling, writing, and drinking in both stories as well.  In "Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog", the husband has had some kind of accident that has made him lose his vision.  In "The Snows of Kilimanjaro", the husband is suffering from Gangrene.  Although both stories have similar scenarios, the characters’ actions and feelings towards one another differ.  In "The Snows of Kilimanjaro", the wife’s love for her husband Harry is not returned.  In "Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog", it is easy to see that the couple deeply loves each other.  The wife feels bad for her husband Philip and tries to help him remember good times.  Philip loves his wife so much that he wants her to leave him so she can be free and happy.  He believes his sickness is too much of a burden for her, and he doesn’t want to be responsible for ruining her life.  He treats her with respect, unlike in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" in which Harry is rude to his wife. 

Both Harry and Philip want to write.  As he is dying, Harry thinks about how much he regrets not writing.  He knows he will never get the chance to write now, and convinces himself that he wouldn’t have been a good writer anyway.  Philip stays positive about his situation and tells his wife that their home is the perfect place for him to write.  He explains how he will be able to write with a tape recorder.  He says he is going to write and write until he gets it right.

Overall, "Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog" is a more positive story than "The Snows of Kilimanjaro".  In "Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog", the characters tackle the unpleasant situation together.  They maintain good attitudes and try to see the good in the situation.  Each character wants to do what is best for the other.  In "The Snows of Kilimanjaro", the husband and wife do not have mutual feelings.  Harry has given up on life and he does not try to make his final moments on earth good ones. 

I think it is interesting how Ernest Hemingway wrote two similar stories.  I am not sure what his purpose was, but I think he was trying to teach his readers a lesson.  We must face life’s challenges with a positive attitude.  A negative outlook on life leads to unpleasant outcomes.    

Frozen yogurt, music, and good conversations

Sueli and I still meet weekly for a piano lesson, but I have been trying to think of other things to do as well.  Today after the lesson we went to Yo and got frozen yogurt with one of my roommates.  Sueli knows very few people here at TCU, so I try to introduce her to as many people as I can.  I am surprised at how quickly she is learning piano.  We are now on my level 1b book, which took me a year to get to when I first started playing.  Today I taught her songs that involve playing notes with the right and left hand at the same time.  It might have been a little too hard because she was getting frustrated.   I am also surprised with her dedication and patience.  I teach her piano for an hour each week, which is a long time.  I remember my 30 minute lessons used to seem long to me.  I'm really glad she is enjoying our lessons, but I constantly ask her if she wants to shorten the lesson time or take a break.  I am afraid I am going to bore her, but she is enjoying the lessons!!
We had some really good conversations today.  She showed me pictures of her friends and family.  We talked about her school work and her career plans.  She wants to study Biology, but she can't decide what she wants to be.  My roommate is confused about what to major in as well, so they talked a bunch.  Sueli is nervous about the test she will take in December that determines whether or not she is accepted into TCU as a student.

Communicating with Sueli is getting easier, but we still get confused with each other sometimes.  I still make the mistake of saying "play a B" and she plays “a” because I said play a “B”. Today she talked about her uncle, but kept saying she whenever she talked.  I guess she meant aunt.  Overall though, her English is very good.  I sometimes forget she has only been speaking English for 6 months.

There were two awkward moments today that made me feel bad.  Sueli told me she had never eaten frozen yogurt or been to a frozen yogurt place before.  When we got to Yo I told her all about how you get however much you want and then pile on the toppings.  In the middle of my directions she interrupted and said she already knew.  She sounded a little upset.  It was a weird.  I also was under the impression that she hardly ever leaves her room.  On our way back I showed her the restaurants on university and talked about how they are really popular amongst TCU students.  She looked at me strangely and said she eats at them all the time.  These situations reminded of movies I have seen where people talk really loud or down to people from other countries because they think they are not as smart.  There is also the scene where a character assumes that because someone isn’t from the U.S., they must live in poverty.   I feel bad because I don't want Sueli to think I treat her differently because she is from another country.

The semester is coming to an end which means the service learning project is almost over.  I am really enjoying the project and I plan on meeting with Sueli next semester. 

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

I enjoyed reading The Snows of Kilimanjaro even though I found it confusing and sad.  Since all of the works we have read so far parallel to Hemingway’s life, I did a little research about The Snows of Kilimanjaro.  I discovered that Hemingway had a fear of dying without finishing his work.  In the story, Harry has reoccurring dreams that reveal this same fear.  The line “but he had never written a line of that” were repeated over and over.  His dreams portray the sadness and disappointment he feels from not having the opportunity to write down all of the memories and thoughts he wanted to.  He struggles with this truth and ends up convincing himself that he would have done a poor job documenting these memories anyway, so it is probably better that he didn’t get the chance.  I found this aspect of the story depressing.  Not only does Harry not get to achieve his dreams, but he has convinced himself that he would have failed anyway.  Because of his injury, Harry is forced to sit around all day and think about his past.  I can relate to this fear and understand where Hemingway and Harry are coming from.  I want to live a meaningful life where I leave behind a significant impact on my friends and community.  It would be hard to accept the fact that my life would be cut short and I wouldn’t get to achieve all of the goals and dreams I have set.  It is also sad how rather than looking back on his life with a positive attitude, Harry only focuses on regrets.  The memories that come back to him in his dreams are all upsetting images of the war, lost love, bad choices and broken relationships. 

I had a hard time determining whether or not Harry loved his wife or not.  At first I thought he was just upset, and that is why he was calling her names and starting arguments. However, his dreams revealed how he no longer loves his wife and maybe never did.   He has been in several relationships during his life, and married Helen because of her wealth.   Harry knows how much Helen loves him and appreciates all she does.  Even though she treats Harry with respect and kindness, he cannot love her.  He looks down upon her class and is frustrated by the wealthy individuals he has been spending time with since their marriage.  I found this situation sad as well.  Helen loves her husband deeply and is upset about his death.  He however is not very emotional.  Rather than enjoying their last days together, they bicker the whole time. 

I found the ending to be confusing.  I think Harry realizes he will not live through the night, yet he dreams of the plane coming to rescue him.  His death is represented by the plane flying into the snow-covered Kilimanjaro.  The white sheet of snow represents his actual passing.

I'm sure the story contains many examples of foreshadowing and symbolism, but the appearance of animals are the ones that stood out to me.  The repeated appearance of the vultures and hyena represent Harry’s near death.  The hyenas cry always gave Helen chills and the hyena's cry is what wakes Helen up when she sees that Harry has died.

            

Piano Lesson

Today I met with Sueli to give her a piano lesson.  I had a lot of fun and so did she.  I was actually surprised at how much she enjoyed the lesson and playing piano.  Even though she had said she really wanted to learn to play, I figured she would either get bored with the material or become confused by my teaching.  After our hour meeting she wanted to keep playing.  I felt bad because I had to go!  I found out she lives in Waits, and there is a piano in the lobby.  She took on one of my books to practice with during the week and also asked me to make her a study sheet.  I wrote down important terms and drew pictures of the notes and their positions.  It will be interesting to see if she actually practices during the week.

The lesson was a great learning experience for me.   I had never taught piano to anyone before.  Considering how long I have taken lessons, I figured teaching would be a breeze.  However, it was challenging.  I had to keep reminding myself to stick to the basics and teach slowly.  I eventually got the hang of it.  We did a lot of repetition and played games to help her learn the information.  She got frustrated with herself a couple of times, so I had to keep encouraging her.  She was able to play a 6 bar song today, which is really impressive!!

 Language was a slight barrier today.  She knew music notes in her native language, but not in English.  Also, sayings like Elvis’ Guitar Broke Down Friday, meant nothing to her.  I kept saying things like “See, it’s like this” or “See, you do it this way” and she thought I meant “C” on the piano instead of “see”.  Another funny moment occurred when I got up to check the time.  I still had twenty minutes before I had to get to my meeting so I asked her if she wanted to keep playing.  She said “No no no” kind of loud.  This was awkward for me because I thought she meant she didn’t want to play anymore.  I started thinking maybe I was a really bad teacher.  I also felt bad because I thought I had made someone hate piano after only 30 minutes of playing.  I said okay and started packing up the music and she started saying “no” again.  It turns out she did not want to quit practicing and had said no about leaving.  Our communication mix-ups caused lots of laughing! 

It was a great meeting and I can’t wait until next week.  We are going to start working on rhythm and I am going to teach her about the different types of notes. 

Conversation Partner

I am enjoying having a conversation partner from the IEP program!  I haven't blogged about our first two meetings yet, so I will discuss them both.

Meeting 1:  I was a little nervous about meeting Sueli for the first time.  I had no idea what she looked like and we hadn't exchanged phone numbers.  Situations like these are always awkward because you have no idea who you are looking for.  I was also a little worried about our conversation.  Her emails had been a little confusing, so I was afraid understanding her would be a struggle.  I had nothing to worry about though because our meeting went great!  Surprisingly her English is easy to understand.  She is from Angola and did not start learning English until May.  I am impressed with how much she has learned in just 5 months.  There were a few times where we would have to say what we were trying to say several different ways in order to make sense to each other, but we always figured it out.  During the meeting I got to explain my name to her.  In the emails she has sent me, she always addressed me as “Badger”.  Since my last name is Badger, I can see why she got confused. 
We spent the first meeting just getting to know each other.  We talked about our families, our homes, our dreams, and our daily schedules.  I learned a lot about her country and why she came to TCU.  She said her previous school was far away from her home. In order to get to school on time, she had to leave at 5:00 am.  Traffic is horrible she said.  She also said her school was not very structured or organized, which drove her crazy.  She said she has no idea what she wants to do with her life, but she is thankful for the opportunity to come to TCU.  I assumed we would have very little in common, but I was wrong.  It was easy to keep the conversation moving and we never had any awkward quiet moments.  I was really interested in how she was handling the transition of starting school in a whole new country.  She said it has been difficult, which is understandable!  She has family in Dallas, so she sees them on the weekends.  She also has a cousin here at TCU, which she says has made the transition easier.  However, she says she feels lonely sometimes.  She goes to class and IEP and then spends the rest of her time in her dorm room.  I still have no idea where she lives.  I have asked her what dorm she is in three times and I have no idea what she is saying.  I feel sad about her being lonely and isolated.  I can’t imagine living in a country where I am not familiar with the language or culture.  I am thinking about getting Sueli and her cousin together with some of my friends.  I think she would have more fun if she knew more people.  I don’t want her to be out of the loop.  She doesn’t know about all of the events that TCU offers.  I couldn’t believe she had no idea about the Lady Antebellum concert.  She of course has never heard of the band before, but I’m sure she would have enjoyed the concert anyway. It would have been a fun experience for her.  I am going to start coming up with different places for us to meet and different activities to do.  I asked Sueli what she would like to do, and she said she wants to learn how to drive.  I thought that was a funny response.  I can understand why she wants to drive (she has to take public transportation everywhere, including to her family’s house in Dallas), but I am not going to be the one who teaches her!! 

Meeting 2:  For our second meeting we met at the same place, 1873.  I was really looking forward to talking to Sueli again.  We spent most of our time discussing the types of music we like.  She knew many of the pop singers here in the U.S. because she said she watches MTV at home.  I brought my laptop, so she showed me YouTube videos of the types of dancing they do in her country.  I forgot what the dance was called, but it looked very complicated.  She said it is easy to learn and is going to teach me next time we meet.  That will be interesting!  I also brought my camera, so I showed her pictures of all my friends.  She enjoyed looking at my pictures and hearing about my friends.  She said she loves pictures and is going to bring some of hers next time.  One of the girls I had been telling Sueli about actually walked by while we were talking, so Sueli got to meet her. 

I am excited about our next meeting!!!!! Sueli told me that she has always wanted to play the piano.  Since I have taken lessons ever since the 2^nd grade, I am going to teach her how to play.  My parents came to Ft. Worth this weekend, so I had them bring my level 1 and 2 books from when I first started playing.  She is really excited and so am I. 

Yeats and Swans

I enjoyed The Wild Swans at Coole because of the imagery and because I found it easy to relate to. Yeats describes the surroundings beautifully, which makes the poem relaxing and calming. Phrases such as “trees are in their autumn beauty”, “woodland paths are dry”, “under the October twilight the water mirrors a still sky”, and “scatter wheeling in great broken rings upon their clamorous wings” make it easy for the reader to visualize each and every line of the poem. As I was reading, I felt as if I was actually at the autumn scene by the lake. Yeats does a nice job describing the swans as well. I could picture their beauty, youthfulness, and mysteriousness. Although the poem has a tranquil vibe, it is sad as well. The speaker is experiencing heart ache because they realize many things in their life have changed since the October day nineteen years ago when they first saw the swans. The speaker has changed and the world has too. Although I feel blessed to have such a wonderful life, I sometimes feel sad thinking about how things in my life have changed. I miss the things I used to do when I was younger, the loved ones I have lost, and the friends I have grown apart from. Change can be hard to accept, even when both the past and present are good. The speaker also mentions how as they grow older, the swans “hearts have not grown old”. The speaker is fascinated by how each and every move made by the swans is graceful and youthful. Growing old is painful for the speaker, just as it is for many people. Although the speaker may envy the swans and their unchanging nature, I think the swans represent happiness and hope. They show how life continues on. Even after the speaker in the poem dies, there will still be more swans bringing happiness to others. Yeats’ other poem about a swan, Leda and the Swan, contrasts The Wild Swans at Coole. Whereas the swans  in the first poem discussed are admired and loved, the second poem involves a violent swan that rapes a young girl. It is weird reading the two poems back to back because the swans in the first poem are graceful and gentle. They bring happiness to others. The swan in the second poem however brings pain.  I noticed how the diction Yeats chose when writing about Leda differs from the diction he used to describe the swan. When describing the swan he uses harsh words such as: dark, blow, great, glory, strange, broken, and brute. Leda is portrayed as helpless with words such as: staggering, caught, terrified, and broken. The contrasts helped me grasp the differences between the two characters and better picture the struggle. The poem is strange, but the mythology behind it is interesting.  I enjoyed reading it and comparing it to the very different first poem.