Reflection on Comments

I read Elaina's blog and Lauren's blog. They both had some pretty good points, and for the most part I agreed with them both. Elaina was pretty much on the same page as me. She agreed with what Alan Watts was saying, and she thought it was inspirational. She had no clue how it related to Hinduism. Neither did I. Lauren seemed to understand it a bit more than I did. She said that the dream thing about having whatever you want somehow relates to God being bored. That is really weird, but I actually can see how that would relate to all of this. Lauren quoted Shakespeare about the word play. That is really funny because I used that quote for Elaina's comment right before I went to Lauren's blog. That is basically what that whole section about play meant to both of us. I do like that idea, and as Elaina said, it does relate to the Hindus. I think Lauren's blog and Elaina's blog might have helped me to understand it a little better, but I am still sort of confused...

Mythology of HInduism #3

Wow. This was really weird. I really don't understand how anything he was talking about for the first five minutes relates to Hinduism. I agreed with what Alan Watts was saying though. He was talking about having the ability to basically have anything you want. He said that you would start out having small things, but as you got more daring you would have bigger things happen. Then he was talking about in order to truly have a future, there would have to be a surprise button because you would be so bored with having everything. I totally agree with this, but I don't really get what it has to do with Hinduism. I thought it was weird how he talked about all these words that mean something entirely different to Hindus than they do to westerners. For example, he was talking about the words myth and mythology. He said that to Hindus, these simply mean an image. Basically, everything is a myth then, because everything is an image. I wondered if when he titled his podcasts Mythology of Hinduism he was using the Hindu meaning of the word or not. I sort of got confused after this, but he started talking about play. I liked Alan Watts ideas, but I am super confused at how they really relate to Hinduism. The religion sounds like a lot of work to me.

English Blog

I made a separate blog for English class. The site to my English blog is http://megans-il-mondo-2.blogspot.com. There is also a link to it on the side of this page!

Final Reflection SOK

I really enjoyed this book. I thought that Yasmina Khadra did an amazing job captivating the reader and making them feel what was happening. It would be hard to read this book without feeling appalled at the things that are happening and without feeling bad for the characters and what they are forced to deal with. Everyone knows that Afghanistan has its problems, but I think that this puts them into perspective. When you see things on the news or read them in the paper, it is hard to relate to them. Even though you know that what you are reading is true, you have a feeling that this place doesn't really exist, that it is like some faraway fairytale that could never really happen. The Swallows of Kabul changed that for me. The characters were real and relatable, making all of the problems finally seem real. After reading this book I think anyone can look at their own lives and be thankful for what they have. We are so blessed in America, and we are definitely shielded some of the greatest hardships in the world. The book was jam packed with information and emotion, and it was not difficult to read. I loved how involved and wrapped up in the book I became, and I think that many people should try reading it. I thought it was a really good book, and I would have read it even if it wasn't an assignment for school. I think everyone should consider reading The Swallows of Kabul.

Chapter Fifteen SOK

Qassim and the militia women come to take Zunaira, but Musarrat has replaced her in her cell. Atiq is acting very nervous, and Qassim notices a person in his office. Atiq quickly answers that it is his wife, and Qassim understands because his wife wanted to go to the executions as well. He offers to take Atiq's wife for him, and Atiq does not have much of a choice. He asks to speak to her quickly. When he does, he tells Zunaira that they have agreed to free her but that she must go somewhere first. I cannot believe that Zunaira believes him. I would think that she would have noticed a woman being taken away, and surely she would be smart enough to know that the Taliban would not let anyone off the hook that easily, especially not a woman. They go to the executions, and Musarrat is executed. Her last thought is of Atiq and that he will not turn around to see her being killed. After the executions, Atiq waits for Zunaira, but she is no where to be found. He is shocked and even dreams about her being at his home waiting for him. He goes crazy, lifting women's burqas in the streets looking for Zunaira and is killed by angry husbands. I don't understand why Atiq thought Zunaira would wait for him or come with him. He did not tell her the sacrifice his wife made for her, he simply told her that she was free to go. How did he think that that meant they would spend all eternity together? I don't think that he was thinking clearly. It is really sad how he went crazy on the streets looking for Zunaira. While that is not the man he was, I think it is better that he died in the search for love than in the fulfillment of evil. I would much rather die going crazy in a search for love than die going crazy in a loveless and lifeless world. I think Atiq would have felt the same way.

Chapter Fourteen SOK

Atiq is basically going crazy because he knows Zunaira is going to be killed and he doesn't really know what he can do. Musarrat is finally starting to see how serious Atiq is about Zunaira. She realizes that this woman has completely changed who Atiq is, and she is very excited. She explains to Mohsen that this is the best thing that could have happened. I was confused at first when she said this, but then she expanded. She said that she knew they weren't made for each other, but she tried to do everything that she could have to give Atiq what he wanted. Now she sees that he needs Zunaira, and she wants to give her to him. Musarrat tells Atiq that he is one of the luckiest men in the world because he has found a cause, something to fight for. Others would be singing, and Atiq only refrains because he was never taught how to sing. She tells Atiq to switch her with Zunaira. They would never know or care because they are simply exchanging one burqa for another. Atiq refuses, but Musarrat insists because she will die in a matter of weeks anyway. I can't believe that someone would do this! She must really love him because that would be an extremely hard choice. I don't know what I would do if I were Atiq. I would want to save Zunaira, but doing that would mean killing my spouse. How can you choose between two innocent lives? Even though Musarrat will probably die soon, it is not definite. Who knows how long she will live. Atiq is having a lot of difficulty deciding, but Musarrat knows what she wants. She shows up at the jailhouse basically ensuring that Atiq will choose to switch them. She is very brave, and I am wondering what I would do in her situation...

Chapter Thirteen SOK

Atiq speaks to Zunaira, and he can't imagine that she killed a man. He implied that the man must have beaten her and that he drove her to do it. Most women would probably have agreed with this, hoping to escape their sentence, but Zunaira is not anything like most women. She actually said that she was at fault because she did not realize the good fortune she had been blessed with. I think that this was really brave of her, and I think that this shows that she may feel remorse, even though Mohsen's death was not her fault. Atiq is convinced that Zunaira was in no way responsible for Mohsen's death, and he cannot believe how injust it is that she is going to be killed because of the lack of investigation into the case. He rants on to Musarrat how she is innocent and how she did not do anything wrong. He ends up freaking out on Musarrat, and that is when I think she started to realize how serious Atiq was. Atiq returns to the jail. After much thought, he opens the door and tells Zunaira to run. He says he will not let them kill her. Zunaira replies, "We've already been killed, all of us. It happened so long ago, we've forgotten it". This really sums up what I see in Atiq. His spirit, characteristics, personality, and soul were all killed by the Taliban years ago, along with many other people in Kabul. Though they exist physically, in all other aspects they are dead. I agree with Zunaira 100% and I think her statement probably affected Atiq a lot.