Edgar Aviles City Essay

Edgar Aviles Rosa

City Essay

There are many beautiful cities in the world. Some of them are so beautiful that determining which one is the most beautiful is difficult if not impossible. I have not had the privilege of visiting any big city of the world, so I can’t talk in this essay about big cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco etc. I am from Puerto Rico, and this small Caribbean island has a city called San Juan. I know very well San Juan and I believe that this small city is as good as any other city of the world. You might think that I am just trying to talk about this city because it is the main city of my natal country. This might be true. But also, I would like to tell you some facts that make San Juan a very interesting place to visit.

            One thing that makes San Juan a special city is that this city is one of the oldest cities in the Caribbean, and its maintains most of its original infrastructure. It was founded in 1521 by the Spanish colonists, and now San Juan is the second oldest city of the Caribbean. San Juan still has part of its original infrastructure at this moment. An example of this is “El Morro”. El Morro is a fort constructed by the Spain army back in the XVI century. This fort protected the city against the invasion of enemies. This fort remains practically identical to the way it was in the past and it is a very good place to visit and see how a XVI century fort was. In addition, San Juan streets are made of bricks, and the buildings maintain the old fashion style. That makes San Juan a wonderful place to see and learn about the Spanish XVI century history and infrastructure.

            Another important fact of San Juan is that this small city has a great variety of touristic attractions. Ten of the world’s best cruise ships stop in San Juan’s bay. That makes this Caribbean city a good one to board some of these cruisers, or to know people of different countries that come in the cruisers. If you are the type of person who likes art, San Juan has a lot of artisan galleries and museums where you can buy or watch Puerto Rican artists’ works. San Juan also has a lot of restaurants and bars, but what makes San Juan one of the best places to visit is the different festivals this city has during the whole year. San Juan host the most important festivals, concerts, and cultural activity in Puerto Rico. In these festivals, you can eat, drink, and dance to the rhythm of Puerto Rican music. Hence, if you like parties, beautiful cruisers, and art you need to visit San Juan.

             The kindness of San Juan’s citizens is another thing that makes this city a good place to visit. Puerto Ricans are very friendly people who likes to talk, dance, and have a good time. In San Juan, you are going to find good and friendly people. This city is as friendly as Lubbock, but in the Caribbean.  I think this fact gives San Juan an advantage toward other main cities in the world where you can see beautiful things but people are not very nice. San Juan is a place where you can find both at the same time.

            In summary, San Juan is an old city that keeps most of its original infrastructure, has a lot of things for tourists and has good and friendly citizens. This fact makes the city a very interesting place and a good place to spend some time. For that reason, the next time you are planning a vacation, remember all these good things about San Juan, and give it a try. I ensure that you are not going to regret having selected San Juan as your vacation destiny.

           

Kampala City, Uganda

Kampala City Uganda

Kampala is a metropolitan capital city of Uganda, and it was a British protectorate until 1962, when Uganda gained independence. The city is found in the central part of the country. On the south-east, it borders Lake Victoria, which is known to be the largest lake in Africa. It has an approximate total population of around 1.2m. For anyone who travels to this city and is wondering where to get started to explore the city, the starting point is called City Square, along a street called Kampala road. As a native of Uganda and proudly Ugandan, I was constrained to highlight and elaborate some key aspects that everyone who reads this write-up would seek to know about Kampala City; perhaps, this documentation would be one of the marketing tools of the city and therefore attracting many more tourists not only to Kampala as a city but rather Uganda as a whole. In my next paragraphs, I will talk about three key aspects about Kampala that include tour sites, multi tribal nature, and security.

There are many monumental sites that anyone visiting Uganda should look out for first within Kampala city. In general, Uganda as a country is endowed with a lot of natural resources and in particular, its uniqueness is premised upon hospitality and tolerance of strangers to an extent of having many decide to acquire citizenship in the beautiful landlocked country. I believe this is one of the parameters upon which hospitality and tolerance of any country can be measured. Like many others, in his tour to Africa, from which he wrote a book “My African Journey” in 1908, Winston Churchill described Uganda with what became the most beautiful nickname, “The pearl of Africa”. This nickname was fully adopted everywhere in Africa.  Children in schools are told about this descriptive metaphor while still young, and it becomes part and parcel of them and therefore influences their future behavior, actions, and life decisions. Churchill was motivated by the variety of form and color, magnificence, wealth of brilliant life, a vast scale of birds, beasts, insects, etc. Prior to Churchill, John Hanning Speke explored Uganda together with Richard Button in 1858. This is when he discovered Lake Victoria, which is literally located in Kampala city, as the source of the Nile. Stretching from Lake Victoria, the Nile also has a spectacular view in another city called Jinja, which is 77km (44 miles) from Kampala. Another spectacular view of the Nile is found in the western part of Uganda called the West Nile, where the river is seemingly wide but with only one bridge at Pakwach town. Apart from the Source of the Nile, other places to explore in Kampala include Namugongo Martyrs’ Shrine, which is just 15km east of Kampala off Jinja road.   This place attracts thousands of Pilgrims from different parts of the world every year. Another place to visit in this city are the Kasubi Tombs, which is a site for burial grounds of the Kings of Buganda kingdom.

As earlier stipulated, Kampala has a population of around 1.2m people. Being a multi tribal city, it is predominantly occupied by the Ganda tribe, which is believed to be the most predominant tribe in the country with a population of around 5.5m Baganda spread all over the country. Kampala is considered to be Buganda land since it is located at the center of Buganda Kingdom. Kampala harbors all 56 tribes found in Uganda. Factions of different tribes are said to be predominant in specific localities in the city. For instance, Arua Bus park is predominantly occupied by tribes from Northern Uganda that include the Alur, Lango, Lugbar, Kakwa, Acholi, and many more. These do vending from around that area. For those interested in tasting the food delicacy of people from Northern part of Uganda, Arua park is the starting point in Kampala. The Batooro and Banyoro tribes to which I belong are predominant in a place called Kitooro in Kampala and mainly do vending in the downtown of the city. The Batooro originally inhabit only 2 districts of Kabarole and Kasese, whereas the Banyoro inhabit 5 districts of Masindi, Hoima (now the oil city), Kiryandongo, Kibaale and Bulisa. Baganda, Banyoro, Batooro, Bakonzo, and Basoga, are the only tribes with active and vibrant cultural leaders, Kings. The rest of the tribes traditionally had chiefs heading chiefdoms. Chiefdoms and chiefs are gradually phasing out. These were mainly predominant in for instance the Acholi land, which had 54 chiefdoms each headed by a chief. The other dominant tribe in Kampala is Banyankole from which the current president hails. These originally inhabit the Ankole land, which has over 8 districts. They own most of the milk dairy businesses in Kampala city, since they are commonly known for cattle keeping together with the Karamajong of the Eastern Uganda. The streets of Kampala, mainly sidewalks, are always filled with traffic of vendors, mainly hawkers and pedestrians.

Usually, when anyone travels to a foreign land, their biggest worry is on how secure they will be and how safely they will return home. Many people who get to Kampala and happen to spend 5 months in the city, always wish not to return home, and others keep visiting if they returned home. Like the entire country, Kampala is the most secure city in Africa. When you search a few reviews you will notice that everyone who leaves any other country and finally lands in Kampala, starts to immediately feel like they are home, free, loved, and secure right from the Airport. Later you get to notice that you can even freely walk on Kampala streets during the night without any worries. Churches, clubs, and bars are open 24/7 without any insecurity feelings as can be witnessed in many other cities in the world, and more predominantly in developed countries. Like in any other city you just have to be mindful of pickpocketing where your phone would be snatched.

I would unearth quite a lot about Kampala and Uganda entirely.  It is a place that I believe will face a serious wave of immigrants in the next 6 to 10 years as it continues to grow economically, and democratically. From last year, Uganda is continuously facing a significant rise in the number of refugees entering the country from the neighboring countries. Most refugee settlements have refugees who have lived there for over 30 years and not wishing to go back from their home countries like Rwanda, Somalia, Congo, Sudan, and many more. Many Somalis for instance have established very big businesses in the city of Kampala and slowly bring their relatives to stay. Kampala is a city you shouldn’t miss out to explore.

(Judas Tadeo)

Essay about a city- Bhargavi

Hyderabad _ India’s City

Hyderabad is a city which is the capital of one of the states in India. It has got many historic sites to visit. It is the place where one can find unity in diversity. People from different religions, origins, and languages live together, making the city a place for cultural integration. People are very welcoming. The city has an overall population of 3.63 million. It occupies 650 square kilometers  along the banks of Musi river. It has got all kinds of weather. It is the fifth largest contributor to India’s overall gross income. It was historically known as a pearl and diamond trading center. Hyderabad has got a reputation as one of the safest cities in the world. Crime rates are very low. With all these amenities, one has to visit Hyderabad for the following reasons.

Hyderabad food is so delicious. It’s food culture is extremely rich. Hyderabad’s multicultural population is reflected in the wide variety of excellent restaurants offering a diversity of cuisine from around the world. It is a prime destination to savor the flavors of South India. Hyderabadi biryani is one of the world-famous recipes laced with rich ingredients. It is known as paradise for food lovers. The city offers fun and engaging dining experience. On top of all, the cost of the food is very affordable. One suggestion for people dining in Hyderabad or India is that do not overload the plate, it is expected to be finished. Food wastage is not at all encouraged in Hyderabad.

To the travelers, Hyderabad offers a fascinating panorama of richly mixed cultural and historical traditions. Places that have got historical importance are Golconda Fort, Char Minar and Mecca Masjid. Golconda Fort is famous for its acoustics, a unique signaling device that was incorporated while in construction. Char Minar is the epic signature of the city and global icon of Hyderabad. It is a square structure surrounded with four grand arches. Mecca masjid is the biggest and most spectacular mosque of Hyderabad. The bricks used for the construction were brought from the holy city Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Hitec City in Hyderabad is famous for its information technology engineering consultancy services, health informatics, and bioinformatics. It provides world class infrastructure for the IT industry. The area has IT parks, and malls all over the city. It has got the head office of Microsoft in India, Google company and many more IT companies. It delivers IT services to all over the world.

Overall, Hyderabad is one of the best places to visit. Hospitality services are very good. It has well integrated and modern transport facilities making it easy for visitors. The cost of living is low and it is ideal for average middle class families to rich people to stay in Hyderabad. 

Improving infrastructure

The performance of any research university at a national level strongly depends on two major factors, the facility in terms of the resources it provides to its researchers, and the healthy and comfortable lifestyle it creates for its students.  With a fast growing student community, I believe Texas Tech has to focus on a few infrastructural and managerial issues both in general and from an academic perspective. 

A major infrastructural issue concerning students is the availability of parking space.  All the major parking spaces are fully occupied and have a long wait time if applied for.  Since not all the places in the city are connected to the campus by bus routes, there is a heavy reliance on private transportation for commuting.  This combined with unavailability of parking spaces makes it extremely inconvenient for the students.   Added to this inconvenience is the parking restrictions imposed when Texas Tech hosts a football or baseball game, when neither students nor faculty are allowed to park anywhere near the campus.  Expanding the parking spaces and improving parking logistics during busy days would go a long way in improving the situation.

The second major infrastructural issue to focus on is the campus housing facilities.  Compared to a lot of other universities in the nation, Texas Tech campus housing facilities are underdeveloped, without sufficient undergraduate dorms and with inadequate graduate student housing facility.  Providing cheap housing to students would improve the standard of living and also, to a significant level, reduce the parking space problem mentioned previously.  Texas Tech having one of the largest campuses, with almost no space constraint, the solution to this issue is not a challenging one.

Shifting the attention to infrastructural improvements from an academic perspective, I believe the computational resources in the campus need to be made better.  Computational resources are the heart of many of the research projects carried out at the Engineering and Science departments.  Though the campus holds a decently large computing cluster to cater to the needs of its research community, the maintenance of the cluster has to be significantly improved.  Frequent uninformed cluster downtimes result in serious loss of research productivity and also lead to a lot of rework due to data loss.  Developing more automated systems to monitor the cluster’s health and initiating safety shutdowns in case of mechanical failures should be seriously considered.

In spite of being a nice and comfortable place to spend one’s student life, Texas Tech needs some more additions to its infrastructure.  These minor changes will influence both the personal and academic lives of students there by raising the performance of the university as a whole.  (Ashwin)

Cultural Dialogue Through Art at Texas Tech International Cultural Center

Cultural Dialogue Through Art at Texas Tech International Cultural Center Niloofar Gholamrezaei I am writing this essay to request a budget and a space for an art curatorial project at the Texas Tech International Cultural Center. The curatorial project will be led by me and some other international students from the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Texas Tech University (TTU). The project is annual art exhibitions that reflect the art works of international students who study at TTU. I think the exhibitions from the art works of international students at TTU will be a remarkable move for the International Cultural Center, because this project can play an important role in cultural communication among TTU students and the local Lubbock community. Art has been always a powerful tool for communication. Humans started creating painting even before the invention of language. I think communication particularly is powerful when it is accompanied with diversity. In fact, dialogue and exchange of ideas between people who are from different parts of the world, with different perspectives, and backgrounds are the strongest kind of communication. Hence, I think art shows from the art works of international students at TTU is a crucial and remarkable move for the International Cultural Center, TTU community, as well as Lubbock local community. In what follows, I will lay out why and how I think that this project is important for our community in more detail. In a separate essay, I also will explain the structure of our project and how the budget and space will be used. Firstly, I think this project will have unique educational impacts on the TTU and local communities in Lubbock. Considering the fact that Lubbock is an isolated city, TTU’s international students can play a significant role in promoting cultural awareness and diversity within the school and also among local people in Lubbock. International students, who are from all over the world, can share their distinctive perspectives on different themes in their art works. Thus, this art show will create an environment for communication and dialogue that is accompanied with distinct perspectives and voices. Such communication, I think will be very instructive because it helps people who live in an isolated city, to look at different issues from different perspectives. Secondly, this project is imperative because it will promote tolerance toward different cultures, religions, and voices within TTU and the local community. Again, the diverse messages coming from all over the world, within an art show at TTU can create a cultural awareness in which people can acknowledge and appreciate plurality of ideas. The audience can see how people live differently and thus have different ways of thinking about their environment. I think promoting tolerance toward different cultures, is important particularly among the people who live, work, or study in the United States, because in the United States people are from all over the world and live together. In short, I would like to request the supports of TTU, especially the office of the International Cultural Center to help us with developing the project. The project will be annual art exhibitions from the art works of TTU international students in which students from all over the world share their unique perspectives and philosophies with the Lubbock community. I believe this show will be an influential step in promoting cultural awareness and tolerance toward different people with different cultures, religions, etc. Moreover, the show will create a space for learning and education by promoting the understanding of different perspectives toward our environment.

Folk Tales for Landon and Annabel

001 Folktales

Folk story

Once upon a time, two friends were travelling through a dense forest. It was dark and the two friends knew it was dangerous to travel alone. So they pledged to travel together and take care of each other if any vicious animal attacked them. After hours of walking through the forest, the two friends were tired and they decided to rest under a tree for a while.

While they were fast asleep, a huge bear started running towards them and one of the two sleeping friends saw the bear coming. Instead of waking his friend to warn him about the bear, the selfish friend quickly started climbing the tree, under which they were sleeping, to escape from the bear. When the other friend woke up, suddenly he saw the huge bear fast approaching, getting ready to attack him. He called out for help but no one was there to help him. He quickly came up with a smart idea and lay on the ground breathless pretending to be dead. The bear came close to his face, smelled him and thought he was dead. As bears do not attack dead creatures, it walked away leaving him unharmed. To the other friend who was watching it from above the tree, it felt like the bear was whispering something in his friend’s ears. He quickly climbed down the tree and asked his friend, “What did the bear say to you?” His friend replied, “The bear told me not to trust in fake people like you”. (Ashwin)

Folk Tale

Once upon a time, there lived a rat and a squirrel. They were friendly with each other. They had another friend, eagle. Both rat and squirrel lived in the trunk of a tree and the eagle lived on the top of the tree. They were all best friends and they were always there for one another if anyone was in trouble. These three used to go together in search of food in the morning and get back in the evening and used to play together until night. This had become their daily routine. Their children were also all friendly and they all played games while their parents got food. When they got excess food, they stored their food and when they did not get food, they shared their stored food all equally. Suddenly, one day it started raining and the rain continued for three days. They felt their lives would be in danger if they went out; therefore, they thought it was better to eat their stored food. As they decided, they started feeding themselves with the stored food.

Meanwhile, they saw a cat shivering outside their home and they felt pity for the cat. They offered cat a shelter and the cat was very happy. Cat seemed to be very weak and they offered their stored food to cat and then to their children and finally the rat, the squirrel and the eagle ate the food that was left. The rain still continued for three more days, but their stored food got finished. They starved to feed the cat. Cat was getting better day by day. Finally, the rain had stopped and as the stored food was finished, they had to go out in hunt of food. They asked cat to look after their children as their children had become weak due to shortage of food. The cat was okay and agreed to look after their children for that day. As soon as all the three went for food, cat started to think negatively and ate all the children. In the evening, all the three got back home and found their children missing. They got to know that it was all cat’s evil mind and the cat had done this to them. They all decided to teach cat a lesson. They thought of a good plan and they were waiting for the right moment. Finally, one day they saw the cat on the way and thought that it was the correct time to teach it a lesson. The rat willingly got into quick sand and it was holding grass giving an impression to the cat going on the way that it was getting sunk into the sand. Squirrel and eagle were by the side of the tree watching the whole drama. The cat walking that way saw the rat and noticed that the rat was sinking into the quick sand. It felt happy listening to the rat crying out if there is anyone to help it out. The cat started laughing at the rat. The rat started pleasing rat to help it out, but the cat asked rat what it would get in return? The rat told cat that it would offer the cat whatever it asked for. The cat looked here and there for some time and finally got an idea. The cat asked rat if it saves the rat, it had to be the cat’s food. The rat acted for some time as if it is thinking and said it was okay. As per the plan, rat extended its hand and even the cat extended its hand to grab. Rat, with all its strength pulled the cat into the sand. Eagle and the squirrel from the top dropped a branch from the tree. When the rat held it, eagle and squirrel pulled it up. The cat screamed in the fear of death and it drowned into the quick sand. This way they all taught the cat a lesson for betraying them. (Bhargavi Gude)

Moral: Be thankful to the ones that offer you help in need.

Folk Story

Once upon a time there was a beautiful family of five. They were very happy and they loved each other very much. One day they went to a camping trip. They drove for six hours to get into the forest. When they got into the forest they set up the tent and started a wood fire. The first night the father was telling stories to the three kids, and the kids were eating marshmallows. The next morning, the family went for a walk in the forest. Landon, the older brother, was jumping and running on the rocks. His father and mother told him to stop jumping and running on the rocks because he could fall over the cliff. He got angry and yelled to them that he was a big boy and he knew what he was doing. Suddenly, when he was going to jump on the last rock, he fell into the 300 feet cliff. Fortunately, he only broke his arm. It was getting dark and he was all alone in the forest. Then he started thinking about his parents. He felt sorry for disobeying them and for giving them a hard time. He was telling himself, ‘’If I had listened to them I probably wouldn’t be here”. Then he remembered what his mother always tells him: “When things are going bad just pray to the Lord and he would give you strength”. Hence, he started to pray to the Lord and promised God that if he got out of the cliff safely, he would ask their forgiveness and would respect them from now on. The Lord heard Landon’s prayer, and the next morning the rescuers saved him. When he was getting out of the cliff he saw his mother and dad. He went running to them and he said: “Mom, Dad I am really sorry. I promise I would never disobey you again”. He hugged them and explained the promise he made to God while he was on the cliff. Landon’s father told him, “Son we love you so much. When we tell you something is because we know is the best for you. I am glad that this experience made you realize it”. Landon learned two things that day. The first one was, that even when you think your parents bother, and don’t let you do anything, they do it because they love you and don’t want you to get hurt. The second lesson was, that God always hears the prayer of a humble and contrite heart. (Edgar Aviles-Rosa)

The Polygamous Man

Once upon a time, there lived a man who had seven wives. This man was originally a hunter. He married his wives one by one at different times until a total of seven. Initially, he had too much love for his first wife, which later reduced as he married more young wives. Indeed, he loved the seventh wife more than everyone else, and surely hated the first but never divorced. In some month, he came to realize that all his wives were pregnant and they were to give birth at any time. While he had gone far away from his family to hunt and gather food for a full month, he received news that the first five wives had given birth to babies in only three consecutive days. He was told that his first wife had given birth to a very handsome baby boy. He immediately sought to know if his seventh wife had also given birth. Unfortunately she hadn’t, and he was disappointed. He never sent any congratulatory message to the first wife but only to the rest, since he didn’t love her anymore.

After some minutes of silence, he aggressively asked some of his co-hunters to go and kill the baby boy. On arrival, his men saw the baby boy and that he was very handsome; they all became empathetic and told the mum to forgive them. They did not kill the baby boy. When their master heard that they had not killed the boy, he sent a second team to kill the boy. On arrival, this second team was so astonished by the fact that the boy was too handsome to be killed. The master received the report that the team had also not killed boy as he had commanded. He sent a third team that behaved the same way as the previous ones. When he received the same report, he became so angry and picked a spear to go and kill the boy himself. When the mum to the boy heard the news that her husband was coming to kill the boy himself, she excessively cried and hid the boy in some clay pot and covered it with a cloth that allowed oxygen to penetrate it.

He arrived early in the morning but found his seventh wife in serious labor pains. He was forced to first attend to his lovely wife to ensure that she gave birth safely. The seventh wife also delivered a baby boy but without 2 fingers on the left hand. Nonetheless, he was very excited. He then remembered that he had unfinished business of killing the boy to the first wife. He immediately picked up his spear and started looking for the baby in the mum’s hut. The mum was intensely crying but the husband didn’t care at all. After some 30 minutes of searching the hut, he heard the baby crying in the clay pot; the mum immediately jumped and grabbed the baby out of the pot to her chest. When the man saw that the baby was too handsome, he fainted for over 30 minutes. When he regained his consciousness, he knelt down before his wife and pleaded with her for forgiveness. The wife hugged and forgave him without any hesitation. He then organized a party to celebrate all the children, all the wives had delivered by the time of the party. While giving a speech during the party, he apologized to all his workmen. To the ones who refused to kill the baby boy as per his command, he gave them gifts and greatly thanked them for doing the right thing. The story ended with him crowning the baby boy to his first wife as his heir.

This story affirms the fact that you can break some wrong orders to do the right thing. (Judas Tadeo)

Yi Shot Down the Suns

A long time ago, there were ten suns in the sky; they were the sons of the Oriental Lord. These ten suns lived with their mother, the wife of the Oriental Lord, in the Eastern Sea. After having the bath in the Eastern Sea, she always put them on a tree, just like birds perched in their nests. Nine of them perched on the shorter branches of the tree, while the other sun rested on the top of the tree. When the sky needed dawn, the sun on the top of the tree would cart through the sky, spreading the light and heat all over the world to every corner. Ten suns took turns on duty orderly every ten days; everything in the world was in a harmonious appearance. At that time, people were grateful to the sun for bringing them time, light and joy, they even often kowtowed towards the sky to show their worship.

However, as time went by, ten suns became feeling bored; they wanted to travel around the sky together since they thought it must be very interesting. So, one day, when the dawn came, the ten suns rode the cart together, setting foot on the journey through the sky. But, the life on earth could not stand the heat that ten suns released; they were just like ten giant fire balls. They not only burned out forest to ashes, but also burned many people and animals. Those who were not burnt in the fire, the animals, the pigs, the wolves, and the wanderers, frantically searched for a place which had water and food to escape from the calamities. The river dried up, even the sea was also facing dryness, and all the fish also died off, so the monster in the sea climbed up to steal food in villages. Crops and orchards also burned out, and the sources of food for people and livestock were cut off. People were either burned out to die by the high temperature of the sun or killed by the beast. In a word, people were struggling in the fire disaster.

At this time, there was a young handsome guy called Hou Yi, who was a skillful archer. He was in much pain seeing people living in misery, so he determined to shoot the extra nine suns to save the people from the untold miseries. Yi climbed over the ninety nine high mountains, crossed the ninety nine rivers, passed through ninety-nine canyons, and he finally arrived at the Eastern Sea. Yi climbed on the top of the highest mountain beside the sea. Without hesitation, he shot down the first sun in one second; his second arrow shot down two suns together; and at this time, there were still seven suns staring red glowing eyes in the sky. Hou Yi still felt very hot, so he continued to shoot the other suns. He shot the third arrow fiercely, this arrow shot was very strong, and it shot down four suns at this time! The other suns trembled all over, and then Yi shot the arrows to the sun one by one, and finally all nine suns were shot down. Their feathers fell down to the ground, their light and heat disappeared slowly. The last sun in the sky was extremely afraid of Yi; he was in accordance with the instructions of Hou Yi to stay in the sky contributing light and heat to the earth as before. Since then, the sun rises from the east of the sea and sets in the west side every day. And underneath all of the horrible cloud cover, the sun will always be there, warming everything in the word. (Lingjuan Qi. China. 2016)

Folk Tale for Landon and Annabel

Life is like a journey on a road that is puzzling and has roughness and kinks. Throughout your journey on the road, you face the wind, the sun, the storm, winter, spring, light and darkness, though you need to keep moving forward. You constantly fall and need to stand up again. I believe that persistence and hardworking is key to success in your journey. Here, I would like to tell you the famous story of a rabbit and a turtle. The story metaphorically tells you how persistence is important.

Once, a rabbit, the king of speed within the animal kingdom, challenged a turtle to a running contest. The turtle openly accepted the challenge, though he knew he would have a rough path to pass, if he was going to win the race. The rabbit and other animals of the kingdom laughed at the turtle for racing with the rabbit, because turtles walked very slowly. They started the contest, while all the animals came together to watch the match. The rabbit was proudly posturing, since he was confident that he would win the race. All the animals were talking about how the rabbit runs fast, though the turtle is ridiculously slow. The turtle felt alone but hopeful that he could succeed. The rabbit and the turtle started the race. The rabbit ran very fast and got a big distance from the turtle. The turtle was walking slowly, though determinately. The rabbit was too proud and confident so he thought he could take a nap on the road and then he would run again and would win. He chose a nice spot on grasses under a shadow of a tree aside the path and fell asleep. He went to a deep and sweet sleep, though the turtle was still walking slowly, but constantly.

He was so persistent in moving forward that he didn’t stop, even one second. He just walked forward. The rabbit was still asleep, while he was having sweet dreams. The turtle was still walking. He passed the rabbit and walked forward. He was tenacious and was walking toward the end of the contest. The animals saw him getting closer and closer to the end, though unbelievably they couldn’t see the rabbit. The turtle finally reached to the end and won. He won, while the rabbit was still sleeping. The turtle won because he was persistent and determinate in his path.

He walked slowly but he never stopped. (Niloofar Gholamrezaei)

A Cowboy and Tiger

Once upon a time, there was a cowboy in a village. He went to the field to take care of his cow. He was crying by saying tiger, tiger, tiger…….to make joke with the village residents. The village residents went to the field to help the cowboy from the tiger. However, the village residents did not see any tiger in the field. They asked the cowboy, where is the tiger? He was laughing, and they understood that he made them fools. After some days, the cowboy again was crying by saying tiger, tiger, tiger……, but on that day, no village resident went to help him from the tiger. Unfortunately, on that day tiger attacked him, and the cowboy was killed. (Rafikul Islam)

More folk tales for Landon and Annabel
Still more folk tales