Saturday, November 23, 2013

Picture and word of the day 11/23/13

Picture of the Day 11/23/13
File:The Grand Palace of Thailand 2.jpg
           Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand 
Word of the Day 11/23/13

Word: Ba

Language: Thai

Meaning: Crazy

Friday, November 22, 2013

Picture and Word of the Day 11/22/13

Picture of the Day 11/22/13
Canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canal_in_Amsterdam,_Holland_Crop.gif
Word of the Day 11/22/13

Word: Ma armastan sind

Language: Estonian

Meaning: I love you 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Faience (Fay-ahnce)



Faience Hippo from Ancient Egypt--1961-1878 BCE
       Faience, a glazed ceramic material, was first created in Ur and Babylon around 2000-1500 BCE. It was used extensively by the Ancient Egyptians because it was cheaper and easier to mold than real precious gems (i.e. turquoise, lapis lazuli). Faience is ground quartz, sand, and/or silica mixed with minerals such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. To use faience, craftsmen would add water to the crushed minerals to make a paste; the paste would then be pressed into a mold and fired. Egyptian Faience (“Tjehnet”) was blue, dazzling, and illuminating. It symbolized life and rebirth (which was important considering the Egyptians were obsessed with death/the afterlife). Faience was used to make beaded jewelry, bowls, religious figures, and vessels. It can be similar in color to lapis lazuli, a rare and stunning blue medium found in Afghanistan.
Faience Beads

Minoan Snake Goddess--1700 BCE
Egyptian Eye of Horus in Faience--1069 BCE

Picture and Word of the day 11/21/13

Picture of the Day 11/21/13

Word: Tjehnet

Language: Egyptian

Meaning: Faience (a glaze material used in ceramics)

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Picture and Word of the day 11/20/13

Picture of the Day 11/20/13

Cristo de la Luz Mosque, Toledo, Spain
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mezquita_Cristo_de_la_Luz_de_Toledo.jpg
Word of the Day 11/20/13

Word: Desilio

Language: Latin

Meaning: I leap down 

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Picture and Word of the day 11/19/13

Picture of the Day 11/19/13
St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul's_Cathedral
Word of the Day 11/19/13

Word: Pepino

Language: Spanish

Meaning: Cucumber 

Monday, November 18, 2013

The Reality of American High Schools

         So what is high school like in America?

        Yawn, scribble, sigh. Laugh, iPhone alert, clatter, snore, cry. Someone either saying, “I’m tired” or “When do I get out of here?” Those sounds and hackneyed questions basically define homegrown American high schools. I have been attending a thoroughly American school for three years now, and I have witnessed good teachers, awful teachers, cuss words being dropped like petals of a rose in a windstorm, noisy breakups, weave in the school sinks, and boys feeling up heavily makeup-ed girls in the landing of the stairs. Pleasant, I know. I take seven classes (plus two online—Latin and SAT Prep) every day, from 7:05 a.m. to 1:35 p.m. When that loud, monotone bell shrieks at 1:35, the students disappear from the campus quicker than subways filling up and emptying in New York City. As far as classes, I am taking AP Art History, AP Environmental, Pre-Calculus, Spanish 5, U.S. history honors, AP Literature, and AP Statistics. AP, or advanced placement, basically just means I can earn college credit for my classes if I pass a huge, long exam in May. Yay! 

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My school books!
SAT Prep book

      Despite being barely awake and functioning at 7:05 IN THE MORNING, it is common to see girls curling their hair in the hallways before school starts. For attention or for laughable vanity, these girls are just one of the many examples of the social groups. Let me brief you on average high school students. There are the popular sluts, the weird scene kids with gauges, the tall, gangly nerds, the tan, athletic kids, and the awkward people who hover around looking for friends. As for me, I’m in the smart but not awkwardly unapproachable group (I can socialize normally when I have too: P). Most kids just hang around and have a large group of friends to feel wanted and part of something larger than just themselves.

 The People

         Girls will always be catty and boys will always be consumed by sex hormones, but the truth is that everyone is just waiting to get out. In America, high school doesn’t really matter that much education-wise (university is stressed the most); American high schools are more focused on sports like football and basketball than on academics. However, my classes are generally interesting, especially my art history class (which I LOVE). My teachers basically have free reign to teach in whatever style they choose; there are state standards, but no one really enforces them or checks every teacher EVERY DAY to see what they are teaching (no accountability).Many American teachers are gray-haired, inconsistent, and just hanging on until their retirement kicks in so they can live out a comfortable life in Florida or Arizona.  American students also value the ability to drive and be on social media. Older students (aged 16-18) grip their lanyards with their car keys on it and wave it around in front of them to say, “Hey guys—look, I can drive!” Driving and gaining freedom at 16 is so deeply engrained in our culture that if you don’t conform to society, you may be looked down upon. Social media also has a huge impact on American high schools. Students are always texting or snap chatting, and the new form of taking notes is to simply take a picture of it on the board—amazing! Although I know it is melodramatic to say the halls of my high school are like jails (which they actually resemble—long, white, cinderblock, and sterile looking), I don’t want to sound too cynical. But there are good things about high schools; this part only lasts four years and it goes by SO quickly. The higher the grade you are, the more interesting classes you are likely to take and most of the teachers are decent.


       Although lunch is mostly useless (and no one eats anything anyways), it is a good time to socialize with your friends . As for relationships between boys and girls, they are either so awkward that even Mary from Pride and Prejudice is cringing or they are overtly sexual and kind of disgusting. Many couples make out and hold hands, but almost every relationship doesn't make it past six months (which I think is universal). To conclude, American high schools are a melting pot of everything good, horrendous, dramatic, boring, and interesting. To be honest, these four years don’t even mean anything; university is the important education in America.

Picture and Word of the Day 11/18/13

Picture of the Day 11/18/13
St.Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Russia-Moscow-Saint_Basil's_Cathedral-2.jpg
Word of the Day 11/18/13

Word: Chiacchierare

Language: Italian

Meaning: to chat or gossip

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Picture and Word of the Day 11/17/13

Picture of the Day 11/17/13
File:St Mary Lake.jpg
Glacier National Park, Montana, U.S.A
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St_Mary_Lake.jpg
Word of the Day 11/17/13

Word: Belachelijk

Language: Dutch

Meaning: Ridiculous