Angels in America:

The play was absolutely one of the best performances I have ever seen. In my home town we don't have a theatre program. All we have is a community reader's theatre. So, Angels in America was quite a treat for me. My favorite character would have to be prior because he had to endure losing his boyfriend just because he had Aids. I am sorry but if you truly love someone you will stick with them to whatever end. The acting was so good I could feel the emotions swelling up inside of me with every scene. Also, I loved the gay,black nurse. He was unbelievably comical, especially in the scene where him and Lou are having coffee. I really want to see the second part. It is killing me! There were two people who were in the closet in the play. Both amusingly enough were aware of their sexuality. They just choose to suppress it which in my opinion is the complete opposite thing that an individual should do. With all of his power and money Roy Cohn could have revolutionized the world in favor of gay rights. The same goes for Joe Pitt if he took the job at the justice department. However, Mr. Pitt would need to drop his crazy wife and let her stay addicted to Valium. She seemed perfectly content hallucinating that she was in Antarctica. The very end of the play was breathtaking. The Angel was absolutely beautiful. The people working on the production did an amazing job with costumes, lighting, and acting.

Raft Debate:

The debate was extremely amusing. Being a student in your course and Professor Paluzzi's course made me a little biased on who I wanted to win. However, Paluzzi's comments definately placed her at the top of my list without the bias. She was hilarious. Her comments about all the different cultures that allowed the anthropologist to survive always had a comedic twist to them. I think she was honest in her statements. In that situation, being an anthropologist would have been very useful in figuring out how to survive. Even if surviving means cannabalism. The professor from the History department was just not impressive at all. His comment were bland and his mannerisms were boring. He didn't even have an entertaining story like the other two. I actually think that I may which my major to Anthropology. Who wouldn't want to know how to surivive using the techniques of cultures from all over the world? I am in Professor Paluzzi's class and absolutely love it! Though, I also have to give two hands up for the devil's advocate. He definately made the whole debate way more histarical. No professor I know could have done a better job. Even though he had a whole crew of students holding signs and cheering for him. Overall, I was very impressed with the program and look foward to attending next years raft debate with hopes that it will be just as grand and entertaining as this years. I don't know if that is possible though without amazing Professors like Professor Paluzzi and of course the devil's advocate.

The Oppressed Voice:

“We should have learnt by now that laws and court decisions can only point the way. They can establish criteria of right and wrong. And they can provide a basis for rooting out the evils of bigotry and racism. But they cannot wipe away centuries of oppression and injustice / however much we might desire it,” (Hubert H. Humphrey). Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a black, battered Corolla. The cracked windows so dark the lightning outside is invisible to the individuals within. The ragged upholstery falling upon your tear stained face with every jerk of the vehicle. Driving behind you is a man you have never met in a vehicle of the same quality carrying your baby brothers. The vehicles are both headed in the same direction; freedom. A few miles down the road there is a man. This man holds the key to your future and your siblings’ future. The haze, lights, and memories of Mexico lie in the rearview mirror. The traditions left behind with your grandmother lay shattered in your memory like flies to a carcass. Will you ever be able to celebrate Cinco De Mayo (Day of the Dead) with your family again? The last smile you will ever see on your grandmother’s face is imprinted in your mind. The only word you know in the English language is American. This is the last memory one of my closest friends has of her country.
Her story, like many others, is one that seems to fade to the back of peoples’ minds when the issue of immigration is brought up. Instead of caring about the sufferings of others’ ignorance and intolerance remain at the forefront of this caliginous battle. Her reality throughout high school consisted of a plethora of issues. To begin, she did not even know how to speak our language. She learned English in one summer before she was enrolled in public high school. As for a stable home life, she has moved four times in a year before just to have a roof over her head. Job supply is scarce especially for Hispanics with no education. Therefore, her step-father has to travel back to Mexico every year for a few months just to earn enough money to pay his bills back in America.
Her days through high school were comprised of a very strict schedule that I cannot even imagine. She woke up every morning around four to help her mother cook in the kitchens to feed the workers in her neighborhood. She helped dress her brothers and send them off to school on the school bus. One of her dreams is to see her brothers lead a life that many of us take for granted. She wants nothing more than for them to have the chance, like me and many people around me, to achieve their dreams without fear of persecution. During the day she was a student. Her course schedule was scattered with AP and Honors classes. After school she went home to work with her mother. She helped her baby brothers with homework and cooked dinner for all the workers in her community. Her homework came last after all of her family was looked after. I asked her one day how she did it all. The response was simple; “I do it because it’s the right thing to do.” It is the right thing for her to spend her time cooking for her neighbors and tending to the needs of her family before her own.
Currently, she is an international student at a major university here in the United States. The last question I asked her about her journey here and her conformity to her new life style was whether she was scared or not. “I do not feel safe from the time I open my eyes to the time I close them. Every time I travel out of my house the haunting visions of my people being deported flash into my mind.”