The Afgan girl....

Hi there, has Joana asked I'm posting here my part of the presentation.

Sharbat Gula was identified through several contacts that let to her brother. The national geographic team went to the refugee camp in Pakistan where she was seen for the last time, and that's where they found her brother, which they knew it was the right family because of his eyes.
But she couldn't meet a men outside family,so a woman went to meet her to photograph her again. The host of the show Explorer said he was certain it was the same person just by comparing the two photographs. Although, they need to make sure it was her, so they obtained verification through iris-scanning technology and face-recognition techniques.
After that, her family granted her permission to meet the photographer that made her picture 17 years ago. She was interviewed by McCurry, she remembered him because she had never been photographed; she had never seen her famous portrait before that day and she recalled being photographed because she remembers her head covering was full of holes because of a cooking fire.
She wanted people who knew her face to knowshe had survived the refugee camp, but she wanted to continue to live in obscurity and according to the customs of her culture and religion, she didn't wanted more interviewes nor being contacted again. And she was not interested in her particular fame, but pleased when knew that was a symbol of dignity and resilience of her people.
Then, her family was relocated in a different region, and she became a symbol of the refugees circumstances of life and helps drawing attention to the lives of Afghan women.
Sharbat Gula was photographed only twice in her live: in 1984 and when she was found.

The Kite Song

Hi Folks! Good weekend? I found this song on youtube that is related to our project book. It is called "Kite Song" by an artist called Patty Griffin. The video shows some images from Iraq and Bush in the recent years. In other words, it is about war. And how convenient! The lyrics are simple but summarise, in a way, the plot and feelings present in "The Kite Runner". I leave you here the link and the lyrics. Enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeO63Trs5wk

"Kite Song"
The Sunday after there was laughter in the air
Everybody had a kite
They were flying everywhere
And all the trouble went away
And it wasn't just a dream
All the trouble went away
And it wasn't just a dream

In the middle of the night
We try and try with all our mights
To light a little light down here
In the middle of the night
We dream of a million kites
Flying high above
The sadness and the fear

Little sister just remember
As you wander through the blue
The little kite that you sent flying
On a sunny afternoon
Made of something light as nothing
Made of joy that matters too
How the little dreams we dream
Are all we can really do

In the middle of the night
The world turns with all of it's might
A little diamond colored blue
In the middle of the night
We keep sending little kites
Until a little light gets through

The Kite Song

?Frogs = Evil?

Hi Folks!

Remember what we talked about in the class? About gipsies being superstitous about frogs?

Well... I looked it up on my Superstition Dictionary and frogs have some negative symbolic connotations like (and I quote and translate it; it has some REALLY extraordinary things):

"it is said they are a product of Cerebro's slobber and are often invocated in scatological ceremonies (and here is the strange and funny part) where they are obligated into sucking an old witche's breast, then baptize him with urine and after that are given in sacrifice to the evil powers (whoever thoswe might be).

It is said as well that witches have frogs in the place of the heart.

If you want to know if you are gifted with magical arts (a witch) all you have to do is: stare, for 24 hours non-stop, into a jar filled with formol in which a frog is floating. if after those hours you pass out yhat means you are a witch" (well............ after 24hours looking to a dead frog who doesn't have fit??)

So, the poor things are related with witches and "evil powers", maybe that's why gipsies don't go into Serpa's Intermarche. Who knows?

(By the way, if you don't know who Cerebro is look for Greek mythology, he is a really big three-headed dog and guardian of Hell's (Hades is whart they called them) doors. And the referrence to scatology doesn't have to do with er.. feces, but it is a term that relates to end-of-the-world alegories and knowledge, in other words, apocapliptic).

Good night to you all and after this rather sordid post, well, think happy, think pink!!

Afghanistan Borders

Hi guys!!

How was your weekend?

I thought we could use a nice map of Afghanistan in our Blog. To get a bit the sense of where's what, and what happens where in The Kite Runner. By the way, remember last Thursday's presentations? I enjoyed Ferry's (I don't know his given name) research very much. All those details and little rules for kite running properly. It seems so poetic and distant from the gory and unhuman images we see on tv about the country. It is amazing the way war can change a country. Referring to a previous post, I think it was João's, I just loved every bit of the kite running rules explanation in the book. It sounds so beautiful, and Hosseini describes it so well, the children running and the thrill of glaring at the coloured sky. He writes with images and sounds, it is a part of the book we can "read" with our senses. And there is such a poetic feeling around it. I believe that a conparison between Hassan and kites is possible: the strenght of his will and loyalty goes side by side with the strong and powerful winds that hold the kites in the air and that cut the kite fighters' hands, but he keeps on holding he string. Just like Hassan kept loving Amir who hurt him so much. And then we have the softness and gentlessness of the kite floating in the air, light and swirling between the clouds, and I believe that that is Hassan's pure and tender heart soaring freely in the sky. Do you agree or am I being carried away by it? Give me your opinion ;) See you tomorrow!!

"The vast majority of Afghanistan's population professes to be followers of Islam. Over 1400 years ago, Islam demanded that men and women be equal before God, and gave them various rights such the right to inheritance, the right to vote, the right to work, and even choose their own partners in marriage. For centuries now in Afghanistan, women have been denied these rights either by official government decree or by their own husbands, fathers, and brothers. During the rule of the Taliban (1996 - 2001), women were treated worse than in any other time or by any other society. They were forbidden to work, leave the house without a male escort, not allowed to seek medical help from a male doctor, and forced to cover themselves from head to toe, even covering their eyes. Women who were doctors and teachers before, suddenly were forced to be beggars and even prostitutes in order to feed their families.
Since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, many would agree that the political and cultural position of Afghan women has improved substantially. The recently adopted Afghan constitution states that "the citizens of Afghanistan - whether man or woman- have equal rights and duties before the law". So far, women have been allowed to return back to work, the government no longer forces them to wear the all covering burqa, and they even have been appointed to prominent positions in the government. Despite all these changes many challenges still remain. The repression of women is still prevalent in rural areas where many families still restrict their own mothers, daughters, wives and sisters from participation in public life. They are still forced into marriages and denied a basic education. Numerous school for girls have been burned down and little girls have even been poisoned to death for daring to go to school. "
- by Abdullah Qazi

Hey guys, here you have some videos depicting some of the bad things women go through in Afghanistan...


I must warn you that these videos contain violent material and adult themes. Therefore, viewers discretion is advised.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvavRR9UU7U&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R29LdtFsQEg&feature=related


And here you have a video, well, a picture with sound of the "Afghan girl"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceEEaL3kwNM&feature=related