Sugar, That Sweet Poison

Sugar...that sweet poison.

Written on 6/1/2015

A few weeks ago I read an article that is still freaking me out. It was in National Geographic, SUGAR (a not so sweet story) by Rich Cohen. What it revealed; Sugar is slowly killing us all. It's basically poison.

So it seems simple, just decrease the amount of sugar you consume. And, there's where I started to freak out. Checking the labels of my products from home, I saw that EVERYTHING HAS SUGAR. Even thinking that your are having sugary things "in moderation" is often still exceeding the FDA approved amount of sugar per day, about 25 grams.

Don't believe me? An apple cider mix for an 8 oz mug of hot apple cider = 20 grams of sugar. One tablespoon of Nutella = 17g. A Nature's Bounty Oatmeal and Honey granola bar = 12g.

But why is something that is "naturally" found so bad for us. According to the article, at one point during human evolution, our species lived in an area covered in fruits. We ate fruit, and there for sugar, regularly to keep us going. Then, a drought eliminated the plentiful amount of fruits and our ancestors that survived were ones that could slowly metabolize fruit and store it into fat. The adaption caused us to decrease the amount of sugar we consume to a very limited amount, but our addiction to the sweet things around us still grows stronger.

There is too much sugar. In everything. This extreme sugar intake is a likely cause of many diseases in the modern world: heart disease, cancer, and as we know, diabetes..just to name a few. A big part of the problem is processed sugar. Its already so easy for us to digest that our pancreas can't keep up and filter what we don't need out. So its goes quickly from our stomach to our pancreases to fat. And because there is no nutrients being absorbed, we feel lethargic, which causes a lack of exercise, which causes us to become overweight, which causes disease.

Its not just the fat content of a food like we've been repeatedly told. In fact, things with "low" fat, often have high levels of sugar to make them taste better. So, as stated in the article, we are eating things that don't taste as good to be healthy, and by doing that we are actually eating things that are really bad for us, and still don't taste as good. GREAT.

See why this whole sugar thing is stressing me out? I try, admittedly I could try harder, to take care of my body. I try to eat smaller portions of fresher, healthier food. But I never knew sugar was so bad. And now that I know, I'm not even sure how to decrease my intake to below 25 grams a day. I could only eat the most natural of things, which seems easy enough.

But the problem I have is that sugar is delicious and I love it. Should I give up something that I love now to make sure I'll live an extended healthy life? Or keep eating it because, hey, its tastes good...great... and you only live once.

I suppose it all comes back to balance just like everything else. Do I really need to put sugar in my coffee or tea? Do I need a coca-cola? No. Is it okay to indulge in a sugary delight like ice cream occasionally? I think so. I suppose being aware of the sugar problem we all face was just another reminder that its important to take care of yourself and know what you are consuming.

So, it seems, its less about deprivation entirely, but more about restraint. Not eating a entire bag of Twizzler's in one sitting. Not just "in moderation" but only occasionally in manageable amounts.

Although, I can't help but wonder if I could go a day, or maybe even a week avoiding sugar (excluding sugar in fruit). Especially here, it seems simple enough. Vegetables and fruits are inexpensive and easily available to me. I cook for myself almost every day. Maybe a sugar-free week will be a blog post yet to come.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Review

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Written on 6/1/2015

Maya Angelou's main characters are just like all of us, they are complex. They cannot be summed up with a single phrase or idea. Her writing reveals layers of overlapping identities that make us all who we are. They highlight the complicated and confusing intersections of our identities. No one person's identity can fit into a single box, and Angelou's truthful interpretation of life confusing events is inspiring.

Marguerite Johnson, the main character of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, is complicated. Her trials and tribulations take the reader on a path of what it was like to grow up as a young black woman in the 1950s. But its not just that simple, in the 200(ish) pages of this novel, Marguerite survives a sexual assault, struggles with the confusing time of puberty, questions her sexuality, lives with a group of homeless teens for a month...the list could go on and on. I think every person reading this novel would grasp on to something different.

For me, the main idea of this novel was this struggle with identities. The identities we are connected to, the ones we wish we had, and the ones that were forced upon us. As the chapters float by, Marguerite is discovering her identity one page at a a time, and the reader is right in the confusion of who Marguerite is with her. This novel was about the inevitable experience of growing up and discovering who you are.

And, as we all know, its not all rainbows and butterflies. It takes a lot of strength and perseverance to grow up and become yourself. Angelou puts it fairly perfectly into words;

"To be left alone on the tightrope of youth unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision. Few, if any, survive their teens. Most surrender to the vague but murderous pressure of adult conformity. It becomes easier to die and avoid conflicts than to maintain a constant battle with the superior forces of maturity"

Growing up, sometimes you succumb to the boxes we are told to put ourselves in so we make more sense to the world. When, we all know, who are are doesn't make any sense. But even within the boxes, like a bird in a cage, we can still find hope to express ourselves. We can still sing.

All About You EDU

All About You EDU

Written on 5/13/2015

After months of having a tough time trying to get my students excited about English, I think I've finally figured out a central part of what gets my students excited about learning...making it about them.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of exercises where the students have to answer questions about their life. And they've reacted with honest excitement to have the opportunity to talk about themselves. Many times, I've noticed, they sit and take notes about topics that don't seem relevant to their lives. They aren't often asked about themselves. I gave them the opportunity to speak about themselves, and they accepted the challenge of having to do it in English quite enthusiastically.

And when the time came where the information presented wasn't about them - in a reading comprehension activity about someone else's family - I saw more hands raised and received more correct answers than in previous reading comprehension activities. It may be that my Malagasy has gotten better, or that they are getting used to my teaching techniques after almost 9 months of having me as their teacher. But, I'd like to think a big part of it is that they were at least marginally excited about English. And regardless of the reason, my students are learning and that's what I'm here to do!

My topics have been easy to organize into student-focused lessons lately, being about the home and family. But it got me thinking - how could I make my other lessons throughout the year more about my students? Grammar lessons are especially difficult, and I find my students often loose focus quickly when presented with lessons heavy in grammar. But, if I could find a way to make the grammar about them?

Easier said then done for some lessons, but it got me thinking more about student-centered teaching and what that really means. Its not just getting the students involved, its about making the education about the students. A Ted Talk (I know I'm all about Ted Talks lately, I downloaded a few Ted Talk: Education podcasts when I had WIFI) by Christopher Emdin: Teach teachers how to create magic, Emdin said that a teachers job is not to teach; a teachers job is to facilitate learning. Your job isn't fulfilled if you merely stand in front of your students and throw information at them. Your job is fulfilled if they understand the information, and can apply it to their lives, and use it again in the future.

I'm hoping to keep my students excited about learning!

What's in YOUR dream house?

Draw Your Dream House!

Written on 5/5/2015

Last week, while I was sick at home planning my upcoming lessons, I watched a few TED Talks on Education. One really stood out - Ken Robinson's: How to escape education's death valley. It reminded me that teachers need to do more than just teach. They need to facilitate learning. They need to inspire students to reach beyond the limits of the classroom. They need to spark imagination, interest, and curiosity.

But how do I do that teaching English? I looked at my next lesson, Furniture in the Home. I new I needed to learn vocabulary, and I knew drawing pictures on the board would be the best way to do this. And it hit me, drawing pictures! The students at the center LOVE to draw, but often they copy from books or magazines. They are never asked to be creative.

So, I decided to create an exercise asking students to draw their home. In my first class, some students raised their hand and said, "but I don't have this furniture in my house..what do I draw?" I told them to draw the house they want to live in when they are grown up, and I saw the whole classes eyes glow with creativity.

Soon erasers dust was flying across the classroom as students were erasing the homes they live in now and imaging the homes they want to live in when they grow up. They said, "Can my house be a house in another country?" OF COURSE IT CAN! I smiled. I told them they can live in a house with whatever they want and where ever they want. But first, you have to study well and work hard.

Suddenly my most uninterested students were asking what a vase, stereo system, sink, picture frame, and many other things were in English. Although it started to get a bit materialistic, it was a great creative, imaginative, exercise to bring energy back into my classroom and spark a bit an interest in English again.

Because I think that when you ask students to create something for themselves, not only do they get to be creative, but they start learning words in their own way. They were imagining sofas, and lamps, and televisions while they were writing the words on paper.

It was an exciting lesson for my students, and an enlightening lesson for myself. And we all left with smiles on our faces. 

Pink Eye...Its EVERYWHERE

Pink Eye...its everywhere.

Written on 5/5/2015

It started with a few students coming into class with swollen, red, itchy eyes...and suddenly it was everywhere. EVERYWHERE.

I urged my students to stay home if they were sick. I told them to wash their hands and faces. To not touch their eyes. And a student yelled out (in Malagasy) "But it comes from the wind!" and still I saw students with extrememly red puffy eyes coming into class, and it was spreading through the classes and town like wild fire.

Suddenly, I was surrounded by pink eye. I started sending students home and washing my hands obsessively. Then, I went to get juice for the Center's Sunday Afternoon Juice and Talk. The young woman who sells juice greeted me with sunglasses covering very puffy eyes....

A few hours later...my eye started to itch. I felt it start to swell, and soon, it was red and extremely swollen. I had caught pink eye.

Trying to set a good example, I didn't go back to school until I was pink-eye free. I didn't shake anyone's hands. I used the medicine the doctors told me to use. It was a week of boredom, and feeling extremely guilty for not teaching my students, but I am finally pink-eye free!

Most notably, I realized why students were coming to school with pink eye. Its hard to miss a week of class, especially when you aren't feeling really sick, you just have an itchy eye. My students are a little bit behind because I was sick, and if they missed a week, that is many missed lessons!

Once you get pink eye, the medicine, which can cost the same amount as a few days of work for some, was not being used. Many people were washing their eyes with soap, putting honey in their eyes, or attempting to cure their eyes with lemon juice. Although I read some articles that these home-remedies can work, they aren't 100% affected and with watered down, and possibly unclean honey, very acidic lemons, and water that isn't always the cleanest for washing, these remedies could do more harm than hurt.

Pink eye is still everywhere, and I can't help but question how it will ever leave the area with more and more students getting sick. I keep urging my students to wash their hands and I hope they will stay at home if they wake up with red, itchy eyes. I've sent kids home from school and told them to wait until they get better.

For now, I'm just obsessively washing my hands and face...there is no way I'm getting pink eye again! It's interesting to see how something that we pass by as a simple illness that can be avoided by good hygiene and treated by eye drops and a few days away from school or work, can quickly spread through a community.

It shows just how important education about hygiene is! And reminded me that I really need to go talk to the Elementary School by my house about educating their students on how to use the new latrine WASH (an NGO) recently built on their school grounds. A little bit of good hygiene can lead to a long, healthy life!

UPDATE: (as of 5/14/2015): Pink eye is a little bit less noticeable in schools but I've heard its making its way up the coast and to different parts of the island. Also, I've noticed the students at the Elementary school have been using their latrine. I mentioned something to the adjunct director at my school and he said he talked to her and now its open! Could have been coincidental, but still good to see kids learning healthy habits!

Feeling 22?

Feeling 22?

Written on 4/21/2015

Last week was my birthday, and although I usually make my birthday a big day, I just wasn't feeling making a whole debacle over my special day. In the morning I taught two of my classes "When?" and "When is (holiday?" I taught them "birthday." And then the final question on their exercise was "When is Miss Elizabeth's birthday?" I wrote the question hoping to check their comprehension, and it worked! The student's said they didn't know, and when I told them it was today, it was fun to see them get excited. After correcting the exercise, I taught my students the birthday song and they sang to me. It was a precious little lesson.

I went about my normal day, made a special meal of mac n' cheese. Went to the center where the librarians excitedly greeted me with a "Happy Birthday!" and hugs. And then I bought a big chocolate bar with my dinner and went to sleep.

But before I went to sleep, I found myself feeling kind of down. I wasn't quite feeling 22 (thanks Taylor Swift). I found myself thinking about all the things I am missing out on. I missed my friend's senior year of college, and a full year of all of us being 21 and together. My friends are getting in increasingly committed relationships and going on dates. Basically, I have almost no social life here. I questioned myself, "Am I even enjoying my youth!?"

But alas, I was hit by a moment of clarity. Although I am not enjoying the same type of 22 as most of my friends, I'M PURSUING MY DREAMS AND LIVING IN MADAGASCAR. And when I get back, it's not like I will be an old maid. And although I'm thinking of going back to grad school (I'm not sure if I said that in my blog yet....I'm thinking about doing Grad School for a Master's in Public Administration following Peace Corps)....Even though I am doing grad school and continually working on my dreams - and no so much my social life - I still have wonderful people in my life.

I just worry, like many worry, that maybe I am focusing too much on my career and my professional goals instead of my personal goals (although I'm not even sure what those are yet). But I am still proud of myself for all I have accomplished and just because I am working hard to get to where I want to be professionally, the personal part of things will fall into place with it - because you can't plan everything. I can't even, really, plan my professional life! I just need to focus on now, and start thinking about my next steps, but remember that nothing is ever set in stone.

So maybe I'm not dressing up like hipsters, or making fun of my Ex's, or going out at midnight...but I'm still feeling 22!

Into The Wild Book Review

Into The Wild by Jon Kakauer

Written on 4/27/2015

During my four month long battle to start, read, and finish this book I the story of Chris McCandles fatal adventure into the Alaskan wilderness, mixed reviews from other Peace Corps Volunteers who's eyes had landed on the same pages I finally just put down.

A few were positive, one PCV said that while she read the book, she felt she was going through a similar experience - submerging herself into the wilderness. Another volunteer erupted with rage over the stupidity of the book. Arguing that it was a how-to for losing your life into the wild and pleaded people to do copy cat adventures and losing their life to hubris.

After reading it, I can see how both perspectives are valid. Although, I see why Jon Krakauer, as a journalist, saw this book as an important story to put into paper. Before making a fatal mistake in the Alaskan wilderness that undoubtedly made him an infamous adventurer, McCandless had a interesting affect on the lives of people he encountered on his journey, relentlessly pursued his dream, and tragically changed the lives of his family forever.

At first, the repetitiveness of McCandless encountering people, changing them ever-so-slightly with his veracious nature, and then leaving quickly seemed very selfish and was difficult to get through. With each new person McCandless met, it seemed he soon would be leaving them anyway. So why waste the time reading more about them? But, Krakauer was illustrating the impact of McCandless death on everyone he reached - he wasn't just an aimless youth with a overwhelming sense of wunderlust.

Many people, like my fellow PCV, found his story pointless and negative. Krakauer printed just a few of the angry letters that flew in after he wrote the first feature story on McCandless. And I realized then why he wrote the book, he wanted to prove that McCandles wasn't just a ignorant, prideful young man, he had a purpose that was deeper than that.

Krakauer argues that McCandles followed a his dream and moral code in a religious way. He wanted to test himself and test his limits, which many people can relate to. Krakauer relates McCandless to teens driving too fast, taking too many drugs; young men and women joining the military (or the Peace Corps...), and otherwise doing things that seem reckless to the older generation. And it's the daring nature to try new things and embrace that danger that makes changes (both positive and negative) in the world, or in McCandless place in a few people's lives, and that makes his story and other's like his worth writing about.

Although, McCandless story isn't just an inspirational one, its also a tragic tale of loss. He left his family without a word and didn't leave a trace of where he was headed. They spent years worrying about him only to experience the loss of their son and brother. After reading the entire book, a possible copycat would hopefully be discouraged by the hurt of the people McCandles spent only a short time with, his friends, and his family.

Billie McCandless, Chris's mother, states at the end of the book "Some days are harder than others, but its going to hard every day for the rest of my life."

Although Chris McCandless story is interesting, inspirational, it is still a tragic one of a life ended much too soon.

P.S. I also watched the movie and I can honestly say that although the book and movie share a title and a story - the story telling is drastically different and cannot be compared. Both are artful ways to tell the story, both are worth your time.