It amazed me as to how deep the hawaiian language is and it appeared that almost every sound had a special meaning to the hawaiian lands and it's people. Culture had influenced the language so much. The hawaiian language seems so poetic and connected to it's people and land. The four elements of earth wind fire and water comes to play a lot in the language. I had never really put a connection between language and culture. But just by listening to what the literal translations of words mean can really interpret how the Hawaiian people were. Food and life seems to have a very connected meaning. To eat was to live. I had learned a lot about Hawaiian culture within these past two months in class than I have all 4 years living here.

humanity

I found Kat Brady, our guest speaker in class this past tuesday, very true to her ideals and desire to be a real community and a friendly family based society where family is more than your blood relatives. That is one thing i love about hawaiian culture is the attitude; that your friends and neighbors are your family and are titled as aunties and uncles. What grabbed the focus of the talk and attention of the students was the memorable experiences with inmates of prisons. At first I would have never associated myself with anyone behind bars let alone think that we have anything in common whether it be hobbies or hopes and dreams. However I did have an experience that made me a little less naive. I work at an eye clinic and we had an emergency call from Queens ER that asked if we could follow up on a patient they had there. The person was from the federal prison and had been hit multiple times in the face and jabbed in both eyes with an object. I had the opportunity to do the initial work up before the doctor sees him. He had completely lost sight in his right eye and could barely make out any images with his left eye, labeling him legally blind. He would never regain sight in his right eye again. While I was testing his vision in the exam room, he began to cry. It was not simply tearing and sniffling, it was a full out sobbing, that made my heart go out for this man who had lost something that's so important to all of us, our sight. This experience just made me think that this man, who I had first just labeled as a criminal, whom I'd have no common ground with, is actually just like everyone else and just like me. We are all people and all make mistakes and we just have to know to forgive one another, move one and live happily in peace together.

Children

I remember my friends 6 year old little sister had said she didn't want to eat anymore food at the dinner table for fear of gaining weight. She was a short, skinny little girl already to begin with. This sounded pretty bizarre to me to see how much of an impact that the media spews out to youth about self image and how important it is to look a certain way in order to be accepted by society. I remembered this incident after reading the article titled "The kids aren't alright" by John Grace on The Guardian. The article had several stories, one being an 18 year old girl that clearly had problems with anorexia and bulimia, which later led to cutting and burning herself. Even though it looks like this kind of problem should be clear as day to a parent of a child with these problems, her parents were in complete denial or her disease and condition. I know that anorexia and bulimia are diagnosis of a disease but I feel as if its a completely preventable disease and is purely set off by human vain. It is not natural for someone to desire to not nourish their body with essentials that is needed in order to survive. I feel like these thoughts and feelings develop into a disease after obsession and pressure to attain this image that society has labeled as "beautiful".