HW .18

When it comes to any big holiday I usually switch around who I spend it with and this thanksgiving I spent it with my cousins in Jersey, which I enjoy because I'm close with all my cousins on that side and where all around the same age and I can always expect to have fun or something to happen good or bad, and theirs so much that goes on that It's almost like a reality show. When i had first got heir though i saw two people that i didnt know ans i felt a little awkward but by Friday night we became closer. On Thursday instead of staying in the house and waiting hours for the food to be finished me and my cousins went to their high schools football game to kill time. I really don't mind football it's not a sport I'll turn on the tv to watch I'd have to be in the stands to actually enjoy it. But when we went I was ready to leave because it was so cold and we forgot to bring towels since the seats were wet and I wasn't dressed warm enough, but I stuck it out because I had nothing better to do. 

Before we could eat we had to move a lot of chairs around so that everyone has room but when it comes to dinner time the kids never sit with the adults we have our own table, which is sort of a tradition, also on holidays praying before we eat and another tradition that goes on is having the adults get their food first and then the kids. We always have a lot of left overs and me and my cousins always stay up late and you can always find us going upstairs to the kitchen at 3am getting a snack. I was up at around 2:15 am getting some cake to help me stay awake because I was getting a little tired. Sneaking food at night has became another tradition and we did it so much that the adults even know now and theirs really no reason for us to try and hide it, theres not a night that I haven't gone up and taken food while everyones asleep. Also you can always expect something to happen during the holidays it wouldn't be normal if something didn't. This thanksgiving my family had a falling out that was waiting to happen and this had a really big impact that I don't know if I'll be going back there for Christmas. 

Me and my cousins never have conversations about illness and dying everything is fun we joke around a lot and don become serious unless something serious happens and then we just start discussing it. Like on Friday night my cousins got into a big fight and we just stayed up to 4 am discussing everything that happened that night. The most that we talk about when it comes to food and nutrition is how many plates were going to get or with one my cousins how shes gonna have to portion off her food since she doesn't want to gain weight but the ends up getting forgotten when it's actually time to eat. When it's time to eat, the point is to feel comfortable. We don't sit in hard chairs the ones we have have cushions some have arm rest, thanksgiving not suppose to be a punishment to our body, and after most of end up going to sleep or sitting on a couch to relax. Our bodies aren't being punished which effects our moods and makes the time more enjoyable. 

HW . 17

    When I think of illness and dying, I imagine all the things that causes illness such as drugs, car accidents, murdering, someone with tubes going in and out of their body, just the typical things that just sums up death because illness leads to dying. Growing up in my family I experienced people in my family dying when I was around 6 when at first I didn't know what was going on just that they were very sick. But as I got older and when family members passed away I learned why, but it's not something that was ever hidden from me; my parents didn't try and cover it up and say oh your grandfather went to sleep with the angels or anything like that my parents told me the truth. 

     In society today the normal thing for someone who is Ill is to start making funeral arrangements getting the will together, which is what I think makes the whole process more stressful because that's what most of the people are worried about if they are getting something from the will. A typical norm for dying is a funeral with everyone around wearing black, I guess black is suppose to signify death. But I disagree at my funeral I would want people to wear white because it signifies a new beginning almost and not a dreary and depressing color, and I would want people to feel like I'm going to a better place and not feel all depressed about it. 

     In my family illness is not something that's taken lightly but it's also taken advantage of and abused. If theirs a cousin or uncle I haven seen in a year or longer you'll see them when theirs a sick family member because they are trying to get their way in to the will and usually it ends up working even though they don't really care about you. When visiting a sick relative becomes more of a who's going to get what, or you shouldn't get that I should and so on and less about taking care about the person which I think is very disrespectful and a useless arguing. You should deal with what you get or don't get, you lost a family member and your worried about material things that you can replace you ant replace a person . 

HW . 11

               I tried to change my diet and become a vegetarian; it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. It’s something that I think that I could do maybe once a month eat any meat become vegetarian. For breakfast when I ate It or had time to I would eat fruit like strawberries or oranges and for lunch I would have pizza, a salad maybe, rice, beans, yogurt and whatever I didn’t have for lunch then I would have that for dinner. It was filling after trying It for a day or to but I noticed I ate allot of snacks In between and It felt different not eating meat every day; almost as If I went thru meat withdraw. I also tried tofu which I didn’t like even though it was suppose to taste like the regular food it was very different and something that would take allot of getting used to for me to eat it every day. I also took the chance at eating sushi It was good and would keep eating but It’s not that filling I noticed that even though right after I thought I was full but after about 30 minutes I felt hungry again or just when I saw more food I would all of a sudden feel hungry again.

               I also tried to change my families food shopping Instead of going to supermarkets go to local markets but Its more expensive and out of the way because we don’t have any In the area so that something that'll probe happen once In a while. After learning that they bleach beef and add ammonia to it that one meat product that I’m not eating anymore because ammonia is usually In cleaning products or hair dye products that you don’t eat. Plus companies plan on making beef at least 100% made out of ammonia, to me I think you might as well just drink bleach if you’re going to inject that much ammonia.

               My family has also tried to now eat all together at the table or at least all

Together on the couch even If it’s around the TV were still together and eating. We try to cook more and eat less take out but It’s not always possible because everyone Is always busy and when they get home don’t have time or feel like cooking. We also try to experiment with different things I decided that beef shouldn’t be eaten anymore or Tyson or Perdue chicken. At first when I said I wanted to stop eating beef I thought It would be a problem because we a lot of If that I noticed but It was easy to have the same foods but find a substitute for like for burgers Instead of beef have turkey which Is better as far as I know.

               I always had a concern about my food or where It came from but never felt the

Need to actually found out but now that I've found out all that I know it has

Changed my perception of how I eat and what I eat. I think that It has changed for the better because now I’m eating healthier which Is going to benefit me now and In the future and everyone should know no more a out where there food come from because I think they do but to some degree no one knows their meat Is bleached. One way that I think I could get others to then see what I see and know what I understand is to try and make a difference in my family and friends who will then tell their friends and so on. I can try and get people to stop eating as much fast food and go for local markets so that slowly over time everyone will stop and things will change like obesity rates. The way that people are eating know Is slowly lowering everyone’s death rate an average women probably could of lived to 100 now It’s probably 85 which Is 15 extra years you ruined because you wanted to take the cheap easy way by eating big Macs.