March,6 2009

Dear Rebekah ,

The thing I really want out of this class is to learn the skills I need to past the GED test.
Also I really like poetry but I'm not good with it so I don't look into it. But hopefully in this class I can learn how to understand it and write poems myself to send to my loved ones. I would like to become a better reader and writer.

What I have learned in this class so far is that I know where to put my there, their, and they're where they belong. I would like to be better at reading paragraphs and understanding them. I have already gotten better at it but I can always improve.

Over all I think I have learned new skills that will help me with my GED. I would like to improve on my poetry because that is very good to know. I also really like the teachers I have, Becca and Shawna are really helpful and respectful. That's really good because that motivates me to keep going on and not giving up.


Sincerely,
Omar Aparicio

job/ working

The good thing about work that keeps me up and going is the pay. I wish i got payed more and had more hours so I can get payed more. The good things about the job Is that it keeps me busy and I enjoy helping out people. Bagging groceries can be a challenge especially when the lines get busy and they throw bunches of groceries at me. I also like doing go backs. Go backs is basically carts full of stuff that need to be returned to the shelves. Since I barely started go backs help me out allot to learn where everything is at.
The thing I dont like about the job is going out and getting carts and bringing them back in. There can only be nine carts out at a time and we really need to stay on top of that or there is trouble. Also I hate when they call me over intercom and Im doing some thing. They keep calling me and calling me to do things when I need to get something done that is more important.

Her long illness

The author talks about the time when he and his wife were in the hospital and things were tough. He explains how he was waiting at the hospital and he seemed worried. Also how him and his wife really loved each other and they were going to be there for each other. They were like saying there good byes to each other. I liked the story even though it would be hard for me to be in that situation. The thing i liked is that I didn't hear no backing down. They were strong affirming there love for each other and ready for what ever would happen.

Home, visit

One thing I am going to do is hang out with my girlfriend. I think I'm going to take her to the movies, and watch that stepfather movie. Also were just going to hang out at my pad and kick it and talk and listen to music or something. I'm going to have to help out my mom clean the house and give her money for the rent, because I got a job now. There is also going to be a party a sweet 15 but I'm not sure if I'm going to go, but its its something I might do. The number one thing I'm going to do is munch out. I'm only home on the weekends so I have to take advantage of my mom's food when she cooks.

My HaiKu Home

when im home chilling
munching sleeping I feel thrilled
there's no place like home

Home

freedom
food
family
crazy
gangs in the neighborhood
plants
Mexicans
partys
kickback
busy
tv
my dogs
mom working

The Song i like

The song that I listen to is summer nights by Lil Rob. I like the song because it brings back memories from when I was out. How every summer was fun and the good times me and my Hommies had. Mostly every weekend we partied and had something to do especially at night. And how we all kick it with our girls during the summer and chill. We would go out to dances and dance all night. Alot of times we would stay up the whole night and we wouldn't even go to sleep. Its crazy how someone I never met before can be doing the same things and we can relate.

Why poetry

People do it to express their feelings and emotions. Some people are just really talented and are good at that kind of stuff.

A tradition that my family has is that we all get together for New Years. All of my family from everywhere get together at my aunts house and we all party like crazy. Every family that comes usually brings food. One aunt brings posole and another brings rice and stuff like that. The cool thing is that I get so see all my family and stay up all night and kick it. Also kicking it with my uncles is cool because they always have chelas and are bumping music. We dance and eat and dance some more and talk and drink and kick it.

Anger

This past week had been bad for me Ive been nothing but angry. Life is never fair I can truly say I'm tired if living in programs. Sometimes I feel like running away, but I know If I do that It would only go bad for me. I have a lot of pressure on my shoulder sometimes i feel like I never changed, because life is hard. Doing the right things in life is a challenge for me. I grew up doing negative things and I got so used to living life the easy way.

Emergancy sittuation

The situation I have been in was in detention. It wasn't that bad but it's the only situation I can pop in my head right now. So we were sitting in detention, its a juvenile detention facility. We were eating lunch and minding our own business having a laugh with some friends I had in there. There were rival gangs there and one of my friends had made problems with them. The other guy got up and started talking crap to him, and so did my friend. He got up and once he got up everyone knew what was going to go down. My friend and this guy got on a fight but like 10 seconds into the fight another guy jumped in. I had to back up my friend. As soon as I began to throw punches we seen the lights going off which means everyone to your room or you get tackled. As soon as I saw all the guards I took off to my room and so did everyone else. The ones who didnt got it bad from the guards. That was my emergency, to not get tackled, because if I did, I for sure would have broken a bone.

place never to go back to..

The place I never wan't to go back to is J Bar J. Its a residential program for youth who get in trouble with the law, and that are on probation. The reason i never want to go back there is because its hell. I live with 20 other youth and mostly all of them are immature and anoying. The staff there I also hate because there ass holes they treated us like shit. I never want to go back there in my life because I spend 8 months there and I almost died. You have to take a shower with three other guys and its disgusting and we have no privacy. I rather be in jail than in that program.

HOME.

The place I consider to be home would be my town Cornelius Oregon. I grew up there. Its a small town and its pretty cool if you know people. I live on 1266s cherry st. and that's been my home ever since I was little. I know all my neighbors and I have a lot of family members that live around. Every time I am home I feel good and safe even though it's not all that safe to be around there. All my friends live down there. They're not positive friends. They are actually gang members but those are the people I grew up with. Also that's where all the rival gangs are at and people I don't really get along with because of the gang, but yet I love my home town. A lot of memories from the past pop up in my head when i go around town because that's where I always kicked it and had my good and bad times. It's also connected to other town's like Hillsboro, Forest Grove, beaverton and I also hung out down there and have friends and family. I love where I grew up even though it was hard at times but I learned a lot out of that little town. Also I like it because it feels like Im in Mexico because there are alot of hispanic people down there.

September 11.

The day of September 11, I remember I was in third grade. I remember getting up and my brother was watching the news and he was tripping out and I told him what was wrong, and he told me but I really didn't understand. I went to school and when I entered the class my third grade teacher was crying like crazy. I didn't really know why but she was and I remember going up to her with a couple of my friends and telling her everything was going to be okay. She was my favorite teacher I ever had and she still is. That day in school we didn't do much. When i got home my brother was home and still watching the news. I think they kept replaying the buildings coming down. My brothers just sat there and watched it over and over but I didn't take much of it. When my mom came home she asked me about it and I told her it was the watchtower building that came down.

My Ideal Day.

My ideal day would be a beautiful day not too hot and not too cold, but a nice cold breeze and a warm shiny clear day. I would love to spend that day with my girl friend Lizeth and only her. First i would go to the beach but the waves not that big so we can go out far into the ocean with the dolphins, and the water cold but not cold enough that I would freeze. Also I would like it to be a normal day just hanging out with my girl but having lots of fun at the same time. I would like to go to the park and swing on the swings but without the swings doing that squeaky noise every time it moves. But I would like the birds to be singing out loud and flying over us. My mom would make the best Posole and tamales ever like shes never made it before and I would like to eat for at least two hours straight without getting full because I would eat that forever if I could. Towards the evening I would like it to get really cold so we can start a nice warm fire and get our warm blankets and cuddle up and fall asleep watching a movie. I really wouldn't do much else that's all. I would want is to spend time with my girlfriend and have some fun without arguing.

Most Embarasing Moment......................................

One of the most embarrassing thing's that has happened to me was when I was in ninth grade and it was at the forest grove library. well I was in my scooter minding my own business trying to do some cool tricks on it. I remember it was dark and I really don't remember where I was going or where i was coming from all i remember was that i was there in the parking lot of the library. I was getting ready to jump over a curve when my foot slipped to the side and I remember looking from the corner of my eye the one girl i really liked and had a big crush on. I felt so embarrassed because she seen me and she was with her sister and friend, and my foot slipped off the scooter and i remember falling straight on my face and the scooter flying across the parking lot. But what was the most embarrassing was that i heard them laughing at me and i looked over all dizzy and i seen the girl I really liked pointing at me busting up laughing. When I got up I didn't even want to look at her but she came up to me and told me if i was alright but she was still laughing. My arms were all bleeding and the girl I thought probably thought I was stupid asked me to go to her house that was like two blocks away so she can give me some band aids to clean my self up. But that was so embarrassing I'm still not over that.