Sometimes in April - Rwandan Genocide

So yesterday we spent 3 classes watching the movie "Sometimes in April". It is a film all about the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. This was the mass murder of 850,000 people in Rwanda. It was between 2 tribes- the Tutsi's and the Hutu's. These tribes had previously lived in peace for many years, but when the Belgians colonised Rwanda, they placed the minority Tutsi's over the Hutu's. The Hutus then rebelled and overthrew the Tutsi monarchy. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) was made up of mostly Tutsi's, and they invaded to try and defeat the Hutus. This was the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide. The Hutus wanted to kill any Tutsis or moderate Hutus.
This is a very powerful and upsetting movie, as it gives us an insight into what life was like in Rwanda during this very difficult time. There are some disturbing scenes of people being killed, and streets filled with dead bodies. There are some very poignant scenes. It is quite a hard movie to understand at times, because the movie switches from the present to flashbacks from the past. This movie is from the Americans point of view, which is very good I think. You get to see that the Americans didn't really have an interest in the killings of the native people, they just wanted to get all their people out of Rwanda before they could get hurt.
We didn't get to finish the movie, but we will be finishing the movie after the midterm. I think this movie is a real eye opener about the Rwandan Genocide, which we wouldn't have heard much of before.
I can't wait to see the end of it, and see what happens. I'm sure everything will be revealed!
:)

Get away out of that ya mad eejit ya!!

Today, our class Amina had a talk with an author/illustrator called Oisín McGann. He was really interesting and funny. Firstly he talked to us about his ideas and where they come from. He told us that he carries around a notebook with him all the time, so he can write down ideas as soon as they pop into his head. He told us that you could think about a really good idea, and then in the next second, the idea could be lost forever. So it is best to write down all your ideas, so that you can expand on them later. He told us that stories can come from everyday items, like a shoe! He made up a story as he went along about an evil shoe that sucked your blood..:| It sounds weird but it was so cool the way he could just make up a story like that off the top of his head. He talked to us about language and how facinating it is, the way we all speak different forms of english. He told us saying like " giving it welly" and "sucking diesel". When he went to england and was using these sayings, no one understood what he was saying. It is actually really interesting how these sayings come about! He then talked abouth the phrase "Get away out of that ya mad eejit ya". When you think about it, that phrase makes no sense at all, but its a typical irish saying! :P To finish up, Oisín drew us a picture of one of the characters from his book. It was a really good illustration :)

Cooking no. 3

Yesterday me and Alison cooked our final dish from spain, which was paella!!! It was soooooo tasty and really easy to make :) We're done all our cooking classes now, so all thats left is to present our powerpoint...

Páirc an Chrócaigh!

Today the ty's paid a visit to Croke Park. We left school at about 12.10pm. When we got there first, we were brought into a little conference room. Here we watched a 20 minute film all about Croke Park. It didn't really focus on the actual gaa matches, instead it gave us an insight into the preparation that is involved in every match.  It was really good :) Then we started our tour. The tour guide was really good and informative. We saw the players changing rooms and the VIP area :O Apparently no one sees the vip room except the vips, so it was very exclusive and we were very lucky to see it :P It was really fancy inside!! We then saw the practice room where players can go and hit a few balls before the game. Then we walked down the tunnel where the players go and onto the pitch. It was really funny because they played fake crowd noises, so it sounded like people were cheering for us as we walked onto the pitch. It really made me think how nerve racking it must be to walk out onto the pitch in front of 82,500 people!!! We got to sit in the exclusive seats, like where the taoiseach and the president sit! We then sat up in the very highest seats (which were quite scary, it was so high up!) Then we went into the corporate boxes, which he told us were over €200,000 a year to rent. After this we went to the GAA museum, where we learned the history of the GAA and got to play a few games. We then had the opportunity to go to the cafe before we went home. It was a really good day overall, I'm definintely going to go to some gaa matches in the future!! :D

       

Poland????

Rightttt..................
Today we were told about a trip to Poland that will be happening next year, for the current ty's and 5th years. When I heard about it, I was super duper excited!! The itinerary includes a trip to auchwitz, Pope John Paul's birth place and a waterpark. It would be a great cultural experience, which I would love to be a part of. The bad thing is that only 40 people will be picked! I will put my name down and see what happens ;D you never know............

Clock is Finished!!!

Well, I just thought I should announce that my clock for technology is finished!! FINALLY :L I had been sawing and filing for ages, but today I finally completed it :D I added my own little touch, by putting writing on it. I wrote TY on it, so that when I'm 100, I can look back on my year in ty and my clock will be the perfect memory!!! ;) Mr W will be grading them :o , I'll probably get a real bad mark!! Ah well, technology isn't my forte, but it is growing on me! I kinda like sawing things...in a weird way.....I guess you could call it theraputic?????!
;D

Music :D

So for music we have to perform songs in groups. My group is doing italian music. We are singing two songs, Volare by the Gypsy Kings and That's Amore. We have to perform for class emnet next week :o That should be funny! :)

The Gypsy Kings

Schindler's List

On wednesday in history we werre watching schindlers list. It is a film about Oskar Schindler, a german business man who saved the lives of thousands of jewish people by employing them to work in his factory. It is set during the Holocaust.

 

Cooking no. 2!

So on tuesday, me and Alison were cooking our 2nd dish from spain. We cooked a traditional spanish dessert, which was churros :) They are mini doughnuts, which we served with melted chocolate. They didn't look very appetising (!) but they tasted great. Next week we hope to make paella, and then we will have to present our project to the class.

Subject Choices!

Next week we are going to have to fill in our subject choice forms :\ I'm a little bit apprehensive because these are the subjects that we are going to be doing for our leaving cert :o On wednesday i will be having my meeting with mr C to talk about subject choice. I really like science, so I am going to do biology, chemistry, physics and music. Hopefully I will get my subjects!!!

Another day at the office!

So friday was a good day :) in science we were looking at "strands of protein" (a.k.a hair) under the microscope :) it was good to see what hair looks like up close. It sounds kinda weird, but it was interesting :D
in maths, we had a maths quiz. it was on algebra. When we heard that the prize for the winners was chocolate, i really wanted to win! but we didn't :( ah well, there's always next time! :P
the at lunch, myself and a few other girls were helping mr L giving out the mile challenge wristbands. Everyone who participated in the mile challenge got a wristband. There were different colours for different times. I was working with chloe and we were giving out wristbands to 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th years. I must say, we made a good team :)
then in irish we were doing irish dancing. It was great craic! :P We learned the seed of ennis. It was really fun, and quite exhausting ;) I had never irish dancing before so it was an experience :L

Projects

So, in ty we have had to do many projects. This term we have been given our history project which will be our summer test result. For this we have to research any topic. You can do it on whatever you want, and write a 5 page essay or so on it. Because it is so broad and you can choose anything, I was a bit undecisive about what to do. I think  have finally chosen to do it on Edwin Hubble. He was an american astronomer who is the founder of modern day astronomy. I have an interest in this field, so it should be an interesting topic to do :)
In geography we have to do a tri fold brochure on a disease found in a third world country. I think I am going to do tetanus, which is found in Brazil. This disease is also known as "lockjaw", so I think it will be a very interesting one to do.
In home ec, we have to do a project on a country. Myself and Alison have chosen to do spain. On tuesday we cooked penne en salsa de tomate con chorizo. It was YUMMY!! We have to cook two more dishes and then present our project to the class.
:D

Drama Workshop

Today for two classes, we had a drama workshop. We were in the hall with a man called Ian. We did various excercises to warm up. Then we went into pairs. In our pairs there was person A and person B. Person A had to create a pose and then person b had to fill in the spaces with their body. It is hard to explain, but it was really good fun. It was all about movement and how this can be used in productions. This will be really good help for our dramas. :)