My view is pretty sweet...

Today was an awesome day to ride my horse in our nearby Prospect Park. I snapped a few pictures while on the Nature Trails deep in the woods of the park...Cool view, huh?

My favorite, Maribel

Tortilla Soup was a cute and funny movie to watch. The storyline is about a Mexican-born father living with three grown Mexican-American daughters named Latitia, Carmen, and Maribel. The father, Martin, is an experience cook who enjoy making lavish, gourmet meals for his family in a traditional table setting. Throughout the movie, we see the strong relationship between the family as well as many unexpected changes enter the family’s life.

Out of all the characters in this film, my personal favorite was Maribel Naranja. Aside from her sisters, Maribel was still in high school, deciding what to do with her life. She had seemed very sure of herself at the beginning of the movie, however that seemed to change after she met her boyfriend Andy. She met Andy accidentally, originally speaking to him to tell him he was being stood up by their friend. Their original conversation led to more interesting talk, and finally led Maribel to accept Andy’s invitation for coffee. Without much regard to her family, Maribel ran extremely late for her father’s dinner that night. The writers portrayed Maribel this way in order to give off a irresponsible teenager type of vibe that would probably make the viewer laugh, or sigh.

Maribel seems to have a problem with communication with her family. While she tries to break up an argument between her sisters Carmen and Latitia, they can barely hear her raise her voice asking them to stop. This frustrates Maribel, and she ends up slamming plates into the floor from her seat on the counter. A second time, she could barely communicate with her whole family while they were sitting at dinner together, plus Andy. It was the first time the family met Andy, and it seemed to go well at the beginning. Naturally, Maribel chose to make her important announcement at dinner, like the whole family had done previously. Everyone was immersed in conversation already, and did not hear her voice, until she raised it completely, calling out her choice to put off college. This stunning decision upset her father, causing Maribel to throw herself into a living situation with Andy. Her issues with communication and “doing what she wants” make her seem juvenile still, even being a fully grown beautiful young woman.

My choice for this entry was Maribel, because I believe that every young woman can relate to her in a sense. In a way, each young lady has felt that communication was a problem, that we could never do what we wanted, or we were just lost and wanted to “find ourselves’’. Maribel was a fun character, that really touched me for the simple fact that she was a fantastically portrayed, slightly lost teenager.

Women and Food

Gender is what sets us apart from one another. It separates us into male and female. Gender has existed as such from the beginning of human kind. The Book Of J shows us examples of "man" and "woman", whom Yahweh created. We have come to know this man and woman as the story of Adam and Eve. Food plays a significant role in the story of Adam and Eve. Because Eve disobeyed Yahweh’s wishes, it leads us to understand that women have a certain connection with food.

Throughout history, being man or woman would include certain tasks that each would include certain tasks that each would be expected to complete. Traditionally, men were out of the house either hunting and gathering, or working in general. A woman’s responsibilities would include making a home, cook, clean and raise a family. The book, Like Water For Chocolate, clearly exemplifies the responsibilities of a woman in a traditional, early 1900’s home. Tita, the novel’s protagonist, expresses each one of her emotions through her cooking.

Laura Esquivel writes Tita’s feelings into her cooking in order to help the reader understand the severity of the situation that the character is facing. For example, all the emotions and tears shed while Tita was making her sister’s wedding cake had transferred to the guests and all who ate it. Everyone was overcome with nostalgia, and longed for the ones they loved most. Guests were crying and became physically sick from the buildup of their emotions. As Tita’s cooking brought about sorrow and intense longing, it also stimulated sexual thoughts during dinner. Her quail dish that was made with rose petals turned out to be a more erotic meal that she thought, causing her sister’s husband ( and Tita’s love interest ), Pedro, to complement her excessively and yearn just to touch her. It stimulated Tita’s second sister, Gertrudis to escape from their home and have sex on horseback with a soldier she barely knew. Tita’s cooking in Like Water for Chocolate symbolizes the voice behind all of her thoughts and emotions. Food helps Tita communicate grief, joy and jealousy throught recipes she carefully prepares.

The story of Adam and Eve is seemingly well know, however The Book of J provides more insight into the entire tale. Yahweh had planted two trees: The tree of Knowledge between good and evil, and the Tree of Life. He forbade both Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, however the garden’s snake persuaded Eve to do the exact opposite. Within taking the first bite, she handed off the fruit to her man and he ate with her. The forbidden fruit described in The Book of J symbolizes the desire to sample the outlawed, and the imperfect nature of humans.

Women seem to have an uncanny way with the kitchen. We can whip up an amazing meal in very little time or impress many with the presentation of our cooking. Cooking, for many, is an expression of self, in which emotions, desires and simple thoughts are spoken. Tita used food in exactly this way, whereas Eve used food as a way to explore her desires and heal her curiosity. These literary characters provide great examples that food, in general, holds a direct correlation to our ideas and passions.

My Easter

Wesolego Aleluja wszystkim! Or, should I say Happy Easter Everyone!

Today is Holy Saturday, and as you might have read in my previous blog, it is one of three days in the Triduum Paschalne. One of our main traditions is preparing the swieconka for a church blessing. I prepared my family's swieconka this year, and I wanted to share it with you. :]