Ballet :)

Yesterday, class Amina held an Easter Feaster for class Emnet. It was so yummy :o we all brought in sweets or baked and there was a huuuuge table full of food P:
Afterwards, we headed into town to see the ballet. Hayley from TY was taking part in the shows, so we went to support her.
We all waited for Hayley's appearance on stage, and when she came on, she was mind-blowingly amazing :O She was in the background for the first dance, and then she came on for her solo; WOW :o she was amaaaaaaaaazing, and was so graceful :)
The first show was "The Ugly Duckling" and omg all the little girls were sooo cute x)
The shows were all so good and there was no speaking, the story was told through the ballet, and it was amazing how you could understand exactly what was going on.
It was suuuch a good day out and we got to go to Mickey D's which is always a good end to the day P;

Hotel Rwanda

Over the last couple of weeks in religion, we were watching "Hotel Rwanda", a movie about the Rwandan Genocide, which was the conflict between the Hutu and the Tutsi tribes. The UN tried to intervene but they to be honest, they didnt do very much. This all took place in 1994. The movie follows a man, Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, who takes in over a thousand Hutu and Tutsi people, sheltering them from the rebels who were killing millions in the outside world. He protected these people by keeping them in his Hotel "Milles Collins Hotel" in Kigali.
The movie shows the horrors of the Rwandan Genocide, and the bravery and kindness of Paul Rusesabagina.
Millions Tutsi and even Hutu people were killed during this tragic time and its crazy to think it was very recent. Only 16 years ago.
It was interesting to compare the other movie we watched, "Sometimes In April" with "Hotel Rwanda." I found that it was much easier to understand Hotel Rwanda after seeing Sometimes In April, as we already knew what was going on. I thought that Hotel Rwanda was easier to watch as it wasnt as violent as Sometimes In April. While watching Hotel Rwanda, you didnt see the people being shot like in Sometimes In April, but you got the jist that millions were being massacred.
I found Hotel Rwanda was an extremely good movie as it showed a happy ending for most of the remaining Hutu's and Tutsi's. Sometimes In April wasnt happy in the end, as Augstin's wife had died, but there was still hope for him and Martine. I really enjoyed both movies, and was shocked to see that people just sat back and let the Rwandan Genocide happen.

My Sister's Keeper

In English, we were given a list of books that are on the Leaving Cert. Mrs B, told us to choose one (or two or three) books that we wanted to read off this, and to start reading. I chose "My Sisters Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. Its a story about a young girl, Kate who is diagnosed with Leukemia when she is just two years old. No one in her family is a match, so there is no one to give her blood, cells, or a kidney if she needs it. This is where Anna is created. Anna is a "test tube baby". This means she was created to be the perfect match to her sister Kate. Anna is now 13, and is sick of being poked and proded at by doctors, so she takes action.

Ive only started to read the first couple of chapters but Im really enjoying the book so far. I have seen the movie loads of times before and I am interested to compare the two, movie and book. Already I can see how things are so much different from the movie and it kind of gets confusing, as i always relate back to the movie. The book is very emotional as it deals with such a sensitive issue and I find that the book is told so nicely, and even though it is a sad story, it also has some funny one liners to lighten the mood. The way the book was written by Jodi Picoult, is very easy to read, and you do read it like its a movie, as the characters are so life- like and everything is so vividly described. Some of the language is a bit difficult though, because it deals with the Leukemia theres alot of medical words that i dont know so i have to ask my mam occasionally x)

Glendalough

On Tuesday the 5th of April, Class Amina and some of Class Emnet went to Glennalough for a retreat, with Mr C, and Mrs KB :) The bus journey down was long and warm. No windows on the bus D:
When we arrived, there were alot of other people, including some Spanish students. We were talking to their teacher person and he said he was French and German but he sounded American? Twas crazy :o
We started off with a dance type thing where we praised the earth, and touched the ground? Afterwards we did a walk through a labyrinth, which we each walked in silence. It was nice and relaxing as you didnt really have to think about anything, you just followed the path.
We then went into the museum centre and watched a short film about St Kevin and the monastary that was built at Glenndalough. Then we went for a walk up a hill/ mountain, which was actually so tiring. Here we saw St Kevin's Well and we went to The Lake, where we cupped water in our hands and the water represented our troubles/ regrets and we had to let the water flow softly out of our hands, which was represting letting go of our troubles.
We then hiked up fairly high and passed an amazing waterfall. The walk was done in silence, so we could reflect and have time to ourself and our thoughts. On our way back down, we saw where St Kevin slept while he was at Glenndalough, and we also visited the round tower.
It was an interesting day out but was extremely tiring.