My thoughts on A Thousand Farewells

This is not a dog-related post. I will be discussing the book A Thousand Farewells by Nahlah Ayed that we read for journalism class.

When I started reading this book I found it so interesting. I was reading about Winnipeg but from the perspective of a young girl from a Third World country. I was amazed at how appreciative Nahlah was to live in a place like Winnipeg. I grew up here so I wasn't appreciative to live here until I got older and realized what was happening in other places in the world.

This book was gut-wrenching at so many different times. Reading about the living conditions in Al-Wihdat, the refugee camp, really gave me a glimpse of what living in a refugee camp is like. Nahlah Ayed referred to the bathroom conditions and how the toilet was a hole in the ground with cockroaches everywhere. She would avoid going to the bathroom for hours just to avoid going in there. That alone is so far from anything we experience here in Winnipeg and it really is a wake-up call about things that people still deal with regularly.

I found the first few chapters were loaded with names of places and people, which was quite hard to follow. It got much better to read after the second chapter because she was mostly telling stories about people she met or people that she was with.

As I read the story of the bomb going off 50 metres from her apartment, it made me feel her anxiety and panic. Even for someone like Nahlah Ayed who had been almost beaten to death at this point, it seems the bomb being that close to her apartment made her stop and think 'wow...that could've been it for me.'

I really enjoyed reading about people that she met and their stories. I think if she had more content from other people in her book it would have been more engaging at times. I wanted to hear more about physical experiences — even though they were horrific — I found myself more engaged in the book when reading those parts rather than when I was reading parts about religion.

I think journalists and all people can learn from this book that passion can overcome fear. Even though after being beaten Nahlah Ayed was terrified to go in crowds, she overcame it. Her passion is journalism. Her passion is to tell stories and show people what is happening in the world as best as she can.

The only non-fiction books I've read are biographies, which aren't comparable to this at all. Because I've watched a few documentaries on conflict and war, I think this book would be extremely effective as a visual. I think some of the political and historical things could be easier to understand in my opinion for me as a visual because I found it hard to follow the names and many different conflicts at times.

I've never known a lot about the Middle East. I've always known about the constant conflict and hardships that people face, but I've never dove into something like A Thousand Farewells to learn more about it. This book really made me understand that journalism is useful for more than just telling us what is happening in our city, country, or even our continent. Journalism helps people who are unaware become aware. It's important we all know about what is happening in other places on this earth so we, the people who live in Canada and in other first First World countries , understand that we're privileged and there is much more more conflict, poverty, tragedy, and death than we can ever imagine.

Goofy Stuff

I was scrolling through my Facebook wall while I was laying in bed last night and I discovered some awesome page with some hilarious/cute/kind of sad at points dog stuff. There is one page that is all pictures of dogs at the vet and their funny reactions. The other is 20 important facts that dog owners should always remember.



I'm always keeping my eyes open for great uplifting dog things to share on my blog. I could sit around for hours looking at funny videos and pictures of dogs and I'm sure that whoever reads my blog probably feels the same. It doesn't get much better than dog.

So you should visit the 20 facts page and the dogs at the vet page for some cute and funny entertainment. After that, watch this ridiculous wiener dog pool party! If you'd like but it's definitely worth it.

And here is a little bit of Diesel.

Sobaka

I'm sure many people have heard about the Sobaka, or dog, problem in Sochi. Thousands of stray dogs have been living around the Olympic construction grounds so the city has hired a company to kill off the dogs. The director general of the company that has been hired told The Associated Press that during a rehearsal for the opening ceremonies a dog walked in on the performers. He said if something like that were to happen during the actual olympics it would be a disgrace to the whole country. Well sire, i'm sorry to tell you but a stray dog seems like the least of the countries worries judging by the pictures i've seen of the hotels, bathrooms, and water in Sochi.

If you ask me, dogs would make the olympics that much better! I'm also a dog freak though. Any situation that didn't previously have dogs that gets dogs thrown into it moves up on my list!

It is the same situation with the culls on reserves in Canada because safety is always an issue. Of course it's not safe if these stray dogs are biting children, but why is this a problem in the first place? And why is it only being dealt with once the olympics are starting? Maybe it has always been a problem but we never knew because Sochi is only newsworthy because of the Olympics. A Russian lawyer also said that the dogs elimination is the quickest way. Well no kidding, but you don't solve problems by performing massive killings!

Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire, is helping a charity and shelter to save the animals. The charity members have been driving around on golf carts on the Olympic grounds and in the surrounding area to get all of the dogs together and take them to a shelter on the outskirts of the city. I'm glad to see that dogs are something we can all feel the same about.

It seems dog and music, and food actually, are three things that are a universal language. And that makes me very happy.

Those stray dogs may look something like this

 after about a year of them being rescued.