The final post on this blog.

Our group has done a great deal of work throughout this project. Not only did we all have different roles and tasks to fufil, we really analyzed the text and questioned various things that occurred. We learned all about the Garcia girls, their family, and the never ending obstacles and challenges they faced throughout the years. I thought this was an interesting project and it's sad that it has to come to an end. We hope you enjoyed reading our blog as much as we enjoyed writing on it. (:


sincerely yours,

Angelina

[JAMM]

This picture reminded me of the Garcia family when they were in the Dominican Republic, since their family was so incredibly large. I thought I'd share this with you. (:





This is a picture of the dominican flag on Dominican Day. Goes to show how proud these people are of their culture, eh?



-Angelinaaaa :P

Temptation: can you resist your own personal desires?

In the book, the Fanning's help out the Garcia's a lot. They took them out to dinner and were willing to pay for some of the things that the family wanted, such as a doll that Sandra wanted. We all know that if someone were to offer to pay for everything that we wanted, we would be extremely tempted to jump on it--but would you?

Sandra disobeyed her parents just because she wanted to get what she wanted. Didn't she feel the least bit guilty? would you do this? why or why not?

please write back (:

-Angelinaaa (=

Painting Pictures.

I was looking through pictures on google of Dominican Republic and America in comparing them and also having a better understanding of how Dominican Republic look like. The top picture is a picture of the city of which we know, Manhattan and the picture on the bottom is a picture of Dominican Republic.

What do you picture when the setting is described to you? Is it similar to these pictures? Why or why not?

-Michelle Xiaa

Summaries.

Still Lives:

The family decided that Sandi needed to take art lessons and she was sent to take lessons from Dona Charito. The children were given a tour of the house before Dona Charito started her lesson on how to hold a paintbrush the proper way. Sandi became bored, started painting cats and was thrown out of the class for disobeying. She wanders around and sees Don Jose, sculpting large figures. She broke her arm when she fell off the branch and she couldn't draw anymore. During Christmas Eve at the National Cathedral, Sandi recognizes the sculptures from the shed, especially the Virgin, who has a face that looks like her.

An American Surprise:

Carlos returns from a trip to New York City with a surprise for his daughters. He had brought them mechanical toy banks that moves when a coin is dropped into the slot. Gladys, their maid, offered to buy the bank from Carla, but Carla gives the bank to her for free. When the bank was found with Gladys, they fired her because they couldn't trust her, even though Carla confessed that she had given it away voluntarily.

The Drum:

Yolanda's grandmother brought her a drum from New York. All day long, Yolanda drummed until one drumstick got lost and the other broke. Their maid, Pila, would tell stories of devils and ghosts and claimed they lived in the coal shed. Pila had been stealing things from the family, but she was allowed to leave with the stolen things because Laura pitied her. Yolanda found kittens in the shed and names her favorite kitten, Schwarz. She takes the kitten inside, but gets annoyed with the kitten's cries and throws it outside. The kitten and the mother cat disappears, but she has nightmares of the mother cat, that haunts her at night.

--Janet

More Summaries.

Floor Show:

The family goes out to dinner with the Fannings, who wanted to treat them to a little luxury. Dr.Fanning had helped them escape their homeland and was helping Carlos get a job. At the restaurant, Mrs.Fanning becomes drunk, kisses Carlos, and dances with the performers on stage. Sandra ignored her mother's warning about not asking for extra treats because she believed that Mrs.Fanning owed her and asked for the doll. Mrs.Fanning insisted to Carlos that her husband would pay for the dolls.

The Blood of the Conquistadores:

The secret police comes to question Carlos, but he hides in a secret room in the bedroom closet. Victor Hubbard, who worked for the CIA, arrives and Laura realizes that they will have to leave the Island soon. When Sandi had to pick one toy to take to the U.S, she realizes that no toy would fill the emptiness opening inside her. Sofia doesn't remember the last day on the Island because she was the youngest. But her sisters would always tell her that she almost got their father killed because she was mean to one of the secret police that came looking for him.

The Human Body:

Yolanda's grandmother returns from New York City with Aunt Mimi. Aunt Mimi brought them a toy called "The Human Body" which is a doll with removable body parts. Mimi also gave Yolanda's cousin, Mundin, a packet of pink modeling clay. Mundin offered to trade the clay with Yolanda if she would show him she was a girl. Yolanda and Fifi took off their clothes in the shed, but Mundin was disappointed that they looked like dolls. They were found in the shed by Tia Carmen and the garderner and Yolanda lied to them that they were hiding from the secret police.

--Janet (:

Another thing i would like to ask you guys.

After I read the chapter about Yolanda and Rudy, I really thought about how he used her for his own enjoyment, and it reminded me of a friend I have.

Her boyfriend used her the entire time they went out. She had true, strong, feelings for him whereas he just used her to have somebody.

I would like to ask you guys:

Would you ever stay with a guy who is using you? Why do you think guys do this? Are girls JUST as guilty?

I'd love to hear your input (:

-Angelinaaaaaa x]