"A Small Place" Analysis

        A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid is an opinionated essay cleverly disguised as a novel. There are no acting characters, nor is there a plot. The narrator's voice gives her opinions of the many events and difficulties that have happened to the natives of the island of Antigua. A Small Place is a subjective description of the of government corruption and the lack of concern that the people of one nation has for the people of another. A Small Place also investigates the effects of slavery when the emancipated slaves are never taught how to be ordinary people.

      Tourists arrive in Antigua and hail a taxi to get to their resort. They consider the expensive cars that are prevalent in Antigua but do not consider the poor homes that the natives live in. They pass the school and hospital but do not concern themselves with the shabby condition of the buildings or the reflection that the appearance projects on the employees therein. In passing three beautiful mansions, they do not hesitate to wonder if the owners obtained their homes by immoral means. The tourists are unaware that there is no sewage disposal system and their waste floats next to them in the beautiful water they admire so much. The narrator condemns the tourists' lack of concern for the welfare of Antiguans. She expresses her dislike of tourists, who become ugly people when they are on vacation.

       The narrator laments that Antigua is not the same as it was in her youth. The library was destroyed in 1974, and has not yet been rebuilt. She condemns the racism prevalent in many organizations in Antigua. She also seems concerned that Antiguans view the way they are treated by white people as bad manners as opposed to racism. She mocks the English's love for England, since they try to recreate it in every land they encounter, ruining the lands and the people. The narrator believes that the English are criminals, and they teach Antiguans crime. She regrets that Antiguans have no language of their own and can only verbally express themselves in the language of the criminal. The narrator defends Antiguans' opposition to capitalism as the result of being considered capital themselves for so long.

The narrator worries that Antigua is in worse shape as a self-ruled nation than when they were ruled by England. The temporary library is in a run-down building and does not have room for all the books, many of which are being ruined. The narrator laments the stupidity of the youth in Antigua. She is very concerned with restoring the library.

The narrator considers the great deal of corruption in Antigua. She reflects on the monopoly that government-owned utility companies have in Antigua and the general corruption of the government officials in procuring wealth for themselves at the expense of the natives' welfare. The narrator reflects on the condition of Antiguans as the result of emancipation. They were released from slavery but never taught how to be ordinary people, especially on the surreal, beautiful island they call home.

Tourist for a Day

On October 24, I went on the adventure with my best friend Glorrianne and other friends to be a tourist for a day at Old San Juan, a place that I have visited countless times. But this time was definitely different I prepared myself to be a visitor for the first time. I put on my tennis shoes, my shots, my t-shits, my cap, and my backpack and transformed myself into a tourist. Firstly I went to a shop and got a map, because I was getting into character, and what a better way to be a tourist than with a map. The store owner started to speak to me in English, because I think that he imagined that no Puerto Rican will need a map at Old San Juan, I responded to him in English and even asked for a good place to eat traditional food. Finally I went to La Mallorca with the directions given to me by the store owner and the map and ate chicken breast, rice, and beans.

After lunch, we went to El Morro and admire the view, took pictures, and ran and jumped on the green field. 

After that exhausting walk under the sun we decided to go to a coffee shop and drink some good Puerto Rican Coffee. On the borders of map that I had were many sponsors, and one of them was ‘Café Don Ruiz’, so we went to that amazing and exquisite coffee shop. I drank a well deserved cup of coffee and Ana drank a frozen coffee with caramel. 

After that we went for a walk and saw ‘El Totem’, the Princess Passage, the entrance of San Juan; admired the cobbles, the colonial architecture, and the balconies. We also entered this time really for the first time, souvenirs shops and saw everything you can imagine about Puerto Rico from key chains to towels. I also went to the Tourism Company of Puerto Rico and they gave me flyers, magazines, maps, and information about the different adventures you can do in Puerto Rico.

This unique experience of being a tourist for a day in a place that I have visited before many times, made me pay attention to things that I usually, in a normal visit, don’t pay as much attention. For example, in a normal visit I probably wouldn’t go to a traditional place to eat, definitely don’t enter souvenirs stores, probably don’t walk and admire all San Juan like I did last Tuesday. Another thing is that I was treated like a tourist because I spoke in another language and they treated me differently in the way that asked me about my trip and exhorted me to go to some places. If I talk in Spanish they assume that I know all about Old San Juan, and that is not always true. 

Blogging Experience

In the course of Journey through literature we made this blog to keep track of the work we did at the classroom. Counting this post I have 11 entries. The first blog we made was about ourselves, in which we talked about what we think we are. I said think but I feel that I’m always growing and changing and it is very difficult to express who you are. After that blog post we started to write about activities made in class, movies watched in class, and readings we had to make. Some were based in some instructions and some were freestyle. In my case I had never done a blog before, so preparing, adding gadgets, decorating, and all that was needed to make it organized, and pretty for the eye was a challenge, but I got the hang of it. 

Now that the blog activity is over I went thru all the posts and realized that the posts were getting shorter, but always in the 300 to 500 words, maybe because I learned to be more precise and concise or maybe because at the end of the semester every student has more work accumulated from all classes in our shoulders and I wasn’t an exception. I also realized that we did a lot during the semester studying the class theme, journeys in literature. One of my favorite’s posts was the one about tourist for a day, because it was definitely a unique experience to act like a tourist in Puerto Rico, the country in where I live. 

This blog activity was very different from the activities I do in other classes, mainly because I’m an Accounting student and literature and writing aren’t the focus of my curriculum. Because of this reason this activity was refreshing and unique. I also felt that with this method of writing and doing class work I helped the environment, because we didn’t need to print out every single post it was all on the web, going parallel with technology. I also liked that it was interactive meaning that I could receive feedback on my posts from the members of my group and that I could read their posts and see if other people have my same point of view, in what they differ, compare it with my interpretation, and that I was able to attach links, photos, and videos to make my point. 

In conclusion, the blog was new and different for me, but maybe because of that I was able to learn about blogs, I was open for feedback, and I was able to express myself better. It was a great activity that should be more common in the university.

All Around The World

In her unusually humorous and entertaining, yet surprisingly reflective and even profound book, Fein succeeds in combining, or integrating, these curiously complementary outlooks. Taking us to the most exotic, mysterious places (from Mog Mog, Micronesia, to Antigua, Guatemala), the author breathes so much life into the unfamiliar people and places she visits that we may well end up feeling that we've visited them ourselves. By zeroing in on just the right detail, the right individual, the right setting, she finds a way  to take us with her--allowing us to accompany her to the deepest depths of what she's examining. Her suggestive, translucent prose enables us to feel not simply that, vicariously, we're "inhabiting" this or that locale but that we're "imbibing" its very essence.

In short, Fein is much more than a veteran travel journalist, whose work has appeared in over ninety publications and who is currently travel editor for Spirituality & Health and blogger for "The Huffington Post." And she's more than a seasoned writer who, by proxy, has taken many thousands of readers on exciting trips all over the world. She's also a cultural anthropologist--with the notable qualification that, unlike those more academically minded social scientists, she makes absolutely no effort to maintain a "scholarly distance" from her subjects. On the contrary, she hastens to personally connect to each of them (and their life-teaching story); to participate in their celebrations and ceremonies; and (always seeking to discover some fundamental truth that she can adapt for her own "life lessons") to become--if only briefly--one of them. If readers find themselves becoming increasingly absorbed in her adventures (and misadventures), it's precisely because of her uncanny ability to animate all that she describes as the dedicated participant/observer she is.

This book cultivates some of the many cultures, rituals and journeys in different societies around the world. I definitely love this book for the simple reason that I learned about about so many cultures practice around the world that helps come closer with our inner self, that inner self that with time gets forgotten to tries fit into society. I learned forgiveness is the most important part of our inner journey, specially self-forgiveness. 

The Path to Auto Discovery

Naipaul does not offer a broad picture of his past and his influences; instead, this is a brief sketch, addressing only certain aspects of his writing-life. But it is expertly done: it is a pleasure to read, and it does offer considerable insight into Naipaul as writer.
       Naipaul tells of deciding to become a writer at a young age -- but acknowledges that for most of his youth his ambition "was a kind of sham". He didn't write (having little occasion, need, or desire to do so), and he didn't read much either. It is a disarming admission, not what one expects from someone who became such a prolific author. But his certainty about his destiny -- his ability to continue to think of himself as a writer, even when there were no indications he would become one -- is also striking.

       There is little detail, about the individual books and the circumstances of their creation, but what he does reveal is fascinating. So of his first travel book: "I didn't know how to travel for a book", he explains. The novel, he also says, seems to have served its purpose and run its course. He believes that our time "needs another kind of interpretation". 
       Not as burdened with a tradition to uphold as are, perhaps, Western authors he looks constantly forward, to novelty and change. He sees them as both necessary and desirable. He comes to the conclusion in a roundabout manner, barely mentioning any of the authors and works that might be invoked as counter-examples of this notion, putting only half the argument on the table. It is a statement that demands more attention than he gives it -- and this casual broaching of larger issues is one of the few disappointments of his essay.

       Naipaul is a craftsman -- and clever, too. He expresses himself easily and clearly (though his skill also allows him to manipulate the reader, as he perhaps too readily does). This small book is worth reading for a number of reasons, but among them is just to appreciate his facility with expression. 

A Piece of Me

In May 18, 1996, a baby girl was born, me, Nilka Melendez, on San Juan, Puerto Rico at 4:15 pm. I was fat baby, but also cute. I was born with my skin being yellow so I was under a UV light for seven days. Growing up I had, and still has, a loving family. My mom, Nilza Carrasquillo, and my dad, Alexander Melendez, loved and gave me everything I needed and asked for.

In my 19 years of life I have come to understand that the little things matter the most. When I was in 6^th grade my life was complicated cause from bullying. My so-called friend Vanelis made my life a living hell because of my legs. I bruised easily and I am extremely allergic to any kind of insect bite. This problem continued till I got the courage to stand up to her. One day after the last school belt, walking through the halls she comes out no were and started molesting me, I do not know what came over me, but immediate reaction was to grabbed her my the collar of her shirt and push her against the lockers. I am not proud how handled the situation, but my mind was blinded due to the thoughts running through my mind, I did said sorry for my reaction, but not for the reason behind it. After that she did not looked me in the eyes and never teased me again, but never apologized for what she did. This bullying experience changed my life completely I became tougher and smarter on who I considered my friends.

           This experience helped me look for the right friends, those who are by side my good come and when life gets tough. And thanks to them I have overcome a lot of situations. I have learned that life is not easy and to achieve our goals we must face with multiples bumps and the only thing that matter is how and if we overcome them. The journey is the really lesson, the journey is what matter not the destination.

Geography of Bliss

      Our tendency to conflate geography and happiness seems to be more deeply embedded in our thinking and even our language than we realize. We speak about “looking for” happiness and “finding” joy as though these were specific locations on an actual map. Until the 18th century, people even believed the Garden of Eden, the biblical notion of paradise, was a real place, so they depicted in on maps — located, as Weiner notes the irony, at the intersection of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers where modern-day Iraq lies. At the same time, the entire self-help industry is built — and billed — on the premise that happiness is inside us and we simply need to dig it out. But, Weiner argues, both of these notions are wrong — the line between “out there” and “in here” is much finer than we’ve been led to believe and, as he puts it, where we are is vital to who we are.
 

      The journey wavers across ten countries: The Netherlands, Switzerland, Bhutan, Qatar, Iceland, Moldova, Thailand, Great Britain, India and the United States: to uncover the greatest enablers of, as well as obstacles to, happiness, examining in the process a wide spectrum of definitions of what happiness actually is, from Aristotle to Weiner’s personal favorite, by an unhappy man named Noah Webster who penned the first American dictionary.
 In Bhutan, Weiner contemplates their Gross National Happiness as an alternative to GDP as a measure of a nation’s well-being. In The Netherlands, he tracks down Ruut Veenhoven, the godfather of happiness research and proprietor of the World Database of Happiness.

     Throughout the narrative, intriguing factoids add delight to journey, and some perplexing paradoxes begin to emerge — the world’s happiest countries also have high suicide rates; people who attend religious services report being happier than those who don’t, but the world’s happiest nations are secular; countries with a wide gap between rich and poor are no less happy than countries with even wealth distribution. The Geography of Bliss is neither a self-help manual nor a pop-psychology book. Instead, its ultimate quest for the objective elements of happiness is, ironically yet intriguingly, just one man’s subjective interpretation of the conditions and complexities of well-being. And, like happiness itself, the book’s beauty lies in the layered insights of its subjectivity.