I am African!

As I lay here in bed I cannot believe everything that I have learned. I lay here and reflect. I have obtained so much wisdom from everyone around. I have learned that I am African. I have African brothers that protect me and will not let me fall and give me some great advice about life. I've learned about the atrocities that slaves went through. I've walked through the dungeons and smelled and seen the horrors that slaves experienced. I stood in the female dungeon and heard the cries for help and felt the fear that these women went through. I've learned that although whipped and chained their determination and strength could not be stripped from them. Now that I know, I cannot keep my voice oppressed. Now that I know, its my responsibility to tell you the truth. No one can stop me because I too am African and my ancestors do not want revenge but justice.

The view of the top of the Cape Coast Castle where slaves were
shipped to be sold.

The Truth About Africa

Sorry that I have not written in a very long time. I need to get much better about keeping my blog updated but sometimes life gets to me. Sometimes I am so busy with things that seem to matter so much that I forget to stop and relax. I forget to reflect on life. Right now as I write this blog, I am sitting in Cape Coast, Ghana. I have been here for almost 2 weeks. I am miles and miles away from home and yet I feel at peace. I feel harmony sitting by the beach as mama water's waves gently yet majestically crash the rocks and shore. I came to Africa with a mission to teach children to tell their stories. Media corrupts the thoughts of many Americans representing certain races as less than. My goal here in Ghana was to make sure that the real story of Africa is told. Stories that reflect beautiful culture and hardworking smart individuals. I sit on the shore and watch Ghanaian fisherman stay up all day and all night fishing to make a living. I see children getting feed by strangers. No child here is going hungry no person here is dying. There is life, there is beauty, and yes there is also poverty. But Africans are powerful. The children we taught showed me that anything is possible if you work hard. These children have the power to change the world and they are eager to learn, that is the truth about Africa!

Balance

I have always known what I wanted. I have always been this perfect girl that tries her best to never mess up and make others happy.  My life has revolved around making my parents proud that I forgot about me. I don't know if any of you young adults out there have ever felt like this before.  Like your life is crumbling down right before your eyes and you just don't care because you realized you want to do what makes you happy. All my life I have been afraid of getting hurt by others when all this time I should have been worried about myself. I put up a wall to myself. I was the one who hurt myself by being so afraid and uptight about living life. My advice to everyone out there is to be careful with yourself because you can be your biggest obstacle to happiness. You can't be perfect and you can't know all the answers to life. You just need to trust that those around you won't let you fall when you feel like you are unbalanced. Trust that you will be alright. You will feel pain at first, you will cry and yell, and eventually you will feel this numbness but you will be okay. You will be balanced again.

BACK: New Orleans Reflection

Here is a short video blog about my second time in New Orleans and

what I learned.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=731342823564900&set=vb.100000675685967&type=2&theater&notif_t=like

Bubble!

        My parents have always been over protective of me. So overprotective that going out was almost impossible. Now, that I am 21 my parents are starting to realize that I am growing up but still they worry about letting me out to clubs. They always lecture me about how "this is how bad things happen." They are the traditional hispanic parents.  Asking my parents to go out with my friends becomes a three weeks in advance thing. I know sounds awful. I have to prepare them in advance which is a pain in the ass.  I have to go up to my dad and say " Hey Papi, would it be ok, do you think, can I pleeeease go out." Until, he gets so annoyed by me that he finally agrees and says yes.  This past Friday was the first day that I actually got to go out beyond my curfew. Yes! I have a curfew. I know again awful. Yes you might be thinking to yourselves whoa Jacky aren't you an adult. The answer is yes but my parents have rules that I have learned to follow. It is because I follow those rules that I have their trust. I guess what I am trying to get at is that yes parents can be a pain in your ass and yes parents sometimes are strict like mine (if they could keep me in a bubble i am sure they would) but at the end of the day they do it because they love you. So if they trust you enough to let you go out and have fun prove to them that you are responsible and that you don't need to be in a bubble.

Little Girl. Big World.

So I decided that I wanted to change my blogs name to Little Girl. Big world. Why because I realized that I m growing up in a world that is bigger than me. My blog isn't about just volunteer service anymore but about my journey, my life struggles, and my life's inspiration as well as dreams. I will talk about anything and everything.   I hope that you guys take something away from my blogs and if you ever want to know something send me a message. I might be little but i sure have had a heck of a life so far.

Talent?

              Hello everyone, I know that I haven’t written in a while but my professor gave me a very interesting assignment that I thought I should share with you. He told my class and I that we had to write an opinion piece and bring it to class on Weds about anything that we would like. Of course I began to freak out a little not knowing what I wanted to write about and I went through a million ideas until a childhood memory came to my head. 

           When I was a little girl, I used to admire the actresses and singers that I watched on television.  I remember always wanting to grow up to be like them. I wanted to be as talented as they were. I would grab my hairbrush and put on my mothers sunglasses as I sang in front of the mirror aspiring to one day be just like them.  I had curly bouncy hair like Shirley Temple’s and I always wished I could be her. As I started to grow up, so did the entertainment industry.  I used to think that being an actress and singer was about talent. I was wrong and I learned that as I grew up.

The entertainment industry is about selling a product. It isn’t about how talented you are but about who can sell the most albums.  It has become about keeping up with the times and about being different to get the most attention. We can look at Miley Cyrus a child star who turned into someone completely different.  What does the twerking and out of control outfits mean? It makes you wonder if Miley Cyrus is just a creation of a company who wants to keep making money. It makes you wonder if the entertainment industry even cares about talent anymore?  It even makes me wonder what is talent in our society? Judging from what I see in television now, the entertainment industry has become about who stands out the most whether it is for crazy outfits or for being rebellious or posing nude. The possibilities for fame are endless and talent is no longer the only thing that can make you famous.  It makes me wonder if an ordinary girl /boy can have the chance at fame without changing who she/he is.