The Glen Summer Picnic 2015!

Congratulations to our Modern Media Class

 

HELPING FAMILIES LIKE BEATRICE'S

The Modern Media class at Towson University, located in Maryland, is made of up international students from around the world who are studying English as a Second Language. This course gives ESL students a chance to apply their English skills to a wide variety of media platforms as well as teach them basic computer/media skills in English. These students read an article about Beatrice Biira and were very inspired by Beatrice’s story. Beatrice was a young girl in Uganda whose life was radically changed when Heifer donated a goat to her poor family. Through sales from the goat's milk, Beatrice's family could eventually afford to send her to the local school. Beatrice then went on to win a scholarship to a school in Uganda's capital and eventually went on to win scholarships to continue her education in America. All because of a goat! These students decided they want to raise money to donate to Heifer International to buy more goats for people like Beatrice. They were very motivated and decided this was an important way for them to put their English and computer skills to good use. They worked together as a class to put together an hour-long presentation about Uganda, Beatrice Biira and Heifer International. They included video clips, photos, music and text in their presentation in order to give their audience a full view of their project. Their initial goal was the to try and raise $360 in order to buy three goats. This was a large amount of money, but the students were determined. They began presenting to different classes around the college campus. The students were shocked that after their first presentation they had already raised $230! They felt like their goal might actually become a reality. They did 8 different presentations on campus, held a bake sale to raise money and placed a donation box on campus as well. By the end of the semester they had raised $880, enough to buy 7 goats and 2 flocks of chicks! The students were thrilled and beyond happy that they were going to be able to help families like Beatrice’s family.

 - Peggy Olson

http://www.heifer.org/whencowsfly/stories/helping-families-like-beatrices.html

My First Art Exhibition

         A few weeks before my first exhibition, I had a meeting where all of the students and teachers talked about the International Festival. When the meeting finished I was responsible for two different tasks; first, cooking 3 cakes and 150 “brigadeiros”, and second, bringing some Brazilian stuff and a kind of banner with images of Brazil. I felt like I was in kindergarten, and it is the fun part to study a new language for me. Anyway I was worried because I thought what Brazilian stuff can I bring”? This was the moment that I realized and remembered my bird paintings. Because all of the birds that I have painted so far are the birds of my hometown, these are very common birds. So, I realized that this could be what I would show first for my first exhibition and I began the process, cautious as a baby.

Cheaper Frames

         I called my friend Rowan, who is a great artist, and I asked her if she had some advice about how to find some cheap frames. She told me some stores, and then I decided to go to Goodwill with all my paintings. I tried all the old and used frames there. After going to two Goodwill stores, I finally had my bird paintings framed. I just needed to make some little adjustments with the paintings sizes and everything was good. However, I still needed to try to show two more pieces that were very interesting, which I called “My No Sense”. However, I had already gone to the other 2 Goodwills that were the only ones that were close enough for me to go to. The others were too far. So I went to the store “Michaels” which was my last chance. There I found 2 frames that were perfect for two “My No Sense” paintings. However, these frames cost $80. So my aunt, who is always helping me with these things, said to me that she had a discount coupon for 50% off any product. She got it on the Michaels Store app, so I downloaded another coupon, and then I could afford these frames.

            After a full weekend cooking with my aunt we finished making the four cakes, and 250 “brigadeiros”. I finally got back to my apartment at 10 p.m. on Sunday night. The event was on Monday. So I began with the little two frames. I had problems with these two because the clips, that hold the bottom of the painting, were too complicated. So, when you are looking for frames, I advise you to check out the kind of clips in the back of the frame because many different kinds exist. Another point that is very important is to always take care if any kind of dirty is on the part intern of the glass, because I needed to reopen 2 times my paintings, because when I hang its in the wall I found I hair between my panting and the glass. Make the process with calm and slowly. Also try and enjoy this process; put on some good music and prepare a table with the necessary materials and work. After 5 hours spent cleaning and framing another 2 paintings with big breaks which I spent talking and listening to my friend Hitham, who plays the Oud, it was already 12 p.m. and I began to work on the little flyer. I put some stuff about the Amazon and one section just for photos of amazon birds, which I had painted.  It is very important that you have some material that tells people about what your work is. This Auxiliary material will make you a little more confident and help a lot when you get nervous explaining one panting. You don’t need anything complex and amazing. You just need something simple because the protagonists of the show are your paintings.

The Exhibition Day.

Four cakes, two hundred and fifty “brigadeiros”, 6 paintings and a ride to the event made me realize that you need to take care when planning the main steps of this process, and the transportation of the paintings is one for sure. So after some calls some good Saudis friends named Hitham, Mujahed and Rayan came over and helped me to carry all my stuff to the event. When I got there, I was a little bit nervous, but everything was different that I had imagined. However, that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t perfect. The festival lasted almost 4 hours. I just stood behind my paintings to explain them for the first 20 minutes. I discovered that people who are very close to me didn’t know that I’m an artist. It’s a good way to have notion if you are doing something to be known, and I was doing nothing. Great friends and teachers didn’t about my artistic skills. Also, I realized that I needed to begin working on making copies of my work, to sell at a less expensive price. Because some people don’t have sensibilities for arts, and them won’t pay what you want in your “kids”. So finding a way to make your work more accessible is very important to attract a different public, and make your projects succeed. After they served food from all parts of the world, and when everybody were full the funny performances began and we had a lot fun talking, dancing and singing together. Nobody different came to the party like I had imagined, there were no teachers of arts or artists students, but it didn’t make me sad, I was still happy with my first exhibition, and I remember that sometimes I stopped in the festival and looked at my presentable paintings and I felt proud of myself. When we spend a lot of energy and time doing something, the result could not be the best, but you will feel a good sensation that your mission is complete. Show your work, try think of your paintings like a family, and when you make one try to make some friends. I think this is a good strategy for pushing yourself to make some presentations with these pieces. Most importantly, remember that is isn’t everything to just do what you want, but enjoying that way that you did it is important too.  

Written by: Italo De Déa

DC Metro

Does driving from Gaithersburg to DC everyday make you feel frustrated? Do you feel like you wasting time and gas? Well, there is a great solution for that which is using the metro. By using it you can save is money and gas. If you always use your car traveling from one place to another or going to work for a long distance, then you need to get your car fixed, in order to maintain it. To save on wear and gear, you defiantly need to use the metro.   I used to live in Gaithersburg, MD for almost 8 months. And I used to take the metro to DC every week to go to the Saudi admission culture mission. The first few months I used to go with my friends to DC by car. It wasn't easy to get there because we drive during the rush hours. Imagine yourself waiting for lots of red traffic lines just to get green, I hate this feeling. Sometimes we stop by a gas station, to fill out the car, and it’s not cheap to afford gas payment, I used to pay my friend for gas because he didn't have enough money, and I really couldn't afford it sometimes. 3 months after I felt like I’m broken, and didn't know what to do. I really couldn't go to the Saudi admission culture mission, and it was urgent because I was checking my scholarship status. However, later on a new friend of mine suggested to me to try the metro. And one day I asked my friend, the one that I go with every week, to try the metro with me. We tried it, and it was pretty convenient.

It’s easy to use the metro. If you live in Gaithersburg, then try to take the red line in order to go to DC. Shady grove will be the best station for you. When you get there, you have to make sure that you will have the card pass. There are two types of it. The first type is you buy a regular ticket . You can pay $5 to go back and forth. Or you can pay more if you want explore places in DC. The second type is a permanent card, and you can do the same thing as well. Once you get these type of cards, then you can move to the place where you swipe your card in order to get in to the metro. Once you get there, you might notice lots of stops but keep looking at the map till you get to DC. There are two main stops at DC. Metro Center and the Gallery Place. At Metro Center you can find the National Mall, monuments and museums. If you go to Gallery Place you will find Chinatown and some other places as well.

For more info, you can visit this website: http://www.wmata.com/fares/purchase/passes.cfm

 Written by: Aqeel Alsulami

Moving to America

      Moving from one place to another can be hard. Some people can find it easy and fun, but for me it was hard. There are many things in America that are different from your country and it could be strange to you just like the culture, holidays, and the food. It is good to see new things from another culture, and it is wonderful to learn new things from it.

The American culture

      We can say that the American culture is very simple, because it is about the freedom to speak and the freedom to do whatever you want but with limits and without hurting anybody. The American culture is kind of very different from any other country’s culture, and it can work for anybody if he wants.

The American holidays

     There are many holidays in America, but there are three most important holidays in America that most people celebrate.

1.     Christmas ( 25 December)

2.     Halloween ( 31 October )

3.     Thanksgiving ( 26 November )

These three holidays are the biggest holidays in America, because they have important meanings for people.

The American food

      There is not any kind of a traditional food in America. Most of the food in America comes from other cultures. You can find any kind of food you want and from any country if you search for it. There is Arabic food, Indian food, and others. You can just search the place, and you can find it so easily.   

By: Fahad Alqarni 

Photos from Google Images