Zeitoun Pg 79-91

This page starts with Kathy waking up and noticing the storm has turned into a category 5 storm and is headed directly towards New Orleans. All of Kathy and Zeitouns clients called them and asked them to board up their windows of the sites they were working on. In Baton Rouge the children played games, watched movies, and talked while the strong winds and storms were going on around them. At home Zeitoun boarded up his own property and got ready for all the leaks that the house would acquire. Just after 11 o'clock the storm arrived and it wasn't that strong at first then the leaks started The next day he pulls a canoe he bought and ties it up thinking he might need it later. A flashback occurs of where he talks about how he tried to get his daughters interested It rained and flooded a lot but the drainage system would take care of that. Kathy tried to get Zeitoun to come to Baton Rouge but insisted that he had to stay there to take care of their belongings. Kathy and her family being followers of Islam do not eat pork and when her children are fed pork for dinner she could easily gotten angry but she realized that if eating pork was the only thing to eat they would have to in these hard conditions. On August 30th Zeitoun wakes up and sits there for a while and realizes there is nothing to do. This is the first time he has has nothing to do in a long while. His thoughts stray and he gets into a mid sleep and has a flashback about his older brother who was a great swimmer but died in a car crash in Egypt. The chapter ends with his hearing water and he awakens
My response on this is that THE HURRICANE IS FINALLY HERE! Not that it is a good thing that happened but it has been anticipated through out the first 80 pages and now that it is here it feels like a lot more is going to be happening. I feel like when they talk about their job and the painting business the reader gets all the stress that they are acquiring. Now that the hurricane is here I feel like you get more stress becasue the reader worries about the whole city of New Orleans as well as the fate of the family of the Zeitouns. I also worry about Zeitoun because he is all alone and his city is going through a huge hurricane. I keep wondering what is going to happen next and I want to keep reading more. This is just of the beginning of the hurricane too more is to come and more destruction is going to arrive all he can do is wait. Also I feel like Kathy is not a strict follower of Islam as Zeitoun is. This is shown because the lets her children and her eat pork. I dont know much about Islam but I guess you are not aloud to eat pork as stated in the book and she could of easily gotten angry that her family fed her this food, but she didn't. This is my response to what I have read so far.

Teenagers, Friends and Bad Decisions

It is interesting to see what the studies showed about teens driving. It is true that teens tend to do stupid things in the car when they are with their friends. From my encounters in being in the car with my friends we tend to speed more and do things in the heat of the moment. This study is quite accurate from my standpoint. Teens do act differently around friends rather than with their parents while driving. Peer pressure is a major factor in that. Dr. Steinberg said that teens tend to do risky things when they know their friends are watching. It is interesting how the brain works and the results of all the research that was taken. Also I find it true that boys do more dangerous things than girls while driving but that's just my point view. The doctor also states even if you have a child who is mature and makes decisions around his or her parent doesn't necessarily mean they do the same around their friends or colleges. This was a very fascinating and remarkable article.

Zeitoun pages 41-78

The early pages discuss how Zeitoun was looking a down to earth wife who wanted a family and it discusses how Kathy and him met. Also how when they first met Kathy thought he was a nice man but was not the right match for her and thought he was too conservative. Also a painting job is discussed in the pages I read. It dealt with a woman who was having guest over and wanted her stairway and guest room painted in five days time. Zeitoun warned her that the timing would be tight and she understood. Later she also wanted her husbands office and daughters bedroom painted. Zeitoun sent more workers to the house and she kept adding jobs and rooms to be painted. On the third day Kathy called Zeitoun in tears and said the woman was upset that the painters werent finished and she said many hurtful things to Kathy. Zeitoun went to the house and told the painters to leave and that they were finished and he told the womans husband that "no one talks to my wife this way and I am leaving the job and good luck" and that was the end of that. Then reality occurs again and the discussion of whether they should leave or stay starts. Kathy insists on leaving but Zeitoun wants to stay because he doesnt think the hurricane will be as serious as they say and he has plenty of work to do. It is stated that Zeitoun has never had more than two days off in a row and then another flashback occurs. It was of how Kathy picked the slowest time of year for business to "kidnap" Zeitoun to Destin, Florida and have a little vacation. Kathy decides to leave with her son Zachary and 3 daughters as well with the dog for Baton Rouge where Kathy was born. Yet again another flashback occurs where it discusses how Kathy converted from Christianity to Islam. She at first just was curious about the religeon and later converted into Islam before she met Zeitoun. I stopped reading where Kathy and her family arrive in Baton Rouge and get settled in and she calls Zeitoun and they both go to sleep.

Things got a little more interesting learning of how Kathy and Zeitoun met and how they got together. Also I found the flashbacks to their past very interesting and fun. When the woman said things to Kathy and Zeitoun got angry and left the job it kind of showed that he cares more about his family rather than the business. He could of easily pushed the situation over and told Kathy it was nothing and finished the job and received his money but that was not the case. To me it before reading that I felt like all Zeitoun cared about was his job and not so much about the family but my perception has changed. Also I am still waiting for this hurricane to arrive. I am getting really anxious and wanting it to happen already. It is arriving soon and so I want to keep on reading so I can find out what happens next. Things have goten way more interesting within the last 20 pages and want to keep reading. Overall this is a great book so far.

Personal Post

The weekend was an okay weekend. I was grounded till Sunday so i could not do anything Friday or Saturday. So on Friday I was stuck at home and so i called my cousin over and watched movies and played video games for the night. On Saturday I decided I would go to work because I had nothing better to do and I did not want to sit at home doing nothing all day. It was okay it was too busy so I didn't really have a lot to do. On Sunday was the SUPERBOWL! Originally I was rooting for the Stealers to win but I realized that they have already won recently so I decided that it was fair for the Packers to win too. I watched the game at my friends house. He had a get together type thing and I watched the game. The commercials were funny but the halftime show sucked I didn't like it at all. In the end the Packers won and it was a great way to end the weekend.

Zeitoun pgs 1-40

This book is about a family during hurricane Katrina. The books starts out with a man named Abdulrahman Zeitoun who is the main character having a past memory of when he lived back in Syria. He and his wife Kathy have three daughters. It later starts with everyone getting ready for the day. Zeitoun which he referred to because his first name is too hard to pronounce owns a painting business with his wife. The first 40 pages in discuss mostly of the painting business and it shows how busy it really is and how stressful it is. Both Zeitoun and Kathy are in a rush throughout the whole day. This is an everyday thing for them. Also they discuss the storm that is coming which is hurricane Katrina. Zeitoun and Kathy do not think much of the storm and they keep doing their regular thing. Also it talks about both their pasts and about Zeitoun's family and background. They are both of the religion Islam and it is mentioned throughout the first 40 or so pages. Zeitoun is from a hardworking background and hard work means a lot to him. He has really good work ethic and that is why he has been so prosperous in his business.
To me this book looks really interesting. Zeitoun is a very hard worker and comes from a different background. To me it seemed kind of weird that Zeitoun's wife Kathy converted to Islam. Also it shows that they are hard workers since all they have been doing for the first 40 pages is working. They do not seemed too worried about the storm that is coming. They seemed more concerned in their work. I wonder whats going to happen next. I wonder if their family is going to be safe. This is definitely a good book so far.

Weekend

Overall the weekend was pretty lame. On Friday I went to my friends house and hung out with some people. Played some Madden and some poker there. Then we went to Scotts's to get some food and we ordered some pizza. On Saturday I watched movies and hung out with my neighbor. I watched a movie called Red and a movie called Takers. Takers is a good movie its got Chris Brown in it...he gets shot and dies though. On Sunday I woke up at like 1, went out to lunch with the family, came home and watched the Lakers game. The Lakers lost. I finished up some homework played some Madden and relaxed the rest of the night.

hole in my life pg 158-199

In these pages Jack is starting to get acquainted with prison life. He witnesses many horrific things in prison. In order to stay away from these horrific things Jack gets a job in the prison hospital as a X-ray tech. He took this job so he could get his own private prison cell. He sends a letter to get his prison sentence shortened but this fails. He also sneaks into a office and looks at his record. The record states in a nut shell that he is a liar. He applies  for college after a while and he gets accepted to a 2 year college. This shortens his prison time and he gets a job and a place to live from one of his fathers friends.

To me jail time was exactly what Jack needed. He now knows what he wants which is to write and he knows what he wants to write about. He finally straightened up his act and got his life on track. He knows what he wants to say. He stays away from the crime and the drugs and pursues his dream of writing. He is doing exactly what he wanted to do in the first place. The crime was just a mistake and a speed bump in him becoming a writer. He finally found himself and found his place in society. Jail helped him become the person he was to become