Week 5 Famous Last Words

Good News Everyone!

Professor Hubert Farnsworth from the TV show "Futurama"

found on Hollywood Hates Me

This week was really great because I nailed down my spot in the Journey to Africa-Tanzania study abroad program! My roommate and I are OFFICIALLY going to Tanzania! We are going to live with host families for the first part of the trip and work in local social service agencies while we take two elective courses: Social Welfare Issues in Tanzania (3 hours) and Social Justice Work in Tanzania (3 hours) which is HUGE because I only need 2 courses for my Master's of Social Work-Advanced Standing program that i'm really hoping to get into. We will then get to travel around Tanzania! We will go on a spice tour, a safari, a boat ride into Dar es Salaam, and a visit to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area before coming back to our original location in Arusha for a thank you celebration with the host families and social service agencies! We will also get to learn some Swahili! In case you can't tell, i'm totally stoked! This is such a huge opportunity and it's definitely going to change my life forever. 

If you feel inclined to help me raise the money for my trip, share with someone else who might, or just want to learn more about it, here's my GoFundMe page widget:

I also plan to keep a travel blog where I will update with stories I have been told, things I've learned, experiences I've had, and pictures I've taken. You can check it out here: 

Bria's Journey to Tanzania

The blog is only in its initial stages, but will definitely be updated more and more as I tell more about myself, my pre-departure activities, and eventually my trip!

MOVING ON:

This week was crazy and had many ups and downs, but I feel like i'm in a good place. I have embraced the social work truth that in order to be a good social worker you have to be flexible. So, even though there have been some changes made in my academic life, i'm going to move on and handle them with as much grace and humor as possible. I'm going to look forward to all of the amazing things that are coming up (graduation in May, Tanzania, moving out of this crappy apartment this summer, grad school, and all of the awesome things i'm going to get to do thanks to my mentor Rita) and stay positive. As my dad used to say, "It's all gravy, baby!"

Aren't we just precious! I love my dad!

From my Instagram

Also, check me out on Instagram if you want: @testiclefestival 

(I know my name on there is crazy, just go with it, I promise my Instagram is not raunchy)

Week 5 Essay

Arabian Night Design

found on Wallpapers Wide

This week I chose to read the Arabian Nights reading unit from the un-textbook. I really enjoyed this week's reading! The first half of the unit was so exciting and fun to read! I loved the story of Scheherazade! It was dark and strange, full of vengeance and scheming. I really liked it. That's what I based my storytelling assignment on for this week. I also enjoyed the second half of the unit where I got to read the tale of Aladdin and the magic lamp! I love the Disney movie, Aladdin, and was excited to see what was different between the two. I liked that there were actually TWO genies in the original story of Aladdin! After reading it, I couldn't help but wish another movie would be made, a live-action one that would depict the original tale. How fun would that be?

Anyway, I was particularly interested because most of the original fairy tales that Disney bases their movies off of are far more graphic, dark, strange, and twisted than what we see on the big screen or on our TVs at home. I like the original stories because they were told to teach a lesson and that is why they often included scary themes. They wanted to scare children into acting properly and heeding their warnings. Plus, times were different back then, more brutal. It makes me glad I live in the time that I do, but definitely makes for some interesting reading.

Overall, I thought this reading unit was well put-together and organized. I enjoyed the readings and none of them felt like they were boring or tedious to read. Also, unlike with the Ancient Egypt unit, I didn't feel like there was really any missing information. I didn't need a whole lot of back-story because these stories didn't deal with ancient gods and goddesses from a far-off religion. Instead, it told stories of adventure, magic, and strange love (that whole.. let's kidnap the princess and prince every night and scare the crap out of them until they divorce thing.. yeah, that was really shady).

Bibliography:

1. The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).
2. Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).

Week 5 Storytelling: The Betrayal

The Betrayal 

Once upon a time there was a noble king and an unfaithful queen. The king loved his queen so much that he practically worshiped the ground she walked on. He showered her with gifts and attention. He provided her with anything she ever wanted. They lived happily together for many years, and all seemed well... but the queen had a dirty secret. You see, not long after she married the king, she met a man- a commoner who invoked in her the worst kind of lust. Each night when the king had fallen asleep, she'd sneak off to the chapel where she'd meet her secret lover. They'd run off together, spending the night in the throes of passion before the sun would begin to rise and the queen would have to sneak back into bed where the king snored peacefully.

Each morning the king would awaken to see his beautiful queen resting beside him. He'd smile and stretch before placing a kiss on her forehead and getting up to begin the day's duties. It was a happy life for the king and he counted himself incredibly lucky to have such a stunning and wonderful wife. However, things took a terrible turn one day when the king woke up and his wife was nowhere to be found. He cried out for her, but no answer. He rushed through the halls, calling her name but to no avail. His queen was nowhere to be found! The king checked everywhere before finally ending up at the chapel. It was here that he found his queen, wrapped in a blanket and snuggled up to another man. The king roared in anger, waking the queen and her lover from their slumber. She panicked and tried to explain, but the king was beside himself in rage. He called for the guards. "Take this man and his whore to the dungeon!" He yelled, and the queen and the man were hauled off.

For days the king could not be bothered with kingdom affairs. Stricken with grief and heartbreak, the king spent many days pacing in his room. He tried to figure out what he'd done wrong. How had he not pleased her? What could he have done better? Had he not given her the world, not shown her enough affection? These questions plagued the king, and his hatred and distrust began to grow. It started in his heart, which had been broken into many tiny pieces, swirling around the jagged edges of his once full of love heart and pulling it back together to form a seething mass of anger and deep sadness. This darkness spread out, winding around his veins and running alongside his arteries. It ignited a fire within him, a fire of complete and total hatred for women. After all, the woman he'd loved more than anything in the world had betrayed him and for what? Some peasant!

His heart and mind now fully consumed by the darkness, the king ordered his wife and her lover be executed. They cried and pleaded for mercy, but he showed them none. The fire in his soul burned bright in his eyes as the executioner's sword came swiftly down on their necks. No woman would hurt him like she did ever again. In fact, no woman would hurt any man in his kingdom if he could help it.

Image Information:
King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway with their regalia.
Found on Wikipedia

Author's Note:
My story this week comes from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898). This week I chose to base my story on the tale of Scheherazade from the un-textbook, but unlike the original story I did not focus on the woman who defeats the king. I chose to focus on WHY the king ended up hating women so much that he started marrying and killing them one after another. I wanted to show the heartbreak he felt and the happy man he was before he was betrayed and fell deep into darkness. I wanted to portray the woman as a villainous betrayer to the king because that is really what she was. I felt very little pity for her when I read the original. Sure, execution for adultery is harsh, but so is finding out your wife who you love and cherish is cheating on you with some random guy from the town outside your palace. Anyway, I enjoyed the story of Scheherazade and feel like she is definitely a hero, but wanted to focus on a character whose story is not fully told: the king.

Week 5 Reading Diary B: Arabian Nights

This week I chose to read the Arabian Nights reading unit from the un-textbook. The second half of this reading unit is 6 chapters that all tell the story of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. Story source: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Aladdin Fan Art

by Shelziru, found on Deviant Art

Part 1

• First off, Aladdin is an "idle" (I think this might mean disabled in some way) street rat who is playing with his degenerate friend and causes so much grief for his father that the man dies! He freakin' dies! AND Aladdin doesn't try to change his ways afterward. 
• Aladdin meets an African magician who claims to be his uncle. The man takes Aladdin, buys him fancy clothes and shows him many sights before coming to a narrow valley between two mountains. He made a fire, threw some powder in it, and spoke some incantations  before giving the boy a ring. Under the stone, said the man, there is a treasure of unspeakable power and it is all for Aladdin as long as he does what the man says. His instructions were as follows:

"Go down," said the magician; "at the foot of those steps you will find an open door leading into three large halls. Tuck up your gown and go through them without touching anything, or you will die instantly. These halls lead into a garden of fine fruit trees. Walk on till you come to a niche in a terrace where stands a lighted lamp. Pour out the oil it contains and bring it to me."

•  Just like in the movie, when Aladdin grabs the lamp, the cave starts falling in on itself and the magician tells him to hand over the lamp. Aladdin wouldn't do it until he got out of the cave and the magician disappeared. He hadn't been Aladdin's uncle, he just wanted to get the lamp and all the magical power it possessed before killing Aladdin. 
• Aladdin rubs the lamp and out pops a genie.. I am slave to the ring and you're wish is my command, said the genie.

Part 2

• Aladdin wishes for the genie to get him out of the cave. His wish is granted and he heads home to tell his mom everything that happened. 
• His next wish is for some food and is presented with a glorious feast on 12 silver plates for him and his mother. They sit down and eat while Aladdin tells his mom about the lamp and the genie. She tells him to sell it- that thing's got devil in it for sure. Aladdin obviously refuses and goes on to sell the twelve plates.
• One day, the sultan told everyone to stay inside and draw their blinds so that his daughter may go to and from her bath. Aladdin wanted to see her face so bad that he followed her and when he saw her face, he immediately fell in love. Aladdin went home a changed man and professed his love for the princess to his mom as well as his intention to ask her to marry him- to which his mother replied by bursting into laughter. Finally she agrees to take some magical fruit to the sultan as an offer for the princess's hand in marriage.
• It took 6 days before the sultan called on her, but when she presented her offer he was astounded. The grand-vizir wanted his son to marry the princess so he begged the sultan to give him 3 months so that his son may come up with a better gift in exchange for the princess. The sultan finally agreed to hold off the wedding for 3 months, then the two shall be married. 
• Aladdin waits patiently until he hears that the grand-vizir's son is to marry the princess just as the three months were about up. He asks the genie to bring him the bride and groom; the genie obeys. He told the genie to throw the man out in the cold and laid down next to the terrified princess where he slept soundly for the rest of the night. 
• As per Aladdin's command, at daybreak the genie fetched the groom and put him back in bed before transporting him and the princess back to the palace. 

Part 3

• The two tell their families of what happened but no one believes them, so every night the same thing happens until finally the groom wishes to leave the princess or suffer another night of torture. The two are divorced and when the three months were up, Aladdin's mom returned to the sultan to remind him of his promise. He remembered, but was surprised to learn of how poor Aladdin and his mom were. He didn't want to give his daughter to such poverty so he set so high of a bride price that surely no one would be able to afford it. He told the mother, 

"a Sultan must remember his promises, and I will remember mine, but your son must first send me forty basins of gold brimful of jewels, carried by forty black slaves, led by as many white ones, splendidly dressed. "

• She goes home, head hung because she knows they cannot afford this. Aladdin wasn't shocked and simply wished for all of the things the sultan wanted. They appeared, and were sent off to follow the mother back to the palace. The sultan was pleased and sent for Aladdin.
• Aladdin bathed and asked for all of the things to make him look like a prince. He then mounted his new horse and trotted into the town, having his slaves throw gold along the path he made. The king was impressed and urged him to marry the princess that day. Aladdin refused, saying he first wanted to build a palace fit for the princess. He did so and the two were happily married. This is when the grand-vizir smells something fishy about Aladdin. 

Part 4

• Far off in Africa, the magician from earlier in the story, remembers Aladdin and realizes after hearing his rags-to-riches story that he has been using the power of the genie. One day, while Aladdin is gone, the magician comes to the palace carrying 20 bronze lamps and trying to trade them for the old ones housed there. He gets the magic lamp and heads back to Africa.
• The next day, everything was gone, and finally thinking everything might have been magic, the Sultan sends for Aladdin to be brought to him in chains. He is dragged through the town with a mob of villagers behind him, armed and planning to attack should any harm come to Aladdin. He was brought before the sultan who ordered he be decapitated, but the order was not carried out because Aladdin begged to know what he'd done. The sultan showed the empty place where Aladdin's palace once stood, complete with princess inside. The sultan demanded to know where his daughter was. Aladdin asked for 40 days to find her and was granted it. 
• He was so distraught that he threw himself into the river and in doing so rubbed his magic ring. The ring genie came out and he asked him to save his life. The ring genie replied that he could not and instead took him to his palace which was now in Africa. 

Part 5

• Much like Jafar and Jasmine, the magician made the princess his slave. Aladdin asks her where his lamp went and she told him that the magician carried it with him at all times. Aladdin tells her of his plan. She must seduce the magician and convince him to join her for some wine. Aladdin gave her some powder and instructed her to put it in the magician's cup which she did. The powder was poison and when the magician drank it, he fell back.. dead. 

Part 6

• Aladdin and the princess are reunited, the palace is moved back to China where it's supposed to be, and the Sultan is ecstatic to see the return of his daughter. There was a huge feast held in Aladdin's honor and all seemed well, but it turned out that the evil magician had an even more evil  younger brother. 
• The brother kills a woman named Fatima, takes her clothes, and makes himself up to look like her. Then, he enters the palace under his disguise as a holy woman. He says a prayer of health and prosperity over the princess who asks him to stay forever by her side. He consents, but is careful to keep the veil over his face so as to keep up his charade. She shows him a great hall and he says the only thing missing is a Roc's egg. Aladdin's like, "no problem!" and he retires to his room where he asks the genie to procure a Roc's egg.
• The genie freaks out! "You want me to hang my master up in your hall like a decoration?!" he yells. Then, the genie realizes Aladdin had nothing to do with this request and tells Aladdin of the truth of Fatima.
• Aladdin cleverly tells his people to fetch him Fatima for he has a terrible headache and needs assistance. The magician comes, but as he approaches Aladdin, he is killed by a dagger to the heart. The princess screams and asks hysterically how Aladdin could kill the holy woman, but he reveals the true nature of the magician in disguise and the two lived happily ever after.  

Week 5 Reading Diary A: Arabian Nights

This week I chose to read the Arabian Nights reading unit . I really enjoyed it and chose to comment extensively on my favorite stories from each section of the unit. This week's stories include:

1. Scheherazade
2. The Story of the Parrot; The Story of the Ogress
3. The Story of the Physician's Revenge 

Scheherazade

• Sheherazade is a storyteller who is telling these stories to her husband, the sultan Schahriar, and her sister, Dinarzade.
• The Sultan once had a wife who cheated on him and betrayed him and his faith so she was put to death. He was so shaken that he began to believe that women were evil at their core, all of them. So, he decided there should be less women on the Earth and began a cycle of marrying a new wife each night and having her strangled in front of the Grand-Vizir (who was tasked with finding the new wives), and chaos ensuing among the Sultan's people as his horrific obsession began leaving families without their daughters.
• the Grand-Vizir has 2 daughters: Scheherazade (the most gifted and beautiful) and Dinarzade (the plain one)
• Scheherazade comes to her father and says she wants to stop the Sultan's evil behavior. She suggests he give her to the Sultan as his next bride (to which he flips out, obviously), but refusing to explain her reasoning*. After much emotional toil for the father, he finally consents and tells the Sultan.

*Blogger feels it necessary that this was a little bit... trifling of Sheherazade to do (not tell her father her plan, poor guy was grief-stricken and fearful)

• The Sultan is shocked and asks how he is able to sacrifice his own daughter. The Grand-Vizir tells him that it is her wish and even though they all know he fate that awaits her, she insists. The Sultan reminds the man that he will still have to carry out her death sentence himself or face the punishment. The Grand-Vizir pledges his allegiance to the Sultan and the two part ways. 
• Scheherazade thanks her father before leaving to go get ready for the marriage. She sends for her sister and tells her of her plan: that night she would ask, as her last wish, that the Sultan allow her sister to sleep in the room with them, if he allows it she is to wake Scheherazade up before the sun comes up and ask for her to tell her a story, then she would ask the Sultan to allow her to oblige her sister (which he does), and.. That's where the story ends! Cliff-hanger! 

**Over-Arching Story-line: the daughter takes so long to tell the story that she manages to extend her life each day simply by telling such great tales. Each different story is a tale within a tale and is being told by a new storytelling character in that tale. Also, the character in each tale is in a similar situation to that of Scheherazade; for instance, their lives may also depend on the story they tell. If they tell a good-enough story, then maybe the bad guy in the story will spare their life (much like Scheherazade and the Sultan). Complicated, right?!**

The Story of the Parrot; The Story of the Ogress

This story is in two parts: the story of the parrot, told by Scheherazade, and the story of the ogress, told by the Grand-Vizir of the precious story. 

1. The Story of the Parrot

• There is a good man who loves his wife very much. He bought her a parrot because he didn't want her to have to be alone while he went on a business trip. When he got back from his trip he asked the bird what happened while he was gone and the bird told him some salacious stories about his wife that made him angry. He scorned his wife and she angrily goes on the hunt for who told her husband these things. When she finds out it's the parrot, she plots her revenge. 
• The next time the husband had to leave for the night, the wife and her slaves tricked the bird into thinking there were awful storms all night. So, when the man came home and asked the bird how it went, the bird told him that the thunder and rank were so bad during the night that he couldn't even tell of his suffering. 
• The husband, however, knew that it had not rained or thundered the night before and as convinced the bird was lying to him. He took the bird by the neck and threw it angrily onto the ground, killing it. 
• The king later found out that the bird had in fact not lied and was terribly sorry. 

2. The Story of the Ogress

• There's a king and his son who loved to hunt. One day, while the sun is out hunting, he ends up lost from from the Grand-Vizir and his group and stumbles upon a maiden crying on the side of the road. 
• She tells the prince that she's and Indian princess who is lost and without horse. He offers to take her back to her home and she accepts. She leads him to a set of ruins where it is revealed that she's actually an ogress who plans to feed him to her young! 

• The prince said, "nope" and hopped on his horse. When the ogress saw her prey had escaped she knew it was too late for her to catch him so she asked if she could help him. He was surprised when she told him how to get back to the road, but didn't stick around. He rode home and told the king of what happened. The king, in response to the Grand-Vizir's incompetence and the danger it put his son in, ordered him to be strangled. 

The Physician's Revenge

~The Vizir accuses the physician of being an assassin to the king. The king believes him and sends for the physician with the intent to behead him. The physician arrives and is shocked; he pleads for his life in exchange for the king's, but is bound and positioned for the ax. He begs the king to let him get his affairs in order, including ensuring that his books are given to those who deserve them, including the king. 

~In this book, the physician contends, there are instructions for how to force the severed head of the physician to talk and reveal all to the king after he has been executed. Naturally, the king is intrigued and orders that the physician's execution be postponed and that guards escort the physician to tend to his end-of-life plans. 

~The physician returns to the palace with a book. He tells the king to put the book in the basin after he cuts off his head, the blood will then cease flowing and the head will begin to speak. He is solemn as he tells the king these words, and begs the king one last time to spare his life for he is innocent. The king refuses and the physician's head is cut off. 

~The king opens the book and begins flipping through the sticky pages, licking his fingers between pages, before growing confused. The pages were blank. He kept flipping frantically, licking his fingers to switch the pages, until the poison they'd been dipped in took effect. The head came back to life to shove it in the king's face before both of then died.

Image Information:

1. Trifling, image author unknown, found on The Super B-Beat Show's Blog.
2. Female Man-Eater, Bamela Anderson, posted on the Lead Adventure Forums by user LeadAsbestos