Post 2

I just started reading the Kite Runner. The first two chapters talk about the close friendship between Amir and Hassan. They both grew up together, Hassan’s father worked for Amir’s dad. The two boys were about the same age and when Hassan’s mother left Amir’s mom started to help care for him. Hassan’s father Ali always told the boys that because they’d grown up so close to each other that they had a special bond that could never be broken. Amir is like an older brother to Hassan. Hassan never gets him in trouble and really looks up to him, his first word was Amir. I really like this book because it talks about some of the issues in the middle east. Ali is crippled, looks funny, and is Shi’a. That’s why he works for Amir’s father. Often times when Ali goes out the neighborhood kids make fun of him. They laugh at how he walks and call him Bubalu which means Boogeyman. They say things to him like “Hey, Bubalu, who did you eat today? Who did you eat, you flat-nosed Bubalu?” Ali never says anything back, he always ignores them. Part of his face is paralyzed so you can’t tell his emotions by his face, except for his eyes. Ali’s wife thought that he was ugly and couldn’t stand to look at him. Their marriage was arranged and 5 days after Hassan was born she left.

Post 1

Magazine: Snowboard- Products, Places, and Personalities
Article: Back to the Basics
Author: Stan Evans
Pages 80-87

“I rolled back to the spot and jokingly asked the girls if they’d be into it. Out of the back of the pack, the most unlikely voice chimed in. “I think I’d like to give it a shot,” Jamie said.

I think that this is a pretty significant quote in the article. The article was about instead of going on a big snowboard trip to some place that few people have been they were going to ride in the backcountry close to home and keep things simple. The trip was to prove that “sometimes the best possibilities are in your own backyard.” The group consisted of mainly pipe and park riders, Hana Beaman, Gretchen Bleiler, Jamie Anderson, Priscilla Levac, and author/ photographer Stan Evans. The only rider with notable backcountry experience was Hana, and of course she’s a girl and girls just don’t ride backcountry. The most inexperienced rider there was Jamie. She’s small, young, rides park, and is still in high school. Through out most of the trip she was tentative about trying stuff. Then all of a sudden she steps up and decides she wants to hit a giant road gap nobody else on the trip would. Stan Evans who jokingly brought up the idea was shocked; he always thought that he’d be shooting guys jumping the gap. Jamie ended up hitting the jump 6 times. She really stepped up her riding and proved that some of the best possibilities really are in your own backyard.