Famous Last Words: Week 9

This week went pretty well! It has been one of the best weeks I have had in college just because of the good times I had with friends and the easier workload that I had. Also, I got to miss classes all day on Thursday (an actual viable excuse) because I had a job interview in Houston, Texas. It was an incredible experience and I am so thankful that I was chosen as a candidate whether I get the position or not in the end.

When I was in Houston, I was able to meet up with some of my older sister's friends who live in the area who were nice enough to take me out to dinner for the evening. We got to catch up and share stories and it was exactly what I needed to settle some of my pre-interview nerves!

I was also thrilled because I was able to attend the Texas Tech (homecoming) game this week, which is the one game I have wanted to go to all year! I did not think I was going to be able to go originally because of my job interview in Houston, so I sold my ticket. Right after I promised my ticket to someone, I found out that I actually could go. So after some scrambling, I got a ticket from a friend (for free!) and I was able to go to the game!

Now, I am having to play catch up since I basically took a break from school from now until Thursday. I am rushing to finish all of the extra credit assignments for Indian Epics and I am hoping to finish it all tonight, so I will not have a hard time completing them before the deadline tomorrow at noon! Sorry Laura! I will be so much better next week about finishing my work on time!

(Personal photo from my trip to Houston this weekend)

Week 9 Review

My favorite thing from the announcements this week was the European Word Translator link. It was really cool to find out about a tool that can be so interesting and useful!

(Image Source: Laura Gibbs' Course Announcements)

Sunday, October 25 Announcements

Reading Feedback

I chose this week's reading simply because it was well planned out and I simply had to go and find the comic books to read. I did not understand that each comic book was meant to count as one reading diary post, though, so I ended up posting three in my first reading diary post of the week and it ended up counting for the next few times as well! This was an unexpected blessing! I thought that the comic books were simple and easy to understand and the reading guide was very effective in helping the reader to further understand the stories about the Indian deities.

(Image Source: Pinterest- Bizzell Memorial Library)

Tech Tip: Editing Pins

The pins that I edited were just for fun, although I also have a Pinterest board specifically for this class. I edited my food board on Pinterest for this week's technology tip and it is called "I'm hungry and that looks good." I collect these food pins for fun for future recipe ideas and for meals to have with friends and family!

(Screenshot from my Pinterest account)

Pinterest: Edited Link

Reading Diary A: Amar Chitra Katha (Deva/Devi)

Deva- Sanksrit for goddess
Devi- Sanskrit for god

For this week, I focused on the gods Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva. I chose these stories to highlight because they all had something that mentioned the mountains in them. I thought maybe I could tie these in to my storybook somehow since it involves the Himalayas.

The Churning of the Ocean:
-Durvasa- a sage
-Durvasa receives a "fragrant garland"?
-Gives the garland to Indra, Airavata flings it to the ground
-Durvasa is furious and curses Indra, forcing the gods to become weak
-the asuras defeat the gods in battle
-Vishnu seeks peace with the other gods and they want to churn the Ocean of Milk in order to make peace with the asuras
-They use Mount Mandara as the churning rod and Vasuki as the churning rope
-Halahala (poisonous) emerges from the ocean, Shiva drinks it up and his throat turns blue
-Lots of creatures emerge, but Shira finally appears and makes peace among the gods and the asuras
-Shri chooses Vishnu as her consort
-Dhanvantari emerges and is carrying the nectar
-Vishnu takes the form of a woman (Mohini) and the asuras want her to distribute the nectar
-It is a trick and a great battle breaks out
-The gods defeat the asuras and return to their home

(Image Source: Amazon)

Parashurama: Sixth Incarnation of Vishnu
-Bhrigu has a son named Richika
-Richika is getting married to Satyavati
-Bhrigu wants to encourage heirs in their line, so he gives Satyavati sacred rice in order to produce sons
-The rice somehow gets mixed up and so does the lineage
-Jamagdani, Satyavati's son, has a son named Parashurama, who lives lives as a brahmin even though he was born into a different caste
-He is an incarnation of the god Vushnu and he advocates for justice
-He fights warriors such as Kartavirya Arjuna who enjoys making the world a miserable place
-He is a very obedient son (willing to kill his own mother on his father's behalf)
-Mother Earth begs Parashuma to stop fighting, so he gives all of his weapons to the god Drona and gives all of his wealth to the other brahmins
-He moves to the mountains to live the life of a hermit

(Image Source: Amazon)

Prahlad: A Tale of Devotion from the Bhagawat Purana
-Visnu is incarnated as a man-lion named Narasimha
-Hiranyakashipu's son is Prahlad
-Prahlad is extremely devoted to Vishnu despite Vishnu being responsible for killing Hiranyakashipu's brother
-Prahlad is sentenced to death by his father because his father sees his devotion to Vishnu as betrayal
-Vishnu takes the form of Narasimha in order to defeat Hiranyakashipu, the king of the asuras

(Image Source: Amazon)

Amar Chitra Katha

Week 8 Review

(Image Source)

This was my favorite thing from the week's announcements because it made me laugh! I do not often think of the differences between the spellings of the same words and how they can mean such different things!

Saturday October 17 Announcements

Famous Last Words: Week 8

This week was a lot easier for Indian epics because it was a review week and we did not have any reading involved. True, there was some research for reading plans for the future, but it did not take as much time as the reading normally would. This was very nice for me because I had the busiest week that I have had since college. I had three midterms in other classes and I was struggling to see how I was also going to finish my work for Indian Epics. When I saw it was the review, I was relieved. Writing the reflections came very naturally to me and I did not find it difficult in the least to explain what I thought about the class in the past or what I was thinking about the class for the future.

This all being said, this week was very stressful. My midterms were difficult, but I got through them. I need to catch up on sleep this week so I can be well-rested for a very important job interview that I have on Friday. That was my favorite part about the week. I got an email saying that I advance to the second round of the interview process with a company I really admire and would like to work for in the future. I am flying to Houston at the end of the week for the interview and I am so excited! I actually feel like a grown up, being able to fly out of town for a business meeting while I am still only twenty years old.

Another part about my week is that I got to go to a fall retreat this weekend for my sorority and it was so fun! I really enjoyed myself and my time there and I feel refreshed. I am also very tired at the same time though because I shared a giant room to sleep in with all of the girls in my sorority (over 200 girls). It was so fun though and I cannot wait to see what this week brings!

(Personal photo: Sigma Phi Lambda-Sisters for the Lord)