In this assignment Blog #6, we are practicing the counterfactual of my previous memoir in assignment #5, a little brief about it, my first-time doing hand gliding in Rio do Janeiro; how much fun and excitement I had. Counterfactual of this story will be “what if” it’s the mental simulation, most of us after a remarkable moment in our lives think the alternate ending of it. Which in this memoir I had a fast thought about it, without sounding so negative I want you to enjoy this version, life can change in a second. Remember this counterfactual thinking is not always constructive. We also had to watch two scene of the movie Kramer vs Kramer – the link will be below. If you are interesting on creating your own memoir with a counterfactual version, you must read the links below for a better guide.
February 14th, 2013. We finally landed in the beautiful city of Rio do Janeiro time nine am. I was the most excited person in the whole entire world. I checked in the Sao Conrado Hotel, went upstairs in my room, got changed, I had two bedroom room, in one bed I have my carry-on opened and my uniform placed like ready to use. I picked up the phone, called the agency for hand Gliding. “Hello, this is Lulu from Sao Conrado Hotel, I just wanted to confirm my pick up time at 11:00am” I said “Yes, you will be picked up by the instructor and the his assistant, be right outside in the entrance, please be on time they wont wait for you”. The person said. I went right downstairs to take some pictures outside the hotel with my Samsung. But Before I text my sister I was going on my way to the mountain to do this and I added “Happy Valentines day” “Love you”. “You are so crazy, please do not go. It scares me. Why you didn’t way till I come with you” Here is my ride. I am so excited in the back seat. My coworker who was going to go with me, couldn’t make it, she was so tired from the flight. The radio was talking in Portuguese as well as the instructor and his assistant. They were asking me questions about Panama and my job. We parked and walked through a trail, there were a lot of other people walking to the wood runway getting ready to do this. My heart was racing, my ears were red and hot. I felt like I couldn’t even walk right because how nervous I was. The instructor training was pretty much to run on way with him. He just wanted to make sure I know to run because if both of us do not run as the same speed we can fall into the trees. The instructor looked at me, “Why are you that nervous? This is nothing just run and You will enjoy the experience” he asked. “Oh no, I am not that nervous. I am ready for it” I replied Everything is set, we have our equipment on, the delta is ready set up. We are on the ramp, just waiting for the “GO” to run. The breeze was getting stronger in our faces, you can hear the birds singing, the trees leaves were falling as the breeze moves. Suddenly, all I heard was the word Go and I couldn’t move my legs. The instructor was running by himself and I was practically a bag of rocks for him, all I see is his worry and angry face at me. I had no idea what's happening, I heard people screaming behind us “run” “ come on” “what's wrong with her”. All I remember its big slap in my face, me closing my eyes, dropping my neck over the instructor and felt like disconnecting from the world. I woke up again in an ambulance with a paramedic over me: “What's your name? What's your date of birth? I just could look at him, I can taste the blood in my mouth, a really bad headache and stomach pain, like if someone cut me with a knife. A day later I was told the whole story, It was really bad that I didn’t run. We fell over a tree, A got a branch stock in my belly. And all my face were scratch from the leaves of the tree. I hit my head in the ground. The instructor tried his best to safe me from this but he couldn’t. He just got his left arm broken. I left an incomplete crew, an international flight cancelled with 160 passengers. A high bill from the hospital and be in Rio do Janeiro till I heal. My mom was in her way from Panama to take care of me. All I can learned from this its accidents happens and Panic attacks exists when you are not expecting them.
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On Blog assignment #5, I am writing my first memoir, it was as hard as buying my first car. I have so many stories in my life that I would like to write about, but I picked this memoir because every time I think about it, I can fly like a bird, I feel the wind of freedom and adventure. We must read a list of articules the professor provided us to perfect our skill as a memoir writer. The documents are helpful and interesting. A memoir takes time and dedication to put everything together with creativity and imagination. One of the documents I found the most accurate for this type of writing were from My Name is Margaret (Maya Angelou) and Hills Like White Elephants . If you have the time, please click on the links and enrich your writer knowledge. Below, you will have access to good articles about memoir, creativity and making scenes.
Blue as the ocean and the sky that are my favorites places in the world, blue as the blueberries I am allergic to, blue as one of my favorite color and blue as the prince that every girl dream to marry. I remember being a little innocent, beautiful and energetic girl, I was probably six or seven years old, I used to watch the Soccer World Cup with my cousins and my uncle in the afternoon after school. My favorite team was always Brazil, since them I liked everything about this country, their culture, their music, language, tv shows and the most important their touristic places. I grow up thinking about that day that my dream comes true and I was able to travel non-stop all around the world. Since them I knew Panama was the runway of my plane to go everywhere, I go like a blue bird. June 2012, the day I become a flight attendant of Copa Airlines. An airline that flights to sixty-nine destinations, Rio do Janeiro was one of them. I was not the lucky one who got it in the first itinerary. I had to wait around six months to be able to go. When I first saw the GIG (Aviation code for Rio do Janeiro) on my itinerary, I was jumping and yelling around my mom. “Mom, Mom, you are not going to believe me” I said. My mom with a happy and scared face “what’s happening” “do not scared me like this” she replies “Mom I got Rio do Janeiro in my itinerary next month” My happiness was like when a baby sees a bottle around his eating time. I still remember me packing that carry-on. All I wanted it was to land and run out in the streets to speak Portuguese, eat in the favela, put my bikini and go to Ipanema or Copacabana, drink a skol and eat fish by the beach. But, the most important for me it was to do hang gliding, taking off from the mountains and landing in the beach. “Welcome to Rio do Janeiro, local time its nine am, please remind seated with your seatbelt fastened until the captain turn off the seat belt sign…” I was saying the announcement after eight hours flight and being up all night. The adrenaline in my body was unexplainable. I still remember our bus driver, a guy in his 60s with the friendliest personality and that energy to talk to the crew. I was the only one talking to him because the rest of the crew was dead sleeping since it was not their first time there and they were working all night in the flight. As soon as we left the airport started the beautiful landscape that my eyes appreciated. The amazing combination of city, mountains and the ocean all together in one scene was the perfect natural eye drops for my dry eyes. My heart was pounding, my stomach had butterflies, my hands were sweating, and my uniform was too much clothes on in such a tropical weather. The first thing I did when I got out of the shuttle, was walked straight to the lobby and asked about the hand gilding company. They gave their number to call and make the reservation. I went up to twelve floors, took my uniform off put my bikini on and dialed that number. “Hello this is Lulu, Sao Conrado Hotel guest. I would like to know information about the hand gliding” I said “The bus just left, all the reservations for today are booked” the girl said with an informative voice. All I wanted it was to cry… I was shocked but at the same time I was curious to go around the city and do other things but with that feeling that I do not know if I will be able to come back soon. I took a detailed information about their services for my next trip. Months later, came the flight to my itinerary again. I was not excited. I feared trying again. Here it comes, it was February 14th, 2013 when I took that bus up to the mountain with one of my coworkers. Her name is Yuri, we did three months training together and she knew how badly I wanted to do this. She was so scared of my doing this on a work flight where I can injury and not be covered by the airline insurance. She told me and I was careless. “I could die there; tell my mom and sister I was excited” I said. Before I left the hotel, I texted my sister what I was going to do just in case something happened to me. All she wanted it was to murder me, she could not keep working concentrate in Panama for the rest of the day. My coworker Yuri asked so many times in the way to the mountain if I was thinking what I was doing. All I had in my face was a big smile saying “yes, of course, I have been waiting for this”. Car parked, we walked towards the instructor for a class to practice. The class was literally a run from point A to point B. When I saw that I was scared but I was too late to say no. Yuri had the scariest face I ever seeing her.
The wind was strong, you can hear the leaves trees moving right to left. The bird singing, people talking in the back, my heart was so fast, and my legs were like ice cubes. My face and ears were so hot. My voice was breakable, and I had nothing to think about than I must run if not we fall over the trees that’s all I remember the instructor said to me when we practiced the run. the set up the equipment on me, I look funny, with a white helmet and a weird heavy outfit. I looked like that cartoon I used to watch when I was little “Atom Ant”. We got into the ramp, which was pretty much all in the air and attached to the mountain by two little metal rails. We were waiting for a fabric flag to be moved by the wind. That was the signal for them to know if the wind was enough strong to lift us up in the air. Five – four – three- two – one, all I remember its me running like crazy and being speechless. I blinked and I was flying like a bird, it was amazing. There is no word to describe the feeling of freedom in the nature. I wanted to cry of happiness. Seeing the whole mountain and ocean under me. Feeling the breeze and the heat of the sun on my skin, my legs were tied back for a couple minutes then the instructor released them, and I felt like I was falling off the Delta. It had a go pro attached to it and all I was doing its smiling at it for the best pictures. In the landing part, all I heard the instructor saying was “make sure you run when we hit the sand because you can brake your legs if you don’t” that command scared me again, took me out of my bird experience. Everything turned out successful. It’s a beautiful experience. I would like to do it again. When I landed Yuri was there so excited waiting for me. She hugged and said I was so crazy. I run to the hotel and text my sister in Panama that I was fine. Thanks for reading all the way here!! ...My Blog#4 is really creative, I was assigned to read three texts you will see below, where I have to pick three quotes from each author Don Murray, Mary Karr and Anne Lamott. It found this assignment really challenging , because you need to have attention and creativity to put it in a make up story where you meet them and have a conversation. I hope you enjoy my story. Here you can refer to links below:
At the same time, she was in the plane galley unwrapping all the onboard food to be ready once the plane takes off and reach the safe altitude for services. Suddenly she said so happy to her boss Elba that was next to her: Anna: Guess who are coming in this flight? I am so excited. Elba her boss reply, Who? Anna: She said three writers I follow on Facebook and I read their books . You probably know who they are. Don Murray, Mary Karr and Anne Lamott I cannot wait to meet them, I have so many questions to ask. I hope they are friendly. They came to the airplane door and she greeted them with a big smile, walked them to their seats and she started taking Mary Karr order. Anna: I am so excited to meet you, I am so glad to have you as one of my passenger in this flight, I am writing my first book about my current job as flight attendant. Mary Karr with a surprised and interested face looked at Don Murray and Anne Lamott and said, We have our hands full on this flight! Oddly enough all of the authors were sitting together on the flight. Realizing this once in a lifetime opportunity sat across from them to pick there brains, against her bosses wishes. Starting with Mary Karr, Anna: asked the main question that was on her mind since recently trying to write her own book, I am such a fan of your work and I have recently started to try and write my own book and I was wondering about your writing process. "writter have their brain connected to their hands" Mary Karr: looked at her and smiled, "I have been writing for a very long time and have come up with rules to my writing process. The first rule is, Writing is painful—it’s “fun” only for novices, the very young, and hacks." Anna: acknowledged that she loved writing but was not the greatest at it, which made sense because she was a novice, "I always had believe in sitting fifteen minutes everyday to write about whatever is on my mine". Mary: That's wonderful. "This brings me to my 2nd rule I have learned in life, other than a few instances of luck, good work only comes through revision". Anna: how did you become so wise in not only in your process, but your actual writing because it is so descriptive and makes me feel as I am in the book when I read them. Mary said, "This brings me to my final rule, the best revisers often have reading habits that stretch back before the current age, which lends them a sense of history and raises their standards for quality." She advised the flight attendant to read all the old classics from Moby Dick to Shakespeare. Explaining the benefits of packing your mind with as much literary resources as possible. Don Murray: who was sitting in between Mary Karr and Anne Lamont, was smiling the whole time. He finally interrupts and mentions the similarities in his writing process and mentioned how he believes in a 3 system writing process, "The writing process itself can be divided into three stages: prewriting, writing, and rewriting. The amount of time a writer spends in each stage depends on his personality, his work habits, his maturity as a craftsman, and the challenge of what he is trying to say. It is not a rigid lock-step process, but most writers most of the time pass through these three stages". It struct the flight attendant how these amazing authors had these rules of writing and asked him to continue to explain what prewriting was. Anna reply: "I realized everything in writting is a process, dedication and also getting techniques from experts". I am wondering if was it stretching before sitting down to write? Was it having a big cup of coffee next to you as you start to write? Don Murray: I consider, "Prewriting is everything that takes place before the first draft. Prewriting usually takes about 85 percent of the writer’s time. It includes the awareness of his world from which his subject is born. In prewriting, the writer focuses on that subject, spots an audience, chooses a form which may carry his subject to his audience. Prewriting may include research and daydreaming, note-making and outlining, title-writing and lead-writing." Anna understood the 2nd stage, the writing stage, but asked about the rewriting stage. Don Murray: "Rewriting is reconsideration of subject, form, and audience. It is researching, rethinking, redesigning, rewriting—and finally, line by-line editing, the demanding, satisfying process of making each word right. It may take many times the hours required for a first draft, perhaps the remaining 14 percent of the time the writer spends on the project." Anna began to see a common theme in rewriting and editing in both the great authors rules of writing. She asked Anne Lamont, who was seated at the window seat, if she believed in rewriting and revising her writings. Anne Lamont: "For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.", she very bluntly stated. Anna: that's why I was having a hard time writing my book, because every time I would go to sit down and write I would try and make it perfect instead of going back and editing. "Being a writter is not just inspirations and ideas." Anne Lamont then explained, "The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later." The flight attendant explained how she was writing her book and that she was tying to make every sentence perfect so she would not need to go back and rewrite anything. Anne Lamont: quickly and loudly stated, "Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft." The flight attendant suddenly saw her boss walking towards her, she looked at all of them with a tanksful face for all the help and knowledge. Her boss Elba asked her what she was doing. Don Murray mentioned that she was just helping them with a seatbelt issue, as he winked at Anna. He did not want to get her in trouble. The 3 authors both wished the flight attendant good luck in her writing journey as she quickly went back to work. |
Lourdes Seaver
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