Below are the 7 most recent journal entries recorded in raul80's LiveJournal:

Tuesday, January 31st, 2006
11:37 am	# 9 1. In your family, how are house hold chores divided between girls and boys? Sometimes my father cooks, as does my brother. My brother and I also clean the house, but usually my mother does all the work. Also, fortunately or unfortunately, we don't have a sister. I would like to have a sister. Are there some tasks that only fathers do? Well, I don't think so, because otherwise the children would help the father with some thing not at all. Are there some tasks that only mothers do? Well, in my case I don't think so. There are three of us sons in the family, and we don't have sister, so we help my mother in everything that he does. 2. In your family, are there certain sports that only girls or only the boys can engage in? I don't think so. My father likes soccer, but my brother and I don't like to play at all. 3. In your family, are girls expected to achieve as well as boys in school? Yes, it is the same in school for a person in my family as it is in other things. For example, I have an aunt who has studied electronic engineering. So it is really the same for both genders. 4. In your family, are there certain careers and professions that only girls can have and others those only boys can have? Not at all. It is the same for both men and women. I think my family doesn't care. My aunt who has studied electronic engineering, which is a very male-dominated field. So I think it is all the same. 5. In your family, can girls date at the same age as boys? Can they go out on dates alone? I don't know because I don't have sisters. As boys, we have some restrictions about with whom and where I go. But you know that guys are so different from ladies. 6. In your family, will parents have the same influence over the selection of the son's marriage partner as they will over the daughter's marriage partner? I don't know. I think so. It is the same with my grandparents. 7. In your family, will the married sons or married daughters be expected to live with their parents? No, I don't think so. If you want to marry I think that means you have achieved a lot already - a house, a good job. Personally, I wouldn't like to be married right now. Maybe someday. 8. In your family, will the sons or daughters be expected to care for sick or elderly parents? Yes. In our culture it is common to take care of our parents. I think this is our responsibility as children to take care of our parents after a certain age. If we don't, who will? 9. In your family, are the opinions of the girls valued as much as the opinions of the boys? Well, I don't have children of my own, but in my family boys and girls are valued in the same way. There is no difference. However, most families do seem to have one child who is the favorite. 10. When you get married and have your own family, will you treat your sons and daughters in the same ways as your parents have treated you? Yes, maybe. I don't know for sure. But you know, I think that fathers are not born; they are made. Being a parent is not easy. It's not easy to be a father. I think it's natural to remember how your parents raised you. You remember your parents ways of talking to you, or the ways you didn't hear their advice. 11. What changes will you make? I don't yet know what changes I will make. But I know one thing: I would like to be a little stricter, and yet be more friendly and open with my kids. I don't believe in hitting or spanking, and I don't like to hear children cry. I want my children to confide in me, to trust me, and I want to play with my kids. I want to take care of my children. At this time, I don't know exactly what I will do, though, because I am not yet a father. I have to think about it some more. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 25th, 2006
11:31 am	CELEBRATING THE NEW YEAR, MEXICAN STYLE: What kinds of things does your family do to prepare for the New Year? My family cooks a lot of things like turkey, salad, and pozole. There are two kinds of pozole and each has a difference in color and taste, but both contain chicken, tomatillo, and jalapenos. I don’t know how to make this food but my brother does. Champurrado is another traditional dish made at New Year's. To prepare it, It you need corn meal, a sauce pan, sugar and milk. You put the sauce pan on the stove and add the corn meal and some sugar. When you see that the corn meal is toasted, and has changed color to brown, you then add the milk or whatever you want. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 24th, 2006
10:05 am	zodiac # 7 My Chinese zodiac sign is the monkey. I think all the information I read today about this sign is true. I am very strong, and I do have a lot of energy for doing many different kinds of things. I also like coming up with new ideas, and sometimes I want to learn them too quickly. I am also very ambitious; I like to move up quickly in my work. I also like money I want more and more! I am also very adaptable and flexible with the people around me. I'm good at designing things. I have a management position in my work, and I think I have a good way of talking with each person. I also looked at the sign of the dog, and saw that this year is a Dog year. It says you need to be calm because the monkey is very curious. It also says you need to be honest and everything will be fine. (Comment on this)
Friday, January 20th, 2006
11:57 am	# 6 In the article on Afghanistan, I found the following customs to be quite familiar to me, as they are the same in my country: One should not allow the remains of a corpse to be eaten by birds or animals: It is part of the religion that the body not to be eaten by any kind of rodent, because otherwise, the spirit cannot go to God. Do not display sexually explicit pictures: this is not acceptable in our culture, or really in any culture, I think. This is really disrespectful. When we see someone in pornography, or looking at it, we think that this person only thinks about sex. Identify, show respect to and communicate with elders. Work with elders to accomplish your mission: In Mexico, we always speak respectfully to older people. We also speak the same way to people who are the same age, if they are colleagues or work mates. Now, I want to say what customs I found to be very very different from the culture I grew up in. Do not drink alcoholic beverages in front of Afghans/Muslims. General order No. 1 prohibits alcohol: Most people drink in the U.S. as well as in Mexico. Social drinking is part of our culture. I think if I can't drink, I don't want to go to Afghanistan! A non-Muslim must not perform the burial rites for a dead Muslim: I think this is not so common in Mexican culture. I guess if there is a funeral, I don't care if a person is from another religion. And if you know the person who died, you need to pray because at that moment he is with God. This works, I think. Do not stare at women, touch them or try to shake a woman's hand (unless she extends her hand first). To me this seems strange. I don't like this form of thinking because if you like a girl you don't know, how else do you get her attention? How else are you going to meet her or get to know more about her life, if you can't make contact? (Comment on this)
11:52 am	# 5 1;The first thing that is so different for me are the customs. The first time I came to this country, I felt strange with other people. I thought some people would speak Spanish. But this was not really true. Some people don't like to speak Spanish, even if they know how to speak it. Also, I think they feel embarrassed to speak Spanish here. Another difference is that, in Mexican schools, students wear uniforms, especially in the high schools. They have to use shoes that look nice; no tennis shoes for male students. Male students are not allowed to wear earrings in school. The United States is so different; boys can wear earrings in school, or wherever they want, for that matter. When I came here, I felt very confused about this different style of dress, because for me, it is not OK. Finally, I think that in my country, families are closer. They are more united. Mexicans in general don't leave their families to live by themselves. This is because in Mexico, the pay scale is so low, a person can't usually afford to live alone. Also, getting a credit card is next to impossible; salaries are so low that people cannot qualify for credit. You need a very good job in order to get a credit card. 2. What expectations or stereotypes about Americans did you have? Before you came to this country that turned out to be true? Which ones turned out to be false? I had always heard that Americans need to have credit cards to pay their bills each month. Also, it seems like in this country, the pastime of most people is spending money they don't have in their pockets. This means they need to work all the time to pay their bills. But in Mexico, it is so different. This "shopping hobby" is rare. In my country it is more typical for people to spend time talking with the family, to go on picnics, etc. Also, I find it very strange to buy things on credit, in other words, to pay each month and have interest. (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 12th, 2006
12:25 pm	#3 poem for Claudia Bernardi, an Argentine Artist It is so different to learn another language; not only because you will have to learn another way to speak, but also because you add another culture to your own. It is also very difficult translating from Spanish to another language, as I never seem to get the same words or answers as in the first language. Also, when you someone tells a joke in English, I probably won't be able laugh as I don't understand the humor. (Comment on this)
11:59 am	#2: the resolution about making a new friend that has a different religion or spiritual belief The resolution about making a new friend that has a different religion or spiritual belief: It is so important to talk with other people an explore the traditions and customs we all have in our religions and beliefs. It is not important if we are of different races or religions. We are the same inside. All have red blood. Maybe our feelings are not always the same, but we all have feelings. We all need each other and to grow spiritually because it is very important (Comment on this)