Improve Family's life

Geralda Gjergjaj

Composition#9 draft#2

Dec 6, 2009

Dear Mr. Mayor

Recently I read in the news paper that you want to improve the family’s life who has small children. I know that you have two options and you have to choose the one that it’s going to improve the family life better. I believe that a free day care would be a terrific idea because small children need to be in good and safe hands. If you decide to afford free day care you will help families to save some money, you will give a chance to new teachers begging working, and you will increase the education.

One of the biggest problems and especially in the United States is small children because parents need to work and they can’t because of their children. Many parents are unable to work because they have to take care of their children, while they are little. This means that only one member of the family works (father or mother) and if they have many children it is difficult to handle it. A day care can help parents a lot because parents are going to send their children there and to save nine hours of work. By saving nine hours of work I mean that both of the parents can work and have more money on their saving account. Parents can relax their selves sometimes and some other important activities like going to bank, or shopping while their children are in day care. I believe that is going to help a lot the poor families because they really need help, and actually the poor families have more kids than they are supposed to have. New York city Is the city with the biggest population so I believe that day cares are so important and not only for the poor people but also for rich people.

Dear Mr. Mayor don’t you think that many people with diplomas from college they don’t have a job because of the bad economy? The biggest problem in the whole world is the economy. Thousands of people their graduate from college but they didn’t find a job about their major. They working in another jobs and this is unfair because they were studying from years and after their graduation they couldn’t found a job. In the day cares you can hire many teachers who can help the kids, they can watch them, play with them and do many activities with them. Day care is nine hours so of course you have to hire many people to work in the kitchen and many cleaners. Kids are going to stay long time in the day care so they have to eat over there. Automatically they need some cookers and some people to help in the kitchen. Also in a day care need to hire people to clean because of many illness and jams. Especially little kids need more protection from adults or teens. The cleaners have to clean almost twice per day because is more healthy for little kids. Day cares can provide many and different kind of jobs.

My last reason that I believe a day care can be a great opportunity for many people is that kids are going to grow up with manners. Is the best age to start building the personality of a child when the child is little, you can learn your kid by playing with him, and of course that the family is have to give good manners to their kids, but also teachers can learn kids what is good and what is not. Children can learn for a young age how to speak politely, and how to act. I believe that if you decide to the free day care many of those children can succeed in their lives, many of them can be good personalities and not spoiled or rude. It is better to give your kid some good manners and to learn him how to act with the people and the best age is when the kid is little because they can catch the meaning of the life fast, and of course when they are young they have a weak personality so you can help a kid build his/him personality with strong thoughts.

It is a great idea to improve the family’s life by offering free day care. It will increase the education, jobs, and of course some families can save some money for the future of their children. Some families need this kind of help because they don’t have enough money and they can’t work because they don’t have where to leave their children. A baby sitter is a good idea but some people don’t trust them and some people don’t have enough money to pay them.

Thank you for reading my paper

Sincerely ,

Geralda Gjergjaj

Album review

Geralda Gjergjaj

Composition#8 Draft#3

Dec 5, 2009

Under My Skin

By Geralda Gjergjaj

Avril Lavigne is a girl who was born on September 27, 1984 in Canada. Avril moved in Manhattan at 16 and she dropped out from high school because she secured a record deal. At age 18 she released her first album titled “Let Go” and inside the album she had a song named “Complicated” witch went six times platinum. Avril Lavigne is a pop-punk-rock singer and almost all of her songs are happy with a nice beat. My favorite album from Avril Lavigne is “Under My Skin” and she released this album on June 19, 2007. Under My Skin has 12 songs and she has some hard rock songs and three or four songs are rock ballads. I like this album because she released before getting too famous and she still had the rock style. I love three songs from this album because each of the songs has a meaning for me.

First song that I love is “Nobody’s Home”. This song has e great rhythm and I love the meaning a lot. I don’t know why she wrote this song. Even though I search it on internet I couldn’t find why she sung it. My thoughts about this song are that Avril is telling us a story about a girl who is very lost and confused about her life. In the chorus she has a sentence that I think there is the whole point of song” Open your eyes and look outside, find the reasons why. You’ve been rejected. All of us we have some hard times and we feel like nobody can understand us, or we feel alone in the whole word. I like the song because when I was younger sometimes I felt like the girl in this song. I believe that this girl had a really hard time, and I believe that it’s not about and I’m glad that is not for a boy, because many young girls are like disappointed or in a deep sadness because of a boy. When you are young you can’t think very clearly. I believe that this girl have some problems with her family because in the song says that she doesn’t have a place to go and that she is rejected.

The second song is “Take Me away”. This song starts with a piano and develops into a rock song. The rhythm of the song is great and is 100% real rock music and Avril in this song did great vocals. I think these are the best vocals that she ever did in any of the others songs. This song is really “strong” song. This song reminds me of the first song, “Nobody’s Home”, because both of the songs have almost the same meaning. The song talks about confusion, pain, and that she feel a pain. Actually I don’t really love the lyrics so much, but the voice of the singer is really good and I like that Avril handle her voice very well. I like to listen to this song when I’m mad because it is so powerful that it makes your feelings come out. I don’t know why, but in my mind I have a gothic situation. It is hard to explain it, but in my mind I have a picture of angels and dragons fight each other. Sounds craze, but I don’t know why I have this picture in my mind.

The third song that I really love, and is one of my favorites songs ever, is the song “Slipped Away”. This song I written by Avril and she wrote it for her grandfather who died while Avril was touring all over the world. She couldn’t even say goodbye to him because she was miles away. This song doesn’t have an official video clip but when she did a tour, she sung this song in front of her fans. She sung this song with only a guitar and in the middle of the song she started crying, and you can hear that her voice starts getting wobbley because of her depression. When you hear this song, you want to cry because it is really sad. I lost my grandfather too, but I was little so I didn’t understand much. This song touch me because when I moved from Greece to the United States I thought that I never would be the same person as I was and that everything from my life die by the time I was coming here. difficult situation, but is better when someone moves away in another country from dying. When is far way you know that someday you are going to see this person again or you know that he is alive, but you know that this person is dead you know that you are never going to have e chance to see him/her again. The video that she is singing this song is really good because you can see her feeling. And I believe that a singer has to show the feelings of the song. I believe that this song is a song with many strong feelings and actually is you lost someone like a father, mother friend, if you listen to this song you are going to cry immediately. I have never lost someone because of death (except my grandfather), but when I listen to this song I want to cry.

I can rate this album with three stars because I like only the three songs, and not all of them. The music is really great and besides these three songs Avril has some other songs that are fairly good. I don’t like the whole album because I believe that some songs are not good enough (my opinion) but these three songs are great, especially the one which she wrote about her grandfather. I would recommend this album to the people who want to cry about someone who they have lost. I don’t recommend this album to the people who listen to hip-hop or heavy metal music because it is kind of slow, and it’s not the kind of the music that they like. However I sincerely believe that the song “Slipped away” can make a person cry even if this person listens to other kind of music. Well it’s not necessary to cry but the words they really can touch somebody. It’s not my favorite album but it is a pretty good album.

Singles(the movie)

Geralda Gjergjaj

Composition #7, draft#3

Dec 5, 2009

SINGLES

Singles is a Romantic-Comedy movie, released in September 1992 in the United States, and was written by Cameron Crowe. The film follows a group of friends who live in the same apartment building and hang out at the same coffee shop. The central couple is Steve Dunne and Linda Powell. In this movie we have also some other important characters like one crazy boy that he thinks he is the best musician, one girl that she loves the musician guy, a crazy situation. This movie is based on the relationships of the people and how different characters can be friends or couples. My favorite quote from the movie is, “Have fun stay single”.

Linda is the female protagonist of the movie and she works in an environmental office. Her best friend’s name is Ruth and they like going dancing together. Linda and Ruth work together in the same office. One day Linda met a guy named Luis, who helped her on the road because her car was broken. Linda liked Luis a lot and she thought that she was in love with him. Luis was student in the United States, but he was from Spain. He said to Linda that his visa runs out in two days, so he had to leave the United States. When Luis went to Linda’s house to say goodbye, he gave Linda a ring as a promise which meant that he would come back. Linda gave him a garage door opener which meant a lot for her because she was the garage of her house and she always had a space to park her car. Linda was in love with him and she confessed to Ruth that she wanted to marry him. If she marries him, Luis could stay in the United States. Ruth told her that she is crazy because she don’t even know him. One evening Ruth and Linda went out dancing and Linda saw Luis with some random girl at the same club. She felt disappointed because she realized Luis had told her lies about everything. She ran out of the club and she started crying. In this paragraph we saw that “is better to be single” because Linda had a bad experience with Luis. Linda is kind of a quite girl because she saw the man who she was in love with him was many other women. And she didn’t react. She just left and started crying by herself. Have fun, Stay single…

Steve is the male protagonist of the movie. Steve met Linda in a club and he liked her immediately, but Linda wasn’t ready for a relationship or to find another boyfriend because she was still disappointed from Luis. Steve and Linda start hanging out together but not like in a real relationship. They made love and after some weeks they were in a real relationship. Linda had a small conversation with Steve and she told him that she was a little late this month. She was thinking that she might be pregnant. Steve went to the pharmacy and he bought some pregnancy tests to see if Linda was actually pregnant. Linda did the pregnancy test and it turned out that she was pregnant. They didn’t talk much for this situation bat they decide to keep the baby. One day Linda and Steve were in the car and Linda was driving. Suddenly out of nowhere another car came and hit Linda’s side. Steve took Linda to the hospital because she felt dizzy and shocked from the accident. Unfortunately Linda lost her child after the accident. She was in deep sorrow and she decided to go on a cruise by herself to think, relax and gather her thoughts. Linda came back from the cruise after one month, and Steve went to pick her up. Steve and Linda had another little conversation and they decided to break up. They didn’t really want to break up, but I think they were both confused and distant, so they made the mistake. Linda re started an old comfortable relationship with a guy named Andy. Andy is type of the boring man. Steve was so sad all the time that he was away from Linda and he didn’t take care of himself at all and he also lost his job. Until one day Linda went and visits Steve at his house. They immediately start kissing each other. They rekindled their relationship after a long break up. Steve is a great man, because even though Linda went on cruise for one month, Steven was waiting for her. Also Linda told him to break up and she return to Andy, but Steve was in still in love with her. Steve was patient with this relationship because he was really in love with Linda. In this relationship they had fun, but they weren’t single.

Cliff is the funniest character in the movie. He thinks he is the best musician and he also plays in a band, but actually he is a jerk. Cliff had a girlfriend named Janet and Janet was really in love with Cliff, but Cliff was playing with her heart. He didn’t love her. He just wanted to mess around. Janet worked in a coffee shop and she also lived in the same apartment as Cliff. Janet asked Cliff if he liked her breast (because Janet has a small breast) and Cliff said “sometimes”. He said it in a way that Janet decided underage plastic surgery to make her breast bigger than normal. She wanted to do the operation because she thought that if she had a big breast Cliff would love her. Janet made an appointment with Doctor Jamison and she went to do the operation. Doctor Jamison said to Janet her boyfriend should like her the way she is and she looks. She shouldn’t have to change something. Doctor Jamison tried to show Janet that she doesn’t have to change anything because if Cliff doesn’t like her like, she could find someone else who is going to like her, Like the quote says, “there are many fish in the sea”, many men in the world, not only Cliff. After thinking Janet decided to break up with Cliff and after some days Cliff fell in love with Janet. But Janet didn’t want him anymore. Cliff was trying to talk to her all the time going to her house and trying to be in a relationship again with Janet. After some months they started again being together. Before Janet get to Doctor Jamison office she was talking with Steve and she told him that she want a man who she is going to tell her “bless you” when she sneezes. At the end of the movie Janet is in the elevator with Cliff. Janet sneezed and Cliff told her ‘bless you’ and automatically they start kissing each other. It is kind of funny because Cliff it’s not the person who has good manners and Janet got impressed from his good attitude. Have fun, but in a relationship

This movie tells us about different minds, different people, different relationships, and of course different situations. I believe that this movie is true because whatever happened in the movie is the ugly truth of the life. All the characters had a role that most of us have had in our lives and. I believe that the writer did a successful job by writing this movie. The quote “Have fun stay single” I think is a great quote and I believe in this quote. But in this case no one is single at the end of the movie.

Improving schools in bad neighborhoods

Geralda Gjergjaj

Composition#6, draft#3

Nov 18, 2009

Dear Mr. Mayor,

Recently I heard on the news that you have received a large donation. I know that you have to options. One is to improve the schools in bad neighborhoods and one to improve the quality of the neighborhoods near tourist attractions. I know that is a hard decision, but you have to think what the best choice for the city is. I believe that you should use the money to improve schools in bad neighborhoods because it will increase jobs, kids are going to learn arts and many new programs are going to be available.

First of all we know that education is a big problem. Many of New Yorkers are dropping out from school in a young age. More than 60% of children’s cannot read English in fourth grade. This number is very disappointed for the United States. Schools in bad neighborhoods need some help. Many of the kids need a lot of help from the teachers and some teachers doesn’t help the kids so the kids are missing many of the lessons they are behind and of course they drop out of school before finishing high school. We all know that rich schools have better teachers than the poor schools. If you give better teachers to poor schools you will increase the education. Kids are going to take seriously the lessons and they are not going to drop out of school and they are going to continue their studies. Is very important to improve the education and of course those kids need your help for being successful in their lives.

Secondly, if you decide to give the donation to improve schools it will help kids a lot. After school some of the teachers or substitutes teachers can stay in school to do new lessons or help kids that need help with their homework and is going to be a great idea, because many parents are working and they can’t be on time to take their kids after school. Also the school can create some classes for adults. Many immigrants don’t know how to speak in English so they understand nothing. They can’t help their kids to improve in English and kids are behind in school, so of course they can’t succeed. By doing these classes for the parents, many of the kids are going to improve their skills. The school can have some ESL teachers to help kids who are some months in The United States and need extra time for English class. It will help those kids a lot because many of them they can’t speak. Also their parents can’t help them because they don’t speak either. Learning a new language takes time and it’s not easy at all. Creating these programs in those schools it will improve language and basic skills also can help adults and parents.

Finally by improving the schools in a bad neighborhood it will give a chance to the kids who really care or they have a talent on arts. A music class can provide many good singers. It is a good opportunity for those kids who have a good voice to start training their voices. They can also do a CD with of school and they can sell it to earn money by selling the CD’S. Dancing is a really good job too. Kids can start dancing from a young age and they can become professionals. They can also go to talent shows and win some medals. Another good art is painting. We don’t have many painters at this time so some professional painters can help kids to be successful in this category of art. It is a great opportunity to learn arts, and especially when you are young you can learn easily and faster than an adult. Art classes can be useful only to the people who really care about it or to the people who have talents.

Improving schools in bad neighborhoods gives opportunity to learn arts, language, and of course jobs are going to available. It’s a great opportunity to improve those schools because kids need a better neighborhood. They need a good neighborhood because they are going to be happy and enthusiastic everyday that they go to school.

Perfect Paragraph

Geralda Gjergjaj

Composition #5 draft #1

Oct 15, 2009

Example paragraph

I admire Martin Luther King because he never gave up. First, he went in school that African-Americans had separated bathrooms and seats from the whites. He was born in one bad season that everyone was against black people. He did many marches to saw that black and white are the same. Second, I admire him because he enters college at age 16. He was a preacher at the same time as his father was. He always was a calm boy and he never fought with the people. The third reason is that he starts doing a boycott on the bus. In the past African Americans the wasn’t supposed to seat in the front of the bus only in the back and if they were seating in the back and one white person didn’t have a seat the African American had to give their seats or the bus driver was supposed to call the police. Whites were very racist and they looked Blacks suspiciously. So MLK decided to stop taking the bus until the rules is going to be equal for everyone and finally he won the boycott. Martin Luther King believed that in Conceivable future everything is going to be equal. MLK was a great fighter a great father and a great preacher, he was a significant person.

High fidelity book

Geralda Gjergjaj

Composition#4, Draft#3

Oct 22, 2009

Rob

Nick Hornby is the author of High fidelity book that is based on Rob’s life. This book is based on Rob’s (the protagonist) life. This book is 323 pages and only adults can read it because the context of the book has some bad words. I believe that Rob is decent guy, but he doesn’t know what he wants from his life. In High Fidelity we can read about a guy named Rob telling us about his ex-girlfriends, his personality, and that he’s insecurity. Also in the book the reader can see Rob’s hobby which is of course music and his way to explain everything with a song.

In the book Rob talks about his ex-girlfriends and he tried to explain to the reader how his relationships unfolded. Alison Ashworth was Rob’s first girlfriend when they both were 13 years old. They were together for four days, but they broke up because Alison cheated on him by kissing another guy in front on his eyes. Rob felt heartbroken because Alison was his first girlfriend, and it was weird when he saw her with another guy but he didn’t try to stop them. He only stood like stone and looks at them. Probably he wasn’t in love with her or he didn’t know how to act. Penny Hardwick was his girlfriend for three months. Rob describes Penny as a “nice” girl. In the book Rob told the reader that Penny had a “nice” mother, a “nice” sister, a “nice” house. By the word “nice” he tries to tell us that she wasn’t so important, but she was just “nice”. Rob was with Penny for three months, and he was trying to make love with her, but Penny wasn’t ready yet. One day Rob told her that their relationship didn’t have a point and that it never goes anywhere. Rob and Penny broke up and after a week Rob learned that Penny slept with a guy that she had only known one week. Just like with Alison, in this situation, Rob didn’t do anything again. Of course he felt disappointed, but he didn’t try to win her back. Laura was Rob’s longest relationship. She was the girl who moved in to his house and they lived together. Rob met Laura when he was D.J in a club. Laura was a lawyer, but when she met Rob she didn’t have much money. After a couple months she started earning a significant amount of money. Rob and Laura broke up after a few years (three or four). In the begin of the book the reader can see that Rob claims that he doesn’t care about Laura, and that Laura is not on his Top-Five ex-girlfriend list. But in the middle of the book the reader can clearly understand that Rob really did care about Laura and he wanted her back. He doesn’t know why he wants her back but he is trying to be in the relationship with her again. I believe that Rob wants Laura back because she left him, and after a few days Rob learned that Laura was with a guy named Ian. Ian lived in the same apartment with Rob, so I think Rob is jealous and that’s why he wants her back. As we saw in page 162 when Liz (Laura’s friend) asked him why he is still calling Laura all the time he answer I don’t know. Rob is not sure why he is doing this. In fact Rob remains indecisive throughout all of his relationships.

Rob has a really inconsistent personality. You can’t understand if he is a decent guy or if he is a selfish guy. At times Rob acts like an honest person. The reader can see that on page 77, when one lady tried to sell him some records at a very low price. These records belonged to her husband, but he had left her for a young girl and moved to Spain. The man’s wife wanted to take revenge by selling all his records at a cheap price. Rob didn’t accept the price because he believed it wasn’t right to buy them so cheap. The reader can see that Rob really wanted the records, but he thought it wasn’t fair to buy them. On the other hand, Rob is an unfaithful man because he treats Laura badly in three ways. As we saw in page 92 Rob slept with another woman, he borrowed five thousands from Laura after her abortion and after their breakup Rob told Laura that he was looking for someone else. The reader can see that Rob treat her un fairly and Laura didn’t deserve it. Marie De La Salle is the one who Rob didn’t know what to do. Rob liked her but Marie wasn’t his type. Marie was a singer and a powerful woman. Rob and Marie slept together but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be in a relationship with her. He had a good night with her but after they slept together Rob didn’t want to sleep again with her. We can see that he is not sure about his decisions. Rob is honest and unfaithful at the same time. On one hand he didn’t accept the once-in-a-life-time price for the records, but on the other hand he cheated on Laura and he wanted her back, but still slept with Marie without having feelings for her.

Rob was always insecure about himself. We saw that on page 167 when one costumer came to Rob’s record store and Rob felt weird because the costumer was nice looking. He was wearing his suit, he was well spoken, and he had his car keys in his hand. Rob started worrying about himself because the costumer was almost at the same age as Rob, and he had nice clothes, a nice attitude, was married, and worked in a respectable profession. Rob doesn’t have anything like this. He have his record store bad he don’t have serious clothes, no car and he is not married he don’t even have a girlfriend. He wants to change and to be like him but he doesn’t try to make a plan for his life. In page 141 of our book we saw that rob went to the movies with his parents. That day he saw a guy that he referred to as “THE MOST PATHETIC MAN IN THE WORLD.” The most pathetic man in the world was so ugly, and he saw Rob and he gave him a smile which meant, they were the same, in the same situation. Rob was with his parents, and the most pathetic man in the world was with his parents too. This disturbed Rob so much that he couldn’t focus on the movie. Rob felt so angry because he didn’t like the event that happened. He said that they are not the same at all they are totally different. Rob is old enough and he must start thinking about his life seriously. He has to change some think in his personality. He has to start growing up.

Rob’s life is kind of a strange because he is not really sure what he wants to do with his life. In this book he told us that he wants to change, but he isn’t sure in which way. He told us about his ex-girlfriends and about his personality. In High Fidelity book we learned about how Rob is in his life, his way of thinking and his way of explaining things with a list five songs. Rob knows everything about music and song, but he doesn’t know anything about women. Every situation reminds him a song. I believe that Nick Hornby tried to give us a way to understand how men think with the example of Rob. How he feel, he act, his thoughts and his beliefs.

Homeless Shelter

Geralda Gjergjaj

Composition #3, draft #3

Oct 28, 2009

Dear Mayor,

Yesterday I heard on the news that you received a large piece of land and you have two options. One is to build a shopping center and the other one to build a homeless shelter. I know that it is a hard decision because you have to think about what is the best for the city. But I believe the building a homeless shelter is beneficial for New York City because it will provide jobs, improve the community education and rebuild a happy community.

You should build a homeless shelter because it will increase jobs. First of all a homeless shelter can provide opportunities to work for constriction workers. In order to build the shelter, we will need to hire many different workers. We need carpenters, engineers, plumbers, electricians and painters. Currently the unemployment rate is very high. Hiring people to build the shelter is going to lower it. Secondly there are some homeless who need help from social workers. Social workers after finishing school will have a chance to find jobs in shelters. Finally building a homeless shelter will help to give chances for doctors and nurses to work. Homeless people need medical attention, so doctors and nurses could offer services. A homeless shelter is another place that doctors and nurses can get jobs. A homeless shelter provides many different jobs.

A homeless shelter would be a good option for the city to provide community education. First of all reading and writing can provide the possibility of a successful future for homeless children. Reading and writing education for homeless children is expected to be an important opportunity to make them successful in school by giving them free education. After their graduation from school they can easily find a job because they are going to have a diploma from high school or college and stop being homeless. Secondly, sex education can help homeless people, especially teenagers, learn how to take protections precautions sexually transmitted diseases. The most popular mistake that teenagers make is having sex without protection they didn’t have enough sexual education and this will prevent diseases such as aids. Finally, financial education will teach the homeless how to manage their money. Once they get out from the shelter, homeless will be able to make financial decisions to manage their own bills for example paying rent. The shelter can help them by bringing some experience or some teachers to teach the homeless how to be responsible out of the shelter. The homeless shelter can teach the homeless how to be prepared in the life out of the shelter.

A shelter is a good idea to build a happy and beautiful community. First of all, we have to encourage homeless not to sleep on the train. It’s disastrous when homeless get in the train because they never take a shower so they really smell bad. And this is not discrimination. It’s only unhealthy for the other people because homeless are dirty and they have many bacteria’s and germs. If they have a place to stay and to sleep they are not going to sleep in the trains anymore. Secondly, homeless are sleeping in the streets and the image of the city looks terrible. On almost every street there is one homeless sleeping on the ground. It’s really negative because when tourists come to visit ours city they see all these people sleeping or living on the streets. New York City is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, and we have to do something about the homeless. Tourists are coming to visit the city and to see how beautiful it is, not to see homeless in the streets. If homeless are in the shelter we are going to have a better image because all the homeless are going to be in one place and not in the streets. Tourists are going to like the city and of course they are going to visit the City again. Finally, the streets need to be clean. The homeless don’t have a place to stay so they live in the streets with all their personals items like clothes, food, and much garbage. They take a big shopping cart and they walk or around the city with it filled with garbage. They don’t have a place to put it. Because of the garbage, we have so many rats in New York City, but if we keep the homeless in the shelter, we are going to keep the city cleaner that it is. A homeless shelter is going keep the city clean and beautiful.

Building a homeless shelter is beneficial for New York City because it will rebuild a happy community, improve community education and it will provide many jobs. If you decide to build the homeless shelter our city is going to be cleaner. Every year we will receive many thousands of tourists and our image is going to be the best. We will be the best tourist’s destination

Auto-Biography

My name is Geralda and I’m from Albania, where my family lived for almost 20 years before we moved to Greece. Albania is in Europe near to Turkey, Italia and Greece. Albania is a wonderful country, but it is a poor. Shkoder is the capital of the district of Shkoder, and is one of Albania's oldest and most historic towns, as well as an important cultural and economic center. We have a big castle. It’s a castle or a fortress/citadel can be discussed, fact is that Shkoder’s history started on this hilltop with the establishment of a Bronze Age settlement 4000 years ago. You can see the sea though and our castle. You can see many trees and one big church that we have in the middle of our city. Three years ago it wasn’t a touristic city, but in the last three years it became. Not too much but tourists are coming to visit our city because the heard that it’s an interesting city. It’s not a financial city.
My family is pretty small. There are three people in my family: my mother, brother and I. We are close enough. When my extended family gets together like mother, brother, aunts and uncles we have so much fun. We spend a lot of time all together only in vacations like summer or Christmas because we live in New York and they live in Florida. We all work and we don’t have enough time to see each other. I like to stay at home and talk. We are funny family though. We are cool. Either my grandmother is cool. We are open-minded. We are not like don’t get a boyfriend because you are young or don’t hang out till late. We don’t have those kinds of problems. My family (two of my mother’s brothers) is too funny we spent a lot of time teasing each other. First of all my parents are divorced. My mother is great lady. She is a strong dynamic woman. She doesn’t have problems like where I am or with who I am. When I was little she was so strict with me. She yelled at me all the time. But since I started growing up, she became so lenient. She is a workaholic actually. She loves to work. Her profession is professional seamstress. But here in the United States, she works as a cleaner in some offices and in the morning in the school’s kitchen. She says, now that I am young and I can work, so I’m going to work. When I’m old, my kids are going to work for me.(In a funny way). My father is in his own world actually. He is a nice father and he loves his children’s. He is workaholic too. He loves to work too. His profession is marble but he is working as construction man. He lives in Greece with his new family his wife and his son. Alfred is the perfect brother. His is like my father my brother my best friend. He works from a young age because my parents got divorced, so we needed somebody else to work besides my mother. My brother is 25 years old and we are so close.
My neighborhood was like a long path but we had our apartment and two more apartments next to ours. I lived in the capital of Greece in Athens. My neighbors were some old and young people. I knew everyone in my neighborhood. On my floor one couple of old people with their two daughters’ remember this couple because they loved me so much. Every day when I was coming home after school they were taking care of me. They were like my grandparents. Also in my neighborhood lived some of my friends from school and my uncle with his family. I like them so much because they were very good people and nice personalities... Only one lady and her husband were so evil. She lived downstairs and my house was above her. She complained all the time because she said that we made a lot of noise. So she was the only one that I didn’t like. One day this she was talking with my mother and she starts yelling at my mother because of us. The lady cursed my mother and she left. The next day her husband died. I don’t know why I remember this event but I think she cursed a nice person (my mother) and the next day she received the curse back from God.
This house was my favorite and I loved it. I was in love with this house it had three bedrooms, two balconies, one big hall, one huge living room. We had the kitchen and I loved this kitchen because it was one big room and inside the room we had two rooms. We had a dining area and the place for the refrigerator. We had the bathroom too, with a washer and driver inside the bathroom. We had a place that we put our clothes and stuff for different season. If I had the chance to buy it, I would. I don’t why but I love this house even now. I haven’t been back to it for 12 years. When my parents got divorced we left the house. And believe me I was sad more for the house than my parents’ divorce because I were so young to understand that my parents separated so I was sad because I lived the house. I really liked this house. I really had great time in this house. I have great memories, bad and good. One of the bad memories that I have from this house is when my grandfather lived there with us because he was so sick. He had cancer and the doctors didn’t give him many days to live. I remember the day that the ambulance came and took him to the hospital because he couldn’t breathe. And after few days he passed away. I also remember when my parents got divorce in this house. Those are the two bad things that I remember from this house. One of my good memories is that I always threw birthday parties, food, music, dancing and a lot of presents. All the family and friends around the living room many kids a big tree with many lights and of course so much food. Great memories that I’m never going to forget. Everything from this house reminds me specific events.
The most important person in my life is Aida. She is my uncle’s wife. She came in my life when I was 12 years old. I think of her often especially when I have difficulties and I want to talk to somebody, she is the one that can help me. The most important thing is that we can understand each other very well. She acts like me. I mean we have almost the same personality. She is five years older than me so we think about the same. She helps me think clear. She gives me advice for my future. If I have a problem she is the first person that can understand that I am not feeling good or that I have some problems. We see each other on vacations because she doesn’t live in NYC. She lives in Florida. We talk on the phone or send emails or text each other. We keep in touch because we love each other. She is like my big sister that I can say everything to her and she can help me with my problems. She is the only one who can understand me.
I came to the United States on August 4, 2007, two years ago. My mother my brother my two dogs and I. We came here because my entire mother’s family is here. Her brothers, her nephews, her mother, her aunts and uncles are here. So we came for them and of course for a better life. When I first came here I hate it. I came out from the airplane and I start yelling at my mother because NYC it wasn’t like what I was expecting. When you don’t live in the United States you believe that the United States is wonderful. And I came out from the airplane and the first thing that I looked it was the ground and how dirty it was. I thought that America it supposed to be so clean and so beautiful not like I saw it. There much garbage many different people and I felt so strange. I was waiting for the “American dream” from the first day. Actually I was sad too because I left my life back like friends, my ex boyfriend and some other important people. Now I’m used to it, but sometimes I want to run away from here. Sometimes I feel the pressure and I think that my head is going to explore from the stress. It’s different than my country though because in Greece the life is not like in N.Y. We are easy going not like oh my God I don’t have time and I’m working etc. Sometimes I love N.Y, but sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I missed my life in Greece and I m ready to go back, but I always stay here and try my best. I can’t say that I’m super happy with my life here, but I can say that the United States gave me so many opportunities like school and job.
I am planning to study interior design. CLIP helps me a lot with my English. It s five hours per a day, but that actually is really good because I need to improve my English. I learned how to speak to write and to read. The most important plan for me is to finish my studies. I don’t know what I’m going to do in my personal life because you never know what is next, but I want to finish college. I want to study interior design because always I liked to move my whole house and to fix it again. I like it and I believe that this major is for me. It’s important to me because when you have your diploma from the college you feel that you are an important person. You can do the job that you choose, and you can be happy because you chose it. I don’t know but I’m going to try my best. I have to work hard to get to the top.

Three questions about Michael Jackson

1) Why did Michael Jakson changed his skin color? No reasons to do it. He disgrace black people.


2) How his kids are white? He was black and everything on his organism was black.


3) If he feel bad about changing his skin color. If he believed that black people are going to hate him because of that.

My all top five songs

(1)Title of the #1Song --I am on Miami beach

Name of artist -- Stephen Kendal Gordy and Skyler Gordy

Year of recording --2009

Genre -- rap

Memory association -- I don’t know why but I kind I like this song. Reminds me my last summer vacations and when I’m listening to it makes me happy and sad because I miss my vacations.

A blurb about the song -- Song that reminds you summer vacations. Dancing song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64sGfoWEN-8&feature=related

(2)Title the #2Song-- So What

Name of artist -- Pink

Year of recording --2008

Genre --Rock-Pop

Memory association -- Song with power. Not with so much meaning but happy song. This song reminds of my character. All the time when something bad happens I am thinking why I should be sad? Or why I should cry? I just like it because I think it makes me stronger in a weird way.

A blurb about the song --The perfect song that makes you feels good and excited about something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJZDsJ8UU64



(3)Title of the #3song –Perasan shedon 2 xronia (They almost past 2 years)

Name of artist –Isaiah Matiaba

Year of recording –2006

Genre –rock

Memory association – I love this song because is remind me 2 years that changed my life. I have two years in the United States and this song reminds me my friends my country and everything I lived or I lost.

A blurb about the song -- This song is talking about love. If you love in general you are going to like it. I feel a lot when I am listening to it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o98U0_Ke-7w


(4)Title of the #4song – Sweet child of mine

Name of artist – Guns N Roses

Year of recording – 1987

Genre – Rock

Memory association -- I had one friend in Greece and she is a singer. She sung this song in a huge concert in Greece. The people was applauding and screaming like crazy for her. I felt so proud and so happy because fans were sawing their love so loudly for her.

A blurb about the song – Guns N Roses is just the best. And this song is just amazing. No words to describe it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-AYAv0IoWI


(5)Title of the #5song— Ena (one)

Name of artist – Peggy Zina

Year of recording --2007

Genre -- Pop

Memory association -- I remember listening to this song in my ex boyfriends car. It was the day when I left from Greece to come to the United States. I was with my ex and with 3 of my best friends. This song says about the distance and that we never going to lost each other. I remember that we were crying looking each other and no words to say.

A blurb about the song -- a perfect song about people who they are going away from each other (couples, friends, sisters or brothers). Sad song but it brings you a lot of memories good and bad. Remind you the distance from the people who you can’t see and you miss.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYYXOUp1Alg

Name: _______Geralda Gjergjaj___________________________________________
Forty-five Personal Questions

Would you rather be rich and have no free time or struggle with money but have loads of free time? To be rich is not bad but you need time for yourself to. I prefer to have free time
If you were a boss, would your rather be liked or feared? I think both is good.. if you are the boss you have to be friendly and strict because your company has to work normal.

Do you prefer to dress nicely or comfortably? Nice and comfortable, you can wear nice clothes and your clothes can be comfortable.

Who is the most influential person in your life? My mother

What is your pet peeve? when people looking at you up and down or when the telling me to do something in a bad way.

What do you get excited about? I am not getting excited easily but I am happy when I have time to sleep.

What's the last thing you laughed really hard over? Yesterday with a costumer he was just so funny. The way that he talked.

Could you live without your cell phone for one week? One month? No way.

What woke you up this morning? My mother.

Do you use myspace or facebook? Yes. I use Facebook

If you could take one friend on vacation with you, who would it be? My self

Are you scared of spiders, cockroaches, or snakes? Everything…

Could you go a month without cursing? No way

Have you ever been bullied by anyone? no. never

Do you prefer a wild night on the town or a quiet evening at home? A wild night on the town

If you could move somewhere else, would you? Miami beach

How many true friends do you have? 3-4

What is something you really want right now? To eat

Are you a forgiving person? Not at all

Have you ever thought you were going to marry someone? no

Who was the last person to make you smile? I don’t remember

Do you miss anyone? Many people

Is it more important to be honest or kind? honest

Are you a bad or a good influence? I thing a good

Is there anyone you want to visit you? Yeah. Some friends

What is something your friends make fun of you for? My colorful socks

Is there something about yourself that you would change if you could? Nothing. I love me

In one word describe yourself. I am not going to describe myself.

Is there anyone you wish could “see you now?” One friend

What is your dream job? actress

Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do? No.

What is your favorite movie? Drag me to hell, the orphan and saw 1,2,3,4,5

You is your favorite celebrity? Brad Pitt john depp and david beckham

Brittany Spears: yes or no? eww no way

Michael Jackson: yes or no? actually no

Tom Cruise: yes or no? yeah

Madonna: yes or no? no

What is your favorite song? I am on Miami beach

What is your favorite book? I don’t like books

What is your favorite leisure activity? Washing dishes

Do you like change? What kind of change?

Are you a control freak? yes i am

What is advice you would give to a friend who wanted to move to NYC? Think about it

What is the happiest moment you’ve had in the last year? My cousins birth

What is one piece of advice you have learned in the past year that you will/would share with your children? Nothing important