More Thoughts on "Tales of Juha" (p. 95-144)

        I have really enjoyed reading this book! In fact, it has become one of my favorite novels that we have read. However, I was not that fond of chapters 5 and 6 that started off this reading section. I do not know whether I just did not understand the stories or whether I just did not appreciate the humor involved in them. Luckily, I did find the rest of this reading section amusing. I think mostly because I really enjoy the Juha stories that are either super witty or just ridiculously unexpected. One of my favorite stories is the one on page 109-110. It tells about a judge named Juha who tells two different bribers that they are both right in regards of the same case. His wife hears this and responds “Is your eminence a judge or simply two-faced?” She then proceeds to lecture him over why he is wrong in this situation. His wife’s endless nagging began to annoy him. In order to stop her, he told her that “[she] too has right fully on [her] side!” This is funny to me because it mocks the stereotype of a “nagging wife” and Juha’s witty response provides a cognitive shift. I also noticed that in the last chapter another character named “Tamerlane” makes several appearances. Tamerlane appears to be some kind of superior government figure that Juha either makes fun of or assists in the “joke” of each story. I like the story on page 142 of Juha and Tamerlane shooting arrows together. It is funny because Juha makes up a metaphor off the top of his head as he is shooting off arrows and it just so happens to work out perfectly. He is afterwards awarded with a generous gift from Tamerlane because of his wit. For the most part, these stories are nice because they are entertaining, descriptive, and easy to read. I read these stories late at night and I still did not fall asleep. Juha’s character is always changing but the humor involved stays fairly consistent. I feel like this was a good way to learn about the Arabian culture because their humor reveals a lot about the common features in those countries. Even though some of these stories are offensive towards women, most of these stories are harmless and are purely funny because Juha’s ridiculous nature and wit. I am sad this is the end of the “Tales of Juha” but I am glad to have gotten to know Juha. 

Humor: There's an App for That

        They say that there is an app for everything. Even humor! I use the app iFunny as a convenient way to get my daily dose of laughter. It features 20 funny pictures twice a day for a total of 40 entertaining images that are sure to make anyone at least smile. I think the greatest thing about this app is that it has images that relate to current events. For example, there have been many jokes about Kim Jong Un and iFunny has taken advantage of that by posting many pictures about him.

                                       In the pictures above, Kim Jong Un is being made fun of for threatening to start a nuclear war. This is funny to people because no one seems to take this 29-year old dictator seriously.

They also often feature pictures that are pun-ny. According to Morreal, pun-ny jokes are funny because they provide a cognitive shift from the normal expectations that people normally have for words.

                

       In the first image above, the pun revolves around the words “taco” and “nacho” because these words are being used differently. In the picture, “Taco” is the equivalent to “talk” and “nacho” is the equivalent to “not your”. What makes this picture even funnier is the fact that a taco and nacho are both being personified. The second image features a parody of the popular book/movie “Life of Pi”. Instead of showing an Indian boy with a Bengal tiger, the image shows an overweight male and an orange cat. It also features the title “Life of Pie” which plays on the homophones “pi” and “pie”.  The other pictures that iFunny uses vary but for the most part they are highly relatable and are only featured if enough people “like” the images.

                  

      The pictures above are ones that I feel are quite relatable (especially to college students!). The first one shows "how it feels working out". When I work out, I usually think I look like the first girl with a cute work out outfit and a confident smile. However, in reality I probably look like the second guy who is struggling to work out. The second image makes fun of Texas weather for always changing. The weather here is so unpredictable! One day I could be wearing a tank top and shorts and the next I could be wearing sweats, boots, and a jacket. Hopefully everyone reading at least found these images to be amusing. I encourage everybody to check out this app and expand his or her humor horizon! 

Meeting with ESL Partner: Numero Cinco

      My ESL partner finally showed up this time! Although, he was fifteen minutes late.... Despite my slight frustration with Christian's lack of punctuality, we ended up having a pretty good meeting. He apologized for standing me up on our last meeting but I came to find out he had a pretty good reason... He got engaged last week! The girl's name is Moranay and they have been dating for 2 years. He is 29 years old and she is a 24 old psychology major who graduated from UNT and plans on becoming a counselor. They originally met through church (precious I know!) and he said that he knew as soon as he met her that she was going to be the one. The proposal took place over a casual dinner at Blue Mesa. He had flown his own father in from Mexico and had invited Moranay's dad to dinner that night as well so that he could have their blessings. They plan on getting married next April and both want a garden wedding depending on the weather. What is funny is they had just been broken up this previous December! He even remembered the exact date (December 8th), which I thought was adorable and a little funny. What is even funnier is before they broke up, Christian had just bought an engagement ring and was planning on proposing to her! (He even returned the ring!) But after two months of agonizing separation, they finally got back together and are as happy as ever. He even unofficially invited me to the wedding! Both of his siblings are married and he has both a niece and a nephew that he showed me multiple pictures of. We found out that we are both the "middle child" in our families. When I first told him, he said that I was "a ham". This confused me at first but he then explained that middle children are like the ham in between two pieces of bread of a ham sandwich. I asked him if he wanted to have children and he said he wanted five. That seems like a big number to me but he is planning on having three and adopting two and I think he will make a great dad one day. He said that their relationship is very traditional and I was impressed at the amount of respect he seemed to have for his fiance. He hopes he will get to stay at TCU but is still waiting to see if he got this scholarship he applied for. I also learned he cannot get FAFSA because he is technically not a full, legal citizen right now but will be in two years. This was my favorite meeting with Christian so far! It was only 45 minutes but I felt like I got to know so much more about his family and culture. I hope the next few meetings will be as successful and I look forward continuing to get to know him better. 

Thoughts on Tales of Juha

From what I have read from the first chapter of Tales of Juha, I find the Arabian folk humor of the book to be fairly amusing. Even though I have never been to an Arabian country, I still feel I can relate to some of the situations and characterizations found in each of these tales. I particular enjoy the witty phrases that Juha uses. For example (on page 26), there is a story about a man who asks this boy why he has no hair on his chin. The boy responds by saying that he “takes after his mother”. Some commonly used features in the Juha tales usually involve donkeys, princes, wives, and thievery. I also really enjoyed the first opening story about the chicken and the two eggs because it was full of wit and the cognitive shift in the court case made me laugh. I also like the fact that “Juha” is used in Arabian countries as a comical literary figure that is multidimensional. 1) Because it is universal and so everyone can understand the character 2) Because it can be used in many creative fashions and 3) Because it makes it easier for me to remember the name of the main character in the book. I think this reading was overall fun and easy to read. Although the reading assignment was from page 1 to page 41, it went by really quickly and did not require a large amount of focus or concentration to appreciate the stories. Even though I found many of the stories funny, I think they would be funnier if I was actually from an Arabian country so that I could fully understand the cultural contexts in which these stories are based. For example, the donkey anecdotes are humorous but I personally to not ride donkeys on a regular basis so I do not relate as much to the story because of it. So far, I can appreciate the character of Juha for not only his wit but also his wisdom in certain situations. Like in the story of the two men who tried to rob Juha but instead were convinced to kill each other in order to settle an argument thus allowing Juha to escape safely (page 14). I hope the next few readings are light and entertaining like this first chapter was and I look forward to becoming more culturally knowledgeable of Arabian humor!

FAIL: Meeting with ESL Partner: Numero Cuatro

So I was supposed to meet with my ESL partner this past Friday (April 5) but he failed to show up. I got to 1873 at 2:45 sharp and proceeded to have a seat at one of the tables. I was all prepared with my journal and pen ready and sat there patiently waiting for Christian to show up. After about 20 minutes of checking all my social media accounts, I began to worry he might not show up. However, he has shown up really late before and so I decided to text him and see if he was still coming. He never responded though! After about 15 more minutes of waiting awkwardly at a table by myself with no food, I then proceeded to leave. However, to cheer myself up, I did treat myself to a cup of chocolate ice-cream with Oreos and M&Ms from Union Grounds (yummy!). I still do not know what happened to him but hopefully we will be in contact soon! I'll keep ya'll posted.  Below is direct evidence of my valiant attempt to meet up but, unfortunately, it was an ultimate fail.

Meeting with ESL Partner: Numero Tres

My meeting partner, Christian, met again on Friday March 29 again at the convenient location of 1873. However, he was 20 minutes late….(I was actually getting ready to leave when he came into 1873). This time we started to talk about movies because he is currently in a film class where they analyze different productions. He said one movie he particularly likes is the Godfather. I personally have never seen the movie but I know that it is a classic. He is also really into musicals. He said that his favorite ones are Chicago and Les Miserables. He said that he has seen both in theatres and as a musical but the musicals are way better. He also said that he really enjoys Fort Worth because the Bass Hall is so close and so he can go see productions every now and then. I also found out that he has never seen the movie Mean Girls!!! (Shocking, I know) So I recommended it to him (along with Pitch Perfect) and he wrote both down on a napkin so that he would remember to watch them. He recommended that I watch the movie “Patch Adams” because it’s about a doctor. I also learned all the places that he has traveled to in the past few years. From Mexico, he went to Los Angeles, CA and took some English language course out there. After that he went back to Mexico and finished the second part of pilot school. After that, he went to New York but only stayed a few weeks because it was really expensive. After that, he came to the wonderful state of Texas where he has been ever since. He says likes it here the best so far because everyone is so nice and he feels like he is getting a good education. We also talked about social media and the difference between Mexicans and Americans. He said that Americans are super attached to their technological devices. He exclaimed that even in class, students are constantly checking the Internet. He said there are still lots of technology devices in Mexico but Mexicans are less dependent on them. He says that he has a Facebook account and really likes it. However, he said that he hates Twitter and, even though he technically has an account, he never uses it. This meeting was longer than usual but it was definitely interesting. I admire how ambitious he is and hope he continues to be successful!