My kid has more chromosomes than yours!

During my senior year in high school I had to do a presentation on Down syndrome as part of my final grade in biology. Maybe some of you don’t know what Down syndrome is so let me tell you. Down syndrome (DS) or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. Down syndrome is the most common chromosome abnormality in humans. It is typically associated with a delay in cognitive ability (mental retardation, or MR) and physical growth, and a particular set of facial characteristics. In my presentation I was mainly focusing on children with this genetic disorder. In a little place at the Adriatic coast where I have a beach house close to me live two families with children who have Down syndrome. Both of them are girls, Matea and Lucija. Even though I don’t really like kids, Lucija and Matea immediately stole my heart. They are so precious. Both of them have great and strong personalities. Sometimes they can be very stubborn. Down syndrome symptoms vary from person to person and can range from mild to severe. Both of my little neighbors have mild forms which gives them the opportunity to do a lot of activities. In many important ways, children who have Down syndrome are very much the same as other children. They have the same moods and emotions, and they like to learn new things, to play and enjoy life. Lucija and Matea enjoy swimming, dancing, running around and playing other games that children love. This presentation of mine was mostly inspired by them and is definitely one of my best because I truly put my heart and soul into it. I could go on about Down syndrome and how you can tell if your child has it and inform you about all the medical stuff related to it but instead of that I am going to let you read a letter from a mother whose child has Down syndrome. The letter is aimed to other mothers who have just found out that their child has this genetic disorder. This letter made me cry and be thankful once again for being healthy.

Dear mom who just received a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis,

I know how you feel.

Except — unlike you, I was holding my new baby, Kate, in my arms when I found out. She was wrapped in a blanket, looking up at me as I cried, listening to the Neonatologist on staff tell me — only minutes after she was born — that she had Down syndrome. And what that meant.

He said that it meant she had an extra chromosome. And that she would have learning delays. He said that it meant she was significantly predisposed to certain medical conditions, including congenital heart defects — and that we should get her heart tested right away. He said that it meant she had low muscle tone and may not be able to breastfeed. He said that it meant she would do things on a different schedule than other kids.

And in those first few days, after hearing those statistics, talking to doctors and researching online, I thought I knew what it “meant” to have a child with Down syndrome. And quite frankly, I was devastated.

And so it is with you.

But let me tell you — from one mother to another — those facts are not what it means to have a child with Down syndrome.

Many of those facts may not even apply to you. Some might, but many might not. I’ve learned this with all of my children. And I never allow generalizations to set my expectations. (For the record, Kate breastfed like a champ and continues to break stereotypes.)

What those facts didn’t tell me about Kate is that — along with almond eyes and slightly lower muscle tone — she would also have my thick, blond hair and full lips. That she’s a Daddy’s girl. That she loves peanut butter waffles and rocking her baby doll to sleep. They didn’t tell me that she’s a nurturing big sister, a doting little sister — and the star in the room wherever we go.

Those facts didn’t tell me that she would make funny faces and dance like crazy to Fresh Beat Band. That she loves to sing. And swim. And go to gymnastics. And unload all of my kitchen cabinets.

What those facts didn’t tell me in all that they “meant” is what she would mean — to me, to our family, to our friends.

I look back on those first days and I remember the feeling of craving normality. I didn’t want to hear how life would be forever altered in some big way and that I would just learn to accept it. I just wanted life to be the way it was before — routine, “normal.”

Will things ever be normal again? I thought.

And then one day — soon — they were. Except they weren’t like before. They were better.

Suddenly, the overwhelming facts and fears faded. Because instead of knowing a diagnosis, I grew to know her.

And so it will be with you.

Because of her life, I have the unique perspective of seeing the best in the human spirit — and not just in her spirit (though she’s quite spirited!) but in everyone else.

In a world where it’s easy to view strangers through skeptic eyes, I have seen an outpouring of love and compassion surrounding her. I have connected to those I wouldn’t have otherwise. I have had strangers stop me on the street — just to tell me how beautiful she is.

The world can seem like a scary place for any child, especially those with a disability. But I have met so many who just want to love her.

I cannot tell you what challenges your precious one might have — just as I cannot tell you what challenges anybody’s child will have, “special needs” or not. One aspect of your child’s life just happens to be detectable by prenatal medical technology. But prenatal testing cannot tell you who your child will be, anymore than a fuzzy, black and white sonogram can tell you how your child will look.

When Kate was just a few months old, I went to Target to pick up some groceries. In line that day, I met the mom of a 19-year-old man with Down syndrome. And when I shared that my daughter also had Down syndrome, her eyes softened and she held my gaze with a warm smile.

It was as if we were both part of a secret sorority and she was an old pledge member. She asked me a few questions and before leaving, softly said the words that I’ll pass on to you here:

“Welcome to your beautiful journey.”

From my heart to yours,

Lauren

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." Hellen Keller

XOXO A.

:)

Good fences make good neighbors?

“Good fences make good neighbors” is a line of the poem Mending wall written by Robert Frost which I came across while reading something on the internet. The poem is about the relationship between neighbors and more generally about the relationship between people. The question is do we have to keep distant from one another and if the answer is yes, what is the distance we have to keep in order to have a good relationship between our neighbors and humans in general?

First thing we have to think about is, is the wall necessary? In the poem we can see that the author didn’t seem to like the wall, but the neighbor seems to prefer it. The advantage of the wall is that we can limit the amount of privacy one can have. The disadvantages of walls are that we unintentionally distance people from ourselves, and in the process we hurt their feelings. 

However and this is coming from the point of view of the speaker, if we don’t build a wall we will give a more comfortable atmosphere which is nice, but on the other hand should we sacrifice our own comfort by reducing the level of our own privacy? By putting up a wall we clearly establish a border between ourselves, and the world around us, between how much we want to give out to the world and how much we want to take in.

To conclude we can say, yes we need to build fences and not walls. Walls between people provide huge gaps and alienate us from one another, while fences provide us with a level of privacy, which is enough for ourselves, and also prevents us from being too intrusive into other people’s lives.

"People have discovered that they can fool the devil; but they can't fool the neighbors."

Francis Bacon

XOXO A.

You are more beautiful than you think!

How often do you check yourself out in the mirror and are not satisfied with what you see?

Every morning the same old story. You wake up and go to the bathroom. It’s time to get ready for the day. You look into the mirror and don’t like what you see. You don’t like the length of your hair and the color of your eyes. You have chubby cheeks and your lips are too thin. Those few extra pounds seem like the end of the world to you. You try not to think about your flaws and get ready. Throughout the day you stop at every mirror on your way to check yourself out again, for the hundredth time this day, just to make sure you look the best you can.

This is how millions of women feel every day around the globe. All of them are struggling with their looks. Women are their own worst beauty critics. According to a recent survey only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful. Isn’t this sad? 

The fashion industry sets bad examples for women, especially young girls. We are faced with top models having measurements 90-60-90. According to famous fashion designers and fashion magazines all women should have those measurements. All we see in runway shows are super thin women with no curves whatsoever. While watching “Germany’s next top model” on Wednesday I got very disappointed. In one scene Heidi Klum came to a young candidate with a measure tape. Note that the girl is only 16 years old! According to Heidi she had 98 cm around her hips when she came into the show and they wanted to see if she had lost those extra 8 cm. Even though she was working out very hard and watched what she was eating she managed to get 3 cm. Of course the jury wasn’t thrilled about it. But my point is, can you imagine something like that being aired on Wednesday evening in a show like that?  How must have girls felt after watching this show? They probably thought how fat they were. All this leads to anorexia and bulimia, two very serious illnesses that literally take lives of young girls. Do we really want our daughters to be growing up in a society like this one?

Dove posted on Monday a three-minute ad on YouTube that teaches a vital lesson about how we view ourselves compared to how others see us.  A former forensic artist met a series of women and asked each to describe the way they look. He had no way of seeing them behind a curtain. He prompted them to detail everything: hair length, facial structure, and their most prominent features. He then sketched each participant from their self-description. Each woman was asked before the study to get to know one of the other participants. The forensic artist then prompted each woman to describe the other's face. At the end of the video, the artist reveals two sketches — one from the participant itself, one from their partner. The differences are remarkable.

I don’t want to spoil the video for you so that’s why I am going to stop writing now. I think it’s a great video, one that has a very strong message. Take a look at it, trust me; it’s worth your time. :)

XOXO A. 

British vs. American

As a kid I thought that English is being spoken the same in the whole world. But soon, during one of my English classes, I learned that that is not true. English is not spoken the same in America, Great Britain, Australia or New Zealand. There are a lot of differences. So as I was researching those differences on the internet I came across this interesting picture. Take a look at it J

XOXO A.

20 quick questions about food!

We were going in class through food questions. Some were general questions about food, some were about breakfast and restaurants or simply about eggs. Our task was to choose one set of questions and blog about them. I chose to answer the general questions about food because they seemed the most interesting to me. Let’s go. :D

1) What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘food’?

2) How often do you think about food?

- All day every day.

3) Can you eat anything?

-Almost anything. I don’t think I could ever eat fried cockroaches, ants or anything similar to that. Oh and the intestines of animals. Or the liver or heart or, I better stop now because I am getting sick.

4)Can you go without food for a whole day?

-I can but the question is why would I want to?

5)Do you have to watch what you eat?

-Unfortunately I do. It’s not so much about what I eat but how much I eat.

6)What is your favourite breakfast, lunch and dinner?

-I don’t eat breakfast. Not only am I not a morning person but I also can’t eat anything in the morning.

-For lunch I LOVE to eat pasta. Pasta is my favorite dish ever!

-For dinner I usually eat a salad. Not only is a salad carb-free but it is also very delicious especially if you shred cheese on it or put cherry tomatoes in it, or maybe tuna.

7)Do you think your country’s food is the best?

- My country’s food is definitely among the best!

8)Do you think “you are what you eat”?

9)What do you think about canned, frozen and processed food?

-I can’t really say that I am a big fan of those but they can come in handy and they don’t even taste bad so I say why not?

10)What kinds of international cuisine do you like?

-I have a lot of fun trying out new cuisines. I love Thai food, Chinese food, Mexican food and Italian food. :D

11) Are you fussy or particular about the food you eat?

-No, I eat pretty much everything.

12)Have your favorite kinds of food changed over the years?

-Not really. I have just been adding more and more favorite dishes to my list. ^^

13)Do you like fast food and slow food?

-I like both. :D

14)What do you think about food additives?

-I don’t like them. If they can be avoided in food then yes please!

15)Do you care where the food you eat comes from?

-I do. I hate seeing that my onion came to Europe all the way from China. Come on, you can’t tell me that we can’t plant onions here in Europe. -.-

16)What national dishes from your country would you recommend to the world?

-Probably „paprenjaci“, „pašticada“, „pršut“, „panceta“, „purica i mlinci“, „sir i vrhnje“, „burek“ and many more!

17)Do you worry about the rising cost of food?

-Of course I do because if this continues people won’t be able to afford their food anymore and what are they supposed to eat then? Sand?

18)Do you think the world’s food will ever run out?

-No, I don’t think that. Even if meat would run out we would still have fruit and vegetables.

19)What do you think of genetically-modified (GM) food?

-I despite it. It tastes awful and it’s not good for our health.

20)Is your food bill big?

-It depends on my mood. :D

XOXO A.

Hello everyone and welcome back! :D

A new semester has started and blogging is one of our tasks again! Some of you may know me from SUK1 but for others, that don’t know me, here’s a short info about me.

Name: Anita

Home town: Zagreb, Croatia

Living in: Graz, Austria

Birth date: 24.12.1993.

College: Karl-Franzens University of Graz (transcultural communication)

What else is there to know about me? Well nothing special, honestly said. I am just an ordinary girl that dreams big and works hard on achieving her dreams.

I enjoy travelling and spending time with my family and friends. Since I moved back to Austria in October I came to realize how lucky I am to have such a great family and wonderful friends. Both my family and friends have been a great support to me since I left Zagreb. I am very thankful on every single member of my family and on my friends. They make me happy. J

I also enjoying shopping (what can I do, I am a typical girl :D), reading, drinking coffee (typically Croatian, I know), listening to music and watching TV.

Another great passion of mine is volunteering. Back when I lived in Zagreb, I volunteered for half a year in an orphanage. The kids there were aged 7-14. My actual task was to help them with their German and English homework but we would always end up playing soccer or dodge ball. Now, that I am not living at home anymore I only volunteer from time to time when I get back to visit. I think that volunteering gave me another perspective on life and the people around me. I realized how blessed I am and also how volunteering is not just about giving but also taking. I don’t care how much time I “lose” on playing with the kids and not being paid for it, the smile on their face when do something together is priceless to me.

My biggest dream is to work as an interpreter for the UN or EU. I am working hard on getting there and who knows, I might really end up there one day. J

Last semester I would end every post with a quote and this semester I am continuing with this tradition. :D

XOXO A. :)

Dragon dictation app or how to make your life easier...

During one of our English classes a few weeks ago we were introduced to a free text-to-speech app called Dragon Dictation. We were asked to try it out if we have smartphones. Later we should write a blog post about our experiences with it.

I completely forgot about it this till last week. Getting ready for my linguistics exam on Thursday I somehow needed to summarize everything we have been doing this semester. Since my notes were in English I remembered Dragon dictation. I downloaded the app and started talking with it. At first my roomie wasn’t sure about what I was doing. Sure, my iPhone has Siri (a really great friend of mine ;)) but I honestly don’t talk that much to her. Don’t get me wrong, she can be really helpful but she can also make one laugh with her wrong answers. Once me and my friend were joking around and said to her: “I am going to jump of a bridge!“ and everything she did was answer: “This bridge is little ways from you...“ and gave me a map of the nearest bridge. Well thanks a lot Siri. You cannot imagine the amount of tears that were rolling down my cheeks after I read her answer. I couldn’t stop laughing.

Anyways, back to Dragon dictation. After my roomie gave me the are-you-crazy look I explained to her what it is about. She actually thought it is a cool app and wanted to try it out with me. The recording part was easy and also figuring out how to send the text via SMS or e-mail, put it in your notes or even publish it on Twitter and Facebook. Learning how to get it to capitalize and punctuate the text was a little harder but we got it in the end. My notes were summarized really quickly that way. Typing it on my laptop, even though I am fast typer, would have taken ages.

After doing some research about the app itself I found out that it is available in some other languages too, like Croatian for instance. It is really a helpful app and I am still very surprised by the speed and some other characteristic it contains. It’s definitely worth a shot. They don’t call the smartphones smart without a reason ;)

"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something" Thomas Huxley

XOXO A.