Kiev Airport

When you enter a country, when do you first feel that you have arrived? Some people get that excited feeling when the plane lands but I don’t. When the plane lands in the Kiev airport, we unbuckle our seat belts and slowly stand up. I open up the over head compartment in which my backpack is laying in. Snatching it, I remind my grandma to get her purse as well. Getting out of the plane, my grandparents and I walk in a line: my grandpa, my grandma, and I. We walk down the steps and circle up on the pavement. Buses drive over and we get on. I still don’t feel like I am Ukraine even though I am in Ukraine. 

We ride around the airport on the bus and then the bus drops us off at a white building. I step off the bus first and just stand there for a minute. “I’m almost here, almost here,” I keep repeating in my head. My grandparents get off a couple people after me and we begin to walk up the ramp. The clear sliding doors open in front of me. I step in and feel like I am home, in Ukraine. When the sliding doors open in front of me, I feel as if it is Ukraine that is allowing me to enter the country. I tear up and begin to cry from joy. Both my grandparents kiss me on the cheek. I always get emotional when I step in because I truly feel like I have arrived. Everyone is speaking in russian. Everyone looks russian. It is an amazing moment that I wait a whole year to experience. It is only one second long but when I step in I know that I arrived. 

There are fourteen lines to the left of me and i stand up on my toes to see which ones the shortest. There are nine lines for non ukrainian citizens to enter through and five for ukrainian citizens to enter through. I am younger than eighteen therefore I am allowed to enter with the ukrainian citizens since I entered the country with my grandparents. Walls, floors, and ceilings are all white and it feels clean. I hear babies crying from right and left due to the heat surrounding everyone. Its our turn to register in and I get even more excited. The man looks at my grandpa and then down at his passport and then does the same thing to my grandma. He stamps my grandparents passports and then he looks down at my passport and back up at me. He asks me where I will be living and I recite my grandparents address: Малиновский двадцать семь, двенадцать квартир. He stamps my passport and tells me to have a good time. He motions his door to the exit of the room and we have. 

We walk into the area where we have to get our luggage. When I was little it used to be my favorite part. I loved watching all the luggage spin around in circles on  the conveyer belt and I looked at it as a game when I had to find our luggage. We got our two suitcases and four duffle bags quickly. We walk right by and they do not ask to check our bags. Ahead of me are two sliding doors again and it is always my favorite part to walk out first being bold and strong. On the left and on the right are people right when the doors open, and I keep my head high. People are holding flowers, others are cheering but I just look ahead, take steady steps, and keep smiling.  

Word Count: 617

Baby Chickens

I wake up at 6:30 and take a deep breath. It is the first Sunday that I am in Ukraine but it feels like I have been here for a month already. I stretch and get out of bed and open the window to feel how hot it is outside. Looking at the thermometer, I realize that it is very hot because it is forty degrees Celsius, perfect weather to get baby chickens. 

My grandpa and I are about to step out the door but my grandma stops us to ask if we have our hats to protect our heads from the sun. We get our hats and go out the door. I have a thrill of energy going through my body while we walk to the bus stop. I ask my grandpa how many chicks we will get and he says seven because it has to be an odd number. He explains that it has to be an odd number because we don't want the chicks pairing up and isolating from the group. If they isolate themselves and another chick then if the other chick dies, the living chick wi be heartbroken and dies as well. When we get to the bus stop I remember that our bus to the bazaar is bus number sixteen which is the most common bus. After about three buses go by, our bus comes full of people and we don't know if there is enough room for us. The bus driver gets out of the bus and yells at the people to move into the middle of the bus. Getting on the bus, I can smell the nasty sweat and the heat surrounds me. I blow up air from my mouth to the rest of my face to get air circulating around my face. I am very squished and so is my grandpa but we are used to it since Sundays are when the animal bazaar is open so a lot of people go. 

When we get out of the bus, I do a quick stretch with my arms and wait for my grandpa to get off the bus. I give him my hand when he steps off the last step and I smiles.  We cross the wide street to get to the bazaar. Outside the gates people are selling fruits, vegetables, and car parts. Boxes are filled with:  peppers, apricots, cherries, tomatoes, and cucumbers. We have our own garden so we don't need any of it. We walk into the gate and on the left hand side are long rows full of meet. It is fresh meet, the animals were killed that morning and then cut up. I find it disgusting because they even lay out the heads of the pigs and cows that were killed. But on the right hand side, I see clothes and car parts. We don't need any of this either so we walk out of the gates but on the other side to get to the animals. I get over excited because these are chicks are going to be mine and mine only. I usually share them with my sister but she did not come this year so I have the chicks all to myself. People sit on little home made benches and welcome in customers. Many people have chicks, ducks and geese in boxes, but people also have piglets in their trunks, and puppies in baby cribs. 

We walk over to my neighbor from the farm because she has a lot of chicks. She has three boxes full of them and they are only three days old. They are adorable. I am scared that I will squish them since they are so small. The first one I spot is brown with a black strip down its back. The lady reaches down to pick up the chick and they all run to the opposite corner of the box. I pick out seven but then my grandpa finds three that he likes. I told him that we should just get ten but he says that it has to an odd number so we picked out one more and made it 11. She put them all into a little box and closed the top so that they won’t jump out. Little holes were made in the box so that they can breathe. They peep so loud but they are so cute. I can hear their little feet slide around the box because it is slippery for them. I hold the box in my hands and walk to the bus stop with my grandpa.

       The bus comes right away and we sit down quickly. I put the box in between my knees and everyone is looking at me because they are peeping. I feel proud holding the chicks because all the attention was on me. The lady next to me asked me what was in the box and I told her that they were chicks. We get off the bus and walk to the apartment. We have to keep the chicks at the apartment for the first two weeks because it will be cold for them outside, in the barn at the farm. We walk into the room and my grandma asks to see the chicks. My grandpa and I look at each other because we told my grandma originally that we were only going to get seven chicks. I place the box on the floor and open it and then laugh. My grandmas face was shocked and then she laughed and smiled. She told me that she knew that I would end up getting more chicks because I love animals. I got a bigger box for the chicks and put a towel in it for the chicks to live on. I put a dish of water and food in for the chicks. 
Word Count: 977

Open response on the Death of an Innocent

The most important factors in Chris’s death is that he was ill prepared and not enough knowledgeable. For instance, Chris went into the Alaskan Bush with only ten pounds of rice and only a little bit of gear. He should have been more prepared bringing more equipment and food with him and then maybe he would have survived. Also, Chris didn’t know anything about the Alaskan Bush nor did he know any survival skills. Chris should have learned how to live in the wild by himself and he should have planned out what he would do if he was in danger. Lack of wisdom and planning, led Chris to his death. 

The Death of an Innocent Approach Paper

Paula Reytblat

Mr. Bailey

Essay Writing 

May 30, 2012

The Death of an Innocent Approach Paper

The Death of an Innocent by Jon Krakauer is the story of a young man, Christopher McCandless, who goes off into the Alaskan Bush with only 10 pounds of rice. James Gallien tries to persuade McCandless  in not going but he doesn’t listen and goes any way. Once he reached the Bush, McCandless realizes that he won’t be able to survive and wants to head back home but the river is frozen so he cannot cross back over it. He finds roots and eats them even though they are poisonous. He gets sick from the berries and ends up dying from starvation. 

Alexander Supertramp: brave, independent, curious, calm

Christopher McCandless: intelligent, smart, nice

James Gallien: nice, helpful, caring, hopeless

Wanye Westerburg: committed, supportive, caring

1. Compare and contrast Christopher McCandless’ life before he went to the Bush and while he was living in the Bush.
2. What three things could McCandless have brought with him to the Bush that would have helped him survive? 
3. Discuss the reason why McCandless wanted to go to the bush.

From Page 1:

Christopher McCandless: “I’m absolutely possitive,” he assured Gallien, “I won’t run into anything I can’t deal with on my own.”

Christopher was sure in himself that he would survive his journey. He wanted no help and he didn’t let anyone persuade him in not going. He was determined in going on his journey and it was his final decision in going. If he decided to not go then he would have survived. When he said: “I won’t run into anything I can’t deal with on my own,” he thought that he was prepared and that it would be easy. 

By the Waters of Babylon

In By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benét, John, a son of a priest, goes on a journey to a forbidden land. His father told him not to go to any of the Dead Places but inside he knew that his son would go either way. John travels by himself in search of the land and while he is traveling he changes as an individual. By going on his journey to The Place of the Gods, John becomes more responsible, intelligent, and less afraid of the world around him. 

John becomes more responsible by going on his journey because he lived and traveled by himself. For instance, John’s father gave him the word to go and travel but as a young boy that John is, it is not that easy to be lonesome. John had to be prepared for the worst environment since he had no shelter in The Place of the Gods but he was confident enough that he could survive. Additionally, John had to be ready to fight for himself just incase he was attacked. Dogs started bombarding, “I had just found a doorI could open when the dogs decided to rush,” but John was ready to win against them, as he did. John matured on his trip to The Land of the Gods. 

On his journey, John becomes more intelligent. For example, John saw what a washing machine, “a washing-place but no water”, was on his journey. He also found out what a stove, “a cooking-place but no wood”, was. In John’s tribe they didn’t have neither washing machines nor stoves so he found out something new which made him know even more. Also, John learned just by traveling to a place that he hasn’t been to before. He saw new ways of life and when he came back home he was excited to share them. John became smarter through his journey because he learned new things everywhere he looked.  

John went to a place that was forbidden to go to, so when he accomplished his journey and returned home safety, he became was braver. For instance, John’s father told him not to go to The Place of the Gods but John did anyways. Since John was on his own it was harder and more stressful but he managed to over come his fears and accomplish his goal. Also, John thought that he was going to die when trying to cross the river. He said, “I said the sayings for the dead and painted my self for death.” Even though he was almost sure that he was going to die, he still took the risk to cross the river. By going on his journey, John became more courageous when he cross the river and then even entered the land of the dead. 

Intelligent and adventurous John, changes through out the short story. In the beginning, John was naive and obeyed all his fathers rules. When his father told him about the forbidden lands, John couldn’t get his mind off of wanting to go there. He is a young boy who wants to see the life outside his small little village. John faced many challenges though his journey but at the end he became more mature. By being a rebel and due to not listening to his father, John ends up learning about other peoples lives. He changes as an individual into an even better person than he was before.  

My Great Grandma Natasha

What was the life like in Ukraine back in the olden days? What if you were a hundred years old and still living? My great grandma has gone through a lot. She saw her parents, brother, sister, son, and grandchildren die yet she is still living. She moved many times throughout her life just to support her family. She is a strong and courageous woman who I have a lot of respect for. During my great grandma’s time she has seen the good and the bad in life. 

My great grandma, Natasha, grew up in a very hard environment. At the age of ten, her parents died, leaving her and her sister going to one foster home, and her two younger brothers going to a different foster home. She and her sister lost contact with her brothers but after twenty years they found one of the brothers. She never saw her other brother after her parents death. The kids never found a family to live with because back in the day the foster homes were more of adoption centers with fifty kids but no one would ever get adopted. In fact, there was no such thing as adoption so at the age of eighteen she and her sister went off living on their own. Natasha worked for a truck company and that is where she met her husband, Temafay.

Natasha and Temafay bought a little house on a farm. On the farm they had: cows, goats, pigs, chicken, dogs, cats and every vegetable you can think of. There first son died in a horrible condition. One day, he was crawling around a huge metal pot, fell in, and boiled to death. Natasha and Temafay were devastated but had to move on with their lives. There next son, Viktor and my grandpa, was born. He worked on the farm and was taught by his mother how to be a man. My grandpa also had three younger sisters that cooked, sowed, cleaned, and worked on the farm. Natasha was very strict when it came to raising her children. Temafay did not participate in raising the children because he worked for a tractor company so he was at work all day. 

My great grandma is currently a hundred years old. She still lives on the farm but in a different location than before. Her youngest daughter, Nada, lives with her because she can’t live by herself due to safety reasons. She has twenty four great grandchildren and she remembers everyone's name. She has a great memory and she remembers her childhood as if it were yesterday. My great grandma refuses to use a cell phone and computer because she never had that when she was growing up. She thinks that technology has ruined my generation. She has perfect vision, can hear well, and she doesn’t even use a cane. She has never gone to the doctors and always cures her sickness by herself. Over the summers of me visiting her, nothing changes except for her getting short and shorter. She still  cleans the house, works in the garden and she refuses to listen to anyone that says that she shouldn’t do work. 

My great grandma has gone through a lot and I look up to her for that. She is a brave women who still lives life like when she was little. She has seen horrible events that people should never have to face but it only made her a stronger person in the end. I admire her strength and I hope to be as strong as her when I grow up. I am very proud to say that I have a great grandma that is a hundred years old and on October 23rd she will be a hundred and one years old!

Word Count: 633

By The Waters of Babylon Open Response

In By The Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benét,  John's tribe, the hill people, reverted to a more primitive way of life because everything was destroyed in the city due to a war. For instance, when the fallen balls hit the city and leave nothing left, the people form tribes and live together. People join together in tribes so that it is easier to survive.  Also, after the war almost everyone was killed, so there wasn't anyone to tell people how to live more advance again. If people weren't killed in the war then they would know how to build up the city again and wouldn't live in tribes. John and the hill people were forced to live a simpler way of life which was harder for everyone but most people didn't complain because they didn't remember how their advanced living style was. Due to a horrible disaster, John and his tribe were forced to live primitively. 

Theme of The Interlopes

    The theme of The Interlopes is that it is better to have friends than have enemies. In the short story, Georg and Ulrich have been enemies from the start because they are fighting over who actually owns the land. They come upon each other in the woods while they are hunting. A beach tree falls on them and they can't get up. They fight over whose men will come first to save them and they tell each other that the other person will kill them first when they get out from under the tree. Later Ulrich realized that if they want to be saved then they have to work together so he offered to be friends with Georg. Georg agreed and they were then fighting over who would free the other friend first. Excitement hit their body because they thought that someones men were coming to save them but then they realized that it was actually wolves. If they had been friends before then they wouldn't have been under the tree and they may have had time to come up with a plan to save themselves before the wolves came. 

A World of Difference

Are all kids the same? Does location and society change a person? Traveling between Ukraine and America I get a taste of how differently people live. I have friends in both places and their lives are very different. Whenever I go to either of the countries I have to adapt to how I am around my friends. It is like I enter a different world because my friends personalities, life style, education, and knowledge are all different. 

In Ukraine, kids are more prepared for future life. Girls are taught in school how to cook, sew, and be a house wife. My friends cook dinners at home so when their parents come home from work food is already on the table. They do the laundry at home, clean the house, vacuum, and wash the dishes. There’s no such thing as laziness and they don’t do all the house work for money. American kids do some of the house work but it’s because they are chores and its usually just to take out the trash or wash the dishes. They get paid for it too so it isn’t that bad either. American school systems do not teach kids how to do any of this unless you go to a school specially made for that kind of learning.  Boys also learn in school how to do yard work and how to be a handy man although in America they aren’t taught any of this. In Ukraine, the kids are expected to do all of the house work and they do not complain. Ukrainian kids are more hands on than American kids. 

  Kids in Ukraine are more appreciative of what they have than American kids. In America, all kids have cell phones. Even fourth graders now a days have cell phones and lap tops. Every house in America has at least a computer and all my friends have to have the newest IPhone, IPad, and Macbook. They ask their parents for everything and do not feel guilty. Kids have cell phones in Ukraine as well but it’s the plainest one that is used just for calling. If they scratch it or in worst case lose it then they cry because they can’t just go and get a new one. My friends in Ukraine care more about what they have and don’t ask their parents for everything. They are aware of their financial situations and try to help out, by balancing school and a job. In America kids have jobs too but they keep the money while kids in Ukraine give it to their parents. After college kids return back home because neither they nor their parents have enough money to buy or rent an apartment and the kids understand that. 

Even simply just hanging out with friends is different. American kids go to their friends house to hang out, or on the weekends they will go to the mall or the movies. In Ukraine, you don’t go to your friends house because they live in an apartment and it is too small. In Ukraine, kids usually hang out in the yard that apartments share. Apartments are set up in the shape of the border of a rectangle or square, and kids climb trees, play tag, and play hide and go, seek with in the yard. Kids make up games and have creative ideas. In America, kids are on their electronic devices and go to the park. All their games are right in front of them so they don’t use their imagination to be creative. In Ukraine, kids know all their neighbors and the latest news. Everyone is very open and truthful. When I walk on the streets, I always end up bumping into someone I know and we talk for hours. Everyone knows everything about everyone in the town while in America people only know a few neighbors and family. Kids in Ukraine have a different social life than kids in America. 

In Ukraine, kids care about what they look like. They won’t go to the store if they aren’t showered or if they aren’t wearing nice clothes. They always try to look their best and would never go to the store or school in pajama pants. In America, kids also dress up but sometimes you see kids in sweat pants and even pajama pants. Going to someones house in America you ask if you should take your shoes off or not but usually you don’t take them off. In Ukraine you would never ask someone that and just always take them off. In fact, if you don’t take your shoes off upon entering someones house then it is looked at as disrespect. 

Not all kids are the same. It depends on where they grow up and the environment they are growing up in. Different countries have different social lives and that impacts the kids life. Kids everywhere are similar because they have the same dreams: to be successful, healthy and happy. But other than that kids from different countries are very different because they have different customs and cultures. 

Words: 848 

Irony Open Response for Junk Food Heaven

The irony shown by Bryson is that he thinks he wants to eat and live junk food but when he finally gets it, he regrets buying all of it. He was convincing his wife to buy junk food because he is living in America and he wants to try all the junk food while she was buying only healthy food. He was too excited when he saw all the junk food in the store and all he thought about was junk food. He got so much of it and his wife insisted that he could only buy it if he ate every last bit of it. He wanted all the junk food and when he got it, he realized that he didn't want it anymore. 

Changing Your Eyes

Historian and feminist Miriam Beard once said “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” Traveling across the world, people see different ways of life. My experience of spending many summers in Ukraine has made me aware that Americans have very different ways of life from other countries. My grandparents have demonstrated the vast differences between the haves and the have-nots. My unique relationship with my grandparents has largely been shaped on their farm in Ukraine.

When I was little, I looked at the farm as a fun place to go to pet animals, but over time, I realized that there are a lot of responsibilities. Before my grandparents had me pick raspberries and feed chickens, I thought that’s all they had to do there. Now I have more chores: sweep the driveway, pull out the dead plants, go fishing, cook, and go to the store. You would think that it is all easy, but even the simplest things are harder on the farm. Americans go to the store to buy a broom, but on the farm I make it out of twigs. By the time I’m done sweeping, my back is sore and I can barely stand up. It makes me feel joyful when I know I did a job well done. For cooking, I have to go out in the garden and find food or see if my grandparents have killed any animals or caught any fish. The food is much fresher, but it’s sad to see the animals gone. However, I’ve learned that doing the right thing isn’t the easiest to do. To go to the store I have to walk for forty minutes and my hands are very weak at the end when I finally walk up the long dusty hill. 

Seeing my grandparents living such a hard life made me become closer to them. I respect them more because I see them living on the farm. For my fourteenth birthday my grandparents bought me twelve little chickens. They were three days old so I had to watch them every second of the day. I hadn’t had any experience raising chickens so my grandparents had to help me along the way. My grandpa found a big box for the chickens to live in until they got bigger and then my grandma put food and water in the box. Every day we would take the chicks outside and have them roam around in the tall green grass. My grandparents taught me how to care for them. They told me how much I need to feed them, how much water to give them, and when they need to go outside for fresh air. When we took the chicks outside, my grandparents would tell me stories about when I was little. I loved hearing them tell me about my childhood because it made me feel more attached to them since they raised me. It was amazing to hear them tell me about how happy they were to see me smile. I slept in a crib right next to their bed, and every morning they would go over to the crib and I would start smiling which shows me even now that I loved them from the day I was born. Since I have so much time in the summer to be with my grandparents, it has made our bond stronger and stronger over the years.

My relationship with my grandparents has taught me to appreciate what’s truly important. The problems my friends complain about in America aren’t nearly as bad in Ukraine. On the farm, my friends worry about the crops burning out and not having enough food. In America, my friends worry about makeup and not looking ‘good’. Americas all dress the same way and teens are forced to buy the expensive clothing to fit in. Teens feel extremely pressured to have the same clothes as their friends. On the farm, people don’t care what they look like as long as it is comfortable to move in. Makeup is last on their minds because they get dirt on their faces either way. Ukrainians on the farm don’t feel pressured to dress the same way as their friends because no one cares. They look at how the person is on the inside and not by their looks. Living with my grandparents on the farm has showed me that how I and other people dress and look shouldn’t matter and it certainly shouldn’t change you as a person.

My grandparents’ farm has a special meaning to me because it has shaped our relationship. I spend days and nights on the farm with my grandparents and it’s the perfect time to learn from them. My grandparents have taught me the most important aspects of life. When I will be a mother and a grandma, I hope to share the same lessons and stories that my grandparents taught me with my children and grandchildren. Going to the farm my eyes have opened up on how different life can be in different places. I am very thankful that I have seen different ways of life and that I shared the time with my grandparents.  

Ukraine Drive

        11 hours in the plane really gets to you. I cannot fall asleep in the plane and after a while all I want to do is cry. But then I think about Ukraine and how I am going to be there soon, and I get extremely excited. The best part of the flight is when the captain says “Fasten your seat belts; we are going to be landing in twenty minutes. It is thirty degrees Celsius, and a clear sky.”  Right then I quickly snatch my sister’s hand. My sister and I always grasp each other’s hand during takeoff and landing.
          We walk out of the airport, hearing every taxi guy in sight saying “do you need a ride?” but we respond with no. The air feels heavier, the streets are dirtier, the cars are smaller, and the stray animals are everywhere.  It feels great walking out of the airport; I hold my head high and I look for my uncle Vova. Once I spot him, I sprint over and give him the biggest hug. Then again I realize that it takes 10 hours in the cramped car until I get to my house in Nikopol and my happy mood slowly fades away. 
          The car is very cramped, I can hardly move my leg. Suitcases surround us and the heat is unbearable. Driving across Ukraine we spot long fields of sunflowers, all facing one direction. I ask my parents why the sunflowers only face one direction and they respond by saying that they face the direction of the sun. We take a rest stop by the sunflowers to take pictures. Getting back on the rode, there are hardly any cars. It looks as if it is a never ending rode. 
        The first stray dog that I see running along the rode stops the beating in my heart. In Ukraine, they don't have shelters so animals are everywhere. It is hard to get used to because I love animals. In fact I want to be a veterinarian, so it is very hard when I see animals in need of help and me not being able to help them.  
          My family and I begin to play a game where we see who will see the entering Nikopol sign first. When we see it we scream Nikopol as loud as a newborn baby screams and it gets the excited blood flowing through my body again. I sit up tall and proud that I am in Nikopol. We turn onto my street with only one street light on the rode. We drive up the rocky driveway and I can hardly see anything in sight. My grandparents are standing outside, waiting for us in the darkness. I run over and hug them until my mom moves me away so that she can hug them too. My grandparents are like my parents to me because they pretty much raised me until I was 7. 
          My grandpa unlocks the front door into the apartment, holds the door open for us with his left foot, and pulls the little rope for the old fashioned light to turn on. We walk 2 stories up the spiral staircase of the apartment building. My grandpa opens the first steel door, and the second one was already open. I walk in first and flip the switch for the light to turn on. Running over to my grandma, I am not sure if it is a dream or real life. Her arms wrap around me and hold me tight, she always gives the best hugs. I put my suitcase down in the living room and I say "finally home." 
Word Count: 609

Example Conclusion

Technology is causing millions of Americans to be more distractable and less task-oriented. Many students are paying less and less attention in class because they text their friends, go on Facbook, check their email and even play games. Even just to check their phones quickly, students end up not hearing their teachers and it may be an important topic that needed to be adressed. Students have the same problem at home because they need to concentrate on homework but might be tempted to go on Facebook and then will get distracted. By limiting the amount of technology used everyday, students will be able to be more sucessful and get bette grades.

A mans best friend

    As tears flow down my face a mans best friend is gone. There are many stray dogs in Ukraine. I feed them and pet them, going from one to the next. But this little puppy and I had a special connection. Everyday she would wait for me to walk out of the tall brick apartment. I would walk out at ten in the morning everyday and she would be sitting there right by the metal door. "Lets go," I would say. She would jump onto her four legs and I would give her a hot dog. She devoured it quickly and then licked the remains off the hot pavement on which the hot dog was laying on. Her cold tongue would make the heat rise off the pavement and evaporating it into the hot summer air. She walked with me everywhere, to the beach, bizarre, bus stop, anywhere I was going she would be right by my side. When I went into stores she would be right there waiting at the door until our next adventure. People thought she was my dog, although she wasn't. My grandparents didn't allow her into our apartment because they wouldn't have time to take care of her. Although if she had lived with me then everything would have been okay and I wouldn't have this horrible memory haunting me. 
    It was the middle of August, a warm and sunny day. Like usual I went to the beach with the puppy. She waited patiently for me there and then we walked back together. We hopped up the tall white steps, and walked towards the town hall. We took a quick left and there we were, at my apartment building. I crouched down and pet her behind her ears. Like usual she fell onto her back while I giggled. I pet her stomach and told her I would be out in a minute. I quickly changed out of my bathing suit and told my grandparents that I was going on a walk. I walked out of the doors and she wasn't there. I was shocked. I looked right and left and then I finally found her. 
    Her shiny gold coat was sparkling in the sun. She was laying in the same position as I left her, on her back, yet now she was laying in the middle of the street and it wasn't me that was petting her but a tall brown haired man probably in his 40s was petting her. Inside me I felt jealously rushing through my body. I felt as if I was being replaced. A shiny silver car turned around the corner and onto the street. Selfishly, the brown haired man jumped away from the middle of the street. The puppy just started to turn her head and jump off the street but she didn't have time. My mouth was wide open. My legs running as fast as they can to get to her. My whole body shaking and tears flooding down my face. I couldn't believe it, or at least i didn't want to believe it. 
    When I got over to her I thought she was dead. Seeing the rise and fall of her chest I realized I was wrong. Hope right then and there came to me. I picked her up, carried her off the side and laid her down next to some bushes. I sprinted inside screaming and crying. My grandparents were so confused. They didn't know what was happening. "Pu, pu, puppy, run ov over by car" is all I could get out of my mouth. I grabbed a towel and ran back outside. I put her on the towel.  She was crying. That was the saddest sound I had ever heard. No one else cared, not even one person. Her legs were holding on by their last limbs. A lady walked up behind me and asked why I was crying. Again all I could say was "Pu, pu, puppy, run ov over by car." I guess she was a dog loving person as well. She said that she would bring her to the vet and get her all cured. I counted on her. I gave the puppy one more kiss and then let her go with the kind lady. That was the last time I saw the puppy. Im hoping that the lady cured her and that she lives with the lady now.
Words: 736

Ukrainian Cherry Trees

     Cherries ripen first in the summer. In Ukraine, they ripen in the beginning of June. Everyone watches in awe as the white flower buds begin to open. The flowers on the ends of the limbs, watch the kids run by. 
     The flowers slowly transform into the pale cherry. The tree limbs begin to sag down due to the weight of the cherries. The cherries are on a little green stem. A few stems are linked together at the top by a brown bark ball. 
     After the pale cherry, the red and yellow cherries come into place. The red cherry is the most common. It is either bright red or maroon. The yellow cherries are a dark yellow with a slight shade of pink. I think that the maroon cherries are the sweetest, so when I go to my garden, I climb the maroon cherry tree. We have one yellow cherry tree and one maroon cherry tree. 
     I climb the cherry trees with a basket in my left hand. Glancing around neighboring yards, I feel tall when I am up in the tree. It is extremely hot up in the trees especially because the leaves trap in the heat. Sometimes it even gets up to one hundred and fourteen degrees Fahrenheit. The sound of the wind blowing and waves crashing to the shore surrounds my ears. One after another, I pick off the cherries with my right hand and then drop them into the basket. If I remember, I wear my pink yoga pants when I climb the trees so that I won't scratch my legs. I also wear my pink Nike hat so that nothing will fall on my head, like cherries or twigs. I love to climb my cherry trees.
     Sometimes my grandma even makes juice, campot, out of the cherries. Most people in Ukraine drink this since there is an abundant amount of cherries and it is easy to make. Also it is very healthy for you and it is delicious. This summer I am going to learn how to make campot. All I know right now is that you have to cook the cherries with water and sugar, in a pot and on the stove. You cook it for about half an hour and then it takes a little while to cool down. It takes a long time to make but is it very sweet, healthy, and refreshing. 
     It is now the middle of August. Cherries, brown and small, begin to fall off the trees quickly. My dad actually likes cherries when they are maroon with a little bit of brown showing through. But once they fall off the tree nobody eats them of course, except for my dog Cleopatra sometimes eats them. In fact she was born under a cherry tree last summer so maybe that is why she loves them so much. 
     Cherries are my favorite fruits and I love eating them. The only part that I don't like them is the little pits inside. But then again, if it weren't for the pits then there would not be any more cherry trees. It is hard to think how America does not have any naturally grown cherry trees. When I was five, my sister Jessica and I made a little hole in our garden and threw the pits in there. Now every summer that I go to Ukraine I always observe on how much my tree has grown. Soon my cherry tree will be big so that I can climb it. I can not wait until the summer so that I can eat cherries. 
Word Count: 599 words

What is an essay?

An essay is multiple paragraphs on a certain field of writing. There should always be an introductory paragraph that introduces the topic and tells you background on the topic. You should have an interesting and powerful introduction so that the reader will want to keep reading. The last few of sentences of the introductory paragraph there should be a thesis, that tells the reader what the main idea is. Next there should be as many body pararaphs as needed. There should be a topic sentence in the beginning of each body paragraph. This should be the first sentence of each and it should tell the reader what they are going to read about in the paragraph. Within the body paragraphs you should have concrete details which is specific facts about the subject. Also, there should be commentary which is your opinion on the concrete details and just the subject in general. The last few sentences of the paragraph is the concluding sentence which sums up what you wrote about.  The final paragraph of the essay should be the concluding paragraph that is all comentary, making your essay interesting and creative.