The yam is the power that be

Today we introduced our latest and greatest novel for class, Things Fall Apart. TFA is an award-winning novel by the renowned author Chinua Achebe, and we'll be working with it throughout the rest of the six weeks. Get ready for cool Nigerian traditions, awesome names that your teachers may potentially be butchering in their attempts to pronounce correctly, and YAMS. Lots of yams. So many yams. What's a yam, you ask? It's basically like a sweet potato...quite tasty. You should follow this recipe and make me some yam pecan crumble.  Just kidding, kind of.

In all seriousness, Things Fall Apart will be a great study into traditional values of Nigerian culture around the turn of the century; however, we have some tips to help guide your reading because many of these names, cultural traditions, ideas, ways of living, and vocabulary may be unfamiliar to you (unless you possess an extensive study of Nigerian village culture...if so, find me so that I can give you a high five). Keep a running list of names, proverbs, and motivations for the characters to help you keep things straight...who's Enzima again? Agbala? Ojiubo? Additionally, there is a study guide for you on the website; this is OPTIONAL but may be helpful.

Doesn't Chinua look like he would LOVE intentional conversations over coffee?

In class we discussed the concept of tradition and the struggle between tradition and change, which will be one of the most significant themes of the novel. Feel free to share any crazy cool traditions you had growing up...maybe one of them will be so awesome that I'll implement them with my family.

Also, remember back FOREVER ago when we talked about teen movies and debated the validity of Jake Ryan's hotness? Seventh period, this quiz is for you...see if Jake Ryan is your soulmate.

Today's photo of the day is a shot of my house in Dallas.

Just kidding, it's a shot from the Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in China. Every year millions of visitors travel to Harbin to see the stunning structures and displays built out of ice. This photo shows one of the ice castles lit up at night.

What is this?! A center for ANTS?

Have a WONDERFUL weekend, lovelies! Remember, your favorite Humanities teachers will be gone Monday, but we'll be back in action on Tuesday to discuss Chapter 32!