In chapter two “The Midwife”, we have Tara’s mother as the assistant of a midwife where Tara’s mother begins to learn how to become a midwife, with the help of the midwife. The entire midwifery concept had been her father’s idea. As a good wife, the mother was only doing what would be expected of her by her husband. Her father was knee to ensure that his family attains self-reliance.

Tara’s mother was a stay at home mother, when the midwife needed assistants, she asked the mother for help. Tara’s father was very hard on “self-reliance”. The father expects everyone in his family to help with the community. “This is a calling from the Lord”’ the father said to the mother because she refused to go to another childbirth with Judy. The first time she went to a childbirth it went bad. She came back looking tired and drawn and describes the difficult birth as “awful”. The Dad wanted for her to learn how to bring babies into the world so that in the “End of Days”, she’d be able to deliver babies.

The next birth is easier, and as the months go by and spring and summer turn to fall, the mother assists with dozens of births. The mother tells Tara’s father that she’s at least prepared to deliver a baby on her own. The father insists she actually deliver a baby by herself in order to improve her skills. But midwifery is not illegal in the state of Idaho, if is not sanctioned, and midwives could face criminal charges if anything goes “very wrong” during the birth.

The mother begins to deliver babies on her own and becomes so popular that she even hires an assistant. Andrey and Tara are instructed in herbal remedies and palliatives, Tara enjoys seeing her mother feel joy at finally being in change of something. The mother charges about five hundred dollars per birth and soon has a steady income on her own. She would make more money than her husband. When the mother pays to have a phone installed, the dad balks at the new technology.

This chapter shows that Tara is absorbing the doctrine her family has been teaching her. She is skeptical of medical and government institutions alike and is proud able to deceive and skirt them at every turn.

picture of my draft 🙂

I didn’t like English until I was in high school. My favorite English teacher I had was in my Junior year, her name was Mrs.Poteat. Mrs.Poteat was also my homeroom teacher. It wasn’t until I had her as a teacher that I began to enjoy reading and writing. Mrs.Poteat was an unusual teacher from the other teachers. She was special. Mrs.Poteat would dress like back in the eighty’s. Meaning she would have them high waisted jeans and turtleneck shirts. Mrs.Poteat wore glasses, she would always have her hair up. I don’t remember her having it down. She also had a good sense of humor. 

One day in class Mrs.Poteat presented us with an assignment that we had to as a group. Mrs.Poteat talked about what she expected from the assignment. In her words she said “this assignment will be presented in class”. I’m not much of a talker. I’ve never liked to talk in front of the class nor did I like reading out loud. Mrs. Poteat knew this about me. After class I went to her desk, I asked her if I could turn in my assignment and not present in front of the class, but no was my answer. She said “No Mariana, everyone will have to present because it is part of your grade”. I said “ that’s fine, I will present my assignment, but it won’t be so good”. I left the classroom but in my mind I knew I wasn’t going to be able to talk in front of the class. There was just no way. I thought to myself what if I just don’t come that day? What if I just tell her and the group that the reason I didn’t come that day was because I got sick.  It’s crazy to think I had all these thoughts.

The day of the assignment came, I was so nervous. I got up that morning, brushed my teeth, put on my makeup, and fixed my hair. I wore a nice outfit and some brand new shoes I had bought the week before. I was looking good. I went to school. My first class I had was English. I walked in the classroom. There she was, “Good Morning”  I said to Mrs.Poteat, she smiled and said good morning back to me. I sat in my seat, which was in front of the class. Mrs.Poteat got up from her chair and came to the front of the class. “Good morning class, today we will be presenting the assignments. I will call out a random name and you shall get up with your group to present.” The first name she called out was Kylie. I don’t remember what our project was about, but I know we had to read a book. Each group had different books. I believe there were about six groups that day. I was the fifth group she called up. The funny part was out of all the names there were in my group, she calls out mine. We get up ready to present. I was so nervous I just knew that if I spoke I would say the wrong thing. One of my group members started talking. There were five people in my group. I was the last to speak; I talked about the conclusion of the book and that I recommend them to read the book. When I was speaking I messed up a few times, I would say words I shouldn’t have but it was okay because nobody knew but me. After this day I promised myself to never be scared of presenting projects in front of the class. At the end of the day it was my classroom. They were there with me every single day of school so why should I be afraid of speaking?

I believe part of the reason I was like this is because in my household we don’t read books. We don’t talk about English. We don’t read books. We don’t even speak English at home. I am bilingual; I speak both English and Spanish. In my household we wouldn’t talk about a subject we’ve learned about. My parents would only ask “cómo estuvo la escuela?” and that was it. I believe this was part of  the reason why I was so close and not open with my classmates in class. I no longer have a problem with reading or presenting in front of the class.

My name is Mariana Ramirez. As a child, I hated going to the dentist office. I believe it was the tools they would use that cause me to be scared. Every time I would step foot inside a dentist office, I couldn’t help to control myself but to start crying. However, as I got older my fear has faded away. Now I would like to major in the dental industry. Learning more about how important it is to maintain our teeth clean, I’ve decided to major as a dental hygienist. A dental hygienist works on treating and preventing any oral diseases and infections. As a dental hygienist you get to know your patients well as they continue to come for more visits.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

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The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

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You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

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