The Janjaweed, who was an Arabian military group, caused a big war conflict called the Darfur resulting in changing many Sudanese lives. Villages had to evacuate and many people had to live in fear, not knowing what was going on. A book inspired by this topic is called The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney. This book shows the perspective of a twelve year old girl named Amira. Her dream is to go to a school to learn how to read and write. However, her parents do not find school useful in their village but also can’t afford school financially. The Darfur war causes Amira and her family to move to a refugee camp. Losing almost everything they had. Then a lady comes to visit the Sudanese camp and gave each of the kids a gift, a pencil. But Amira’s pencil was special, it was a red pencil! This soon gave Amira many new opportunities.

I really enjoyed this book because it shows a great point of view and shows that the smallest gifts can change someone’s life. The red pencil really showed her love for learning, she could draw, write, and even erase with her new pencil. A pencil may not seem that big of a gift to most people now. But for Amira, it was a whole new destiny waiting for her.

My favorite character in the book is Amira. Amira has such a creative mind with so much ideas to express with her pencil. Just like this quote on page 241, “I want to make words, draw slants and dots and circle shapes for other eyes to see. I want to teach it to girls and boys, ready to read and rise. This is what I want.” This quote shows that Amira is inspired by the things she can do on the pencil. Amira is a creative and unique girl, ready to finally learn using the pencil.

My favorite quote is on page 258, when Amira mentions her real dream, the life she’d love to have. “I wish I could have lessons in a real school, with other girls, with Halima. And books, and a blackboard, and laughing, and many students chanting, singing, trapping funny bug alphabet letters that flit on that blackboard.” This shows that Amira just wants to have a normal life and the sad reality of staying at a refugee camp in fear. Her friend Halima gets to go to the amazing school filled with laughing, singing, and chanting. The school is filled with many memories of joy that Amira won’t experience. This shows that we should appreciate what’s around us. Some people wish they never went to school. While some people like Amira, wish to have so much opportunities and an experience at a school to learn the simple things such as reading or writing.

I would love to live in the universe of Gilmore Girls. Gilmore Girls is a TV show that consist of a mother and daughter’s daily lives in a small town called Stars Hollow in Connecticut. I would love to live in this universe because it is located in a small town. I feel like a small town is more welcoming, your town would mostly be of people you know. I would be able to visit many of the small coffee shops and libraries. The places would be very comforting and would feel like home and definitely a perfect place to study. The weather in Stars Hollow is made up of mostly cloudy weather. Cloudy weather is perfect for any day since it’s not too hot but it is not freezing cold. And in the fall the leaves on the trees turn into the perfect shade of orange that scatters the sidewalks. And even in the summer the country club is the perfect place to play tennis or golf. There are so many cool antique stores and bakery’s you can go to. Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls is definitely the universe I’d love to go to!

The thought of my favorite meal makes my mouth water. I would love to have a restaurant dedicated to my favorite meal. Sadly I will not be opening my own restaurant, but I will be sharing my dream meal. My meal would be served for dinner and desert, I personally think dinner and dessert are the best meals of the day. You should always end the day with delicious food.

I first would start with the drinks. I would have two options. The first option would be a strawberry jasmine iced tea. Strawberry is my favorite fruit and having it with jasmine iced tea just makes the drink even more delicious. The pink color of the tea is just very beautiful. It is the perfect shade of pastel pink. I love making this drink at home because it has the perfect taste every time. My second option of a drink would be a Shirley Temple. I have ordered Shirley Temples for a drink at a restaurant for as long as I remember. It is mixed with ginger ale and with a bright red cherry grenadine. And a cherry in the drink. The drink is so refreshing and the perfect order for a restaurant.

Now we will move onto the main meal and the side dishes. My main meal would be cevapi. With a side of miso soup and fries. Cevapi is a Serbian sausage that is a really good type of meat as well. The outside is very crispy but you can taste all the different spices inside the meat once you take a bite. It has always been one of my favorite Serbian dishes. My side dish would be miso soup. Miso soup is a soup that consists of ingredients like dashi stock, and miso paste. You can taste the tofu and mushrooms inside the soup as well. And my second side dish would be fries. Fries have always been a classic food that I would order. The fries that I would have would be crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. I would also like my fries to be salted with a side of ketchup. These foods are so good in their own ways, but they will be perfect for my dream meal.

Lastly would be dessert. For my dessert, I would want chocolate ice cream. Chocolate ice cream has always been my favorite ice cream flavor. The ice cream is so soft and has the perfect amount of chocolate. Whether you add toppings or not, the ice cream is always so exquisite and delicious.

These foods are so excellent in their own way. They are all fulfilled with different flavors but they all go together. If I ever had the chance to have all these meals I would think of this moment writing my dream meal. This summarizes my idea of what my favorite meal would look like. How would your dream meal look like?

If I were able to design a house anywhere in the world, I would want my house to feel comfortable and welcoming. If I could design my own house I’d want a big one story house. I’d like my house to have a modern style but I’d also want a few bright colors throughout the house. I feel like having color in my house would have a more friendlier atmosphere. Some colors I’d want are pastels. I’d want my house to have a ton of windows to let in a ton of sunlight. I like the feeling of natural sunlight in the day. I’d also want my house to have many plants. I feel like a bit of greenery for a house always makes a house better. Plus, it’s better for the environment. If I could choose any location I’d actually like to stay in the area I’m at. I like the places near me and I feel like I’m in a comfortable area. I’d also want a big kitchen that would include many counter space, multiple ovens, and a huge fridge. Maybe even multiple. I’d also want my pantry to be big so I don’t have to worry of not having enough space in the kitchen. My color scheme would probably be light brown, white, dark brown, and pastel pink and yellow. My living room would have a huge connected grey or black couch. Maybe put a few colorful pillows with a dark green rug and some hanging plants. But one important thing is I’d want a lot of space for cat structures. I’d want my cats to have a great place to roam around inside so they’ll have a fun time in the house too. I’d also want a bathroom for every bed room. I’d make a master bathroom and the rest normal sized bathrooms. Each bathroom would have a big shower and bathtub. I’d want a six bedroom house and seven bathrooms. Another place I’d add in my house is a study room. I’d have two big connected wooden desks filled with computer stands, plants, and comfy desk chairs, I wouldn’t add too much color since I wouldn’t want it to distract me while I am studying. I’d also want a speaker so I can play calming music when I study. I’d want a big pool with a waterslide and a jacuzzi in my backyard with a big tennis court. Filled with colorful flowers and many fruit trees. My top priorities for my house would to have a clean, comfortable, environment. When someone would walk into my house they would already feel welcomed.

I wish I could take a vacation in Serbia if I had the choice to go anywhere in the world. This has always been my answer to this question for a while, but why? Well one of the reasons may just be because I am Serbian, I have many family in Serbia and it would be fun to visit some of them one day. Serbia is also just a beautiful place in general. There are many beautiful cities and places. One place I would specifically love to go to is Belgrade. This is a very popular city in Serbia, but I would just love to visit this city. I find Serbia as a very unique place but one big reason I’d love to go is the food. Serbian food is so good and Im sure I’d find even better food in the actual country. Serbia is a wonderful place and I hope to visit there one day. Where would you go if you could travel anywhere in the world?