MWA 1

Tamara Montano

MWA 1: Blog meets memoir

Bless Me Ultima, is a story about a young boy named Antonio who is trying to figure out who he is destined to be.  A main part of the story is Antonio trying to figure out the answers to his many questions.  These were questions that made him ponder about what is expected of him, who he is supposed to be, and what exactly is good and evil.  This story was abundant with intriguing scenes, descriptive language, and a great story line.  It also helped me to relate to my own personal life experiences.  Antonio wanted to know his destiny.  Was he supposed to be a priest like his mom wished for him to be or a vaquero like his father expected of him?  In particular, it made me think of my family, as they too had their own expectations as for how I would grow from a young girl to a woman.  I was reminded of the young girl I used to be and the young woman I have become today.

            Expectations of me continue to grow as I get older.  When I was a little girl, not much was expected of me, besides love and respect.  Respect for, not only myself, but also for others.  In my family, respect is what makes a good man or a good woman.  To me, the two simple rules of respect and love seemed to lean more towards perfection.  Perfection is what I felt was expected of me.  I was expected to get straight A’s.  A B just never seemed to satisfy.  I was expected to play sports and be one of the star players.  I was expected to do everything my parents wanted me to do without any questions.

            Also now that I am in school, my family expects me to succeed in life and graduate from college.  They are constantly giving me incentives to graduate with a degree.  Both my mom and my dad are successful, but neither graduated with a degree from college.  They both found their way to success in their lives.  “I wish I would have strived harder and finished college so I could have more success and opportunities,” my parents would tell me.  My mom always tells me that even though she is doing well without a college background, having that background opens up so many more doors and opportunities for great success in life.  I should want the best for myself and never sell myself short or purposely set myself up for failure.  My family wants me to earn and have a successful life so much , that it has become expected of me.

            I felt as if I had no leeway to be a kid. My dad wanted me to be a “tomboy” and my mother wanted me to be her little girl wanting to get all dolled up.  Trying to please both of my parents was rough because yes, I did love to play sports, but at the same time I loved to get dressed up and do the “girly things”.  It seemed as if it was me against the world.  I never seemed to make both parents happy.  I wondered if I would ever know who I was supposed to be and become.  Antonio also wondered who he was supposed to be.  It was hard for him because both parents were very opposite on what they wanted for his destiny.

            The expectations my parents had for me seemed to have me stuck in “their way.”  I felt as if my feet were bind down by massive ropes.  I wanted to do things my way, but I wondered if that was really the right way.  At this time I felt as if I had no hope of living a life in which I only had to fulfill my dreams.  It was at this time in my life that I found Jesus.  I realized that my parents had only wanted what was best for me.  Although they didn’t always do it in the most loving way or even the right way, I could now see it was out of their love for me.

            My god is the one who saves and loves.  I could sense his presence in my life.  He was abounding in love and was my strength to break the burdens I carried.  His love helped me to realize that I was never called to be perfect.   He also helped me to realize that my parents love for me was abundant.  At this time in my life I was able to love my parents the way God called me too.  I finally was able to give my parent a hug without giving it artificially. My parents could sense a difference in my life.  Any one who kew me could see the happiness in m life shine brighter then the stars in the mountain sky.  They could see my heart pure as snow.           

            This was the first time in a long time I could say I respected y parents, others, and myself.  I had finally become who they wanted me to be, a respectful and loving young lady.  I didn’t fulfill all their hopes and dreams but I can sense their happiness with me and what I am doing in my life.  What my family expected of me I also now want for myself.  The person who I was then is nowhere near the person whom I’ve become.  I learned that respect and love carry you a long way in this world.  I ca make a difference in people’s lives and make my life, a life worth living.  I have been able to live the life I want to live, as well as the life my parents had hopes for me to live.

            Bless Me Ultima was such a wonderful book to read that intrigued me with every paragraph I read.   The great depth that the author presented in each sentence drew me in. I was able to relate to this story on many different levels.  I loved the feeling of each time my finger touched the paper to turn it to the next page.  I loved the feeling of being ale to cuddle up on my couch with a dim light beaming on the pages I was reading.  I was able to apply Ultimas’ great words of wisdom to my life.   I was able to read and also meditate on my own life.  I was reminded of the struggles I faced, I was reminded of the bumps and mountains I had overcome with the help of my dear Savior Jesus Christ.

           

Bless Me Ultima Chapters 3 and 4 SWA 2

Tamara Montano

Blog # 2

September 13, 2010

Reader Response and Descriptive Writing for BMU chapters 3 and 4

Chapters three and four mainly focused on the after affects and emotions that were involved because of the death of Lupito.  Antonio started to spend more and more time with Ultima as time passed. She had showed him how the herbs and plants could heal and do good for the people.  Lupito learned how to pick plants and herbs; he learned how to use the herbs and how he should give respect to all of the earth. 

            Antonio had a lot of conflicting thoughts and feelings going through his head throughout these chapters.  Lupito’s death really made him think about life and afterlife.    He wondered if Lupito would go to hell for what he did.  He wondered if his own father would go to hell for the things he did.  “But, Ultima, how can he go to communion?  How can he take God in his mouth and swallow him?  Will God forgive his sin and be with him?” a quote from chapter two.  Lupito wondered so much about God and who could go to heaven and what would cause a man not to be able to go to heaven?  Ultima reassured him that it is not our place to judge, a very wise statement I thought. 

            Antonio analyzed his parents relationships; he wondered how two people so opposite like his parents could marry.  Reading this sparked a memory of my parents.  My mother and father were also very different.  I remember one camping trip, we were headed out to San Juan River.  My dad was pulling our 5^th wheel on the back of his white and green diesel truck.  Camping trips were always fun and peaceful but the drive up was far from fun and peaceful.  The whole trip my sister and I listened to my mom and dad argue about how fast my dad was driving, how close he was getting to the railings, so on and so forth.  It was a continuous argument.  I tried to shut out all the noise as I was trying to take a nap; but the sounds of the high pitch tone in my moms voice along with my dads constant words of wanting to be right continued to fill my head.  If this wasn’t bad enough as we started up the mountain the 5^th wheel started to screech, and as the minutes passed it felt as if we would never get there. As we made our way up the mountain road the loud sound of the rumbling truck vibrated in my ears and the noises seemed to get louder and more annoying.  We finally made it up the mountain in what felt like days, but when we got there the noises stopped.  I could hear the birds chirping with the wind blowing through the mountains making the sound of waves washing up on the shore.  I could smell the fishy water along with the deep green smell of the fresh pine trees and different nature life.  It was peaceful at once.  I looked to my parents and they had stopped arguing, they were both happy to be there and the peacefulness of the out doors seemed to calm them down.  Only a few moments later my parents were happy as could be and were enjoying the outdoors as well as each others company. Like Antonio, I also wondered how my parents could be so very different but yet they married and seemed to make each other happy. 

 The death of Lupito hit the whole town hard.  It was a rough time for both the men and women.  Rumors started to fly about the death of Lupito.  Everyone had a different story to tell.  This reminded me of being in mid school when there was always a different story being told.  The 100% truth of a story that was soon turned into everyone’s new “exciting” versions of what “really” happened; which ended up being about 1% truth and the rest made up stories to make the seemingly boring situation into a new exciting and unreal story. 

            As I read on in chapter four,  I found myself having to reread the text over and over again to understand what the text was trying to say.  The cursing in this chapter was overbearing and made it difficult for me to read and fully understand what I needed to know.  I caught myself trying not to read the curse words in my head as I read through the text but time and time again I failed.  When I finally got over the minor detail of the cursing in the text I was able to understand what I was reading and truly feel as if I was there.  It made me anxious for Antonio as he was wondering what path to take.  Should he choose the way of his mother and become a priest or the way of his father of becoming a Vaquero?  As I read on in the text I felt as if Ultima was also giving me advice.  At such a young age Antonio was not yet called to know what he wanted his future to be and the same applied to me. 

            These chapters were absolutely great to read.  I felt as if I was really in the story.  I pictured myself walking with Antonio and Ultima looking for new plants and herbs.  As I read on I could almost smell the different herbs.  They were very strong, almost as if there were hundreds of different smells running through my nose.  These chapters were written in such detail and had such great descriptions.  I found myself wishing that I would some day be able to write in such a way that I could capture my readers by making them feel as if they were in the story.

Bless Me Ultima Chapters 1-2

Tamara,




Chapters 1-2



September 6, 2010



Bless Me Ultima



Bless Me Ultima began with a great introduction. The author used a lot of descriptive words and also had a good tone to the book. The book begins with giving you a little insight as to what you can expect this story to be about. Antonio, who is the main character of this book, tells about his background. He is the youngest child out of 5 other children. He has three older brothers at war and two older sisters. Not having any siblings his age to play with Antonio is left to do things on his own and spends a lot of his time alone. For being such a young child he has seen many hardships.

In Chapter 1 they introduce a new character named Ultima also known as La Grande (which meant “the woman was old and wise”). Ultima was a good family friend of Antonio’s parents. Ultima had always been there for anyone in need, but now she is dying and is in need of someone to take care of her. Antonio’s family takes Ultima in and gives her a home to stay. The book says “Ultima was a curandera, a woman who knew the herbs and remedies of the ancients, a miracle-worker who could heal the sick…And because a curandera had this power she was misunderstood and often suspected of practicing witchcraft herself.” Because of this Antonio’s two sisters Deborah and Teresa were timid to meet Ultima.

At this time in the story Antonio tells us one of his dreams. This first dream we hear about is about the birth of a baby. In his dream he does not know who the baby is or who the lady who delivered the baby is. At the birth of this child the two sides of the family which were his mothers and fathers side were fighting about what the baby’s destiny would be. The mothers’ family/friends wanted the baby to be a priest. On the other side the fathers’ family/friends wanted the baby to grow up to be a Vaquero. The women who delivered the baby shouted a very bold statement “I Pulled this baby into the light of life, so I will bury the afterbirth and the cord that once linked him to eternity. Only I will know his destiny.” This statement ended the dream. Antonio woke up the next day questioning his mother all about his birth. He then found out that the dream he had was his actual birth, this frightened him and he quickly ended the conversation. That day his father went to pick up Ultima. When Antonio saw Ultima he remembered her eyes and was too stunned by all the emotions he had to greet her at first. Antonio felt an instant closeness to Ultima.

In the next chapter there is a very traumatic scene that happens. One of the neighbors brothers were shot by a “crazy man”. The neighbor a.k.a Chavez asks Antonio’s dad to go with him to the bridge where the man who killed his brother was at. Antonio’s father calmed the man down and then reached for his rifle to accompany Chavez to find this “crazy man”. Antonio follows them without them knowing not knowing why he was going. When they get to the bridge they find the man and soon realize that he is a man who has gone crazy because of the war. They end up killing the man and Antonio is very frightened and returns home. The next day Antonio talked with Ultima and is comforted to know that she knew everything that had happened that night and understood how he felt. The chapter ends here, and I am very excited to see what happens next!