The Devaluation of the Peso

The panic that the devaluation of the peso left in the people of my country is still remembered as the worst financial crisis in México. Apparently, the Government did not know how to run the exchange rates that were going out of control in December 1994. By that time my mother was ready to accomplish her dream and become the owner of a house, one for which she had fought very much. The devaluation not just affected certain people, it also affected my family. As I have said the devaluation of the Mexican peso created for my family several serious situations because my mother lost her job, her house and we experienced severe economic problems.

With the devaluation of the peso, my mother lost her job in a well-known Mexican company that used to sell houses. She had worked there for over five years and her objectives were mainly to obtain experience and learn as much as could be possible, so then she could offer my brother and me a better quality of life. She was in charge of taking people into the area that was still under construction, so customers would know where they were going to live. The construction area required a lot of labor and workers. That is why lot of business closed as a result of the bankrupt economy. They also reduced their staff and employees, and therefore, they dismissed my mother. However, the devaluation did not affect my mother’s willingness or her desire to work. Of course she knew how to handle our situation very well and started to created flower arrangements to sell them in different local offices. That is how we begin accommodating our routine, little by little. My brother and I were helping my mother to create different and colorful flower arrangements so that then she would sell them while our situation was recovering.

Another effect from the devaluation of the peso was that we lost our home, along with our memories. It was December when my mother went to the Central Bank to sign a loan so that we would finally become the owner of a place we thought would be spending the rest of our lives. After three days, she received a letter in which she was notified that the price of the loan had increased, and it was higher than the original amount. My mom did not pay so we would have to leave the house. Without a job, my mom could not afford such a quantity and eventually the Mexican Central Bank kept our home. The devaluation of the peso caused many more problems that affected our family for the next following months.

Although three months had passed after the devaluation, my family and I were hardly surviving. Unfortunately in those days I was beginning to present symptoms that would be a long illness. For that my mother had to talk to specialized doctors the severity of my problem, and these searches included expensive exams. As a result of my mother’s effort and after various studies, we got to know the severity of my illness. Mom had done the right things to find out that my symptoms were no more than tachycardias and not convulsions as we had thought. Moreover, the economic crisis forced us to sell the majority of our things in order to permanently solve our economic situation. Even though the devaluation left us with a hardly any income, we overcame the devaluation of the peso. We managed to overcome this situation in a very unique way, working hard and growing together.

The devaluation of the Mexican peso left my mother without a job, left our family without a home and with a lot of economic problems. Despite these experiences, the crisis did not harm our relationship within my mother, my brother and me. If we had to go through everything again I would not hesitate because I had learned a lot from that crisis. After more than ten years since the devaluation, it’s still tough to understand how a single mother could face such a situation. I am sure it was because her love as a mother was the engine that made her look for another job and another home. In addition, she would work hard to avoid the same economical problems as we had before.

Chinese Style Miracle

Chinese style miracle

There is no doubt China is now a super country. The world economy can’t function without china, and most countries hope China can lead the world out of the “banking storm” it is in now. In 2008, China held the most successful Olympics games many countries are interested in the Chinese style miracle. However, thirty years ago, China was only a poor country, and many people died of hunger. How did China become a great economic country? If you ask Chinese people, they will answer that was Xiao Ping Deng reformed and opened the Chinese door to the world in 1978. He created the miracle, which helped the Chinese economy rapidly increase for thirty years. Xiao Ping Deng changed Chinese education, people’s ideas, and my family history. More than ten years after Xiao Ping Deng died, the effects of his change are still being felt.
One of the most obvious changes in post-communist China is the education. There is a famous Chinese saying, “Growing trees need ten years, raising talented man need hundred years”. China has always thought education is very important position in life, but during The Chinese Culture Revolution, Qia Sheng Zhang which handed a blank examination paper in a competition became a hero. Nobody liked to be teacher, and nobody liked to go to school. Xiao Ping Deng recovered the education system. He thought the technology that would build a new China.Therefore; he improved teachers’ positions and rebuilt students’ beliefs People started to recognize the significance of education. Students studied hard at technology and at various subjects. He also rose “Science and technology constitute the primary productive force, the strategy of revitalizing China through science and education.” So Chinese science and technology suddenly changed and gave prominence to china in the world. . Some of the inventions of china, include Chinese space boat flight to the moon, strong rocket technology is the first in all countries of the world.
Another effect of the “reform and open” was people’s ideas. Xiao Ping Deng had a famous sentence “whether black cat or white cat, which can catch mouse, is good cat”. It is a good portraiture for “reform and open”. The sentence has affected Chinese people too. Chinese people didn’t think labor, farmer and solder were the priority career. On the contrary, they started to think business economy was the most valuable, so many people started their own a business by themselves, and they opened all kinds of companies. People’s style life changed, they didn’t compare communist and capitalism which was the best. On the contrary, people came together, and started talking about the opportunities of business. That is ten billion people, eight billion businessmen. Almost everybody became a businessman.
Similarly, my family history had changed due to the reform and open. My family first lived in a village. Our generations were one of the farmers since they moved to the village. After Chinese reform and open, my mother owned a small business, my father retired ahead of schedule in order to help my mother manage her business. Later on, my parents saved a lot of money, and they bought an apartment in a city. Then, my family gave up the farm and moved to the city. We became city residents. My two older sisters and I graduated from university and had a good career, and we all had good income. My family said goodbye to poor and had a good life. Comparing my family’s is life twenty years ago to now, it is like heaven and earth.
The Chinese reform and open is perhaps one of the most momentous events of the twentieth century. Doors opened, capitalism entered, education recovered, and people swept away the old economic plan and welcomed the new market business, anticipating a life full of opportunities and freedom to make their own choices. Nowadays, Chinese nation is running on the way of great rebound. Xiao Ping Deng really changed China’s destiny. He created a Chinese style miracle. According to most history specialists, the twenty-first century will be a Chinese century.

Thailand Political

Thailand under Military Coup
Thailand has multi-party system. The most popular is Democratic. The first one is Parkprachatipat which is the under leader of Apisit Wetchachewa, another one is Thai-rak-thai it is the under leader of Thaksin Chinwatta. In 2005, Thai-rak-thai had selected seats over the other party and became the first to set up the government. It is important that Taksin was the first candidate to run his campaign. The problem was we knew Thaksin government was corrupt. He used his power to put in policies. He get the benefit to his family and own business. He sold his company (Telecommunication) to Singapore without Tax. He changed the laws for support his family. He gave the share holder to his daughter. Taksin government was the first stay for a full four years term. After that we had to do election again, but the election was cancelled after military coup while Thansin was in NY. The government under military coup affected the country in many ways

The first effect was the stress in my family. The relationship in my family was not good because everybody was stressed out. My family worked in business for long time. We have an own business. Business was growth up. We had a lot of customers. When we order products from supplier we got credit almost 60 days to pay. After political crisis, when we order we had to pay cash or chek right away. When the military coup in change government the consumer products price was high. People didn’t want to spent money. We had to use money that we kept in the bank to support our business. It made big damage to my family and my country.

The second effect, the political caused the economy down. Before this situation happen the economy of Thailand was growth up. We had tourists visit Thailand more than one million per year. People had jobs and good income. Thailand the land of smile in Southeast Asia also have many attractive places for tourists. We have beautiful place and good tastes of food. After military coup we were attacked by terrorists. The tourists anxious to visit Thailand because international reporters are warning about traveling to Thailand. Everything shut down because effect from the political crisis. People lost their job they didn’t have enough money to spend.

Finally effect, we lost safety & security. Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand. Most of the tourism came to Thailand because they want to come to visit Bangkok. Bangkok never ending traffic. Pollution and bright lights and you can enjoy in the city without crime all night. If you get lost while you were travel you can ask everybody. Then after a military coup the state of emergency that was happened. People fear to going out. We also saw military man around the street. One week after political crisis we have state of emergency. People weren’t allowed leave to the house after 8:00 pm. In many provinces especially south of Thailand was dangerous. We had many places damaged by crime.

Two years have passed since that situation. It is not easy to forget that day. We got stress in my family. Our business fell down and we lost a lot of income. It did not affect only me and my family but it affected our country. The economy was down many countries don’t want to make and investment in my country. Many companies layed off employees. It is not secure for people to leave out anytime. The political crisis made city in trouble. The political crisis was the worst experience in my life. We are all waiting to the politicians to solve problem so Thailand can return to “The Land of smile”

The Cultural Revolution of China

From 1966 to 1976, were the hardest ten years of China. During that time, people couldn’t study, and the party, state and the people were the worst since the founding of frustration and loss, it’s called Cultural Revolution. It was originated by President MaoZedong, the chairman of the Communist Party of China, on May 16, 1966, officially as a campaign to rid China of its “liberal bourgeoisie” elements and to continue revolutionary class struggle by mobilizing the thoughts and actions of China’s youth. Mao was trying to close the China that made the civil war. The Cultural Revolution influenced my father especially like his education, his future job and his childhood.

The Cultural Revolution influenced my father because he couldn’t study during that time. During the Cultural Revolution, young people from the cities were forcibly moved to the countryside, where they were forced to abandon all forms of standard education in place of the propaganda teachings of the Communist Party of China. At that time, all the people were playing, singing or performing all day in the school, so no one could study at that time. If you studied, people would feel you are strange. But my father told me there were also some people studying stealthily. When they went to school, the school just taught them theories what Mao is right and how Mao is good, so my father didn’t learn anything during that time. Moreover, they recited Mao’s thinking or words all day; this was the education during that time. My father told me he always studied at night，so people would not see or find him. He used to tell me joke that he broke a lot of chairs because he was seating too much time for studying. So my father had a really hard time during the Culture Revolution.

In other words, the Cultural Revolution influenced my father’s childhood. He was a student during the Culture Revolution, so he should have had free time to play with his friends; he should have been seat in the big classroom studying. Instead, he had to work after school because China was pool at that time, so all the people had to work for country. Nevertheless, my father had to care his young brothers who are my two uncles. My grandmother always told me my father was hard-working and exhausted at that time because it was already night after works, and then he began to study. So his childhood just like this, it was so different from my childhood that I don’t need to work. That’s why my father always said you have a good time, you should study hard. Every time when he talks about his childhood, he could talk for a long time because he had a lot of feeling like he missed a lot of chance to study during the revolution. Later, when he was twenty years old, he wanted to join the army, but during the revolution, people from capitalist family were not allowed to join the army. Being a soldier is my father’s dream, but his dream didn’t come true due to the revolution.

The revolution also influenced my father future because after the Cultural Revolution, the china was chaos. At that time, everyone was looking for job. Nevertheless, you have to be good at studying. That means there was less chance to get job. So there were a lot of people couldn’t find job at that time. My father said that his friend who just knew an English word found an international job because most of people didn’t know how to speak English. During the revolution time, my father didn’t learn anything at school, but he could find a job because he studied at night at past time. Nevertheless, he didn’t like it. After that, he studied again and continued education program. I was born at that time, so he not only took care of me but also studied.

The Culture revolution influenced my father a lot in my many ways. The Cultural Revolution is the chaos time of china. Maybe much eldership hates the Cultural Revolution because it broke many people’s dream and future. Nevertheless, I asked my father that do you hate the revolution, and he said “no, because we have no ability to change the events or histories of country. I don’t hate this revolution because it changed me a lot: it made me being strong.” So a lot of people were influenced by the culture revolution, also it made a lot of people strong.

Gray Days

How would the world be with out any religion or beliefs? Plutarco Elias Calles was the president of Mexico from 1924 to 1929; he included to our constitution a law called “Calles Law.”He sent his troops to close more than seventy convents and most of the churches in Jalisco and other states. In this law, he obligated priests to stop celebrating mass and preaching the word of god. This law tried to separate people from the Catholic Church, but this didn’t work the way Plutarco intended. Priests didn’t stop celebrating masses; they manage the situation making clandestine mass. This eventually provokes the death of twenty-nine priests in five states of Mexico. This conflict lasted four years from 1926-1929. After 80 years there are still some consequences of the incident; many Mexicans families including my own. And the effects of “Calles Law “are still felling.

My great-grandfather lost his land, which was the livelihood of the family. In fact, he didn’t lose his land. The troops from Calles took most of it. They settled in my great- grandfather’s house for three days. According to my grandfather, those days were humiliating, and the grayest days they ever had. The troops obligated my great-grandmother and her daughters to serve them. This wasn’t the hardest part; the hardest part was to hear them being disrespectful to my great-grandmother and her daughters, my grandfather said. The days were gone and as they were the land too. My great-grandfather was devastated. The land was the only livelihood people had back then and still these days. Once my mom and dad got married, they suffered from the struggle of “Calles Law.” There was no land that my great-grandfather could give to my dad, so he could build our house. For this reason, my dad didn’t have any other choice than go to the US to work and send some money to my mom. Land was the only way my family could survive.


Another problem that happened during La Guerra Cristera was when Calles’ troops took my great-grandfather’s cattle. In those days, cattle was an essential way of life and still is fundamental for people who live in farms like my family. Cattle and land were the only livelihood people could have back then. Calles’ troop had a mission, which was to scare people and make them feel fear, so they could stop following their religion. Most people didn’t refuse to follow the word of God. For this reason, the troops took their cattle. The government thought this was the only way they could get people scared. Most people didn’t stop following their beliefs, even though there were soldier killing people and priests who refuse to follow Calles’s law. If this conflict hadn’t happened my dad wouldn’t have had to travel to the US to send some money to my mother, so she could start building our house and buying some land and cattle. As a consequence of La Guerra Cristera, my mother, my siblings and I only have the opportunity to see my father once a year. My dad wanted to earn enough money to buy our livelihood which was land and cattle.

The last effect of the Calles Law in my family was that they line in fear. The assassination of priests was increasing. La Guerra Cristera stared for this reason just to kill priests who preached the word of God. The priests refused to follow Calles Law because they thought it was absurd to stop believing in God for political reasons. They started making clandestine masses in people’s houses or hiding in the mountains. On one occasion, my great-grandfather and family were in one clandestine mass, when the troops interrupted and took the priest and tortured him. They made him walk barefoot on sharp stones for hours. After there was no more blood to bleed and the troops made him climb a “mesquite,” a big tree. These trees are covered with sharp thorns that penetrated into his already cut hands and feet. This just makes his pain twofold intense. The troops obligated the people to watch the priest who was about to die. The priest was tide up his own rope and while he was doing this, the soldier never stopped blaspheming him. He died forgiving them. Those were his last words. After seventy years of his death he became a saint, my favorite saint. Year after year, I always go to visit him at to his church, which has incredibly grown year after year. It’s a personal satisfaction to see that his pain wasn’t in vain; faith was always there. He never lost it.


After almost a century of La Guerra Cristera involving the government and people’s beliefs, my family still has some problems of the conflict. Although the government tried to repair of the damage by removing the Calles Law from the constitution, People didn’t receive their land back, not even the cattle. Nowadays, my family and I are working in the US to buy the land that once was ours. After gray days, light comes again to illuminate our life. That is what faith is all about. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church is declining day after day because priests are not doing anything to maintain it. It’s ironic to have priests willingly to give their life for God in order to keep faith alive.

Immunization of Epidemic Tsunami

Immunization of Epidemic Tsunami
“Is she your eldest daughter? Where is she from?” My mom’s friend asked her when we met on the street in Chinatown, Chicago. “She is from Canada”, my mom answered without hesitation. In fact, I was from Hong Kong visiting my mom on vacation .This conversation happened on May 5, 2003. What happened? Why did my mom lie to her friend? It was because Hong Kong was one of the cities where the epidemic SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) had an outbreak. No one wanted to contact someone who came from Hong Kong or mainland China in that moment for fear of infection. During the SARS outbreak, Hong Kong was like a deadly city. Every day I got news from the TV, which reported about the spread of SARS.-They talked about how many people were infected, who died in which hospitals, and they taught citizens how to protect themselves in their daily lives. My social life was limited because no one desired to hang out except go to work. I just discussed the current news with my friends over the phone. This SARS disaster devastated Hong Kong citizens for almost nine months. Similarly, it had great influences on my job, family and the socioeconomic conditions of the city.

During the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong, all the medical staff acted as a main role in this disaster. I was the one in this role too. I worked as a frontline nurse. At that moment, the overcrowding of patients occurred in every public hospital. As a result, there was a shortage of manpower in my hospital, and the hospital’s atmosphere was tense. My workload was heavier day by day, and I often worked overtime. After I finished a day’s work, I felt listless and didn’t desire to do any chores. Also, it was stressful to observe all the new instructions and guidelines for wearing masks, gowns and hand washing. Moreover, I sometimes lost my appetite and often suffered from insomnia. I lost weight quickly. Anyway, I was pretty serious about my job as all my colleagues were. No matter how hard it was, I was content with my job. In my unit, we often received numerous consolations and encouragements such as greeting cards, food and gifts donated by some citizens, celebrities and organizations

In addition, the prevention of the SARS was the dominant topic we talked about in my family. We made ourselves Chinese herb tea as well as did exercises to prevent SARS or prevent the disease. My mom called me frequently from the U S. “How many SARS patients have you contacted today?”, “You better quit your job now.” She said repeatedly every time we spoke over the phone. She was worried because she had heard some frontline medical staff were infected and died of the SARS .Nevertheless, my husband consoled me in different ways from my mother. He urged me to eat more healthy food and sleep more to increase my resistance. On days off, we went hiking or swimming in small islands to relax and breathe fresh air. He was proud of me being not a “fugitive soldier” and still continued to perform my work in this dangerous situation. However, I never talked to my family. I had even treated a patient who was suspected of having the SARS at an isolation room for a four-hour haemodialysis treatment. As a nurse, it was inevitable that I had to treat all kinds of patients.

Furthermore, on the socioeconomic level, it impacted the economy and also changed the behavior of most people. The economy went from good to worse. During the SARS period, some peoples’ lifestyles changed. They seldom dinned out or went shopping to eliminate the possibility of infection. Moreover most peoples’ expenditures were low due to a ripple effect of the poor economy, and a lot of people lost their jobs. On the other hand, people were alerted about the importance of environmental sanitation of the community. As a result, I could live a clean and hygienic neighborhood then. The new habit of using serving chopsticks has been extending from restaurants to almost every family since the SARS epidemic.

All in all, the SARS had profound influences on my job, family and the socioeconomic conditions of the country. In fact, all crises have the painful memories. Still, I experienced this epidemic tsunami as if I got some immunization from it. The stress, tension and social economic frustration were similar to a virus invading my body. However, the close relationships, mutual concern and the positive lessons in our society are as if I got a vaccination to protect me in future.

People’s Revolutionary Act. 2006

“The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.” This quote was written by Che Guevara a famous communist and it holds very true for those uneducated people in my country that started the revolution in 2006. The death of the Royal family in 2001 was the starting point for the Maoist rebels. The Maoist rebels became active which caused the civil war in Nepal. The newly appointed king was unlucky, so despite trying to maintain peace in the country, he was unsuccessful. On the other hand, Maoists took advantage of that and fooled the uneducated people for the sake of peace to start the revolution along with other political parties. Relationships are easy to break, and hard to make no matter what. I have let down my family members a lot, but the revolutionary period gave me a time to re-construct a bonding which was drowning. There is always more profit for a seller than the buyer, and this holds true for countries around the world. The revolution had a profound effect on every person living in the country, and my family cannot be separated from them.
After the revolution started, the king declared a curfew for all parts of the nation, so people were not allowed to go out from their residences. My parents were also scared and they always kept an eye on me. Whenever I had a chance I used to go to my cousin’s place, but many times they caught me at the door and I had to go back to my room. The relationship between my family and I was like flesh and bone, without one, the other part didn’t exist. My parents had to go to work because the government and the non-government organizations were not closed. They used to lecture me before going to work and many times I was so scared that I asked them not to leave the house. It was always in vain for them because there is a famous quote which people say “work comes first”.
The mental pressure always horrified the people including my family, and me. The tear gas, the gun shots, and the scary news about the people dying always horrified me. Though I was mentally scared, I was also equally frustrated staying at home and listening to the news. Since there was no other job to perform my sister and I used do the gardening, cleaning, and the household chores because we knew that our mother would be dead tired after coming back from work. There used to be discussion everyday with my parents when they got back from work. My parents used to tell me that they were the bees running after sweets. Pollution from the burning tires, thrown stones, and smell from garbage cans which was not picked for many days made people sick. Hospitals were full of sick patients and injured people. There were fewer water supplies and the electricity went off frequently. Many unusual events occurred during the period of revolution, but family bonding became solid as a rock.
Finally, the revolution made everyone unsatisfied especially to the people who ran businesses because the economy of the country was collapsing. It went down as the gravity of the earth pulls down the objects when thrown up in the sky. Though my parents have a good income, they were also shocked because the price of all the goods sky rocketed. There were no fresh vegetables, and the stocks of other goods were almost finished as broadcasted by the news. People were legally allowed to shop twice a day, and people used to utilize that time going to work, and returning to their destination. It is true that, revolutions always had an effect from the rich to the poor and the difference is that some people suffer more whereas some people suffer less. In the revolution my family and I suffered less, but the love between us grew stronger.

At last, the day came when the king gave all the power to the political leaders.

The apple was forced to fall but under what circumstances? Is the question unsolved? The king was removed from the Royal Address, and there was joy for those uneducated people who had no idea about the meaning of democracy. On the contrary, educated people were sad because they knew the difference. They knew that during the cold session everyone wants to sit near the heat, but during warm session no one cares. The revolutionary period was really painful, humiliating, and sad for all the educated people but the relationship between my family and me has grown and developed up to heights that I could never have imagined.