Poros

Campion

Merenda

Finaly back on...

Finally I am back on my blog. Its been a really long time sience I have writen. Right now i am on holidays in Germany. In 3 days from now i will go to my uncles cow farm in the mountains. This will be the second time I have been there. I will spend 5 days there and then come back to Greece and see my dog and horses! Im excited to go back home, but im still excited to spend the last few days here in Germany. After the summer holidays school will start again, and I am going to a new school.... I hope that everyone will have a great ending summer and look forward to a new freshly-starting year!
Tassiko

Somni d'una nit d'estiu

Three months and already 12 kg (of nipping, jumping, growing puppy)

Birthday

Thirteenth Birthday : 17 July
Having fun with friends!

After dark there was cake -- birthday cake (chocolate with white icing) and some more very nice surprises....thank you everyone!

Birthday - Grand Bleu

Birthday cake

E-M-O-T-I-C-O-N-S-!

I found something very interesting! Whoever uses skype should take notice of this message! If you go to http://factoryjoe.com/projects/emoticons/ you can fing some hidden emoticons! Enjoy them, but use them wisely......

Summer.......

Here is a picture that I drew which gives something for people to think about and to look on the positive part of the future in life....... very philosophical, I do say so myself! :)

Time flies!

Time flies when you are having fun! I have had so many things happen recently. How was every ones Easter holidays? I am so excited, I am finally getting a dog actually a puppy. The puppy is now 1 week old and is a German shepherd collie mix. I will get him June 15th or 16th! He will come from Castelaudry, France and will travel from there to Greece where I will pick him up. I will post a picture of him up on my blog when I get a picture of him, I promise! This Saturday May 16th there will be a show jumping competition! The stable that I go to, will be participating there to! I have to go to so that I can help represent the stables. The competition is taking place very close to my stables. I also had a very nice Easter, there were BBQs, church, celibrations for Easter, etc... I won't bore everyone about it. Please respond to this post, I really need to hear others opinions!
Tassiko

BODIES THE EXHIBITION (in Athens Greece)

I have been waiting so long to finally go to this exhibition. Yesterday 9 April 2009 Thursday I went with my mother to it. It was amazing that the bodies were real and from people who donated their bodies to science. I really enjoyed going. The exhibition showed different systems like the nervous system, digestive system, and parts of the respiratory system. the exhibition also showed many organs like the heart, liver, brain, kidneys, etc. All of these organs and bodies were preserved and dissected. It is a really interesting way the surgeons preserved the organs and the bodies. From what I remember the surgeons first put a special liquid on the bodies that preserved them and then they would plasticize them. I recomend everyone to go see this exhibit.

"Α journey within the human body"
From the 7^th of February 2009
Till the 10^th of May 2009

Technopolis- Municipality of Athens
100, Peiraios str. - Gazi – Athens – Greece
Exhibition Hall: Room D12 - Tel.: 210 3417446

The human body - a fascinating experience!
http://www.bodiesinathens.gr/en/

********

Mon ami Willi...

"Hey, Mon ami tu aimes ca manger des patates.... "
Video :
Têtes à claques
Since 2006 I did not have to peel potatoes with my fingers anymore,
Merci Willi Waller!
Watch the video, and you will understand what I mean.....

"Hajj: Pigrimage to Mecca"

“Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca”
Once a year Muslims of every ethnic group gather together in Mecca, to worship Allah. Allah is the Arabic word for saying “god.” Mecca is a very holy place for all Muslims. It is so holy that no- non Muslim is allowed to enter Mecca. In Mecca there is a whole ritual called “Hajj.” A person who has done this ritual at least one time, is called a Hajj, or Hajji if a woman did it. Every adult Muslim must do the ritual at least once in their life. The ritual is done to show that all Hajjes are equal. If you plan to perform the ritual you must not do these things:

• Engage in marital relations

• cut nails

• shave

• use cologne or scented oils

• hunt or kill

• argue or fight

• cover faces (if woman)

• wear stitched clothing

• bathe with scented soaps

This ritual involves many stages. First you begin in a place outside of Mecca which is called Miquat called the entry station of the Hajj. There you will have to put on the “Ihram,” which are these special white clothes, which you will wear during the doing of the ritual. There, you also bathe. Then you need to recite the prayer called the “Talbya Du'a”. Then you go to the “Masid al Haram,” and walk around the “Ka'ba” seven times repeating the prayer. After that you need to drink a bit of “Zam Zam water.”Zam Zam water comes from a sacred well which opened in the dessert for a boy and his mother while desperate for water. There is a myth that Muslims believe, and here I am going to tell it. A husband was told by Allah to take his son and wife to Arabia, and then leave them there with food and water. The husband was told to do this, so that he could protect his family from his previous wife who was jealous of them. Of course the food and water supply ran out quickly. After a while the son and wife started getting very hungry and dehydrated. When the mother was desperate, she started praying to Allah, and the boy stamped the ground and surprisingly a well formed in the ground! The son and mother were saved. Th story continues where the husband comes back very surprised to see his family alive, and selling water from the well to nomads from the dessert. The husband is then told by Allah to build a shrine for him, which is for people who want more faith from Allah. The husband agrees and builds a shrine. From then on the well that the boy had stamped at has stayed sacred, and is the place where “Zam Zam water” comes from.
After drinking the “Zam Zam water” go to the walkway in-between the to hills Sata and Marwa, and walk in-between them seven times. This completes the first stage of the ritual. Now the final stage is the “Hajj” stage. You need to put the “Ihram” on again. Travel to Mina on the eighth of “Phul Haojah” (a date in the Islamic calendar). Remain there until dawn of the next morning. Then travel to the valley of Arafat. Then stand in the open pray to Allah. When you feel the heat of Arabia at midday it provides a hint to what the day of judgement will be like. At the end of the day, travel to Muzdalita and stay for the night. Then gather forty-nine to seventy small stones for the next day. The next morning travel back to Mina, and go to the stone pillars called “Jamrat,” which you will throw stones at. The pillars represent the devil. After that there will be a sacrifice called “Qurbam” (a sheep or lamb will be slaughtered). After the sacrifice you will have to shave your head if a man or cut a lock of your hair if a woman.
Then return to Mecca and make a “Tawaf” which is where you walk around the “Ka'ba” seven times. Then go back to Mina for three or four days to throw stones at the pillars each day you are in Mina. Finally do a last “Tawaf” in Masjid al haram on the twelfth day of the month of “Dhu'l Hijjah,” ask for Allah's forgiveness. After that to complete the last and final stage of the ritual, make “du'a and you are a Hajji or a Hajj! One last part of the ritual is to go to the mosque in Medina which is optional. At the end of the day there is celebrated holiday called “Eid ul Adha” or “Festival of the sacrifice.”

Movement
I think that this article relates to movement. I think this because the Muslims have to move to different places according to the different stages of the ritual. Like for example when they need to travel from somewhere to Mecca, then to Miquat, then to Mina, Arabia, Muzdalita, Mina again and then back to Mecca.



Reaction/opinion
I really enjoyed reading and writing about this article. I think that the ritual is fascinating and it is not serious religion but fun to read. I would like to try the ritual to someday. I agree with the way Muslims do the ritual because using object that are in myths and then making them come to life is amazing.

Questions
Can children also do the ritual? No children can not do the ritual. Only adults can from twenty and up.
Can families go together and do the ritual all together? Yes families can do the ritual together but without children.


Bibliography
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/practices/hajj_print.html
Published on BBC Religion & Ethics: 2002-10-02
This article can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/practices/hajj_1.shtml
© British Broadcasting Corporation
For more information on copyright please refer to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/copyright.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/terms/
BBC Religion & Ethics
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/

HEART VALVE DISEASE

Heart Valve Disease By Tassiko Ederer

Science 7 - Block 3

February 8, 2009

How does this condition occur?

Before people were given antibiotics, rheumatic fever was the biggest cause of valve disease. Now a days the reasons for this disease is the weakening of a valve which is caused by the energy changes in the body. The reason mostly happens in old people, and affects their mitral valve. Another reason for the disease is a calcium build-up on the mitral or aortic valves. This makes the valves thicken. This reason is called calcific degeneration. Another reason for this disease is an irregularly shaped aortic valve, or a narrowed mitral valve. This is a congenital defect, which means that some one was born with the disease. Another reason for this disease is an infection in the lining of the hearts walls and valves. This reason is called endocarditis. Two last reasons for this disease are having a heart attack or getting coronary artery disease.

What are the symptoms?

Sometimes people don't have symptoms. But this depends on the person and how severe the disease is. If a person has valve disease, the diseases symptoms might go on for many years. Throughout these years the person with the disease could develop congestive heart failure, this could lead to heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy), irregular heartbeats (arrhythmia), and then blood clots.

What parts of the heart does it affect?

Valve disease affects the hearts lining and the hearts walls. It also affects the valve, and the valves tissue. It is important for the valves to work because they keep the blood from flowing backwards. If blood flows backwards then not enough blood gets to the different parts in the body, and you will slowly die.

What are some diagnostic tests?

Some diagnostic tests are having a chest x-ray, which shows if your heart has enlarged. If your heart has enlarged it means that a valve is not working properly. You can also have a picture taken of your heart showing the thickness of its walls, your valves shape and action, and the size of your valves openings. This test is called echocardiography. Another test is electrocardiography (EKG or ECG). This test is used to find out if your atria or ventricles are enlarged. ECG can also be used to find out if you have an irregular heartbeat.

What are the treatments for this condition?

If you don't get symptoms you do not always need treatments. Other people who do well with medicines ease the pain but do not necessarily cure the disease. Surgery may be needed if the condition gets worse. Surgery is needed because the help of medicine does not help anything any more.

http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics/Cond/