Flashbacks
Bon Appetit!
Securing Your Identity - Facebook™
The Powerful Voice of Youth
Phrase of the Month
Climate Change

News!

Greetings,

This issue comes under the sign of sadness. As you may have learned, Hélène Humbert, a longtime supporter of YLI, has passed away on April 3^rd, after a tragic accident. Her presence will be deeply missed by all those in the YLI family.

Also, this issue goes back in time, presenting the first part of the 'Flashbacks' series, which tells the story of the Montreal class of 2006. Following that, we present you with a few odd culinary experiences from around the world. Next goes a guide to securing your Facebook™ account, followed by Alina's illuminating experience at the European Parliament. The Phrase of the Month still survives, with only a few translations. Wrapping everything up is this month's cartoon, Climate Change.

Also, as some email providers have encountered problems with viewing the EZINE, please view it as a webpage for optimal results.

Cheers,

Bon Appetit!

       Snake. I was 12 years old when we went back to visit my family in China. Snake used to be real popular during that year; before SARS came, and my family wanted to take me to an interesting restaurant in Guangzhou. They took me to a restaurant above a rollerskating disco, which I remember really clearly because there was this huge rollerskate right in front of the stairs. Outside this odd place, there were cages with snakes inside, it was like some kind of zoo; and so my uncles picked the snake they wanted to eat and headed inside the restaurant. They cut off the snake's skin and placed 5 strips in long oval plates, they were to be placed in the boiling pot in the center of the table. Later, came the snake's meat, which was deep fried in flour. I was really curious about this kind of dish and so I decided to taste it, to be sincere, the snake's meat tastes like chicken, but the skin, it had this really weird texture and taste, since there was only soy sauce to go with the skin, there wasn't really anything that could cover its taste. I really didn't like the skin but it was worth trying it, however today, it is illegal to eat snake because it is believed that SARS comes from this food. 
-Diana Zhan (Tegucigalpa '09)

       Well this is not my personal story, but one day we talked about French food in our French class and my teacher shared her 'French' experience with us.
        Many years ago she and her family visited Paris (long time before she studied French) and they went to a fancy restaurant and asked for the menu, she did not understand what was written there but fortunately there were photos of the meals so she asked for a soup which looked really good and she really enjoyed her soup, so she called the waiter to ask for more and by the way she asked him what's in the soup... and he told her it was frog feet soup. (Personally, I don't get what's wrong with frog feet... but she threw up the whole soup immediately).
-Lucy Ayoub (Israel '09)

       A short time ago I went holidaying in Fiji with my Dad and sister, staying with locals for two weeks. It was a great way to experience another culture, practically living the way a Fijian would - but armed with a waterproof digital camera. Dad had visited Fiji before and told us that, to be polite, we should take "Kava" to the village. He went into a market and came out with some long thin roots. Not quite sure what we would do with these I arrived at the village and presented it to the villagers.
       After grounding the root in a large metal drum - with a very heavy metal pole, which was very tiring - the powder was mixed with water and everyone sat in a circle and the "Kava Ceremony" took place. They welcomed us to their village and invited us to drink the Kava which was served in coconut shells. After choosing either "high-tide" or "low tide" - full or half serving - we clapped our hands three times, accepted the drink - "Bula!" - and drank it down. The drink tastes like soil but gives you a tingling feeling on your tongue. Eventually your tongue goes numb and it turns into a competition to see who can drink the most! It has an almost alcoholic effect on you, and the next day you wake up feeling very tired and sluggish! We experienced these ceremonies every time we arrived and left a village in Fiji.
-Rhys Cranney (Melbourne '09)

Securing your Identity - Facebook™
Charles J. Hall (Communications)

  There are dozens of claims as to who invented the Internet and when, however we do know that in the mid-1960s, the concept took shape. The debate as to whether it was built for military use or scientific use is as yet unsolved, but by the mid-70s it was beginning to take some of the shape that it now has. The popularity and power of the tool has been a driving force in making our world smaller and bringing people and ideas closer. That being said, depending on your perspective, the Internet is either a wonderful thing, or it is a terrible thing.  However, I am not going to embroil myself in an argument of the morals of the system since you, the reader, have already accepted the Internet as at least a tool for communication. But as with anything that shrinks our world, the issue of privacy and security is a very real concern.

   YLI is moving in a new direction in terms of the division between the 'official' side of YLI (assignments, reports, official communications, etc) and the social side of YLI. As so many students and supporters are already involved with Facebook™, it is certainly practical to embrace a system that can aid the YLI experience in bringing students from around the world into a social setting beyond the Global Programs.

   As more and more YLI students and Alumni are making their presence known on Facebook™, it seems like an excellent time to address some of the concerns felt regarding privacy of information.

Facebook™ explains that they follow "two core principles to help protect their users privacy:

1. You should have control over your personal information.
   Facebook helps you share information with your friends and people around you. You choose what information you put in your profile, including contact and personal information, pictures, interests and groups you join. And you control the users with whom you share that information through the privacy settings on the My Privacy page.
   
   
   
2. You should have access to the information others want to share.
   
   There is an increasing amount of information available out there, and you may want to know what relates to you, your friends, and people around you. We want to help you easily get that information.

Exercising Responsibility
Alina Popescu (Turnu 07)

  For one day, each year, during the Euroscola event organized by the European Union, students from EU Member States have the opportunity to sit in the Parliament's chamber and to re-enact the work of its members.

       When I found out that I will too be part of the Romanian youth delegation to the European Parliament, I was very happy: I knew that there I will gain an insight into the workings of the Parliament and understand better the issues Europe currently faces. Indeed, together with the participant youths, we debated a variety of social, political, economic and environmental problems. But above all this innovator dialogue, this experience had a much more profound significance for me and, I think, for all those who participated.

       Thinking that in the near future I could be an authentic Member of the European Parliament, not only for a day, but for a whole election term, I understood more easily the immense responsibility of representing a community at an international level and trying to solve its issues in perfect accordance with the interests of other communities. Because it is not easy to articulate the ideas, the realities, the hopes of those for whom you are working, to be the authentic voice of those who you represent.  

       The day spent at the European Parliament reconfirmed ideas that I too consider valuable: leaders should have a clear commitment to a cause, for which they can sustain necessary passion, but in order for passion to determine change, it has to be accompanied by responsibility; only collaboration, solidarity and common effort could lead to an effective governance; in order for all nations to be able to build a safe future together, they need a correct interpretation of the differences between them, which have to be assumed, understood, and wisely harmonized, but most of all, they need to identify their similarities, reunited functionally in a far-reaching construction...

       That day, I understood once again how profound was the truth expressed by Al Gore: „We are one people on one planet with one destiny. We are one."

       I say once again, because it was not for the first time I came into contact with the inconvenient truth said by Al Gore, with the global issues our generation must solve. As YLI members, not only do we know which these problems are, but we also try to identify solutions and to take action.

Phrase of the Month

Arabic
Esmahli aarref an nafsi.

French
Permettez-moi de me présenter.

German
Lassen Sie mir, mich einzuführen.

Hebrew
Tarshe li lehatsig et atsmi. (תרשה לי להציג את עצמי)

Italian
Permettetemi di introdurre me stesso.

Portuguese
Permitam-me que me apresentar.

Romanian
Permite-mi sa ma prezint.

Russian
Разрешите мне рассказать о себе.

Spanish
Dejame introducirme.

Turkish
Kendimi tanıtmama izin verin.