Pg. 42 Seeing 1 and 2

Seeing 1
The Ukita Family of Japan

The four person family is sitting on cushions in a room with a hardwood floor and rug. There is a coffee table in the  center with a plant in a vase and vegetables on one side and meat and seafood on the other. A TV is on behind the coffee table and there appear to be family photos on the wall next to the TV. There are deserts next to the coffee table on a tray sitting on some kind of small table. Next to that, three cup noodles and a loaf of bread are on top of what looks to be a toaster oven or microwave. Everything else is spread along the rug in front of the coffee table, there are fruits, more vegetables, sauces and seasoning, eggs, soda, and various prepackaged food items.

The family appears to be sitting in their living room, because the TV is in there. Many items are the same groceries people in America buy, such as as Coca Cola, apples, bananas, and watermelon. Some items are labeled in English, so they probably share some cultural similarities and possibly speak and understand some English. One of the family photos is of students in an elementary school, so the two daughters are probably well educated. The description about the picture and list of items confirms the diet is somewhat similar to an American diet, white sugar, starches, grains, sodas, and BBQ sauce are all found in many households in the United States.

Seeing 2
The Mendoza Family of Guatemala 

The Mendoza family is standing around a large table outside. There are more female family members than male. All of their food is laid out on top of the table. They have lots of fruits and vegetables, a big jug of water, tortillas, a couple of bags of grain, and Quaker oats. They also have eggs and a few miscellaneous prepackaged items.

The Mendoza family is probably pretty big, it looks like they have a big house in the background. They probably don't eat any junk food because there is none visible in the photo. All of their produce looks fresh so they probably farm or purchase their groceries from someone who does.

The Akoubakar Family of Chad

The Akoubakar Family is sitting outside of their tent in the desert. Like the Mendoza family, there are more females than males. They also have bags of grain that look just like the bags in the Mendoza family photo. However, they have far less items than the Mendoza's have. They have a jug of water that looks to be half or less than half the size of the one in the Mendoza's photo, and no milk or eggs. Everything they have is laid out on the blanket they are sitting on, it looks like a lot less food to feed a few less people than the Mendoza family.

They Akoubakar's live in a tent because it is directly behind the blanket they are sitting on and you can see other tents and people in the background. The Akoubakar children also appear much younger than the Mendoza children. The Akoubakar's and Mendoza's both do not eat junk food, and both have somewhat large families, but the Akoubakar's do not have the means to get a large quantity of perishable items, or a large quantity of any items at all like the Mendoza's do.

I found the text to be more informative for the Akoubakar family. It informs the reader that they live in a refugee camp in Darfur, which explains that due to the lack of financial and natural resources in that region, they have very little to work with, and no dairy products available.