Here Comes Santa Claus

Get to bed. Santa's on his way!

Don't forget to leave him some cookies and milk.

And a carrot for Rudolph if you're really nice.

Almost Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve friends!

Heading out my Aunt's house for some delicious holiday fixin's. I can't wait to celebrate the season with my loved ones. Enjoy your time with yours!


And by golly I hope your done with your shopping. The malls are chaos at this time of year with frantic last minute shoppers, grouchy sales clerks, messy shelves, dwindling merchandise, loud music, long lines, and no parking. It's like high-speed Christmas on steroids in those places. Only step foot in them if you absolutely must.

National Harbor

The National Harbor is a nice place to go to spend an afternoon or evening. If you're like me, you didn't even know we had a national harbor, but surprise, we do! It's not hard to get to at all from VA, MD, or DC, so if you live in the metro area you should try to visit at least once. It seems like it might be a popular convention location. At this time of year there's a christmas tree up in addition to pier year round and a strange body sculpture in the sand.

We ate at a lovely restaurant on the harbor, Rosa Mexicano They have interesting food and very cool, bright modern Mexican atmosphere. The dish I ordered included chihuahua cheese. I still have no idea what that is and it's probably best that way. I just hope it didn't come from a purse dog.

Peep Peep

Due to some confusion in my family (names shall go unmentioned to protect their identity) over the definition of the word "peep" used in modern context, I'd like to clarify for the whole world: It is NOT a derogatory word for women. When you visit your "peeps" you are not visiting a harem of prositutes or even gaggle of attractive ladies. "Peeps" can be used to refer to both men and women equally and is simply short for "people" as the Urban Dictionary so graciously informs us.

Of course Peeps with a capital P are also delicious marshmallow candies in the shape of rabbits and baby chickens usually served around Easter.

At a recent trip to the National Harbor in DC, a life-size Peep was dancing around, posing for photo ops in front Peep Store (yes, an entire store devoted to Peeps) Cute no?

The Peep store also featured Peep artwork which a USA Today commenter aptly pointed out to the artist: "Thank God you found something to do with those things other than eat them," Amen. You'll also note my prior posts. My own Peep bomb, Peeps Research, and Drawing them on eggs. I have a fascination with the things even though I refuse to eat them. I fear human stomachs can't digest such hazardous material. Seriously. I feel the same way about taffy.

The newest fad, however, is apparently Christmas Peeps. No need to wait until Easter for your sugary crystalized neon-colored goo. The Peep Store gave us adorable cupcakes; but unfortunately, like I said, I don't eat them. They'd be cute to serve at a holiday party though. Maybe your "peeps" would enjoy some Christmas Peeps.

Happy Birthday Blog

Wow, as of today I've been blogging for 6 years!! Yoohoo. That's a really long time. My blog has officially outlasted any pet I've ever owned (sorry Tutle). Yes, my blog has been good to me. It has seen me through the years, at some times more than others.

Fortunately, one's blog can never disappoint nor forsake (unless you accidently delete it because you didn't know the Spanish word for delete, in which case the magic fairies at Blogger.com will restore your blog after a bunch of frantic emails). So here's to you my faithful friend. Happy 6th Birthday!

ESOL

I had another amazing semester of teaching some wonderful ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) students! This semester we partook in some exciting conversations, jack-o-lantern carving, a UMD football game, and an American dinner at my house. And I didn't even poison them on the last one...I think. I learned so much about China and Colombia and made some great friends in the process.


This is my second semester as an ESOL conversation volunteer and I have to say, everyone should get involved in some sort of cross-cultural exchange on a regular basis. You will always be learning new things about another culture and about your own as well. I know conversation times were always some of my favorite times of the week; and little flashback to my time holding conversation circles in Uruguay. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, if you want to learn about somebody's culture or language, the chances are they want to learn about yours too. So if both parties take the time to share, everybody wins.

Photo courtesy of our resident photographer, Zhiwei.

To the Statue of Liberty and Beyond

If you want to visit the statue of liberty I highly recommend buying your tickets online before you go. Fortunately we did, and when we got there we had the privilege of passing all the other suckers in the really really long "flex" pass line. So do yourself a favor, buy your ferry tickets beforehand or you'll be waiting in the cold with the hobos (literally--they play music and beg for money nearby). No matter which ticket you get though, you'll still have to go through airport-like security twice. Yes, once before you board the ferry and once before entering the statue. A little much, no? The ferry continues on from Liberty Island to Ellis Island and if you visit both of the locations, you could make a whole day of it.

Lady Liberty, my does she look nice.

World Trade Center: Still Nothing?

Progress at the World Trade Center looks to be very slow. I mean it's been over 9 years and the area still looks like a big hole in the ground. Instead of worrying about a community center that might be built nearby, why don't we get our game together and get the memorial built?

Same with the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in DC. I almost fainted when I heard it will take 5 years to complete and over $120 million. What is it the statue going to be made of, pure gold? I'd hope so for that kind of price tag.

The vision for the new WTC does seem to be pretty ambitious though, so I think we can give them a little bit of a pass. According to WTCprogress.com--The new World Trade Center embodies a bold vision: To remember, to renew, and to rebuild the future.

With five major new office towers built to the highest architectural, environmental, safety and security standards, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, a state-of-the-art Transportation Hub, unparalleled retail opportunities, a performing arts center and more, the new World Trade Center represents the triumph of the human spirit.

The new World Trade Center is destined to become once again the world's premier destination for commerce, culture and community.