Day 24 (365)

Day 24 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

I went over to my parent's because my mom decided to make "Sancocho" for New Year's Eve. Sancocho is a thick stew made with different kinds of meat, potato, yucca, plantains and lots of other veggies and spices. It's served with rice and sometimes cassava bread. I think it's really yummy. In this picture my mom is serving me some sancocho and I'm about to eat it :-)

Day 23 (365)

Day 23 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

I Went to Jersey with my mom and two aunts today. I went with the intention to shop, but didn't get to buy much. Waiting for the rest of the people to make up their minds was kinda boring, but it was overall a nice day. We crossed the GWB on the way back and I couldn't resist taking a picture. This is one of my favorite structures in NYC for many reasons. I couldn't take a better photo from the crowded car, but at least it's somewhat centered.

Day 22 (365)

red_carpet
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

red carpet

I took this one yesterday at Brandon and Ivan's Red Carpet Christmas Party. I didn't think there would be an actual red carpet, but then again it's Brandon, how could I expect any less? Brandon is one of the greatest people I know and I was glad to share this moment with him.

Day 21 (365)

Day 21 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

Went to Bryant Park today to take my cousins ice-skating. I didn't actually skate because my heel pain was pretty bad today. took lots of photos, not many good ones. Photographing ice and snow is harder than it looks. I also tried to capture movement in this one by focusing on the guy with the orange jacket.

In other news, I went to see Juno today with Nao and the cousins. It was really good and there was lots I could relate to.

Good Riddance Day

Today the Times Square alliance will be holding an event they call Good Riddance Day . The deal is that people will have the opportunity to shred a list of bad 2007 memories that they want erased or simply put behind them . This serves as a symbolic ceremony to those who are eager to start the new year on a clean slate. It sounded nice for about a minute, so of course I began a mental list of the my bad 2007 memories. I couldn't find a single one that I would actually want erased. The truth is, everything that happened this year taught me something in a way or another. I admit I made a few mistakes, but I don't think erasing them would help. Looking back at my resolution post at the end of 2006 I accomplished most of the things I set myself to.

I do intend to leave procrastination behind for this new year, But maybe I'll wait for 2009 :-)

Day 20 (365)

Day 20 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

Turkey's done! I was standing in front of this store on Fordham Road when I realized the manikins are becoming more and more anatomically correct. Is this really necessary?

Day 19 (365)

Day 19 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

I tried to do a mirror self-portrait with the camera on full auto. The flash confused the autofocus and the image ended up pretty blurred. I decided to keep it because it sort of captures my mood.

Day 18 (365)

Day 18 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

Still under the weather....it sucks to be sick during vacation. cold medicine and lesson planning tonight.

Day 17 (365)

Day 17 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

Christmas party at my parents.... ahh...family, stories, alcohol, food and loud music... don't you just love the holidays.

Day 16 (365)

Day 16 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

Finished wrapping all the presents and I'm still a little sick. This is my mom's tree in the dark with the presents around it. I'm still not feeling very Christmasy, but at least the kiddies will be happy tomorrow. (Click on it to see the notes on flickr)

Day 15 (365)

Day 15 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

I know I'm being a total Scrooge about this, but there has got to be a law that prohibits this kind of stuff. The door on the right is my door. And no, I did not put up these decorations, my neighbor did. She's a fellow teacher and decorates her door and our section of the hallway at any possible occasion. It's freedom of expression, I guess, but do I have face it every time I leave or enter my apt?

day 14 (365)

day 14 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

I miss seeing this everyday. By the time I leave work the sun is long gone. maybe I need a light box

Day 13 (365)

Day 13 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

Holiday show at work today. This is Duke's class forming two human menorahs and two human dreidels. Duke is one of the candles :-)

Day 12 (365)

Day 12 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

My cousin steph and Duke amazed by the David Blaine book.

Day 11 (365)

Day 11 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

Good news geeks of the world!! the day has finally come when tagging in binary codes is acceptable. 01100001 01110111 01100101 01110011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100001 00100001

Day 10 (365)

Day 10 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

I didn't get a chance to take a picture today so I ran into my brother's room and took this one. This is my Luis Carlos. My not-so-little little brother who loves talking on the phone. Thank goodness for free night minutes.

Day 9 (365)

Day 9 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

Went to see a play today at Repertorio Español with Nao. It was pretty nice plus it had the hunk of Francisco Gatorno. After the play we ate enchiladas and went to Grand Central for cake and whispering.

Day 8 (365)

Day 8 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

My nephew Elias at 11:30 pm after playing all day. Can you tell he's fighting sleep?

Day 7 (365)

Day 7 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

I saw my co-worker carrying the boxes and I had to borrow them. It's a game very similar to TROUBLE. Captures my attitude towards just about every aspect of my life at the moment....ironically something happened right after this that made me change the outlook.

Day 6 (365)

Day 6 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

The highlight of my day was realizing that they are learning after all :-)

Day 5 (365)

Day 5 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

I was organizing my print photos in my closed when I ran into this beauty. It's my first film SLR. It's completely manual!! The funny thing is that it's still loaded with color film and I have no clue what I've shot already with this roll. I wonder....

day 4 (365)

day 4 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

The corner of my favorite BN in the city [66st and B'way].

Day 3 (365)

Day 3 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

On our way home from work at 6pm. Duke is tired, is still obsessed with the idea of making an origami fortune teller. Next stop is Mount Eden...

DAY 2 (365)

DAY 2 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

Duke went over to his dad's today and I decided to be bum. I did nothing but sleep and watch netflix movies all day.......but for some reason I kept hearing "duke noises" coming from his room, each time I stopped and tried to figure out what he was doing for a few seconds, just to remember that he wasn't home. when i he finally got home i took this picture of him.

DAY 1 (365)

DAY 1 (365)
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

I began a 365 flickr project yesterday. The deal is I post one photo per day for a whole year. It'll be interesting to see when I get sick of this :-)

**This is the description to yesterday's entry.

I had to work today and felt horrible. One of my students passed me this note... it really brightened up my day, but we really need to work on that spelling..:-P

infinite flickr # 518

# 518
Originally uploaded by Skribbles

don't you just hate it when people drink from your glass without asking?

fall/winter blues

For the past few weeks now I’ve been slipping into a mild case of fall/winter blues. I hardly enjoy being anywhere other than my bed or the couch. I’ve been dragging myself to work and struggling with the middle school search for Duke. I’ve also been teaching test-prep four days a week after school and on Saturday mornings. And during my time off I hardly go outside. Today I had to step out for a few minutes and realized that it’s daylight what I’ve been missing (among other things I won’t discuss). I took a deep breath and it smelled like winter. It was invigorating. It reminded me how much I love the change of seasons and being able to wear a jacket. The goal for this week is to take a short walk during lunch-time each day and get my circadian rhythm back on track.

FYI: peanuts are legumes too

according to the book of perfectly useless information and the National Peanut Board, the peanut is not a nut, but a legume related to beans and lentils..... that's all I have to say for now.

100th post

So blogger says this is my my 100th post, I haven't counted them twice yet to verify but I'll believe it. I think in some kind of weird way it makes sense and it must be the cosmos aligning to commemorate the anniversary of the largest manifestation of my life-long battle with procrastination. So here it goes:

I have discovered netflix and I am catching up with tons of stuff I haven't watched. Sketches of Frank Gehry was the first family film, since Duke and I missed it in the theaters. I just finished watching it and I have to confess I was able to relate a lot more than I actually expected. The documentary starts out by Frank talking about how starting is never easy. He describes a process that involves "avoidance, delay and denial"... and for a second there I felt attacked, as if Gehry would choose me as the topic of his documentary. Then he says "I'm always scared that I'm not gonna know what to do...It's a terrifying moment." And there it is: add a little self-sabotage to this statement and you have an explanation to why I haven't completed my thesis yet. Yes, my thesis. That thing that was due last December and has slept with me, gone on dates with me, traveled with me and has been staring at me from my bedroom wall for the past 9 months. I can't understand why I can't just end this torture. In the end "it's just another paper", as Jeanne says. But my ego won't let me just through something together and hand it in like the rest of my cohort did. I have to add just a little more, find better sources, revise it once more, take it apart, change it all together, maybe change the topic... no wait a minute... I love that topic...

And there's always that voice that keeps saying "just finish it already!!...it's not that big a deal" But it is, at least to me. I wanna be able to hand in something extraordinary, especially after having a whole year to complete it. Or maybe at this point, just completing it would be extraordinary..... I don't know.....

But watching Frank Gehry got me thinking about the way I've lived life in the past decade. Someone recently asked if I felt satisfied with my career choice. I was surprised that I answered with such certainty.... no hesitation at all "Yes, absolutely".... I guess I was surprised because I never actually heard myself say it aloud and fully mean it. I admire Gehry's guts for challenging the way people look at architecture. I can't say I feel compelled to do the same for for my profession, because then I would end up another cliche; or worse, a lifetime movie; or even worse, a Ron Clark. Don't get me wrong, I am not as naive as I used to be in fall 2004, when I thought I could change the world 25 kids at a time. I now know I can... I just need a focused plan to do actually it.

So going back to this being my 100th post and marking some kind of milestone... I think I'm just gonna look at it as the post after #99... that way there's no pressure to finish it and I can actually post it tonight.

Sept 8th

Last night I met up with some friends from a past life, just to realize that I like some people better in the memories I have of them. After a few drinks in a bar so up north that Broadway was almost south again, we headed downtown to Astor to see our beloved Alamo. But in a sudden change of plans we decided to walk to Union Square to reminisce about idealistic philosophies, useless protests and about joining movements for the wrong reasons. There were some expressed feelings of regret, but none from me: I’d make each and every mistake all over again.

We watched the baton ballet girls all dressed in black and dancing with fire; and the random skaters grinding and flipping their skateboards with enviable grace. I was glad to see that despite all the glass and big names, Union Square is still a free non-judgmental place to hang. There was a group of sexually disoriented teenagers, a vigorous smoker, a few homeless people, a girl coming from a Spanish Rock concert where she lost her cellphone and hundreds of other people that only stayed for a few minutes. At about 3am a group of South American guys in their thirties sat near us with a guitar full of old song fragments. I sang from my subconscious sad songs about other people’s past sufferings and I felt relieved. We made friends with the bohemian group and found out they were really from New Jersey and were waiting to get rid of the alcohol in the designated driver’s system. When it was nearly 5am I called it a night and came home to sleep. It was a nice night, the only thing that was missing was my rebel to document it all. If it wasn’t for the gum on my pants I’d think it was a dream.

FALLing into place

Fall is upon us, YAY!!!!

I know I haven’t posted anything in a long time, but to be completely honest I don’t even want to think about the last couple of days of my trip. As most of you already know I’m still mourning about my Rebel. The trip as a whole was great. I learned a lot of the education system in the Dominican Republic, people and poverty. Much of it I knew already, but it was different actually witnessing it first hand. Being able to rest away from my life and the sources of stress that come with it was also wonderful. I highly recommend taking 2 months off in a foreign country; then again not everyone is a teacher :-).

But that was summer and now is back to reality. Going back to work relaxed and refreshed is nice, but I’ll be stressed again in no time. Thank goodness for winter and spring breaks and the occasional long weekend :-P

I will upload more pictures soon, of course minus the 500 that were still in my memory card.

mdl

Hurricane Dean

Hurricane Dean is passing through the caribbean. It already hit Matinique and Dominica. These islands are located south east of the Domincan Republic. The map above shows where the hurricane is as I write this. As you can see the whole island is covered by it. I am near the north coast and it´s not expected to hit here too badly, but the rain and the wind sure feels like a hurricane is nearby. It´s supposed to be headed for Jamaica and then the gulf of Mexico. Hurricanes make me nervous but I also find them fascinating. It doesn´t help that duke is now obsessed with them. I was born during hurricane David in 1979 and it was one of deadliest for the the island. Every hurricane season people of my parents generation and older have David flashbacks.

Well for now I am stranded because the rain has been non-stop. I was supposed to go to Altos de Chavon on the southern coast today or tomorrow, but that won´t be happening. I´m back to being bored.

mdl

postcards

trying to mail postcards from a country with a mail system that is nearly non-existent can be frustrating, but not as frustrating as buying decent postcards to send :-)

14 days

Two weeks from today I will be back home...frankly, I wish it was a little sooner... duke and I are both a little sick of being here. The experience as a whole has been great but I miss my life. I miss my friends, my family, speaking english or spanglish... I miss salad dressing and organized public transportation...my apartment, my air conditioner, my microwave and my bed. I know 2 weeks is not much, but it seems like an eternity :-)

mdl

Birthday

It´s that time of the year again.... as I turn 28 today I don´t feel any older, just wiser(hopefully). I am pretty happy with my life, all things considered. I have wonderful friends, a supportive family, a great kid, health and a job. I can´t ask for much more. My only wish is to continue to enjoy this extended vacation and to be able to readjust to my reality when I get back :-).

mdl

ps: gifts will be accepted after the 26th when I get back, if not digital life is coming up in late september...he he

update

more pictures uploaded to flickr
-------------------------------------------------------
I´ve been here for about a month and I already feel like a local again. I can ride public cars, go grocery shopping and travel to other cities by without assistence. Even though I am from here, I left Santiago when I was 11 almost 17 years ago, so I´ve had to pretty much relearn everything. I am really glad I decided to go on this trip. I feel relaxed, rested and energized, but not quite ready to return to my normal life...he he ... but it´s ok, I still have about another month before I that happens.

I should be tired and not relaxed since I´ve hardly been home lately. Between volunteering on weekday mornings and traveling on afternoons and weekends, I have time only to sleep and watch the occasional local news and law and order.

I recently visited my dad´s hometown of Restauracion (his very own Tangamandapio). I´ve also been to the beach and a bunch of cities around the northern region of the island including Puerto Plata, Santiago Rodriguez, Mao, San Francisco de Macoris, Santo Domingo, dajabon, Monte Cristi, Loma de Cabrera and a few campos here and there. I also went to the border with Haiti while I was in Dajabon, it was both interesting and depressing. Unfortunately I havent been able to upload all the pictures I have taken because the internet service is a little choppy.

I also went to "Camp David" a restaurant and hotel complex located just outside Santiago and over 6,500 feet above sea level. The view is amazing from there and the food was delicious. The restaurant also holds a collection of Trujillo memorabilia and some of his cars.

I am planning the tour near the south coast for the next couple of weeks.... pictures will come soon after.

mdl

Mcgyver

I met a graphic designer named McGyver (pronounced Mah-ghee-ver). He´s pretty crafty in photoshop, I watched him design a logo in less than an hour. He also likes to paint and watch indian movies in his spare time. I took this picture in his backyard, but he wouldn´t let me photograph him. He´s related to duke in some way so I´m not gonna say anything negative about him...he he

Day nine

I spent much of today at my surrogate family’s house. They are as hospitable as it gets. Since I got here Yolanda has not let a day go by without feeding us in some form. It’s impossible to say no to her, so yesterday I devised a plan and escaped before lunch. Duke and I went to the shopping district to pick up some essentials from ¨El Encanto¨, the local department store. I have to say shopping is my least favorite part of this trip. For starters, I have to pay with local money that feels like playing monopoly, I also have to do all the conversions to dollars in my head to make sure I’m not overpaying for stuff, lastly I have to choose between speaking to Duke in English and have everyone stare at us or speak Spanish and have everyone stare at me anyway because our Spanish doesn’t sound local enough.

Anyway, it rained non-stop today and we had to camp out in the apartment. Luckily we had snacks and stuff to drink. The water here is really bad so my crystal light is useless until I buy water.

The school still hasn’t called me back about the job. It’s very likely that I won’t start until next week. With the general strike and riots on Monday, I’d rather lay low anyway. It was a little scary because a couple of people were killed, although not much happened in my neighborhood.

To answer the question posted by ¨anonymous¨ on my last post:

I do miss New York, this is an adventure for me… and like every other adventure, it must be temporary for it to keep its enjoyable qualities. I am not sick of being here yet, but should that happen, I have a couple of contingency plans lined up.

some new flickr uploads....more to come soon

www.flickr.com/photos/nycmiri

lost my phone

****UPDATE****************************************
I found my phone...well, my brother-in-law did. I left it on a bench in the park and it was still there about six hours later. This is almost impossible, but then again, it´s one of those things that only happen to me :-)
*****************************************************

This must be some kind of new record. I have been here for less than 72 hours and managed to lose my cellphone. If you received a text message from me, please discard that number until further notice. The worst part is that I can´t even report it lost until my brother-in-law gets back from work.

once again incomunicada

mdl

Day 2

Today I finally found out the grade level I will be teaching. I start this Friday teaching 3rd graders reading and writing skills.

I also went to mass for the ¨nueve dias¨ (nine days of mourning) of my mom´s cousin. Going to church is always interesting to me, but going to the church I went to as a kid was a little strange. Everything looks exactly the same way it did 16 years ago when I left. Even the sermon seemed familiar.

I also visited the house in which I grew up, it seemed so small and narrow. In fact the whole neighborhood seems small. The poverty is also palpable here. The wooden houses seem to be falling apart and some of the streets are not even paved. Despite all this, people seem happy.

The internet cafe is in the lower level of my building, which is great!! It is also dirt cheap... It costs about 60 cents to go online for an hour. It´s high speed and the computers are all equiped with webcams and headsets. But internet and food are about the only things that are cheap here. Gas prices don´t even come close to U.S. prices. One gallon of regular costs about 150 pesos at the gas station around the corner from me. A the current exchange rate, that is about 5 U.S. dollars. I´m kinda glad I don´t drive when i see that :-).

Duke is so happy to have freedom and lots of kids to play with. He´s still having trouble with his Spanish, but he´s trying; otherwise he can´t ommunicate with the other kids.

The heat was not as horrible today.... or maybe I´m just getting used to it. I also saw stars tonight, I´m such a New Yorker...I know.

Well, that´s all for now..... flickr uploads soon to come.

MDL

day one....

• arrived in the airport at noon
• brother-in-law drove me home
• apartment is smaller than I expected, but large enough to crash in
• visited tons of people...only really remember a handful
• went to see the school where I would be working
• took a nice afternoon nap
• went to visit grandpa...dog annoying but cute
• went to the internet cafe to get in touch with the rest of the world
• now there´s not much to do here but to go to bed
• currently working on a daily schedule

.......

Hoy me marcho. Voy a de vuelta a mi tierra del olvido, porque me rehúso a pasar otro verano en estado vegetativo, viendo la tele y subiendo de peso. Pero me voy desconcertada, confundida…. Repasando todas las cosas que pude haber hecho. Repasando todos los momentos, palabras, gestos, acciones o lo que deje de hacer. Mi instinto, como siempre, me dice a gritos que lo mas seguro es que fue mi culpa. Que tuvo que ser algo que yo hice o deje de hacer. Pero, por primera vez en mi vida le tengo que llevar la contraria a mi instinto, porque la mitad de los hechos no están disponibles. Y no importa que imparcial mi instinto sea, es difícil juzgar con solo la mitad de la evidencia. No me arrepiento de nada, y al diablo con las cosas que pude haber hecho o dejar de hacer. Por mas que estudio las 133 posibles razones del cambio que mi instinto me redacta, no encuentro una que tenga sentido o remedio. Lo único que siento es que a todo esto, aun no se donde estoy o estuve parada. Pero que no panda el cúnico, como diría el Chapulín, ya tendré muchas noches calladas, aburridas y estrelladas para pensar y repasar…. y analizar.

Espero que las próximas siete semanas me sirvan de descanso. Pero mas que eso, espero usar este tiempo fuera de mi propia vida para hacer una revisión introspectiva y ver las cosas como lo que son. Necesito reenfocar mis logros y mis metas, también recalibrar mis sueños e ideales. Temo que si no hago esto pronto voy a terminar como muchas personas a mi alrededor, que viven amargadas y hartas de su propia vida. En realidad no hay nada de malo con vida en este momento. Este viaje no es mas que una medida preventiva. No me importa que esto suene cursi, porque al fin y al cabo muy pocas personas entenderán lo digo. No solo por la barrera del idioma sino por el contenido de lo que escribo.

Bueno, en esa nota me despido por ahora. La próxima vez que escriba será desde mi isla.

MDL

No internet

I canceled my Cablevision services for the summer, so as of this moment I am signing off...

T minus 162 hours.....

A week from today I will be visiting the homeland [well at least my homeland :-)] for about 7 weeks. I’ve wanted to do this trip for a while now, but it only became a concrete plan about a year ago. My vision is to have a complete change of environment in a somewhat familiar place, where I sort of know people but they don’t know much about me. My home barrio of Nibaje seemed like the perfect place for this. I used my connections in the island to rent an apartment for the time I’ll be there. I will be arriving in the Santiago airport a week from today. I am both excited and nervous about this trip, and in light of recent news about a relative there, also sad.

There will be a humanitarian component to this trip as well, because the altruist in me can’t pass up the opportunity to give back. I will be volunteering part-time in an elementary school while I’m there. I attended this school for about a year as a kid but have very little memories from that time. I’m looking forward to learning different approaches to the ones I use here.

I’m also looking forward to revisiting childhood memories and sharing them with Duke. I am also a little anxious and scared that I have over-romanticized this trip. I’m afraid once I arrived there and compare my fantasy to reality I would be miserable or disappointed, but that’s just a small fear. After all, it’s bad experiences that make great future stories. I am armed with mosquito repellent, a first aid kit, and my rebel….seriously, what could possibly go wrong? I’ll also have internet access so I’ll be posting frequent updates and uploading pictures to my flickr page, so stay tuned.

mdl

mixed_message

mixed_messege
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

i got this brochure in a health fair at work today, accompanied by an NYC condom. Hows that for mixed messages?

mdl

being part of history

Last summer Duke interviewed me at the storycorps booth in the WTC station. I received this certificate today telling me that my conversation has been added to the collection at the library of congress. I guess this means we are part of history now :-)

mdl

validation

Today the scores for the New York City Math third grade exam came in and once again my existence has been validated. Duke scored a four (meaning he exceeded the standards). Although knowledge itself should be a reward enough, I'm still buying him something nice, deserves it :-)

mdl

I have been sleeping more than usual lately, which is good, I guess but it's also annoying. I'm also remembering my dreams more than usual. A few nights ago I experienced a semi-lucid dream. I was sitting in a classroom while the principal observed another teacher. I tried to read what she wrote on the chart paper and I couldn't. I then looked around the room and it was arranged differently than when I first came in. I thought for a few seconds and suddenly realized i was dreaming,. Of course right after I realized it I woke up. Fascinated and confused at the same time I tried to go back to the dream but couldn't. This is not the first time I experience lucid dreaming but it's the first time in a while that it happens without me inducing it.

Coincidently, while walking in around in the city yesterday i found a copy of this book on sale in bookstore in the upper west side. I flipped through it and found the lucid dreaming chapter. I've actually read this book before in college but never really had time to devote to it and explore some of the ideas in it. I have now become obsessed with this idea and have decided to try it until I can master it ( or die trying...he he). I couldn't prepare for it last night because i was much too tired to concentrate on anything. I am ready tonight, though. Hopefully it'll work and I can do something cooler than just become aware of my dreaming state, freak out and then wake up.

mdl

360 degrees

If we make a 360 degree turn-around would we end up in the same place where we started? This question came up today during staff meeting after a comment encouraging us to help our student make this type of change. Thanx Mr. C, thinking about this and the announcements made me laugh all afternoon :-)

mdl

"mama got shot by GI Joe"

During one of my after-school conversations with Ms. G, she expressed her curiosity for the origin of the chants our students sing while playing clapping games. These chants seem to spread to the most remote NYC neighborhoods. The following is a fragment from one of the rhymes I ‘ve heard my students chant. What's really amazing is that every child in that age range that I've met knows this chant. My best guess is that it was created by a teenage mother and that it was probably made up no later than the early 90’s because of its Barney reference. But I still can't explain why it's so wide spread, perhaps a branch of sociology can be created to study this phenomena...he he

“Mama Mama can’t you see…
What the baby’s done to me
Took away my MTV, now I’m watching Barney
Tic-Tac Toe three in a row…..
Mama got shot by GI Joe”

Talking about this also made me remember some of the chants I used to say as a kid. I don’t think I really knew what they were about, but that doesn’t make them less inappropriate. I can’t remember too many in English since I didn’t didn’t learn English until I was a pre-teen (this site seems to have a lot of them including “down down baby”). In Spanish I still remember a bunch along with the hand motions. Some of my favorites were mariquita abusadora, la caraqueña, las cortinas del palacio, matarile, pollito pleibi, el juego de la vaca and el gallo.

::sigh:: those were simpler times :-)


mdl

commencement

My cohort is participating in tomorrow's graduation ceremony at my college. I thought about attending, after all I have worked hard for it. Then again, I thought about wearing a nice dress under the cap and gown in the 90 degree weather without a chance of shade in the middle of a football field. I'm still entitled to the day off from work, so I decided to stay home and as a reward for my hard work, I will watch tv in the comfort of my AC.

mdl

three out of five

Long weekends are always great, but they always give me a false sense of having an unlimited amount of time. Last Friday I made the following list of the things I wanted to accomplish during this long weekend:

• laundry
• spring cleaning
• hang out with Nao
• Finish final revision
• ship boxes for my trip

So it's Monday ; the laundry bags will have to wait in the same corner until tomorrow and my thesis is staring at me......Well at least I did some much needed drinking and had a really long conversation, two things that weren't in the plans, but what the hell :-)

mdl

watertower

watertower
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri

I decided to do some late spring cleaning this weekend. Nao came over yesterday with Josh and we cleaned, watched office space, drank some hard lemonades and Nao took her traditional nap on my couch. While going through one of my book cases I found this proof I took a few years ago with my Nikon film SLR when I took my first photography course (that explains the bad angle and exposure). I still love this picture, though, it reminds me of Highbridge Park and the neighborhood around it. With the great news of the bridge's reopening in 2009, i love this picture even more.

mdl

Mousse de Maracuya

hmmmmmm........yummy :-P

mouse salad

After a great weekend, despite the rain, I was eager to return to work. My lessons were planned, I had the materials I needed and I was even on time (15 minutes early actually). I also made a special salad for lunch with organic greens, almonds, homemade vinaigrette and chicken. Everything indicated that I would have a good start for this week. Of course, that was too good to be true. At 9:30am one of my co-workers points out that something was moving in my lunch bag. Ms. M, the bravest of the bunch, went to investigate and found a baby mouse eating through my special salad and snack. That was the end of my great Monday. I had to walk up the hill to McDonald’s and get a mediocre salad with mismatch dressing. I hope my day is better tomorrow.

mdl

random stuff........

Having been to Fairway yesterday, I was extremely picky today in the perishable isle at Costco. Nothing looked fresh enough. It was even worse in the cheese section, when the selection of yummy (and extremely fattening) cheeses was reduced to cheddar, mozzarella, American and only one variation of Gouda. But it’s ok, at least I have my veggie burgers, stuffed tilapia and hummus, after all I wouldn’t want my neck to gather any more fat :-)

In other news:

• My love for rainy days was compromised yesterday. my feet were wet and cold, but i guess that's my own fault for wearing sandals.
  
• The Hayden still rocks.
• I'm still in shock after finishing grad school
• only 43 more days till my trip.....cant wait
• confusion - I think I may have stepped into it once again.

mdl

on lashing out at staff meeting......

Today I kinda snapped at someone at work, but don’t worry, it was for a good reason. There was a situation in which a co-worker abused his authority to push his own views. Aside from being unethical, it was insulting, disrespectful and just plain wrong. This person thinks he can sit on his throne, with his unearned status quo and judge things he can’t begin to understand. The saddest part about this is that the person that is supposed to advocate for us (the affected ones) has decided to take an aloof position, maintaining that it’s not as big a deal as we all make it out to be and that it is not personal. This so-called advocate has suggested some sort of mediation that I refuse to be part of unless the mediator is truly neutral to the issue. Anyway, I just needed to vent this experience and I have no clue how the climate at work is gonna be tomorrow. But, frankly I don’t care, I said what I said because I meant it and at least I’m not hiding behind my students to say it.

A Mardsan Giberter for Farfe

see if you can answer the comprehension questions even though this paragraph makes no sense:

do not disturb....

IMG_8910
Originally uploaded by NYCmiri.

Sunday Morning

I guess this is the kind of stuff only parents would do. It is 7:26am on a Sunday morning and I'm already dressed and ready to go. No, it's not a Macy's One Day Sale(you wouldn't catch me dead in one of those), we're going to see Spiderman 3 at 9:15 am in New Rochelle. I promised Duke we would go see it this weekend, not realizing that tickets in Manhattan would sell out a week before. So I have to suck it up and keep my word.

::YAWN::

I opted for not going to bed at all last night, because after finishing a fifteen page paper my brain was too stimulated to rest. Two more weeks of this torture. two more weeks!!

But being awake last night (or this morning rather) gave me time to catch up with E. and and a chance laugh at each other about the silly things we do. Thanx girl, for not judging me...you're not a monkey :-) ...... I also heard a weird pizza analogy and had to endure one more joke about my braces....ha ha

anyway, I'm off to see the Arachnid

Mdl

blue and green....

I recently saw a blue street sign on Jerome Avenue near Lehman College. It sparked my curiosity, so I asked a few native Bronxites if the signs used to be blue in the Bronx. Everyone swore that the signs have always been green and white. After some online research, I found an article on Forgotten-NY that says New York Street signs used to be color-coded by borough, and that the Bronx's color was blue and white up until the mid 80's when the whole city went green. Below is a picture of the blue sign I found on Jerome Ave. and a green one about two blocks away for comparison:

Oh! and no, I wasn't hallucinating...he he

untitled

Today was my first day out since Sunday and it felt a little weird, so of course I took a cab to school even though it's only about 8 blocks away. I caught the flu over the past weekend and have been in bed with fevers, body aches and a hacking cough for the past three days. The worse part is that I don't cease to have a conscience, even when I’m sick. So I the whole time I was in bed and unable to open my eyed to even watch TV, all I kept thinking was " I have so much homework to do, and my thesis isn't finished yet"

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later, I was just hoping it would happen after finals. I have been running on high stress, no sleep and too much caffeine for the past two months. My doctor warned me that the next time I got sick it was going to be serious. He recommended that I slowed down and "took it easy.” But this just seemed impossible to me on my last term of grad school and my tenure year.

My body, however, had other plans for me. It decided to take a well-deserved 5 day vacation. I endure the flu, and slept more in five days than I have in the past four months put together. I went back to school today and realized that the work that I have to turn in isn’t as much I thought. I am almost done with the second draft of my thesis and feel confident I will be able to turn it in on time.

The next four weeks are going to be intense, but I'll try to remember to take breaks here and there.

MDL

Simple English

Note: this post was originally written to be turned in as a journal response for one of my classes. It may not be written in "simple english" :-)

I recently came across a “Simple English” link in Wikipedia listed as a seprate language. I assumed it meant Basic English, a language created by linguist Charles Kay Ogden, which like Ido and Esperanto, promised to unify the world in one common language. Well, Wikipedia’s Simple English is not a constructed language, it’s just simpler English. The idea behind this, is to make articles more accesible to ELL’s (English Language Learners) and to children. Sounds fair enough, right? Well, it isn’t. I find that by reading the Simple English version of an article, the reader gets an over-generalized version of it. Being an ELL does not equate having no prior knowledge or ability to learn new terms or make connections. As a former ESL student, I owe my English proficiency to the challenging text I was exposed to during the first few years. Having literature above my proficiency level pushed me to investigate more, look words up, make connections and ask more proficient readers for clarification. By “translating” articles into Simple English, Wikipedia is only perpetuating ignorance and limited knowledge.

Wikipedia also claims that another target audience for this project is children. Well, as a teacher, I don’t recommend Wikipedia as a tool for research for my students because of it’s ever-changing nature. I often do preliminary research in it as a way to link to the primary sources, of course always verifying their validity. If I give assignments that require my students to do internet research, I provide them with child-friendly links with fully published articles such as FirstGov for Kids or the ThinkQuest Library. NOT wikipedia.

Chickflicks and Easter

I just got home. As I type this I’m still in shock. Well not so much in shock as I am mad at myself for watching Premonition. Now, I know what you’re thinking chick flick=depressing and cheesy. Normally I would agree, but this was a promising chick flick. Well, I’ll spare you the pointless torture that was….all you need to know is that this is kind of movie that you should never attempt to see. Not even on a rainy Sunday and there’s nothing else to watch on TV. Watch public access instead… and if for any reason you ignore my warning and watch it, don’t say I didn’t warn you. after seeing this train wreck of a movie, all I wanted to do was take a nap and hope that when I woke up I would realize that it was all a premonition. a premotition about seeing a really bad movie. only in my premotition i would get to stop it from happening.

Well, that being said, I need to address the issue of Easter. I mean, I know I’ve been an oveja descarriada for some time now, but what is the connection between the death and resurrection of Jesus, bunnies and eggs painted in pastel colors? Ummmm…. For starters Bunnies don’t lay eggs (especially not colored ones) and from what I remember, there are no references in the bible to bunnies or eggs with Jesus. I also don’t understand the hat obsession mothers of little girls seem to have during this time. I’m pretty sure this is a cultural thing or a consumerism thing. Nevertheless, I don’t know why this didn’t bug me this much in the past 15 Easters I’ve witnessed living in New York. Semana Santa (Holy Week), as I remember it, was a time of reflection and fear. We weren’t allowed to raise our voices or even go to the beach during this time, especially on “Good Friday” (this brings another question to mind, why is it GOOD Friday? What’s good about it? Wasn’t this when Jesus was killed?) …. I’m not saying that I prefer the religious version but somehow it made more sense than bunnies and eggs and horrible pastels.

Sorry if I have offended anyone, I’m just trying to make sense of the season.

MDL

my scented candle has fruits....

So I bought a scented candle and has fruits in it. I think it's apples or something like that. Anyway, I don't usually burn candles, so I guess I'm a rookie at this. So I am sitting here in my room, burning my fruity candle and waiting to see what happens when it gets to one of the chunky parts. is it gonna cook it? is it really fruit or just wax or that jelly stuff this candle is made from? is it gonna melt? am I really here? do we really exist? is the candle's flame really hot, or is it just a matter of perception? does my mind trick me into thinking that it's hot? Too many questions and this candle is not burning fast enough..... I hate valentie's day!!

Dissolution

So even though it’s not final yet, I feel a sense of closure. I have to admit it was a lot more bittersweet than I expected. After all he was my Unsent’s Matthew, Jonathan, Terrance, Marcus, and Lou all at once, … (If you’re reading this don’t think of this as a compliment) The truth is that as much as I would like to blame it on the circumstances, impulsivity, our age and all the other things I recite when I’m asked about it, we did have a strong bond, Just the wrong timing. Seeing things now from a different perspective, as I’m almost 10 years older and hopefully wiser, I wouldn’t change a single thing. Every single choice I’m made, has molded me into the person I am today… and I think I’m pretty cool sometimes….lol...

Yesterday I notarized a million forms, signed in one day more documents than I would in an entire year. I finally closed this chapter of my life without grudges and regrets, and it feels odd. I feel I should have some kind of rage fit, maybe I should be blaming someone, yet I’m not. But this will definitely change my status and make me somewhat more like a “regular” person.

sink