How did you find out the secret behind Santa Claus?
Submitted by Carinish.
That was so funny. I still think what a wonderful a kid is!
Have I mentioned this before? I love the Christmas season. The lights, the decorations, the joy and good tidings, peace on Earth.
And, you know what? I love Christmas shopping. I love picking out gifts for people. (Paying for said gifts? Notsomuch. But picking them out? Fun fun fun!) Boring, boring, boring could argue some others.
So, yesterday was spent Christmas shopping up in Union County (hint for all you non- NJpeople... nobody calls it "The Garden State.") at Willbrook Mall. Oh, and Kokito was with us, of course, although he didn't really help all that much.
And then, after spending hours at the mall, on the way home I stopped at Target to get some wrapping paper and gift tags, and then... ended up spending another hour there.
I'm all shopped out for now. At least until the 23th weekend.
But, I'm done with most of my Christmas shopping. I've still got a few things here and there to get, but that's about it. How about you?
"I wish you a Merry Chistmas and a Happy New Year", says that song, but better aerlier tthan ever.
I had no idea NJGardens was open on a Sunday late! That’s fantastic! Xmas shopping is always a chore—it’s hard to pick what people will actually like, rather than stuff into the back of the closet never to be opened. I’m going to be a bit more careful this year. Anyway, my shopping is now only 30%-done and I think I’ve done a pretty good job so far. …but hoo-boy, is Mastercard going to love me this year!
What are you doing about those gifts, have your credit card already full?
It’s almost here. Are you ready for the feast? We’re blessed to be able to celebrate in any form we choose. I read The New York Times once a week. That’s enough to know the happenings. Then I look for other ways to gather information about the world. Again I say we’re blessed.
Some families are traditional and enjoy celebrating in the same way every year. For others the holiday is never the same. Some don’t have family, and for them there is a smorgasbord of possibilities waiting. Should you find yourself alone this year, don’t be lonely, go out, find happy places, mingle, celebrate with strangers. Or, if you choose, be with nature. Another, altogether different way to celebrate is to stay home and be in the silence of the day.
Whether celebrating with family, friends, acquaintances, strangers, nature, or in the silence it’s a time to say thank you throughout the day for Life and for all that Life offers.
Life, it’s fascinating; it’s challenging and often beautiful. How will you honor 23 November 2006? -Meister Eckhart
The most difficult thing-but an essential one-is to love life, to love it even while one suffers, because life is all. Life is God, and to love life means to love God. -”War and Peace” -Tolstoy
The shuar, had just kicked out Canadian mining companies and the military had showed up to intervene and protect the miners. Go Canada! Now I’m all for the shuar’s cause, mining is fucked on many levels, from environmental impact to the fact that it probably wasn’t the local communities who would have benefited economically from the mining activity. Interesting to point out though, the shuar didn’t have a problem until the mining company finished building the road out to the mines and the miners had finished building their houses. It’s cool to see indigenous people standing up for themselves, regardless of timing. Sería muy interesante que pasase. Something tells me that this conflict might continue on for a bit.
OMG...Vilcabamba. The Ecuadorian town where hippies and travellers go to relax. You will definitely get more than you expect. Initially, Vilcabamba is an amazing little town with a feeling that you can't explain with words. It is quaint and everyone mind themselves. People move at their own relaxed pace. Vilcabamba is famous for not only being a gringo town but also for having the largest population of people who live the longest. So that means most people in Vilcabamba live a long time. There was a study done with the people of the village and they found that they lived longer because they: 1) Ate lots of (healthy) yogurt...not the sugary american stuff, 2) Exercised regularly, and 3) Had low blood pressure because of a lack of stress. I think the lack of stress has something to do with the environment around them. It's very serene and mountainous. The mountains and hills just have the ability to calm you no matter how shaky you are.
So I can't write this blog without mentioning the food there. You might want to get a taste of home with spagetti that isn't overcooked and a wonderful lasagna. I know it seems silly to write about food but it's surprising how much you can miss the good stuff when its not at your fingertips. The yogurt was all natural with NO sugar...it's a rarity to find in the US and come in a yummy crepe.
Natalie a tourist in her way to Peru says: I had trying to cross the border back into Peru. So on Sunday, there was only one bus out of Loja back to Piura at 10:30pm because of some religious festival in Loja(arriving El Cisne's Virgin). This meant that we got stuck at the Ecuadorian border for 2 hours because Ecuador has decided that they should close their border between 1am and 5am. Finally 5am rolls around and we get our exit stamp for Ecuador and so we can now finally get our entrance stamp for Peru. I decided to play it off as if I didn't understand the Spanish or at all what was going on. It was worth a try...actually it worked and he gave me 90 more days. I don't think he was too keen on having to explain to me a few times that he was trying to cheat me and that I should bribe him to get through. Silly border police...maybe next time I should bat my eyes and give them a big smile...!
How did you pick your Vox name? Does it mean something?
Submitted by LeendaDLL.
It just came from my old nickname as had been used in bple, my personal blog in Spanish . But of course it has a meaning, nothing special tho. Ton. 'cause these the three ending letters for my name ansd Net just because this nickname might be used online in the www autopist.
Wednesday to Friday this week are national holidays, to celebrate the Day of the Dead and the independence of Guayaquil. The Municipio of Loja is well on course for its preparations for November 18th which is the anniversary of Loja’s independence, and every high school in the centre of town has had early morning marching band practises ready for the anuual civil parade. My friends went to investigate the babies made of bread the other day, and were not disappointed, which perhaps reveals a lot about my concern for the welfare of pastry people. One side of the main square is full of identical stalls selling colada morada (made of babaco, pineapple, blackberry, apple and a magic ingredient that makes it thick and taste like a distant, more exotic cousin of mulled wine) and bread in all shapes and sizes. All attempts to discover the link between these items and any historical events have so far been futile. Do you know any, I beg you. The local newspaper’s main article on the tradition can tell you where to go, each shape of bread cost between 10-50 centavos, where to go if we wanted to complain about anything and how much each stall holder had to pay to sell their wares. Wikipedia is equally unforthcoming.
The political antics continue, with one of the two presidential candidates being forced to whip out his school certificates following an accusation that he never finished his studies. He clearly payed even less attention in Maths lessons than I did, as he is promising to build 833 new houses per day if he gets into office. I read a hilarious quote from him defending this promise against its many incredulous opponents: ‘There is no way that we will not fulfil this promise, and we shall achieve this by letting the Ecuadorian people know who will be doing the building work, and telling them everything.’ Beautiful Bullcrap!
I feel it is important to share the state of the cheese industry in Loja, given that in USA it would be a fairly important part of our life. Apart from the hugely overpriced imported cheese in the main supermarket, there is one kind of cheese in Loja, which is often sold in CD shops or pharmacies. It is large, woobly, white, and looks like a part of an albino coral reef. It is soaked in water, crumbles to the touch and tastes of little else but salt. Until today you had not enjoyed any form of appreciation or friendship with said item, however, to your delight, you will discover in the absence of background music that it actually squeaks like a tiny trapped bird when you chew it. Not that you’d want to eat a live bird, but you're going to feel that the cheese’s less positive characteristics are entirely outweighed by this clear display of a desire to communicate, or even serenade, its muncher. Perhaps it could be combined with the baby bread and two superficially superfluous culinary items could finally, together, reach their zenith.
TonNet have just said it, babe!
How you doing, welcome to this my new corner!
