(Yes, we have Direct TV out of Puerto Rico. Hurray!)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Tuesday updates
1. I just got an email that I've been approved for Spanish one-on-one tutoring. I knew I could take lessons, but I thought they'd be group lessons, so I questioned the supervisor of the language school that works at the embassy. He confirmed that I get 156 hours of one-on-one Spanish, per Jimmy's office policy and that for 7,000 Colombian pesos (about $3.50 or so) for the tutor's transportation, I can have the classes at my house instead of the embassy. I would spend a minimum of 10,000 pesos for a one-way trip to the embassy and if I were lucky, I could catch one of the embassy shuttles back home at no charge (otherwise it would be another taxi), so there's a significant cost savings potential to learn at home. Plus, I barely have to be out of my pajamas if the lessons are at home and I save all that commuting time. How do you say "sign me up for that" in Spanish?
2. There's an OUTSIDE chance that our sea shipment may be delivered on Thurday afternoon.
Could I get lucky with such great news twice in the span of 30 minutes?
2. There's an OUTSIDE chance that our sea shipment may be delivered on Thurday afternoon.
Could I get lucky with such great news twice in the span of 30 minutes?
Tuesday musings
1. Mac started co-curricular activities last week. He's doing fencing on Mondays (which he actually just started yesterday, complete with getting to wield one of those sword things) and tennis on Wednesdays.
2. Mac came home on Friday afternoon with his newly-rented-from-school violin. He has developed an instant attraction to it. He lovingly takes it out of the case, rosins the bow, holds the bow correctly (using the very cool dog-biting-the-bow technique taught by his teacher), and then absolutely wails on it in his attempt to play "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". We've tried to tell him that he's probably not going to learn that song in his first year of violin lessons, so he's apparently taken the approach that he'll teach himself. I'm waiting for him to pop some strings, which is bound to happen in the near future.
3. I have tried to teach myself the violin on Mac's violin and I can now knock out the "twinkle twinkle" part of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". I can't quite figure out how to get to the "little star" part but I'm working on it.
4. We find out today if our sea shipment is being delivered on Friday. I am hoping that some miracle happens and they can actually deliver it on Thursday because I have nothing planned on Thursday but I do have a ticket for Friday to watch a couple tennis matches for the Davis Cup between the US and Colombia.
5. No offense to any Sao Paulo Chapel friends who might be reading this one particular musing, but the PTA at Chapel is (or used to be) a Brazilian mafia run at the time by one woman that made it difficult for non-Brazilians to enter. I tried to participate but it was uncomfortably painful because I clearly didn't belong. So I stopped going to the meetings. Well CGB's PTA had a welcome breakfast for new families last week and I wasn't going to go because I figured it might be a Colombian mafia experience. Jimmy told me to suck it up and go because how would I know otherwise? So I went and these people are the nicest people. There are lots of Colombians involved but the president is Canadian (which meant the meeting was conducted in English with somebody translating to Spanish), the vice president is Costa Rican and the secretary is Argentine. And everybody was friendly and inclusive, which is how the whole school is.
6. On Thursday afternoon, Mac had an invitation glued in his agenda inviting Jimmy and me to the Year 4 Spanish program on Friday morning. Well I thought this was a mistake because he's in Year 3, so I blew it off. THANK GOODNESS I went to the PTA meeting on Friday morning and started talking to a mother who said she had to leave the PTA early to attend this program. I commented that Mac had had an invitation but he's Year 3 so it made no sense and I wasn't going. The head of the primary school overheard us talking and said that Mac might be getting a Spanish award so maybe I should go. Um. Does she know which child is mine? I'm fairly sure he's not getting a Spanish award, particularly after 3 weeks of school. But she checked quickly and said I needed to go. And by golly, that kid got an award (along with some other children) for enthusiasm in his Colombian social studies class. I was so proud of him.
7. Let's talk about Spanish class at CGB. Up until now, Mac had one Spanish class a week at Pinewood. I don't know that there was ever a test and we never did Spanish homework. And at Chapel they didn't start formal Portuguese classes until after kindergarten. Well let me tell you that we're making up for lost time. Mac attends Spanish as a Second Language classes everyday and he's got Spanish homework every week. Two weeks ago they worked on body parts in Spanish and last week they did family members. Last week's homework was for Mac to draw his family tree and label it with the names of the family members as well as their relationship like abuela/grandmother, tio/uncle, primo/cousin, etc. Mac had to turn it in yesterday and so last night when I checked his Spanish folder, I saw some additions to what it originally looked like. He'd added his pet fish, Pedro, from Sao Paulo and he'd made a gravesite at the bottom of the page for my dad (and he'd drawn a line from the top of the family tree where my dad was originally noted down to the gravesite). Once we get our printer (on Friday!), I'll scan and post it because it's priceless.
8. This is a call for help: we're supposed to be working on the multiplication tables because Mac has to memorize them. Any thoughts on how best to do this? If you have advice, I'd love to hear it because we don't seem to be making much progress.
9. The man is supposedly coming to hook up our Direct TV today, which means you may not hear from me for awhile. We get it out of Puerto Rico which means I can watch all the shows I came to know and love over the last year, which is going to be delightful. Hurray! I hope there are no unforeseen problems when the guy shows up.
10. Speaking of shows I know and love, The Amazing Race starts very soon. I love this show and want to go on it with Jimmy because I know we could win. But this season I'm not on it yet, so you need to watch for my hairdresser extraordinaire from Stella Nova in Summerville's daughter, Stephanie, who's on it with her boyfriend. Here's to hoping that if I can't win the big bucks on the show that Stephanie can. (And if you need a hairdresser extraordinaire in the lowcountry, go see Luanne at Stella Nova.)
11. Jimmy is hosting his first work cocktail party for 50 people in a couple weeks. I've held everybody off until we get our stuff because I'm not having a party at my house without pictures on the walls. Last night we decided on Sept 30 for the party, assuming Jimmy can schedule his work trip to Florida to get back on Sept 29. Worse than having a party without pictures on the wall would be having a party without the host present.
12. Finally - and this note is mainly for my mom because I couldn't get her on the phone yesterday and I know she'll want to know - I had my blood pressure check with the doctor yesterday and it's gone way down. When I changed my regimen a couple weeks ago, after a couple days I had to start taking the meds before bedtime because of dizziness and extreme lethargy, but one of the meds is a diuretic which meant I was going to the bathroom in the middle of the night more times than an old man. The good news is that I was sleeping like a rock even after the bathroom trips because my pressure was so low. So we're tweaking a little bit and I'm taking the diuretic in the morning and the other med at night and we'll see how that goes.
Hope you're well in your corner of the world!
2. Mac came home on Friday afternoon with his newly-rented-from-school violin. He has developed an instant attraction to it. He lovingly takes it out of the case, rosins the bow, holds the bow correctly (using the very cool dog-biting-the-bow technique taught by his teacher), and then absolutely wails on it in his attempt to play "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". We've tried to tell him that he's probably not going to learn that song in his first year of violin lessons, so he's apparently taken the approach that he'll teach himself. I'm waiting for him to pop some strings, which is bound to happen in the near future.
3. I have tried to teach myself the violin on Mac's violin and I can now knock out the "twinkle twinkle" part of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". I can't quite figure out how to get to the "little star" part but I'm working on it.
4. We find out today if our sea shipment is being delivered on Friday. I am hoping that some miracle happens and they can actually deliver it on Thursday because I have nothing planned on Thursday but I do have a ticket for Friday to watch a couple tennis matches for the Davis Cup between the US and Colombia.
5. No offense to any Sao Paulo Chapel friends who might be reading this one particular musing, but the PTA at Chapel is (or used to be) a Brazilian mafia run at the time by one woman that made it difficult for non-Brazilians to enter. I tried to participate but it was uncomfortably painful because I clearly didn't belong. So I stopped going to the meetings. Well CGB's PTA had a welcome breakfast for new families last week and I wasn't going to go because I figured it might be a Colombian mafia experience. Jimmy told me to suck it up and go because how would I know otherwise? So I went and these people are the nicest people. There are lots of Colombians involved but the president is Canadian (which meant the meeting was conducted in English with somebody translating to Spanish), the vice president is Costa Rican and the secretary is Argentine. And everybody was friendly and inclusive, which is how the whole school is.
6. On Thursday afternoon, Mac had an invitation glued in his agenda inviting Jimmy and me to the Year 4 Spanish program on Friday morning. Well I thought this was a mistake because he's in Year 3, so I blew it off. THANK GOODNESS I went to the PTA meeting on Friday morning and started talking to a mother who said she had to leave the PTA early to attend this program. I commented that Mac had had an invitation but he's Year 3 so it made no sense and I wasn't going. The head of the primary school overheard us talking and said that Mac might be getting a Spanish award so maybe I should go. Um. Does she know which child is mine? I'm fairly sure he's not getting a Spanish award, particularly after 3 weeks of school. But she checked quickly and said I needed to go. And by golly, that kid got an award (along with some other children) for enthusiasm in his Colombian social studies class. I was so proud of him.
7. Let's talk about Spanish class at CGB. Up until now, Mac had one Spanish class a week at Pinewood. I don't know that there was ever a test and we never did Spanish homework. And at Chapel they didn't start formal Portuguese classes until after kindergarten. Well let me tell you that we're making up for lost time. Mac attends Spanish as a Second Language classes everyday and he's got Spanish homework every week. Two weeks ago they worked on body parts in Spanish and last week they did family members. Last week's homework was for Mac to draw his family tree and label it with the names of the family members as well as their relationship like abuela/grandmother, tio/uncle, primo/cousin, etc. Mac had to turn it in yesterday and so last night when I checked his Spanish folder, I saw some additions to what it originally looked like. He'd added his pet fish, Pedro, from Sao Paulo and he'd made a gravesite at the bottom of the page for my dad (and he'd drawn a line from the top of the family tree where my dad was originally noted down to the gravesite). Once we get our printer (on Friday!), I'll scan and post it because it's priceless.
8. This is a call for help: we're supposed to be working on the multiplication tables because Mac has to memorize them. Any thoughts on how best to do this? If you have advice, I'd love to hear it because we don't seem to be making much progress.
9. The man is supposedly coming to hook up our Direct TV today, which means you may not hear from me for awhile. We get it out of Puerto Rico which means I can watch all the shows I came to know and love over the last year, which is going to be delightful. Hurray! I hope there are no unforeseen problems when the guy shows up.
10. Speaking of shows I know and love, The Amazing Race starts very soon. I love this show and want to go on it with Jimmy because I know we could win. But this season I'm not on it yet, so you need to watch for my hairdresser extraordinaire from Stella Nova in Summerville's daughter, Stephanie, who's on it with her boyfriend. Here's to hoping that if I can't win the big bucks on the show that Stephanie can. (And if you need a hairdresser extraordinaire in the lowcountry, go see Luanne at Stella Nova.)
11. Jimmy is hosting his first work cocktail party for 50 people in a couple weeks. I've held everybody off until we get our stuff because I'm not having a party at my house without pictures on the walls. Last night we decided on Sept 30 for the party, assuming Jimmy can schedule his work trip to Florida to get back on Sept 29. Worse than having a party without pictures on the wall would be having a party without the host present.
12. Finally - and this note is mainly for my mom because I couldn't get her on the phone yesterday and I know she'll want to know - I had my blood pressure check with the doctor yesterday and it's gone way down. When I changed my regimen a couple weeks ago, after a couple days I had to start taking the meds before bedtime because of dizziness and extreme lethargy, but one of the meds is a diuretic which meant I was going to the bathroom in the middle of the night more times than an old man. The good news is that I was sleeping like a rock even after the bathroom trips because my pressure was so low. So we're tweaking a little bit and I'm taking the diuretic in the morning and the other med at night and we'll see how that goes.
Hope you're well in your corner of the world!
Monday, September 13, 2010
www.onedayonearth.org
Thanks to my friend Lisa, I just found out about this very cool film project that I think you should know about too. You can learn all about it at www.onedayonearth.org.
One Day on Earth is a collaborative film project started a couple years ago as a way to document what's happening around the world on one particular day as filmed by thousands of videographers around the world. The day of filming, 10-10-10, is fast approaching but you still have to time to sign up to contribute your video.
The website says it best, so here goes...
Across the planet, documentary filmmakers, students, and inspired citizens will record the human experience over a 24-hour period. By participating in this historic event, you will help capture the diversity of life and culture on this planet. Together we will create a document that is a gift to the world.
One Day on Earth is a documentary and new media project about the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occurs in one 24-hour period on Earth. More than a film, One Day on Earth is a multi-platform participatory media project. The flagship of this project is a 120-minute documentary to be released theatrically. Through the One Day on Earth platform we will establish a community that not only watches, but participates.
Even if you don't contribute with a video, make sure you see the film when it's released. As the website promises, I'm sure the film will change the way you see the world.
One Day on Earth is a collaborative film project started a couple years ago as a way to document what's happening around the world on one particular day as filmed by thousands of videographers around the world. The day of filming, 10-10-10, is fast approaching but you still have to time to sign up to contribute your video.
The website says it best, so here goes...
Across the planet, documentary filmmakers, students, and inspired citizens will record the human experience over a 24-hour period. By participating in this historic event, you will help capture the diversity of life and culture on this planet. Together we will create a document that is a gift to the world.
One Day on Earth is a documentary and new media project about the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occurs in one 24-hour period on Earth. More than a film, One Day on Earth is a multi-platform participatory media project. The flagship of this project is a 120-minute documentary to be released theatrically. Through the One Day on Earth platform we will establish a community that not only watches, but participates.
Even if you don't contribute with a video, make sure you see the film when it's released. As the website promises, I'm sure the film will change the way you see the world.
Friday, September 10, 2010
what $12 buys you today in Bogota
It's "change the flowers" Friday and the ever-wonderful Ruth showed up with all of the following: 
She was apologetic because she spent $12 this week instead of the $10 last week.
(See those wonderful tall vases? I bought those on the embassy field trip to the glass factory. They were a steal and they have so many tall, dramatic flowers here that I had to have some tall vases to showcase those babies).
I re-purposed some flowers from last week and used these adorable little vases I also got at the glass factory. I have them lined up on my kitchen window and they're so bright and cheerful.
And finally these are the flowers that Ruth bought two weeks ago. They are still so beautiful that I can't bear to throw them out. They started architecturally as just the green stalks but have opened to these wonderful white flowers over the course of two weeks.
P.S. Ruth also brought her pressure cooker from home so she can make us some beans today. I love this woman.
She was apologetic because she spent $12 this week instead of the $10 last week.
(See those wonderful tall vases? I bought those on the embassy field trip to the glass factory. They were a steal and they have so many tall, dramatic flowers here that I had to have some tall vases to showcase those babies).
I re-purposed some flowers from last week and used these adorable little vases I also got at the glass factory. I have them lined up on my kitchen window and they're so bright and cheerful.
And finally these are the flowers that Ruth bought two weeks ago. They are still so beautiful that I can't bear to throw them out. They started architecturally as just the green stalks but have opened to these wonderful white flowers over the course of two weeks.
P.S. Ruth also brought her pressure cooker from home so she can make us some beans today. I love this woman.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Jimmy's very own personal tailor
One of the many benefits of living in Bogota is that you can have custom-made clothes made relatively inexpensively. Jimmy needed a couple more suits, so he bought fabric he liked at one of the seemingly hundreds of fabric stores around here and is having a tailor make them. Last night was the first and only fitting before the first suit is ready in a week. Clearly there's a long way to go between the first fitting and the final product!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Wednesday musings
1. I got my first haircut in Bogota yesterday and I love it, even though it's a lot shorter than it's been. Mac told me it looked horrible - stab to the heart - when he got home but Jimmy said he loved it. Even if he was fibbing, I'm sticking with the big guy's opinion.
2. It's very difficult, perhaps even traumatic, to get your hair cut when you don't really speak the language. This salon is small and even though I was speaking Spanish - albeit awful Spanish - everybody thought that English would be the only thing that came out of my mouth so they assumed they couldn't understand me. I hate that.
3. Today I'm going on a field trip to a pottery factory followed by lunch with some other people from the embassy.
4. I've now heard that we might take delivery of our sea shipment by late next week. I also just found out that there is no record of our sea shipment that was sent from long-term storage in Washington. We're working on finding out more on that today. I also also found out that our car has made it to the port in Cartagena and paperwork is being processed for us to get the car. That should take awhile though.
5. Mac is attending his first Colombian birthday party Friday afternoon after school. A bus is taking the children from school to the party place and I just have to show up at 5pm to bring him home. I love these kinds of parties.
6. Ruth kept Mac last night while Jimmy and I went out for dinner. Although I've told her repeatedly not to hand wash the dirty dishes in the dishwasher (since I run it every night), she clearly believes the dishwasher is nothing more than a holding facility for dirty dishes until you have time to wash them. The dishwasher was full of dirty dishes when we left, but when we came home, they were all washed, dried and put away. That and her calling me Senora all the time when I've repeatedly told her not to are the only faults I can find, so I can live with that. But woman, let the dishwasher do its job.
7. I'm in season three of Lost. Still addicted, still loving it.
8. Mac doesn't have a regular homework schedule at his current school. He's supposed to read everyday, he had one Spanish sheet last week and there's a weekly spelling test. The big assignment every week is an assigned topic "project" in this big folder. Each student can do whatever he wants on two pages of the folder and then he presents it to the class. Last week was "who is my family?" so Mac did a word search game of different people in our family on one page and on the other, a list of the names in the word search along with out-of-order photos of those people that you had to match up. Two games for the price of one. This week is "who were the ancient Egyptians?". We've got maps, pictures of the Pyramids and a sarcophagus, and "Mac" written in hieroglyphics. I feel like we're doing a science fair project every week!!
2. It's very difficult, perhaps even traumatic, to get your hair cut when you don't really speak the language. This salon is small and even though I was speaking Spanish - albeit awful Spanish - everybody thought that English would be the only thing that came out of my mouth so they assumed they couldn't understand me. I hate that.
3. Today I'm going on a field trip to a pottery factory followed by lunch with some other people from the embassy.
4. I've now heard that we might take delivery of our sea shipment by late next week. I also just found out that there is no record of our sea shipment that was sent from long-term storage in Washington. We're working on finding out more on that today. I also also found out that our car has made it to the port in Cartagena and paperwork is being processed for us to get the car. That should take awhile though.
5. Mac is attending his first Colombian birthday party Friday afternoon after school. A bus is taking the children from school to the party place and I just have to show up at 5pm to bring him home. I love these kinds of parties.
6. Ruth kept Mac last night while Jimmy and I went out for dinner. Although I've told her repeatedly not to hand wash the dirty dishes in the dishwasher (since I run it every night), she clearly believes the dishwasher is nothing more than a holding facility for dirty dishes until you have time to wash them. The dishwasher was full of dirty dishes when we left, but when we came home, they were all washed, dried and put away. That and her calling me Senora all the time when I've repeatedly told her not to are the only faults I can find, so I can live with that. But woman, let the dishwasher do its job.
7. I'm in season three of Lost. Still addicted, still loving it.
8. Mac doesn't have a regular homework schedule at his current school. He's supposed to read everyday, he had one Spanish sheet last week and there's a weekly spelling test. The big assignment every week is an assigned topic "project" in this big folder. Each student can do whatever he wants on two pages of the folder and then he presents it to the class. Last week was "who is my family?" so Mac did a word search game of different people in our family on one page and on the other, a list of the names in the word search along with out-of-order photos of those people that you had to match up. Two games for the price of one. This week is "who were the ancient Egyptians?". We've got maps, pictures of the Pyramids and a sarcophagus, and "Mac" written in hieroglyphics. I feel like we're doing a science fair project every week!!
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