VOTE BK ON NOV. 7TH!!!

My past political efforts may pay off... two years later....

Two short years ago at this time, I was working for a man who was running for U.S. congress. Bryan Kennedy. Though we worked efortlessly to get him elected. Unfortunatly it was not his time... it was really no democrats time in the 2004 election cycle. Jim Sensenbrenner was who we was running against. An entrenched Washington Congressman... who did nothing to benefit WI's 5th district.

I was Bryan's Deputy Campaign Manager and before that the Volunteer Coordinator during the 2004 election cycle. I also know Bryan on a personal level... he was my favorite professor while pursuing my undergrad at UW-Milwaukee.... I think I had him every semester.

Anyway... unfortunatly I cannot be in the Milwaukee area this year. I may try to make it down to Milwaukee this weekend... if I can find somewhere to sleep. I want to help. If I cannot make it I will donate some money... I dont have much but the little I can give may help inform a few more voters.

So... why I am so excited about BK... he was endorsed by the Journal Sentinel... this is the first time in 24 (or is it 26) years that they have not endoresed Sensenbrenner. I agree that now is time for a change.

If you can donate money, live in WI's 5th and vote the 7th... know that BK is the right man for the job.

And for Bryan... Te mando Beijos y Muito Sorte Profe. Voce esta em meus pensamentos. Voce vai a ganar. =)

A Case of the Mondays....

It's Monday. Yuck! I need coffee. I have a full week with all of my classes this week. No holidays, conferences, nada this week.

I start a new class tomorrow night.... 5-12 Literacy.

Wednesday... I start a Caribbean dance class with LENA!! We will get to do Bachata, Merengue, Rumba and something else... I forget.

That's about all that's going on. Besides that I talked to a lot of my hispanohablante friends on MSN last night.

Ok... Paz.

Weekend in Review

Some fotos of my weekend... nothing too exciting

Driving into Downtown from NE Mpls. Yes, I was taking pictures while driving.

Minneapolis... la ciudad

Aguante Argentina! Laura and I and the Orono International Fair Friday evening.

One of the Mexican boys I talked to that evening... he wanted a picture of him wearing the sombrero... his older brother was sooo cute and told me... 'Estoy en Kinder y I speak en ingles todo el dia'. Que presioso.

Being confused... also apparently I look like I'm on crack... according to an unnamed friend.

Mad! I'm toooooo white now. I lost my tan. I am trying to hold out to go to the tanning beds... but I doubt I will make it much longer.

Dinner. I can cook. My colorful dinner or chicken, homemade red spicy sauce and aguacate.

New Heels. Top View. =)

New Talcos. Side View. I love new shoes.

That's my weekend... or at least some of it. Now I am cleaning ang studying. NOT FUN!!

Chau. Besos a toods.

Day & Night, Night & Day

Today is going to be interesting... I will spend the entire day at my urban school placement in Minneapolis. It in NE, an area which has gangs, extreme poverty, and a lot diversty generally associated with it.
And then I head out to the suburbs... not just first or second ring... we are talking third or fourth. My Argentine friend and I, have a booth at the International Fair in a suburban school where we teach Spanish. It should be interesting.

I will let y'all know how it goes... maybe share fotos.

Chau! & TGIF!

Falta 3 Meses Hasta Q Llegue en RD!!!

3 meses
92 dias
sol
mar
descanso
amigos
musica
comida
baile
paz

Counting the Mins. Until 9pm...

I slept for 3 hrs. It's my fault. I take procrastination to an extreme. I always have. My linguistics exam is due today... I had two weeks to do it. Last night at 8:30pm... I finally decided to sit down and do. I was majorly avoiding... most likely out of fear that I did not know what was going on. I finished it at 12:30am. Went to bed at 1:30... well, kind of. Its kind of hard to sleep after drinking a pot of really dark Dominican coffee.

I am up again. Already showered... trying to pull stuff together for tonight. Secondary Methods class. It is taking up so much time. Too much time. But I am half way done. So... Im working on that until 7:15am... when I go teach my first ronda of Spanish of the day.

At 9pm... more like 9:30 when I get home... I get to relax and not work until Monday. Tomorrow... I get to spend the entire school day in the 'worst' school in the state. The most urban, colorful, troubled. Most cringe and tell me I shout buy a bullet proof vest. There is a bad name that goes with this school. Most are scared of the place... I actually like it. I am not scared and I really don't get the off hand comments of why I will be possibly 'never' be speaking with people again because I am spending time observing in this school. Yeah... people goes as far to tell me I will be dying in this school. Whatev. I just try to take away my own experience. Others negative thoughts should not influence me.

My goal of the day... not drink soooo much coffee that I make weird sound effects and talk to myself constantly. Yes, I am now officially insane from the amount of caffeine I am drinking.

Algo bueno en la oscuridad...

Reflections... Good things in the last week have happened....

'Obsidian'... Caribou's new dark blend

50 degree day... in late October

Sun... there was sun today... it hurt my eyes but I didn't care

My Spanish classes going well... only a little blood and some tears (for real... 1st graders are dramatic & andan como locos)

Beisbol... the tight pants the latino hotties wear

Barack Obama's beautiful face

So many middle school kids saying 'Hi' when I'm too distracted to say 'hi' first

Quitting one job... and feeling a big weight come off my back

Loud music en espanol

Cute latino boy a the uni... asking me if i 'want to race' up the stairs... random

Hope I see in my grad school 'urban' school placement... yay for only colorful faces

For GWB being un pendejo y mentiroso en la tele... falta 14 dias hasta los ciudadanos votan

Mosicas mirrors that I am making

For the International Fair this Friday... Nuestra mesa sobre ARGENTINA va a ser buenisimo

Stong Democratic campaigns and candidates

Visit to the International Market on Lake/Chicago in Mpls with a pal

For one of my students not understanding what it meant to bring his dirty gym uniform home to his mom and actually going and physically putting it on to 'wear' it home to his mom. Too funny.

For my K-1 espanol class getting a major kick out of labeling themselves as 'yo' in the pictures they were drawing of their families.

For Anthony... the hot man that works at the Target I frequent

For getting paid in a few short days!! yippee.


OKKKAY.... I need to do my linguistics midterm... its due... TOMORROW. I've been avoiding it.

Chaucito srs y srtas... besotes enormes a todos

Demasiado Café y Poco Tiempo

Café. Café es como sobrevivo en este momento de la vida. Pro que? Tengo demasiado para hacer. Por que? Es mi culpa. Pensé que podía hacer todo. Pensé que podía ahorrar dinero mas rápido. Aunque estoy correcto... y tuve intenciones buenas... ahora tengo demasiadas cosas hacer. Trabajos, reuniones, clases, estudios... no paro. Quiero tener tiempo a hacer nada. Completamente nada. No tengo tiempo respirar, ni pensar. Y como que es parte de mi vida... Siempre dejo todo hasta la ultima.... y suma mas estres. Máximo tengo ocho semanas mas de la locura. El 14 de diciembre todo termina. Tengo desde esta fecha hasta el 5 de febrero descansar. Casi dos meses sin estudiar. Estoy contando los días... hasta que llego al sol.... son 94 días!

Bueno... casi son las ocho. Tengo q estudiar... y hacer mas café. Cafeína es mi droga.

Chau. Besos. Y saludos a tudos!! ;) Y están en mis pensamientos... aunque estoy tan ocupada... no dejo de pensar en mios amigos hispanohablantes... NUNCA!!

Stuck? Lost? Or Some Where in Between?

Things seem weird lately. I'm mentally lost.... perdida. Things seem rougher than normal. I think I have too much on my plate. I dont like being over whelmed. I tend to shut down. I have too much on my plate now or maybe too much of some things and not enough of others.
My problem lies in my double life. America me. Foreign me.

The America me has issues... She has long standing issues with trying to understand her environment and the people around her. In white-wealthy-mostly-suburban America. Too much insensitivity. Over consumption. Ignorance. Money. Whiteness. Purposeful blindness. It disgusts her on a daily basis. She tries to justify things she hears. People she deals with. But she sees things going wrong for so many others... when for them it is going right. She hears statements that make her cringe. And now the problem with being busy and having too much on her plate is she cannot even talk and speak to the people (and kids) that she needs to talk to. She can't. She always get too involved. It is either all or nothing. Another issue. Trying to justifying the work. The sadness. Just a few more months. The money. That's how she is currently justifying what she is doing. Can she take it much longer without loosing it?

Foreign me. She is sad. Reminiscent of better times. And times to come. Of possibly a lost dream.... but not forgotten. Of someone she cannot get out of her head. She sits dreaming of foreign lands. People that lead simpler, yet fuller lives. She wishes and wonders when her time will come. When she can go back. Be simple again. She constantly compares... which is better, worse, different. She is willing to justify almost anything or anyone from her patrias adoptivas. She tries to make America me and Foreign me work together. Make things better. Spice things up now... but she cant get her head out of the clouds can't stop thinking about Mr. 'A' She is lost in the past and in the future.... she does not live in the present when she is in America.


Perdida. Completamente perdida... trato andar con esperanza.

Don't get on my bad side... or you will be sorry!

I took the ACTFL oral Spanish exam/interview today. For my graduate program I needed to get a minimum of 'advanced low' in Spanish... upon completing the exam... which took about 45 mins.... the woman that was administoring it, said the following: 'I usually do not tell anyone what there score is after the exam, but you easily passed the neccessary level for you university'!! YAY! That made me feel good, as I have been in a slight email fight with some A** HOLES from my graduate program this week... but as anyone who knows me or who has pissed me off... or even slightly ticked me off or a friend before.... I AM A FIGHTER! I don't take shit from NO ONE. So, I don't think they were ready for me... and they tried to back me into a corner and make me take several exams in the next weeks... to cover up for an error they made. BUT it is back firing as I keep emails, papers, document things, and am basically the shiznit... so, yeah. Obviously they are going to crash a burn... not me.

I'm feelin' good... ready to pass a work free, homework filled weekend. Also, my mission is to find and buy plastic fruit. Don't ask.... well, its for my 1st graders in Spanish... talk about divertido times. ;)

Chaucito. Besotes y Saludos a todos!!

Grad School Fun... NOT!

I am working tirelessly... ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration... on an immigration unit that I would use in a 'imaginary' upper level H.S. Spanish class in the future. For some reason I decided to write everything in Spanish... well, because I think that is the proper way to approach things... but a lot more work than I anticipated. The other two people that are getting licenses in languages (one in Spanish, the other in French) are doing every thing in English. Im not sure why but whatever.
We are doing 'backwards planning'... which according to my professor is 'cutting edge'... and it is kicking my butt... most likely because I have never written an entire unit before... and I think I am trying to include too much. It is supposed to be 20 classes long.

Besides that... I need to start working on my online linguistics for language teachers class and I have to do my midterm sometime in the next week... fun time.

At least the slightly good thing is it is a long weekend... no school Thursday or Friday becuase of State Education conferences... so, I will have more than enough time to work on everything during the next week.

Living in the Present

This has been a problem my entire life. I am not one to dwell in the past or even live in the present... my mind is always in the future mind set. This has proven to be both good and bad for me. It has been good as I have goals and always am trying to work towards something. The bad part is I spend too much time thinking about the future. Planning for the future. It can be truthfully said that I really have no idea how to live in the present... even when I try. I do not know what this says about me but I think it is telling.

Ok... back to my deep dark depths of my my head.. PAZ!

El Frio me Esta Matando...

Hace frio... no... menti... hace MUCHO frio. Ayer nevo... hoy va a nevar. La temperatura es 25 grados (4 bajo cero C).... que es la fecha?? 12 de octubre... no es el 12 de diciembre ni enero o febrero. No lo puedo agunatar. Tengo tanto frio... manana cuando recibe mis cheques... tengo que ir a comprar sueters o algo q va a protejar mi piel.

NO puedo creer este tiempo... estoy en infierno.... un frio infierno q se llama Minnesota.

:(

Oh, HELL NO!!

If I wake up tomorrow morning and there is snow on the ground I am going to freak out. Seriously. I hate snow. I hate winter. I hate cold. And the weather forcasters are saying that within 12 hours the snow will arrive. It can't be. It is way to early in the season... not even mid-October yet.
This morning there was frost on my car windows... yuck... and if tomorrow at 7am, when I head out to my car there is snow this mujer is not going to be happy.

Saludos desde el frio norte a todos... ojala el nieve no llega manana. OJALA!

My Semi-Long Weekend

Friday night I went out to ACME Comedy club for Lena's 26th birthday. It was a funny show.

Saturday and Sunday I worked at my lovely retail job. The good news is I finally finished training!! YAY! No more cassettes on tape... that's enough to make me jump up and down and do a the happy dance.

What else? Think. Think. Think.

Today, Monday is Cristobal Colon Day.... so, two of my four jobs are canceled. This morning I taught Spanish from 8-9am and then tonight, I get to go work retail. I like the retail job... I am about 95% sure that I am buying a down comforter that is worth more than $180 for only $10 tonight... which is awesome.

Alright... so, off to the bank and then to Linen & Things... ADIOS!

Paz in the Middle (and Far) East.

I'm Bad.

Last night... I skipped my grad school class. I was not prepared and just too tired to handle going. I laid down at 7pm... I was just going to watch a half hour show... Betti la Fea... en ingles.... but I fell asleep by 7:20pm and slept until this morning at 7:45am.... yeah. I slept more than 12 hours. That's how tired I was.

Today is Friday... which means I get to work.... only a few hours at the middle school. NO teaching espanol today... and tonight going to ACME Comedy club with Lena's crew to celebrate her 26th birthday. Saturday and Sunday, I work retail.

The good news... I will pretty relaxed Fri. thru. Mon. YAY!!

I hope that everyone has a great weekend!!

Chau! Paz. Y Saludos a todos.

So So Tired

I'm tried. Really really tired. Got 5 hours of sleep, now I am attempting (key word) to study and get some stuff done this morning before work. I have class tonight. I am not prepared. I might come down with something... ;) Ok.... here I go.... attempting to work and get thru the next 16 hours and then it is my semi-less-stressed weekend.

Tomorrow night, Im going out to celebrate Lena's birthday. Dinner (i think) and a going to a comedy club.

Chaucito!

Wash, Rinse and Repeat

I do not wish to live life in a wash, rinse and repeat fashion. That is not what I like.... but it seems I have found myself in a short time deep in this cycle. So many people live this way... I cannot... I really do not want to like a mudane, repetitive life.... it drives me insane... and quite frankly I do not care if I earn more money this way.

So... let me begin another day... wash, rinse, repeat....

The Long Days to Come...

So, today I worked all four of my jobs. Yes, I have four jobs... and yes, I worked at all of them today. I left home a bit before 7am and just got home at 10pm. I'm really tired and about to pass out.

I wouldn't be so peeved if I would not have had to listen to cassette tapes about the store, bedding area, and now towels (i'm mid-tape) for 4+ hours. Apparently, someone had a brillant idea that they should train new ratail employees by making them watch 3+ hours of video and then listening to 10+ hours on tape. Yes, folks... I'm not even half way done. And to make it even worse you have to take tests on the tapes after... just to make sure you know the difference between stupid stuff like specially made sheets, bed sets, etc.

I have at least four more months of this madness.... Ahhhhhhhh!

Serenity now... serenity now.... serenity now...