1st Chang Lee of Dallas' Internal Tournament (Feb 2nd, 2008): It included Breaking Boards, Poomses (Forms) and Sparring. In the picture, "Chica" -black stripe- and me -blue belt- with our Golden Medals (Sparring).

1r Torneo Interno de la escuela Chang Lee de Dallas (2 de Febrero de 2008): Incluye Rompimientos, Poomses (Formas) y Sparring (Combate). En la foto, "Chica" -cinturón rojo-negro - y yo -cinturón azul- con nuestras medallas de oro por Sparring.

Labels: personal, sports, taekwondo, USA lifestyle

English version: ThanksGiving, Taekwondo and other stories.

ThanksGiving, Taekwondo and other stories.

And ThanksGiving came. During the early morning Hormigo, my husband, walked the dogs while I prepared a bowl of salads for the dinner. Then we went for a coffee at Starbucks to drive away the cold. (And just “a coffee”, not a really hot coffee. I don’t know why they serve warm beverages, especially during these cold days...)

A few minutes on the road to the east the landscape became much more rural. We saw eagles, longhorns with their harem, beautiful deers, amazing horses with shiny coats, even some dromedaries and the typical squirrels jumping here and there. Zero buildings, the places were more like “the Kent farm” (a reference for “Smallville” fans, hehe) with open spaces, its machines and livestock, etc.

The towns’ population was drastically decreasing while we advanced on the highway. The only constant were the protestant churches always present even in the last corner. Passing the last “city” and its 3 short streets, and recieving the good smell of bonfires, we arrived at Mr. and Mrs. D’s home. You were able to recognize the place because of the big blue flag with a ThanksGiving turkey in it.

It was a huge tract of land surrounded by forest, even with its own brook. The house, beautiful, has all the comfort of any city house. Our friend M’s family recieved us very warmly, and they had even practiced how to pronounce our names! Slowly more people were coming and finally three long tables were needed to have dinner. We spent a very nice afternoon and evening plus a nice walk around the place, and we left with an invitation to come back on Christmas.

Our Taekwondo belt testing came on the last Friday of November. Hormigo seemed a little nervous from the last evening. Except for the daily training, I hadn’t studied or practiced anything special, but we had no more time. We arrived at school 45 minutes early, to warm up calmly, etc. After Hormigo showed his abilities in front of an improvised fan club of mexican mothers who took photos, cried, clapped and sighed every time he performed some technique (grrr!!) our grand master called us with anticipation to refine details.

Hormigo is newer than me, so he tested first with other people. He did it great, and some of his fans almost fainted when he chose the thickest of the breaking boards and he broke it on the first try. To my horror, I had to test alone because there weren’t people of my grade or higher. When grand master made me choose board, I also took a wide one, for a matter of pride (lol). I was lucky my breaking was a simple technique. So, finally we obtained our new grades, yellow for him and belt with blue stripe for me. I have no photos this time because we were busy at the same time, but probably I’ll take some with the uniforms and the new belts one of these days. (Or maybe a you-know-who’s fan could give us one... LOL!)

It’s highly possible I dissapear until the last days of the month due to medical issues. Wish me luck. I wish you a very Merry Christmas. Don’t forget to eat nice things for us!

(*)Pic taken from bbc.co.uk

Labels: personal, taekwondo, USA lifestyle

English version: I'm back.

Labels: personal, USA lifestyle

English version: Ramadan and an old friend...

El domingo 30 me puse las mejores “pilchas”, sin caer en la vestimenta formal, y luego de darme una maquillada y perfumada discretas, partimos con el Hormigo a la cena de Ramadán a la que fuimos invitados por mis maestros de TaeKwonDo, quienes profesan la religión musulmana. Así, junto a sus familias, entraban a la fase final de su ayuno, que dura cuarenta días, aunque por lo que nos explicaron, todavía les quedaban los quince días finales. Fue una instancia mucho más social y menos religiosa de lo que ambos con el Hormigo esperábamos, pero de todas maneras pudimos apreciar muestras de esta cultura que nos parecía más bien lejana. La comida, consistente en ensaladas y variedades de arroz con aderezos suaves pero sabrosos y aromáticos, acompañada de cordero y otras carnes, estuvo simplemente deliciosa, y los baklava (parecidos a los dulces árabes) junto al fuerte café turco sólo coronaron una estupenda cena.

La semana siguió sin novedades. Hasta hoy en la tarde.

Cuando le eché un vistazo a mi correo, me encontré con un maldito mail de spam, y con un mail que decía “soy la brasilera”. Casi me voy de espaldas cuando confirmé que me estaba escribiendo mi amiguita de la infancia, Janaina, de la cual hable en un post de Mayo, y a quien le había perdido la pista hace años. Inmediatamente la agregue a MSN, y estaba conectada. Luego de saludos emocionados, nos pusimos un poco al día en la vida de la otra. Me contó que esta viviendo en Europa, casada con su príncipe azul, y que hace cinco semanas nació su primera hijita. Incluso pude ver su carita sonriéndome por webcam, y salvo porque usa lentes, tiene la misma cara de pícara que en aquellas épocas. Lejos una de las cosas mas locas y alegres que me han pasado a través de internet. Así que ya saben, si quieren encontrar a alguien perdido, ya saben cual es el camino!

Me despido con una gran sonrisa. Saludos para todos, estoy visitándolos prontamente como siempre, y que disfruten de un buen fin de semana.

(*) Imagen tomada desde usmaninetwork.com

Ramadan and an old friend...

Last Sunday I put on some decent clothes, without going into formal attire, and after some discrete make up and perfume, I went with Hormigo to the Ramadan dinner we were invited to by my TaeKwonDo masters, who profess the Muslim religion. They and their families entered in the final stage of the fast. It lasts fourty days, but they explained to us there are still fifteen final days after the dinner itself. It was a more social and less religious instance than Hormigo and I expected, but we were able to appreciate part of this unfamiliar culture anyways. The food, consisting of salad and varieties of rice with soft but tasty and aromatic dressings, and accompanied by lamb and other meats was simply fantastic, and baklavas (kind of middle eastern pastries) with strong turkish coffee were an excellent end to a great meal.

The rest of the week was uneventful. Until today in the afternoon.

When I took a look at my e-mail, I found damn spam, and another mail with the subject “I’m the brazilian girl”. I almost fainted when I confirmed my childhood friend, Janaina, was writing. I talked about her in a post from last May, because we had lost contact many years ago and I wanted to say hello. Inmediately I added her to my MSN account and she was on line. After an emotional initial greeting, we got reacquainted about each other’s lives. She told me she’s living in Europe, married her prince charming and five weeks ago her first daughter was born. I was even able to see her face smiling at me through webcam, and except for a pair of glasses, she has the same naughty face. This is absolutly the most crazy and happy thing that has happened to me through the internet. So now you know, if you want to find somebody who is lost, this is the way! xD

I say goodbye with a big smile now. Greetings for all of you, I’m visiting your blogs soon as usual, and have a nice weekend!

(*) Pic taken from usmainnetwork.com

Labels: personal

English version: Satan is coming... sponsored by Microsoft.

En toda sociedad se produce un nivel de doble standard, y creo que tiene que ver con el conjunto de virtudes y conductas a los que la gente aspira para tener una mejor calidad de vida colectiva, que choca con nuestro comportamiento real en el día a día. Cuando uno siempre ha vivido en el mismo lugar o al menos en el mismo país, ni siquiera es algo cuestionado, pero cuando uno llega a una sociedad con costumbres distintas, las cosas de a poco van saltando a la vista.

El Hormigo me contaba la otra vez que acompaño a un matrimonio chileno a un thrift store, que vendría siendo una tienda de alguna corporación de beneficencia (generalmente iglesias) que tiene como fin reunir fondos. La chilena iba con un tank top (la tipica polera “de tiritas” que usamos en verano) y shorts cortitos, intentando hacer el quite a los 40 y tantos grados de esos meses. La dependienta no la dejo entrar porque su vestimenta era “indecente” y cuando fueron una segunda vez, la mujer no le quiso recibir la plata de las compras porque solamente los hombres podían pagarle, debido a los códigos de su religión. Ella, con alguna milagrosa investidura, sí podía tocar el dinero (…). Al final, por el escándalo, tuvo que pagar el marido. (A todo esto, yo ni siquiera hubiera vuelto una 2da vez…) Ustedes creían que los chilenos eran “cartuchos” y que los gringos eran unos amorales que sólo nos enseñaban malas costumbres? No precisamente. Al menos, no todos. De hecho en Estados Unidos hay un área llamada “Bible Belt” (“Cinturón Bíblico”), un conjunto de estados altamente religiosos y conservadores en el sector sudeste, entre los cuales estamos nosotros, Texas. (“Yay”!! )

Por lo anterior, no es raro ver en la televisión a gente convencida de que “Satán viene…” (“…y lo trae Pepsi” ) al mundo llevándose las almas de niños y jóvenes a través de los juegos de videos y del internet, entre otras maléficas modernidades. Ello explicaría a la gente desquiciada dándose tiros en los colegios y universidades, un incremento en la violencia de las nuevas generaciones, falta de respeto a los padres, etc.

Hasta aquí, uno podría decir “hm, quizás”. La paradoja se produce, al menos desde mi punto de vista, en el actuar diario de gente. Por ejemplo anoche fuimos al cine a ver “War”, (protagonizada por Jet Li y Jason Statham. No pierdan su plata y tiempo en verla si no es un día fomingo en DVD o en el cable…) una película catalogada para adultos debido a su alta violencia, palabras soeces y escenas sexualmente sugerentes. Cuando alguien le enterró una katana a otro sujeto con la consiguiente chorrera de sangre y pedazos de gente, escuche gritos de terror de… niños. Me incorporé sorprendida en el asiento, y constaté que había al menos tres o cuatro niños definitivamente no mayores a doce años que veían la película con horror. Para que no fregaran, los amorosos y responsables padres les habían comprado sendas bolsas de papas fritas y mega bebidas (aquí son como de 1 litro… las medianas), y al menos dos de los niños fácilmente superaban los 100 kilos. Seguramente don Lucifer los subió al auto y los llevo al cine…

Para finalizar y habiéndoles ilustrado mis reflexiones, sólo me queda concluir que quizas Satanás no esta en los shorts veraniegos, la playstation o en el computador, sino que la hediondez de los gringos parte desde sus propias casas, de los mismos adultos que se pegan con una piedra en el pecho y dan al resto lecciones de cómo vivir sus vidas pero cometen tamaños desatinos. Me parece estupendo creer y confiar en Dios, y querer estar alejado de los malos hábitos, pero que eso sea excusa para vivir echándole la culpa al empedrado es… una pena.

Cambiando diametralmente de tema, quería contarles que Luis Alejandro Bello tuvo la amabilidad de invitarme a “Ideas en Blog”, una bitácora colectiva donde doce columnistas irán exponiendo sus puntos de vista sobre la actualidad. Ya tuve oportunidad de publicar una columna, y esta semana Margarita ha publicado la suya. Los dejo cordialmente invitados a visitar este espacio y a dejar sus opiniones. Como siempre, les cuento que estaré visitándolos pronto y les dejo saludos.

P.D.: A los chilenos, coman ricas empanadas, hagan asaditos y tomen chicha por nosotros. Felices Fiestas Patrias a la distancia.

(*)Imagen tomada desde matthewsmisko.150m.com

Satan is coming... sponsored by Microsoft

In all societies exists a certain level of double standard, and I think it’s related to the set of virtues and conducts people aspire to in order to have a better quality of collective life, that clashes with the real behaviour in our daily existance. When you have lived in the same place or at least in the same country, it isn’t even questioned, but when you arrive in a society with different customs, things are slowly jumping out at you.

Hormigo, my husband, told me the other day that he went with a chilean couple to a thrift store. The woman was wearing a tank top and tiny shorts, trying to survive the +110 degrees Fahrenheit. The woman at the counter didn’t let her in because her clothes were “indecent” and when they went the second time, the same salesperson didn’t recieve the money from the wife because only the men are allowed to pay due to some religious codes. The lady, because of some divine intervention, could actually touch the money (...) In the end, after all the scandal, the husband had to pay. (By the way, I wouldn’t have gone a 2nd time...) Did you think chilean people are conservative and american people were the sinners who teach them bad manners? Not precisely. At least, not everyone. In fact, in the US exists an area called “the Bible Belt”, a group of highly religious and conservative states in the south east, and we, Texas, are among them. (“Yay”!! )

Due to the before mentioned, it isn’t strange to see on T.V. people saying that “Satan is coming...” (... sponsored by Microsoft, or Bush, or so people say ) to the world taking young souls through video games and internet, among other tools of the devil. This would explain the crazy people shooting other people at schools and universities, the increase in violence in the new generations, lack of respect towards the parents, etc.

Until this point, you could say “hm, perhaps”. The paradox is produced, at least in my point of view, in people’s daily behaviour. For example, last night my husband and I went to the cinema to see “War”, (starring by Jet Li and Jason Statham. Do NOT waste your time and money except to rent it or to watch it on cable...) an R rated movie because of the violence, the cursing and sexually sugestive scenes. When one guy stabbed another with a katana with the obvious bloodshed and pieces of people flying, I heard screams of horror... from children. I stood up, surprised, in my seat and I saw at least three or four kids, definitely not older than twelve, watching the movie with fear. The loving and responsible parents had bought huge bags of potato chips and big sodas so the children wouldn’t bother them. At least two of the kids were over 180 pounds. Probably Lucifer put them in the car and took them to the movie theater...

To finish, and having ilustrated my thoughts, all that remains to conclude is maybe Satan isn’t in the tiny shorts, the playstation or the computer, but the stink comes from the houses of the same americans that are all high and mighty telling others how to live their lives but never seeing what happens in their own homes. I think it’s great to believe and trust in God, and to stay away of bad habits, but all of this being just an excuse to blame anything but themselves is... a shame.

Changing topic completely I want you to know that Luis Alejandro Bello kindly invited me to “Ideas en Blog”, a collective blog in spanish where twelve writers expose their points of view about recent news. I already published and this week Margarita has published her post. I cordially invite you to visit this space and leave your comments. As usual, I’ll visit you soon. Have a nice week.

P.D.: To the chilean people: Eat tasty empanadas, have barbeques and drink chicha for the both of us. Happy Fiestas Patrias (kind of Independance Day) in the distance.

(*) Picture taken from matthewsmisko.150m.com

Labels: movies and TV, USA lifestyle

August 25th, 2007: My 2nd TaeKwonDo Promotion Test, conducted by my academy. Let's see if you can find me! ;) (Click on the pic to enlarge)

25 de Agosto, 2007: Mi 2do examen de TaeKwonDo en mi academia. Veamos si me pillan! ;) (Click sobre la foto para agrandarla)

Besides, I was "The student of the Month" (July). I recieved this trophee and my pic in a frame. Cool, huh? ^_^

Además, fui "El estudiante del Mes" (Julio). Recibí este trofeo y mi foto enmarcada. Qué tal? ^_^

Labels: sports, taekwondo

La otra noche íbamos por una de esas carreteras gigantes hacia el centro cuando vimos fácil 10 patrullas de la policía con sus luces encendidas bloqueando 3 de las 5 pistas. El helicóptero volaba bastante bajo e iluminaba las calles adyacentes con rapidez. Cuando avanzamos, pudimos ver a cerca de 20 policías repartidos alrededor de una camioneta gigantesca (estilo Ford F-150) y esposaban a un tipo (según yo, negro. El Hormigo lo vio mexicano) que tenían de rodillas. Había unos policías gigantes que seguían las acciones con la vista, metralletas en mano. La voz de la razón me decía que debía apurar al Hormigo, porque estaban bajando a otra persona del vehículo y a los gringos de la nada les da por hacer acciones kamikaze a pesar de estar rodeados, sacan pistolas y queda la grande. Pero no podíamos dejar de mirar mientras avanzaba “el taco”. Era como un montaje o una situación de juguete, de esos videos rancios y lejanos que daban en el canal 4 los domingos sobre persecuciones policiales de ese país tan ajeno… Después en el noticiero del Fox 4 vimos que efectivamente había quedado la escoba porque la gente de la camioneta de la nada se había puesto a disparar para todos lados antes de ser arrestados. Plop!

Seguimos nuestro recorrido y llegamos a un localcito medio escondido entre edificios, uno de esos moteles para gente que va de paso, y locales comerciales. La única construcción de un piso de toda la cuadra. Entramos. Yo iba con algo de desconfianza, porque ya habíamos caído en esos “diners” donde solamente venden comida cochina, frita, llena de grasa y cosas que ni remotamente podría comer, y más de alguna vez he tenido que conformarme con un café con endulzante. Pero me llevé una grata sorpresa, porque en el menú había mucha comida fresca y saludable, sandwiches vegetarianos, hamburguesas de verduras, jugos naturales sin azúcar y como 30 cafés de todo el mundo para degustar. Literalmente un oasis en el mundo de la comida chatarra que inunda supermercados, restaurantes y a un gran porcentaje de las casas de este país. Además, la atención fue increíble y la ambientación del local y la música aún mejor. Así que si alguna vez tienen la oportunidad de visitar Dallas y andan por el centro (a la hora que sea, porque es 24/7), vayan a 4154 N. Central Expressway, y no dejen de pasar a BuzzBrew Kitchen.

Dos noches después fuimos a otro lugar que se llamaba Exposition Park Cafe. Llegamos a el porque esta abierto hasta las 4 a.m. y con el Hormigo somos muy noctámbulos, nos gusta conversar un café o algo por el estilo. Pero dudo que volvamos, porque el lugar es muy barrio Bellavista, con gente demasiado ebria y envalentonada, y policías correteándolos incluidos, aparte de otros desagradables detalles como la joda para estacionar, etc. etc.

El asunto es que hemos andado viendo rincones para ir de vez en cuando y donde yo tenga algo que pueda comer por si me pilla la hora de almuerzo o comida. Me aburre soberanamente tener tan pocas opciones, porque hasta las ensaladas acá suelen ser saturadas de quesos fritos, tocino grasoso y demases. De ahí les iré contando sobre nuevos notables descubrimientos.

Vi la película “300”. El Hormigo moría por verla, y yo tenia ganas de echarle un vistazo porque es una adaptación de comics de Frank Miller, al igual que “Sin City”, película que realmente me gustó montones. Peeeeero “300”, con su rey que hablaba a gritos todo el rato, no me hizo ni un tilín. Ustedes ya la vieron?

Me dieron risa algunas reacciones sobre el tema anterior de la encomienda que llego de Chile, etc. Algunos comentarios y hasta un par de mails que llegaron juran que estamos al borde de la depresión por la nostalgia que nos provocaría la patria y todo ese rollo. Gracias por la preocupación, pero en verdad esa percepción de nuestra situación es un poco errada, jeje. De todas maneras saludos para estas personas y para todos aquellos que pasen por este humilde cuchitril. Los estoy visitando!

(*)Imagen tomada desde athomesafe.com

From the 13th to the 19th of August

The other night we were driving on these giant highways towards Downtown when we saw aproximately 10 police cars with their flashing lights blocking three of the five lanes. The police chopper flew pretty low lightning up the adjacent streets quickly. When we continued we could see as many as 20 cops around an F-150 handcuffing a guy (black guy, according to me. Mexican guy, according to my husband) who was kneeling down. There were some giant policemen watching the proceedure with huge machine guns. The voice of reason told me to hurry Hormigo up, because the cops were getting someone else out of the car and american people are known for being kamikaze in spite of being surrounded, sometimes firing and all hell brakes loose! But we couldn’t stop looking as the cars continued. All the situation looked like a weird tv sketch... Later on Fox 4 News we saw the people of the truck had effectively shot everyone and everywhere before they were arrested. Dang... !

We continued our journey and arrived at this small place, partially hidden between a motel, some shops and constructions. It was the only one-story building on the block. We went in. I was a bit unsure because we had already fallen in those 24 hour diners where you can only find unhealthy greasy fried fast food that I am not able to eat, and I had had to settle with just a coffee with “Sweet and Low”. But I was pleasantly surprised, because the place offers a lot of fresh healthy food, vegetarian sandwiches, veggie burgers, non sugar natural fruit juices and as many as 30 kind of coffees from all the world to taste. Literally an oasis in the junk food world that floods supermarkets, restaurants and a big percentage of american homes. Besides, the service and the ambience are really good and the music is even better. So if you come to Dallas sometime and you are in the Downtown area (anytime, it’s a 24/7 place), go to 4154 N. Central Expressway, and visit BuzzBrew Kitchen.

Two nights later we went to this other place called Exposition Park Cafe. We went there because it’s open until 4 am and Hormigo and I are very nocturnal creatures, we like to chat over a coffee or something like that. But I don’t think we are going back, because the surrounding area was full of other places with people who were drunk and full of liquid courage, police on horseback controlling them, besides of other unpleasant details like the difficulty to park the car, etc.

The thing is we are visiting different places to go every now and then where I have something to eat if dinner or lunch time catches me there. I’m bored of having so little options, because here in the US (at least in Texas) even the salads have a lot of fried cheese, greasy bacon, unhealthy dressings, etc. I’ll tell you when we discover new places.

I saw “300”. Hormigo was dying to see it, and I was curious because it's an adaptation of Frank Miller's comic, the same as “Sin City”, and I really loved that movie. Buuut “300”, with its king shouting all the time, didn’t interest me in the end. Have you seen it already?

I think some comments you left me on the previous post and some mails you sent me were funny. Some people think Hormigo and I are almost depressed because we miss our country so much. Thanks for the concern, but that perception of our situation is a little mistaken, hehe. Anyways, I send my regards to them and all of the visitors of this corner. I’ll visit you soon!

(*)Picture taken from athomsafe.com

Labels: cine y television, movies and TV, personal, USA lifestyle