Colonial Times

Last week two of Jube's friends came to visit from Ohio. It's always lots of fun to have friends visit, for a couple of reasons:

First, you get to spend time with your buds! When BB visited us in Nice last year, I got a chance to show off my favorite parts of the city and share everything with one of my bestest friends. This past week we had a great time with some Ohio friends--we'd seen them when we went to Columbus during winter break, but it was fun to have them at our house. We took them to my favorite smoothie place and our favorite seafood place and our favorite Irish pub.

Second, you get to visit parts of your region you'd never seen before. In our case, we went to Colonial Williamsburg. It is a bit pricy to get in ($36 for a day pass) but it was really really fun. We got to hear speeches by George Washington and Benedict Arnold. Our friend Nikos, who is in law school, enjoyed the colonial courthouse, where the guide explained the difference between lots of different crimes and punishments. We also got to see a blacksmith making nails and a military exposition.

The weather was really wonderful, and we were able to fool the Ohio boys into thinking that the weather in Norfolk is balmy year-round. The day after they left the temperatures plunged 30 degrees (from 80 to 50), but they figured that it was just because they had gone back to Ohio.

Spring Break: The Good, the Bad, and... well you know the rest...!

That is a night shot from our hotel window in Brussels. Lorene and I had a great view!

So. The Good: I visited Brussels, where I was happy to see that my French was still up to snuff. I went to my favorite stores (like Zara, Camaieu, H&M, and Promod) but managed not to spend too much. I made everyone at home happy by sending nice postcards--even to work! Am I too much of a suck-up?


Here you can see a really old passageway connecting two houses in Bruges. I liked it!

The Bad: I got sick and almost "baptized" the Tube while switching trains. I managed to keep control of myself because the only thing I had to puke in was a little ziplock baggie that was already kind of gross (it had peanut-butter leftovers in it). As I was desperately searching for a trash can, I remembered that there aren't any for fear of terrorists putting bombs in them! Not only that, there are no corners in the Tube--everything is... well... tube shaped! I didn't relish crouching in full sight of everyone while retching into my disgusting baggie. I managed to hold it until the hotel...

Plus I didn't get to try mussels in Brussels. Now that is really too bad!


Here is a picture I took of a wall in the cathedral in Bruges. I like how the thanks are in French and Flemish.

The Ugly: I missed Jube's birthday while I was abroad! Of course I called and sent a postcard and bought him lots of beer and chocolate, but it couldn't really make up for my absence. And finally, I have a picture of the Ugly in Brussels:


Yum! Doesn't that make you want some Coke? Well, it's funny anyway!

Visitors

We have a couple of Ohio visitors in town this week, and we've been doing some fun stuff. The other day we all toured the U.S.S. Wisconsin, a battleship commissioned during World War II that is now part of the Nauticus museum in downtown Norfolk. The ship is free to tour, and there are veterans stationed at different parts of the ship who are happy to explain the lingo, the gear, and the firepower of the ship. The museum, which includes an aquarium, isn't free, but there is a little area after exiting the ship that shows Navy history throughout American history. We walked around, checking everything out, reading about battles and looking at propaganda posters.

As we were leaving, three little kids ran in, two boys and a girl. The boys started looking at all of the models, but the girl called to them, "Don't go in!"

"Why not?" asked one of the other boys.

"If we go in, the adults will come after us, and they take so long! They have to read everything!"

I realized then that I have crossed into the land of adulthood.

Nawf'ck

I don't think I'm ready to tackle talking about my trip yet. It was pretty fun, but I am still jetlagged! I've never had such a hard time getting back on US time... usually it is easier for me, but I haven't slept in once since last Sunday. Robin asked me to talk about Norfolk, so I figured I could write a post about my new home. I'll write about my trip to Europe later, although I think that my pictures speak better than I can.

So, Norfolk! First of all, Norfolk isn't quite the American South, but it is close enough to fool the unsuspecting Northerner. On the local news, the anchors speak with the usual "Received American Accent," but when they come to the work "Norfolk," they say Nawf'ck. That is apparently the correct way to pronounce it, and pronouncing the "l" (as one would when saying "folks") will label you as a Northerner. However, Norf'k is also an accepted pronunciation.

Norfolk is part of Hampton Roads, a conglomeration of 7 or 8 cities around where the Chesapeake Bay separates Maryland from Virginia. There are innumerable rivers and inlets and estuaries that separate cities and neighborhoods from each other and make the weather humid and changeable. The seafood is great, but the air sometimes smells marshy, no matter how far away you think you are from the nearest body of water.

Norfolk is also home to the largest naval base in America. That means that the military has a very strong presence in the city. During the recent midterm elections, all of the political commercials focused on what the other side was doing for military families. Shops advertise "free credit for military families!", and you can't go into a bar without overhearing a conversation with (or falling into a conversation with) a member of the military. Old Dominion University provides many services for actively serving military and veterans; several of my colleagues fell into working in higher education after 20 years in the Navy.

What's more, Norfolk is a very diverse city, with no race being in the majority (although Whites come close, with 49.2% of the population). This is partly because of the military presence and partly because Norfolk is close to the South. ODU is a diverse campus as well, in part because it draws most of its students from the region.

Downtown Norfolk isn't a bad place to be. When I visited a year ago, it seemed very industrial and boring, but I have discovered that there is a little harbour with a dock that is charmingly situated near a one-stop-shop kind of restaurant/bar/nightclub building. After Ohio, Norfolk is a new slice of Americana. After France, Norfolk is a typically ugly American town with some nice features.

I will say one thing: arriving back from Europe, looking out the plane window at Norfolk rushing closer, I thought, "How glad I am to be here!" I never thought I would feel so happy to be coming back to Nawf'ck.

My Trip

Howdy folks! It's been a rough ten days in Europe, but I think I'm finally back on US time. I did a lot of things that I hadn't done before, like visit Cambridge, Oxford, Brussels, and Bruges, and a lot of things that I had done before, like take tea in Kensington Palace and drink a demi in a brasserie. I had more good moments than bad, so let me tell you about some of them.

First, Cambridge is a beautiful college. Here I saw undergraduates punting along the river Cam and lots of Gothic architecture:





I enjoyed a rainy day at Camden Lock in London...



And a sunny day in Brussels...



But the nicest town we visited was Bruges.







I had some great food while abroad too. The highlights include:

Fish and Chips from a pub in England
Indian Food near Leicester Square
French fries in a cornet with mayonnaise in Brussels
A tasty savory crepe from La Maison des Crepes
A wonderful 3 course meal in Bruges, including fresh tomato soup and pineapple chicken
Lots of beer (including one called "Forbidden Fruit" with naked people on the bottle)
One very tasty Belgian waffle

Signing In to Sign Off

Hi guys. It's been awhile, hasn't it? It's because I've been swamped with work. Papers, classes, volunteering, and job... it all adds up. And today I'm off to Europe for class!

I should be excited, I know, but I think that Jube's and my years of long-distance relationship have ruined traveling for me. Although I know that I will only be gone for 10 days, I'm still leaving... I must be psychologically scarred, because I've been tense and on the verge of tears all day long. Jube thinks I'm crazy, because

1. It is spring break and I'm headed to Europe!!

2. We will only be apart for 10 days.

3. He's already sick of being married and is ready for me to leave (all right, I made that last one up, he would never say that).

I did file my taxes, though, and I'll be expecting my refund on my return.

Ma Deesse

Valentine's Day was pretty laid back for us this year. I gave Jube a card that said "OOH LA LA!" on it, and he didn't give me anything. I spent the evening writing a paper.

A funny thing happened though... the day before Valentine's, we were teasing each other about the amazing surprises we'd bought. Of course I knew he was only getting a card, but I was hoping for some chocolates or something. When I got back from work that afternoon, there was a phone book lying open on the bed. The page Jube had been consulting was in the "V" section, open to "veterinarians." I thought he might have been thinking about buying me a dog, but that didn't seem plausible.

When I asked him about it, he admitted that he had wanted to buy me something special ever since Christmas vacation. Valentine's had seemed the best day to give it to me, but he hadn't been able to pick it up. He'd spent all morning calling stores to find availability, but there just weren't any!

"What was it?" I demanded.

"Well... I was looking under 'video games,'" he told me. "I saw how much you enjoyed your brother's Nintendo DS, so I wanted to get you one."

The next day I arrived back from work to find that he had biked over 2 hours to Target to get me my little DS. What a nice guy!

Livret

Today Jube and I received our livret de famille in the mail. It looks like a bigger version of my US passport: navy blue with a gold crest on the front. The only downside is that they misspelled my name inside. It seems to be a common mistake for speakers of Latin languages, since they made the same mistake on my Spanish student visa.

Now in only 3 years and 9 months I have the "right to French nationality." However, there were a couple of parts of the contract I was unaware of until we received the livret. First of all, there are les obligations alimentaires. I have to feed Belle-mere and Beau-pere, and Jube has to feed my parents, and they have to feed us too. Fun, eh? But it's okay, I like to cook. Mom, Dad, Belle-maman, Beau-papa: you'll never go hungry again! There are also rules about the surnames we can legally give our children, how soon we have to report their births, and other interesting financial obligations.

I have to say, the livret de famille is much more informative than an American marriage certificate. Now I know exactly what I signed up for...

SPCA Sunday

After our trip to the mall on Saturday, we decided to go out again on Sunday, but just down the street this time. We went to Pet Palooza, where we saw lots of dogs and their owners, as well as some interesting animal displays. We saw "the smartest dog in the world," Chalcy, who yawned at her handler when she asked her to jump through a hoop:



We saw the Chickenman, a Christian performer who converts using the power of his trained chickens (I am NOT kidding--check out his website at www.chickenmanusa.com):



We even saw a tortoise collecting money for Reptile Rescue:



What we DIDN'T see (and I was glad for it) were dogs to adopt. I think I could have convinced Jube to break our lease and bring home a little puppy--but thankfully I wasn't given the opportunity.

What I wish we hadn't seen:



The chicken on the left is named Priscilla, and she is alive. The chicken on the right is named Aquilla, and he is dead. But he's still performing his tricks! The Chickenman explained to us that he would soon be in a Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum... and not too soon for me!

And Now, a Norfolk Tidbit

You know how lots of cities have painted sculptures around that are kind of a tourist attraction? I remember I liked it when I visited New York in 2000 when it was full of cows; even Delaware, Ohio got in on the action with carousel horses a few years later. Well, Norfolk has mermaids. They are everywhere, and I'm sorry to say that most of them are ugly. A couple are really neat, including one made of metal near the water, and this one in the mall:



I think it is very creative and it definitely makes me hungry for some chocolate. I had to settle for a green tea smoothie on our last trip to the mall.

La Chandeleur et ses affinites

This weekend was really crazy and fun for us. It all started on Thursday, when one of my profs cancelled class for "inclement weather" (a few snow flurries that quickly turned to rain). Since I don't work on Fridays it was the weekend already!

We woke up late on Friday and cleaned the apartment a little bit, because we were celebrating our first Chandeleur ever. La Chandeleur takes place on February 2, and the French tradition is to make crepes and eat them. While making the crepes, you should flip them left-handed with a coin in your right hand behind your back. If you succeed in this difficult task, you will be prosperous for the rest of the year.

We invited 7 of our friends--8 showed up. That was fine, since we had made tons of crepes, and we even had enough batter left to let our guests flip some themselves. Everyone should be making lots of money, judging from their successes in crepe-flipping. After our meal, we decided to go do some Karaoke at the Darkside, which was really fun. Lorene fell over during the second solo in "Nothing Else Matters," I sang "Creep" with the wrong lyrics, and everyone had a great time.

On Saturday Jube and I went to the MacArthur Center, the mall in downtown Norfolk. Belle-maman has these really cool plates that she uses for the cheese course in France. They are dessert-size plates with little drawings of different kinds of cheeses and their animal of origin (sheep, goat, and cow are the main donors). Le Pacha has been known to pout until he gets his favorite, Reblochon. ANYWAY, the plates we found are not exactly the same. They have prints of vintage cheese packages on them. The coolest part is that they came in a box that looks like a big camembert:



Pretty cool, huh? The only down side is that when I see it, I get hungry for some tasty ripe camembert...

Ahh!

Only yesterday I was thinking that I hadn't done anything interesting lately. I wrote one of the most boring blog entries ever, because I couldn't think of anything you might like to hear about, but I wanted you to know that I am still alive.

I almost wasn't, today.

As I was crossing the road on my bike to get back home,


a car hit me.


I was hit by a car!!! A pickup truck, actually, hauling a trailer. I couldn't believe my eyes as I saw the truck coming closer and closer to me... I remembered to look at the driver's face, in his eyes, as my dad taught me--but he wasn't looking at me! I didn't have time to scream, and he hit my back wheel as he hit his brakes. The bike kind of jumped 2 feet away from the truck and I fell on my right leg. I didn't really understand what had happened to me, even though I heard two pedestrians shouting. After yelling at the driver a little bit, I actually got up and hopped on my bicycle again, ready to bike back home, but the chain had been jolted off of the gears and it wouldn't go. I was forced to walk it to my apartment. The driver of the truck apologized--"I'm really so so sorry, ma'am!"--and a good Samaritan double checked before the truck drove away.

When I got back to my apartment, I still hadn't figured out what had happened. I had to tell Jube that my bike was broken and that I was hit by a car for it to REALLY hit me. I kind of cried a little bit and had time to be glad I'd bought health insurance. I was also glad that my only injury was a little scrape on the ankle and some splinters in my hand.

To feel better, I went to get my hair trimmed at a nearby salon (I had a coupon). I am a little disappointed with the result, since she gave me kind of poofy hair. Jube told me, "I'm sure it will look better when you wash it," which means it's probably pretty bad. But since I had to leave my regular coiffeuse, Belle-maman, I guess I shouldn't have expected anything amazing.

To sum it up:

hit by a car + bad haircut = not an amazing day


But at work we had chocolate ice cream cake, so it wasn't a total bust.

Mail Call!

Today Jube and I received some good mail. I got my W2 forms. That might not sound very exciting, but I haven't received any income tax refunds ever in my life--and for the last 2 years, Jube and I have had to PAY income tax*! So I'm going to file my taxes and hope for a tidy little check.

Jube got a notice from USCIS telling him that his green card application has been forwarded to a different place. That doesn't sound really awesome, I know, but it does mean that we have all of the correct forms and fees turned in and ready to go. According to his "connections" (i.e. an internet forum), the green card process will be accelerated this way. I'm glad to hear it! Let's hope for REALLY soon!

This weekend we didn't really do anything except clean the apartment. That's a pretty good accomplishment, though, considering that I hadn't completely unpacked my bag from Christmas vacation. On Friday night we went to the American-International Graduate Student Connection Dinner, which was really pretty awesome. We ate good food, met some new people, and enjoyed some ethnic dancing. Afterward we went to a nearby Mexican restaurant for drinks and dancing. Even Jube got in on the act!

And today it was back to work and school--and time to file my taxes!

Something Psychological...

Once, while enjoying an apéritif with Belle-maman, Beau-papa opened up a cabinet to get some more beer glasses. He chose two or three and took them into the kitchen. Belle-maman called after him, “Close the cabinet door!” Grumbling, he came back in to close it. Belle-maman turned to me and said, “He never closes doors. Never! He would leave all of the drawers open and the cabinets, too, if I weren’t there to remind him. It must be something psychological chez lui.”

Beau-papa gave me his patented “long-suffering” look, but agreed. “C’est vrai, I always leave the doors open. Who knows why?”

I had never noticed it before that day, but Jube is very similar in the kitchen. If he puts away the dishes, he leaves the cabinets open, and I have to close them behind him. Maybe it is psychological.

But I do notice that I leave my dresser drawers open, and Jube never nags me to close them—so if it is psychological, I guess there are things we can learn to live with.

Back In Norfolk

After the first week of classes, I was ready for a vacation--and luckily this weekend was 3-days thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Not only that, the weather has been gorgeous, sunny, 70s... it invited us outside! On Saturday we went to the mall in downtown Norfolk to take advantage of the post Holiday sales. Right next to the mall is a beautiful old house that is being renovated for a museum, the Moses Myer House. Since only about half of the rooms are totally finished, guided tours are free. Jube and I were the only people for our tour, so we got very personal attention to our questions. Here is a picture of the dining room in the Moses Myer House:



All of the furniture in this room is original to the Moses Myer family, so it's pretty old (from the American Federalist Period). I really enjoyed the tour, but it took a lot longer than we had expected. Afterwards we scoured the mall for good deals, and I had a green tea smoothie that was really tasty.

On Sunday, the weather was even nicer than on Saturday. After getting a late start to the day, Jube and I biked to the Virginia Zoo. I bought us a membership since it is only about 15 minutes by bike from our apartment. We really had a great time.



The African section of the Zoo is really well designed, with interesting vistas. For example, from the lion enclosure, you can see giraffes, elephants, and rhinos in the distance. You feel very close to the animals.

I'm glad that we were able to take advantage of such nice January weather, since it looks like it will be much colder this week.

First Week Back

We got back to Norfolk last Wednesday, because I volunteered to help with International Student Orientation. If I had known that I would have to be back before classes started, I might not have signed up (yes, I am a bad person). But I came and I had a really good time. My group of six students included five from India and one from Turkey--no chance to practice my French or Spanish! They were really nice and happy to have another graduate student show them around campus. We picked up free bus passes and had pizza all together. A Russian student complimented my English before he realized I was American. On Saturday we went downtown and had a scavenger hunt, walking all around town and getting to know Norfolk. I really liked it because I got to discover places I had never seen either. We finished by eating Indian food, my favorite!

Hanging out with international students really made me think about my years in France and my study abroad in Spain. I had a tough time meeting Spanish people when I lived in Valencia. In fact, my closest Spanish friend was met in France! In the past I blamed this on "French girls" or "Spanish people," not really thinking about how few international friends I had in the US. All of the international students I've met here at ODU are excited about meeting American students, and it made me realize how hard it will be for them to do. It's not that Americans are closed to foreigners--but it's a lot easier to make friends with people who have the same conception of the college environment. Most of the international students I met hadn't chosen to live in student housing, which is where I met most of my closest friends from college (yes, including Jube).

It made me think about myself abroad. While I wanted to meet Spanish people and French people, I didn't change my behavior to do so and stayed with what was comfortable--speaking English, going home early, and other cultural issues that were normal for me and my fellow American students but did not facilitate meeting the "natives." I'm going to try really hard this semester to keep in touch with the students I've met the past week, and if I ever live in France again I will put more emphasis on myself to meet French people. Instead of blaming other things (schoolwork, language), I will hold myself responsible. I'm kind of excited about it!

Dog Crazy

My family loves dogs. I love dogs too! Unfortunately Jube doesn't feel the same way about them that we do. Not only that, but he has had to sleep in the same house as 7 different dogs and 8 different cats throughout our vacation, from my mother's house (3 dogs) to my father's house (4 dogs) to Brooke's house (8 cats). If I'm very very lucky, maybe one day when we live in a place where we can have dogs, he will buy one for me.

I made this video of my mother's little bichon and she begged me to publish it. So I did! Poor Jube has been forced to watch this video about a thousand times, and he can't believe that it is now available for the entire world to enjoy. (I do hate my voice, though, especially in doggie-mode.)

Trippin'

[I actually started writing this on January 1, but everyone knows how time flies...]

Phew! We had quite a busy New Year's Weekend! Jube and I flew into Columbus last Friday afternoon, and immediately went out to dinner with old Friends. Brooke very kindly hosted us at her house, where we were able to meet her fiance and play a very strange card game. BB drove up from Springfield and Jube's old buddy came over to eat dinner with us. We went out to a couple of bars on Columbus's High Street and went to bed late.

The next morning we woke up around 9 to get dressed in our wedding finery. Catherine and her husband Chuck picked us up and we drove down to Batesville, Indiana for our friend's wedding. We had an interesting time finding the church... Catherine's MapQuest itinerary told us to turn left on a small country road. The road was only paved for the first 100 feet or so, when it turned into a gravel path that dead-ended in a cornfield. We turned around and stopped at the only house on the road to ask for directions.

"We're actually looking for a wedding," we explained.

"Oh, you're looking for the church! Everyone makes that mistake."

We found the small church at the end of a winding rural road. Now, the bride's father and her father-in-law are both Lutheran pastors, and they both officiated at the wedding, so we enjoyed two sermons. The bride was quite moved by her vows; she repeated them quite low and very emotionally. She wiped her eyes and made it through the rest of the ceremony without fainting, as Jube thought she might.

The hotel was in Cincinnati, so we drove back after the hors d'oeuvres reception to check in. It was quite luxurious (and expensive!), but we shared with Catherine and Chuck so it wasn't too bad. The reception was held in Newport, Kentucky, making it the first tri-state wedding any of us had ever attended. We ate in an Irish pub in a private room. The food was very good--and copious!--so we were very full by the time we were finished.

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed the last two open hours of the swimming pool. Catherine and Chuck had remembered their bathing suits, but Jube and I hadn't, so I bought some cheap pajama sets for us to wear. Jube was unhappy with his shorts, which were black with pink stars on the left corner. I know it sounds pretty girly, but they were the most masculine I could find! (Mine had pink hearts across the derriere.)

Of course no outing can be complete without a tiny hitch, and ours came when Jube forgot our (my!) digital camera on the shuttle between the hotel and the reception. I freaked out and yelled at him, but we were able to get it back in about 10 minutes, since the shuttle was on a loop. No Frenchmen were harmed during the reception.

Sunday: We woke up late and left the hotel late. Jube and I had a flight that left Columbus at 7:30pm, so we made a quick lunch stop in Yellow Springs, visiting BB and some other friends at Ha Ha Pizza. Then we drove to the airport and checked in quickly. Everything looked to be going well--the flight was on time, all the passengers were waiting at the gate... when five minutes before boarding a flight attendant announced that they "had just been informed that we were missing a pilot." What?? How can you suddenly discover that the pilot isn't there? He explained that a pilot had called in sick, and we were waiting for another pilot who was flying a charter plane in from Atlanta, etc etc... We finally boarded the plane at 9:15pm and took off at 9:40. We didn't get back to my dad's house until 11:00, where we ate dinner really quickly and then rang in the new year by banging pots and pans as usual.

Holidays

The Christmas frenzy has come and gone at my parents' house. We all exchanged gifts yesterday and for the most part everyone was happy (I think). My mother received an electric fireplace, which we opened first. My stepfather had tried to raise the fire frenzy by putting the "yule log" on television. She was disappointed to begin with, because she had wanted a gas fireplace, but she's warming up to it now.

Jube and I received joint gifts: tons and tons of tools. We now have every kind of screwdriver, Allen key, monkey wrench, or pliers you could want. Now we just have to figure out how to use them... My little brothers received more fun stuff, like iPods, winter jackets, and Lego sets. I did receive some less-useful gifts, but I don't really mind the tools as much as I thought I would. I figured out that we were getting them about two days before Christmas when I saw a saw-shaped gift. Both of my brothers had already received tools. I guess my stepfather was just waiting until I got married to be able to give me such a masculine gift.

After a Christmas dinner of Cornish game hens, we drove out to my father's house. Unfortunately the gift we ordered for him still hasn't arrived, so he hasn't received a gift yet. Someday, someday! Today we ate lunch at Red Lobster with my grandmother, who ate an entire lobster tail. We were all pretty impressed.

Now I'm making plans for my friend's wedding in Indiana. We will be flying to Ohio on Friday and spending the night in Columbus at my friend Brooke's house. Then on Saturday we'll drive out to Indiana for the wedding--and by Sunday we'll be back in Maryland at Dad's house for New Year's Eve! I'll try to post more about the wedding as it comes up. It should be fun!

Christmas Vacation

After my last message, I decided to push myself a little bit and actually do something besides relaxing. A few days ago I bought cream cheese and peppermint extract, and yesterday I made peppermint cheesecake brownies. They are very tasty indeed and I have to keep myself from eating too many of them!

Yesterday I also got the chance to practice my Spanish. My mother works with deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and yesterday she went on a home visit to one of their houses. Little Fani's parents don't speak much English, which makes for an interesting problem for her and my mother. At school and with my mother, her speech therapist, Fani speaks English, but at home she is surrounded by Spanish. Since she couldn't hear until age four, when she had an operation and received hearing aids, she is already behind other children in language development. My mother thinks that, added to this delay, she is also experiencing language confusion by learning three languages at once (English, Spanish, and American Sign Language). But when I met her yesterday, she didn't seem to be doing so poorly! She could say "Where is..." and "Donde esta...", and play little listening-comprehension games. It really made me think about how lucky I was. Even if I can't always pronounce French correctly, I can hear the difference between the words. Little Fani has problems hearing the difference between "kite" and "nine."

I was embarrassed to hear how my Spanish has declined since learning French. I couldn't remember simple words if they weren't similar to French--I even forgot how to say "Christmas" which everyone knows if they listen to Feliz Navidad! But I think that Fani's mother was happy that someone could explain even a very little bit to her.

Today we are headed into town to go to a store called "Chocolatier." They are giving out free homemade chocolates and giving a discount on prices! We might also play a little bit of Scrabble, since today is my mother's last day at work and can stay up a little bit later. Now I think I might go get a brownie...