The Wedding

Well, today was the big day. The day of the Mexican-Norwegian-British-Canadian wedding that we have all been anticipating. We found out that we would be getting on a bus at 11:00am and the bus wouldn't be coming back until 1:00am, so this really was going to be an all-day event.

We got up fairly early (we had crashed pretty early from all the travel-itis) and had breakfast at the hotel. Then we got all dolled up (me in an orange dress, no less) and got onto a bus that took us 1.5 hours and outside the Mexico City city limits.

When we arrived at the Ranchero, it was immediately apparent that it was going to be gorgeous. And lush. Apparently it's the oldest Ranchero in the area. It was green and lovely with rock-face walls and a back-in-time kinda feel. We went through corridors to nooks and areas that held flora & fauna everywhere. There were little lizards about, and lovebirds in cages all around the outside.

It was a gorgeous day. It was sunny and unfortunately for me it was quite hot. I managed to almost pass out during the (long-ish, Catholic) ceremony. Heatstroke is always nearby with me. Anyways, after the ceremony, we went to a courtyard where we were treated to some live music and waiters serving drinks and canapes. Yum! Food and drink was exactly what I needed, and it was really quite good.

Then the reception started. Pretty much right away. We were seated pretty close to the stage and our 3 course meal started coming out. We all had menu cards explaining what our choices were for the meal. Oh, except that for the starter, we didn't really get a choice, everyone just got what they got, random as it was. I managed to snag my choice of tomato, cheese, & balsamic salad tower. It was great.

Did I mention that this wedding was British/Mexican/Norwegian/Canadian? The groom is English & Canadian, and the bride is Mexican & Norwegian. This made for some really entertaining traditions. Read on.

The Norwegian cousins and friends at our table explained that one tradition at the wedding reception is for all the men in the room to run up to the bride and kiss her if her groom leaves her at the table. And if the bride leaves her groom alone, all the women rush up to kiss him. There was also the typical clinking of glasses. Muchos kissing!!

Our main courses and desserts came quickly too, and all-in-all, we were done all the eating by 4:30pm. 4:30!! So early. Then came speeches, which were suitable, funny, and in three languages. At one point a very inebriated Mexican relative or friend came up and interrupted the MC's, which lead to laughter of course. They shooed him away pretty effectively.

Dancing started at 5:00pm and lasted the rest of the night. It was obvious that the bride LOVES dancing, but it was hard not to bust a move yourself with the great music that was playing. There were Mexican favourites and Latin songs and the usual top 40. The dance floor was pretty much packed all night.

There were also dancefloor "novelties" as well. Little gimmicks that made things quite interesting, and which appeared every hour or so. First, a mini-wrestling ring was brought out and Mexican wrestling masks were handed out to everyone. You know, like the movie Nacho Libre? Some theatrics ensued and then dancing continued.

The next novelty was a guy that came out on stilts with a mini-soccer goal attached behind his head. Then beach balls that looked like soccer balls were thrown about and everyone tried to score. That was pretty fun. Perhaps that was a nod to the groom since he's a soccer player.

At one point, the bride was given a box full of slippers embroidered with her & the groom's initials, and she threw them up in the air all over the dancefloor, "for the ladies." I didn't get any, but then I was wearing pretty comfortable sandals so it didn't much matter.

The next novelty was wigs of all sorts of colours: red, green, blue, yellow, orange. Everyone passed them around and posed for photos. That was quite comical too.

The last novetly was a man on stilts who came out on the dancefloor, passed out hats (kinda looked like a Mexican cowboy hat) and gave out shots to everyone - in cups and sometimes straight from the bottle. That one was popular!

Eventually some typical traditions came out, sortof. At one point late in the evening all the girls were gathered together, linked hands and ran around the room - first slowly and then faster and faster. We ended up in a line in front of the bride & groom, who were waiting on top of chairs. You had to pass between them and have them feed you tequila as you went under. THEN they did the bouquet toss. I guess a little tequila helps your bouquet-catching abilities. Needless to say, I didn't catch it. Nobody was disappointed about that. :)

Next the groom-taking-garter-off-the-bride ceremony. Then all the guys lined up, linked arms and ran about the room. And then yes, they also had to be doused with tequila by the bride & groom. There were a lot of wet shirts.

Sometime before the end of the night, they served a snack which was really tasty - chips and black beans and some kind of green sauce. It was REALLY yummy and well-timed since we had all eaten nothing since 4:30.

The reception finally ended at 12:30am after 7.5 hours of dancing. Whew! What a party! And a wedding like no other!

First Impressions

Well my flight to Mexico was pretty uneventful. I was lucky enough to sit near the back of the plane and thus get a whole row to myself, which was nice. I tried to sleep, but no luck there. I am glad that at the last minute I grabbed a fleece to wear on the plane, because it was cold!

When we landed in Mexico City, we got off the plane and onto a bus - I was the last one to squeeze on before we took off towards the terminal. After arriving at the terminal, they made us wait outside for a while, which I thought was rather strange - but hey, at least it was nice and warm.

Of course as luck would have it, I get pulled aside immediately after entering the terminal and all my luggage is swabbed down - presumably for drugs. What, now I look like a drug dealer? :)

Once I found Immigration (just followed the crowd, really) it was a huge line. While you are waiting in line these guys came around and made sure that you filled out your "Welcome to Mexico" card properly. I hadn't. Had to find a pen (I left my 4 dollar pen on the plane, argh!) and sign the back of the card in a not-very-conspicuous space. Anyways, then I went through Customs and all was fine.

As soon as I got out of Customs my phone rang and I was talking to Ted for the first time in weeks. The part of the trip I was most worried about was finding a taxi at the airport and getting to the hotel, but turns out it was totally organized & safe. There are these kiosks called "authorized taxis" and apparently they are the only taxi companies that are allowed to work at the airport. You pre-pay, you get a receipt, you get the taxicab #, and off you go.

During the taxi ride we were stopped at a red light and these 2 shady looking guys came out and suddenly started a drumming/fire performance act. I guess they do this at lights for extra cash. My taxi driver paid them a few coins. Beats the squeegie punks!!

Ted called me again while I was in the cab and asked if I wanted him to get some food, which I gratefully accepted since I was starving!! I got to the hotel ahead of him, but soon after he arrived with Burger King. :) So great to see him after so long. Soon after that it was bedtime though, and tomorrow was bound to be a very long day!

Africa

This video was sent to me by my Mom. I love watching it, and seeing how a collective of people come together and make something so beautiful. No kidding - I actually get a little choked up. I think it's fantastic. Do you?

Stephen Brunt Video Essay - Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

Real Captivity is Inside Your Mind

I went to Las Vegas recently, and inside one of the hotels, there were lions on display in a glass enclosure. The enclosure was pretty big, held toys, water, food, and all sorts of artificial habitat items.

From the information that was available about the "attraction," I gathered that the lions in the enclosure were actually not there every single day. They did a short stint, and then were subbed out. I guess they do this so that the lions don't suffer any adverse effects from being gawked at for 24hrs at a time in a city that never sleeps.

Watching them brought back a few memories from a few years back.

While I was doing my teacher-training program there came a day when we had the opportunity to take ourselves on a field trip. We were specifically asked to partner-up and visit a local attraction with the purpose of evaluating what features made it an attractive field trip.

I went to the zoo.

I picked the zoo because although I know that I had been there before (perhaps as a child), I couldn't remember what it was like there, what my impressions had been, or even what animals were on display.

Immediately upon arrival we were greeted by some elephants that were chained up outside the front of the zoo - which happened to be located directly off a busy highway road. Going inside, there wasn't too much more that put me at ease. I saw tethered birds, big cats pacing back and forth at their cage fences for hours, and other animals who seemed rather big for their enclosures.

It was upsetting. I started thinking about how kids are brought here to view these animals outside of their natural habitat. How they probably think it's "cool" that they get to see a zebra, an elephant, a hippo. How they are probably not thinking about some of the larger issues like the effects of captivity on the mental & physical well-being of a wild animal. At the time I swore that I would never bring kids on a field trip like that.

I do think that there is value in talking with kids about the effects of captivity on animals. I don't know that it would be as valuable to younger students, but I believe that older kids would be able to identify some of the stressors on an animal in captivity. And it's relevant; there are animals (wild and otherwise) in captivity all over the place. What about animals born into their situations? What about aquariums, circuses, or other shows? What about animal rescue shelters? Our own homes?

Sometimes it's absolutely better for the animal that they have been taken in. Clearly, sometimes it's worse. What I'd like students to do is to think more about the factors under which we decide that one situation is "good" and another is not. That's all I want - a conversation, a debate, a critical look -- rather than a passive acceptance or spectator sport.

With all of the live web-cam feeds into various animal habitats, I feel that zoos are becoming less of an attraction. People don't need to pay admission to see live animals if they can just turn on a computer. The same kids of conversations can still be had. The kids can still ooh and ahh. Furthermore, they can talk about it at home - and maybe parents can even join in the conversation.

So, is the zoo a good field trip? Maybe. Honestly, I don't think it's likely I would take students there. But I have changed my tune a bit about how useful it could be in terms of education. It's certainly an opportunity for a great conversation. Animals in cages; let's think outside the box!

One Child Inspires

Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2009, 3:09 PM


The News Tribune / Tacoma, WA
Word on the Street
December 16, 2009 - Tacoma, WA

Lakewood police officer pens Christmas story
Posted By Mike Archbold on December 16, 2009 at 9:50 am

A little boy and his toy dinosaur who came by the Lakewood Office Department
station last Sunday to honor the four slain police officers touched an
officer enough that the officer wanted to share the story in a Christmas
letter to friends.

One of the friends who received the letter, Tukwila police officer Mike
Murphy, said he and his fellow officers were so touched by the story that
they thought it should be shared with the community.

Murphy said the officer who wrote it agreed but wanted to remain anonymous.

"It is just a story of one child reaching out and helping heal the pain we
have all suffered," Murphy said in his e-mail. "Our only goal in sending it
is to reach out to our community and thank them for this and all the other
love and support they have sent us through this very difficult time."

The Christmas story is reprinted below:

December 13, 2009

I'm not much for writing Christmas letters, and in fact this year, I didn't
even feel like making the effort of buying and addressing Christmas cards at
all. I'm sure you all have heard of the terrible tragedy that occurred here
in Lakewood two weeks ago today - four of our officers, four people that
have become my friends over the past 5 years as we all worked here together,
were gunned down as they sat in a coffee shop. Three fathers and a mother -
all of whom were dedicated to their jobs and their families - now dead. The
grief at our station and in our community has been overwhelming and we have
all now just barely begun to process what this means for our department and
for police departments all across our state and nation. Several times since
this event happened, police agencies have responded to reports of
individuals across King and Pierce Counties causing commotions and claiming
to be planning to kill more officers. We do our best to maintain our
composure and continue to do our jobs the best that we can.

It is hard not to remain bleak and jaded with these events so fresh in our
minds. But something happened today, just 20 minutes ago, which made me want
to send out a Christmas letter. I'm here at work and was just out in our
secure parking lot helping another officer load collection bins into his car
to take to a local Lakewood Police Independent Guild fundraiser event. I
heard a woman, standing with a boy who couldn't have been more than 3 or 4
years old, calling, "Excuse me...." through our locked gate. She had
apparently been trying to get to our front counter but found no one there,
it being Sunday, and had just happened to see us in the parking lot. I
walked over to her and saw that the little boy was holding a plastic baggy
containing a dollar and some change, and was clutching a well-worn stuffed
dinosaur.

The woman told me that her son, AJ, had seen the stories on tv about our 4
slain officers. She said that they had driven to our station all the way
from Kingston because her son was so intent on helping the children of these
officers. I opened the gate and the boy handed me the plastic baggy
containing all the money from his piggybank and a note on which he had
written "AJ....From me to Pleec. I Love You." And then, with tears in his
eyes, he handed me his stuffed dinosaur. AJ's mom explained that he wanted
to give the children of the slain officers the most precious thing that he
owned, and that was his dinosaur, Bruno.

I told AJ that I would take the money that he wanted to donate, but that I
thought the best thing he could do for the children of our 4 officers was to
keep Bruno safe with him but to keep those kids in his heart when he hugged
his dinosaur. He agreed and gratefully took Bruno back from me and held him
tightly as if he never wanted to let him go again.

We have seen many, many acts of generosity and kindness over the past 2
weeks. We have hugged more friends and strangers than we could have ever
imagined and have mended broken ties with people we haven't talked to for
years. Yet nothing has touched me deeper, or given me more hope for the
future, than AJ and his stuffed dinosaur. I gave AJ one of our department
challenge coins, explaining to him that we only gave them out to the bravest
and most deserving people we came across. I hope he will realize someday how
much more than a dollar and some change he gave to me and to the Lakewood
Police Department today.

So anyway, none of that is about Christmas, but it is about hope and love
and I thought it was appropriate to share this holiday season.

I hope this letter finds all of you well and eager to spend the holidays
with those you love. Squeeze everyone a little tighter and hug them a little
longer today because life really is precious. Merry Christmas!

Great Quotes About Learning & Change

Found in Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/858082@N25/pool/show/