Besame Mucho

We sing this song in my Wednesday Spanish class every week and every week I laugh, a lot. I do not know the tune at all and I know others do not either. We sound awful! Yet, we keep trying, I keep laughing, we do not get any better but it sure is amusing. Ever heard this song? You can read the lyrics in Spanish and English below.

Bésame, bésame mucho
Como si fuera esta noche
La última vez

Bésame, bésame mucho
Que tengo miedo a perderte
Perderte después

Quiero tenerte muy cerca
Mirarme en tus ojos
Verte junto a mi
Piensa que tal vez mañana
Yo ya estaré lejos
Muy lejos de ti

Bésame, bésame mucho
Como si fuera esta noche
La última vez

Bésame, bésame mucho
Que tengo miedo a perderte
Perderte después


English translation:

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
As if tonight was
the last time.

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
Because I fear to lose you,
To lose you later on.

I want to have you very close
To see myself in your eyes,
To see you next to me,
Think that perhaps tomorrow
I already will be far,
very far from you.

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
As if tonight was
the last time.

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
Because I fear to lose you,
To lose you later on.

Too funny. I love it.

Great Day

Beautiful cloudy day. Wonderful AM worship time. Blessing to teach such amazing women. Learned a lot from these amazing women. Challenged by our study of James. Nice, simple lunch at Wendys. Good conversation. Picked up necessities at grocery store. Speedy run. Talked with precious friends who give great advice. They pray for me and I for them. I am so thankful. Oil changed. Are my air filters dirty? Chat with the Madre and the BFF. Always good. Peaceful, fun evening. Mexican food. Stories. Laughter. Chick-fil-a milkshakes. Life changing. My life is changing...

Feelin' Thankful

I love when I think "I need to write a blog, but what should I write about" and then I realize it is Thursday and I get to share with my few readers what I am thankful for. If you have never done a post like this you should try it. It just makes my day!

Thankful for:

• My winter wardrobe- it is starting to get cool here and I am prepared
  
• The leaves are actually changing now- there are a few bright red ones that just make me smile
• Guilty pleasures- Regis and Kelly
• Friends who surprise me with their generosity
• The chance to teach
• The beautiful architecture at the National Cathedral

• My funny Spanish classes- it is so much easier to learn when everyone is relaxed and having a good time instead of fearful
  
• Halloween candy
• 30 Rock- makes me laugh every week
• Internet TV so I can watch shows later
  
• Sweet friends who visit and gave me the chance to see the monuments at night- so impressive

• Morning cereal
• My Wednesday adventures with J.
• The possibility of so many wonderful people visiting me in Chile
• The miners! Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le
• Still no wreck despite my driving mishaps, maybe I will make it out alive
  
• How close beautiful nature is to such a huge city

It has been a wonderful past couple of weeks and I am sooooo thankful!!!

I Saw Him

That's right! I saw the president! Mr. President Obama.

Or, well, to be more accurate I saw Mr. President's car but that is almost the same and I am pretty sure we made eye contact through those tinted windows. :)

This is the story. I was in DC looking at the monuments with friends from out of town. It had just gotten dark and we were heading away from the Washington Monument (which is close to the White House so probably on his drive home from somewhere important).

We had noticed some flashing red and blue lights at a few of the intersections and traffic backed up some and wondered what was going on but I did not want to go and find out. It is usually best to avoid flashing police lights.

So we were standing next to one of the streets and looked up and a helicopter was flying real low over the Washington Monument and I said that I did not think anyone was allowed to fly over this area and how strange that seemed. Then the road in front of us was clear and then came the motorcade.

There were probably 5+ motorcycles, numerous SUVs, then two limos with the presidential seal on them (eye contact made here), then more SUVs, two ambulances, and some more motorcycles. It had to be him. No one else would get that treatment.

Hello Mr. President!

NFL Thoughts

Brett Farve annoys me.

Why does Farve annoy me? I don't I have a good reason. I used to be a fan, I used to love watching him play like I love watching Peyton play. Now I'm just annoyed.

I heard the announcer say tonight that he just turned 41 yesterday and has to have shots in his ankles. Retire already, for real retire, not retire and then come back and then retire and then come back...

Oh yea, that's why he annoys me.

I can't say I miss grad school but I did enjoy our class discussions about our Farve feelings.

I watched a video on the Houston Texans last night on Hulu. I guess the NFL puts out videos about various teams. I don't know, but I enjoyed it. I remember how exciting it was when they were a new team and it did not matter how bad they were or how many times Carr got sacked. It was so exciting and still is.

I have missed not getting to watch them play this season.

What happened to the Peyton Manning commercials? I love those. They were so funny! I love Peyton. I never get to watch him play either.

It seems like a million years ago that I was sitting in Monday night class with Chris watching the MNF score on my computer while trying to be engaged in class. Thanks for not minding Chris and for even asking us what the score was.

I've Been Converted

I am a new NPR convert and I must proclaim it to the blogging world!!!

I have never been a huge fan of talk radio of any kind. I have listened to ESPN radio a bit but mainly I associate talk radio with me getting into my mom's car, hearing Rush Limbaugh and changing it to some pop station. I never had any interest in hearing him or anyone else talk on the radio...until now.

I think some of my conversion has to do with the fact that I am in my car more now than I have been in a really long time. I get tired of hearing the same songs on the music stations over and over (why do they do that, by the way?) and I have trouble finding a clear station to listen to my ipod through.

NPR was suggested to me so I decided to give it a shot and I really enjoy it. As I understand it, it is a liberal talk radio show but I cant really tell. I usually change the station if they get to talk about too much political stuff but what I really enjoy is the news from around the world. They are always talking about some situation somewhere and I love hearing about somewheres.

I have listened to reports about post-earthquake Haiti, the war in Somalia, FARC in Colombia, the situation in Iraq and the list goes on. I love learning more about what is going on in the world and although I may not take time to read a ton of articles about the news I am totally willing to listen to different people talk about it while I sit in traffic bored anyways.

Other memorable listening sessions have been about NASA- I love NASA and want us to go to Mars ASAP, Justin Timberlake- did you know he was funny, and Desmond Tutu- my hero.

I feel so up-to-date and educated after listening to NPR and I love it. I love world news and science news and especially positive news. NPR does not just focus on all the bad stuff in the world but the good stuff too and I like that. It is a good balance.

I am an NPR convert and I will not be ashamed!

The Kennedy Center

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to see the National Symphony Orchestra play at The Kennedy Center in D.C. It was such a surprise that I got to go and I was thrilled. A friend from church called me Friday afternoon and invited me and I could not turn it down.

The outside view

To be honest, before coming to this area I had never even heard of The Kennedy Center but since being here I got the impression that it was kinda a big deal. I had no expectations of ever being able to see a performance there and just hoped for a tour or something. Then this opportunity came along!

The Hall of Nations- I found Chile's flag

I tried to dress nice and look as formal as possible with what my informal wardrobe has to offer. Luckily there is no dress code so there were people dressed in jeans all the way up to formal gowns. The building is absolutely beautiful and has an amazing view of Georgetown and the Potomac River. These are not my pictures on here but they will give you an idea of what the place looks like.

Inside the concert hall- we sat on that far wall in the first box next to the stage

So we attended the symphony and it was amazing. The first piece they played was a little odd and modern but the second piece, Beethoven's 9th Symphony was spectacular! I was just happy to listen to something but someone I knew their name but it really was a wonderful performance. In the last movement a large chorus was on stage and they sang along while the symphony played. I absolutely love hearing a large chorus sing and they were wonderful.

It was all wonderful. I had such a good time and I am so thankful to have had the chance to go!

Gnnochi

I made Gnocchi last night!!! That's right, the Italian dish made out of potatoes and I had a true Italian showing me her ways. It actually was not too difficult but you have to own some kitchen gadgets that I do not. We did a wonderful job! They were so yummy and I had a great time.

This is not a picture of what we made but close enough

I actually first tried Gnocchi in South America (Argentina I think but I forget exactly) and I really liked them. When I learned that my Italian friend could make them because she learned from her mom, I jumped at the chance to learn. Mmmmmmm!!!

My beautiful friends

Not only did we have really yummy food, also including a spinach salad, home grown green beans and creme caramel, but we had great company. We had a wonderful evening of eating, chatting, laughing and looking at old pictures. It was a perfect way to spend a raining day.