A day in the life of a Mexican

I have been helping an organization raise funds for cancer research in Mexico lately. A twist of faith has put me as the coordinator of the Terry Fox Run. I am thrilled to help and it’s a wonderful cause which I am passionate about BUT my mind does wonder at times.  Why cancer?  Cancer has SO MANY supporters all over the world.

I wish I could do the same for Lyme Disease of Parkinson’s. Both diseases which I have had a personal experience with.  I lived Lyme Disease first hand and have seen my grandmother stuggle with Parkinsons for the last 15 years.  The good thing is that Michael J. Fox is doing a wonderful job advocating for Parkinsons BUT what about Lyme Disease????   I wish people could understand Lyme Disease without having to go through it.  But the truth is that not many do.

Anyway, I have the Terry Fox Run to worry about right now! I’m sure it will be a great challenge which I look forward to learning from.  After which I’ll do my best to help out with Lyme.

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Monterrey’s Terry Fox Run’s website will be fully remodeled soon, but you can get an idea of things from what’s on there right now: http://www.terryfoxmonterrey.org/

You’ll be hearing much more about this later, just wanted to share a bit about it now!!!

Healing thoughts from Mexico to the world!

Wikipedia is my new source of information. Definetely by far the BEST encyclopedia out there. And it’s FREE on the net!

Yet another reason why to LOVE technology!

If only I could ask wikipedia to help me decide things!!!

I guess I’m on my own there!

Decisions, decisions, decisions….. I’ll sleep on them.

Ta ta for now!

Today was my grandfather’s birthday.

But March 19th marks the anniversary of much more than that.

It is also the 3rd Anniversary of when Bush ordered the invasion on Iraq. 

THREE whole years of young army men and woman fighting the battle of others on foreign shores!!!!

One Thousand and Ninety Five days ago, George W. Bush announced to the world that he would be invading Iraq.

"My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger."

TWO THOUSAND AND THREE HUNDRED American soldiers have died so far!

Many more troops have been wounded. 

THIRTY THOUSAND IRAQI civilians have been murdered!!!! 

My mind can’t help but wonder ——- 

what for?

what is the true cost of this war?

I recommend you read up on these two brothers…… they have wonderful stories.

Franz was dumped by his fiance a few days before his wedding, but nonetheless he decided to host the "wedding" party and take off on a honeymoon.  He invited his younger brother on the trip and ended up extending it from two weeks to two years!

They are touring around the U.S. right now promoting their book - check out if there’s a stop near your home. 

http://www.honeymoonwithmybrother.com/

One of my favorite essays is written by Franz Wisner. I am copying a little piece from it below for you to read.  Enjoy! 

We left the upscale hotels and safari lodges in Botswana and South Africa and ventured into Zambia and Malawi over land. They are some of the poorest countries we’ve seen on the trip. And we’ve seen many, including Cambodia and Syria, parts of Bulgaria and Indonesia, slums in Brazil, Russia and Thailand. In fact, if you limited me to just one adjective to describe the world, I’d use "poor."

I know this sounds obvious. But the world is far poorer than I imagined. Despite all the news stories and documentaries, it was impossible to see and feel the immense poverty until I started to walk the dirt roads in the countryside and explore over-crowded cities.

A friend emailed me during our stop in Cambodia. He wanted to know if the country was suitable for children. "Absolutely," I responded, feeling it would be beneficial for kids to see their counterparts playing happily in front of one-room, tin roof shacks. They could learn a lot from the poor. So could their parents. I know I have.

They’d learn a cold shower is better than no shower.

They’d know what it’s like to laugh and cry at the same time after a group of smiling, malnourished kids hug your knee.

They’d understand the world isn’t full of double-espresso lattes, but powdered milk and boiled water. Ironic, but ask for a coffee in a country famous for its coffee - Columbia or Indonesia, for example - and you’ll probably receive instant. The good beans go straight to Starbucks or Folgers.

Very moving, thought provoking and beautifully written, isn’t it? 

Go to their site to read more!

After having a long conversation over the phone with a close friend (mainly about how dramatic life seems to be), I ran out the door to meet my girlfriends for our traditional wednesday get together!

Went out to dinner with friends….. first restaurant had no tables available, so we left to go to another restaurant.  Our second try was also full and not even the waiting area was available!!!   The third try was the charm, even though we did have to wait for our table for over 20 minutes.  On a wednesday night!

Could it have something to do with the position of the stars? Or maybe it’s just because yesterday was pay day for many in Mexico (people here usually get paid on the 15th and 30th of every month).  Don’t know why…… but the places which are usually EMPTY were packed tonight!

At the end of the day, we did enjoy a nice meal and great company! Although the main topic of conversation were "mother in law horror stories", which of course I had NONE to share!!! I’m still stuck in the dating circle from hell, with a bunch of "dating horror stories"!  Seems to be that the drama in life never ends, it just evolves!!! Don’t know if I’m at peace with that conclusion yet.

My biggest intrigue right now is to figure out if human beings unconciously look for drama or does it randomly find them?  What comes first; the chicken or the egg? 

So, you’d think I’d be done with my to do list.  I keep busy and check off things every single day, but the list somehow manages to reproduce itself exponentially!!!!!!!!!

How? 

I don’t know.

It’s just one of those unsolved mysteries of life.

When I think I’m almost done with the list and see a light at the end of the tunnel,  invariably and without any warning I receive an e-mail, a call or a text message which turns my world upside down once more.

Never have I been afraid of a good challenge, but this is way past that! It seems that I’m trying to accomplish the impossible at times. 

Anyway, it’ll all be over in a few months when I will happily receive my B.A. in business and my diploma for "Desarrollo Estudiantil"!!!!!!

Can’t wait for the day!

Just pray that I make it in ONE piece!

Looks like this summer will be GRAND!!!!!

My wishes for you my friend, are that your days be long and joyful and your to do lists  VERY short!!!!!!

Pues ya llegó el día, mañana POR FIN presento el examen de final de carrera, el famoso CENEVAL!!!!

Estoy EMOCIONADISISISIMA!!!!!

He andado como loquita porque hace tan solo unas horas me enteré que tengo que llevar fotos tamaño infantil, copia de mi pasaporte, copia de mi cardex, calificaciones del semestre, calculadora financiera, 15 libros de texto (constitución mexicana incluida), una carta del TEC, y dos copias de mi hoja de registro! 

Pero los astros se han unido a mi favor y ya tengo todo listo!

Nadamas falta que YO esté lista!

Bueno, me despido para irme a dormir que mañana me toca presentar el examen de 8 de la mañana a 7 de la noche!  Mierda!  Y que VIVA LA CAFEINA!!!! 

Hablando de cafeina - el próximo viernes 17 de Marzo será un día memorable para nuestro querido San Pedro, Garza Garcia pues ABREN EL PRIMER STARBUCK’S!!!!!! 

YEAH!!!!!!!!

The elections for President in Mexico are only five months away.  The campaigns have started and I’m very dissapointed to say that no one convinces me! And the sad part of it is that most mexicans I have talked to feel the same way.

Almost wish there were a section on the ballot which stated NONE OF THE ABOVE - PLEASE GIVE THE COUNTRY OTHER OPTIONS! 

I guess there is always the option of leaving the ballot blank, but then why vote?

Why do most of the good, honest and educated people end up working for the private industry in this country??? I know plenty of wonderful candidates BUT THEIR NAMES WILL NOT BE ON THE BALLOT COME JULY!  How sad and disturbing!

It worries me that the populist party is up in the polls (by almost a 10%).  I am VERY concerned.

PS -   Here’s a link to a site for those opposing the populist party, commonly known as PRD:   http://www.antipeje.com.mx/

The Red Carpet show for the Academy Awards (aka.  Oscars) was GREAT!  E! Entertainment Television, did a wonderful job of covering the Before & After!

The problem came when E!’s transmission ended and the actual award ceremony started because ALL the cable channels in Mexico showed it DUBBED!!!!

The problem with this is that you hear one language over the other, usually not understanding half of the words in either language.  Terrible, terrible, terrible.

It’s as if I’d write one word of my blog en spanish y otra in ingles, como que it’s dificil of entender.  Fatal!

I cast my vote - Dubbing should be ILLEGAL!

It’s a NO win situation, people!

Oscar time is HERE!  The red carpet show is LIVE on E!  I keep looking for the divas, but they seem to be missing today.  Lots of young faces, new talent and unknown names.   I guess it’s part of the evolution of the entertainment industry.

Which reminds me of the evolution of life.  Not only does change happen on TV, but in real life as well. 

Over 10 of my friends have moved abroad in the last year and 8 more are planning to move away this summer (me included). Which obviously changes the dynamics of our tight group of friends. The paths of life we are chosing to take seem to be pulling us in different directions. At the end of the day, we’ll always have cherished memories of the past, and the hope of bright futures ahead.

I wish you an abundant journey down YOUR path, blessed with much peace and love.