A day in the life of a Mexican

I am happy!  The jet lag will probably kill me tomorrow, but I do NOT care cause I will be visiting castles in the Loire Valley!!!!  Quite exciting, I know.  And the best thing is that I will be touring around with my friend Denisse, she came to visit me in PARIS today.  After she arrived we had a nice lunch at L-Entrecote (quite a nice meal of meat and fries)!  We then left for the Musee d-Orsay and walked from there to Notre Dame with one of my aunts. 

Paris is full of life and crazy people are abundant.  There is a street fair going on down by the Seine River which has really cool things.  We watched people have a blast in a dance class right on the river banks this afternoon.  Mimes, clowns, flowers, blue skies and a bright sun have been a common denominator during the two days I have been here.

My hotel is nice and a bit enchanting, very European style of building, with the typical courtyard, beautiful staircase and wooden furniture to go along with the French theme.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that our breakfast buffet includes freshly baked bread on site and NUTELLA!!!!!!   I have not even gone near it, for I fear that I will like it too much, but I promised myself to try it one morning before we leave.

I arrived in Paris yesterday, the weather is quite hot! YOu would NOT believe the heat!!!!  It is not like Paris to be so hot and the French do NOT drink their beverages very cold.  The good news is that today was a little better because of the rain that fell last night, hope it rains again soon and preferably when I am asleep.

Anyway, I need to e my family…. but promise more news soon!

Bisous from a parisienne wannabe! 

I read the short "story/joke" and I kind of wish that I had that wonderful ability that some sales people have.  Which reminds me of a friend I have who can find opportunity to do business anywhere, with anyone at anytime. His creativity and negotiation skills are amazing! 

Cheers to all those who are able to sell even before a product even exists!  May us mortals learn from you!!!

Father: I want you to marry a girl of my choice
Son: "I will choose my own bride!"
Father: "But the girl is Bill Gates’s daughter."
Son: "Well, in that case…ok"

Next Father approaches Bill Gates.
Father: "I have a husband for your daughter."
Bill Gates: "But my daughter is too young to marry!"
Father: "But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank."
Bill Gates: "Ah, in that case…ok"

Finally Father goes to see the president of the World Bank.
Father: "I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president."
President: "But I already have more vice- presidents than I need!"
Father: "But this young man is Bill Gates’s son-in-law."
President: "Ah, in that case…ok"

Moral:Even If you have nothing, You can get ANYTHING. But your attitude should be positive.

I have been quite busy this week, preparing for my trip to Europe.  I will be seeing many friends during my trip and know that it will be a great one!

Can’t wait…. the official countdown has started and I’m MORE than ready for my trip to start! 

I’ll be writing from the trip to let you know the latest news in my life and hopefully will be able to upload a few pictures as well. 

Thanks to ALL my friends and family for the calls, surprises, e-mails, cards, visits and presents!!! 

I’ll update this post soon… .just wanted to let you know that you have made this day a remarkable and memorable one.

with love,

Maria Stella

Earlier this week, I wanted to share a poem that’s important to me with a friend.  I looked for it in my blog, and realized that I had never posted it. 

Here’s the story behind it and the precious poem is below.  ENJOY!

This poem was passed on to my father by his father on his 18th birthday.  Many years later when I turned 18, my father gave me a copy of his, with the signature of my grandfather on the top left hand corner of the page, and his signature right below it.

I quickly embraced the poem and it has become one of my favorites.

I now share it with you!!!!

The Sin of Omission

Margaret E. Sangster

TODAY feels like it should be the end of the work week and it’s NOT even close; it’s only TUESDAY!  It’s probably because of the anticipation I have for Tuesday, July 25th to get here.  Two long weeks until D-Day! Two more tuesdays to go before I make the journey towards Paris.

Finally, the long awaited trip to Europe will start!  I can’t wait!  I’m counting down the days and regreting having organized the trip 6 months in advance. I have learned my lesson, I will not book any more trips SO many months in advance. I have come to the conclusion that SIX weeks of planning or less is more than enough time to get ready for any trip!

My birthday is next week, next Tuesday actually, and I have even given it a thought until this very moment! I usually plan a dinner party or an event but not this year.  I’m distracted and saving up to buy Euros! So instead of planning a celebration I have decided to skip this birthday and move it forward to August. That way I’ll get to celebrate my b-day on a cruise ship!

I have been busy chosing excursions, leaving everything prepared at home and I have even had time to have a couple of nightmares about losing my passport, or forgetting to pack underwear!  I have traveled so much, so many times and this is the first time this has happened to me. 

I’m blaming it on the anticipation. 

Wouldn’t you?

I discovered two situations where MOST RUMORS must start off:

A ) At LARGE tables where 5 or more simultaneous conversations are going on at the same time!)

B ) Whenever alcohol is involved!

It’s amazing how many "half" stories you’ll hear at a large table.  Half a story usually involves people imagining the other half!

It’s both fun and funny to see the reaction people have of HALF a story. You can then watch the change in facial expression when they hear the COMPLETE version. 

George Lewis and Cecilia Alvera wrote a wonderful article on the Mexican Presidential elections for MSNBC.  I have copied a few of the paragraphs to give you a better idea of how the situation of the elections in Mexico has evolved.

SO HERE IT GOES - THE ELECTIONS IN MEXICO:

Four days after the polls close, officials announce a winner in a tightly contested race where the margin of victory is just over 230,000 votes out of 41,791,322 cast. But then, the loser demands a recount and says he’s going to court to get it.

Ironically, some Mexicans believe that the close victory of pro-business conservative Felipe Calderón over his leftist adversary Andrés Manuel López Obrador is actually a sign democracy is working in a country where truly competitive and honest presidential elections are a fairly recent development.

And it could get nastier in the days to come. López Obrador, a fiery orator who campaigned as the poor peoples’ champion, is calling for his followers to take to the streets to protest the outcome of the election.

At the bare minimum, the election has deeply polarized Mexico: rich against poor, left against right, north against south, urban against rural. An official of López Obrador’s political party denounced the election process as "lamentable for democracy." And many here worry that the protests against the outcome of the election could take a violent turn as the López Obrador supporters vent their anger.

‘Golden rule of democracy’

After the independent Federal Electoral Institute announced the final vote tabulation, Calderón appealed for calm. "There are no victories in a democracy if there is no peace," he said, "and peace is the true victory in the life of a nation."

"We’re facing a situation in which at least one-third of the country feels that their candidate won," said political analyst Ana Maria Salazar, a former Clinton Administration official, "And the other half think the election was stolen."

But Electoral Institute President Luis Carlos Ugalde defended the legitimacy of Calderón’s narrow victory. "The golden rule of democracy," he said, "is that the candidate who gets the most votes wins."

Calderón won with only 35.89% of the vote, just over half a percentage point ahead of López Obrador. Assuming that all the challenges to Calderón’s victory are swept aside, a process that could last from now until September, he’ll still have a tough time establishing himself as a strong leader in a country where the Congress is divided among three major parties and half the voters think the wrong guy won.

In his victory speech, he said, "To those who voted against me, I ask them to give me the opportunity to earn their trust as the president of all Mexicans."

The Harvard-educated Calderón, who comes across as somewhat stiff and wonkish, is from the right-of-center National Action Party. That’s the party of incumbent President Vicente Fox, whose victory in the year 2000 marked the beginning of truly contested presidential races in Mexican politics after 71 years of one party rule. (Under Mexican law, the president serves for a single six-year term.)

To view the full article, please go to: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13744464/from/RS.2/

No news on who will be Mexico’s next President. 

The ballots will be recounted this week and hopefully we’ll get THE final answer SOON! The stakes are high.

Today TWO men think think they’ll be running this country come December.  One of them will be terribly disappointed soon. 

In the meantime I hope, pray and cross my fingers!

The election for President in Mexico is too close to call right now.

There is a 1% difference between the top two candidates, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (PRD) and Felipe Calderón (PAN).  Only 80% of the votes have been computed.

More later. 

Nothing is certain yet.