In Which I Go Barefoot and on Vacation

I tried to go out for coffee on Wednesday with a woman from church. It was a warm and sunny day, so I was excited to pull my flip-flops out of my closet. Then my washing machine went berserk. It moves across the floor during the spin cycle. This time, it moved a little too far and pulled the drainage hose out of the wall. Ooops.

After cleaning up that mess, I finally put on my flip-flops and headed out the door. I pulled into Starbucks, got out of the car, took one step and tripped. The thong of my sandal broke! It's very hard to walk in flip-flops without the flip. I sort of skated across the parking lot without lifting my foot off the ground.

I ordered a decaf coffee, it being late in the evening, and was told I would have to wait, as they only made decaf by request after 4:00 pm. (Huh? Why would you want decaf before 4:00 pm?) While I waited, a wizened little old man from Vietnam proceeded to tell me that I had beautiful feet, and he knew it was because I wore open-toed shoes. Sandals would prevent me from getting in-grown toe-nails or black nail fungus. Sandals are great shoes, as long as they are intact. At least, I think that is what he was said. About half of it was in Vietnamese.

By the time I half-skated over to the table where the woman from church was waiting, she was a very confused. It seems she has never received complements from unknown old foreign gentlemen with heavy accents. It happens to me frequently. I'm not sure why.

This week, I also went to a meeting of the Optimist International Club. A teacher I work with was getting an award for dedicated service to children. Apparently the only optimists in this area are Indian, as nearly all of those attending who were not connected with this teacher had moved from India in the past 10 years. I suppose Americans are too pessimistic right now to be optimistic? It was a bit surreal to go to a meeting where everyone was smiling, shaking hands, and clapping at each other for 90 minutes; rather like a vacation to Disney World.

License Plates

For all you Harry Potter fans, I saw a license plate yesterday that was: RAVNCLA.

In Which I Visit the Arab World

The John F. Kennedy Center has a celebration of arts in the Arab world going on right now. I went to a concert last night of songs from the golden age of Egyptian cinema, which happens to coincide with the golden age of American cinema around the early '40's. Musicals were very popular in the Arab world, just like in the English-speaking world, apparently. Live musicians and singers performed several songs from the movies that must be very well-known and loved in the Arab world, judging by the wild applause and humming along of the Arabic-speaking people around me.

I'm not a great judge of Arabic vocal music, being more familiar with the instrumental side of things, but I could tell the singers were very talented. I wish I could understand what they were singing about. It was certainly a break from the ordinary, and a welcome one.

There were also many displays of photogtaphy and jewelry, as well as a large collection of wedding dresses from many Arabic-speaking countries. They were quite beautiful. I promised to post a few, and here are a couple of favorites.

Snow Day Continued...

I was right. School is closed tomorrow due to extreme (15 degrees?) temperatures and ice. Instant long weekend!

SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!

We got 4 whole inches of snow since 7 pm last night. Thus, we had no school today. I suppose it was a bit nasty this morning. Tomorrow will be worse, though, because it will have all turned into ice. I'm hoping for a 2-hour delay because people here do not know how to drive slowly on ice. They always act so surprised when they hit guardrails.....

It was great to have a day off. I worked on my taxes, read a book, watched part of a video (Pride and Prejudice, the long version), shoveled the walkway, took a nap. I must say, even though I have a longer school year then up north, I get a lot more snow days.....

In Which I have much Company

It was a very busy week! My sister came to visit last Friday for a few days. We had a great time. We went to the Smithsonian's Museum of the Native American. It was a very interesting museum. There was a visiting dance troupe from Peru, which was amazing to watch. We also had a delicious lunch of chicken tamales, vinagered purple potatoes, and quinoa salad, with a pine nut and rosemary tart for dessert. Here is a picture.

We also went to the Museum of Natural History, where we saw dinosaur fossils. That inspired me to watch all the dinosaur documentareies I could find on unitedstreaming.com. We tried to go to the Museum of American History, but it was so packed that there were lines to get into all the exhibits, with the exception of Julia's Child's kitchen.

Some friends from up North stopped by for dinner one night, so I had a full house. At some point, dining room furniture would probably be a good investment, but folding chairs, friends, and family are all it takes for a fun evening.

In Which my Brain Works Out

My proudest accomplishment is finishing a puzzle. I did it all by myself with no help. Usually I need help, But I persevered! It took me 5 weeks, and I am very proud.