My, how time flies!

The days of 2010 are slowly drawing to a close.  I should be working on my final project, but alas, my habit of digression and procrastination seem to have the better of me.  2010 has been one of the most busiest and frustrating years ever.  So many wonderful things happened and so much hard work and effort to make many things successful.  It's been a year of losses in family, friends and celebrities.  A new addition to my home.  Wonderful new friends and maintaining contact with the treasured old ones.

I would like to thank those of you who do take a minute or two to peruse this blog.  I've neglected the blog for a while and I would like to continue offering my "reviews" of the films I watch and find recommendable.  I hope 2010 was generous and kind to you and hope that 2011 will be full of new windows to open, roads to travel and just plain adventures!

 

Merry Christmas 2010

Christmas Day 2010 proved to be a quiet, cold and rainy day.  I did plan to go out to visit family and friends, but the weather was uncooperative.  I did my phone calls.  My relatives were disappointed I was not coming, but the tone in the voice was not of disappointment...sounded angry actually.  Sometimes I feel that my older relatives think I am still a teenager and I HAVE to do what they say.  Whilst my friend Lynn said she didn't blame me and she'd like to spend such a day curled up in bed with a good book.  Needless to say, Papi was glad his human companion was home.  We took our walks today before and after the rain and he had an extra special dinner treat...real chicken mixed in with his food.  He seems rather satiated and sitting next to me.  Listened to Christmas music on the classical station KDFC...a nice alternative to the pop versions of the holiday standards.
On Christmas Eve I finished and uploaded by paper on Reasoning.  It was a most unpleasant task as I literally had writer's block.  I had no idea what to write about.  So, whatever was finished and uploaded is a myriad of idea from a mind lost in a labyrinth.
Next weekend marks the New Year...how time does fly.  By December of next year my cohort and I will have finished the masters program.  They are such wonderful people!
OK...back to a movie...don't know what yet.  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

What Child Is This

Salve Azucena Divina

Friday night at about 9:00 in the evening, I was walking my dog Papi.  We walked by a house about a block from where I live and heard singing.  I stopped.  It sounded so familiar and so nostalgic.  Little to my knowledge, a Purisma was being celebrated.  A Purisima is a traditional Nicaraguan celebration in honor of the Immaculate Conception, another name given to Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Anyway, from the street I could see into the window how the home was decorated, blue and white balloons- the colors of the Nicaraguan flag and the way Mary's statue is dressed, similar to the painting above.
Needless to say, tears welled in my eyes with happy childhood memories of the Purisimas my family and I attended.  The sounds, smells, tastes wafted through my mind.  The happy voices in prayer, the songs of praise to Mary, and after all the praying and singing...the feasting.  Of course, it depended on where you went.  Sometimes you'd get a wonderful meal of traditional Nicaraguan fare- nacatamales, vigoron.  Or, just sweets...American candy and homemade Nicaraguan treats...candy made with coco, milk caramels, pastries such as empanadas filled with pineapple or raisins and meat or chicken with cinnamon.  Oh, the smell was divine and the taste too good for the senses.  And the favorite beverage was chicha de maiz, a fermented corn beverage that was very sweet and delicious...ice cold and colored pink (red dye, I believe.)
I miss these traditional celebrations in my family.  It was a wonderful thing to look forward to the beginning of December for these celebrations.  The 8th of December is the feast of the Immaculate Conception, but the 7th is the night of "La Griteria" or the shouting.  The traditional greeting is "¿Quien causa tanta alegria?  ¡La Concepcion de Maria!"  "Who causes such joy?  The Conception of Mary!"
OK...it looses in the translation.
So, my friends, if you ever encounter a Nicaraguan or get a chance to go to a Nicaraguan restaurant, try to savor the delicacies that make December a joyous time of year in Nicaragua.