Happy Birthday! Vida Surrealista Turns Two

Chestit rojden den! ¡Feliz cumple! Selamat hari jadi! Buon Compleanno! Alles gute zum geburstag! Happy Birthday!

That’s right. Today we are celebrating the second year of Vida Surrealista.

A year filled with surprises and unexpected twists since I was not planning to return to live in the United States for a couple of months.

A year filled with challenges and literary ups and downs since our inspiration is inevitably connected to our feelings.

A year where Vida Surrealista was able to grow with the written contribution from friends around the world.Thank you very much for all your continuous support and especially to all those who collaborated throughout the year:

• Susana Massaro (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil) - EDITOR



• Giorgina Di Rocco (Buenos Aires, Argentina)



• Sabrina Lenoir (Argentina)



• Carlo Capua (Toluca, México / EEUU)



• Lucia Tissone (Buenos Aires, Argentina)



• Yan Carrière-Swallow (Toronto, Canadá)



• Aldana Gómez (Buenos Aires, Argentina)



• Cecilia Tear (Buenos Aires, Argentina)



• Leandro Vaillard (Buenos Aires, Argentina)



• Pietro Toscano (Bari, Italia)



• Johnny Ennis (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Caracas, Venezuela)



• Joaquin Schvetz (Buenos Aires, Argentina)



• Federico Appiani (Buenos Aires, Argentina)



• Carlos Rodríguez (Caracas, Venezuela)



• Porter Campbell (St. Louis, Missouri, USA)



• María Luisa Villegas (Veracruz, México)



• María Eugenia Grimaldo (Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá)



• Analía Plamenatz (Buenos Aires, Argentina)



• Griselda Vaillard (Buenos Aires, Argentina)



• Jose Medvedovsky (Buenos Aires, Argentina)



• Pablo Atencio (Buenos Aires, Argentina)



• Jesica Jimenez Culjak (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

On Top of the Bar of Coyote Ugly in San Anotnio

Who hasn’t fantasized about dancing on top of the bar after watching Coyote Ugly?

Come on! Be honest! Not even for a second?

And what would you do if you found yourself in that bar?

Surprisingly, I did not live my fantasy of dancing on the bar when I visited Coyote Ugly Saloon in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

The bar was very similar to the one in the movie, only a little bigger. It also had an arsenal of bras hanging from the top of the bar that screamed out: “Unleash yourself!”

Why didn’t I dance?

Maybe, because I am no longer that careless teenager who loved to dance to call attention to herself.

Or, because I was intimidated by the interesting bra-display that made the place look more like a strip bar than a bar of dancing Coyotes like in the movie.

Or maybe, because as soon as we entered the place, one of the girls that was dancing on the bar fell to the floor in the middle of her dance because she was too drunk to keep her balance.

Or simply because our fantasies rarely come true.

As of today, the story ends here. However, I leave you the address in case you want to go and write a different story. If I ever return, I’ll let you know if my story changes.




How to get there:
Coyote Ugly Saloon San Antonio
409 East Commerce Street
San Antonio, TX 78205
Close to Rivercenter Mall and Hemisfair Park


Times:
Monday to Sunday 11 a.m. – 2 a.m.

Other Cities:
New York (original – 1993)

Las Vegas (November 2001)

New Orleans (February 2002)

Chicago (March 2003)

Tampa (April 2003)

Austin (January 2004)

Panama City Beach (April 2004)

San Antonio (July 2004)

Charlotte (August 2004)

Nashville (December 2004)

Denver (Mach 2005)

Ft. Lauderdale (January 2006)

Memphis (May 2006)

Start 2008 with a Noisy Toast

Cheers! I raise the glass with joy and good company.

Even though books of etiquette indicate that one should look at the other person’s eyes when they toast and tilt the glass towards the other person without touching, I prefer noisy toasts.

While I was doing research to write this blog, I ran across an excellent article written by Yabebiry that talked about the origins of the brindis.

Some people say the word “brindis” came about when Charles V’s troops were celebrating their victory over Rome on May 6, 1527. During that celebration, members of Chales’ V troop raised their glasses saying: “bring dir’s”, which means “I offer thee” in German.

Other versions of the origin of toasting indicate that during banquets, Ancient Greeks used to have the host raise his/her wine glass and take a long sip to demonstrate the drink had not been poisoned. Then, all the invitees would clash their glasses against one another to splash and mix the contents; that way, if one of the glasses had been poisoned, everyone ran the same risk.

Even though hosts seldom try to poison their guests nowadays, I prefer to continue toasting with that noisy tradition despite what books of etiquette say. For me, a noisy toast represents happiness, good fortune and joy.

Cheers! Hope you have a good 2008! Best wishes to all of you!

Christmas Around the World: Macarroni Angels, Olentzeros Instead of Noel and Presents inside Trees

Naples, Italy
Napolitani say that during harsh times, they traditionally made angels out of different types of pasta found around the house. Then, they offered these pasta angels to their friends during Christmas time.

Those who received the pasta angels wrote a wish in a piece of paper, which they placed inside the body of the angel so it could “fly away” and make the wish come true. Afterwards many people used these cute presents to decorate their Christmas tree.

Vasque Region, Spain

In the Vasque region, Christmas’ symbol is not Santa Claus as in most Christian cities, but the Olentzero, a chimney-sweeper with beret, overalls, crossed sandals and a chequered hankerchief tied in his neck.



Catalunya, Spain

On the other hand, catalans place their Christmas presents inside a tree trunk with a painted face (also known as “tronc”, “soca”, and “tió”).

On Christmas Eve, each child rinses a stick with “magic water” in a room, and after adults give them permission, they enter the room where the tree trunk is placed and hit it as they sing a song in catalan to free the presents hidden inside the tree.

According to Pamela from pandeblog.net the translated version of the song reads something like (the translation puzzles me, so if someone can/may, please verify the translation is correct):

“Tree trunk, Christmas tree trunk

Shit culin

And pee white wine.

Don’t shit zool herring, that is salty

Shit culins that are really good.”

Interestingly, the tree only liberates one present at the time. So the children run back and forth from one room to the other to rinse their stick with “magic water” so they can hit the tree with it until it delivers an onion or a potato as an indication it will not deliver any more presents until the following year.

Eating Under the Sea at Houston’s Acquarium

Pictures by Giorgina Di Rocco

I loved eating under the sea while fish swam around your table.

Well, I confess I did not have lunch under the sea. However, the gigantic, 150,000 gallon fish tank in the center of Downtown Houston’s Acquarium Resaturant and the store’s decoration made me feel underwater.

The restaurant’s walls resemble coral rocks, the lamps on the roof are little fish that swim between the customers, the seat’s backsides are ondulating sea weeds and waiters are so polite they look like mermaids.

It is incredible to have lunch between sharks, shovel-nosed guitar fish, leopard rays, clown fish, color-changing fish, and flirty fish dressed in blue with large lips, so large they look like models right out of the surgery room.

I hade eaten in places with fish tanks before, but it was the first time I was a guest at a marine feast worthy of Ariel, the Little Mermaid.

I leave you the address in case you even want to enjoy a delicious meal as you explore the sea.

Downtown Aquarium Houston
410 Bagby
Houston, TX 77002
(713) 223-3474 (FISH)

Other cities where you can find Aquarium Restaurants

New York: More Romantic and Less Accelerated

I remembered New York as a noisy and fast-paced city, but when I arrived, I found a rather romantic city. Yet, since I was traveling by myself, I had to share Big Apple’s romanticism with myself.


In this occasion I chose to leave aside museums and stunning Broadway shows to enjoy New York in open air.


I strolled down Fifth Avenue while I window shopped in some of NY’s most famous shops, I entertained myself observing diverse and unique individuals, and relaxed walking across the SOHO, China Town, Little Italy and The Village.


At the SOHO and Little Italy I got inspired by paying attention to the decoration of all the petit restaurants and small stores that offered varied, fun, different and ordinary artifacts.


I got momentarily accelerated as I went through Wall Street, the world’s financial center, seeing how business people ran across the street to avoid loosing precious seconds of their valuable time.


I freed myself walking along the shore of the Hudson River while I watched how the tourists’ boats set sail towards the Statue of Liberty.


I was left gasping in the middle of Brooklyn Bridge, an architectonic wonder with an unmatchable view of New York City, where I ran into one of my graduate professors from Spain; a wonderful surprise worthy of my surrealistic life.


I enjoyed myself with ChinaTown’s baubles and got transported to some forgotten corner of Paris or Madrid as I walked down The Village; an area of low houses built very close together in an area of NY that was unknown to me until then.


In Central Park I fell in love with life as I admired trees painted with autumn and joyful skirls that jumped from one tree branch to the other.


It was a short, but incredible trip. It lacked museums, culture and extravaganza, but it was filled with the beauty of simplicity.


It was the trip where I discovered it is possible to enjoy romance without company.

Cómo llegar desde DC:
http://www.vamoosebus.com/
Bus diario de NY a DC y viceversa

Gorgeous Arlington Cemetery Cannot Disguise Horrid Effects of War

I prefer peace over war, and funny movies over scary ones. For that reason I was unsure if I wanted to visit the Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC, USA, where they burry all those who represented the United States in some war, or served the American army, naval, and/or air forces; there are currently 290,000 veterans along with their family members buried along the cemetery’s 107 hectares of land.

Despite my low desire to visit the cemetery, the outing was amazing: from afar, the headstones resembled white flowers over an perfectly trimmed grass carpet, and the Arlington House shone as the sun hid behind the hill where the Kennedy family is buried.

As if this wasn’t enough, we had the opportunity to witness the change of guard in front of The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; a rigid and meticulous ceremony so structured that it gave goose bumps to its spectators.

While I observed the soldiers’ synchronized movements I imagined the precision needed to undertake military maneuvers and tactics successfully, and I turned uncomfortable watching how these boys slowly became less and less human.

Now I ask myself, do soldiers need to dehumanize themselves to avoid suffering from the psychological effects that war causes people, or are they only acting this way for the ceremony?

I am not sure, but watching this robotic ceremony and the large number of victims buried in this place (approximately 24 people are buried daily), helped accentuate my feeling of rejection towards war.

The cemetery’s park is gorgeous, but it is not beatiful enough to disguise the horrid result of war.

How to get there:
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington VA 22211
Estación de metro: Arlington Cementery
Teléfono: (703) 607-8000http://arlingtoncemetery.org/

Turkey as Sales Icon in the United States

Run and get in line because it is thanksgiving and sales begin!

Well, to tell you the truth I never heard anything like this on the radio or on TV. However, this seemed to be the message Houstonians had received before Friday November 24, since at 8 p.m. there people lined up in front of stores so they could be the first ones to enjoy the mega sales (some stores opened at midnight, while others opened at 5 a.m.).

In the United States, people annually celebrate Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November. The festivity began in the XVII century when a group of American pilgrims organized a big meal to thank the natives for teaching them to harvest the items found in the New World, allowing them to survive through winter.

Since then, for Thanksgiving, Americans get together with their family members for a large meal with stuffed turkey with cranberry sauce, corn bread, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes casserole, and green beans, among other things, and apple pie, pumpkin pie and pecan pie for dessert (they have other pies too).

Thanksgiving is one of the most important festivities in the United States; it breaks though religious and cultural boundaries and all citizens enjoy the celebration with the same enthusiasm.

In 2007, the number of people who traveled to meet their family members broke a record: according to the Associated Press AAA Spokesman Troy Green said “Surveys indicated a record 38.7 million U.S. residents were likely to travel 50 miles or more for the holiday period of Wednesday through Sunday, up about 1.5 percent over last year.”

According to a survey done by Cowen & Co., this year “consumers who plan to shop that day expect to spend 42% of their budgets, compared with 36% last year.”

Even though Thanksgiving got started as an event to give thanks, and many Americans maintain this tradition, the date has also become an icon for sales, which undervalues the celebration and plays against family unity.

Nevertheless, I cannot deny that this year I enthusiastically joined the group of sale-hunting early risers.

Getting to know Washington DC: Natural, Historic, Cultural and Artistic

Washington DC , the capital of United States, resembles Europe more than other American cities; here, people go to The Mall for a walk, and not to buy, and people ride the metro or take a walk to get to work (something almost unthinkable in other cities in the United States).

In DC, consumerism does not take hold of The Mall because it is not a shopping mall, but rather a beautiful park that hosts the obelisk, the Lincoln Memorial, and other monuments that commemorate the Vietnam Way, Korean Way and World War II.

Throughout the week, visitors and Washingtonians have free access to culture thanks to the Smithsonian Institution, a research organization that owns 9 research centers and the world’s largest museum complex with 19 museums including National Museum of Natural History, National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The National Museum of Natural History is a recommended stop to learn about the living and inert beings that make up our ecosystem by taking a look at diverse embalmed specimens, fossils, dinosaurs’ bones and precious stones.

The National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum is also worth a visit to observe how painting developed in the United States, beginning with the typical portraits painted during the colonization period and finishing with the contemporary paintings of our time. At the same time, visitors can learn about American history by paying attention to the portraits of American presidents and participants of the abolition of slavery.

Finally, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is another place visitors cannot miss when visiting Washington DC. Upon entering the museum, each person receives a passport with the name of one of the Holocaust victims to help him/her relive the stories exposed throughout the museum from one of the victim’s point of view. The section that displays the stories from the children point of view is particularly shocking and hair-raising.

It is important to point this is simply a bite of all the things visitors can do in Washington DC like visit the White House, go up the obelisk, sneak through the Spy Museum, etc. However, I think these stops provide wholistic picture of the United States from different points of view: cultural, historic, artistic and natural.



How to get there:
Korean War Veterans Memorial
Independence Ave. at the Lincoln MemorialPhone: (202) 426-6841
Metro Stop: Foggy Bottom-GWU
http://www.nps.gov/kwvm/


Lincoln Memorial
Independence Ave. & 23rd St. NW
Phone: (202) 426-6841
Metro Stop: Foggy Bottom-GWU
http://www.nps.gov/linc


National World War II Memorial
17th St. & Independence Ave. NW
Phone: (202) 619-7222
Metro Stop: Smithsonian

http://wwiimemorial.com/


Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Constitution Ave. & Henry Bacon Dr. NW
Phone: (202) 634-1568
Metro Stop: Foggy Bottom-GWU
http://www.nps.gov/vive


Museums:
International Spy Museum
800 F St. NW
Phone: (202) 393-7798
Metro Stop: Gallery Pl-Chinatown
http://www.spymuseum.org/


National Museum of Natural History
10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW
Phone: (202) 633-1000
Metro Stop: Federal Triangle
http://www.mnh.si.edu/


United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl. SW
Phone: (202) 488-0400
Metro Stop: Smithsonian
http://www.ushmm.org/


National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum
8th & F Streets N.W

Phone: (202) 633-8300

Estación de Metro: Gallery Pl-Chinatown

http://www.npg.si.edu/


Smithsonian Institution Museums: http://www.si.edu/museums/

Other museums

Iom Kipur in Israel, one of the Holiest Days for Jewish

By Sabrina Lenoir (Argentina)

Imagine that a bomb drops… and all of a sudden all motor vehicles stop working…cars, buses, motorcycles….all of them remain parked and people start owning the streets, by foot or on bikes…the sound of horns, traffic is transformed into tons of people in the street, avenues and even highways…although stoplights continue to work ignoring that today is a special day, they no longer have any meaning. It does matter what way traffic is supposed to travel, no policeman is going to write a fine for walking on the wrong side of the street; no matter how old you are, everyone is free to walk around and enjoy the show… that was Iom Kipur for me.

Yet, it is clear that not everyone lives the celebration the same way….

Iom Kipur is one of the holiest days for the Jewish religion. It marks the times for penance that begins in Rosh Hashana and continues for ten days until the last day: Iom Kipur.

It is a day to ask for forgiveness and atonement from sins between humans and God, humans and humans. During Rosh Hashana human beings are judged for their acts, and the final verdict is given at Iom Kipur.

The most religious people abstain themselves from basic needs: they cannot eat, or drink, they cannot wash, cannot use leather shoes (that’s why people walk using shoes made of cloth), cannot have sexual relations, and people must remove themselves from their daily routine to have strength to get purified at the end of the day and receive atonement from the sins incurred throughout the year, so they can return to God.

My experience began the previous day, Thursday…

One of my friend’s sisters invited me to Jerusalem, where people go to the Wailing Wall between 11p.m. and 6 a.m. to pray and ask God for forgiveness…

Since traffic is chaotic, we decided to walk for about an hour to reach the Wailing Wall, where half of Israel awaited for us…people, people and more people crammed together as I had never seen before around this place… very intense and very interesting.

The next day, families get together for a big lunch before they begin to fast at around 6 p.m. and those less religious are lucky to be able to go out in the street, ride their bikes and go around the car-less city… fasting lasts until about 6 p.m. of the following day.

All the pictures I took of Iom Kipur were taken at night, consequently, it was hard to capture the atmosphere and avoid the flash. Enjoy!