My Little Christmas Story

The day before Christmas Eve I woke up with a sore throat (not unlike many of my mornings here in Cuenca, Ecuador) but I thought it was nothing and went off to work. After a full day of working at orphanages I sat shivering at a restaurant where we were having a farewell party for some of my fellow volunteers. It became very apparent that I was getting sick again. After a day and a half of raging fever, my throat being swollen to the size of Rhode Island, and a couple of shots in the bee-hind (along with some pretty powerful antibiotics) I'm recovering from my bout with strep throat. What have I learned from this experience? Well, still trying to nail that one down . . . but here's what I've got so far.

1- I don't like being away from my family over the holidays. Yeah, yeah, I know. I was well aware that I'd be gone for the holidays when I signed up to come down here. But it was harder than I thought it would be. I got 3 phone calls from my fam over Christmas Eve and Christmas day, and with each phone call I kept thinking about what I'd be doing if I was home . . . passing out the gifts to everyone and hoarding mine so I can save them till last . . . watching my niece (the cutest little thing on the planet) and just chilling with the fam. I have a huge family (7 siblings, 17 nieces and nephews) so my favorite part of the holidays is just hanging out with them.

2-It still feels like Christmas, even if you happen to be thousands of miles away from home, and even if you come down with an inflammatory throat disease. There was still that somewhat magical, excited feeling that I got.

3-It sucks to have strep throat, no matter the country or the day of the year. This past case of strep throat was probably the sickest I've ever been. Granted, I don't get sick very often, but for me it was like I was on my deathbed. Moral here, avoid strep throat like it's the bubonic plague.

So, those are the lessons learned for now. I'll let you know if I come up with anything else, but as we all know, I'm a pretty slow learner. Keep checking back for updates from sunny Ecuador, and for the witty prose of my awesomest twin sister.

as promised...

as my twin asked me to list some good music i've discovered...here, for your convenience, is a list and as much info as i have about the best bands and musicians i've recently come across. delightful and tingly to the eardrums.

where to start, where to start? well, first of all i'd like to explain that i owe my survival this year completely to itunes. i recently moved to idaho where i have been unable to discover anything remotely resembling a decent radio station. the closest one to bearable plays something decent, say, damien rice or u2, followed up by KELLY CLARKSON, or even worse HILLARY DUFF. and by the way, how in the h-e-double hockeysticks did lindsey lohan get a recording contract? i am scared, people, positively wetting myself, about the state of the music industry today. i don't want to be one of those past-their-prime people who sits around in a rocking chair and screeches about "what them kids are calling music these days" but puh-lease. britney spears? ASHLEE SIMPSON on snl? that is IT! SOMETHING HAS GOT TO BE DONE.

the more i listen to music, the more i appreciate the "indie" artists, and those who aren't on the top 40 charts, who aren't really considered mainstream.

for support i turn to the lyrics of a recently released album by william shatner. yes, you read correctly, william shatner. i was actually surprised that i liked what i heard of his latest release. perhaps this also has a lot to do with ben folds producing the album and participating a lot musically on it. the song is called "i can't get behind that."

anyway, he says, "i can't get behind so-called singers that can't carry a tune, get paid for talking, how easy is that?... If you have to fix it with a computer: quantized, pitch corrected, and overly inspected, then you can't do it, and I can't get behind that!"
you said it will.
so whaddya say? will you join in my crusade? who will be strong and stand with me?
now that i shot my mouth off for twenty minutes on that subject, i'm too tired to devote the time needed to fairly and adequately represent these extremely talented musicians. i'll leave off till tomorrow, perhaps.
cheers.

is anyone out there?

i really consider this quite pointless because the only person who will read this besides myself is my twin sister...but there's something about putting your thoughts out there in public, isn't there?
well, i think there is.
i was browsing through some of the other blogs and saw people from india, mexico, singapore, thailand, and even more exotic, canada. it's so cool to me that all these different people are in the same place in a way...
so...
if you're browsing and end up reading this, greetings.