Here are some pictures of my friends at Paso Del Norte Mexican Restaurant in Blaine, WA. It was a sad meal because we had to say goodbye to Jero and Betty.
Monthly Archives: October 2006
One of my biggest weakness lately has been getting into a book and then putting it away. At few weeks ago I started reading a book on Sabbath called God’s Rest. I put that away becuase I needed a fun book and then I read Zorro by Isabel Allende. Excellent book! Then I got into Finding Fisher by Antwone Fisher. That was a tough book to read and it hit me pretty hard. I was so angry with this Christian couple that abused this young kid and the two other adopted siblings. What an incredible story of survival and healing.
Now I am reading Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario. What a book! It is about a 16 year old boy who travels by foot and train to reunite with his mother in Los Unites. I was reading it this morning and it made me so angry about those who abuse leadership. It makes me sad that there are people that would abuse their power and take advantage of the poor and vulnerable. I wish that I could do something to change the cops, thugs and gangsters that abuse the immigrants. There are some groups that are helping immigrants. One mexican group is called El grupo beta. On the US side there is Humane Borders and No More Deaths.
Lisa, Jean and I went to the Butterfly Garden in Victoria.
We had a fun time and you can see pictures at our photo album.
Last night Lisa and I went to see tocar y luchar (to play and to fight). It was an good documentary. It is a film about the classical music program in Venezuela. The film has beautiful music. What is most amazing about the film is that you see children in rural and urban poverty that play music so well it makes you want to cry. There was one boy who was about 9 years old and he played the trumpet. He was given a trumpet by a guy from the Berlin Philharmonic. He was so proud of his trumpet. He said he loved to play because there are times when he and the trumpet are one! Wow a little boy saying this.
Another thing that I loved was the commentary on the culture. There was a music conductor that said that the classical music program has florished in Latin America because there is not a culture of criticism but cooperation. So when a person makes a mistake there is laughter and encouragement instead of shame and punishment. Also he said that there is an understanding that to do something well it takes hard work. There is not a culture that expects things to come easy so children are willing to spend time practicing becaues that is what it takes to make beautiful music.
My only criticism is that it seemed too much like propoganda. I wish they showed more music by the little children. They had this scene with 2 yr. olds playing and it was very memorable. They did not play well, but it seemed like they were having a fun time.
Yesterday Lisa and I went to the Taco Shack!
I was so excited, being that there are no good taco places in Vancouver. Well I got to say the Taco Shack is the best in Vancouver, but it did not live up to my Southern California standards. Their fish tacos were made with real fish and it was not fried! That is a great feature of their fish tacos. However, I was a little disapppointed in their selection of fresh garnishes. Their salsa was okay. I guess the cabbage salad was not as I have had in other places outside of Vancouver.
Also the steak burrito was okay. The beans were average. I thought that a little corn in the salsa might give it a good kick. Also I was hoping they had carnitas. A meat smoothered in sauce.
In short for Vancouver standards it was the best so far. As for Southern Cal or Mexico standards it was average. FINAL Verdict: I will be back to the Taco Shack. There is none better in Vancouver.
If you haven’t see this play you got to check it out. It is only here for two more weeks. It is a show about Alberta Hunter a famous singer and an excellent nurse. She had a career that went into her eighties!!! The two actors that portray Alberta were so good. They had a great chemistry. The most astonishing aspect of the play was Janice Lorraine’s portrayal of Louie Armstrong. She blew the top off the theater. She did it with such a respect for Louie and it came across as authentic and it is unbelievable to hear her sound like Louie.
On Sat. one of our (Lisa and me) friends was denied entry into the US. So we drove down to get his car that was stuck in a small peninsula that belongs to the US off the coast of BC. The only way to get the car to him was to drive back into Canada and then drive around Boundary Bay to the US.
The funniest event of the whole day (most of the day was amusing) was encountering a fellow Regent Student Simon. He is not allowed in the US so he was at the border taking pictures of himself at the boarder. So he emailed me a picture he took of me. It was so much fun seeing Simon. He was so excited that I remembered his name. I was so surprised to see him. What a random place to meet each other. We dropped Simon back to the bus-line in Twassen and we continued down to Blaine.
