Why this Week Rocked

The blogging has been light as of late, I know. But I've had a lovely week and am just now able to catch my breath. What was so good that it kept me away from my internet people? Well, I feel a list coming on...

1) First this arrived in the mail:



Blimey, it was good.

2) Our 8th wedding anniversary was this week, and Orlando and I went out for our first "date" since Penelope was born. We had a fantastic dinner and then saw this:



John Travolta in drag? Christopher Walken singing in a flamenco's suit? Add a catchy soundtrack and I've just added a new favorite movie to the list.

3) And to cap it all off, my mom and grandmother were in town for a visit, mimando a Penny, spoiling her like you cannot imagine. For the last two mornings in a row, since they've left, Penny has picked up their photographs and cried. She misses them, and I do too.

My grandmother fell completely in love with all of the blooming crape myrtles in Auburn, and bought one for our front yard, which my mother and I planted. I think I'd like to take an annual photo of the three of them against that tree.



As I said, it was a wonderful week and a great summer. Now, the downside:

Next week I start prepping for the courses I'll be teaching this fall.

The upside?

You can be sure I'll be going to Michelle's new blog for some teacher-ly inspiration.

And now we return to irregularly scheduled blogging.

Penny and Mo

My friend Michelle calls him "that damned red beast." In our house, he's known as Mo, short of course, for Elmo. I sympathize with Michelle's characterization of the squeaky muppet, and secretly envy the fact that her son Gavin has outgrown him.

When Mo or any of his friends are on television, the world ceases to exist for Penelope. And the songs are so catchy, that my husband and I find ourselves singing along mindlessly ("La, la, la, la, Elmo's world..."), which causes our daughter to grab her favorite DVD and wave it at us, yelling "Mo! Mo!" or sometimes, just squealing.

She has three toy Moes, two of which she cares for deeply. So deeply, in fact, that she tucks the Moes in every day and kisses them goodnight:



In an attempt to make all this Mo stuff more productive, I bought her a Plaza Sesamo DVD (Mexico's version of Sesame Street, all in Spanish, natch), and a "Fiesta!" DVD with Celia Cruz counting in Spanish and Linda Ronstadt singing a catchy charrada with Mo himself. She loves them (as I'm writing this, she keeps shoving the remote control on my lap).

It isn't all bad. I remember loving Ernie's "Rubber Duckie" and the pinball song on Sesame Street. My mother tells me I was scared of the Count, but honestly, a muppet with fangs? Later, I was obsessed with Jim Henson's "Fraggle Rock" and the movie "The Muppets Take Manhattan." I suppose Penelope has inherited my weakness for the ping-pong eyed creatures.

And because I like to share the joy, and can't get either of these songs out of my head, here are "Caribbean Amphibian" and "Hace Calor" just for you.



(Don't you love that the little frog jumps as far away from Cuba as he can possibly get?)



("Could fry an egg on the cement it's so caliente!" Indeed. It's HOT in Alabama!)



(Penny Hearts Mo, 4-Ever [or at least until something else catches her eye])

Penelope, Future Rock Star

Perhaps you've heard of the new British "it" singer, Amy Winehouse. She's got a great, retro sound, reminiscent of Janis Joplin. For those of you not in the know, here's the video for her single, "Rehab."



Cool, no? But I think I've found someone who will knock Miss Winehouse off the charts. Introducing, Penelope, Future Rock Star:



I know, I know, you just can't take how cute that is. You are aching with sweetness of it. And yes, we do feel a bit weird about singing a song that refers to drug rehabilitation with our toddler, and worse, encouraging her to sing along, but there's only so much "Elmo's World" we can take in a day.

231st Birthday

Happy 231st Birthday, America!

I know I write a good deal about Cuba here on this blog, and certainly, that island to the south is close to my heart and on my mind a lot, but more than anything, I'm American, una americana, de verdad. In fact, part of the passion I have for Cuban issues stems from the fact that much of what is pro-castro, is in all actuality, anti-Americanism in disguise.

I am so proud to be American, so thankful to my grandparents for that opportunity. If not for their bravado, I wouldn't have been born here. I know as a country we have deep faults, but the beauty of it is that we can discuss these aloud and make real change.

So, tonight we'll be taking Penny to see her first fireworks and I hope she doesn't freak out at the noise. I'm packing a picnic dinner for friends. I will probably get a bit sentimental when the fireworks hit their crescendo at the end. And I plan to wear red, white and blue.

Happy Fourth of July, all!

Living Down Sur

Just recently, blogger Marta composed an entry in praise of yet another blogger, Carrie, of "Bilingual in the Boonies". Allow me to join the Carrie-loving bandwagon, whom I heretofore dub my Madrina Bilingue, my Bilingual Godmother. You see, Carrie's blog is all about raising a bilingual child, and on days when I doubt my ability to impart the Spanish language to Penelope, all I need to do is log onto Carrie's blog and I'm inspired.

So inspired, in fact, that I followed one of Carrie's links to the Multilingual Children's Association site and found many more voices in the wilderness crying out for bilingualism. After a brief email correspondence with the organization's founder, Christina Bosemark, I've become the newest columnist for the association.

My column, entitled "Living Down Sur" chronicles my foibles and successes in raising a Cubanita here in the deep south (in truth, Carrie does a MUCH better job than I do discussing bilingualism and the south on her blog, and deserves her own column). My first article, "Upa," is actually filched, with some revision, from an entry I wrote here before Penny was born. The rest of articles to follow, one a month, are all brand-new.

And you can be sure that one of them will feature my Madrina Bilingue. Thanks, Carrie.