A Cold Spell

It is rather chilly outside today. I am concerned about the beautiful flowers I planted on Saturday. Since it is very windy, walking at a fast pace is almost impossible.

This past Sunday I was finally able to meet with a dear childhood friend. I had not seen her in more than 40 years. We both moved away and went our separate ways. She settled in Argentina and I came to the US to study journalism. The photograph above shows what we looked like when we were 15!

It was so good to see her after so many years -- a lifetime! She has six children and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have only one son, Ivo, who lives on the West coast. We talked for about three hours reminiscing about our escapades as children. We loved to go to "El Jiron de la Union" in downtown Lima. As teenagers, we dressed up and wore high heels just to prance around the downtown area and pretend to be grown ups. We also enjoyed going to the movies every other Sunday. Today, no teenage girl would think of dressing up just to go to the mall. That was then.

This is us today. We are both boomers, with lots of gray hair and all the problems people experience as they age. But we are still having lots of fun!

After we said goodbye, I felt sad. It has been a very long time. I hope to visit her in Buenos Aires.

A Beautiful Day!

I am altering my exercise routine. I could not get out of bed before 8:00 a.m. because I used to go to bed at 1:30 a.m. Now I go to bed around 11:40 p.m. and am out walking by 7:00 a.m. I think I enjoy doing this a lot more than going for a walk at 10:00 a.m. Everyone is getting ready to go to work and some of my neighbors are out walking or jogging around the park. I feel really happy and optimistic when the sun is out. I believe I can be a lot more productive this way.

Spring Has Arrived

It is April and the flowers are in bloom. I am so glad winter is over, though there is the occasional danger of frost in certain areas of New Jersey. We have three more weeks left, so please do your best. Complete the video assignment and submit it as soon as possible. We need to do more work on intonation, stress, and pronunciation.

What have you learned in your other classes? Have you been asked to do an oral presentation by some of your instructors? Are you working with small groups on different projects? Is technology used extensively in your other courses? If so, what type of technological tools are your instructors using?

Student Blogs

ESOL 171 Students,

Please post a comment below and insert the link to your own blog. You should try to keep a blog and post entries every day. It is a very good tool for improving one's writing.

Once I get the links to your blogs, I will add them to this blog. See you Thursday in our regular face-to-face class. I know it is going to snow tomorrow night.

Remember to prepare questions about the video clip you plan to show in class. Listen to this beautiful music from Ireland. Can you understand the lyrics?

Daniel Tammet's video clip

Here is the information about Daniel Tammet, a prodigious savant. Please click on the following URL in order to access his video:



Daniel Tammet:
http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/_SAVANT/_PROFILES/daniel_tammet/_media/video/brainman/video.html

Look what I got for St. Valentine's Day

My sweetheart gave me this for St. Valentine's:

It is a necklace with tiny hearts and pearls.

Next Friday

Caprica was preempted by a horrid horror movie. The next episode will be shown this coming Friday. I really enjoy this series because it deals with complex social and philosophical issues. For example, one of the issues indirectly addressed is the interface between technology and organic life. Are artificial intelligences (Cylons) entitled to human rights? What makes us human? Do we see any relationship between some of the issues raised in Caprica with what is actually going on in contemporary society?