Yo hablo espanol...y luego?

So I have used my Spanish a lot recently, at work and in the neighborhood, and most recently when we had a yard sale this past weekend. It just so happened that we had some friends come over towards the end of the yard sale and they were just hanging out with us when our neighbor came by for a last sweep of the sale. She is a Spanish speaker so we changed the conversation to Spanish for a little while with her. When she left our friends basically said "Hello, we can't understand! Speak English!"... this disturbed me on so many levels!!!

Now, I know that English is the "official" language of the US, I have no problem with that. I personally speak many languages so I don't really care what is being spoken around me because I feel like I can communicate regardless of the language. I also agree that when you go and visit or live in a country, that you should make the effort to learn and understand the language of that country. That being said, I don't think out neighbor has any problem understanding English, but she just feels more comfortable speaking in Spanish, since DJ and I have no problem speaking either language with her, we just revert to what is the most comfortable method of communication.

Anyway, I think that it is high time that Americans get off of their high horse, or whatever it is, and learn to accept the fact that learning a foreign language is a benefit and not a detriment to their country. Was this not a nation that started as a "melting pot" of people who wished to start a new life and before it even became the "new world", it was comprised of peoples who spoke other languages other than English. California used to belong to Mexico! Spanish is really the offical language of this state originally!

I digress... most other countries have seen the benefits of teaching their children a second and even a third language. As a result, most European countries (for example) have a better social structure, a higher per capita income, and better cultural education. I know that I have had a chance to visit different countries and meet different people and I feel very comfortable in those situations because I know that I am making an effort to learn about a different culture and so do they!

So, it isn't my fault if you can't understand when I speak to someone in Spanish. Sucks to be you.

Marriage...Really?

So this happened to my friend and co-worker recently (here is the link to her blog because I'm not going to post her whole blog here):
http://lovelifeandpuppydogtales.blogspot.com/2008/08/violated.html

And this was my response:
"Yeah, that is crap. A marriage can't really be defined as a man-woman thing, a marriage should be defined as the relationship that two individuals share and one would hope that, be it a heterosexual couple or a homosexual couple, that relationship involves the same ideals (love, trust, friendship, sharing, etc.) which I would think are essential in any marriage.
Being raised by a single father, who I feel did a great job, I can't agree that the ideal situation for a child is necessarily with married parents (hello, how many abusive households are there because parents stay together when they should not?!!).
My own parents were miserable with each other, how is that a great situation for a child? [Fortunately I didn't have to deal with that for my whole life!] Kids should not be brought into discussion for this Prop, they just deserve a home that will love them, nuture them and teach them. Single parents, two parents, same sex parents...as long as a child grows with love, care and education, that is an ideal environment."


As someone who has met and befriended many gay couples over my lifetime, I can't help but think...really? Have we reached a point that we are going to deny happiness to persons because of whom they choose to love and form relationships with? And if someone is willing to make the commitment it takes to enter a marriage, who really cares whether it is a man or a woman?

Times are changing folks, this is an age that is blind to sex and is all about love and personal happiness. Yes, we all want our children to get married to the perfect person and have wonderful grandchildren, but the reality is that people have to find what makes them happy and not worry so much about what society wants or what our parents and grand-parents want because they have already had a chance to live their own lives and it is your life that YOU need to live and who cares what anybody else thinks?

On a tangent...Mormons have tons of kids, anyone telling them they can't have all the kids they want? No, of course not, because it is their own choice to have all of those kids. I don't agree with it, there is a huge population explosion going on in the world, there are housing problems, recessions and food shortages, so I think that people should only have 2 children. That makes sense, one child per parent. No really, I really do think this (sorry Dad, I know you want a billion granddaughters)... And I think that anyone who goes on any kind of social program like Welfare should not be compensated for having more than two children (I believe that sterilization is a reasonable solution). Really, the more kids you have the more money you get? That is rediculous!! Is this scandalous? Maybe... and to have any props that support my ideas would be outrageous to most of the community. Why? Because to expect anyone to restrict the number of children they have, especially in the USA, would be an infringement of personal freedom!

Personal freedom...hmm...how about religious beliefs? Again, we are allowed to believe and practice any religion we want...so lets stop being hypocrits and let people live they way they want to live, especially if it does not affect anyone else in a negative way.

Can't we all just get along?

Oh, and vote "No" on Prop 8!

My Dad is back!

For all who did not know, Dad has just spent the past 6 months traveling around the world during his sabbatical semester. Here is the link to his blog so you can catch up...
http://hfaroundtheworldin180days.blogspot.com/

I went to pick him up from the Reno airport on Friday, one of the hottest days this summer!

We also got a visit from our friend Gael who is biking down from Canada to Mexico. It was a really nice weekend, so I'll upload some pictures and write more about it soon! =)

Welcome to the Subaru family!

So we went to Sunnyvale this to celebrate Ryan's birthday and homecoming, it was a really nice time! Good to see family, it has been awhile since we all got together!

I also got a new car! It is an 2002 Subaru Forester, which I shall call "The Silver Bullet". It needed an alignment and a new tire so I could not drive it off the lot like I wanted to on Saturday, but we got to go back for it on Sunday. Yay, happy day! I love the new little car, it drives like a champ and gets better gas mileage! My truck gets something like 18mpg, so ANYTHING has to be better! I happen to really like the Subarus and found this at a real opportune time!