Hallow's Evening

My beautiful niece and me!

Naturally, this time of year one wonders about the history and the true meaning of Halloween. I always remember my school, and how we were not allowed to celebrate this "holiday" by doing traditional stuff like wearing costumes or trick-or-treating. I went to a school founded by Ursulines; my teachers (some of them were nuns) used to say "we do not celebrate it because of its pagan roots."

The truth is, Halloween or "Hallow's Evening" (All Saints' Eve) is a feast that is dedicated to remembering the dead and departed (including saints and martyrs); according to the liturgical calendar, it is celebrated the evening before All Saints Day. Its roots are believed to emerge from Celtic Harvest Festivals, hence, the pagan influence (Source: Wikipedia).

This year, I am particularly thrilled about living in the U.S and being able to participate in typical festive activities like pumpkin carving and costume parties. I am ready to take part in the whole american Halloween experience!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

UT Turtle Pond (Inspirational, Descriptive Writing)

Visiting the Turtle pond the first time was different. There was so much noise the first time, so many thoughts on my mind, so many things to do. I took the pictures and left. I hadn't been in the Turtle Pond, I merely stepped on a spot of the campus map that was on my iPhone. I only represented a blue spot on Google Maps.

This time it feels different. I didn't notice the water lilies before, my favorite flower. If you listen carefully, try to isolate the loud noise from the A.C generator, you can appreciate the birds' singing. The cool fall breeze makes the turtles float around the pond with much more ease; I envy the turtles, they have no duties or responsibilities, they watch busy students and teachers go by without even noticing the beautiful scene in front of them. The turtles are probably wondering why we haven't left, why we are staring so profoundly -they are now sun bathing- :)

People come and go, but the pond is always here. Leaves move with the wind and make a nice, calming sound, almost as if they were announcing winter is near. I feel like nature is making fun of us, it is so much smarter than we are, it has been here since the beginning, watching all the ridiculousness going on around it.

"Another day will go by" thought the turtle; the lilies will turn pink again and once more, busy teenagers will walk by wearing crazy outfits and doing absurd things.

The bells chime, it is time to leave. Snap back to reality. Stop day dreaming. Your routine awaits.

DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS

Recycle, Reduce, Reuse!

 When my husband and I arrived in Austin the whole recycling thing took us by surprise. Sure, we were expecting a huge difference from Venezuela’s recycling activities, but there were certain things that we didn’t anticipate about this city’s way of living.

It all began when we made our first trip to H-E-B. When we finished selecting all our groceries, we headed to the cashier to pay. The friendly, young austinite with the red t-shirt and cap kindly asked: do you need a bag? And we answered: yes please. Carefully placing the items inside the bag, the cashier wished us a nice day. As always, I reviewed the printed version of my unnecessary purchases, just in case something needed to be returned afterwards. Stunned, I realized they had charged us for the plastic bag! I couldn’t help but wonder, was this an H-E-B exclusive policy? Was Target going to charge us for bags as well?

Soon, we discovered almost every supermarket in the city had the same no-free-bag policy, or even worse, no-bag-at-all policy. We were astonished. After going online to find out the reason for this madness, we learned about The Bag Ban! Effective since March the 1^st, 2013, the ban passed by the Austin City Council forbid the use of thin plastic bags on every business, shop or retailer; it specified shoppers should carry their purchases in reusable bags. Certain exceptions were made such as thick plastic (easy to recycle) bags and paper bags made out of recycled materials, which could be sold to customers in case they forgot their reusable bag (CLEARLY our situation).

Photo Credit: austinpost.org

I must admit, even though it took a while to get used to it, I find the Bag Ban (from now on: B.B) to be an exemplary policy that should be applied in every city in the world. We don’t realize the harm we are causing the environment by littering with these non-biodegradable, single use bags. Our first negative reaction, of course, was natural. We were not used to this, and neither were austinites until March the 1^st 2013; the B.B made a lot of citizens angry, especially plastic bag manufacturers. Mitzie Stelte from Community Impact Newspaper mentions that, at the very beginning of the B.B, people started complaining about the cost of reusable bags. Shortly after, very thrifty ones were available at many local retailers; even Dollar stores carried pretty decent ones. Sequentially, citizens began to adapt to this new formality and transitioned to a more conscious, responsible way of living. Nowadays, there are hardly any austinites that do not own a reusable bag. It is rare to see a thin, plastic, non-biodegradable bag in this city.

 Living in Austin has showed us that, although it seems impossible, these recycling measures can be applied. There is a different lifestyle waiting right around the corner for citizens that do not recycle, City Councils just have to take action and guide them to it. There are animals all over the world suffering from the consequences of contamination, and many people are not aware of the damage they are causing the environment by acting irresponsibly and not cooperating with the recycling measures. We should all just follow Austin’s footsteps and help save our Planet.  

DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS

A Freezing Piece of Heaven!

Have you ever experienced that instant pain in your bones when you dive into a freezing pool? Have you ever enjoyed it?

The scalding hot summer here in Austin makes you want to dive into a pool almost every time of the day, to escape into a very refreshing, cool spot were you can enjoy sunlight and hot weather. Still, water inside a regular outdoor pool can get very hot during the summer. Fortunately, nature has provided a wonderful alternative: Barton Springs Pool.

Centuries ago, this natural spring was inhabited by Native American tribes who considered it sacred and used it for purification rituals. After many distinguished owners such as William Barton (hence, the Barton S.P) and Andrew Zilker (Zilker Park), the spring gained popularity and later became property of the city of Austin. In the 1920's stairs, ladders, diving boards, and cement edges and sides were built around this natural spring to make it function as a normal swimming pool (Source: Wikipedia.)

The spring-fed water is 68 degrees (but it feels way chillier). Usually around summer time, many locals gather inside the pool and throughout its surroundings to enjoy weekends and sunny days. Hoping to get acquainted with the city and maybe meet some of the locals, my husband and I went to BSP. We were surprised by the way people interacted, as if they had known each other for a long time. For instance, when someone dived inside the pool doing a special flip in the air, other people clapped and cheered. At one point, I told my husband “we should clap too”. We didn’t understand why people were being so friendly.

The neatness of the pool also amazed us. Austinites certainly value their natural treasure. Everyone respects the pool’s restrictions and rules, and Parks and Recreation workers make sure this place stays clean and well preserved. The way families come here to relax and enjoy quality time together showed us the importance of valuing and caring for the natural resources that have been provided to us. A place like this deserves to be well looked after; in order for citizens to enjoy it, they should act in a responsible, nature-friendly way, as austinites clearly do. If only Venezuelans would treat El Ávila like Austinites treat their pool.    

DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS

Austin is a Stepping Stone

My name is Daniela Polanco, and I was born in Caracas, Venezuela. I am a married, 25 year old kindergarten teacher currently living in Austin, Texas.

Shocking image of "El Nazareno" 

In order to tell you a little bit about where I come from, I should probably start by saying I was very thrilled to leave Caracas and to come here and begin a new chapter in my life. Yes, I miss my friends and family, but I am very eager to take advantage of this opportunity and make the most out of it.

Sadly – due to various political and economical reasons – my hometown is currently not a nice place to live in, and as much as I love Venezuela and honor my inheritance, I was certain that coming here was the best decision my husband and I ever made. We never thought we would be forced to leave our country in order to start our marriage and our family. Leaving Caracas was hard, but it also helped us begin this new journey as a stronger, healthier couple.

You are probably wondering why living there was so horrible. Let me just start by saying Caracas is LOVELY; it is a beautiful city, full of history and culture, surrounded by an amazing natural wonder (our national treasure “El Ávila”, a mountain that surrounds the whole city and also protects it from natural disasters such as floods, tornados, and others). Some Caraqueños (people from Caracas) adore this mountain and take care of it; others don’t appreciate what the mountain provides (protection, refuge, opportunity to connect with nature every day, oh and of course, spectacular views!). Littering is an issue, as well as fires caused by it. Local policemen don’t do much about it, but every time the mountain burns there is a silence in the city as if a part of it had died, people mourn and share the pain with it. 

Nevertheless, El Ávila was not the reason we had to leave. There were so many issues keeping us from becoming a family. For starters, we had nowhere to live; with both our salaries we couldn’t afford even a room in someone else’s house. Did I mention we are both graduate students with excellent grades and a great curriculum? Oh, and yes, we both had jobs in great companies and earned way more than minimum wage. Even us caraqueños cannot understand the economy; people are suffering to maintain their families under a roof and working hard every day to keep up with the up scaling prices in the national market.

It is bad, very bad. And, it’s getting worse. We are one of the lucky people that got toleave before things got worse. The curious thing is, both my husband and I plan on returning there after a while, and even though we are aware that the situation is not going to improve anytime soon, we want to go back to where we came from, we want our kids to be able to see their grandparents and to grow up in the place we grew up in. Unfortunately, that place doesn’t exist anymore, and we fear it will never exist again. 

I want Austin to give me great memories and incredible experiences; I want it to be a stepping stone that will help me build my family. Caracas is no longer my current address, but it will always be my home. I hereby promise to never forget where I come from, but to always look forward to where I’m going. I hope this blog will help me overcome my fear of becoming a citizen in a strange, unknown city, with people and places who are unfamiliar to me; also, and I hope it will help me connect with Austin in a more personal, special way.