Qana, Lebanon

I don't know how many of you have been following what has been happening in Lebanon. I have been trying to keep up with it, although the news coverage here is spotty at best. Most days reading about it, seeing the pictures, trying to imagine what it must be like to live in that situation makes me kind of feel a little bit queasy. Today, well, it was more or less a down right, im going to barf feeling. They bombed a shelter. They killed 50 or so people, 34 of which were children. And then, according to some reports, they continued to bomb the aid workers as they pulled out the limp bodies of the children.
I just dont understand how this happens? I mean, I know that it continues to happen everyday in Iraq and no one seems to give a crap anymore, but to spread this to somewhere else in the region and not hear outcries of resistance from everywhere else in the world kind of makes me wonder how many people are actually paying attention, how many people are too caught up in their daily lives to even notice that this type of thing can occur, and worse, be justified. How apathetic are we? Don't get me wrong, I know we have our own issues to deal with and there are lots of people who suffer everyday in Canada and in other places around the world because of a plethora of different reasons, however, when a place like Lebanon, which was actually doing alright, is assaulted to such a degree, it just adds to the long list of people already trying to get some relief. How do we expect people to get over this? I mean, a thirteen year old girl had 5 of her family members killed. I know I wouldn't get over that anytime soon. It would have to be a serious conscious decision for her to not hate the people that did this. what is she going to do now?
I don't have any answers for this. I don't even really know who to blame in all of this. I just know that reading about Qana this morning made me feel physically ill, and above all, helpless.

BABY!!!!

So...
I am going to be an aunt...AGAIN!!!
Congratulations goes out to my sister, brother-in-law and nephew!



(this pic is how she told us...)


(if this doesn't get some comments...i will be severely disappointed!)

Riverbend

Anyone want an insider's view on Iraq? here it is.
A blog written by a young woman who lives in baghdad. i read through a lot of it today and i must say, she presents a point of view that is not heard of otherwise. in this instance, thank god for technology.
go to: http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

Sylvia needs...hairy mummies

In following my good friend heather, I made the google search. Sylvia needs something more than platitudes right now was number one. Followed by, Sylvia needs all the support she can get and Sylvia needs to be useful, inviting, and intuitive enough to overcome the extra time involved in creating a consistent, structured syllabus. Now,the last one doesn't really make that much sense, but i really quite enjoy the first one.
Anyways,
Said goal of going to Mexico was accomplished. After a harrowing flight there (my plane from seattle was delayed for five hours, didn't get into houston until 3 in the morning, but i enjoyed the fox news shop right next to the George Bush statue, complete with his tie blowing in the wind)
I enjoyed a week and a half of Monterrey, with a side trip to San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Dolores Hidalgo and Real de Catorce. Let me tell you, I will someday live in Guanajuato. Coolest town ever! it is made up of winding, narrow streets, and by law, the whole town must be structured to meet the architectural design of its core which dates from the late 1700's. Needless to say, I was impressed. The city's traffic is supported by an intricate tunnel system. Good times were had trying to navigate around the city. We passed by a city guide three times before we finally stopped and asked for help! He was laughing so hard at us! At the edge of town, there is a mummy museum. Apparently the soil there has a strange mix that naturally mummifies people. So they were going to build over a cemetary and they went to remove this group grave site and found all these mummified bodies. Pretty cool considering they still had TEETH and EYES and they were HAIRY!!! The world's smallest mummy is there too.

We enjoyed the artist town of San Miguel, its really pretty and went touring and had ice cream in dolores hidalgo where the revolution was started by hidalgo. I learned a ton about mexican history. pretty interesting stuff.
Last was a trip up a extremely long cobblestone road (i think 24 km to be exact!), thru a one-way traffic tunnel (controlled by two guys with radios) and to real de catorce, a ghost town that has been revived due to the number of indigenous pilgrims that come there to collect peyote. We wandered for a while. seems like the biggest industry there is construction! it was where they shot The Mexican.
Upon return to Monterrey, I met most of Rafa's friends and we went clubbing. The rest of the days were spent exploring caves, driving thru a canyon, going to two museums, a baseball game, and perhaps most interestingly for a poli sci nerd like myself, talking to people about the elections as an observer, and going to polling stations. Very interesting stuff! i learned a lot not only about Mexican elections, but also about Canadian ones. anyways, enjoy the pics. im off to bask in the sun!