iTunes Tuesdays, Special Edition

This Tuesday I've decided to share a really special song. I'm just gonna lay it all out there, why not?? So this song is called "Sabes" which means "You Know" and it's by a group from Mexico called Reik. They're kind of "popish" but I really like some of their ballads, in particular this one.

I first heard this most romantic song when I had just gotten back from Italy, after having met the Italian. It was a beautiful spring day in March when I fist laid eyes on his beautiful face. I knew he was going to be someone very important in my life. I spent 7 of the most wonderful days of my life with him in Milano. He was my personal tour guide and left quite the impression on me with his knowledge of all things Milano. Art, architecture, culture, history, etc. and it wasn't just limited to Milano, global really. He took me to restaurants where I was the only tourist and I had some really memorable meals. Somewhere in the course of those 7 days, I fell truly, madly, deeply (in Spanish, "locamente, siegamente, profundamente, enamorada") in love with this man. The day I had to get on a plane back to the states was torcher, serious agony. I was happy and scared at the same time. He promised me he would come visit me in the summer and I knew deep down in my heart he would, but I couldn't help but feel this least bit vulnerable. I mean I pretty much put myself out there to get my heart torn to shreds. I had never participated in a long distance relationship of this nature. When you first fall in love with someone, you want to spend every waking moment with them, and this was pretty much out of the question for us. How was this going to work?? A wise woman once commented on this here blog that "if it was meant to be, then it already is". She couldn't have been more right. Once I learned to let go and trust, the pieces just sort of fell into place. The Italian has been here to Portland twice now and our bond continues to grow stronger with each passing day. We have a bright future together, and even though we are still living apart, I wake up every morning knowing that we are one day closer to finally being together on a more permanent basis.

Back to the song, this song thoroughly describes what I have felt for him from the very beginning. It resonated in my soul. So this song is for you chiquito lindo. I love you.

Translation to go along with the lyrics.



Sabes?
You know?
No pido nada mas que estar entre tus brazos
I ask for nothing more than to be in your arms
Y huir de todo el mal
And flee from all that is bad
Que ha todo he renunciado
I have renounced it all
Por estar junto a ti
To be by your side

Sabes? No dejo de pensar
You know? I can't stop thinking
Que estoy enamorado
That I'm in love
Te quiero confesar
I want to confess to you
Que soy solo un esclavo
That I'm just a slave
Que no sabe vivir sin ti
That doesn't know how to live without you

Cuando llegaste tu
When you arrived
Te metiste en mi ser
You entered my being
Encendiste la luz
You lit the light
Me llenaste de fe
You filled me with faith

Tanto tiempo busque
I searched for so long
Pero al fin te encontre
But I finally found you
Tan perfecta como te imagine
So perfect, like I imagined you

Como aguja en un pajar
Like a needle in a haystack
Te busque sin cesar
I searched for you without ceasing
Como huella en el mar
Like a footprint in the sea
Tan dificil de hallar
So difficult to find

Tanto tiempo busque
I searched for so long
Pero al fin te encontre
But I finally found you
Tan perfecta como te imagine
So perfect, like I imagined you

Sabes?
You know?
Te quiero confesar
I want to confess to you
Que te encuentro irresistible
That I find you irrisistible
No dejo de pensar
I can't stop thinking
Que haria lo imposible
That I would do the impossible
Por quedarme cerca de ti
To remain near you

Cuando llegaste tu
When you arrived
Te metiste en mi ser
You entered my being
Encendiste la luz
You lit the light
Me llenaste de fe
You filled me with faith

Tanto tiempo busque
I searched for so long
Pero al fin te encontre
But I finally found you
Tan perfecta como te imagine
So perfect, like I imagined you

Como aguja en un pajar
Like a needle in a haystack
Te busque sin cesar
I searched for you without ceasing
Como huella en el mar
Like a footprint in the sea
Tan dificil de hallar
So difficult to find

Tanto tiempo busque
I searched for so long
Pero al fin te encontre
But I finally found you
Tan perfecta como te imagine
So perfect, like I imagined you

Sabes?
You know?
No pido nada mas
I ask for nothing more
Que estar entre tus brazos
Then to be in your arms

Just Some Fun Facts.....

Educational background of candidates:

Obama:
Occidental College - Two years.
Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D .) Magna Cum Laude

Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 of 899

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism

Hmmm, a couple of Lawyers vs. a couple of jackasses. The choice is obvious.
OBAMA/BIDEN '08

But don't take my word for it. See for yourself:

http://www.themudflats.net/2008/09/26/mccain-camp-realizes-palin-is-clueless/

Wordless Wednesday

Twilight

Saturday I had to drive out to Beaverton, a suburb of Portland, to pick up some pants I was having altered by a seamstress. She told me last week that she was going to be home all day so I could stop by anytime on Saturday. As luck would have it, she was not home when I arrived. I called her cell phone and she told me she was out running errands and wouldn't be home until 3:30pm. It was now 12:30pm. Great. Lesson learned. I should have called before I went. I didn't want to have to drive back to Portland and back again, so I remembered that there was a movie theater nearby. There are a few movies I've been wanting to see but the only one starting when I arrived at the theater was "Righteous Kill", the DeNiro/Pacino movie. All the others had already started, so "Righteuos Kill" it was. This movie was just ok, not their greatest body of work. It was a bit predictable. The Italian would have probably liked it more than me as this is his kind of movie and he is a DeNiro fan. When the movie ended, I still had an hour to kill, so I headed over to Barnes & Noble.

Normally, in terms of buying books, I scout out the book at Barnes or Powell's(Powell's deserves it's own post and that will be coming soon), then I come home and order the books that interest me from amazon.com. Unless Powell's has a used version. So when I went to Barnes, there was quite the display for this book called "Twilight". Being artistically inclined, I'm a sucker for a good display. I was intrigued. So I picked up the book and kind of thumbed through it. Seemed pretty good, so I wrote it down on my list of books to scout out on Amazon. Now I have to tell you that this book is about a love story between a vampire and a normal girl. Not normally a subject I like to read about, vampires. I like books that transport me to another place, and perhaps another time, but I used to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer back in the day, so I thought, why not? Plus, it is listed as a young adult book, but there were some older women talking about how they loved the book. I'm such a sucker, I know, I know. Some of the other books that interest me are "The Bastard of Istanbul" and "The Flea Palace" by Elif Sharak.

So when I got home and started researching this book, which is actually the first in a series, I was sort of thrown for a loop when I found out that this book has like this total cult following all over the world. It's been on the NY Times bestseller list like forever, it's been translated to over 20 languages and there's a movie coming out in November AND it was filmed right here, in Portland, Oregon. Where the hell have I been??? People have created websites dedicated to this series of books and they are traveling to the litte town of Forks, Washington where the story takes place. I'm not normally one to "jump on the bandwagon" but all of this really has me intrigued, so I am going to order the book from Amazon. I checked the library website to see if it was available and the system has 89 copies with 471 holds on this book. Insane. I want to read it before the movie comes out, so I'm not willing to put my name on a waiting list of 471 people. After I finish reading the book, which may take a while because I have a lot of other reading to do for school, I will post my review. Off to order my book!

Here's a trailer for the movie:

The People's Republic of Portland

Yep, you read it right. That's what Portlanders have affectionately named this great city to reflect it's increasingly left-wing personality. Portland is a mecca for liberals. People here really take quality of life and the environment quite seriously. As I stated in a previous post, it is the only U.S. city in the top 5 list of amazing green cities. You really get the sense that this is a city run by the people and for the people. Something that our ahem, great leaders in D.C. seem to have forgotten.



The Urban Dictionary's definition of the People's Republic of Portland is: nickname of Portland--it got that name because the city is very liberal.The People's Republic of Portland is located on the Left Coast. It's also been called "Little Beirut" by the Bush family because they are not so popular here.



Some other names given to Portland are Bridgetown (because we have 6 bridges in the city center alone), Brew City (because we have so many microbreweries here), P-town, The City of Roses (for obvious reasons) and Greener-than-Green-land (again, for obvious reasons).

Ok, this is a little much but I thought it was funny :)



I couldn't neglect to post the most famous (besides the Obama/Biden '08 stickers) bumper sticker in Portland:



Portland is a really fun city. There's always something going on, something to do and somewhere to go. If you're a nature lover, this is your paradise. Even my conservative Italian loves it here.

El Grito 16 de Septiembre

Last year I wrote about the Mexican Independence Day celebration in Portland here and this year was much of the same, except that this year it was held on Monday the 15th, instead of on the 16th. Boh, wait, that's Italian. In Spanish we would say, "Sepa la bola". Good food, good margarita's, good music, good entertainment, good networking going on, and I had a really good time with my friends.



We have the same colors as Italy, except the Mexican flag has that really cool eagle with the serpent in it's mouth. Viva El Tricolor!!



J was super extra happy to wait in line for her margarita! Ahoooaahhh!!



The obligatory photo with the Mariachi's. I have always been the whitest Mexican on the block. In elementary school my nickname was Casper



J and I reminisced about our days as Ballet Folklorico dancers. Ah, those were the days where we had not a care in the world. All we had to do was dance, go to school and play. How times have changed.



This part made me feel like I was in Mexico, except for the Nordstrom in the background.



And last but certainly not least, my friends, the Spain's. Isn't their baby so cute!! She was bopping and dancing along to the Mariachi's. It's in her blood.

Progress

I've lost a total of 10 pounds, although it's taken me a couple of months to lose it, any loss is better than gaining. For those of you that don't know, I was in the hospital last year for 5 weeks and the treatment that worked for my mysterious illness was steroids and some other medications that made me gain weight. I gained a total of 50 pounds, so I still have 40 pounds to go. I know I still have a lot of hard work ahead of me but I'm in for the long haul so I'll keep posting periodically on my progress. My problem is that I love to eat.(Ale calls me "golosa" but I don't eat junk food, I just have a love for gelato, oh, and torrone) This wasn't such an issue before I gained the weight because I was so active. I played tennis 5 days a week, had personal training, agility training and cardio classes. It's been a struggle to get that strength back. I still haven't really, but I'm not giving up. Since I am a student these days, it's not in my budget to play so much tennis or have personal training, so I've had to find alternatives. My boxing class is one alternative and I've been going on walks that average about 5 miles. I still have to add more things to my workout regimen, but I'm sure I'll find something. I was thinking of going on the Biggest Loser, but apparently I'm not fat enough, darn ;) I don't like that word "fat". I'd rather be called thick or fluffy :)
I took a picture of myself to see if I still had my huge double chin, but it seems to be shrinking! Just look...



Now if I could just get rid of the chipmunk cheeks and spare tire I've got hanging around my midsection, I'll be back in business! Tennis anyone??