ASR Convention at Philadelphia

Hola! Today I'm going to Philadelphia with one of my ASR sisters, Elysia! I have never been to Philadelphia and I'm not even close to anyone there! I'm kind of nervous but at the same time excited to see how the other ASRs are! My only concern is that I still have homework due this Sunday, so hopefully I can have fun and finish my homework on time! I'm usually good at time management, but summer is summer! LOL 

Hola

It has been a while since I last posted here! I feel terribly bad for not posting! I have been really busy with summer school, moving, getting a Texas driver license and internship. Next week, I will post about what I did for my birthday in Panama! I had around 30 friends and 30 relatives at my place! It was kind of a big celebration! Tune in with me next week to see what I did! 

How Did It Go?

Como Me Fue?

So, my last blog was my last blog of the semester. I was blogging because my curriculum requires me to do so. But actually, I realized that I enjoy blogging. I want to continue sharing everything here. I am actually considering on having my own blog, yes like a legit one. Maybe I am going to create one using GoDaddy. I will work on this during summer.


As my last blog mentioned, I organized formal for Alpha Sigma Rho. Since I am Social Chair, I organized, prepared, decorated, MC and even cleaned up for the entire event. Special shout out to my sister, Fei for helping! We were an amazing team! Our ideas flowed and we had so much fun working on it. I don't know if I mentioned this before or not, but this was a joint formal with our sisters of San Antonio.

At first I was really nervous on how to manage both of our girls entertained and comfortable, but as the event went by everything came up excellent.

Me and my sister Fei made some changes on the ideas I posted before. Instead of having games, we decided to give personalized award gifts. We have one girl that just came from China. Her English is not perfect so we awarded her as "Miss Spelled" like misspelled. Then we gave her a dictionary as a gift! Everyone was laughing, even her! For our "Miss Lovebite," we gave her a condom that is presented as a lollipop. We had so much fun!

We got the photobooth backdrop idea online, and we were having problems on how do make it. As y'all know, I am kind of crazy so I thought on using crepe paper! And everything worked out! We coordinated the flower colors with the venue and backdrop!

Another change we did was to have the name tags pinned to the glasses. As the guests came in, we will ask for their names, look for the glass with their names and give it to them. It looks super elegant. Sadly, I didn't get the chance to take any picture that night because I was either preparing the MC, running around to fix minor miscommunications or MCing. It was a crazy night! I didn't even get to enjoy the yummy steak! Anyways, I enjoyed it! This is the reason why I re-ran to be Social Chair again next semester! And, yes! I GOT IT! I AM SOCIAL CHAIR AGAIN!

To end this post, I am going to leave some pictures from the event.

This was supposed to be clipped on the glass

With Fei

For this formal, I also made this formal video about our sorority! Please enjoy it!

Alpha Sigma Rho Spring 2014 Formal

Una Noche Inolvidable con mis Hermanas 

It is almost the end of the semester, and this week is my hell week! If you are wondering why it is my hell week, well, I have 3 exams and a project due this week. But I can’t want until this week ends, because! This Sunday will be my sorority’s formal! Actually, I have been preparing for this formal since the beginning of this semester! The reason I wanted Social Chair (takes care of formal and other events) is a lot of the people that I care a lot in the sorority are graduating! The last thing that I can do for them before they step into the next stage of life is to give them an unforgettable formal! I want them to enjoy this formal dinner as never ever before! On top of that, our sisters from UTSA (The University of Texas at San Antonio) are coming! We are going to have a joined formal! After all, the more, the merrier! 

Formal will be at Estancia

Yummy

A lot of meat, yum

Since it is a joined formal, we have to keep all our traditions. In order to make it funnier, this semester we are going to give out gag awards! We used to always have the same nice, inspiring and generic awards! This semester, after some struggle, we can finally do gag awards! To know what award to give out, I created a Google survey so that everyone can pitch in! They can name a sister, name the award and explain why she deserves the award. I was actually having a lot of fun while reading the entries. Apparently, one nominated me as “Miss 3^rd Wheel.” If you wonder why I got this award, well it is because I always thirdwheel my friends. Most of my closest friends are dating! So, whenever my friends want to hangout, it is always hanging out with my friends plus one (her/his boy/girlfriend).

Because of the secured budget we have for formal, I have come up with some affordable and creative ideas. For the centerpieces, I am planning to use some mason jars, decorate them and put some flowers or candle in it. I got inspired when I was surfing on Pinterest. For the newly crossed girls (new addition to the sorority), I am planning to hang their names on the back of the seat as “newly crossed” and in smaller letters “meet me.” And for the seats name tag for the other girls and her dates, I am planning to have chocolates with toothpicks on it to show their names. At first, I planned to bake cupcakes, but since I have so many exams and tests, I decided to use chocolates. Guests can eat the chocolate if they feel hungry! But usually people take them to go and a “souvenir.”

This is so cute

If time permits, I have planned to hide a mini gift below every table. We (me and another girl that is going to MC with me) are going to announce the winner by the middle of the event. I am planning to stick the “winner” sticker under the chair. If time permits and formal gets too boring, I will have some games ready. We will have the traditional guess the word game. People who want to play will couple up, one mimic the word and the other will need to guess.

The tables will be white

I have been planning this formal for a while, I hope they will like it. For the next blog, I will update y’all with more information about how did the formal go! Here I have attached a video of how Estancia is.

Semana Santa

Holy Week

What do we really celebrate? Why do we even celebrate?

It is soon “Semana Santa” or Easter! They way Americans and Latin Americans celebrate Senama Santa is not the same. Most countries in Central and South America are Catholic countries. People from there take Semana Santa very seriously!

The Easter Bunny is something very American. For Hispanics, Easter is more about Easter Eggs Recent years, Hispanics have started to become familiar with the idea of Easter Bunnies and Eggs since its market had grown internationally. Many of you might wonder the relationship between Lent and Easter. Lent is composed of fourty days, starting Miercoles de Ceniza (Ash Wednesday) to Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday). Semana Santa or Holy Week starts with Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday) and ends on Domingo de Pascua (Easter).

Since most Hispanic countries are Catholic, they understand the “real” reason of celebrating or commemorating God. Semana Santa for us (Hispanics) is to commemorate the death, sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Semana Santa means Holy Week. Everything starts on Sunday, Domingo de Ramos or Palm Sunday in English. According to the Bible, Jesus arrived to Jerusalem on a donkey. The villages welcomed Him and His disciples with palms.

On Thursday, it is Jueves Santo or Holy Thursday in English. According to the Bible, that is the day when Jesus had his last supper. The day after is Viernes Santo or Good Friday in English. According to the Bible, Jesus was crucified this day. On Sunday, it is Domingo de Resureccion or Easter Sunday in English. According to the Bible, it is the day when Jesus resurrected.

Now that we know the story behind Semana Santa, let’s see what do Catholics in Panama do. 

Domingo de Ramos

In Panama, the people along with the Archbishop gather palm leaves to celebrate this day. They raise the palm leaves and act as they are welcoming Jesus.  

Panama

Panama

Jueves Santo

This is the day when people start to kind of really celebrate Easter. Usually, most school, unless is a religious school (different than Catholics or Christian), don't have class starting on Thursday. This is a day which the Panamanians don’t work and spend time with God. This is the day where you attend Mass.

Panama

La Ultima Cena

Viernes Santo

A lot of true Catholic believers spend this day remembering Jesus Christ by going to church to pray. Some of them participate in the “Liturgia de Adoracion a la Cruz” by reacting the crucification of Jesus Christ. 

Panama

Peru

Doming de Resureccion

It is the last day of Semana Santa (Holy Week). Easter Egg is not a marketing idea, it is actually part of the tradition to exchange Huevos de Pascua de chocolate (Chocolate Eggs).

Peru

Now that you know the story behind Easter and Easter Eggs, are you excited to celebrate it?

If you are not religious, you can just do the Easter Egg part. It is very easy to get Easter Eggs anywhere. If you want to make it more fun, try the plastic eggs where you can fill it in with whatever you want. You can always get party supplies at Party City. A really fun thing to do would be painting eggs with your friends and family and then give it to each other. Remember, it is always fun to celebrate! 

Here is a video (in Spanish) with easy ways to paint a Easter Egg!

Recently, I just realized that there are not Kinder Surprise in America! In case you wonder what it is, here is a video of someone opening some Kinder Eggs! Although he got an adult voice, he sounds pretty innocent and baby! 

La Semana Santa es la manifestación de Dios de que la vida es esencialmente espiritual y eterna. 

-Charles M. Crowe

Día de Cesar Chavez

Cesar Chavez Day

Today, it is Cesar Chavez Day! I am actually working on a project of designing an integrated marketing campaign, which includes different public relations and advertising campaigns to raise awareness and promote the Cesar Chavez movie. This is a group project that I enjoy doing it with my friends! 

Cesar Chavez Day is actually a holiday celebrated only in Texas, California, and Arizona  Although it is not a day celebrated federally, it is celebrated internationally. Mexico celebrates it! March 31^st is a day to be observed with “appropriate service, community, and educational programs to honor Cesar Chavez’s enduring legacy.” Obviously, the best way to celebrate this unique and important day is by watching the movie, Cesar Chavez: An American Hero! 

The cast for this movie includes Michael Peña as Cesar Chavez, America Ferrera as Helen Chavez and Rosario Dawson as Dolores Huerta. The release date for the movie is on March 28, 2014, just before the official Cesar Chavez Day! 

To Celebrate this day, we should first make some preparations. You don't necessary need to be from Mexican heritage or live in Texas, California or Arizona, to plan something fun and informational for that day. Anyone should know more about Cesar Chavez! He is an American farm worker, labor leader, civil right activist and co-funder of National Farm Workers Association. First, you should make sure that you could get the Cesar Chavez movie tickets. You will not want to in line to watch the movie. If you want to buy the tickets beforehand, you should click here. 

You should plan out this night so that your friends, relatives or children who don't know about Cesar Chavez get to know more about him. This kind of celebration is more of a hangout type, it is not the type where you need to send out invitations or organize what food to prepare. You should start by contacting some friends that you want to watch the movie with or just go with your family. If you have children, then you should tell them that you guys are going to watch the Cesar Chavez movie together beforehand so that they can go and tell their classmates that they are watching the movie. Make sure to educate them a bit about who Cesar Chavez is and what he did. 

Before watching the movie, it is always a good idea to have dinner together first. You don't necessary need to plan too much for this night, because it is a casual hangout. You go to your favorite restaurants, eat and then watch the movies! This is the best way to celebrate Cesar Chavez Day! 

Remember, you don't need to plan too much for this day! You can always watch the movie later, not necessary on that date! You don't necessary need to have dinner together before watching the movie, but it is highly recommended. You can always have the dinner after the movie too! Anything works! 

I would like to conclude this post with a very special quote from Cesar Chavez, 

Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact 

reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.

----- O -----

If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him... the people who give you their food give you their heart.
----- O -----
Perhaps we can bring the day when children will learn from their earliest days
 that being fully man and fully woman means to give one’s life to the 
liberation of the brother who suffers.