Thor has a new friend

Thor (my turtle) has a new friend who traveled all the way from Australia. Meet Ken, the kangaroo. Star brought him back from her trip from down under :)

Thank you, Star!

Introducing the Philippines to UF students

I volunteered to present at an International Children's Literature course for graduate students here at the University of Florida. I worked with two students taking the course to create a powerpoint presentation and provide information about the Philippines, its culture, writers and publishers of children's lit in the Philippines.

We started the presentation with a video that I got from the Department of Tourism. I also brought an embroidered panuelo (shawl), which is just one of the many of components of the baro't saya- the Philippine's National Dress. The students were fascinated to learn that the panuelo I brought is made from pineapple fabric. Then I showed them my miniature jeepney and explained how this was actually adapted for Filipino use from the army jeep.

Sharon, one of my partner student, went to San Francisco for spring break and brought back several Filipino snacks (dried mangoes, sunflower crackers, machacao etc) that she got from a Filipino store there.

One of my partners, told me that after I left, the professor asked the class what they thought. Someone said that she never thought of going to the Philippines before, but after the presentation, she actually wants to go there! Yehey!

Then and now...

My friend said that this fascination with comparing my pre and post braces pictures is probably a stage most people who just had their braces removed go through since she also went through the same thing.

So should my ortho be proud of her work? Actually, the treatment process is not yet done, but I was fed up with it! I therefore begged her to remove it already. Since its less than perfect, I am not allowed to say that she's my ortho so that her record is not blemished!hehehe

*big smile*

thought it would be fun to compare pictures... what has changed over the years?

Niagara Falls

Went to Niagara Falls with a couple of Joanne's friends. It's only about 1.5 hours from Rochester. They said that the view from Canada is much better, but since I don't have a Canadian visa, we couldn't cross. On the way home, we had some authentic buffalo wings at Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY.

Exploring Rochester

One great thing about being a student is having a lot of vacations.

For my first Spring Break, I decided to go to New York to visit Joanne (and get my braces off hehehe). I spent 2.5 days in NYC and four days in Rochester.

I actually like Rochester - not only because they have tall buildings (yes, we don't have them in Gainesville so I get really excited seeing lots of them! Cheap huh?) but also because they have amazing museums!

There's the Strong Museum, the George Eastman House (Home of the founder of Kodak Company) and the Memorial Art Gallery. I only had time to visit three of them but there were still number of museums I would have loved to have seen.

The George Eastman House has several changing galleries that exhibit works of contemporary artists or photographs and photography and film equipment from the museum's extensive collection. Unfortunately, they don't allow photography inside the Eastman House - no photography inside the photography and film museum hehehe. Would have been interesting to show the huge elephant head hanging in his living room!

Strong National Museum of Play

I took a seven-hour bus ride from NYC to Rochester via Megabus. It was a very pleasant ride: the bus was clean, it had wifi and electrical plugs on board and it was almost empty so I was able to stretch out and sleep for about five hours :) - so much for planning to read my thick cognitive psych book I brought along! But the best part is that the trip only cost me $ 20 when normal fare via greyhound or amtrak is $60-80!

Of course my first stop upon reaching Rochester was the Strong National Museum of Play. This museum was just mentioned in one of our readings for my Exhibitions class, so I was really curious about it.

It has a huge exhibition space that had mostly interactive exhibits. The whole concept of the museum, as you will later see in the pictures, is the the powerful impact of playing in human development. If I had a kid, I would definitely bring him/her there regularly.

New York City - Day 2

Day two was supposed to be my museum day. I planned to spend all day in museums - MoMa, Met and Guggenheim. However, since I was exhausted from exploring the Big Apple the previous day, I woke up pretty late and decided to forgo Met and Guggenheim.

I couldn't miss MoMa because last time I was in New York, they constructing its new building and only a handful of their collection were on view. Furthermore, Van Gogh Starry Night, my favorite painting, was on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago for the "Van Gogh and Gaugin: The Studio of the South" exhibition. Although I still had a chance to see it when I went to the exhibition, I still wanted to see it at its "home". But much to my dismay, it was again on loan and wont be back until after April. This warrants another visit in summer then!

Before going to MoMa, I stopped by Grand Central Station and the UN Headquarters to take some pictures. My day ended with sumptuous buffet dinner with Rhea (college friend and classmate)) at the View, a restaurant at the top floor of the Marquis Hotel.

I really heart New York!

New York City - Day 1

I met up with fellow Pinoy Fulbrighter, Joseph Laban, who is studying at NYC. He took me around New York and was nice enough to take my pictures too :)

He showed me parts of NY that I have never seen (except Times Square of course). Since I spent more time in museums during my last visit 7 years ago, there were some places that I never saw.

Isa pa, isa pang chicken joy!

Of course, eating at Jollibee was high on my priority list when I visited New York City last week. Joseph, a fellow Pinoy Fulbrighter studying in NYC, was nice enough to take me to Woodside, NY so I can satisfy my craving!

We were actually lucky that there were no lines outside, which were always quite long and sometimes involved hours of waiting outside in the cold New york weather!

But I was disappointed with the spaghetti - it's not the typical sweet Pinoy style I love. As Joseph puts it, the food has been "Americanized". The chickenjoy was as yummy as I remembered it from back home :)

Solution for boring walls

I am so tired of my plain white bedroom walls that one day I decided to print a number of pictures I've taken through the years and stuck them on my wall. Since I cannot really spend on printing, I just printed them gray-scale with a laser printer. Would have been great if I mounted them on foam board but that's an added expense I would rather not incur. Plus, this was one of those impulsive mini-projects I suddenly decide to do at 2am!

I loved it! Inexpensive yet it adds character to my boring wall. And since these were pictures I've taken during my travels, they also bring back fond memories that make me smile when I look at them.

Diversity Fellowship to Attend AAM Conference

I almost fainted today when I read the e-mail confirming that my application for the Diversity Fellowship to attend the American Association of Museums conference in Philadelphia this April has been accepted. Weeeeeh!

Here's part of the letter:

On behalf of the American Association of Museums and the Diversity Fellowship Program Committee, we would like to congratulate all of you for your hard work and dedication to the museum community

The 2009 Diversity Fellowship Program, honoring outstanding museum professionals and students of diverse backgrounds who have demonstrated interest in issues related to diversity, has put you at the top of the page. You have demonstrated and proven that you are a very special group of individuals.

One of the application requirements was an essay on why we think diversity in museum is important and how I can contribute to diversity in museums. I think I am getting the hang of how to write effective application essays :)

Here is the website of previous recipients:http://www.aam-us.org/getinvolved/nominate/diversityfellowinfo.cfm. I am soooo looking forward to seeing my profile at the website and conference brochure indicating that I am from the Philippines- Pinoy and Proud! I had better find a decent picture :)

The fellowship will cover registration fee to the conference and and a $1,000 for my travel, food and lodging expenses.

God is so good!

Frist Center for the Visual Arts

The Frist Center is the first place I visited the day I arrived in Nashville - no surprise there. Since I did not have enough time to see, absorb and enjoy the exhibitions, and more importantly, explore the ArtQuest gallery, I promised to come back before I leave.

On my second visit, I spent over two hours at the ArtQuest gallery indulging the educator in me, trying all of their activities and creating art works! I just looooooooove interactive spaces!!! I wanted to have something like this in the Philippines, but the plan did not materialize. Perhaps when I return...

Nashville, TN (part Two)

More pictures from the Fulbright Enrichment Seminar in Nashville, TN. These are from the camera of a new friend from the Dominican Republic, Giordano :)

Nashville, TN (part one)

Flew to Nashville for a three-day Fulbright Enrichment Seminar. Made dozens of new friends and had lots fun exploring the Country Music capital of the US.

I will upload more pictures after I am done catching up with school works I missed during my five-day absence. I got stuck in Nashville an extra day due to the snow storm that hit the east coast, plus Atlanta, on Sunday. As a result, a number of flights were cancelled, including mine since I had a stop over in Atlanta.

However, this gave me a chance to see more of the city and spend more time at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.