~ °Café de Terrasse° ~

~ vendredi, mars 07, 2003 ~

I am shocked, speechless, and appalled! A boycott on France!? It was on the news. People were dumping vin rouge in the streets which was supposed to symbolize French blood! They were slurring Chirac and France, saying Osama+Hussein=Chirac. I am going to blog about this later after I get all the information. For now, it seems utterly childish and outragious! Les bêtes! ça, c'est pourquoi ils vous detestent!

~Benjamin 3/07/2003 08:26:00 PM

I was in a lunchline this afternoon because I had a craving for salad. Behind me, I felt a tap. I turned around and this girl asked me, "Hey, can you explain to me how to get lunch from here? This is my first time." So I explained how one has to choose their meal and pay at the end of the line. I know how she felt. I felt that way when I first entered that lunchline but who was this girl? Why have I never seen her before? My simple and innocent curiosity led me to ask and she answered simply, "I'm new to this school." Honestly, who comes to a 'foreign' school in the middle of the second semester? So anyway, I was like, "Well I'm Benjamin and you are...?" She just mumbled her name and after inquiring of it two or three times more, I just gave up and pretended to hear. I told her I'd see her around campus and I'd help her if she were ever lost. It must be really difficult for her without friends or without knowledge of how the school is run, or without anybody... it reminds me of that new Korean guy Victoria talks about or the foreign exchange students on campus. Hmmm... All they need is friends. That's what everybody needs- to get by with a little help from friends.

~Benjamin 3/07/2003 08:19:00 PM

dumdeedumdeedum... Hey, did you know that Dasani Purified Water and Nestea Iced Tea come in the same type of bottle? Yet, they're produced by different companies. Odd... Anyway, so someone last year told me that I strut when I walk because I have the tendency to walk one foot in front of the other. My mother thinks I do it on purpose. I most certainly do not. Although, when I am walking in front of people who seem to notice, I get rather self-conscious about the way I walk and I can't walk right and so the strut becomes worse. So anyway, today I wanted to see if anybody else "unconsciously strutted". My sister Sonya is like, the struttiest strut in the business of strutting. I know she doesn't mean to but haha... it's cool. So anyway, watching people strut made me notice something else. Most people step heel first but occasionally, some people step with the front part of their feet first. Everytime these people walk, they bounce. No, not that way! I mean, their entire body seems to bounce off the floor. It's interesting. Some people walk and they sway sideways... not quite like strutting but more like ummm... swaying. It's quite a sight... but hey, it's normal. It's very very normal. Just like me- I'm normal! hahaha

~Benjamin 3/07/2003 07:58:00 PM

Well let me just summarize my day... Right now, I feel blah. Je suis blah. I'm tired. My morning was alright though... I went to Denny's to meet my friends Yesenia, David, Ingrid, Jonathan, and Sonya. We had breakfast and shared some laughs. After the AP Biology students left, some of us went to Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles in Pasadena with Carlitos and a huge group of people. I mean, a huge group. There were like, twenty-five of us Seniors in there and we were loud. When we finished there, we found out that a couple of people from our party didn't pay their part of the bill. They just snuck out and left. That was terrible. Carlitos had to pay for their part. So we drove back to Duarte High just in time to miss half of "first period". I found it rather pointless that we had to come to classes that only lasted 23 minutes long! By the time we took role call and were introduced an assignment, we were already half way through the period. I'm thankful though that they weren't full periods. At least it was a break from all the stresses of full-time periods. So anyway, Natalie took me home after classes and that was my day. I wanted to go out but the weather was not quite on my side. I didn't even feel like going to Starbucks as Ricardo recommended because it isn't café weather and I am sortof broke. Hmmm... Anyway, I'm sooo looking forward to Saturday. Lately, I've been feeling rather social.

~Benjamin 3/06/2003 07:05:00 PM

Today is Dies Cinerum (Day of Ashes). For Catholics, it is the beginning of the Lenten Season- forty days of soul-searching and repentance, reflection and stock-taking. You may notice some people such as myself, with ashy crosses on their foreheads. Ash Wednesday, as practiced by Roman Catholics, represents mourning and penance and symbolizes God's ownership of humans and mortality. "Remember, man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return." The cross on the forehead is also a literal mark. For on this day, Catholics wear their faith on their forehead for the world to see their identity. For another reason, the faithful who bear ash crosses on their foreheads are also soldiers against the satanists who wear 666 on their foreheads.
Today, because I am between the ages of 14 and 59, I am bound by Canon Law to abstain and fast. Fasting is not self-starvation. It is actually the act of eating one full meal during the course of the day. Two smaller meals are permitted if necessary to maintain strength according to one's needs, but eating solid foods between meals is not permitted. Beginning today, I am to abstain from eating meat on Fridays. Seafood is not considered a meat because according to Latin belief, they do not have flesh and so thus are not classified as meat. Also, fish is a symbol of Christ and by eating fish on Friday, we are symbolically nourished by Christ while denying ourselves other forms of animal sustenance. "The season of Lent is a preparation for the celebration of Easter." Unlike our sister church, the Orthodox Churches follow stricter rules for Lent. Orthodox Christians cannot eat meat, seafood, oils, vinegars, wines, eggs, cheese, milk, etc. Many Protestants are not required to fast or abstain in any way. Nevertheless, they do acknowledge the season of Lent as a preparation for the celebration of Easter. It is a time that brings all Christians together. Eating can be a dangerous thing. It got us kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Maybe abstaining from it will get us back into paradise.

~Benjamin 3/05/2003 05:20:00 PM

The bell rang. Sonya went with Natalia and I, with Justin in the opposite direction. During that time, I was thinking to myself about what I would do until the bus would arrive to pick me up. Justin parted away, changing route. I kept walking on, passing team swimmers, immature bottle throwers, and a couple in love. Up the other set of steps I went and all the way up the driveway I stood. T'was the driveway of City Hall. Natalie passed by in her car with Sonya in the passenger side window. Hi! I don't think they saw me though. I went back down to the center courtyard of City Hall to admire the gothic-style water fountaine that was built there. In the slight light of the sun struggling to shine behind the clouds, the fountaine had a sort of Francophone appeal. I placed my stuff against it, crossed my legs upon the edge and proceeded to read "French Lessons" by Peter Mayle. The chapter was about his travel to the French countryside during one semi-cloudy and drizzly morning. I looked up at the slate-couloured sky. Twas just how the livre seemed to descibe it. In the centre of the French village, according to Mayle, was a square among the homes, cafés, and the Hôtel de Ville. I could only imagine a fountaine as I closed my eyes and listened to the gentle trickle of the fountaine water. I began to feel a draft at my back even though I was wearing a sweater. At the moment I thought I could take it no longer and when my mind was given the option of forcing my shivering body to sit in the dusty bench to my right, a hole appeared in a cloud and the sun took the opportunity and reached out to me. I was taken aback by the warmth of her rays. The effect of the soleil as even Mayle descibed it could not have done justice to what I felt. Elise passed by as did Javier and some other guy who I've seen around campus but never knew his name. I continued to focus on my book. When I had finished reading the chapter, I spent 12 minutes in silence as I watched the fountaine, remembering its French cousin which I had met two years back. I looked back at my pocketwatch reading 15 minutes till, and I slowly rose from my seat. As I left the courtyard, I passed a bouquet of growing flowers, I recalled seeing a field of them in the Giverny Campagne. I went to the grassy hill overlooking the city pool to watch how Sonya and Natalie were coming along with their swim practice. The bus sneaked up behind me and I turned around to enter it. Hello Miguel. I had known the bus driver since jr. high. when I first rode his bus alone. I sat in the right blue-coloured, old-cushioned seat as the bus pulled away from the curb. The trip home was remarkable. The mountains and the river from the view of the raised vehicle reminded me of a trip to Versailles. The mountains behind my home were golden green. A strange combination but nevertheless beautiful. The bus stopped, I thanked and saluted Miguel, who very much reminded me of Jacques back in bus #139-something in Paris. I just stood at my driveway and watched a girl and her dog taking a promenade. How sweet a sight. I turned around as they turned the corner and I entered my home quietly, put down my stuff, stretched out on the sofa, and took a nap.

~Benjamin 3/04/2003 08:15:00 PM

I had a wonderful time last night at la maison de my friend, Justin. My friend Sonya was there too and we had oodles of enjoyment through laughter, reminiscing, and just the overall presence of good friends. I've known them since second grade but never at that time did I ever think about spending quality time with them like I did last night. The value of time and time spent with friends is really something you don't realize until you find that you have no more time to spend with them. But, let's not get deep and philosophical now. I am just happy to remember my elementary days. Happy and hopeful that in later years, my roots and my times will never be forgotten, especially those times when you spend an evening at a friends' homes, playing Scrabble, watching Mummy films, playing with lights, copying test answers, and still remembering, our past.

~Benjamin 3/02/2003 08:38:00 PM