in this week's edition of passport to dc...

our weekly llc meeting yielded exciting results! here are the cliff's notes:

next wednesday, november 4th -- international games night in the new hall basement. come around, play games from different countries, eat some delicious baked goods. have a jolly good time.

(tentative, pending approval) saturday, november 14th -- international bbq in kogan plaza. food from around the world, live music! come dance salsa and learn about the llc!

saturday, november 21st -- complimentary llc field trip to the newseum, thanks to our lovely coordinators. remember to assign a person to your room to message val the number of people from your room who will be attending.

in other news,

hunger and homelessness week is happening the 16th-20th of november. there's a nonperishable food drive happening all week, so be sure to donate some canned/dry goods! there'll be a receptacle for them in the new hall lobby.
also, that wednesday there will be a banquet happening in marvin center. the idea is that you're assigned to be rich or poor, and what food you get depends on what your label is. should be fun :)
talk to cristina for more details.

and don't forget to talk to chris about taking your llc pictures! he says he'll be in the photo lab next friday (the 6th).

for passport to dc, this is nicole, signing out.

Hey Guys!

Thought this would be a good spot to tell you about this past weekend. Natalie and I went to Barcelona with two of our other friends from GW to visit Sean, a former LLC member. The weekend was awesome. Barcelona is a beautiful city with a rich cultural history. Sean (which I'm sure Val could expand upon) told us all about the Catalan separatist movement and it's relationship with Madrid and the rest of Spain. I've been to Barcleona before, but it still struck me as odd that they speak a language other than Spanish. Here are some pictures from our weekend. We miss you all!!!

Sangrada Familia: Translated as "Sacred Family," Antonio Gaudi designed this cathedral. They started building it in the early 20th century and it still isn't finished today because its construction relies soley on donations.

Park Guell: My favoite thing in Barcleona (Val can tell you)! Gaudi also designed this and it's all composed of mosaics.

Placa Espanya: At the top is a museum of Catalan history, but it has an awesome view of the city.

And at night has a hydro/light show.

Turkish Festival

This weekend at Metro Center the American Turkish Association organized their annual Turkish Festival! Dave and I went on Sunday afternoon to check it out. Most of the booths there were food, although there were a few booths selling traditional Turkish jewelry, crafts and foods. We each got a Doner, a sandwich made from thinly sliced meat, onions, tomatoes, etc. in a pita, and I tried Ayran, a salty drink made from yogurt. It was a beautiful day and a great way to avoid the sunday homework blues.

Keep your eyes peeled for more festivals coming up!

Nick

recap

it's been a great couple of weeks, team! first off, i have one word for you all:

POTLUCK.

it was incredible and everything was so delicious, so thanks to everyone who contributed something. needless to say, there were no leftovers. among the foodstuffs brought were: beer-battered tilapia, pork tenderloin, key lime bars, kung pow chicken (or some variant -- either way, it was so good), etc etc. i'm so hungry remembering it all.

also in the food realm, we had a group dinner this week which consisted of rice & beans, plátanos maduros (sweet plantains), chicken with mushroom & white wine sauce, sweet carrots, and mashed potatoes. mmmm...

karla did a mexican dinner for us one night and she made tostadas mexicanas (or tinga), which were SO SO GOOD. she also explained proper eating etiquette (which involves plenty of oil running down your hands and dripping all over the place).

in non-food news, we attended a party hosted by the south asian llc in which a bunch of us got sweet henna designs on our hands. we're looking forward to collaborating with them and having them teach us how to do henna!

i think that's all for now, so i'm outtt

sunglasses, cars, chocolate, outerwear, and parisian girls.

Banned Books Week '09

"For a country that venerates its First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech, the United States tries to ban books with alarming frequency.

Stick a pin in each place where there's been a challenge to a school or library book, and you'll have a map of the United States that looks like a hedgehog in need of a haircut.

This year already, challenges have been reported from Montana to Indiana to Texas, in high schools and libraries, and from classics like Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, to newer books like Brent Hartinger's The Geography Club and Chris Crutcher's Chinese Handcuffs."

(Read the rest here: The Huffington Post)

For a list of books banned by governments, click here.

Exercise your first amendment rights! Read a banned book!

Hey guys!

The Russian Rock presentation is going on tonight at 6:15 in Philips 210. It should be really fun and a great chance to listen to some music you've probably never heard of before, so get exciteddd

For whoever isn't in class or whatever, we'll be meeting up in my room (410) at 5:45 and head over together to see the presentation.

Hope to see you all there!