Catedral

Mira here. Last night, after quite a long week of work, the citizenship staff got to play a bit at our Christmas party. We met at the Catedral Cafe in La Villita (Little Village--the primarily Mexican neighborhood close to our office), which has recently become famous for its role in the movie Stranger Than Fiction with Will Farrell. The building is castle-like on the outside (we haven't seen the movie yet, but in the trailer, there is a scene where the main character is yelling to the sky in front of the cafe) and the inside was transformed from a religious-themed cafe/restaurant to a trendy bakery for the film. Here's another pic. Pretty cool. You can see pictures of the filming and remodel on Catedral's website.

Here I am with Jesus, who sits across from me in the office.

There were gifts flying all over the place. This is Sonia, the director of the Citizenship department, and Luis. Raquel and Osvaldo are in the background.

Edel also works in the office and Carlos is one of 10 Citizenship Teachers.

Happy laugh-y Eric.


Today was a wonderful, restful day. We didn't make it outside until after the sun went down because we slept late, then cleaned the apartment, then left for the Y-- around 6:00 pm! We also got in a bit of holiday shopping (early for us, I know). One of our new favorite places is American Apparel, which offers very simple cotton clothing made in USA. Actually, every part of the process happens under one roof in LA--no outsourcing, no sweat-shops, no outside ad companies. And they seem to treat their workers quite well. You can read the company's mission, if you like. We're doing our best to buy local and avoid things "made in China" this year, especially after reading a sad article about the impact of the Cashmere sweater craze to the environment in some parts of China.

Hope y'all are having a meaningful Advent season.