United Statesian

Israeli missile test this morning (Photo: JA) Dear citizens of the world, Ever since I moved to the Middle East, people have been asking about the security situation. My honest answer is always something along the lines of - "Israel is actually quite calm, they have some of the best security in the world... in many respects I actually feel safer here than in many other countries." This week, things have warmed up a bit: Extremists from Gaza shot a few dozen rockets at Southern Israel (From the office window, I could see the anti-rocket defense system firing as fighter jets flew overhead, going 30km South toward Gaza) . The newspapers are saying that Israel wants to make a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear labs. The PA is pushing for statehood with the UN. And now, Israel is testing long-range defense missiles.... A friend was stopped by the military because he was entering the test area... he got this shot of the smoke-trail with his phone. The most impressive was the s...

Dear citizens of the world! Thanksgiving is almost here, but it has already been usurped by Christmas. Last week, Pittsburgh held the "Light Up" festival to kick off the holiday shopping season. The festival was a nice mixture of live music, huge Christmas trees, ice-skating, ice-carving, and a fireworks display for the grand finale. However, the festivities held five weeks in advance of the holiday on November 19th seem ... excessive, even for United Statesians. This Friday, November 26th, "Black Friday" kicks off with its' normal lunacy. Many of the stores will be open at 5:00 am! This all happens four weeks before Christmas -- a reasonable amount of time compared to the five week advance ceremony in downtown Pittsburgh. Are you ready to shop until you drop? The United Statesian

Classic vs Modern "McCulture diet " Dear Citizens of the world, In my last post on the fallas of Valencia I talked about the prettier and noisier side of the Fallas Festival. This post is about the satyr and parody that most of the Fallas sculptures do so well. Many are like seeing a 3-D newspaper caricature. Obama was one of the more popular topics. One big difference would be that there is no censorship and there is a lot more nudity and crude racial stereotypes that you would not see in a United Statesian version. Super Obama! ... watch that hand... Critique on the USA, but with a large Coca-cola advert behind it... Caricature on recycling... the first one on the left is recycling silicon ;-) Caricature of a Spanish politician.. . O ne of my favourite...gotta love his smile What's he looking for?... Ahhh... the key ;- ) One of the cruder ones...Usain Bolt? Local traditional clothes -- mothers and their dolls... Hope to see you again soon! The United Statesian

Dear citizens of the world! Fire seems to play a central role in many festivals in Spain -- noise is a given. The Fallas (pronounced FAIyas) of Valencia is a Spring celebration in late March where more than 400 pieces of art (Fallas) are created in the plazas and streets. On the last night, all are burned at midnight; all except the best one which gets a pardon and goes off to a museum. This was my first year going to the festival. We had all afternoon to walk around and look at some of the main "fallas" before watching one burn at midnight. A detail of Charlie... One of the top Fallas statues... hard to believe it is paper... While all this is going on, there is an incredible amount of noise. There are thousands of people -- mostly young children -- setting off loud firecrackers. A terrorist attack could happen just down the street and nobody would notice. I jumped out of my skin more than once. A small kid being "indoctrinated" into the world of BOOM ! The mermaid...

Dear citizens of the world, Burn! Burn! Let the village burn! Although it might come as a shock, my Pueblo is not the only pueblo in Spain. Just five kilometers away there is a village called " El Puente del Arzobispo" (The Archbishop's Bridge - An Archbishop that owned the neighboring village ordered a bridge built over the Tajo River to make the pilgrimage to Guadalupe easier and safer.) On the 25th Novermber the village celebrates the " Chozas " festival to honor Santa Catalina . The bonfires are built in the middle of the roads all around the village. When the fire burns down the embers are used to BBQ meats (some call the meat juicy, others might call it fatty, yet others just call them tasty). How did the festival start? The origins are not clear, but most likely, people waiting to cross the river (pre-bridge times) often had to camp out and they would make big bonfires while waiting for dawn when they could forge the river. Here I offer you some pics fr...