United Statesian

Dear Citizens of the World, Traveling the world, not only do you get to see the countries from a different perspective... but the sky changes as well. Luckily, it was a clear evening and the early 4:30 pm sunset made the lunar eclipse from my terrace easy to watch. Lunar eclipse with the Manhattan in the background. The refraction of the sun's light from the Earth's atmosphere makes the moon look like a l0w-watt lightbulb, shining similarly to the terrace light across the street. A close-up ... proof that I need a better camera for kings day ;-) Have a nice week! And don't forget to look up to the heavens while you are travelling...it might look different. - United Statesian

Dear citizens of the world, In this time of trouble in Haiti, seeing so many buildings collapsed and few that are saved from under the rubble, it is with great satisfaction that I can report a miracle here in Madrid, just a few streets down from where I live. Last night, at 10:00 pm a woman noticed that large cracks were opening along her ceiling and down the wall. She called 112 (Spanish Emergency Number) and in five minutes the firemen were there to rush the 28 neighbors out of their houses. A few minutes later... the left side of the building came crumbling down. Zero casualties, zero injuries. If this had happened a couple hours later while people were already sleeping then we would be looking at a catastrophe and a search and rescue. Instead, everyone is alive and well and the fireman were taking dust covered cars out of the garage. The United Statesian