MacArthur Park

Today Elvis and Suzy and I took a field trip 20 min away into Los Angeles, to a place called MacArthur Park. It's been a place we've been wanting to see firsthand for a while now since it will be the main area of focus for my World Vision internship which starts in just a few weeks. We have also talked about it in some of my classes and it is where one of the organizations we are interested in working with is based. 

 Several years ago, MacArthur Park was the place to buy anything illegal- drugs, green cards, prostitution, etc plus a major area for gang activity. One of my professors, who is an urban planner, was in charge of leading a complete transformation of this part that is located just outside of downtown LA (you can see the downtown buildings in the picture above). He worked together with local leaders, police, and community residents to get rid of the nasty stuff going on and fill this park back with life, including bringing back paddle boats, concerts, and street vendors. Of course there is still some shady stuff that goes on, but you wouldn't necessarily know it just by looking at these park residents:

For those of you that have ever visited Central America, you know how important Pollo Campero is! It's right there at MacArthur Park, so we stopped in for a potty break:

We also went next door to Mama's Hot Tamales to get a snack:

You see, Mama's Hot Tamales is a strategically placed restaurant that was the joint effort of my professor and "Mama" Sandy (pictured below) to offer jobs to Hispanic immigrants and to bring in the flavor of Central America. They also do important community building activities, such as make 12 foot long "Tamales de la Paz" to share with community residents in order to promote solidarity within the community, especially building bridges between the police and community residents which have had conflict in the past.  Mama Sandy came to our class to share her vision of community transformation. 

If you want to see a video about the Tamales de la Paz project and the heart behind breaking tamales together to build community, check this out:

I felt like I was walking down the streets of downtown San Salvador, and I loved that

Just a 10 minute drive away was Chick-Fila, so we stopped in for some lunch. Tamales, Pollo Campero, and Chick-fila in one day....that's LA for you and that's why we love it here.

as promised...

...here are more pictures from our family Mother's day photo shoot with Kelly McPhail (and a few from playing today in the kiddie pool!) 

Thanks Kel for helping make our family look so good and for perfectly capturing those sweet, silly, and sassy faces of our Suz! 

some lessons learned about potty training...

So, we officially said goodbye to diapers (except for when she goes to bed at night) 2 weeks ago. She has been going to the potty for well over a year, thanks to Dinora who taught her so many awesome things. However, we had not taken the plunge to go completely diaper free until we were sure that she was over all of her sicknesses. I think it goes without saying that diarrhea and potty training do not mix.

Well a few weeks ago her best friend here, Gabi, started potty training, so I thought it would be a great time to ride that excitement and momentum, since she wants to do everything that Gabi does. Worked really nicely, especially since they go to play school together and have solidarity using the potty there as well as all the time they spend playing here at our apartments.

Here are a few things I have learned along the way.....

1. Don't buy Raisinets as a reward. I will eat them all and not actually offer them as a reward.

2. Suzy is just as stubborn as her mama was (is). She can hold her bladder for a really long time and will go to the bathroom only when she is ready, not when I think she should be ready to go. Reminds me of a story my grandma always tells me about how she wanted me to pee before going to bed one night and I refused and I almost made her go crazy.....

3. You will get weird looks (and even weird comments) as your toddler pees in her potty in the trunk of the car.

4. Suzy is extremely self-controlled and a savor-er. When we first started potty-training, she was satisfied with a pee-pee dance for every successful go. When we stepped it up a notch, we started giving little treats, especially since her friend Gabi gets treats. So, she gets a baby marshmallow, a chocolate chip, etc. The thing is, she will hold it in her hand and laugh about it and pretend to put it into her mouth for 20 min before actually enjoying it. I guess she got that from me too...whenever anyone would give me Lindt chocolates or any other precious american goodies in El Salvador, I would hoard them in my pantry until they were rotten or bug-infested. Seriously. I love them so much that I just wanted to know that they were always there. Suzy savors her chocolate chip in about 6 tiny bites.

5. Suzy has not had any accidents (miraculously) when we have gone out of the house, but she has had some at home. Whenever I get discouraged, I just remember that my friends in college would also have accidents if they laughed too hard (not mentioning any names here......). That always makes me feel better.

not your typical craft....

Today at playschool, we were talking about policemen and they were going to make a happy little picture using some cute police related stickers.

Well, Suzy's turned into a vivid commentary on police brutality............. (and their anti-gravity powers)...

Just kidding....any morbid scenes are purely coincidental....like the kid being run over by the police car....

 ....the maimed little girl.....

...the helicopters shooting lasers, causing kids to jump from their windows....

....sorry for the morbid humor...it was really funny this morning sitting with my girlfriends at playschool, making up imaginary stories about the random placement of our kids' stickers =) Maybe it's not so funny for those that don't live with the tiredness that comes from having a toddler....

Mother, Mommy, Madre, Mami, Mom

my favorite lil munchkin 

Yesterday was a lovely Mother's Day, although it wasn't exactly how I would have planned it. For example, Elvis had to work, so he wasn't home until 3 pm (but he thought ahead and gave me some mother's day goodies Saturday night!).

Also, I had to go to an Armenian Apostolic Church for a class, and the service lasted for 3 hours! And all in Armenian! It was incredible...the whole thing was sung in classical style, but it was sooo long. I knew in my head that it couldn't last forever, but it sure didn't feel that way. All the regulars didn't even get there until about an hour before it finished. Thankfully, Suzy got to play with Gabi all morning, so she didn't have to sit through it (kids stayed in the service...no nursery!)

So it wasn't the Mother's Day morning I had dreamed of, but going out to eat at a casual Greek place and going to get coffee with my two faves was the perfect ending for the day.  And Suzy discovered her love for baklava!  At the coffee shop, the lady in front of me had a buy one get one free coupon which she passed on to me! Sweet!

For my mom and grandmas, we asked Kelly to take some pictures of Suzy and our family....you see our favorites here! What a special gift for me too. We will share some more with you later!

I just want to eat her up every time i see this picture!

ballerina

 When I was in preschool, apparently I liked to wear pantyhose, dresses, or my bathing suit everywhere I went, and my teachers had to call me Ashley-princess-Rainbow Bright-cheerleader-ballerina-etc etc etc. It appears that Suzy also has a bit a girly-girl too...her new thing is dressing up like a ballerina and dancing. And wearing dresses in general (but with pants underneath and socks...like a good Salvadoran, she hates being barefoot and showing her bare legs.) Here are a few pictures and videos of her dancing:

practicing leg lifts with Gabi

practicing spins with Saakshi

hanging out with the neighborhood gals

We are also loving the local thrift stores and yard sales...we got her this cool pop-up tent/house thing for $2 with attachable tunnels, and an Elmo backpack for less than a buck. score.
Plus, we got a new computer since our old one was on its last leg, but we needed to buy Microsoft Office for it, which is $90 on amazon. We had been putting it off, and I found it this weekend at a yard sale for $10! It was exactly what we needed, and it was not even a pirated copy! double score!

having a sweet potato/asparagus picnic in her new tent

And this is Suzy trying to do the Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers....