I recently heard a troubling story from a student.  She wanted to learn about World War II, so she interviewed her grandmother, who lived through it.  I do not know whether the incident involved Americans in any way, and the student didn't gather enough details for me to write much.  Still, apparently her grandmother was running away from some kind of disaster and saw a horse that had been struck in its leg, I believe, by an arrow.  The actually essay described it as "a burning horse", and I was convinced that the student meant to say "a burning house".  She explained that no, arrows and horses were both plentiful even then.  If I am not mistaken, the arrows were used in flaming form, and the horse was affected by this.  Whether it was burned or incinerated, I'm not sure, but it's eerie to imagine.  This reminded me a bit of PETA, which has been up to its usual antics recently.  I'm an animal lover, and I support many of their campaigns, such as the fight against animal abuse in fast food production.  However, the stigma of PETA being a bunch of semi-insane, excessive activists is, I think, fully warranted.  They do things that just don't make sense.  For example, there are reports (which PETA spokespeople deny) that members have threateningly contacted people involved in the recent brutal chimpanzee attack.  Another example?  Diego Luna, an actor from Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights, appears in an advertisement that is a nice homage to Bob Barker.  In order to help control the pet population, we should spay and neuter our animals.  However, the main wording is this: "Animals need to have safe sex, too!"  Well, first of all, that's simplifying things a bit, isn't it?  They're worried about procreation, but "safe sex" connotes a lot more, especially the avoidance of disease transmission.  Next, "safe sex" usually means sex with some kind of protection, and if I'm not mistaken, most animals that are spayed or neutered simply cease to have sex altogether.  Oh well, I can't always agree with you, PETA, not while your methodology is so strange.

Anyway, I'm getting a bit more down-to-earth of late, and so along with basic videos (working on efficient uploads), I'll have some pictures of the realities of everyday life here.  You know, just to get a feel of the nature, the architecture, and so on.  I took your requests from the last post to heart and I appreciate them.  I will see if I can record myself in a lesson sometime.  The weekend is coming up, so I should have some more stories after that.  There may be some interesting trips in the works.  Bye, America!