America the Great

Three problems with America:
One problem began in the 1980s with former President Ronny Reagan. His "war on drugs" could in theory be good, if done correctly. Instead, Reagan's war has wasted billions and billion of dollars, targeting users and addicts, rather than distributors. In the 1980s congressed passed a 100:1 law with crack cocaine. Crack was a popular street drug because it is cheap, and easy to make. The new 100:1 law made it so 5 grams of crack cocaine received a minimum sentence of 5 years, while in it's purer form 500 grams of cocaine received a minimum sentence of 5 years. The crack epidemic of the late 80s and 90s resulted in a widening education gap between whites, blacks, and hispanics. The education gap has lessened since then, but is still prevalent.
Another problem is our health care system. At the increasing rate of the cost of health care, we might not even have it in 40 years, when my generation will need it. The political parties we have now can not come to an agreement, they only argue that their side is better and the opposing belief is flawed, never coming to a consensus.

Gesutre - Touchdown

Although it may not be an everyday gesture, the touchdown symbol - raising both your hands up simultaneously - is generally used when watching a game of football or participating in one. In the popular television show, How I Met Your Mother, Barney (played by Neil Patrick Harris) uses the touchdown symbol to mean "I did it!" as a sign of excitement and accomplishment.

Confusing sign

Although it may not look confusing, or be that "abnormal" there are two signs that I think are confusing, in a subtle way. In Massachusetts there are a few towns that are pronounced wildly different than they are spelled. When entering these towns one might be thrown off (if given a destination verbally). About 35 minutes north of me is a small fishing town called Gloucester (this is the less confusing one of my two examples), looking at it you might think it's pronounced "glue-cester" or something similar to that. It is actually pronounced "glawster." The more difficult one, which often gives non-Massachusans an issue is the town of Worcester. I've heard it called Warchester more times than I can count. In reality the Worcester is pronounced "Wusster."

Typical weekday and Saturday night

My typical weekday is nothing special, I have classes at different times (depending on the day) and after classes it's a real toss up. I might go play basketball, or eat dinner (Monday and Wednesday I get out of class at 5:45), or maybe even take a nap. After that I'll finish my homework, and hang out with my friends.
My typical Saturday night, I either won't do anything, and end up hanging out in my room playing Call of Duty: Black Ops, or I'll go out with my friends to a party or something fun and enjoy the night until early Sunday morning (4am or later). Other than that, nothing really goes on.

"Nose Goes!"

A group of people racing to touch their fingers to their noses usually signifies that a game of "nose goes" is going on. This game is generally played to decide which unfortunate individual must complete some unpleasant task - such as cleaning up a mess, being the designated driver, forgoing a last piece of cake, etc. Like a good game of rock, paper, scissors, this game is good for figuring out who wins/loses a certain prize...and works far better than rps for groups bigger than 2!

Confusing Sign

Though he may look kind of scary, this guy is Uncle Sam and represents America! This image was first introduced during WWI and was usually accompanied with the slogan "I Want YOU for the US Army."

The term "Uncle Sam" is sometimes used to represent the United States (same initials...). When paying taxes to the government, for example, some people say they're paying Uncle Sam. Other times, when people think the government is getting to involved, this picture appears with the slogan "Uncle Sam is Watching You" (like the Orwellian 'Big Brother').

Typical weekday and Saturday

Weekdays generally include some mosh of classes, work, meals and homework, as I'm sure is similar among all students! As I live off campus and suffer from severe lack-of-car syndrome, my mornings usually begin with a mad dash to the door with whichever of my roommates happens to be leaving around the same time I need to be on campus. So far this has worked pretty well, though does add a bit of stress in the mornings!

Most weeknights I'm busy with classes or group meetings until about 9, and then it's back to the apartment - this trip usually involves bumming more rides, or taking a shuttle halfway and walking the rest - and squeezing in some work before bed.

I don't think I have a typical Saturday night. Some Saturdays I hang out with my roommates at the apartment, though other weeks I go out with friends to the bars down the street...it all depends on my mood (and the weather!) Some Saturdays there's campus basketball games, which are really fun to go to! Saturday days are equally different - sometimes I'm ambitious and get a lot of work done, while othertimes I bum around, make food, go out around the area, and generally avoid productivity all together.

See You Feb 26

Hi ePals--
Here is a link to our itinerary in Argentina.  We hope you can meet us for dinner Feb 26 in the evening!
We are looking forward to meeting you in person!!
Ciao for now,
Dr. Hollis