Spanish-American Institute

Student Club Newsletter

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November, 2007			Vol. 3, No. 11
	We celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 22. This will be the most heavily traveled day of the year. Most Americans try to make it home to “give thanks” with family and friends Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. The first Thanksgiving was a 1621 feast shared by English colonists called Pilgrims and native Indians. The English Pilgrims had come to the New World in search of religious freedom. However, only 121 colonists survived the two-month ocean voyage to the New World. 41 of the 121 perished the first winter of cold, starvation, and disease because the English had arrived in late fall of 1620 with little knowledge of farming, hunting, or other survival skills. Native American Indians helped them stay alive by teaching them to plant corns, squashes like pumpkins, and other native plants for harvesting in the fall and storing for the winter months. The English colonists of “New England” gave thanks for their first harvest in the New World. Today, US Americans typically celebrate Thanksgiving with foods from that first harvest such as turkey, pumpkin (in the form of pie), and cranberries (as sauce). Thanksgiving Cornucopia (Horn of Plenty) The “cornucopia” or “horn of plenty” is often filled with food and flowers that symbolize [represent, stand for, portray] abundance [plenty of something]. Identify the Thanksgiving foods in this one. The “Holiday” Season refers to the “holiday” period starting around Thanksgiving and continuing through Christmas and New Years. See below for many FREE holiday season events. November Calendar—Some FREE NYC Events Luxury, the changing image of luxury in fashion. Fashion Institute of Technology Museum, 7^th Ave. at 27^th St., Tues.-Fri. noon to 8pm; Sat to 5pm. Café Jazz, Jazz by Candlelight showcasing Manhattan School of Music’s jazz combos. 7:30 pm. several times a month, Manhattan School of Music. See school bulletin boards for dates and directions. Nov. 2, Fri., 8pm, Ikebana, Japanese Flower Arrangement, free but you are invited to contribute flowers of any kind. Japan Society, 333 E. 47^th St.. Walk from the Spanish-American Institute or take 6 train to 42^nd or 51^st St. or E/V to Lexington and 53^rd. Nov. 6, Mon., 6-9:30pm: Lincoln Center Tree Lighting and Winter’s Eve Festival, excerpts from the ballet Nutcracker and other performances at Lincoln Center Plaza, Columbus @64^th .Fun, food, music, shopping on sidewalks from the Times Warner Center at 59^th and Columbus Circle to 68^th St. on Broadway. 1 train to 66^th St., A/B/D/2/3 to Columbus Circle @59^th St. Nov. 6, Tues. 8pm, Julliard Jazz Ensembles tribute to Thelonious Monk, one of the greatest jazz musicians and a founder of be-bop. Free tickets required available beginning 10/13 at the Julliard School Box Office. See directions and information about other free Julliard performances on school bulletin boards. Nov. 13-Dec. 1, Earth-The Art of Global Warming Exhibit, multimedia art, New Century Artists Gallery, 530 W. 25^th St. between 10^th/11^th Ave. in the Chelsea Gallery district. C/E train to 23^rd and 8^th Ave., 1 to 23^rd and 7^th Ave., B/D to 23^rd and 6^th Ave. and walk west. Nov. 15, Thurs, 6:30pm, Extreme Sparring [Boxing], Spanish-language videos of boxing as a form of hyper-masculine expression. Free but advance e-mail registration advised at: public_programs@elmuseo.org. El Museo del Barrio, 1230 5^th Ave. near 104^th St., #6 Lexington Ave. train to 103^rd St,; 2/3 trains to 110^th St. Nov. 27, Tues., 6:30-7:15pm, Holiday Lighting and Singers. Ring in the holiday season with the Dexter Allgood Singers and the Winter Garden’s 100,000 twinkling holiday lights. See directions to World Financial Center’s Winter Garden under Nov. 30. Nov. 30-Jan. 1, 11am-9pm, Grand Central Terminal [Train Station] Lightshow. Visit one of the most glorious buildings in NYC and view its famous holiday lightshow every half-hour on the ceiling and walls of the main concourse [hall]. A short walk from the Institute at E. 42^nd St. between Park and Lexington Ave. Nov. 30, Fri., 7pm, So Percussion, a quartet of drummers and their revolutionary drumming, Winter Garden, World Financial Center (WFC) on the Hudson River in Battery Park. Any train to lower Manhattan, then walk to the Hudson River. A, C, J, M, Z, 2, 3, 4 or 5 to Fulton Street/Broadway-Nassau --walk west and cross West St. to the WFC. E to World Trade Center:--exit on Church Street, walk north to Vesey St., turn left and continue across West St. to the WFC. R or W to City Hall--exit onto Broadway and walk south to Vesey St., then turn right and continue to the WFC. 1 to Rector Street--exit onto Greenwich Street, walk north to Liberty St., then turn left and continue to the WFC.	Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade The 80^th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade begins 9 am on Thursday the 22^nd. The parade travels down Central Park West from the Museum of Natural History (77^th St.) to Columbus Circle (59^th St. at Broadway) and then down Broadway to Macy’s at 34^th St. People of all ages line the parade route from 77^th St. to 34^th St. To get the best viewing spot, many people arrive on Central Park West near 77^th St. before 6:30 am the morning of the parade. There is plenty to see before the parade starts, even at 6:30 am. Clowns and marching bands practice their routines. Parade floats [large vehicles decorated to be part of a parade] take their places. Workers inflate enormous balloons, the most famous attraction. The balloons are in the shape of popular cartoon and storybook characters. It takes about 1200 people to handle the giant balloons, each of which can weigh more than 500 pounds. You can see the balloons being blown up the day before the parade on Wednesday the 21^st from 3-10 pm near the Museum of Natural History just off of Central Park West between 77^th and 81^st St. Bring warm clothes and a warm drink as it can be quite cold. The parade last from 1½ to 3 hours, depending on where you are standing. The closer to Macy’s, the longer it takes. Or stay home and watch it on NBC-TV starting at 9 am as people do all over the country. Thanksgiving Day Parade, (excerpts, by Jack Prelutsky) Thanksgiving Day is here today, the great parade is under way, and though it’s drizzling [gently raining] quite a bit, I’m sure I’ll see all of it. Great Balloons are floating by, cartoon creatures stories high, Mickey Mouse and Mother Goose, Snoopy and a mammoth moose [the largest animal in the deer family]. . . . It’s pouring now, but not on me, I’m just as dry as I can be, I watch and watch, but don’t get wet. I’m watching on our TV set. FREE Flu Shots and Other Vaccinations (Inoculations) Protect yourself against the flu. Get a FREE flu shot and other vaccinations at a NYC Department of Health clinic. Check school bulletin boards for more information. Spanish-American Institute’s Faculty and Staff Academic Achievements The Institute is proud of the academic achievements of our faculty and staff. Congratulations to faculty members Anatoli Verbine who received a master’s degrees in the teaching of ESL from Lehman College and to Marcia Viera who received hers from Hunter College. Congratulations as well to Faculty-Student Services Associates Aissatou Bah for her LLM degree in law from Yeshiva University, to Idil Mumkaya for her MA in Economics from Brooklyn College, and to Alicia Santos who is a graduate student in the MIS program at Brooklyn College. November 4, Sunday, 2am, Daylight Saving Time “Spring forward, Fall behind.” Daylight Saving Time (DST) begins on Sunday, November 4, at 2 am. Remember to turn your clocks back one hour before you go to sleep on Sunday night. DST moves an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening, thereby “saving” an hour of daylight. Next Spring, we will change clocks forward and move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. In Daylight Saving Time, the poet Phyllis McGinley asks: Who cares? When Autumn birds in flocks Fly southward, back we turn the Clocks. And so regain a lovely thing— That missing hour We lost last Spring. Back Issues of 2005-2007 Student Club Newsletters. Filled with interesting information about American holidays and history and NYC attractions and free activities. Go to the school website: www.sai.nyc and click on link to Student Club News. Love Turkey, Eat Fish! Love Turkey, Eat Fish! Love Turkey, Eat Fish!