Hi everyone,

Today is Easter Sunday. We are having record cold weather here in Denver, Colorado with snow, so the children’s Easter egg hunt will be moved indoors. My mother, the matriarch of the family, is planning a special egg hunt to augment the traditional hunt (with boiled and colored Easter eggs). Her egg hunt will use plastic eggs which she has filled with coins for a special treat for her great grandkids.

There is a well visited tourist attraction in the area I am visiting called Red Rocks with an amphitheatre made from special type of red colored flagstone rocks. Traditionally on Easter, they offer a Sunrise Easter Service. The spectacular mountain view enhances the Easter religious experience.

Denver is the Mile High city because its altitude lies one mile above sea level. So, Denverites are one mile closer to Heaven than others–just kidding. hehe The air is noticeably thinner here at this high altitude. People who move here from lower altitudes can feel short of breath when they exert themselves physically (climbing stairs or hiking up the mountains). Athletes who trained here for the Olympics had an advantage because they were accustomed to performing in the thin air could compete well in the thin air and even better in air of normal density.

Denver is famous for the Rocky Mountains with its National Parks. White water rafting, skiing, mountain climbing, snow boarding, hiking, boating, fishing (mountain stream trout is delicious) are some activities that attract the locals and tourists as well. Last time I was here, I visited the grave of Buffalo Bill, an American rodeo performer, an authentic ghost town that has been restored, The Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds, Royal Gorge, and stayed in a cabin in Vale Colorado. Yes, there was a science conference in Vale where my husband was a speaker. All of our travels are linked to math conferences. Hehe I will be seeing some of you this May and June when my husband’s math travels bring him back to the math institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

Have a blessed Easter, everyone!

ttyl (talk to you later),

Mary

Here in the US it is popular for the family to dress up in their best clothes on Easter and go to church. After church children decorate and color eggs. There are special dyes sold for coloring the Easter eggs. Each child receives an Easter basket and is told that the Easter Bunny brought the basket as a gift. The Easter basket is filled with chocolate eggs and Bunnies and small toys. The family has a big meal, like at a family reunion. All the grandparents, aunts and uncles and sometimes out of town relatives travel to go to the Easter celebration. After the meal, the children have an Easter Egg Hunt. The eggs that they had colored are hidden in the garden, and they search for them. The one who finds the most, is the winner.

Oi galera, o texto abaixo foi escrito por Mary Ziller enquanto esparava seu vôo no aeroporto da Pensilvânia. Ela vai passar este feriado de Sexta-Feira Santa (Good Friday) na casa de sua mãe. Mary descreve um pouco o ambiente, o comportamento das pessoas e mais algumas detalhes que só seu olhar clínico pôde captar. O mais interessante foi que eu percebi que atrasos de vôo e passageiros descontentes não são exclusividade do Brasil. Boa viagem Mary! Confiram o texto abaixo.

When we arrive at the airport, there are long check-in lines. When we get to the check-in counter, we are told my flight has been cancelled. The next flight leaves in the evening, so I will be spending the day in the airport.

Looking at the departure screen, I see there are flights I could take leaving sooner, so I go to the terminal where the next flight is leaving and ask at the desk if I can fly stand-by. I am told yes, if I go to the customer service desk in another terminal. There is not enough time to walk there, and the clerk cannot make the change for me via the phone. So, I miss that flight.

There is another flight scheduled for 45 minutes later. That should be enough time to get my plane ticket exchanged and reassigned. So, I go to the customer service desk in the other terminal. The customer service agent enters my changes in the computer, but does not have time to issue me a new boarding pass. She tells me I have to run to make the flight. So I do. I run to the next terminal, and I arrive in time.

When I go to check-in there, I am told that the flight was overbooked. There is no room for stand-bys. So, I am stranded here until this evening. I hope my flight this evening will not be cancelled.

See you!