A Coqui in Winterfell

How to introduce myself?

I really admire those who can write short, interesting introductions that don't over-explain but invite interest. I know that I over introduce myself, probably because I have to do it so often. Every time we pick up the phone and call someone we have to introduce ourselves. Sometimes it is just simply saying, Hi, this Ana Fluit and I am calling you today about....(or this Ana Canino...or this is Ana Canino Fluit..., depending on who I am calling), or sometimes it is this Ana, Arwen's mom, or Zanneke's mom. etc. I like wearing a name-tag. I have one at church, that I always wear it even though it is not required so I can make things easier on the members of the congregation that don't yet know me enough to recognize me from week to week.

At church, I am Ana Canino-Fluit on my name-tag, although almost always get "ah, Mrs. Fluit, the pastor's wife" when I am being introduced to others. I am comfortable with that, or have accepted it enough, because I find myself mentioning Chris's ministry when introduce myself outside of Church settings. When I am introducing myself to people at Rochester Christian School, it is a beneficial thing to include, many might know someone who attends the church or they might have at least seen it while driving down Browncroft/Atlantic. I have also been including a mention of it in my intros at the the ischool. I am not sure how beneficial it is or it is weirdly clumsy. I like that it lays out there that I am at the very least involved with Christianity, and at the same time complicating the picture because I almost always go onto mention my love of pop-culture and comics, which I think is still something that surprises people.

I also tend to mention the girls. In my intro web-page to 511 I used a picture with the both the girls and Chris in it, but this time for my profile picture I used a different picture where I am smiling a natural smile. (I hate when I have a posed smile or half-smile) with everyone else cropped out.  Not because they aren't a huge HUGE part of my life, but because they are. It is hard for me to put a picture of me up just by myself, and because it is hard, I need to do it.

What I have been thinking about as I write this post is how relational  introductions are. I think most people think of introductions as something someone does for you. A friend introduces you to someone else they know. It is social responsibility to facilitate people making a connection. Self-introductions often then mimic that, by including references to the other relationships one is in, facilitating a connection point.

Curiously last night while I was watching the girls in the Nursery during the evening service, I was reading a copy of July issue of Christianity Today from the church library. It is they had a few pages on a James Choung of Inter-Varsity, titled From Four Laws to Four Circles.  Choung has recently written a book on his new evangelical tool,a napkin diagram featuring four circles with which one presents the gospel as the "Big Story" focusing on relationality and salvation. It was really interesting to me. It immediately brought to mind some of the things that appealed to me about Reformed Theology was the idea of the Kingdom and Covenant.  Restoring relationship with God, each other and creation.  I can really see the appeal of this approach.

For this latest class I had to put together 5 to 10 sentences, and have suggested set of questions to answer put together by Prof. Oakleaf:

• Where are you in your program here at the School of Information Studies?
• What are you hoping to learn in IST 605?
• What are you current career goals?
• Where are you from?  Where do you live now?
• What hobbies/interests do you have?
• Is there anything else you want your colleagues to know about you?

This is what I ended up posting:

 

My name is Ana Canino-Fluit. I am originally from Guynabo, Puerto Rico, but  in the last 15 years, since I left home for college,  I have lived on both coasts, the Midwest and even the western prairie in Canada. Just a year ago we left our small-town in Alberta for the bright-lights of Rochester, NY.  I am just starting out in the LIS program, 4 credits under my belt.  I am loving every minute of it, except for not having made up my mind on pursuing the school media specialization so I am playing it safe and taking core classes while I make up my mind. My husband Chris and I just celebrated our tenth anniversary, he is a pastor in the Christian Reformed Church of North America, and the reason we have moved so much.  We have two daughters, the youngest, Zanneke is starting Kindergarten in September, and my oldest Arwen is reading and starting the 2nd grade this fall. I am comic book geek and travel junkie (it been a year and a half since our last trip overseas (Egypt and Jordan) so we are in the midst of planning our next one (Turkey in May of 2009)). In addition to being addicted to NPR, BBC podcasts and Pop Culture in general, I love reading non-fiction, sci-fi and fantasy. My favorite thing about being a History major was all the research time I spent in the library. I love helping people learn how to find information and help them find what they need is what is bringing me to librarianship.

Big smiles

Aay is showing you her smile because her two front teeth are starting to loosen and any day now I will be reporting the loss of her two front teeth.

She smiled at me just this afternoon and I noticed how a gap was forming between her two front teeth that wasn't there before.  Soon she was wiggling them and declaring them to have a tell-tale hurty feeling. She is now giddily waiting for them fall out. It would please her greatly if they fall out before her new school pictures are taken. Just to make sure I have a picture before that happens, I give you, their big smiles. (Zee wasn't going to miss having her picture taken, and darted into every one I tried to take of Aay's smile as you can see .

A little late at least for us.

One of my favorite things to do Sunday afternoon is to sit and read the New York Times Sunday paper. I lay about on the couch in the living room or sit at the dining room table with the paper sections strewn all over in a complex order ( of read, not read, somewhat read, only skimmed and save the best for last) know only to me. I normally start with the Arts and Leisure section, then move the magazines, New York Times Style Magazine and The New York Times Book Review, before going on to the the Front section, Sunday Business, Sunday Styles and only occasionally Sports Sunday, before finishing off  Week in Review and the Travel section, while occasionally interrupting myself to look up something that mentioned in article or as I did today in a letter. One of the letters today referred to a article from earlier in the week, See the Pyramids. Without the Plethora of Peddlers (today I also went online to watch on youtube the Saddleback Civil Forum interviews with Obama and McCain).
 I immediately thought of Rosie at the Pyramids despairingly yelling a peddler to let her be. And our own unpleasant experiences there and in other sites in Egypt back in May of 2007. Jordan was by far our favorite of the two country mostly on the basis of how the street-vendors, peddlers and camel drivers behaved. In Jordan we only had one uncomfortable moment, while in Egypt there were too many to count. I often say that I am not interested in returning to the Pyramids, how ever much a wonder they were to see, because of the context, but if this policy sticks I could see myself returning and maybe someday getting down to Luxor.

Garden Bounty

Mami has been asking me for week to post pictures of the girls garden. I have been meaning too, but I am a moody poster and I haven't been in a posting mood recently. But today was absolutely beautiful day. I just loved every minute of it. We spent most of the afternoon outdoors. The sky was amazingly blue, and the temperature was just perfect.

The girls were feeling goofy, and after they tired of biking (Did I report that Aay no longer needs her training wheels, but is tooling around the two neighboring clu-de-sacs?), played with sidewalk chalk and then washed the asphalt. Silly funny girls. They also played on Randy's (our neighbor) trampoline. We grilled ourselves some dinner (Red-skinned potatoes, corn on the cob, and steak) and then went over to visit with Randy on his deck and meet some of his relatives that were visiting, while the girls played with his dog. We eventually wandered back into our yard and made a fire in the firebowl and roasted some marshamallows. Nice sweet way to close out the day.

So here you go Mami: Our very messy, neglected garden and its amazing tomato plants, our very crowded carrot patch and our runaway pumpkin patch:
Arwen harvested about 15 tomatoes yesterday and then walked around the circle knocking on doors and giving them away. She had a blast seeing people so happy to accept them. There are seriously about 15 more tomatoes still on the plants.

They are getting so big!

cuties
Originally uploaded by anacoqui

I need to get serious about their birthday party planning. Aay will be 7 in just a few weeks! They just love to have their pictures taken here.

Zee's photoshoot

Zee's photoshoot
Originally uploaded by anacoqui

Zee went for a walk on the Charlotte Beach with me yesterday. She posed on the carousel and on the boardwalk.

Legion Gathering: Rochester

Legion Gathering: Rochester
Originally uploaded by anacoqui

She said it!

Zee was asking me if our the house guests we are expecting tomorrow were just going to be adults or if children would also be coming. I said just adults, and she a little disappointed asked: how come? I responded that they didn't have any kids, and she again asked: how come? To which I responded not everyone has kids. Some grown-ups just don't, like her Titi Rosie and Uncle Kendall. She looked at me funny and said, "well, we are their daughters. Only we just visit them, we don't live with them." That made me really happy. When we lived with Rosie and Kendall when Aay was a baby we used to talk about how much Aay loved that, having four parents meant that she always had someone to play with. Zee would have probably loved that even more since she is such a extrovert. And I love that she has picked Rosie and Kendall as her second set of parents, because after all that is the role we designated them to assume if something were ever to happen to us.

In Puerto Rico there is the custom of having Padrinos and Madrinas, Godparents for each child. Those people were to become invested in the life of your children, to be there not just for the spiritual upbringing but co-responsible for them.  My mother always said was my madrina was my aunt Doris although I think because it was not formalized in a Catholic Baptism, it wasn't something she fully accepted. I know that it remember a conversation we had a as teenager, where she was skeptical about having ever been told that was her role. I certainly know that our relationship wasn't like that of my friend Carmen and her Madrina and Padrino who if I remember correctly even contributed to her college expenses.

I do know that our daughters aren't lacking in people who love them, encourage them, and invest in their lives. I thank God for that. So Rosie, I hope you and Kendall savor that. Our girls love you, like you are second parents to them.

New Pictures in Zee's photo album

Zee took some great shots of the Atlantic ocean near Pinones when were in Puerto Rico in July. I just found them and uploaded them to her album.

Syracuse ischool Summer Residency

Syracuse ischool Summer Residency
Originally uploaded by anacoqui

Some pictures from the ischool residency. I really didn't take many pictures sadly. But I did take a picture of the dorm from the outside, and of the library.