Mascots 2.0: November 2014

Hi Friends!

Every year in November, your Mexican friends work in some Mexican folk art. This year they made ALEBRIJES using the traditional handcraft "Cartonería" (papier-mâché sculptures).

So, we need your help. Which are your favorite ones?

Your opinion is very important!

¡Hola Amigos!

Cada año, en Noviembre, tus amigos Mexicanos trabajan con alguna artesanía tradicional Mexicana. Este año hicieron ALEBRIJES, usando la tradicional técnica de "Cartonería" (figuras hechas con papél maché).

Ahora necesitamos de su ayuda. ¿Podrían decirnos cuáles son sus favoritos?

¡Su opinión es muy importante para nosotros!

Post by English for Champions.

Hello Friends!

My name is Xolotl! I'm the Aztec God of Duality, Transformations, Shamans, Misfortune and Monsters.

Legends tell I'm Quetzalcóatl's twin, but I can change into a lot of things, plants and animals. As a Dog God I descended with Quetzalcoatl to Mictlan (the underworld) to steal some bones so he could create the mankind.

When the fifth Sun (our current Sun) was created it didn't move at first. The Sun asked the Gods to sacrifice themselves so he could move, all of them agreed but I tried to hide and escape. So I transformed myself into a double sprout of maize (xolotl), then I turned into a double maguey (mexolotl), finally I became an axolotl.

"Xolotl God is within the axolotl"

Alfredo López - Austin

¡Hola Amigos!

¡Yo soy Xólotl! Soy el dios Nahua (Azteca) de la Dualidad, de las Transformaciones, de los Brujos, de la Mala Suerte y de los Monstruos.

Las leyendas cuentan que soy hermano gemelo del Dios Quetzalcóatl, pero puedo tomar la forma de varios objetos, plantas y animales. Como Dios Perro acompañé a Quetzalcóatl al mundo de los muertos, el Mictlán, para robar los huesos con los que él creó a los humanos.

Cuando fueron creados la luna y el quinto sol (nuestro sol actual), este no se movía. El sol pidió el sacrificio de los Dioses para poder moverse, todos ellos aceptaron, pero yo traté de esconderme y escapar. Así que me transformé en una planta de doble maíz (xolotl), luego en doble maguey (mexolotl) y finalmente en ajolote (axolotl).

"El ajolote lleva dentro de sí al Dios Xólotl"

Alfredo López - Austin

Xolotl meets PARO the robo seal. He is so cute!

If you pet PARO, he wriggles, gazes and makes small, seal like noises.

Paro is a therapeutic robot baby harp seal, intended to be very cute and to have a calming effect on and elicit emotional responses in patients of hospitals and nursing homes, similar to Animal-Assisted Therapy.

It was designed by Takanori Shibata of the Intelligent System Research Institute of Japan's AIST beginning in 1993. It was first exhibited to the public in late 2001, became a Best of COMDEX finalist in 2003,^[1] and handmade versions have been sold commercially since 2004. Paro is based on harp seals Shibata saw in Canada, where he also recorded their cries that Paro uses.^[2]

The robot has tactile sensors and responds to petting by moving its tail and opening and closing its eyes. It also responds to sounds and can learn a name. It can show emotions such as surprise, happiness and anger. It produces sounds similar to a real baby seal and (unlike a real baby seal) is active during the day and goes to sleep at night.

(from WIKIPEDIA)

It was at the event of Robot Town Sagami.

Sagami Robot Industry Special Zone in Kangawa .

Traffic Light has been changed to Astro Boy's version.

Astro Boy (commonly shortened to Astro), known in the Japanese version as Atom and Tetsuwan Atomu(which translates to Mighty Atom), is the main character and protagonist in Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy franchise.

This is a normal traffic light.

Uh-oh! Stripy needed emergency surgery today, before he heads off to our nation's capital for a weekend of fun. His leg stitching came apart, and his wings were falling off. Ms. Wilson stitched him back together before his travels; she even put a bandaid over his "boo-boo". We'll be sure to post pictures of his experiences in Washington D.C. as soon as he returns. I wonder if he'll get to visit the White House?

We made a little video when opening the box our first mascot arrived in. We learned a little bit about our new friends' likes and dislikes, as well as their culture. We're looking forward to learning more!

Today, Xolotl went to Haru's Elementary school to join in a festival for children.

At the festival, you can buy your favorite food from a food stall, then enjoy it while walking around. Apart from the food, children can enjoy other activities such as shooting game, water balloon scooping game, or ring toss.

at the entrance

You should change your shoes to indoor ones.

You can find many beautiful Origami works at the hall.

Flannelgraph

The story is "Sarukani Gassen"

The Battle Between Crab And Ape

Ring toss

Japanese snacks

Japanese drums

I made a can badge of me!

I found Family Crests of Japan on the wall of a classroom of the 5th grade.

Each family has their own family crest.

In the 5th grade, children start to learn about the Japanese history.

We are super stoked! Stripy, from Valladolid, Spain arrived today. We took him to lunch in our cafeteria (it was pizza day) before reading through all of the passports sent by our new friends. Turns out that our Spanish pals love mac-and-cheese, just like we do!

Some of us were surprised to learn about their love of black pudding (sometimes called blood pudding or blood sausage here in the United States); it wasn't the kind of pudding we imagined at all! We went on Wikipedia to learn more about this food. Many of us weren't convinced that this could be tasty, so Ms. Wilson is going on the hunt for some blood sausage in our local market. We'll give it a try and let you know what we think!

As we begin making memories with Stripy, we'll include more pictures in a slide show. Welcome to New Buffalo, Stripy!