<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382548745306531702</id><updated>2009-12-28T18:49:37.607-08:00</updated><title type='text'>AmericanAki</title><subtitle type='html'>Celebrating the Diverse Cultural Backgrounds of Women &amp;amp; Children in America</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://americanaki.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6382548745306531702/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://americanaki.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>sophia stone</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13242044932323580525</uri><email>lovesophiastone@aol.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>2</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382548745306531702.post-41836159624367740</id><published>2008-09-01T17:27:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-09-02T12:22:20.719-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='baby shower'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Armenian traditions'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='baby'/><title type='text'>Armenian Baby Showers</title><content type='html'>&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;My darling friend, who is from Armenia, had a lovely baby shower yesterday. She was glowing and cheerful while being the center of attention at this mostly &lt;em&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;american&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt; tradition. Yes, the way we celebrate baby showers here in the US is very different from how they are celebrated abroad!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I learned from her that in &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Armenia&lt;/span&gt; a party is held for the mother and child &lt;strong&gt;after&lt;/strong&gt; the baby is born. The party is usually held at the new mother's home with family members spending countless hours and days preparing for the occasion and cooking authentic homemade foods and desserts. &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Mmmmmmmmm&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;... Registering for gifts is not common as most ladies call the new mother directly and know exactly what to bring as a gift. This is actually very practical as the amount of returned gift items must be extremely low! &lt;em&gt;(I remember going back and forth to Babies R Us a thousand times to return and exchange gifts!)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And what about all those baby shower games?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This &lt;em&gt;too&lt;/em&gt; is mostly part of our &lt;em&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;american&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt; baby shower tradition. Abroad ladies prefer talking and storytelling. In addition, eating and &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;critiquing&lt;/span&gt; all the homemade foods and deserts takes up quite a bit of time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As long as there is a celebration of love, gathering with friends and family before or after the baby is born doesn't really matter. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I'm curious, when would you prefer a baby shower...before or after the baby is born and why?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6382548745306531702-41836159624367740?l=americanaki.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://americanaki.blogspot.com/feeds/41836159624367740/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6382548745306531702&amp;postID=41836159624367740' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6382548745306531702/posts/default/41836159624367740'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6382548745306531702/posts/default/41836159624367740'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://americanaki.blogspot.com/2008/09/armanian-baby-showers.html' title='Armenian Baby Showers'/><author><name>sophia stone</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13242044932323580525</uri><email>lovesophiastone@aol.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16435875984039758288'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382548745306531702.post-6596085409442511394</id><published>2008-08-26T10:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-08-26T09:21:42.814-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='unity'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stereotypes'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='culture'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='american children'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='diversity'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='children'/><title type='text'>For the love of culture!</title><content type='html'>I hope this blog helps (&lt;em&gt;in some way small or big&lt;/em&gt;) to breakdown stereotypes and misconceptions of what it really means to be American in America today...and by doing so, we can help create a better future for our children.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am fascinated by the cultural diversity in America. What a wonderful country we live in and an amazing place to raise your children! People and "little ones" from every country on the planet all here.........happy, free, and loving it!! (&lt;em&gt;for the most part anyway&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Soon I will be sharing stories of lovely people and families from various cultures I've met or will meet along my life's journey. In addition, I will be posting comments on many other cultural events, issues, books, and anything else that I feel strongly affects people and children in a positive way! I hope this platform helps to educate and stimulate the curiosity of fellow Americans, as well as people everywhere.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Celebrate our diversity and together we can create unity!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;**I would love to hear comments from people regarding what they think about the concept of this blog.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6382548745306531702-6596085409442511394?l=americanaki.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://americanaki.blogspot.com/feeds/6596085409442511394/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6382548745306531702&amp;postID=6596085409442511394' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6382548745306531702/posts/default/6596085409442511394'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6382548745306531702/posts/default/6596085409442511394'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://americanaki.blogspot.com/2008/08/for-love-of-culture.html' title='For the love of culture!'/><author><name>sophia stone</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13242044932323580525</uri><email>lovesophiastone@aol.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16435875984039758288'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry></feed>