You're in a country where everything feels different. The food isn't what you're used to; the people don't make sense. It's sensory overload and you're bewildered by all the things around you -- the language, the music, the faces, the smells.

Everyone is moving at lightning speed, and you're still staring at the food in the grocery store, confused about what to buy.

"I walked out of the ice cream aisle because I couldn't choose," said Erin Curtis, a Peace Corps volunteer.

But she wasn't talking about her time in Kazakhstan.

Curtis was referring to her trip to the local grocery in Lexington, South Carolina, last month.

Read more at CNN. 

How do people celebrate National Punctuation Day, an event that promotes the correct use of punctuation?

Here are some suggestions from Jeff Rubin, the founder of National Punctuation Day in 2004:

If you still have time and energy, you can enter the first National Punctuation Day Haiku contest. Submit original poems about punctuation marks to jeff@nationalpunctuationday.com.

A May flood victim, a student activist, a school employee, and a priest- these are the unsung heroes that Conexión Américas will honor with the 2010 Orgullo Hispano Award this Friday, September 24th at 6:00 p.m. during their Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration:                

Francisco Reyes
Flood victim turned neighborhood leader
Conexión Américas' flood recovery response in Antioch

Karla Vazquez
Volunteer and student activist for the DREAM Act
Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition

Adelina Winston
Family advocate and exemplary public servant
Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools

Rev. Joseph P. Breen
First non-Latino AMIG@ WE LOVE honoree for his contributions to making Nashville a welcoming community for Latino immigrant families
St. Edward Catholic Church

Conexión Américas will also recognize three young writers from local high schools for their winning entries in the 3rd annual “My Hispanic Roots, My American Dream” Essay Contest:

Arturo Vazquez
Overton
1st place

Cynthia Ramírez
Cane Ridge
2nd place

Andrea Jacky Gómez 
Antioch
3rd place

Please honor these unsung heroes and young writers Friday at 6 pm at the Historic Cannery Ballroom in Nashville.

The annual Hispanic Heritage Fiesta follows at 7:00 p.m, featuring Latin American food, live Latin music by Kazique, artwork by Jairo Prado, and a carnival recreating a Central American folk tradition!

• For freelance translators, interpreters, and language professionals
• Watch live video webcasts
• Celebrate Translator's Day (30 September 2010)
• Chat live with peers and presenters
• Over 6,800 attendees last year (largest event in the history of the industry)
• 100% free to attend
• This event has been approved by the ATA for up to 10 continuing education credits

Register here.