words from a wastrel

Valparaiso, Chile

2010-01-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

Spent a few nights here in Valparaiso, Chile. Met some lovely Kiwis who invited me to their apartment for a few nights. Photos here of at least Lauren - we had gelato for breakfast. The colorful star is me campaigning for a politician! THe city is stacked precariously on hills surrounding the center of town. Like San Francisco a bit. Allegedly San Francisco and Valparaiso were trading partners before the Panama Canal was opened... so it may be their architectural styles are similar due to this. Tonight I have a 12 hour bus ride south through Chile to Osorno, where i´ll then catch a 5 hour bus over the mountains again (the Andes?) back to Bariloche, Argentina!

Over the Andes to Valparaiso, Chile - 8 hour bus ride

2010-01-05T08:45:00.001-08:00

8 hours from Mendoza over the Andes to Valparaiso, on the coast, in Chile. One of these pics - the one where the peak is hidden in clouds, is Aconcagua. The highest peak in The Americas (including North America) with a summit at more than 23,000 feet. For comparison, Everest is 29,000 some odd feet in the air!!! How cool! At the Chilean border crossing (which took nearly 3 hours) there were signs saying - You are at 10,000 feet. Stay Calm. Do not get excited. Breathe slowly and deeply.

Mendoza - Argentina´s Wine Growing Region - 36 hour bus ride from Puerto Iguazu

2010-01-05T08:26:00.000-08:00

Wine tasting IN Mendoza, Argentina. Lots of Malbecs. Yummy!!!

New Year´s Eve at the hostel.

And the Day After New Year´s Eve just lazily walking around beautiful tree-lined streets of Mendoza:

Puerto Iguazu Pics - 17 hour bus ride away from Buenos Aires

2010-01-05T08:17:00.000-08:00

Buenos Aires pics

2010-01-05T08:04:00.000-08:00

argentina part 1

2009-12-28T13:57:00.001-08:00

Is big and bustling and beautiful! Reminds me a lot of Mexico City and Havana for all the colonial architecture.

I will post pics from a faster computer connection! My friends Sylvia and Dallas are from Arkansas, and Australia, respectively. I met them on the flight here. The dark-haired girl is Cecile from New York City, but living in Venezuela for a couple years. She teaches 2nd grade.

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, we are all going to Iguazu Falls, in the very north at the border with Brazil!

Then i´ll do a couple days up there and then a couple days in a city to the West called Cordoba before heading for Mendoza, the wine growing city!

Big hugs!

argentina part 2

2009-12-28T13:56:00.001-08:00

Hey all! Sorry I haven´t posted yet, and this post won´t have pictures since I didn´t bring my camera down. I have a couple of hours before I have to take a very long bus ride - 36 hours to be exact!

But I´ll at least get this posted for now.
My flight here was fine. I was on a 777, which seemed like the biggest airplan i´ve ever flown on. I met some nice people on the plane, and in the baggage claim at Buenos Aires airport, I met an especially nice young couple, Sylvia and Dallas. She is from Arkansas. He is from Australia. I´ve spent the past week traveling with them and while we´re splitting up tonight so I can head down to the wine town called Mendoza, I hope to meet up with them again in the south.

So Buenos Aires was big and bustling. We made great use of the subway. We took in a free tango show, and wasted time while the entire city practically shut down for the 24th and 25th of December. We took the ubiquitious city tour open-air double decker bus which allowed us to see a lot of the city in a fairly short time. We visited La Boca, the working class neighborhood with brightly colored houses, we visited Puerto Madero the super ritzy area, Palermo which was middle class and lovely. In Palermo we visited the grave of the famous Eva Peron (Evita). We had a lovely picnic in a park. Umm... and there was a lot of drinking the entire time, of course!!!

On the 26th we took a 17 hour bus ride all the way north to just on the border of Brazil to a town called Puerto Iguazu. It is here that the world famous waterfalls are located on the border between Argentina and Brazil. These falls are the second largest (as far as water output) in the world after Victora Falls in Africa. They were absolutely amazing. We did a moonlit visit to them the first night, and yesterday we spent the entire day in the waterfalls national park taking lots of pictures from many different vantage points.

At the waterfalls I was hoping to do a lot of jungle trekking, but all but one of the paths were paved with concrete. But I DID find one trail that I did with a new German friend after the rest of my friends decided to go home. Max, from Ehrfurt, and I did this hike and saw a capibera (sp?); we saw large lizards and large spiders, and found a waterfall under which we swam in our underwear!!! It´s interesting that the park doesn´t advertise this swimming hole on the free map they give you when you pay admission.

Today we hung out at the hostel, swam, read, and sunned. We ventured into the city a couple times and just bought dinner (pasta) that we will make soon. Just in time for me to get on my bus to Mendoza!

All for now! Will hopefully add pics soon!!!

Yikes!

2009-04-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since I've posted.

Just a quick update (sorry T!).

I'm busy working part-time at a couple community colleges. I am really enjoying this, and have increasingly more and more job duties (teaching courses, etc.).

I also work a few hours a week at a public library. The public library is total chaos and two days are never alike. But it's fun and rewarding still.

As for travel plans. I'll be in Houston, San Antonio, and New Orleans for a week in the middle of June. Then I have all of July and most of August off to go explore somewhere. Not sure where... maybe Seattle, maybe Boston, maybe Iceland, maybe Australia/New Zealand. Not sure.

All for now!!! :-)

Week of Movies... apparently

2008-11-24T08:53:00.000-08:00

I've seen a lot of movies this past week.

Bill Maher's Religulous, The 2nd Bourne movie (whatever it's called), a Spanish film called Bear Cub ("Cachorro"), and last night, Slumdog Millionaire.

I would definitely recommend the last one - it was a really cute, if, to borrow from one of the reviews I read, "gritty" love story.

Yesterday I went to the zoo with K and some of her friends to celebrate her bday (which is today), and then to a lunch buffet at Bombay in Hillcrest. Letmetellyou that Bombay pales in comparison to the lunch buffet that I usually go to with J at India Palace. The food at Bombay was lukewarm/tepid, there wasn't much variety on the buffet, and was really nothing to get excited over. I def won't be back.

Here begins another workweek... One of the colleges I work at is closed this entire week, so I have all day Tuesday off. I'm going to lunch and a movie with my grandparents. I know - another movie!!! I'll probably see The Secret Life of Bees, since my grandmother already saw The Changeling. Or maybe Madagascar 2... It's definitely appropriate for all ages.

Sweeney Todd

2008-11-12T08:30:00.000-08:00

Can I remark on the movie Sweeney Todd ; the barber of Fleet Street which I watched with J last night?

Okay... first of all... WTF?! It was super gorey. Even exaggerated gore is still gore. I figured that since it's a musical I would find at least something redeeming about it, but nope! The singing was awful. I'm sure the songs done live are probably a million times better (as with most musicals adapted for film), but I was thoroughly disappointed by this musical. I can't find one memorable thing about this film. Sigh. And we had to watch with the subtitles because we couldn't understand what the actors lines were. You couldn't turn the volume up too loud, because the soundtrack would crescendo dramatically like every 4 minutes...

After learning to like Johnny Depp because of the Pirates of the Caribbean & Willy Wonka, i'm back to being indifferent to him again. Oh well! In spite of this, there a PLENTY of awesome movies coming up this season.

FYI, if you haven't seen the movie The Times of Harvey Milk, you must! Before seeing the new Gus Van Zant movie "Milk". The Times is a documentary and will surely be a more appropriate (unquestioningly factual) introduction to this extraordinary man.

The Day After Yesterday... or, conversely, The Day Before Tomorrow

2008-11-05T07:32:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted - as C pointed out - and I figure I can't criticize him for not updating his blog if I haven't actively updated mine.

So here are some thoughts the day after Election Day, as well as some pictures from my birthday and Halloween.

First, yayy to Obama. I think it's wonderful that we finally have an intelligent, articulate President to usher in a new era of American government and foreign diplomacy. Our international reputation was quite sullied by the last 8 years and President (elect) Obama will have a big task ahead of him. But yayy!!!!

Second, as of this moment, the gay marriage ban has been voted into effect. It could change (and I'm hopeful), but there have been some tears this morning and i'm not promising there will be no more before it's all done and through. I continue to be dumbfounded as to how an issue that was determined by the California Supreme Court could even make its way onto the ballot. But the polls are close, and the tide is turning our way (if not this election); it's only a matter of time until our generation reclaims civil rights for same-sex couples. And wrestles our government away from the many churches that donated generously to see their religious principles infused into our State constitution. But enough of this. I feel my blood pressure racing already and have only had one cup of coffee this morning.

Third, my halloween & my birthday were wonderful.

On halloween, J and I started our evening at the annual Hillcrest Nightmare on Normal Street. We had a great time checking out all the other costumes (we went as painters) and the fashion show emceed by a fierce drag queen was hilarious. There were many Sarah Palin's and I made one of the best take a picture with me.

My bday was a bit hindered by a really stiff neck that i had for 2 days... but it went something like this: on Sunday, T & S threw a small dinner party for the homies. It was great to spend a mellow few hours with my close friends.

On Monday morning I was woken up by J and brought into the living room, where, on the coffee table was a bouquet of flowers, a birthday cake with candles burning that read "happy birthday" and an assortment of wrapped presents. So precious! I spent the next half hour having coffee and eating breakfast (the birthday cake - lemon with lemon zest glaze) and opening gifts with J.
That afternoon I stopped by my mom's to get some medicine for my hurting neck and found a bday card from my dad. That was a nice surprise. Then I went to work at the public library. After work, I met J and my mom for a special birthday dinner. The end. It was a nice couple of days.

And now election day is over. Let me tell you, having Halloween, a Birthday, and a presidential Election in the span of 5 days is really draining!!!!

I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks filled with less excitement!

A final picture from the election night party that J and I attended. The parents of his best buddy from college invited us to celebrate. If you look closely, we're on the very left!

El Capital of Texas... Austin!!!

2008-01-12T18:31:00.000-08:00

So yeah. I'm in Austin.

With Justin, Kara, and 14-month-old Skylar. I can't wait to post pictures!!! They are one of the cutest families ever. Honestly, Skylar is friggin beautiful. If a kid ever falls into my lap one day, I hope she's as well-behaved and precious!

We're all driving down to Houston tomorrow where I will stay with my cuz Tammy for a week or so.

Not a whole lot to update on, though.

Hope all is well!

Last day in Kentucky...

2008-01-09T15:33:00.000-08:00

Today Jesse and I went to the Kentucky Horse Park which gave us a really thorough introduction to the horse and racing cultural that is so prevalent here in Lexington. I realized that while I'm definitely intrigued by the phenomenon of horse racing, I'm not so sure it's my thing...

Tomorrow morning flying to Austin to see Justin and Kara and their new (well, to me) daughter Skylar. On Sunday they're driving me down to Houston to see Tammy.

getting lucky in kentucky!

2008-01-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

And by lucky I mean the sun is shining!!! In the past month I have only seen blue skies and sunshine 5 or 6 times. So i'm really happy here in Lexington.

Jesse and Maggie are great hosts, as are Betty, Veronica, and Josie, their dog and cats, respectively. Their home is beautiful, and even though it's cold outside, we are warm and toasty inside.

We're eating a lot of good southern food and yesterday went to Cracker Barrel and today we went to Waffle House! Umm... As for things to do we are going to go to a Shaker Village once it warms up a bit (it was in the single digits last night). We also plan to go to Mammoth Cave National Park which proudly boasts the world's longest cave system with more than 365 miles explored.

Other than that, just enjoying being back in the States and reflecting on the past months of travel.

More later!

on my way to Lexington, Kentucky...

2008-01-01T18:08:00.000-08:00

Hey all!

Just letting you know i'm heading down to Jesse's place in a few minutes. I'm riding along with a stranger who happened to be going my way and who is passing through Chicago. I'm paying him $30, but for a 6 hour ride that is definitely fair.

I found out about the opportunity through Craigslist's messageboard titled "rideshare" in the community section. It seems legit, and is a great way for me to get from place to place.

I'll talk at you from Kentucky next!!!!

Happy 2008!!!

2008-01-01T01:03:00.000-08:00

Hey friends and family!

Here's to a wonderful new year for all!

Biggest hugs and warm wishes for the new year!

:-)

Checkin' in from Chicago

2007-12-30T19:19:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah - so the rental car is a Toyota Prius (see pics below with Tracie driving), and today I drove all day. What an awesome car!!! If anyone out there is dying to buy me a car, a Prius would definitely be the choice!

Umm... today we went to one of the quintessential Italian Beef restaurant's, Portillo's, where I had a Maxwell Street Polish (although I'd rather have gotten one from the actual street), and the girls shared an Italian Beef/Sausage combo sandwich.

After, we drove up Lakeshore to Sheridan and went to Evaston to show Ginny Northwestern University and the Baha'i Temple up there.

Then we drove to Tracie's aunt's house and apparently she is the first mobile dog groomer in all of Chicago. Wow!!! Then we went driving around Lincolnwood to see Christmas lights (think Candy Cane Lane or Starlight Circle, but more spread out).

We just picked up some food at a Mexican market and are about to grub... and play boardgames! Wee!!!

Chicago!!!

2007-12-29T17:17:00.000-08:00

So Tracie and Ginny (finally) arrived, and it has been great being bitchy with them like old times!

The other day we went wine tasting in Michigan.

Today we went to breakfast at everyone's favorite Swedish restaraunt, Ann Sathers, and then went to the Garfield Conservatory - an indoor botanical garden with different rooms showcasing plants from different climates.

We are having a dinner party tonight (14 minutes ago, in fact), and are hitting Boys' Town hard tonight!

I got a rideshare on Craigslist so I will definitely be riding to Lexington on Monday to see Jesse and Maggie!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

2007-12-24T20:26:00.001-08:00

I got into Chicago this evening after a gruelling day of travelling...

and just wanted to post a brief message of warmth and cheer!

Hope you are all with special people for the holidays (and if you're not, like me, I hope you are thinking and appreciating said special people)!!!

Homecoming (of sorts!) - Dublin, Galway, Cork

2007-12-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

With My Cork Couchsurfing hosts, Kait and Markus!!!

Omg.

Ireland has been SO lovely! The people are really warm and friendly.

Colin, make sure you get to Galway if only for a couple of nights. Barnacles hostel on Quay street has a 12 bed dorm for 12 Euros.

I didn't really care for Dublin, but saw the requisite sites (St. Patrick's Cathedral - attended the evensong service - all males, City Museum (THERE WAS AN ELLEN GALLAGHER exhibit!!!), Oscar Wilde monument and his house, Trinity College, The National Gallery... and had a pint of Guinness in Temple Bar.

Umm, then I went to Galway yesterday. Wow. How much fun did I have?! I was only there one night, but had an experience that I have been looking for my entire trip. Galway, on the west coast pretty much directly opposite from Dublin, was small, yet alive, and really refreshing.

I'm in Cork for three days now until I fly to Chicago on Christmas Eve!

cinque terre

2007-12-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

cinque terre: update to follow

VENICE!!!

I have been living from cappuccino to cappuccino in this lovely city. and, due to the endless maze of canals, bridges, and deadends, i don't think i ever knew once where i was. but that's just peachy because i always ended up where i wanted to be. and sometimes i ended up where i didn't know i wanted to be. and sometimes i ended up where i didn't know i didn't want to be (like when i took a wrong turn near the train station whilst i was looking for internet access for less than $15/hour - and i'm not exaggerated here - and i came upon a prostitute and other shadowy figures in a poorly lit area...

:-)

tomorrow i fly to dublin to look for my people...

ciao for now!!!!

Holland, Belgium, Italy

2007-12-14T02:30:00.000-08:00

It is getting harder to keep this updated! Check out the MANY pictures a few posts below this one of Morocco! While I have not had a chance to upload many photos, I did get to upload all of my amazing pics from Morocco.

Okay, this is more a note to myself to fill in later:

Holland
Amsterdam
- met up with Elisabeth, got present from her
- wandered around
- red light district

Belgium with Thomas!
- Gent is beautiful
- beer and chocolate
- day trip to Antwerp
- museum of design and fashion
- modern art museum
- live jazz bar
- American 20's bar and crazy girls
- day trip to Brussels on my last day

Italy - Roma
day one
-dinner with luca (my couchsurfing host) and his friends
day two
- colloseum
- arch of constantine
- roman forum
- trajan's column
- trevi fountain
- pantheon
day three
- off to vatican city soon...

Next Up;

day trip to Pisa tomorrow, then Cinqueterre for two nights. Then Venice for two nights.

Then Dublin for two nights, Cork for three nights.

AND IN CHICAGO on December 24!!!!

In Amsterdam via Belgium...

2007-12-07T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hey all!

Just the briefest of updates.

I left Lali, my fabulous Barcelona couchsurfing host, this morning at 4:20am to catch a flight to Charleroi Airport in Brussels. And then I trained it up to The Netherlands. I don't want to go into this too much, but can we takea moment to consider how inefficient American public transport is!? These Europeans really have it figured out, let me tell you! It's practically effortless.

I'm staying with my friend Franca (a friend I made in Malaysia two and a half years ago) and her lovely family. Her mom, dad, and bro are all really nice and welcoming and we had delicious Indonesian food tonight for dinner. Nasi Goreng how I love you so.

The next couple of days will include seeing The Hague (World Court/International Tribunal, Amsterdam (hello red-light district!), hopefully the movie The Golden Compass(!!!!), an M.C. Escher museum (he's Dutch), and maybe Rembrandt and Van Gogh museums (also Dutchies).

More updates later!

Big hugs.

Happy World AIDS Day, and Barcelona (again)!

2007-12-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

First, a word to remember all those affected by AIDS (whether directly or indirectly). Kaitlyn and I were walking through the streets of Barcelona when we came upon a tent of volunteers with red AIDS ribbons. We each gave a donation for a red ribbon and ask you all to remember this day, World AIDS Awareness Day. I´m back in Barcelona after 6 days in Morocco. Let´s just say that it was more than I bargained for, and after 3 months in Europe, I wasn´t quite ready for Morocco. While I had an amazing time and wouldn´t trade any of it for the world, i´m back in Barcelona for a weekish with Kaitlyn until I have to meet my friends in Amsterdam about 7 December. Big hugs to everyone, and miss you all (as always)!!!!

Morocco!!!

2007-11-26T05:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, so i'm in Marrakesh with Kaitlyn, and it's totally crazy!

There are people everywhere. And we are staying in the Medina, or walled old town, and people on motorcyles whip down the tiny lanes with little to no regard for anything or anyone in their way. It's totally crazy. I'm amazed I haven't witnessed any accidents yet. God willing we will survive our daily strolls down the street.

There are quite a few tourists here, so the stall workers are a bit aggressive. But a firm "no, thank you" sets them at ease. Kaitlyn and I booked a day trip to the high atlas mountains tomorrow where we will get to hike for 6 or 7 hours in the highest mountains in Morocco.

Then on Wednesday we head by car to Zagora, which is the jumping off point for the desert. On the way to Zagora we will see quite a few cities. Then once we get to the desert we ride camels into the desert where we catch the sunset and spend the night in big desert tents. The next morning we catch the sunrise and take the camels back to the city and head back by car to Marrakesh on Thursday.

Kaitlyn leaves for Barcelona on Friday and I will head to Essaouira, a beach city on the west coast. While Marrakesh is lovely and crazy, I hope to find a more chill atmosphere there.

Okay,

So plans (as always), have changed a bit. I´m now in Barcelona again with Kaitlyn after 6 crazy days in Morocco. The first night in Morocco Kaitlyn and I had dinner in the Djemm al-Fna, which is the main square of the old city. It´s total craziness with street performers everywhere with their snakes, monkeys, etc. There´s all kinds of food stalls with dried fruits, nuts, tajine (quintissential Moroccan cuisine), and even snails that are boiled in front of you.

I ended up eating the snails our last night in town. Kaitlyn took some pics, so i´ll post them once she does. You have to scoop out the snails with toothpicks because they are boiled in their shells. It should have been 5 dirham (about $.70), but the stall worker insisted on keeping another 5 dirham because Kaitlyn took photos.

I don´t want to give a bad impression of Morocco, because it was an incredible experience, but this snail thing is the perfect example of how what you see is rarely what you get. You just gotta be aware and diligent. The city of Marrakesh is probably the most touristy place in all of Morocco so it´s important not to let it be an indication of greater Moroccan life or people.

One day Kaitlyn and I did a day trip into the High Atlas mountains. It had just snowed a couple of days prior, so it was quite beautiful. It was Kaitlyn´s first snow, even! It was really amazing to walk about tiny Berber villages perched high in the mountains. We had lunch on an open patio with a view of the highest peak in Northern Africa. Really cool.

The next day Kaitlyn and I took an overnight trip into the desert. After being driven 6ish hours over the mountains and down the other side we took a camel ride for an hour and a half or so into the Sahara. Once we arrived at desert tents we were hosted by a few Bedouin guys who played music for us, served tea, and served dinner. It was all very touristy, so don´t get the impression that Kaitlyn and I got to experience these things without the ring of money being exchanged, but it was still really cool. There were SO SO SO many stars out. And we watched the moon rise (really cool because it was big and round and orange). Then next morning we watched the sun rise and took some cool photos of the sand dunes. They were not the giant ones that may come to mind - those are in another part of Morocco.

Umm... what else. One night Kaitlyn and I went to this upscale bar called Kosybar and shared a bottle of wine. Obviously since Morocco is a Muslim country, alcohol is at a premium. But it was lovely sharing a bottle of wine over the sounds of the city. It was on a rooftop terrace and was just lovely!

Barcelona!

2007-11-23T14:36:00.000-08:00

Is amazing. More later.

I fly to Morroco on Sunday, 11/25.

And to Frankfurt, Germany on 12/6.

I´ll be in Amsterdam and Brussels until 11/12 when I fly to Italy.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2007-11-21T23:16:00.000-08:00

I hope you all have wonderfully plentiful days with family and friends!

I woke up this morning in Paris and had to take a bus out to the budget airline's airport in Beauvais. I met a really sweet girl, Mary Colins, from Virginia and who had on this fabulous green coat... anyways. We chatted for the hour or so to the airport and then decided to have a Thanksgiving meal together there. We said what we were thankful for over chocolate crepes and chicken sandwhiches. And while it was anything but traditional, it was certainly familiar and strangely comforting.

And I got to Barcelona in the afternoon and couldn't find any Americans in my hostel to celebrate with... There was this guy sitting in the corner reading a guidebook. He was there when I checked in and he was there an hour later when I decided to take a shower. I told myself that if he was STILL there when I got out to of the shower i'd ask him if he wanted to hang out. Well, I emerge dripping wet from the shower and with my towel (only) around my waist I march up to him and ask him if he wants to go out and eat. Thus begins an amazing few days with one of the coolest people I met on my trip!!!

here is Stefan the Swiss:

paris!!!

2007-11-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

Paris has been great so far. It was a rocky start with dealing with train strikes, rain, closed metro, waiting in a line of 75 to 100 people for an hour for a taxi to my Paris host's apartment, but after an excellent night's sleep I was ready to hit the city!

Today I went to the tombs of Gertrude Stein, Proust, Moliere, Chopin, Morrison, and Oscar Wilde. Pictures to follow.

I also tried to go to the Catacombs but they are closed from today through the end of February 2008. So that is that.

Umm... walked around the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Sorbonne also.

I glimpsed the Eiffel Tower in the distance and since I was cold and hungry, and since it was against a gray storm-cloud backdrop it was less than magical. BUT. I have a few more days here and I have high hopes!!!

More later!

Hope everyone is well!

still in france...

2007-11-16T06:55:00.000-08:00

so i'm still in sleepy st. dizier with adam.

i tried to leave today, honest!!! but due to the train strike in france i wasn't able to get to Amsterdam today, so Adam and I decided I should stay until Sunday when I have an appointment to sleep in the home of a nice Parisian couple, Frederic and Denis.

they've never had a couchsurfer (www.couchsurfing.com) before, and it's only my second time... so it'll be lots of fun!!!

also, i'm flying to barcelona from paris on thursday, thanksgiving day, and i'm flying from there to marrakesh on sunday 11/25.

i have decided to be in Chicago for new year's (sorry mom - i swear i won't get mono this time) so i'll be back in the States about 12/26 or so...

but i have been brewing a plan to see amsterdam, italy, ireland and scotland before i have to leave europe.

so will keep you updated!

Birthday Video and France

2007-11-11T06:24:00.000-08:00

First, thanks to all my friends for the warm bday wishes. Some even made a singing telegram on Halloween:

I am currently in St. Dizier, France with my new friend Adam. He is my cousin Tammy's friend Nina's friend... but obviously after 3 days together we are BFFs!

His town has 30k people and is really cute/French. I really HATE the French keyboard and will post more updates about our adventures after typing them on his laptop.

One fun thing to mention is that we spent a night in Reims (pronounced ¨prince¨ without the ¨p¨. We toured a famous champagne maker's caves and had a tasting. It was really cool to see how champagne is made; especially in the Champagne region of France where it is from!

I'll be here for a week and then Paris and maybe Northern Spain (San Sebastian, Bilbao, Barcelona) and I fly to Morocco on Sunday, Nov. 25 to meet Kaitlyn for a few kRaZy weeks in Africa!!!!

Leipzig, Germany

2007-11-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Berlin!!! (except rainbow is Geisenheim)

2007-11-07T07:22:00.001-08:00

Back in Geisenheim

2007-11-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

Madrid, Spain

2007-11-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

Malaga, Spain

2007-11-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

my malaga friends who were celebrating their 6 year wedding anniversary the day we met/hung out - mariola (she's german) and marius (he's polish)

Sevilla, Spain

2007-11-07T06:31:00.000-08:00

Cordoba, Spain

2007-11-07T05:37:00.000-08:00

Cabo de Gata - near Almeria, Spain (day trip from Granada)

2007-11-07T05:23:00.000-08:00

Granada, Spain

2007-11-07T04:03:00.000-08:00

birthday madness in berlin...

2007-11-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

okay, okay, the much anticipated blog entry...

it's 4:30 am, and i can't sleep. we're leaving back to frankfurt in a couple of hours so i thought i'd just do some catching up rather than waste time in bed not sleeping!

so on friday morning we, magali, rob and I, picked up a fellow fullbrighter in frankfurt, courtney. she's buddies with rob from fullbright orientation, meetings, etc. and we head up to berlin. after about 7 hours, a few hundred kilometers, a couple of rest stops we finally arrived in berlin. at the beginning of rush hour! wee!!!!

we pick up (at a random tube stop), another fullbrighter, annie. we get checked into the hostel and dash out into the night for lovely (cheap) indian food in kreuzburg (alexanderplatz-ish), and then a beer at a smokey little bar with a live band playing in the basement. then home and bed for the big saturday night birthday festivities.

saturday we have breakfast at the hostel (included = free) and then voyage out to see some of the requisite berlin sites: the east side gallery, the brandenberg gate, the reichstag, tiergarten, the holocaust memorial (which, due to some chemical coating on all of the hundreds of blocks comprising the memorial seems to be the only surface in all of berlin without graffiti)...

and then i had this awesome idea of having a fun little pre-party/get ready time in the hostel room (since the four of us got a private 4-bed room for the weekend). so after sightseeing we took a really brief break... went out into the night about 8pmish for dinner - italian food - and then came back and lit candles, poured some drinky-drinks, and rocked out to some pre-party music (rob brought speakers for our ipods) before heading out into the night.

our first stop was meeting up with a friend i made in granada, spain who was from berlin. his brother was spinning (or changing cds/records) at this little teeny weeny french fry stand cum bar for the evening called 'flying sauvage' or something... it was cool to meet up with him and meet his bro and some of his friends. weird experience: okay so the place was really small. maybe 20 - 35 square feet only. so everything was kinda tight. well one of the speakers was emitting a LOT of heat. i was a bit nervous because i was afraid it was malfunctioning or something. in standing near it i had to consciously avoid bumping into it because it felt like it would probablz have caused some burnage. well... after an hour or something someone finally comes and turns it off. it was a heater!!! not a speaker! but it looked like a friggin stereo speaker! big and square and black, etc. whatever.

stop two of the night, and thomas and his german friend guido (who got the name 'sparkles' because he was wearing a sequined shirt (wow.) stopped off at a disco called scwuz for a night of dancing. it was fun. real fun. we were dancing until about 4:30 or 5... the only thing i might do differently (beside make friends with the guy in the white tshirt or the one in the brown tshirt or better friends with carlos from spain who i met at the end of the night but whom i had to leave abruptly when cher came on...) What was I saying? oh yes. the WHOLE NIGHT. was 80's night. now, i like 80's music as much as the next guy. but not THAT much!!!!!!!

more later... my paid time on this comp is up!!!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!!

2007-10-31T03:43:00.001-07:00

So i'm sitting in Rob's apartment finishing up my final essay for grad school... (i'm working REALLY REALLY hard) and i'm really enjoying seeing everyone's halloween costumes!!! Great job, guys! I wish I was there to celebrate last weekend (or tonight).

Pics I found that make me really happy:

malaga y madrid (writing from inside the Biblioteca Nacional - yeah, that makes TWO national libraries i´ve been able to finagle my way into!!!)

2007-10-29T06:38:00.000-07:00

okay, so mussorgsky´s pictures at an exhibition by the Seville Symphony was phenomenal. better than i could have ever imagined! it´s certainly an amazing peace to hear, but to see live - WOW!

so i left seville that morning (by 8 or so) so that i could arrive in Malaga (on the coast) in time to hit the beach.

which i did. which was wonderful.

then the next day i met a nice couple at breakfast in the our hostel and they decided to join me at the picasso museo malaga. apparently malaga is where picasso was born and there is a great picasso museum there. the couple, mariola and marius, are from germany - but he´s polish. and it happened to be there 6 year wedding anniversary that day. after the museum i insisted they spend the day alone (because it was there anniversary and all...) but they would hear nothing of the sort and made me spend the entire rest of the day and night with them. well, not night NIGHT, but we got home about midnight. anyway, we had a lovely fish lunch, and then an even lovelier fish dinner in a little city 1 hour and 15 minutes away called Marbella.

umm, then on sunday morning i caught an 8:30 bus to madrid and go in about 3pm. met up with Francesca!!!! at 6pm and we went to Museo del Prado since it was free on Sunday and made a bee-line for Velazquez´s Las Meninas! Wow! So cool!

then we went to the ¨festive¨ part of madrid and looked at and got looked at. we had some cervezas and then had some kebab. and then went home.

today, my last day in madrid, i went to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia - and saw... say it with me all you world travelers: Picasso´s Guernica. WOW!!!! so big!

then i went to this wonderful park where i had a little picnic. truth be told, i´m sick of friggin baguette sandwiches (bocadillos). they´re everywhere, and they´re cheap, so i´ve obviously had many over the past week and a half. sheesh. NO MORE! but i had one for lunch. since there´s obviously NOTHING ELSE TO EAT IN ALL OF SPAIN.

umm... and now i´m just type type typing away in the national library. but i´m going to wander out into the lovely sunny madridian (is this a word?) afternoon to find a coffee and a post office.

on my way back to germany tomorrow, and ONE final essay to write for my portfolio.

big hugs, and i´ll post pics of spain sometime this week from rob´s place.

brief update

2007-10-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

brooke´s house is fine!!!

umm, i spent one night in cordoba, and my roommate was this really nice guy from malaga. manuel. the mezquita in cordoba was phenomenal. pics to come.

i had a simple dinner of fresh-baked baguette, brie cheese, and tinto verano (wine with lemonade or something) on the bank of the river looking up at the illuminated mezquita. when i got home to the hostel i heard all this clapping and noise so went to explore. there was this group of old(er) people - 80s i´d say and they were all dancing together. i got the impression that it was their weekly social hour or something. i sat on the patio of the hostel in the dark, and listened to their sounds of exaltation. and the scent from night-blooming jasmine was really strong.

last night and tonight i´m in sevilla. it´s lovely, too. huge cathedral. lots of tourists.

i´m going to the symphony tonight. it´s mussorgsky´s pictures at an exhibition - how could i NOT go?! it´s a piece i´ve always wanted to see performed live. and it cost less than my hostel tonight. so there!

and then i´m getting kicked out of my hostel tomorrow because it´s full, so i´ve been stressing on where to stay the next few days. i´ve decided on Malaga in the south. it should be just a couple of hours by bus, and i´m definitely going to get some more sun and beach in. it should be sunny tomorrow and saturday. radical.

then i´m not sure about the next couple of days. perhaps madrid if i can find a place to stay there...

OH. i´m not going to portugal, obviously. I booked a flight on tuesday afternoon from Madrid back to Rob (Frankfurt) so we can road trip on Friday, Nov 2 up to Berlin for my Birthday! His friend Magali is coming to party, too, and maybe Catharina, too! And I met another guy, thomas willis, in the hostel in granada from berlin so maybe he´ll come out too.

okay, sorry for not cultural updates. they´ll come when i´m not paying to use the internet!!!!

muah!

Hitchhiking in Spain, Detained by Police (both unrelated!!!)

2007-10-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

Alright, so another fabulous update. ¿Aren´t you in for una sorpresa!? So the past few days have been wonderful.

friday night
gorda perra

saturday
- woke up late, brekkies with katie, sunning in el jardines del triunfo, thomas got into town, oasis and other bar

sunday night
alhambra, flamenco at night

monday
- granada to seaside town of almeria to beach at cabo de gata. stranded there and hitchhiking back to almeria. Thanks Maite (single mother) for bringing us back to Almeria to catch our bus back to Granada. Then I got stopped by three undercover police and taken to a room in the bus station in Granada. At first they showed me their badges and one of them took my arm and i´m all ¨NO ME TOCAS!¨ - Don´t Touch Me! It´s a phrase I learned to ward off the aggressive vendors (the gypsy women selling rosemary to people outside the catedral). Anyways, then he grabs my arm more fully and repeats ¨no me tocas¨ back to me sarcastically. well, yeah he showed me his badge before I told him not to touch me, but his badge doesn´t mean anything to a foreign tourist who has done nothing wrong. For all I know he flashed me a toy badge or something. They took me to a room with a police insignia on it and told me to sit down, and ¨Tranquilo, tranquilo¨. I tell them I don´t speak Spanish and one of them speaks English very well. They ask for ID, so I give them my driver´s license. And after a couple of minutes and a phone call I´m free to leave. So finally i´m all ¨What is all this about?!¨and they tell me random security check. Hmmm. I guess I look suspicious?! Which is odd since my dark features are common here... Well they joked with me afterward and the one who grabbed my arm extended his hand in apology, so we shook. What a crazy experience.

I´m off to Cordoba today (Tuesday morning) and will write more when I get to a faster computer.

Fire Updates...

2007-10-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

Family and Friends in East and North Counties, please send me updates to let me know you are okay...

Espana, Finalmente!!!

2007-10-19T08:00:00.001-07:00

Okay, quick update.

First, a great big thank you to Rob for pulling a Go-Go Speed Racer move on the Autobahn to get me to the airport in just the nick of time... literally, my shuttle to the airport was pulling away from the bus stop as I run up to it with my backpack on... phew!!! The bus driver said something in German (with a smile) and all I could manage to blurt out was a great big THANK YOU in English.

So i'm on my plane at 7 in the morning... and i'm eager to finally get to Spain. My plane, a RyanAir flight, had the first and last four rows of the plane's seating blocked off. After take-off I heard one of the flight attendants mention to the guy across the aisle from me that we were free to use these spaces after take-off and before landing. So I got an entire row to myself and took a nap.

Upon waking up I look to the left of the plane - out my window - and saw the sun rising through a brilliant band of orange across the horizon over the Mediterranean. It was breaktaking.

Then, I'm CouchSurfing with a stranger for the first time, so i'm a bit nervous if it will all work out well... and I meet my host, Katie, a 20yo Canadian studying fine arts (painting and photography) hear in Granada for a year and she is totally rad! We hit it off right away over a cup of cafe con leche (por un euro solamente, que ridiculo!!!), and over a cerveza and tapas (cous-cous con salchicharon, and paella)... Apparently Granada is the only (or so I was told) place in Spain where you get FREE tapas with cervezas. So Katie eventually went off to class and her friend Zak and I go to have another bite to eat (well, more one and a half euro beers with free tapas - tostada con roquefort and sardines, and vegetarian pizza and tuna pizza), and then he took me through the Albaycin part of town with white-washed buildings, narrow cobble-stoned streets going up-hill, and Calle Elvira which, apparently, is also known as Little Morocco for all the bazaar-like shops and hooka bars.

Side note on Zak - American, from New York, but in his senior year at the University of Vermont, so he's good Burlington people...

Well, we're walking and walking and all of a sudden he says "Don't. Look. Left!" and i'm thinking to myself, "What in the hell is to the left?!" - I'm not going to look but i'm a bit nervous about what is so terrible I shouldn't look... Well, he soon follows this up with something to the effect of "There's a really nice view coming up which is better in a moment" and we reach a plaza from which you have unobstructed views of the Alhambra! Omigoodness. So. Beautiful. I'll post pictures soon, but standing in the sun, a little bit drunk from beer and tapas, viewing one of the pieces of world architecture that are on my "to-see-before-I-die" list was... Magical. And then this gypsy man busts out with flamenco music - guitar, vocals, and all. I have to admit that I was really moved by the experience. So yeah.

I've been in Granada for less than 8 hours. Have already met two amazing people. Have already had the famous cerveza y tapas de Espana, and I've already had the chance to see (albeit from far) some of the world's most beautiful architecture.

I might be staying here for a while. We'll see. :-)

Oktoberfest in Mainz, Germany - CRAZY VIDEOS!!!

2007-10-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

These are the videos, and the pics will follow... Enjoy!