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| swissa and stresa |
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
good old yurp
and then i was back, welcomed by my wonderful old friends and then rushing off to english camp to torture little children.
two weeks later i was finally in switzerland with alex and charles to be lazy and run off to cool places like narbonne and paris and montreaux. we hung out at swimming pools, saw an old car show, i met the parents, we ate calf, we explored paris and its cool graffiti... the three weeks were fantastic, relaxing and cuddly.
another week of camp and then it was time to recruit my friends to move my stuff into our A.W.E.S.O.M.E. new apartment. and now we're complete, four students living under one roof in a strange apartment with an interior design from the late 50's (brick wallpaper, wooden tiles on the ceiling, and beautiful wooden floors).
in order to really feel at home we organized a huuuge 50+ people halloween party. happy halloween! (happy until it was clean up time...) the party was a huge success and the costumes were fantastic. yaay :)
school has started again, much easier than really it should be for an apparently hard course, and so time is not sparse. and next week i'm off to switzerland again in order to drive to milan and reunite the five from s.am. (south america). yay!
two weeks later i was finally in switzerland with alex and charles to be lazy and run off to cool places like narbonne and paris and montreaux. we hung out at swimming pools, saw an old car show, i met the parents, we ate calf, we explored paris and its cool graffiti... the three weeks were fantastic, relaxing and cuddly.
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| back to yurp |
another week of camp and then it was time to recruit my friends to move my stuff into our A.W.E.S.O.M.E. new apartment. and now we're complete, four students living under one roof in a strange apartment with an interior design from the late 50's (brick wallpaper, wooden tiles on the ceiling, and beautiful wooden floors).
 |
| mrrrbrrrg |
in order to really feel at home we organized a huuuge 50+ people halloween party. happy halloween! (happy until it was clean up time...) the party was a huge success and the costumes were fantastic. yaay :)
 |
| halloween |
school has started again, much easier than really it should be for an apparently hard course, and so time is not sparse. and next week i'm off to switzerland again in order to drive to milan and reunite the five from s.am. (south america). yay!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
four years later...
ok, maybe not quite four years, but i definitely have some things to catch up on.
i stopped writing in halifax...
after chilling out with our wonderful host in halifax (including a very rainy and very canadian canoe ride on his lake) we ran off with his car and explored cape breton. we drove all day along a beautiful coastline, ate dinner on a cliff overlooking the sunset on the atlantic, slept on a parking lot (and were too scared even to go out to pee), gawked at two "schools"? of whales, drove more and arrived back tired but ready to party in halifax. there we headed to a couchsurfing party and danced into my birthday. the next day, after a loooooong sleep, james took us watertubing with his jetski - sooo much fun!
after halifax we headed to charlottetown on prince edward island (our motto was "a new province every day"). we stayed with another very gracious surfer and went to a concert where she was guitarring and singing. we hitchhiked out to the red cliffs (past anne's gables) to admire the view and meandered around town (pretty, touristy and cutesy, with not enough grocery stores but helpful bus drivers). i was still feeling the aftereffects of the must and dust in halifax, and my nose was stuffy and my eyes burny for a couple more days.
next province: new brunswick. we arrived in saint john where our hosts picked us up from the bus station and were confused that people even want to come there. saint john is quite industrial, with a huge paper mill and many other big things all owned by irving (the name is EVERYWHERE... all gas stations are owned by them, they basically control the city through the employment they offer and even a small national park that we visited was named after them). we had a good time, tho, exploring the windy city and trying to figure out ways of only walking downhill.
next province: quebec. although in quebec we made an exception and visited both quebec city and montreal (ahh, twice the same province!). french, clearly. and cute. and pretty. and europeanish (as european as canada can get, i guess). we arrived in quebec at the same time as celine dion, although unlike her we didnt have millions of fans waiting for us (and clogging up busses!). arrived in montreal we could finally relax - i had seen it before and vor lena it was just a little appetizer of what was to come. so we slept a lot in m-france's beautiful apartment, ate sushi, wandered, drank wine, and slept more.
last stop: toronto. my friends are such amazing people and i miss them so horribly. we had a big goodbyenadja/welcomebacknicole - party, where i got to see almost everyone a final time. we then headed to anf's house to "sleep", which never happened, and we ended up watching videos from cuba all night instead. the escort to the airport the next day was also very touching and heart-wrenching.
so canada is over, for now. toronto is a wonderful city with amazing people that made my year a fantastic experience, and i'm missing them all... :)
and this is the trip, in summary:
Ver mapa más grande
i stopped writing in halifax...
after chilling out with our wonderful host in halifax (including a very rainy and very canadian canoe ride on his lake) we ran off with his car and explored cape breton. we drove all day along a beautiful coastline, ate dinner on a cliff overlooking the sunset on the atlantic, slept on a parking lot (and were too scared even to go out to pee), gawked at two "schools"? of whales, drove more and arrived back tired but ready to party in halifax. there we headed to a couchsurfing party and danced into my birthday. the next day, after a loooooong sleep, james took us watertubing with his jetski - sooo much fun!
after halifax we headed to charlottetown on prince edward island (our motto was "a new province every day"). we stayed with another very gracious surfer and went to a concert where she was guitarring and singing. we hitchhiked out to the red cliffs (past anne's gables) to admire the view and meandered around town (pretty, touristy and cutesy, with not enough grocery stores but helpful bus drivers). i was still feeling the aftereffects of the must and dust in halifax, and my nose was stuffy and my eyes burny for a couple more days.
next province: new brunswick. we arrived in saint john where our hosts picked us up from the bus station and were confused that people even want to come there. saint john is quite industrial, with a huge paper mill and many other big things all owned by irving (the name is EVERYWHERE... all gas stations are owned by them, they basically control the city through the employment they offer and even a small national park that we visited was named after them). we had a good time, tho, exploring the windy city and trying to figure out ways of only walking downhill.
next province: quebec. although in quebec we made an exception and visited both quebec city and montreal (ahh, twice the same province!). french, clearly. and cute. and pretty. and europeanish (as european as canada can get, i guess). we arrived in quebec at the same time as celine dion, although unlike her we didnt have millions of fans waiting for us (and clogging up busses!). arrived in montreal we could finally relax - i had seen it before and vor lena it was just a little appetizer of what was to come. so we slept a lot in m-france's beautiful apartment, ate sushi, wandered, drank wine, and slept more.
last stop: toronto. my friends are such amazing people and i miss them so horribly. we had a big goodbyenadja/welcomebacknicole - party, where i got to see almost everyone a final time. we then headed to anf's house to "sleep", which never happened, and we ended up watching videos from cuba all night instead. the escort to the airport the next day was also very touching and heart-wrenching.
so canada is over, for now. toronto is a wonderful city with amazing people that made my year a fantastic experience, and i'm missing them all... :)
and this is the trip, in summary:
Ver mapa más grande
Thursday, August 14, 2008
goooo eaaaaast
after our wonderful friends dinner in toronto, and somewhat sad goodbyes (i'll see them all one last time on the way back, don't even want to think about it), lena and i headed to the airport with our personal escort neesa. we boarded the plane and landed in halifax at 2.30 in the morning. our dear dear host picked us up, brought us to his house by the lake that he shares with his two cool sons, and we slept till noon. we woke up rested for the first time in about a week, and were greeted with the sight of the lake in front of the living room and the smell of home made biscuits and sausages.
after eating breakfast/lunch we dove into the lake and then spent the day SAILING into town and exploring halifax. we actually got to steer the boat! after a great wander and dinner we sailed back home and dropped into bed exhausted.
and now we have a plan. it's not perfect yet, but it's a plan. and since whenever i divulge plans to people things tend not to work out, the plan will be revealed step by step as we actually fulfill it. it's bound to change so often anyways, that it would be pointless to describe it now. except to say that the night of my birthday is planned in charlottetown on prince edward island, at a party that our host there is throwing. yay for traveling and double-yay for couchsurfing :)
after eating breakfast/lunch we dove into the lake and then spent the day SAILING into town and exploring halifax. we actually got to steer the boat! after a great wander and dinner we sailed back home and dropped into bed exhausted.
and now we have a plan. it's not perfect yet, but it's a plan. and since whenever i divulge plans to people things tend not to work out, the plan will be revealed step by step as we actually fulfill it. it's bound to change so often anyways, that it would be pointless to describe it now. except to say that the night of my birthday is planned in charlottetown on prince edward island, at a party that our host there is throwing. yay for traveling and double-yay for couchsurfing :)
camping in the thousand islands and then I <3 NY
i wish!!
our bold plan was to go camping in algonquin (pronounced in a french accent, please, or spanish) and then to nyc and then start doing the east coast. weeeell... camping died, due to lack of organisation. so we decided to do a day trip to kingston to see the thousand islands... weeeell... we drove there in perfect weather conditions, got hot dogs, found a kayak rental, rented kayaks... the moment we had stowed our stuff in jose's car and were ready to go a thunder storm started. so much for the 1864 islands, we didn't see even one.
to get over our sorrow we visited the toronto zoo. beautiful zoo. definite lack of animals.
by this time we were somewhat disappointed. but we spent our time looking at beautiful toronto and survived the conquests wonderfully.
and then we were off to new york city! amazing city, so variable, huge, immense and hectic. the parts of town are so different from each other it feels like you're in several different cities at once. times square at night is overwhelmingly crazy. central park is labyrinthine and huge. thanks to bry we got to spend one evening dining on the 16th floor overlooking manhattan and the hudson at sunset. beaaautiful. and i bought a camera! a good one, my birthday present. now all i have to do is figure out cool tricks like what anf just taught me: if you make the aperature small small small and zoom in on a person you can blur the background and take a very cool portrait shot.
we were somewhat worried lena wouldn't be able to get back into canada since her visa says "THIS DOES NOT AUTHORIZE RE-ENTRY"... apparently, however, they print this on ALL visas just to remind the nationals of certain countries that they need a seperate visa to get back in. lena had no problems luckily :)
so, after arriving safely in toronto again and having a great dinner with my torontonians, we were off to the east coast. dun dun dun...
our bold plan was to go camping in algonquin (pronounced in a french accent, please, or spanish) and then to nyc and then start doing the east coast. weeeell... camping died, due to lack of organisation. so we decided to do a day trip to kingston to see the thousand islands... weeeell... we drove there in perfect weather conditions, got hot dogs, found a kayak rental, rented kayaks... the moment we had stowed our stuff in jose's car and were ready to go a thunder storm started. so much for the 1864 islands, we didn't see even one.
 |
| nearing the end |
to get over our sorrow we visited the toronto zoo. beautiful zoo. definite lack of animals.
by this time we were somewhat disappointed. but we spent our time looking at beautiful toronto and survived the conquests wonderfully.
and then we were off to new york city! amazing city, so variable, huge, immense and hectic. the parts of town are so different from each other it feels like you're in several different cities at once. times square at night is overwhelmingly crazy. central park is labyrinthine and huge. thanks to bry we got to spend one evening dining on the 16th floor overlooking manhattan and the hudson at sunset. beaaautiful. and i bought a camera! a good one, my birthday present. now all i have to do is figure out cool tricks like what anf just taught me: if you make the aperature small small small and zoom in on a person you can blur the background and take a very cool portrait shot.
 |
| go eeeeeaaaaaaasssssst! but first to new york |
we were somewhat worried lena wouldn't be able to get back into canada since her visa says "THIS DOES NOT AUTHORIZE RE-ENTRY"... apparently, however, they print this on ALL visas just to remind the nationals of certain countries that they need a seperate visa to get back in. lena had no problems luckily :)
so, after arriving safely in toronto again and having a great dinner with my torontonians, we were off to the east coast. dun dun dun...
Thursday, July 31, 2008
finally back to cuba
yaay, i have time to write in my blog! but just a little. so things will have to be short. and since pictures speak a thousand words, THEORETICALLy you have already heard about 30,000 words about cuba. and that really isn't bad. i'm only going to add another 200 or so here.
cuba was fantastic. the first things you see when you arrive in havana are bush-is-a-terrorist placards, and old cars. i took a taxi from the airport and was welcomed by alex and charles in a casa particular (a private home which rents out rooms to tourists) and the owners cheered as i came in, proclaiming that i'd been terribly missed by the guys :). we wandered havana and i was in awe at the beautiful paint-peeling decrepit old old buildings, the old old cars that everyone drives, the electrical wires hanging everywhere, the omnipresent smell of cigars.
the next day we picked up anf and neesa and continued our trip as a group of five. during our trip we roamed from havana to cienfuegos, to trinidad and then to santa clara. every city was different according to the wealth of the city and the number of tourists (though it didn't even seem that one influenced the other much, trinidad for example had the most tourists and the best beaches and the most colourful houses, while santa clara had the first super markets we saw in the whole of cuba and decidedly less tourists).
we spent our days at beaches, wandering cities, taking lots and lots of photos, eating street pizza, getting stuck in monsoon-like rains, admiring/being bored by (depending who's point of view i'm speaking of) revolutionary museums and statues, drinking rum in mojitos or santa claras or cuba libres, sleeping on the terraces of castles (ok, one castle only, but it was cool), playing cards, and chatting up strangers to find out more about the political and social situation (this was done mostly by charles and alex, since they were the ones who could most easily communicate with the cubans... the rest of us stuttered sentences but were indulged rather than involved in the discussions). one of the most interesting discussions that wasn't about politics, was discussing how many continents there are in the world. opinions, anyone?
and we ate a lot of ham and cheese. sadly the markets are bare, but almost all the casas we stayed in worked wonders with the little selection and procured delicious meals (lobster, chicken, pumpkin, salad, mmm). and in contrast the fancy looking restaurants, run by the government i presume, managed to serve only ham and cheese. for example:
MENU
pork with ham and cheese
pork with cheese
cordon bleu
beef with ham and cheese
beef with cheese
beef with ham and cheese sauce
uruguayan beef (after further questioning this turned out to be beef with ham and cheese).
desert: cheese with jam.
alex and i ordered two different dishes... he got a piece of beef with ham and cheese in the middle and another piece of beef on top. in my case the ham was on the middle and the cheese on top.
in total the trip was great. the people were welcoming and amazing, while the political system has its pros and cons (free health care, housing and education and a set daily wage... but on the other hand the daily wage is so low everyone has to have a second illegal job, no one is motivated to take study because the wages don't go up much, the best paid jobs are those of waiters as they get tips from tourists).
my time back in toronto has been great as well, doing lots with friends (like wonderland! and persian festival, and pictures of the sunrise from the beach) and trying to show lena around while being overwhelmed with work at the internship. today is my last day and i'm not looking forward to leaving toronto. but on the other hand i AM looking forward to what comes next. camping, NYC, halifax etc. yay :)
(wow, more than 200 there!)
cuba was fantastic. the first things you see when you arrive in havana are bush-is-a-terrorist placards, and old cars. i took a taxi from the airport and was welcomed by alex and charles in a casa particular (a private home which rents out rooms to tourists) and the owners cheered as i came in, proclaiming that i'd been terribly missed by the guys :). we wandered havana and i was in awe at the beautiful paint-peeling decrepit old old buildings, the old old cars that everyone drives, the electrical wires hanging everywhere, the omnipresent smell of cigars.
the next day we picked up anf and neesa and continued our trip as a group of five. during our trip we roamed from havana to cienfuegos, to trinidad and then to santa clara. every city was different according to the wealth of the city and the number of tourists (though it didn't even seem that one influenced the other much, trinidad for example had the most tourists and the best beaches and the most colourful houses, while santa clara had the first super markets we saw in the whole of cuba and decidedly less tourists).
we spent our days at beaches, wandering cities, taking lots and lots of photos, eating street pizza, getting stuck in monsoon-like rains, admiring/being bored by (depending who's point of view i'm speaking of) revolutionary museums and statues, drinking rum in mojitos or santa claras or cuba libres, sleeping on the terraces of castles (ok, one castle only, but it was cool), playing cards, and chatting up strangers to find out more about the political and social situation (this was done mostly by charles and alex, since they were the ones who could most easily communicate with the cubans... the rest of us stuttered sentences but were indulged rather than involved in the discussions). one of the most interesting discussions that wasn't about politics, was discussing how many continents there are in the world. opinions, anyone?
and we ate a lot of ham and cheese. sadly the markets are bare, but almost all the casas we stayed in worked wonders with the little selection and procured delicious meals (lobster, chicken, pumpkin, salad, mmm). and in contrast the fancy looking restaurants, run by the government i presume, managed to serve only ham and cheese. for example:
MENU
pork with ham and cheese
pork with cheese
cordon bleu
beef with ham and cheese
beef with cheese
beef with ham and cheese sauce
uruguayan beef (after further questioning this turned out to be beef with ham and cheese).
desert: cheese with jam.
alex and i ordered two different dishes... he got a piece of beef with ham and cheese in the middle and another piece of beef on top. in my case the ham was on the middle and the cheese on top.
in total the trip was great. the people were welcoming and amazing, while the political system has its pros and cons (free health care, housing and education and a set daily wage... but on the other hand the daily wage is so low everyone has to have a second illegal job, no one is motivated to take study because the wages don't go up much, the best paid jobs are those of waiters as they get tips from tourists).
my time back in toronto has been great as well, doing lots with friends (like wonderland! and persian festival, and pictures of the sunrise from the beach) and trying to show lena around while being overwhelmed with work at the internship. today is my last day and i'm not looking forward to leaving toronto. but on the other hand i AM looking forward to what comes next. camping, NYC, halifax etc. yay :)
(wow, more than 200 there!)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
patience
is an important virtue. right?
and on that note, patience must be had, as i have to see if i have time tomorrow to write a blog entry... :)
very very briefly: been horribly busy after cuba at work, picked up lena at the airport (yaaay :)...), we're going camping this weekend, to new york next weekend, and are then taking a flight out to halifax to explore the amazing east of canada.
yay yay!!
and on that note, patience must be had, as i have to see if i have time tomorrow to write a blog entry... :)
very very briefly: been horribly busy after cuba at work, picked up lena at the airport (yaaay :)...), we're going camping this weekend, to new york next weekend, and are then taking a flight out to halifax to explore the amazing east of canada.
yay yay!!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
explosions
(c) anf... i think?
ready to read more silly details about my torontonian life? here goes...
i left off at a meeting with my boss, at which it was basically decided that what i was doing was right. (that opinion maybe didn't last as long as desired, but the new version of the plan is just as good.)
the end of may brought with it more babysitting, a very pleasant and wine filled dinner with jane (with lots of interesting conversations about marriage and couples and how in order for charles and i to have any future i should send him away for five years), and some salsa dancings on the street. it finished off with the already be-photoed idiotarod, which was horribly fun and rainy, followed by a delicious bbq at quadir's.
the three big things this month have been languages, sports and festival. i discovered, through neesa, the ymca. it offers sooo many different sport classes all at an affordable monthly fee. so this month i've been doing as much swimming and yoga as i can muster up energy for. more than i expected, really, partly due to the very alluring sauna that makes laziness much easier to overcome. the language part is a language exchange between natalia and me - german vs spanish. we've done two lessons each ;)
the big highlight of the month was the luminat'eau festival - lots of concerts, performances, parades, dance lessons and body painters. sooo much fun. we learned to swing (hilarious! chicken peck, mess around, twirl in a circle... my stomach was aching from laughing too much), to tango, to salsa...
neesa and i finally got our act together and did some long-planned biking. all up thompson park (a manmade spit) and all along the beaches. we found the jazz festival, had kentucky fried chicken and then had tea at my "beach house".
the next day i left my beloved "beach house" behind - i now reside near coxwell, thanks to the very generous and gracious jose. thank youuuu! and thank you maria for all your driving :)
after the move neesa and i went all out in terms of biking, and went on a long bike ride through parks and past streams and over hills with about half of iran. we even learned some persian on the way. the bike trip ended at queen's park, where there was a huge drumming festival being held, with amazing crazy different types of drums.
the next week there was more dancing, more sporting and more westerns at work, a short film festival, and then the international cs day which we celebrated at the tequila bookworm with awards and balloons.
the weekend was filled with more luminat'eau and the best face paint i have ever and probably will ever have the chance to wear. the artists even do painting for cirque du soleil! lucky me gets to carry memories of the body paint for months to come, as i now have a tan-too. other than being adorned, we also took part in a bubble battle and watched firedances and went to the bubble party in the evening. sunday we surprised darrel for his birthday and played ultimate frisbee with him, then biked in the rain to the distillery district for more performances and dances and back over to enjoy the rest of luminat'eau at the harbour front centre. they had veggie wraps for a dollar that were deeelicious. in the evening we enjoyed fried bananas with chocolate in china town. sadly the day wasn't long enough to check out "taste of little italy" and watch soccer (to observe fans, not to see soccer)... too much to do in toronto!
.jpg)
(c) some random guy on flickr
last week i had to find a paper to present at journal club (ahh, i had to present!), did more spanish and german and made use of the ymca some more. last weekend we went camping to presqu'ile! (which, for the slow-like-me out there, is french for: almost an island.) the location wasn't all too exciting - it boasts butterflies and a lighthouse - but the company was great. we were 8 people in total and filled our time with summersaults, beaches, food, a hike to the lighthouse, food, butterflies, food and ghost stories. the ghost stories by the two little ones were the best ("once upon a time there was a little girl, her name was mommy. *thinking/dramatic pause* and then there was a monster!").
(c) anf
(c) anf - neesa and i trying to play badminton...
this week will be as busy as always, with more sports and yoga and a fantastic drumming circle last night - a huuge amount of drummers and dancers and hula-hoopers and happy stoned people and a general peaceful ambiance. today i'm off to watch a movie, get a tour of persian food and pomegranates (kayvan and neesa are horrified that i've never eaten them... at least as far as i remember), and then pop with excitement because i leave for cuba on friday.
tomorrow we're having a big big latin movie night with sangria and the "buena vista social club" and then i shall not-so-gently explode with more excitement because of the imminent cuba trip.
cuba means salsa, old cars, beaches, charles, alex, neesa, anf and sm, backpacking, joy and fun and craziness all around. it's going to be fantastic! yay!!
EDIT: except that sm is a deserter and we're going to have to enjoy cuba without her :(
Monday, June 2, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
uhohh
i haven't updated in ages, getting lazy... uhohh... but other than that there's no uhohh to be mentioned as life continues to be great. yay for fun.
lets see if i can remember stuff that's happened since the last entry...
end of april we enjoyed a zombie dance by talented semi-dead-person-neesa at the international dance day festivities. shortly afterwards jose helped me in my move to anf's apartment where i now have more space, live far from work, but only a 10min walk from the beaches. beaches! yaaay beaches. if only it was super hot all the time. actually, it was on the weekend, so: if only i was near home some of the time?
during the move jose managed to infect me with some horrible cold virus and i was out for two days and sick for about two weeks after. but now i'm healthy. (this time really, dan!) and then kate came to visit! yaaay! but right when i was sick... booo. so poor kate had to hang out with sick nadja at home, but we still had fun talking talking talking and watching movies, and went for a walk on my oh-so-close beach. we also visited an aviation museum with cool old planes and then leah came, too! yaaay :). they figured out the metro system within minutes and were amazing at navigating the city while i was at work. in the evenings we met up to explore toronto. they also saved my life one saturday morning at babysitting, where the crazy kids were running around as if on ecstasy.
and theeeen dan came! yaay :) so many visitors all at once, twas very fun. the four of us haven't seen each other in about 5 years, so there was a lot of catching up to do. and empanada making. and weeds watching. looots of weeds watching. and chocolate! dan and i were planning to go to an amazing chocolate fountain chocolate chocolate festival, which turned out to be crap. so the next day, since the weather was bad, we stayed at home and had chocolate fondue for lunch and then for desert. soooo good.
once every one was gone my new house was empty, awww. but soon another weekend showed up - toronto circus festival! yaay. there were amazing acrobats, trapeze artists, jugglers, cute kids, water kite making, a toronto island excursion, a night of home-made cocktails (a newly torontonianised couchsurfer used to be a bartender, veeery convenient), and lots more fun stuff. as always, neesa and i managed to fill every day of the week with something... swimming, capoeira... and more but my mind is blanking :)
then this weekend was faaantastic as well! chocolate binge party at maria's, day of doors open toronto (running around from one famous building to the next), sangria party night (soo good homemade! with fresh strawberries, oranges, cherries, apples, pineapple... mmmmmm) at gail's, a nice long morning video chat with charles, and then a full day of street performers and sunshine. twas a good weekend :)
now it's time for more tissue culture and mental preparation for my meeting with my boss this afternoon, to decide what i'm to do over the next few weeks. yay for fun toronto :)
(as usual, one, and that means YOU, must be patient when waiting for photos... - but not anymore!)
lets see if i can remember stuff that's happened since the last entry...
end of april we enjoyed a zombie dance by talented semi-dead-person-neesa at the international dance day festivities. shortly afterwards jose helped me in my move to anf's apartment where i now have more space, live far from work, but only a 10min walk from the beaches. beaches! yaaay beaches. if only it was super hot all the time. actually, it was on the weekend, so: if only i was near home some of the time?
 |
| zombies |
 |
| mt.pleasan |
during the move jose managed to infect me with some horrible cold virus and i was out for two days and sick for about two weeks after. but now i'm healthy. (this time really, dan!) and then kate came to visit! yaaay! but right when i was sick... booo. so poor kate had to hang out with sick nadja at home, but we still had fun talking talking talking and watching movies, and went for a walk on my oh-so-close beach. we also visited an aviation museum with cool old planes and then leah came, too! yaaay :). they figured out the metro system within minutes and were amazing at navigating the city while i was at work. in the evenings we met up to explore toronto. they also saved my life one saturday morning at babysitting, where the crazy kids were running around as if on ecstasy.
 |
| old planes and old friends |
and theeeen dan came! yaay :) so many visitors all at once, twas very fun. the four of us haven't seen each other in about 5 years, so there was a lot of catching up to do. and empanada making. and weeds watching. looots of weeds watching. and chocolate! dan and i were planning to go to an amazing chocolate fountain chocolate chocolate festival, which turned out to be crap. so the next day, since the weather was bad, we stayed at home and had chocolate fondue for lunch and then for desert. soooo good.
once every one was gone my new house was empty, awww. but soon another weekend showed up - toronto circus festival! yaay. there were amazing acrobats, trapeze artists, jugglers, cute kids, water kite making, a toronto island excursion, a night of home-made cocktails (a newly torontonianised couchsurfer used to be a bartender, veeery convenient), and lots more fun stuff. as always, neesa and i managed to fill every day of the week with something... swimming, capoeira... and more but my mind is blanking :)
then this weekend was faaantastic as well! chocolate binge party at maria's, day of doors open toronto (running around from one famous building to the next), sangria party night (soo good homemade! with fresh strawberries, oranges, cherries, apples, pineapple... mmmmmm) at gail's, a nice long morning video chat with charles, and then a full day of street performers and sunshine. twas a good weekend :)
 |
| toronto and tiaras |
now it's time for more tissue culture and mental preparation for my meeting with my boss this afternoon, to decide what i'm to do over the next few weeks. yay for fun toronto :)
(as usual, one, and that means YOU, must be patient when waiting for photos... - but not anymore!)
Monday, April 28, 2008
niagara pics
are uploaded! (scroll down...)
be patient for the remaining few photos... they're coming. really!
...dun dun dun dun....
...
AND they're there!! uploaded and ready to be gawked at. yay :)
now all thats missing is everything since then... visit by kate and leah and dan. yay again!
be patient for the remaining few photos... they're coming. really!
...dun dun dun dun....
...
AND they're there!! uploaded and ready to be gawked at. yay :)
now all thats missing is everything since then... visit by kate and leah and dan. yay again!
kensingtony shoppingness
last week on thursday anf, neesa and i went shopping for a bag and a hat in kensington market, then met more surfers to eat yummy vegetarian food. yay :)
anf's pics
gail's pics
anf's pics
gail's pics
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
sunny sunny week
lots of new photos! yay :)
here the dialog to them:
(check again later for the rest of the photos - like snakes!)
picking charles up from the airport proved to be quite an ordeal, since canadian customs assumed he was a criminal - they even called me on my mobile to confirm i knew who he was and to ask how long i'd been a citizen. him coming to visit me obviously makes me a potential criminal as well.
early on saturday we headed off to montreal! whee :) loooots of hours of bus riding later we arrived and were met at the station by anf, neesa and a loud trumpet. we made our way to our couchsurfing host's house and then met jose and marie-france to go to a couchsurfing meet up in town, after a fantastic vietnamese dinner (yay for pho!). still being jet lagged, charles was close to collapsing at midnight, so we made our way home.
neesa's plan had been to get up at 7 on sunday, but somehow we didnt really comply... so we got up later, and went to maria's host's house for a great brunch of crepes and salsa dancings. we wandered the old town and the port area, saw the amazing basilica and said goodbye to the other surfers. charles and i then went to meet his old friend from the south of france to have sushi with him and his girlfriend. deeeeellliiiiiciiooouuuusss! and SO stuffed. we then sat in a bar and listened to a great performance of manouche (gypsy jazz) music. monday morning we went to get fresh baguettes and croissants and then climbed mont royal and went for smoked meat at the famous "schwartz's" before heading back to the bus.
back in toronto we explored china town and beautiful kensington market, hung out in the macintosh store of the eaton centre, tried bubble tea, went by the lab (no mice show, tho...) and had yummy food and personally imported french wine for dinner.
wednesday we slept in, had a great brunch on the patio, explored the distillery district (where i discovered that the heavenly chocolate is not macedonian but venezuelan), and then went for an educational and fun lao new years dinner with the csers.
next on our list was greek town, so after a breakfast of pancakes we went to the athen's cafe and ate more food :). loooots of food, as you can see. after gorging on yummyness we went to the CN tower to meet the others for their WWF charity climb where we had free yogurts and indulged in more trumpet blowing (see anf's photos here). i then took charles to see his first baseball game, yay :) but toronto lost, boo :(
9.25 on friday morning our bus departed to niagara. we beawed the falls, ate burgers, then headed to states for more beawing. easy-peesy for me, not so easy for charles (with him being a criminal and all, you know). we fought our way across the border (i'm exaggerating a little) only to fall asleep on the grass in the sun... with the sound of rushing water around us, and a nice cool breeze. that makes it sound worth going to the states for, right? we DID have a look at the falls, and the complex is much more admirable from the US side, but the falls are just much cooler on the canadian side. duh. we also spent some time gawking at casino addicts back in canada, frrrreaks. back in toronto we made yummy pasta and had the second bottle of imported wine.
saturday! we headed off early to toronto island - beaaaautiful weather and sun shinyness and sand and beach and snakes! yay for snakes.
then little india for a yummy yummy lunch and lots of saris and bangles and bindis and sugar cane juice and whatnot. quick spurt back to the eaton centre for export-goods and then to marin's for her bday party with games. our present: some cream from little india containing 24k gold and turmeric to make your skin glow.
sunday we were lazy, had a late brunch, laid in the sun, packed and then rushed off to the airport to meet jose, anf and neesa there. we had to see charles off and i was glad to have distraction on the way home, and then a huuuge "chocolate brownie binge" at fran's diner.
yay for a good and happy and sunny sunny week :)
here the dialog to them:
(check again later for the rest of the photos - like snakes!)
picking charles up from the airport proved to be quite an ordeal, since canadian customs assumed he was a criminal - they even called me on my mobile to confirm i knew who he was and to ask how long i'd been a citizen. him coming to visit me obviously makes me a potential criminal as well.
early on saturday we headed off to montreal! whee :) loooots of hours of bus riding later we arrived and were met at the station by anf, neesa and a loud trumpet. we made our way to our couchsurfing host's house and then met jose and marie-france to go to a couchsurfing meet up in town, after a fantastic vietnamese dinner (yay for pho!). still being jet lagged, charles was close to collapsing at midnight, so we made our way home.
 |
| montreal |
neesa's plan had been to get up at 7 on sunday, but somehow we didnt really comply... so we got up later, and went to maria's host's house for a great brunch of crepes and salsa dancings. we wandered the old town and the port area, saw the amazing basilica and said goodbye to the other surfers. charles and i then went to meet his old friend from the south of france to have sushi with him and his girlfriend. deeeeellliiiiiciiooouuuusss! and SO stuffed. we then sat in a bar and listened to a great performance of manouche (gypsy jazz) music. monday morning we went to get fresh baguettes and croissants and then climbed mont royal and went for smoked meat at the famous "schwartz's" before heading back to the bus.
back in toronto we explored china town and beautiful kensington market, hung out in the macintosh store of the eaton centre, tried bubble tea, went by the lab (no mice show, tho...) and had yummy food and personally imported french wine for dinner.
 |
| kensington and spadina |
wednesday we slept in, had a great brunch on the patio, explored the distillery district (where i discovered that the heavenly chocolate is not macedonian but venezuelan), and then went for an educational and fun lao new years dinner with the csers.
 |
| distillery district continued |
next on our list was greek town, so after a breakfast of pancakes we went to the athen's cafe and ate more food :). loooots of food, as you can see. after gorging on yummyness we went to the CN tower to meet the others for their WWF charity climb where we had free yogurts and indulged in more trumpet blowing (see anf's photos here). i then took charles to see his first baseball game, yay :) but toronto lost, boo :(
 |
| CN tower with the blue jays |
9.25 on friday morning our bus departed to niagara. we beawed the falls, ate burgers, then headed to states for more beawing. easy-peesy for me, not so easy for charles (with him being a criminal and all, you know). we fought our way across the border (i'm exaggerating a little) only to fall asleep on the grass in the sun... with the sound of rushing water around us, and a nice cool breeze. that makes it sound worth going to the states for, right? we DID have a look at the falls, and the complex is much more admirable from the US side, but the falls are just much cooler on the canadian side. duh. we also spent some time gawking at casino addicts back in canada, frrrreaks. back in toronto we made yummy pasta and had the second bottle of imported wine.
 |
| niagara falls |
saturday! we headed off early to toronto island - beaaaautiful weather and sun shinyness and sand and beach and snakes! yay for snakes.
 |
| snakes! |
then little india for a yummy yummy lunch and lots of saris and bangles and bindis and sugar cane juice and whatnot. quick spurt back to the eaton centre for export-goods and then to marin's for her bday party with games. our present: some cream from little india containing 24k gold and turmeric to make your skin glow.
 |
| little india |
sunday we were lazy, had a late brunch, laid in the sun, packed and then rushed off to the airport to meet jose, anf and neesa there. we had to see charles off and i was glad to have distraction on the way home, and then a huuuge "chocolate brownie binge" at fran's diner.
yay for a good and happy and sunny sunny week :)
Thursday, April 10, 2008
april april
1st of APRIL - lab. dundas square itch... and vietnamese food for dinner. whee :) (see photos!) our boss scared us by claiming (to paraphrase) that "information has been leaked through messenger and communication programs, so the mounties are investigating - but of course no one in our lab uses facebook or anything"... :) april april
2nd - lab (bit by a mouse! grr... though i guess i woulda done the same...). met for coffee with croydon
3rd - lab. home alone with t.v... had been planning VNese food, but my "date" cancelled
4th - lab. my first ever baseball game! woooo! AND we won. ("we" in this case is the toronto team. duh.)
one week till charles arrives :)
5th sat - 10am: german class. 4pm: yoga. after: party at darrel's - yay for games!
6th sun - slept looong. wandered baby-china-town. went for big-china-town food for dinner with others.
7th - lab - starting a new project to keep my good and busy - western blots! evening: got rich babysitting.
8th - lab. checked out the parliament building: there's the big boss in a huge chair and he's got four little slaves around him to get water and what not. they're kids from school, they get pulled out for about a month and get paid 1o dollars a day. slaves, i tell you!
9th - lab - started western blots, yay :). went to maria's for delicious vegetarian dinner and to do a photo shoot of some very small, pretty and hairy models.
click here for anf's, and there for mine.
10th - lab. going to a movie tonight, and then going to see how i do at getting to sleep - i may explode due to the amount of adrenalin coursing through my blood... picking charles up from the airport tomorrow :)
we head off to montreal for the weekend with anf, neesa and jose and next week will be spent wandering toronto and hoping it doesnt rain. and going to niagara! yay :)
 |
| dundas square itch |
2nd - lab (bit by a mouse! grr... though i guess i woulda done the same...). met for coffee with croydon
3rd - lab. home alone with t.v... had been planning VNese food, but my "date" cancelled
4th - lab. my first ever baseball game! woooo! AND we won. ("we" in this case is the toronto team. duh.)
one week till charles arrives :)
 |
| blue jays won! |
5th sat - 10am: german class. 4pm: yoga. after: party at darrel's - yay for games!
6th sun - slept looong. wandered baby-china-town. went for big-china-town food for dinner with others.
 |
| baby china town |
7th - lab - starting a new project to keep my good and busy - western blots! evening: got rich babysitting.
8th - lab. checked out the parliament building: there's the big boss in a huge chair and he's got four little slaves around him to get water and what not. they're kids from school, they get pulled out for about a month and get paid 1o dollars a day. slaves, i tell you!
9th - lab - started western blots, yay :). went to maria's for delicious vegetarian dinner and to do a photo shoot of some very small, pretty and hairy models.
click here for anf's, and there for mine.
 |
| kitties |
10th - lab. going to a movie tonight, and then going to see how i do at getting to sleep - i may explode due to the amount of adrenalin coursing through my blood... picking charles up from the airport tomorrow :)
we head off to montreal for the weekend with anf, neesa and jose and next week will be spent wandering toronto and hoping it doesnt rain. and going to niagara! yay :)
annotation
this here is an annotation to the photos. for once the tables have turned and photos are being more regularly updated than text. weird.
so... i left off in march, almost a month ago now, right after babysitting or something.
so...
18th - lab. i was planning to look at a room for rent, but it rained and i ate a hot dog instead and went home. not motivated enough to move into an unfurnished room :)
19th - the machine worked in the lab! and so i did the hypoxia experiment (for the interested: we're looking at whether DNA-PK and ATM in a certain cell line of prostate cancer cells will be inhibited by their respective inhibitors under hypoxic and oxic conditions, with and without irradiation, at three different time points...)
went for dinner with jan and jose in china town
20th - lab. wanted to check out manhunt in the evening, but it sucked and nicole's ear sucked too, so we went to garry's place and watched "being there" and the madonna documentary. loooong night with delicious raw vegan chocolate. mmm
21st good friday - after sleeping a looong time we met up in high park, ate something, had no time to walk around, and then went to watch "the mirror" by a russian director - strange incomprehensible plotless movie. theeen kate called and she's going to come visit!! yay :)
22nd almost easter - hung out with anf and marIE-france in the distillery district - had amaaaazing molten macedonian chocolate with chili and vanilla and cinnamon in it. you can see the pics in my photo album. the little district is extremely unique, with lots of little artist galleries and cafes and a theatre and general prettiness.
23rd eeeaaaaster - easter fun and chocolate and games and tacos and chocolate FONDUE at marin's house
24th - lab. a new cinema showed free movies as advertisement, so ramya and i watched "good luck chuck"
25th - lab. more free movies with ramya and safia - "alvin and the chipmunks" and "the martian child"
26th - lab. spanish lesson.
27th - lab. uhooooh, i've lost two fillings now, about time to lose some money and see a dentist. 320dollars later i'm all fixed up again. aaanother free movie (the cinema student house or something show a lot of free movies... muuch better than paying for cinemas) - "stop loss" (depressing movie about the war in iraq)
28th - lab. bad improv at the bad dog theatre. sneaky dee's with music and talking to anf for houuurs.
29th sat - goodbye party for nicole... aww :(
30th sun - jose and i brought nicole to the airport after a delicious goodbye breakfast in greek town - yuuummy baklava thingies and feta and spinach thingies.
31st - lab (including 8a.m. journal club where new papers are critically discussed - amazing to see how a published paper has so many mistakes and discrepancies). yoga at the local community centre, then babysat for anneliese.
so... i left off in march, almost a month ago now, right after babysitting or something.
so...
18th - lab. i was planning to look at a room for rent, but it rained and i ate a hot dog instead and went home. not motivated enough to move into an unfurnished room :)
 |
| cabbage town and birds and stuff |
19th - the machine worked in the lab! and so i did the hypoxia experiment (for the interested: we're looking at whether DNA-PK and ATM in a certain cell line of prostate cancer cells will be inhibited by their respective inhibitors under hypoxic and oxic conditions, with and without irradiation, at three different time points...)
went for dinner with jan and jose in china town
20th - lab. wanted to check out manhunt in the evening, but it sucked and nicole's ear sucked too, so we went to garry's place and watched "being there" and the madonna documentary. loooong night with delicious raw vegan chocolate. mmm
21st good friday - after sleeping a looong time we met up in high park, ate something, had no time to walk around, and then went to watch "the mirror" by a russian director - strange incomprehensible plotless movie. theeen kate called and she's going to come visit!! yay :)
22nd almost easter - hung out with anf and marIE-france in the distillery district - had amaaaazing molten macedonian chocolate with chili and vanilla and cinnamon in it. you can see the pics in my photo album. the little district is extremely unique, with lots of little artist galleries and cafes and a theatre and general prettiness.
 |
| distillery district |
23rd eeeaaaaster - easter fun and chocolate and games and tacos and chocolate FONDUE at marin's house
 |
| more cabbage |
24th - lab. a new cinema showed free movies as advertisement, so ramya and i watched "good luck chuck"
25th - lab. more free movies with ramya and safia - "alvin and the chipmunks" and "the martian child"
26th - lab. spanish lesson.
27th - lab. uhooooh, i've lost two fillings now, about time to lose some money and see a dentist. 320dollars later i'm all fixed up again. aaanother free movie (the cinema student house or something show a lot of free movies... muuch better than paying for cinemas) - "stop loss" (depressing movie about the war in iraq)
28th - lab. bad improv at the bad dog theatre. sneaky dee's with music and talking to anf for houuurs.
29th sat - goodbye party for nicole... aww :(
30th sun - jose and i brought nicole to the airport after a delicious goodbye breakfast in greek town - yuuummy baklava thingies and feta and spinach thingies.
31st - lab (including 8a.m. journal club where new papers are critically discussed - amazing to see how a published paper has so many mistakes and discrepancies). yoga at the local community centre, then babysat for anneliese.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
prostates and the like
march started, filled with early lab meetings, a prostate conference, the animal lab tour that i'd been waiting for, and lots more cell culturing. we watched "be kind, rewind" in newmarket, i had spanish classes, and my german tutoree got confused and didn't show up (then after one more lesson left to germany... so much for my steady income).
we had a fun fun ocean party. yay for fish! as you can see, i was the only one who took the dressing up somewhat seriously - although there were a few crabs, mermaids and a fishing net. and in case you can't tell and think i was cheese - i was actually a star fish.
seeing as the party went till 7 in the morning, sunday was a bit of a non-existent day. the next time i smelled fresh air was at 7.30 in the morning on monday, heading to the lab journal club meeting. in the evening i got to take care of the three lovely babysit kids. tuesday brought exciting news: charles has booked his ticket to come to toronto! yay :). to celebrate i went out with quadir and we gorged on vietnamese food... mmmm... bun cha, bun bo, pho - they have it all.
wednesday the planned experiment was cancelled, and the evening was spent first baking brownies and then meeting friends at the Green Room near china town. thursday was lab excursion day - where i smashed my face up while toboganning. the scabs are now peeling - leaving me with beautiful pink marks on my forehead. after all that fun we had a delicious pot luck - our lab consists of people from all over the world, making the pot luck all the more divine. in the evening i met up with friends to mourn neesa's farewell from nicole. (nicole isn't leaving for a few weeks, but neesa has now gone to moscow for a month.)
friday at work was a scrabble day, in the evening i went with nicole and jose to a games night - which really wasnt that much fun.
saturday we headed off to a booksale by the library, then wandered kensington - where i took beautiful pictures (which i deleted only seconds ago. ARGH!). we hunted down a shop where mum and dad had gone shopping on over 20 years ago when they first met... it's called courage my love, and is still going strong. the picture of it is, sadly, no longer existent.
after kensington and lunch in china town (and a moon cake replica wrapped in banana leaves!!) nicole and i headed back to my place for tea, and then went to the UofT film festival. the movies were enjoyable, though on average not brilliant, but the buffet afterwards was fantastic :).
sunday we dragged ourselves out of bed early to meet anf in town and do an urban discovery walk, pictures of which you can admire (or not) if you click on the link. that's right - nadja actually updated her photos, her OWN photos!
yesterday i babysat and today is today. as in nothing has happened yet. and next week is easter. happy easter!
we had a fun fun ocean party. yay for fish! as you can see, i was the only one who took the dressing up somewhat seriously - although there were a few crabs, mermaids and a fishing net. and in case you can't tell and think i was cheese - i was actually a star fish.
seeing as the party went till 7 in the morning, sunday was a bit of a non-existent day. the next time i smelled fresh air was at 7.30 in the morning on monday, heading to the lab journal club meeting. in the evening i got to take care of the three lovely babysit kids. tuesday brought exciting news: charles has booked his ticket to come to toronto! yay :). to celebrate i went out with quadir and we gorged on vietnamese food... mmmm... bun cha, bun bo, pho - they have it all.
wednesday the planned experiment was cancelled, and the evening was spent first baking brownies and then meeting friends at the Green Room near china town. thursday was lab excursion day - where i smashed my face up while toboganning. the scabs are now peeling - leaving me with beautiful pink marks on my forehead. after all that fun we had a delicious pot luck - our lab consists of people from all over the world, making the pot luck all the more divine. in the evening i met up with friends to mourn neesa's farewell from nicole. (nicole isn't leaving for a few weeks, but neesa has now gone to moscow for a month.)
friday at work was a scrabble day, in the evening i went with nicole and jose to a games night - which really wasnt that much fun.
saturday we headed off to a booksale by the library, then wandered kensington - where i took beautiful pictures (which i deleted only seconds ago. ARGH!). we hunted down a shop where mum and dad had gone shopping on over 20 years ago when they first met... it's called courage my love, and is still going strong. the picture of it is, sadly, no longer existent.
after kensington and lunch in china town (and a moon cake replica wrapped in banana leaves!!) nicole and i headed back to my place for tea, and then went to the UofT film festival. the movies were enjoyable, though on average not brilliant, but the buffet afterwards was fantastic :).
sunday we dragged ourselves out of bed early to meet anf in town and do an urban discovery walk, pictures of which you can admire (or not) if you click on the link. that's right - nadja actually updated her photos, her OWN photos!
yesterday i babysat and today is today. as in nothing has happened yet. and next week is easter. happy easter!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
toronto and torontonians in february
since ive been utterly lazy since i arrived, ive decided to make a chronological list of things. relevant things. february, really.
but the beginning of toronto is in january.
30th jan - goodbyes in edmonton, airport, flight to toronto, my first of many dinners with jane (my homestay lady). also met juliane (brazilian homestayer) who left a few days later.
31st jan - got a tour of the area from jane, organized a phone and a bank account, went out with juliane to the madison to meet a huge group of brazilians, koreans and mexicans.
1st feb - 1st lab day! 45min in the lab because no one was in due to a snow storm. went out to christie station with juliane to hang out in korean town and eat korean food with koreans. sooo much korean stuff! delicious.
2nd feb - toured the area, allan's gardens, riverdale farm (can see spectacular chickens, cows, pigs... exciiiiting)
3rd feb - was declared crazy by jane (homestay lady) because i decided to meet up with a random couchsurfer (anf, who now is no longer random) and go with him to tiffany falls to take photos with a huge group of still random photographers. the evening was spent going to watch a movie with a guy i'd met through brazilian juliane. rodrigo turned out to be a complete sleazy creep.
4th feb - (getting bored yet?...) first REAL lab day, as in long, not as in lab work to do. that was to take a while.
5th feb - lab, lab meeting, puzzled with jane, t.v.
6th feb - health review, met gillian (auntie's friend's daughter) at the hard rock cafe and then got lost in the evil eaton centre (huuuuuuuge evil shopping mall - don't understand the canadian obsession with having the same stores EVERYWHERE).
7th feb - lab. toboganning with neesa and jose. yaay :)
8th feb - my first mouse murder. dim sun with the lab (no, we did not eat the mouse, although there were several strange animal parts on offer). CSer evening of food and salsa at plaza flamengo with neesa, jose and anf, and dancing with an old jamaican gentleman.
9th feb - toboganning, dinner and modclub dancings
10th feb - slept a lot, puzzled. dinner with jane and her family.
11th feb - (now you REALLY must be getting bored, no?) lab. dinner with jane and friends.
12th feb - lab (mostly internetted, like i said, lab work has taken its time). duke of gloucester with CSers: bangers and mash! (see photos in last post)
13th feb - lab. to baldwin street for lunch - a street full of chinese, japanese and vietnamese restaurants and a delicious chinese bakery - just two blocks from the university clinic. comfy tv night at home.
14th feb - lab. meeting with donna - my german-tutoree-to-be.
15th feb - lab - started 22rv1 cell line experiment to see their survival rates under normal and decreased oxygen levels with and without two different drugs. met CSers in the evening and drove off to ottawaaaa!
16th feb - ice skating on the rideau canal in ottawa. except for a little issue in the afternoon we had a great time :)
17th feb - lunch meet with adrien and then back to toronto. dinner on the way at the extremely fancy diner "blue moose" (and nadja being anti social again by talking to charles for hours on the phone).
18th feb - FAMILY DAY! a crazy new holiday in ontario, which every single company in the province used to advertise. even paint is better on family day.
watched breakfast at tiffany's at anf's place.
19th feb - lab. Nia - esoteric crap mixed with yoga, martial art and dance.
20th feb - animal wet lab where i learned how to handle and then "sacrifice" mice - and almost fainted. evening: my first spanish lesson. the teacher sucks.
21st feb - lab. first german class, went well, yay :)
22nd feb - lab. spanish centre party.
23rd feb - toronto island walk with the CSers.
24th feb - urban hike starting at edmond's garden and finishing 12 km later in greek town.
25th feb - lab. irradiation training. babysitting three cute but tiring kids.
26th feb - fried mice all day (with an irradiator, don't worry).
27th feb - lab. 2nd spanish lesson - teacher still sucks. delicious indian food with CSers.
28th feb - meeting with boss. dinner with CSer at an extremely cool pakistani restaurant (crazy wild material hanging everywhere, styrofoam plates, loud pakistani music and a tuktuk in the room).
29th feb - made intestine balloons from the irradiated mice... mmm, gross, but interesting.
and thats feb! anyone still left reading: congratulations. you just finished a whole month. now go look at photos.
1st march - 12km walk with darrell through the snow. brownies and movies at anf's place.
2nd march - super cool alley walk, random photos at garry's place after.
but the beginning of toronto is in january.
30th jan - goodbyes in edmonton, airport, flight to toronto, my first of many dinners with jane (my homestay lady). also met juliane (brazilian homestayer) who left a few days later.
31st jan - got a tour of the area from jane, organized a phone and a bank account, went out with juliane to the madison to meet a huge group of brazilians, koreans and mexicans.
1st feb - 1st lab day! 45min in the lab because no one was in due to a snow storm. went out to christie station with juliane to hang out in korean town and eat korean food with koreans. sooo much korean stuff! delicious.
2nd feb - toured the area, allan's gardens, riverdale farm (can see spectacular chickens, cows, pigs... exciiiiting)
3rd feb - was declared crazy by jane (homestay lady) because i decided to meet up with a random couchsurfer (anf, who now is no longer random) and go with him to tiffany falls to take photos with a huge group of still random photographers. the evening was spent going to watch a movie with a guy i'd met through brazilian juliane. rodrigo turned out to be a complete sleazy creep.
4th feb - (getting bored yet?...) first REAL lab day, as in long, not as in lab work to do. that was to take a while.
5th feb - lab, lab meeting, puzzled with jane, t.v.
6th feb - health review, met gillian (auntie's friend's daughter) at the hard rock cafe and then got lost in the evil eaton centre (huuuuuuuge evil shopping mall - don't understand the canadian obsession with having the same stores EVERYWHERE).
7th feb - lab. toboganning with neesa and jose. yaay :)
8th feb - my first mouse murder. dim sun with the lab (no, we did not eat the mouse, although there were several strange animal parts on offer). CSer evening of food and salsa at plaza flamengo with neesa, jose and anf, and dancing with an old jamaican gentleman.
9th feb - toboganning, dinner and modclub dancings
10th feb - slept a lot, puzzled. dinner with jane and her family.
11th feb - (now you REALLY must be getting bored, no?) lab. dinner with jane and friends.
12th feb - lab (mostly internetted, like i said, lab work has taken its time). duke of gloucester with CSers: bangers and mash! (see photos in last post)
13th feb - lab. to baldwin street for lunch - a street full of chinese, japanese and vietnamese restaurants and a delicious chinese bakery - just two blocks from the university clinic. comfy tv night at home.
14th feb - lab. meeting with donna - my german-tutoree-to-be.
15th feb - lab - started 22rv1 cell line experiment to see their survival rates under normal and decreased oxygen levels with and without two different drugs. met CSers in the evening and drove off to ottawaaaa!
16th feb - ice skating on the rideau canal in ottawa. except for a little issue in the afternoon we had a great time :)
17th feb - lunch meet with adrien and then back to toronto. dinner on the way at the extremely fancy diner "blue moose" (and nadja being anti social again by talking to charles for hours on the phone).
18th feb - FAMILY DAY! a crazy new holiday in ontario, which every single company in the province used to advertise. even paint is better on family day.
watched breakfast at tiffany's at anf's place.
19th feb - lab. Nia - esoteric crap mixed with yoga, martial art and dance.
20th feb - animal wet lab where i learned how to handle and then "sacrifice" mice - and almost fainted. evening: my first spanish lesson. the teacher sucks.
21st feb - lab. first german class, went well, yay :)
22nd feb - lab. spanish centre party.
23rd feb - toronto island walk with the CSers.
24th feb - urban hike starting at edmond's garden and finishing 12 km later in greek town.
25th feb - lab. irradiation training. babysitting three cute but tiring kids.
26th feb - fried mice all day (with an irradiator, don't worry).
27th feb - lab. 2nd spanish lesson - teacher still sucks. delicious indian food with CSers.
28th feb - meeting with boss. dinner with CSer at an extremely cool pakistani restaurant (crazy wild material hanging everywhere, styrofoam plates, loud pakistani music and a tuktuk in the room).
29th feb - made intestine balloons from the irradiated mice... mmm, gross, but interesting.
and thats feb! anyone still left reading: congratulations. you just finished a whole month. now go look at photos.
1st march - 12km walk with darrell through the snow. brownies and movies at anf's place.
2nd march - super cool alley walk, random photos at garry's place after.
Monday, February 25, 2008
photos!
i've updated the "photos" link, i've FINALLY got all the best s.america photos up there.
also:
photos from last week's bangers&mash dinner.
and photos from rosie's (CSer) bday party on saturday night. and yes, a proper post will come, no worries.
also:
photos from last week's bangers&mash dinner.
and photos from rosie's (CSer) bday party on saturday night. and yes, a proper post will come, no worries.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
an ode to couchsurfing
i'm slowly getting settled in toronto... so here's a little update sorted into work, life and beyond. (i'm not sure what to sort under beyond, but i'll jump off that bridge when i get to it.)
WORK
i've started my internship at the princess margaret hospital, specifically at the ontario cancer institute. starting next week i get to inject mice with tumour cells, wait for those to grow, inject them with a DNA-repair inhibitor, irradiate them and then hope the tumour cells die since they don't have the ability to repair themselves. sounds good, right? lots of pre-experiments to be done first though, so this may take a while. and very first i have to gain the right to abuse little rodents. in a nice way.
the people at work are all great, easy going and incredibly international (as all of toronto is).
LIFE
uhoh, whereas i'll have nothing to put under "beyond", "life" will have to be split up into several subtopics. here goes.
accommodation:
i live in homestay, with jane (61). its convenient, close to town and work and the bed is comfortable and i get towels and toilet paper. yay! i hope that in a bit i can move into a shared flat of some sort, but everything ive seen so far (including dorms) are more expensive. and money is a little short at the moment, so homestay is perfect right now.
i'm in the cellar room, with my own bathroom, a bed, chair, desk, comfy chair, set of drawers, and lots of pictures on the wall (which YOU, dear reader, are probably on).
weather
that's part of life, right? the weather is snowy and COLD. but snow = tobogganing, so life is good :)
people
i technically know NO ONE in toronto (enjoying the dramatic capital lettered words?), but i've gotten to know so many great people through couchsurfing. which is why this is named the ode to couchsurfing. i'm in love with it. it means i have stuff to do and people to do it with who are international, interesting and open! yaaaay :)
we've gone salsa dancing, out for italian food, bangers and mash, gone on a photo trip of nearby waterfalls (half frozen, very impressive), gone dancing in a disco, been tobogganing as previously mentioned and are currently planning a trip to ottawa for this weekend to go ice skating on their canal. yay for couchsurfing and couchsurfers!
city
as ive mentioned about a million times: i'm very impressed by the international feel of the city. we walked to the italian restaurant on the street called carlton and then college (changes names midway). start was in cabbage town (where i live, irish origin), we walked through china town, kensington market (with lots of international food and thrift stores and such), past a part of greek town, into italian town. had we kept walking the street would have taken us through portuguese and brazilian town. the city also has a vietnamese section, a korean section, and indian section and about a million others. and it's not just restaurants which make up the country specific town: greek town even has bilingual street signs!!
while i'm missing all the familiar faces from marburg and from the trip, i'm enjoying the adventure of meeting new people and discovering some of canada. yay :)
WORK
i've started my internship at the princess margaret hospital, specifically at the ontario cancer institute. starting next week i get to inject mice with tumour cells, wait for those to grow, inject them with a DNA-repair inhibitor, irradiate them and then hope the tumour cells die since they don't have the ability to repair themselves. sounds good, right? lots of pre-experiments to be done first though, so this may take a while. and very first i have to gain the right to abuse little rodents. in a nice way.
the people at work are all great, easy going and incredibly international (as all of toronto is).
LIFE
uhoh, whereas i'll have nothing to put under "beyond", "life" will have to be split up into several subtopics. here goes.
accommodation:
i live in homestay, with jane (61). its convenient, close to town and work and the bed is comfortable and i get towels and toilet paper. yay! i hope that in a bit i can move into a shared flat of some sort, but everything ive seen so far (including dorms) are more expensive. and money is a little short at the moment, so homestay is perfect right now.
i'm in the cellar room, with my own bathroom, a bed, chair, desk, comfy chair, set of drawers, and lots of pictures on the wall (which YOU, dear reader, are probably on).
weather
that's part of life, right? the weather is snowy and COLD. but snow = tobogganing, so life is good :)
people
i technically know NO ONE in toronto (enjoying the dramatic capital lettered words?), but i've gotten to know so many great people through couchsurfing. which is why this is named the ode to couchsurfing. i'm in love with it. it means i have stuff to do and people to do it with who are international, interesting and open! yaaaay :)
we've gone salsa dancing, out for italian food, bangers and mash, gone on a photo trip of nearby waterfalls (half frozen, very impressive), gone dancing in a disco, been tobogganing as previously mentioned and are currently planning a trip to ottawa for this weekend to go ice skating on their canal. yay for couchsurfing and couchsurfers!
city
as ive mentioned about a million times: i'm very impressed by the international feel of the city. we walked to the italian restaurant on the street called carlton and then college (changes names midway). start was in cabbage town (where i live, irish origin), we walked through china town, kensington market (with lots of international food and thrift stores and such), past a part of greek town, into italian town. had we kept walking the street would have taken us through portuguese and brazilian town. the city also has a vietnamese section, a korean section, and indian section and about a million others. and it's not just restaurants which make up the country specific town: greek town even has bilingual street signs!!
while i'm missing all the familiar faces from marburg and from the trip, i'm enjoying the adventure of meeting new people and discovering some of canada. yay :)
Saturday, February 2, 2008
eddy the monton
my week with the family was a great way of easing into canadian life. only the weather was a little harsh on me> from -20 to -40 degrees. meaning you can throw a glass of warm water into the air and it immediately turns into water vapour. pretty cool, eh?
so my edmonton week was spent with quality time with the family, baking cookies with oma, a delicious turkey dinner as a post-christmas celebration, flying my cousin's little airplane (woooohooo! i got to fly it! crazy cool), flying in a private jet (in the cockpit, with my cousin flying), eating creative and entertaining japanese food for my aunt's birthday, sitting at the fire doing sodukos with opa, hanging out with my cousin's friends and just enjoying actually being with the family - a regrettably rare occurrence.
after my family saw me off at the airport i headed to toronto, where i am now, ready to start on my internship and explore a new city.
so, after that blogging marathon it is now time to sleep... going to see waterfalls with a fellow couchsurfer tomorrow - tiffany falls in hamilton. wish me fun!
so my edmonton week was spent with quality time with the family, baking cookies with oma, a delicious turkey dinner as a post-christmas celebration, flying my cousin's little airplane (woooohooo! i got to fly it! crazy cool), flying in a private jet (in the cockpit, with my cousin flying), eating creative and entertaining japanese food for my aunt's birthday, sitting at the fire doing sodukos with opa, hanging out with my cousin's friends and just enjoying actually being with the family - a regrettably rare occurrence.
after my family saw me off at the airport i headed to toronto, where i am now, ready to start on my internship and explore a new city.
so, after that blogging marathon it is now time to sleep... going to see waterfalls with a fellow couchsurfer tomorrow - tiffany falls in hamilton. wish me fun!
sun paulo (phonetically)
yay for couchsurfing! we arrived at 5 in the morning, but our host told us to please not come until 8. so we internetted some and then headed off to find leo. we were welcomed with a delicious international breakfast prepared by fatima and luciane (leo's mother), and we got settled in their very nice tv/living room. we spent the day on a food binge, going first to the main square (se) and from there to china/japan town and then the municipal market.
liberdade, the china/japan part of town, was smaller than we expected, but the shops were filled with asian goodness. we ate a yummy japanese shrimp fritter thing and i finally had some of the brazilian acai (icy purple fruit slush with granola and bananas). we then headed off to the municipal market, the road to which was filled with junk selling stores and millions of colourful street vendors. it was chaotic and fun to walk down and look at all the people. when we finally arrived the market was slowly closing down, but we had some delicious dried tomatoes and figs and looked at the stalls filled with cheeses, dried fruits, olives, and the exotic fruits like dragon fruit and star fruit. in the evening we went out with leo and his friend patrick to a bar in town and exchanged couchsurfing stories.
the next day went quickly> we slept long, wasted time online, and then went to the rodoviaria to buy sm's ticket to montevideo. by the time all that was done and i was showered, i had to leave. leave brazil. end the trip. waaaah.
sm brought be to the airport bus and i made it to the airport on time (forgetting only the charger and extra battery of my camera). there i did the usual> get fined. i seem to be skilled at that. i was told by the airport official that while i only had a 30 day visa, i had stayed in brazil for 47 days. oooops. so when i come back i have a delicious fine waiting for me.
the flight was enjoyable, with personal tvs where you can choose which movie to watch! meaning i hardly slept... after a looong time i arrived in edmonton, excited as can be, and picked up by auntie gail. the south america trip is over, but a new adventure called CANADA is about to begin.
liberdade, the china/japan part of town, was smaller than we expected, but the shops were filled with asian goodness. we ate a yummy japanese shrimp fritter thing and i finally had some of the brazilian acai (icy purple fruit slush with granola and bananas). we then headed off to the municipal market, the road to which was filled with junk selling stores and millions of colourful street vendors. it was chaotic and fun to walk down and look at all the people. when we finally arrived the market was slowly closing down, but we had some delicious dried tomatoes and figs and looked at the stalls filled with cheeses, dried fruits, olives, and the exotic fruits like dragon fruit and star fruit. in the evening we went out with leo and his friend patrick to a bar in town and exchanged couchsurfing stories.
the next day went quickly> we slept long, wasted time online, and then went to the rodoviaria to buy sm's ticket to montevideo. by the time all that was done and i was showered, i had to leave. leave brazil. end the trip. waaaah.
sm brought be to the airport bus and i made it to the airport on time (forgetting only the charger and extra battery of my camera). there i did the usual> get fined. i seem to be skilled at that. i was told by the airport official that while i only had a 30 day visa, i had stayed in brazil for 47 days. oooops. so when i come back i have a delicious fine waiting for me.
the flight was enjoyable, with personal tvs where you can choose which movie to watch! meaning i hardly slept... after a looong time i arrived in edmonton, excited as can be, and picked up by auntie gail. the south america trip is over, but a new adventure called CANADA is about to begin.
3rd time in the non-capital of brazil
this time we had managed to pre-warn giulianna and cahe that we were paying them a visit, so they were prepared. we arrived and met another couchsurfer there, yuri, who we spent a lot of time with and whose company we thoroughly enjoyed. yuri is extremely well travelled and is very knowledgable about every place she's been, making her very interesting to talk to.
the first thing yuri did was invite us to a couchsurfing meeting to go see a samba school practice for the carnival. we arrived at the meeting point and once everyone had arrived there were about 20 to 30 people, speaking about 5 different languages, somehow connected through couchsurfing. we set off to the samba practice and were absolutely thrilled by what we found> a huge stretched out stadium, with a parade of about 2 to 3 thousand people all wearing matching outfits and playing instruments or dancing or just strutting. it was amazing. the atmosphere was fantastic, with everyone moving to the rhythm of the drums and clapping and cheering.
we had to leave early to meet giulianna and cahe to go dancing with them. we came home at four in the morning, exhausted from all the dancing.
day two was spent mostly in the maracana stadium, the big and famous (or so they tell me) stadium of rio. we watched fluminense against someone non-local, and fluminense won. while i see nothing interesting in watching soccer, the people watching at stadiums is good, and the feeling at the game was happy and suspenseful and excited. in the evening we ate falafels and talked deep into the night.
sunday we got up early despite the lack of sleep and humberto and laura (friends of cahe's and giulianna's) took us a to a nearby waterfall. we took a short taxi ride to another part of town, walked 10 min up one street, and entered deep jungle with candomble ceremonies going on around us, worshipping nature. after another killer-ant-ridden 20 min walk we were at a waterfall! in the middle of the city!! craaazy. on the way back we were bombarded with jackfruit seeds by monkeys sitting in the trees having a feast.
the afternoon was spent eating a lot of delicious vegan food, made by the amazing giulianna - how she finds the energy for her life i don't know. she works two jobs, as a plastic surgeon as well as a surgeon in a hospital, then comes home and bakes or cooks, then goes dancing and gets up early to go to work. someone explain that.
time to leave... after a short stop in lapa to see if my dearly missed buenos aires shirt was still there, which it wasn't, we went to the rodoviaria and left to sao paulo, our last destination of the trip.
the first thing yuri did was invite us to a couchsurfing meeting to go see a samba school practice for the carnival. we arrived at the meeting point and once everyone had arrived there were about 20 to 30 people, speaking about 5 different languages, somehow connected through couchsurfing. we set off to the samba practice and were absolutely thrilled by what we found> a huge stretched out stadium, with a parade of about 2 to 3 thousand people all wearing matching outfits and playing instruments or dancing or just strutting. it was amazing. the atmosphere was fantastic, with everyone moving to the rhythm of the drums and clapping and cheering.
we had to leave early to meet giulianna and cahe to go dancing with them. we came home at four in the morning, exhausted from all the dancing.
day two was spent mostly in the maracana stadium, the big and famous (or so they tell me) stadium of rio. we watched fluminense against someone non-local, and fluminense won. while i see nothing interesting in watching soccer, the people watching at stadiums is good, and the feeling at the game was happy and suspenseful and excited. in the evening we ate falafels and talked deep into the night.
sunday we got up early despite the lack of sleep and humberto and laura (friends of cahe's and giulianna's) took us a to a nearby waterfall. we took a short taxi ride to another part of town, walked 10 min up one street, and entered deep jungle with candomble ceremonies going on around us, worshipping nature. after another killer-ant-ridden 20 min walk we were at a waterfall! in the middle of the city!! craaazy. on the way back we were bombarded with jackfruit seeds by monkeys sitting in the trees having a feast.
the afternoon was spent eating a lot of delicious vegan food, made by the amazing giulianna - how she finds the energy for her life i don't know. she works two jobs, as a plastic surgeon as well as a surgeon in a hospital, then comes home and bakes or cooks, then goes dancing and gets up early to go to work. someone explain that.
time to leave... after a short stop in lapa to see if my dearly missed buenos aires shirt was still there, which it wasn't, we went to the rodoviaria and left to sao paulo, our last destination of the trip.
churches galore and polkadot chickens
time to update!!
we arrived in ouro preto and were carted off to a pretty little pousada in the hilly city of ouro preto. ouro preto is overrun by churches and tourist shops, of which we visited almost all. churches for the culture (the last ones we saw only from the outside) and tourist shops for god-statues (unsuccessful once again). the rest of the time we spent climbing hills slowly while taking lots of photos (which can be admired on diligent blogger sao-mai's page), eating gratins and drinking beer on the main square, and internetting.
the next morning we took a bus to sao joao del rei, where we had yummy kilo food and then explored the city. once it was past five o'clock and the museums were officially closed, we were free to stop looking for them and sat in a cafe to people watch. in the evening sao-mai read her swedish book to me (translating while she was reading, obviously).
next day> tiradentes. guide: "towns don't come any prettier than this". our review: "booooring, and just as pretty as all the other colonial style cities with lots of churches." the only difference here were the hello kitty horse coaches for tourists.
we did manage to entertain ourselves, however.
- there was a store filled to the brim with random crap, collected over several decades by the owner, his father, and his grandfather. a back room even had straw stuffed dolls in old old dentist chairs. creepy, but interesing.
- another factor of interest was an old artist who had lived in paris for 10 years. he drew us a map of the town to show us how to get to a little waterfall-spring, which we never did find. we did, however, finally see the famous polkadot chickens that can be seen in every tourist shop. yay for chickens!
- tiradentes brought us one more joy> we found a god thing! it's not a statue, but it's cool, and as good as it's going to get.
we ended our tiradentes day early, and spent the evening in sao joao doing more people watching on the main jogging highway.
next stop> rio.
we arrived in ouro preto and were carted off to a pretty little pousada in the hilly city of ouro preto. ouro preto is overrun by churches and tourist shops, of which we visited almost all. churches for the culture (the last ones we saw only from the outside) and tourist shops for god-statues (unsuccessful once again). the rest of the time we spent climbing hills slowly while taking lots of photos (which can be admired on diligent blogger sao-mai's page), eating gratins and drinking beer on the main square, and internetting.
the next morning we took a bus to sao joao del rei, where we had yummy kilo food and then explored the city. once it was past five o'clock and the museums were officially closed, we were free to stop looking for them and sat in a cafe to people watch. in the evening sao-mai read her swedish book to me (translating while she was reading, obviously).
next day> tiradentes. guide: "towns don't come any prettier than this". our review: "booooring, and just as pretty as all the other colonial style cities with lots of churches." the only difference here were the hello kitty horse coaches for tourists.
we did manage to entertain ourselves, however.
- there was a store filled to the brim with random crap, collected over several decades by the owner, his father, and his grandfather. a back room even had straw stuffed dolls in old old dentist chairs. creepy, but interesing.
- another factor of interest was an old artist who had lived in paris for 10 years. he drew us a map of the town to show us how to get to a little waterfall-spring, which we never did find. we did, however, finally see the famous polkadot chickens that can be seen in every tourist shop. yay for chickens!
- tiradentes brought us one more joy> we found a god thing! it's not a statue, but it's cool, and as good as it's going to get.
we ended our tiradentes day early, and spent the evening in sao joao doing more people watching on the main jogging highway.
next stop> rio.
Monday, January 21, 2008
markets and ugly statues
we finally made up our mind to go to the minas gerais region, and took a bus to belo horizonte. arriving late we did what every backpacker is warned not to do under any circumstances> wander the streets at night looking for a place to stay. being sensible human beings we analysed the situation and decided that the amount of people out and the nearby police station would make our endeavour a safe one, and walked from one full hotel to the next. we finally got taken in and had to pay only one night even though we stayed for two, since we arrived well after midnight. we therefore had towels, a tv and our own shower for the price of a cheap hostel. yay :)
after breakfast we marked the parts of the city where there are handicraft markets, to find a god from south america for my friend KD. we spent the day walking down the main streets and looking for gods, finding only badly painted plaster statues. the market was fun anyways, with loads of stalls and few tourists, even though the city is, according to our guide, one of the third largest cities of brazil. you read right, one of the third largest, since salvador is also the third largest city. i don´t understand it either... we´re been told that belo horizonte is ugly, full of high rises and smog, and boring. we thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, the great tourist infrastructure (even though there were no tourists there), the quiet plazas, and the signs of omnipresent culture with theatres and dance performances.
after unsuccessfully scouring the artesanal market we went into the municipal park and whiled away the afternoon. we saw amazing things> punk ninjas, an argentinian circus show and a woman teaching brazilian women european folk dances (of course the brazilians couldn´t resist shaking their butts, so the dances actually looked better than usual). we finished the day off in a pretty little plaza drinking mango juice, and then relaxed in our luxurious hotel.
the next day around noon we left for ouro preto.
here a quick update to what more has happened until now>
spent some days in ouro preto where we saw a few too many churches,
saw sao joao where we did a lot of people watching,
met a cool artist in tiradentes (which is otherwise dead boring),
spent some more days with our couchsurfing friends cahe and giuliana in rio
and spent today in sao paulo eating a lot of yummy food.
tomorrow my flight leaves to canada! once i´m there i´ll write a little more detail, but for now wish me a good flight :)
after breakfast we marked the parts of the city where there are handicraft markets, to find a god from south america for my friend KD. we spent the day walking down the main streets and looking for gods, finding only badly painted plaster statues. the market was fun anyways, with loads of stalls and few tourists, even though the city is, according to our guide, one of the third largest cities of brazil. you read right, one of the third largest, since salvador is also the third largest city. i don´t understand it either... we´re been told that belo horizonte is ugly, full of high rises and smog, and boring. we thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, the great tourist infrastructure (even though there were no tourists there), the quiet plazas, and the signs of omnipresent culture with theatres and dance performances.
after unsuccessfully scouring the artesanal market we went into the municipal park and whiled away the afternoon. we saw amazing things> punk ninjas, an argentinian circus show and a woman teaching brazilian women european folk dances (of course the brazilians couldn´t resist shaking their butts, so the dances actually looked better than usual). we finished the day off in a pretty little plaza drinking mango juice, and then relaxed in our luxurious hotel.
the next day around noon we left for ouro preto.
here a quick update to what more has happened until now>
spent some days in ouro preto where we saw a few too many churches,
saw sao joao where we did a lot of people watching,
met a cool artist in tiradentes (which is otherwise dead boring),
spent some more days with our couchsurfing friends cahe and giuliana in rio
and spent today in sao paulo eating a lot of yummy food.
tomorrow my flight leaves to canada! once i´m there i´ll write a little more detail, but for now wish me a good flight :)
Monday, January 14, 2008
wow
i´m amazed at my intelligence (which has taken time, but it has recently arrived). i have made my few web albums public, which means that all you have to do is click on one album (like the example one i have posted below), then click on `public gallery´ and you can see all of them! wehey! yay!
EDIT> my intelligence has expanded overnight!! there is now a link on the side of the page that you can click on, conveniently called `photos´. double yay!
EDIT> my intelligence has expanded overnight!! there is now a link on the side of the page that you can click on, conveniently called `photos´. double yay!
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| cordoba |
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
yummy fruit bombs
lencois! we arrived late in lencois from salvador, and were immediately taken care of by another self-proclaimed tourist guide. the only differene to the trancoso one was that this guy wasn´t creepy, and immediately showed us a fantastic and cheap campsite. the only problem with this campsite are the fruit bombs. there are mango trees on the whole plot of land, and you can hear the mangoes continuously dropping dangerously hard and fast. our tent has a few orange sprays, but has otherwise been spared.
we spent our first day in lencois looking around for tours, and walking a few kilometers outside of town to a crazy amazing waterwhole with a natural slide!! you can walk up the sides and take a bouncy butt-achy but fun fun slide down into the water pool. yaay :)
after lots of discussion and running back and forth and analysing guides, we finally made a choice to go with extreme eco-adventure tours, with the guide vaumiro, for a four day treck through the valley of pati. right choice.
the past four days we have seen: constantly changing vegetation, wild red pineapples, lizards, flowers that eat mosquitoes, wild lillies and orchids, crazy rock formations, amazing waterfalls... the list could go on for ever. we swam in waterfalls! we drank waterfall water while sitting under waterfalls! we ate amazing food, prepared by vaumiro (fresh salads, fruit salad for breakfast, fish for dinner... he put in so much effort, it was great). we saw star filled night skies with thousands of stars. we basically had a great time. we also went to a restaurant in a little town called capau - wearing bedsheets as skirts, since our clothes were wet. capau seems like an open minded cool little place though> a circus school, two libraries and a commune of eight lesbians.
we arrived back yesterday with blistery feet, covered in scratches from the bushes and bites from all sorts of evil itchy creatures. we enjoyed a drum concert in the street last night and today we´re going for a little walk outside of town past colourful sand fields and some more waterfalls.
tonight is our last evening with monica, which we will be spending on seperate busses to salvador (yes, we booked stupidly). tomorrow monica flies to uruguay to start her internship, and contribute to the disintegration of this group. it´s only sao-mai and i left now, and we have no clue what we´re going to do next. rio? minas gerais region? the pantanal? maybe even bolivia (except coming back seems complicated)? we plan to decide this relatively soon...
we spent our first day in lencois looking around for tours, and walking a few kilometers outside of town to a crazy amazing waterwhole with a natural slide!! you can walk up the sides and take a bouncy butt-achy but fun fun slide down into the water pool. yaay :)
after lots of discussion and running back and forth and analysing guides, we finally made a choice to go with extreme eco-adventure tours, with the guide vaumiro, for a four day treck through the valley of pati. right choice.
the past four days we have seen: constantly changing vegetation, wild red pineapples, lizards, flowers that eat mosquitoes, wild lillies and orchids, crazy rock formations, amazing waterfalls... the list could go on for ever. we swam in waterfalls! we drank waterfall water while sitting under waterfalls! we ate amazing food, prepared by vaumiro (fresh salads, fruit salad for breakfast, fish for dinner... he put in so much effort, it was great). we saw star filled night skies with thousands of stars. we basically had a great time. we also went to a restaurant in a little town called capau - wearing bedsheets as skirts, since our clothes were wet. capau seems like an open minded cool little place though> a circus school, two libraries and a commune of eight lesbians.
we arrived back yesterday with blistery feet, covered in scratches from the bushes and bites from all sorts of evil itchy creatures. we enjoyed a drum concert in the street last night and today we´re going for a little walk outside of town past colourful sand fields and some more waterfalls.
tonight is our last evening with monica, which we will be spending on seperate busses to salvador (yes, we booked stupidly). tomorrow monica flies to uruguay to start her internship, and contribute to the disintegration of this group. it´s only sao-mai and i left now, and we have no clue what we´re going to do next. rio? minas gerais region? the pantanal? maybe even bolivia (except coming back seems complicated)? we plan to decide this relatively soon...
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
salvation, salivation, salad bar
salvador! we arrived at 6 in the morning and sat around the bus terminal waiting for lautaro (one of our argentinians) to generously pick us up and take us to the campsite, 1.5 hours out of town. staying there meant that we didn´t see very much of the city by day, since we got stuck lazing on the beach. there´s little motivation to take a bus when you wake up with a view of the sea and beautiful shiny sun and when there´s a little restaraunt right in the campsite sellig feijoada (beans and meat and rice) and hamburgers.
(can´t figure out how to turn it...)
the argentinians (three to four now, because of a brother and friends) were here to watch caipoeira (a mix of martial art and dance), so thanks to them we were forced to leave our dear campsite and explore more of salvador. we went to a caipoeira performance in the city, and learned a little more about the origin. the dance has angolan roots and was developed in brazil. when the slaves were brought to brazil and weren´t allowed to practice martial arts, caipoeira was a way to continue the practice by packaging it as a dance. lautaro practices the orginial angolan version, while most public performances dance the regional caipoeiro, which is more active and more fun to watch.
our next exciting happening was sm´s birthday! we planned to wake sm up with cake and candles, but everything went wrong. firstly, she kept mentioning how much she hates most cake, so we never picked up the cake we had ordered. secondly, when we went to wake her up, she wasnt in the tent, so the sparkles were out by the time we found her. :( it was still a cool morning though, because we had made a delicious cake made with only fruit and chocolate sprinkles, and lautaro and the others put on a puppet show using plastic bags. in the evening we went into town, saw lots of bands, danced samba, and then went to a gay club. we thoroughly enjoyed being able to dance without fending off ravaging brazilian men, and even met a very sweet laila who we hung out a lot with the next few days.
for new years eve we went to a part of the city called barra, where there was a huge public concert and lots and lots of people. many were dressed in white, and threw flowers into the ocean, to please the candomble goddess of the ocean and protect fishermen (and make the next year a pleasant one, i suspect). we danced to loud music and watched an impressive display of fireworks, before sitting on the beach to people-watch.
the rest of the time in salvador we wandered our pelourinho, looked at churches and museums, went to an independent movie theatre, visited a turtle conservation beach with laila and her friend ale, listened to lots of live music, ate a lot of beans and rice and drank a lot of fruit juice.
(can´t figure out how to turn it...)
the argentinians (three to four now, because of a brother and friends) were here to watch caipoeira (a mix of martial art and dance), so thanks to them we were forced to leave our dear campsite and explore more of salvador. we went to a caipoeira performance in the city, and learned a little more about the origin. the dance has angolan roots and was developed in brazil. when the slaves were brought to brazil and weren´t allowed to practice martial arts, caipoeira was a way to continue the practice by packaging it as a dance. lautaro practices the orginial angolan version, while most public performances dance the regional caipoeiro, which is more active and more fun to watch.
our next exciting happening was sm´s birthday! we planned to wake sm up with cake and candles, but everything went wrong. firstly, she kept mentioning how much she hates most cake, so we never picked up the cake we had ordered. secondly, when we went to wake her up, she wasnt in the tent, so the sparkles were out by the time we found her. :( it was still a cool morning though, because we had made a delicious cake made with only fruit and chocolate sprinkles, and lautaro and the others put on a puppet show using plastic bags. in the evening we went into town, saw lots of bands, danced samba, and then went to a gay club. we thoroughly enjoyed being able to dance without fending off ravaging brazilian men, and even met a very sweet laila who we hung out a lot with the next few days.
for new years eve we went to a part of the city called barra, where there was a huge public concert and lots and lots of people. many were dressed in white, and threw flowers into the ocean, to please the candomble goddess of the ocean and protect fishermen (and make the next year a pleasant one, i suspect). we danced to loud music and watched an impressive display of fireworks, before sitting on the beach to people-watch.
the rest of the time in salvador we wandered our pelourinho, looked at churches and museums, went to an independent movie theatre, visited a turtle conservation beach with laila and her friend ale, listened to lots of live music, ate a lot of beans and rice and drank a lot of fruit juice.
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