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.
Monday, February 25, 2008
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
