Going snorkeling on my final day here (not tomorrow but the next) in Cairns with a 31 yr old solo-travelling single substitute teacher from Toronto. SHE was hesitant to go by herself in case of being left out on the reef. I'm reading a 700 fiction novel and enjoying a lot of warm shade. Any souvenir requests?
Due to an apparent misunderstanding that I will be home at NOON? on the 25th, the following is my planned itinerary...barring any weather delays or purposeful bumping of me off my flight for money. I will, in fact, be en route (all 38 hours) entirely on Christmas Day.
What is Kristen selling on Craigslist? Do you think I'll get to see the plane wreckage in Denver?
25 Dec 2008
Depart Cairns 0545 Qantas 921
Arrive Sydney 0945
Depart Sydney 13:55 Air Pacific FJ0910
Arrive Fiji 18:45
Depart Fiji 22:50 Air Pacific FJ0810
Arrive LAX 13:05
Depart LAX 15:50 United 342
Arrive Denver 15:50
Depart Denver 21:20 United 7572
Arrive KC 23:53
Monday, December 22, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
It's about time!
Okay so blogging is a drag and I've managed to "forget" or "be too busy" for awhile now, I suppose I'm due. I'm finally on my own for a few days, the last few days here down under, so I have time aplenty to sit in the internet cafe.
After disembarking in Sydney, I spent one night in the city with Nate because we decided we wanted to get tickets to see Messiah at the Sydney Opera House. The 2 other MBs headed out of town about an hour to the mountains to hike, we met them there the next day. The inside of the Opera House was pretty outdated and neither of us were impressed with the concert hall. The show was packed and pretty good as well...Nate was able to translate the lyrics and kinda keep me updated as to what book the verses/lyrics came from. It was my idea of a church/Christmas/global tourism icon/entertainment event all rolled in to one. At intermission we headed to the nearest water front cafe to grab a snack, since neither of us had eaten since breakfast on the ship. We knew we would probably miss a little of the second half but during the first half they had let all the late comers in during a break. Little did we know that there was no break for late comers in the second half (there were no programs to tell us this?) and we were refused entry! They wouldn't budge, even though Nate threw a fit (one of those kind of fits where I leave so I'm not embarrassed). We had paid about $50 a piece for tickets and thought the lack of communication or apology on their part to be very unprofessional. Nate eventually demanded to speak with the theatre manager who's empathy and helpfulness went as far as telling Nate "And now you know!" a few times. Apparently by the time it was over the cops had been called. We left. The Opera House is lucky to still be standing.
The next morning, after consoling ourselves with Dominos pizza and Walk the Line the night before, we took the train to the Blue Mountains and enjoyed some scenery. Tried kangaroo and it was delicious. Apparently the Aussie's are slowly starting to warm up to the idea of marketing it...roo's are plentiful and eat up everything in sight, so no worries there...but their British heritage still has them more inclined to beef. The boys flew out on the 9th, I spent one night in Sydney, then flew up to Cairns, which for the geographically challenged, is about 1000 miles straight up the eastern coast. Its the jumping off point for most tourism activity on the Great Barrier Reef (which is something like 2000 kilometers long) and Cairns is the base town for exploring Australia's only little pocket of rain forest. That being said, its humid and hot and there are way too many crazy critters for my comfort zone! (more later on this)
I flew in just an hour before David so we met and called a hostel shuttle to pick us up. David had been here at the beginning of his trip so he knew a decent hostel to go to and was familiar with the area. We spent 3 days pretty much hanging out and avoiding the sun (since we are both 'gingers')...we were able to book a 3 day dive trip, but not until a few days after we arrived...everything we wanted was booked until then. The beautiful northern beaches here are unswimmable due to crocodiles, but if that was enough of a deterrent, at this time of year the 20 ft long Boxed Jellyfish comes close to shore...."By the time you see it, you will have already been stung and you will have about 3 minutes before you go into cardiac arrest"...So Cairns has remedied that with a wonderful waterfront activities "Promenade"...with walking paths, a FREE huge salt water pool (complete with shaded areas over the water for gingers), a free water park/playground, skatepark, beach volleyball courts, public hibachi style BBQ grills, etc. We attended a class called Reef Teach that taught us all about the different kinds of coral and fish we would be seeing. It was one of the most beneficial and educational parts of my trip and I will recommend it to anyone going diving. Its more fun to know what you're looking at and to know which fish want to sting or bite you.
The dive trip was really fun. We did what they call a Liveaboard...2 nights, 3 days, 10-12 dives. Usually dives cost 60-100 US dollars a piece, but here the trip, including our room and good meals, cost about US 400. We went out on a day trip boat to the reef with other day divers and snorkelers, did 2 dives from that boat (each dive lasts about 30-40 minutes). Then that boat pulls up to the Liveaboard boat and some of us transfer over....we did 2 more dives that day, 4 the next day and 3 the next. It was good for me to do so many cuz I got a lot more comfortable with getting the gear on and off and knowing how to dive so that the current takes you back to the boat by the end (instead of having to swim a marathon or get picked up in the "lazy butt" rescue boat). The visibility and currents didn't really cooperate as well as they could. The reef we were at the first day wasn't that great of coral or fish, but by the 3rd day we got to see a lot of great coral and more fish. We saw a couple of sharks (biggest one maybe 10 ft?), a few sting rays, a couple of turtles, parrotfish, trumpeter fish, trigger fish, clown fish, butterfly fish, surgeon fish, angel fish, grouper, snapper, and fish with cool names like "Sweet Lips". Wish I would have taken my disposable camera on more than one dive, but David had said his didn't turn out well from the first trip. I thought mine turned out okay except for my big finger being in the way.
The morning after we got back, we rented a car and went on a road trip up the coast. David wanted to try out this wakeboarding place where you are pulled around a pond on a cable system. It looked like something the US needs to get, but I was too chicken to try. He had fun though. In the afternoon we went to a Crocodile Park where they take you around this croc enclosure and feed them from the side of the boat...got some cool pics of crocs jumping out of the water. I wanted my picture with a koala and was told incorrectly that I could hold one at this place. Ended up just getting herded through a mob of people who got all to pet the koala. Not satisfied with my koala petting experience. We tried camping near the beach (amongst the frogs, crabs, bats, etc) but we were so hot that we both woke up at 2 am...right before it started to rain. We laughed momentarily, but then David put the rain cover over us, which increased the temperature in the tent by at least 10 degrees. It poured and poured until we gave up and slept in our car, a tiny 2 door Hyundai Getz where we could periodically turn on the A/C. No more camping! The next morning we did a 1.5 hour scenic river cruise and saw a few more smallish crocs...we had the guide and boat to ourselves and were told that if we tried to swim across the river at any point, we'd "get taken". We had learned about other deadly critters such as snakes/pythons...but had been told that in the forest, its not the snakes that will get you but the wild boar. Our guide on the river told us that its not really the boar, though, its the plants. According to him, as I remember it, this area wasn't affected by the last ice age so the flora has had a lot of time to learn how to protect itself. There is the "Stinging tree" which looks harmless with its heartshaped leaves...until you brush up against it and "Contact with the leaves or twigs causes the hollow hairs to penetrate the skin. The sting causes a painful stinging sensation which can last for days or even months and the injured area becomes covered with small red spots joining together to form a red, swollen mass. The sting is known to have killed one human, and it can also kill dogs and horses." Or the "Blind your eye" vine that is filled with pressurized sap that "can cause temporary blindness if it enters the eyes. The sap can also cause skin blisters and irritation." Or the "Wait-awhile" vine with thousands of tiny spikes (if you get hooked you will have to wait-awhile to be unhooked) which requires a hospital visit of morphine and hot wax to remove the needles, resulting in a sensitive scar that may take years to heal. We drove to a few scenic beaches but due to the no-swim status, the hot strong sun and the heat, we didn't stay long. We drove inland to an area of higher elevation known as the tablelands. We were on a hunt to see the duck billed platypus. We decided to stay in a highly recommended historic village called Youngaburra. David saw a platypus for one second, I saw the splash as it dove back under the water. They are very shy, only active a few hours a day and it took more patience then we had to get any more glances. Other wildlife I was on the look out for were kangaroos and cassowaries (ostrich like bird, the country's largest land mammal). There were lots of signs warning of these critters but I only saw fields and fields full of cows and 2 dingos run across the road. Dingos are a native wild dog species. Other wildlife I have seen include fruit bats and Flying Foxes (huge fruit bats).
In Younaburra we lucked out and ended up staying 2 nights at a B&B for same price we'd been paying at the hostel...$30 US a night for 2 people. We got to do laundry for free and had an entire apartment...we got to watch TV and put stuff in a refrigerator as well as listen to a radio (our car didn't have one). We went for a good run, drove about an hour to a coffee plantation, got there as it was closing, tried to spot a platypus, took it easy. At the end of a trip its nice not to have too many goals. David felt that way, since he left this morning. I now have 4 days to feel this way, kinda of a debriefing/reflection period of all the places this trip has led to and how fun it was to share with friends.
Last night David took me out to nice waterfront restaurant and we went to see Four Holidays (we intended to watch Australia but got there early, sat down in Four Holidays and laughed so much we couldn't leave). David and I won't be dating anymore, the distance and time apart was enough to free me from the emotional dependence I had on him and we really just weren't ready to make the decision to combine life agendas (okay I wasn't ready). We were originally planning to go work in Colorado but were both uneasy at showing up with no job so late in the ski season. I had been thinking about going to massage school somewhere and David was willing to follow me to Anchorage (which he never did realize was a dumb idea). So with no option other than making a big compromise and putting a lot of pressure on a young relationship, we ended it. We still managed to have a good time together and he's a great person...for someone else. Those wanting more details will surely have access to them once I get back :).
In the meantime I have been pursuing the massage idea, something I've always wanted to do and could see myself being successful at and enjoying. I found a school in Anchorage that has a night course, 5 nights a week, 5 hours a night and can put you through the program in 5 months. I have contacted the staff and all 3 people I've spoken with have been very nice, flexible and encouraging. I was hesitant because the night class doesn't start until late January and wouldn't finish until late June, making me miss out on a chunk of RCT income, but I was given the option of jumping in with the current night class during their final 2 weeks of courses in January, giving me the advantage of graduating closer to the beginning of June. I am planning to do it, as my gut feeling is telling me everything is working out too easily not to. I will plan to substitute teach as much as I can take, while going to school at nights. I'm pretty excited and ready to get there and get started. I'm also ready to get to my condo, as my renters noticed a few weeks ago that my storage area had been broken into (the lock was torn off but nothing looks missing...heck its not any of my stuff in there except snow tires...the rest is Nick's, Jared's, Kristen's, Jed's, etc ) and I figure it might be time to pay some bills. So I'm going to look for a plane ticket right now and plan to be in Anchorage for the long haul (9 months straight?).
After disembarking in Sydney, I spent one night in the city with Nate because we decided we wanted to get tickets to see Messiah at the Sydney Opera House. The 2 other MBs headed out of town about an hour to the mountains to hike, we met them there the next day. The inside of the Opera House was pretty outdated and neither of us were impressed with the concert hall. The show was packed and pretty good as well...Nate was able to translate the lyrics and kinda keep me updated as to what book the verses/lyrics came from. It was my idea of a church/Christmas/global tourism icon/entertainment event all rolled in to one. At intermission we headed to the nearest water front cafe to grab a snack, since neither of us had eaten since breakfast on the ship. We knew we would probably miss a little of the second half but during the first half they had let all the late comers in during a break. Little did we know that there was no break for late comers in the second half (there were no programs to tell us this?) and we were refused entry! They wouldn't budge, even though Nate threw a fit (one of those kind of fits where I leave so I'm not embarrassed). We had paid about $50 a piece for tickets and thought the lack of communication or apology on their part to be very unprofessional. Nate eventually demanded to speak with the theatre manager who's empathy and helpfulness went as far as telling Nate "And now you know!" a few times. Apparently by the time it was over the cops had been called. We left. The Opera House is lucky to still be standing.
The next morning, after consoling ourselves with Dominos pizza and Walk the Line the night before, we took the train to the Blue Mountains and enjoyed some scenery. Tried kangaroo and it was delicious. Apparently the Aussie's are slowly starting to warm up to the idea of marketing it...roo's are plentiful and eat up everything in sight, so no worries there...but their British heritage still has them more inclined to beef. The boys flew out on the 9th, I spent one night in Sydney, then flew up to Cairns, which for the geographically challenged, is about 1000 miles straight up the eastern coast. Its the jumping off point for most tourism activity on the Great Barrier Reef (which is something like 2000 kilometers long) and Cairns is the base town for exploring Australia's only little pocket of rain forest. That being said, its humid and hot and there are way too many crazy critters for my comfort zone! (more later on this)
I flew in just an hour before David so we met and called a hostel shuttle to pick us up. David had been here at the beginning of his trip so he knew a decent hostel to go to and was familiar with the area. We spent 3 days pretty much hanging out and avoiding the sun (since we are both 'gingers')...we were able to book a 3 day dive trip, but not until a few days after we arrived...everything we wanted was booked until then. The beautiful northern beaches here are unswimmable due to crocodiles, but if that was enough of a deterrent, at this time of year the 20 ft long Boxed Jellyfish comes close to shore...."By the time you see it, you will have already been stung and you will have about 3 minutes before you go into cardiac arrest"...So Cairns has remedied that with a wonderful waterfront activities "Promenade"...with walking paths, a FREE huge salt water pool (complete with shaded areas over the water for gingers), a free water park/playground, skatepark, beach volleyball courts, public hibachi style BBQ grills, etc. We attended a class called Reef Teach that taught us all about the different kinds of coral and fish we would be seeing. It was one of the most beneficial and educational parts of my trip and I will recommend it to anyone going diving. Its more fun to know what you're looking at and to know which fish want to sting or bite you.
The dive trip was really fun. We did what they call a Liveaboard...2 nights, 3 days, 10-12 dives. Usually dives cost 60-100 US dollars a piece, but here the trip, including our room and good meals, cost about US 400. We went out on a day trip boat to the reef with other day divers and snorkelers, did 2 dives from that boat (each dive lasts about 30-40 minutes). Then that boat pulls up to the Liveaboard boat and some of us transfer over....we did 2 more dives that day, 4 the next day and 3 the next. It was good for me to do so many cuz I got a lot more comfortable with getting the gear on and off and knowing how to dive so that the current takes you back to the boat by the end (instead of having to swim a marathon or get picked up in the "lazy butt" rescue boat). The visibility and currents didn't really cooperate as well as they could. The reef we were at the first day wasn't that great of coral or fish, but by the 3rd day we got to see a lot of great coral and more fish. We saw a couple of sharks (biggest one maybe 10 ft?), a few sting rays, a couple of turtles, parrotfish, trumpeter fish, trigger fish, clown fish, butterfly fish, surgeon fish, angel fish, grouper, snapper, and fish with cool names like "Sweet Lips". Wish I would have taken my disposable camera on more than one dive, but David had said his didn't turn out well from the first trip. I thought mine turned out okay except for my big finger being in the way.
The morning after we got back, we rented a car and went on a road trip up the coast. David wanted to try out this wakeboarding place where you are pulled around a pond on a cable system. It looked like something the US needs to get, but I was too chicken to try. He had fun though. In the afternoon we went to a Crocodile Park where they take you around this croc enclosure and feed them from the side of the boat...got some cool pics of crocs jumping out of the water. I wanted my picture with a koala and was told incorrectly that I could hold one at this place. Ended up just getting herded through a mob of people who got all to pet the koala. Not satisfied with my koala petting experience. We tried camping near the beach (amongst the frogs, crabs, bats, etc) but we were so hot that we both woke up at 2 am...right before it started to rain. We laughed momentarily, but then David put the rain cover over us, which increased the temperature in the tent by at least 10 degrees. It poured and poured until we gave up and slept in our car, a tiny 2 door Hyundai Getz where we could periodically turn on the A/C. No more camping! The next morning we did a 1.5 hour scenic river cruise and saw a few more smallish crocs...we had the guide and boat to ourselves and were told that if we tried to swim across the river at any point, we'd "get taken". We had learned about other deadly critters such as snakes/pythons...but had been told that in the forest, its not the snakes that will get you but the wild boar. Our guide on the river told us that its not really the boar, though, its the plants. According to him, as I remember it, this area wasn't affected by the last ice age so the flora has had a lot of time to learn how to protect itself. There is the "Stinging tree" which looks harmless with its heartshaped leaves...until you brush up against it and "Contact with the leaves or twigs causes the hollow hairs to penetrate the skin. The sting causes a painful stinging sensation which can last for days or even months and the injured area becomes covered with small red spots joining together to form a red, swollen mass. The sting is known to have killed one human, and it can also kill dogs and horses." Or the "Blind your eye" vine that is filled with pressurized sap that "can cause temporary blindness if it enters the eyes. The sap can also cause skin blisters and irritation." Or the "Wait-awhile" vine with thousands of tiny spikes (if you get hooked you will have to wait-awhile to be unhooked) which requires a hospital visit of morphine and hot wax to remove the needles, resulting in a sensitive scar that may take years to heal. We drove to a few scenic beaches but due to the no-swim status, the hot strong sun and the heat, we didn't stay long. We drove inland to an area of higher elevation known as the tablelands. We were on a hunt to see the duck billed platypus. We decided to stay in a highly recommended historic village called Youngaburra. David saw a platypus for one second, I saw the splash as it dove back under the water. They are very shy, only active a few hours a day and it took more patience then we had to get any more glances. Other wildlife I was on the look out for were kangaroos and cassowaries (ostrich like bird, the country's largest land mammal). There were lots of signs warning of these critters but I only saw fields and fields full of cows and 2 dingos run across the road. Dingos are a native wild dog species. Other wildlife I have seen include fruit bats and Flying Foxes (huge fruit bats).
In Younaburra we lucked out and ended up staying 2 nights at a B&B for same price we'd been paying at the hostel...$30 US a night for 2 people. We got to do laundry for free and had an entire apartment...we got to watch TV and put stuff in a refrigerator as well as listen to a radio (our car didn't have one). We went for a good run, drove about an hour to a coffee plantation, got there as it was closing, tried to spot a platypus, took it easy. At the end of a trip its nice not to have too many goals. David felt that way, since he left this morning. I now have 4 days to feel this way, kinda of a debriefing/reflection period of all the places this trip has led to and how fun it was to share with friends.
Last night David took me out to nice waterfront restaurant and we went to see Four Holidays (we intended to watch Australia but got there early, sat down in Four Holidays and laughed so much we couldn't leave). David and I won't be dating anymore, the distance and time apart was enough to free me from the emotional dependence I had on him and we really just weren't ready to make the decision to combine life agendas (okay I wasn't ready). We were originally planning to go work in Colorado but were both uneasy at showing up with no job so late in the ski season. I had been thinking about going to massage school somewhere and David was willing to follow me to Anchorage (which he never did realize was a dumb idea). So with no option other than making a big compromise and putting a lot of pressure on a young relationship, we ended it. We still managed to have a good time together and he's a great person...for someone else. Those wanting more details will surely have access to them once I get back :).
In the meantime I have been pursuing the massage idea, something I've always wanted to do and could see myself being successful at and enjoying. I found a school in Anchorage that has a night course, 5 nights a week, 5 hours a night and can put you through the program in 5 months. I have contacted the staff and all 3 people I've spoken with have been very nice, flexible and encouraging. I was hesitant because the night class doesn't start until late January and wouldn't finish until late June, making me miss out on a chunk of RCT income, but I was given the option of jumping in with the current night class during their final 2 weeks of courses in January, giving me the advantage of graduating closer to the beginning of June. I am planning to do it, as my gut feeling is telling me everything is working out too easily not to. I will plan to substitute teach as much as I can take, while going to school at nights. I'm pretty excited and ready to get there and get started. I'm also ready to get to my condo, as my renters noticed a few weeks ago that my storage area had been broken into (the lock was torn off but nothing looks missing...heck its not any of my stuff in there except snow tires...the rest is Nick's, Jared's, Kristen's, Jed's, etc ) and I figure it might be time to pay some bills. So I'm going to look for a plane ticket right now and plan to be in Anchorage for the long haul (9 months straight?).
Sunday, December 7, 2008
AUSTRALIA
Here I sit in a smelly hostel in the Blue Mountains, two hours by train west of Sydney. The cruise overall was pretty dull. The weather was too chilly to lay out in, which meant a lot of time indoors trying to entertain ourselves. We didn't get to cruise into Milford Sound because the winds were 50 knots. We enjoyed Melbourne, just walked around the city, which was nice. Its fun to see all the Christmas decorations and hear Christmas music when its nice and warm outside. We arrived in Sydney, which was one of the most impressive ports I've seen. The ship is able to dock right in downtown, between the opera house and the harbour bridge. Easy access to most sights, we went to Bondi Beach which is apparently famous. It was nice to finally get some sun again. I am once again with the 3 MBs, they all fly out tomorrow though. On Wednesday I fly to Cairns to meet David.
We got to know a lot of the crew onboard and fortunately or unfortunately for them and the other guests, most everyone got to know us. One guy "we" invited on this cruise (we met him on the last cruise) is what you would call "That Guy." The one with his shirt off and a beer in his hand constantly. Well, he entertained us, for example, by wearing a wrestling singlet to the gym, a bath robe and headband to the sock hop, renting a motorized scooter onboard the ship (someone 'hurt their ankle'?), etc. There were times when it was funny (falling over backwards doing a wheelie in a wheelchair in the buffet) and times when we wanted to jump overboard (falling over backwards doing a wheelie in a wheelchair in the buffet). We also brought along 2 girls we had met and they were really fun. One fought wildfires for 6 years in Idaho so I am contemplating whether I am tough enough for that if the money is worth it (probably not).
Other things that happened...
Nate and I had been craving biscuits and gravy for awhile but no one here knows what they are...mostly because the word "biscuits" means cookies to them. But we were able to describe it to our maitre d friend who special ordered it for us a couple of times. It was pretty close to being good. I also tried eggs benedict for the first time (I'd like to lose the ham and add cheese) and ate my share of ice cream, escargot, shrimp cocktail, sushi, pad thai, pizza, stir fry, pasta, steak, nachos, cookies, chocolate desserts, cheesecake, cheese fries, room service, etc. I learned a little about blackjack, watched some movies, worked out every day, read an "Any idiot can get rich" book, popped a few zits, washed my underwear in the sink, stitched a hole in a sock (It took 3 tries to meet personal standards), saved the chocolates from my pillow and ate them all in one day, and enjoyed my leisurely lifestyle with my friends.
I'm excited to head north, dive, be warm, etc. I'm also excited to try to get bumped and make money on my 4 or 5 flights home to Kansas. And, of course, to see all my family, relatives, friends, and presents.
We got to know a lot of the crew onboard and fortunately or unfortunately for them and the other guests, most everyone got to know us. One guy "we" invited on this cruise (we met him on the last cruise) is what you would call "That Guy." The one with his shirt off and a beer in his hand constantly. Well, he entertained us, for example, by wearing a wrestling singlet to the gym, a bath robe and headband to the sock hop, renting a motorized scooter onboard the ship (someone 'hurt their ankle'?), etc. There were times when it was funny (falling over backwards doing a wheelie in a wheelchair in the buffet) and times when we wanted to jump overboard (falling over backwards doing a wheelie in a wheelchair in the buffet). We also brought along 2 girls we had met and they were really fun. One fought wildfires for 6 years in Idaho so I am contemplating whether I am tough enough for that if the money is worth it (probably not).
Other things that happened...
Nate and I had been craving biscuits and gravy for awhile but no one here knows what they are...mostly because the word "biscuits" means cookies to them. But we were able to describe it to our maitre d friend who special ordered it for us a couple of times. It was pretty close to being good. I also tried eggs benedict for the first time (I'd like to lose the ham and add cheese) and ate my share of ice cream, escargot, shrimp cocktail, sushi, pad thai, pizza, stir fry, pasta, steak, nachos, cookies, chocolate desserts, cheesecake, cheese fries, room service, etc. I learned a little about blackjack, watched some movies, worked out every day, read an "Any idiot can get rich" book, popped a few zits, washed my underwear in the sink, stitched a hole in a sock (It took 3 tries to meet personal standards), saved the chocolates from my pillow and ate them all in one day, and enjoyed my leisurely lifestyle with my friends.
I'm excited to head north, dive, be warm, etc. I'm also excited to try to get bumped and make money on my 4 or 5 flights home to Kansas. And, of course, to see all my family, relatives, friends, and presents.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Last port in NZ
Cruise is going well, weather is cooler so not as much laying out. Just more eating, movies, cards, sleeping, reading, gym, eating, rinse and repeat! Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
NZ Week 3
Tuesday I flew to Auckland, met up with David and Garrett, rented a car, stayed the night in Auckland. Got up and drove north on Wednesdat, Garrett wanted to do a 3 day hike along the northern coast. Drove most of the day, dropped Garrett off, went to the beach, found a camping spot. Thursday David and I went to some huge sand dunes where you can rent a boogie board and slide down them. Lots of fun, good pics. Camped near the beach where Garrett was to finish the hike, cooked a great dinner and then figured out if you put a little butter on English muffins and fry them on a pan, then add chocolate or honey, you get donuts. Yum. Friday Garrett arrived and we headed south again, via a burger joint. The BBs, well mainly Garrett, only want to hike (he hiked half the Applachian trail...1000+ miles, quit cuz his Grpa was sick)...so their plan is to get to the south part of the island today to start another 3 days hike tonight. Yesterday we made it to Auckland by midafternoon and met up with all the other people that are cruising on this 3rd cruise that leaves today. Roberta and Bryan (both RCT tour directors who were on the 2nd cruise), me and the MBs (Nate, Cramer, Adam) and then Vinnie (RCT tour director who was planning on just being in NZ til March, hasn't cruised with us yet) and the 2 Hawaii/Idaho girls we met on the last cruise who were "moving" to NZ via ship and Matt, another guy we met on the 2nd cruise who was with his godfather planning to hang out for the winter in NZ. So 3 rooms with a total of 10 people, it should be fun. We all have been bopping around NZ for 3 weeks so everyone has good stories to share. Should be a great cruise, I'm ready to eat free food and be a fat kid for a couple more weeks. If only the pedicure place was open on Sunday mornings...
Sunday, November 16, 2008
NZ Week 2
Last Tuesday I did a pretty good hike...took 5 hours total, I was sore all over for 3 days. I thought the guys had done it while I was skydiving and said "oh about an hour" but turns out they had done a different hike and my hike was a lot more difficult...I'm glad I didn't know when I started. Pic on facebook is from the peak. After the hike I checked email to find that my friend Pierre was staying at a hostel accross the street and I found him in the lobby about to go eat dinner. So I went for pizza with him and his travelmate Kristin, they had just done a 4 day hike. Wednesday I met them for breakfast, did some shopping and whatnot, then left around noon to go to the end of the trail the guys were hiking. Our meeting time was 5 pm but I told them I would get them cheesy breads from the pizza place and come early, hiking in to meet them. However, after the 1.5 hour drive, I was just getting ready to start hiking towards them and there the stinky boys came. They got done by 2, hiking around 35 miles in 3 days. We drove immediately to some showers and got fresh and clean. We drove that night to Te Anau, a nice little town close to Milford Sound. We always find good hiding places for our tacky van so that we can camp for free. This night we parked by a river, near a boat launch. The next morning we drove the scenic (redundant for NZ) drive through mountains (waterfalls upon waterfalls...so high up you can see the top of them cuz they're in the clouds). We got to Milford Sound and hung out for awhile, seeing if the weather would clear up. We will be back cruising through this acclaimed fiord on the ship in a couple of weeks but the guys wanted to do a 1.5 hour cruise anyway. We finally got on in the afternoon, it was like a similar tour we do in AK. Pretty enough. We drove back to Te Anau to camp in the same spot. The next morning we did laundry, charged our electronics, used internet, got gas, water and groceries and headed south. The boys like to see everything so we spent about an hour looking for a forest with 1000 year old trees (I got annoyed and put on my headphones after about an hour of u-turns on private land in obviously the wrong area...they are STUBBORN!). That day we strapped on our headlamps and explored a limestone cave for about an hour (got just a little lost at one point), not for the claustrophobic! We ended up that night in a town on the southern part of the island called Riverton. We pulled up to the shore to watch the sunset and ended up meeting some men who were diving for abalone, which is a clam-like delicacy here. The shell from the abalone is called paua and lots of souvenirs are made of it. The men gave us some abalone and told us how to cook it, but it seemed complicated so we kept the shells and gave the 'meat' away to some other locals. The men invited us to have a drink at the local pub so we went and they already had bought several beers for us before the MBs could tell them they don't drink. So I had one and the guys had Cokes. We camped on the beach that night in Riverton and the next morning met some more locals fishing for flounder along the shore with big nets. They invited us to help them but we got on the road instead. Locals are very friendly, inviting, animated and enthusiastic. I like it. We drove a lot that day after getting more gas, more water and more groceries...I think it was Saturday...looked at some different scenic stuff...blowholes, waterfalls (blah blah blah), etc. We arrived in Dunedin, the biggest town we'd been in with 100,000 people. We decided to pay to camp at a campground (ie Holiday Park here) and for $20 US total, we got showers, use of the kitchen (we cooked burgers) and a legal place to sleep. Right next to the beach as well. Sunday we went to Mormon Church and got invited to dinner at someone's house. In the afternoon we drove out onto the Otago Peninsula which was supposed to be amazing ("unless you hate animals" says the guidebook). Well there was a small aquarium, penguin tours ($30 no thanks), albatross colony (no tours cuz of mating season), 2 seals (blah), seagulls, etc. I'm bored with scenery. Dinner was awesome though. There was chicken curry and had a ton of chocolate cake for dessert. We camped right outside the campground for free last night, played some frisbee on the beach, some cards in the van, the usual. This morning at 5 am was when it started to rain...and thats around the same time the 2 guys sleeping outside piled on top of us in the van. We tried to sleep with all 4 of us in a space decently uncomfortable for 3. Can we say spooning? The alarm was set for 7 cuz I had a bus to catch to get to Christchurch. The boys will be headed to Christchurch, flying out to Wellington Wednesday, then driving up to Auckland. My flight to Auckland is tomorrow so I took the 6 hour bus ride, got here just fine and the weather is once again perfect like it has been the whole trip, save this AM and one or two other days.
I picked a females only hostel from my guidebook and I think it may be my most favorite hostel I've ever stayed at. You decide. I show up and am given a tour of a garden (for our pickins') with fresh herbs and mints (chocolate, lemon, etc), there are guinea pigs and cats to hold, a goldfish pond, fresh mineral spring water, free coffee and tea and a well stocked kitchen, free phones for local calls or receiving calls, HAIRDRYERS in the bathrooms, full length mirrors, huge DVD collection, book exchange, comfy couches, FREE laundry (soap for 30 cents), FREE bikes to use and FREE raspberries to be picked and eaten by me (I got Special K cereal and milk for dinner and breakfast tomorrow...gotta pick some berries!). I'm currently doing laundry, charging my camera battery, crossing things like blogging off my to do list, and plan to dye my hair later and pretty much live the life of luxury. All for $16.20. Trying to get everything done before my flight to meet David and Garrett (the Bama Boys (BBs)) tomorrow. I'm going to go with them in their rental ? to visit ? where we will ? before I get back to Auckland via ? in time to board the ship on Sunday. The End.
I picked a females only hostel from my guidebook and I think it may be my most favorite hostel I've ever stayed at. You decide. I show up and am given a tour of a garden (for our pickins') with fresh herbs and mints (chocolate, lemon, etc), there are guinea pigs and cats to hold, a goldfish pond, fresh mineral spring water, free coffee and tea and a well stocked kitchen, free phones for local calls or receiving calls, HAIRDRYERS in the bathrooms, full length mirrors, huge DVD collection, book exchange, comfy couches, FREE laundry (soap for 30 cents), FREE bikes to use and FREE raspberries to be picked and eaten by me (I got Special K cereal and milk for dinner and breakfast tomorrow...gotta pick some berries!). I'm currently doing laundry, charging my camera battery, crossing things like blogging off my to do list, and plan to dye my hair later and pretty much live the life of luxury. All for $16.20. Trying to get everything done before my flight to meet David and Garrett (the Bama Boys (BBs)) tomorrow. I'm going to go with them in their rental ? to visit ? where we will ? before I get back to Auckland via ? in time to board the ship on Sunday. The End.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Queenstown
I left off in Wanaka, where we camped close to the lake (one of the prettiest places I've ever seen). We cooked chicken quesadillas on our camp stove that came with the van and the boys play frisbee whenever we have downtime (kinda like marking their territory?). The next day we stole showers from a camp ground (the boys were starting to grow moldy) and then drove out in a valley of Mt. Aspiringly National Park to do a hike up to a glacier. It was another gorgeous day. After the hike we drove back to town to our camping spot from the night before. I think we cooked chili dogs. We got kicked out of our camping spot at 5 am by a security officer, but since I'm the girl, I got to keep sleeping while one of the guys (I assume) drove us to another spot. We stole another shower in the morning and drove down to Queenstown. Another big lake and mountain setting. Adam and Cramer went hiking while Nate and I went skydiving. It was just a little too easy and an hour after walking into the place we were on our way. Queenstown is kinda the adrenline, adventure capital of the world, having invented bungy jumping in the 80s, they have several of the tallest in the world, also parasailing, jetboating, rafting, etc. So the skydiving place was definitely busy! They have 2 planes taking people up constantly, every hour there are about 10 people going. Nate had been before a couple of times and said this time was the shortest safety speech ("Fall like a banana, arch your back") and the most traffic he'd seen. They really send a lot of people through, very organized and efficient. I was scared up until I paid to go, then I wasn't scared again until we were in the plane and at 3,000 ft I thought we were pretty high. We climbed to 15,000 ft and could see about every mountain in the southern hemisphere, it was a completely clear day. We were very high. I began to feel a little odd about falling out of an airplane. (Next time you fly, picture the side of the plane opening up like a sliding door and try telling yourself its okay to sit on the edge with your feet below the plane). I was scared when I saw the people in front of me fall out of the plane. That was more strange than me actually getting ready to fall. Supposedly we (tandem jump master and I) fell 60 sec. of freefall at 120 mph. It seemed shorter. There's enough wind resistance that it didn't make my stomach feel as crazy as when I bungy jumped. I just tried to enjoy the scenery and breathe and keep my goggles from flying off. I can't wait to do it again. Much less scary than bungying. Problem is that its an expensive 2 minutes!
Sunday morning the MBs took me to Mormon church. They try to go every Sunday, no matter where we are. The church meets in a funeral home and only had about 25 members. It was the smallest branch the guys had been to. Afterwards they invited us to a potluck so that was lucky (no wonder the guys like to try church out everywhere). The speaker that day actually manages a penguin colony on the east coast and invited us to come and take a special tour with the scientists, getting to take pictures up close when usually no photography is allowed. Its only on Tuesdays that the scientists come in though, so I will miss it. I'll miss it because I'm headed back up to the north island by next Tuesday to meet David and his friend Garrett when they fly into Auckland. After the potluck Cramer wanted to drive up the road to one of the nearby ski resorts (of course its closed cuz the snow is gone but Cramer is a sponsored snowboarder who is obsessed with snow..."I just want to touch some snow"). We did that then drove out of town about 45 minutes to camp, so that we were closer to the trailhead this morning. The guys are doing a 3 day hike but I decided to be a girl and spend the time shopping and communicating. Yesterday when they were getting permits and food, it was pouring all day, reassuring me I had made the right decision. There are huts to stay in, but I would have had to rent a sleeping bag and the odds are good that there would be a lot of rain. I'm pretty much a fairweather dayhiker. I dropped them off at one end of the trail and will pick them up at the other end, about 20-25 miles away on Wednesday. They were thankful for my transportation services but also made me feel welcome to come. I would have struggled to keep up the whole time and they had long days planned. So I came back to Queenstown, paid $5 to a hostel for a shower and to charge our electronics (ipod, speakers, camera). I cooked Ramen noodles for lunch on our stove. Then I did a short hike up a hill with a view and laid in the warm sun for awhile before heading down, washed my 2 pair of socks in a bowl (I expected to wear sandals more often!) and have been working on logistics for the latter part of the day (flights, possible free car rental, whats cheaper, what day to go, which of my friends will be where, etc). Planning to grab some groceries, then head to a camping spot from a couple of days ago, do some reading, go to bed early, get up and do a pretty hard hike tomorrow. Might have a friend coming into town tomorrow, a tour director at RCT who has been on a 4 day hike.
This trip is working out really well, I'm enjoying all aspects of it. However, writing all these details was annoying and I'm glad its over.
Sunday morning the MBs took me to Mormon church. They try to go every Sunday, no matter where we are. The church meets in a funeral home and only had about 25 members. It was the smallest branch the guys had been to. Afterwards they invited us to a potluck so that was lucky (no wonder the guys like to try church out everywhere). The speaker that day actually manages a penguin colony on the east coast and invited us to come and take a special tour with the scientists, getting to take pictures up close when usually no photography is allowed. Its only on Tuesdays that the scientists come in though, so I will miss it. I'll miss it because I'm headed back up to the north island by next Tuesday to meet David and his friend Garrett when they fly into Auckland. After the potluck Cramer wanted to drive up the road to one of the nearby ski resorts (of course its closed cuz the snow is gone but Cramer is a sponsored snowboarder who is obsessed with snow..."I just want to touch some snow"). We did that then drove out of town about 45 minutes to camp, so that we were closer to the trailhead this morning. The guys are doing a 3 day hike but I decided to be a girl and spend the time shopping and communicating. Yesterday when they were getting permits and food, it was pouring all day, reassuring me I had made the right decision. There are huts to stay in, but I would have had to rent a sleeping bag and the odds are good that there would be a lot of rain. I'm pretty much a fairweather dayhiker. I dropped them off at one end of the trail and will pick them up at the other end, about 20-25 miles away on Wednesday. They were thankful for my transportation services but also made me feel welcome to come. I would have struggled to keep up the whole time and they had long days planned. So I came back to Queenstown, paid $5 to a hostel for a shower and to charge our electronics (ipod, speakers, camera). I cooked Ramen noodles for lunch on our stove. Then I did a short hike up a hill with a view and laid in the warm sun for awhile before heading down, washed my 2 pair of socks in a bowl (I expected to wear sandals more often!) and have been working on logistics for the latter part of the day (flights, possible free car rental, whats cheaper, what day to go, which of my friends will be where, etc). Planning to grab some groceries, then head to a camping spot from a couple of days ago, do some reading, go to bed early, get up and do a pretty hard hike tomorrow. Might have a friend coming into town tomorrow, a tour director at RCT who has been on a 4 day hike.
This trip is working out really well, I'm enjoying all aspects of it. However, writing all these details was annoying and I'm glad its over.
New Zealand pics
after skydiving
before
typical vista
Boys going on a 3 day hike
Queenstown
Fox Glacier
Our home
strange rocksThursday, November 6, 2008
Wanaka
Greetings from me as a 29 year old! I love birthdays! The guys surprised me by buying me a bunch of sweets (everything I pointed out while hungry grocery shopping) and had candles and a card. We used the kitchen at a hostel to cook dinner that night and found out another girl from Japan was having a birthday too so had a spontaneous mini celebration. We've been camping in our minivan, lays down into a bed in the back. Not very big though, and we have sleeping bags for one of us to sleep outside (its cold) so three of us sleep in the van. I sleep in the middle and lay with my feet by the boys heads so as to fit better laying the opposite way. We bot groceries and eat PBJ for lunch and cook dinner on our little camp stove. We've had quesidillas, hot dogs and pasta.
New Zealand is surpassing anything we expected. Its like a backpackers paradise filled with cows and sheep, glaciers and mountains, lakes and cute little towns, and trails everywhere. Just off the highway you can walk 2 minutes or 10 days, there are really good signs and plenty to see. We've seen glow worms, glaciers, penguins, caves, a salmon farm, waterfalls, beaches, seals, clear blue lakes and more. Weather has been great the past two days, sunny yet ALaska temps. The boys don't really come up with a plan. We just wake up and start driving and read our Lonely Planet travel guide. Mostly we pull off to look at everything (patience Karie) and "check it out" anytime there's a pull out. Today we did a 3 hour hike to a cool glacier. Tomorrow..who knows...where we camp tonight...who knows....I try very hard not to ask questions. As much as the whole place seems set up for backpackers (tons of backpacker hostels/lodges and campervans everywhere), we don't feel overrun with people whenever we go places. Its really strange actually. Wanaka is a town of 3,500 on a beautiful lake in the mountains. Its really peaceful, most towns are pretty quiet. Just a lot of sheep and scenery and some cows.
Hopefully I'll have gone skydiving within the next couple of days.
New Zealand is surpassing anything we expected. Its like a backpackers paradise filled with cows and sheep, glaciers and mountains, lakes and cute little towns, and trails everywhere. Just off the highway you can walk 2 minutes or 10 days, there are really good signs and plenty to see. We've seen glow worms, glaciers, penguins, caves, a salmon farm, waterfalls, beaches, seals, clear blue lakes and more. Weather has been great the past two days, sunny yet ALaska temps. The boys don't really come up with a plan. We just wake up and start driving and read our Lonely Planet travel guide. Mostly we pull off to look at everything (patience Karie) and "check it out" anytime there's a pull out. Today we did a 3 hour hike to a cool glacier. Tomorrow..who knows...where we camp tonight...who knows....I try very hard not to ask questions. As much as the whole place seems set up for backpackers (tons of backpacker hostels/lodges and campervans everywhere), we don't feel overrun with people whenever we go places. Its really strange actually. Wanaka is a town of 3,500 on a beautiful lake in the mountains. Its really peaceful, most towns are pretty quiet. Just a lot of sheep and scenery and some cows.
Hopefully I'll have gone skydiving within the next couple of days.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Happy Birthday to me
I bot a new camera in Auckland. Its a Canon. I like it so far.
We flew to Christchurch and rented a minivan with a sink, fridge, stove and seats that turn into a bed. We drove an amazing drive from Christchurch west to Arthur's pass, camped the first night. Three of us squeezed in the van and scott slept outside. Yesterday it rained all day but we did some cool walks and saw some cool stuff anyway. I stayed in a hostel last night cuz of the weather and because 4 of us don't fit in the van anyway. Today we went to a couple of glaciers. I wished, for my birthday, for it not to rain at the glaciers. So instead it hailed, sleeted and snowed on us. Its super windy and rainy on this western edge of the island, as most of the weather and precip comes in from the Tasman Sea. Tonight we are going for dinner for my birthday and heading on down the road tomorrow. I'm having a great time with the MBs. They're happy and fun and you'll be glad to know they pray for us every morning and before meals. We're in Fox Glacier village tonight and plan to camp here.
We flew to Christchurch and rented a minivan with a sink, fridge, stove and seats that turn into a bed. We drove an amazing drive from Christchurch west to Arthur's pass, camped the first night. Three of us squeezed in the van and scott slept outside. Yesterday it rained all day but we did some cool walks and saw some cool stuff anyway. I stayed in a hostel last night cuz of the weather and because 4 of us don't fit in the van anyway. Today we went to a couple of glaciers. I wished, for my birthday, for it not to rain at the glaciers. So instead it hailed, sleeted and snowed on us. Its super windy and rainy on this western edge of the island, as most of the weather and precip comes in from the Tasman Sea. Tonight we are going for dinner for my birthday and heading on down the road tomorrow. I'm having a great time with the MBs. They're happy and fun and you'll be glad to know they pray for us every morning and before meals. We're in Fox Glacier village tonight and plan to camp here.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Christchurch
Auckland is a great place, but I'm flying to Christchurch with the MBs this afternoon. Don't know what the plan is after that, I don't ask questions. Just along for the ride.
Friday, October 31, 2008
NEW ZEALAND!!
We made it to NZ!! We're in Bay of Islands which is on the North Island. Internet is finally cheap as the exchange rate is in our favor. We are all excited to be off the ship tomorrow. We are arriving in Auckland and a lot of us are going to try to travel together for the next 3 weeks, however none of us has a "plan" per say and it will be interesting coordinating approximately 10 people. Its cooler here today, maybe 60s, but we've had great weather the whole trip. We have had a great time having so many of our friends onboard. 9 of us eat dinner in the formal dining room every night (as in 5 courses). We have a funny waiter and asst. waiter that keep us laughing. Last night was Halloween (since we crossed the international date line and lost October 30th completely). Kristen and I borrowed the guys dress clothes and went as Mormom missionaries. Pretty funny. Not as funny as the Mormons dressed as hula girls complete with coconuts and sparkly eye make-up. Pictures were taken.
We've spent 9 of the last 12 days at sea. Sea days can get long and boring but we try to appreciate the relaxation, food, gym and each other. In Tahiti the ship docked in the city and all 11 of us took a public bus to a nearby beach. It was not the nicest Tahiti-esque beach and the skies were cloudy. We enjoyed the next two islands better. In Moorea, 9 of us went snorkeling and also got to feed sting rays and swim with (3 feet long) sharks. I have a camera that is (was) water proof so we were having a heyday taking pictures of it all, until my camera died and went to digital heaven. I was planning to buy a new one but one of the Mormon boys took it apart, dried it out and apparently has it working again, however I haven't seen him since he called to tell me that in the middle of the night last night. In Bora Bora I went scuba diving with Nate (mormon boy) and two girls we've met on the ship (moving from Hawaii to NZ via cruise ship). We got to swim with sharks 10 feet long and I'm getting the pictures developed right now (from disposable camera). It was my first dive besides getting certified and it was pretty darn cool.
In other news, Kristen and I proudly took home first and second place respectively in the sudoku competition onboard (easiest thing we've ever done). The 11 of us are quite the spectical onboard since everyone else is nearly dead(sparing a few newly weds and over feds) and because the mormons do all the events and meet lots of people.
The Plan, as we know it, for the next three weeks (until Nate, Adam, Cramer, myself and maybe Bryan and Roberta) leave Nov. 23 to cruise to Australia for 15 nights is as follows:
Kristen flies out of Auckland Nov. 4 to Fiji, LA and Kansas.
Kelly and Julie fly out of Auckland back to AK Nov. 4
Adam, Cramer, and Nate (The Mormons) plan to "see and do it all" in NZ but don't have reservations or plans.
Andy and Brianna will stay onboard tomorrow for the following cruise, then spend a month in Australia.
The two girls we met on the ship (moving to NZ) are being "courted" by Bryan and Cramer so I'm assuming Bryan, his travelmate Roberta and the 2 girls will align themselves with the Mormons.
I'm going to go with the big group and see what happens, just for kicks and giggles.
Two other RCT friends, Vinnie and Pierre are already in NZ and are supposed to meet us at the pier tomorrow and they may want to travel with us as well. Vinnie supposedly bought a van.
So basically I'm just going to follow along and let others make the decisions, confident in their ability to make fun happen and excited to not have to be in charge of logistics. Hopefully making the trip more economical as well. I'm hoping to skydive at some point and do some hiking.
Well I should be able to update this wonderfully entertaining blog more often now!
We've spent 9 of the last 12 days at sea. Sea days can get long and boring but we try to appreciate the relaxation, food, gym and each other. In Tahiti the ship docked in the city and all 11 of us took a public bus to a nearby beach. It was not the nicest Tahiti-esque beach and the skies were cloudy. We enjoyed the next two islands better. In Moorea, 9 of us went snorkeling and also got to feed sting rays and swim with (3 feet long) sharks. I have a camera that is (was) water proof so we were having a heyday taking pictures of it all, until my camera died and went to digital heaven. I was planning to buy a new one but one of the Mormon boys took it apart, dried it out and apparently has it working again, however I haven't seen him since he called to tell me that in the middle of the night last night. In Bora Bora I went scuba diving with Nate (mormon boy) and two girls we've met on the ship (moving from Hawaii to NZ via cruise ship). We got to swim with sharks 10 feet long and I'm getting the pictures developed right now (from disposable camera). It was my first dive besides getting certified and it was pretty darn cool.
In other news, Kristen and I proudly took home first and second place respectively in the sudoku competition onboard (easiest thing we've ever done). The 11 of us are quite the spectical onboard since everyone else is nearly dead(sparing a few newly weds and over feds) and because the mormons do all the events and meet lots of people.
The Plan, as we know it, for the next three weeks (until Nate, Adam, Cramer, myself and maybe Bryan and Roberta) leave Nov. 23 to cruise to Australia for 15 nights is as follows:
Kristen flies out of Auckland Nov. 4 to Fiji, LA and Kansas.
Kelly and Julie fly out of Auckland back to AK Nov. 4
Adam, Cramer, and Nate (The Mormons) plan to "see and do it all" in NZ but don't have reservations or plans.
Andy and Brianna will stay onboard tomorrow for the following cruise, then spend a month in Australia.
The two girls we met on the ship (moving to NZ) are being "courted" by Bryan and Cramer so I'm assuming Bryan, his travelmate Roberta and the 2 girls will align themselves with the Mormons.
I'm going to go with the big group and see what happens, just for kicks and giggles.
Two other RCT friends, Vinnie and Pierre are already in NZ and are supposed to meet us at the pier tomorrow and they may want to travel with us as well. Vinnie supposedly bought a van.
So basically I'm just going to follow along and let others make the decisions, confident in their ability to make fun happen and excited to not have to be in charge of logistics. Hopefully making the trip more economical as well. I'm hoping to skydive at some point and do some hiking.
Well I should be able to update this wonderfully entertaining blog more often now!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Kauai, Kona, Oahu
Having lots of fun! Glad we are getting to do another cruise. It was fun this AM to have the ship to ourselves (well, there are a few back to back cruisers like ourselves). Today we meet up with 8 additional friends on this next cruise! Kristen and I have our own room this time as Cramer is sharing with 2 other guys and Matt decided last minute to fly back to Anchorage for a potential job opportunity (he will be living in my condo and paying rent...yea!).
In Kauai we did the adventure of taking the free Walmart shuttle. Then Cramer and I hitchhiked out to a waterfall/rope swing and did that a couple of times. Got some good pics and a little muddy. In Kona 6 of us rented a car and snorkel gear and attempted to snorkel with dolphins like friends of ours had done the week before. However the dolphins did not get the memo. There was a ton of coral right near the shore and my camera takes great underwater pics. It was pretty cloudy skiies both here and Kauai so pics aren't too scenic.
In Honolulu right now, didn't get off the ship yesterday. I enjoy the ship when all the people are off doing excursions. Kristen and I like to work out multiple times a day, eat multiple times and not fall asleep before 10 pm. This is our life.
Internet has been really expensive so far so I don't write much. Right now its $10 an hour and I also need to check email and book some flights. Tomorrow we're on another Hawaiian island, then we are at sea for 5 days. I'll be able to update the blog more often in NZ when internet access should be more readily available and reasonably priced. Cheers!
In Kauai we did the adventure of taking the free Walmart shuttle. Then Cramer and I hitchhiked out to a waterfall/rope swing and did that a couple of times. Got some good pics and a little muddy. In Kona 6 of us rented a car and snorkel gear and attempted to snorkel with dolphins like friends of ours had done the week before. However the dolphins did not get the memo. There was a ton of coral right near the shore and my camera takes great underwater pics. It was pretty cloudy skiies both here and Kauai so pics aren't too scenic.
In Honolulu right now, didn't get off the ship yesterday. I enjoy the ship when all the people are off doing excursions. Kristen and I like to work out multiple times a day, eat multiple times and not fall asleep before 10 pm. This is our life.
Internet has been really expensive so far so I don't write much. Right now its $10 an hour and I also need to check email and book some flights. Tomorrow we're on another Hawaiian island, then we are at sea for 5 days. I'll be able to update the blog more often in NZ when internet access should be more readily available and reasonably priced. Cheers!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Maui
We have 2 days in Maui on this itinerary so Cramer, Matt, Kristen and I rented a surf board yesterday and took turns trying to learn. I let Cramer help me until today when I decided to paddle out and do it all by myself. I actually stood up and did it on my own which was a small step for mankind but my goal of the day.
Its sunny and warm, there are nice wimpy waves for us to learn on. We spent 5 days at sea so we're all glad to be on land. The port town is really convenient to the ship, although we have to take a tender out to the boat. So I'm probably going to go back for lunch, then maybe come back to go snorkeling.
We like the 2 young couples we sit with at dinner, however I like to skip the 5 course meal at 8:30 at night, cuz I get really tired and eat even when I'm not hungry. Kristen and I work out a lot at the gym. We are wearing sunscreen too.
Its sunny and warm, there are nice wimpy waves for us to learn on. We spent 5 days at sea so we're all glad to be on land. The port town is really convenient to the ship, although we have to take a tender out to the boat. So I'm probably going to go back for lunch, then maybe come back to go snorkeling.
We like the 2 young couples we sit with at dinner, however I like to skip the 5 course meal at 8:30 at night, cuz I get really tired and eat even when I'm not hungry. Kristen and I work out a lot at the gym. We are wearing sunscreen too.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Mexico
Mexican hair cut: $6
Mexican fish taco: $1
Mexican churro (stuffed): $1.50
Mexican prescription ($50 in US): $5
Mexican "swimsuit" wax: $15
Loving Ensenada. Nice people, clean air, clean town, safe (even at night), great sunny weather. Two (very) white girls walk around and don't get heckled. Cheap fish market...we bought crabs and a mixture of octapus, squid, shrimp, etc., more than 2 of us could eat for $5. Lots of recent updates to the city of 300,000 including a boardwalk, park area along the water. Got here just fine from San Diego's airport...bus, trolley, walk across the border (no customs or showing of passport?), another bus to Ensenada...Carlos from the hostel was there within 5 minutes to pick us up. Cramer showed up at our hostel that evening, Matt is flying in today. We're waiting to board the ship around 4. We have 5 days at sea before Hawaii so won't be writing until we get to wherever we get to in Hawaii. Nice hostel, free kitchen, free internet. Our room had 3 sets of bunkbeds but the first night we had the room to ourselves. Last night Nina from Germany joined us. We're just a few blocks from the port and touristy area. Good job Kristen on planning this part. Hostel and town were both above expectations.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Kansas City
Today I fly to Chicago, then Fort Lauderdale. Tomorrow I fly Ft. Lauderdale to Chicago to Kansas City to Denver to Anchorage. Unfortunately I love good deals and this was one. No, it is not possible to just stay in KC and wait for my flight tomorrow. The flight originates in Florida so I have to get on the plane there if I want to go to Anchorage. I'm excited to get home and get to work. I'm excited to listen to a different 400 songs on my ipod and to wear a pair of jeans for the first time in 2 months.
I got a lot done here during the past week. Found out that the high school classmates that said they would work on the reunion really hadn't done much. People were starting to bother me (since I was the president) about wheour 10-year. So I decided to plan it and just make it most convenient to me. I scheduled it for the week after our tourism season is over and before I'm planning to leave for NZ, Sept 26-28. So I've been busy finding venues, calling old classmates to help, setting up myspace, facebook and email accounts for it, etc. I lost the Amazing Race last Monday and did not make it home for the baseball games. I sat in the NYC airport from 6 am to 5 pm, as all the flights to Chicago left full or overbooked (cancellations from previous day's weather). Tried to go to the doubleheader on Wednesday but it was rained out. Tried to race back from the choir competition in Emporia to catch a game on Saturday but Brandon didn't play (was the relief pitcher but the starter threw a 2-hitter). So didn't end up seeing any of Brandon's baseball. Did watch Into the Wild again (love it, identify slightly and less extremely with it), Sicko and Brandon's solo at state though. Took Brandon and a friend to the Royals on Sunday. Of course we got in free. A lady was holding up 3 tickets and saying "free tickets". The guys walked past her, thinking they heard "three". I am learning them the value of listening better. Also, helped Brandon with his homework a little and did some shopping for him a couple of times.
I got a lot done here during the past week. Found out that the high school classmates that said they would work on the reunion really hadn't done much. People were starting to bother me (since I was the president) about wheour 10-year. So I decided to plan it and just make it most convenient to me. I scheduled it for the week after our tourism season is over and before I'm planning to leave for NZ, Sept 26-28. So I've been busy finding venues, calling old classmates to help, setting up myspace, facebook and email accounts for it, etc. I lost the Amazing Race last Monday and did not make it home for the baseball games. I sat in the NYC airport from 6 am to 5 pm, as all the flights to Chicago left full or overbooked (cancellations from previous day's weather). Tried to go to the doubleheader on Wednesday but it was rained out. Tried to race back from the choir competition in Emporia to catch a game on Saturday but Brandon didn't play (was the relief pitcher but the starter threw a 2-hitter). So didn't end up seeing any of Brandon's baseball. Did watch Into the Wild again (love it, identify slightly and less extremely with it), Sicko and Brandon's solo at state though. Took Brandon and a friend to the Royals on Sunday. Of course we got in free. A lady was holding up 3 tickets and saying "free tickets". The guys walked past her, thinking they heard "three". I am learning them the value of listening better. Also, helped Brandon with his homework a little and did some shopping for him a couple of times.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Goodbye New York
New York has pretty much been awesome. Blue cloudless skies and increasing warmer every day.
On Wednesday, Leigh and I took the subway to the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge and walked on the pedestrian path across to Manhattan, wound our way down to the South Street Seaport (think Chicago's Navy Pier), then took the subway up to try to get in to David Letterman's show. I had called earlier and been put on the standby list. The two people in front of us got in, but we didn't. We found out that a better way to score tickets is to show up at the box office in person on the day of the show to be put in to the "lottery". After perusing just a corner of Central Park, Leigh went to try to see a screening of the Sarah Marshall movie and I headed north on the subway to see if I could scalp a Yankees ticket. I had put an ad on craigslist for a bleacher ticket (face value $14), the cheapest, but got no response. So I figured I would just show up at game time and SURELY someone would have an extra. When I arrived, there were 125,000 people still trying to squeeze through the gates to get in. No one tried to sell me a ticket. I walked around to the main gate and still no one tried to sell me a ticket. I saw three people sitting on a ledge, a guy and a girl with Yankees jerseys and another guy a few feet away. They looked nice so I asked them if scalping was illegal and if there would be a way to get a ticket. They thought maybe I could buy a ticket from StubHub, so I tried but couldn't. So I meandered kinda back towards them and they told me not to give up, they'd find one for me. Soon there was a guy selling a ticket, but he wanted $50. I asked the nice people if they were going to the game and they said "not really". I must have looked confused. Then one of the guys says "I can probably get you in, come with me" (I followed, assuming he knew where to buy a ticket). Then he sticks out his hand and says "I'm Will, I'm an undercover cop". Dope! While ticketholders were still crowding to get through security, Will ushered me up to a lady with a badge guarding a ramp, spoke 2 seconds to her in Spanish, she moved the barrier and we entered the stadium in left field. Then Will led me to another lady with a badge to whom he spoke Spanish again, she looked at me, giggled, slapped him on the arm, and gave me a seat in a row of folding chairs, 8 rows up. The game turned out to be pretty eventful, final score 15-9 Yankees over the Red Sox, and I got to hear a lot of Manny Ramirez taunting. I sat next to a bunch of typical NY guys who made me eat peanuts and tried to buy me beer. Every time their team scored, the fans gave each other high fives. The (drunkish) guy in the row ahead liked to say "Give it to me baby red!" when he high fived me. They all talked to me (about Alaska and the Yankees) until about the sixth inning when they weren't sober anymore and entertained each other for the remainder of the game with dirty jokes about Jews, Italians, gay Irish dinosaurs, etc. The undercover cop guy came to check on me partway through the game and then I thought about leaving early (the game lasted over 4 hours) because I was kinda cold, but didn't want to run into him on the way out. So I stayed til the almost end. On the way back to Brooklyn, I made the mistake of looking at a map on the subway and soon had four different guys arguing amongst themselves about what route I should take. I kept trying to tell them that I had it and that THEY were the confused ones, they didn't listen. That is one example of helpful NYers, I have several. The moral of the story is that I went to the Yankees/Red Sox game for free while the other 54,667 people paid at least $50-75.
Thursday morning Leigh went to meet up with another friend and I headed to the city to sign up for Letterman. Put my name in for the show and they called 20 minutes later to say I gotten a ticket. I wasted some time by hopping on a bus to see more of the city, then had to return at 2 to pick up the ticket, then at 3:45 for the show. The show was just okay. I didn't get on TV and the coolest guest was Kelly Ripa. My favorite part was when the band messed up. I did a year's worth of clapping. I like Leno better, Letterman's gimmicks just aren't as funny to me. After the show, I met up with Leigh and went out for Ethiopian food, then walked a few miles towards the Empire State Building (blah), then met up with David O and some of his friends at a semi-lame bar. We stayed out late but didn't drink, since prices are ridiculous. $6 a beer?
Friday Leigh left and I took the subway to the Meatpacking district because I'd been told to go see something there on Friday, I just couldn't remember what I was supposed to see. Nothing much going on, so I took on a bus to the north end of Central Park and planned to do a lot of walking. However, it was pretty warm and I needed to save my feet for the Museum of Modern Art, which instead of $20, costs zero dollars on Fridays from 4-8. I know that I am not a big fan of museums, but always feel obligated to them once in awhile, as if its my moral patriotic duty. I thought, at least I like photography exhibits if nothing else. Well, obviously all tourists do indeed love museums or just feel guilted into going like me, since every one of them was there. Too many people, too much "You call that art? I could paint that with my toes" and a closed photography exhibit reminded me once again how disinterested I am in art. But I did make it to some of the famous works, took obligatory photos, then rested in the lounge and talked on the phone. Eventually it was time to meet up for dinner with David's friend Dave, whom I had met the previous evening at the bar. Dave and I ate Thai food and he made for good conversation (about Alaska and his desire to quit his NYU professor job and go travel) and for free dinner. After dinner I went to my first rave. A rave is, according to my imagination, a dance party with glowsticks, hypnotic techno music and perhaps a lot of Ecstasy pills. Held in Union Square, this "Silent Rave" was slightly difference. A silent rave, according to NYC, is when a ton of people get together to dance to their ipods. So thousands of people, ages 8-50, with headphones, dancing in (relative) silence for a couple of hours was my first rave. It was really fun. One guy had a pineapple with glowsticks sticking up from the top and every time he raised the pineapple, everyone cheered. I don't get it, but maybe that's the point.
Saturday, yesterday, I took the train to New Haven, Connecticut, to visit my college friend Danae who is recovering from surgery. What, in January, was supposed to be outpatient exploratory surgery of an ovarian mass turned into internal bleeding, emergency surgery number 2(they actually ran through storage areas with her on the gurney), 4 blood transfusions, the wound becoming severely infected, a third surgery, and overall a total of 18 nights in the hospital. Now its 3 months later and she is at home with an open wound the size of a baseball stuffed with gauze(better for healing from the inside out and preventing infection) and blisters and a rash from an allergic reaction to the vacuum pump that was sucking out tissue and fluids to aid the healing process. Her mom has been there for several weeks missing the birth of a grandchild and Layne, Danae's husband is exhausted. Layne is a PhD student at Yale and has also been going to Danae's "special-ed certification" classes and doing her homework, while waiting on her, helping her out of bed, helping her go the bathroom, etc and putting up with his mother-in-law. Danae needs to pass this semester because they need her income next year, so Layne is stressed ("I need a vacation" he says).
I trained it back to the city today, missed the Pope (who cares), and then did some more wandering/walking/sightseeing but I'm about NYCed out. I did about everything I wanted to do, although I'd like to bike around Central Park on another trip.
Tomorrow my flight leaves for KC at 4 pm, but Brandon has baseball games rescheduled from a rainout. So I called United to see if its possible to fly standby earlier in the day. It is, but the flights are all sold out. I am going to show up anyway and see if I can Amazing Race it to KC. I looked the flights up and the problem is Chicago to KC. There are flights every hour from NYC to Chicago and some have available seats, but the 3 flights out of Chicago tomorrow morning that I'd want are completely booked. My plan is to try for the earliest flight out of NY, at 6 am. Putting me in Chicago by 7:30 am, I will then have a chance at all three flights to KC. Its first come, first serve so I'm feeling a little overconfident at this point that I'll be able to get to KC early enough. Then I thought, hmmm, what happens to my bag that's checked on the 4 pm flight? I don't want to have to drive all the way out to the airport later to pick it up. Well, according to United, if I get confirmed on an earlier flight at least 45 minutes before that flight's departure, the ticket agent can (supposedly) have the bag transferred. Yeah right. So I'm going to repack, using my smaller daypack and perhaps a big plastic bag, and try to maximize my carryon allowance. That way, maybe I won't even need to retrieve my big pack from the airport, I can just grab it on the way to Alaska (via Florida) next week. Pretty genius if it works. And Amazing Racing it to LaGuardia should be fun...catching a couple of subways, then a bus should take awhile at 330 am, when service is minimal. I love adventures.
Other NYC observations.
1. People have been really nice, friendly, happy, etc. Saw a guy run ahead to open the door for a mom with a stroller, a guy giving up his seat on the subway to Leigh, a girl asking me where I got my pants because she liked them (my only pair of pants on this trip, I've been wearing them for at least a week straight, I bought them at a thrift store). Plus the undercover cop was nice, the Yankees fans, other strangers who have given directions, all of them nice.
2. Most New York guys are gay. Not just look gay or act gay. Are definitely gay. I hate skinny jeans! David O might be one of the manliest in NY, with his white man's fro, bandana, and facial hair.
3. There are lots of cops. Undercover cops. Dog cops. Cops on the corners, cops at the silent rave, cops in the subway stations, cops with megaphones directing subway users at the Yankees game. Cops, cops, cops.
4. Didn't see any celebrities other than David Letterman and Kelly Ripa, and they don't count. One of my goals was to spot a celebrity on the street but I decided to give up, since there are only a handful of celebs that I'd probably actually recognize in passing, the other 99% I wouldn't even know if they had their name tattooed on their forehead. I decided to look for rats instead, because you always hear about the rats in NY. I've only seen one, on the subway tracks.
On Wednesday, Leigh and I took the subway to the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge and walked on the pedestrian path across to Manhattan, wound our way down to the South Street Seaport (think Chicago's Navy Pier), then took the subway up to try to get in to David Letterman's show. I had called earlier and been put on the standby list. The two people in front of us got in, but we didn't. We found out that a better way to score tickets is to show up at the box office in person on the day of the show to be put in to the "lottery". After perusing just a corner of Central Park, Leigh went to try to see a screening of the Sarah Marshall movie and I headed north on the subway to see if I could scalp a Yankees ticket. I had put an ad on craigslist for a bleacher ticket (face value $14), the cheapest, but got no response. So I figured I would just show up at game time and SURELY someone would have an extra. When I arrived, there were 125,000 people still trying to squeeze through the gates to get in. No one tried to sell me a ticket. I walked around to the main gate and still no one tried to sell me a ticket. I saw three people sitting on a ledge, a guy and a girl with Yankees jerseys and another guy a few feet away. They looked nice so I asked them if scalping was illegal and if there would be a way to get a ticket. They thought maybe I could buy a ticket from StubHub, so I tried but couldn't. So I meandered kinda back towards them and they told me not to give up, they'd find one for me. Soon there was a guy selling a ticket, but he wanted $50. I asked the nice people if they were going to the game and they said "not really". I must have looked confused. Then one of the guys says "I can probably get you in, come with me" (I followed, assuming he knew where to buy a ticket). Then he sticks out his hand and says "I'm Will, I'm an undercover cop". Dope! While ticketholders were still crowding to get through security, Will ushered me up to a lady with a badge guarding a ramp, spoke 2 seconds to her in Spanish, she moved the barrier and we entered the stadium in left field. Then Will led me to another lady with a badge to whom he spoke Spanish again, she looked at me, giggled, slapped him on the arm, and gave me a seat in a row of folding chairs, 8 rows up. The game turned out to be pretty eventful, final score 15-9 Yankees over the Red Sox, and I got to hear a lot of Manny Ramirez taunting. I sat next to a bunch of typical NY guys who made me eat peanuts and tried to buy me beer. Every time their team scored, the fans gave each other high fives. The (drunkish) guy in the row ahead liked to say "Give it to me baby red!" when he high fived me. They all talked to me (about Alaska and the Yankees) until about the sixth inning when they weren't sober anymore and entertained each other for the remainder of the game with dirty jokes about Jews, Italians, gay Irish dinosaurs, etc. The undercover cop guy came to check on me partway through the game and then I thought about leaving early (the game lasted over 4 hours) because I was kinda cold, but didn't want to run into him on the way out. So I stayed til the almost end. On the way back to Brooklyn, I made the mistake of looking at a map on the subway and soon had four different guys arguing amongst themselves about what route I should take. I kept trying to tell them that I had it and that THEY were the confused ones, they didn't listen. That is one example of helpful NYers, I have several. The moral of the story is that I went to the Yankees/Red Sox game for free while the other 54,667 people paid at least $50-75.
Thursday morning Leigh went to meet up with another friend and I headed to the city to sign up for Letterman. Put my name in for the show and they called 20 minutes later to say I gotten a ticket. I wasted some time by hopping on a bus to see more of the city, then had to return at 2 to pick up the ticket, then at 3:45 for the show. The show was just okay. I didn't get on TV and the coolest guest was Kelly Ripa. My favorite part was when the band messed up. I did a year's worth of clapping. I like Leno better, Letterman's gimmicks just aren't as funny to me. After the show, I met up with Leigh and went out for Ethiopian food, then walked a few miles towards the Empire State Building (blah), then met up with David O and some of his friends at a semi-lame bar. We stayed out late but didn't drink, since prices are ridiculous. $6 a beer?
Friday Leigh left and I took the subway to the Meatpacking district because I'd been told to go see something there on Friday, I just couldn't remember what I was supposed to see. Nothing much going on, so I took on a bus to the north end of Central Park and planned to do a lot of walking. However, it was pretty warm and I needed to save my feet for the Museum of Modern Art, which instead of $20, costs zero dollars on Fridays from 4-8. I know that I am not a big fan of museums, but always feel obligated to them once in awhile, as if its my moral patriotic duty. I thought, at least I like photography exhibits if nothing else. Well, obviously all tourists do indeed love museums or just feel guilted into going like me, since every one of them was there. Too many people, too much "You call that art? I could paint that with my toes" and a closed photography exhibit reminded me once again how disinterested I am in art. But I did make it to some of the famous works, took obligatory photos, then rested in the lounge and talked on the phone. Eventually it was time to meet up for dinner with David's friend Dave, whom I had met the previous evening at the bar. Dave and I ate Thai food and he made for good conversation (about Alaska and his desire to quit his NYU professor job and go travel) and for free dinner. After dinner I went to my first rave. A rave is, according to my imagination, a dance party with glowsticks, hypnotic techno music and perhaps a lot of Ecstasy pills. Held in Union Square, this "Silent Rave" was slightly difference. A silent rave, according to NYC, is when a ton of people get together to dance to their ipods. So thousands of people, ages 8-50, with headphones, dancing in (relative) silence for a couple of hours was my first rave. It was really fun. One guy had a pineapple with glowsticks sticking up from the top and every time he raised the pineapple, everyone cheered. I don't get it, but maybe that's the point.
Saturday, yesterday, I took the train to New Haven, Connecticut, to visit my college friend Danae who is recovering from surgery. What, in January, was supposed to be outpatient exploratory surgery of an ovarian mass turned into internal bleeding, emergency surgery number 2(they actually ran through storage areas with her on the gurney), 4 blood transfusions, the wound becoming severely infected, a third surgery, and overall a total of 18 nights in the hospital. Now its 3 months later and she is at home with an open wound the size of a baseball stuffed with gauze(better for healing from the inside out and preventing infection) and blisters and a rash from an allergic reaction to the vacuum pump that was sucking out tissue and fluids to aid the healing process. Her mom has been there for several weeks missing the birth of a grandchild and Layne, Danae's husband is exhausted. Layne is a PhD student at Yale and has also been going to Danae's "special-ed certification" classes and doing her homework, while waiting on her, helping her out of bed, helping her go the bathroom, etc and putting up with his mother-in-law. Danae needs to pass this semester because they need her income next year, so Layne is stressed ("I need a vacation" he says).
I trained it back to the city today, missed the Pope (who cares), and then did some more wandering/walking/sightseeing but I'm about NYCed out. I did about everything I wanted to do, although I'd like to bike around Central Park on another trip.
Tomorrow my flight leaves for KC at 4 pm, but Brandon has baseball games rescheduled from a rainout. So I called United to see if its possible to fly standby earlier in the day. It is, but the flights are all sold out. I am going to show up anyway and see if I can Amazing Race it to KC. I looked the flights up and the problem is Chicago to KC. There are flights every hour from NYC to Chicago and some have available seats, but the 3 flights out of Chicago tomorrow morning that I'd want are completely booked. My plan is to try for the earliest flight out of NY, at 6 am. Putting me in Chicago by 7:30 am, I will then have a chance at all three flights to KC. Its first come, first serve so I'm feeling a little overconfident at this point that I'll be able to get to KC early enough. Then I thought, hmmm, what happens to my bag that's checked on the 4 pm flight? I don't want to have to drive all the way out to the airport later to pick it up. Well, according to United, if I get confirmed on an earlier flight at least 45 minutes before that flight's departure, the ticket agent can (supposedly) have the bag transferred. Yeah right. So I'm going to repack, using my smaller daypack and perhaps a big plastic bag, and try to maximize my carryon allowance. That way, maybe I won't even need to retrieve my big pack from the airport, I can just grab it on the way to Alaska (via Florida) next week. Pretty genius if it works. And Amazing Racing it to LaGuardia should be fun...catching a couple of subways, then a bus should take awhile at 330 am, when service is minimal. I love adventures.
Other NYC observations.
1. People have been really nice, friendly, happy, etc. Saw a guy run ahead to open the door for a mom with a stroller, a guy giving up his seat on the subway to Leigh, a girl asking me where I got my pants because she liked them (my only pair of pants on this trip, I've been wearing them for at least a week straight, I bought them at a thrift store). Plus the undercover cop was nice, the Yankees fans, other strangers who have given directions, all of them nice.
2. Most New York guys are gay. Not just look gay or act gay. Are definitely gay. I hate skinny jeans! David O might be one of the manliest in NY, with his white man's fro, bandana, and facial hair.
3. There are lots of cops. Undercover cops. Dog cops. Cops on the corners, cops at the silent rave, cops in the subway stations, cops with megaphones directing subway users at the Yankees game. Cops, cops, cops.
4. Didn't see any celebrities other than David Letterman and Kelly Ripa, and they don't count. One of my goals was to spot a celebrity on the street but I decided to give up, since there are only a handful of celebs that I'd probably actually recognize in passing, the other 99% I wouldn't even know if they had their name tattooed on their forehead. I decided to look for rats instead, because you always hear about the rats in NY. I've only seen one, on the subway tracks.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Just a quickie
2 minutes of free internet in Times Square left. Just a quick note to say that I succeeded in going to the Yankees/Red Sox game last night, hoping to pay face value, ended up going FREE thanks to a nice undercover cop (who I asked about scalping tickets). Now I've successfully procured a ticket to The Late Show and have to be there for the taping in a few minutes. NYC is treating me well. Just found out I have a friend from Alaska in town. NYers have been way too nice...okay more later.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Hello New York
Well, my sixth cruise has been survived...we arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday morning. While waiting to be picked up by our friend Heather, Matt and I got to meet up with Nick, our friend from AK, who was boarding another Celebrity ship to begin his first contract working onboard. The timing was perfect and we got about 45minutes to hang out with him. Heather drove us to Miami Beach where she had planned for us to go on a Duck tour, a Duck being an amphibious vehicle that took down a couple of streets, then into the water where we went past houses of a couple of celebrities and our slighly annoying tour guide trying to impress us with how much each of the houses cost. After surviving that, we went to lunch on Lincoln Ave/Rd/Blvd and headed back to Heather's apartment where Matt cooked pasta and we watched the Red Sox (Heather's from Boston) game. Flew out of Miami the next morning, yesterday I guess and made it to JFK here in NYC. My friend David O from SNU has a loft in Brooklyn but I actually met up with him at NYU in Manhattan, where he is doing graduate work. He has another friend visiting this week from San Diego, Leigh so I have someone to frolic with around town. We ate really good sushi with two of David's friends, Taylor and Anaid (who just spent 2 years working on a yacht). David's loft in Brooklyn is about 2 feet away from the train tracks and the station is directly in front of his windows. Last night I watched 2 kids throw rocks at us. We sleep with ear plugs. This morning my luggage arrived shortly after Leigh and I woke up. Its the second time in the last 3 months my luggage has been delayed. Last time it was on a nonstop flight and this time I had a 2.5 hour layover in DC, so I was surprised when it didnt show up and the agent told me it would be coming on a later flight. It was actually better that I didn't have to haul it into Manhattan and I carry a backup toothbrush anyway.
Sidenote, Leigh (my co-frolicker) is currently lifeguarding in Kansas City but is returing to work in Yosemite for her second summer as a cook there. She has been is also studying to become a midwife. She also studied a year in Kenya and has done some travelling on her own. She is going to DC, Pennsylvania and Maryland after NYC. She has a degree from Point Loma in religion and philosophy. We get along and it is nice to have her here because David is pretty busy.
I have been to New York on 2 separate occasions for a total of about 36 hours. Both times I've been with friends with preplanned agendas and both times its been winter and either rainy or cold. So the city is a lot more inviting this time around. THe weather has been perfect and there is a lot I didn't realize I wanted to do. Today Leigh and I walked through downtown, more specifically lower Manhattan, we took the (free) ferry to Staten Island because it passes by the statue of liberty, then took it right back (along with a lot of other tourists who didnt want to pay or wait in line to visit the Statue for real). We walked a lot when we got back...through Battery Park and around Ground Zero. Then we met David at Anaid's apartment in the West Village area of town, had leftover fish cooked on a yacht yesterday by Anaid's ex-boyfriend who doesn't like to waste food, and now David and Anaid are in class while Leigh and I waste time on NYU computers.
I am probably going to New Haven on Saturday to see Danae. I talked to her today and she is still in a hospice facility and still heavily drugged. She says she basically just gets high and sleeps a lot. I will "Danae-sit" while Layne takes her mom to the airport. Julie might try to find a flight and meet me there (and sidenote, Julie and Mike are having a girl). Talked to Doug today, he is still planning to make it up to Anchorage for a visit in May. Also talked to Jared who needed to know the size of the window in his bedroom in the condo because he is making curtains with his grandma ("the most cabiny I can find" he says).
Gonna see whats going on in NYC this weekend, maybe go to a show or a Yankees game. I'm pretty sure I've blown the budget, so I figure I might as well blow it bigtime and just sub every day in May, whether I feel like it or not.
Sidenote, Leigh (my co-frolicker) is currently lifeguarding in Kansas City but is returing to work in Yosemite for her second summer as a cook there. She has been is also studying to become a midwife. She also studied a year in Kenya and has done some travelling on her own. She is going to DC, Pennsylvania and Maryland after NYC. She has a degree from Point Loma in religion and philosophy. We get along and it is nice to have her here because David is pretty busy.
I have been to New York on 2 separate occasions for a total of about 36 hours. Both times I've been with friends with preplanned agendas and both times its been winter and either rainy or cold. So the city is a lot more inviting this time around. THe weather has been perfect and there is a lot I didn't realize I wanted to do. Today Leigh and I walked through downtown, more specifically lower Manhattan, we took the (free) ferry to Staten Island because it passes by the statue of liberty, then took it right back (along with a lot of other tourists who didnt want to pay or wait in line to visit the Statue for real). We walked a lot when we got back...through Battery Park and around Ground Zero. Then we met David at Anaid's apartment in the West Village area of town, had leftover fish cooked on a yacht yesterday by Anaid's ex-boyfriend who doesn't like to waste food, and now David and Anaid are in class while Leigh and I waste time on NYU computers.
I am probably going to New Haven on Saturday to see Danae. I talked to her today and she is still in a hospice facility and still heavily drugged. She says she basically just gets high and sleeps a lot. I will "Danae-sit" while Layne takes her mom to the airport. Julie might try to find a flight and meet me there (and sidenote, Julie and Mike are having a girl). Talked to Doug today, he is still planning to make it up to Anchorage for a visit in May. Also talked to Jared who needed to know the size of the window in his bedroom in the condo because he is making curtains with his grandma ("the most cabiny I can find" he says).
Gonna see whats going on in NYC this weekend, maybe go to a show or a Yankees game. I'm pretty sure I've blown the budget, so I figure I might as well blow it bigtime and just sub every day in May, whether I feel like it or not.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Cruise, Day 12
Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Might go to the beach, might not. Panama Canal looked the same as it did the last time. Colombia was cool but lots of peddlers and stares from people who don't see freckles or blue eyes very often. Sitting on a park bench, guy sat down by me, ended up being a poet so he wrote a poem for me in spanish. The title can be translated to "Speckles of Chocolate". Haven't really hung out with the Double Couple, as Matt and I affectionately call our 4 travelmates. They do their own thing, like today they paid $100 (EACH) to get into a resort and lay on the beach and drink for free. Whatever, not our style, even if they would have made an attempt to invite us. Some days I hardly see anyone in our group except for dinner. Having my own room keeps me a little out of the loop, but I kinda dont care about being in the loop this cruise. My room attendant is great and the ice cream guy is really cute and there is a friendly Jamaica bartender that brought me a free drink yesterday, but our main waiter is nothing special and the activities staff is unfriendly. The captain is younger and good looking and funny. In his daily announcement he says things with his Greek accent like "Thank you to the lady guest who asked me to get her a towel today by the pool. It is so good to be recognized as the captain of this vessel. (pause) Thank God I'm so humorous." He also told us we'd know when we were at the equator because there would be a sign and a line of blinking lights across the ocean. However, that night when we were eating dinner, we thought we'd hear the captain announce when our latitude was zero (other ships have parties, we didnt even get an announcement) but instead all of a sudden the ship tilted slightly one way and then the other and we made jokes about magnetic pull and the tide changing as we crossed hemispheres but actually outside the window we did see some blinking lights, four of them. We thought briefly that it might be a buoy to signify the equator but turned out to be a fishing boat that we nearly ran over, hence the boat veering to the side to avoid it.
Apparently I have a potential cruise partner (Naked/Stoecker) for a quick LA cruise, but doubt it has any room for us (actually I'm pretty sure it doesnt have any availability at all). The request has been submitted but I dont even know what day it is for. I booked a ticket to KC arriving APril 21st at 10 pm.
My goals for the last couple days on the ship are to record the accapella group singing the Chicken Song, eat more sushi, get room service once, and try more new kinds of sherbet from the ice cream guy.
Apparently I have a potential cruise partner (Naked/Stoecker) for a quick LA cruise, but doubt it has any room for us (actually I'm pretty sure it doesnt have any availability at all). The request has been submitted but I dont even know what day it is for. I booked a ticket to KC arriving APril 21st at 10 pm.
My goals for the last couple days on the ship are to record the accapella group singing the Chicken Song, eat more sushi, get room service once, and try more new kinds of sherbet from the ice cream guy.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Cruise, Day 7
Sweating my cleavage off in Ecuador. Buying souvenirs so hopefully someone wants them. Tomorrow we are at sea, then going through the panama canal, then maybe the next day we will be in Colombia I think. I am probably going to try out my new diving skills in Colombia if its cheap enough. Watched the KU game last night (was in the gym for over 2 hours trying to work myself hungry). They showed the games in the cinema and brought in nachos, chicken wings, etc. so inbetween workouts I recovered any calories that were lost. Did anyone besides me hear the announcers talk about people on cruise ships watching the broadcast? They listed four or five but not my ship. First they said ¨we know people are watching all over the world, so welcome wherever you are¨ and I said to the TV ¨I´m watching in the pacific ocean, just south of the equator!¨ and then he read my mind and mentioned cruise ships.
I just booked a ticket to New York for April 14 (will spend one night with ex-boss Heather in Miami along with Matt Parry) to visit David O, see some sights there that I haven´t yet, and then go over to Connecticut to visit Danae who just had surgery and will be in hospice care recovering for awhile. Might try to get to DC and visit Julie as well. Then I will most likely fly to KC on April 21 or 22, see the sights of Olathe East baseball and choirs, then fly to Fort lauderdale on April 29 to catch my april 30 flight to AK. I have a southwest credit to use so the three flights total will cost me $233. I always have commitment issues when I´m in an internet cafe and the pressure is on to get things done. Plus I am sweating in lots of places like my elbow cracks, my eyelid cracks, my knee cracks, my stomach cracks, and other cracks and I am hungry which makes me anxious being several blocks away from the free food supply.
On a sidenote, I suppose I am running from a sedentary, routine, permanent, boring lifestyle which would make me unhappy, discontent, fat, envious, bored, restless and mean. I figure my black sheep status is always in limbo, being neck and neck with my sister on issues like moving to Alaska, not being married, not wanting children, not having a career, not going to church, drinking alcohol, etc so I might as well partake in spastic and chronic travel without reason. (my other options are getting a tattoo (too much commitment), doing drugs (expensive), getting pregnant (results in a child), living with a boyfriend (wouldnt be opposed if they have the rent money) which brings me to the point in my run-on sentence, I´m thinking about voting for Barack and trying to convince my black sheep apprentice to do the same. Basically I´m curious and I think the country needs someone with new ideas who isn´t afraid to change things up. Feel free to start lecturing...now. I promise I´m listening. In other news, on the positive side, in my life I try to be nice to everyone I meet, I put a lot of effort into my friendships, I manage my finances better than most and I never dread going to work. And I think those things make my life pretty successful and justified even if a bit ridiculous at times and incomprehensible to some.
So, what else is new, you probably want a good story at least for reading all of that boring stuff. Well, today I met an older couple from Syracuse and we went to a nearby town to buy a Panama hat for the man and drove around in a cab to take a look at the town. They also tried calling home becuase their first grandchild was due 3 days ago. I translated for them, they paid for the cab and on the way there we saw some sort of accident with people standing around and a fire truck and I saw a man scooping up guts from the road. True story. He had gloves on and a bag and it looked like intestines or maybe brains.
I just booked a ticket to New York for April 14 (will spend one night with ex-boss Heather in Miami along with Matt Parry) to visit David O, see some sights there that I haven´t yet, and then go over to Connecticut to visit Danae who just had surgery and will be in hospice care recovering for awhile. Might try to get to DC and visit Julie as well. Then I will most likely fly to KC on April 21 or 22, see the sights of Olathe East baseball and choirs, then fly to Fort lauderdale on April 29 to catch my april 30 flight to AK. I have a southwest credit to use so the three flights total will cost me $233. I always have commitment issues when I´m in an internet cafe and the pressure is on to get things done. Plus I am sweating in lots of places like my elbow cracks, my eyelid cracks, my knee cracks, my stomach cracks, and other cracks and I am hungry which makes me anxious being several blocks away from the free food supply.
On a sidenote, I suppose I am running from a sedentary, routine, permanent, boring lifestyle which would make me unhappy, discontent, fat, envious, bored, restless and mean. I figure my black sheep status is always in limbo, being neck and neck with my sister on issues like moving to Alaska, not being married, not wanting children, not having a career, not going to church, drinking alcohol, etc so I might as well partake in spastic and chronic travel without reason. (my other options are getting a tattoo (too much commitment), doing drugs (expensive), getting pregnant (results in a child), living with a boyfriend (wouldnt be opposed if they have the rent money) which brings me to the point in my run-on sentence, I´m thinking about voting for Barack and trying to convince my black sheep apprentice to do the same. Basically I´m curious and I think the country needs someone with new ideas who isn´t afraid to change things up. Feel free to start lecturing...now. I promise I´m listening. In other news, on the positive side, in my life I try to be nice to everyone I meet, I put a lot of effort into my friendships, I manage my finances better than most and I never dread going to work. And I think those things make my life pretty successful and justified even if a bit ridiculous at times and incomprehensible to some.
So, what else is new, you probably want a good story at least for reading all of that boring stuff. Well, today I met an older couple from Syracuse and we went to a nearby town to buy a Panama hat for the man and drove around in a cab to take a look at the town. They also tried calling home becuase their first grandchild was due 3 days ago. I translated for them, they paid for the cab and on the way there we saw some sort of accident with people standing around and a fire truck and I saw a man scooping up guts from the road. True story. He had gloves on and a bag and it looked like intestines or maybe brains.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Cruise, Day 5ish
In Lima, Peru, still alive. No longer on the involuntary Master Cleanse, systems have stabilized. DOing a lot of relaxing, no other young people on the ship. Been doing a lot of crosswords and reading Barack Obamas book. We are excited the ship will hopefully, satellite permitting, be broadcasting the Final 4 this weekend.
Decided to give up on studying for the CPA. 80 hours times 4 tests equals 320 hours i could spend learning something i enjoy, like maybe massage therapy or more spanish or even chess or how to change my oil, Im sure Id be pretty good at it if i practiced for 320 hours.
Internet is 65 cents a minute on the ship, 65 cents an hour on land so dont have time to write if-when i check it on the ship. we will be at sea tomorrow and in ecuador on sunday.
Does anyone want anything made from alpaca?
Decided to give up on studying for the CPA. 80 hours times 4 tests equals 320 hours i could spend learning something i enjoy, like maybe massage therapy or more spanish or even chess or how to change my oil, Im sure Id be pretty good at it if i practiced for 320 hours.
Internet is 65 cents a minute on the ship, 65 cents an hour on land so dont have time to write if-when i check it on the ship. we will be at sea tomorrow and in ecuador on sunday.
Does anyone want anything made from alpaca?
Monday, March 31, 2008
Cruise, Day 2
Santiago is a nice place. After a 2 hour stroll through the city center, I had a new apprecaition for uniform sidewalks, public trash cans, normal color boogers, lush parks, palm trees, manicured flower beds, huge fountains, department stores, and no one peeing in public. I had an ice cream in leiu of McDonalds or Burger King and decided to have for dinner some of the oatmeal that I´ve been hauling around (you know, to lighten the load by 3 ounces and make room for souvenirs). Watched Erin Brockovich at the hostel with some others which reminds me that I got to watch Juno on the flight down here, a couple of times, and that is a movie i had actually really wanted to see. I liked it okay but sometimes I thought it was unrealistic and too ¨acty¨. I like the guy actor and Jason Bateman the best.
Yesterday I took my time leaving for the bus station since i didn´t want to arrive to the cruise port before I could board, there were several companies running nice motorcoaches to Valparaiso (an hour trip), every 15 minutes. I picked the first one and went to find my bus and there stood Roberta, Steve, Steve´s friend Arden, and Arden´s girlfriend Sarah. They were on my same bus and I didn´t even know they were still in Santiago. We arrived, checked in and were onboard by 1. By checked in I mean ¨successfully snuck my 3 liters of wine through the Xray security machine¨. We changed our dining table assignments so we could all sit together at the late seating. Actually we were supposed to meet and do it together but I got there first and there was no line to see the Maitre D or whatever...he could see we were employees in the computer which led to Alaska chit-chat and ultimately him giving us a cool waiter (a magician supposedly) and a table by the window. And just for good measure he said ¨Are all your friends beautiful like you?¨ (Picture me unshowered with camo basecall cap courtesy of Tanner and Dakota Midland Grain) I said ¨Yeah, especially the guys¨ which I thought was a good recovery.
My room is handicap accessible which is just a fancy way of saying BIG. I could do one, maybe two cartwheels if I wanted and there is a bench in the shower allowing me to shave sitting down (it is slippery though, which you would think the handicap old people would definitely have a problem with). I have a big bed and I loved unpacking all my stuff into ALL the drawers, using ALL the hangers, and especially the joy of being able to occupy the bathroom as long as I want. Speaking of, I feel the need to mention that my gastro-intestinal tract was very cooperative with central american street food (running on about 95% of its cylinders) which I thought was pretty good since I ate whatever I saw. However, system has not transitioned as well into cruise ship gluttonous intake. Let´s just say that apparently my digestional tract wants to help me lose weight by sending everything down the Gastro-Express. Its good to have my own room.
Steve and his friends plan to spend a week in Mexico after the cruise, so maybe that will be an option.
Today we are in a dumpy Chilean town and it was cloudy this AM, getting sunnier now. My plans for the day are to buy notecards for CPA studying purposes, find hair dye and a pedicure and eat about 4000 calories for dinner. I don´t know, how many calories do you think I ate last night? Shrimp cocktail, tomato soup, salad, breadstick, part of seafood risotto and chicken something, blueberry-apple crepe (sugar free), and creme brulee. Our table of 6 ordered 15 desserts between us. I told everyone that meant we were eating 2.5 desserts per person. They are lucky to have me, otherwise no one would tell them these things.
Yesterday I took my time leaving for the bus station since i didn´t want to arrive to the cruise port before I could board, there were several companies running nice motorcoaches to Valparaiso (an hour trip), every 15 minutes. I picked the first one and went to find my bus and there stood Roberta, Steve, Steve´s friend Arden, and Arden´s girlfriend Sarah. They were on my same bus and I didn´t even know they were still in Santiago. We arrived, checked in and were onboard by 1. By checked in I mean ¨successfully snuck my 3 liters of wine through the Xray security machine¨. We changed our dining table assignments so we could all sit together at the late seating. Actually we were supposed to meet and do it together but I got there first and there was no line to see the Maitre D or whatever...he could see we were employees in the computer which led to Alaska chit-chat and ultimately him giving us a cool waiter (a magician supposedly) and a table by the window. And just for good measure he said ¨Are all your friends beautiful like you?¨ (Picture me unshowered with camo basecall cap courtesy of Tanner and Dakota Midland Grain) I said ¨Yeah, especially the guys¨ which I thought was a good recovery.
My room is handicap accessible which is just a fancy way of saying BIG. I could do one, maybe two cartwheels if I wanted and there is a bench in the shower allowing me to shave sitting down (it is slippery though, which you would think the handicap old people would definitely have a problem with). I have a big bed and I loved unpacking all my stuff into ALL the drawers, using ALL the hangers, and especially the joy of being able to occupy the bathroom as long as I want. Speaking of, I feel the need to mention that my gastro-intestinal tract was very cooperative with central american street food (running on about 95% of its cylinders) which I thought was pretty good since I ate whatever I saw. However, system has not transitioned as well into cruise ship gluttonous intake. Let´s just say that apparently my digestional tract wants to help me lose weight by sending everything down the Gastro-Express. Its good to have my own room.
Steve and his friends plan to spend a week in Mexico after the cruise, so maybe that will be an option.
Today we are in a dumpy Chilean town and it was cloudy this AM, getting sunnier now. My plans for the day are to buy notecards for CPA studying purposes, find hair dye and a pedicure and eat about 4000 calories for dinner. I don´t know, how many calories do you think I ate last night? Shrimp cocktail, tomato soup, salad, breadstick, part of seafood risotto and chicken something, blueberry-apple crepe (sugar free), and creme brulee. Our table of 6 ordered 15 desserts between us. I told everyone that meant we were eating 2.5 desserts per person. They are lucky to have me, otherwise no one would tell them these things.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Adding Insult to a long trip
I have unanimously decided with myself that Chile is officially my most unfavorite country in the world. As much as the people so far, in the last two hours have been helpful and friendly, it doesn´t make my whiny baby mood any better after having to pay $131 dollars to enter the country. Only payable when FLYING in, the charge is called an ¨Entry Reciprosity Fee¨ since apparently the US government charges Chileans a lot of money to visit us. Anyway, somehow I got here without knowing that and now I will have to chip away at other budget items, since nothing will make me angrier than going over my budget. I am trying to think of the extra money I have because of my free Guatemalan bus ride, or the economic stimulus money I will get in May from the government who has indirectly made me hate Chile.
Getting here was a pain in my butt too, not just my pocket. I had several bouts of ADD and claustrophobia. First I left the hostel in Xela and walked to the bus terminal. The bus ride was only $7 but thats because I think the bus was used during segregation, reminded me of the bus in the football movie with Denzel Washington. There was lots of construction, in which we sat probably 4 different times for 30 minutes each without moving. That made me really impatient, plus their was no bathroom on the bus and I thought I understood that there weren´t going to be any stops...so I tried not to drink much water even though I am anal about drinking enough water every day. So that was annoying and it was dusty and bumpy, making crosswords and reading not options and my ipod battery was low. (speaking of dirtiness, the pollution and emission standards of Guatemala are nonexistent so at the end of the day my Oxy pad is very black and so are my boogers) Finally we get there in about 6 hours and get in a taxi to find another woman already in the back seat and she ends up going to the opposite end of the city, so I´m really impatient when we finally get to my B&B by the airport after 45 minutes. In the AM, the B&B gives a ride to the airport, where I efficiently used my last $3 of quetzales on a snack. Two hour flight to Miami, then I had a 6 hour layover. I have been actually studying alittle from my CPA book, so I sat at Chili´s in the airport and drank a margarita and learned some things, then paced the airport for some exercise as much as possible without looking suspicious. Plane left at 9:30, sat by one of those guys that thinks he paid for the whole middle armrest...not like i needed the space, its just the principle that made me want to karate chop his forearm. Arrived in Sao Paulo Brazil at 6:30 am and I decided not to ever visit Brazil on purpose as most of the airplane personnel couldn´t understand much English, which just makes me speak Spanish and them not understand me very well even then, and Portugese sounds disgusting anyway. There were massage chairs throughout the terminal and I was uncomfortable from trying to sleep (also, hardwood floors and seats with permanent armrests in the airport not very conducive for the sleeping I intended to do with the pillow and blanket I stole from the flight before) so I got sucked in to a 20 minute, $20 massage...I was thinking..hmm...do any of my friends coming on this cruise give good massages? It was a gamble and I didn´t know the next time I´d con someone for a free massage. Flight left at 9am, 4 hours to Santiago uneventful, good food. Arrived in Santiago, got really ticked off at the world, was rude to several annoying tour salesmen, got the bus to the subway to the stop I had written down for the hostel, asked directions a couple of times and found the place I was looking for. Their dorm beds were all booked so ended up paying about $15 for one night instead of $10, only difference is my room with 6 people in it has our own bathroom. I hope this cruise is worth the effort!
Getting here was a pain in my butt too, not just my pocket. I had several bouts of ADD and claustrophobia. First I left the hostel in Xela and walked to the bus terminal. The bus ride was only $7 but thats because I think the bus was used during segregation, reminded me of the bus in the football movie with Denzel Washington. There was lots of construction, in which we sat probably 4 different times for 30 minutes each without moving. That made me really impatient, plus their was no bathroom on the bus and I thought I understood that there weren´t going to be any stops...so I tried not to drink much water even though I am anal about drinking enough water every day. So that was annoying and it was dusty and bumpy, making crosswords and reading not options and my ipod battery was low. (speaking of dirtiness, the pollution and emission standards of Guatemala are nonexistent so at the end of the day my Oxy pad is very black and so are my boogers) Finally we get there in about 6 hours and get in a taxi to find another woman already in the back seat and she ends up going to the opposite end of the city, so I´m really impatient when we finally get to my B&B by the airport after 45 minutes. In the AM, the B&B gives a ride to the airport, where I efficiently used my last $3 of quetzales on a snack. Two hour flight to Miami, then I had a 6 hour layover. I have been actually studying alittle from my CPA book, so I sat at Chili´s in the airport and drank a margarita and learned some things, then paced the airport for some exercise as much as possible without looking suspicious. Plane left at 9:30, sat by one of those guys that thinks he paid for the whole middle armrest...not like i needed the space, its just the principle that made me want to karate chop his forearm. Arrived in Sao Paulo Brazil at 6:30 am and I decided not to ever visit Brazil on purpose as most of the airplane personnel couldn´t understand much English, which just makes me speak Spanish and them not understand me very well even then, and Portugese sounds disgusting anyway. There were massage chairs throughout the terminal and I was uncomfortable from trying to sleep (also, hardwood floors and seats with permanent armrests in the airport not very conducive for the sleeping I intended to do with the pillow and blanket I stole from the flight before) so I got sucked in to a 20 minute, $20 massage...I was thinking..hmm...do any of my friends coming on this cruise give good massages? It was a gamble and I didn´t know the next time I´d con someone for a free massage. Flight left at 9am, 4 hours to Santiago uneventful, good food. Arrived in Santiago, got really ticked off at the world, was rude to several annoying tour salesmen, got the bus to the subway to the stop I had written down for the hostel, asked directions a couple of times and found the place I was looking for. Their dorm beds were all booked so ended up paying about $15 for one night instead of $10, only difference is my room with 6 people in it has our own bathroom. I hope this cruise is worth the effort!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Xela 2
Yesterday I woke up to meet the minibus that picks the teachers up for the school that Michael is the principal of (next year he will be the director). He gave me a tour and a good idea of whats going on. Its 150 kids pre-k - 12 and school is taught in English, kids are either upper middle class, on scholarship or have an american parent, etc. Although you don´t have to have a teaching degree, the commitment is 10 monthes. However, Michael says they are always looking for after school tutors and SAT tutors and that i could probably make ends meet just tutoring a couple of hours a day. Maybe make 2000 quetzales (divide by 7.5) or 300 dollars a month. He said I could also substitute because they have no substitute teachers. He also plans to start a summer camp for the public school kids this fall, they have oct. to dec. for ¨summer¨vacation (not his school, just public).
In the afternoon I checked out a couple of spanish schools, including one that seems like the best option for volunteering as well. They have a daycare, medical clinics, and also build stoves for rural families (because of respiratory problems and dangerous current practices i believe). It is 35 a week to live with a host family and get 3 meals a day or michael pays 100 a month to share a really nice house. For 5 hours of spanish one on one, 5 days a week it costs 125 and the money helps fund the community projects. There are a lot of spanish schools, a lot of organizations with ads for english teachers, etc. I´m considering the following for next winter:
Leave AK end of sept.
Visit KS
Guate from Oct-Dec
KS for Xmas
Anchorage for January
Mid-Feb head to New Zealand for 2 months
I figure this keeps everyone happy, including the alaskan govt and assures that i will get christmas presents.
There is a cruise on April 12 from NZ to Hawaii, there are also 2 week cruises around NZ all the time. Also, friend Nick Johnson from AK just got a job on the Millenium ship, which will be down there, and I think he can bring guests for $10 a day.
Yesterday I also did my laundry and some other errands. I bought a 4 dollar ticket to go to some hot springs for this morning and was planning to get a massage for 12 dollars an hour but the Dutch guy told me last night that he and some others were planning to go visit the indigenous village where the peace corps volunteer (with curly long blonde hair and bandana), Cody, works. So I switched plans only to find out we might not even see Cody, as he was working away from the village. Well, we didn´t really have a plan or know the exact buses to take but we ended up making it there in about 2-3 hours. The village was bigger than we expected and like many places in Guate., not much was going on. We walked around a little, got something to eat, the guys tried to find a strip club (ha ha), we then happened to run into Cody (not quite as tall as he could have been), then we had to hop a bus back so that Dutch guy and English guy could make it rugby practice. Although this town has 100K people, 4 of the 5 people I was with today know Michael either from rugby or from his roommate.
In summary, the excursion today was a pretty uneventful experience. Kinda wished I would have stuck with my plan, but going to hot springs by myself would have meant being a little bored and not having anyone to watch my stuff get stolen while i soaked. And I couldn´t get anyone to answer at the massage place. Cody is coming to town for the weekend because the rugby team has a game against Guate. City but I am leaving tomorrow, probably hop a luxury motorcoach for the 4-5 hour ride to the city. Spend the night by the airport and fly out Fri. AM.
In the afternoon I checked out a couple of spanish schools, including one that seems like the best option for volunteering as well. They have a daycare, medical clinics, and also build stoves for rural families (because of respiratory problems and dangerous current practices i believe). It is 35 a week to live with a host family and get 3 meals a day or michael pays 100 a month to share a really nice house. For 5 hours of spanish one on one, 5 days a week it costs 125 and the money helps fund the community projects. There are a lot of spanish schools, a lot of organizations with ads for english teachers, etc. I´m considering the following for next winter:
Leave AK end of sept.
Visit KS
Guate from Oct-Dec
KS for Xmas
Anchorage for January
Mid-Feb head to New Zealand for 2 months
I figure this keeps everyone happy, including the alaskan govt and assures that i will get christmas presents.
There is a cruise on April 12 from NZ to Hawaii, there are also 2 week cruises around NZ all the time. Also, friend Nick Johnson from AK just got a job on the Millenium ship, which will be down there, and I think he can bring guests for $10 a day.
Yesterday I also did my laundry and some other errands. I bought a 4 dollar ticket to go to some hot springs for this morning and was planning to get a massage for 12 dollars an hour but the Dutch guy told me last night that he and some others were planning to go visit the indigenous village where the peace corps volunteer (with curly long blonde hair and bandana), Cody, works. So I switched plans only to find out we might not even see Cody, as he was working away from the village. Well, we didn´t really have a plan or know the exact buses to take but we ended up making it there in about 2-3 hours. The village was bigger than we expected and like many places in Guate., not much was going on. We walked around a little, got something to eat, the guys tried to find a strip club (ha ha), we then happened to run into Cody (not quite as tall as he could have been), then we had to hop a bus back so that Dutch guy and English guy could make it rugby practice. Although this town has 100K people, 4 of the 5 people I was with today know Michael either from rugby or from his roommate.
In summary, the excursion today was a pretty uneventful experience. Kinda wished I would have stuck with my plan, but going to hot springs by myself would have meant being a little bored and not having anyone to watch my stuff get stolen while i soaked. And I couldn´t get anyone to answer at the massage place. Cody is coming to town for the weekend because the rugby team has a game against Guate. City but I am leaving tomorrow, probably hop a luxury motorcoach for the 4-5 hour ride to the city. Spend the night by the airport and fly out Fri. AM.
Monday, March 24, 2008
another small world
Just had dinner and spent 4 hours catching up with Michael McNabb, a friend from SNU who is the director of an Interamerican school year, has lived here 3 years. Good times. In conversation he mentioned that he played in the first rugby game ever in Guatemala...I said that was funny because the Dutch guy at the hostel was saying something about playing rugby in Xela (he was here before a couple of months ago) and Michael says ¨Oh you mean Loures, he´s been managing a coffee farm in Pana for a few months?¨ Yep, same guy.
Going to catch the shuttle to Michael´s school in the morning and take a tour. Trying to decide if Guate. is my next adventure. I really want to become fluent before I die.
Then maybe hot springs in the afternoon but there were a lot of Guatemalans at the hot springs last weekend since it was a holiday and it has been suggested that I wait a few days to let the springs replace (cleanse) the content of the pools before going.
This town, Xela, is at 8,500 feet and I´ve been feeling it a little so I´m not sure my virgin sea level lungs are too excited about Wednesday´s planned hike to 12,500 feet. I might wimp out.
Sometimes the water gets turned off for the whole city and after a couple of hours the deposits that people have made into the toilet begin to mature and it smells really gross and you have to go on what other people went, the end.
Going to catch the shuttle to Michael´s school in the morning and take a tour. Trying to decide if Guate. is my next adventure. I really want to become fluent before I die.
Then maybe hot springs in the afternoon but there were a lot of Guatemalans at the hot springs last weekend since it was a holiday and it has been suggested that I wait a few days to let the springs replace (cleanse) the content of the pools before going.
This town, Xela, is at 8,500 feet and I´ve been feeling it a little so I´m not sure my virgin sea level lungs are too excited about Wednesday´s planned hike to 12,500 feet. I might wimp out.
Sometimes the water gets turned off for the whole city and after a couple of hours the deposits that people have made into the toilet begin to mature and it smells really gross and you have to go on what other people went, the end.
Xela
Michelle, Charlie, me, Damian, Mia
Processiones
carpet-making
St.Patty´s in Utila (to my left is Owen, my roommate)
Toga party in Utila with the French guys
Volcan Pacaya
I hiked to Pacaya, stood on (cooled and hardened) lava, cut my finger on lava, took pictures of hot orange lava, been there, done that. Then went sweaty and dusty to meet up with Damian and his sister and friend at a really nice restuarante where I snuck a quick shower in the restaurante´s bathroom. We listened to some live Cuban music, then met up with Charlie and his friends. Sunday morning I got up and headed to Xela via chicken bus....thats the name for the retired school buses that make a new life for themselves as overcrowded public transport in central america...sometimes hauling chickens on top...in this case it hauled my backpack on top and half my right cheek on the edge of a seat for 3 hours. Actually had to take one chicken bus for 25 cents to connect with the 3 hour chicken ride for 4.50...as I was crossing the street I noticed 3 other backpackers, then a bus screetching to a stop with a man yelling ¨Xela Xela!¨ and the backpackers running towards it, the man heaving their backpacks on the rack on top, so I ran up, threw my backpack on and jumped on with the other backpackers (including a long blonde curly haired bandana-wearing Peace Corps volunteer from Michigan, a Dutch guy and a NYer). Got to Xela and the Dutch and NY guy were headed to same hostel I was, so followed them there. Hostel is 7 a night which includes breakfast, anything off the hostel restaurant´s menu, which is a 4-5 dollar value. Free internet, good atmosphere for meeting other backpackers...in fact, I actually ended up hanging out last night with a girl for once...21 year old Delaware student studying abroad in Mexico. She left today though. Today I´m going to call the guy I know who is a director of a school here and hopefully meet up with him and pick his brain about teaching English or basically just how he ended up here in Xela.
I am now looking for travel ideas, suggestions, and partners for April 13-30 as ex-bff doug has decided he has too many other things to do and won´t have time to take a caribbean vacation. What I´m saying is I need someone to take me on their cruise.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Antigua
I´m headed to hike Volcan Pacaya today, then plan to catch a bus to Xela in the morning for the last segment of the trip. I´ve enjoyed Semana Santa. I should have lowered my expectations for the processions but they were cool in their own way. Lots of time and effort is put into these by tons of people, they carry ¨floats¨on their shoulders (like 25 to 50 people per float). (Some women carrying the float with high heels on the cobblestone streets...what are you thinking) Each float is a scene from the Easter story. They walk really slow and there is a band playing somber music. They also burn incense as they go so it is smoky and smells interesting. The people also spend hours making alfombras or carpets on the cobblestone streets that the procession will march over. Everything is symbolic, although i´m sure I´m only catching half of it. The carpets are meant to represent the carpets people would lay down when Jesus came to their town. The pictures I took will give a better idea but they dye sawdust and use fruit and flowers to make all sorts of designs. The processions went on throughout the day and in between the hoards of people just sit and hang out in the plazas and parks. I have been staying with Charlie, on a cement floor with just a comforter and pillow, but its been remarkably comfy. I take sleeping pills. I´ve been able to sleep a lot here which I was hoping for because it seemed like I was getting up early for some reason or another for the first part of the trip, whether to catch a bus or go diving. In La Ceiba when I met that guy in the internet cafe, we went to the music festival across from where I was staying and the band started at 10. I was tired and only made it through a few songs before heading to bed (because I am old and don´t like Honduran beer anyway)...had to be up at 4 to catch the bus. That music festival I actually couldn´t hear from my bed, because there was another one behind my room that had much louder music that drowned the other out, like it was a competition or something. It was so loud but I was tired enough to sleep through it for the most part. The music finally ended when I was in the shower at 4 am. Lovely. So my cement floor is okay, its really chilly though because Charlie lives up on the hillside outside of Antigua. Also staying with us are two Belgians who speak French and Spanish but no English so the whole day´s conversation is in Spanish. It wears me out trying to keep the translation wires connected in my head. At night we have been going out for dinner and to several bars with some of Charlie´s friends. I even stayed out until 530am which, for me, is hardly ever worth it. However, I actually stayed awake the whole time, partly because Latino guys really like to salsa dance and appear to not be picky with their dance partners, since I danced like a rock star with Leonardo, Willie, Charlie, etc. for hours. (My favorite was Leonardo but thats probably because I found out he is married, figures) So I´ve actually enjoyed the bar scene because its not just sitting and falling asleep.
Although I´ve had small world encounters before, I just had another that probably takes the cake for the ¨smallest¨. I was standing in line for the one bathroom stall during a break from my salsa-fest, talking to the girl behind me, when a guy came up to her who looked familiar. Usually I would think first, but I placed him automatically in Costa Rica and just blurted out ¨Were you in Costa Rica a few years ago?¨ and luckily his job dropped and he remembered me too. With my amazingly horrible memory, somehow I remembered that we had hung out for a couple of days on the beach. However lacking in the boyfriend department my life may be, it never lacks in the temporary crush department. His name is Damian and his family is Guatemalan, so he is here visiting. It took me awhile but I remembered he lived in Chicago and works in the clothing industry. He even remembered that I had just left Chicago for Alaska. Anyway, it was totally bizarro. I´m about to call him and make plans to hang out tonight. Makes me feel like I´m at the right place at the right time. Freaked us both out. People are cool.
Although I´ve had small world encounters before, I just had another that probably takes the cake for the ¨smallest¨. I was standing in line for the one bathroom stall during a break from my salsa-fest, talking to the girl behind me, when a guy came up to her who looked familiar. Usually I would think first, but I placed him automatically in Costa Rica and just blurted out ¨Were you in Costa Rica a few years ago?¨ and luckily his job dropped and he remembered me too. With my amazingly horrible memory, somehow I remembered that we had hung out for a couple of days on the beach. However lacking in the boyfriend department my life may be, it never lacks in the temporary crush department. His name is Damian and his family is Guatemalan, so he is here visiting. It took me awhile but I remembered he lived in Chicago and works in the clothing industry. He even remembered that I had just left Chicago for Alaska. Anyway, it was totally bizarro. I´m about to call him and make plans to hang out tonight. Makes me feel like I´m at the right place at the right time. Freaked us both out. People are cool.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Semana Santa in Antigua
Made it safely here. Staying with a guy from couchsurfing named Charlie who left out that he doesn't have a couch, just a cement floor. But he is a good tour guide. We will be going back to his house to sleep until 9pm, then we will stay out all night watching people set up the carpets and stuff for the processions tomorrow. Tomorrow is the big day of celebrations. Bus ride was LONG yesterday.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Utila and beyond
I just saw that Lance Mackey won the Iditarod. I hope everyone finds this as happy as I do. He´s such an ugly, Alaskan stud. I think he is hot.
Friendly Central Americans keep talking to me. As a result I haven´t hardly read any of my books and still have two magazines. Haven´t done a crossword puzzle. The guy to the left of me at the internet cafe wants to talk about Alaska. Duh.
So I made it back to the mainland, La Ceiba, Honduras and will catch a 5 am bus to Antigua, Guatemala arrive at 8 pm. I´m travelling by myself again but not really. Met 2 guys, Pav and Rob from the UK at the ferry today and now we are sharing a room right by the beach. Good news is there is a musical festival right across the street. Bad news is I woke up at 6 am to go diving and I was planning to sleep a little before getting up at 4am.
And the guy next to me just offered to walk me back to the hotel, stopping for milkshakes along the way. He is a friendly Honduran and at least speaks English slightly. Anyway...
So Utila was interesting. I did get SCUBA open water certified which means i can SCUBA with a friend to 30 feet or so I think. I don´t love it. In fact, I think I am underwhelmed by it. I suppose that it could be cool, but it was kinda like snorkeling except a lot more work and preparation. Whale sharks are supposed to be around soon(not dangerous) so I guess that would be cool. Utila is basically just a diving place. You don´t travel there unless you want to dive. The diving world is made up of beautiful, tan people. Very friendly people, but diving can be slightly egotistical as far as what training and how skilled of a diver you are. Utila itself was not beautiful. Its a small island made up of mostly swamp and mangroves. Houses are on stilts and there is one main strip of a few blocks, one lane wide, where everyone walks and tries not to get hit by cars, 4wheelers, golf carts, bikes, motorcycles, etc. The most people on a moped I saw was 4, the most on a 4wheeler was 5. There are not beautiful white sandy beaches. There are two beaches, one costs money and I went to neither. Thats because I was DIVING. Today our boat broken down and its been really windy for a couple of days. Windy is good because it cools the place off. Then you don´t have to spend your whole day wiping sweaty sunscreen out of your burning eyes and trying to drink more than you sweat out. But windy is bad when you are on a boat and you have no engine and you are prone to seasickness. So I threw up in front of 20 people. Not ON anyone though. Then I was fine for the second dive. I caught the 2pm ferry and I took one of the motion sickness pills the ferry office offered. Last time I took a motion pill over the counter in a foreign country, I slept for 6 hours in the middle of the day. I hoped this dosage would have the same effect. It did. I don´t want to sound like I´m trying to make a dramatic story up just for the blog, so I´ll just say that the ferry ride was ¨side to side¨ and the screams were like ¨disneyland 3D simulation¨ and outside it looked like a ¨car wash¨ and inside it felt like ¨Tim Cutts trying to throw me off the back of a jetski.¨ I woke up an hour later and we had made it. It was almost a bigger thrill to me than diving but not so because I thought what an inconvenience it would be to replace everything I have with me if we flipped. But we didn´t flip and I´m sure we weren´t even close to flipping so no one needs to worry. But I have digressed into storytelling.
One of the new experiences my compadres and I shared on Utila was watching our toilet offerings be deposited directly from us into the ocean, do not pass go, do not believe in sanitation. This was just at the places along the water. The place I stayed at was aways back from the water but on a swamp, so the whole place was built up on a deck. The accommodations were quaint and sufficient and free because of the diving, so I´m not complaining. Sometimes the boards on the deck would break and people would fall through. (almost funny but a little unsettling as well) Sometimes dog would poop on the deck. Owen and I shared a small room that had a shower. The shower drained straight to the open air and water and land below our room. I haven´t gotten sunburnt yet really, which I´m really proud of. Have some small gross bug bites, apparently from sand flies, on my pasty gross legs that I haven´t shaven (because it makes the bug bites bleed).
Friendly Central Americans keep talking to me. As a result I haven´t hardly read any of my books and still have two magazines. Haven´t done a crossword puzzle. The guy to the left of me at the internet cafe wants to talk about Alaska. Duh.
So I made it back to the mainland, La Ceiba, Honduras and will catch a 5 am bus to Antigua, Guatemala arrive at 8 pm. I´m travelling by myself again but not really. Met 2 guys, Pav and Rob from the UK at the ferry today and now we are sharing a room right by the beach. Good news is there is a musical festival right across the street. Bad news is I woke up at 6 am to go diving and I was planning to sleep a little before getting up at 4am.
And the guy next to me just offered to walk me back to the hotel, stopping for milkshakes along the way. He is a friendly Honduran and at least speaks English slightly. Anyway...
So Utila was interesting. I did get SCUBA open water certified which means i can SCUBA with a friend to 30 feet or so I think. I don´t love it. In fact, I think I am underwhelmed by it. I suppose that it could be cool, but it was kinda like snorkeling except a lot more work and preparation. Whale sharks are supposed to be around soon(not dangerous) so I guess that would be cool. Utila is basically just a diving place. You don´t travel there unless you want to dive. The diving world is made up of beautiful, tan people. Very friendly people, but diving can be slightly egotistical as far as what training and how skilled of a diver you are. Utila itself was not beautiful. Its a small island made up of mostly swamp and mangroves. Houses are on stilts and there is one main strip of a few blocks, one lane wide, where everyone walks and tries not to get hit by cars, 4wheelers, golf carts, bikes, motorcycles, etc. The most people on a moped I saw was 4, the most on a 4wheeler was 5. There are not beautiful white sandy beaches. There are two beaches, one costs money and I went to neither. Thats because I was DIVING. Today our boat broken down and its been really windy for a couple of days. Windy is good because it cools the place off. Then you don´t have to spend your whole day wiping sweaty sunscreen out of your burning eyes and trying to drink more than you sweat out. But windy is bad when you are on a boat and you have no engine and you are prone to seasickness. So I threw up in front of 20 people. Not ON anyone though. Then I was fine for the second dive. I caught the 2pm ferry and I took one of the motion sickness pills the ferry office offered. Last time I took a motion pill over the counter in a foreign country, I slept for 6 hours in the middle of the day. I hoped this dosage would have the same effect. It did. I don´t want to sound like I´m trying to make a dramatic story up just for the blog, so I´ll just say that the ferry ride was ¨side to side¨ and the screams were like ¨disneyland 3D simulation¨ and outside it looked like a ¨car wash¨ and inside it felt like ¨Tim Cutts trying to throw me off the back of a jetski.¨ I woke up an hour later and we had made it. It was almost a bigger thrill to me than diving but not so because I thought what an inconvenience it would be to replace everything I have with me if we flipped. But we didn´t flip and I´m sure we weren´t even close to flipping so no one needs to worry. But I have digressed into storytelling.
One of the new experiences my compadres and I shared on Utila was watching our toilet offerings be deposited directly from us into the ocean, do not pass go, do not believe in sanitation. This was just at the places along the water. The place I stayed at was aways back from the water but on a swamp, so the whole place was built up on a deck. The accommodations were quaint and sufficient and free because of the diving, so I´m not complaining. Sometimes the boards on the deck would break and people would fall through. (almost funny but a little unsettling as well) Sometimes dog would poop on the deck. Owen and I shared a small room that had a shower. The shower drained straight to the open air and water and land below our room. I haven´t gotten sunburnt yet really, which I´m really proud of. Have some small gross bug bites, apparently from sand flies, on my pasty gross legs that I haven´t shaven (because it makes the bug bites bleed).
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