... a little bit of this and that

Penny-pinching update: I'm slightly embarrassed about this, but I'm going to go ahead and share anyway. I've continued monitoring my spending on food all week, and have done really well. I even created a spreadsheet to tally everything up in. What I've learned so far... capers make tuna fish infinitely more palatable (enough to eat it four days in a row)... I think I love oatmeal enough to eat it everyday until I die... when making homemade yogurt, it's always best to add the starter before you leave the milk sitting out overnight... and, eating on a tight budget is the perfect diet prescription for those looking to drop pounds (junky desserts are expensive!)  Most of all, I find that I better appreciate the food I eat when I know I'm not going to allow myself to buy whatever whenever. I think it's been a really instructive exercise so far :)

I did some guest editing for my CSA's newsletter these last couple weeks.  It was fun! 

Last night, Roomie's man cooked us his finest meal yet, in honor of Roomie's Mom coming in for a visit.  I found it hilarious that he read the ingredient list a day ahead of time, but didn't read the actual recipe until an hour before preparation time.  I mean, you don't fool around with risotto!  But he actually pulled it off quite nicely.

My insomnia has finally subsided, hooray!  It seems there's something in the air right now though.. every time I complained about being sleep-deprived, whoever I spoke with had some sort of insomniac tale to relate.  Maybe I can start a club so I'll have something to do during the wakeful wee-morning hours.

I'm looking forward to heading up to Massachusetts this weekend to see my family as well as an old friend from Spain. Bonus: my Dad is going up as well, so Greyhound won't have to worry about me turning green and puking all over their upholstery...

... a pinch

A penny pinch, that is. In a formal effort to 'live within my means' and somehow save up some money to travel, I'm gonna try to see this budgetary challenge through (at least for this week!) I originally thought I'd shoot for $20 per week on food, but as per Ms. W's recommendation, I'm going to expand my food allowance to $35. Clearly this means I will NOT be dining out! (tear)

So far so good. I ate oatmeal with jam & walnuts for breakfast this morning, and just had a tuna fish sandwich with capers & cukes on rye bread for lunch. Super rough cost analysis:

Oatmeal: .33
Walnuts: .41
Jam: .15

Rye bread: .38
Tuna fish: 1.25
Mayo: .08
Capers: .40

TOTAL: 3.00! Man I'm cheap :)

… Nut Island

What a perfect day to take my second excursion down to Governor's Island (formerly Nut Island) with my friend Ms. Wunderful. We had trekked down there earlier in the summer for a ridiculously bizarre art festival called Figment, but this time we went for something slightly more mainstream (at least in the foodie world). It was a panel discussion of the book Gastropolis, which delves into the city's 'food heritage.' The panel presenters started off a little too academic for my tastes, but overall the entire presentation was pretty interesting. When discussing two things of the things I love most in this world, food and NYC, it’s hard to go wrong!

As an interesting side note, when we first arrived at Pershing Hall for the panel, there was some confusion about whether or not the event was actually going to take place. Hardly anyone had shown up, and the event space wasn’t set up at all. Four of us were sitting outside waiting to see what would happen, when and older guy on a bicycle drives up. Ms. Wunderful & I greet him “Hi, how ya doing?”… mostly because we’re nice people with good manners. His response: “Why are you so friendly?” Not joking at all, he actually seemed annoyed that we had greeted him (turns out he was a contributing author for the book, and the owner of Russ & Daughters on the Lower East Side). You have to love well-seasoned grumpy-ass New Yorkers!

Not only did I enjoy some free culture & beautiful views today, but I also made up a bit for all of my gym slackage. After walking the perimeter of Gov's Island and then walking all the way home from South Ferry, I calculated on Google pedometer that I put in almost 6 miles on foot today! Looking forward to sleeping good tonight...

... the kitchen makin' arepas

I've been out of culinary practice for a while now, so I was really glad that my friend Ms. Wunderful suggested that we cook up some arepas before heading to my neighbor's birthday party tonight. Even though we weren't successful in following the recipe to the letter, they came out pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself :)

Getting back in the culinary saddle also inspired me to do so more often. For the last couple months I've been lazy about making myself anything more than an egg or a banana & peanut butter smoothie, but I've got to change my ways -- both for my wallet and my health. I think I'm going to set out some sort of cooking challenge for myself. What do you think - could I feed myself breakfast, lunch and dinner this week for $20? That could be interesting. Given that my appetite has been almost nil since I returned from Guatemala (parasite??) I just might be able to pull it off...

... Dave's ESL Cafe

I've been lost in Dave's virtual ESL cafe for the last several hours, researching my trip down South. I don't think I've mentioned this yet here, but about halfway through my trip to Guatemala I resolved to move to South America for a year or two to teach English and travel. This was really half the reason I went to Guatemala in the first place - to see if this taste of travel would make me want more - and if so, how much? The answer was a big "YES PLEASE" and as for exactly how much... well I'll figure that out once I'm down there.

So I'm very grateful that there are resources out there like Dave's ESL Cafe, but at the same time, they can suck you in for hours and leave you with many more questions than answers. Between DESLC and a new list of blogs about Chile that I found, I will likely be up reading for the entire night!

My goal is to try to resolve at least two things: which country will I teach in, and which certification will I get? Up to this point I've been focused in on Chile, but now I'm questioning if it's really the right spot for me. Valparaiso is apparently 'seedy,' Santiago is choked with smog, and the Chilean accent can be difficult to decipher. But teacher demand is high, the country is safe and not corrupt, and pay is supposed to be good. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Colombia is notoriously notorious, but also gorgeous and seductive, with clearly spoken Spanish. I was looking at my friend's pics from his travels down there and it just looks so beautiful and like quintessential SoAm (but I'm pretty sure I'd put my parents into their graves if I went there, and I too would have safety concerns). Ecuador & Argentina are also possibilities... Ecuador being slightly more attractive because it's not as gringonized, and Argentina being slightly more attractive because it is more gringonized.

You get the picture... I could go in many directions at this point, and I'm having a hard time narrowing things down based on all the info from books, strangers on discussion boards, and my Travel Channel buddies Samantha, Tony & Andrew. But really, I shouldn't be complaining. I'm lucky that there's a wealth of information out there, I just need to wade through it a bit more!

... a three ring circus

Yes, the circus came to Madison Square Garden this week! Not Barnum & Bailey, but the one and only BRITNEY SPEARS. Her latest music tour is actually called "Circus"... quite appropriate given the circus that her life has been for the last decade or so. I know what you're thinking, and don't worry - I didn't pay any money to see her (I would never do that)! One of my friends graciously offered up free tickets from a connection she has, and about 25 or so of us jumped at the chance to witness Brit-Brit in action.

I was really excited about the show because I figured the performance value would be very high, even if Britney is short on vocal talent. In all her music videos it seems like she's a pretty good dancer, so I looked forward to being dazzled by some choreographic wizardry. At the beginning of the show it was clear that they were in fact aiming to dazzle: "Circus" wasn't just the name of the tour, it was actually a music concert and circus wrapped into one. There were three rings, acrobatics, trampolines, clowns, freaks, and the whole nine. That part of the show was verrry entertaining as they had a lot of different types of talent on stage (not the least of which was a girl without legs bouncing and flipping around on a trampoline), but Brit-Brit paled in comparison to the circus surrounding her. She did little more than strut around the stage in her stilettos, change costumes every five minutes, and toss her hair about. Even the two songs I was looking forward to hearing (Toxic & Slave) came across totally flat. I was really disappointed to find out that she is not in fact a performer, but I guess more like a puppet. What disappoints me even more is how crazed people are for this girl!

Hmmm. This seems like a really negative note to end on, and I try not to be one of those people ;) On the positive side, it was fun to hang out with a big bunch of girls and act a bit silly. The Pegasus Palace crew was kind enough to have us all over for circus themed food & bevys before the show, and decorated their place with pictures of Britney from every stage she's gone through over the last several years. I mean, who wouldn't love to step into the bathroom and stare at this pic while relieving themselves?

Related articles

• Britney Spears Brings Her Sexy Circus To Madison Square Garden (mtv.com)

... Belgian beer heaven

Cheers to Roomie & Roomie's man for this great Monday night find: 1/2 price belgian beers at the Petite Abeille. We had some amazing weather last night and these tasty beers were the puuuurrrrrfect accompaniment as we sat outside :) To think, back in college I didn't like beer at all!

… Chinatown

I wasn’t in Chinatown this weekend, but I’m going through old photos and came across this one that I took inside a Chinatown building ages ago.  I think it’s pretty hilarious they need to remind people not to spit indoors.

                        

... just another street fair

Today I checked out the Japan Street Fair along Madison Ave, looking forward a 'slice of Japan' as promised by this blog. The map they display (shown right) makes it look quite extensive: Japanese chefs, cuisine, kimonos, travel, calligraphy, and more! Turns out it was just your average NYC street fair (cheap jewelry, arepas, fruit, t-shirts, etc), but there was one interesting & authentic sighting while we were there: Harajuku girls (and boy!)

… the dark room

Well, maybe not the dark room, but I did spend some time in Picasa fiddling with my pictures from Guatemala, and have now posted them on my flickr page. Unfortunately they are in random order right now, but at least you can get an idea of things. I will try to add captions and some sequencing this week.

... a rush

Note: I'm in a rush to finish this because the internet is shutting down soon, and I also had two nice Guatemalan boys chatting with me while I was writing this (polite social cues are lost on them). So sorry in advance for any errors!!!

Ah, I can´t believe this trip is almost over already! It has met or exceeded my expectations in almost every way, and now that it´s time for me to start disconnecting from things... it´s hard!

Mish-mash. That would describe my last two days here. On Wednesday I split time between the clinic and observing English classes. The big project in the clinic was de-lousing a bunch of long-haired girls. What a hilarious, reeeeediculous production this was. I also treated some warts, and did bits of translating here and there. My time in the English classes was less eventful, but it was really great to see the different teaching styles of all the volunteers and how the kids responded to each. The best part of my day was at the very beginning. In the morning I crossed paths with a boy named Hugo who had been in clinic yesterday afternoon. He has a big gash on his foot that the nurses had dressed and redressed several times, but it wasn´t healing well because he would then walk around the muddy grounds in flimsy sandals, caking the dressing with dirt. The sandals were his only pair of shoes, and if he continued this way the wound would undoubtedly get infected. So on Tuesday night I went into town to buy him shoes that would cover him up, and settled on a pair of knock off Crocs. I can´t tell you how good it felt to see him walking around in them on Wednesday, his wound protected, with a big smile. While some of the kids there can be unappreciative, you could tell he really felt special that I´d made a special trip to town to buy some shoes just for him. Every time I see him now, I still feel incredibly warm and fuzzy inside. It makes me wonder of the idea of altruism is BS... helping people just makes you feel damn good and you want more of that feeling.

Wednesday night was great as well, as all the volunteers went out for dinner, drinks and dancing. We went to a place called La Bendicion, reputed to be some of the best local food in Fronteras. I asked for the menu after my roomies and I arrived, and was directed to look at the plates of the voluntters that had arrived before us. There I saw I had two options: eggs with maduros, cheese, beans, and tortilla; or steak with cabbage, sauce and tortilla. I love that it was only either/or! Then we went back over the bridge to our hostel, Hotel Backpackers to hit the bar. One of the volunteers had his moped, and after much prompting, I joined him and another volunteer on the ride back. I regretted the decision almost immediately as each bump we hit inched my butt closer and closer to popping right off the back... oy!

We had a great time at Backpackers though... drinking Gallos (beer), dancing (not me), dancing on the bar (not me), and finishing the night with a swim in the river (again, not me). The volunteers are truly awesome. People from Spain, France, Brazil, Germany, Israel, the US, Australia, England... all very kind and total characters.

Today I was kinda tired and dragging for the morning... some clinic, some English, some third grade, some phys ed. There wasn´t a whole lot to do because a lot of classes are in exams. I´m learning the art of being firm and administering tough love. Had a lot of fun shooting hoops during gym with some of the girls. Getting pretty sad about leaving :( Today was the last day of one of the long term volunteers, and it was reeeeally tough to watch her saying goodbye to her kinder class.

Some things I´ve enjoyed or found amusing over the last week...
Hearing Spanish spoken all around me and speaking it myself :) The 12 million things that happen here that would NEVER EVER happen in the states (ie, kids working with machetes in their agricultural class). The terrible service in the restaurant at the hotel (ask for things and either you never receive them, or receive something else entirely). The fabulously quirky German volunteer who teaches English and for a week wore a mustache like Hitler`s. The way the kids prounce ice cream: ee-say-krem.

... skin covered with 'picaduras' :(

Thus far, this trip has been exactly what I wanted. I definitely haven´t sat on my arse on the beach with a drink in my hand... I definitely haven´t felt comfortable and at ease the majority of the time... I´ve definitely been outright scared at times... basically, I haven´t experienced anything like this before, and that is just perfect.

Yesterday I spent the day with the Kinder group - 7 kids ranging in age from 2.5 to about 6. Carlitos, Yessica, Tania, Elvira, Harrison, Diego & Mariana. We worked on pronouncing & writing vowels, did some coloring, a little arthimetic, and some play time. I worked on- on-one with some of the kids who require extra attention, and while they practiced their math or writing, I got to practice my ability to be instructive and firm. This was tough as I am not naturally authoritative in the least. It´s been a struggly to get these kids, esp the sassy ones to do things sometimes. And after a kid has sassed me, it always shocks me so much that it´s tough for me to regain my composure. There is skill involved, no doubt, and by trial and error and observing the other volunteers, I am learning...

The Kinder class was great, but difficult to get really focused because of the very young ones that are just thrown in there (for lack of a better place to put them). Carolitos isn´t even fully potty trained yet! Unfortunately this extreme differences in skill levels is holding the group back, but it´s just the reality of things here. There is only so much (little) money, and few resources.

Traditionally short-term volunteers like me are placed in one particular spot for their entire stay, but I decided to make up my own itinerary today. After all, it´s my `vacation´, and I´m going to do what I want to do! So I spent all of today in the clinic, and was kind of surprised by just how much I enjoyed it... much moreso than being in the classroom with the little ones yesterday. La clinica is made up of a large waiting/triage area, two exam rooms, a storage room for meds, and a bedroom for the two nurses. Right now there happen to be two nurses there,
a

Helen from Australia & Carmita from Barcelona (pictured above), but most of the time there is only one - or sometimes even none. This morning was busy as there were about 25-30 kids & staff that needed vaccinations. I was responsible for running high and low throughout the grounds to track down these people who I would surely not recognize. I loved it though because I got to see every inch of the place, including the agricultural area, the small workers village and the local town of Brisas that lies at the edge of the Casa Guatemala ´campus.´I´m sure it was pretty strange for Israel, one of the workers on the list for vaccinations, to see the tall gringa appear out of no where in the field before him to request his precense in the clinic.

Have to write more tomorrow because the internet is about to expire! Oh, and skin covered with 'picaduras' refers to the mosquito bites I have all over my body! I´ve been using my 35% strength deet, and the even stronger stuff for my clothes, and even though it burns my skin and makes me feel feverish all day long, that´s still not enough for these little buggers!!

... dia numero uno

I´m not sure what to put down here given that it has to be short & sweet, but I´d still like it to give you some insight into what I´m experiencing here. I´ll start with the kids; the reason I came in the first place!

They are amazing in many ways....
1. Adorable -- today all us new volunteers were warned about which ones were so cute that they´d garnered themselves an overflow of attention that is now stunting their development. I got this warning only after unknowingly doting on one of the culprits for the entire morning... they certainly are hard to resist.
2. Happy -- they really are happy kids that enjoy their life here. They don´t seem to feel sorry for themselves in the least, and yet they have so little compared to others.
3. Easily contented -- I mean in comparison to kids in the US who need constant stimulation & entertainment. These kids can play outside, with eachother, for hours without complaining that they´re bored.
4. Smart -- They are bright, and really understand how things work. They know how to use new volunteers to their best advantage, which can certainly be frustrating...

Weekends at the orphanage there are no classes, only 'actividades,' so this meant that I spent most of the day playing in a park with the Ninas Pequenas. Mid morning we took a break to watch a series of Reggeaton videos (I didn´t feel so good about this, despite the fact that the kids really seemed to enjoy it and were mezmerized by the tv), mid-day we had a simple but tasty lunch of rice, green beans, and a tortilla. Mid-afternoon we broke for a papaya snack followed by a swim in the river, and then it was time to hop on the motorboat and come back to the hostel.

Before departing at the end of the day, I donated the gently used clothes that my coworkers generously brought to me. It was nicely received, and I got to see the inside of the 'bodega' as a result. This is where they store everything that has been donated until it´s needed. They had a pretty good storehouse of shoes, clothes, games, etc.

Now it´s time for dinner at the hostel (pictured below) with my roommates. 'Raquel, la Otra' is a nice girl from upstate New York. She is blond as well and the kids ask if we´re sisters. She has the suffix ´'la Otra' (the other) because there is a Nina Pequena named Raquel, and the girls differentiate her this way. Rocio is another nice girl from Madrid. She´s made me realize that I´ve missed Spainairds!

...Guatemala!

I made it, finally :) It was a solid 15 hours of almost constant transportation today: cars, planes, & buses. I am happy to report I didn´t get sick once... dramamine is my new bff.

I´m too tired to write anything substantive, so I´ll add some random highlights before I sign off:
* No idea how I´m going to sleep in this humidity
* There have already been two cockroaches in my room -- I killed one of them! Without screaming like a girl either.
* Traveling alone is not as easy as I thought it might be!

… a state of excitement!

I can’t believe I leave for Guatemala on Saturday.  Traveling by myself, communicating primarily in my native tongue from a previous life, working in the ‘jungle,’ seeing what life is like in an orphanage… it’s all very exciting, and of course a little scary. 

Right now I’m loading up my throw-away iPod Nano (gift from an ex) with my fav tunes and some audiobooks on Guatemala.  I figure I’ll take the Nano instead of my prized full-size iPod so that if it’s stolen I won’t be heartbroken.  In fact, I would enjoy the thought of some tough thief walking around with an iPod that has BABYFACE inscribed on the back of it.  Yeah, I said it, that was my pet name.  Try not to vomit.

It seems like my trip to-do list is in constant flux… as soon as I pare it down it expands again.  But I think I have the most important things done at this point: I know where I’m going, who’s receiving me, and what sights I MUST see, as well as those I’d like to squeeze in if there’s time.  For this, I have to give a big thanks to one of my ‘UCB’ friends, as well as many strangers on the Casa Guatemala facebook group.  It is so great how former volunteers are so willing to share their experiences and offer advice.  One woman wrote out the equivalent of 3 pages, responding to every single question I had in meticulous detail.  How did people do anything before facebook???

I need to stop blabbing and get some sleep.  I guess it’s hard for me to disengage from preparation cuz this is a big big trip for me on many levels.  I will add a link for a slideshow of the kid’s latest production of The Lion King, and leave it at that for tonight :)

… kill and conquer mode

If I had to chose one thing to do for the rest of my days, it would without a doubt be traveling.  I think it is the best possible use of one’s time and money.  Preparing for traveling, on the other hand, is no fun at all!  Anticipating all that you’ll need, purchasing all that you don’t have, cleaning up your piles of clothes and papers so that you can actually pack what you do have, planning how to get from point A to B… it’s just so much work and too much detail!  I generally prefer a more hands-off approach where I just show up and fly by the seat of my pants.  “Spur of the moment” is one of my favorite phrases, and I think the unplanned and unexpected are just so delightful!

But I guess because I’m traveling alone for the first time, without companions to lull me into a false sense of security (or do the planning for me ;)), I’m making extra efforts to be sure I know what I’m doing and where I’m going.  I don’t want to experience the dark side of the unplanned and unexpected!  So here I am trying to wind myself down from ‘kill and conquer mode'.’ For a bit I’m not going to think about annihilating my travel to-do list and just chill.  Maybe my cat will get off my belly and allow me to read my book (it took me 15 minutes to write this cuz she has mastered the art of Being in the Way).

... the stinking mud

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I attended All Points West tonight for the second year in a row. Last year I had a great time, despite rain showers, and thought that Liberty State Park was quite possibly the best venue I've ever seen any concert in. Cat Power, Ben Harper & Jack Johnson were all awesome. I couldn't wait to get back this year, despite the hefty price tag ($100) and inconvenient commute to LSP (more than an hour each way!).

While last year was great, this year turned out to be unforgettable; for good reasons... and bad.

Let's start with the bad, and here's a hint: the entirety of LSP now needs to be re-sodded. That's right, there is not a square foot of in-tact grass left because all this summer rain combined with hoards of people converted the park into a GIGANTIC MUD PIT. We're talking mud so viscous and deep that it would rip your sandals right off your feet and hold tight to your footwear, only to have later generations discover it during archaeological digs. The prospect of trudging around in the mud for 5 hours may not have been so horrible if the stink of cow manure didn't permeate the air. I'm not kidding, it reeked!! For all I know, I was literally walking around in dirt and cow shit for 5 hours. Hence my beautiful expression.

I tried to fight it for a good hour and a half after we got there, but it was futile. The mud won in the end, and we all ended up sinking our toes into it (I dare you to pick out my sandals in the photo on the left). Yes, yes, I can now admit that it was freeing and felt good to let go of my footwear, but God did I do my best to fight it! To think how me, Roomie & Roomie's Man scoffed at the silly barefoot concert-goers as we walked from the Light Rail to the field. "Where do these hippie kids think we are, the beach??" Turns out it wasn't an act of stupid, willful youth after all; they had simply been here the day before and were smart enough to dress appropriately for the conditions.

Given the disgusting conditions, Coldplay was under a LOT of pressure to put out an amazing performance that would make this all worthwhile. As you can gather from the pictures, my positive attitude was DOA, and I kind of wanted to go home before they even got to the stage. However, I have to say I was not disappointed!! They really put out an amazing performance. I heard all the songs I wanted to hear, they were high energy, the camera & video work was awesome, AND... halfway through they marched out to the middle of the mud field to play a few songs right in front of us dirty, stinky people (they weren't standing IN the mud, but on a small stage of course). We were pretty close and it was definitely super cool, esp when they played my fav song (Green Eyes) and MJ's Billy Jean! And even though I think Chris Martin is crazy, I may have a small crush on him now...

Related articles

• All Points West 2009 Day Three: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (pastemagazine.com)

… wait, do I really miss the South??

Is it possible that I've missed the South these last 6 years, but hadn't even realized it? Not only have I thought I don’t miss it, but I would almost say I haven’t given it a second thought since I graduated. I didn’t have a bad time down there; it was a great, wonderful experience, but after leaving U.Va. I guess I was just eager to move on to the adventure of living in NYC. Being back down here for this conference has definitely reminded me of a lot of the charming aspects it contains: space, pace (like SLOW), beauty, manners, and a focus on family. I had almost totally forgotten what life down here was like, and I’m reminded that I think I could be happy here. It’s just odd to me seeing as I love New York SO much. You’d think the two would be mutually exclusive.

While I do feel renewed warmth toward my Southern neighbors, I have to say that for the stage of life I’m in now, I am very happy to be where I am. I met a woman from the Wake Forest study site today, who, upon introducing herself and asking me my name, noted the lack of ring on my left hand and said:

“I see you’re not married.”

My reply: “It’s nice to meet you too!”

This incident is indicative of the culture down here. People here get married pretty young, make babies pretty young, and enjoy talking about their marriages and babies, and/or their kids’ babies. It’s what dominated our dinner conversation tonight! I’m just grateful for all my wonderfully unengaged and unattached friends. Yay for living in a culture where I’m not a freak cuz I’m single!

... North Carolina

Came down to Winston-Salem today for a week long work conference. I was initially half-dreading the trip -- who wants to deal with NC heat in mid-July!?? -- but after arriving at the Graylyn and enjoying some Southern hospitality, I don't think things will be so bad. This place is beeeeeeeaaaauuutiful!

Oh, and one thing I missed about the South: 'yes ma'am'

'Yes ma'am'
'Yes ma'am'
'Yes ma'am'
'Yes ma'am'
'Yes ma'am'
'Yes ma'am'

Everywhere you go, that's what you hear.

… wide open spaces

Well, a wide open space by Manhattan standards anyway ;) Last night my Party Animal friend threw a huge party to kick off her budding event-planning business. It was held at Safe Harbor NYC, a nice big loft space in SoHo. I will only say that I had a great time… probably too much fun!