Passionflower

Wednesday 31 October 2007

Ryan and I arrived in the town of Minas last night, which is a small provincial capitol about two hours outside of Montevideo. We spent the day today wandering around a bit, seeing the small museum, the local pastry shop, and the zoo. This is a passionflower I spotted in the park around the zoo.

Sunset at the point

Tuesday 30 October 2007

Sunset from right out on the point. This is the cozy little town we've been staying in.

Uruguayan Pastoral

Monday 29 October 2007

Went out to a national park, Santa Teresa, today, where i saw this unbelievably Uruguayan scene in the rich light of the late afternoon. Yep, cows, palm trees, lush green grass on gently rolling fields - feels like Uruguay. This really is a gorgeous country.

The main attraction to the park is an old Spanish fort, giant, imposing, and covered in slightly orange lichens. Unfortunately, it was closed today. But we certainly enjoyed strolling through the eucalyptus forests and open fields, taking lots and lots of pictures of the beauty around us. (It really is getting hard to choose just one picture for every day!)

Tidepools

Sunday 28 October 2007

There are two main beaches in Punta del Diablo, separated by the point for which the town is named. This point is mostly rough rocks which are perfect for climing and exploring and jumping around on while breating in the clean ocean air. (oh, the air here is just delicious!) They also hide thousands of little tidepools, where bright treasures can be found. Here is just one of them!

(Oh, and by the way, who can tell what brand of camera I use just by looking at this picture?)

Punta del Diablo

Saturday 27 October 2007

We are in Punta del Diablo right now, which is a tiny (but quickly growing) fishing village on the east coast of Uruguay. It is a lovely quaint little place with no paved roads, and where the catch still comes in fresh to the beach every day. Here are some of the fishing boats on the sand in the afternoon, after a long day's work.

Oh hey, and guess what we saw today? Dolphins!! Out in the water, splashing and jumping and playing, a black one and a gray one. Oh, I was so excited to see them, probably jumping up and down like a little girl on Christmas. It was the first time I've seen dolphins in the wild! I did get pictures (thanks to my new camera!) but aesthetically I prefered this photo.

Mercado del Puerto

Friday 26 October 2007

Before heading out today, Ryan and I decided to go for lunch at the Mercado del Puerto, one of the main attractions here in Montevideo. When we got there, we were quite surprised to find that it is no longer a market at all, but just a collection of restaurants - most of them quite expensive restaurants, at that (at least for our budget). Not wanting to completely pass up the opportunity, however, we opted for the rather cheaper empanada stand near the entrance. And boy, was that a good choice! We had a cheese, onion and leek empanada, a meat, olive, and raisin one, a squid one, and a mussel one. The seafood was a little strange - it was almost a shock, raising an empanada to your lips then tasting seafood - but they were all absolutely delicious. We got a chocolate cream and an apple and raisin empanada for the bus, and they were both wonderful as well.

Artigas' Ashes

Thursday 25 October 2007

Ryan and I are in Montevideo, the capitol of Uruguay, today. This is the hidden chamber under the statue of Artigas on horseback in the main square. General José Artigas is the founding father of Uruguay, the guy all the schools and streets are named after. His ashes are here in this room, under constant guard. And around the walls are all of his important deeds and dates, in giant concrete letters. (In my opinion, a little colder and less classy than the eternal fire and marble angels that his Argentine counterpart General San Martín gets, but definitely more intimidating!)

Veggie Guys

Wednesday 24 October 2007

These are the veggie guys I bought from for nearly a year. They were really nice, usually gave me the freshest produce and good deals, and always flirted when I came without Ryan. They are all Peruvian, as well, and gave us a lot of food recommendations, which I am sure will come in handy when we hit Peru. (I would say that here in Buenos Aires a majority of little veggie shops like this one are run by foreigners, mostly Bolivians and Peruvians.) Today was the last day I came and bought veggies from them, so I took a picture to remember them by. They were clearly very flattered.

Back in BA

Tuesday 23 October 2007

Back to Buenos Aires today - the adventure begins! But not before we run some errands back here at home base . . .

This picture was taken in a Subte station. Romeo, I love you, but public transportation will always have the key to my heart.

Hungry pumpkin

Monday 22 October 2007

Today is, both sadly and happily, the day that Ryan and I go back to Argentina. Since it will be a day spent in the car and at the airport, I figured I'd show you all the pumpkin that I carved. I got the idea from a magazine, but I thought it turned out nicely.

Learning to knit

Sunday 21 October 2007

Here's my wonderful amazing brilliant Aunt Sue, learning how to pearl.

what she found inside

Saturday 20 October 2007

My Aunt Sue, Uncle Bill, and cousin Clare came up from Pennsylvania for the weekend. We had a nice gooky afternoon carving pumpkins today. Here's Clare, who hates touching the guts inside.

Morley's

Friday 19 October 2007

Dad, Ryan and I went on a tour of the Morley's chocolate factory today. It wasn't very long, but we learned a few things, and who doesn't love free samples? Not to mention the "seconds," or imperfect chocolate on sale for very cheap!

Polish patriotism

Thursday 18 October 2007

My dad, Ryan and I had dinner at the Polish cultural center today, which was absolutely delicious! In the building there was also a dance floor, a Polish library, and a hall of fame of Polish athletes.

Dead orchard

Wednesday 17 October 2007

The fog was thick as I drove my mom to work today, so I stopped a few times on the way home to take pictures. It was a little spooky in this nearly dead orchard, but I'm having a lot of fun playing with my new camera.

Barn

Tuesday 16 October 2007

An old barn on Van Dyke. I love the light on the windows.

New camera!

Monday 15 October 2007

I got a new camera today! I am now shooting with a Canon SX100 IS, which is a pretty big step up from my old one. I will miss being able to just slip it into my pocket, but that's the price you pay for more things to play with, I guess! So, Ryan and I went driving around town, and here is one of my very first pictures with it.

Detroit Muscle

Sunday 14 October 2007

We went back to the Armada Fall Festival today for the big chili cook-off. There were eight different kinds of chili, which were nearly all fantastic, and Dad, Ryan, Natalie, her friend Andy and I all got to be judges! So, now I can add chili judge to my resume as well. I'm practically qualified to be a New York food critic!

There was also a car show there (after all, what social gathering in Michigan would be complete without a few old cars around?). I rather liked the contrast between the "Detroit Muscle" and the happy face.

Bacon and the big dog

Saturday 13 October 2007

We went up to the Armada Fall Festival today, where Bacon (my sister's teddy bear puppy) met two giant great danes. Here's Roxy, who really really wanted to play with Bacon. He was having none of it. And no, that wet spot on Beth's leg is not evidence of his cowardice, she just spilled cider on herself. Really.

The lake, again

Friday 12 October 2007

I just can't get enough of it!

Mom

Thursday 11 October 2007

My mom with Bella.

Wherefore art thou . . .

Wednesday 10 October 2007

. . . Romeo?

Mr. Barky's

Tuesday 9 October 2007

A lot of gourmet supermarkets have sprung up in this part of the state recently. Places with organic produce and expensive cheese and all kinds of fancy sauces, places that sell almond butter instead of peanut, thirty different kinds of olives, and hundred-dollar wine. Well, we were in one of these places the other day to get quinoa, and I saw this. Vegetarian dog biscuits. I think it may be one of the most ridiculous, pretentious, useless, preppiest things I've ever seen. Here's a message for all the Unitedstatesians who would think of buying such a thing - pull yourself together!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday 8 October 2007

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, everyone! Here's Mr. Bird, our bird-master for the night. He made the stuffing and cooked the turkey, which was fantastic. All the food was, in fact. We had a big ol' traditional feast with all the fixins, nearly 20 people over for dinner, and a wonderful evening!

Dad

Sunday 7 October 2007

It has been unbelievably, unseasonable warm up here. The temperature has been in the 80's every day since we got here, the weather sunny and calm. We have been eating dinner on the deck every night, and usually staying out there sipping wine and chatting until 10 or 11! I'll admit I was hoping for an Indian summer, but I never guessed that we'd get so lucky in Michigan in October.

Here's Dad - we all sat outside on the deck until late tonight, enjoying some scotch and each others' company.

Apple picking!!!

Saturday 6 October 2007

Finally, some good old-fashioned apple orchard Michigan goodness! Saskatchewan being woefully lacking in apple orchards, we decided to take the Birds to experience this local pasttime! Lots of Galas and Empires were plucked from their leafy boughs, and shall be delicous!

Here's Beth, stealing from the orchard.

The best hot dog

Friday 5 October 2007

Ryan's parents arrived today from Saskatchewan, so we had an all-American dinner to welcome them. Macaroni salad, corn on the cob, peach cobbler, and of course hot dogs!

This post is especially for my Aunt Sue - yes, Ryan loved the hot dogs you bought!

Glamour girl

Thursday 4 October 2007

Well, I got my hair cut today, and quite enjoyed getting a North American haircut! No crazy huge layers, no gullet, no thinning shears, it was wonderful! So, I got home and was feeling very glamourous, and decided to put on a little lipstick and take this rather silly picture.

The church in town

Wednesday 3 October 2007

I rode my bike to the grocery store today, and stopped here and there along the way to take pictures of "downtown" Washington. This is the Methodist church.

Man's best friend

Tuesday 2 October 2007

Beth Ann has recently bought herself a dog, an adorable tiny little puppy she's named Bacon. For Halloween, Bacon got a pumpkin costume (ridiculous, I know) and this shirt. Beth thought it was hilarious because it is the exact same material as one of my dad's favorite shirts. So, here are the two matching buddies.

Shoe Warehouse

Monday 1 October 2007

I need shoes. So, we went shoe-shopping. What a reintroduction to North-American-suburban-Detroit culture! There were thousands and thousands of shoes in this place! Men's, women's, formal, casual, anything you can put on your feet, they have. The variety and choice is always something to get used to when I come back home, but this place took it to an extreme.

And the irony is that I did not find a pair of shoes that I liked.