Glass Ceiling

Saturday 31 May 2008

We arrived in Toronto today, where we'll be visiting friends for about a week.

Egret at Hunter's Pond

Friday 30 May 2008

There's been an egret around our and surrounding ponds lately. I haven't seen the usual blue heron, though.

The girls

Thursday 29 May 2008

I had Natalie and Becky over for a South American dinner tonight, which was very nice. I got to meet Becky's finacé, she got to meet mine. It's so strange to think that I have known these girls since I was seven, and here we are, different but still good friends.

Carrots

Wednesday 28 May 2008

My dad buys bags of baby carrots, carefully washes them, and then lays them out neatly to dry before putting them back in the fridge, ready for his lunches. Now, I don't think I'm nearly this bad, but it's clear that I've inherited my liking of organization from my dad, so in all fairness I can only giggle a little bit at this.

Ah, spring

Tuesday 27 May 2008

Some ladybugs on a Russian Olive . . . oh, how I wish computers had smell-o-vision, because these flowers have the most heavenly scent. They are blooming all over town right now, making me suddenly swoon whenever I walk by a bush.

Sharing a pretzel

Monday 26 May 2008

Donny and Bacon, sharing a tender moment.

Lady in Rr . . . Navy Blue

Sunday 25 May 2008

Here's my mom and dad, dancing to "Lady in Red," which is their song, at Uncle Chris's reception. The party went so late, I think this picture actually was taken on Sunday morning, by the way.

Uncle Chris and Aunt Kerry

Saturday 24 May 2008

My godfather, my Uncle Chris, got remarried today. It was a nice wedding, and a great party!

Above Saskatchewan

Friday 23 May 2008

We left Regina today and flew to Michigan. Here is our view leaving Saskatchewan - fulfilling all flat, farmy stereotypes of the province.

Colombian meal

Thursday 22 May 2008

Okay, no excuse today, I just don't have a picture to post. So, here is an old one of a very typical Colombian meal. You get meat of some sort, on the left there under the veggies and sauce; beans, on the bottom; rice, in the middle: veggies or salad, the coleslaw on the right there; and a fried plantain, or starchy banana. Good, filling food, although eating the exact same thing twice a day got a little boring after a while.

Rock Band!!!

Wednesday 21 May 2008

Ryan had a bit of a get-together tonight, where we had a very North American cultural experience -- we were introduced to "Rock Band," the new video game phenomenon. I learned that I am even worse at guitar than I am at singing - I was booed off the stage twice! And if any of you have ever heard me sing, you can imagine how great that must sound . . .

Canadian Candy

Tuesday 20 May 2008

Another Canadian cultural experience - here are some traditional foods from the frozen north.

Our park

Monday 19 May 2008

We're back in Canada today, but I decided to put up a picture of this park, as it has a lot of meaning for Ryan and I. It is the park where we got engaged about a week ago. I decided to put it up today because it is Victoria Day in Canada, and we plan to get married on Victoria Day weekend three years from now!

Bs As Skyline

Sunday 18 May 2008

We left Buenos Aires today, this time for a very long time. It's always sad to leave a place you know well, but to be honest, I am glad to be moving on. I was ready to leave this city quite a while ago.

Despedida

Saturday 17 May 2008

We had our great big despedida, or going-away party tonight. It ended up being much bigger than we had planned, and a good time was had by all!

(And our last Quilmes, *sniff*)

Our last shake of salt

Friday 16 May 2008

We chose the Saltshaker, an underground restaurant in Buenos Aires, for one of our last dinners here (the very last, of course, being steak, wine, and ice cream.) This was my favorite course of the evening, a normally terribly bland and boring fish called merluza (I think it's hake, though I'm not sure) that Dan somehow made into a garlicky wonderfood.

Sandra's Family

Thursday 15 May 2008

Very sadly, we had to say goodbye to our "Argentine family" today. They invited us to their wedding, their concerts, their Christmas and New Years celebrations, and to many delicious dinners. We are very grateful to them for making us feel so much more welcome in Argentina, and for such warm hospitality.

Shoeshine Equipment

Wednesday 14 May 2008

Back in Buenos Aires! I walked past this rather meticulous shoeshiner today, who couldn't fathom why on earth I would want a picture of his rags, but was very happy to let me take it!

The last empanada

Tuesday 13 May 2008

This is the last empanada we tried on this trip, in the Bogota airport on our way back to Buenos Aires. We've been looking for empanadas all up and down the continent, trying to find the very best. I am happy to report that there is a very clear winner of this unofficial empanada contest: Argentina. They had far and away the best empanadas I have ever tasted. If asked to narrow it, I would say the empanadas from Tucuman would be top of the Argentine list, with those from Salta a close second.

The one pictured, however, was terrible.

Last day in Cartagena

Monday 12 May 2008

Well, it's our last day in Cartagena, very sadly. Really, it's the last day of our trip, as well. We'll still be traveling until August, but now we'll be staying with friends and family - a much more comfortable time to look forward to.

We've had a good time, Colombia!

Mud baths

Sunday 11 May 2008

Ryan and I took a dip in a mud volcano today, which is supposed to have all kinds of medicinal properties. That pool of mud we're in is actually about 200 meters deep, but we could not make ourselves sink if we tried - you just floated on top. It was difficult getting your legs down far enough to be in an upright position. But it was gooey and slimy and warm and almost felt like being weightless. A really cool experience.

Caribbean dancing

Saturday 10 May 2008

Ryan and I spent the day wandering around historic Cartagena today. It's a gorgeous colonial town, lots of bright colors and buena onda, I am really enjoying it. (And it's the setting of Love in the Time of Cholera, one of my favorite books ever! I can't wait to read it again being able to better picture the setting.) We sat in a peaceful, green, shady park for a while this afternoon, and happened to catch a performance by a Caribbean dance school! They could really shake their stuff, let me tell you, and gave us an amazing show.

Pelican boat

Friday 9 May 2008

Our last day in Santa Marta, and it was way too cloudy to try and even out my tan/burn/pasty white spots.

Bolívar's Deathbed, literally

Thursday 8 May 2008

We followed the statues of General San Martín (liberator of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Peru) all over the southern half of the continent, and are now up into Simon Bolívar's territory (liberator of Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela). This is the bed where he died.

A day in the sea

Wednesday 7 May 2008

Ryan went diving today, and I came with to do some snorkling. Quite nice - warm water, good visibility, a few really cool fish. We even saw some flying fish jump right next to the boat on the way back!!!

Gabo's typewriter

Tuesday 6 May 2008

Today, I have a very special treat for all the readers out there. This is the typewriter that Gabriel García Márquez used to write A Hundred Years of Solitude. (Which is generally agreed to be the greatest novel in South American literature ever, as well as one of the best books in modern literature.)

We visited Aracataca today, which is Gabo's hometown, and also the model for Macondo, the town in A Hundred Years of Solitude. It's a sleepy small town, where the siesta is long, where things take a while to get done, where outsiders are still a curiosity. At the moment there isn't even a museum to the man considered the number one South American novelist of all time, although the post office does have this typewriter and a lot of newspaper clippings about him.

I don't know - to most of you, this probably isn't all that impressive, but I have been a huge fan of his since reading Love in the Time of Cholera in high school. It was one of the first great novels that I read and was completely sucked in by, and is still my favorite love story.

JUICE!!!!

Monday 5 May 2008

We have really been missing juice since leaving Taiwan. Got a bit of a fix in Sucre, Bolivia. But now, here in Santa Marta, we are really getting our fill of juice. The place across the street from our hostal will blend fresh juice in these giant pitchers for just over a dollar. We have at least 2, sometimes 3 a day. I usually get mango. Oh, I want some juice right now . . . .

Santa Marta

Sunday 4 May 2008

After an absolutely terrible bus ride (it was our last overnight bus, so it was only fitting that there should be a guy puking for hours right behind me), we arrived on the beach today! We're in the town of Santa Marta, on the north coast, right on the Caribbean. It feels soooooo good to be out of the mountains, back in warm, oxygen-rich air!

I promise this will be the only lovely tropical sunset picture I put up, though.

Hormigas Culonas

Saturday 3 May 2008

Okay, okay, a lot of people were grossed out by the guinea pig, so I decided to put some more normal food up. Kidding! Ants are not exactly common food down here, but they are considered a very healthy addition to any diet! These ants are especially good for you, it seems. We tried them, and found them to taste buttery, and way more like meat than you'd expect. Not bad, but I don't really every need to eat them again.

Gold Museum

Friday 2 May 2008

We visited the famous Gold Museum in Bogotá today. They're doing renovations, so we couldn't see the whole collection, but what we saw we really amazing. It's mind-boggling to think that 1, 2 thousand years ago these people had the same metal-working skills as goldsmiths today! This is a jaguar, a very important animal in the mythology of ancient Colombian cultures.

Riot

Thursday 1 May 2008

Today is Labor Day in Colombia, a national holiday. The students decided to take advantage of this, and have a great big rock-throwing protest! Ryan and I saw the whole thing (and very nearly got caught up in it), from gathering, to shouting, to throwing rocks and destroying public property, to tanks coming in and hosing everyone down and tear-gassing them. (Don't worry, we were well out of the way by then.) We never quite figured out the goal of the protesters, but it was clear they were unhappy with Uribe, the president.

This photo is actually courtesy of Ryan.