S and R

making every minute count

2012-02-16T07:21:00.000-08:00

I've gotten a bit lazy...and now I'm both realizing it mentally and physically!

I miss that feeling when we were living on the edge, knowing in my bones all the time that we were doing the right thing. It was our one chance to do whatever we were doing and if we had to starve for three days, or sleep in a ditch, or wake up at 3am to catch a plane, or talk a stranger into giving us directions, by jove! We were going to DO IT! It was about survival and basic needs being filled in order to meet that greater goal of "Chance of a life time." They were words to live by...screw time, money and all the odds and ends that keep things from happening, we were going to make them happen!!!

Looking back....we did it! What confidence and charisma! Way to tackle something huge and succeed!

I miss that feeling.
Now....every minute is more like every other week or month...if I feel like it....setting goals and making them happen just seems like too much work.

There's something about life being so easy and accessible that makes me want to curl up in a ball on my couch and watch t.v. and eat crap.....or perhaps this is simply called the month of February in Wisconsin?!?

Well, whatever it is, I need to work on getting my edge back and working towards building up my dreams once again! Pushing ahead and making things happen! Cue chest beating and manly grunts of bravery!

I've been gaining a bit o' weight. The pants aren't fitting quite right...no bueno. I feel tired much of the time and working at a bakery isn't exactly a good influence on my dietary intake...to quote Rodolfo, "bread is easy!" It doesn't take much time or effort to make a sandwich or a delicious warm panini in my case (I looooooove grilled cheese, what can I say? It's my down fall!)

I started working at the bakery with a secret dream, to start up my own bakery in Santiago some day. I had hopes to work hard and diligently for these wonderful people in hopes of learning the ins and outs of bakery/barista work....I've definitely been putting in hours of labor serving/creating/baking/cleaning, but have I been growing in my overall knowledge? I don't know.

This post is more of a personal wake up call to myself. Spring is a comin' and with it, the awareness that time doesn't stand still. It's time to put on my game face and put forth the extra effort and assertiveness that it takes to make my dreams happen......these are long term goals now, not the day by day achievements of seeing the Eiffel Tower or the Pyramids....this kind of dream is day by day, but I can't lose that inner drive of making every moment count.

If you have any personal tricks up your sleeves to keep yourself motivated and in the game, please feel free to share!!

oxytocin day

2012-02-14T03:34:00.000-08:00

I don't mind chocolates, flowers are pretty, but the chocolate must be purchased randomly in bar form with a high cocoa level and not purchased on v-day and the flowers are appreciated more out in nature in some forest somewhere and not drooping and dying in my living room.
R man has never made these mistakes with me....whew!

In 2nd grade, I carefully made everyone in my class an individualized valentine with a picture and their name, and after passing them to each individual carefully and with extreme love, found each and every one of them discarded on the floor or the trash can a few minutes later when the bell rang for recess....which taught me a life long valuable lesson about such things....crap is crap.

I have nothing against V-day, but I also have nothing in favor of it.
I was never one of those girls buying or receiving carnations at school, the one boyfriend who bought me a long stem rose...well...needless to say, he's an ex boyfriend now for a reason.

All this being said, I am a romantic!

Back in 2007, (did I mention I'm obsessed?) Radio lab did an interesting take on the three main chemicals that rush thru our bodies when we fall in love....dopamine (eye locking instant love), nora epinephrin (physical attraction)...and.....

Oxytocin!
The long term comfy, happy, flannel pajama, eggs and toast, folding laundry together type love.
Now that's what I'm talkin' about! The kind of love that takes a licking and keeps on ticking!!!

So. In honor of oxytocin, I have my top 5 ways I keep my oxytocin rocking/the top 5 attributes that have kept us together thru the years and around the world.

1. Listening. I believe it takes more effort to listen then to talk. Both of us making an effort to listen to one another, especially in times of hardships, strong feelings and discomfort have made all the difference. I trust he won't talk over me, walk away from me or ignore me...that's pretty cool.
2. Talking. Both of us being willing to talk about the stuff that hurts us and makes us uncomfortable.....and just talking about whatever! Blabbing about our days and laughing at/with one another over the crazy things we do, little facts we've recently learned, a joke we heard, some local gossip....it's all awesome! I love catching up with my best buddy at the end of the day!
3. Silence. Letting one another just be...together. We both enjoy just sharing space with one another. Both working on our computers at the kitchen table in silence. Reading beside one another. Perhaps this is something we picked up the most while on the road. Sitting across from one another for lunch in silence might seem weird...but when you've spent the whole morning together, there really isn't much to catch up on! Respecting that moment of peace and quiet together is pretty nice.
4. Food. Rodolfo and I both share a passion for cooking and eating and sharing what we create with one another to show our love and appreciation for each other. It's weird perhaps?!? But it works for us! I show my love thru sweet things like pumpkin pies and cookies. He can create the most perfect seasoned sauces and stir fries, stews and so forth. We both enjoy getting the chance to treat each other and ourselves with what we consider special foods like ...almonds, chocolate, a beer, some times he even buys me cheese. What can I say? It works!
5. Hugs. Lots of em. Yep. We're snuggle buddies and proud of it. We are pretty darn infatuated with each other..and surprisingly for me, where I used to wonder how "physical attraction" type love could just keep going over so much time....my feelings for Rodolfo just seem to get stronger and deeper...as we head into our 3rd year married and our 7th year together. Not only is he an adorable and lovely person to be around, but he's freaking hot! As they say in Chile...mijito rico!!! I'm a lucky lady and I know it. I'm pretty certain he feels the same way about me.

So. Happy love day all! I hope you have some oxytocin going in your lives as well!!!! If not today...then perhaps another...oxytocin is well worth the wait!

Radio Lab

2012-02-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know why or what caused this, but I have just about gotten thru every single episode of Radio Lab. I absolutely love this show!!!!!

This is a show which dissects some crazy idea...be it....artistic, historic but usually scientific and similar to This American Life, (which I've sadly already heard every single episode in existence) tells different stories about this certain thing. Back when I was aggressively persuing some form of hobby to be able to obsess over, I spontaneously realized I could download every single episode of this splendid show to my computer for FREE! (and have been obsessively listening every day since!)

There is nothing more soothing to me now when I have to go to bed ridiculously early to be ready for work the net day then a juicy episode of scientific intrigue while laying in bed with the lights off....if I doze off, I simply catch what I missed the next day, no problem!

Listening to educational radio programs is awesome for someone like me because I tend to always have my hands and mind moving around. It lets my mind focus and learn about something cool while also utilizing my physical motor skills and keeping my hands busy...cooking, baking, cleaning, organizing....

So...I'm learning new cool stuff and expanding my horizons, I'm getting things done around the house and I'm being physically active!
Plus! It's not t.v.! No guilt! Hurrah!
What am I going to do once there aren't any left? Bummer.

granola eaters

2012-02-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

We pride ourselves on our normalcy...not to say we're normal...but we aren't the other options either....
Hipster
Hippy
Yuppy
Uppity...at least I hope anyways...
Foodies...well...does open mindedness make us foodies? Does love for eating food count to that?
(I actually think foodies are pretty awesome...I just don't know enough about food myself yet to get to truly use that label....something to work towards...becoming a 'foodie'...I'm nuts.)
Any other names or categories I should throw out?

I mean....I guess we BELIEVE we wouldn't fit into any particular category.

(as I finish up a fresh batch of homemade granola that's cooling on the stove top as I type this!)

We were having dinner with another couple we just met here in Madison this past fall and my new awesome lady friend said "you guys are the only organic type people we know" (which she meant with love) A lot of people that have recently met me are surprised I'm not vegetarian...I really can't figure that one out! Do I look vegetarian!?! What does a vegetarian look like exactly?!?

It's funny...these categories we have don't exist other places....most other places in Europe, Asia, South America....our lifestyle choices would be absolutely normal! Eating local and fresh food. Using public transportation/not owning a car. Trying to fit exercise in regularly. Entertaining guests at home....here, I feel....this is not so normal.

GRANOLA EATERS!
Yep....to start off with...I do make my own granola! It's a million times cheaper and healthier then buying it in a box...I'm a little obsessed about this. Does it taste nummy? Probably not, because it's loaded with flax seed, sunflower seeds, wheat germ and oatmeal with a tiny fraction of the sugar!

ORGANIC HIPPIES!
As for organic....the only things we purchase strictly organically are the things that just plain old taste better that we can afford! Carrots, sometimes yogurt, sometimes milk...our main objective is trying to buy locally, not organically, because produce, meats, eggs, dairy tend to taste better and be less expensive when they're made close by. This to me is critical anywhere!!! Farmers Market produce that's local is always Bigger, Fresher and Tastier then something you buy at a store that comes from the other side of the planet....that being said, I have some tasty Chilean blueberries I've been obsessed with in my fridge right now!!! In winter, beggars can't be choosers!

CAGE FREE
R man and I have a disagreement on eggs at the moment...he's switching to a strong following towards cage free, I'm personally pretty happy with some locally raised brown eggs...it's a thing...just depends on who is grocery shopping!

We try to buy local salami and sausage and occassionally add in a treat of chicken or turkey or pork once in a while...non free range....granted, I'm fully aware how absolutely delicious free range meat is to eat, it's just not in our price range.

FIXIES
We don't bike on fixies...we have shifts and breaks...but we use our bikes as transportation not recreation. The idea of biking without a destination in mind seems a bit weird to me now!

PBR
I'll drink whatever, neither of us are particular, but after just these last few months being in beerlandia, we're both getting a bit burnt out on the brew and are leaning a bit more on the wine and the strong stuff to keep our tummies happy through winter.

LEGGINGS
I like pants that fit. Not tights with a jean design spray painted on them. Not pants that fall off of me and flare out with pleats to create that extra lovely double butt effect. Somewhere inbetween. Normal people pants! Harder to find nowadays then you'd think!

Am I a yuppy? Don't have the funds for that title.
A hipster? Ditto.
An 'organic person'?!? See answers above.
A hippy? I am a card carrying customer of Banana Republic and the Gap. Plus....I eat meat.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying a steady, healthy lifestyle based on a bit of exercise, good food and the company of good friends and family...why the need to label?

I am looking forward to a time when daily routines and decision making on food choices in this country have changed so much that we ARE the normal....some day!

all grown'd up

2012-02-02T07:20:00.000-08:00

You know you're a grown up and not just growing up when you......
(and "you" refers to...well.."me"!)

think your parents are cool....like...you hang out and stuff
put plastic up on your apartment windows to save energy
wear a bike helmet, because you can't afford not to
enjoy comfy cotton underwear.....long johns.....big thick socks.....flannel anything....
notice that first little wrinkle in the crease beside your eye...you point it out to your husband and he says..."Oh! WOW!!!! Oooh!"
start to try to collect funds for rainy days that's prepared for a hurricane
stop really caring what other people think of your....well...anything
pluck that first grey hair....
better yet....pluck that first, second, third and hundredth hair that's where it shouldn't be!
talk to people younger than you, they open their mouths and you smile in compassion and keep your mouth shut....they won't get it til they're your age
start to dream of dental insurance and the thought of it is more exciting then concert tickets
can poke your own flab and make it dance
would rather stay in with a good book and a tea then consider the possibility of a beer at a bar in the cold at night
forget how old you are
bend to pick something up and something inside of you creaks like an old house

Yep.
I'm old.
Thanks winter for making these things so blatantly obvious to me!
Here's to hoping spring hurries itself up and comes soon to warm up my decaying spirit!!!!

workity work work work'n

2012-01-30T18:04:00.000-08:00

WORK- funny word....work....if you just said it looking at it, wouldn't you say it like dork? or fork? work....like the midwestern way to say milk is really 'melk', or cumin is said "cue-man"...I love words...

Anyways...from going totally homeless and jobless for a year to my current 40 hrs/week in an establishment scenario in just one country (I sound like such a little snob...what's new...I'm such a jerk)...yep..it's time for....pros and cons time!

workin'
pro: $
con: ~~time~~

social work
pro: a fun and funky social network of coworkers and customers to connect with and get to know
con: passive aggressive tendencies and disgruntlements of other people's work styles and customers who treat me like I'm lower then dirt to make themselves feel bigger...it happens...
*** Be nice to your servers, smile, say please..and tip! Servers have feelings too!!! ***
(Do you have to clean toilets and other peoples baby vomit, mop floors and smile while you're doing it all for not so much money?!?....ok then!)

body work
pro: I've now got arms like robo-cop thanks to many a large bag of flour and pulling out vats of dough from an oversized mixer! Just last night I handed R man something at the dinner table..."damn girl! I'd hate to run into you in a dark alley....you could punch me out" It's true. I could! No flabby flab growing here!!!
con: when I stretch my back just so I can make it go...'click'....'click, click, click!'

brain work
pro: the brain juices are definitely pumping...my motor memory, adding and short term memory are at there best! 1 non fat 16 ounce mocha with 3 shots and a shot of flavor to go, 1 loaf of white bread sliced, 3 chocolate croissants, a raspberry scone ..oh....and a small hot apple cider. You got it! Uh...was that non fat? Right!
con: When I get home, I'm like a bucket of protoplasm. All I can handle is a beer, a rerun and an early bed time to recharge! No mas!

foot work
pro: I have this awesome pair of Dansko leather clogs my good friend Janice gave me long ago in college and I now live in them. I never fall...great traction, they're super comfy and they have this little bit of lift that gives me that feeling that I'm workin' it a bit...nice! Plus, I definitely feel like I get a workout while I'm working, running back and forth here and there, which makes me feel a bit less guilty when I gulp down a croissant or a cookie...nom nom nom nom nom!
con: Clogs. Every single day. Covered in flour and goo. No reason to buy cute shoes or boots....boo.

early rising
pro: I get to watch the sun come up in the morning
con: I'm watching the God DA$% sun come up in the morning!!!!!!

There's always pros and cons in any situation....
Luckily for the most part for me, the pros are definitely outweighing the cons...I have the best manager I've ever had, supportive coworkers who put up with my quirks and I'm you are all also sick of hearing about how great my job is....there's a reason people are dropping off resumes every day, besides the recession....I feel great about what I do, how I do it, and go to bed every night looking forward to tomorrow.....in that sense, not much has changed for me since our days on the road, every day is a gift!

y'all drive safe now!

2012-01-17T14:00:00.000-08:00

Today was our second day of whirlwind flurry fun and I'm beginning to realize how odd my daily commute is! Where's the challenge?!?

I live 4.5 blocks from work. I count them sometimes now as I walk. 2.25 blocks South, 2.25 blocks West. That's it! One major intersection with 6 lanes of traffic, a jiffy lube and a car wash, a few blocks of abandoned industrial buildings, one giant field now that currently smells like manure, a few little shops, and I'm there! 8 minutes walking, 4 minutes biking, tops! Taking a bus would be ridiculous! Driving would be silly!

So, this is going to sound kind of funny, but I'm feeling a bit left out of the crazy winter driving shinanigans!

There's all of this crazy holabaloo happening with crazy hysteria and mass anxiety that just doesn't effect me and I feel a bit left out! Shouldn't I be freaking out too?!?!??

I'm from MINNESOTA! Winter freakouts are a natural part of life!
Winter blizzards bring to my mind comforting activities like:
Scraping the windshield in the morning, warming up the car, starting to scrape the driveway, listening to winter weather reports on the radio, feeling nervous starting and stopping at intersections, running back and forth to the warmth of buildings to the warmth of a vehicle...swearing at the heater not working fast enough as toes and fingers begin to freeze inside of boots and mittens, swearing at the vents not working fast enough as the front window begins to frost over, more swearing when the people around start to drive like jack asses and the continual anxiety of potential accidents and being late....all of this....

I'm TOTALLY MISSING OUT!

No communal discussion amongst colleagues, no friendly banter with customers, no crazy morning commute stories of other yahoos driving like yahoos....

I did just spend 30 minutes clearing the snow off our sidewalk and driveway for our fellow pedestrians and non existent car.

After depositing some money at the bank, the teller politely warned me to 'drive safe now!"
I'll be honest...admitting that I didn't have a vehicle....
1) she didn't really care
2) I felt a little pathetic..almost downright unAmerican really! Not driving in a snowstorm???

So. For all of you getting to enjoy the crazy, stressful hecticness of it all...let me know how it's all going down so I can vicariously live thru you! I'll be honest, I envy you a bit! I'm getting a bit too hippy for..well...myself!

sticks

2012-01-11T20:18:00.000-08:00

With a winter storm expected tomorrow, I hurried out after work this afternoon for a wee bit o nature via bike....

What are these called again? Something about dogs!?! Anyone?

I heard a family of crows kawing away and found this fluffy adorable dude sitting below them.
I took this photo from about 10 feet away on a bike path, and when I turned around there were 5 runners all pulling out their cell phones to snap a quick shot as well. This fluffy dude is most definitely at a slight disadvantage with our current weather! He obviously doesn't realize we can SEE HIM!!!

biking to the grocery store

2012-01-10T15:56:00.000-08:00

It was so nice out again, we decided to bike out to buy some fresh lettuce.
I took these just an hour ago on our bike back home.

There was a willow tree above this little tree...
I thought it looked like they were trying to hold hands!

I don't know if you can see all three planes in the air? Well...
I loved how they all almost lined up with these cables all at once!

Sarah trying to take photos like a hipster....did it work?

a winter wonderland

2012-01-08T21:49:00.000-08:00

ok....so it's really more of a grassy wonderland!

Thanks to this crazy weather, R man and I took a walk around our neighborhood!

Here's what it looks like in our neck of the woods:

I've always biked by this and thought...man, what a beautiful warehouse!
3 blocks from home

old truck parked near the warehouse

East Johnson bridge near Tenney Park

Our new favorite neighborhood cozy brunch spot/bar

Ducks were out in full force!
I tried to explain directions to them, pointing and enunciating clearly..."SOUTH! THAT WAY!"
.....but they just wobbled away!

My theory is that these geese in a line are simply walking South!

Attention ice fisherman! I've found your ice!!!!
*make sure to bring your wet suit this year!

Walking back home across the Yahara River on Willy St.

The view of the capital a few blocks from home
Yay for winter nature photo walking!

resolutionized

2012-01-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

I was informed by a good friend a few hours before midnight on the Eve of the New Year that I needed to have some resolutions planned...but not the lame kind like starting a diet or exercising....luckily those are both things I can't physically do..the moment I make an agenda about food and exercise, it all goes down hill from there! As long as I keep the idea of cooking food and physical activity as 'fun' things to do, not tasks, I tend to do better with them!

So! Actual non lame resolutions I'm hoping to accomplish!

Learn to drive 'stick' - the malicious manual transmission and I are not acquainted - it can't be that hard, right? Of course, this would also mean actually having use of a car...we'll see!
Watch an entire Packer football game in a local Wisconsinite bar, drinking Wisconsin beer, wearing the appropriate Packer paraphernalia....I've never done it....there must be something to it if everyone else here enjoys it so much!
Decorate my house with a bit o' class. I'm not really the kind of person who's good at this, but after an inspirational visit to a friends house in Durham N.C., I have to try! Painting, window curtains, appropriate furniture in appropriate places....since we're in one place for more then a month surrounded by the same windows and walls, it's worth a try!
Learn and master 5-10 new dinner entree recipes from other parts of the world and make them correctly....meaning, go out and buy the right ingredients and not just half ass it with what I currently have in my cabinets.
My hair. I have yet to find a picture of myself from the last 10 years where I don't look like a wet dog. I'm done listening to stylists, my friends, Rodolfo and myself....I'm growing it out and I'm going to learn how to make it look like real people hair ....and not whatever it is I seem to have done for...well...forever. As much as I hate the fact of how important hair hygiene is to people of the world, I am a person.......not a Chihwawa....I can't just keep shaving it off when it gets hot outside like they would at the pet salon....time to buck up and grow up!
Stop worrying about finances and just simply enjoy life. I tend to worry a lot about money, so this is a big one for me. I'm going to try and wake up in the morning and not check my bank account immediately and not have the first words I say out loud be about cash flow or what we can or cannot afford. I want to not worry about saving for a rainy day tomorrow and live for today. (I know a lot of people should/need to do the exact opposite, but I'm a special case/a Minnesotan cheap skate)

Appalachian photos!

2011-12-28T18:35:00.000-08:00

As promised, I'm back in the midwest once again armed with photos!

There was plenty of......

mountains

meat

hiking by R man's cousins cabin

a day trip to Asheville N.C.

meanderings

majestic views

man time

metamorphisis

and most importantly.....

meaningful, wonderful, fabulous time spent with fantastic family!

Appalachians

2011-12-27T08:38:00.000-08:00

We've been taking tons of pictures here, but I of course forgot my computer thing-y to download them.
So! Here are some random appreciation's of this beautiful countryside!

People put up squares on their barns that look like quilts (different symmetrical designs with different shapes and bright colors) The barn could be falling apart from roof to door, but they still have these designs!

Jams....oh so good here! I bought a local apple butter our first night here and it disappeared in one morning! It's not butter and not apple sauce but something in between. Dense and rich enough to smear on like jam, but with a light cinnamon flavor! Super yummy!

Accents. People have lovely accents....I love accents, I think they're so cool. It helps define a local culture and make us all feel special. I was in a check out line to buy some groceries and I couldn't understand a word the gentleman in front of me was saying to the check out clerk. How cool is that?!?

Pecans. We keep meaning to stop by a "wholesale" stand and purchase some. We haven't quite gotten to it yet.

The countryside is sprinkled with log cabins and little trailer homes. It's definitely a plethera'd variety of different classes and varieties of people living next door to one another.

TREES! You look out your car window and what you see all around you all the time is hillsides completely covered with old beautiful fluffy trees. It's winter and the hilsides still look like fluffy brownish green clouds peppered with pine trees and many other trees I've never seen before. All tall. All thin. All moving in the breeze. Really beautiful!

People are friendly! They smile and they're curious about what the heck we're doing here. I've been blessed a few times by strangers already, just for purchasing milk and I've been forgiven at the gas station for not knowing what type of oil to buy. Which brings me to....

Churches! Holy church! People love church! There's one or five every half mile of every different variety, but the most popular by far. Baptist! Wow! They vary from little steeples to big chunky box squares to warehouses, but there are a multitude and they are EVERYWHERE!

Blue ridge...there's a road that runs South to North thru the entire Appalachian Mountains along the ridges and cliff sides, which reward the journey with the most incredible overlooks I've ever seen! You drive...you look, you drive, you look...it's really quite meditative.

CARS! In our entire weeklong stay in North Carolina, I've rarely seen people walking to get somewhere. There really isn't an easy way to get from point A to point B without a car. I'll admit this is a drastic change for us coming from Madison as carless bikers. I'm definitely in need of some exercise!

Pics to come tomorrow once we arrive home again! Then it's back to work. It's been a blast!

making gnocci with chopsticks

2011-12-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

today Rodolfo's cousins mom (who lives in Buenos Aires usually) is showing me how to make homemade gnocci! So far, we've boiled water, added salt and then 1 cup self rising flour per cup of water. (1 cup of each per person)

So...I just witnessed the coolest thing! When she added the flour to the boiling water, she used CHOPSTICKS!

This is something I haven't really considered doing before, but seeing someone else do it and see how easy things seem to mix together, I'm inspired to give it a try. It seems to mix better then when I use a big old spoon with less clumpiness and it's not as messy as a whisk!

So cool! I'm converting to the sticks!

changes in climate

2011-12-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

One of the mega reasons R man was not too ecstatic about moving back to Wisconsin was the weather.

We are officially in it. The first snow hit and stuck over night two evenings ago, long enough for drivers to start and stop on streets covered in icy wet muck and create a monster called black ice.

Thanks to these wonderful people who believe that revving their engines and screeching their tires as a means to successfully get their car a little more stuck, I, Sarah, pulled a "Noooooo!!!!!!!! Ow. Ow. Ow."
and fell flat on my face in the middle of the street having stopped for an oncoming stop sign on my bike. To the great pleasure of the onlooker/porch smoker a few yards away, who informed me that in such circumstances, it's quite all right to curse a bit. (Thanks eerie old dude hanging out in the cold!) In the next many blocks of biking, I most certainly DID take part in that age old activity of ranting fowl words in any direction at the fact of my bruised leg and pride.

The long underwear is getting worn, the thermal socks and Gordini mittens are being appreciated, the great switch over from warm happy days of sun to survival have occurred. Which is why, of course, R man and I are leaving shortly for some days with fam and friends in the mountains of North Carolina! Hopefully this will be just the ticket for pushing our way thru the thick of things and reminding ourselves that warm weather will return again.

Stupid black ice. Grrrrr.
Stay warm!

searching for a hobby

2011-12-18T07:21:00.000-08:00

When we were traveling, it was pretty much a nonstop 24 hour experience. The moment we woke up, we were back on, ready to perform and get stared at walking thru the streets, figuring out where to go to find food and what time we needed to check out of the hostel we were staying at and then making plans for what was next. It never stopped.

There were occasional boring moments, but never enough time to be able to focus on any one thing for longer then an hour. Perhaps a book would come into play, but nothing permanent that I could plan on doing every day. Where would I put it? Generally speaking, my greatly valued book once read got traded in for the next in every other city.

Now that I'm working again, I've discovered a little thing called "down time". I know. Everyone talks so much about how busy life is, how chaotic and hectic and crazy it all gets...and this can be true some days, but for the most part, I have 3-4 hours before R man gets home where I sit around the house, check my email and facebook, perhaps watch a movie, drink an after work beverage, read a blog or listen to a podcast and cook....and that's it! I'm becoming....boring.

I told all this to my boss one day while shaping bread and he had this to say...

"Sarah. You need a hobby! I play disc golf...it's great! Nature sightings....exercise...picking herbs and mushrooms...do you like disc golf?"

Sadly, I don't think disc golf IS my thing, since my direction and aim with small objects leaves something to be desired, but the man has a point!

My mom creates beautiful things out of fabric. My dad likes to participate in group fitness of any variety. My brother can improvisation-ally draw to live music like a guru. Hobbies totally run in the family!

I need myself a hobby!

So. I'm on the lookout. Nothing that has to be done and completed at a certain time. Something soothing and repetitive. Something that actually does not involve intense physical labor (I run a lot at my job) and probably something that doesn't involve cooking or baking (as I'm obsessed with these things as it is)

I've started practicing spanish flash cards again and occasionally ponder taking a business course of some kind online...

Remember that guy in Amelie who collected footprints? I once had a French teacher who liked to collect odd looking curbs and street signs. Maybe I should start collecting something myself! Say...doors. I'm quite fond of rounded brightly colored doors with windows in them and old fashioned door handles. Or....perhaps natural growing plants shaped as odd looking vegetables. There's a certain tree near our house that I swear looks exactly like a broccoli every time I bike by it.

I'm trying to get back into music, but it's a slow start as accordian isn't the most soothing instrument in the world and not all that comfortable either. I can't perform in louder groups due to my hearing loss...

Ideas??!?!?!? I'm open!!

Pizza night!

2011-12-17T20:14:00.001-08:00

dreams of things

2011-12-16T10:28:00.000-08:00

As always my friend and fellow blogger Kyria is always inspiring me with her ideas and thoughts on the world. Just today I read her blog called Less is More. Having traveled in some of the same places at around the same times, ever since we met, I love checking in on what she's up to and thinking about, because our thoughts for some reason tend to run parallel on lots of things.

After traveling, as you know, R man and I decided we wanted to return to normal life for a while.

A job. An apartment. Cell phones. A kitchen. It's lovely, absolutely lovely. All of it.
(Sarah does a happy dance)

We are to the point that we are even quasi redecorating!

I'm not that 'type' of gal who lives at Crate and Barrel - although I AM the oggling type passing by plate and glass display windows, so I'm using the term 'redecorate' lightly, in terms of major essential household furniture purchases and such.

We still don't want to be tied down to stuff in case the feeling hits us that it's time to leave (which we both decided is important to us), but as handy and useful as a card table is, it's not the same experience to eat on when inviting..say...your in laws or your boss over for dinner. Nothing says, "enjoy this fine meal" like a folding chair as they sit down to eat!

We 'needed' a table.

So! Something had to be done! After scanning ads for IKEA and target and staring dazed and terrified at furniture websites with tables and chairs for $2,000 each, we went the craigslist route.

We ended up scoring a gorgeous old antique wooden dining room table complete with original extendors (it can sit 8 people! 8!) with chairs for 4! WITH CHAIRS! All for $35. Awesomeness!
We were even physically able to carry it home the required 5 blocks! I have the arm bruises to prove it!

But...there's a big but....this purchase? Goes against a lot of what I've come to believe is the lifestyle I want and crave. Not to be tied down to things. Not to buy more then what is essential for a happy life.

We wanted something used and a bit beat up...and yes, cheap...not only to fit the budget, but so that we wouldn't feel bad when the time came to put it up for auction again. Now that it's in our 'dining room,' we've both mentioned how unique and awesome it is and how much we'd rather rent a storage unit to save it, then to let it go to the junk heap....so....are we turning to the dark side? Is it bad to crave comfort and pretty shiny things?!? I don't know. But at the moment, that pretty old antiquey table that's mine? IT'S MINE!!!! HWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! No backsies!

=)

things that make me happy

2011-12-09T09:04:00.001-08:00

What is it that makes us like what we like?
Why do some people adore certain things and others detest them?

Onions. ACDC. Kumquats. The color 'burnt orange'. Bryan Adams. Guinness. Being too hot or cold. Spinach. Goat Cheese. Nirvana. Fennel. Biking. Running. Walking. Driving. Everyone has opinions and preferences that differ drastically from one another and that's so crazy cool!

I don't know! I totally don't get it! I used to think it could be a gender thing, an age thing, an American thing...but...then I met Rodolfo....a lover of Madonna AND an appreciator of ACDC! Who knew!

So. For no other reason other then the pure appreciation and love I feel for certain things in my life now, I'd like to share with you, in no particular order....things that make me happy! Today! One day only! (It could change tomorrow)
Perhaps it will inspire you to make your own happy list!

The smell and texture of freshly baked cinnamon rolls and the little sound they make when you peel them off the pan.
The song "The winner takes it all" by ABBA
kneading dough - any dough - any time
The NPR show "This American Life"
hearing Rodolfo laugh hysterically...well...just Rodolfo in general!
hummus - well, beans in general...beans with rice....oh yeah!!!!!
"California Stars" by Wilco
A piece of something strongly sweet and rich with an espresso
"Pa Mayte" by Carlos Vives
fresh lime - juicing it with my fingers, the flavor of it accompanying/in anything...mmm.
"Libertango" by Astor Piazzola
the smell, the color, the texture and the feel of good extra virgin olive oil
good butter on good bread
A local Wisconsin Porter
"La Camisa Negra" by Juanes
Extra Sharp Wisconsin Cheddar
Watching people eat something I made...and they say/grunt a little "mmm" ....LOVE IT!
LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem"....I don't do beer pong, but I can totally get down to this! It reminds me of many a good time.
My Dansko work clogs and the fact that my feet never hurt after standing for 12 hours straight.
"Waka waka" by Shakira. I've heard this song 1000's of times...and I still like it! It's a catchy tune, but also...Africa/the world cup/the people who live there...all that...it makes me so happy! In tie with that...I also adore K'naan's "wave your flag"...now looking back, I guess I'll probably hear these songs in 20 years and think...dude...I was there! Wow!!!

I'd say that's enough to get to the point of annoying.
What makes you happy?!?!?!?!?!?

contributions

2011-12-05T07:04:00.001-08:00

Last night we watched a documentary film on the life of Bob Dylan.

After studying many a genius in so many music history classes, I put together a little theory on musical geniuses that I picked up hearing the stories of one legendary composer/artist after another and I'm sticking to it.

Every time I hear about a new musical child prodigy or just an insanely talented new musical artist, I now think...whew...dodged that bullet! I'm not quite sure how this formula works out exactly, but always seems to turn out to be true...in no particular order....

- drugs and large amounts of booze
- lack of quality sleep
- long hours in a small bus/train/plane on the road
- ability to perform takes priority over personal relationships
- friendships and great loves get stressed and complicated and disappear - stop trusting others
- people stop loving you for you and instead love what you can do to make them happy
- money becomes meaningless (if you're successful)/money ends up killing you
- longing and sadness for some kind of normalcy take over

A human being isn't meant to be put under that kind of pressure mentally/physically/spiritually...it's not healthy!

I appreciate and respect the sacrifice it takes for people to become great/famous/whatever you choose to call it. I don't want to be one of them. I could have tried and I chose not to and I'm so happy with that decision. In a time where reality t.v. shows are king and every one wants a piece of the fame, I'll be honest....it's a curious experience from afar, but for me, no thanks! I like having simple pleasures of every day living. I like having friends and family to spend time with and a significant other to argue with and know we'll be there for each other...something that doesn't seem to exist for many a famous person.

R man made the comment...."wow...think of everything he did at such a young age"

I said, 'look at everything we've done! I feel like I've done enough for two life times!"

What's wrong with making a contribution to the world on a micro level. Granted, my tiny miniscule contribution won't be celebrated at the end of the nightly news, but those around me every day that spend time laughing and crying with me....they know. Kudos to those who choose the great personal sacrifice it takes to achieve their personal ambitions, but I feel a bit sorry for them in that they won't get to experience all of the richness in everyday things that make life worth living.

a material girl

2011-12-05T07:02:00.001-08:00

After all of that preaching, we are about to buy a new kitchen table and R man has a camera on order with Amazon...

Apparently I'm still a 'material girl'

Lovin' the stuff! Oh yeah!

Black Friday...Cyber Monday...Throwing Thursday?

2011-12-01T13:26:00.001-08:00

I tried.
I really tried.
I searched and searched thru websites and paper ads, amazon and special offers on email after email offering great money saving deals just for me!

I purchased nothing.

I was so motivated at wanting to take part in this American Cultural event, I was almost desperate to find just one, ONE THING I felt like I could potentially want from the plethara of items being advertised as too good to miss!

I'm talking HOURS looking at this and that, pleading with big buggy eyes to Rodolfo that say...
"pretty, pretty please?"
and his curt response of....
"Do we need it?"
and my pathetic and honest answer of ...
"nope."

I looked at cute little dresses at Target and electronics at Best Buy, I even considered some extra special silk long underwear at Sierra Trading Post, but in all honesty.....my wardrobe and home are pretty set...I say this with slight regret, because I'll be honest, the American Women in me wants to SHOP!!!!
It feels wrong...kind of unpatriotic...not to!

Before our travels, Rodolfo and I agreed that for every item we add to our wardrobe/kitchen counter/bathtub/closet, we have to throw something away....now we are at a point where we are still tossing things here and there with no real urge to purchase a replacement.

It's amazing to be at a point where I need...well....nothing.
Want...sure...why not, but need?
Eh.

After being in so many countries where a man owns one outfit and carefully washes and irons that single outfit every day to look their best, well....I guess that mental attitude towards things has finally rubbed off on me....makes me question the importance of things....

I'm not just talking about the small villages in remote parts of Africa or Asia where such items are scarce...I'm talking about London and Tokyo, where you have to really save up in order to buy a good pair of boots or a nice coat, but when you do finally purchase...that pair of boots will be the best damn boots someone will ever wear...they'll be comfortable, adorable and that person will probably be buried wearing that one pair of boots 80 years down the line....anywhere but here, really, that's how it is!

I've recently become obsessed with clothes and kitchen appliances made anytime before the 70's...you'll notice the quality is just better....they last longer, were made more durably...somewhere in there, things in the States stopped being made with quality in mind. It's all about quantity!

I know it's supposedly good for the economy, but if everyone stopped to question the meaning and purpose behind all of this purchasing mania, would they wonder if it's truly worth it?!? Does it make them happy?!? What if instead, people stopped and looked around their homes and found a few things here and there that they could give away/discard that might create space in their home for something that makes them happier...or just create that extra open space....why not just let it go?

Granted...we're crazy hippies who left all of our worldly possessions and friends in exchange to wander around all over the place with great big heavy bags on our backs. Bags with no extra room for more stuff...who am I to talk? Crazy weird travel lady....but let me stop and ask...where do you think we got the money for our trip? No nest eggs...no crazy patents.

Just remember, when the time comes to keel over, you can't bring it with you!
Hmmm....what to ditch next?!?

life in a day

2011-11-21T10:54:00.001-08:00

I just watched a documentary which features people all over the planet with camcorders on just one day called...guess what..."life in a day"

Great film.
Something I always feel curious about is learning what people's lives are like on a day to day basis...something great about traveling and staying with different places and friends was learning what is appropriate to eat for breakfast in different places. How do people bathe or go to the bathroom? What time and how people go to work. That for me was the most interesting part of all!

Now that I'm back into a routine of working daily life, I definitely don't have as much "interesting" stuff to blog about on a regular basis, but today, I feel inspired to share what a regular day is like for me....if you have a blog going and feel inspired, I'd love to hear about your routine! (If you don't have a blog and want to share, email me and I'll post your routine here!!!)

A work day morning routine as a baker/barista (so far):

Wake up to alarm at 5:25am.
Cuddle Rodolfo for an extra 5 minutes...R man kicks me out of bed with a sleepy "Sarah, go, you'll be late"....grumble, grumble, sit up, hit cold floor with feet, grumble and I'm off!
Probably crash into a stool in the kitchen, yelp, find light switch
Pee/Brush teeth, put on clothes (strategically placed in a pile in the bathroom the night before)
Stare in mirror at horror of hair situation....put on hat/braid hair (If I'm in the bakery, I wear a head hanky, barista...I've been trying to look a bit cute and french braid my bangs back)
I don't put on deoderant or perfume - it interferes with the natural smell of the bakery, crazy but true!
I throw on my dansko leather work clogs and a coat, locate my bike light and keys and I'm off.
5 minute bike commute thru deserted warehouse district (about 6 whole blocks). We live 1/2 block away from the bus depot and I've happily discovered the hoard of buses for the morning share a busy intersection I cross that is scheduled to turn green every 60 seconds around 5:45am...perfect!)
Walk in to the bakery, yawn, grab a coffee and clock in
Around 5:50-6am my work day begins....

Barista - making coffee, putting out pastries, displaying breads, heating water, preparing the cafe for a busy day

Baker - joining in the crazy hectic end of night shift baker world, preparing orders to go out, slicing bread, last minute touches on pastries and breads for the front and trying to help out and not be a nuisance as much as possible

7-8am

Barista - taking orders, making beverages, clearing tables, serving food

Baker - mixing things, measuring things, helping shape bread, looking confused and bewildered

(repeat these for many, many hours)

2pm I finish up my work

I'm usually covered in flour and sweat, my back hurts a bit and my whole body is tired and ready for a rest. I'm a bit hungry, a bit cranky, but satisfied and happy to go home.

I go home and take a shower, change my clothes and grab a beverage,
check my email and begin to think about dinner. Perhaps I watch a movie/read the news/ check my google reader/facebook while eating a snack.
Then I call R man to make plans for the evening.
6-7pm - Make dinner
7-9pm Eat and clean up from dinner joking around and catching up with the hubby/friends
9-10pm - Lay out clothes for the next day....fall asleep reading a book

And that's it!

Boring....but for me having a routine...it's golden! I'm loving it!!!

5135

2011-11-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

That's how many emails I have in my inbox...but not for long.

I decided to clean house...or my inbox anyways.... this afternoon.
Apparently since the year 2005, I had no idea what the trash button was for.

I don't know what's more depressing...the fact that most of my inbox is filled with junk mail or that over the years, emails became less about expressing how much I cared about friends and family, but more of a post it note of dates, times and places....

I'm not really a phone person, and I'm learning thru my inbox that I'm also not really an email person, I haven't and don't want to master the art of texting.....in this incredible time where we can reach anyone within seconds....all of this access has made me shy. With loved ones all over the world, how often do I keep in contact with anyone?!?

5135....of these oh so important messages, perhaps 50 of them have any meaning or merit.
The last time I wrote my husband a love letter (or email for that matter) was years ago.

We'll see how many hours deleting 5,000 emails will take up this afternoon!

married people music

2011-10-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

This is weird, but now that I'm no longer a musician (I can really say that...it's true...I've moved on) I feel very connected to music in a liberating way.

When someone asks me what kind of music I like, although I don't have a very clear answer, I feel like whatever I do answer is, well, my own....I can own what I say and mean it. I can have an opinion and not have to be deep about it...I can like music just ..well...because! That's kind of cool!

Growing up, I heard NPR talk radio around the house, in between I played percussion in orchestras, sang in choirs, walked rhythmically in a marching band....music had always been a sort of job, even as a child, not something to be taken lightly, not something that was...well..fun. It was fun of course, but in the way that work is fun. I felt good about it, I was focused and concentrated on all kinds of music....but I wasn't exactly collecting albums of Mozart or getting my shoulder signed in sharpie by the guest lecturer discussing the art of the perfect orchestral gong crash....I didn't start to understand or like pop/rock/punk/folk or anything besides classical until college, when I began checking out 20 compact discs at a time from the public library, starting at the beginning of the year with A and ending with Z.....really...I did this.

R man on the other hand..... he knows the dates, recording studios, drummers, bass players and all the other little itty bitty details about all of his favorite bands....his childhood memories revolve around certain bands, certain concerts...rock videos....tour dates....from c.d. and tape collections to t shirts and music festivals....I knew this all about him before I married him....he's a walking encyclopedia of international rock n' roll factoids which I find extremely endearing coming from the other side of the spectrum.

There's something about that difference between us that pulls us together with music. Granted his tastes range a little further into Rolling Stones, Kanye West and Yeah Yeah Yeah's than my Minnesota girly tastes of Wilco and Andrew Bird, (what he calls Chamomile Tea music) but we always seem to be able to meet somewhere in the middle.

We've been sitting together wasting time on our computers and he put on one of our favorite groups, The New Pornographers (in case my grandparents are reading this.....this isn't actually a dirty group, they're quite cute actually, just a little hipster) and he said something like, "yep, this is one of our married life songs"....one of our first dates was a Coldplay concert....my very first live 'non classical' music performance ever....changing my world of music forever.

Somewhere in between the two of us, we discovered music that we both love and enjoy listening to. It reminds me of some of the best times in our lives together and discovering new groups that we both love...well...it's like a little challenge and an exciting surprise...what will be the next song/band/performance that inspires us as we cook dinner together or sip a coffee...I look forward to finding out!

Apprentice Baker

2011-10-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Photo taken by Madison Sourdough Co. (that's me, and the head baker/owner Drew)

It's official!
I'm now apprenticing to learn the art of baking and pastries at Madison Sourdough Company!

I had my first short day of training yesterday, which seemed like it flew by in only a few minutes....I've never been so excited to learn/see/knead/layout and watch so many exciting little details for what goes into the process of baking and creating pastries and breads, (particularly at this particular establishment, where every detail is fine tuned, every second counts and every baker puts their all into what they do). It's an honor to learn from people who feel such passion for their work and take pride in creating a product of such caliber and quality. For those of you have tried MSCO bread, you know what I'm talking about! For those of you who haven't, dude, you've got to try this stuff! You are missing out!!!!

I don't think I've been this excited to learn something since...well...my years playing marimba. Timing. Order. Details.....that you have to have the right feel to get it right. There's something about it that just seems to fit with my brain....it's really hard to explain, but I feel so fortunate to be excited to learn something again and be a part of something that's become incredibly important to me.....locally made, great quality bread. I know I sound like a freaking advertisement, but you would as well if you were in my shoes!!! Freaking smiling from head to toe.....that's me!

The thing is, I have a feeling I'll feel the same way a year from now...time will tell I guess...I'll keep you posted!

The things not said

2011-10-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

We went to see John Carlos speak last night. To Rodolfo's amazement, I didn't know who he was....Rodolfo on the other hand was honored at the potential opportunity just to be in the same room with him. I think this says more about the American education system then my intelligence...but...I'll take the hit.

I had to Wikipedia him this morning to get the full magnitude of who this man is (after seeing him speak in person, this is slightly embarrassing) but inspiring is just the start of it.

He spoke for an hour or so about a lot of his life experiences, including feeling guilty that he hadn't been present at the time of Malcom X's death, details of a conversation he had with Martin Luther King and the deep feelings he has about the suicide of his wife after years of death threats and propaganda aimed towards him and his family....his biggest message....that we shouldn't be afraid of the bigger powers that try to hurt us and push us down, no matter the consequences to ourselves.

In his message he said we all have the potential to stand up and do what he did, to become heroes and speak up for what we feel is right...the difference is, many of us just don't, because we are afraid.

Rodolfo's brother in law said to me one year ago, "Sarah, you've been to all of these places, you owe it to the world to talk about what's it's like, people want to know" and my response was "no, they don't, because it's not always very pretty, I don't want to make people worry more" What I didn't say, was that I was afraid.....I considered writing anonymously, but today, everything can be tracked down quite easily....I don't know what the right answer is, or how safe it is to speak my mind, especially, when there are people with a low tolerance for differences of opinion.

Do I believe there is potential for a repeat of history....do I believe that those who speak up the loudest are the first to get hurt....yes. Important things to think about here in Madison Wisconsin right now. Where to go from here is the question I'm asking. Each of us decide to take the actions of how we want to be remembered in history....how do I want to be remembered.....decisions, decisions....

Table for....one

2011-10-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

Back when I used to wait tables at a Thai Restaurant, there was just one thing that for some reason made me think:
"hoe hum poopers, life can suck"
I would try to smile a bit more taking an order, but end up in a frown walking away.

What was this?
Seeing someone all dressed up, sitting alone at a table.

Everyone has "things" and for me, that's the biggest. Eating alone is difficult enough for me to do, because I connect it so much with my social connections of catching up with friends and family, catching up on local news, not to mention, just getting opinions and thoughts about what I'm eating....yes...I'm a super social eater!

I personally can't stand sitting alone myself...particularly at a table for two, staring at an empty chair in a busy room feeling a little sad that I'm going solo and I have no one to share the experience with....perhaps I'm just weird, but it just feels a little wrong. Granted, to each their own, I'm sure there are plenty of people who prefer eating alone...but to me, it's up there with cleaning the toilet, killing spiders or sitting on gum....ucky!

It seems like an odd little detail to be grateful for, but the fact that my current work establishment has a bar that's nice and long with tall old fashioned swivel backed wooden chairs where we keep the daily paper and a laid back atmosphere where anyone can sit where ever they like. I love this! A bar gives the option that it's ok to go solo, with no empty chair staring back. It's ok to read the paper for hours, write in a journal or just..you know...eat!

Of course there's the regular tables for couples on first dates and old timers sharing a sandwich and a pastry giving googly eyes at each other (as witnessed a few days ago..so cute!)...but sometimes it's nice to have the option to ponder your own brain, while staring at beautiful racks of bread or out the window, munching on a pastry, sipping some coffee and comfortably listening to the ambiance without a waitress trying to rush someone out the door to give a table away to the next group.

Have I mentioned I really like where I work. Every day I find something else I love about it. Granted these "something else's" are weird things like table and chair arrangements....welcome to my world!
Gushing done.

fall is here!

2011-10-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

I'm celebrating the changing of the seasons with all my favorite fall activities!!!!
Although I know R man is dreading the coming winter, I have to admit it's nice to get to be a part of actual seasons once again that I'm familiar with....adding hats and mittens and blankies and big cups of tea to the mix is the kind of stuff that makes me feel uber comfy!

So far:

Baked two pumpkin pies
Ate many an apple
put the big blanket on the bed
made 4-5 stews/curries - I love cooking in great big pots when it's cold out!
Went for three leaf peeping tours via bike

Capital City Trail - solo
The Arboretum - with my folks
The Badger State Trail - with Rodolfo to and from Belleville (yesterday)

I'm actually wearing my slippers around the house!
Just like squirrels and fluffy bears, R man and I managed to stock up our pantry/spice drawer for the coming months....I'm particularly feeling the need this year due to our plan to go carless all winter long!!! Awww!!!

Any favorite things that make you comfy in the fall that you'd recommend trying out?

macchiato?

2011-10-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

I am now a barista.....that means human coffee maker....I'm a Mrs. Coffee.
Try explaining to a financial consultant what that is as you try to sign up for a retirement fund....then tell them how much you make....then! Try to be taken seriously....yeah.....that went really well...not.

The thing is, I seriously love it. I love foaming milk. I love counting out money. I love the people part of the deal. It suits me and my crazy random personality really well. The chefs don't mind my random falcetto singing while I slice bread. The customers don't mind if I'm goo-ing and gaw-ing at their adorable babies. I kind of love the satisfaction of making great big messes and then cleaning them up. I love getting to be in charge of the cafe music and singing along to my favorite songs and perhaps dancing around occasionally, like the crazy lady I am.... It's all good.

Rodolfo doesn't mind, because when I come home at night I smell like up scale buttery pastries and coffee...I'm pretty sure that's even a scent you can buy in the candle section at Michael's now adays...it sure beats the old work smells of Thai fried food or butter cream frosting caked into my work clothes....

So if you've ever worked jobs like this, you know you learn random weird stuff you'd never need to know outside of a cafe, and although the rest of the world thinks it's easy.....well....I've learned so many weird things these past few months I thought I should share a few...

Here are some little factoids I've picked up in the last couple of weeks:

The perfect temp for a latte can be felt at 160 degrees when it slightly burns your palm when you cup your hand against the milk frothing pitcher
To create just the right froth you need the milk to spin just so with your steaming wand at that exact degree at the right balance between air and milk and you can only feel this after messing it up about 100 times....you only have about 30 seconds to get it spot on.
Tamping espresso shots has to be done at an exact pressure pushing down and if its not just so, your shot is spoiled, the grounds will be too loose or too packed and taste yucky.
Many Green teas taste a lot better when you don't use boiling water, which can actually cause the tea to taste more bitter or even rancid. Tea is all about oxidation/temperature/brewing time and correct quantity.
Medium/lighter roasts have more caffeine then darker roasts
A macchiato is an espresso with a small dallop of foam on top
Coffee has more caffeine then espresso
Chai can be brewed easily from a mix of individual spices muddled together and left to brew
Earl Grey is simply a black tea with Bergamot added

There is plenty more where that came from, but having to do more in the areas of bread and pastry education/serving etiquette/short term memory skills/memorizing names of people, beverages and ingredients lists/pairing breads to meals....the level that this can be taken to is infinite....I will never know enough and there will always be room for improvements and questions to be asked. I love it!

So much of a job is also who you work with. I feel so fortunate to really like all of my coworkers and our incredible customers. I've never felt so inspired to learn a trade as I am now....no matter how oddly it's viewed by others....when you feel passionate about something...even if it's coffee...you have to go with it!

workin' girl

2011-10-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

Besides obsessively cleaning our apartment because we have one, making REAL coffee every morning and basking unconciously in the glory that is a real, high quality, wooden bed frame/bed box/mattress set, in a quiet room, with a curtain that keeps the light out...(aka, the best sleep we've had in years night after night!!!! AMAZING!), I've gotten back to work!

I've never really worried about my career. I'm very fortunate that things have simply worked out for me (after say, a month or two of exasperated job searching here and there amidst sobs and awkward interviews) the dots connect, energies align and somehow it all manages to work out (knock on wood). I've managed to find jobs that match my passions.

Since returning home, I started working at a bakery here in Madison called Madison Sourdough Company, which has proven to be a really incredible experience! Like one of Oprah Winfrey's "A ha!" moments....the job just fits me perfectly and all of my previous crazy work experiences and I'm loving it!

Take the positive energy vibe of somewhere like Trader Joes and combine it with the pastry and bread quality of a patisserie in Paris France ....that's where I work....and I'm the little ant scurrying around making sure the customers are happy....like a professional Tea Party Hostess...but in jeans and a T-shirt and the bread's all American, with a tangy top secret sourdough starter. This is the kind of place where I'm smiling all day and I get asked why I'm so happy and I actually say, "because I work here!" Yes...I've joined the bread and foodie cult....and it's awesome!

I also work as a Local Coordinator for an International Au Pair Agency called TIAPE, based out of Seattle Washington. This feeds my feminist obsession in finding affordable child care for moms. I honestly feel there aren't enough options for women in the States to have a family and be supported....there is no support. I couldn't just stand by and do nothing and now that I'm unable to work as a nanny myself, this job offers that opportunity to still be involved/potentially helpful and hopeful for reciprocal and positive ways for women to have easy access to child care for their children in their own home while also creating a cultural experience for someone from another country...if I had thought to be an au pair before I was married somewhere in Europe, I would have jumped at the chance!!!!

So...that's all for now....well...perhaps there's yet one more top secret career potential I'm not speaking of...say....a dream career I've always wanted to do and it's now becoming a reality... but I'll let you know as soon as it's more of a sure thing.

All in all...life is good!

Capital City Trail

2011-10-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

1 really gigantic corn field
2 slabberings of SPF 50 sunscreen
100 grass hoppers - 10 of which tried to hop into my bike
50 milkweeds all going to fluffy fairy looking seed at once!
1 chipmunk who didn't budge when I biked by at the speed of light two feet away
20 squirrels who all knew better then to get near my speedy awesomeness
5 wild bird sightings including a hawk, a cardinal and a blue jay
1 flattened gardeners snake
1 "public hunting" area (biked thru)
1 "nature conservancy" area (biked thru right after the public hunting area)
20 little fury caterpillars (the type that are supposed to tell you how long the winter will be)
0 bunny sightings (surprisingly)
2 grocery store stops for this and that
about 12 miles biked!
1 post bike celebratory beer

Overall, an excellent bike ride was had!

mysogyny

2011-09-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

options...options...options....
here's a talk my mom and I had last week:

"I'm thinking about going into the food industry as a career"
mom: "Oh! You should start taking classes for that!"
"Then again, I'm really into working in the financial industry, I really enjoy the work"
mom: "Well, you should should take classes for that!"

I'm totally getting how important a higher education is to move forward in life. Education is critical and key to progress and growth. I'm not against it at all!

But.
Then.
A guy with a baby carrier on his chest walks into the bakery and I MELT!
"oooooh! awww!!!!! OOOOH!!!!!!!"
Or I walk thru the child section of IKEA and almost break down in tears.

Unlike generations before me, no one will ever dare to say no to me, that I can't do something because I'm a women. On the contrary, the options are endless! So endless, there is really no guide rail to say what can and cannot be done.

I was watching the first episode of "PAN AM" a few nights ago and also happened to read an interview with its lead actress Christina Ricci about her feelings about the role women had in that particular time period compared to now...

"We’re portraying women who are navigating a blatantly misogynistic world, time, and society. And we live in a society that is a thinly veiled misogynistic society. And we are women trying to navigate that. It’s interesting, because in some ways, while it’s nice that everyone pretends the world today is not misogynistic, in other ways, at least before, when it was blatantly misogynistic, it was a little bit more honest. Things were called what they were called, and the rules were set, and people knew what things they had to meet, and what things they had to check off the checklist. And once they abided by certain things, they could then kind of go and run free and avoid things that needed to be avoided. It was, in some ways, less confusing, and in some ways, less dangerous. I struggle with which is better."

This is something we miss today for women my age....in a time of equal rights and equal opportunities, there is more pressure then ever before to have a full, intense, exciting career, but to also get married, have babies, buy the house and the car and why not be a rock star at the same time.

At what point do we get realistic and say no?
At what point am I allowed to choose the life I really want and forget the rest, even if that means following in the footsteps of women in other generations and perhaps giving up a higher education for the dream of happy children growing up in a positive community....

What's wrong with that?
What's wrong with planning exactly for that?

Well, all I can say is, also like generations before me, I'm throwing my hat in for whatever comes up, beit babies, degrees, new experiences....sometimes life can't be predicted, you don't know what will happen next, you just do the best you can with what you have!

Do you hear what I hear

2011-09-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

This American Life just had an episode called "Living Without" and the first act is called "do you hear what I hear, by Nubar Alexanian, talking about his life dealing with his Tinitis (a permanent ringing in the ears) and this story is really beautifully done...he did an incredible job explaining what it's like to have Tinitis.

For those of you who may or may not know about Tinitis, this gives a lot of detail about what it sounds like to deal with as well as what it's like to have emotionally.

I also have Tinitis and this has definitely made an effect on my life similar to what this man has gone thru. I too went to doctors and looked into other forms of natural healing. It's part of why I itched to travel and get away from my life for a while and for better or worse, it's sent my world into a new direction from what it was and life will never be the same again.

I can't go into loud restaurants or bars, because it makes my ring louder..I have special ear plugs, but I hate explaining what they're for. I can't be in quiet places, because I begin to get annoyed with my ring, and if I'm slightly dehydrated, the ring also gets louder.

When I first got Tinitis, I thought my life was over. I couldn't imagine dealing with it for the rest of my life, but yet here I am, living! Of course there are good days and bad days (good days where I don't even think about it, bad days where I lay in bed thinking about the tone and how much I hate it.

He has this talk with his daughter...
Daughter: You're trapped inside your own head....I would follow Van Gogh and cut my ears off"
Father: "I'm somewhat grateful for the tone....on good days when I think about it, the tone was a warning that I needed to slow down....on bad days I think, I've learned this lesson... ok, I've slowed down, the tone can go away, but it doesn't go away."

Everyone at some point has a problem or an ailment which occurs that reminds us that we are human, that we are not permanent and we are delicate....the day something in us physically doesn't work anymore and we realized it's not going to come back again. Perhaps, because we've used it too much, perhaps too little, perhaps just bad luck. For me, this was my hearing. I had/have to accept the fact that I will never be a professional musician....something I don't like to talk about after 20 years practicing percussion and marimba, but I'm at a place where I believe this was my bodies way of saying, it's ok Sarah, it's time to slow down, time to move on and do other things you want to do...life goes on! So that's what I'm doing! Sometimes, having something go wrong is a wake up call to live!

sides of the bed

2011-09-26T16:37:00.000-07:00

So. It's been an interesting experience getting to have these weeks to "see how the other half lives"

Here are some of the things I've realized I love about being on my own....

I started the week sleeping on my singular side of the bed...which has slowly morphed into THE ENTIRE BED!!!! BWA HA HA HAHAHAHA!
I haven't made my bed in days...it's taking on a type of bird nest, with blankets and pillows arranged in a circle of comfyness all around me....as I catch up on midnight reruns of Grey's Anatomy (a show R man detests....how satisfying!)
Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner are all optional and variably based on when I am hungry...sometimes they are ditched all together! Sometimes combined all together. Sometimes mixed and matched! Breakfast for dinner. Chips for lunch. All of the left overs put out on the table and DEVOURED! COVERED IN CHEESE!!!!!
With no one around to banter with, NPR has become my substitute light banter during meals...I'm much more educated on World news..not so much on the gossip of Rodolfo's family, friends and work place...and no one to tell my news to....boo.

Other little things I've really enjoyed being able to do?

Eating meals straight out of a pot with a wooden spoon....this is a personal obsession that R man can stand, but feeds some part of my soul....I have to enjoy it while I can!
Knowing where something is that I put down somewhere
Not sharing space on the bathroom sink!
Watching hours of movie trailers non stop...when I really SHOULD stop..but why?
PBS cooking shows....my current life obsession...I LOVE IT!
Bad wine....or, well, cheap wine. I have bad taste and R man doesn't. I'm thoroughly enjoying it!

All that being said, I can't wait for the man to get home....

Some friends started talking about how they thought my apartment was haunted...and then a commercial on t.v. comes on for a house with murderous ghosts in it....I changed the channel as fast as I could!
Every whistle and squeek in the house has me wide awake, looking around and ready to jolt out the front door
My cell phone stopped working...and I'm continually double checking that I have my keys and wallet...if I forget or something shuts down on me...I'm screwed! There's no backup!
There's no really great reason to cook without my buddy to share it with
My bedroom is starting to look like a war zone.....as much as I love being cozy...it's nice to have a reason to clean up my mess of clothes, paper work and hair pins...

But mainly...I miss my best friend. Without him around, I feel a little bit lost, like I'm on pause, running in circles. I miss my buddy.

Octo-beer-fest

2011-09-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

My uncle is a microbrewer and a damn fine one at that.
He grows hops in his backyard and is known to combine local fruits and flavors to his beverages....he's good!

He gave my parents a small sample of a particular brew he's prepared for an event he has defined as "Octobeerfest"...yes, he's that cool.

***This is not intentionally meant to cause embaressment or cast judgment on my parents...it's more so meant to clearly define the differences between Minnesota and Wisconsin (my uncle lives in Wisconsin)***

What was their plan for this sample?
Mom: "hmmm.....perhaps it could make a nice beer bread?"
Dad: "I wonder if we could store it in your tea pot?"

True quotes.
I don't think anything else needs to be said further, accept that I may have changed color upon hearing this and started to say half sentences similar to this...
"You want to...." "In a where....?" "With a....."

If Wisconsin has taught me one thing, it's that beer has no place in a tea cozy....

flying solo

2011-09-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

When R man and I first started dating a friend of ours took me with to say goodbye to him at the airport when he flew home for Christmas. I was crying in hysterics as if I would never see him again....I was flying to Chile to meet him in a WEEK! His friend was totally befuddled and holding back tears of laughter at my hysterics....

"girl, you're going to see him in a week! What the heck! Chill out!"

I used to believe that once he was out of my sight, he was as good as dead until he came back, which when you love someone, thinking like this for extended periods of time leads to lack of sleep, lack of comprehensive thought - which then leads to losing things and acting really weird!

I've lost keys multiple times, my wallet, important paper work, my work badge and a tendency to forget to eat and shower....all signs of an insane person you might meet in a downtown public library...a hobo.

This is our first longerish term separation in oh...years and years...and I think thanks to having traveled so much now, I've improved greatly in my coping skills. Sleep - check. Eating - check. Things are going well!

I'd forgotten all the awesome perks of living alone! You eat, sleep, watch, listen to whatever you want, whenever you want without discussion! No lamp on while sleeping! I can eat melted cheese all I want! Popcorn can be dinner!

There are of course little things I miss a lot...
I have to take out the trash this morning...buggar.
There's no one to make my coffee in the morning...not that I couldn't, I just don't if he's not here. It's not as fun without him!
The salad spinner wouldn't spin...I couldn't push the button down...poops.
My phone suddenly wouldn't turn on and I had to think about it for an hour....hmm.
My computer popped up with an emergency blue screen of death and I had no idea what to do, but press the same button over and over again....
Last but not least....our fridge is packed, PACKED with food.

WHO IS GOING TO EAT ALL THIS FOOD?

So, yes, can't wait for the man's return. Not because I think he's dead, but I need him to consume produce and fix my electronics!!

I had a friend tell me the thing she missed the most when her husband wasn't around was his ability to open peanut butter jars...at the time I was astonished..."that's it?!?" Now...I totally get it.
Things have definitely changed! No emergencies here!

ninja socks

2011-09-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

Purchased in Tokyo Japan by R man years ago, these are his super lucky socks...
as in they perhaps help bring out his "kick some serious ass" inner ninja spirit...or something....
just like how he has a special "party time" floral print batik shirt and a special "walking in downtown Chicago" brightly colored slightly hipster outfit, the man's got his style!


game time for ninja socks action!

the ninja socks are a big deal! They even have that Japanese style separation between the big toe and the little toes (that I can't stand personally)

This morning:
"Sarah! Guess which socks I'm packing?!?!"

R man is heading out for an East Coast tour once again! First it's Raleigh North Carolina for a meeting and some friend and fam time, then a few days in NYNY where he meets his mom to celebrate her birthday and finally, a few days in Montreal to visit the sister and visit our little adorable nephew Simoncito!

ME? Well! I finally have internet in our house, a job I like and some money in my wallet with a purpose to buy....CHEESE! Plus, my very own trip via Megabus to Minnesota for a few days! WHOO HOO!!!!!!

So...hope good things for Mr. Ninja socks, that they work their magic and his meeting goes well and he comes home safely in a couple of weeks!

mouse in the house

2011-09-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

"Sarah, come quick! Look at this!!! Should I kill it?"

right around when I'm running towards the kitchen I see a small fluff ball moving towards the refrigerator...

A mouse? We have a mouse?!?!?

So then we wait....
a while....yup! It pops out again!

This time looking at us a little confused wandering around the floor....
Our first reaction to each other?
A mix of yelling 2 things simultaneously:
1) KILL IT! KILL IT!
2) Awww!!! Look at its little head...with those little itty bitty eyes!

So, it runs under the oven.
Rodolfo grabs a stick and we decide that we'll simply get it out with the porch door open, it'll be free and all will be well, accept with it's cuteness and fastness, it easily outmaneuvered us and made its way to the bedroom.

So. We have a mouse. A cute one. Freaking adorable sharing our bedroom with us...somewhere...
R man I think wants to adopt it into the family as another house pet.
I'm concerned about our electronic wiring and don't really want something trying to eat my stuff.

What do people do in these scenarios?!?
I'm so stumped!

interneting, biking, fooding and fame!

2011-09-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

So. We don't have internet....this makes blogging hard. Rumor is by next week we will be in the clear....
(If you have an option of visiting the good neighborhood AT&T store location, verses the ghetto one that's way closer, do it!)

I wrote a blog about biker food today. Go check it out! You know...by clicking the thing there that said biker food that you just ignored clicking on.....go ahead! Click it! Mainly it's inspired by what I'm off to do right now...what I love to do as often as possible...grocery shop! I love wandering aisles of food. I love it so much, it's kind of a good thing I'm limited in my purchasing to a smallerish hipster looking over one shoulder bag I got free from my old work. Love this bag!

So anyways, this crazy travel blog of ours is being featured for the entire month of September at a special blog site my special travel writing partner in crime Kyria got us into, which is awesome! Yay for potential new readers!!!

Hint, hint for those of you out there reading who'd like to write something about your experiences with travel! I'd love to feature you on our blog and you'd have a gazillion readers this month!!! Food for thought!

Mmmm...food! Time to shop! Til the next moment I'm hooked up to a form of wireless loveage...see ya later!

stability

2011-08-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

Stability! Getting all our little duckies in order!
Is it possible?

We just returned from a trip to Chicago to finally certify our legal American marriage of two years ago with the Chilean Consulate! (You see, when it comes to this kind of stuff...we are running a little behind...really behind)

Our next goal for this week is getting all of the legal official paper work in for Rodolfo's American Permanent Residency (a much more complicated/long/expensive/stressful experience in comparison to the requirements for me to become a Chilean Resident...it's almost enough to just make me want to say poop it all, let's just go now!)

So...as you see, just for starters, we are simply trying to stabilize what countries we can live in legally in preparing for the long distance future; this is on top of finally settling into our new apartment, settling back into our old beloved city, making new friends, saying good bye to our precious old ones moving to other parts of the world and figuring out once again how this little thing called "routine" really works! Waking up to an alarm clock, making scheduled plans with people, organizing a joint calendar and bank account, it's all so chaotic in comparison to the simplicity of waking up, walking around all day and going back to bed....my brain hurts!

It's not only the physical and legal changes happening shortly in hopes to secure this alleged stability....

I just recently turned my notice in to the nanny job I just began in a new awareness that being around an incredibly adorable baby makes me a hormonal crying mess. As much as I love kids, nobody tells you how insane it is to be in your late 20's and go ga ga at every little being that goo goos....it's really weird!

So...that's the news here....these few weeks are our great search for stability, with the carrot stick dangling before us of a life with no more question marks...perhaps we will finally be able to feel secure in where we are, what we are doing, where we are going and that it's all going to be ok.

Of course, we'd be fine no matter what, but knowing that we can live comfortably, afford rent and know that we aren't going to be kicked out of the country....that'll be nice!

the roads not taken

2011-08-22T07:42:00.000-07:00

There's been a very large amount of construction in front of the bakery where I work...perhaps it's the fact that I recently re-watched "Office Space", perhaps it's that I'm now working again (a plethera of fun and unique jobs), perhaps it's guilt of working said really fun jobs but knowing none are of the type that parents dream for their children.....

Careers.....

You want to know what I wanted to do as a kid?

I thought being a grocery store clerk was the bomb.
I thought being the page at the library was the coolest gig someone could do!
You know that guy driving around the caterpillar on the road that's been under construction for month?
(Seriously, that would have been TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!)

As you may notice, I've never been the type that dreamed of big things...meaning, big money. I'm not particularly interested in a big house, a big dog or a big car. I like it simple, luckily, R man does too, which is how we were able to afford a trip around the world on a waitress/barrista/bakery clerk/nanny/professional student salary.

For some reason this week, I've been asked a couple times by new coworkers and acquaintances at parties the old school questions.... What are your plans? What do you want to do?

To be honest, at this point, I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing! Staying busy making coffees and selling bread half the time and smelling baby boy hair while he falls asleep on my chest listening to him breath the rest of the time. When I'm not doing these things, I get to hug the most beautiful man in the world every morning and night hello and goodbye.....life doesn't get better.

Don't get me wrong....bakery and nanny work is totally not for everyone, but it is for me!

I know, it's not the right answer. I'm supposed to have gumption....motivation...some inner plan and drive to improve myself for the future so I can make beaucoup bucks and retire at 30. It aint happening. With perhaps a major move to a new country and the potential of babies.....putting a lot of time and energy into my career in perhaps something I don't like as much as what I'm doing right now?
That doesn't really make sense, does it?

Well....times up! I'm about to start my shift!
Being a women in my generation with all kinds of views on jobs and children, family, marriage..etc.. etc...it's totally wacky! I say, do the parts you love and skip the rest!

little changes

2011-08-12T07:24:00.000-07:00

It's been asked ocassionally by friends and family:

"Is it weird to be back?"

You've of course probably read my slightly negative recent posts on getting back into the system...beit jobs, an apartment, paperwork and all of the little day to day quirky things that every day living in one place requires and have freaked me out!

It is definitely weird being back! But it's also comforting, rewarding and easy!

For example, this week I caught a cold....but being in just one place, I was able to buy cold medication and know where to buy it (well..R man did, isn't he awesome?!?), I already had kleenex in my house, I have a great big comfy bed to lay in and now I even have a t.v. with 4 channels to watch (with spurts of black and a little box that says no signal every 6 seconds). Any travelers nightmare is getting sick on the road, because everything becomes 10 times more difficult! Especially if you have a shared bathroom, you're alone, kleenex doesn't exist, tea costs $2/cup and you have to get up and find an ATM to pay for your questionable room with a bed made of cardboard with a blanket over it....no fun!

Some of my favorite parts of being in just one place are also some of my favorites from being on the road!

Going to bed and waking up beside Rodolfo and having coffee together in the morning.
Making new friends and staying in touch with old ones, beit in person, over the phone, thru skype, I've always felt like we're never far away from anyone, no matter where we are
Trying new foods at local eateries
Exploring the city on bike/foot and enjoying the local atmosphere
The daily budget - surprisingly, to pay for rent, food and electricity evens out to be the same if not more then when we were traveling per day! The perk is that we know where we are sleeping every night!
Wanting to see live music, go to local events like farmer's markets and neighborhood festivals and searching thru local grocery stores for local favorites are some of our major pastimes no matter where we are!

I've been surprised by myself how these trends remain in us post trip! Some days walking around, it still feels like we're exploring places we've never been...I'm definitely more excited then ever for little road trips and wanderings into new buildings/restaurants/museums/stores!

Some things that have changed for good/bad?

Working! I love working again! I love it! Feeling active, contributing, learning and making money! It makes me feel really good!
Not having couple time together....we have evenings together, but going back to a lifestyle where we don't just wander around all day has taken some getting used to....just in basics of how we communicate and trying to enjoy and savor the few hours we do get together...it's very strange!
Having a kitchen! It's heaven! Amazing! We both spent hours upon hours sorting, cleaning, resorting, placing, staring and placing again all of our beloved kitchen gitchness...our spice rack, our knives, our cutting boards....every slice and dice is like getting to know an old friend again!
Condiments....so we can buy more then one, put them in a refrigerator and use them in two weeks without carrying them on our backs?!?!? HEAVEN!!!!! R man is doing his best to harness me in from buying too many...this weeks purchases (behind his back)? Horseradish paste and stone ground mustard! Hallelujah!

a blog on beauty

2011-08-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but beauty has been on my mind a lot.
Perhaps it's the wrinkles showing up around my eyes, my knees creaking when I bend and the chronic weird pains connected to the weather...yep, I'm getting old.....as are we all!

Come check out my thoughts on international beauty at my other blog entry:

I feel pretty

For the record...with wrinkles and all....I still got it! As do you!
Go work your stuff!

hippy christmas

2011-08-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

On August 14th-15th, it's moving day in Madison Wisconsin, due to the fact that the city revolves around the University, its students and the fact that school starts shortly, it's a manic crazy time of u-haul trucks, parents in sweat suits, full restaurants of tired people looking disgruntled and a LOT of STUFF on the curbs for the taking.....

if it doesn't rain
if the dump trucks don't swing by first
if there aren't scary people with gloves on ripping open trash bags (which totally freaks me out and eventually turns me off from looking for goods come hippy christmas because I don't want to be mistaken as such...yes, I'm stuck up)

That all being said, R man and I now have this great, big, beautiful apartment ....and no furniture.
We've already scored two very important early hippy christmas bonuses from friends moving out of state with a gorgeous matching grown up bedroom set!
(we're talking wooden bed frame and cushy mattress free of scary street fleas - the best we've slept in years literally!!!!! Thanks Jason and Shelby!!!!!!)

Coming soon is a futon mattress for guests later this week....and we're picking up our old bookcases and t.v. from friends some time this week as well.
Which leaves ample opportunities for street shopping come August 14th..the day of the great student migration! Always an exciting surprise to see what gets curbed!

Other years we've had a car, which makes picking up large pieces of furniture much easier...I've considered trying to track down some kind of kiddy wagon, but in the end, we will be limited to our neighborhood for street pickings.

Yes...I know what you're thinking! Garbage picking?!? EWWW!!!!!
Family and friends, this is usually quasi brand new furniture used for a year or less in most cases that would otherwise get eaten by the back of a dump truck! Who needs a coffee table more? Us or the landfill?

Happy hunting Madisonians!!!!
(Note to those used to leaving your odds and ends near a curb....perhaps it's wise to move these items to your backyard, or you may come home with a lack of grill/lawn chair/patio set!)

shifts

2011-08-01T06:49:00.000-07:00

I am a working girl now!

I've been hired on at a lovely Sourdough bakery in town which makes incredible bread and pastries.

I used to go to a certain restaurant on my birthdays for mussels and frites, just so that I could dip their incredible bread into the mussel broth...guess where the bread came from! Yup! I'm working there!

Being back into bakery life has me astounded, because it's similar to the cycle of washing dishes in your home...it never ends!

1am:

The first baker comes in, followed by the next and the next...I think there are around 5 or so working at my bakery.

3am:

the delivery drivers arrive and begin their early morning trips to local restaurants and coffee shops

5am:

the first bakery clerk/barista comes in to work morning emergency coffee for sleepy people duty.

6am:

the cooks and kitchen crew are ready for duty

10am:

the second shift clerk/barista arrives

noon:

a massive hoard of people are starving for sandwiches

5pm:

we close. the last of the stragglers are running in and out the door for dinner loaves of bread and late afternoon espresso shots.

6pm:

we lock up - leaving only 7 hours until the place is thriving with music and energy and flour and all kinds of life growing and rising and getting crazy all over again!

Many of you know that one of my dreams for the future is potentially opening up my own little bakery in Chile....is this a schedule I would be able to keep up on my own?

Ooh. Look at the time! Time to go to work!

hey ya don cha know

2011-07-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

So. You may have noticed I'm from Minnesota?
Watching the movie Fargo isn't so much funny for me as it is familiar.

There's nothing like making fun of someone else's (R mans) culture for a few months and then get whacked in the head with a plethera of midwestern lingo immediately upon landing in the Minneapolis airport. Not to mention the lovely bouquet of Sar-glish (Sarah English) sayings that pop out of my mouth every day just because I'm here.

Yer good to go
Geez louise
You still workin' on that?
oh golly, golly geez, gosh darn hey now, yeah!
Get er dun
You betcha
How's it goin'?
Oh my!
(among many many more)
There is a reason why stereotypes about cultures are created, there's always plenty to make fun of no matter where you're from....these little moments with a waitress/bus driver/stranger in line are the moments in a conversation where I truly feel at home.
When I might say, "How ya doin' dere ey?"
and someone responds with, "oh, ya know, just pickin up some beers for da boat up nort at the lake, ya"

I mean...of couse, it's never that perfect, I live in Wisconsin now, so it's more of a "Well, I'm just pickin' up some beers for da big game to go with my slow cooked bbq sauced mini wienies and a cheese tray"
(man does that sound good right now)

While I'm discussing these two great states of the Midwest, I might as well clarify some cultural differences people may notice....

MN: casserole/hot dish of mysterious substance - generally involving a can of meat and a can of soup!
WI: slow cooker filled with meat in BBQ sauce... with some beers

MN: rice crispy bars - WI: beer

MN: Vikings - WI: Packers...yes, always with many, many beers

MN: Ice fishing - WI Ice fishing...you guessed it! Plus beers

Don't get me wrong, I love my Scandinavian, Minnesotan, Lutheran, Lefsa eatin', talkin' about the weather, stocking up on spam in the basement for the next great depression heritage! But...life in Wisconsin aint so bad!

If you say "how's it goin eh?" in Wisconsin, they'll more then likely get the gyst of what yer gettin' at, and heck, that might just offer you a beer to boot!

No matter which particular spot, it's good to be back in the Midwest!

the system

2011-07-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

The transition of moving back to the States has given me an entirely new perspective on what it could be like moving here as a foreigner for the first time and how terrifying it can be just to have a "normal life" here...
I didn't realize how complicated it can all get so quickly!

First there is the:
Job, Home....critical things extremely difficult to get!

For basic confidence that life will be ok when things get tough, we need:
Insurances: Life, Health, Dental, Car, Renters/Homeowners

Then there's the bills of life:
Electricity, hot water, phone, groceries, clothes

For all of that, we need:
Checks, debit cards, credit cards, a driver's license, a proof of address, a proof of income

then there is saving for a rainy day:
bike maintenance, retirement funds, future house and baby funds

These are all things I completely stopped thinking about when we were traveling....we paid our food and hotel in cash, we had emergency health care if we fell off a bridge, besides a debit card connected to a bank account with a little cash in it, we really didn't need or want more.

Now that we're back, I find myself obsessing about these "needs" of life I can't possibly consider living without, even though I've done it for years quite recently in other countries without a hitch....I'm too scared to imagine what could happen to us here if we didn't have the security of jobs and a home to live in and a phone to talk on so that we'll be able to keep up our payments for all of those bits and pieces so essential to the American Dream. It's all about MONEY!

We are extremely lucky in that our credit is good and we don't owe any money, which gives us much more flexibility in our life choices, however, I feel like I've been signing a lot of official documents lately with more to come with lots of very tiny print at the bottom I can't really understand when I read it....job agreements, lease agreements, health insurance, tax forms, cell phone plans and every time we do, it's one more tie into the system making our lives easier here, while also promising that we aren't going anywhere any time soon....which after being so free and open to adventure, kind of freaks me out!

I'll never forget the day Rodolfo's mom walked onto a persons lawn to admire their really cute bird feeder. We started screaming bloody murder with looks of terror and she just looked at us dumbfounded. In Chile, people fence in their yards if they don't want someone walking on it. For me, reentering into my own culture, I am finally seeing the invisible fences all around me that so many people coming from abroad are surrounded by and don't understand. We don't need real fences.....our fences are made with signatures and dates, forms and agreements, hammering our lives into the ground post by post until we've signed our futures away to men in suits guaranteeing us that now, everything will be ok.....that is, if you're the kind of person they choose to trust.

All that being said, it feels great to be back in a place where I understand how to play by the rules! I find a security and a comfort in being rooted down and connected to one spot. I like checking books out from the local library, attending local events and shopping at the same local grocery store week after week, knowing exactly where the yogurt aisle is without searching every crook and cranny...there is a reason why the system in the States exists, it works! It's part of a mutual respect to the bartering system to make sure things stay fair and square. At times, things can get expensive and difficult, but at least this is true for everyone...generally speaking...

I will admit, as I start my new jobs and make preparations to move into our new apartment, it is crazy weird to be back in it!

forced summer day hibernation

2011-07-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

True story...I'm locked inside my house today not by choice and I'm not coming out all day
...and I like it!

It's hot outside....really hot...so I don't want to leave the house
R man accidentally took my keys to work along with my bike key...so even if it wasn't hot, I couldn't leave, because I can't even bike to his lab to pick up my keys!
There are sporadic thunderstorms scheduled all day, so even if it wasn't hot and I could get back into my house, I could get struck by lightning walking down the sidewalk.
I haven't heard from my new kick ass boss about when the next day is that I should work, our fridge is stocked with fresh veggies and cold beverages and I have two good books to read and a lot of writing I'd like to do!

Does this sound kind of well, awesome to anyone else!?!

It's kind of a cool feeling to wake up and the world lets you know its not particularly interested in you participating in it today and the feelings are mutual!

Forced pajama day! WHOO HOO!!!!!

One of the most ferocious and fearless animals in the world

2011-07-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

What could this ferocious animal possibly be!?!?
A hippo?
A baboon?
A pygmy rhino?!?!?
Or perhaps.....

pygmy hippos from the zoo we slept in:

NOPE!

the most non ferocious animal in South Africa
a new born baby pygmy hippo with his eyes closed

Well, if it's not a new born baby pygmy hippo, what could it possibly be?!?!?!?

Now you're dying to know, AREN'T YOU!!!!
FIND OUT this very moment AT MY NEW BLOG!
Click here:
WOMEN ROCKIN' THE ROAD

Rodolfo's nose

2011-07-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

Rodolfo has some incredible smell abilities!!!

He was just recently interviewed HERE!!!

85 resumes

2011-07-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

I've been job hunting and when you job hunt you start to feel a little bit not so special....unqualified, uneducated, unemployable! This has been going on for weeks now...

Just last week, I got a few interviews with different places....one was at a French style bakery in town, the manager posted her ad for 24 hours online and received 85 resumes, of those 85, she chose 15 to interview...of those 15, there were only 3 part time positions available...

Of those 85 resumes...she chose me to interview...I had a 1 in 5 chance of getting work.

Apparently I still have what it takes to impress because I now have a job!

ROCK!

In Congress, July 4th, 1776

2011-07-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

In honor to our greatly appreciated Independence from "tyrany" I decided to read thru:

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

Has anyone checked this out recently?

These founding fathers of ours...I tell ya, they're a hoot! Darn near revolutionary! It makes me want a ...well...fair and just government for the people?!?

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

Wisconsin loses: The GOP budget shows its contempt for citizens

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Battle lines that preceded state government shutdown were drawn between Dayton, GOP after last fall's elections

Largest layoff in state history; 22,000 workers added to unemployment pool

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

Shut Down 2011 - What's open. What's not.
Happy 4th of July!
George Washington, sure wish you were here!

at last! The finale!

2011-07-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

Finally! The exciting finale of.....

Getting to Croc Camp in Zambia Africa

Don't worry, I'll still be keeping updates of our crazy mid western extravaganza's! Now you have twice the fun and exciting reading to do!

Croc camp continued - and then what happened?!?

2011-07-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

Did I die?!?

Did R man get licked by a monkey?!?

Did the opinionated locals run into a chorus line and sing and dance us the rest of the way to our camp!!!???

Well....I can't tell you....yet. Tomorrow morning, you'll be able to read it....but not here.

"What?" (You ask)

"Where then?!?" You crazy girl! Confusing me like this! What's going on?!?" (You think)

I'm starting a new blog for women travelers where they can share their stories/thoughts/feelings on travel!

It's a collaborative effort with a fellow lady traveler we met at a bus stop in Malawi Africa last summer!

(You can check out Kyria's travel blog here!)

Kyria and I in Malawi Africa last summer
(accompanied by Mr. Lovely, the Portuguese god)

"Why a new blog?"

Well, you see, I've been feeling pretty passionate recently about women communicating and sharing their lives and experiences with each other and I also love talking about traveling! So! I feel like it's important that I do something active to get women to share and talk about travel with one another! You can read more about my crazy dream here!

"SARAH! Come on! Let's get to the point! How do we read the rest of this thrilling story? I need to know if you die or not!"

Right! Of course! Silly me! Here it is! The new blog! Even its name! So exciting!

You can check out this wonderful new blog/become a follower/admire my photo with a puppy here:

Women rockin the road

And tomorrow, stop by again to find out what caused R man to stutter when he sees large mammals....

heeheeheehee.....that's not true...or is it?!?

Croc Camp

2011-06-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

"I don't know Sarah, everyone is telling us to take a taxi. I don't have a very good feeling about this..."
"I don't care! This is bull#^*#! I'm not paying a taxi $5 to drive me to a $5/night campsite! That's ridiculous! I can see the entrance down the road! They're just trying to scam us! We're walking!"

R man and I were in the middle of a small village in Southern Zambia a half mile away from the entrance of South Luangua National Park and Croc Camp (a reasonably priced campsite that offers safaris) where R man had begged me to go so he could finally see his LION! Men and their lions....we'd just spent 8 hours (4 hours waiting and 4 hours moving) in a very small minivan with 12 adults, 5 kids, a bicycle, a large screen television, enough toilet paper for an end of the world hideaway, two live chickens and about 15 dozen chicken eggs....I was not too excited about yet another form of Zambian style overpriced, ridiculously bad transportation if I could help it...

"But Sarah....you haven't seen their eyes! Look into their eyes....they think we are walking to our death!"
"No. No. NO! I'm walking!!! I don't care! They just want to rip us off again and have a good laugh at our expense. I'm not doing it!"
"Ok....but, I'm taking a taxi."
"Fine!"
"FOR REAL?!? Ok! I'm your husband. I love you. You're crazy. We are going to die, but I'm coming with you! Happy?"
"Yes! I don't see any hippos or lions, do you?!?"

And we begin to walk out of the bubble like village of men standing on the streets staring at us/drinking cheap beer and children running around us begging for money. We leave the security of normal (for Africa) and step out onto the dusty road of nothing for half a mile, which became a tree covered area of the unknown shortly after that with a small wooden sign that you could just make out ..."croc camp - $5 camping). Looked pretty easy. I had no idea what I was doing.

R man:
"I sure hope you know what you're doing!"

Dear city of Madison,

2011-06-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

Dear East Side hippy Madison women who love wrap dresses and skirts.....
Just a note of warning from my morning humiliation...Never. Ever. Wear a wrap dress biking without some form of extra pinning. On behalf of all Eastsider granola eating quasi want to be hippies, my apologies to the city of Madison for flashing you/making that lady on the corner of E. Main and S. Webster Streets laugh hysterically at my expense...

Dear farmers market produce lady,

How do you get your lettuce to grow so ginormously? Are there steroids for lettuce? I don't care what kind of potential pesticides I'm eating at this point consuming this seriously large head of lettuce, I'm just astonished that this bad boy exists! Whatever you're putting into your soil, keep up the great work!

ginormously huge head of lettuce - egg for size comparison

Dear person who read the Sunday copy of the Wisconsin State Journal previous to yours truly at the Public library,
It is totally not kosher to take the classifieds section or any form of reference information, (recyclable paper form or otherwise) for your own personal use!!!!!! This is called stealing you tofu wad! I wish you seriously bad karma for your week of job hunting...may you find your childhood dream job in that classifieds section and have them DENY you! Just as you have denied me my potential five minutes of hopeful scanning of engineering/health blurbs I am not qualified for....soft, crumbly, under cooked, watery, tofu stir fry that jiggles when you eat it! That's you newspaper thief!

Dear bus driver guy walking to work near our house,
Thank you so much for warmly smiling and saying hello to me. You made my day! I always thought that bus drivers would be grumpy heading to work, because I thought your job wasn't so fun, but perhaps it is! Hmmm.....that's a thought, Sarah: bus driver....interesting!

jobs and bureacracy

2011-06-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

under qualified
over qualified
not qualified in the right field
not quite the right work history
have to take a test, but the application is due before the date of the test
have to fill out an online application that takes 5 hours, complete with a social security number and then never hear back
have to reply to a craigslist ad with no idea where the business is located, if it's real or not, how much you might get paid...but keep doing it in hopes something might pan out.

Maybe the mafia has it right. You know a guy who knows a guy and done!
What happened to local word of mouth? Or a sign posted on a window? Maybe these things still exist and I'm just not 'out' there enough?!?

Finding a job or meeting a significant other has become a cyber game of read/type/submit/repeat, hoping that you're actually communicating with a real person! You know...as I type this for comfort into my computer assuming/hoping a real person might read this later and think....poor Sarah.....I'm pathetic.

I know it all works out, that the future will unwind and figure itself out over time and all will be well....I don't even know why I bother checking job listings and craigslist ads, googling for potential sublets and local businesses perhaps in need of a funny, awkward, unemployed 28 year old with a 33 year old man and a 24 year old bird and a furnished sublet on the east side hoping for the best....perhaps it's time to go back to bed and try this day again...without opening my computer!

grumble, grumble, grumble.....

Chicago

2011-06-26T20:09:00.001-07:00

We love Chicago. Rodolfo would have babies with Chicago if he could. With....not in. With! Loves it that much.
These are very random pics of our 2.5 days spent wandering around in Chicago neighborhoods, wandering around downtown Chicago and spending some awesome quality time with our good friends April and Eric. Eric used to go to school with Rodolfo in Madison and I'm now an avid reader of April's blog Wanderlust and Foodstuff which inspires me so much to cook and travel...Chicago as we discovered thru April this weekend at a Paella event is an intense food town and a serious place to be for all food lovers! We definitely had a great time eating ourselves silly!

We wanted to get a quick visit in with them before April leaves on a Central American travel adventure thru Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama....sounds so awesome! I guess our little trip to Chicago will have to quench our travel thirst for the moment..... I gotta say, for me, it totally did the trick!

my favorite (non travel) things

2011-06-22T07:29:00.000-07:00

There are some odds and ends that I didn't realize I missed or even had while we were away that I am now completely obsessed with. Obsessed! I think these things are so cool and I had no idea how much I loved them until we were reunited. How did I live without them!?!

My sonicare toothbrush. I don't know if it's age or what, but I've managed to destroy my last few toothbrushes in a matter of weeks. The first time I used this bad boy again, I couldn't believe how clean my teeth felt after! Like getting braces taken off or something!

My cast iron skillet/wok. This is just something in my blood. A total midwestern/Minnesota girl thing. I love it to death! ( wok - MN thing? - ok, not so much, but it's AWESOME!) If I was Oprah I'd be giving these puppies away along with classes on proper cast iron care....I'm a freak.

Our Egyptian Cotton (bought them on clearance a million years ago) sheets + my bright yellow soft cotton quilt I stole from my mom when I was a teenager. Sleeping in softness...wow...so satisfying!

Herbs! I planted herbs in a great big pot on our porch! Two sweet basil, one thai basil, a cilantro (that already shot up and is now dying) and a parsley! I love fresh herbs! I'm so excited to grow them and eat them again and again!

Cookbooks. ALL of my cookbooks ALL together at last! They're so pretty all lined up on our kitchen shelf. Of course I don't really use them so much for cooking, but just looking up at them and flipping thru pages occasionally is so awesome! Remembering all of the different cakes and cookies I've learned to make, getting ideas for meals and just drooling at picture after picture. Yum.

Condiments and spices! We've promised ourselves to try and stay small...small bottles of our favorites, so that hopefully we use them up before we move again, but when we crave and want them, there they are!

Finally....a working, reliable, efficient washer/dryer in the basement available 24/7! HALLELUJAH!

So yes, there are some perks to having a little more stability!

(As I rub my finger across my front teeth to hear the squeek)

Pig Stock - The Squeakuel

2011-06-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

***WARNING***
Vegetarians and pig lovers should probably not read beyond this point
***WARNING***

I love my family.
Why? They create their own holidays based around food and beverage and good conversation. Awesomeness!!!!!

My uncle Jim has mastered the arts of home brewing and meat smoking and rather then keep these arts to himself, he invites over everyone he knows and we proceed to camp out and gorge ourselves on beautifully smoked pork, delicious beverage and other creations my aunt Jaren as well as her 3 incredible sisters and their families make up the days and weeks before hand. The most delicious salads, a cheese platter I'm still dreaming about and the most exquisite rhubarb curd cupcakes I've ever had....etc..etc..words can't describe the wonders I ate.

PHOTO TIME!

The pig:

The pig in its blanket

pig unveiling

the not so little (but delicious) 90 pound piggy

farm style outdoor delicious buttermilk pancakes...with, of course, smoked BACON!
left to right: Uncle Jim, niece Sarah, Pete (Jaren's dad and maker of pancake batter) and Aunt Jaren

I'm so happy we got to be there, after missing the original premiere event last year. Can't wait til next years!!! Encore! Encore!!!!

a version of history

2011-06-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Something AWESOME happened when we started visiting local museums on the road. Spectacular really, like we'd been transported to another dimension where things sort of look the same, feel the same, but something isn't quite right.....we started to gain a new perspective on how history is told.

There are plaques with dates and names, probably some clay models and figurines. Artifacts from a moment in that nations/cities/villages history that someone of importance/unimportance had taken great pride in to collect, tag and put on display for potential visitors to take notice. Sometimes, even with a special "translation" caption for foreigners (i.e. "he go war": the general went forth to battle) in other languages. Short and sweet, we general got the main idea.

Most often, the more quirky museums ended up being some of our favorite destinations to learn about a culture, not just for the exact material that is supplied, but what that particular group of people felt important to share about themselves...

Some of the intriguing artifacts we've seen on display:

Model after model of bloody battles in the National Museum in Jakarta Indonesia
Unguarded 12 foot high portraits of previous Sultan's as well as their wine glasses and passports in Yogyakarta Indonesia.
The tooth of the tiger that ate a protestor and the entire witchcraft department in Lusaka Zambia
The puppets of American puppets in Laos plus many, many a gun (which I didn't see due to food poisoning, but Rodolfo enjoyed thoroughly)
The White Elephant Building in the Thai Royal Museum where you can stare amazed at bones and skin samples of white (albino) elephants past

Funding and education can be major problems for documenting history in other countries...but...hey...what if their version is also valid? What if the 1st world doesn't always have the 'right' answers on what's going on?

I bring all this up because I recently went to see a movie in the omnitheater of the Science Museum of Minnesota about the history of Egyptian artifacts and mummies, really cool stuff and also something we luckily got to see first hand last year in Cairo. I was a bit startled at my own biased reaction of the film's take on the history of Ancient Egyptian excavation.

Small note: King Tut? A totally Americanized name. Anywhere else, he goes by his full actual name King Tutankhamun. We were literally feet away from seeing him and I almost didn't go because I didn't know what all the hubbub was about..."tutanwhodawhatta?" something R man still teases me for.

My favorite disagreement in history is between the British Museum/us and Egypt over where and who Ancient Egyptian artifacts belong to now. What is there purpose? We 'saved' these artifacts by taking them away and storing them at correct temperatures with the correct tools to research and investigate further....according to this film, Egypt really owes us a great deal of gratitude. Why would they not want us to have all of their historic artifacts? We're doing them a favor! Good thing we were around the bribe the correct people to bribe the thieves to show us where to dig.

In the video depicting the history of how 'we' found these artifacts - shortly after removing 1000's of artifacts and mummies from a cave, the cave caved in a few years later, so wasn't it so awesome of us to have saved them before they were destroyed...you know, 1000's of people moving, carrying, hammering and general causing a raucous inside this little cave removing its original purpose had nothing to do with causing a disturbance inside! Lucky us. It was all meant to be.

I'm not saying I have the right answers....things in the Museum in Cairo were looking pretty piled/cracked/beaten up with their lack of adequate air conditioning and their taped on index cards of information...mummies stacked up one upon another lining the walls to the ceiling, but it was theirs.

I met and talked with a women in Chile who majored in Chilean history and is now working for a Chilean school text book company. Particularly for Chile, there are quite a few different versions of their recent history dealing with little things like disappearances, tortures, political hostile takeovers, you know, small peanut items....and she's having a hard time getting permission to get what she believes is the true version of history published because the funders didn't like it...particularly for being read by children who didn't grow up in a dictatorship, to leave out the small detail that a dictatorship occurred....pretty interesting stuff.

What I've learned from all of these museums is that we live in a time where history can be shared and carried on in many different versions....just because one version has a shinier, prettier cover might not make it true. Just because something is written in a museum doesn't make it true either.

Big. Little. A tooth. A mummy. A sultan's passport. A list of name's of the disappeared.

What is it that I don't know about my own history in St. Paul, Minnesota, the midwest, the USA....???

What's important is getting out there and finding information, taking that information with a grain of salt and getting as many different versions as I can and not just trust one version to be the absolute truth. It's also fun to see how a history can be viewed so differently by different people...generally speaking, the winners of a battle are the ones who want to discuss it. Just something to think about.

a transitional mood

2011-06-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

I've been in a surprisingly weird mood for the past few weeks, uncertain of what to do next...definitely not a feeling I saw coming homeless and jobless in Chile a few months ago! I thought that an address and a coffee pot were all the answers needed to our problems and once we had a place to call home, we would find some perfect zen like tranquil state, find our inner harmonious callings and you know....be happy! As the dust starts to settle from our wanderings, we are both becoming a little bit anxious, a little bit worried and concerned, about...well....we aren't quite sure yet!

After all this time away, what is the next step?

Are we doing the right things? Making the right choices?

This next decision we make could decide the rest of our lives! A baby, house, car, job, picket fence and retirement plan. But, hey, no pressure! If we could figure out what this great big thing is that we are apparently deciding though, that would be a great start!

Living out of hotels, tents and other gracious people's homes had its fair share of stresses, but now that we finally have access to all the cherished and beloved prized kitchen gadget, book and bike possessions we missed for so long, both R man and I find ourselves with our head in the clouds with dreams of travel and far off places and a heavy feeling beginning to numb our toes and steadily grow up our legs, digging down roots fastening us into stability and structure, hard. cold, deep, back into the ground....forever! Dun dun duuuuuuuun......all that time weightlessly fluttering around wherever we felt like at a moments notice, I feel nervous and apprehensive that it's not the right time yet to hunker down back into the natural routines and patterns that I've missed so much.

One of my old friends and coworkers from Madison asked me last week, 'is it weird to be back where nothing has changed, but you are now so different?' a thought I hadn't even considered to be a problem until she asked because I hadn't thought I was all that different...and now, I don't know!

Are we ruined for normal day to day life? Are we ready to commit to a non-transitional life?
(hmmm....it's like we are preparing to marry...life?)

Granted, we are yet still in a time of transition after many, many other types of transitions....letting go of jobs, furniture, double ply toilet paper, the English/Spanish languages...it's become a way of life, uncertain of what's coming next and hoping for the best. The idea of living without that extreme variability, the choice to leave whenever we feel like, to sleep and eat wherever we'd like, it's sort of terrifying in a way I never would have anticipated! Is this why some people prefer to be homeless? At the same time, isn't this what life is all about!?! Jumping in with both feet, going with the flow and seeing where life takes us next! Sometimes it's a little mysterious and questionable, but that's just part of the fun. I mean, heck, I bet that's the way a lot of kids are brought into the world!

At this time, we have no real plan for our future's, no year long lease or job plans signed, only a few hopes and dreams for either a life at root or a life at flight. Almost hopeful that things won't pan out so we can happen to fly off for a few more extra months in S.E Asia or some other far off land with a warm climate and spicy food...you know....perhaps China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Borneo, a nice 3 month 'transitional' trip....not like we've talked about it or anything ;)

Well, what comes will come and then we'll know I guess! Stay tuned these next few months for the exciting choices to come. I will be just as surprised as you with what happens next!

Quilting

2011-06-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last two days putting up quilts as a volunteer for the Minnesota Quilters convention and the whole thing has got me thinking a lot about this whole 'art' concept we have going and why we like what we do!

Fabric sewn together

First of all, the very first thing we did was to unload and sort hundreds of pillow cases stuffed with soft fluffy quilts....these pillow cases? Really ugly. A little dirty. Marked with a tag....when we first began I kind of thought....'is this for real?' This stuff looks like crap! This is a national quilting convention?!?

Then we started opening them up and preparing them to hang. This involves white gloves, white table cloths, precise hangings, exact lengths of metal rodding....a lot of love. Not to mention the creativity and beauty of these quilts where hours and hours of physical and mental strain have been at work....well, to go from 200 or so dusty stuffed pillow cases strewn about on the floor to works of art handled with precision, what an extreme! The way in which I myself placed value on one type of fabric sewn together in comparison to another, well, thinking about it is kind of interesting to me! Why in my eyes was the quilt so much more valuable then the pillow case simply because of how it looked and even though it was just as beautiful inside its pillow case, I and everyone else treated it with a great deal more love and TLC post unveiling...kind of like how one minute an old decaying record could a piece of junk, but when you finally get around to buying that record player, it can be a priceless entrancing experience....weird! That is one crazy thing about experiencing art....one man's junk is another man's bounty! (Not to say a pillow case is art, or is it?!?)

I don't like it

The thing I love about all kinds of art is how everyone has their own unique preferences when it comes to likes and dislikes....food, music, t.v. shows, radio stations, galleries, we all like what we like and for some reason, we all sort of secretly expect those around us to like what we like...and if they don't? Well...they must just not know what good art/food/music/etc.. is!

I was slightly surprised unveiling quilt after quilt from their cotton pillow covers and immediately letting out a comment of evaluation....because, you know, I know oh so much about quilting..."ooh! pretty! Love the colors! Look at that detail! hmmm....they must be a beginner. What is that supposed to be? Insteresting!" Like the quilt/quilter was LOOKING for my opinion? I think not! But yet, there I was, letting it all out, for some inner satisfaction that perhaps some other quilt volunteer might hear what I had to say and agree with me! SHEESH! I'm ridiculous! This, I know!

What else do I know?
Quilting/Quilters/anyone attempting to learn a new art and experiment with how they see the world and bring that view into a physical existence to share and bring joy to others piece by piece....my hats off to them! What an incredible and inspiring art form!

Sarah's nose

2011-06-14T05:57:00.001-07:00

Check out her Nosy Girl interview! Mine will come sometime soon.

women at work

2011-06-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

When I speak to women 5, 10, 20, 30 years older then me about their professional careers, the amount of varied responses to how they feel about how they value their career verses family time, hobbies, husband, plus all the rest....it's a lot happening at once and every one of them does it all just a little differently, with no wrong answer! No matter how many parts are at play, part time/full time, homemaker, artist, cook, gardener, every women I know is BUSY! So many of these strong and incredible women juggle all of these and enjoy what they do, but wow, is it ever hard to know for certain what's right for me!

I'm a 28 year old married, happy young lady with a lot of energy and passion to put into something, but that something can and will be replaced. I do want to become a mom sooner then later and when that day comes, it will definitely be my life's new priority above everything else.

My career path? Sporadic with lots of big boulders and hanging sticks in the way....at this point, I have to admit, it's a bit of a low priority for me to have a straight and clear path. Kind of a non p.c. thing to say now a days, but facing the truth that our lives are about to change drastically very shortly via creating human life, potentially in a Spanish speaking country, well, couldn't it be better to be realistic now rather then disappointed later?
(Not exactly the statement of an employee of the month)

Then, there's the fact that I'm quite selfish and spoiled. I like weekends free, I like cooking dinner, I love having a social life and spending time with my husband. I love my life the way it is! Making a job a priority? I do hear that money is a nice thing to have though? Hmmm.....

What does this all mean? I'm getting older, pickier and life has definitely taken some u-turns and exit ramps I didn't envision for myself as a child thinking about my life as a doctor or the sub drummer for Lars Ulrich....and for me, the Sarah I am now, that's way ok!

Career...how about lots of little ones?
Baker, gardener, personal finance and budget guru, wife, bicyclist, Thai cook, traveler, writer, babysitter and much more to come....and yes...perhaps for awhile, being employed/unemployed here and there. I look forward to the challenge! Bring it world!

Now, how do I put all that on a resume and get hired somewhere?

Did we really leave?

2011-06-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

Was that whole meandering thru foreign lands thing a dream?

We are BACK in Madison Wisconsin and after unpacking a few suitcases (or...car fulls) and a couple trips to the grocery store, we are back in it! Life in the land of good beer and good cheese!!!!! Our first grocery purchases involved a 12 pak of Capital Brewery APA and a gallon of Sassy Cow 2%. What more do we need?!?

our summer shanty (living room)

The natural light and feel of our new place has me on cloud nine. Walk in bedroom closet. Spacious bathroom. Plus! After yesterday's late S&R Christmas of unpacking all our long lost items, we still had a good suitcase full of random things to give away/toss. Re-consolidation achieved!! It's nice to have a home, just to know what we have and what we don't, which will definitely help in deciding which direction to go....literally! Do we stay in Madison? Another city? Another country? If we live on the lighter side, the world is our oyster.

But til then! We're HOME!!!!
We celebrated with a bike ride to the downtown farmers market and a pre market brunch at Sunprint Cafe....yes, it's not the hippest, trendiest brunch place in the world, but we love sharing together and our bellies are both happy and satisfied for a whopping $8.50 total...I love it! Plus! It's right on the square...it just works...
We have an old Saturday morning tradition of a set meal we share together...kind of a corny couple thing that's only really fun for the two of us....

Here is our order:
2 black (free refill) coffees
1 special of the day (2 scrambled eggs, old style skillet potatoes - 4 wedges, whole wheat toast - 4 pieces)
*we split this in half, which is just the right amount of numminess for two
1 super ginourmous muffin - today was blueberry orange - which we also save and split as a breakfast dessert post eggs

If we get to the market late, we walk around snacking on beef sticks and cherry tomatoes with a pastry at the end...which I'm sure this meal will be happening as well very shortly this summer. Being back at he Saturday market and seeing all of the old stands is like seeing old friends again...even if they don't know it. I perhaps smiled and greeted the vendors a little too intensely...oh! Rodolfo! It's mushroom lady!! OOH! Spicy pepper people! Awww!!!!

Of course, because I'm a kitchen gitch freak, my favorite part having a HOME? The KITCHEN!!!!
Check it out:

R man chopping the chop

We finally have all of our much adored and missed kitchen tools! What's particularly perfect about this kitchen? From the counter where I stand and chop/bake/putter, I have a direct view to the naturally sunlit desk where Rodolfo sits and works. I know. I sound like a total 50's house wife, but for me, this combination of cooking, listening to our i-tunes inventory and randomly spouting off weird thoughts to R man while he's working, this is my idea of heaven! It just works.

So all in all, after, what? 1 day?!? We are back in it! Happy! content! Excited for a summer of working, cooking, baking, spending time with good friends, biking and oh so much more!!! YAY!!!!

moving...again!

2011-06-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

Pros:

I finally find/throw away all of my orphan socks with no match and stare/ponder//toss the clothes with larger sized holes....
A great excuse for the largest living room fort/stuff mountain ever!!!!!
Good exercise
I finally put together my tax, health insurance, blah blah forms all in one place! How cleansing!
I've unearthed a missing pair of men's loafers, my grown up sized snow pants, an mbira from Africa and two checks for $3 each! Score!
How many nail clippers does one person need? What do I do with the extra 5 I've just found?

a portion of STUFF!

Cons:

I had no idea I had this much stuff! What are we going to do with all of it? Panic!
lifting, carrying, dropping, lifting, carrying, dropping...oof!
How are we going to fit all this stuff in a car?! Panic, again!
I bet we are going to throw out half of this the the first week...what is the point of moving it?
In a few more months, we are going to do this AGAIN!?!?!?!? AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

bread, bread, bread!

2011-05-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

I'm on a roll! (pun unintentionally intended)

After rye bread, I moved on to hot cross buns - which involve using potato water to raise the yeast and mashed potatoes to add fluffiness...these were good! I added lemon zest in to the dough and lemon juice in the frosting....oh so good!

Yesterday, I made up some classic hot dog buns:

Last night, I attacked yet another sweet dough recipe!

This circle of love is called a Swedish Tea Ring!

Raw ring raising

Baked tea ring with almond sugar glaze (inside: walnuts, figs and cinnamon)

If I keep this up, I'm going to get fat!

Home is where the stuff is.

2011-05-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

It has become pretty obvious to the family and friends we've been around...
probably to the point of annoying...
We need a home. We need it bad!

We are talking basics...no deep metaphors...walls and a floor filled with our own personal stuff!
After living a lifestyle which is the antithesis to Hoarders with two pairs of underwear and a tooth brush on our backs, we almost need some kind of coaxing therapy just to start purchasing things again. Even Williams Sonoma has lost its sparkle to me. It's been so long since I've had my own bathroom, I don't even know where my make up is anymore! Do I even have make up?

We are getting a little weird! Walking in circles, catatonic states, wearing purple everyday...ok, not that bad, but seriously! Examples? Oh yeah, I've got em....

Walking into kitchen sections of department stores where we don't necessarily want to buy anything, we just mourn our boxed up old friends. "Rodolfo, look at this slicer/chopper/grinder/holder/place mat/thing a ma jig, "We had one of these, right? Doesn't this look just like ours?!? Where is ours? Did we throw it away?" and then we kind of look at each other puzzled, because we can't remember and walk away confused.

"Do you smell a barbecue? We have a grill don't we?!? Where is it again?"

"Wow! I really love this couch! Hmmm...I wonder when we are going to have a couch...."

and....repeat!
Over and over again it comes up here and there...we are so home sick for a home!

We boxed up and stored/sold most of our belongings in mid December of 2009...we will be moving into our sublet/furnished apartment later this week which will make it a year and a half since we lived together somewhere that was ours alone with our own things. For me, to go without my dish set, mixing bowls and matching rubbermaid tupperware set, this is a very long time! (Gosh, I sound so American!)

our beloved pet Paz rejoining the family soon!

We are pretty sure we have some stuff around, we just have NO CLUE where or what anything is anymore! It's like a really, really big birthday present waiting to be opened, but about 300 presents at once, because we can't remember what we have! Talk about exciting!

It's going to be so much fun to meet and greet all of our old things and see what's made it through....consolidating not only our things, but our minds into a new reality. Coming from a life style where owning less meant moving faster, this is definitely going to be an interesting transition!

the backyard

2011-05-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

Rockin Rye Bread

2011-05-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

Over this past week, my mom has graciously been teaching me how to make bread! With yeast!

Yeast breads have scared me for so long, because I'm afraid of killing it and it takes a bit of effort to get it right.

Yesterday marked my first ever *made totally by me* rye bread! Rock!

Here's how it all went down!

Step 1: Growing
The Beastie Yeasties!!!!!!
You have to get em kickin'!
How's this done? Feed em!

2 cups warmer then tepid water
2 packages beastie yeasties
1 tsp salt
1tbsp oil
1/2 cup brown sugar

Think positive growing thoughts for a while, and tada! THEY'RE ALIVE!!!!! AHHH!!!!!

LIVE BEASTIE YEASTIES!

Step 2: Stirring
I added 2 1/2 cups white flour and beat it to death until I got bored/it looked like:

Step 3: Kneading

Then I added 2 1/2 cups rye flour until it got nice and ballish looking and it needed some kneading!

I gotta say, I really love kneading bread now...it's extremely therapeutic! Kind of a half punching someone in the gut mixed with giving someone a back massage....kind of in between the two.

Step 4: Waiting!
Once it had that "je ne sais quoi" thing...I don't know what it is, but once it's there, you know and you stop kneading, I shaped it into a ball, slam dunked it in a bowl and covered that puppy up with a plate and proceeded to check my email about 100 times, read the news, looked for jobs and failed yet again at passing a level on Angry Birds...right after all that! (2 hours) Step 5!

Step 5: Poking and Punching!

You poke it! If it doesn't jump back at you, you get to punch it!

Step 6: Cut it in half, shape it into two balls, cover with a towel and wait again!

Then it looks like this!

Slitting the top can help give the bread balls of love room for growth while baking away.

Step 7: Bake it up!!!!! Until it sounds hollow when you thump it!

We enjoyed my fantastical rye bread with some homemade soup for lunch: Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!

odd man-go out

2011-05-25T10:59:00.001-07:00

pictured: almost ripe mango with tomato friends

I totally get this.

My last week in Santiago, I was walking down the street in Providencia from my very last Spanish class thinking about my very uncertain future and of course, as fate would have it, Creep by Radiohead is playing from the little radio on my head....

"I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo, what the hell am I doing here, I don't belong here"

and I thought, Thom, I totally get you man.

Yes, this is a bit of a depressing, melancholy morbid song/lyric in general, but in that moment, it was sort of uplifting for me to hear. Thom gets it! I have to say, on that particular day walking down a sidewalk filled with people in black suits and high heels looking serious and late, I was the odd man out.

I felt like a weirdo. I really didn't belong there.

Being back with all of my family and friends, the "weirdo" feeling has faded away, but over just these past few weeks, I can see R man slowly morph into....a slight sweetness in the air...a little reddish, orangish green tint. We've swapped. Unless we both move to Kachanaburi where we are both weirdos, one of us will always be the odd man(go) out.

So, I'm wondering, what happens when a mango lives with tomatoes for a really long time? Does it take on tomato like traits? Does is wish it could be a tomato? Does it long to meet other mangos? Does it feel disappointed in itself that it's not a tomato? Or. Is the mango just happy, enjoying the company of all its lovely juicy bright red friends and go with the flow appreciating the awesome eccentric life that it has?

It's not bad, it's not good, it is what it is....mangolicious. It's just a funny feeling once in a while that creeps in is all.... a slight uncertainty waking up in a place you know you don't quite fit into....am I a weirdo? But then again, no matter how weird we feel, we'll be weird together.

Thank you!

2011-05-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

I just want to give a shout out to all of you lovely family and friends who have traveled with us thru this blog over the past year plus!

Getting to share the experience with you all has made it all the more special for R man and I. Sometimes just the action of writing down an experience while we were traveling and knowing that people were reading along, gave me courage to keep going; as cranky, tired, dusty and hungry as I occassionally got, sometimes I was able to take some humor out of it by thinking about the future blogs that could come out of my unusual circumstances!

Just knowing there were people out there hoping the best for us gave me courage to face so many situations I would have otherwise shied away from and now I'm so much stronger for! Pre trip, I had quite a lot of fears and anxieties about the world and one of my goals of travel was to get over them! Spiders, heights, unusual forms of transportation, bugs, cultures, new fruits, veggies, seafoods....the list goes on and on...and so many times it was having this blog that gave me the courage to step out and try new things.

You thought you were just reading along, but you were my inspiration every day to live life to its fullest on the road! I felt a responsibility to this blog to enjoy the trip and everything that came with it...and that has since helped me find my passion for regular every day life too! Every day, no matter where you are is an adventure!

Today, the backpacker segment of my life has been signed away in lease form! In one more week we'll have a postal address!

The adventure most definitely continues, but life will be different/just as entertaining and rewarding staying in one place for a while in a city where bike paths, good beer, great people and lakes are plentiful! (We heart Madison Wisconsin)

Thanks for reading!
I'll keep writing and posting pictures of what our lives our up to, what creations we are making in the kitchen and the fun and exciting adventures we are having in the mid west of course! But now, with a Mr. Coffee and our own refrigerator! WHOO HOO!!!!!!!

Lost in Transition

2011-05-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

Reorientation time!

Sorting. Adjusting. Organizing. Unboxing. Reboxing.

For us this is same same but different! Continually transitioning from one city to another. I'm now extremely efficient at unpacking, sorting, filing and repacking.

This time however, instead of fitting everything we own into a backpack or suitcase, we are hoping for a room with a bed in it, a kitchen, a washer/dryer down the hall. We are in a transition time once again, but this time, looking forward to a life style involving things like keys, cellphones and full time jobs, rather then flight details, hotel bookings and roughguides. We are looking for a home again!

Leaving a book out and not having to pick it up right away.
Having a meal and putting leftovers in a tupperware!
Going to a grocery store and buying a condiment we know we won't use up for over a month
Buying new clothes that don't have to be part spandex and anti wrinkle

Lots of people have been asking, so....what's next?
Well, I finally have a few answers...nothing long term granted, but a little baby plan of action!
We are heading towards a life of stability!
Becoming adults once again! YAY!

We both have cell phones - I'm a google girl and Rodolfo replaced/upgraded his I-phone
We are in process of looking for a summer sublet somewhere in the downtown Madison area
Rodolfo has a little summer project to work on in Madison, so we will even have some funding coming in for our little family of two
Both of our bikes are now up and running, so we even have a means of transportation
I'm in process of improving my wardrobe...really....after a year and a half, it's gotten pretty bad and what doesn't have holes, tears, stretches and fades, I'm extremely tired of looking at. Ugh!

So! All in all, things are beginning to move in the right direction! Forward! We don't have all the answers yet, but there is definitely a positive outlook on our transition into grown-up-hood once again! YAY!!!!!!

In our pre-transition transition, I've been enjoying some time with my Minnesota clan, catching up with family and having a good putter....

My mom is teaching me how to bake bread (which I'm hoping to blog about soon!) So far: French baguettes, pizza dough, rye bread, cinnamon rolls...awesomeness!
May is planting season here in Minnesota, so I've been getting to know my parents back yard again! Shoveling dirt, planting wild flowers, pulling weeds and generally getting covered in dirt!
Biking. Rodolfo and I are both on a pretty big push to wander every bike path in the Twin Cities. There are so many! It's incredible!!!!!!

Up Nort'

2011-05-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

Lake Superior + Minnesota Wilderness

After one day for S&R to R&R at my parents house last week, we were back on the road, this time with my folks for a week of Northern Minnesota explorations,

which also meant spending Mothers Day with....

MY MOM!!!!!

Mom day in Grand Marais!
(Me + Mom)

First 4 wheeling in Two Harbors with Jaren

This past Monday (May 9th) also marked our second Anniversary as a married couple of kooks. 6 years together so far! Go us!

We've had quite a ride so far, I'm curious to find out what happens next!

We began our journey in Duluth where we did all the required Duluthian things! Eating ribs at Buffalo House (oh, how we missed meat smothered in American barbecue sauce!!!!), looking at Minnesotan animals at the zoo, walking along the boardwalk overlooking Lake Superior, admiring the lighthouse, taking a tour/sampling of Fitgers Brewery. Good times!

Heading north we stopped by a few must see State Parks! (Minnesota has some amazing parks)

The fam in front of Gooseberry Falls

Then we went for a few days to an Indian Reservation/Casino in Grand Portage! First time gambling ($20 won on penny slots, yay!) and first time walking along the border with Canada overlooking some gorgeous waterfalls and appreciating Minnesotan nature!

MN PARKS!

R meets Split Rock

When you're in the North of Minnesota, it's mandatory to spend some time with nature! It's the #1 thing to do, because you're surrounded by it!! With well maintained State Parks to meander thru at whatever level of hiking you feel up for, camping, picnic sites, well marked trails...it's hiker heaven!

We went to:

Gooseberry Falls - for waterfall watching

Split Rock Light House - for light house watching

Grand Portage - for Canada watching

Judge C.R. Magney - for cliff wandering overlooking a raging river rapids

Grand Portage State Park (middle Pigeon Falls)

What I'm amazed at about these beautiful parks is that not only can you buy an annual pass and just wander in and out all year round, but there's free public working toilets complete with T.P. and hand soap, easy free parking, beautifully clean and sometimes cemented trails, easily viewable maps, pretty much all the things you don't find in National Parks else where's in the world - expensive, dirty, difficult, no maps (unless you pay more) usually no free parking - even for your bike or moped and a working toilet that's free?!?!?!? I like Minnesota!

MN FOOD:

On this trip North, we were on a strict diet of Minnesotan food, which was a bit of a culture shock, but for me, a welcomed one....not for my waistline, but for my heart!

unlimited coffee at Betty's Pies near Two Harbors MN

Broasted Chicken (pressure cooked and roasted)

Wild Rice - a Minnesotan favorite

Barbecued ribs - we had them with a "32 ounce"... Blue moon - with orange wedge...oh soooooo good!

Unlimited refills of fresh coffee drunk out of a great big mug! How I have missed you free refills!!!!

American style rhubarb/berry pie

Potatoes (skillet style, in fry form, sweet potato fry form, mashed with gravy all over them, good god!)

MN CULTURE:

It's interesting how traveling for so long in so many other places has fueled my fascination and interest for learning about my own culture/heritage/family/home and how that has an impact on how I view the world.

Minnesotans really love:

Bear Proof Trash Receptacle!

Hiking - not walking, not strolling, good ol' day long ventures hiking woodsy paths where you need a map, some sun screen, bug spray and a jug of water just to survive, and people love it here! I had no idea how special and unique our hiking/biking paths are in comparison to the rest of the world. In every city and town in Minnesota, you are guaranteed to find a trail of some kind to wander on.

A deal - I'm pretty sure now it's not just me that's a 'cheap skate' in MN based on recent events. If it's free, it's good! We partook in a free brewery tour, train tour, zoo tour with lots of other little freebies along the way and we weren't alone! I'm from the land of coupon clippers and deal finders...it's in the blood! There is a reason why Costco and Sam's Club are so popular here! We love a deal!!!

You're in MN when you walk by "Sven and Ole's Pizza"!

Ya hey - Believe it or not, us Minnesotans have an accent! A big thick one. I know you don't believe me, because us Minnesotan's like to think we talk like news anchors and everyone else has the problem, but no, we've got our own bit of twang goin' on! I find myself saying odd things now like, "ya know?!?" (Chile: Cachai?) "ba-bye!" (chao-chao!) "where we goin'?" (vamos?) "how ya doin?" (como tai?) etc. etc. etc.. "gosh darn" (chucha!), "shoot" (mierda!), "holy - anything" (puta la hueva), put me in Minnesota and it all comes gushing out, more so now then ur' average Joe (Juan Perez)

23 hours

2011-05-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

We had a 23 hour commute from Rodolfo's father's doorstep to my parents house.

15 hours in airplanes
6 hours in airports
2 hours in cars

I'm not the biggest fan of Delta airplane food.
A roll with cracker and pasta is not a meal! It's a bad quality carb overload!

Lower left corner?!? Our luggage!!!!

There is always a list of eccentric things that float into my mind coming back to the States, from people, signs, the nightmare that is U.S. Customs....

Immediate First impressions:

Lemonade powder - I saw a guy adding a packet to his bottle....I used to do this, but I haven't seen it in so long, it really cracked me up!!
Long lines for Starbucks. This would just never happen in Chile. Never!
Actually understanding passing conversations...I really missed this! I know. It's rude. But getting to hear a funny sentence while passing by a couple of businessman is SO MUCH FUN!!!
Accents! We were waiting for a flight to Denver Colorado and a group of cowboys on a business trip sat next to us, complete with jeans, work boots, business shirts and the cutest little accent ever!
People with stuff. Holy cow do people have stuff here! Is it me, or do purses seem huge here? Granted, we were in an airport and I looked like a crazy person with my purse stuffed to the gills and my back pak overloaded with electronic gear and Chilean nik naks....but geez louise
Clean, not pretty. I don't know, it's weird, but Chile is a dirty city, but in that dirt, it has a kind of funky character....I forgot how clean everything is here, but lacking in character....just in streets and buildings....boooooring.
Warmth. Physically and mentally. I'm going to miss the Santiago sun and quite honestly...hugs and kisses. I'm going to miss beso-ing (kissing) everyone! It used to freak me out, but looking back, it was nice to have a set warm greeting when seeing a friend or meeting someone new....a sort of physical way to feel actually welcomed and warmed by another persons presence.
Upon entering the MPLS airport, I heard 100's of people with my exact same accent! Other potential "Sarah's" who look a little like me, sound like me, dress like me! SO COOL!!!!!

That all being said, it's so nice to be back!!! We made it intact with all luggage and no broken pisco bottles (whew) and I'm soooooo happy to see my family again! Take a hot shower. Eat chocolate chip cookies, homemade blueberry coffee cake (thanks mom) and freshly brewed, real, authentic, straight from the actual bean coffee!!!!

I'm so happy!!!!

Adios Chicos, ca chai?!?

2011-05-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

a Rodolfo creation

We are going to miss Chile!

No more terror

2011-05-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

Midnight last night:

Sarah, you won't believe what happened!

Osama Bin Laden is dead!

Then we watched Obama's (kick ass) speech online.

I think almost everyone in the States today and everywhere else feels some kind of ripple of joy and triumph....for all of the bad in the world, today things are looking up a little, particularly for the families of the victims of 9/11....today is FINALLY their day!

Whenever I hear stories about the Pinochet dictatorship here in Chile, I always think, wow, I can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like to live in fear everyday for what you believe....what a horrible time in history...I'm so lucky to have grown up in a country of free speech and open minds....

But I have to admit now, looking back on my year of travel, I didn't know when I left the States that I would feel safer, I would sleep better, I would have an easier time living simply because I was not in the States. I wasn't scared anymore. I didn't feel afraid every day watching the news and reading the paper that some horrible person in the world wanted me dead simply because I was in America. Granted...that's not even close to the fear of living under a dictatorship, but walking thru an airport in another country without getting groped and smelling nervous sweat in the air, everyone looking around them, suspicious of everyone and everything else...I would take my shoes off in line and realize I was the only one doing it! Sometimes, they didn't even check our bags!

I can't help but hope, perhaps things will change now in the States! A little more love and a little less hate.

We fly to the States tomorrow, an experience I usually dread with all the lines and regulations, screenings, prodings, nervous eyes in Rodolfo's slightly darker skinned direction and loud speakers reminding me every 5 minutes that the USA is under attack...code orange, yellow, red - people want you dead - don't forget! - you're in danger!

But today is a new day! I'm excited to journey back to my country. I'm excited for the true 'hope' that Obama has given us last night! I know I sound like stars and stripes are flying out of my ^%$, but wow, what an incredible feeling!

Ruta 5

2011-05-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

change

2011-04-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

We are now in our very final days in Chile...wow....I can't believe it!
We catch a flight to the Twin Cities next week Tuesday where we'll get some time to catch up with my corner of the world for a wee bit before the great big day when we become grown ups again...it's coming!!!!

So once again, we transition into a new life, new culture, different language, different food and a great big kaboodle of uncertainty....not really knowing what's coming at us next. Luckily, we've now had lots of experience with the unknown and we aren't too afraid, as long as we are together....sappy and true.

I always get really sad leaving Santiago, especially seeing Rodolfo so happy and content here with his family and friends. I know when we walk down the cold windowless hallway that smells funny, waiting to enter the great big Delta Boeing, he's going to have that puppy look on his face, bending in odd ways to catch a last glimpse/sniff/feel of his country....I know we'll sit there for a minute in our seats and he's going to be really quiet, and after a few minutes, we'll hold hands, buckle in and he'll say, "I wonder when we'll come back. I'm really going to miss Chile." and my heart will break for him just a little bit, because I know it's my fault. I'm making him leave everything he loves here...for...well...me!

After living here for five months learning not just a language, but a culture, family structure, etiquette and eating an insane amount of bread and meat, I'll admit I have a little Chilean pride for my better half and I know we will be back!

Of course, there's a hundred thoughts a minute rolling thru my mind right now, mostly sentimental moments of, 'this is the last time I might walk by the crazy pigeon bench lady' 'last olive', 'last pisco sour', and then of course I have another, but everything we do now is suddenly in the light of

is this it?

the final Chilean grape I'll eat for maybe the next few years?!? I know....you're thinking you can buy Chilean grapes in the States too...trust me on this, they aren't the same! The grapes here? A million times sweeter/richer/better....and it's not just the grapes, quality of life in general here, FANTASTIC! The food. The climate. The mountains! It seems almost ridiculous to leave!

This was our 'test' to see if we could enjoy living here and the answer is most definately yes, it's just a matter of when.

El disco

2011-04-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from a trip to the south of Chile to visit family!

The men who wear black and red...Tio Nano, Rodolfo and Pipe

Their lovely crazy dog Vita who loves to lick everyone

While we were there, Tio Nano treated us to a very special treat, his famous "disco"

What is a disco? Well! Lucky you, I took pictures!

This is El Disco!!!!! Literally, a disc.
You begin by getting a nice wood fire burning!

If you happen to have some smoked rabbit lying around, as did Tio Nano, you pre cook that a bit!
(This was my first time eating rabbit, DELICIOUS!!!!!)

pre marinade your meats...beef, chicken...mmmm....

Now it's DISC TIME!

saute 2 large sliced onions

add rabbit

the chicken

don't forget to warm your red wine by the fire!

add the meats

pour white wine all over that puppy, creating a delicious sauce

cover, while drinking a brew and catching up on current family events
from crazy relatives who keep maniacally smiling in happiness and shooting embarrassing pictures.
(sorry Tio Nano)

before

AFTER!
and the internet world says: mmmmm.

Now that the meat is lovely, add some muscles and seafood...you know, since you live by the ocean in this variation!

oh yeah!!!!!

Cut those chorizo's/longeniza's up a bit to get the juices all flowing

appreciate the aromatic beauty that is wood grilled meat

Serve with boiled Chilean potatoes...the best! Tomato salad and a Chilean red wine.

Dig in!!!!!

Rodolfo has an awesome family both in the south and in Santiago.
Very good times have been had.
We are going to miss them so much!!!

Pan Amasado I'm going to miss you!

2011-04-29T05:02:00.000-07:00

Pan = Bread
Chileans love bread
But more so a particular type of bread you can only find in places more "countryside" like called pan amasado.

When I first arrived, I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. Granted I'm not a huge bread fan, but to me, bread is bread! White. Wheat. Multi Grain....baguette, whatever, it's all kind of similar, no biggie. There's tons of it here. It makes you big and fat. Who cares!

And then.....I ate a lot of bread.
I have eaten SO MUCH bread.
I'm afraid I've become a bit of an addict now.

The thing is, when you eat a lot of bread, just like when you eat any particular thing a lot, you become a little picky about it, you learn more about it, you try all the options and after that! You start to have opinions...which types are better, where to find the best, which region makes the best...etc. etc. etc..

and that's when it hits you!
Pan Amasado is DAMN GOOD!!!!

What is Pan Amasado?
Homemade rolls (larger hamburger bun sized but with denser bread) slow baked over wood coals, usually found alongside fresh baked empanadas.

Where is it?
Driving along the country back roads of Chile, you'll find hand painted signs outside of little wooden shacks without doors, usually with little old grandma ladies peaking their heads out of a corner while working the giant black oven.

What does it taste like?
LOVE!
The closest I can compare it to is the flavor and texture of homemade biscuits....like the type you can find at KFC or Red Lobster, southern style love'n, but a billion times better!

I'm at the point where my mouth begins to water just seeing the word 'amasado'....
Ridiculous!

What does all of this perhaps mean?
Chile has finally gotten under my skin!
It's rustic homey flavors of wood smoked meat and smoked and dried spicey red chile powder - Merken, salads of tomato and onion with a sprinkling of olive oil and lemon....casseroles of meat and mashed corn with a hidden treat of hard boiled egg chunk and whole olive (with pit!) - pastel de choclo, all accompanied by a nice glass of Chilean red Carmenere.....

Damn you Chile and your exquisite simple down home cookin'
Your rustic simple flavors that at first seem too plain to be good, but win you over with time.

That's the thing about Chile....yeah there's a lot of annoyances, but just like pan amasado and Chilean men, somehow over time it gets to you and wins your heart.....(awww, shuck)

I'm going to miss it a lot!

A Chocolate Incident

2011-04-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

Weight: 100 pounds...or enough to pin down a medium sized person
Hair color: brown
Body type: strong and muscular
Name: Chocolate

While visiting a family friend in Talca Chile, we were in process of grilling some meat outside and I got a bit cold, so I decided to get my jacket out of the car. I walked out the front door and was immediately greeted by their large and husky puppy Chocolate with the doormat in his mouth....he looked so cute and innocent, so I gave him a pat on the head and a little tug-o-war with his doormat.....

Meet Chocolate:

He's a bigger dog, but I've been around bigger....I'm not worried.
I made sure to close the door, so Chocolate wouldn't let himself in and of course when I tried the handle after it shut, realized I had just locked myself out...it's ok....I'll just call for help once I grab my coat!

As soon as I opened the trunk, I felt little paws wrap around my knee and shorly after that....
a rhythmic motion....
yup.
that's right.
I was being humped by Chocolate

Ok, no problem, I've been humped by dogs before, as long as no one sees, I'll be fine.
But Chocolate was having fun.

I closed the trunk, coat in hand and decided to head around the corner of the house, where I knew R man could see me and let me into the house...but, of course, Chocolate was in no mood...err....in the mood not to move. When I tried to lift my leg, I realized I couldn't. I was literally 'pinned' to the spot!

So then I decided to panic!

I first started screaming for help...not too loud to not wake the neighbors, "Rodolfo!?!" "Yoo Hoo!?!" "Rodooolfoooo?!?"

and I waited....and got humped.....
no response.

So then, I tried to push lovely Chocolate off my leg, which I think he then misinterpreted my fore arm as fore play and latched on with his jaws of death.....

and the real screaming began!

"AAAAAHHHH!!!!!! (very high pitched...as I was envisioning my arm becoming a new puppy toy in a corner somewhere) RODOLFO! HELP! RODOLFOOOOO!!!!!!! AHHHH!!! AHH!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!"

I looked down at a very happy Chocolate with with a glint of fun in his eye and shiny white perfectly lined sharp teeth my mind went blank and I had no idea what to do.

Oh my god. He's going to EAT ME! PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!!!!!!!!
So I did what you are very much NOT supposed to do....
Like running in front of a bear....
Stepping on a snake....
Talking about the vikings in front of a Packers fan....
I started to chaotically shake my arm around, hoping lovely Chocolate would let go. Yup. That was me! Screaming like a banchee, flailing my arm around in a driveway with Chocolate attached growling in a very eerily satisfied way....awesome!

I somehow startled Chocolate out of his exciting chew toy with an outstretched leg which he immediately took interest in. (I thought that might be more difficult for him to chew off and I was losing the feeling in my arm, accept for the spots where tooth met skin.)

First he gnawed the bow off my shoe, then took hold of my pants, I like my pants!, so I started swatting him with my jacket, which was oh so much fun for Chocolate....all of course while trying to slowly creep towards the door, screaming away in a sort of slurred spanglish mix of profanity and things I thought sounded like Spanish that somewhere in my terror stricken brain, I thought might entice Chocolate to stop...all while Chocolate chewed/jumped/pulled/growled away happily....at this point I couldn't look anymore....like watching a train wreck...my poor shoes....

"Pare!"
"Ahora"
"No mas!!!!"
"OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO DIE!"
"*%$#@$%&%$##$%^&&%$#%^&&%$"!!!!!
You get the idea ....

and then the humping began yet again....
which allowed me to maneuver close enough to the front door to ballistically slam down my fist in chaotic rhythms in between humps in hope someone might remember I existed and come and save me.....

#$%^*^$$#@%^!
...hump...
where is....$%^$...
...hump....
what the $&*%...
...hump...
it's been an hour ^%$#
...hump...
you call yourself a $%^&%$ husband!

After what seemed like hours (probably 15 minutes max), I could hear hilarious laughter as heads appeared at the opened door...as I was close to tears with terror, at first I couldn't quite understand what was so funny....

***A disheveled women with a disparaged look on her face with dog 'attached'***

Rodolfo: (of course, jerk) "HA! HA! HA! Sarah! How could you!?! HA! HA! HA!"

Thank GOD they didn't have video surveillance!
We are NOT getting a dog.
Happy to be of service Chocolate.
Leave the money on the lawn.

To Be Regalon

2011-04-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

When people visit SouthEast Asia from the States, sometimes people complain that locals aren´t very friendly in certain areas, because they never smile. I´m positive locals in small villages in SouthEast Asia smile all the time, they just don´t find it appropriate to use as a greeting to strangers on the street who dress funny and goggle at them!

The more I think about it, my first midwestern reaction of wanting to smile and greet every stranger on the street walking by is kind of, well, weird! Although it´s still in my automatic instinct to smile and wave like a crazy woman, this can be pretty rude in many parts of the world, even asking for trouble!

Just like somewhere in Vietnam, the Chilean form of kindness was difficult for me to break into for a long time....I just didn´t get it! For starters, Chilean life is based around family!!! Family comes first, last and inbetween! It´s the ultimate most important thing in the world! Outside of an immediate circle of family and close friends, friendliness isn´t really shown in Santiago....aka....you don´t smile and wave at strangers!

´Sarah! Put your hand down! Sarah! Stop smiling! Geez...you are embaressing me!´

When you have free time, you spend it hanging out with family - sitting while talking, eating, drinking, repeat!
This experience becomes a sort of Chilean understood ´feeling´which is also a ´state of being´called REGALON!

The best U.S. translation I have for this is a jumble of words I connect with family and home:
cozy, happy, content, warm, fuzzy, thoughtful, full, complete, comfy, relaxed, easy, satisfied

Midwest-Minnesota translation:
drinking cocoa after playing in the snow
Thanksgiving dinner with family
Roasting marshmallows over a fire while camping

Chilean Regalon has been tough for me to experience, perhaps like smiling in a small village in Vietnam, I´m not quite sure how to do it...or why!

My family doesn´t really just sit around and chit chat....come on! There´s always some kind of work that needs doing! Things to be done! Leaves to rake, cars to fix, clothes to wash...sit and do..nothing....weird!

When I had my first asado (Chilean barbecue) experience in Chile with R man´s family 6 years ago, I was so confused when the meal was over and everyone just kept sitting there talking!

Come on people, let´s go! There were dishes to wash! A table to be cleaned! Food to put away! T.V. to be watched!

I still have ticks of wanting to spring into action putting things away and setting order to chaos, but this of course interrupts the natural regalon vibe occuring and gets me in all kinds of trouble....

Can you be regalon alone?
Of course! Say, you´re preparing yourself a tea at your mom´s house....like R man did one day and suddenly out of nowhere - I feel so regalon!!!! - Translation: I feel so happy and homey in this house which holds the emotional presence of people I love.....awww.....it was pretty cute...like a happy attack!

From what I´ve figured out so far in my limited slightly skewed view on Chilean culture, being REGALON as a state of mind is being happy, but the kind of happy you can only achieve in the presence of people-places-things you really love....kind of a raw, carnal love....like diving into a roast chicken with your hands, or stuffing your face with ice cream straight out of the bucket...it can´t be faked. When you´re regalon, you say and do exactly what you want....when someone asks what you like, there is no polite correct response, accept the one straight from your gut!

Being regalon has definitely taken some getting used to for me, kind of like the way I keep my hand in my pocket walking down the street fighting the urge to wave...for as many things that I find difficult and unusual about Chilean culture, feeling regalon is one of my favorites!!!

mamacita y yo

2011-04-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

Home Town Pride

2011-04-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

Rodolfo found this article about the culture of the Midwest and it got me thinking!

It's incredible how patriotic and sentimental I've become about being both American and Midwestern!
No, I'm not planning to vote for the host of a show on the top floor of a certain tower in New York....

After many, many years of participating in Anti War protests and looking at front yards of red, white and blue, I would see my flag on the back of someone's pick up truck and want to hit that truck out of the incredible anger I felt towards the self centered, elitist, chauvinistic ass holery of ...American truck drivers with bumper sticker patriotism....in other words...my flag had been kidnapped by people who apparently like to drink tea....the symbol of my country, the meaning of what I thought my country represented had changed into something ugly and foul and I didn't want it to represent me anymore.

Until last year, when I took it back.

Every single person who makes the decision to step outside of their borders of both their country and comfort zones becomes an ambassador to how the rest of the world sees America. This helped me see it differently as well!

The moment you speak the words to a stranger in a foreign land "I'm from such and such" you represent an entire people from an entire country/culture whether you like it or not!

I found myself walking straighter, speaking clearer, being nicer, trying harder in moments I really didn't want to. When people were staring at me and perhaps even hating me for no reason other then where I was from - words written on a passport - every move I made had an impact on how people viewed not only me, but also my country and I knew it. Not just for the reactions I received from locals, but also from other tourists/backpackers and myself!

"You're the first - smart, interesting, open minded, funny, caring, giving etc - American I've ever met!"

But it's not just how my friends from other countries now view America....like there's reason not to blow it up...they met someone real....it's a real place now to them...it's not just murdered prostitutes in alley ways and fat people watching t.v...their are people in the States just like them! I know I've changed how I view other countries, based on my own experiences with people who live in them....and for all of the bad in the States and every other country, it is important to remember that there is just as much good if not more! Although, I have to admit, the opportunities I've had simply because of what country I'm from are flabbergasting!

Now, let's get local.....

I've never had so much pride in being American. Minnesotan. From the East side of St. Paul...the slightly more dodgy end.

The further and longer I've lived away from home, the more connected I feel to the little traditional "US, Midwest, Minnesota" culture I've left behind and feel really proud of it!

Just this past week I met for a beer with a fellow Minnesotan and it was funny the things we both missed, which were for the most part, purely Minnesotan (Northern people who know how to drive in snow) traditions! Things like walking as an 'activity', baking, folk music, being cold and liking it - aka - shoveling, cooking with heavy black cast iron pots, shopping at savers...I found myself speaking with a little bit of a Minnesota twang and an urge to make up a casserole and bake cookies! It felt good to know that these things aren't simply my own personal eccentricities....it's how I was brought up and a part of who I am!

After growing up believing I was the only kid on the block without an interesting "ethnic heritage" to impress the other kids with...that I came from a country and origin without a particularly fascinating story to it....for a region that's blamed for 'talking like news anchors' I considered mid western life to be like our food, bland and boring...but now that I'm an adult....I like bland and boring! What's wrong with that? Now, I see my heritage as a solid base to build upon....think about it! Potatoes can take on any flavor! But what do you do without the potato?!?

Yesterday I made Thai style summer rolls, Rodolfo made Chinese style sesame chicken kebabs and for dessert his Aunt taught me how to make a nut cake with a special manjar frosting from a family recipe....a giant mess of cultural traditions mashed up together! All of that 'ethnic heritage' I felt I couldn't take part in? That's exactly the coolest part of what my heritage has become!! An openness to trying and learning new things! Feeling inspired to learn about all the parts and people of the world while also carrying on my simple mid west loves for fleece jackets and cozy blankies...warm cocoa on cold nights and lemonade on the hot ones...being open to other cultures IS my culture! That's America!

As much as I love my little neck of the Northwoods (my dads favorite Penzey's spice) I also now have a great pride in sharing that mid western simple yet savory kindness, politeness and sense of daily purpose with the rest of the world and incorporating all the brilliant spicy parts of life I learn there into who I am as well....

That's why I love St. Paul, Minnesota, the Mid West, the USA and all my friends and family in it!
You can't put all that on a bumper sticker.

pros/cons of living in Santiago

2011-04-14T05:32:00.000-07:00

I'm a list maker.
If I have a problem, I make a list.

Is this our forever city?!?
TIME FOR A LIST!

Pros
Things I adore and love about Santiago/add to my quality of life/make me want to marry it and have its babies

wide sidewalks, I love wide sidewalks! They make me happy! People walking everywhere! YAY!
little public parks/trash cans/benches/cute old people sitting on afore mentioned benches
great weather....greaaaaat weather...every. single. day! It's like living in tele-tubby land!
bug free...accept for some occasional moths at night and scary giant black blood sucking bugs in the south...no country is perfect! Mosquitos and fruit flies though? Nope. Zilch!
lots of beautiful exotic plants and flowers - which can be a slight "con" for allergies, but I love it!
a view of the mountains anywhere....Rock! Literally!
lots of little cars scooting around...good for the environment, good for parking! They're so cute!
never getting pushed or hurried in a restaurant by a waiter for new customers, I love this so much!
a great international bus system that's affordable and on time
a great local public transit system that is also affordable and on time
a growing bicycling community and many a new inter-city bike path getting environmentally friendlier by the minute!
a new and old generation open to change and growth with a push towards becoming a force to be reckoned with on the international scale! Grrr...roar...grr some more!
polite taxi drivers who don't rip you off and wear business attire!
Paco's (Chilean cops) who also don't rip you off and seem to follow traffic rules surprisingly!
conservative style - granted, it's no Buenos Aires, but generally speaking people dress nicely, smell nicely and take care to look their best! On a crammed bus, this is appreciated!
generally speaking, Santiago is quite clean...pollution hangs in the air certain months, due to the surrounding mountains, but in comparison to many other cities in S.A. and the world, it's really good!
no continual I.D. checks for purchasing/consuming alcohol...biggest culture shock ever returning home.
fresh good and cheap fruit
fresh good and cheap veggies
damn good wine, if I do say so!

Now, the cons:

Things that drive me absolutely batty with frustration/can't and won't understand ever/W.T.F.

paying for street parking. If a guy is holding a flash light and helps you pull your car into the street, after he has intentionally parked cars all around yours making it impossible for you to pull out independently, he expects payment....that's wrong.
notaria's - in the States, we have Notary Publics who are public servants and free of charge...in Santiago, you stand in a long line at certain times of the day and you have to pay a Notaria a LOT of money to certify whatever paper work you have....wtf.
80's architecture. After visiting beautifully styled Buenos Aires, Madrid, Paris, etc., Santiago architecture is just plain yucky. Building after building much in the style of Americana suburbia, but only in the color grey...bleuk.
Book Tax. What country in their right mind would decide to put an extremely high/almost impossible tax on the purchase of educational material meant to broaden horizons and improve the mental capabilities of a nation?!?!? Oh yeah...Chile. Not to mention, if you don't have a Chilean National I.D., you can't use/enter the not very pubic, public library!
Starbucks/Starlight (in Chile), McDonald's, etc.. Something I've been disappointed all over the world with is how passionate people are internationally with fast/crap food, especially when a country has such excellent traditional foods to offer. Why eat a big mack when you can have a queso empanada followed by an Italiana (a giant sandwich stuffed with sliced beef, mayo, tomato and palta (avacado)....why whopper it up when you have that?!? I don't understand.....why copy bad food when you have such exceptionally great traditional foods which kick their asses???
bright neon street cleaners....seeing men in bright orange jumpsuits on the streets scares me. It's like watching a bad sci fi movie from the 80's or entering a federal prison. It gives me the heeby geebies.
bad manners; as suited up and well dressed as they are, everyone likes to budge and shove their way to the front of....whatever line they're in here.... and it drives me crazy! Walking/driving/getting on and off a bus/train it doesn't matter how old or young you are, people are RUDE! The only exception I've seen to this is when young men give up the old/disabled/pregnant person chair on the bus...that's it!
curry...where is it? You can find sushi sold on street corners out of coolers by locals after music events....where's the curry?!? I'm dying for a chicken mussuman with some hootspa! Dying! I need me some chilies in my life!
the blind spot. When you take your driving exam in the States, you have to check your blind spot or sometimes you fail! I can't believe how many accidents I've seen here which could be avoided by the driver simply looking over his shoulder before he turns/switches lanes! COME ON CHILE!!!!! Get with it!
white people ads - I'm looking up at a billboard and there's someone who could be from Norway looking right back at me....it makes me pretty sick to look at....in the States, everyone is so focused to be politically correct/a rainbow nation/making sure everyone is represented fairly in our advertising/books/movies etc...when I look at billboard pictures in Chile, I have rarely seen a person of darker, not even tan skin tone looking back....I don't see a Chilean....where is your pride Chile? You are a beautiful people!!!! Be proud of who you are!

20 pros, 10 cons...

hmmmm......

"make believe"

2011-04-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

sometimes in the morning, Rodolfo and I sit and stare at each other in our jammies for an hour or so while drinking a coffee and go:

...blah blah blah blah blah....

You know how Mr. Rogers had a land of make believe? A dream world where anything is possible, grown ups dress up in funny costumes and dreams come true, problems get solved, the world is happy!

Well....that's what we do...."make believe".....it's been going on for about a year and a half now and every time we do it, it seems to make us feel better.

You see, we have no clue what we are doing...today, tomorrow, next month, next year, we have no lease to pay, no car to pay, no car insurance to pay and no job to pay it! (which works out well, right?)

So, in the same way perhaps other people sit and discuss their dreams of visiting far off lands, eating exotic foods and receiving fancy back massages before heading to work, we sit around in our jammies at (sometimes) 10:35am talking about our future coffee pot....let me explain....

For simplicity:
S - Sarah
R - Rodolfo

R: Where is our dish set anyways?
S: I wonder where we put our t.v.?
R: Should we keep the rice maker or live simply? Kitchen gadgets are overrated, right?
S: Do you remember that wine vacuum thingamajig we had? That was cool!

It's not only the material objects we dream about, there's also the future apartment we will some day have and it's where abouts...

R: I definitely want a guest room!
S: Should we live in Minnesota?
R: No. The East Coast! But where? North Carolina perhaps?
S: But then we'll need a car....

Which leads of course to....
R: Should we buy a car?
S: What if we end up moving somewhere where we don't need it?
R: What kind of car would we get anyways? Small for good mileage or big for a future stroller?

and that leads to...
S: Well that means getting a job.
R: We can't really pick up our things, get an apartment or buy a car until we know where we are going to work!
S: I guess we really shouldn't worry about any of this until we find jobs somewhere....
R: Perhaps we should start looking?!?

and right around then, coffee hour is adjourned.
We return from the land of make believe
and it's time to go take showers and make the bed.

R man - Happy 33rd!!!!!!

2011-04-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

I'm married to a really special guy and today happens to be his birthday!!!!!!!!

I've realized this specialness for oh so many reasons, but especially when I'm talking to my parents or friends on skype and after a polite amount of time they ask, "so...Sarah...uh....where's Rodolfo?" Ok, ok, I get it! The dude has charm. His teeth sparkle. He has Ninja socks and a Balinese Batik shirt for very special occasions...the kid is cool!

So. Here's my top 10 reasons why R man rocks my socks off....
(you see, you can do these kinds of embarrassing things when you're married to someone! You want a good reason to get hitched? There it is! Hwa ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!)

1. R man HAIR. R man has big fluffy, curly, beautiful hair (which I will never have and am uber jealous of), he could have flash dance hair if he were a girl in the 80's! I will honestly miss it a lot when he cuts it off, particularly because it's soft and smells yummy! (plus, as proven at Lollapalooza, it makes him quite easy to spot in a crowd) He now compares himself to a Peruvian bamboo flute player on the street corner performing "El Condor Pasa" for the upteenth time....but really, that just makes him COOLER! Now, how many people can say THAT about themselves?

2. Folding Fool R man. The man can fold! R man is obsessed with the correct way to make a bed. Perfect folds, even lengths...he says he doesn't sleep well if the sheets aren't smooth. He likes to arrange the pillows like they do in hotels, with a slight crease of blanket under each pillow so they poof just so, that is, after he throws the pillow in my face multiple times while laughing hysterically.... I NEVER made my bed before I met him....he has me just about house trained.

3. Chilled out R man. He is extremely fluid-openminded-easy going. If plans change, he's ok. Something goes wrong? No problem. Weird food we've never tried? Why not! Want to party like it's 1999? He's your guy. The only thing he's picky about is what music he listens to while he's driving and the smell of fried food where he sleeps, but if you feel like learning how to dive, reading a novel, jumping off a cliff, taking a road trip or sitting around watching t.v....rock!

4. R man Styl'. R man is a big fan of the Calvin Klein Outlet...smart dresser....he likes to buy nice clothes at affordable prices that last a long time and look good while also feeling comfortable. In other words...he's got the swank. He's swank-a-licious. He's one of those people who manage to wear an "outfit" and make it snap. Too bad the same can't be said for me....I dress horribly, I admit it. Last week, I looked down walking to school and I was LITERALLY wearing every primary color along with black and white...thorough...hellooooo rainbow bright! Perhaps this is why so many people don't believe we are married when they first meet us? hmmmm.....

5. R MAC MAN. He's a techy electronic computer super dork and proud of it. I have to admit that this makes R man cool, particularly because he knows how to work every "I-thing" he owns to its max. He can play a song at someone else's party with his I-phone, or! He can play a song from his I-phone using his mac. Can you do that? I can't! Mystified. Plus....he's managed to take apart and repair his I-phone and it still works!

driving on the "other side" in S.A.

6. Manual R man . He can pretty much drive anything, anywhere, safely. This past year, it's been proven. Left side of the road. Manual geared motorcycle with buckets of water thrown at us. Stick shift car up the side of a mountain from a stop light with a car on his bumper (he actually has TWO techniques for that) Rush hour traffic in Santiago. The man is a driving fiend! No mountain too high or pothole too deep.

7. R man smile. Ok. Look at this smile! Loveliness. He could charm a pelican into landing on his pinky finger and regurgitating fish into his open mouth mistaking him for a baby fledgling pelican, because he's just that darn cute.

8. R man 1,2,3's. The guy can add, subtract, multiply and divide very big/small/fractal/imaginary numbers in his head JUST by looking up at the sky....not really sure where the answers come from up there, but perhaps it's like pin ball? He looks up and the ball shoots to the back of his head via gravity, where apparently the answer is waiting and shoots back to the front in micro seconds....pretty cool stuff!

9. R man memory. The drawback of this super skill for me is that he has the ability to recall every single fight/conversation/debate we've ever had, but he generally doesn't use this skill against me, which is nice of him, but it's not very fun when you just want to have a good brawl for no reason. He can memorize maps and guide books and he's really good with names! Pretty handy on the road I have to say! He's like a GPS, Wikipedia, phone book and google search all rolled into one! The man must be hooked up to a backup drive, because I don't see how so much information can fit in one little fluffy haired head.

10. What makes R man particularly the coolest person in the world for me? For some reason, he thinks I'm pretty neat too. Can't beat that.

I'm smitten. Happy Birthday R man.

when ewwww becomes mmmm

2011-04-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

One morning years ago I found R man pulling something out of the oven for breakfast....R man...baking?
I was scared. I could tell by his face that he was hoping to impress and bedazzle me and my great love for oatmeal....(a true Minnesotan breakfast...grunt, grunt) So...he had boiled up some oatmeal, added lemon and sugar to it and then baked it in the oven...or something like that?!?
Of course, he wouldn't tell me this until I first tried it....and ran to the bathroom screaming believing he had lost it and added comet to a pile of dog poo and threw it on a cookie tray to bake....(lemon baked oats)

Then there's the time I came home to a pot of boiling wrinkled up ....balls.... that looked like little mini ...lets just say brains! "what is that?" "what are those?!?!?!?" "Rodolfo!" "AHHH!!!!!!" These turned out to be a traditional extremely popular dish of rehydrated dried peaches boiled in sugar with barley (Mote con Huesillo).

But I know....my own food traditions involve some eccentricities!

Root beer. I love root beer. To R man, it tastes like rotten mud water. Root beer is not allowed into the R man household....the smell of it, the look of it...it all really freaks him out. The fact that I love it with ice cream in a big cup is absolutely mortifying for R man.

On another day, Rodolfo walked in on my dinner preparations to a can of tuna, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a bag of spiral pasta and a bag of potato chips with a look of complete horror....."I'm not eating that...whatever that is you're making, I'm not eating it!" (tuna noodle casserole)

There are weird freaky foods in every country that local people are passionate about that just don't translate right, no matter how much we want them too.

R man will never convert me nor I him to some of our local favorites....however, there are some Chilean cooking techniques I've become rather fond of that I would have 'poo poo'd' in the States....here's a few....

Tomatoes
In Chile, they peel their tomatoes before cutting them up for salads...the tradition comes from when people used to get sick from some chemical or bacteria that used to be on the outside of the tomato...even though the outer skin is no longer harmful, they still do it. I used to be annoyed by this incessant need for peeling, but then I realized...it's waaaaaay easier to cut up a tomato without that hard outer skin attached! It doesn't turn into moosh if your knife isn't super sharp!

Onion
You know when you put fresh onion in a salad raw and it gives you that nasty taste/breathe for forever after?
By rubbing salt into your onion with your fingers and then letting it sit in some warm water with the salt, it takes the edge off of the onion and makes it sweet, but leaves that yummy crunch!

Boiled potatoes
Why did I never hear of this before?!?!? It's awesome!
If you're making potato salad, boil your potatoes the day before you need them, whole, with the skins on.
Stick them in your fridge for the night and the next day, they're cooked, easy to peel and not too hot to handle! It saves so much time, stress, and you get more potato out of the deal, because you haven't peeled half of the potato into the trash!

Pressure cookers
Ok. These things make me nervous and I'm not ready to try it out, but they are really cool! For cooking beans particularly.....they cook up beautifully in a very short amount of time! I've heard they can explode though...but it's definitely a cooking technique I want to learn!

Lemon
This fruit is a staple here for adding flavor to anything! It's in every fresh salad complementing any type of vegetable. A base to many cocktails, particularly the pisco sour. Chileans love lemon! Now, I do too! It's going to be sad to leave the lemon culture behind, since it adds so much flavor to foods and it's so healthy! Although, adding lemon to oatmeal? Seriously...that's taking it too far!!!!

Gringa Shock - Tiempo

2011-04-08T06:57:00.000-07:00

Tiempo means time...that's the direct translation...the reality in Chile? Time with an attitude.... time chilled out ...time goes on a holiday and forgets to come home again...

Perhaps you've heard of Latin time?... Yes, they have clocks here too, and they definitely use them for work and professional meetings, but for non work related activities, time becomes another (quite vague) concept entirely.

When R man and I first moved in together in the States six years ago, time was an adjustment for both of us, particularly the meaning of dinner time! But also parties, meeting friends, any social event that is given a pre scheduled time of arrival.....it was definitely difficult for both of us, both growing up in completely different cultures of what "on time" meant to us and trying to find a compromise.

Dinner Time:
"You're late! The pasta is overcooked! The cake is burnt! I had everything set and you never showed up! That's the LAST time I ever make you dinner again!!!"

"But mooshi mooshi.....(that was my nickname back then..heehee) You said 6:30pm! It's 7pm! I'm here! What's the problem?!?"

That was the classic fight/misunderstanding. Definitely our biggest first conflict as a couple....besides the budget....

Dinner length:
Minnesotans can eat dinner in 30 minutes! 6-6:30pm...t.v., bed, done.

Chileans? Try 8-11pm! 2-3 hours to eat dinner! One Chilean dinner takes the same time as a week of dinners in Minnesota! It's a very casual laid back hang out rather than a chow down...I personally like chowdowns sometimes.....they're just totally different styles!
*On weekdays in Chile, sometimes dinner is skipped completely for a more informal once (tea time) earlier in the evening...this depends on the family, but it's not a hearty meal....that's the closest Chile gets to a meat and potatoes midwestern supper....4pm toast with tea!

Latin party time:
To say a party starts at 9pm here could mean to show up around 10-11pm, as late as mignight...or even later! We showed up for a birthday party at 2am last month!

I'm the kind of person who ends up arriving 5 minutes early to a party, because I don't want to be late! I'll sit in my car or walk up and down the street rather then leave my house later then expected. It's the rigid Scandinavian in me....we don't like to be a nuisance to other people, but also don't want our good names tainted by showing up at a party late! Hellith shall freezeth over!

Living in the States, we had Latin friends from all parts of the world and it was interesting to notice who would arrive when at a party and how that correlated to which country they came from! You think I'm crazy, but it's true!

Who is the latest? Puerto Ricans by a land slide! When more than one Puerto Rican shows up at 1am for a party that started at 9pm...at more then one party? That's impressive!

Chilean time:
But now, we are living in Chile! So, let's talk about Chile!

Where I expected Rodolfo to change his schedule to US/Midwestern standards in the States....now that we are here, it's a continual adjustment for me to remember to play by Chilean rules. Take it easy, play it cool, chill out....AHHH!!!! I have to turn my mental clock of expectations back 2-3 hours every day, or I freak out!

I've completely abandoned my planner....it has no purpose here! No one here plans social events ahead of time. Which means, you can't plan ANYTHING! No one does it! If someone has a party or a barbecue, you generally won't hear about it until the day of/day before! No one knows what they are doing until they are in process of doing it! For birthdays, it's occasionally a week in advance...but that's it! No more then that!

For me, this experience is like nails on chalkboard! I used to live by my planner! I would have died without it! Dates with friends scheduled sometimes months in advance. It was the only way I could see people!

I once invited people to a birthday party in Madison 2 months in advance, thinking it polite so that people could save the date. Some Chileans showed up at my house a month early confused to a dark house with a locked door!!! (I'll admit now, that was a bit early)

Chile:

"Hey, want to come to a barbecue in a couple hours?"

Me:
"How's the 2nd Tuesday of next month looking for you for coffee?" "ooh....bad? what about the month after that?"

After another of my recent recurring time freak outs, Rodolfo told me the story of a birthday party he organized for himself the morning of his birthday his first few months in the States...he couldn't understand why only a few Chileans came and no one else...but he had to suck it up, he was no longer on Chilean time.

That story almost broke my heart, poor lonely - pre Sarah - Rodolfo all alone on his birthday. I just want to go back in time and bake him a big ol' birthday cake....boo....

I have to admit that this new slower perspective on time has helped me, as frustrating as that is to admit. When I find myself waiting for...?!?I'm not sure what?!?...I sometimes forget I'm in Chile and freak out, but then there are other great moments where I'm eating a delicious meal or talking with some of Rodolfo's friends or family who are all sitting around laid back and relaxed, enjoying each others' company over a beverage/barbecue/just standing around for the heck of it and I have to admit, in those moments? I get it!

Babel

2011-04-07T04:53:00.000-07:00

or, otherwise known as, thoughts walking home from my Spanish exam!

Learning a language can be really hard!

Yo soy suck para hablar Espagnol.

When you really think about it, all of this language learning is just about obsolete anyways!

I'm pretty sure I failed. If I didn't fail, I did really, really bad. First time ever a student has moved from level 2 down to level 1. I know it. This will be my fate. Crap. Crap. Crappers.

Language technology is growing so quickly!!! First there was babelfish, now you have google translate! Next thing you know, we'll all have instantaneous oral ear translators! That or, English language domination?!?

Who are you looking at weird suit guy? You think I can speak spanish don't you?!? hmmm? You think if you asked me where the minimart was, I'd have an answer for you....Well! I don't! But you don't need a mini mart anyway suit guy....those candybars?? Waaaay over priced. You need to get yourself a lunch box! Seriously! Then you wouldn't have to ask a stranger for directions, would you? Stupid stinky language test...stupid...ugh. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap.

Pretty soon it will be like Star Trek! Or the United Nations! Everyone walking around with portable ear translation devices with instant culturally correct translations! "How is your day?" "My brother's second wife is taken with child on the fourth full moon of the year, so very well!" and tada!

Oh poop. R man is going to kill me. Two months of classes and what....failure.....poop. poop. poop.

Perhaps if we all stopped learning languages, that would put more pressure on instant translation technology! We just stop learning all together and another solution will present itself!

I wonder how many languages I know how to say poop in....hmm....merde...or is it mierde?

I say we build another tower! Babel it up and perhaps the higher powers will change their minds and put things back the way they were before they got all pissed off and intimidated by us!

Caca. Kak. Kinyesi

Uniting all people's from all Nation's together into one. One singular international language!

Akterdekk...ok, that one I looked up.

Yes! I love it! GREAT IDEA!!!!

Whoa....whoops! Almost just kicked a pigeon!....Better stop thinking about how much I suck at Spanish or I might just step on one......

If we could all understand each other, there would be no more misunderstandings! No more looks of "uh...huh? whatta? huh?"

Dirty, odd looking, giant rat bird!! You think you can mess with me?!? Hit me in the head and get away with it!?!?! You goin' down rat bird!!!! That's right! I'm going to slowly run after you until your stubby legs get tired and then I'm going to step on you! So ha!

...and walla.... World Peace! Ergo, me not learning Spanish anymore will of course, over time, perhaps a few hundred more years..... right about when we lose our pinky's thru generations of non use....bring about world peace!

Ok. People are beginning to stare....I suppose I should stop chasing this pigeon around before someone tries to talk and/or yell at me in words I don't know........

....how do you explain to a Paco (Chilean cop) you're seeking revenge on a pigeon who once pummeled you in the head? caca....all right. fine. I'll keep studying Spanish...grrrr.

Veni. Vidi. No Vici.

2011-04-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

I came. I saw. But I sure as heck didn't conquer....

OUR TOP 10 FREAKIEST FOODS OF THE WORLD!
Things we tried and didn't like, tried and couldn't successfully swallow, could have tried and decided against it or never want to see again because it scares us.

taking the Subway
2nd to the right: Durian!

1. Durian: An Asian spiky hard fruit on the outside (a brother to Jack Fruit) with a pulpy white inside that grows on big trees and is considered a fine delicacy...and smells and tastes like dirty foot. It's forbidden in many places to take it on many forms of public transportation. In Singapore, we talked ourselves into sampling a special local street vendor dish of Durian Ice cream wrapped in two slices of chocolate flavored wonder bread. We spent the rest of the evening trying to get the taste out of our mouths buying coffee and cokes from mini marts and trying not to spit in the country which forbids spitting....yuck! You can even smell it coming out of your pores the next day....ewwww....this is just from the ice cream!

Rodolfo's first and last Durian ice cream sandwich

2. Fried bugs: Popular in Asia as well, you can find larvae, caterpillars etc, fried to a crisp with chilies and spices at many outdoor festivals/special occasions. We never did find the courage to try one. I don't regret it. I'm sure it tastes like chicken, but life is too short!

I couldn't find a fried bug pic
Here's a Thai monkey instead!
He likes to eat bugs!

3. Raw shrimp: When we were in Tokyo, our friend took us out for sushi which was a very special treat for us. The only thing we couldn't find it in ourselves to finish on the gigantic wooden sushi boat in the certain of the table was the pinkish/whitish/transparent raw shrimps. I took a bite thinking it was a normal shrimp and when I bit down expecting a firmness, I got slimed. After a slight panic I unsuccessfully attempted to pull with my teeth to cut it in half, but it had a consistency similar to raw...hmm....what I imagine a jelly fish might be like to try and bite down on....it was either all of it, or none of it and I had to spit it out, not wanting to know what it would feel like sliding down my throat.

Center front of sushi boat of love - freaky shrimp!
They look so normal, don't they?!?

4. Cow Brain: I got the incredible opportunity to try grilled cow brain at a special meat barbecue restaurant (Argentinian style Parillada) in Santiago a few years ago. You have the option of two platters; normal meat, or odds and ends...we got one of each. Odds and ends included my first delicious taste of blood sausage, livers, kidneys and of course cow brain, which I chewed and could not successfully swallow due to the soft squishy texture and unusual flavor, which my mind has blocked the details of...eating brain just doesn't seem like a good idea to me...like cannibalism or something....not that there is anything wrong with it...eating animal brain that is, the more of the animal eaten, the better! It just sort of seems wrong in my mind....weird.

5. Silk Worm Poo Tea: In Louang Probang Laos, we took a tour of a local silk factory. On the premises, they also had a lovely small french style cafe to sit and chill out at after your tour. The menu included; coffee, sandwiches and many varietes of tea including....silk worm poo tea. Hey, you know it's local! They take the poo from their on site silk worms while they're growing and make tea out of it, which the waiter guaranteed had the same effect as red bull. We couldn't do it. Silk farmers and locals also enjoy eating the worms themselves.... once they die cooked up over rice....it's supposed to be very healthy!

Towards the bottom snuck in between Mulberry Tea and Beal Fruit Tea....oh yeah!

Dinner in our hut in the village
Moments before Lao Lao time!

6. Lao Lao is a local Laos village drink which is distilled from rice. Kind of like whiskey. When we spent a night in a small village near Louang Namtha Laos, the village elder came to sell our group a barrel full of Lao Lao and sat down to drink with us. It would be pretty rude not to at least try it.... It tasted to me like a combination of ethanol and urine...I was potentially not far off as they continually added liquid of an unknown variety from a mysteriously non-labeled jug into a crate of floating debris...which included rice! Our 18 year old Vietnamese tour guide proceeded to get toasted and spent the next entire day hung over with blood shot eyes crooning his favorites while floating down the river as we kayaked, killing our ears...can you die from drinking large amounts of ethanol and pee?

A typical northern Laos village

Spicy currys/salads to go for Thai locals
Not meant for the tourist pallette!

7. "How spicy?" You sometimes learn the hard way in Thailand, this is a question not to be taken lightly. A "little spicy" will have your mouth on fire. "Very spicy" will send you out the door screaming for mommy. No spicy? Bearable.

Thai menu's in English/menu's in general are few and far between
The very last option looked particularly enticing to us.

beef cheek with pap...mmmmm

8. Cow cheek: In Soweto, South Africa, Rodolfo took a bike tour from Lebo's Soweto Backpackers (an awesome hostel trying to improve its community/raise awareness about Soweto for tourists), where they let you sample local cuisines along the way. This for Rodolfo included cow cheek, which he told me should definitely be included on this list. He didn't go into detail. He took a picture of the back of the shack where they splayed the inedible remains of the rest of the cow....wow....

outside the beef cheek restaurant

9. Pap/Nsima/Ugali/etc. There are lots of names for this corn meal mash throughout Africa as it is a basic staple for a meal along with a small bowl of beef stew (in some places, beef flavored water with piece of bone) beans and steamed greens....pap is kind of like grits....nothing wrong with it, we just ate our life times supply and can't consume it any longer. It has a way of filling your tummy up, but in an empty way, where you see yourself eating a lot, but it doesn't give you that full, satisfied feeling that you're looking for, like eating snow.

A quite delicious Ugali with greens, beans and meat stew in Tanzania
This was one of the best we had. When it's cooked well, it can be delicious!

10. Piure: A Chilean seafood delicacy that grows inside of hard clay and local fisherman pull it out using a sharp knife. A bright red mussel like crustacean with an extreme earthy iron flavor.....like laundry detergent. You either love them or you hate them! I personally jumped up from the table screaming bloody murder.

Later on, I tried piure smoked on a grill melted into a whole brick of soft cheese and it was exquisite! So....perhaps when its strong flavor is matched with other flavors, it's easier to handle!

Sea urchin is the the tan colored material in the bowl.
I quite like it now in small portions! The same goes for piure.

Another member of this slimy odd flavored Chilean seafood family is the sea urchin (those big spikey black balls), which ties with the piure in my book for weird and funky flavor. You eat it here in Chile by the bowl full with condiments of chopped onion, lemon and chopped parsley. I also tried this one for my first time here in Chile this past December and was not prepared for the slimy unusual texture, but I liked it! At first the oozy mouthful feels a bit like a tongue or ?tongues?, but quickly disintegrates into a fine pulp with an extreme ocean flavor...you either love it or you hate it!

howta-lolla-palooza

2011-04-05T04:14:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was dedicated fully to Lollapalooza Chile! YEAH BABY!

Both R man and I felt inspired by the experience to write a little something...music festivals being something near and dear to R man's heart...it's cute!

As a foreigner in a Chilean music event and newby to music concerts in general, here are some pointers I learned for howta-lolla-pa-looza it up Chilean style!

1. Skin protection - most Chileans were not wearing a hat or sun screen because they tend not to burn, but as a super whitey, that is not a point to blend in on! Wear lots and lots of sun screen and a big ol' hat, cuz you gonna burn and burn bad! I myself was partaking in a lovely 70 spf sunscreen (take that sun!) and wore my jacket over my head (to Rodolfo's manly cool horror) for good measure, much in the style of a burka... that pretty much did the trick!

2. Shade.... Along with skin protection, take breaks! Noon sun in Chile is way intense. Unlike other places in the world, most of the heat comes from direct sun contact. As soon as you step in the shade, you'll feel great!

3. Water! Drink lots and lots of water! At a festival in the States, you would try to consume just enough not to faint but also to avoid scary long lined bathroom experiences....but here....the lines are short/non existent for port-a-potty due to the lack of popularity water drinking has here in Chile. Coco Cola and beer, yes. Water? Nope. If there is an event in Chile where beer is not served (as was Lollapalooza), you are guaranteed a short line for el bano!

My one major complaint on how Lollapalooza ran as a festival was its access to water. Entering the festival the first day, I held a large bottle of water in my hands, which they allowed thru. The Second day, I pulled it out of my purse at the gate and was DENIED....watta huh?!?

Lollapalooza had a massive water tank available for refilling your water bottle...
1. This is hard to do when your bottle is DENIED....grumble grumble grumble....
2. People were very disrespectful with the water tank...taking showers in it, leaving the water running when they were finished....standing and staring at it...geez louise....like you've never seen free water before? Be COURTEOUS! Fill your bottle, turn off the tap, run along! MANNERS PEOPLE! EEEK!!!! Apparently, if something is free and available, it's to be wasted!?! EEEEEERRRRRRRK!

4. Both Rodolfo and I were really disappointed that they put all of our favorite "less popular" groups in a really small enclosed venue that was difficult to enter and exit. Due to the small size, the massive crowd that they were not expecting to see show up for "Cat Powers" and "Cold War Kids" couldn't fit into the performance hall and they closed it off with an army of Chilean police officers on horse back for most of the day.....a good thing from this? I know Chileans are beginning to have better taste in music....sorry, I love Madonna and all but really Chile? The negative? We didn't get to see these groups play, how stinky. The festival ended on a strong note though...Kanye West singing "Stronger"....hee.hee.hee....it was pretty awesome!

5. Do not...DO NOT get too close to the stage. Rodolfo tried to warn me! He tried! The moment a group comes on stage, there is a massive - wave like - surge of people who push towards the front! I've never experienced anything like it! This could be because I tend to stay towards the back in concerts, but Chilean crowds are a bit more intense and indiscriminate of personal space as well! I decided to wait the hour before The Killers opened to get a good spot in the front....bad idea....the moment they started playing I was enveloped into the sea of bodies. The crowd surged in and I was crushed between strangers unable to breathe, covered in sweat from people I didn't know, bouncing up and down with the crowd not of my own will...I get that this could be fun if you have great knees.....are bigger than I am....are a single 18 year old guy...want to have Brandon Flowers' babies.....but that is not me! Nope! Boundaries! Personal space! Breathing! Knees! Free will! I like these things!! Love them!!! I have an invisible box and I like it that way. Yuck!!!!! Cringe....coodies.....ew....still trying to forget the trauma....

So there you go....lessons learned from an awesome weekend at Lollapalooza *Chile! YAY!

Some Lollapalooza.cl afterthoughts

2011-04-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

I'm TIRED!! Is it the near-33-years-old experience?
Maybe it's the diving into the realms of alcohol on Friday and Saturday nights, at my friends' houses?
Or the 2-day, 10-hour Lollapalooza experience?
The thing is that waking up this morning was an issue still unresolved.

So this is my 3rd Lollapalooza, but the first one actually staying the full time in. And the first one in Chile, of course! The story was more or less like this:

Saturday, noon:We picked the tickets. I put them in my wallet. Sarah asked me right away: "do you have the tickets" and I showed them to her and put them back in the wallet. My brain was remembering the piscola exuberance of the previous night.

Saturday, 12:03. Sarah speaking. "Do you have the tickets". Guess the answer.

Saturday, 12:07. Sarah speaking. "Do you have the tickets". It wasn't the third time. I finally said the obvious. "No". A 2-minute fight began. No consequences to lament.

Saturday, 12:15. In the metro (subway) with our friend Loreto

Saturday. 12:45. An uber-excited me jumps out of the metro wagon. The two ladies followed the bunny. Last "do you have the tickets" question of the day.

Saturday, 1:00. We made it in! First band, the Chilean Los Bunkers. Quite solid, didn't know them very well but enjoyed them. Kind of New Pornographers in sound, classic power pop. I like it.

2:15 PM: Anita Tijoux's hip hop began in the smallest venue, so ridiculously small that became an issue for every other show there. Imagine an 800-people venue with poor access in a festival where everyone walks in and out, all the time, and put shows that might interest... thousands of people. A call to chaos! By the way, Anita's show was awesome!

4:00 PM: James' show began. Nice adult music. The band was quite formally dressed while the lead singer came back straight from a trip to buddha land with pirate pants, so revered by Sarah in previous posts. Cypress hill played before, It was kinda nice to listen them from far.

5:15 PM: Ben Harper began playing. Great voice and solid slide guitar. Mostly unknown for the audience, he won the audience.

6:15 PM: The National began an amazing show, in spite of one of the twin guitarists saying "gracias" after every song. Better "thank you". Sarah and I realized that one "gracias" is OK, the tenth sounds like "I wanna be your friend, you little indian from down south of rio grande who doesn't speak a word of english". Plus, as Sarah points out, it sounds like "Grassy ass". The National guy reached 5, but they put one of the most solid concerts in the whole festival. "Mistaken for strangers" sounded particularly good, but in general all their layered strings rocked throughout all songs. The singer showed her wine drinking skills, yet he still need to learn from Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell.

8:00 PM: Sarah and Loreto waited for The Killers. I sneaked into Empire of the Sun, an electronic-80's-2020's band with a neat stage presence, quite fun to watch. A picture is better than a few words. The music was fun and danceable, too. Before that, I saw one Deftones song. There were a lot of loyal fans, judging by the massive Deftones t-shirts around. Still, for non-Deftonians like me, they sounded tight and powerful.

9:50 PM: Fatboy Slim began his show at 9:15 and the arena became a dance party. I stayed until listening to "Right Here, Right Now". I felt complete. I promised to myself to stop annoying Sarah by singing "Right here, right now" every 2 minutes, as it happened earlier during the day. By this time, Sarah and Loreto were being squeezed out like ketchup from the first rows of people as soon as the killers began playing.

10:00: I watched The Killlers for 30 minutes. Absolutely unimpressed, better in album than live for sure.

11:00: The night began and so did the drinking at my friend Cristobal's birthday. THERE WAS NO BEER BEING SOLD AT THE FESTIVAL... unless you pay twice the admission and became a VIP concertgoer. Barf barf for that... but happy birthday Cristobal!!

Sunday, 11:00: "Holly cow!!! time to wake up and see Mala Rodriguez at 12:30!

noon: Got up, finally. The day before we got wristbands. No 'were are the tickets' questions. No fights between Sarah and I.

1:30 PM: Back at the festival. Mala ('bad') Rodriguez was late so we were right on time to see her show. Great performance, we actually listened to the music in spite of being distracted by her legs... not mala at all.

3:30: After a hiatus in the shade, listening to Todos tus Muertos and breathing hard to withstand 311, time for one of the funnest concerts, the cumbia/ska/party monsters Chico Trujillo. 20,000 of us dancing with 86 degrees F (30 C). Nobody cared about our lack of dancing skills because nearly everybody sucks as much as we do in the dancing business. There's a reason why we're not on stage!

4:30 PM: We couldn't see Cat Power, The Drums nor Cold War Kids. They were put in the small stage that I mentioned earlier so getting there meant losing 1 hour at least doing a line. Instead, we saw some Flaming Lips, doing their show. I'm not as impressed as I was the first time... and this was my third. Still, they put new songs and an overall good mood. They're pretty good band for this kind of festivals, I have to say

5:15: This is Fisherspooner! Madonna meets Boy George in a dance club.

7:15: I saw 45 minutes of 30 Seconds to Mars and didn't vomit by luck. I did my best, but I couldn't like their music. Plus, the singer Jared Leto didn't stop himself by saying "Gracias" over the 10-time limit, but he asked the audience "how many of you think you know English?" after asking "How many of you know english?". Plus, the "it's my first time in south america and it's the best ever" kind of phrase came of of his lungs as teenagers scream his name. in addition to a few "I love you" to those girls. New rule: if you hear little girls screaming when a roadie comes out with something on stage before the concert starts. Escape!

7:25: Met my friend Ariel and took the required picture!

7:30: Jane's Addiction began playing. This was the view. Hanging ballerinas not optional, it's Jane's Addiction! Bring on the testosterone! Perry Farrell chugged a bottle of wine. Way more macho than the softy of The National's lead singer, who even had a glass cup! Still, the concert was incredibly fun, although we missed the last 30 minutes to get a good place for Kanye West

8:45: My cousins Jaime and Sebastián found me among thousands of people. How? The hair.

9:00: Kanye West began. I know, he's not a great singer but he's one of the best performers! You get the feeling he's given everything for the show and you've jumped and sung as much as you could. Ask Sarah...

I got a nice pic of Kanye from few feet... uuuh!

10:45 PM... It was time to say goodbye to Lolla.... buuuuuh. Or maybe "see you later?"

Good night!!!