1 Year Later – Reflecting on Buenos Aires

One year ago, my colleague Karen and I traveled down to Argentina to visit our program in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We decided to write a collaborative post for the API blog, recapping the excursion we took with our students to Iguazú Falls. Below, you will find scanned in images of our journal entries as well as a photo/video mashup of the weekend. It truly was an incredible trip. Karen’s post is first, followed by mine:

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Mt. Hood

Yes, I grew up in Oregon and yes, I know I was only a few hours away from a handful of amazing ski locations but no, up until this past December I had never been to a mountain and certainly had never been skiing/snowboarding.

In case you were wondering, no, I have also never been camping. Actually, I take that back. My first camping experience was this past summer…in Israel…in a Bedouin tent. Go figure.

Yes, now that I live in Texas I have a much greater appreciation for Oregon and all of its beauty but no, even with this newfound appreciation, I really don’t think I’ll ever be much more of an “outdoorsy” person.

All this to say, I went to Mt. Hood for the first time this past December.

Well, David went to snowboard. I guess you could say I went along for moral support. I did contemplate skiing/snowboarding for about 10 seconds, weighing the pros and cons:

Pro: It could be fun, I can say I’ve tried it, it’s good exercise

Con: I hate being cold, I have no athletic ability, my hand-eye coordination is alarmingly low in the world of athletics (minus salsa dancing), I have the upper and lower body strength of a 9 year old, I’m not the best at making split second decisions in life or death situations (scary), and my luck isn’t all that great….

Wondering which option I chose?

Well…let’s just say, I took the photo you see above from within the lodge. I was mad at myself for about 3.5 seconds for not trying, but then I reminded myself: A. Different strokes for different folks, B. You have an awesome book in your bag that you’ve been wanting to read for about 6 months now and C. If you go out there, there’s a high probability the only way you will return is via stretcher.

While at Mt. Hood, I did alot of two things: reading & people watching. I read one of Chuck Klosterman’s book. Found the content on this page to be particularly smart:

Uhhh. I think someone is tired:

On the way back, we passed a snow bank where there were people sledding and snowshoeing, so we pulled over to check it out. I don’t like dogs (I’m wildly allergic), but I thoroughly enjoyed watching dogs go down snow embankments via snow tubes. It was a challenge to decipher if the dogs really really liked or really really hated the experience. I actually think they weren’t sure themselves.

The hotel where we stayed had quite the happy hour menu. We ate well and I’m sure my galbladder hated me the entire time:

So, here’s a fun story. The quickest way to get back to our room from the restaurant was through a side entrance that went directly outside. Usually we took this exit, but on the 2nd and final night, we decided to go out the main entrance to poke around the lobby. Prior to this route change, I already had put on my 25 sweatshirts, hat, hoods and coats. As it would have taken forever (10 seconds) to disrobe, I said “forget it” and walked out the entrance toward the hotel lobby, complete with all my sweatshirts, scarves, hat, and 2 hoods. Basically, all you could see was my nose & eyes…my arms could absolutely not even come close to touching the sides of my body.

As we exited the restaurant, we passed a group of 50 something year old ladies. One took one glance at me and said to her friend, “Wow! It must really be cold in that restaurant!”. I just kept walking and after about 4 seconds of holding it in, burst out laughing. I knew I looked ridiculous, especially as a 24 year old. With this said, I’ve learned that innocent tomfoolery here and there never hurt anyone, right?

Rockport

After the Turkey Trot, we headed down to Rockport, a small town on the coast of Texas. While many Texans claim that Texas beaches are unimpressive, I on the other hand, think Texas beaches are pretty great. (When you come from the Pacific NW and must bring a winter coat on every beach trip [including those in the summer], a beach where you can wear a t-shirt & possibly even get a sunburn in November seems pretty darn awesome.) Funny how pretty much everything in life is relative, yeah?

On a vaguely related topic, although I’ve been here a few years, our proximity to Mexico still blows my mind. The thing I find most interesting is that although we’re so close to Mexico, culture/society/life in Austin feels like we’re a world away. I guess you could also say the culture/society/life in Austin feels like we’re a world away from Texas!

With this all said…enjoy the following photos from my Rockport venture:

What Makes A Good Airport

Airports. Where do I begin? I guess I can start by saying: I know them well. There are some I enjoy (Phoenix Sky Harbor), some I dislike (Kansas City), and others that just give me the creeps (Memphis).

So, what makes a “good” airport?

• Electrical outlets. Akin to libraries, airports always seems to have a shortage of plugs. Perhaps this is because when libraries/airports were built, not everyone had a iPhone, iPad, iPod, MacBook, Kindle, Blackberry and/or blueberry to plug in. Regardless, electrical outlets (more specifically, electrical outlets that WORK) are a rare commodity in airports. I think O’Hare has given me the worst luck on this front.

• Good signage. Some airports have excellent signage that make it super easy to find the car rental location, ticketing counter, gates, terminals, etc. Denver, Houston and Salt Lake, for example, have excellent signage. Kansas City, Lexington, Kentucky & Saginaw, on the other hand, do not.

• Clean bathrooms. Once you have spend 496 hours in one week in various airports, things like this stick out. A la the glamor of airport travel, it’s fairly natural to feel 300% disgusting after a day of travel. It’s nice to have a clean bathroom that at least FEELS like it’s not covered in germs. Denver and PDX have nice bathrooms. (:

• Car rental location. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love love love loooooove airports that have the car rental area within the main airport building. Shoutout to Austin, Saginaw & Greensboro on this front. BWI, Denver, KCI…ugh! These airports do have shuttle systems to transport passengers to the car rental facilities, but when we’re talking efficiency…well, it isn’t. At ABIA, I know I can park my car/drop off rental car and be at the check in counter within 10 minutes. Denver, Kansas City, or Baltimore on the other hand? I’ve got to add another 30-45 minutes to airport arrival time.

• Food. Well…beggers can’t be choosers. But, beggers also appreciate options that involve fresh, healthy, organic, non-processed/fried foods. I’ve had good luck with food in Denver & Phoenix. Worst airports for food? Pretty much all airports smaller than ABIA and/or located in the mid-west.

• Internet. I don’t mind (AS MUCH) paying for internet if I have a longer layover. However, it’s hard to justify paying $10 for internet for an hour layover. Oh how I enjoy airports with free wifi, especially during short layovers. Best: Denver, Phoenix. Worst: Austin. On this note, I will also state that I have an epic love/hate relationship with Boingo. I must also give a special shoutout to KCI. Not only do they have free wifi, but a super awesome/responsive person(s) running their Twitter.

• Ambient music. When you’re sitting in an airport for a 3.5 hour layover, it’s nice to have some good ambient noise when walking from point A to B. Especially when you’re in an airport like Houston or Newark, that could take about 36 hours to get from one side to the other. I give the Greensboro airport a gold star on this front – they had Jamie Cullum playing…and I was happy.

• CARPET! And by carpet, I mean, no carpet. I was at…the Pittsburgh airport I believe? Don’t quote me. Anyway, I went to claim my suitcase and was pleasantly surprised to see the car rental kiosk was right next to the baggage claim – score! However, I also quickly realized that the entire ground was covered in carpet. #Firstworldproblems, I know, but I’ve come to quickly appreciate the airports with floor sans carpet – makes dragging a 35 pound suitcase so much easier. O’Hare gets points for good flooring. Pittsburgh and PDX on the other hand…not so much.

Oh the things you learn from spending hours at airports.

Seattle

Now that I live in the great state of Texas, I find myself wondering: Why I didn’t visit Seattle more regularly when living just a few hours away? The handful of times I did visit was mainly for choir/orchestra trips /quick vacations (which were amazing, P.S.), BUT…we more or less stuck around the touristy areas. This time, however, I stayed with a very dear friend, and was able to have more of a “day in the life” Seattle experience.

Such as seeing a sign for water/gold propped up in the back of a creeper van:

I kid. But seriously/moving on….

Underground movements catch my eye pretty quick. Must be because I’m sooooo incredibly hip.  I’ve always loved finding stop signs that people have written, stuck and/or modified the sign in some way. Found this guy while driving through the Seattle streets:

One evening we ate at a Greek restaurant, Gorgeous George. It was incredible! I’m a pretty big critic of Greek food (as a Greek, one has this right, yes?). Anyway, aside from my dad’s Greek food (which will obviously always be the best), Gorgous George’s food was right up there. Check out these dolmathes:

In the morning we had homemade crepes. I love love love fruit and unfortunately don’t get alot of it while traveling, so this was perfect. I also usually don’t like breakfast food for breakfast. It makes me more hungry. Why? Who knows, but I hands down prefer dinner food for breakfast over breakfast food any day of the week! This, however, was an exception. I mean, just look at it! Delicious!

After work, I found a coffee shop to spend a few hours doing…more work! (: Luckily for me, Seattle has about 47 coffee shops per block, so there were many options. I went to Cafe Fiore in Queen Anne (an incredible neighborhood, BTW!). What did I like about this coffee shop?

The ambience, first of all. That makes all the difference in a coffee shop…or anywhere really. I’m suppose I could be classified as a ambience/feng shui/vibe nut, but this stuff matters, people!

Second, there was a giant circular table in the center of the coffee shop, where people who did not all come together, could all sit together at this colossal table to work. Although we were all doing our own things, the table created a mini community feel. Always a good feeling. (:

Third, the picture seen below. I have no idea who these people are or why the photo is next to the register…but it makes for a nice conversation piece. Where do you think they are?

4th, the barista (baristo?) has perhaps one of the most cheerful attitudes. And not cheerful in an annoying way, but cheerful in a way that energizes you. He said he was in a band that takes the words from old hymns and puts them to their music. So Seattle it hurts.

At one point, Nicole & I walked around Queen Anne and came across Brett’s TMOOH apparel in one of the boutiques! It’s such a wonderful thing to see the products/results of genuinely good people with genuinely good purposes doing genuinely good things.

Perhaps this is a result of 2+ years in Texas, but I didn’t realize (or at least remember) how hilly Seattle is. While driving and/or walking, I felt like I was seeing another breathtaking view of the Seattle skyline every 10 seconds! I am a huge sucker for city skylines/city lights, so let’s just say I was one happy camper.

As I was driving/walking through Seattle neighborhoods, I couldn’t get my mind off how unique each house was. In many cities, I’ve observed cookie cutter community after cookie community, but I felt like there were so so so many communities in Seattle that had houses with such unique personalities.

I think I could enjoy living in Seattle…in the summer. There’s just something about the gray skies, mist, clouds, and below 50 degree weather that just gets the best of me. It’s a shame because I love the Pacific NW, but that darn weather… Although, I must admit, summers in the Pac NW can’t be beat.

Day turns into night and, here I am with a hard apple cider - my favorite alcoholic drink…though at this point, I don’t know why I keep trying to drink. As of about 10 months ago, I haven’t been able to drink any type of alcohol without getting sick. One sip of anything makes me feel like I want to more or less die for about 30 minutes.

I’ve never been much of a drinker at all, but I did enjoy drinking socially here and there. Especially being from the Pac NW where beer/brewery culture is huge, I’ve always enjoyed partaking in a brewery tour, consuming a nice hefeweizen (best type of beer, P.S.), etc. But alas, I cannot do this anymore. I’m working to get to the root of the problem…no dice so far, but it’s a long process. I suspect some form of gluten might be the culprit, but alas only time/experimentation/tests/doctors will tell. Sigh. (slash, #firstworldproblems).

Frustrations aside, I must also say how incredible the human body is. I never thought much about it before, because…well…I never had to. But since I began conducting all this research…I’ve really been blown away. There is so much going on in our bodies at all times, so much to coordinate, so much to process, digest, transform, transmit. I really have gained an entirely new appreciation for the body/anatomy/modern medicine. Cheers to that!

On Sunday night, the stars aligned and some of our good/wonderful/amazing friends were also in town, so we all got together and well, it was wonderful. Moving/living 1/2 way across the country sure has made me appreciate the amazing family/friends I have back home! It was so nice to hang out, and catch up… I even left feeling a little emo afterward…I think that means I like these people! (:

In case you were wondering, we went to a clown themed bar, complete with a room full of pinball machines.

Before work the next day, I met up with my dear friend Daniela at the break of dawn. Daniela and I met down in Queretaro, Mexico when I was studying abroad there, and she was so incredibly kind from the minute we met. She (along with many of our other Mexican friends in Queretaro) showed us, what I would consider an undeserving amount of care and hospitality. I felt like they were always going out of their way to include us and show us the country and culture they loved. Incredible people and added so much to our study abroad/Mexican experience.

I hadn’t seen Daniela since I left Queretaro 4 years ago, but when we met up, it felt like there hadn’t been a 4 year gap in our friendship at all. I think it’s times like these when you know the friendship is real.

And that was that! Worked the rest of the day, then headed to Portland for a week. What a lovely Seattle weekend.