tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764897465460369592008-08-07T15:25:23.065-05:00TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-61865280245821260902008-08-07T05:58:00.003-05:002008-08-07T06:04:00.255-05:00

I have nothing interesting to write about, so I'm going to blog about everyday life here, so far. I don't know many people and I'm not as outgoing as I'd like. Plus restaurants here don't open until I'm getting ready to hit the hay. So it's been a little less than exciting. Therefore, I'll make it my mission to use this time to learn Spanish. Tuesday night and last night I ran for about 40

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-62982848882140022352008-08-06T07:57:00.002-05:002008-08-06T08:46:05.312-05:00

Many years ago, I was in a relationship with a trickster. Even before we dated, he loved to play tricks on me. One night, I was out babysitting. (I believe it was April 1, 1995 but I'm not sure because with him, any day could be April Fools Day.) My college roommate was home, supposedly holding down the fort. When I arrived home very late, she was still up. Being the in-bed-by-10pm kind of

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-81723773156098130642008-08-05T05:42:00.004-05:002008-08-05T05:46:09.068-05:00

I'm going to pretend that you ALL want to see photos so I'm sending you the link for someone else's photos here. These photos are from the first week we were here. We had tango lessons, and then went to a tango show. We also took a city tour so there are some photos of architecture. We toured all around the city. We're going on another field trip on Saturday to a nearby town so I'll send you

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-9320669525748057252008-08-04T06:36:00.009-05:002008-08-04T07:43:06.905-05:00

...if you come to visit. Here are some pictures of my apartment. As you enter the apartment, you'll see the kitchen to the right and the living room/dining room to the left. In the back of the apartment, I have two bedrooms. When all of the "stuff" I shipped from Manila arrives, I'll have a prettier apartment. For now, it's just...bare bones. It's waiting for ya'll to come visit.

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-69418646291078485752008-08-01T10:03:00.006-05:002008-08-01T10:12:06.392-05:00

I promised you pictures of my apartment. But, since these pictures are more impressive, I'll post them first and save the apartment pics for another day. This is my view. The photo above is the view from my bedroom. Lots of houses, but no tall buildings nearby which gives me a nice wide-open-spaces feel. This is the view from the balcony in my living room. See that building on the right? It

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-15278942802562288242008-07-31T07:46:00.004-05:002008-07-31T11:15:19.621-05:00

I have a meeting in a few minutes about Culture Shock. Do I really need to attend? Having lived overseas for 5 years before now, I know the stages well. The first one is the honeymoon. The second one, though I don't know the official name, is reality and "I hate it here!" Being the overachiever that I am (ahem!), I've progressed quickly through the honeymoon stage and I'm well into the "I

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-18618085298035958072008-07-30T09:32:00.002-05:002008-07-30T09:34:40.886-05:00

I arrived in Buenos Aires a few days ago, for a new adventure. I expect to be here two years, plus or minus, depending on how things go. I'll be posting pictures of my apartment, when I remember. For now, I'll just say, it's been interesting. I really hesitate to say a lot because later I look dumb. After 5 years in Manila, I re-read my first impressions and thought, "I was so naive and

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-18571890138787602812008-07-15T16:06:00.006-05:002008-07-16T10:41:32.748-05:00

Sis is a math teacher. She's always telling her students that they'll need math someday. Today was a prime example of that. On our long road trip back from Denver, we stopped at a McDonald's for a little snack. I ordered and then stepped to the side to add some coffee to my sugar. Sis stepped up to the counter and was there quite a long time but I didn't hear much of the exchange. I thought

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-63976671073275473912008-07-13T18:46:00.002-05:002008-07-13T18:46:01.078-05:00

I have this nifty little thing on my blog that will tell me what people typed into Google, that directed them to me! So today, I thought I'd share some with you. Unless you've been with me for this whole journey since I started blogging, you may not find this funny. But I do. It's probably funniest to me because most of these people would not have found what they were looking for on my blog!

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-47257440396700252452008-07-09T07:30:00.001-05:002008-07-10T23:50:36.701-05:00

"There's something on my pillow!" The frantic cry woke me out of a dead sleep. Sis and I were side by side on the air mattress in the middle of the living room in K & C's cute but old apartment. Bleary eyed and not wanting to get up at 4am, I said, "What? You're dreaming." "There's SOMETHING on my PILLOW!" The cry came more insistently and much less sleepy the second time. I half sat up. "

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-6891713350493074982008-07-08T08:48:00.005-05:002008-07-16T10:38:25.253-05:00

I remarked before that I'm not really a history buff. But the Battle Road Trail was so interesting to me. On the night of April 19, 1775, British troops began a march at midnight which would lead them from Boston, across the Charles River ("Two if by sea"), and down the road to Concord. Sis and I walked part of that trail and I imagined what that night and day might have been like for the

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-14613137996435964462008-07-06T10:29:00.003-05:002008-07-06T10:36:42.234-05:00

I've never been a history buff. Ever. I couldn't care less about history. But that changes, as I travel. As I see more of the world, I wonder how we got where we are. When I traveled to Vietnam (Blog to come at some point) and read about the "American War" I contemplate what we were doing there. I'm intrigued by history. Right now I'm in Boston visiting my brother and his wife. They're so

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-86750339633909089542008-06-30T18:55:00.002-05:002008-06-30T18:57:28.487-05:00

These are a few of the quotes from our weekend wandering the terraces.“Don’t knock the baby into the rice terraces.” We were climbing down the steps and a baby, probably only a little over 1 year old, was just sitting there. “Remember, if you can climb stairs, you can have sex.”—A quote from the movie “Somethin’s Got to Give” in which he has a heart attack and the doctor says he can’t have sex

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-53176397400430487052008-06-29T18:54:00.000-05:002008-06-29T18:54:00.849-05:00

This morning we got up at 6:30 and were dressed and packed by 7. We went to Pizza Valente for waffles, omelettes, hot chocolate, and bacon. All that for only 95 pesos. After breakfast, we’re going to the market before we head to the airport. Our flight is at 10:20 but we should be there by 9:20 am. It’s the Baguio Strawberry Festival right now, so strawberries are in season. I’m going to

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-30876199711906139302008-06-26T18:52:00.000-05:002008-06-26T18:52:02.708-05:00

After lunch, we met Tim, Dasha, and Alexandra. We girls got a taxi and led the way to the village, with the taxi driver who knew how to get there. We saw lots of native huts. We also saw some lovely native art. Erica fell in love with a painting for 8000 pesos, but she got them down to 1500. Tim and Dasha took it home for her, since we were flying and they were driving home. Tim and Dasha

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-36265733336430551012008-06-24T18:50:00.000-05:002008-06-24T19:07:02.688-05:00

Right now, it’s the Strawberry Festival in Baguio. There were bands playing, food vendors, and all kinds of entertainment all around the city. The funniest part of the day was getting caught in a huge people-traffic jam in the streets of Baguio. No one could move. It was crazy. There were times I was lifted off my feet by the flood of people. We just had to go with the flow, literally. It

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-15353164359783769912008-06-22T18:54:00.000-05:002008-06-22T19:11:56.859-05:00

Before I write about Baguio, I have to give you a little update. We took our trip in 2004. Three years after we were there, a Peace Corps worker named Julia Campbell disappeared on April 8, 2007. It was big news because she was going to Batad to see the rice terraces. Batad and Banaue get most of their income from tourism. Her body was found about 10 days after her disappearance and a local

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-40167637375807038292008-06-19T18:47:00.000-05:002008-06-19T18:47:13.723-05:00

We planned to arrive in Baguio at about 1am. Sadly, that’s not the way that bus worked. It was not a non-stop bus. Oh, no! I stopped 847,238 times to pick up anyone who wanted to go to Baguio, or any stop along the way! So, we didn’t leave until 5:30pm and we arrived in Baguio around 2:30am. That’s about 9 hours. It was a very long bus ride. Most of us, ahem, me, didn’t sleep much. Plus we had

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-43113567257196254172008-06-17T18:15:00.000-05:002008-06-17T18:15:01.331-05:00

Okay, so today we hiked more! We had a long hike today. We walked uphill about 4-5 km to a viewpoint. Then, we found someone who told us about a trail along the top of the rice terraces. They said it would be awhile but we walked straight down for almost 200 steps. Then we crossed a stream and went back up. I lost count at 280 steps up. We weren’t about to trun around at that point, though if we

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-52111196236004279502008-06-15T18:44:00.000-05:002008-06-15T18:44:00.503-05:00

When we woke up, we decided to go for a hike. So about 3pm, we set out again for 2 nearby villages. We had a nice hike, but we really didn’t know where we were going. Sarah thought we ought to take one of the locals up on their, “Where you going? Need a guide?” But we refused. We were finding it fun asking the locals if we were going the right way. We kept asking and they kept giving

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-69651828933165096502008-06-12T18:15:00.000-05:002008-06-12T18:15:01.548-05:00

Since I've just been reminiscing about the Philippines, this is about one of my trips to the rice terraces, said to be one of the Wonders of the World. Or something like that. April 2004 Last night, we left Manila about 9pm and went to the Autobus Station. We boarded a 10pm bus to Banaue. It took 9 hours. When we were getting on the bus, people were arriving with coats and hats and mittens.

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-53695379590538041072008-06-11T18:35:00.001-05:002008-06-11T18:35:01.626-05:00

Today, the countdown ends. Today, I am officially leaving this tropical paradise, headed for the four seasons once again. Worse, I'm going to winter! How silly is that?!Actually, I'm moving from Manila, enjoying a few weeks in the sunny Midwestern USA before heading south for the winter! Until I get there and start blogging about life in Latin America, I have more to tell you about the

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-42236589884813660912008-06-10T18:23:00.003-05:002008-06-10T18:23:00.361-05:00

Life around here is never dull. You may have noticed from my posts. Every day, a new adventure! A few days ago, my friend and I were on our way to the pearl market. Pearls are relatively inexpensive, and thus I have drawers full of more pearls than Imelda has shoes. We were riding and talking when a motorcade blew past us.One of the amusing/irritating things about living here is that if you

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-19569469542262926882008-06-09T18:30:00.001-05:002008-06-09T18:30:01.230-05:00

So I was in the cemetary the other day, when this sign caught my eye. What's that? Oh, sorry, you can't read it? Come closer! Please tell me...WHO thinks that a cemetary is a good place for driving practice? I realize it is deserted unlike the other streets of Manila, but still....Just made me laugh!

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-376489746546036959.post-58582939084986331802008-06-08T18:23:00.000-05:002008-06-08T18:23:01.370-05:00

There's even a little place where babies are buried. In this little lane, lots of babies are born. I have told you before that I find Filipino nicknames humorous. Here are a few examples of people I know personally: Bing, Bong, Pepsi, Muffin, Macon, and Dassah. And I apologize in advance for my lack of taste, but despite the fact that these poor babies have passed away, I find humor in this.

TropicGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01219737746108791848noreply@blogger.com