May Day! May Day!

With temperatures holding steady in the 80s for the past few days, our top-floor apartment has turned into an oven! The air conditioning unit the landlord recently put in is not doing much to help -- even after running for several hours it was reading 87 degrees!

The only thing to do is open the windows wide, set up all the fans, and sleep with a wet washcloth. After lunch today I went into the pantry to the chocolate stash for a little sweet treat. 87 degrees is not good for chocolate. The bar was pretty melty, so I decided I had two options. Put it in the fridge or polish off the whole thing.

I chose the latter. And now I don't feel so good.

Signs of Summer

I set up my fan on the windowsill and felt the warm air blowing in during the early morning hours. I walked out of my apartment in a sleeveless shirt clutching a light jacket to ward off the morning chill only to find the morning chill strangely absent. By the time I had reached my destination I could feel beads of sweat on my forehead and the crook of my elbow where my jacket rested. And last but not least, shortly before I left to return home my friend pointed out the bird poop that had mysteriously appeared down the front of my shirt.

Sure signs that summer is on its way.

Law & Order

Today I was selected as a juror on a federal trial that will last all week! Slightly inconvenient, but SO interesting! Luckily we are not sequestered, so we are allowed to go home at the end of the day. But given the start of the trial this afternoon, this is going to be a loooong week. That said, I feel like I'm watching a play! The representatives are dramatic and persuasive and the witnesses are desperately trying not to get caught in their traps.. All we need are some sound effects and background music.

More soon. I don't want to get arrested for talking to much until after we've deliberated. (how exciting!)

Some call it manipulation, I call it research..

If any of you have ever taken piano lessons, you may have been required to warm up on Hanon exercises. Each exercise introduces a pattern that carries the hands up and then back down the keyboard. They are intended to build agility, speed, and control, but they are rather mind-numbing if I do say so myself. Nevertheless, several of my students are warming up on Hanon despite their moaning and groaning.

Yesterday on a whim I decided to introduce the Hanon exercises to one of my third graders in a new way: We are going to begin a new series of exercises today. These exercises are very special because they are not for beginner students. Only students who have reached a certain level are ready to use these exercises as warm ups, and you are now ready. Shall we give it a try?

She was so proud and eager to start! It remains to be seen how long the enthusiasm will last..

Happy Mother's Day!

I don't know these people, but someone sent me this video. Enjoy!

This is what I miss..

Portugal!

Porto was my favorite stop in Portugal. It was filled with colorful houses stacked on top of each other along the Duoro Riverfront (all with orange rooves, of course). One side was "the stroll," and the other was devoted to port wine. The mornings and evenings were chilly, but the days warmed up into the 60s. We spent our time strolling, feasting our eyes on elaborate painted tiles and pottery, climbing hills and towers, lingering over the most delicious coffees (cafe com leite), exploring gardens, exclaiming over flowers, and deciphering menus to mostly end up with a piece of meat and some boiled potatoes or french fries on our plates.. and PLENTY of it!

The tiles were truly remarkable. Some were geometric pattern with the same pattern repeating over and over to create a facade for a building, and others that were more like murals depicting the history of Portugal or the lessons of the Catholic church. We learned that in 1755 the entire country of Portugal suffered a terrible earthquake and much of the art and architecture was destroyed. I also discovered that port wine can be red or white, and it ages better if classical music is played to the barrels.

Our two most trying moments in Porto involved transit. The first was getting from the airport to our hotel. We were told that we needed to get the metro to the Casa da Musica station. We purchased our tickets loaded ourselves on and got off at the right place feeling quite capable and successful. Then we surfaced from the underground and realized that our hotel was not in sight and we didn't have any more directions. We stood huddled over the map (fruitlessly, I might add) until I got up the courage to try out my Portuguese on a trucker taking a smoke break. I walked over with the address prepared to speak, but when I finally got there I think I just grunted, pointed to the address, and affected a look of befuddlement. He got the picture and wrote down a bus number for us. We hopped on the bus and promptly watched our hotel float past. I was unconcerned, figuring it couldn't possibly be the same hotel we were looking for, but Laura took action, stopped the bus (nearly knocking her suitcase, me, and another passenger over in the process), and herded us all off. We backtracked up the hill, on the cobblestone sidewalk, lugging our suitcases, on 2 hours of sleep. We were moving slowly. And indeed, it was our hotel.

The other was a few days later when we picked up the rental car, backed out of the parking spot into the busy one way street on a hill, located the carpark for our hotel, and then creeped down the ramp and around into the tiniest parking spot you've probably ever seen.

It was all for the sake of team building.

Cornish Pasties and Spring Time

We have started a new food tradition. Cornish pasties. Traditionally from Cornwall and used for miners because they could eat the inside without needing to wash their hands which had coal dust on them. Dad and I got inspired to give them a try and after watching several videos of old British ladies making them, we found a recipe and set to work. We've made them a couple times since then and are perfecting the recipe.

Spring has also hit Naperville, finally! We took a trip to the arboretum to find the magnolias in full bloom and some of the daffodils bursting forth as well. Obviously, we're all enjoying the nicer, warmer weather. I'm also almost done with my program! Can't wait.

Porto

We almost did not make it out of the airport because Aunt Barby left her passport on the plane. Thankfully the immigration officers in Spain have a better sense of humor than those in the US and by the time Aunt Barby walked through security, all the officers were in one booth laughing together.

We have had wonderful weather so far. Today is our last day in Porto, a town in the north of Portugal on the coast and intersected by a beautiful river. We have tasted Port, laughed with the locals, and worked our calf muscles walking up and down the hilly, cobbled streets.

Tomorrow we leave to spend Easter Sunday hiking through a natural forest with waterfalls and castles, and then we will spend the night at a spa town outside of Coimbra. Communication has been no problem since most people speak either Spanish or English or talk with their hands.

Cafe com leite and pastry shops await .. to the museum of contemporary art!

Iberia

I paid the fee.

And I'm not happy about it.

I also filed a complaint online, but their online form only allows 500 characters in the message. Stupid.

It was probably a bad idea to file a complaint BEFORE my flight.

I'll probably be blacklisted.

To Portugal!

This coming Wednesday commences a 2-week vacation in Portugal and Spain with Aunt Barby, Aunt Nancy, and my Spanish friend and former co-worker, Laura. Thus far the planning has been... lumpy.

While investigating airfare for all three of us US travelers, I noticed that Aunt Nancy's return itinerary (Granada-Madrid-Chicago-DC) was $100 cheaper than mine (Granada-Madrid-Chicago). This did not make sense. So, I called Iberia, explained the situation, and asked for the same fare. They said no. Period. A little startled by their abruptness, I booked my return flight to DC. The only way I'll be screwed by this decision is if a) for some reason they change the connecting destination to somewhere other than Chicago, or b) I accidentally check my bag in Granada in which case it will fly to DC without me and I'll probably have to pay $100 to ship it back to Chicago.

We booked our tickets online knowing that we would have to present the credit card used for purchase at the check-in counter. No problem. Until my card got stolen. As soon as I had the new number I called Iberia to update my information. They said, "you can't do that." And I said, "excuse me?" They explained that the only way was for me to have my bank issue a letter addressed to Iberia saying that my card number xxxxxx was stolen. With a month to go before departure, I called the bank and requested the letter.

Last week I got an email from Iberia confirming my flight, and I suddenly remembered that I had never received the letter from the bank! I called the bank, and after putting me on hold while the rep talked to both the Fraud department and the Senior Representatives, he came back on to tell me that this was not a kind of document that the bank would normally issue for legal reasons. He told me to call Iberia back and find out if there was any other way to work around it.

After going back and forth with the agent at Iberia, she told me she would call me back to let me know if bringing my credit card statement to the airport would be sufficient. "What if it's not?" I asked. She explained that I would have to cancel the previous ticket and purchase a new one with my new credit card. "And I'll be guaranteed the same price?" I asked. "No, ma'am," she answered.

Friday I finally spoke with someone who told me that they were waiving the credit card presentation requirement for me. Hallelujah. I would be allowed to board the plane! However the saga continues. Today they called and said that they need to transfer the ticket onto my new card -- same itinerary, same price + a $20 processing fee for doing it over the phone. I asked what my other option was to avoid incurring the fee. There was none. I refused to pay a service charge. The supervisor is calling me tomorrow.

FOR PETE'S SAKE! WHAT IS THE PROBLEM??

Apart from the airline, I also had a run-in with the car rental. I thought it would be pretty straight-forward to rent a car in Portugal and drop it off in Spain. It is straight-forward, provided one has an extra $2000 to throw around. We don't, so our itinerary required tweaking.

As it stands now, we'll start in the north of Portugal in a town called Porto. Yes, this is where port wine is made, and yes, we will be tasting it. Next we'll meander down the coast and spend Easter Sunday hiking and picnicking in a natural forest. On to Lisbon to visit the tile museum, ride bikes on the poetry-filled path along the Teijo River, and hear some deliciously nostalgic fado music. Here we'll say adeus to Laura, and the three of us Americans will continue to the southern coast of Portugal, driving through olive groves and cork forests along the way. In Faro we'll breathe in the salt air and listen to the stories of wrinkled old fisherman and their rosy-cheeked old wives. From here we'll hop over the border to Spain and end our trip in Granada, home of the old moorish palace, the Alhambra.

All of this planning stress had made me need a vacation more than ever! I'm pretty sure that all the hassle leading up to take-off means that it will be smooth sailing once we arrive. Pretty sure.

Stay tuned.

Boots

I got chastised earlier this week for not posting lately, so Gram, this one's for you. Pardon my absence..

The few times that I have posted this fall/winter, I believe I made a couple of mentions about my boots succumbing to the elements. I have, however, continued to wear them despite this fact. Mostly because I hate shopping. I don't want to have to spend the time hunting for ones I like, trying them on, finding out they don't fit, hunting again, choosing a pair, trying them on at home, realizing I don't like them as much as I thought I did in the store, etc, etc. I just want to find a pair that fit, are comfortable, and look decent. (This applies to many other areas of my life as well, namely dating.)

So to avoid the inevitable, I've employed the universal balm for the soul... duct tape. See exhibit A. Due to duct tape's light reflective properties, my solution is a little tacky, but functional. Well semi-functional. If nothing else, it's a good conversation starter..

Considering it's now March and temps have been above freezing for a week straight, I may be in the clear. I might have a whole 7 months before I'll have to shod my feet in winter boots again (knock on wood, feverishly). 7 months is plenty of time to find a new pair of boots. But more than likely I'll spend the first few weeks of next winter with wet feeting scolding myself for not taking care of business sooner. Then I'll have to decide whether new boots are imperative or whether the duct tape can withstand another winter...

PS- I know right at this very moment, Mom is reading this, utterly flabbergasted, and maybe even saying out loud, "Caity! Just buy new boots!" And Dad is reading this and chuckling because he's probably done the exact same thing.

Space Helmets

Does this look familiar? The kids made space helmets to go to the moon just like Little Bear.

 

Terremoto

Terremoto is how to say "earthquake" in Spanish. I have finally heard from all of my friends in Chile, and I'm glad to report that they are ok. Thank you to everyone who has been asking after them. The majority of my friends in the Santiago area had minor damages to their homes, and some were without water or electricity for several days. The water and electricity have since returned and most have gone back to work.

That said, the aftershocks continue. STILL. Most are registering a 5 and even 6 on the Richter scale. After seeing the CNN guy point to the Galapagos Islands and call them Hawaii, I felt like I needed better information. I'm getting updates everyday from at least someone. Here is what my friends in Chile are saying:

Diego: "In the Coastal Region, Caitlyn, it's terrible, the sea washed away everything. The good thing is that today the government aid began to arrive. Things begin to improve little by little. In Concepcion, the military arrived the day before yesterday to restore order to the city. Yesterday I talked to my friend who told me that the government began to distribute food and supplies to people in this region--this is good becuase this is where all the chaos is. The other good news is that today I finally could speak to my grandmother in Concepcion!! SHE IS ALIVE! Scared, but well. We are still having aftershocks."

Angela: "Everything is in chaos, my friend. My parents are here in Santiago with me because the coast is very dangerous right now. We are all well, but still feeling the aftershocks. They scare me!"

Luis: "Little by little things are returning to "normal" here in Santiago. I'm already getting my feet back on the ground again.. but many friends in Concepcion and all the most affected region are not. Caitlyn, they practically lost everything. It's so sad. Just remembering the moment of the earthquake makes me feel sick.. but thank God we are ok."

Melania: "My family, thank God is fine. Where my mom lives was the worst affected because one of her walls crashed to the floor, but the material doesn't matter. It can be fixed."

Arturo and Mary (my host parents): "We are all fine. Aunt Pepa and Uncle Horacio in Concepcion are fine too, although Pepa suffered an epileptic seizure from the shock. Do you remember when we took you to the beach and the restaurant in Concepcion? It disappeared with the tsunami after the earthquake. Such is life, I suppose.."

Here is a link with some photos.

I made a donation to UMCOR today, but I believe the Red Cross, World Vision, and Habitat for Humanity are all accepting donations for Chile. Please give what you can.

They have a long road to recovery. I understand there's a national campaign going on this weekend to provide opportunity for Chileans in lesser-affected regions to help in various ways. Please keep my friends and their families in your prayers as they work to rebuild their country.

New Zealand Hooker Valley

We squeezed a lot of adventure into this trip from hiking, jet boating, flying along the coast, cruising in Milford Sound, and finally my chance to go paragliding. I had noticed a paragliding operation in Queenstown high up on a bluff overlooking the lake and town, at the top of a Gondola. We took the gondola up for a hike to a local peak called Ben Lomond, but on the way back I decided to sign up for the paragliding. This was a tandem ride with a sail that could take two, parachutes for the pilot and passenger, and much to my surprise, a camera extended out on an arm that could be controlled through a cable. We rigged up, waited for the right breeze, and then walked over the edge of the bluff. We quickly rose up and could have played with thermals to go even higher, but instead flew out over Queenstown proper. We sailed over the beach, casting our shadow along the shoreline so, according to my pilot, some of the bathing beauties might roll over. We did some maneuvers and then swooped in, flared, and made a perfect standing, four-leg landing.

On our way back from Milford Sound, we visited Hooker Valley, which runs up against the south side of the highest mountain in New Zealand, Mt Cook. I believe it's in the 14,000 ft range with a perennial snow cap. We hiked up to the glacier along the Hooker River, a raging torrent of freezing cold water, even in the relatively low rainfall condition we experienced during our trip. The face of the glacier was very massive and impressive, the surface covered with fallen rocks, and the layering from past sequences of snow and rock avalanches very evident. It makes one feel very small and insignificant. We ate lunch just below the face of the glacier but began to beat a hasty retreat as an afternoon rain began and cold gusts of wind began to blow down the valley. We worried we'd have a repeat of an earlier group that had to cross the cabled hanging bridge with 60 mph gusts blasting down the valley. They could only get over one at a time...on their hands and knees. We were lucky and had an easy crossing.

The Hollyford Track

We were met by a new set of guides for this segment of our trip at Te Anau, and drove many miles up into the mountains to begin our trek. The guides were entertaining and very knowledgeable, Bart Crawford having lived with the indigenous Maori people for some time and learning their language and history, and Peter Crawford being a published and well esteemed Botonist who could also talk about wildlife and geology. We walked from inland beech forests into coastal rainforest, with a density of foliage and ferns and epiphytes (symbiotic plants growing high up in trees) unlike anything I've seen before. The Rata tree is highly versatile in that it can begin growing as an epiphyte on the side of a tree, send down roots and stringers like a vine, and then thicken to either completely wrap around it's host or form a stand alone tree on its own. The vines can be an inch in diameter and flexible like stiff wire, but harder than bamboo. Fern trees bring to mind Jurassic park with their palm-like trunks rising to an expansive umbrella of large fern branches spreading out from the top. There are 129 fern varieties in NZ out a total 180 or so known in the world, of every size shape and description. The color montage is amazing.

We crossed numerous "swinging bridges", suspended by cables, and saw much evidence of heavy duty trail maintenance along the way. Two weeks before our arrival, heavy rains caused flooding that wiped out some segments of the trail and buried trail sign under ten feet of gravel and river rock. This is a very active place with respect to weather and erosion. The Alpine Fault crosses our trail, and while there has been 400 KM of lateral displacement along the fault, there has also been 20 KM of vertical dissplacement over the last 50 million years. Maximum height of the mountains is about 3 KM, so erosion is almost keeping pace with the currently active mountain building (about the speed that fingernails grow!).

Though we hiked long and hard each day and fought off the "sand flies", we were met each evening with the pleasant sight of a Lodge equipped with screens, bunks, and most importantly gourmet food and cold drinks. Part of the trek involved jet boating down the river over rapids and some distance along the lake near the coast. Jet boats were apparently invented in NZ to navigate the rivers. We worked our buns off but had a reward at the end! Following hikes on the coast to explore early Maori and British settlements, we flew south along the coats to spectacular Milford Sound at the northern part of fjordland.

Christchurch to West Coast

Once we turned in our rental car there was an audible sigh of relief across the North Coast, South Island, but then our second round of fun began with our Active New Zealand Group. We headed west by bus from Christchurch through Castle Rock, where battle scenes from "the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" were filmed. Soft limestone formations are exposed and eroded in fantastic shapes that we stopped to climb on for lunch. By evening we had reached the West Coast and headed north from Greymouth to Paparoa National Park to see the gravel beaches, hike up some rivers, and see the famous "pancake rocks" with blow holes. These limestone rocks, though layered, are believed formed by chemical and pressure effects of deep burial, but now raised up by the active tectonism of the area. We explored the beach as well, but were vary wary of the surf and likely strong undertow. The weather was unusualy calm and still there were rogue waves occasionally chasing us up toward the cliffs bounding the beach.

Here we also discovered the "sand flies" which actually don't care much about sand, since they'll come after you anywheere near the coast. There are no mosquitoes, or snakes, or other dangerous animals or insects, but these sand flies are tenacious and leave itchy welts for 7-10 days, and make you a believer in insect repellant. The West Coast of South Island is similar to the west coast of North America, with a prevailing wind coming onshore and rocky cliffs bounding the beaches. The further south you go, the more you find temerate rain forest and lush vegetation, similar to going north from California up to the Olympic Pennisula in Washington State. The highest mountains are in south central South Island around Mt Cook, and we gradually wended our way south along the west coast and hiked up to Franz Josef Glacier - very impressive.

There were some opportunities to go up on the glacier, which some of our group chose to do, but it was enough for us to hike up to the face and see the signs of tremendous erosive power demonstrated along the way. The river bed up to the glacier was mostly trap rock and boulders, subject to massive reorganization every time there's a rainstorm. Since the west coast averages 30 feet of rain per year, washouts and flood are frequent, and prudent hikers keep a close eye on weather up in the valleys above them! We had mostly sunshine so our main concern was avoiding sun burn from the extra bright sun - we were under the ozone hole inthe upper atmosphere. The sun seemed brighter and "whiter" as opposed to the yellow color we see around North America - the ozone hole lets in more blue, violet, and UV frequencies! We were on our way south to Queenstown, where we would stay a few days before heading again to the upper Hollyford River valley to begin "The Hollyford Track", a trek down the river to the coast.

Adventures in New Zealand

Now that we've sorted through our pictures from our 3 week trek in New Zealand we can make some posts. We traveled with our friends from Houston, Marci and Mike Barnes, and were delighted with sunshine for all but one day of our trip, even along the temperate rain forest of the West Coast. Attached is a map of New Zealand showing our general route, starting first on our own driving up to Nelson from Christchurch. We stayed several days in Nelson at a great bungalow (The Crow's Nest) up on a NW facing bluff over looking Tasman Bay. The views across the Bay toward Abel Tasman National Park where we did some hiking were glorious, especially as we had a full moon while there and crimson sunsets. The Bay is funnel shaped and experiences huge 15 foot tidal effects. Every 12 hours we watched the cycle from high tide to mud flats back to high tide, with fishing boats and freighters timing their coming and going accordingly. The area around Nelson is burgeoning with wineries, having particularly good soils and climate for pinot noir and sauvignon blanc. We could taste the distinctive soil minerals in the wine amidst the various oak and fruit flavors - quite nice.

We rode a boat up into Able Tasman park to hike, since there are no roads into the park, and then hiked back along the coast for about 6 miles to a boat pick up point. There were beautful views of the Bay and we got our first exposure to the diverse ferns and plants of New Zealand, including exotic fern trees. The area in Nelson reminded me of Berkley California (a la the San Andreas Fault) in terms of the steep hills made up of unconsolidated soils - earthquake country. Yes, Nelson, and probably the steep slope on which our bungalow was perched, lie right along a splay fault branching off of the great Apline Fault running through South Island. The Alpine Fault marks the tectonic boundary between the Pacific and Austro-Asian plates. We didn't experience any earthquakes in Nelson, but we thoroughly enjoyed the area and got our hiking legs in shape and our wine tasting palates refined!

A Week in Review

What a week!

After a decadent fondue Valentine dinner with my good friend Awatif, I decided a good workout the next morning would be necessary. My decision to (finally--it had been a week. I was hoping the snow would melt) shovel my car out of the snow directly after my workout, was not one of my best. Let's just say, I was feeling it the next day.

Later that day I took my car into the shop for some overdue maintenance and waited for the diagnostic (read: the cost) with fear and trembling. I was delighted to find out that all of the issues were minor, and I was only set back a few hundred bucks. Easy. I planned to pick up the car the next day.

Not so easy. The next day I spotted fraudulent charges on my only credit card, and had to promptly cancel it. Life was further complicated by the appearance of a bird-sized cockroach in my work area. It is safe to say that productivity was disrupted. 7 of the 8 of us in my area are women who wanted nothing to do with a cockroach of unusual size, and the one man took off as soon as someone said "cockroach." He came back 15 minutes later when all was said and done saying, "What?! Can't a guy go to the bathroom?" The President finally walked by and asked what was going on. When we explained, she rolled her eyes, got down on her hands and knees and took care of business. And that's why they pay her the big bucks.

Over the next few days I managed to withdraw enough cash to pay for and pick up my car. I had another kick-butt (and I mean that literally) work-out, that has got me aching in places I may never have thought about before. I joined the church choir, cleaned the bathroom, and learned a new tango move. And if that wasn't enough excitement, tonight calls for dinner at my fave cafe and the theatre (pronounce that the British way while lifting your nose in the air).

I hope I don't fall asleep in the middle of the play from all the exertion.

Happy Valentine's Day!