Barcelona

So after a long flight we arrived in Barcelona yesterday evening. We grooved into Spanish style by having a Paella dinner at 10:00 pm.

Barcelona is just how I (fondly) remember it and we are staying in an Apartment/hotel right near Centric Point Hostel (where I stayed my first time in Barcelona). The city is big and bustly but clean and full of energy. Ancient building sprout up all around you with undulating Gaudi masterpieces mixed in. The sidewalks are wide and there are many pedestrian-only streets. Today was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was bright but not too hot, there was a light breeze and it was just great to be out on this lovely Spring day.

Today was also dia del Sant Jordi (Saint George) the patron saint of Barcelona and all of Catalonia. It seemed like EVERYONE in Barcelona and the greater area had the day off and were walking the streets. They celebrated by selling roses (in a sort of Valentine-like/give-to-your-loved-one tradition). They also had thousands of stands selling books complete with people lining up to get their books signed by the author right there in person.

We started the day in Placa Catalunya at the top of the Ramblas. It was so crowded on that pedestrian street we decided to meander our way through Bari Gotic...the old part of town where streets are so narrow that cars cannot go through. We stumbled across a chocolate shop and shared a cup of THICK warm hot chocolate. So rich and delicious I almost got a chocolate headache (don't worry it was more than well worth it). We also got to go inside the Palau de la Generalitat. This is essentially the White House equivalent of the Barcelonian government and is only open to the public one day a year (today)! It was super cool with frescos and a nice orange tree court yard. Statues and tapestries of Saint George abounded and we even got to write him a little prayer/wish.

We rambled some more on the ramblas, gazed up at the huge monument to Cristobal Colon, snacked on an apple down by the Mediterranean, stared at at cow tongue (blech) and huge stands of fruit (wow) at La Boquerat Market, and even clapped our hands to a few Capoeira performers. We had a late lunch at Maoz a FABULOUS vegetarian pita place. Then we hopped a bus over to Park Guell. This is is a whimsical garden/housing complex that
Gaudi built, but no one ever lived in. There, mosaics abound and straight lines are eliminated. Large columns tilt sideways and the roofs of buildings look sort of like ice cream. It was still light though already passed 7pm when we realized we should probably get home and see poor hard-working Abba.

Overall it was a great day, and a great way to start the trip off. Unfortunately the one downside was some amazingly skilled pick-pockets did away with mom's camera.

Pictures to come...

Global Warming

I've been reading this book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas Friedman (a three time Pulitzer Prize winner journalist with the NY Times, and an author of a handful of books) and since I picked it up, I really have not stopped thinking about the ominous future of our planet.

The book has a handful of flaws. At times he writes with a pretentious tone, occasionally it feels redundant, and I can only read a chapter or two in one sitting. But despite that, the book is an extremely well thought out discussion of the current and unsustainable way we live. The fact is that there are far too many people on earth using FAR too many resources and it can't last.

And the situation really IS dire. And that is the scariest part: that people are unaware, uneducated, unconvinced, in denial, and/or too lazy to make a change. Countries as a whole need to start making changes, but politicians are too weak to do anything drastic because people don't care enough about the issue.

I don't want to preach, but here are a few anecdotes from the book that rang particularly strong with me. I hope that perhaps they will get you to think a little...and maybe start the cogs on this machine rolling:

1. Global Warming...so what. Scientists have the their panties in a twist because the average global temperature has increased by 0.8 C since the 1800's. Point eight... Who cares, right? That's not even one degree! BUT it actually is a HUGE deal. The average global temperature from the last ICE AGE was only ~5 or 6 C colder than the temperature of the past 12,500 years (that's how long it has been since the last ice-age) . If it only took 5 degrees of warming to go from a planet of frozen tundra to the wonderful world we have to day...one degree is HUGE.

2. The combination of population boom and our need for energy/resources turns into an equation of catastrophic proportions. Listen to this:

In the next 12 years, the world's population is expected to swell by another billion people. Now lets just say we give each one of these people just ONE 60watt incandescent lightbulb. And they all turn them on. That is a whoppin' 60,000 megawatts! But let's be realistic since we are looking at the entire world, and some people are awake while others are asleep. So let's just say that they only use the light for 4 hours a day, so at any given moment we only need 10,000 megawatts. Yikes! It looks like we will still need about TWENTY 500-megawatt coal burning power plants, JUST so the next billion people CAN TURN ON A LIGHT! And God knows, they are using more than just a lightbulb...

3. Another factoid I find intriguing is that cow belching and farting is a big contributor to Global Warming. Farting and belching is a natural part of the cows digestive process, but is quite lethal in reality. Their farts and burps are made up of methane gas which goes into the air and traps heat even more effectively than carbon dioxide does. (Meat production contributes 18% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions...Transportation including cars, trucks, buses, trains, planes, and boats only produce 13.5%...hmm...)

The book was pretty depressing at first, but now I am at the part where he is proposing a solution to the problems...It looks like (drum-roll please) I am the solution. Just Kidding, but really, this is an area I am interested in working after I graduate. We need to FIND clean, renewable, and cost effective sources of energy (insert a lot of innovation and discovery here). We need to make all of our electric devices much more efficient (insert people's demand for more fuel efficient cars, more efficient AC's, more recyclable electronics etc). And we need to start NOW so that our impending doom is manageable and not apocalyptic.

Thomas also throws in some beneficial details about how if America chooses to be a leader on this project, we will probably get pretty wealthy off doing so (and the world will follow our example). Also if we cut our dependence on oil we will weaken the Petro-dictators in the Middle East and without any wars or deaths promote democracy, equality, and opportunity for those oppressed by the system.

So with all that in mind, I ran to the Berkeley Bowl today (4 miles), shopped for food and walked home (another 4 miles). It might not be much but, hey, its 8 pounds of Carbon Dioxide not released into the air.

Art

So what has your favorite truant been doing to keep herself busy? Art of course!


I painted a shirt. The quote says, "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace" -Jimi Hendrix

I also painted a Tote with images from the Lorax. The quote says "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, It's NOT!" And to think that Theodore wrote this in the 70's...I think the quote has become even more relevant today.


O que é que é que a Bahiana tem?
Tenho saudades...muitos





And jewelery out of the shells I collected in Costa Rica

Post Travel Ponderings

1. Despite the fact that for 19 years I have witnessed an American toilets capability to flush toilet paper, 8 months of throwing TP in a wastebasket has questioned my faith. It amazes me that American toilets can handle paper! What a concept! This is unheard of in most places around the world.

2. Americans are HUGE. I have been home for just over a week and it still shocks me. I am not talking about the obesity problem (although that is a worrisome issue). More and more people seem to have an extra roll under their chin or a straining belt buckle hidden beneath a paunchy belly. And its totally normal. But on top of that, the 'average' American is gargantuan. We are big boned, dense, thick and tall. Myself included. Compared to Costa Ricans and Brazilians we are built like giants (Madame Maximes and Hagrids...if you will). We tower. Our legs are tree trunks, our arms are branches and our torsos are barrels. I remember being in the old town in Brazil one day and I saw this boy from afar who stood out like a sore thumb. He was dark skinned, and in America could have passed for a Brazilian, but in Brazil I immediately knew he was American. He had that American massive athletic body build. Sure enough he was from Chicago.

3. Cars are SO polite here! Its great for running. First of all there is usually a wide, well-kept sidewalk. And where there is no sidewalk there is an expansive shoulder. On top of that, cars slow way down and give you miles of clearance. What a joy! Pedestrians are always given 100% of the right of way at crosswalks. I used to doubt that pressing the button on a cross walk made a difference, but I SWEAR that every time I have pressed the button this past week, the walk signal almost immediately turns green. I feel like royalty. In CR and Brazil there were hardly any lights at crosswalks, and even when there were they did not give the pedestrian the right of way. In Brazil right turners would barrel around the corner Cruela De-ville Style, and in CR the motorcyclist plowed through red lights at top speed. It also is quite a relief to be able to run with an ipod and not fear it will be stolen.

Costa Rica ABC's

A- Amazing and active, Arenal's apex appeared after ages


B- Boogie boarding on the beach beneath big breakers


C- Cerro Chato, a challenging cardiac climb to a crater


D- Driving down dirt roads, dusty and dry


E- Emily!!! Exciting albeit ephemeral, experiencing everything with her


F- Face to face with fantastic flora and fauna


G- Grazing ganado beneath the green Guanacaste (tree)


H- Horseback riding high on a hillside


I- Iced coffee or ice cream after sweating incessantly


J- Julia jubilantly joins our jamboree


K- Kilometers of caretera criss-crossing the country


L- Large lizards laying on logs listlessly lapping up light


M- Mischievous maraudering monkeys make off with munchies from mindless madames


N- Noseeums nibbling naked limbs, nearly neurotic from itching


O- Ogling at Oro Pendula, often orchestrating oblong nests


P- Pieces of pineapple and papaya while playing in the pool


Q- Queso on crackers or cooked with casado


R- Ratatouille roasted in Robert's own recipe


S- Scrabble: strategically set spellings signal success




T- Thermal Hotsprings: torrid temperature, totally tranquilo


U- Under the bridge ugly crocodiles usurp unsuspecting ungulates


V- Volcano Viewing, linda vista


W- Wonderful weather, wind free with warm sunshine and worriless skies


X- X-cellent X-perience but X-cited to go home


Y- Why did I try to write this?


Z- Ziplining: zooming from mountain to mountain

Volcan Arenal

Here we are at Volcan Arenal. The area is stunningly beautiful and feels unlike any other place in Costa Rica. It is SOOO green! Not just in the National Park/preserve area but all around. There is this huge man-made lake that spreads out in front of the perfectly conical volcano. The Volcano has been shrouded in clouds for the past month but, with a stroke of good luck, has decided to show its face the past couple of days. On our drive up here from Nosara we had to circumnavigate most of the lake. The golden afternoon sun kissed the lush green Bavarian-like hills. The clean lake reflected the blue sky and the volcano had a halo of clouds at the very top. Our first full day here we walked around in the Arenal National Park. You don't get to get too close to this still active volcano but we did do some scrambling on lava rocks and could here the pleasant rumble of the molten rock boiling out of volcano. It fondly reminded me of the sound of Dzeda's coffee maker. In the afternoon we hiked to the La Fortuna Waterfall which was also beautiful. The Finkels arrived in the evening and we ate dinner with them. I soothed my bug bites in the hot tub that night while Emily and I caught up on the 9 months of life in which I have been out of the country.

Today we visited the local Mariposario/Ranario. In the afternoon we went Ziplining with Sky Trek. We took a tram up to the top of a hill and zoomed down across over 8km of zipline back to the bottom. Supposedly we reached speeds of 50mph, but I am not positive. The ziplining (again) was super fun. It is just fast/high enough to be thrilling but secure and no free-falls to not be scary at all. So it's basically FUN FUN FUN.

This evening at dinner we got to see a lava show from the volcano. The clouds had cleared and the volcano burped up quite a bit of glowing orange rock that rolls and flows down the hillside. Pretty Spectacular.

Monkey Business

We spent the past four days in Nosara covered in dust or salt water. Nosara is a small town in Guanacaste on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. We rented a stylish glass house called "monkey business" and true to its word we saw a flock of howler monkeys in the trees right outside our house every day. In the afternoon they would migrate across the trees, swinging and climbing.In the evening they would howl which was pretty cool and sounds like a deep manly dog bark. The sound of the howler monkeys, however, was nothing compared to the cicadas which right at dusk began screeching. It sounded something like a high-pitch electrical hum.


The water was wonderfully warm, and though the beach attracts many surfers, the waves weren't too big so swimming in the water was nice. Abba and I threw Frisbee and though we were on the shore the wind wasn't too strong. Of course, we also took long walks on the beach both midday and at sunset. Mom and I even got the courage to ask about taking surf lessons, but they were all booked. After we asked at the next surf school and got turned down because the instructor was on holiday, we decided it was a sign we weren't meant to surf. We did some body surfing, which I am pretty abysmal at. Uncle Walt will have to show me and mom some techniques...We also ate at a delicious sandwich/ice cream shop that seemed to be transplanted to Costa Rica right out of Berkeley!

On another day we rode bikes out to Playa Ostional (a beach in the other direction). We started the bike ride early (at like 7am) and were still dripping buckets of sweat a couple minutes into it. Biking was fun even though my bike had no brakes and broken gears. The bumpy dirt roads vibrated like crazy; it made me feel all shook up for the rest of the day. Luckily there were not that many cars so we didn't have to inhale their clouds of dust that billow up behind them.

On Thursday we walked around this biological reserve that flanked the shores of Nosara River. Again we kept most of our activity early in the morning and took a nice long siesta midday. I got a lot of reading done. I started and finished reading the Reader a book by some German guy that Alexis just saw the movie in German. It was a sort of strange book, but a good break from the other book I am reading, Hot, Flat and Crowded, which is a pretty disturbing book about the environmental/political global crisis we are in.
In the evening I took a short run on the beach in the sunset and then dove in the water to cool off. It was as amazing as it was cliche.

Tonight we are at the Arenal Volcano and I eagerly await Emily's arrival tomorrow evening.