Updates

Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches {with} milk are my current food obsessions. I switch up the jams to keep it fun and interesting.

Kimya Dawson is my current FAVORITE recording artist. I have committed myself into learning some of her songs on the guitar.

I took a motorcycle class and learned how to defensively drive a scooter. I am on my way towards purchasing a YAMAHA VINO, so I can scoot around the city. I stare and admire scooters of all shapes and sizes on the road.

Irises are my new favorite flower. Stargazers used to be, but I've found that they are too high maintenance and smelly. The iris is simple, classy, and contains good color schemes.

My new mantra in life is to find art in every day living. I've found it makes everything much more interesting, fun, and exciting. Plus San Francisco is one of the best places on the earth to start such thing.

Rob wants me to read Catch-22 for his birthday present. I am on page 52. It's picking up.

Barcelona is my new favorite city. I will be heading there with one of my besties, Jade, in JUNE!

Here are some pictures of art in every day life:

Making cupcakes for Shannon's Birthday





I get to see this everytime I bike/walk through the park. It is the best:



BAKE SALE!!!!!! They were raising money so that they could go to six flags. They were so cute and professional. "Would you like a drink with that cookie?" Opens up a cooler and displays all the drinks they have for sale.



Boxed bottomless sake. Coach {that's the owner's name} teaches you how to properly drink from the box. A little salt on the corner and you're ready to go! It felt so counter intuitive, but I loved drinking from the box!



James from The Chop preparing for a show at El Rio.



The Chop's 15 passenger van. It is the kewlest. My favorite part is the quilted leather seating.

USA

I am back in the states!

And since pictures speak louder than words, here are a bunch of pics from the last leg of my trip:

Playing football in Ipanema



Me, at the beach



Farmers Market



Samba on the train



On top of Rio De Janeiro



Meat on a stick, the Brazilian way



Warriors in Ilha Grande



Ilha Grande



I am sad that my trip is over, but I'm also happy that I'm back in SF. It almost seems as though I never left, and that frightens me at times, but I know that I have grown in many ways, and will continue to do so in different forms and environments. I'll be updating my blog about various events. It'll be a creative outlet for me. I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and that you will come back and visit me!

An old post I forgot to post. It's called FOODIES

One of my favorite things about Buenos Aires is it's design. Not only do they make great food, I also love the asthetics of a lot of the restaurants and shops here.

A great example is the restaurant Sudestada. I love the whole look of the restaurant, and the food is pretty good as well. The first time I went the food was really spicy, and then the second time it was a little bland.

The lunch menu. You punch holes when you order!



The best dumpling dough I've had after my grandma and mom. It was definitely hand-made and had a good consistency.



Veggie curry. I was excited because I thought MAYBE it would be similar to my favorite Thai restaraunt Thaiger room, but nope, it was bland.



Fried rice. Way more flavor than the veggie curry.



Nice large windows make any room brighter.

Ilha Grande

We are in Ilha Grande now. It took us 3 hours on a bus, and then 1.5 hours on a boat to reach the island. It is beautiful and isolated. There seems to be only one town, the rest of the island is just beach upon beach upon beach.

Yesterday we went on a 4 hour hike (roundtrip) to the most exotic beach I have been to. There were maybe 10 people on the whole beach, and both sides of the beach had a river that met the ocean. The sand was so fine, the fresh water mixed with the salt water and created the clearest, greenish, bluish, water ever. It was grand and magical. All I could see in the background was a mountain, and lush green trees everywhere. There were times on the hike where we heard really scary noises in the middle of the jungle, that we later found out were monkeys. I felt as though I was in LOST at times.

We had a whole day of playing on the beach, running around on the sand, building a fish bowl out of sand, collecting small fish to put in the fish bowl, rubbing black sand over our bodies in order to look like warriors, climbing a rock and jumping off of it, floating down the river as the currents built up when the ocean met with the river, and then swimming around in the ocean. We left right before a storm started and ended up walking back in a torrential downpour. It was ironic because on the way to the beach we were telling Kenny about our experience at Iguazu and then the exact same thing happened again on our way back. We were soaking wet when we made it back to town, and the town was going crazy due to a soccer game, I think they won because people were screaming and running down the streets.

Time is really moving fast and slow at the same time. My trip is almost over. I have a week left and can´t believe it will all be over so soon. I am excited to get back to SF, there are so many things about America that I took for granted, and as much as I love travelling and exploring new situations and places, I am very happy to get back to what is familiar, to my friends and family, and to a city that I call home. I´m sure that it will be bittersweet, but the good thing is, there will always be more time and places to visit in the future.

OY!

We are in Rio De Janeiro and it is awesome! We met up with three friends from college, Kenny, Joey, and Ellen who flew in from the states a couple days ago, and we are renting a sweet penthouse apartment in Ipanema. It is great.

Our days have consisted of going to the beach in Ipanema, eating really great food, drinking caprihinas, and wandering around the city. I have found that the brazilians really cater towards making life easier and better on the beach. People are constantly walking by selling cheese on sticks, frozen acai smoothies with granola, biscuits, drinks, jewelry, and sarongs. It´s super. I have been really impressed with the Uruguian sandwich stand that grills all types of meats, and then garnishes the sandwiches with really great salsa/grilled onions.

The people watching on the beach is the best too. I can stay for hours on the beach and just watch everyone walk by, watch people get knocked down by the strong waves in the ocean, and watch the groups of men playing a version of hacky sack, only it´s with a soccer ball. Everyone is really attractive and fit and tan.

Today there is a soccer game. We were going to try to get tickets to watch the game at the stadium, but it´s really hot and it would probably be really unpleasant. Instead we are going to watch the game at a bar, and I bet it will be just as exciting.

SUPER TIMES!

Bomb diggity dogg

E-young-gee



Stuffed crab shells, THE BOMB!



Sequencia!





One of the many beautiful beaches we went to



A whole leg of lamb



Oyster man



Group pics:





Azure and my 9.5 year anniversary pic



Subway at the mall before watching Juno, a little splash of American culture



Caiprihnia



Risotto Frutos Do Mar



Surfer hair, Vivian says it's natural



Sometimes he would try to jump out the window

Ridin' Dirty

The bus rides down here haven't been so great. The Brazilian buses are designed differently than the Argentinian buses and only have one level. We were trying to get out of Porto Alegre into Florianopolis and could only find seats on one bus that had three seats left. My seat was located directly across the bathroom. GREAT. Trying not to think about it too much I sat down and admired the lush green fields of banana plants, trees, and animals. The scenery on the way up to Florianopolis was extremely pretty and made the bus ride a little more tolerable.

In the middle of the bus ride a man went to the bathroom. He didn't close the door all the way, and while he was going to the bathroom, the door flung open. We were on a really bumpy road, and the door continued to swing back and forth. He was sitting down on the toilet and couldn't catch the door right away. I really didn't know what to do at that point. I mean, I know that I should have just closed the door for him, but that would have involved me looking directly at him, and I didn't want to do that, so I just stared straight ahead. I was so uncomfortable. A few seconds later, he was able to close the door, finished his business and went back to his seat. About an hour later, the three year old girl sitting in front of me started throwing up ON the aisle next to my feet. I didn't really understand why her mom didn't use a bag for her to vomit into. The aisle in front of me was covered with vomit and that happened twice. The second time the mom passively wiped the floor with a plastic bag that she could have used for the little girl to directly vomit into. I looked at my watch and noticed that there were only 4 more hours left of the bus ride. Yes!

Then, towards the end of the bus ride we were stuck in traffic that made us 2.5 hours late. There were two teens sitting across from me who were continually playing "Ridin Dirty" by Chamillionaire on their telepone speakers. Looking back, I find this very humorous because I was, in a way, "ridin dirty."