sur la playa

so....we went to lovers beach yesterday....we were taken by our handy captain, edmundo....so to get to the beach you have to jump off the boat into the pounding surf....which of course caused me hours of amusement later as others managed to do it with much less style than myself. but...in other parts of the story.....it is a really cool beach, b/c on one side is the sea of cortez and the other is the pacific ocean....all absolutely gorgeous......

well, we decided we would go do a little snorkeling....which is all fine and dandy....until we tried to get out of the water....i was floating along trying to take off my flippers when one hell of a wave comes by and takes one of my flippers away.....well...just when i regain my flipper, another big ass wave comes by and totally almost takes off my bathing suit bottoms....well....this caused me to freak, and as i went to grab my bottoms, i lose my flipper.....flipper was eventually regained....but somehow in all of this mess, i lost my mask...which was eventually recovered....but pretty much the only thing i didn't almost lose at the beach was my top.....which would have been interesting.

one of the other great highlights from the beach was this small boy who was screaming he wanted his mommy, so i turned around to see what was going on....well some woman, the relationship to the child unclear was attending to him...well apparently he was having problems with his penis, and was screaming in much pain. it seems that while playing in the surf he had gotten a ton of sand in is suit (this happened to almost everyone there, but most of us did not scream for our mommies), so this woman figure helps him remove his suit....so he is totally buck naked, hiding behind a rock....when another woman in this group decides that clearly the solution is to attempt to cool this child's penis by putting her bottle of beer on it....let me tell you, this is not the solution, as the little guy cried out in pain. the beer was promptly put down, and his little brother mistook it for his juice and promptly had a few swigs....frankly if that was my family i would have been drinking too.....

well after this long day at the beach, i was really dehydrated and tired, so the pirate cruise got post-poned until friday when we'll be back in the cabo area.....but we did manage to get our butts to a fabulous french pastry shop, called french reviara, which was awesome...if you find yourself in the cabo region....get there...it is in san jose del cabo....and was just fabulous.....oh my god, it is wonderful....i will be eating there friday, saturday and sunday morning before we head home..

birthday report

so....a lovely day was had by all.....andrew decided he wanted to learn how to snorkel, so as part of my birthday present, he got us both snorkeling gear, which is super cool, since we can use it for the rest of the week, and then when we go on our next adventure to guadeloupe in december/january...so that was cool. We went to this beach called playa santa maria, and snorkeled for a couple of hours...we saw awesome striped fish, and blue fish with yellow fins, little baby fish, and big bad mo fo fish....

then we came back to the hotel, had a couple drinks for happy hour, and then cleaned up and went to a fabulous place for dinner, where we had an awesome view of cabo and the arch during sunset. Add to this the food was simply spectacular....and they had awesome mojitos...and we all know i love mojitos...so if you are in cabo go to puento veija restuarant...

so today....the big plan is......breakfast...ok...i am hungry, then off to lover's beach for some more snorkeling (someone is hooked) and then a pirate sunset cruise...yes, I tracked one down....and we are bringing mojo, so i will have my own monkey for the trek...... here is the link for the cruise http://www.loscabosguide.com/buccaneerqueen/index.html

again, thank you all for your birthday wishes....

I'll try to post tomorrow, but then we are off to cabo pulmo, where there will be no internet...so...you will have to live with out updates for a few days...i hope all is well....

happy birthday to me!

so...it is my birthday....and we are headed to the beach shortly, for a bit of a swim, a little snorkeling, lunch and a cocktail or two.....then home and then for a sunset dinner....not a bad day....

but yesterday we had a great adventure....we went on a glass bottom boat tour of the sights around cabo....we saw many pelicans (those of you who have seen my pictures of new zealand, these are my current bird of choice), the arch, which is amazing, and many other cool fish, and rock formations....i have awesome pictures....but in addition we also had our second sigthing of the mark granovetter clone....he even wears black socks...just like mark....so fascinating.....

i had an entire conversation with a salesman in spanish yesterday....very impressive....whereas andrew tried to order chicken and fries (chips for you commonwealthers) by ordering polio and chips, instead of pollo....oh the comedy never ends.....

in our hotel there is the most amusing group of people....known to us as the ladies and their dudes....all of them appear to be over 75 and having the time of their lives....they are highly entertaining...we like to make up stories abou them going surfing, night clubing, etc....all i can say is one of the ladies has some serious moves as she got one of the buff young hotel workers to carry her up the stairs....damn she is smooth.....

so...i am off to call my parentals...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!! I hope you enjoyed your present.....

i'll give you more updates later.....

ps thanks to all of those who sent birthday wishes

so i lied...

we actually went to cabo today...someone....aka andrew was confused....so yesterday we just went to todos santos and had lunch at this really good place the los adobes..so if you are in todos santos...go there....

we have discovered a driving norm...if you see an animal on the side of the road...say a cow, horse, donkey, sheep or goat, you are supposed to flash your hazard lights....andrew has taken to this social norm....so i am the animal spotter....

so...we are at our hotel in cabo, which is pretty cool...i got some great photos of the waves crashing on the beach already....another new theme to the trip has developed...alex waiting for andrew...and in these moments of boredom....i have taken to photographing my feet...so be prepared for those to be posted....maybe just one.....

one really cool thing about our hotel in cabo is that we get free phone calls to the US...so...mom and dad...i'll call on sunday...and happy anniversary...oh and birthday to me!

in disappointing news...andrew was going to take me on a pirate cruise before my birthday dinner...i was really excited, and then he read the fine print and discovered the priate cruises only run from oct to may. damn....i wanted to see some stupid pirates.....i guess i will have to settle for the cap'n morgan in our bar...

so...1 minute to happy hour....i need a cocktail....have a lovely weekend all...and i'll try to keep you posted..

ps if you need a guide book to baja...get the moon handbook...it is awesome...thanks brownmouse

no boats....but jellyfish

so....we decided to skip sailing for the day, so we spent teh morning in town, at museums and what not...and then we went to the beach, where we had a fabulous lunch, and just paddled around in the sea for awhile...until....the jellyfish struck....with the exception of breaking a bone, i don't know if i have ever been in more extreme pain in my life.....I was taken home immediately by the ever doting andrew, who promptly took care of me. The stinging is gone....i have a few bumps and all should be good.....

tomorrow we head to cabo san lucas, with a brief stop in todos santos...probably for lunch and some shopping....

commenting update

so...given that i have been recently spammed on my blog i have increased security....which should be no problem if you are human...just follow the directions and you will be ok...if you are a fellow blogger and have the same problem....let me know and i'll tell you how to fix it.

off to find an adventure in la paz...tomorrow todos santos and cabo

return of the blue dolphin

why can't i escape this!!!! so we were having dinner last night at the kiwi cafe....by the way...there were no kiwis there...but many pelicans...which were super cool....but more to the point....after dinner, we were given mints that had blue dolphins on the packaging which had an english translation of pleasure your visit....what could be more perfect!!!!!!

ok...i am still working on uploading the pictures...there have been more interesting things to do....like find pelicans, etc....

i think we are going on a boat today....not sure though....it is andrew's day to choose....

Good morning from La Paz

So it is another 90something degree day...we are headed to the beach in a little while....but there are a few anecdotes I would like to share....

1) a pigeon entered the cafe where we were having dinner last night and was promptly flew into a fan....what is the lesson here....pigeons are really, really stupid.

2) two people with the equivalent spanish knowledge of say koko the gorilla if she spoke spanish can in fact get by in La Paz....and let us say...one of us (the fabulous alex) is definitely the more skilled spanish speaker...and anyone who knows my spanish ability knows just how damn scary this is....although I am particularly good with road signs....

ok....andrew has work to do and i need coffee...maybe i'll have some time to post pictures in a bit....before we head to the beach....

adios

greetings from la paz

so andrew and i made it to mexico....i have only had a few temper tantrums...and none of them were directly related to him...so he is still alive....

we have seen....a mark granovetter clone..on the airplane...black jeans and all....many, many , many, cows...that are all very skinny...and a donkey i thought was a cow......all by the side of the road at cattle crossing signs....so how was i to know it was a donkey not a cow...there wasn't a donkey crossing sign....hmmm....what else...in our ethnically diverse plane safety guide we learned that latinos had mustaches...and this was verified upon landing in mexico....so now we know if someone has a mustache they must me a latino....hahahahahahahahhahaha......

saw fantastic sunset today....will post pictures later...tomorrow we head to a posh beach in the afternoon...hopefully it won't be too hot...as i already have color....and andrew has a tan from hawaii...somehow that didn't happen to me in philly.....

hugs to all....

random musings

So I am back in CA...well for a short while...I head off to Baja on sunday with Andrew. He is finally coming back from Hawaii this evening...Which will be nice, since I haven't seen him in two weeks.

I will try to blog while in Baja....this is all based on the assumption that I will have access to the internet....if not....I will post when i come back...we will also try to post pictures as well.....

But if you need a laugh while your gone...check out this halloween song...done by a bunch of indie rockers....

http://www.vice-recordings.com/halloween/index.php

adios amigos

Sunday in Philly

So....nothing too exciting...but I will note I did see a three card monte game...something new for me...

Simon and I had a fabulous dinner at this italian place....so delicious....

On our way back from dinner we saw these two men, in their late 40s...dressed in all leather, and one with a cat of nine tails...and they were headed to a sex club....we thought about following them...but decided it was in our best interests not to.

Today....it is overcast and icky...so...i don't know what i am going to do...at the moment...hang out in my robe and contemplate the day. I have dinner plans with Gili....so i'll contemplate that...

Oh...I did venture out and see independence hall...i thought about the liberty bell, but damn i didn't want to wait in that line in the oppressive heat.....so here are a couple of pictures of independence hall....the first photos with the new digital...

Adventures in Philly

So the first two days have been filled with presentations and catching up with old friends....

Both presentations went well...so that is good.....

As usual, I had way too much fun with the Cornell group processes grad students, and I met the ones from South Carolina, who are also great.....but way too many drinks...

Plus I get to hang out with my old roommate Simon, which is very cool....

I am now exhausted, and I am going to climb into bed...and tomorrow, I will explore the city....YAY!!!!

plus try out my new digital camera....so if you are lucky...there will be pictures tomorrow.

weekend update

so i spent most of the weekend on the couch with allergies and a horrid headache. how fun! but since andrew is in hawaii, i don't have to feel bad about being a lazy bum all weekend. other than that...i worked on my presentations for philadelphia....i have on on friday and one on saturday and then I can just enjoy the rest of my time. Thankfully I am getting my temporary crown on wednesday morning, so i won't be obsessed with my tooth the entire time.

in other news, my charming mother and father (Drs K and T) bought me a digital camera for my birthday, so i'll be able to take and upload photos on all of my upcoming adventures.....Philly, Baja, LA, and Durham....I think that is it until December, but I could be very wrong.....needless to say I am a very busy gerbil......

what a busy month

so....august has turned into quite a crazy month....first i chipped a tooth, so I had to find a dentist, blah, blah, blah...but thanks to truth, I found a good one, who is seeing me on thursday, so hopefully we can get this taken care of. Then Andrew takes off friday for two weeks in Hawaii, apparently there is a conference there...that is what they all say...
Then I take off for Philly next week, where I am presenting two papers....Then back for 5 days and then we take off for Baja....clearly a vacation is necessary.....clearly.....