First thing's first: our next post is Port-au-Prince, Haiti!! We're very excited about it, but I think it will be a difficult post. Ian will hopefully be able to work and get excellent experience, and I'll be in a very good position for career purposes! Everyone is welcome to come visit, but no one will be obliged.
Secondly, Guita won the blue ribbon for her puppy obedience class! She shared first place honors with a lovely young Airedale named Cornelio, but we're more interested in our own sweet baby. The photos below show her enjoying some down-time during the exam and then later with her big blue ribbon!
OK, no photos because Blogger doesn't agree, but she was darling, and she loves her big ribbon!
Finally, a word on Mexico City traffic. Everybody complains about the driving here -- and with good reason -- but there are some aspects that merit special mention.
First, the optional respect for red lights. Most Mexicans do respect red lights to about the same degree that Washington, DC, drivers do (inconsistent at best). But from time to time, drivers decide that red lights are for little people, and they blow right through them. This evening I saw one of the good, safe buses go straight through a red light from the left turn lane. It zipped around the cars waiting at the light and careened through the intersection, dodging the island with the traffic light poles, and swinging back into traffic on the far side. Pretty fancy maneuvers for a big city bus.
A while ago, we were coming home from Costco in a taxi, and the driver took us on a totally unknown route. We went through a lot of construction (and Mexico City always has road construction), and came to a right turn. An old VW Beetle with a hearse-like back was turning down the road we'd come up, which was legitimately a two-way street, but it was blocked by those rectangular barricades construction crews use. Not to be deterred, the VW literally pushed one of the barricades out of its way to open the street to two-way traffic. Luckily nothing hit our taxi, and the VW cleared up a significant traffic snarl by opening the turn again. Amazing - it's hard to imagine even the worst drivers in the U.S. having the wherewithal to use a VW Beetle to remove an official roadblock!!
Finally, our own dear Prolongacion Vista Hermosa. Ian and I live near the top of a very small and very steep street that has been under construction for one thing or another since anybody can remember. At the bottom of the hill, there is a drainage ditch, which is a good thing. But the ditch is probably a foot wide and it's set at the wrong angle for a steep street. Add to that, the covers for the ditch are often missing completely and you start to get interesting experiences in taxis that think they know better than the locals! Furthermore, the road is two-way, but somebody (the city? residents?) often puts up a variety of barricades (pieces of the grate, pylon cones, random sheet metal), embedded in the ditch, to prevent downhill traffic. It's dangerous, to put it mildly. As you climb the street, you pass a five-year-old landslide and a broken house (broken in the landslide) and enter the construction zone. In the construction zone - heaven alone knows what they want to do here - workers dig by hand through the pavement, make ditches, refill them, repave them, and start again. They've dug at least five times in the year that we've been here. Lately they've added a great big hole-maker (like a pile-driver for fence posts but on serious steroids), and they're making giant holes in the road right outside our gate. It's excellent for residents, and we're just really glad we don't have to get a car past it every day!
But enough moaning about the traffic -- I'm still just happy about Haiti, Ian's birthday presents (early, tomorrow night), and our upcoming trip to Isla Mujeres off Cancun!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Lincoln City with the family! Part 0
The extended nuclear Zaur clan, minus Pat and Jenn and family, rented a house at Road's End in Lincoln City, OR, for four days of sand and sunburn and good food!
The beautiful stretch of beach at the northern end of Lincoln City, OR. The tide pool pictures in Family Part 2 are at the base of the headland in the distance.
Basil wuz here, but he's exiting frame left!
Kite flying, Zaur-style. The giant parachute-like kite was supposed to have a drag of around 300 pounds, but it moved Chris and Gary like paperdolls in a light wind! The strings broke before they were blown into the Pacific, probably luckily!
Atty, our soon-to-be-a-heartbreaker nephew.
Veda greatly improved a waterfall system at the base of the path. She also saved a starfish and found excellent shells!
Baz rocks the air guitar and the boogie board in the Kite Shop in Newport!
Ian, Atty, and Veda show off their wingspans at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
The beautiful stretch of beach at the northern end of Lincoln City, OR. The tide pool pictures in Family Part 2 are at the base of the headland in the distance.
Basil wuz here, but he's exiting frame left!
Kite flying, Zaur-style. The giant parachute-like kite was supposed to have a drag of around 300 pounds, but it moved Chris and Gary like paperdolls in a light wind! The strings broke before they were blown into the Pacific, probably luckily!
Atty, our soon-to-be-a-heartbreaker nephew.
Veda greatly improved a waterfall system at the base of the path. She also saved a starfish and found excellent shells!
Baz rocks the air guitar and the boogie board in the Kite Shop in Newport!
Ian, Atty, and Veda show off their wingspans at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
Lincoln City with the family! Part 1
Neskowin, OR, is about 20 minutes north of Lincoln City. It is home to a general store, some gorgeous gardens, and the ghost trees. About 1600 years ago a seismic event dropped the level of the ground enough to drown big sitka spruces up and down the Oregon coast. The stumps were buried in sand and petrified. They were first observed in current memory around Seal Rock, but sand buried them every summer. Then the violent winter storms of 1997-98 and 1998-99 swept sufficient sand out to unbury them to this point, and the summer currents failed to replace the sand. Geomorphologists and geologists do not know why the sand failed to return to Neskowin, but the trees remain exposed at low tide. We were there around 8.30 on a Saturday morning, and it's totally worth the drive. The beach and the petrified trees are stunning and eerie. Nobody knows how long they will be exposed, so any budding geomorphologists should rush to Neskowin!
Family portrait taken by kind strangers who thought we were related to the trees on top of Proposal Rock. Oh well.
Chris and Ian and families (minus Guita, Hugo, and Sammy). Notice how Atty is making me look short on purpose. These punk nephews are getting out of hand!
Molly and Ian - too cute!
Three generations of Zaurs!
Here's the Idaho bunch in a family portrait!
Baz is quite possibly the second cutest non-stump. See below for the cutest.
Here's Ian, the world's cutest non-stump! Note the reflection - the water was stunning that morning!
Looking roughly north from the southern extreme of the beach towards Proposal Rock. The mist was such that it was difficult to distinguish people from stumps!
Three seagulls, sitting on the stumps.
The flock of seagulls didn't move much, but it wasn't petrified.
The stump and the cliff behind it reflected in the still water. It was really lovely with the mist!
Stumps in the tidal waters.
The petrified bark of an ancient tree. This was the smallest stump I saw.
Here's the wood grain preserved in petrification.
Wildlife! Some of the stumps were covered in barnacles, anemones, urchins, and mussels, and some were nearly bare.
Family portrait taken by kind strangers who thought we were related to the trees on top of Proposal Rock. Oh well.
Chris and Ian and families (minus Guita, Hugo, and Sammy). Notice how Atty is making me look short on purpose. These punk nephews are getting out of hand!
Molly and Ian - too cute!
Three generations of Zaurs!
Here's the Idaho bunch in a family portrait!
Baz is quite possibly the second cutest non-stump. See below for the cutest.
Here's Ian, the world's cutest non-stump! Note the reflection - the water was stunning that morning!
Looking roughly north from the southern extreme of the beach towards Proposal Rock. The mist was such that it was difficult to distinguish people from stumps!
Three seagulls, sitting on the stumps.
The flock of seagulls didn't move much, but it wasn't petrified.
The stump and the cliff behind it reflected in the still water. It was really lovely with the mist!
Stumps in the tidal waters.
The petrified bark of an ancient tree. This was the smallest stump I saw.
Here's the wood grain preserved in petrification.
Wildlife! Some of the stumps were covered in barnacles, anemones, urchins, and mussels, and some were nearly bare.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Lincoln City with the family! Part 2
After visiting the ghost trees at Neskowin, we headed back to the Road's End area of Lincoln City to look at the tide pools. The tide was coming in, and the fog was still pretty thick, but we all clambered on rocks and had a great time!
Paige and Atty in the mist.
Chris and Atty - cliff walkers!
Veda!
Paige!
Ian and Veda are considering the second string of tide pool rocks.
Jaye demonstrates "flying tiger" but it doesn't work to get over the incoming tide and out to the second string of tide pool rocks.
Baz thinks anything can be a gun....
Veda and Molly, back from the beach!
Atty bodysurfs in the brrrr Pacific!
Paige and Atty in the mist.
Chris and Atty - cliff walkers!
Veda!
Paige!
Ian and Veda are considering the second string of tide pool rocks.
Jaye demonstrates "flying tiger" but it doesn't work to get over the incoming tide and out to the second string of tide pool rocks.
Baz thinks anything can be a gun....
Veda and Molly, back from the beach!
Atty bodysurfs in the brrrr Pacific!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Oaxaca III - El Tule, Mitla, and Teotitlan
On Sunday we rented a car and drove out of town to the nearby ruins of Monte Alban (next post) and Mitla. We did some other things along the way (Teotitlan and El Tule) and returned starving, hot, tired, and happy for a nice dinner of mole coloradito (delicious!) and white wine at a restaurant on the Zocalo.
The Zocalo (central square) in Oaxaca city is beautiful and busy. It is lined on three sides by buildings with deep arcades and on the fourth by the cathedral yard. People buy their children torpedo balloons and play with them, tossing the balloons into the air and racing to catch them.
Arcades and a market line the Zocalo. Balloon vendors are so far ubiquitous in non-Mexico City central squares.
The Virgin is in the trees of the Zocalo!
All of the oldest Oaxaca buildings seem to have a pinkish glow. The cathedral dome is tiled and simple and beautiful. It's a very different experience from the Santo Domingo church.
The little church at Santa Maria del Tule. It's a very well maintained church, probably because they charge 20 pesos ($1.50) per head to see the tree. The tree is immediately to the left in this photo; its branches are what you see in the photo.
This man is manually ringing bells for church purposes on Sunday.
Stats on the tree. It's estimated to be more than 2000 years old. It's a cypress, wider than it is tall, and one of the earth's oldest living creatures. The water table has changed underneath it, and now it is tended by a local group.
Ian obligingly spreads his arms by the tree. The fence prevents a real sense of scale.
Looking up in the branches of the massive tree at El Tule.
Mitla is lesser-known than Monte Alban and much smaller The town of Mitla grew around the ruins and the church, and the site is limited in size. Mitla is a very late settlement (1300s CE) and shows its lateness is the total difference in decoration. The walls are covered with intricate geometric patterns instead of animals and figures. These are walls of the largest construction still standing. The panels are varied, and there is some repetition but not in a discernible pattern.
This is the church that the Spanish turned the Mitla complex into. It's lovely, simple, and clean. Note again the multi-domed roof in red.
The decor of Mitla changes in the chambers inside the walls. The geometric patterns are more contiguous but still intricate. They also mostly repeat what is visible from the outside.
Note that all the stones that form the patterns are individually worked.
The entrance (and exit!) to a funerary tunnel in the walls of Mitla. Ian, having braved one on his knees, opted to wait for me outside. The inside was unspectacular except for the smell and the bizarre humidity and heat, but the passage was three levels of three-foot doors followed by much higher-cielinged cambers.
We stopped to buy sal de gusano (similar to the salt you lick with tequila but blended with ground up maguey worm) for a colleague and were tempted into a brief tour of a mezcal moonshine distillery. Ian did all the tasting, and I did all the driving. Ian, Abel (the proprietor), and Jesus (hay-SUS) the horse pose at the beginning of the tour. Jesus is hitched to a grinding stone and spends his days walking counter-clockwise in a very tight circle mashing the maguey (mah-GWAY) cactus into pulp. Note the photo banner behind them showing the harvest and preparation of the maguey.
This is the sweet mash, produced by the horse and the grinding stone, that is fermented and heated to eventually produce the mezcal. Note the bees hovering over it; it's nearly pure maguey sugar.
Pure mezcal running out of the fermenter.
Abel serving mezcal from a container for Ian to taste it. I was prepared for a grimace, but Ian said it was really quite good.
The wares of La Costumbre, all available for a reasonable price. Ian bought three bottles of moonshine mezcal, but they all leaked so badly in the trunk that we had to leave them in Oaxaca to save our suitcases.
Despite their cautious optimism, we did our shopping at the market.
These rugs are woven by traditional artisans in the town of Teotitlan del Valle, about 30 km east of Oaxaca. The rugs are wool, dyed with natural dyes developed in the area over centuries of work. The red rug is a traditional pattern with shades of Mitla in its designs. The yellow rug is more modern, and the blue fish rug is between them. The rugs are almost all immensely beautiful, and the variety of patterns and colors is stunning.
At the Teotitlan market (off-day), a lady was driving burros with firewood to a client.
And mama burro took her baby with her to learn the ropes!
The Zocalo (central square) in Oaxaca city is beautiful and busy. It is lined on three sides by buildings with deep arcades and on the fourth by the cathedral yard. People buy their children torpedo balloons and play with them, tossing the balloons into the air and racing to catch them.
Arcades and a market line the Zocalo. Balloon vendors are so far ubiquitous in non-Mexico City central squares.
The Virgin is in the trees of the Zocalo!
All of the oldest Oaxaca buildings seem to have a pinkish glow. The cathedral dome is tiled and simple and beautiful. It's a very different experience from the Santo Domingo church.
The little church at Santa Maria del Tule. It's a very well maintained church, probably because they charge 20 pesos ($1.50) per head to see the tree. The tree is immediately to the left in this photo; its branches are what you see in the photo.
This man is manually ringing bells for church purposes on Sunday.
Stats on the tree. It's estimated to be more than 2000 years old. It's a cypress, wider than it is tall, and one of the earth's oldest living creatures. The water table has changed underneath it, and now it is tended by a local group.
Ian obligingly spreads his arms by the tree. The fence prevents a real sense of scale.
Looking up in the branches of the massive tree at El Tule.
Mitla is lesser-known than Monte Alban and much smaller The town of Mitla grew around the ruins and the church, and the site is limited in size. Mitla is a very late settlement (1300s CE) and shows its lateness is the total difference in decoration. The walls are covered with intricate geometric patterns instead of animals and figures. These are walls of the largest construction still standing. The panels are varied, and there is some repetition but not in a discernible pattern.
This is the church that the Spanish turned the Mitla complex into. It's lovely, simple, and clean. Note again the multi-domed roof in red.
The decor of Mitla changes in the chambers inside the walls. The geometric patterns are more contiguous but still intricate. They also mostly repeat what is visible from the outside.
Note that all the stones that form the patterns are individually worked.
The entrance (and exit!) to a funerary tunnel in the walls of Mitla. Ian, having braved one on his knees, opted to wait for me outside. The inside was unspectacular except for the smell and the bizarre humidity and heat, but the passage was three levels of three-foot doors followed by much higher-cielinged cambers.
We stopped to buy sal de gusano (similar to the salt you lick with tequila but blended with ground up maguey worm) for a colleague and were tempted into a brief tour of a mezcal moonshine distillery. Ian did all the tasting, and I did all the driving. Ian, Abel (the proprietor), and Jesus (hay-SUS) the horse pose at the beginning of the tour. Jesus is hitched to a grinding stone and spends his days walking counter-clockwise in a very tight circle mashing the maguey (mah-GWAY) cactus into pulp. Note the photo banner behind them showing the harvest and preparation of the maguey.
This is the sweet mash, produced by the horse and the grinding stone, that is fermented and heated to eventually produce the mezcal. Note the bees hovering over it; it's nearly pure maguey sugar.
Pure mezcal running out of the fermenter.
Abel serving mezcal from a container for Ian to taste it. I was prepared for a grimace, but Ian said it was really quite good.
The wares of La Costumbre, all available for a reasonable price. Ian bought three bottles of moonshine mezcal, but they all leaked so badly in the trunk that we had to leave them in Oaxaca to save our suitcases.
Despite their cautious optimism, we did our shopping at the market.
These rugs are woven by traditional artisans in the town of Teotitlan del Valle, about 30 km east of Oaxaca. The rugs are wool, dyed with natural dyes developed in the area over centuries of work. The red rug is a traditional pattern with shades of Mitla in its designs. The yellow rug is more modern, and the blue fish rug is between them. The rugs are almost all immensely beautiful, and the variety of patterns and colors is stunning.
At the Teotitlan market (off-day), a lady was driving burros with firewood to a client.
And mama burro took her baby with her to learn the ropes!
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