Finger wars.

My fingers hurt.

2 weeks ago, I was building a platform thingy outside for my wireless outdoor speakers. I was building them above where I have flowers planted, so I didn't use a stepladder, I just hammered above my head. Big mistake. I managed to miss the nail but hit my finger. So after some severe cursing and icing my finger, I now have a lovely purple fingernail.

1 week ago, I was playing basketball and after 3 full games, almost done with the 4th, I jammed my finger - the same one that I hammered the week before. I've jammed plenty of fingers in my days of playing sports, but this was the worst. It was immediately swollen, and after 2 DAYS of icing it, the swelling hadn't gone down, and my whole finger was purple. My boss was even calling me Princess Fiona because it was so fat and purple that he said it looked like I was turning into an ogre one finger at a time. Well, 4 days later it was still bad, and I still couldn't bend it, so I went to the doctor. As expected, it wasn't broken, but I'd torn a ligament. 4-6 weeks before full recovery. It's been 1.5 and I still can't curl my finger.

Tuesday I was playing basketball again (fingers taped), and at the end of the game picked up my water bottle from the wood platform, and somehow - through my abundance of good luck - got a splinter jammed into my fingernail (different hand). let me tell you, THAT is painful. It's too deep to get out with tweezers, and trust me, I've cut off more of my nail than is comfortable. I am just hoping it will come out on its own before it gets infected.

Memorial Day BBQ

Party. Wow. So, Memorial Day Sunday I had a party. 57 people came (as far as I counted). 55 if you don't count the two babies that came. As I always say, I LOVE hosting parties. I love having friends meet each other, and I really enjoy seeing other people having a good time. I am always a little hesitant because most of my friends are people I know from all different things - Dancing, Tech, High School, work, just being Jewish, and completely randomly. I worry that some people won't meet other people, but I depend on the good natured friendliness of my other friends to include people. Sometimes that doesn't happen, so if you had a crappy time, I'm sorry, but hopefully for the most part, everyone had fun. From when the first person got here until the last ones left was a total of almost exactly 12 hours. Phew!

this is what I saw come and go within those 12 hours:
*50 Hamburgers, 30 pieces of cheese, 40 Hot dogs, 1 lone veggie burger (and buns to go with all of them)
*A full bowl of my famous Punch (and 5 other 2-liter bottles of soda)
*100+ Beers, 1 Litre of Liquor, A Bottle of Daqueri mix and bottle of Margarita mix
*7 bags of chips and a box of crackers - with two different spinach dips, a french onion dip and Moshe's 7 layer dip
*2 veggie trays, a fruit salad
*A batch of Brownies, a tray of cupcakes, A berry Cream cake (all homemade)
*A box of 2-bite brownies, a bag of chocolate, A tin of pirulines, a box of granola bars, a container of muffins, sugar and iced oatmeal cookies, and a large box of Donut Munchkins

Did I miss anything??

I had a wonderful time, and I am sorry I didn't get to socialize with almost anyone. Thanks to everyone who helped set up, cook, clean-up, and to all of y'all who are just the coolest people I know.

Oh, and All Moshe's pictures (and the few I got) are posted here

Directions

I have an issue with my subdivision. The main street that enters the subdivision doesn't have a street sign on it. There is a big new pretty sign with the name of the subdivision, but no street sign. So if anyone looks up directions online via a mapping service like google maps or mapquest, it says "turn onto my street". But then people pace the neighborhood back and forth since they don't see the street.

About a year ago, I went to a monthly meeting and brought this issue up to the board. They looked at me as if I was crazy, and told me "well, tell your friends that when they see the subdivision sign, they should turn. Or, send them to our subdivision website for directions, not google."

Great. So now, Every time I plan a party and send an evite, I have to say "wait, don't mapquest it, go to our handy dandy webpage instead!" No! so anyway, I finally emailed the president of the managing company, and he totally agreed with me. So, now we're getting a sign. hahaha I guess I should've brought it a level higher a year ago when I first noticed it.

Mother's Day gift

Mother's day was a week ago, and though we ordered our gift WAY in advance, they managed to not have the gift in time for us to give it to her. BUT, today the gift came in and it looks pretty good! Ordered through the discovery channel website, we got a blanket with a photo of all the siblings weaved into a blanket. This is what the entire blanket looks like, and then I took a close-up of my face so you can see how they did the work. it's a really fun gift, and my mom is so excited to get it. Other than that, nothing too exciting going on...

late week and a class

Every day this week I have something after work! monday I went to dinner with sebastian and then went dancing, Tuesday I played b-ball with our usual tues/thurs group after work and then went to Erin's for dinner with Kevin, Chris, and Scott which was fun.

Today I went to a class at emory on Entrepreneurship. It was funny. there was a statistic that 50% of small businesses fail in the first year, and 95% fail within the first 5. He commented that we were ahead of the game because we at least showed up at the class. But when I looked around the classroom and noticed
a) how many people came late or left early
b) how many people slept through it
c) how many people just looked like they'd never ever have the drive to maintain a business

I got a little cocky. It was nice to be in a class again. Maybe I'll take some more evening classes...when I have time hahaha =)

No more people in my house! (at least for a day)

Friday night I made Arroz con Pollo for the first time. A Cuban themed potluck Shabbat dinner. We had black beans, plantains, mojo fish, and “Cuban” kugel. The Arroz con Pollo turned out surprisingly well, and I was going to post a picture of it, but apparently Moshe didn’t take a picture when I thought he was going to =(. There were a total of 13 people over for dinner, and although the crowd was a little different than the usual Shabbat crowd, eventually everyone warmed up to each other and hopefully had a nice time.

Speaking of hosting, Saturday we celebrated my little sister’s 21^st birthday. She didn’t want to go out on the town, so instead I hosted about 20 of her friends over. Surprisingly, her UGA buddies didn’t drink that much! I thought that was their extracurricular hobby up there, but I guess since they all had to drive back to Athens or home, they couldn’t drink too much. It was still fun though.

…and some more hosting – Sunday morning I had my family over for Mother’s day brunch. We had omelets, homemade bread, fruit salad, and potatoes. I think my mom enjoyed it, and then I had the rest of the afternoon to resuscitate my house from the destruction that is caused by hosting too many things in one weekend =)

Life Changes.

I like the way Josh worded it. We're going to "see other people". As some of you know, Josh has recently earned his wings, and has been assigned to his aircraft of choice (the Cobra helicopter) at a base just outside of San Diego, CA. As anyone who has been in a long distance relationship knows, trying to maintain a relationship in different cities is hard enough, but a 3 hour time difference makes it even harder. Obstacles that don't help the situation are that during Josh's stint in CA, he'll be on a deployment schedule, to and from somewhere - likely Iraq. The whole Jewish thing is still an issue for me, but it doesn't seem to be the deciding matter here. I am not ready to pick up and leave everything in Atlanta and move to CA where I won't know anyone and Josh'd be gone half the time. Josh is an amazing person. He is kind, charming, intelligent, and funny - meanwhile, protecting my freedom on the side =). He has so many of the qualities I am looking for in a guy, but there is just too much in the way right now to stay together. Maybe one day, but not this day. I love you Josh.

ATLX pics and a flower.

I took almost no pictures at ATLX, but I managed to scour all the other photographer's pages, and found these pictures of me. And I finally uploaded them!

Meanwhile, this flower came up outside my house, and I think it's really pretty.

Want to live with me?

Hey everyone!
As some of you may know, I am looking for a roomate to live at my house!
I live in dunwoody, just outside the perimeter. It's a 3 story townhouse with 3 BR, 2.5 bath, a den, large kitchen, and hardwood dining and living rooms. There's a huge storage basement, washer and dryer, and a patio out back with a ton of grassy areas behind it. It's a 2 minute drive to get to 285 (exit 30)

Everything in the house is furnished pretty much, except the bedroom.

rent is $575/mo + 1/3 utilities (usually comes out to about $65)
OR 650/month including utilities - electricity, cable, HS internet (wireless)

If anyone is interested, or wants more info, please let me know!

Thanks!!

2 years!

yesterday was the two year mark since I graduated from Georgia Tech. I CAN'T believe it's been that long already! I feel like my parents when I say that time flies and you don't know where it goes. I honestly feel like it was just a few weeks ago when I was on campus.

Now when I return, there are just a few faces left that I know, and it doesn't quite feel like home as much anymore. I really miss walking around all day, and rolling out of bed to go to class. I don't miss studying for tests, but I miss meeting all sorts of amazing people (that are my age) every day.

I love working now. I love having a paycheck, I love that i'm able to live in the same place longer than 2 semesters. I really like that usually I don't have to do work on the weekends. I just miss the fond memories of college.

wow. where has the time gone...

Addendum.

Back to me writing...I'd like to add the following to the previous blog post:

1) this is a picture of david before he gets attacked by the massage chair.

This is a candid picture while the chair is attacking him.

2) I got ants in my kitchen. I am trying some new ant stuff that is this sweet liquid that the ants come, drink, and then poison their colonymates. In just one hour, they'd drank all of the liquid on one of the locations. here is a picture of my ants.

3) I really found $20 on the ground the other day. Now, I can tell the story of what I was doing, end it with "and then I found $20", and I'd be telling the truth!!!

4)Amanda and I hung out saturday and watched a movie and made yummy food.

Outsourcing...

Bela's blog entry 5/7/07
By David Ziskind, staff reporter.

Outsourcing has finally hit my blog. With so much to do, I've turned
to David to create frequent blog entries. He complained that he did
not have anything to read at work, so I tasked him with writing them.

Sunday I got up and went for a run in David's new shoes. They fit so
well! I run 3.1415 miles, but to avoid sounding like a dork, I say I
run 3.2 miles. I went to check out David's awesome new couches, and
then helped him look for coffee and end tables. We had fun at a place
with massaging chairs. The sales guy asked if he should turn out the
lights! After that, we went to Costco where I bought stuff for Leah's
birthday BBQ and my Memorial Day BBQ. I didn't tell David or Ross,
but I purposely planned her birthday party for a weekend when they
would both be out of town, so they couldn't hit on her. They really
don't hit on her, but they like to tease me, which drives me up a
wall. Sunday I had a meeting with the dance people.

Today is Monday, and it's back to the grind at work. Oh yeah, I have
a hot new business idea. Let me know if you want to buy in =)

***END***

Winging and a Drag race

One of the hardest things about leaving the office early, is actually getting out. Somehow, whenever I have to get out of the office early in the week for any reason, my “to-do” list gets longer and longer. This past week was no exception. I was planning to leave the office by 2:00 on Thursday in time to go home, pick up my luggage, and head to the airport for a 5pm flight. I managed, over 3 and a half days at work, to clock in 37 hours of time. I have a kickoff meeting tomorrow in Paris, TX, and am currently on a flight to Dallas. More about that later.

The reason I was leaving early Thursday was to go to Pensacola. Josh, after working exceptionally hard over the past couple years, had earned his wings, and I was heading down to be there for the ceremony. I arrived just in time for dinner, and we all went out to Bonefish grill. The food was good, but boy there was a lot of it. We all split for the night after dinner because we had a long day ahead of us.

Friday morning everyone met at Josh’s apartment at 7:15 because we were going to the base to do a bit of a mini-tour. Josh had arranged for us to go into the Night Vision Goggle (NVG) lab at 8:30 for a demonstration. I have only seen NVGs on TV and movies and such, and was truly amazed at the way NVGs function. NVGs use every possible bit of available light, and magnify it to light up the scenery. We went into a darkroom, where there was no light coming from anywhere except a tiny dot on the ceiling. Amazingly, we put on the goggles and could see everything clearly! The instructor took different types of flashlights, laser pointers, infrared lights, UV lights, etc., and showed us how they each look under the NVGs. I was blown away by how advanced they were. We stepped into another room where there was a mini-landscape of sorts. It looked like a bigger version of a train set I’d had as a kid. There were mountains, rivers, a factory, a city, power lines, tanks, and more. There were lights set up in the surrounding areas to represent moonlight seen from different angles. Cycling through the different possible lunar locations, we could see some of the downfalls of the NVGs – when shadows are created by the angle. What an interesting learning experience.

From there we went into the Simulation building. Josh was able to secure 20 minutes to use the simulator. The simulator is basically a box that on the inside looks like the inside of a helicopter. The front window is actually a bunch of screens of some sort, where the landscape is projected as you fly. Because there were only 20 minutes, Josh had to just choose a couple people to go (there were 11 of us there in total). I wasn’t going to get a chance, but then the next group didn’t show up, and every one of us managed to get a turn in the simulator. It was pretty fun. I of course have never flown anything and had a hard time with it, but managed to fly most of the time until landing, where I crashed the helo and received the red screen of death haha. Not to worry though, every single other person also crash landed. I did however fight josh on the controls a bit. He’d say “nose down” and I’d be pulling the nose up. Luckily, he had instructor controls, and could help, but I was certainly accidentally fighting him on a few occasions in the Sim.

We had lunch on base, where the food was good, and the prices were really cheap. We had all brought our nice clothes to change into, as no one wanted to walk around for a few hours in heels or a suit. So we changed and headed over to the winging ceremony after lunch. Each graduate was called on stage with their family for their individual ceremony. The winger can choose who pins their wings onto their uniform, and Josh chose his dad. The old tradition of banging the wings into place is still going on. The person pinning the winger will put it on and then give a hard pound to the chest. Some of the family members would put the backs on before punching them. Others were not so lucky. One of the guys was punched so hard by his family that the metal wing pin actually bent, and at the party that evening, he showed off his undershirt from earlier in the day that had blood stains on the chest. It was a nice ceremony, and hopefully special to each winger. Josh had his parents, his sister Cara, his other sister Taylor and her boyfriend Jeff, His friends Jim and Kris from home in Charlotte – each with their girlfriends Jess and Charity - Quite the crowd.

After the winging, there was a party called the “overtorque” where there was some light food, beer and some toasts for just about everyone. My favorite was “To the spouses and sweethearts – may they always think we’re as good looking as we think we are”. Apparently there was a cake, but it was eaten before we got there. The plan for the rest of the day was to go to change, and then head to the beachside of town where we had rooms for the night. We came back to Josh’s to change, and I gave him the gift I’d gotten him for the winging. Back when I’d first met Josh, he and Leah had me believing that they were actually issued scarves – like in the pictures you see of pilots back in the day – and I of course believed them. Well, for his winging, I got josh an official flight scarf, and a lambswool lined leather flight hat – with the buckle under the chin and everything. So at least if he doesn’t get issued one, he can look like a true pilot =)

Josh was particularly disappointed that they made no announcement of the cake, so we went to the grocery and got a cake just for all of us, and especially Josh. His sisters did a good job of decorating it on the was =) That night we went to walk on the beach for a bit, and take some pictures, then to have some dinner, and then to the winging party. The winging class – as is tradition – chipped in together for a bunch of kegs, and had it at a bar on the beach boardwalk. As long as you had the “I’m with the pilots” wristband, it was all you can drink. The party was a lot of fun, and there are a ton of silly pictures. Since we’d been up doing things since 7am, we were all wiped by 12:30, and crashed.

But early the next morning, everyone was up in time to hit the beach. We spent all morning laying out on the beach in a beautiful day in Pensacola. It was great because we’d spent the night across the street piled into hotel rooms so no one would have to drive from the party, and in the morning we could just walk across the street to the beach. People slowly trickled out, catching their flights home, until everyone had left and Josh and I drove back to Atlanta. And that just ends Saturday of the weekend!!

Sunday was the drag race. I know – Bela? At a drag race??! Well, it was quite the experience. Josh grew up loving NHRA and formula one racing, and jumps at the chance to see one in person. So, after the fun filled weekend we had in Pensacola, we drove back to Atlanta to hit Commerce on Sunday for the race. We left the house early, and arrived in commerce around 8:30. Unfortunately, there was some traffic, so we didn’t actually get to park until closer to 9:00. All of the different cars and bikes that were racing each have their own pit set up in the parking lot, and then before and after each race, they’re towed to the starting line. So we jumped from pit to pit watching the cars getting warmed up and ready to go. It was loud. Most people, including us, had earplugs in, but it was still loud above that. I found myself holding my ears closed on top of the earplugs on more that a couple occasions. As the cars are warming up, there is an area where the cars that are running on Nitromethane are located. They call this area Nitro Alley. As they’re warming up, if you are in the downwind of the exhaust, it is hard to breathe and your eyes burn from the nitro in the air. The people that get really close, most of them actually have gas masks on. It’s all part of the experience though. I have to say, the crowd was certainly different than that I would see at a Braves game, and quite different from those I’d see at a GT college football game. It was quite interesting. The races themselves were pretty cool. No crashes took place, but a few of the cars caught on fire! The day was beautiful, but the sun was rough. I was putting on sunscreen about every 30 minutes, and I think if you’d wanted to, you could’ve fried an egg on my arm. But we stayed out there for about 6-7 hours, and had fun. By a little before 4:00, we were wiped and headed out of there.

It’s funny – some weekends nothing happens, and man, this past weekend I barely had time for some shut eye!

ATLX 4

It's over. ATLX came and went without any horrible glitches or anything.

ATLX (the Atlanta Lindy Exchange) is an event we host here in Atlanta every year, and without going into too much detail about what a Lindy Exchange is, It'll suffice to say that it's a weekend where dancers from all over collide in one city with dancing, live bands, great venues, and fun times. Usually out-of-towners are hosted in the homes of dancers in the hosting city.

With most of the planning behind us, we held our last meeting a week before the event, and while each of us had our jobs to take care of during the week, everything fell into place nicely.

The event started with a bang at the Thursday night dance. Friday, the out-of-towners had the opportunity to be tourists in Atlanta, led to different places by some of our own. In the afternoon, we met at Atlanta Brewing Company, and had beer and danced. We were ready to go!

Throughout the weekend, there were 11 venues, 3 live bands, a pancake breakfast, and for me, at least 100 great dances with fabulous leads from out of town. Not to mention the chance I had to catch up with some old friends.

All in all, I danced for about 30 hours, and had 11 people sleeping in my house and today I am incredibly sore, but it was definitely a ton of fun.

Pictures will be up soon. I need a nap, but I have to go to work =(

Kesiah turns one.

I wrote this post a week ago, and never published it because I was going to add photos. I didn't have a moment to spare, so I am just going to upload this and date it to last monday when I wrote it, and come back later with photos.

This weekend was jam packed full of stuff!

My baby niece, Kesiah, turned one last Tuesday, so we “celebrated” after Shabbat dinner on Friday at my parents’ house. While Evin and Noah were in town, they went house hunting to look for a place to live – because they are planning on moving here!! I am so excited. Evin has lived in Chicago for about 10 years now, and it will be so nice to have them all here close, especially now with the baby – all sorts of built in babysitters =)

Then on Saturday morning, I dragged myself out of bed at 6:30, and Nick came over and we drove down to GT to run in the nerdiest race ever – the Pi Mile. It is 3.14 miles – aka a 5k. I ran it in a whole minute slower than I did last year (this year I ran in 28:25ish), but still faster than I run when I run on my own.

Since we were already up, we stopped at Lowe’s on the way home because I had a gift card I’d gotten in the mail, and I needed some flowers for my yard. The plan was for mom to come over Sunday afternoon and help me plant – and that’s what we did. Planting this year (though it was much colder) was much easier than last year since the soil had softened from the planting last year and the rain the day before. Now you can see all my little flowers that will make my yard so much more welcoming during the summer =)

Saturday night, Greg and Rachel came in from Dallas, and we went out with the old AEPi guys to dinner and the bar to hang out. It’s always fun to see them and catch up. We were all out late into the evening, and the night ended with pancakes at 3am at my house. Yum!

Sunday, Randy had a birthday brunch at Garrison’s at Perimeter mall. That place has a great brunch buffet, and we took over the whole upstairs with the 37 guests that came to celebrate with him. I always forget how good whipped cream is until I eat some true whipped cream (not the canned stuff). I had a great waffle with some on it, and I could’ve eaten three more!

HPV vaccine attack!

I went this morning to the doctor to get the HPV vaccine. I had an 8am appointment so that I could do it and still hopefully get to work on time. I arrived at 7:55, and waited only about 10 minutes (miraculous for the office). The shot was the first in a set of three shots total over a 6 month period. Over the years, I have had a ton of vaccines. Every time I went out of the country, different vaccines seemed necessary- Hepatitis, Meningitis, Tetanus, steroids, etc. So I have never been afraid of shots – I just prefer to not watch as they inject me. Well today, as I looked away, the nurse jabbed me pretty hard, and once she pulled out the needle, I was immediately pretty sore. I said “Ow” when she pulled it out – not from the soreness, but from the ferocity of the jab. She replied with “yeah, I hit bone on that one!” like she just earned 5 points on her fantasy vaccination league with the other nurses. Well anyway, as I am walking out, I get really dizzy, and have a hot flash. I immediately start sweating, and lose my balance. They took me to a room and laid me down and gave me a cold towel, but when I asked if this happens often, they said “no, you’re the first person this has happened to!” That was weird because I usually do fine. After resting about 15 minutes, they let me go, but man, my arm is still really sore! And I still have 2 more shots to get for the series.

Swim the Atlantic...

Directions from Atlanta, GA to Barcelona spain on Google Maps:

5,317 mi (about 30 days 5 hours)

My particularly favorite direction is #21:
Swim across the Atlantic Ocean 3,462 mi

I guess the 30 days of travel time would be taking into account the speed limit in the ocean...

Too funny.

Sound of Music

This weekend, my cousin Miriam came in town, and stayed with me Friday night. We went to potluck Shabbat at Avital’s and my contribution was home-made chocolate covered matzoh. It actually turned out really well. I was impressed with myself. As a matter of fact, Mom came over Friday while I was working from home, and she was so excited about it, she had me make her her own batch!

Josh came in town for a day and a half this weekend with some of his friends for Saturday’s baseball game. 10 of us went to the Braves game, and suffered through the FREEZING weather to watch the Braves have their first home win of the season. That night we went to the highlands so I could show his friends what Atlanta had to offer =)

Sunday Josh and I were planning on going rock climbing again, but though the course was open, I was not certified with the correct requirements, and they didn’t offer the class on Easter, so we couldn’t go =(. So what else is there to do on Easter Sunday? Not much. We watched a ton of Mythbusters (I think there was a marathon on TV), and I made Josh watch the sound of Music (after much kicking and screaming). That is a movie that I grew up on, loved, and is a true classic, and he hadn’t seen it! At intermission I told him I’d just tell him the ending, but he was determined to finish the whole thing. Impressive! Now he knows where all the songs come from =) Well, his reaction was “it wasn’t sooo bad, but it was pretty cheesy” Rochelle came over also, and I made some Passover cake for Josh’s birthday (which is Monday), and we had some yummy smoothies too.

On to my second week back home and first full week back in the office!

the Dry cleaner and me.

I keep thinking of funny things to blog about, but then get distracted, and forget to go back and do it. I think I am going to keep a notepad around so that I don't forget.

Anyway, earlier this week I took 4-5 things to the dry cleaner. I rarely go to the dry cleaner. I buy things that are "machine wash" only. when I do accidentally buy something that is dry clean only, I wash it in the machine anyway. So when once in a while I have something nice enough to take, I put it in my stack of things to bring, and when I need one to wear one of the things again, I take whatever's in the stack. Yes, that's my mentality. Anyway, I had a stack, and it included a dress I wore for a formal event back in December, which means the last time I went to the cleaners was at the latest November. well, I walk in, and the lady who owns the cleaners, Sandra, says "Hello Ms. Jacobson!! I haven't seen you in a while, have you been out of town?" I couldn't believe she remembered my name! not only has it been 6 months since I went there, I think I've only been there 2-3 times EVER! Anyway, I was impressed.

Running in Augusta

When I go running outside at home, I do the same loop every time, and I don't even like it that much because it is so hilly. Over the past few weeks, the weather has gotten nice, and Betsy and I have ventured around the city of Augusta on about two outdoor runs every week. Afterwards, we sometimes go eat, completely sweaty, but starving. I discovered a new website recently that I really like using to map out the runs. coincidentally it is called "mapmyrun.com". Using Google technology, you can zoom in really far to see exactly the path you take, and mark it. The following are some of the runs we've made up and run while exploring the city:

Lake Olmstead

Augusta Historic Downtown and Riverwalk

Augusta Downtown

Augusta Canal

Once you map the exact route you took, you can see most importantly - how far you ran. But also, you can see the elevation view, or count calories by entering your run time and weight. You can even see a 3-D view of your run if you have Google Earth!

Doing these runs has been a lot of fun. I run a lot better and a lot longer when with someone else (Betsy - things are so much better when we're together ;-) )

Hopefully I will be adventurous in Atlanta and run at home in new places too.

Final week in Augusta

well, my stint here is completing. I am slated until the end of this week, and then I go home. I have managed to schedule quite a busy April - especially with Passover around the corner, but I'll be happy to be home again.

Tomorrow night is my goodbye dinner here. I get to pick the restaurant. Where to?!

I know I haven't had many good blog posts lately, but exciting things just don't happen when you're staying in a hotel for 2 months away from home.


Until now, I have not looked for a roomate actively. I have told friends I am looking, but that's about it. Unfortunately, that hasn't been too fruitful. Should I make a post on craig's list? I don't want some psycho roomate, but it'd be nice to have a roomate to help pay the bills...

Air Conditioning Refill

I noticed at the end of last summer that my air conditioning was not working at all in my car. It was the end of the season, so I figured I would wait until this summer to fix it. I brought my car in, 200 miles shy of the 36,000 mile warantee, and even though the refill of the freon would be included - since I got in the accident last fall (after it stopped working), they would not cover it.

oh well, at least now I will have AC this summer.

cell phone number.

When I go to Cingular.com, I can update my profile. Does anyone else find it interesting that besides being able to update your name and address, you can update your phone number? if anything, shouldn't they know when your phone number updates?

Watch what you do. Always.

Well, apparently it's easy for people to lose my trust. Maybe it's easy to get it back, I don't know.

I hesitate these days to post anything about work, as I am well aware that some people from work now read my blog regularly, and others read it occasionally when the regulars pass it on to others while still trying to keep it a secret that they indeed do read it. you know what? It's fine. I dump a lot into this blog - daily activities, travels, future plans, etc. Pretty much all of this is stuff I talk about anyway. Unfortunately, these days companies can hire or fire someone based on what they post online, so while I'd like to be candid with what I post, if it has to do with work I unfortunately can't be.

I am currently fuming because of something that happened today. a person in a role of leadership did something that to him and possibly some others in the company was the right thing to do, and to me, it was unnecessary, none of their business, and breached my trust. I feel that being a leader requires both parties to earn each other's trust, and the moment they breach it, they've lost that trust for a long time. I think that when you do have another person's trust, when they make comments that are meant to not be passed on, or when someone makes an inappropriate comment about either another person in the company, or a comment that would not be seen as "acceptable" if reported to people higher in the company, you don't worry that the other person will go around passing along that information. It is a friendship as well as a work relationship. By accepting that, I can name plenty of times that MANY people above me have made comments that I see as "not acceptable" but after it doesn't sit well for a day, and I fume to friends, I don't worry about it because it isn't worth being a tattletale only to be seen as someone around whom everyone else needs to walk on eggshells. There are times when those comments don't bother me, but I could easily see them as being comments that are either close minded or raw to others.

Anyway, in case you've gotten this far and are wondering what kind of comment got me in trouble, that's not what happened. I didn't get in trouble for anything, and really the incident I am upset about is insignificant to my future or the career future of anyone else involved in the company. What bothers me more is the manner in which it was handled.

I can't really say much more. Just know that being a female in this environment is difficult, MUCH more so than the males think it is, and with as much crap as I have to put up with from the starting line, there's no reason to add more to my plate. Oh, and by the way, I am NOT one of the guys. Sorry to break it to you, but it's the cold truth. Maybe watch your mouths a little bit around the ladies. As a coworker put it - you can pretend I'm your sister, but don't dare think I am one of the guys.

This is for everyone - no matter where you work:
Don't take advantage of people's naivety or kindness or happy temperament to benefit your goals - especially if it diminishes either them or their goals. (this comment isn't necessarily specific to today's incident, just specific to what I've noticed has happened to me in general.)

I hate the country inn Augusta.

I hate the hotel we stay in Augusta.
So far, here are the issues I've had with the hotel:

One day, I came back to find that the cleaning people had removed their gloves and left them in my room. I told the front desk, but the gloves remained there the next day (when I checked out).

I came into the room, and the toilet had pee in it. Not my pee, mind you - no toilet paper was in the toilet.

Another time I checked in, and there were clothes in the closet from whoever was there last - they didn't empty the room.

One day I checked in, and the floor to the bathroom was STICKY it was so dirty

Another time, I checked in, and there was SOMEONE ELSE's hair in the shower.

Today, I came to find that there was an OPEN soap in the shower, and the sheets were used.

Here is the email I just sent to the management of this hotel:

To whom it may concern,

I have been staying at the Country Inn and suites in Augusta weekly for about 6 weeks. Every week I have been here, I have had issues with housekeeping either upon arrival, or throughout the week. I have told the front desk about the problems, and they have always been polite about writing it down in their book, but the issues have NEVER been resolved during my stay. The following are some (but not all) of the housekeeping issues I've had over the past 6 weeks :

- used rubber cleaning gloves were left in my room on the dresser, and not removed for the rest of the week

- bathroom floor was so dirty upon arrival, it was sticky when walking with shoes

- clothes in the closet upon arrival (and remaining for 5 nights)

- urine in the toilet after a cleaning

- hair in the shower upon arrival

- Today, upon checking in late, I found a used bar of soap in the shower, and unwashed sheets on the bed. I requested a room change, and the second room had mud on the bathroom floor. I am now in the third room of the evening.

Others of my colleagues have had issues also in this hotel, most notably the housekeeping staff leaving the door ajar after servicing for the remainder of the day until my colleague's return from work at 8:00 pm - making her personal belongings open to anyone.

I am truly disappointed in the quality of service, and would appreciate a phone call when you receive this message.

Thank you,
**signed me**

Almost lost!

I like that there are still times that one can trust the kindness of strangers to just do what's right.

Friday night, I went to an event hosted by the Atlanta Chevre Minyan. After the Kabalat Shabbat (welcoming of sabbath) services, everyone broke to go to different houses for dinner. I went to a guy's house who lived in the highlands, and it was nice. there were about 8 people I think that ate at his place, which was fabulously decorated. I mean, everything from the faucets to the paint to what type of bookshelves, all just looked so cool! I am (not so secretly) jealous of his decor ability.

Well, once I got into my car after dinner, I realized I didn't have my cell phone. I knew I had it after services because I made a call, but I hadn't seen it since I parked at his house. I turned around and went back to his house, checked the ground, and turned my car inside out, and didn't find it. I was really upset. I don't have a home phone, so that is pretty much my lifeline, along with the fact that I need it for work, and I have to drive so much now for work, I really can't be without a phone.

Well, I get home, and I have an email from my dad, timestamped 11:30 saying that someone called "HOME" on my cell phone, and after talking to my dad, left it in a bar in the Highlands with my name on it. He picked it up today since he was in the area, and I have my phone back.

thank you to whoever it was that found and returned my phone. And thank you to everyone who has done (or will do) a similar anonymous kindness.

Run in Augusta

After work today, I got an oil change for my car, and I replaced my air filter. After that, I met up with Betsy, and we did a run in Augusta. We started with the Augusta Canal trail, and ended up running our own route when we found ourselves back in downtown Augusta after a few miles.

In total, we probably ran about 4 miles - we were running for 40 minutes at a nice pace, but probably not much farther, and gauging from my pedometer, it looks like about 4 miles. We ran along the canal, and then through an area we probably won't run through again, and then up the riverwalk along the Savannah River.

It was a beautiful day here - 78 degrees, clear, and in the evening, lovely to run. I guess Augusta can't always be "Disgusta"

19,700 steps today.

Klutz = Bela

Yeah. As if you didn't know I was a klutz already.

I fell into conveyor today.

if that sentance doesn't make sense, let me explain. I have been working with some robotic palletizers all week, and there is some really big conveyor that holds pallets of product. well, I was climbing around on them clearing a jam of product (they're still being tweaked and tested), and there was a missing roller, where I managed to get my foot stuck and slide in about 2 feet. I got a bit banged up and bruised, but it was mostly my ego that was bruised. haha I felt like an idiot, but to make me feel better, two other people on the project said they fell in the same place, and one of them got hurt way worse. I guess I lucked out in that sense. We'll need to fix that before it happens to someone else...

so far this week - gone to the gym twice, and counted 18000 steps yesterday, and 16000 steps today. phew. How is it that I am gaining weight here????

Paris, TX

I am in Paris, TX.
yes, this Eiffel Tower has a cowboy hat on it.
the Texans are proud people

Dallas TX, here I am!

Yesterday morning I left for Dallas, since I had to be in Paris, TX for work early Monday morning. I hadn't really ever been a tourist in Dallas, even though I'd been there once or twice in the past. My friend Greg from GT and his fiancee Rachel live in Dallas, so Greg picked me up from the airport and had a great day planned for us!

After picking up Rachel at home, we went to a Jewish Deli where I got a yummy salami sandwich...mmm...We ran into a ton of people that either Greg, Rachel, or both of them knew, and for once, I was the one that didn't know anyone ;-)

After dropping off the car, we walked from their apartment to downtown. it was probably about a mile walk, through cute neighborhoods and restaurants. after turning a corner, we saw the Dallas Uptown (read: downtown) skyline - the picture is of me and Greg. We went to the Nasher Sculpture center and saw the famous "Walking to the Sky" by Jonathan Borofsky, but skipped out on the much more expensive Matisse exhibit. here is the Borofsky in perspective. The other picture is of us being goofy in the museum.

After the museum, we walked down the block to catch the trolley. The trolley is one of about five streetcars from the early 1900's that they've refurbished and use for a tourist loop around town. The drivers are volunteer, and the one we had was quite nice and informative! The picture is of Rachel and I on the Trolley. We got off near a little coffee shop called "Petit Fours", and shared some cake and delicious hot chocolate! We sure did eat a lot! After the petit fours, we walked back to the apartment, and Greg explained to me how to use a Nintendo Wii. I created myself on it, and was surprised at how much it looked like me! I then played greg in Baseball (I won), Tennis (I lost miserably) and bowling (I don't remember who won, I think it was me). That is a cool system. Try it if you've never had a chance. After debating over where to go to dinner (only because no one had any ideas), we picked a place called Celebration, that has good home-style meals. The food was really good and filling, and a fancier place than I'd expected. When we got home, I think I fell asleep about 3 minutes after we walked in the door. I was wiped. This morning we went to breakfast before I had to leave for Paris. We ate at a little upscale cafe that looked so cute you almost didn't want to touch anything! Thanks Greg and Rachel for showing me a good time in Dallas!!

Tias in Town!

My sister Leah has a recital today, and so my mom's two sisters came in town for the weekend, and they're going to hear the concert today. I was in Atlanta for one day, so I had them over to my house for some cake and coffee. this is my mom with her sisters...

they saw this picture and said "we should be on a verizon commercial...if we had two more glasses in line." I think they meant cingular - as in, raising the bar...I guess the branding of that phrase didn't stick well with them =)

I love them anyway!!

Critical Period at the Plant

This past week and this coming week is a period during our work at the plant that is very critical to be done quickly. That is because when you have to shut down any part of the production line, either the company loses money because they don't produce, or they lose money because people have to do the jobs of machines - thus, more cost.

the plant here is a large one. My feet and legs were pretty sore after day one of walking around, and out of curiosity I picked up a pedometer at the dollar store, and began counting steps. I paced myself on a treadmill, and discovered I walk 1900 steps in a mile.

Wearing the pedometer, I've been walking about 11,000-13,000 steps per day. this equates to about 6 miles of just walking around the plant. When I add a 3 mile run (where 1500 steps = 1 mile), I walk about a total of 18,000 steps in a day at the plant and a workout. Crazy.

Meanwhile, it is Sunday, and I'm in Augusta. I am a little upset because I was required to stay here over the weekend to work, and as it turns out, I just have to be on call- not at the plant. which is nice because I didn't have to wake up at 5:30 yesterday or today, but really sucks because I also couldn't go home to Atlanta for the weekend, and unless I actually get called in, there is not "billable time" to charge for me staying here this weekend. suck. so I am stuck in my hotel room for the weekend, trying to kill time.

I hung out with my friend Leah that lives here on Friday night, and we went to shul yesterday. But other than that, killing time has been going to the mall, watching a LOT of TV, attempting to start on my taxes without any of my paperwork here, and um...that's about it. I am only a little bit frustrated.

anyway, I think I'll kill a couple hours by going to the Gym today, and think about what else I can do to pass time.

On- Site

I have been on-site at the plant for a week now. I’ll be here for another 5 or so guaranteed, maybe more. I like being on-site, I like the people here at this plant, but I hate being on my feet on concrete for 9-11 hours all day. The only time we get to sit is when we’re back in the trailer, checking email or reviewing a drawing, etc. I have gone around town looking for a gym to work out in, and have tried two out. The second one is way nicer, but of course more expensive. Luckily though, when our company puts us on the road, they take care of our expenses, including a gym membership if we want. So I will probably join this week. One of the guys that works at the plant teaches a kickboxing class a few times a week in Aiken (about 15 miles from the plant in the opposite direction), so I may try that out tomorrow if I get out of here in time. By the time I work out and get dinner, there really isn’t much time to do anything. I don’t like having to eat out every meal, but it sure does bring variety – although not the best in the way of nutrition. There are a ton of people here between the two projects going on. I saw at least 12 today from our company. I am certainly learning a lot in the field though. Things come a lot faster when you are experiencing them rather than when you talk about them in meetings.

In all the construction areas, we have to wear steel toe shoes, safety glasses, hardhats, and in many of the production areas – hairnets. The technical term is PPE – personal protective equipment. When you’re doing other things, you have to add to the PPE. For example – a harness if you’re going up in a lift. A jumpsuit and gloves and faceshield for certain electrical work. Here is a picture of me in Electrical PPE. Compliments to Robin for the picture and for forcing me to wear it even though I was the only non-electrical engineer in the group.

Marine Wedding

This past weekend, I attended the wedding of one of Josh’s buddies from the Marines. It was a nice wedding, in the really small town of Florence, Alabama. Because it was a military wedding, there was a sword arch – or as some call it the “arch of sabers”. This is done after the bride and groom are announced as married, and they are exiting the ceremony. The marines in the sword arch are friends of the groom (similar to groomsmen), and 6-8 of them will form two lines facing each other, and bring their swords to an arch. The couple walks under the arch, and just before they pass the last pair of marines, the marines lower their swords and say “kiss to pass”. The couple has to kiss, and then the swords are raised so they can pass. One of the last marines will also lightly take his sword, and tap the bride on the backside, and welcomes her to the Marine Corps. The friends of the groom (and josh) were all very nice, and it was fun hanging out with them for a couple days. The drive from Augusta to Florence and back was not great though. 450 miles each way. Yuk!

No Orchestra??

I left you hanging! it's been like, 3 weeks, and I haven't given you anything! I went today to the Atlanta Ballet's show of The Great Gatsby at the Fox. I love the Fox theatre. I have probably seen at least 20 shows there. The best, is when you can get a ticket for $15 for a low selling show!

On the opposite note, I was disappointed to see that there was no live orchestra at the show. As of last year, the Atlanta Ballet did not renew the contract of the orchestra for the upcoming season. The prerecorded music not only lacked the obvious brilliance of having a live orchestra, but the quality of the music, sound system, or both made the ballet hard to listen to. If they're having problems with money for the ballet, they're going to have more problems with no live orchestra.

Back home.

Well, when I am out of the country, surrounded by new and exciting things, I managed to blog every day. When I get home, I can't even get on once in a week. Geez. Well, incase you were wondering, I made it home safely from Argentina last Monday, and spent the rest of the week at work, wishing I was still on vacation.

Over the weekend, I went to Avital's for the girl's shabbat sleepover...smores, makeovers, and pillowfights...right? =) Saturday night was DZ's birthday outing which also proved to be a ton of fun...maybe even too much...

but this week brings me back to reality and I have returned again to work for another week and a half before I leave for augusta...woot!

Argentina Day 15 &16 – Buenos Aires

Day 15 & 16: January 19 & 20, 2006

We woke up today in a calm manner since we were in no rush to go anywhere. First for the day, we took the bus into town and returned the rental cell we’d gotten and barely used. Then we went to the leather store to get fitted for jackets. Mom, moshe and I all wanted jackets, so we made sure to go with a few days to spare since sometimes they make them special for you. Originally, I wasn’t going to get one, but I liked the one I’d picked out for mom so much, I decided to get one too. Orders have been placed.

In the afternoon, we went to Palermo – the greenest part of this city, and often nicknamed “SoHo”. The botanical gardens, Japenses Garden, and the Rose Garden are all in this barrio of town. All three were lovely. The Japanese and Rose gardens were my favorites though.

We headed back and showered and got ready to go to shul for Friday evening services. After shul, we went to the house of Enrique “Kiko” for dinner. Kiko is 72, and was married for the first time 10 years ago, and now has a son age 8. his wife is 20 years younger than he, and already has grown children as well. Imagine, your dad is 82 years old when you graduate High School! Anyway, the dinner was nice, and the food delicious. We were there until 2:00 in the morning! We fell asleep easily that night, and I awoke grudgingly the next morning to go to Saturday morning services. They went by quickly, and we went over to Jaime “Miko” and Marta’s for lunch. They are the same people we went to the play with last week. Miko cooked an exquisite Chinese themed lunch, and we all sat and talked for a while afterwards.

In the evening, Dad and I walked around Puerto Madero – the old port where most of the buildings now have been converted into fancy lofts and restaurants. After that, we went to pick up the jackets. Er, they made the jackets too big. I felt bad, but I made them fix them once again, and we’d be back in the AM to pick them up again. I hope they get it right!

At 8:15, we were due to be at Café Tortonni – the oldest café in the city for a Tango show. We’d made reservations a week ago to ensure we got good seats, but once we got inside, we realized the place was nice and cozy and you could actually see from pretty much everywhere, but out seats were still some of the best. The show was really well done, with 3 couples dancing, and a live band with a great Tango singer. It was well worth the money, and I’d recommend the show to anyone coming to BA – a lot of places try to rip you off, but this was inexpensive and impressive. Then we went home for my last night of sleep in Buenos Aires.

Argentina Day 14 - El Califate day 3

Day 14: Thursday January 18, 2007

A day with nothing to do. How odd! the city of El Calafate is host of thousands of tourists per week, but still very few people live there, and it was just in the past few years that an airport was even built! There is construction everywhere - all the fancy hotels starting to build, and the town is growing, but until that construction catches up with the tourism, it remains a small town. So, what to do when you've seen the tourist site of the town?

2 options:
there were sheep shearing (or the accented man at the reception desk says: Jeep Jearing) demonstrations - since a lot of wool comes from this region - I guess they get all the wool they can, and then eat the sheep. OR we could go horseback riding - ranches are very popular in this vast area of land.

We opted for the horseback riding. It wasn't anything spectacular, but the scenery is beautiful, so it was fun. My horse had a baby horse that followed us the whole path. It was pretty cute. We went up to the top of a high hill, and saw some birds and took some photos. When we got back to the ranch, we tried some traditional fried bread, and they passed around a Mate cup. Mate is the national drink here. It is basically cup filled with this type of grass, and you pour hot water over it and drink it through a straw with a strainer at the end. Apparently, it is a form of hospitality to offer a cup of Mate to guests, and for all guests to partake. Upon leaving the ranch, we realized that we'd killed a fair amount of the day, and once we returned and had lunch, it was time to head to the airport.

Aerolineas Argentinas is the airline both that I flew with to Iguazu, and that we flew with to El Calafate. in total, there were 5 flight (one had a stopover), and the snack for every flight was a ham and cheese sandwich. yum. so we had to bring our own food for all the flights, which stank, but at least we had better food than the crappy ham and cheese sandwich. Also, after seeing all the processes of food provisioning on Delta flights after my last project at work, I was somewhat impressed with the simplicity of the drinks on Aerolineas - they had a few 2.5 liter bottles of coke, Diet coke, sprite, water, etc. ; coffee; red and white wine, and beer. And that is what you had as options. No individual cans, no 47 different drink options. simple.

We arrived back in BA at 11:00 and headed to the apartment.

Argentina Day 13 - El Calafate Day 2

Day 13: Wednesday January 17, 2007

We’d checked the weather report yesterday, and today was supposed to be just as bad – cold and raining. We awoke to see that somehow, the weather report was wrong, and instead, it was cold and windy! This is much better than rainy! We were picked up by the bus at 9, and headed out towards the glacier national park. Along the way, the tour guide said that around the next turn, we’d pass what they call “the curve of sighs”. I didn’t know exactly what that meant except when we went past the turn, we had our first sight of the glacier. We of course all piled out of the bus to get pictures, and I probably should’ve put some rocks in my pocket to keep from being blown away. It was SOOO windy. I honestly have never felt wind like this in my life. I am not sure if there are no trees here because the wind would knock them over, or if there is wind because there are no trees, but either way, I can’t even describe the amount of wind that is constantly blowing here. You can be walking right next to someone and not be able to hear them shout because the wind is so loud in your ears. Incredible.

After a 90 minute bus ride, we arrived at the park. This is where you can walk around and get as close as possible to the glaciers. Glaciers are basically a river of ice. Melted snow slides down the mountain to the valleys, and freezes again at the bottom, and does this continually as it builds the glacier. The faces of the glacier, the part closest to the lake, chip off every few minutes. Like I mentioned yesterday, you hear a thunderous sound with some pops like bullets, and then you might see something the size of a snowball fall off the front, or you might see an entire sheet of ice break off. It happens every few minutes in the summer as it is “warm” outside. Unfortunately, there is no where that you can get close enough to touch them because it is too dangerous. The pieces of ice breaking off can ricochet off as far as 30 meters! But today’s pictures are WAY better than yesterday since we didn’t have fog, shade, and rain getting in the way!

Once back at the hotel, we spent a couple hours trying to figure out what to do tomorrow since our flight isn’t ‘till 5:30, but we had no official tour. We went to dinner at a restaurant called “La Tablita” that was recommended by a taxi driver, a tour guide, and my book. OK OK, I guess we have to try it!

We arrived with a reservation, so we didn’t have to wait the 1 hour wait that walk-ins did. We ordered one serving of lamb, and planned to share it. Good thing, because It could’ve fed at least three. So, everyone was right. We got a ton of good food for really cheap, and went home full and sleepy.

Pictures

So, I am frustrated because Blogger won't let me upload pictures, and uploading my webpictures keeps going goofy too...

If you're the 1 person that might be on the edge of your seat, hopefully it'll be up soon!
boo for blogger.

Argentina Day 12 - El Calafate

Day 12: Tuesday January 16, 2007

We got up early this morning. When dinner is at 10, it’s hard to get up at 6. After developing a slight cough over the past few days, I woke up this morning with no voice. I also didn’t get a hot shower. It was also cold, windy and raining. Not the best way to start a day.

But what we had the opportunity to see made up for it. The bus picked us up at about 7:45 (even though they were supposed to come at 7:15), and we drove out to Califate National Park. I like that if you switch the l and f in that word, you’d have a Café Late =)

Anyway, we took a boat for the whole day around the lake here, and saying it was incredible is an understatement. This boat, which held about 100 people or so, went pretty fast for its size. Going along the water, we saw probably 50 icebergs of all different sizes. Icebergs are pieces of glaciers that have broken off and are drifting in the water. The neat thing about the icebergs, is how they look. For some reason, I’d always imagined them as pyramid shaped, with the peak above the water. In reality, they are of course all different shapes, curved, cornered, and beautifully white. They were gorgeous. Smaller pieces of icebergs floated by in the water, and it was like the lake was a huge cup of soda, with ice cubes floating around inside.

And then we saw it. The first of 4 stops to see glaciers today. I am not sure what I really expected to see when we saw the glacier, but what we saw was better. There is no way to really grasp the size of the glacier, in a picture or in words, but just know that they’re huge. We of course took a ton of pictures, which you can see here:

http://www.belanaomi.com/Argentina%20Pictures.htm

For lunch, we stopped and could get off the boat and walk right up to the lake shore, and touch little icebergs. Every few minutes, we heard what sounded like thunder, and noting the weather conditions - could have been; But it was actually the sound of the glaciers shifting and breaking, and every once in a while pieces of ice actually would break off the enormous glacier.

The tour lasted until 4:00 pm, and after the hour drive, we got back to town at 5, and we came back and took some time to walk around town. Tomorrow we take another tour, but rather than from a boat, we take it from a bus and get out and walk on the icebergs. Hopefully I won’t kill myself! =)

We came back to the hotel to rest up and have some supper, and this is when I am doing my posting and uploading, so enjoy.

Argentina Day 11 - Buenos Aires

Day 11: Monday January 15, 2007

This morning was our day to explore our neighborhood of Recoleta before catching our flight to Califate in the afternoon. We first went to the Bibliotequa National – The national library, which was…closed. Then we went to Recoleta Cemetary. In this cemetery, all the famous people are buried, and have a crypt dedicated for them and their family. It looks like a little town inside the walls of this cemetery, it’s pretty creepy. And when you look into any of these little crypts, you can often see the actual coffins, laying inside, on the shelves or in the middle. You’re standing 2 feet from a dead body from 100 years ago or from last week. This is also the place in which Eva Peron is buried. For those of you who don’t know, that is who Madonna played in the musical “Evita”.

We then walked down avenida Alvear, which is similar to Fifth Avenue. Which, once the conversion rate kicks in, it’s really just 1.75 avenue, right? =) This is where the Armani, Louis Voitton, Ralph Lauren, Cartier, and others have their stores. A bit too posh for us. Right off Avenida Alvear, there was a grocery store that reminded me a bit of whole foods – really clean and fancy. We then went back to the hotel to pick up our things, and go to the airport. Our plane had been delayed, but it took off about an hour late, and we arrived in Calafate’s one gate airport at 7:30. The airport had one runway, and no taxiway, so once the MD-83 plane landed, it did a U-turn on the runway to get back to the gate. For just having one gate though, I am not sure what took 25 minutes for our luggage to appear. But anyway, it was super windy here - so windy - that we were really being blown to the car. We arrived at our hotel, which is pretty nice, and ate here around 9:30. We got lamb in the restaurant, and it was good. The southern region of Argentina – Pategonia – is known for it’s sheep. For it’s wool, leather, and meat. It was only right to have lamb =) Our tour tomorrow leaves the hotel at 7:15 – when we have to be up and showered.

Argentina day 10 - Buenos Aires

Day 10: Sunday January 14 2007

I got up early to go to the airport and catch my flight back to Buenos Aires. After being a bit ripped off by the taxi driver – long story -, I got to the airport early. The agent wasn;t even at the counter yet, even though there were people waiting to check in. Once she finally arrived, I checked in at the counter, and proceeded to security. There was no one there either, so I waited another 30 minutes for them to open. When I did finally walk through security, I went straight through the line, and onto my flight. The flight actually left early, which has never happened to me in the states, and I arrived back at the apartment in BA at the time the plane was supposed to land. Nice. Dad and I decided we wanted to take the tour of the Casa Rosada that we missed last week, and it was at 3:00. So we left the apartment around 1:00 and walked around before picking a restaurant to eat at. ** We ordered a calzone to share. When it came out of the oven, the waiter brought it to the table, and it was the biggest calzone I’d seen in my life. He served us each a piece, and this picture is what remained. I wish we could’ve taken it home! It was delicious. After lunch, we headed to the Casa Rosada, but once we arrived, we found out (yet again) that they’re not offering tours right now because of some construction on the building. So we gave ourselves the tour of the one open room, and 6 minutes later, were done.

Where to next? Café Tortonni has Tango Shows every night, and they’re supposed to be really good, so we stopped by there to make a reservation for next Saturday night. I am looking forward to it. And well, it happened. Just as we were outside Café Tortonni, I ran into a friend of mine, Bernardo. He was down here visiting with his girlfriend’s family. Anyway, after that, we went back to our side of town, and I did a little shopping for myself, and afterwards, we had “High tea” at a famous restaurant called Biela. I got a “Submarino”, which literally is a chocolate bar placed in a glass of hot milk. Once I put some sugar in it to counteract the bitterness, it was pretty good! Dad got some café con leche and “medias lunas” (half moons = small croissants) which were warm and delicious. We met and talked to everyone at all the tables around us. Every single person we talk to in spanish has complimented how well we're speaking...we're so proud!

After tea, we met up with Jaime and Marta who dad at met at shul the day before, and we were going to see a play. It was set in the Recoleta cultural center, and so we had the opportunity to walk through there before the play, and there were a ton of art exhibits – some good, some bad. The play was a one woman show, and was supposed to be a comedy, but I didn’t understand a fair amount of it, and Jaime said it was in really poor taste. Oh well, it was an experience. Jaime is an Argentinian, and has lived here his whole life, and overall is a cynicall type person, but we all had fun arguing over everything all night. After the show, we went and had some pizza for dinner at 11:00. We got home around 12:15, and I updated all my pictures on my webpage.