Friday, February 29, 2008
Jambo!
Internet acess has been limited the past two days, due in part to my falling asleep last night at 7:45pm, so I will write a short note now to give teh update before heading off to Arusha on another adventure! Africa is great! It is dusty and sunny and smells like an armpit, but all of these things you grow to love! So far mosquitos have been a non-issue, and my bowels have been in check so I have nothing but good news to report! Too much information? Life here is slow and not rushed - the excepetion of course being the cars and buses that speed down the roads! Walking is not to be advised... good thing we have the trusty Camry to off-road in! This morning when i woke up under my dreamy mosquito net I had a view of Mt. Kilimanjaro outside my window. Quite breathtaking, and even more amazing that my friend just climbed it! Off now to spend some time at it's base. looking forward to a walking safari tomorrow. My Swahili is coming along. I finally got called a Mzungu today! Was so looking forward to it! Many people have never seen a white person before, so it's fun to hear them exclaim while we wave and smile. Can't wait to try out 'wowowo'... that means big booty, so i think I will save it for when I get home :) Pictures soon...hopefully!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
London Town
Off to Africa tomorrow, in the meantime I enjoyed a sun-shiny day on Oxford Street today. I'm posting a couple of pics from the other day because this blog is getting pretty sorry looking without any photos! My first access to a computer for an extended amount of time, yet I only had access to some poor quality photos. Bear with me people...
MMMMMM....This is seriously my favorite place in London that I have discovered. Great beers in a cute pub with excellent enexpensive Thai food next door. Didn't get to partake the last time I was over due to a large crowd of football (that's soccer to you Americans!)fans watching a match, but this is what I demanded to have as my first meal on Thursday night. Yum!
Sunday afternoon was spent on Tower Bridge, quite the quintessential London landmark. I'm not too into the touristy side of things, but it was pretty cool to admire this monument up close as opposed to viewing it down the Thames as I've done in the past.
Filed under highly ironic: I'm as I type watching Hotel Babylon... a show that airs for free on one of the few British tv channels, yet airs on BBC America as part of a $90 digital premium package that I pay for at home. Who says I can't save money by moving here!
Health update: I've just taken the first dose of my Malaria medicine... no puking after alomost 2 hours! Woo! Fingers crossed, my side effects should be mild! Yay!
MMMMMM....This is seriously my favorite place in London that I have discovered. Great beers in a cute pub with excellent enexpensive Thai food next door. Didn't get to partake the last time I was over due to a large crowd of football (that's soccer to you Americans!)fans watching a match, but this is what I demanded to have as my first meal on Thursday night. Yum!
Sunday afternoon was spent on Tower Bridge, quite the quintessential London landmark. I'm not too into the touristy side of things, but it was pretty cool to admire this monument up close as opposed to viewing it down the Thames as I've done in the past.
Filed under highly ironic: I'm as I type watching Hotel Babylon... a show that airs for free on one of the few British tv channels, yet airs on BBC America as part of a $90 digital premium package that I pay for at home. Who says I can't save money by moving here!
Health update: I've just taken the first dose of my Malaria medicine... no puking after alomost 2 hours! Woo! Fingers crossed, my side effects should be mild! Yay!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Angelic/Devilish
I sit in a pub called the Angelic in Islington, London as I type this so I'm inspired to mention the things that i love/hate about the UK...
Angelic loves:
Warm weather (compared to Chicago!)
Cursing is perfectly acceptable, and encouraged
Drinking in the early part of the day is welcomed
Good bands
Tasty beer
Crumpets&hearts...my new love! Oh spongy odd crumpets wanna-be english muffins, where have you been all my life??
Deliciously odd chips (crips) flavours... Prawn Cocktail, Cheese & Onion, Roasted Chicken
Cadbury Crunchie Bars
Justified dreariness
Marks & Sparks
They love sandwiches.....
Devilish hates:
The tube closing early
Pubs closing early
Bad TV Channels
THE BLOODY EXCHANGE RATE!
London Bridge today, followed by great Thai food with my beloved Cobra Beer... pics coming soon... hopefully...
Angelic loves:
Warm weather (compared to Chicago!)
Cursing is perfectly acceptable, and encouraged
Drinking in the early part of the day is welcomed
Good bands
Tasty beer
Crumpets&hearts...my new love! Oh spongy odd crumpets wanna-be english muffins, where have you been all my life??
Deliciously odd chips (crips) flavours... Prawn Cocktail, Cheese & Onion, Roasted Chicken
Cadbury Crunchie Bars
Justified dreariness
Marks & Sparks
They love sandwiches.....
Devilish hates:
The tube closing early
Pubs closing early
Bad TV Channels
THE BLOODY EXCHANGE RATE!
London Bridge today, followed by great Thai food with my beloved Cobra Beer... pics coming soon... hopefully...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Hello World!
Well, here's to the first of many iPhone posts from the road...
Still not sure how I will get pictures up here while I'm away, but I have a slew of cords in my bag that will hopefully, make that possible! Greetings from lovely O'Hare Airport where I have secured a sweet seat in gate M11 next to an outlet so I can give my baby some juice before our big flight. So far, blogger is being very cooperative with the iPhone... alas that is pretty much the only thing going smoothly. My flight on the most amazing airline ever, Virgin Atlantic, has been canceled leaving me with the less hip, and not as attractive ladies and gents of British Airways. Richard Branson, if you're reading this please know that I feel like I'm cheating on you by flying with your less than stellar competitor, and trust me, I'm already missing my goodie bag with the squishy socks and sleep mask in addition to my choice of a gazillion movies. Sigh. I guess the silver lining is knowing I will actually be sleeping on the plane due to boredom instead of being over-stimulated by the party on VA. I'll catch ya on the flip side Richard...just keep that Africa flight in check!
Friends, family, and Wilco: thanks for the great send off! Chicago will be in my thoughts while I'm away, as will all of you! Stay tuned for more updates after I cross the pond!
Still not sure how I will get pictures up here while I'm away, but I have a slew of cords in my bag that will hopefully, make that possible! Greetings from lovely O'Hare Airport where I have secured a sweet seat in gate M11 next to an outlet so I can give my baby some juice before our big flight. So far, blogger is being very cooperative with the iPhone... alas that is pretty much the only thing going smoothly. My flight on the most amazing airline ever, Virgin Atlantic, has been canceled leaving me with the less hip, and not as attractive ladies and gents of British Airways. Richard Branson, if you're reading this please know that I feel like I'm cheating on you by flying with your less than stellar competitor, and trust me, I'm already missing my goodie bag with the squishy socks and sleep mask in addition to my choice of a gazillion movies. Sigh. I guess the silver lining is knowing I will actually be sleeping on the plane due to boredom instead of being over-stimulated by the party on VA. I'll catch ya on the flip side Richard...just keep that Africa flight in check!
Friends, family, and Wilco: thanks for the great send off! Chicago will be in my thoughts while I'm away, as will all of you! Stay tuned for more updates after I cross the pond!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Un-wrinkled
In my final days as a cable watcher I have been giving The Sundance Channel a lot of love... The other night I caught Gimme Shelter, a flick I had seen bits and pieces of but had never watched in one sitting. Wow.
What a great reminder of how amazing the Rolling Stones are. Yes, I choose to use the present tense there because even though they are all old and look like prunes and have become a tad bit robotic in their concerts ("Phoning them in," to borrow a quote from Jim DeRogotis) they are still an amazing band. Ironic that old songs are great, but old men...not so much. If you need a refresher to re-instill your love for The Stones this movie will be just what the doctor ordered. I forgot how ridiculously adorable Keith Richards was back in the early days.
What a great reminder of how amazing the Rolling Stones are. Yes, I choose to use the present tense there because even though they are all old and look like prunes and have become a tad bit robotic in their concerts ("Phoning them in," to borrow a quote from Jim DeRogotis) they are still an amazing band. Ironic that old songs are great, but old men...not so much. If you need a refresher to re-instill your love for The Stones this movie will be just what the doctor ordered. I forgot how ridiculously adorable Keith Richards was back in the early days.
Monday, February 4, 2008
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