So I'm sitting here in Rome, listening to Journey as I try to put everything together in my head that this trip is finally over. It's really pretty mindblowing.
So, in 3 and a half months, we've seen:
Seattle, Portland, Lake O, Los Angeles, Venice Beach, Claremont, San Francisco, Mountain View, Santa Clara, Dartmouth, New York City, Boston, Jaco Beach, Montezuma, Santa Teresa and Playa Carmen, Tamarindo, London, Oxford, Edinburgh, Fez, Tangiers, Seville, Granada, Barcelona, Avignon, Paris, Amsterdam, Geneva, Florence, Munich, Fusson, and Rome.
We stayed:
with Zach, with James and Ben, with the brothers of AXA, with Berger, with Kayte, at Hotel De Haan, at Hotel Lys, Casa Zen, JC and friends, with Weiss, with Kennedy, with Rob, with Bill, with Mackenzie, with the Ouazzanis, at a random hotel in Tangiers, at the Oasis in both Seville and Granada, with Jason and Mark, a random bed and breakfast in avignon, the Bastille Speria in Paris, Hotel Annemarie, with Merten, at the Hotel Relais in Florence, Wombats in Munich, and Freestyle in Rome.
its been a while huh
I'm amazed at this trip in so many ways... what a statement of friendship. Friends from all parts of my past came through to help us, spend time with us, and rekindle the types of relationships we always used to enjoy. We made new friends through and through (dayna arena, liz, pete and emily, the guitar guy at oasis, david, erin and sarah, Jeff and Dan in Tamarindo, and many others...).
At this point I'm going to give a big shoutout to Antal. We did a full third of our trip with him in Costa Rica, without problems and with a ton of good times. Our surfing brother (and teacher) and one of my best friends. Much love brother, see you soon as possible.
One thing I learned about traveling is that you meet a ton of people you're never going to see again, they are just faces that slowly get lost in your memory. You can have great experiences with them, certainly, and they can certainly make things interesting. One of my favorite things to do, though, was to make up ridiculous life stories and convince them of things. On this trip, I was:
- A CIA Agent
- A world class mountain climber
- From Minnesota
- From Texas
- A Porn Star
- 38
- 24
- 18
- A Fluent Chinese Speaker
haha I'm sure there are more too. These are just the most memorable. Great times.
Anyways, I'm going to try to avoid being too emo right now. I have a long day of traveling ahead of me tomorrow, and I'll be exhausted. It will take some time to fully come to grips with all this. I do feel sad to a certain degree, but it's time to come home. I'm really looking forward to my family and friends. I have stories and experiences for a lifetime. To think of the things I'v'e accomplished before my 21st birthday, it fills me with hope for the future. I really believe I can do anything I want in this world, and that the chains that would bond me and prevent me from achievement can melt in my hands if I choose to make them. Some might consider this viewpoint arrogant-- it probably is-- but if you were to say "you don't think the rules of the real world apply to you?" i'd probably say "I don't think the rules of the real world apply to anyone". Our abilities are endless and, so long as we maintain the perspective and priority that values our family, our friends, and our time far more than our money, our possessions, our glorification and gratification, then we can do nothing but limitless good for the world.
which, by the way, is quite a big and amazing place.
Love you all more than I can possible describe,
A
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
wow so its been a while since ive updated this
but here goes
Amsterdam was wild, the red light district is truly indescribable and certainly one of the weirdest places in the world. Literally window shopping for girls who are trying to get you to sleep with them. It was slightly uncomfortable. Hard to believe that only three weeks prior we had been in Morocco, a muslim country! things wouldnt fly so easily there I dont think.
Quick story from Amsterdam:
Dallas and I are riding on the tram, the police board the tram and demand to see our tickets. I had yet to see anyone buy a ticket, people just get on and sit down, yet somehow everyone but us magically produced tickets. I tried to explain that we were travelers and we didnt realize, and that we would happily buy tickets now, but the officer saw that we were american and didnt like that. He said, "what, where in the world is there free public transportation?" I said, "Our city, Portland, has a free light rail". He said, "Thats not how it is in New York", I said "I dont care how it is in New York", he said "38 Euros. Now." It sucked.
Other than that though, Amsterdam is great. They have this incredible donut type treat called an Ollie Bollen that are only served in December, and they are FANTASTIC. They are doughy and covered in powdered sugar that inevitably gets all over you as soon as there is one wind gust. The city is also quite small and very walkable, so we were able to see pretty much all of it. Its all built around canals and the ambience that the water creates is very cool. We saw the Rembrandt house, the Van Gogh museum, and the Anne Frank House. Anne Frank was the most powerful for me... being there connected me so strongly with her experience. The simple fact that I stood where she stood, I looked at the stairs she looked at when the SS stormed the annex, made the experience incredibly moving. Rembrandt and Van Gogh are cool museums, but you really need to go to the Anne Frank house if you are in Amsterdam.
Then, we rolled to Geneva where we met up with my good friend Jon. Jon has been working in a thinktank based around foreign aid for developing countries. Its exactly what Jon wants to do, but the hours were long so unfortunately we didnt get to see him all that much. The first night we came to his place, got a kebab, and slept. SIDE NOTE: Im becoming addicted to Kebabs END SIDE NOTE. The next day we were going to take a train to Gruyeres where the views are supposed to be incredible, but we woke up too late and missed it. It was okay though, we walked around Geneva, did a little shopping at the xmas markets, and then came back and relaxed. Jon was working all day, but eventually he came home, we got another kebab, and went to a hookah bar where we chilled for a few hours. It was actually really fun and relaxing.
Observation: Im amazed at how much Ive been able to use my Moroccan/North African Arabic. Literally every single country in Europe has been full of opportunities for me to converse in Arabic. Its proved to be way more useful than it would originally seem.
The following day we grabbed a train to Florence from Geneva, stopping in Milan. First, the train trip from Geneva to Milan is one of the most beautiful things Ive ever seen-- glacial lakes, snowy peaks, small villages... switzerland at its absolute best. Milan, however, is terrible. The train station was aweful... we had a 4 hour layover between trains that we managed to cut to 2 hours by catching an earlier train to Florence. Glad to be out of that place. Florence is awesome, our first night we basically just walked around, grabbed some awesome pizza/calzone, and crashed. The next day, we walked around more, saw the Duomo, saw David and the Museum of the Accademia, had amazing Gelato, then met up with Tom and went back to the apartment hes staying in where the party was just starting. We ended up partying all night with Tom and his friends, as well as Jasons girlfriend Jadie. Lots of fun.
Okay thats all for now, im going to meet up with Tom and Dallas at Toms apartment, Ill try to hit you up one or two more times before I come home. Less than a week now! Amazing.
Love
Andrew
PS I got this awesome incredible notebook thing. Youll see it.
Amsterdam was wild, the red light district is truly indescribable and certainly one of the weirdest places in the world. Literally window shopping for girls who are trying to get you to sleep with them. It was slightly uncomfortable. Hard to believe that only three weeks prior we had been in Morocco, a muslim country! things wouldnt fly so easily there I dont think.
Quick story from Amsterdam:
Dallas and I are riding on the tram, the police board the tram and demand to see our tickets. I had yet to see anyone buy a ticket, people just get on and sit down, yet somehow everyone but us magically produced tickets. I tried to explain that we were travelers and we didnt realize, and that we would happily buy tickets now, but the officer saw that we were american and didnt like that. He said, "what, where in the world is there free public transportation?" I said, "Our city, Portland, has a free light rail". He said, "Thats not how it is in New York", I said "I dont care how it is in New York", he said "38 Euros. Now." It sucked.
Other than that though, Amsterdam is great. They have this incredible donut type treat called an Ollie Bollen that are only served in December, and they are FANTASTIC. They are doughy and covered in powdered sugar that inevitably gets all over you as soon as there is one wind gust. The city is also quite small and very walkable, so we were able to see pretty much all of it. Its all built around canals and the ambience that the water creates is very cool. We saw the Rembrandt house, the Van Gogh museum, and the Anne Frank House. Anne Frank was the most powerful for me... being there connected me so strongly with her experience. The simple fact that I stood where she stood, I looked at the stairs she looked at when the SS stormed the annex, made the experience incredibly moving. Rembrandt and Van Gogh are cool museums, but you really need to go to the Anne Frank house if you are in Amsterdam.
Then, we rolled to Geneva where we met up with my good friend Jon. Jon has been working in a thinktank based around foreign aid for developing countries. Its exactly what Jon wants to do, but the hours were long so unfortunately we didnt get to see him all that much. The first night we came to his place, got a kebab, and slept. SIDE NOTE: Im becoming addicted to Kebabs END SIDE NOTE. The next day we were going to take a train to Gruyeres where the views are supposed to be incredible, but we woke up too late and missed it. It was okay though, we walked around Geneva, did a little shopping at the xmas markets, and then came back and relaxed. Jon was working all day, but eventually he came home, we got another kebab, and went to a hookah bar where we chilled for a few hours. It was actually really fun and relaxing.
Observation: Im amazed at how much Ive been able to use my Moroccan/North African Arabic. Literally every single country in Europe has been full of opportunities for me to converse in Arabic. Its proved to be way more useful than it would originally seem.
The following day we grabbed a train to Florence from Geneva, stopping in Milan. First, the train trip from Geneva to Milan is one of the most beautiful things Ive ever seen-- glacial lakes, snowy peaks, small villages... switzerland at its absolute best. Milan, however, is terrible. The train station was aweful... we had a 4 hour layover between trains that we managed to cut to 2 hours by catching an earlier train to Florence. Glad to be out of that place. Florence is awesome, our first night we basically just walked around, grabbed some awesome pizza/calzone, and crashed. The next day, we walked around more, saw the Duomo, saw David and the Museum of the Accademia, had amazing Gelato, then met up with Tom and went back to the apartment hes staying in where the party was just starting. We ended up partying all night with Tom and his friends, as well as Jasons girlfriend Jadie. Lots of fun.
Okay thats all for now, im going to meet up with Tom and Dallas at Toms apartment, Ill try to hit you up one or two more times before I come home. Less than a week now! Amazing.
Love
Andrew
PS I got this awesome incredible notebook thing. Youll see it.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Hollllaaaaa from Amsterdam
more like gangstadam right
k yea whatever
anyways, so we said bye to France today and rode the train into Amsterdam central. I'll give the France rundown now:
Day one of France- We walk around the Champs Elysee, check out some cool stores, check out the Arc de Triomphe. Then, we get picked up by Marie (Dal's old nanny) and brought to her house to have dinner with her, Pascale (her husband), and their 4 year old daughter Clara. Delicious food, good company, my French got way way better. Then, unable to find a hotel with any availability, we ended up in this little shack of a place. Didn't really matter, I crashed hard, and then we moved to our nice hotel, located at Place de la Bastille, the next morning.
The next day we did some more shopping, walking all the way up and down Rivoli street. Then, we went back to Marie's place for another incredible dinner. (Note: day 1 was quiche, amazing. day 2 was lamb with scalloped potatoes. Guess what Mom, I ate them. They were good. No promises when I get home). Then, that night, Pascale took us in his car on a driving tour of the entire city. We saw the Moulin Rouge, the Champs Elysee, the Notre Dame, the Magdeleine (sp?), the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, and ended up in Montmarte at the Sacre Couer with a view of the entire city. Really awesome. Also, Pascale is Parisian so to have a guided tour like that with someone who's lived in the city his entire life is really incredible.
We got back at about 1:00 and crashed hard again. We had planned on the Louvre the next morning, but waking up at 11 we decided to postpone it. Instead, we walked across to the Notre Dame where we enjoyed its grandeur, before continuing on to the Latin Quarter where we grabbed some lunch next to the Jardin de Luxembourg. We then headed back to the room for a bit, before hitting Rivoli once again.
Our last full day, we got up at 815 with breakfast in bed, and hit the Louvre from about 9-12. We saw pretty much as much as you can see. My favorites were Hammurabi's Code, Liberty Leads the People, and the two-part David Slays Goliath. The huge last-supperesque Marriage at Cana is cool too, as is the Mona Lisa, of course. After the Louvre, we checked out the Tuileries, then walked down Rivoli again. Then, we took the metro up to Montmarte, walked around there for a while, got dinner, then enjoyed the view from Sacre Couer (which was much clearer this time). Finally we rolled home and got some sleep.
Some words on France:
1) I probably ate 8 bowls of french onion soup in 4 days. So good.
2) the bread in France is second to none.
3) If you try to speak French, they may give you a hard time occasionally, but its all good.
4) Didn't see any real anti-semitism, although Pascale did note that historically they have put the Jews, Gays, and other "unwanted peoples" in this random back corner of the city.
5) Metros everywhere are not hard to use.
6) mom, i was amazed at how many of the dishes we used to eat at home are actually french!
7) most of all, the city of Paris is grand. The buildings are grand, the food is rich, the language is classy.
In fact, France was so fashionable, I found myself wanting to be more and more f ashionable. those who know me know that I am perfectly at home in my PJ pants at a nice restaurant or that I rarely dress up for any reason. Get this-- I bought a scarf. I know, right?
Anyways, I'll let you know how Amsterdam goes. After that, we have Switzerland and Italy and then we are gone! Less than two weeks, who knew.
Love you all
A
PS poker's going well.
k yea whatever
anyways, so we said bye to France today and rode the train into Amsterdam central. I'll give the France rundown now:
Day one of France- We walk around the Champs Elysee, check out some cool stores, check out the Arc de Triomphe. Then, we get picked up by Marie (Dal's old nanny) and brought to her house to have dinner with her, Pascale (her husband), and their 4 year old daughter Clara. Delicious food, good company, my French got way way better. Then, unable to find a hotel with any availability, we ended up in this little shack of a place. Didn't really matter, I crashed hard, and then we moved to our nice hotel, located at Place de la Bastille, the next morning.
The next day we did some more shopping, walking all the way up and down Rivoli street. Then, we went back to Marie's place for another incredible dinner. (Note: day 1 was quiche, amazing. day 2 was lamb with scalloped potatoes. Guess what Mom, I ate them. They were good. No promises when I get home). Then, that night, Pascale took us in his car on a driving tour of the entire city. We saw the Moulin Rouge, the Champs Elysee, the Notre Dame, the Magdeleine (sp?), the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, and ended up in Montmarte at the Sacre Couer with a view of the entire city. Really awesome. Also, Pascale is Parisian so to have a guided tour like that with someone who's lived in the city his entire life is really incredible.
We got back at about 1:00 and crashed hard again. We had planned on the Louvre the next morning, but waking up at 11 we decided to postpone it. Instead, we walked across to the Notre Dame where we enjoyed its grandeur, before continuing on to the Latin Quarter where we grabbed some lunch next to the Jardin de Luxembourg. We then headed back to the room for a bit, before hitting Rivoli once again.
Our last full day, we got up at 815 with breakfast in bed, and hit the Louvre from about 9-12. We saw pretty much as much as you can see. My favorites were Hammurabi's Code, Liberty Leads the People, and the two-part David Slays Goliath. The huge last-supperesque Marriage at Cana is cool too, as is the Mona Lisa, of course. After the Louvre, we checked out the Tuileries, then walked down Rivoli again. Then, we took the metro up to Montmarte, walked around there for a while, got dinner, then enjoyed the view from Sacre Couer (which was much clearer this time). Finally we rolled home and got some sleep.
Some words on France:
1) I probably ate 8 bowls of french onion soup in 4 days. So good.
2) the bread in France is second to none.
3) If you try to speak French, they may give you a hard time occasionally, but its all good.
4) Didn't see any real anti-semitism, although Pascale did note that historically they have put the Jews, Gays, and other "unwanted peoples" in this random back corner of the city.
5) Metros everywhere are not hard to use.
6) mom, i was amazed at how many of the dishes we used to eat at home are actually french!
7) most of all, the city of Paris is grand. The buildings are grand, the food is rich, the language is classy.
In fact, France was so fashionable, I found myself wanting to be more and more f ashionable. those who know me know that I am perfectly at home in my PJ pants at a nice restaurant or that I rarely dress up for any reason. Get this-- I bought a scarf. I know, right?
Anyways, I'll let you know how Amsterdam goes. After that, we have Switzerland and Italy and then we are gone! Less than two weeks, who knew.
Love you all
A
PS poker's going well.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Vive le France
First, Barcelona. Holy god in heaven, a constant party. Went to sleep after 5 pretty consistently. Good Lord.
it was actually great to see Cook, he's doing great... I think he's really come into his own in College. His friends were cool too, I stayed at his flat for the first few nights, then treated myself to a dope hotel down the road. Dal stayed with Mark at his really awesome flat a little further away in the city. Basically, we woke up late, enjoyed a late afternoon walk around the city, grabbed food and naps, then continued the party. Chaos.
One hilarious and disturbing story from Barca- So Cook took Dal and I to Park Guell, the incredible city park designed by Gaudi (Gaudi was this incredible architect who basically went to town on Barcelona... hes responsible for Barca's really modern look and totally artistic image). Anyways, we're up on top of this mountain looking out over the city, when Dallas says "Hey guys, I could swear there is a naked guy in the bushes right over there". We all kind of laugh at him and brush it off, when a minute later, sure enough a fully naked man walks into plain view out of some bushes in the park. Then, he proceeds to start playing with himself aggressively in front of everyone there while we all stand there with our jaws dropped. Suddenly he seems to notice that we all see him, and he darts back into the bushes. I managed to get one picture of the guy, its pretty hilarious... just like bigfoot style. See if you can spot it in the pictures I uploaded today.
Anyways, so after a raucus night of partying last night, Dal and I woke up at 7:30 (yikes) and caught a bus to Avignon in France. Unfortunately we were both so sick and hungover from the night before and lack of sleep that we didn't get to see much of the city, just a cool little christmas market that was set up with lights and what not. Maybe we'll see some more of the city tomorrow before we hop on the TGV to Paris.
PS my french is terrible, but people speak arabic here a lot so that works.
anyways, just dropping in, check the new pics and vids and stuff
much looove
A
PPS less than three weeks left, how crazy is that.
it was actually great to see Cook, he's doing great... I think he's really come into his own in College. His friends were cool too, I stayed at his flat for the first few nights, then treated myself to a dope hotel down the road. Dal stayed with Mark at his really awesome flat a little further away in the city. Basically, we woke up late, enjoyed a late afternoon walk around the city, grabbed food and naps, then continued the party. Chaos.
One hilarious and disturbing story from Barca- So Cook took Dal and I to Park Guell, the incredible city park designed by Gaudi (Gaudi was this incredible architect who basically went to town on Barcelona... hes responsible for Barca's really modern look and totally artistic image). Anyways, we're up on top of this mountain looking out over the city, when Dallas says "Hey guys, I could swear there is a naked guy in the bushes right over there". We all kind of laugh at him and brush it off, when a minute later, sure enough a fully naked man walks into plain view out of some bushes in the park. Then, he proceeds to start playing with himself aggressively in front of everyone there while we all stand there with our jaws dropped. Suddenly he seems to notice that we all see him, and he darts back into the bushes. I managed to get one picture of the guy, its pretty hilarious... just like bigfoot style. See if you can spot it in the pictures I uploaded today.
Anyways, so after a raucus night of partying last night, Dal and I woke up at 7:30 (yikes) and caught a bus to Avignon in France. Unfortunately we were both so sick and hungover from the night before and lack of sleep that we didn't get to see much of the city, just a cool little christmas market that was set up with lights and what not. Maybe we'll see some more of the city tomorrow before we hop on the TGV to Paris.
PS my french is terrible, but people speak arabic here a lot so that works.
anyways, just dropping in, check the new pics and vids and stuff
much looove
A
PPS less than three weeks left, how crazy is that.
Friday, November 30, 2007
the Spain roundup
First, a goodbye to November and a welcome to the last month of our trip. We've got only 23 days left, unbelievable to think how long ago I was in LA with Zach and Jori, San Francisco with James and Ben, Dartmouth, even Costa Rica with Antal was almost a month ago. what a crazy ride this is
Now, we've done and seen a lot so here goes. We rolled into Seville and hit up this hostel that got awesome reviews, a place called Oasis. We show up, the place is filled with young people socializing. The whole setup is beautiful, so we get our room, relax for a little bit, then walk around Seville a little before crashing that night. oh yeah, before we crashed, i freestyle rapped with this guy downstairs for like 40 minutes, we had a nice little crowd of hostelers watching, haha.
the next day we checked out alcazar, the old palace and cathedral in Seville. Really breathtaking, its the 3rd largest cathedral in the world, which, while not as impressive as the 2nd or 1st largest cathedral in the world, is still impressive. We climbed a tower and looked out over the whole city. Then we came back, lay down in the sun under the statue of Velasquez (sp?) for a little bit. Then, later that night, we went to this awesome underground bar and flamenco show. We drank the best sangria i've ever had with some girls we met there (including one named Dayna Arena, hilarious i know but anyway). The flamenco show was incredible though, it was a guitarist and an older man singing. He was so passionate about the music, sometimes smiling and singing playfully, other times nearly screaming with anger or sorrow or whatever the song was about. A really unforgettable experience.
The following day we walked along the waterfront and just chilled for a while before going on a tapas tour and back to the flamenco show where they had a woman doing real flamenco dance this time. Very Cool.
We rolled into Granada the next morning, checked into the Oasis in Granada, and immediately walked up to the Alhambra. The palace is unlike anything I've ever seen, religious motifs from different centuries, different religions, different rulers. Architecture from the Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Andalusians, Christians, even Persians-- and everywhere, always, running water. The lower end of the palace is filled with fountains which are fed by the various water systems that run through the rest of the palace down to them. Pools are always filled with fish. And the view from the guard tower is a full 360, way above the city. One of my favorite things we've done.
Then we flew into Barcelona yesterday. In true barca fashion, last night was ridiculous. We drank some wine with our homecooked dinner at Jason's flat, drank a 6-liter whiskey and coke among myself, Jason, Dallas, and Mark. Dal and I convinced this really beautiful girl that, like her, we were from Minnesota and that we went to Franklin High in St. Paul. Then, I convinced her that I work for the CIA. haha, its not lying, its flirting. At 4:30AM Jason and I decided to head home early, a little tired from the travel but slightly upset to be going home at such an early hour. Barca is crazy. I have no idea what time Dal and Mark went back.
So thats where I am now, lying in bed at Cook's flat, its 11:30AM and my head is bumping. oh well, the price we pay.
So now some speculative things-- I'm trying to figure out what I want to do next summer. Obviously my financial situation has an important impact on that, but assuming I'll be okay, what do I do? Here are some options I've come up with:
1) Internship/Job
Pros: Steady Income, resume building
Cons: waking up early, having to do something when somebody tells me
2) Trip Part 2
Pros: See more of the world, Russia/Turkey/Croatia/Greece/Egypt/Israel, have fun
Cons: i'm already tired from traveling a lot, kinda want to chill out for a while. plus, I only speak arabic and, other than in Egypt, I won't be able to communicate well (Russian, Turkish, Croatian, Greek, and Hebrew are not my specialties).
3) Learn a language or 2 somewhere
Pros: Love learning languages, wouldn't mind getting started on Chinese. Also, there are language centers in interesting places all across the world. Could potentially live in Sevilla or something while I learned Chinese, random but cool.
Cons: Not sure I want to travel anymore (see above) and maybe want to do something productive or be around my friends.
Anyways, let me know what you think
love and happy december
Andrew
Now, we've done and seen a lot so here goes. We rolled into Seville and hit up this hostel that got awesome reviews, a place called Oasis. We show up, the place is filled with young people socializing. The whole setup is beautiful, so we get our room, relax for a little bit, then walk around Seville a little before crashing that night. oh yeah, before we crashed, i freestyle rapped with this guy downstairs for like 40 minutes, we had a nice little crowd of hostelers watching, haha.
the next day we checked out alcazar, the old palace and cathedral in Seville. Really breathtaking, its the 3rd largest cathedral in the world, which, while not as impressive as the 2nd or 1st largest cathedral in the world, is still impressive. We climbed a tower and looked out over the whole city. Then we came back, lay down in the sun under the statue of Velasquez (sp?) for a little bit. Then, later that night, we went to this awesome underground bar and flamenco show. We drank the best sangria i've ever had with some girls we met there (including one named Dayna Arena, hilarious i know but anyway). The flamenco show was incredible though, it was a guitarist and an older man singing. He was so passionate about the music, sometimes smiling and singing playfully, other times nearly screaming with anger or sorrow or whatever the song was about. A really unforgettable experience.
The following day we walked along the waterfront and just chilled for a while before going on a tapas tour and back to the flamenco show where they had a woman doing real flamenco dance this time. Very Cool.
We rolled into Granada the next morning, checked into the Oasis in Granada, and immediately walked up to the Alhambra. The palace is unlike anything I've ever seen, religious motifs from different centuries, different religions, different rulers. Architecture from the Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Andalusians, Christians, even Persians-- and everywhere, always, running water. The lower end of the palace is filled with fountains which are fed by the various water systems that run through the rest of the palace down to them. Pools are always filled with fish. And the view from the guard tower is a full 360, way above the city. One of my favorite things we've done.
Then we flew into Barcelona yesterday. In true barca fashion, last night was ridiculous. We drank some wine with our homecooked dinner at Jason's flat, drank a 6-liter whiskey and coke among myself, Jason, Dallas, and Mark. Dal and I convinced this really beautiful girl that, like her, we were from Minnesota and that we went to Franklin High in St. Paul. Then, I convinced her that I work for the CIA. haha, its not lying, its flirting. At 4:30AM Jason and I decided to head home early, a little tired from the travel but slightly upset to be going home at such an early hour. Barca is crazy. I have no idea what time Dal and Mark went back.
So thats where I am now, lying in bed at Cook's flat, its 11:30AM and my head is bumping. oh well, the price we pay.
So now some speculative things-- I'm trying to figure out what I want to do next summer. Obviously my financial situation has an important impact on that, but assuming I'll be okay, what do I do? Here are some options I've come up with:
1) Internship/Job
Pros: Steady Income, resume building
Cons: waking up early, having to do something when somebody tells me
2) Trip Part 2
Pros: See more of the world, Russia/Turkey/Croatia/Greece/Egypt/Israel, have fun
Cons: i'm already tired from traveling a lot, kinda want to chill out for a while. plus, I only speak arabic and, other than in Egypt, I won't be able to communicate well (Russian, Turkish, Croatian, Greek, and Hebrew are not my specialties).
3) Learn a language or 2 somewhere
Pros: Love learning languages, wouldn't mind getting started on Chinese. Also, there are language centers in interesting places all across the world. Could potentially live in Sevilla or something while I learned Chinese, random but cool.
Cons: Not sure I want to travel anymore (see above) and maybe want to do something productive or be around my friends.
Anyways, let me know what you think
love and happy december
Andrew
Sunday, November 25, 2007
long summarizing post and update
Holla
First, thanksgiving in fez was awesome. We ate at my favorite restuarant in the world (Dar Tazi), and it was awesome. We also visited the Sufi Platemaker, saw a bunch of cool stuff, etc. I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving wherever they were, especially my family at home, as this is the first time I've had thanksgiving without them! Also, it was great fun explaining thanksgiving in arabic to my moroccan family.
Then, after fez, we rolled north by train (by 5 hour train) to Tanger, which matched all previous accounts I had read about it. Basically, Tanger is infested by hustlers, people who offer you useless things and then try to guilt you into things. My advice is not to ask anybody anything and never to listen to anyone. Gee, what a great place to be. If you asked someone the time, they'd probably say, "It's 7:00, and don't forget what I just did for you, telling you the time and all, you used my help, give me five dollars". So yeah, Tanger, while cool in location, sucks in personality, and we ate dinner last night and then rolled to the ferry this morning.
The ferry, in my mind, was supposed to be this beautiful and relaxing trip across the most famous strait in the world. Instead, we left 3 hours late, and hit rough seas causing widespread sea-sickness. Pretty gruesome. Got some cool pictures before the waves got bad though.
We arrived in Algeciras on the Spanish Side about an hour ago, and we catch a bus to Seville in about 45 minutes. That'll be another solid 2.5 hours, but whatever, I look forward to settling my stuff down and chilling for a bit.
Oh yeah, and I lost my hat that I bought in London somewhere in the same bus station where I sit now. Really frustrating. I liked that hat, plus it was L40, oh well.
anyways, just eager to get settled in somewhere,
Andrew
First, thanksgiving in fez was awesome. We ate at my favorite restuarant in the world (Dar Tazi), and it was awesome. We also visited the Sufi Platemaker, saw a bunch of cool stuff, etc. I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving wherever they were, especially my family at home, as this is the first time I've had thanksgiving without them! Also, it was great fun explaining thanksgiving in arabic to my moroccan family.
Then, after fez, we rolled north by train (by 5 hour train) to Tanger, which matched all previous accounts I had read about it. Basically, Tanger is infested by hustlers, people who offer you useless things and then try to guilt you into things. My advice is not to ask anybody anything and never to listen to anyone. Gee, what a great place to be. If you asked someone the time, they'd probably say, "It's 7:00, and don't forget what I just did for you, telling you the time and all, you used my help, give me five dollars". So yeah, Tanger, while cool in location, sucks in personality, and we ate dinner last night and then rolled to the ferry this morning.
The ferry, in my mind, was supposed to be this beautiful and relaxing trip across the most famous strait in the world. Instead, we left 3 hours late, and hit rough seas causing widespread sea-sickness. Pretty gruesome. Got some cool pictures before the waves got bad though.
We arrived in Algeciras on the Spanish Side about an hour ago, and we catch a bus to Seville in about 45 minutes. That'll be another solid 2.5 hours, but whatever, I look forward to settling my stuff down and chilling for a bit.
Oh yeah, and I lost my hat that I bought in London somewhere in the same bus station where I sit now. Really frustrating. I liked that hat, plus it was L40, oh well.
anyways, just eager to get settled in somewhere,
Andrew
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
KnrejA il Maghreb
so after a few months, im finally back in morocco. so far all is going to plan, we arrived last night and a good tagine dinner at Ten Years in the Ville Nouvelle, then crashed at Hotel Olympique. today we hold on, a bunch of arabic highschool girls are picking up on me at this internet cafe. they got my name on skype, and they are all flocking around the piece of paper. it is hilarious. anyway, back to my journal entry.
today we walked down to the medina and went to my old house, where as expected, we were invited in for tea, then lunch, then to spend the next three days sleeping there. so cool, we have a place to stay, eat, relax, etc. we then walked around the talaa kbira for a while, came back for a late lunch, then came here. awesome day.
quick note on edinburgh: the royal mile is awesome. Eat at the Mitre Bar. We ate there three times. For three consecutive meals.
quick note on life, from our last night in london: sometime the magic is there, and sometimes it isnt.
see you soon
ML
A
today we walked down to the medina and went to my old house, where as expected, we were invited in for tea, then lunch, then to spend the next three days sleeping there. so cool, we have a place to stay, eat, relax, etc. we then walked around the talaa kbira for a while, came back for a late lunch, then came here. awesome day.
quick note on edinburgh: the royal mile is awesome. Eat at the Mitre Bar. We ate there three times. For three consecutive meals.
quick note on life, from our last night in london: sometime the magic is there, and sometimes it isnt.
see you soon
ML
A
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Good news and Bad news
Good news first--
We're having a totally badass time in Edinburgh. We climbed Arthur's Seat (a big mountain thing) yesterday afternoon with some food and ate lunch on top looking over the city and taking everything in. It's a really incredible place.
Quick interlude story-- we're sitting there eating and this dog comes up and is all up in our grill trying to get at our food, so bill shooes the dog away with his hand. A moment later a woman comes up and says, in the thickest of scottish accents, "Next tai'm ye raise yer 'and to mie animal Aye'll return the compliment" and the briskly walks away in a huff. It was funny; bill's going to use it in a paper as an example of the fiery nature of scottish people.
Anyways, so then last night we pregamed in Bill's room, watched Will Smith videos, and had a great time before hitting the club and having a great time there too. Highlights include us looking more fly than anyone there, many girls stealing the cool hats dal and I bought, one guy trying to fight Dallas, Bill biting some girls shoulder, and other great things.
Bad News--
I'm pregnant.
For no apparent reason, the digital mode of the video camera has stopped working. I think it's basically going to be like dead weight until I can get back to the U.S. and take it to a repair place or something. Also, it deleted the memory card (also for no good reason) so there will be no footage from London or Oxford of any kind (from my camera... Dallas may have some pics). I can still film in Tape Mode, though, so its not all lost.
More Bad News-
After a few hours of searching for return trips from Fez to Edinburgh, we realized that it's just not going to be possible for Bill to come with us. There is a cheap British Air flight to head down there and back on tuesdays and fridays, but it leaves from london, and it would entail a lot of travel time for not very much time in morocco (only about 2 days). So oh well.
Other News-
Howe from the Dartmouth mirror (and an AXA homeboy) interviewed me briefly yesterday about my poker career for his column. It was kind of fun, maybe this publicity will turn into something good. Howe's had the most popular column on campus ever since he wrote an article explicitly telling freshmen not to go to Theta Delt. Hilarious.
Okay thats all for now
ml
A
We're having a totally badass time in Edinburgh. We climbed Arthur's Seat (a big mountain thing) yesterday afternoon with some food and ate lunch on top looking over the city and taking everything in. It's a really incredible place.
Quick interlude story-- we're sitting there eating and this dog comes up and is all up in our grill trying to get at our food, so bill shooes the dog away with his hand. A moment later a woman comes up and says, in the thickest of scottish accents, "Next tai'm ye raise yer 'and to mie animal Aye'll return the compliment" and the briskly walks away in a huff. It was funny; bill's going to use it in a paper as an example of the fiery nature of scottish people.
Anyways, so then last night we pregamed in Bill's room, watched Will Smith videos, and had a great time before hitting the club and having a great time there too. Highlights include us looking more fly than anyone there, many girls stealing the cool hats dal and I bought, one guy trying to fight Dallas, Bill biting some girls shoulder, and other great things.
Bad News--
I'm pregnant.
For no apparent reason, the digital mode of the video camera has stopped working. I think it's basically going to be like dead weight until I can get back to the U.S. and take it to a repair place or something. Also, it deleted the memory card (also for no good reason) so there will be no footage from London or Oxford of any kind (from my camera... Dallas may have some pics). I can still film in Tape Mode, though, so its not all lost.
More Bad News-
After a few hours of searching for return trips from Fez to Edinburgh, we realized that it's just not going to be possible for Bill to come with us. There is a cheap British Air flight to head down there and back on tuesdays and fridays, but it leaves from london, and it would entail a lot of travel time for not very much time in morocco (only about 2 days). So oh well.
Other News-
Howe from the Dartmouth mirror (and an AXA homeboy) interviewed me briefly yesterday about my poker career for his column. It was kind of fun, maybe this publicity will turn into something good. Howe's had the most popular column on campus ever since he wrote an article explicitly telling freshmen not to go to Theta Delt. Hilarious.
Okay thats all for now
ml
A
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Update after a long time
Hey everyone! This should be some kind of lengthy update since I haven't given you guys any information. So here's whats new:
Oxford: we spent 3 nights in oxford with Weiss and Sam Kennedy. The first night we slept 15 hours, then we basically hit up a bunch of pubs, ate frequently kebabs (only Hussain's, nobody elses, if you eat anywhere else weiss will kill you). Apparently, there is a inter-kebab war, and all the students are choosing sides, haha. Oxford is a great little city with a ton of personality and history. The schools are all walled off so as to prevent their students from being killed by angry poor rioters. We went to see Mozart Requiem performed at the Sheldonian, it was really beautiful and I'm glad we were there (Sam and Dallas and I).
Then, we left and headed into London, where we met up with Hahn. We walked around the city for a while. Then, we caught a train east to Three Bridges (past gatwick) and met up with one of Dallas' friends, this guy named Rob. Dallas met him in Jamaica, and he drove us about 30 minutes to this guy Simon's house, another friend of Dallas from Jamaica. It was Simon's 21st birthday, and we were invited to the party.
And it was quite a party, haha. We showed up to see about 50 british people, including some beautiful girls, and all the beer and wine we could drink. We settled in and started getting to know the people (including one girl named Erin who will from now on be referred to as Lady Battered). There was food and stuff also. Then, Simon comes down and tells us he's about to light the bonfire, so we curiously follow him outside to see a huge pile of wood about 50 feet high. They light it, it burns and looks really cool, and then a massive fireworks display goes on for about 45 minutes afterward. It was incredibly cool to watch. We spent the rest of the night enjoying the festivities (including a stripper that Simon's mom had bought for him) and the casual atmosphere. We talked with some girls, including Lady Battered, who quickly became completely battered, hence the name. The party was awesome, we stayed out at Rob's place for the night, then headed back into London in the morning.
The next day, we walked around London with Hahn some more. it happened to be Remembrance day so it was a good day for sightseeing. We saw Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby (the bells were awesome, the reverberations just keep going, its pretty powerful), Big Ben, Parliament, everything on the west side of the city. We walked north checked out Speaker's Corner, which was hilarious. Crazy people just stand up and start yelling stuff about politics, and people can try to contradict them and stuff. This mean old lady was talking about how English people are the only race before God and being really racist and mean and stuff, and a guy walks up and holds a sign next to her that says "Free Hugs". Pretty funny. Then, everyone started singing "always look on the bright side of life". Great times at Speakers Corner.
We continued along Oxford Street, where I bought a totally awesome yet bougie hat. You'll see pictures soon. We then headed back to the Hotel we got for that night and chilled for a few minutes, before meeting up with Kahlie and heading down that night to the Tower of London. We walked along the waterfront (Thames) at night, crossed the Tower Bridge, and made our way to the London Eye only to discover that it closed about 5 minutes earlier. Oh well, next time. So we grabbed dinner and called it a night. We caught the flight to Edinburgh the next day.
We met up with Bill yesterday, got food at his place (sketchiest point system ever, 6 points, and we had to sneak in, it was rough, and the food wasn't even very good. whatever, we're cookin tonight, booya). Today Dal and I walked around the city for a few hours in the morning, bought a shirt, climed this mountain and saw a totally badass monument for Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson. It went something like this:
"To Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson
the hero of the great victory at Trafalgar
from the grateful people of Edinburgh
erect this monument
not in unavailing sorrow at his death
nor yet in the matchless glories of his life
but in the hope that their sons will emulate
their dreams, and, like him, face the duty with bravery to die for their country"
so tight. Then, we met up with Howell and Winky at a pub, had some food and Guiness Extra Cold-- you have to have it if you're in Europe, the best guiness ever. Yeah, so thats it, we're at Howell's place right now, we catch Bill in an hour, booya tribe
hit you up soon
much love
A
PS: Bill is gonna come to Morocco with us! Booya again.
PPS: I really love the show Heroes.
Oxford: we spent 3 nights in oxford with Weiss and Sam Kennedy. The first night we slept 15 hours, then we basically hit up a bunch of pubs, ate frequently kebabs (only Hussain's, nobody elses, if you eat anywhere else weiss will kill you). Apparently, there is a inter-kebab war, and all the students are choosing sides, haha. Oxford is a great little city with a ton of personality and history. The schools are all walled off so as to prevent their students from being killed by angry poor rioters. We went to see Mozart Requiem performed at the Sheldonian, it was really beautiful and I'm glad we were there (Sam and Dallas and I).
Then, we left and headed into London, where we met up with Hahn. We walked around the city for a while. Then, we caught a train east to Three Bridges (past gatwick) and met up with one of Dallas' friends, this guy named Rob. Dallas met him in Jamaica, and he drove us about 30 minutes to this guy Simon's house, another friend of Dallas from Jamaica. It was Simon's 21st birthday, and we were invited to the party.
And it was quite a party, haha. We showed up to see about 50 british people, including some beautiful girls, and all the beer and wine we could drink. We settled in and started getting to know the people (including one girl named Erin who will from now on be referred to as Lady Battered). There was food and stuff also. Then, Simon comes down and tells us he's about to light the bonfire, so we curiously follow him outside to see a huge pile of wood about 50 feet high. They light it, it burns and looks really cool, and then a massive fireworks display goes on for about 45 minutes afterward. It was incredibly cool to watch. We spent the rest of the night enjoying the festivities (including a stripper that Simon's mom had bought for him) and the casual atmosphere. We talked with some girls, including Lady Battered, who quickly became completely battered, hence the name. The party was awesome, we stayed out at Rob's place for the night, then headed back into London in the morning.
The next day, we walked around London with Hahn some more. it happened to be Remembrance day so it was a good day for sightseeing. We saw Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby (the bells were awesome, the reverberations just keep going, its pretty powerful), Big Ben, Parliament, everything on the west side of the city. We walked north checked out Speaker's Corner, which was hilarious. Crazy people just stand up and start yelling stuff about politics, and people can try to contradict them and stuff. This mean old lady was talking about how English people are the only race before God and being really racist and mean and stuff, and a guy walks up and holds a sign next to her that says "Free Hugs". Pretty funny. Then, everyone started singing "always look on the bright side of life". Great times at Speakers Corner.
We continued along Oxford Street, where I bought a totally awesome yet bougie hat. You'll see pictures soon. We then headed back to the Hotel we got for that night and chilled for a few minutes, before meeting up with Kahlie and heading down that night to the Tower of London. We walked along the waterfront (Thames) at night, crossed the Tower Bridge, and made our way to the London Eye only to discover that it closed about 5 minutes earlier. Oh well, next time. So we grabbed dinner and called it a night. We caught the flight to Edinburgh the next day.
We met up with Bill yesterday, got food at his place (sketchiest point system ever, 6 points, and we had to sneak in, it was rough, and the food wasn't even very good. whatever, we're cookin tonight, booya). Today Dal and I walked around the city for a few hours in the morning, bought a shirt, climed this mountain and saw a totally badass monument for Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson. It went something like this:
"To Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson
the hero of the great victory at Trafalgar
from the grateful people of Edinburgh
erect this monument
not in unavailing sorrow at his death
nor yet in the matchless glories of his life
but in the hope that their sons will emulate
their dreams, and, like him, face the duty with bravery to die for their country"
so tight. Then, we met up with Howell and Winky at a pub, had some food and Guiness Extra Cold-- you have to have it if you're in Europe, the best guiness ever. Yeah, so thats it, we're at Howell's place right now, we catch Bill in an hour, booya tribe
hit you up soon
much love
A
PS: Bill is gonna come to Morocco with us! Booya again.
PPS: I really love the show Heroes.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Good Day Mate
After traveling for about 20+ hours (8 hour bus ride from tamarindo to san jose, 6 hours at a hotel, 3 hour flight to miami, 4 hour layover, 8.5 hour flight to london, 1 hour bus ride to oxford, so I guess about 31-32 hours all told), we arrived in Oxford yesterday morning where we slept on Kennedy's floor for a few hours, then walked with Sam to Weiss' place where we went out to an awesome pub (same tavern where Tolkein and C.S. Lewis used to hang out, very cool). wow, long first sentence.
We ate dinner at Keble dining hall. Everything is way more traditional here--students have to wear their eating gown otherwise they wont' be let in. The buildings here are incredible, all looking like castles and crisp green lawns that you're not allowed to walk on. The whole place is awesome, we are thinking about staying an extra night here to see Mozart's Requiem at the Oxford theatre or something like that. We'll see how that goes.
Next stops are London, then Edinburgh. I'll let you know how it goes.
much love
Andrew
We ate dinner at Keble dining hall. Everything is way more traditional here--students have to wear their eating gown otherwise they wont' be let in. The buildings here are incredible, all looking like castles and crisp green lawns that you're not allowed to walk on. The whole place is awesome, we are thinking about staying an extra night here to see Mozart's Requiem at the Oxford theatre or something like that. We'll see how that goes.
Next stops are London, then Edinburgh. I'll let you know how it goes.
much love
Andrew
Monday, November 5, 2007
Like, saying goodbye to Costa Rica, except legit style
that's right, I'm chilling here in the hotel aeropuerto before I catch my ridiculously long flight to London tomorrow morning. Dallas is taking the first hot shower he's had in like a month, haha. I'm next, booya.
Leaving the beach was bittersweet. Luke's staying another week or so in CR, heading to Puerto Viejo in a few days when he feels done surfing. It's going to be a while until I'm back in tropical, warm waters and clean, sandy beaches.
I really became hooked on surfing at the end. It's tough to get good at it, but once you get the hang of it it can be one of the most relaxing things in the world. Float in the water and chill in the sun, then grab your few seconds of pure weightlessness and speed when the chance comes around.
All told, we stayed in Jaco Beach, Montezuma, Santa Teresa, and Tamarindo. Tamarindo and Jaco being the touristy places (read: expensive, crowded, but familiar) and Montezuma and Santa Teresa being the non-tourisyt places (read: cheaper, quieter, more isolated). In order, I liked
1) Santa Teresa- the best beaches with both Playa Carmen and Playa Santa Teresa, and a tight setup with hammocks on the beach. Plus Richard at the Howling Monkey Sportsbar is the man and hooked us up night after night to watch the world series. Quieter, more relaxing, and prettier beaches with still great surf. Definitely my top pick.
2) Tamarindo- At first I hated it. Seemed touristy and weak-sauce. However, if you go, you have to cross the estuary and head to Playa Grande and La Casita. The best surf, the cleanest waves, one of the best beaches... makes you feel like you're away from the tourism scene. Plus take comfort in some extra modernity.
3) Montezuma- A tiny town that will only be tiny for a few years, as major developments are just starting. We stayed at a quaint little place called Hotel Lys, which was really friendly and had baller homecooked food. However, there's not much to do there, so we moved on.
4) Jaco- The dirtiest town, about as touristy as Tamarindo, a pretty weak overall scene, very average surfing. Still fun to be in CR and hang out, but definitely not the place I'll go when I come back.
Overall, I was amazed at how many people on the street are drug dealers or prostitutes. It's gotta be like at least 75%.
Funny story-
I was at a club in Tamarindo and picked up on a hooker without knowing she was a hooker (mostly cause i'm totally oblivious). This girl walks up behind me and runs her hand up and down my back. I'm like "hey, she's friendly", so we start talking. It goes like this:
Me- so do you live here in the city?
Her- Yeah
Me- what do you do here?
Her- I work
Me- What kind of work?
Her- I'm a masseuse
Me- Oh cool, where do you work?
Her- Anywhere you want
thats about when I figured it out, haha.
Anyways, I'm ready to move on to the last stage of the journey I believe. Europe holds many things in store for me, and I plan on making the most out of my time there. So many people want to hang out in the UK that it's going to be difficult to even leave there, and that's only the first place we're going!
Overall, I relaxed, I surfed, I met new people, I spent time with Luke and Dallas, I got tan, I ate very well. This is what I wanted when I picked a tropical country to spend this much time in. Mission Accomplished here.
Roll out baby.
Europe here we come
respect
A
Leaving the beach was bittersweet. Luke's staying another week or so in CR, heading to Puerto Viejo in a few days when he feels done surfing. It's going to be a while until I'm back in tropical, warm waters and clean, sandy beaches.
I really became hooked on surfing at the end. It's tough to get good at it, but once you get the hang of it it can be one of the most relaxing things in the world. Float in the water and chill in the sun, then grab your few seconds of pure weightlessness and speed when the chance comes around.
All told, we stayed in Jaco Beach, Montezuma, Santa Teresa, and Tamarindo. Tamarindo and Jaco being the touristy places (read: expensive, crowded, but familiar) and Montezuma and Santa Teresa being the non-tourisyt places (read: cheaper, quieter, more isolated). In order, I liked
1) Santa Teresa- the best beaches with both Playa Carmen and Playa Santa Teresa, and a tight setup with hammocks on the beach. Plus Richard at the Howling Monkey Sportsbar is the man and hooked us up night after night to watch the world series. Quieter, more relaxing, and prettier beaches with still great surf. Definitely my top pick.
2) Tamarindo- At first I hated it. Seemed touristy and weak-sauce. However, if you go, you have to cross the estuary and head to Playa Grande and La Casita. The best surf, the cleanest waves, one of the best beaches... makes you feel like you're away from the tourism scene. Plus take comfort in some extra modernity.
3) Montezuma- A tiny town that will only be tiny for a few years, as major developments are just starting. We stayed at a quaint little place called Hotel Lys, which was really friendly and had baller homecooked food. However, there's not much to do there, so we moved on.
4) Jaco- The dirtiest town, about as touristy as Tamarindo, a pretty weak overall scene, very average surfing. Still fun to be in CR and hang out, but definitely not the place I'll go when I come back.
Overall, I was amazed at how many people on the street are drug dealers or prostitutes. It's gotta be like at least 75%.
Funny story-
I was at a club in Tamarindo and picked up on a hooker without knowing she was a hooker (mostly cause i'm totally oblivious). This girl walks up behind me and runs her hand up and down my back. I'm like "hey, she's friendly", so we start talking. It goes like this:
Me- so do you live here in the city?
Her- Yeah
Me- what do you do here?
Her- I work
Me- What kind of work?
Her- I'm a masseuse
Me- Oh cool, where do you work?
Her- Anywhere you want
thats about when I figured it out, haha.
Anyways, I'm ready to move on to the last stage of the journey I believe. Europe holds many things in store for me, and I plan on making the most out of my time there. So many people want to hang out in the UK that it's going to be difficult to even leave there, and that's only the first place we're going!
Overall, I relaxed, I surfed, I met new people, I spent time with Luke and Dallas, I got tan, I ate very well. This is what I wanted when I picked a tropical country to spend this much time in. Mission Accomplished here.
Roll out baby.
Europe here we come
respect
A
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Saying goodbye to Costa Rica
So a few days ago, my plan was to travel east to Puerto Viejo and hang on the Caribbean side for a few days before heading to San Jose to catch my flight to London. Unfortunately, this was going to mean saying adios to Luke, as he wanted to stay somewhere where he could surf (the Caribbean is not good this time of year apparently). Dallas, Luke, and I headed out to surf an evening high tide three days ago, but Dallas turned back because his shoulder was hurting and didn't think he could make it. So, we continued on to a new beach called Playa Grande. It's about a 30 minute walk, including a 5-minute paddle across an estuary.
When we got there, the surf was amazing. I was catching waves and feeling more comfortable than I ever had. The water was the warmest we'd seen. It had been sunny and hot all day, and slowly the sun drooped in the sky until the clouds above us lit up in bright orange and red. We surfed until dark, then paddled the estuary (which made us feel kind of like Navy SEALS, creeping through water at night in a strange country). I was so psyched on Playa Grande that I decided to stay, and Dallas was indifferent, so here I still am.
Yesterday I woke up at 8AM and surfed most of the day, then hung out on the beach the entire rest of the day.
Today I woke up at about 1030, surfed most of the day, then watched college football all day (including my Oregon Ducks beating ASU and BC losing to FSU, a great day for me).
Tomorrow is our last full day beach-wise. On the 5th we'll have to head into San Jose for the night and then catch our early flight on the 6th to London.
I'm going to write more tomorrow night about how I'm feeling, in the meantime I'm going to play some poker and then surf some faces tomorrow.
If you're in London, hit me up and we'll kick it. Gotta let me know soon, my time is running low everywhere I go!
ml
A
PS oh and Happy Birthday James! I tried calling you on Skype, I'm not sure if it went through or not because the internet here is very shaky, but I'll try again soon. I love you and hope your birthday was great!
When we got there, the surf was amazing. I was catching waves and feeling more comfortable than I ever had. The water was the warmest we'd seen. It had been sunny and hot all day, and slowly the sun drooped in the sky until the clouds above us lit up in bright orange and red. We surfed until dark, then paddled the estuary (which made us feel kind of like Navy SEALS, creeping through water at night in a strange country). I was so psyched on Playa Grande that I decided to stay, and Dallas was indifferent, so here I still am.
Yesterday I woke up at 8AM and surfed most of the day, then hung out on the beach the entire rest of the day.
Today I woke up at about 1030, surfed most of the day, then watched college football all day (including my Oregon Ducks beating ASU and BC losing to FSU, a great day for me).
Tomorrow is our last full day beach-wise. On the 5th we'll have to head into San Jose for the night and then catch our early flight on the 6th to London.
I'm going to write more tomorrow night about how I'm feeling, in the meantime I'm going to play some poker and then surf some faces tomorrow.
If you're in London, hit me up and we'll kick it. Gotta let me know soon, my time is running low everywhere I go!
ml
A
PS oh and Happy Birthday James! I tried calling you on Skype, I'm not sure if it went through or not because the internet here is very shaky, but I'll try again soon. I love you and hope your birthday was great!
Friday, November 2, 2007
so, not leaving tamarindo afterall
after planning on leaving this morning for puerto viejo in the caribbean, i went out surfing last night with luke and had the best time so.... so we're staying.
more to come later
ml
a
more to come later
ml
a
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tamarindo
So first, I got called out by my mom in my last post. I mistakenly said that Richard spoke no english... obviously he spoke no spanish. oh well. haha you are right though, mom, I am going to have a hard time adjusting to real life again.
So after traveling via bus from 7:30AM until 5:00PM, we arrived in Tamarindo two days ago. The Lonely Planet review of Tamarindo is beyond scathing.... pretty funny actually. "Fat American tourists lie around like beached whales, varying in color from shockingly pale to a bright pink shade of skin cancer... if you get tired of the city, just remember, costa rica is only a few kilometers away". But, we had heard the surf was good, we were outgrowing our time in Santa Teresa, so we decided to check it out.
When we arrived, I more-or-less treated dallas and luke to an incredible dinner at a nearby restaurant. We split an awesome bottle of white wine, i had roasted red snapper, dallas had mahi mahi with coconut glaze, and luke had some baller penne pasta with chicken and pesto. Incredible. We then split one of the most amazing chocolate brownies i've ever been a part of. booya. Then later that night, Dallas crashed but Luke and I went out to a club, where we had some other adventures that I don't feel comfortable writing about with my parents as confirmed readers ;). it was fun.
After that, though, yesterday was brutal. We woke up decently early and decided we wanted to try to hit this good beach we'd heard about called Playa Langosta. For whatever reason, we chose to walk barefoot on the gravel road, and it took us about 30 minutes and made our feet very sore. when we finally arrived, we found that there was not even one workable wave. what a waste of time. so, we walked back, got some lunch, and walked down to the Tamarindo River Mouth, which had some good waves. I had gotten so comfortable with my 7'10 board that I decided to try Dallas' 6'10. It was tricky, I'm going to go back to the 7'10 today. Anyways, we surfed out there from about 4 until the sun went down, then came back and met these two british guys named Dan and Pete. Oh yeah, while I was surfing, some kind of swimming creature bit my foot. I was bleeding for a while without knowing it, then I was really surprised when i looked down and saw a nice little chomp mark on my big toe.
anyways.... British people are hilarious.
We ended up drinking with Dan and Pete, hitting some clubs, generally having a good time, and basically wreaking havoc on the central room of the hotel. When you walk into the place we're staying, there is an indoor pool in the center. Then, the bedrooms are around the pool. When we left, pretty much everything inside was soaked. very fun. We may even go hang out and party at Dan's rugby club outside of London.
I'm still not sold as to how much I like Tamarindo, it is very touristy, which is both fun and fake at the same time. We'll see how long we stay here, i'd like to check out puerto viejo but the surf there is bad at this time of year so i may have trouble convincing the other dudes to go.
oh yeah, and some promised poker talk:
So let's take a guy like me. I can crush 2/4, and beat 3/6 and 5/10. I'm pretty confident I can beat 10/20 and 25/50, but I've run so terribly every time I've been up there that I'm not sure. Either way, I've comed up with a new bankroll management strategy.
Lets say I have like 18k online. I'm playing some 2/4-5/10, and I run it up to 2ok. Now, I withdraw 5k. So, real money terms, I am +5k for the month. Now, I am sitting on 15k online, and I can run that up as high as I can during the rest of the month. Then, at the start of the next month, I set up a new 5k withdrawal point. So lets say I start the next month with 24k. I might withdraw my 5k at 28k, leaving me with 23k online. You see how the bankroll still grows, but I'm now making 60k a year (not including taxes, but also not including extra money from coaching and withdrawals and whatever else). Anyways, its a plan i'm going to try, and we'll see how it goes.
and now back to life
i don't have too much more to add, i've been reading my face off... I think i've read 5 or 6 books in the last 5 or 6 days. the water in tamarindo is the warmest i've seen yet, so that's been nice. otherwise, we're just hanging out until we leave for europe in a week. haha wow life is so crazy
okay, gonna run, surfing soon, then big halloween parties tonight. we're goign to ask this mexican restaurant for sombreros and ponchos and other mexican garb, that'll be fun.
happy halloween
A
So after traveling via bus from 7:30AM until 5:00PM, we arrived in Tamarindo two days ago. The Lonely Planet review of Tamarindo is beyond scathing.... pretty funny actually. "Fat American tourists lie around like beached whales, varying in color from shockingly pale to a bright pink shade of skin cancer... if you get tired of the city, just remember, costa rica is only a few kilometers away". But, we had heard the surf was good, we were outgrowing our time in Santa Teresa, so we decided to check it out.
When we arrived, I more-or-less treated dallas and luke to an incredible dinner at a nearby restaurant. We split an awesome bottle of white wine, i had roasted red snapper, dallas had mahi mahi with coconut glaze, and luke had some baller penne pasta with chicken and pesto. Incredible. We then split one of the most amazing chocolate brownies i've ever been a part of. booya. Then later that night, Dallas crashed but Luke and I went out to a club, where we had some other adventures that I don't feel comfortable writing about with my parents as confirmed readers ;). it was fun.
After that, though, yesterday was brutal. We woke up decently early and decided we wanted to try to hit this good beach we'd heard about called Playa Langosta. For whatever reason, we chose to walk barefoot on the gravel road, and it took us about 30 minutes and made our feet very sore. when we finally arrived, we found that there was not even one workable wave. what a waste of time. so, we walked back, got some lunch, and walked down to the Tamarindo River Mouth, which had some good waves. I had gotten so comfortable with my 7'10 board that I decided to try Dallas' 6'10. It was tricky, I'm going to go back to the 7'10 today. Anyways, we surfed out there from about 4 until the sun went down, then came back and met these two british guys named Dan and Pete. Oh yeah, while I was surfing, some kind of swimming creature bit my foot. I was bleeding for a while without knowing it, then I was really surprised when i looked down and saw a nice little chomp mark on my big toe.
anyways.... British people are hilarious.
We ended up drinking with Dan and Pete, hitting some clubs, generally having a good time, and basically wreaking havoc on the central room of the hotel. When you walk into the place we're staying, there is an indoor pool in the center. Then, the bedrooms are around the pool. When we left, pretty much everything inside was soaked. very fun. We may even go hang out and party at Dan's rugby club outside of London.
I'm still not sold as to how much I like Tamarindo, it is very touristy, which is both fun and fake at the same time. We'll see how long we stay here, i'd like to check out puerto viejo but the surf there is bad at this time of year so i may have trouble convincing the other dudes to go.
oh yeah, and some promised poker talk:
So let's take a guy like me. I can crush 2/4, and beat 3/6 and 5/10. I'm pretty confident I can beat 10/20 and 25/50, but I've run so terribly every time I've been up there that I'm not sure. Either way, I've comed up with a new bankroll management strategy.
Lets say I have like 18k online. I'm playing some 2/4-5/10, and I run it up to 2ok. Now, I withdraw 5k. So, real money terms, I am +5k for the month. Now, I am sitting on 15k online, and I can run that up as high as I can during the rest of the month. Then, at the start of the next month, I set up a new 5k withdrawal point. So lets say I start the next month with 24k. I might withdraw my 5k at 28k, leaving me with 23k online. You see how the bankroll still grows, but I'm now making 60k a year (not including taxes, but also not including extra money from coaching and withdrawals and whatever else). Anyways, its a plan i'm going to try, and we'll see how it goes.
and now back to life
i don't have too much more to add, i've been reading my face off... I think i've read 5 or 6 books in the last 5 or 6 days. the water in tamarindo is the warmest i've seen yet, so that's been nice. otherwise, we're just hanging out until we leave for europe in a week. haha wow life is so crazy
okay, gonna run, surfing soon, then big halloween parties tonight. we're goign to ask this mexican restaurant for sombreros and ponchos and other mexican garb, that'll be fun.
happy halloween
A
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Planning on Leaving Santa Teresa
So after about a week, we decided the time has come to leave our friendly little home at Casa Zen in Santa Teresa. We're going to catch a bus tomorrow morning and head north to Tamarindo. It should be a long trip. I can't write long right now as I'm cooking pasta with sausage (my all time home favorite, thanks mom).
what we've been doing:
waking up a little early, making eggs and french toast for breakfast, then reading and lounging until about noon
surfing from about noon until about 330
coming back, lounging and reading, making ourselves more food
then we've been rolling to the howling monkey sports bar (about a 20 min walk) where we've watched all the world series games. technically they're not allowed to open yet (hence the one night we had to leave the top of the 9th when armed police showed up and closed the place), but we've been able to have a few beers and hang out.
the bar is owned by this guy, Richard, who is probably the most stereotypical American I've ever seen. Bulky, with rounded shoulders, looking rather like a bear, with long blond hair, the guy doesn't speak a word of english. not even close. doesn't care. kind of racist. generally hilarious. he likes us too and he's very generous if you're American, haha. so we've been getting along, but mostly we just go and enjoy the game.
oh, and we also enjoy the ice cream from a nearby heladeria. They have cookie ice cream. It is the best stuff ever. Chunks of cookie. Wow i'm so excited for game 4 tonight and my doble cono.
okay, im going to go now, but i have interesting pokre things to right about next time, most especially about bankroll management and my new plan to both make an easy living and move up in limits relatively quickly.
okie dokie
catch you later
ML
A
what we've been doing:
waking up a little early, making eggs and french toast for breakfast, then reading and lounging until about noon
surfing from about noon until about 330
coming back, lounging and reading, making ourselves more food
then we've been rolling to the howling monkey sports bar (about a 20 min walk) where we've watched all the world series games. technically they're not allowed to open yet (hence the one night we had to leave the top of the 9th when armed police showed up and closed the place), but we've been able to have a few beers and hang out.
the bar is owned by this guy, Richard, who is probably the most stereotypical American I've ever seen. Bulky, with rounded shoulders, looking rather like a bear, with long blond hair, the guy doesn't speak a word of english. not even close. doesn't care. kind of racist. generally hilarious. he likes us too and he's very generous if you're American, haha. so we've been getting along, but mostly we just go and enjoy the game.
oh, and we also enjoy the ice cream from a nearby heladeria. They have cookie ice cream. It is the best stuff ever. Chunks of cookie. Wow i'm so excited for game 4 tonight and my doble cono.
okay, im going to go now, but i have interesting pokre things to right about next time, most especially about bankroll management and my new plan to both make an easy living and move up in limits relatively quickly.
okie dokie
catch you later
ML
A
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
I lost something
Yesterday was an amazing day. I woke up at about 9:30, lay around for a while, read for a while, got up and cooked myself scrambled eggs and french toast that were both delicious. Then, we walked down to the beach with our boards and a bag of things to do and surfed for about 3 hours. Then, we decided to get out of the water (in part due to the absolutely blazing sun) and go lie in these hammocks that are nestled under palm trees right on the water front. As I'm walking up, I check my neck for the familiar feeling of my two necklaces. The first, the dog-tags my mom got for me for my birthday this year, was right where it was supposed to be. The other one was gone.
When I was twelve and at my beloved summer camp, I became the proud owner of a hemp necklace, decorated with wooden beads. The clasp was simply a safety pin. I'm not sure who made it for me--I may have even made it for myself. Regardless, I wore it constantly for a few years until highschool. Thinking it wasn't cool enough for my sweet image, I took it off and left it in my room for about three years. Then, when I had been feeling upset with myself, I took a good hard look at it and decided to put it back on. I'd been wearing it ever since.
To me, it was a symbol of what I was like when I was younger--too young and inexperienced to think about things (or to overthink things), I acted passionately and naturally. Sure, I acted immaturely and often offensively. But there is an element of purity that comes along with unadulturated youth, and the necklace reminded me to hold on to that part of my life.
After 8 years of ownership, I couldn't think of a better time and place to lose it than on a trip that exemplifies my independence and youthfulness. To see it was swallowed up by the Pacific Ocean is to see a chapter closing of my life--not the end of my youth, but rather the end of childhood. If that makes any sense. To me, it is a fitting grave for such a valuable metaphor.
After relaxing in the hammocks and surfing some more, we headed back to Casa Zen, only to find everything locked up and closed. No food there apparently. To make matters worse, the power had gone out on our street again, so we started the 20 minute walk into the town to buy food from a market. As we walked, everything was closed and boarded up. It was very eerie. Finally, we found what appeared to be the only open restaurant in town and ate some delicious pasta with chicken by candlelight, as there was no power to be found anywhere. We came back to casa zen, played some cards by flashlight, and crashed.
It was a great day.
Oh yeah and I lost 7k the day before it.
Love
A
When I was twelve and at my beloved summer camp, I became the proud owner of a hemp necklace, decorated with wooden beads. The clasp was simply a safety pin. I'm not sure who made it for me--I may have even made it for myself. Regardless, I wore it constantly for a few years until highschool. Thinking it wasn't cool enough for my sweet image, I took it off and left it in my room for about three years. Then, when I had been feeling upset with myself, I took a good hard look at it and decided to put it back on. I'd been wearing it ever since.
To me, it was a symbol of what I was like when I was younger--too young and inexperienced to think about things (or to overthink things), I acted passionately and naturally. Sure, I acted immaturely and often offensively. But there is an element of purity that comes along with unadulturated youth, and the necklace reminded me to hold on to that part of my life.
After 8 years of ownership, I couldn't think of a better time and place to lose it than on a trip that exemplifies my independence and youthfulness. To see it was swallowed up by the Pacific Ocean is to see a chapter closing of my life--not the end of my youth, but rather the end of childhood. If that makes any sense. To me, it is a fitting grave for such a valuable metaphor.
After relaxing in the hammocks and surfing some more, we headed back to Casa Zen, only to find everything locked up and closed. No food there apparently. To make matters worse, the power had gone out on our street again, so we started the 20 minute walk into the town to buy food from a market. As we walked, everything was closed and boarded up. It was very eerie. Finally, we found what appeared to be the only open restaurant in town and ate some delicious pasta with chicken by candlelight, as there was no power to be found anywhere. We came back to casa zen, played some cards by flashlight, and crashed.
It was a great day.
Oh yeah and I lost 7k the day before it.
Love
A
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Mal Pais... or not
So after getting held an extra day in Jaco when the water taxi couldn´t go because of choppy seas, we finally got aboard the boat with all of our gear. We were joined by about 6 other passengers and the two crewmembers. The boat was tiny, and before we had climbed in they gave us plastic bags to cover our luggage with. Seemed strange at the time.
Away we went on our little speed boat, launching off from the shore of Playa Herradera or something like that. The first fifteen minutes were fun, wind whipping by our faces, the sun in the sky, beautiful jungle passing us by on both sides. Then, the rain set in. Within minutes we were completely drenched. I´m talking wetter than I´ve ever been in my life, regardless of swimming pools or showers. That continued for about another hour until we finally landed on the beach of Montezuma.
Our plan had been to get to Montezuma, grab a taxi to Mal Pais (as though that would be quick and easy) and then set up shop at the Mal Pais surf camp. Instead, we landed at Montezuma exhausted, soaked, starving, and not ready to go anywhere. Luckily for us, the hostel Hotel Lys is located on the landing beach and the friendly but outofplace Emily (a blond american girl who spoke terrible spanish) welcomed us to our room where the three of us would share bunk beds and the floor. I volunteered to sleep on the floor because I hadn´t had to once in Jaco.
While we were there, we got to know the whole crew. There was Diana, this gorgeous Iranian girl who I picked up on for a while before I realized she was together with Josue, a funloving bearded local who worked at the hostel and had a ton of energy all the time. We met all kinds of people.
In the afternoon we left to go explore the jungle. We climbed up to the first waterfall of Montezuma, which was absolutely breathtaking and enormous. I have some footage on video tape. To get to the really spectacular one, however, we´d have to carry our cameras and bags over our heads as we waded through shoulder high water. Plus, the mosquitos were going to wake up soon, so we opted to go back. On the way back, as a random aside, we saw the biggest ant I´ve ever even heard of. It was about the size of a large spider. Holy Jesus the jungle has a lot of crazy things in it.
We came back, and went to walk around the town of Montezuma, but upon discovering that there is no town of Montezuma, I went to the internet cafe and and luke and dallas went back to the hostel. I made some $$, but it was a frustrating and kind of tiltridden session. Oh well. I walked back in time for dinner, which was AMAZING. There were a couple Nicaraguans at the hostel and they had decided to cook a Nicaraguan dish called a Nica. Basically, its rice, vegetables, and pork chops, packaged up in a banana leaf and steamed until perfect. Incredible. Amazing food. The owner of the place, a very eccentric old guy who didnt like to talk to anyone, came out and started playing hand drums. It was very fun. We got to know the other people there, which included me convincing this girl from Holland that I was, in fact, a porn star. Very fun indeed.
Then, we caught a bus to Cobana where we caught a taxi to the Mal Pais Surf Camp. The only problem was that there was nobody there. So, we headed down to the beach to look for somewhere else to stay. Nowhere. So far no good. Walking up to an internet cafe, I googled lodging in the local town nearest to us called Santa Teresa. The cheapest thing I could find was called Casa Zen. It looked good, so we took a taxi there.
Thats where I am now. Casa Zen is amazing. Cheap, healthy food. A cheap room with the best accomodations of anywhere we´ve had. A 2 minute walk to the most beautiful beach we´ve seen yet, complete with white sand, colorful shells, good waves to surf, and fun parts of rocks and jungle to explore. Internet that I´m currently using (albeit its not free, sadly enough). We´re just going to crash here today and we´ll start surfing again tomorrow. I will be hard pressed to leave this place any time soon.
keeping it real for you overseas
A
Away we went on our little speed boat, launching off from the shore of Playa Herradera or something like that. The first fifteen minutes were fun, wind whipping by our faces, the sun in the sky, beautiful jungle passing us by on both sides. Then, the rain set in. Within minutes we were completely drenched. I´m talking wetter than I´ve ever been in my life, regardless of swimming pools or showers. That continued for about another hour until we finally landed on the beach of Montezuma.
Our plan had been to get to Montezuma, grab a taxi to Mal Pais (as though that would be quick and easy) and then set up shop at the Mal Pais surf camp. Instead, we landed at Montezuma exhausted, soaked, starving, and not ready to go anywhere. Luckily for us, the hostel Hotel Lys is located on the landing beach and the friendly but outofplace Emily (a blond american girl who spoke terrible spanish) welcomed us to our room where the three of us would share bunk beds and the floor. I volunteered to sleep on the floor because I hadn´t had to once in Jaco.
While we were there, we got to know the whole crew. There was Diana, this gorgeous Iranian girl who I picked up on for a while before I realized she was together with Josue, a funloving bearded local who worked at the hostel and had a ton of energy all the time. We met all kinds of people.
In the afternoon we left to go explore the jungle. We climbed up to the first waterfall of Montezuma, which was absolutely breathtaking and enormous. I have some footage on video tape. To get to the really spectacular one, however, we´d have to carry our cameras and bags over our heads as we waded through shoulder high water. Plus, the mosquitos were going to wake up soon, so we opted to go back. On the way back, as a random aside, we saw the biggest ant I´ve ever even heard of. It was about the size of a large spider. Holy Jesus the jungle has a lot of crazy things in it.
We came back, and went to walk around the town of Montezuma, but upon discovering that there is no town of Montezuma, I went to the internet cafe and and luke and dallas went back to the hostel. I made some $$, but it was a frustrating and kind of tiltridden session. Oh well. I walked back in time for dinner, which was AMAZING. There were a couple Nicaraguans at the hostel and they had decided to cook a Nicaraguan dish called a Nica. Basically, its rice, vegetables, and pork chops, packaged up in a banana leaf and steamed until perfect. Incredible. Amazing food. The owner of the place, a very eccentric old guy who didnt like to talk to anyone, came out and started playing hand drums. It was very fun. We got to know the other people there, which included me convincing this girl from Holland that I was, in fact, a porn star. Very fun indeed.
Then, we caught a bus to Cobana where we caught a taxi to the Mal Pais Surf Camp. The only problem was that there was nobody there. So, we headed down to the beach to look for somewhere else to stay. Nowhere. So far no good. Walking up to an internet cafe, I googled lodging in the local town nearest to us called Santa Teresa. The cheapest thing I could find was called Casa Zen. It looked good, so we took a taxi there.
Thats where I am now. Casa Zen is amazing. Cheap, healthy food. A cheap room with the best accomodations of anywhere we´ve had. A 2 minute walk to the most beautiful beach we´ve seen yet, complete with white sand, colorful shells, good waves to surf, and fun parts of rocks and jungle to explore. Internet that I´m currently using (albeit its not free, sadly enough). We´re just going to crash here today and we´ll start surfing again tomorrow. I will be hard pressed to leave this place any time soon.
keeping it real for you overseas
A
Friday, October 19, 2007
Costa rrrica
Luke, Dallas, and I are just sitting on the balcony of hotel de haan, playing cards and watching the rain pour down onto the palm trees and run smoothly off to sprinkle onto the pool below. The air is humid and slightly cool, its a pretty nice evening to relax. We ordered some pizzas to come so those will be here soon.
We were supposed to head out of Jaco and into Mal Pais on a ferry today, but the ferry was cancelled due to choppy seas as the storm continues to move in. Hopefully the ferry will be back on for tomorrow, because supposedly this weekend is top tier surfing and we're looking to go somewhere with better beaches, better waves, and better weather.
That's not to say the weather isn't fun to be in-- this afternoon, we surfed in the rain for a few hours. It was a lot of fun, even though the waves were less than hospitable. It's incredible that I can stand in the ocean during a rain storm and still feel cool and refreshed. The tropics are awesome.
Poker is swingy right now. I made like 3k yesterday, then turned around and lost it today, in part taking a shot at 5knl. I ran cold as ice, obviously. Oh well, I live to grind another day.
Got the chance to talk to mom and dad yesterday, that was fun. Sounds like everything is going well back home.
a story from the trip:
Luke, Dal and I were walking along the beach after we had strolled down to the end of the rocks on the far right end. We had been looking under rocks at tide pools and watching the fish, anemone, starfish, and other creatures scatter about. Anyway, so we're walking along the beach, when this bronzed local, shirtless with fabio-like hair flowing in the wind, prances up to us, literally on a white stallion. He approaches Dallas, offering his fist extended to look for a pound. Dal gives him a pound, and he then turns his hand over and opens his palm to reveal a huge bag of weed. We decline, but it was by far the most majestic drug dealer I've ever encountered. "No problem," he said with a smile, and galloped off along the coast.
awesome.
hit you up soon from mal pais
Andrew
We were supposed to head out of Jaco and into Mal Pais on a ferry today, but the ferry was cancelled due to choppy seas as the storm continues to move in. Hopefully the ferry will be back on for tomorrow, because supposedly this weekend is top tier surfing and we're looking to go somewhere with better beaches, better waves, and better weather.
That's not to say the weather isn't fun to be in-- this afternoon, we surfed in the rain for a few hours. It was a lot of fun, even though the waves were less than hospitable. It's incredible that I can stand in the ocean during a rain storm and still feel cool and refreshed. The tropics are awesome.
Poker is swingy right now. I made like 3k yesterday, then turned around and lost it today, in part taking a shot at 5knl. I ran cold as ice, obviously. Oh well, I live to grind another day.
Got the chance to talk to mom and dad yesterday, that was fun. Sounds like everything is going well back home.
a story from the trip:
Luke, Dal and I were walking along the beach after we had strolled down to the end of the rocks on the far right end. We had been looking under rocks at tide pools and watching the fish, anemone, starfish, and other creatures scatter about. Anyway, so we're walking along the beach, when this bronzed local, shirtless with fabio-like hair flowing in the wind, prances up to us, literally on a white stallion. He approaches Dallas, offering his fist extended to look for a pound. Dal gives him a pound, and he then turns his hand over and opens his palm to reveal a huge bag of weed. We decline, but it was by far the most majestic drug dealer I've ever encountered. "No problem," he said with a smile, and galloped off along the coast.
awesome.
hit you up soon from mal pais
Andrew
Sunday, October 14, 2007
haha hilarious randomness
so i'm writing to you from the airport in boston at 3:07am. Tonight we got down to boston and met this guy TJ for drinks. I'd never met him before, just knew of him from poker and knew that Leon liked him. So we met up and watched the Sox game with some beers. Later, he decides to drive us to the airport. En route, i suggest he comes to costa rica with us. He is currently passed out next to me at the airport with his ticket already bought, haha.
this trip is awesome
this trip is awesome
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Heading out of Dartmouth and into the rest of the world
So I'm sitting here in the Ryerson with Dallas, playing cards, listening to music and looking at all the video clips I just uploaded from my camera--clips of friends, the house, pong, new york city, yankee stadium, and the various people, places, and things we've seen, visited, and done. We leave in less than two hours. I still have to pack up some stuff and take a shower before we go down to Boston for the night then catch our 5:40AM flight (ouch), but I'm not sure how ready I am to leave.
A part of me is very ready to go--Dartmouth certainly had some disappointments, and was probably like the most unhealthy thing I've ever done (read: delivery and pong every day). But another part of me wishes I could stay... my friendships here are every bit as strong as they ever have been. I was really touched last night by how many people stopped by to say goodbye and wish me the best. Most importantly, they said it genuinely. I have a lot of great friends out here. And as for girls, there was a little spark between me and a longtime friend out here that will have to get put on hold big time as I won't see her until the spring. I'm not sure how she feels about me but at this point I'm very cool with how things have always been between us. We'll have to deal with that as it goes. As for the other girl who I'd wanted to see when I was here, she turned out to be a lot like other girls I've been drawn to. She has an incredible personality, she's smart, funny, incredibly beautiful, but she doesn't seem to know how to be straight or honest with the people people who care about her. I honestly just felt disrespected so I haven't talked with her since I came to this understanding--not to say I haven't wanted to talk to her, but she doesn't really want to talk to me so why should I care. Life's too good for this business anyway!
I can't wait until I get to Costa Rica... supposedly its been raining a lot, but with a little luck it'll be sunny when we show up. Either way, its warm as hell so we'll be enjoying the outdoors and getting in the tropical water in no time. In 48 hours I will be straaaightt loungingggg I'm so excited.
Poker is great by the way. I'm having an awesome month. Trip number 2 next summer? booyaaaaa.
Oh yeah I realized I didn't talk about NYC yet. It was awesome. I'm always blown away by how many people are there all the time. Everything in NYC is just done so much faster and bigger than anywhere I've ever been. It makes Portland (which I love) look like a tiny little village. It makes San Francisco look totally laid back and relaxed. Yankees game was awesome even for a non-yankees fan. Here's a good story:
So we buy our tickets off of stub-hub.com or whatever (3 tier seats behind the plate, awesome seats), and they just say to go to their office (about a 5 minute walk from the stadium) to get the tickets before the game. So we show up and see a line of 2000 people waiting to get into the stubhub office. Daaamn. So I walk to the front and offer a guy 20 bucks to let me in... he kind of waves me off but doesn't really stop me from getting in line, so boom, there I am in the front of the line. About 5 seconds later, this big drunk comes up to me, shoves a 50 in my hand and asks if he can cut in line. I immediately accept, get my tickets, and arrive at the bottom of the 1st inning 50 bucks richer. Awesome trip. The Yankees lost, I saw Joe Torres last game as a Yankee, pretty incredible.
By the way, just stacked AK w/ AA all in pf. 2600 pot. booyizzle.
Anyways, I want to give a little shout out to all the friends I've seen since I've been here--big thank you and much love to:
All the brothers of AXA, andy, tammer, james, algy, diamond, padegimas, lizzy, kagan, danny mich, murph dirty, kayte, ricky b, chanwoong, and anyone else I may be missing.
Big up yoselves.
Fresh.
Andrew
A part of me is very ready to go--Dartmouth certainly had some disappointments, and was probably like the most unhealthy thing I've ever done (read: delivery and pong every day). But another part of me wishes I could stay... my friendships here are every bit as strong as they ever have been. I was really touched last night by how many people stopped by to say goodbye and wish me the best. Most importantly, they said it genuinely. I have a lot of great friends out here. And as for girls, there was a little spark between me and a longtime friend out here that will have to get put on hold big time as I won't see her until the spring. I'm not sure how she feels about me but at this point I'm very cool with how things have always been between us. We'll have to deal with that as it goes. As for the other girl who I'd wanted to see when I was here, she turned out to be a lot like other girls I've been drawn to. She has an incredible personality, she's smart, funny, incredibly beautiful, but she doesn't seem to know how to be straight or honest with the people people who care about her. I honestly just felt disrespected so I haven't talked with her since I came to this understanding--not to say I haven't wanted to talk to her, but she doesn't really want to talk to me so why should I care. Life's too good for this business anyway!
I can't wait until I get to Costa Rica... supposedly its been raining a lot, but with a little luck it'll be sunny when we show up. Either way, its warm as hell so we'll be enjoying the outdoors and getting in the tropical water in no time. In 48 hours I will be straaaightt loungingggg I'm so excited.
Poker is great by the way. I'm having an awesome month. Trip number 2 next summer? booyaaaaa.
Oh yeah I realized I didn't talk about NYC yet. It was awesome. I'm always blown away by how many people are there all the time. Everything in NYC is just done so much faster and bigger than anywhere I've ever been. It makes Portland (which I love) look like a tiny little village. It makes San Francisco look totally laid back and relaxed. Yankees game was awesome even for a non-yankees fan. Here's a good story:
So we buy our tickets off of stub-hub.com or whatever (3 tier seats behind the plate, awesome seats), and they just say to go to their office (about a 5 minute walk from the stadium) to get the tickets before the game. So we show up and see a line of 2000 people waiting to get into the stubhub office. Daaamn. So I walk to the front and offer a guy 20 bucks to let me in... he kind of waves me off but doesn't really stop me from getting in line, so boom, there I am in the front of the line. About 5 seconds later, this big drunk comes up to me, shoves a 50 in my hand and asks if he can cut in line. I immediately accept, get my tickets, and arrive at the bottom of the 1st inning 50 bucks richer. Awesome trip. The Yankees lost, I saw Joe Torres last game as a Yankee, pretty incredible.
By the way, just stacked AK w/ AA all in pf. 2600 pot. booyizzle.
Anyways, I want to give a little shout out to all the friends I've seen since I've been here--big thank you and much love to:
All the brothers of AXA, andy, tammer, james, algy, diamond, padegimas, lizzy, kagan, danny mich, murph dirty, kayte, ricky b, chanwoong, and anyone else I may be missing.
Big up yoselves.
Fresh.
Andrew
Monday, October 8, 2007
Rollin into NY at midnight
What's up crew,
sorry about no recent updates, I was just being lazy I guess while I was hanging out at Dartmouth. For the last couple weeks I've been busy putting rush stuff together for the house, playing a lot of pong, hanging out with friends, and learning a lot about myself and the kinds of people I want to hang out with.
quick note on that-- sometimes what you think you want doesn't jive at all with the kinds of values you actually hold to be important. You have to make a choice between your principles and chasing something that seems worth the chase. I'm pretty sure that in most cases, if you have to be chasing, its not worth the chase. what was crazy for me was that right as I was coming to this cold conclusion, I was realizing that I had some relationships that I took for granted and didn't explore as much as I should have. Maybe if I'd been more principled in the past I'd be in a different spot than I am now.
Haha still, the spot i'm in now isn't too bad--tonight, Kayte drove Dallas and I from Dartmouth to her home in southern Connecticut. It's a beautiful place, we're crashing here and then taking the train into NYC tomorrow where we'll have lunch with the Berger man and hopefully dinner with both Kayte and Rick. I'm psyched to check out Carnegie Deli for lunch to be honest.
Things with Dallas have been great so far, we haven't had any problems and we've just been doing our thing.
Poker, in general, has been good lately. I'm still getting the constant stream of players asking for coaching (which I've been politely declining until I return to a normal schedule). I've been grinding midstakes again and have run up one of my accounts back into the lots-of-thousands category, so that feels pretty good. Rough day today though, took KK vs AA for 1100 at 5/10, took KK vs AQ on KJT for 800 at 3/6, ended up down about 1600. Made a couple bad calls too, but one big time call.
Here's the hand:
I open raise K9cc in the SB, laggro villain calls in the BB. flop is 9s4c3c. I bet, he calls. Turn is a 7s. I bet, he raises. I'm pretty sure he has picked up a draw, I assume a flush draw usually, but he could def have 97s. I think sets are unlikely, as are big pairs, due to the flop action. I decide that he's bluff/semibluffing enough that calling and c/c the river is probably the best play. I call, river card comes down the Jd. I check, he pauses for a few moments, then shoves. At this point his range looks like J9, T8, 97, or missed draws. It's about a PSB to me, we were a little deepstacked. I decided I'm good more than 33% of the time and call. 86o no good sir.
So i'm feeling pretty decent about poker on the day despite the losses and I'm excited to see NYC tomorrow.
Also, Luke sent me some pictures of locations in Costa Rica that look amazing and that aren't too difficult to get to. Excited to be there in only a week!
oh yeah, and Mom- answer your phone. I called you today, call me back I'd love to talk to you.
ml
A
sorry about no recent updates, I was just being lazy I guess while I was hanging out at Dartmouth. For the last couple weeks I've been busy putting rush stuff together for the house, playing a lot of pong, hanging out with friends, and learning a lot about myself and the kinds of people I want to hang out with.
quick note on that-- sometimes what you think you want doesn't jive at all with the kinds of values you actually hold to be important. You have to make a choice between your principles and chasing something that seems worth the chase. I'm pretty sure that in most cases, if you have to be chasing, its not worth the chase. what was crazy for me was that right as I was coming to this cold conclusion, I was realizing that I had some relationships that I took for granted and didn't explore as much as I should have. Maybe if I'd been more principled in the past I'd be in a different spot than I am now.
Haha still, the spot i'm in now isn't too bad--tonight, Kayte drove Dallas and I from Dartmouth to her home in southern Connecticut. It's a beautiful place, we're crashing here and then taking the train into NYC tomorrow where we'll have lunch with the Berger man and hopefully dinner with both Kayte and Rick. I'm psyched to check out Carnegie Deli for lunch to be honest.
Things with Dallas have been great so far, we haven't had any problems and we've just been doing our thing.
Poker, in general, has been good lately. I'm still getting the constant stream of players asking for coaching (which I've been politely declining until I return to a normal schedule). I've been grinding midstakes again and have run up one of my accounts back into the lots-of-thousands category, so that feels pretty good. Rough day today though, took KK vs AA for 1100 at 5/10, took KK vs AQ on KJT for 800 at 3/6, ended up down about 1600. Made a couple bad calls too, but one big time call.
Here's the hand:
I open raise K9cc in the SB, laggro villain calls in the BB. flop is 9s4c3c. I bet, he calls. Turn is a 7s. I bet, he raises. I'm pretty sure he has picked up a draw, I assume a flush draw usually, but he could def have 97s. I think sets are unlikely, as are big pairs, due to the flop action. I decide that he's bluff/semibluffing enough that calling and c/c the river is probably the best play. I call, river card comes down the Jd. I check, he pauses for a few moments, then shoves. At this point his range looks like J9, T8, 97, or missed draws. It's about a PSB to me, we were a little deepstacked. I decided I'm good more than 33% of the time and call. 86o no good sir.
So i'm feeling pretty decent about poker on the day despite the losses and I'm excited to see NYC tomorrow.
Also, Luke sent me some pictures of locations in Costa Rica that look amazing and that aren't too difficult to get to. Excited to be there in only a week!
oh yeah, and Mom- answer your phone. I called you today, call me back I'd love to talk to you.
ml
A
Sunday, September 23, 2007
back at my 2nd home
Hollaaaa
Dal and I got in to Dartmouth late last night due to some transportation difficulties, but we're here and set up. We're living at axa, we played a little pong last night-- dal is pretty sick for his first real game. I'm looking forward to enjoying some good weather while it lasts, hanging out with friends, showing prospective rushes the house, and general rage. Most of my good friends aren't on campus yet, but I'll see them in the next few days as classes start on wednesday or thursday.
Damn i'm glad to not have classes, haha. I need to do this more often.
Poker's been going well, I think i'll be able to move up limits pretty fast again and start making some real $$. It is kinda fun just beating up on terrible players at low limits though.
Anyways, we've finally done laundry, so I'm gonna give Dal a tour of campus and grab some food from food court or the hop or something.
Most of all, its good to be back here.
Happy birthday Grandma,
Andrew
Dal and I got in to Dartmouth late last night due to some transportation difficulties, but we're here and set up. We're living at axa, we played a little pong last night-- dal is pretty sick for his first real game. I'm looking forward to enjoying some good weather while it lasts, hanging out with friends, showing prospective rushes the house, and general rage. Most of my good friends aren't on campus yet, but I'll see them in the next few days as classes start on wednesday or thursday.
Damn i'm glad to not have classes, haha. I need to do this more often.
Poker's been going well, I think i'll be able to move up limits pretty fast again and start making some real $$. It is kinda fun just beating up on terrible players at low limits though.
Anyways, we've finally done laundry, so I'm gonna give Dal a tour of campus and grab some food from food court or the hop or something.
Most of all, its good to be back here.
Happy birthday Grandma,
Andrew
Monday, September 17, 2007
In San Francisco
Hola
I'm here in Mountain View with Dallas... James is at work, but he's been an excellent host-- cooking dinner for us, hanging out with us, and yesterday he led our tour of San Francisco. We hit up Yank Sing, probably the best Dim Sum in the country, then walked across the city to North Bay and Ghiradelli Square where we had baller ice-cream and milkshakes. I love San Francisco, definitely my current favorite city in the U.S.
Our first night in, we went to Santa Clara where we partied with Ben and some random girls Dallas knew. We'll probably go back tomorrow night (Tuesday), though we have no real plans for tonight. We've been kinda relaxing all day, but I think I'd like to go hang out somewhere tonight.
In poker news, I started playing a little bit on my new site, and pulled in about 3k. Did a little coaching earlier today too, that was fun. Its actually really enjoyable to help somebody understand this game a little bit more, simply because I like poker a lot, and I understand it more than most.... its a nice thing to get paid for giving back to people in the same position I was in a year ago.
Poker subject of the day by the way:
TABLE SELECTION
TAG's are going to shuffle money around. Not-TAG's are going to lose it. You chose who you're going to play against. Sure, as you go up, the ratio of TAG's to not-TAG's gets pretty bad. So, don't play so many tables at high limits, don't play as often, keep killing the games for relatively low variance. I'll probably talk about this more, I just haven't thought about it fully yet.
Anyways, hit us up in San Francisco.
ML
A
PS: Good luck recovering from your surgery grandma! I love you!
I'm here in Mountain View with Dallas... James is at work, but he's been an excellent host-- cooking dinner for us, hanging out with us, and yesterday he led our tour of San Francisco. We hit up Yank Sing, probably the best Dim Sum in the country, then walked across the city to North Bay and Ghiradelli Square where we had baller ice-cream and milkshakes. I love San Francisco, definitely my current favorite city in the U.S.
Our first night in, we went to Santa Clara where we partied with Ben and some random girls Dallas knew. We'll probably go back tomorrow night (Tuesday), though we have no real plans for tonight. We've been kinda relaxing all day, but I think I'd like to go hang out somewhere tonight.
In poker news, I started playing a little bit on my new site, and pulled in about 3k. Did a little coaching earlier today too, that was fun. Its actually really enjoyable to help somebody understand this game a little bit more, simply because I like poker a lot, and I understand it more than most.... its a nice thing to get paid for giving back to people in the same position I was in a year ago.
Poker subject of the day by the way:
TABLE SELECTION
TAG's are going to shuffle money around. Not-TAG's are going to lose it. You chose who you're going to play against. Sure, as you go up, the ratio of TAG's to not-TAG's gets pretty bad. So, don't play so many tables at high limits, don't play as often, keep killing the games for relatively low variance. I'll probably talk about this more, I just haven't thought about it fully yet.
Anyways, hit us up in San Francisco.
ML
A
PS: Good luck recovering from your surgery grandma! I love you!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Holla from LA
I'm just kickin it here down at Pomona College in LA, staying with my age-old friend Zach. Zach lived on my street growing up, we first started being friends at age 4. So, its been a long time. Currently he is a dominant baseball player on pomona-pitzer, played in the Washington summer league and put up all star numbers, and is looking at having a huge season this year.
Pomona is beautiful-- palm trees, swimming pools, beach volleyball courts, big fountains, and wide open green spaces. Why the f*ck didnt I apply here? What an awesome place to go to school.
Dallas, my travel partner, was feeling ill the day we were supposed to fly, so he gets here in a few hours today instead of two days ago. That's alright, I'm looking forward to having him join me. We may go into LA, we may hang at Pomona the rest of the time... Zach may even come to San Francisco with us. I hope he does--that sort of spontaneous thing is basically what this trip is all about.
One unexpected and fun part of being at Pomona is being able to see Jori at Scripps. Jori and I met at summer camp (HVC) when we were twelve and have been able to stay in touch off and on for the last 8 years. She is great and I've gotten a chance to hang out with her some. She met all of Zach's Pomona friends last night at Zach's birthday dinner (at the Red Robin obv) and had a good time. Now all she needs to do is meet Bill once he gets back from Scotland! Although I'll have a chance to see Bill before she does, i'm heading to Edinburgh before too long homie!
Alright, thats all for now, new videos to be uploaded to facebook shortly.
peaceeee
Andrew
ps- poker article coming your way later this week
Pomona is beautiful-- palm trees, swimming pools, beach volleyball courts, big fountains, and wide open green spaces. Why the f*ck didnt I apply here? What an awesome place to go to school.
Dallas, my travel partner, was feeling ill the day we were supposed to fly, so he gets here in a few hours today instead of two days ago. That's alright, I'm looking forward to having him join me. We may go into LA, we may hang at Pomona the rest of the time... Zach may even come to San Francisco with us. I hope he does--that sort of spontaneous thing is basically what this trip is all about.
One unexpected and fun part of being at Pomona is being able to see Jori at Scripps. Jori and I met at summer camp (HVC) when we were twelve and have been able to stay in touch off and on for the last 8 years. She is great and I've gotten a chance to hang out with her some. She met all of Zach's Pomona friends last night at Zach's birthday dinner (at the Red Robin obv) and had a good time. Now all she needs to do is meet Bill once he gets back from Scotland! Although I'll have a chance to see Bill before she does, i'm heading to Edinburgh before too long homie!
Alright, thats all for now, new videos to be uploaded to facebook shortly.
peaceeee
Andrew
ps- poker article coming your way later this week
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Two Days to Go
before all these shananigans (sp?) get started.
This blog is to let me give written updates as to what I'm doing throughout the trip. I'll describe the things we see and the people we meet. I'll also talk from time to time about poker, gambling theory, and different ideas that I've been having. Mostly though, it'll be the front-to-back story of a normal guy who won some money and is now going to blow it in the name of being young.
So far I have:
-Bought plane tickets across the U.S., into Costa Rica, from Costa Rica to London, and from Rome to Portland.
-Bought a dope backpack and all kinds of supplies
-Figured out both my video camera, my digital camera, and my video editing software
-Made a facebook group to document the trip with videos and photos
-Visited Seattle for Adam's 21st and saw John Legend, Lupe Fiasco (sucked), and Wu Tang live. Tonight I'm probably seeing Girl Talk and Ghostface (again).
Now I need to line up contact info for all my friends we'll be seeing across the world and actually pack my bags.
Then, first stop:
Monday, Sept 10: Los Angeles
By the way-- if you have any sweet tips about traveling through Costa Rica, any advice on whether to use buses, trains, or planes in Europe, or any favorite locations throughout the European continent, send them my way at andrew.seidman@dartmouth.edu
Good luck and talk to you soon,
Andrew
This blog is to let me give written updates as to what I'm doing throughout the trip. I'll describe the things we see and the people we meet. I'll also talk from time to time about poker, gambling theory, and different ideas that I've been having. Mostly though, it'll be the front-to-back story of a normal guy who won some money and is now going to blow it in the name of being young.
So far I have:
-Bought plane tickets across the U.S., into Costa Rica, from Costa Rica to London, and from Rome to Portland.
-Bought a dope backpack and all kinds of supplies
-Figured out both my video camera, my digital camera, and my video editing software
-Made a facebook group to document the trip with videos and photos
-Visited Seattle for Adam's 21st and saw John Legend, Lupe Fiasco (sucked), and Wu Tang live. Tonight I'm probably seeing Girl Talk and Ghostface (again).
Now I need to line up contact info for all my friends we'll be seeing across the world and actually pack my bags.
Then, first stop:
Monday, Sept 10: Los Angeles
By the way-- if you have any sweet tips about traveling through Costa Rica, any advice on whether to use buses, trains, or planes in Europe, or any favorite locations throughout the European continent, send them my way at andrew.seidman@dartmouth.edu
Good luck and talk to you soon,
Andrew
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