did i mention that on saturday my wig fell askew part-way through rehearsal? my co-actors just about died laughing, and i'll admit i lost a few chuckles myself. costume malfunction, but hey, there have been worse. so i went out and bought a giant squeeze bottle of mega gel and made a do-rag out of a knee-high stocking. ta-da! i now have post-play crusty head, but the wigs stayed put. of course, i got to rehearsal all dressed for the magi play, and we were practicing the hillbilly play first, but dad-gummit if i didn't just play a hillbilly in my fancy 'do - because there is no way i was going to try to recreate the madness in between plays. for the real performances i'll do the wigs play first. now i just have to figure out how to de-gunk and make some braids in the 5 minutes between plays. oog.
on a side note, the dollar store frozen pretzels i've been snacking on are mighty good.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
sleeping
the intention was to go to work after rehearsal today. the reality was that i went home and went back to sleep. for nearly 4 hours. woke up to a hobbes face about two inches away from mine. there are worse ways to wake up. teddy and connie both got up on the bed for some snuggling, and teddy laid on top of hobbes and made him squeal. the joys of critters.
speaking of joys and critters: i started all the cats on a diet - as part of purina's project pet slim down because twilight was a tad on the portly side. okay, i admit it, she was fat. when she was lying on the floor she became a circle with legs and a face. very fat cat. so anyway, the cats all eat out of the same dish, so everyone had to go out on a diet. my estimation on her weight loss over the last 3 months is about 2 pounds (that's like 30 human pounds). she's leaner, faster, and obviously more comfortable moving around. she's jumping more and getting into things, and this morning she actually played and wrestled with shadow for several minutes. she hasn't done that in years, and i didn't realize it was connected to a lack of comfort with moving around in her royal fatness. don't get me wrong - she's still a tubby little thing. but oh, it's nice to see her happier. so i recommend purina OM to anyone with a portly pet.
and on that note... i'll go feed the critters.
speaking of joys and critters: i started all the cats on a diet - as part of purina's project pet slim down because twilight was a tad on the portly side. okay, i admit it, she was fat. when she was lying on the floor she became a circle with legs and a face. very fat cat. so anyway, the cats all eat out of the same dish, so everyone had to go out on a diet. my estimation on her weight loss over the last 3 months is about 2 pounds (that's like 30 human pounds). she's leaner, faster, and obviously more comfortable moving around. she's jumping more and getting into things, and this morning she actually played and wrestled with shadow for several minutes. she hasn't done that in years, and i didn't realize it was connected to a lack of comfort with moving around in her royal fatness. don't get me wrong - she's still a tubby little thing. but oh, it's nice to see her happier. so i recommend purina OM to anyone with a portly pet.
and on that note... i'll go feed the critters.
Friday, November 26, 2010
holidays alone
welcome to my first holiday season without relatives. i basically went straight from my family to shaggy's, with a quick christmas in new york in between. i've never not had a tree or stockings. i've played santa ever since i was twelve. and now the dillema of (and i know this grammar is terrible, but...) now who do i play santa for? i already bought myself some fancy chapstick, but do i really make a stocking for myself? and a tree? if i was already moved in to my new house, no question, i would get a tree. but i'm still camping and living out of boxes at this apartment. yesterday i made my annual chocolatey meringue stars - usually the first on my holiday baking list. so now do i keep baking? i'd have to unpack a bunch of baking supplies to do that. worth doing? maybe.
or should i just sleep through the whole season?
or should i just sleep through the whole season?
Thursday, November 25, 2010
things i'm thankful for today:
my critters! hobbes' mischevous sense of humor, snotty cold early morning kisses, and heart of gold. balloon's clingy-velcroness and sweet biscuit making. twilight's gritty meow and new found love of play (thanks to purina OM and project pet slim-down!). shadow's, well... shadow's relative lack of fear lately - he's taken to hissing at the dogs as he walks by them, instead of hissing while he flees from them. theodore. so many things about my teddy boy. his sweet face and gentle nature. the fact that he tries so hard to be a good boy. his patience, his "inside voice", and his happy smile. such a good dog. and of course, the foster connie. she really needs a home of her own, but i'm thankful i can provide her a place for now.
speaking of place. i know i complain about my leaky roof, but i am so thankful to have this apartment right now. it was perfect for this time of change - being this close to work this cheaply was incredible. i got lots of amusing stories and lots of "this is how to fix problem x" experience. now i can take care of just about any problem i might run into as a homeowner (or at least i know who to call if i can't), and i got to practice painting on somewhere they'll probably repaint as soon as i move out anyway...
my car. holy smokes am i thankful for my free car. the engine is just about the only thing that works on it, but that's all i need. heaters, pshaw. speedometer, pshaw. door locks, trunk seal, gas cap that opens properly, pshaw. i love having a car i can put bumper stickers on. i love having a car that's mine. i love the freedom of being able to just go in to town on a whim, or purchase more stuff than i can fit on my bicycle.
my bicycle. holy smokes am i thankful for my bicycle! it's a purple electra with all the fixin's and i just love it to bits. my last couple of bicycles (which were also purple, but much cheaper and less awesome) got retired by being tossed in the dumpster at whichever apartment complex in san diego i was moving out of at the time. yeah, not too fancy or anything. this smooth ride... ahhhhhhh.
speaking of smooth, i am thankful for my dutch cocoa. it's dark and smoky and practically sinful. mmmm.
i'm thankful for food. for yummy food, cheap food, yummy and cheap food (macaroni and cheese, among other things). the flavors, the textures, from cocoa krispies to a garlic-buttered artichoke. can we say i love my food?
i'm thankful for the fun places i can buy food. trader joes is incredible, though a little far away. clauson's liquidation! wow! i got a 5lb bag of raw sugar there for 5 bucks yesterday. they've had truffle oil, gluten free bread mixes, chestnuts, cases of gatorade, veggies galore, and all kinds of fun candy stuff, all at ridiculously low prices. grocery outlet. again YUM and very cheap.
i'm thankful for my paychecks. they're not a ton, but they are sufficient and i'm grateful to have them. i'm thankful for a boss who appreciates the work i do and doesn't mind me putting in a bit of ot to get a project done. i'm thankful that i get to be silly at work.
speaking of work: can anyone imagine a better job for me than the one i have? not by much! i get to work directly with animals, i get to help awesome people and hold stupid people accountable. i get to organize things and track statistics and be all anal about that. i get to bring my dogs to work with me. i get to talk about things like animal behaviors and new medical breakthroughs and go to trainings that build me up personally as well as professionally. i get to do all that stuff and i get paid for the privilege. not a bad deal at all!
i am thankful for my coworkers! i work with some amazing people, and it is amazing to me to be able to interact with them on the level that i do. there is no petty sniping. we don't wear our poopy potty pants to work, and we don't have to deal with any of the normal girl-type snitty stuff. instead we build each other up and help each other learn and share the workload like no place i've ever been. what an incredible team!
i am thankful for my freedom. from government oppression. from societal and economic oppression (maybe living in the middle of nowhere has something to do with that). from any kind of oppression. what an amazing country i live in, where a bunch of idiots in washington (d.c. of course) pretend they run the show, but in real life we all go on living our daily lives as we choose to do. my travels this year have really reminded me how amazing it really is to be an american citizen and i'm proud of that, regardless of how silly we can be.
which leads me to being thankful for our soldiers. our troops. our marines, airmen, seamen, whatever you want to call them. the people who wear a uniform to ensure our safety and security. my hat is off to them and their families.
i'm thankful for my personal freedom of choice. i'm thankful that this year, i was able to really get to know myself, and realize that i really am kind of cool. i kind of always thought i had some good stuff to offer, and now i know it. yay for realization! what an amazing feeling - i like myself. i like who i am and what i do, and i am proud of the choices i make. i don't care if i don't have a huge impact on the world, but i can make a small impact on lots of lives, and i choose to do that. i've learned that it's more important to be happy than to be "right", and i am so glad i can choose to be wrong sometimes. because i am happy.
i'm thankful for words, written, spoken, non-verbally expressed. i love communicating, and seeing how different kinds of communications work. i like to see how people interact with people, critters with critters, critters with people.
*i'm thankful for melanie and eric who just brought neil by to say hi and happy thanksgiving! i do love that dog, and i'm sooooo glad that he is happy with them!*
i'm thankful for the good deeds i'm able to do. once in a psychology class we held a debate as to whether any action could be truly altruistic. i argued no. good deeds are rewarded, and i think people have an innate sense of that. i got to foster poki the broken-legged weiner dog last winter. i didn't get any money or fame from that, but it felt so good to see her with her new family.
i am thankful for the internet and my telephone that keep me connected with the outside world. it is amazing that i can be back in contact with people i knew years ago in other countries.
that said, i love living where i do. my favorite stores are far away, but that makes it even more special when i get to go there. most people i know are in other states, so it's that much cooler when i get to see them. i am thankful that where i live helps me appreciate what i have.
i am thankful that i've been approved to purchase my cabin. i'm finally going to be legit and own a house. i'm really going to live here, not just rent or squat. i'll really belong somewhere. wow. that's a load off my shoulders. i am so excited to be a real grownup and pay a mortgage. i am thankful for government programs that make it possible for someone without a big down payment to be able to buy a home. i am thankful for my realtor and loan officer who are making this happen. and i'm thankful that the builders made such a cool little cute cabin for me to buy.
i'm thankful for my laptop. it was an amazing gift, given at a very opportune time. i'm thankful that it was missed when the majority of my other electronics were stolen.
i'm thankful for my layers and layers of clothes, including my frontline fuzzy jacket and my ridiculous hat that are keeping me warm(ish) right now. i'm thankful that my boss told me to take home an additional heater from work, so that i was warm enough last night to really sleep. i'm thankful that i was able to sleep in today. really sleep in. the poor critters didn't get breakfast until about 10:30. then i went back to bed. i'm thankful for a paid holiday! i'm thankful that i'm getting a chance to rest and let my body admit that i'm sick, so i can start to get better. stupid head cold... i'm thankful for ricola and halls lozenges, for theraflu and the dutch theraflu-ish stuff i got there, for hot cider and lemonade and herbal tea. i'm thankful for vitamins and excedrin and tissues (especially the ones with lotion in them...).
i'm thankful that i have enough money in my bank account that i don't have to freak out about black friday or camp in front of anywhere to get something cheaper. i can get what i need, when i need it, and if something is expensive, i can budget and save for it. i am thankful that i have the security and stability to be able to do that. i am thankful for my absence of debt (until i get the mortgage).
finally, i am thankful that i know there are other things i didn't list, but that i'm going back to bed again, so they can stay in my subconscious for now.
speaking of place. i know i complain about my leaky roof, but i am so thankful to have this apartment right now. it was perfect for this time of change - being this close to work this cheaply was incredible. i got lots of amusing stories and lots of "this is how to fix problem x" experience. now i can take care of just about any problem i might run into as a homeowner (or at least i know who to call if i can't), and i got to practice painting on somewhere they'll probably repaint as soon as i move out anyway...
my car. holy smokes am i thankful for my free car. the engine is just about the only thing that works on it, but that's all i need. heaters, pshaw. speedometer, pshaw. door locks, trunk seal, gas cap that opens properly, pshaw. i love having a car i can put bumper stickers on. i love having a car that's mine. i love the freedom of being able to just go in to town on a whim, or purchase more stuff than i can fit on my bicycle.
my bicycle. holy smokes am i thankful for my bicycle! it's a purple electra with all the fixin's and i just love it to bits. my last couple of bicycles (which were also purple, but much cheaper and less awesome) got retired by being tossed in the dumpster at whichever apartment complex in san diego i was moving out of at the time. yeah, not too fancy or anything. this smooth ride... ahhhhhhh.
speaking of smooth, i am thankful for my dutch cocoa. it's dark and smoky and practically sinful. mmmm.
i'm thankful for food. for yummy food, cheap food, yummy and cheap food (macaroni and cheese, among other things). the flavors, the textures, from cocoa krispies to a garlic-buttered artichoke. can we say i love my food?
i'm thankful for the fun places i can buy food. trader joes is incredible, though a little far away. clauson's liquidation! wow! i got a 5lb bag of raw sugar there for 5 bucks yesterday. they've had truffle oil, gluten free bread mixes, chestnuts, cases of gatorade, veggies galore, and all kinds of fun candy stuff, all at ridiculously low prices. grocery outlet. again YUM and very cheap.
i'm thankful for my paychecks. they're not a ton, but they are sufficient and i'm grateful to have them. i'm thankful for a boss who appreciates the work i do and doesn't mind me putting in a bit of ot to get a project done. i'm thankful that i get to be silly at work.
speaking of work: can anyone imagine a better job for me than the one i have? not by much! i get to work directly with animals, i get to help awesome people and hold stupid people accountable. i get to organize things and track statistics and be all anal about that. i get to bring my dogs to work with me. i get to talk about things like animal behaviors and new medical breakthroughs and go to trainings that build me up personally as well as professionally. i get to do all that stuff and i get paid for the privilege. not a bad deal at all!
i am thankful for my coworkers! i work with some amazing people, and it is amazing to me to be able to interact with them on the level that i do. there is no petty sniping. we don't wear our poopy potty pants to work, and we don't have to deal with any of the normal girl-type snitty stuff. instead we build each other up and help each other learn and share the workload like no place i've ever been. what an incredible team!
i am thankful for my freedom. from government oppression. from societal and economic oppression (maybe living in the middle of nowhere has something to do with that). from any kind of oppression. what an amazing country i live in, where a bunch of idiots in washington (d.c. of course) pretend they run the show, but in real life we all go on living our daily lives as we choose to do. my travels this year have really reminded me how amazing it really is to be an american citizen and i'm proud of that, regardless of how silly we can be.
which leads me to being thankful for our soldiers. our troops. our marines, airmen, seamen, whatever you want to call them. the people who wear a uniform to ensure our safety and security. my hat is off to them and their families.
i'm thankful for my personal freedom of choice. i'm thankful that this year, i was able to really get to know myself, and realize that i really am kind of cool. i kind of always thought i had some good stuff to offer, and now i know it. yay for realization! what an amazing feeling - i like myself. i like who i am and what i do, and i am proud of the choices i make. i don't care if i don't have a huge impact on the world, but i can make a small impact on lots of lives, and i choose to do that. i've learned that it's more important to be happy than to be "right", and i am so glad i can choose to be wrong sometimes. because i am happy.
i'm thankful for words, written, spoken, non-verbally expressed. i love communicating, and seeing how different kinds of communications work. i like to see how people interact with people, critters with critters, critters with people.
*i'm thankful for melanie and eric who just brought neil by to say hi and happy thanksgiving! i do love that dog, and i'm sooooo glad that he is happy with them!*
i'm thankful for the good deeds i'm able to do. once in a psychology class we held a debate as to whether any action could be truly altruistic. i argued no. good deeds are rewarded, and i think people have an innate sense of that. i got to foster poki the broken-legged weiner dog last winter. i didn't get any money or fame from that, but it felt so good to see her with her new family.
i am thankful for the internet and my telephone that keep me connected with the outside world. it is amazing that i can be back in contact with people i knew years ago in other countries.
that said, i love living where i do. my favorite stores are far away, but that makes it even more special when i get to go there. most people i know are in other states, so it's that much cooler when i get to see them. i am thankful that where i live helps me appreciate what i have.
i am thankful that i've been approved to purchase my cabin. i'm finally going to be legit and own a house. i'm really going to live here, not just rent or squat. i'll really belong somewhere. wow. that's a load off my shoulders. i am so excited to be a real grownup and pay a mortgage. i am thankful for government programs that make it possible for someone without a big down payment to be able to buy a home. i am thankful for my realtor and loan officer who are making this happen. and i'm thankful that the builders made such a cool little cute cabin for me to buy.
i'm thankful for my laptop. it was an amazing gift, given at a very opportune time. i'm thankful that it was missed when the majority of my other electronics were stolen.
i'm thankful for my layers and layers of clothes, including my frontline fuzzy jacket and my ridiculous hat that are keeping me warm(ish) right now. i'm thankful that my boss told me to take home an additional heater from work, so that i was warm enough last night to really sleep. i'm thankful that i was able to sleep in today. really sleep in. the poor critters didn't get breakfast until about 10:30. then i went back to bed. i'm thankful for a paid holiday! i'm thankful that i'm getting a chance to rest and let my body admit that i'm sick, so i can start to get better. stupid head cold... i'm thankful for ricola and halls lozenges, for theraflu and the dutch theraflu-ish stuff i got there, for hot cider and lemonade and herbal tea. i'm thankful for vitamins and excedrin and tissues (especially the ones with lotion in them...).
i'm thankful that i have enough money in my bank account that i don't have to freak out about black friday or camp in front of anywhere to get something cheaper. i can get what i need, when i need it, and if something is expensive, i can budget and save for it. i am thankful that i have the security and stability to be able to do that. i am thankful for my absence of debt (until i get the mortgage).
finally, i am thankful that i know there are other things i didn't list, but that i'm going back to bed again, so they can stay in my subconscious for now.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
more pirated romania photos
a mix of photos from dan and laura's cameras...
the night of the blind people party, there was a dance at the hotel restaurant. i do not know this dude's name, but he danced with several of us.
and as we were waiting around outside the clinic, i got this itch inside my nose...
while at the mud volcanoes, i had fun leaping from peak to peak. then i got a tad cocky. surprised i didn't fall down at this point:
and a random stone lion "got" me at castle pelles. yes, i am a ham, but i didn't mean it like that!
the night of the blind people party, there was a dance at the hotel restaurant. i do not know this dude's name, but he danced with several of us.
and as we were waiting around outside the clinic, i got this itch inside my nose...apparently it was a really, really bad itch:
while at the mud volcanoes, i had fun leaping from peak to peak. then i got a tad cocky. surprised i didn't fall down at this point:
and a random stone lion "got" me at castle pelles. yes, i am a ham, but i didn't mean it like that!
still catching up
so i got as far as the spay/neuter clinic. we started early (i got there about 5:30) and people started showing up with their pets a little before 6am. at a little after 6:30 i started calling the people whose pets weren't there yet. we got most of 'em to show up. then surgery started at about 7. as per normal, the food brought in by volunteers was awesome, and boy, did we earn it! i think the clinics are getting more and more popular - we had so many volunteers this time that i stationed one person with the boss' and my dogs in the office to pet and love on and keep 'em happy. it was great to get all these incredible people together and introduce them to other people who love animals. and we did good deeds at the same time! double win!
so then i finally got to relax a little bit on sunday, after helping work with an agressive puppy. then monday was a real monday, and tuesday went really smoothly until the end of the day when i got to start driving. see, i got to go to an inventory/osha training on wednesday and thursday up in everett. yeah, long drive (also that's where the ex lives now. awkward!). so i drove up on tuesday, got there about 9:30, and checked in to my motel 6. sort of eeew, but i had a freebie coupon, and we know i can't pass up a freebie. first the heater wouldn't get warm, then it got too warm, but altogether not too terrible. the training was awesome. webster veterinary supply has a webster university program, and this was the first time i'd gone to any of their classes. there were only about 15 of us, with a great instructor, and i think we all learned a lot. plus, all the other people there were veterinary office managers, so we got to talk shop and help troubleshoot each others' issues and whatnot. got some really good advice and met some great people. they fed us too, which is always a plus in my book. hot breakfast and lunch at the courseroom, and then they took us all out to dinner on wednesday to an italian bistro. yum! can we say tirami-awesome-su?
finished up with osha stuff on thursday at about 1. just in time to go to the irs office to get copies of tax returns for my loan officer, and then hit trader joes and big lots before the first time homebuyers class i had to take to get a deal on my down payment. since they don't offer those classes out here, i scheduled it for thursday evening while i was in civilization. great class, and i learned a lot, but i didn't start the drive back until almost 10.
so then there was a little bit of sleep before i got up to take my car in to the shop. i swung by the new house on the way there. it seems the cabinet guy had a family emergency, so it's still almost done... at least everybody's ok and it should be ready by closing (maybe dec. 15th?). i took the dogs along for the ride, so that we could all walk back from the mechanic. i think they had fun, at least on the walk back, since teddy's not a huge fan of riding in the car. then i left 'em at home because the rain was picking up, and i went to work. once i'd caught up on most of my piles of stuff, i realized that it wasn't just a scratchy throat that had been bothering me - it was full-blown achy/fevery/swollen neck glands and grossness throat. so i got kicked out of the office a couple of minutes early. like that did much good because i had to drive in to town again anyway. at least i got some sleep after i got home.
so on saturday i felt a little better (yay) and (gulp) went and watched harry potter. i know, i know. i haven't wasted theater time on any of 'em so far, but hey, i'd already gone bowling and scoped out the volunteer recognition thingy at the convention center... it was definitely a harry potter movie. partly weird, partly obvious (does anyone else think malfoy is going to pull a darth vader and turn good in the next movie? guess i could read the book and find out...) and harry's just a little full of himself again. so it's not okay to steal necklaces unless harry does it, in which case whoever tries to stop him is a bad guy? animal farm much? just a tad frustrating that this series was a whole huge thing and that masses of children have idolized these books and now have been "taught" (or at least had it reinforced) that it's okay to feel entitled and that people should just help them in their quests, regardless of whether or not they agree, and that fighting is an acceptable solution as compared with rational discussion, etc. etc. not a huge fan of the potter kid, i know. and that was my tangent for the day.
finally almost caught up to today, in which the snow fell, blew around, stuck, melted, stuck some more, and turned the world all magical for a few minutes. then i got really cold, hence my 3 layers of socks. hot cocoa time!
so then i finally got to relax a little bit on sunday, after helping work with an agressive puppy. then monday was a real monday, and tuesday went really smoothly until the end of the day when i got to start driving. see, i got to go to an inventory/osha training on wednesday and thursday up in everett. yeah, long drive (also that's where the ex lives now. awkward!). so i drove up on tuesday, got there about 9:30, and checked in to my motel 6. sort of eeew, but i had a freebie coupon, and we know i can't pass up a freebie. first the heater wouldn't get warm, then it got too warm, but altogether not too terrible. the training was awesome. webster veterinary supply has a webster university program, and this was the first time i'd gone to any of their classes. there were only about 15 of us, with a great instructor, and i think we all learned a lot. plus, all the other people there were veterinary office managers, so we got to talk shop and help troubleshoot each others' issues and whatnot. got some really good advice and met some great people. they fed us too, which is always a plus in my book. hot breakfast and lunch at the courseroom, and then they took us all out to dinner on wednesday to an italian bistro. yum! can we say tirami-awesome-su?
finished up with osha stuff on thursday at about 1. just in time to go to the irs office to get copies of tax returns for my loan officer, and then hit trader joes and big lots before the first time homebuyers class i had to take to get a deal on my down payment. since they don't offer those classes out here, i scheduled it for thursday evening while i was in civilization. great class, and i learned a lot, but i didn't start the drive back until almost 10.
so then there was a little bit of sleep before i got up to take my car in to the shop. i swung by the new house on the way there. it seems the cabinet guy had a family emergency, so it's still almost done... at least everybody's ok and it should be ready by closing (maybe dec. 15th?). i took the dogs along for the ride, so that we could all walk back from the mechanic. i think they had fun, at least on the walk back, since teddy's not a huge fan of riding in the car. then i left 'em at home because the rain was picking up, and i went to work. once i'd caught up on most of my piles of stuff, i realized that it wasn't just a scratchy throat that had been bothering me - it was full-blown achy/fevery/swollen neck glands and grossness throat. so i got kicked out of the office a couple of minutes early. like that did much good because i had to drive in to town again anyway. at least i got some sleep after i got home.
so on saturday i felt a little better (yay) and (gulp) went and watched harry potter. i know, i know. i haven't wasted theater time on any of 'em so far, but hey, i'd already gone bowling and scoped out the volunteer recognition thingy at the convention center... it was definitely a harry potter movie. partly weird, partly obvious (does anyone else think malfoy is going to pull a darth vader and turn good in the next movie? guess i could read the book and find out...) and harry's just a little full of himself again. so it's not okay to steal necklaces unless harry does it, in which case whoever tries to stop him is a bad guy? animal farm much? just a tad frustrating that this series was a whole huge thing and that masses of children have idolized these books and now have been "taught" (or at least had it reinforced) that it's okay to feel entitled and that people should just help them in their quests, regardless of whether or not they agree, and that fighting is an acceptable solution as compared with rational discussion, etc. etc. not a huge fan of the potter kid, i know. and that was my tangent for the day.
finally almost caught up to today, in which the snow fell, blew around, stuck, melted, stuck some more, and turned the world all magical for a few minutes. then i got really cold, hence my 3 layers of socks. hot cocoa time!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
since the trip...
i got back on saturday the 6th. we flew in at about 2 in the afternoon, got back to the car, drove home (with a couple of stops along the way for food (to eat then) and food (from a produce place to take home). got home about 6 to find a crock pot of veggie soup (my pet sitter RULES!). i tried to stay awake until normal bedtime. by normal bedtime, i was no longer tired. so i stayed up for most of the night. i think i napped some in later morning. then i went in to civilization for a while, and on the way home i got pulled over a block from my house. seems i'd started speeding just then, after being soooo careful the whole way... and i'd forgotten to put the new insurance card in the car. the officer told me to drive home safely and pay better attention to how fast i was driving. sir, yes, sir, i guess.
and then i stayed up all night again, just in time to go back to work on monday. there wasn't as much stuff piled up for me to deal with as i expected. nice surprise, but then there was plenty to do getting ready for the spay/neuter clinic for the 13th. i tried out the new italian restaurant in town after work. very yummy, but kind of pricey. probably worth it for a special occasion or something. and since i'm on the food topic... darn blue opened up a can of worms by bringing bagels to work and restarting my bagel kick. way to go keeping the fransz baking company in business this week. also, i didn't start sleeping well until about wednesday night.
the clinic on saturday went well - 32 critters "fixed".
and i'm losing battery, so i gotta go.
and then i stayed up all night again, just in time to go back to work on monday. there wasn't as much stuff piled up for me to deal with as i expected. nice surprise, but then there was plenty to do getting ready for the spay/neuter clinic for the 13th. i tried out the new italian restaurant in town after work. very yummy, but kind of pricey. probably worth it for a special occasion or something. and since i'm on the food topic... darn blue opened up a can of worms by bringing bagels to work and restarting my bagel kick. way to go keeping the fransz baking company in business this week. also, i didn't start sleeping well until about wednesday night.
the clinic on saturday went well - 32 critters "fixed".
and i'm losing battery, so i gotta go.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
the trip: amsterdam
pretty much as soon as we got to amsterdam, i realized i had picked up "the creeping crud" that poor dr. steele had been fighting for days. congestion, wooziness, sore throat, the whole bit. despite that, we resolved to have fun anyway, and off we went. we spent our first afternoon on a city tour. the buildings are mostly tall, narrow, and so old that "paul revere weren't born yet when that was built". most of downtown was built up in the 16 and 1700s. i can barely comprehend that people still live and work and go about their daily lives amid that kind of history. there are canals every which way and boats and houseboats that remind me of trailers at a trailer park. and there are bicycles everywhere. i thought i saw a lot in japan, but those were nothing compared to this! the bicycles rival cars for numbers on the streets, and people use them as a regular, daily means of transportation. they ride 'em in their work clothes, and with their kids. people talk on their phones and text on their bikes. they attach little trailers to haul stuff in. we even saw a multi-level bicycle parking garage at the train station. i'd have to say that the immense weight of history and the bicycles were the biggest culture shocks.
the tour included a stop at a diamond factory. grrrrr. don't get me started on the whole blood diamond thing. i have not, nor will i ever voluntarily wear one of those rocks. still, now i've seen how they cut and polish the things.
then we got back on the bus. each passenger was given a little headset, which we plugged in to the side of the bus, and then selected our language of choice. the tour was set up via gps, so the descriptions supposedly matched what we were seeing. some of the time, it did.
after the tour, we got all set up in our hotel room and then went out to find food. we found a mcdonalds, some italian places, and about five different falafel houses. so i ate falafel. then we called it a day.
day two started with breakfast at the hotel (they gave us non name-brand nutella!! among other things). then, after a quick stop at a pharmacy for some creeping crud killer, we set out to explore the city on foot. we went through several markets and shops and were horrified at the prices of things. we perused the flower market and walked up to a giant windmill - one of the few working windmills left in the area. we decided that since food was so expensive, we'd just get bread and vegetables at a market and make sandwiches. and then we found avocadoes. really cheap, good avocadoes. and some rich, nutty bread. so that was dinner for a few nights. om nom nom. the next day, we set out for the anne frank house first thing. it was depressing and inspiring at the same time. i'd read the book, and even been anne in a play, but it was very sobering to stand in her room and look at the movie star photos and news clippings she'd hung on the walls and written about.
and then, to counteract the melancholy, we met a young american guy who was passing out flyers for a comedy show that evening, not far from our hotel. interested? yes i was. the club (and the group) are called boom chicago, and they were quite good. most of the show was improv, with just a few pre-rehearsed bits or clips. i enjoyed myself and some nummy hot cocoa.
day three we visited rembrandt's house (that was foreclosed on, and has been restored to the level of fancy he thought he could afford). it was ornate, and fascinating. some historians had assembled a collection of natural artifacts that resemble rembrandt's collection he used for artistic inspiration. he had some really weird stuff, like lizards and dried armadillos. after rembrandt's house, we went to the historical museum and learned about amsterdam. there was a fashion exhibit at the museum, so we saw lots of clothes in addition to bits of amsterdam history. towards the end of the museum, there were a series of scenes/stories depicting the lives of children through different times and socio-economic classes of the city. it turns out that amsterdam has always been very progressive in caring for the poor and needy. they had a huge old-folks home downtown, and fed homeless people and orphans. there were work programs for poor people there a couple of hundred years ago, where instead of being just given money, people were given jobs building infrastructure and such. so the new deal turns out to have not been such a novel idea after all. i guess you learn something new every day.
after the museum, we took a canal boat tour in the dark. so we got to ride around the canals for about an hour and see what amsterdam looks like all lit up for the evening.
then on our last day we visited the van loon museum - a ridiculously expensive canal house that has been restored to what it looked like a few hundred years ago. the van loon family still owns the house, and they let people come in and wander around (for a fee, of course) to see what it looked like back in the day. and what it looked like was very nice.
after that it was off to the famous sara's pancake house for some ravioli.... heehee no. apple pancakes and boy was it yum! pricey though, like everything else. so then we went down to the market by the hotel to spend the last of our euros. and then colleen showed us a confectionery so i wished i had a few more euros left. then when we were packing up our stuff at the hotel, my wish was granted because i did have a few more euros in my bag. so then i ran back down to the confectionery. i told the lady behind the counter that i wanted to spend the last of my euros there, and she helped me pick out some awesome sweets. then she winked and stuffed a few extras in the bag. nice! we had a chocolate party back up at the hotel room. after the avocado sandwiches and some of the most amazing garlic olives i have ever experienced.
then i drugged myself up with dutch creeping crud remedy and went to bed.
the flight back home was awful - ten hours of congested misery. then the three hour drive from the airport was a lot less miserable. then i got home to find out that my pet sitter (who is freaking amazing) had already walked my dogs and left me a crock pot of veggie soup. ahhhhhhhh. and a day off on sunday before the drama began again.
the tour included a stop at a diamond factory. grrrrr. don't get me started on the whole blood diamond thing. i have not, nor will i ever voluntarily wear one of those rocks. still, now i've seen how they cut and polish the things.
then we got back on the bus. each passenger was given a little headset, which we plugged in to the side of the bus, and then selected our language of choice. the tour was set up via gps, so the descriptions supposedly matched what we were seeing. some of the time, it did.
after the tour, we got all set up in our hotel room and then went out to find food. we found a mcdonalds, some italian places, and about five different falafel houses. so i ate falafel. then we called it a day.
day two started with breakfast at the hotel (they gave us non name-brand nutella!! among other things). then, after a quick stop at a pharmacy for some creeping crud killer, we set out to explore the city on foot. we went through several markets and shops and were horrified at the prices of things. we perused the flower market and walked up to a giant windmill - one of the few working windmills left in the area. we decided that since food was so expensive, we'd just get bread and vegetables at a market and make sandwiches. and then we found avocadoes. really cheap, good avocadoes. and some rich, nutty bread. so that was dinner for a few nights. om nom nom. the next day, we set out for the anne frank house first thing. it was depressing and inspiring at the same time. i'd read the book, and even been anne in a play, but it was very sobering to stand in her room and look at the movie star photos and news clippings she'd hung on the walls and written about.
and then, to counteract the melancholy, we met a young american guy who was passing out flyers for a comedy show that evening, not far from our hotel. interested? yes i was. the club (and the group) are called boom chicago, and they were quite good. most of the show was improv, with just a few pre-rehearsed bits or clips. i enjoyed myself and some nummy hot cocoa.
day three we visited rembrandt's house (that was foreclosed on, and has been restored to the level of fancy he thought he could afford). it was ornate, and fascinating. some historians had assembled a collection of natural artifacts that resemble rembrandt's collection he used for artistic inspiration. he had some really weird stuff, like lizards and dried armadillos. after rembrandt's house, we went to the historical museum and learned about amsterdam. there was a fashion exhibit at the museum, so we saw lots of clothes in addition to bits of amsterdam history. towards the end of the museum, there were a series of scenes/stories depicting the lives of children through different times and socio-economic classes of the city. it turns out that amsterdam has always been very progressive in caring for the poor and needy. they had a huge old-folks home downtown, and fed homeless people and orphans. there were work programs for poor people there a couple of hundred years ago, where instead of being just given money, people were given jobs building infrastructure and such. so the new deal turns out to have not been such a novel idea after all. i guess you learn something new every day.
after the museum, we took a canal boat tour in the dark. so we got to ride around the canals for about an hour and see what amsterdam looks like all lit up for the evening.
then on our last day we visited the van loon museum - a ridiculously expensive canal house that has been restored to what it looked like a few hundred years ago. the van loon family still owns the house, and they let people come in and wander around (for a fee, of course) to see what it looked like back in the day. and what it looked like was very nice.
after that it was off to the famous sara's pancake house for some ravioli.... heehee no. apple pancakes and boy was it yum! pricey though, like everything else. so then we went down to the market by the hotel to spend the last of our euros. and then colleen showed us a confectionery so i wished i had a few more euros left. then when we were packing up our stuff at the hotel, my wish was granted because i did have a few more euros in my bag. so then i ran back down to the confectionery. i told the lady behind the counter that i wanted to spend the last of my euros there, and she helped me pick out some awesome sweets. then she winked and stuffed a few extras in the bag. nice! we had a chocolate party back up at the hotel room. after the avocado sandwiches and some of the most amazing garlic olives i have ever experienced.
then i drugged myself up with dutch creeping crud remedy and went to bed.
the flight back home was awful - ten hours of congested misery. then the three hour drive from the airport was a lot less miserable. then i got home to find out that my pet sitter (who is freaking amazing) had already walked my dogs and left me a crock pot of veggie soup. ahhhhhhhh. and a day off on sunday before the drama began again.
the trip: more stuff
in addition to our arrival and our clinics, we did some other cool stuff in romania as well. a few people in our group were invited to be on romanian tv, and on the last surgery day, i got to play hookey for a while and be on buzau city's morning show. they asked me what i liked about romania, and i responded that the food was pretty good. they asked me what i had eaten. i said "i don't know, but it's good!" i think that made 'em happy. then andrea told them that in the us, dogs live inside the house, and hers sleep in the bed with her. and that if it gets too crowded, that her husband moves to the couch. they didn't really know whether to laugh at that or be disgusted: dogs being in the house is not something that happens over there. the day we were on the show was also "turkish" day, so there were belly dancers performing and lounging around the stage before and after our interviews. i'm not sure if it was supposed to be a serious, or if it's their version of the daily show...
we visited some mud volcanoes in buzau county and were pleasantly surprised at the lack of restraint offered to mud volcano tourists. i would have expected at least a bunch of "don't touch the mud" type signs, but no - a guy at the gate took our money and waved us on in to acres of mud/stone stuff. basically, there are some hot springs underground that combine with silt, which all bubbles up in a gooey mess and runs down the sides of the hills made by former mud. then it all solidifies and over about a billion years, i'm sure it will turn into sandstone. in the meantime, it made a whole bunch of awesome mountain/crevasse-y formations that reminded me a little bit of sand dunes at death valley. no hamburger-butt from these though - i was careful not to slide down any. we had some fun running around and climbing through the little mud valleys and making crude jokes (c'mon, they were "blup-blupping" like a bean fart in a bathtub).
our driver told us that there was a monastary on the way back to the hotel, and asked us if we would like to go see it. sure we would! then we learned that "on the way" doesn't mean the same thing in romania that it does here. so after we went over/around a mountain or so and around a bunch of curves (still at a ridiculous pace and again with the accordian music) we arrived at a monastary just in time for it to be too dark to see anything. after our driver asked around, he found a monk who was willing to let us in to see thier chapel and talk to us about it. turns out this particular monk used to work at the casino on a carnival cruise ship before he became a professional basketball player, but then he realized that something was missing from his life and he became a romanian orthodox monk. he explained that this was the newer chapel (only about 180 years old) because the 600 year old chapel had gotten too small for all the people who worshipped in it. the paintings and sculptures and stained glass were impressive. as we were leaving, he gave us all bracelets that had been blessed with holy water (except our driver, who had one already). then we made friends with a pack of local dogs in the parking lot before we drove back to our hotel.
that night, there was a banquet of sorts for blind people in our hotel. each blind person had an escort, and they started partying just after we got in. there was traditional romanian music and dancing, and we were invited to join in. several of our group did, and we had fun. after some liquid encouragement, more of our group joined in. eventually we all trickled away to get some rest before our trip to transylvania the next day, but the party went on long after most of us "crazy americans" had gone to bed. towards the end of the party, someone noticed a water leak, and several of the upstairs showers had to be turned off before it could be fixed. thank goodness our group had people on both sides of the hallway, and that we were willing to share. so in the morning we all got our showers in and packed our bags and got back on the bus. the drive took a couple of hours. there were some gorgeous hills in full autumn colors to watch along the way. sinaia is a tourist hotspot in transylvania with little coffeeshops and pubs and restaurants and whatnot, as well as street vendors and little souvenier shacks all over. we drove through the main area of town to get to our hotel, which was basically a 3-d ikea catalog. very nice stuff. we got all checked in and then started exploring the town. there ws a nice central park with random statues and benches and walkways around a fountain. downtown had food (cheesy noodles for me) and some guys playing ecuadorian music on a street corner - pan pipes and all. i got some wiener coffe in the grocery store (couldn't resist) and was really, really excited to find both kinder chocolate and jaffa cakes there! the jaffa cakes are already all gone, by the way.
that night, we intended to go out for dinner as a group, but the first place we tried turned us away because we didn't have a reservation. so we went somewhere else and were ushered in, given drinks, fed, and well taken care of. there was music and dancing, and fancy napkins and whatnot. it was only after we'd been served our meals that we realized we had crashed a wedding. whoops! then the musicians took a break, and all the dancers went back to their tables to light up. did i mention that romanians don't have a problem with smoking indoors? this wedding was one of heavy smokers, and the restaurant was not well ventilated. we ate, paid, and left coughing. there was an "after party" planned, but it fizzled into watching the second charlie's angels movie on cable. yay.
that was saturday. sunday was halloween. halloween was castle day! we started with castle pelles, a fairly modern castle, which was walking distance from the hotel. vendors upon vendors plied their wares while we trekked up the hill to the castle. and it was pretty impressive! the exterior is in good repair, and really looks like a castle. there are statues and towers and all kinds of fun stuff. then we went inside. the opulence was ridiculous. fancy carved stuff plated with gold decorated with crystal, piled on more fancy carved stuff. i couldn't even imaging living in a place that ornementated. i'd be afraid to break the whole thing. it was fascinating to see how much decadence can be crammed into each room. for example, the theater room, in addition to having carved cushioned chairs and velvet curtains on the ornate stage, also had murals painted on the ceiling. and fancy carpet.
the grounds were lovely. woods and hills and a stream beside the cobbled road... as we walked back down from the castle, i purchased a woolen poncho from one of the vendors. it was all fringey and awesome, and i (as usual) was cold. i got some candy from another vendor (again, big surprise, right?). after pelles, we went out for lunch (at the irish pub, where i ate spaghetti and listened to the ecuadorian guys' music) before getting on the bus for bran castle. dun dunnn dunnnnnnn! dracula's fortress, here we come! along the way, we saw the gypsy village where part of borat was filmed. exciting stuff...
so we got to castle bran and i should have expected it to be crowded, but this! i've been spoiled by living in the middle of nowhere these last couple of years. there were masses of people milling around, tourists, vendors, locals, and dogs in between begging for food. we waited in line to pay for the castle. then we walked up the hill in a herd. then we waited in line at the heavy door (with a gargoyle doorknob - pretty awesome). then the crowd moved into the castle. yes, it was a castle. yes, it was pretty cool, but the best part by far was when cristina put fake blood on her face and fake fangs in her mouth and whirled around growling and hissing at the hordes of children following behind us. their screaming and fleeing was a delight to witness. then we had a little more space for the rest of the castle. whereas pelles gave us a guided tour (probably to make sure we didn't touch anything) bran let people pretty much just wander around and explore. i found several windows that weren't sealed shut, and let a little fresh air into some of the rooms. i found the wooden swivel shutter thing that made room for archers to aim at enemies. that wasn't sealed shut either. then i found a door that was locked, and it was annoying. oh well. if one locked door and screaming hordes of children are the worst that happens, i guess that's not too bad. probably the most disturbing thing i saw at the castle was the epoxy-encased vampire bats for sale in the gift shop. i was appalled and i was fascinated. i very nearly purchased one, they were so gruesome. (shudder).
after we'd all had our fill of crowded castle, we went back to the bus and learned about "satisfaction bread". the bread dough is wound around a wooden dowel, doused in some sweet syrupy stuff, and then roasted over live coals. the finished "loaf" is shaped like a big toilet paper roll, but oh, the goodness! three loaves lasted about four minutes, and that was just because the passing them around took time. and, thanks to the guys on our trip and its unique shape, the bread was named for its potential uses "when you're lonely, and you need a snack". yes, they meant it that way.
following that, dinner was at the steakhouse (where we said goodbye to new jersey, who had an early flight in the morning), followed by an after party at the irish pub, followed by a bunch of shivering people chattering our teeth back up to the hotel, where a few of us warmed up in the lobby and said goodbye to aurash, since he would be leaving early in the morning.
speaking of morning, that's when some of us went up to the cable car/gondola place to see if we could get a signtseeing ride. we couldn't because they were closed, but it was still a nice walk. then there was another walk to the train station to buy our tickets for that afternoon's train ride. then there was some shopping and another irish pub and some satisfaction bread before we collected the luggage and went back down to the station. the train was delayed a few minutes, so we got to watch some construction guys jauntily build while balancing on girders way up high... and we got to feed some stray dogs wandering around on the tracks. eventually our train showed up and we piled on and piled in and off we went. it took a couple of hours to get to bucharest, where we checked in to another hotel, and then walked down the block for dinner. we went to a romanian restaurant, where we were served traditional romanian specialties, and boy did the vegetarians luck out! we got bean paste and eggplant paste and some sort of ratatouille, and roasted peppers. om nom nom... the poor meat eaters got pork rind and chunks of pork fat and fish paste and yeah. heehee. there were local musicians at the restaurant and lonnie proposed to the violinist on the spot after he serenaded her. so that was dinner, and then we went on back to the hotel and set up our wake-up calls since we all had to leave pretty early. except taryn. she stayed a few extra days in bucharest and brought marius (the dog) and bobbi/el presidente back stateside on the airplane with her. the rest of us met up with cristina in the morning. she had gone back to buzau during the night to pick up mika the puppy and bring her out to us so that she could fly on the plane with jennifer to san jose. we made it to the airport, but it took a long time to finalize the puppy's paperwork. long enough for her to throw up in her carrier anyway. lucky me got to hold her while other people cleaned it up (as soon as we got through security). then it was goodbyes all around, as lonnie went home to va, the california folks all flew through paris, and us amsterdam-bound folks headed on out that way.
we visited some mud volcanoes in buzau county and were pleasantly surprised at the lack of restraint offered to mud volcano tourists. i would have expected at least a bunch of "don't touch the mud" type signs, but no - a guy at the gate took our money and waved us on in to acres of mud/stone stuff. basically, there are some hot springs underground that combine with silt, which all bubbles up in a gooey mess and runs down the sides of the hills made by former mud. then it all solidifies and over about a billion years, i'm sure it will turn into sandstone. in the meantime, it made a whole bunch of awesome mountain/crevasse-y formations that reminded me a little bit of sand dunes at death valley. no hamburger-butt from these though - i was careful not to slide down any. we had some fun running around and climbing through the little mud valleys and making crude jokes (c'mon, they were "blup-blupping" like a bean fart in a bathtub).
our driver told us that there was a monastary on the way back to the hotel, and asked us if we would like to go see it. sure we would! then we learned that "on the way" doesn't mean the same thing in romania that it does here. so after we went over/around a mountain or so and around a bunch of curves (still at a ridiculous pace and again with the accordian music) we arrived at a monastary just in time for it to be too dark to see anything. after our driver asked around, he found a monk who was willing to let us in to see thier chapel and talk to us about it. turns out this particular monk used to work at the casino on a carnival cruise ship before he became a professional basketball player, but then he realized that something was missing from his life and he became a romanian orthodox monk. he explained that this was the newer chapel (only about 180 years old) because the 600 year old chapel had gotten too small for all the people who worshipped in it. the paintings and sculptures and stained glass were impressive. as we were leaving, he gave us all bracelets that had been blessed with holy water (except our driver, who had one already). then we made friends with a pack of local dogs in the parking lot before we drove back to our hotel.
that night, there was a banquet of sorts for blind people in our hotel. each blind person had an escort, and they started partying just after we got in. there was traditional romanian music and dancing, and we were invited to join in. several of our group did, and we had fun. after some liquid encouragement, more of our group joined in. eventually we all trickled away to get some rest before our trip to transylvania the next day, but the party went on long after most of us "crazy americans" had gone to bed. towards the end of the party, someone noticed a water leak, and several of the upstairs showers had to be turned off before it could be fixed. thank goodness our group had people on both sides of the hallway, and that we were willing to share. so in the morning we all got our showers in and packed our bags and got back on the bus. the drive took a couple of hours. there were some gorgeous hills in full autumn colors to watch along the way. sinaia is a tourist hotspot in transylvania with little coffeeshops and pubs and restaurants and whatnot, as well as street vendors and little souvenier shacks all over. we drove through the main area of town to get to our hotel, which was basically a 3-d ikea catalog. very nice stuff. we got all checked in and then started exploring the town. there ws a nice central park with random statues and benches and walkways around a fountain. downtown had food (cheesy noodles for me) and some guys playing ecuadorian music on a street corner - pan pipes and all. i got some wiener coffe in the grocery store (couldn't resist) and was really, really excited to find both kinder chocolate and jaffa cakes there! the jaffa cakes are already all gone, by the way.
that night, we intended to go out for dinner as a group, but the first place we tried turned us away because we didn't have a reservation. so we went somewhere else and were ushered in, given drinks, fed, and well taken care of. there was music and dancing, and fancy napkins and whatnot. it was only after we'd been served our meals that we realized we had crashed a wedding. whoops! then the musicians took a break, and all the dancers went back to their tables to light up. did i mention that romanians don't have a problem with smoking indoors? this wedding was one of heavy smokers, and the restaurant was not well ventilated. we ate, paid, and left coughing. there was an "after party" planned, but it fizzled into watching the second charlie's angels movie on cable. yay.
that was saturday. sunday was halloween. halloween was castle day! we started with castle pelles, a fairly modern castle, which was walking distance from the hotel. vendors upon vendors plied their wares while we trekked up the hill to the castle. and it was pretty impressive! the exterior is in good repair, and really looks like a castle. there are statues and towers and all kinds of fun stuff. then we went inside. the opulence was ridiculous. fancy carved stuff plated with gold decorated with crystal, piled on more fancy carved stuff. i couldn't even imaging living in a place that ornementated. i'd be afraid to break the whole thing. it was fascinating to see how much decadence can be crammed into each room. for example, the theater room, in addition to having carved cushioned chairs and velvet curtains on the ornate stage, also had murals painted on the ceiling. and fancy carpet.
the grounds were lovely. woods and hills and a stream beside the cobbled road... as we walked back down from the castle, i purchased a woolen poncho from one of the vendors. it was all fringey and awesome, and i (as usual) was cold. i got some candy from another vendor (again, big surprise, right?). after pelles, we went out for lunch (at the irish pub, where i ate spaghetti and listened to the ecuadorian guys' music) before getting on the bus for bran castle. dun dunnn dunnnnnnn! dracula's fortress, here we come! along the way, we saw the gypsy village where part of borat was filmed. exciting stuff...
so we got to castle bran and i should have expected it to be crowded, but this! i've been spoiled by living in the middle of nowhere these last couple of years. there were masses of people milling around, tourists, vendors, locals, and dogs in between begging for food. we waited in line to pay for the castle. then we walked up the hill in a herd. then we waited in line at the heavy door (with a gargoyle doorknob - pretty awesome). then the crowd moved into the castle. yes, it was a castle. yes, it was pretty cool, but the best part by far was when cristina put fake blood on her face and fake fangs in her mouth and whirled around growling and hissing at the hordes of children following behind us. their screaming and fleeing was a delight to witness. then we had a little more space for the rest of the castle. whereas pelles gave us a guided tour (probably to make sure we didn't touch anything) bran let people pretty much just wander around and explore. i found several windows that weren't sealed shut, and let a little fresh air into some of the rooms. i found the wooden swivel shutter thing that made room for archers to aim at enemies. that wasn't sealed shut either. then i found a door that was locked, and it was annoying. oh well. if one locked door and screaming hordes of children are the worst that happens, i guess that's not too bad. probably the most disturbing thing i saw at the castle was the epoxy-encased vampire bats for sale in the gift shop. i was appalled and i was fascinated. i very nearly purchased one, they were so gruesome. (shudder).
after we'd all had our fill of crowded castle, we went back to the bus and learned about "satisfaction bread". the bread dough is wound around a wooden dowel, doused in some sweet syrupy stuff, and then roasted over live coals. the finished "loaf" is shaped like a big toilet paper roll, but oh, the goodness! three loaves lasted about four minutes, and that was just because the passing them around took time. and, thanks to the guys on our trip and its unique shape, the bread was named for its potential uses "when you're lonely, and you need a snack". yes, they meant it that way.
following that, dinner was at the steakhouse (where we said goodbye to new jersey, who had an early flight in the morning), followed by an after party at the irish pub, followed by a bunch of shivering people chattering our teeth back up to the hotel, where a few of us warmed up in the lobby and said goodbye to aurash, since he would be leaving early in the morning.
speaking of morning, that's when some of us went up to the cable car/gondola place to see if we could get a signtseeing ride. we couldn't because they were closed, but it was still a nice walk. then there was another walk to the train station to buy our tickets for that afternoon's train ride. then there was some shopping and another irish pub and some satisfaction bread before we collected the luggage and went back down to the station. the train was delayed a few minutes, so we got to watch some construction guys jauntily build while balancing on girders way up high... and we got to feed some stray dogs wandering around on the tracks. eventually our train showed up and we piled on and piled in and off we went. it took a couple of hours to get to bucharest, where we checked in to another hotel, and then walked down the block for dinner. we went to a romanian restaurant, where we were served traditional romanian specialties, and boy did the vegetarians luck out! we got bean paste and eggplant paste and some sort of ratatouille, and roasted peppers. om nom nom... the poor meat eaters got pork rind and chunks of pork fat and fish paste and yeah. heehee. there were local musicians at the restaurant and lonnie proposed to the violinist on the spot after he serenaded her. so that was dinner, and then we went on back to the hotel and set up our wake-up calls since we all had to leave pretty early. except taryn. she stayed a few extra days in bucharest and brought marius (the dog) and bobbi/el presidente back stateside on the airplane with her. the rest of us met up with cristina in the morning. she had gone back to buzau during the night to pick up mika the puppy and bring her out to us so that she could fly on the plane with jennifer to san jose. we made it to the airport, but it took a long time to finalize the puppy's paperwork. long enough for her to throw up in her carrier anyway. lucky me got to hold her while other people cleaned it up (as soon as we got through security). then it was goodbyes all around, as lonnie went home to va, the california folks all flew through paris, and us amsterdam-bound folks headed on out that way.
some photos
so the local spay/neuter clinic (and remnants of romanian flu) distracted me from finishing my story. dan took lots of photos, and i've pirated some of his here.
we visited some mud volcanoes, and they just matched my outfit:
for some reason, when we threw up signs, i was a vulcan...
i made a random glass/ashtray tower at a romanian wedding we crashed.
and the notorious leopard pants:
oh yeah, we saw some castles too. this one is the most impressive - castle pelles:
we visited some mud volcanoes, and they just matched my outfit:
for some reason, when we threw up signs, i was a vulcan...
i made a random glass/ashtray tower at a romanian wedding we crashed.
and the notorious leopard pants:
oh yeah, we saw some castles too. this one is the most impressive - castle pelles:
Sunday, November 7, 2010
the trip: the clinics
the original plan for our trip was to set up shop in the city of buzau, where there is a dog shelter of sorts, and the romanian army brings in up to 30 dogs daily that they've dart-gunned down on the streets, in addition to individual citizens bringing in their own pets for surgery. the last trip was insanely swamped, and we had a team of surgeons ready to rock-n-roll. well, yeah. those darn best laid plans again...
we set up shop in our little village (in some empty rooms at the mineral springs spa). we taped garbage bags to some desk-table thingies and used concrete blocks to raise them up for use as surgery tables. we spread out foam padding and set up a space heater in our recovery room. we got out all of our drugs and gloves and sutures and whatever all else, gave ourselves a pep-talk, and the army brought us a total of 4 dogs. several people brought us their own pets, and our amazing new friends duena and marius caught lots of street dogs for us, but there was barely any time that all four surgeons were operating at the same time for more than a few minutes of overlap. dr. colleen spent a good hour luring one semi-feral dog with snacks so that we could spay her. dr. lonnie did some great kitty snuggling in recovery. dr. andrea went on romanian tv three times, and dr. steele, well, she pretty much got in on all the surgeries she could, and worked with dr. dan (a romanian vet who joined us at the last minute). dr. dan had never spayed a cat before, but now he's awesome at it!
i was one of the people who went out an wrangled street dogs (and in one very exciting instance, a feral cat) leash in one pocket, muzzle in the other. we'd lure the dogs with snacks, lasso them, tackle 'em and slap on a muzzle so i could carry them back. not that they were super bad, but they were all terrified of walking on a leash, and i'm not gonna have a dog i don't know that near my face without a muzzle on. so we got a good dozen or so dogs that way, in addition to the friendly street dogs (el presidente/bobby the beagle, beetlejuice/marius the shepherd mix, and a few others) who followed us right to the clinic, and then hung out there for days after their surgeries. they loooooved the attention. and yes, some of the team fell in love with them. dandrea adopted marius, danielle has bobby, and jackie, bless her, is adopting palinka (a pup whose mom we spayed the first day) that means i'll get to keep tabs on her, since jackie's already a client at my office. woohoo! (side note: "palinka" is a homemade pear brandy, sort of like extra-strong tsuica. bobby is named bobby because one of the guys down at the cafe where he regularly begged called him that. marius is marius because "the real marius" is just an all-around amazing guy, in addition to being an incredible dog catcher and handler. also, it's a romanian name. and dandrea is like bennifer or brangelina. you know.)
back to surgeries. most of our patients were dog spays. most of them were not puppies. several of the dogs had some sort of blood clotting problem (local disease?) and oozed significantly during surgery. poor doggies. we had a couple of scary surgeries, but no fatalities (a great record when anesthetizing and operating on all ages of non-preexamined random dogs). on day one, we did 30 surgeries. when i wasn't out rounding up patients, i worked in surgery, monitoring patients and giving additional anesthetic drugs when needed. not being the hugest fan of blood and guts, i was glad to move to recovery on day two, when we again did 30 surgeries. strangely enough, day two was mostly cats. yeah, and i have cat allergies. and recovery was a small room with all the cats who needed handling/medicating/cleaning up/monitoring while they woke up. so i got pretty congested and sneezy. on day 3, i got to sneak into pre-op for a minute to help wrestle some terrified feral puppies out of a crate for anesthesia. yeah. so the one with explosive diarrhea also had the screaming-flailies and thrashed and squealed and sprayed filthy stinky poo all over me. yay. thank goodness i had pajama pants on under my scrub pants, as i was able to peel 'em off before the poo soaked through. oh... of all the days to wear the fuzzy leopard print pajama pants. photos were taken, laughs made, and then we got on with the work, fuzzy leopard pants and all. one of our "clients" on days two, three, and four was a lady we nicknamed "babushka". at first she came in pulling a wagon full of bundles. it took a while for us to figure out it was really a wagon full of cats! it turns out that, in romania, burlap shopping bags double as cat carriers. she had at least 8 or 9 cats all piled on the wagon. we "fixed" them all, then loaded 'em back up in their bags, helped her pile them on the wagon, and sent them on their way. she came back later with more cats, and then again with some religious pamphlets. we tried to explain to her that, since we don't read romanian, we couldn't read them anyway, but she insisted, so now i have a romanian religious pamphlet. by day two, people started bringing us goodies to thank us for helping out. we got still-warm homemade bread, some amazing eggplant/pepper stuff in a jar to slather on the bread, fresh pastries, cookies, fruit, and bottles of homemade tsuica, palinka, and red wine. this all in addition to the lunches that our hotel made and had sent down to us. lunches were a variety of soupy/stewey things, with mushrooms or cabbages or whatever. they always sent us two pots - one with meat and one without. how awesome is that!
by day 3, the americans in town were too big of a deal for people to miss out on - we had some looky-loos scope us out, and some of them picked on babushka for a while. they didn't seem to understand why we weren't impressed with their mocking of her. stupid guys.
and i know i left out a lot of stuff, but it's really morning now, so i'm gonna go start my day and get back to documenting the trip a little later.
we set up shop in our little village (in some empty rooms at the mineral springs spa). we taped garbage bags to some desk-table thingies and used concrete blocks to raise them up for use as surgery tables. we spread out foam padding and set up a space heater in our recovery room. we got out all of our drugs and gloves and sutures and whatever all else, gave ourselves a pep-talk, and the army brought us a total of 4 dogs. several people brought us their own pets, and our amazing new friends duena and marius caught lots of street dogs for us, but there was barely any time that all four surgeons were operating at the same time for more than a few minutes of overlap. dr. colleen spent a good hour luring one semi-feral dog with snacks so that we could spay her. dr. lonnie did some great kitty snuggling in recovery. dr. andrea went on romanian tv three times, and dr. steele, well, she pretty much got in on all the surgeries she could, and worked with dr. dan (a romanian vet who joined us at the last minute). dr. dan had never spayed a cat before, but now he's awesome at it!
i was one of the people who went out an wrangled street dogs (and in one very exciting instance, a feral cat) leash in one pocket, muzzle in the other. we'd lure the dogs with snacks, lasso them, tackle 'em and slap on a muzzle so i could carry them back. not that they were super bad, but they were all terrified of walking on a leash, and i'm not gonna have a dog i don't know that near my face without a muzzle on. so we got a good dozen or so dogs that way, in addition to the friendly street dogs (el presidente/bobby the beagle, beetlejuice/marius the shepherd mix, and a few others) who followed us right to the clinic, and then hung out there for days after their surgeries. they loooooved the attention. and yes, some of the team fell in love with them. dandrea adopted marius, danielle has bobby, and jackie, bless her, is adopting palinka (a pup whose mom we spayed the first day) that means i'll get to keep tabs on her, since jackie's already a client at my office. woohoo! (side note: "palinka" is a homemade pear brandy, sort of like extra-strong tsuica. bobby is named bobby because one of the guys down at the cafe where he regularly begged called him that. marius is marius because "the real marius" is just an all-around amazing guy, in addition to being an incredible dog catcher and handler. also, it's a romanian name. and dandrea is like bennifer or brangelina. you know.)
back to surgeries. most of our patients were dog spays. most of them were not puppies. several of the dogs had some sort of blood clotting problem (local disease?) and oozed significantly during surgery. poor doggies. we had a couple of scary surgeries, but no fatalities (a great record when anesthetizing and operating on all ages of non-preexamined random dogs). on day one, we did 30 surgeries. when i wasn't out rounding up patients, i worked in surgery, monitoring patients and giving additional anesthetic drugs when needed. not being the hugest fan of blood and guts, i was glad to move to recovery on day two, when we again did 30 surgeries. strangely enough, day two was mostly cats. yeah, and i have cat allergies. and recovery was a small room with all the cats who needed handling/medicating/cleaning up/monitoring while they woke up. so i got pretty congested and sneezy. on day 3, i got to sneak into pre-op for a minute to help wrestle some terrified feral puppies out of a crate for anesthesia. yeah. so the one with explosive diarrhea also had the screaming-flailies and thrashed and squealed and sprayed filthy stinky poo all over me. yay. thank goodness i had pajama pants on under my scrub pants, as i was able to peel 'em off before the poo soaked through. oh... of all the days to wear the fuzzy leopard print pajama pants. photos were taken, laughs made, and then we got on with the work, fuzzy leopard pants and all. one of our "clients" on days two, three, and four was a lady we nicknamed "babushka". at first she came in pulling a wagon full of bundles. it took a while for us to figure out it was really a wagon full of cats! it turns out that, in romania, burlap shopping bags double as cat carriers. she had at least 8 or 9 cats all piled on the wagon. we "fixed" them all, then loaded 'em back up in their bags, helped her pile them on the wagon, and sent them on their way. she came back later with more cats, and then again with some religious pamphlets. we tried to explain to her that, since we don't read romanian, we couldn't read them anyway, but she insisted, so now i have a romanian religious pamphlet. by day two, people started bringing us goodies to thank us for helping out. we got still-warm homemade bread, some amazing eggplant/pepper stuff in a jar to slather on the bread, fresh pastries, cookies, fruit, and bottles of homemade tsuica, palinka, and red wine. this all in addition to the lunches that our hotel made and had sent down to us. lunches were a variety of soupy/stewey things, with mushrooms or cabbages or whatever. they always sent us two pots - one with meat and one without. how awesome is that!
by day 3, the americans in town were too big of a deal for people to miss out on - we had some looky-loos scope us out, and some of them picked on babushka for a while. they didn't seem to understand why we weren't impressed with their mocking of her. stupid guys.
and i know i left out a lot of stuff, but it's really morning now, so i'm gonna go start my day and get back to documenting the trip a little later.
the trip: the post: the arrival
holy guacamole - day one started at oh-dark-thirty in the morning with a drive to sea-tac. we got a late start due to teddy's refusing to poop and some forgotten boots. so we didn't get to stop for breakfast as planned. mcdonalds had to suffice, and i have never been less impressed with a mickey d's than the one in tacoma. blech service, blech for messing up orders and blech for lack of cleanliness or organization... overall not such a nice time. also, my beverage came sans sugar, which i did not realize until we had driven away. so i got to the airport only vaguely gruntled. then we met up with jackie and began the epic journey - nine hours to amsterdam, getting jackie to her plane, then meeting up with colleen, then getting to our plane and meeting the "rest" of the gang (dan/andrea/jen/randy) from san jose. then the 3 and some change hour plane ride to bucharest. i made barf bag puppets, but the small child sitting next to me was not at all entertained. oh well. i was pleasantly surprised at the caliber (and quantity) of food klm provided us along the way. during the layover in amsterdam, i met a guy named ronald (you may have heard of him - he represents a very large worldwide fast food chain). there were several representations of ron around the airport, and we met several times, most of them amicably. at one point ron got a bit fresh and i had to have a serious talk with him afterwards (photos to follow).
so, we made it to bucharest and met back up with jackie, who had connected with cristina, lonnie, taryn, and new jersey (maria, danielle, and laura). we passed around a bunch of beleagured hellos and pleasdameetchas - i didn't know this yet, but that whole group was comprised of awesome people! team romania, take one: lights, camera, action!
we got local funds from atms (currency in romania is composed of lei and bani, and yes, there were all kinds of fun references made throughout the trip regarding how many lei people had gotten from whom in romania.) then we met our driver, aurash, and clambered onto the bus. then we discovered that aurash likes techno music. loud techno music. very loud, nonstop, swerving madly about on romanian highways at night techno music. eventually we made it to our hotel, the casa cu tei, where we checked in, plopped our bags down in our rooms, and meandered downstairs for dinner. that part perked people up a bit. cristina, our romanian liason, had arranged with hotel staff for the booze to flow freely, including tsuica - basically romanian moonshine, sweetened with honey and flavored with walnuts. in addition to large quantities of alcohol, we were plied with large quantities of meat, potatoes, rice, potatoes, mushrooms, cabbage, probably some more potatoes... once the staff became aware that there were four vegetarians in our group, they added cheeses and more mushrooms. everything was wonderfully warm and filling and rich and om nom nom nom. i pretty much ate myself to sleep.
the next morning started early (hooray for time differences!). mine at about 3:30. colleen was already up watching movies, and we found some apples and cookies to munch on. at about 4:30 randy joined the party too. after a couple of movies and some channel surfing, we all went and got ready for our day. after a filling eggs/cheese/meats if you want 'em and toast with homemade jams breakfast, most of the group went on a walk or two during the morning - exploring the general vicinity of our hotel. we stayed in a small resort village whose claim to fame was a mineral spring and some roman ruins. so we tried the mineral water (ick!). and looked at the ruin. and then looked at an orthodox ministerial school (absolutely gorgeous grounds, with stone carvings and fall leaves...). then i was documented trying to break into what turned out to be a mausoleum (hey, i don't read romanian). thank goodness the door was locked. the grounds, again, were just gorgeous. also, there were cows on the side of the road, and several stray dogs including a one-eyed beagle and a polydactyl shepherd mix who begged for food, then begged for petting, then followed us along the road. the beagle followed some of the team all the way back to the hotel. enter filip, the resident st. bernard who basically owns the hotel and sleeps on the lobby couch. turns out he's not a fan of one-eyed beagles in his territory, especially when they try to defend random black-and-white dogs he tries to attack first. yeah, that little beagle stood up to the bernard, and even started their brief skirmish. thank goodness there were several practiced animal handlers and vets around. they got filip away and treated "el presidente"s bite wound, then sent him on his way. mid-day was spent with our "dear leader" and the mayor trying to decide where to hold our actual clinics, as the previously planned location had fallen through at the last minute.
after all that was settled, aurash took us into the city of buzau for some exploration/shopping. we got some postcards and i got my first taste of cappy juice (cappy became a recurring theme during my visit - super yummy juice in a variety of flavors...). we noted that the majority of shopping in buzau concerned boots and jeans, although there was also a street vendor selling chainsaws. that was pretty awesome. (side note: it was generally agreed that over the course of the trip, we devalued the word "awesome" to the point that someone saying "that's awesome" became the equivalent of saying "oh" or "huh".)
on the bus ride back from buzau, aurash treated us to traditional romanian accordian-style music, instead of techno. we were grateful, for about eighteen seconds. the ride home lasted much longer than that, and as we bounced around crazily, someone commented that, had we been shown fast-forwarded, or had we all been cartoon villains bouncing along, the music would have been appropriate. after we got back to the hotel, we were supplied with much more awesome food in the hotel restaurant.
the hotel's main floor consisted of a restaurant with country-style decor. the upper floors (with wooden, adventurously-placed stairs) were bedrooms. the rooms were well-heated, but since we couldn't figure out how to change that, most people slept with our windows open. the hotel itself was obviously old, with creaking wooden floors, quirky nooks, and the varying-sized stairs. it was pretty darn clean and well-kept for all of that, and the staff were very accomodating - even letting us use their computer to check emails once in a while!
and that, ladies'n'gents, brings me to the first morning of surgeries, which i'll attempt later.
so, we made it to bucharest and met back up with jackie, who had connected with cristina, lonnie, taryn, and new jersey (maria, danielle, and laura). we passed around a bunch of beleagured hellos and pleasdameetchas - i didn't know this yet, but that whole group was comprised of awesome people! team romania, take one: lights, camera, action!
we got local funds from atms (currency in romania is composed of lei and bani, and yes, there were all kinds of fun references made throughout the trip regarding how many lei people had gotten from whom in romania.) then we met our driver, aurash, and clambered onto the bus. then we discovered that aurash likes techno music. loud techno music. very loud, nonstop, swerving madly about on romanian highways at night techno music. eventually we made it to our hotel, the casa cu tei, where we checked in, plopped our bags down in our rooms, and meandered downstairs for dinner. that part perked people up a bit. cristina, our romanian liason, had arranged with hotel staff for the booze to flow freely, including tsuica - basically romanian moonshine, sweetened with honey and flavored with walnuts. in addition to large quantities of alcohol, we were plied with large quantities of meat, potatoes, rice, potatoes, mushrooms, cabbage, probably some more potatoes... once the staff became aware that there were four vegetarians in our group, they added cheeses and more mushrooms. everything was wonderfully warm and filling and rich and om nom nom nom. i pretty much ate myself to sleep.
the next morning started early (hooray for time differences!). mine at about 3:30. colleen was already up watching movies, and we found some apples and cookies to munch on. at about 4:30 randy joined the party too. after a couple of movies and some channel surfing, we all went and got ready for our day. after a filling eggs/cheese/meats if you want 'em and toast with homemade jams breakfast, most of the group went on a walk or two during the morning - exploring the general vicinity of our hotel. we stayed in a small resort village whose claim to fame was a mineral spring and some roman ruins. so we tried the mineral water (ick!). and looked at the ruin. and then looked at an orthodox ministerial school (absolutely gorgeous grounds, with stone carvings and fall leaves...). then i was documented trying to break into what turned out to be a mausoleum (hey, i don't read romanian). thank goodness the door was locked. the grounds, again, were just gorgeous. also, there were cows on the side of the road, and several stray dogs including a one-eyed beagle and a polydactyl shepherd mix who begged for food, then begged for petting, then followed us along the road. the beagle followed some of the team all the way back to the hotel. enter filip, the resident st. bernard who basically owns the hotel and sleeps on the lobby couch. turns out he's not a fan of one-eyed beagles in his territory, especially when they try to defend random black-and-white dogs he tries to attack first. yeah, that little beagle stood up to the bernard, and even started their brief skirmish. thank goodness there were several practiced animal handlers and vets around. they got filip away and treated "el presidente"s bite wound, then sent him on his way. mid-day was spent with our "dear leader" and the mayor trying to decide where to hold our actual clinics, as the previously planned location had fallen through at the last minute.
after all that was settled, aurash took us into the city of buzau for some exploration/shopping. we got some postcards and i got my first taste of cappy juice (cappy became a recurring theme during my visit - super yummy juice in a variety of flavors...). we noted that the majority of shopping in buzau concerned boots and jeans, although there was also a street vendor selling chainsaws. that was pretty awesome. (side note: it was generally agreed that over the course of the trip, we devalued the word "awesome" to the point that someone saying "that's awesome" became the equivalent of saying "oh" or "huh".)
on the bus ride back from buzau, aurash treated us to traditional romanian accordian-style music, instead of techno. we were grateful, for about eighteen seconds. the ride home lasted much longer than that, and as we bounced around crazily, someone commented that, had we been shown fast-forwarded, or had we all been cartoon villains bouncing along, the music would have been appropriate. after we got back to the hotel, we were supplied with much more awesome food in the hotel restaurant.
the hotel's main floor consisted of a restaurant with country-style decor. the upper floors (with wooden, adventurously-placed stairs) were bedrooms. the rooms were well-heated, but since we couldn't figure out how to change that, most people slept with our windows open. the hotel itself was obviously old, with creaking wooden floors, quirky nooks, and the varying-sized stairs. it was pretty darn clean and well-kept for all of that, and the staff were very accomodating - even letting us use their computer to check emails once in a while!
and that, ladies'n'gents, brings me to the first morning of surgeries, which i'll attempt later.
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