trip pics

So much for posting during the trip. I had time but lacked the motivation to think about blog posts. All in all, it was a great trip :) I just wish it hadn't flown by so quickly although I think my bank account is thankful that it ended when it did.

Leg 1: Visiting Derek
I started out driving down through Virginia and Tennessee and then heading north to visit by older brother, who lives on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. The trip down was uneventful barring an all too excellent stop at Foam Henge and the mandatory check engine light that always pops on when I visit my brother. Odd.

Foam Henge


Derek & me


Leg 2: Visiting Meghan
Next on the agenda was a trip up to the Indy area to visit Meghan and finally see Ella for the first time. I couldn't let Meghan have her next baby before I'd had a chance to meet Miss Ella. It was a wonderful (but short) visit :)

Ella Bella


Meghan & me


Leg 3: Conference in Chicago
My conference was good and more filled with meetings than usual, but of course, the best parts of the Chicago visit had nothing at all to do with the conference. I got to catch up with some old friends from library school, go to a Cubs game at Wrigley, and do a bit of sight-seeing in the city. I heart Chicago. It's most definitely in my top three cities category (which is unranked).

Wrigley Field at Night


The Chicago Tribune + American Gothic


The Old Water Tower


Leg 4: Back Home
I have no pictures of the drive home even though it lasted 12+ hours. For this leg of the journey, I at least had some company since one of my co-workers "hitched" a ride back with me. And to round out the trip nicely, my check engine came on again right before I got back to Virginia.

More vacation pics are in my Picasa albums.

road trip!

In less than 12 hours, the grand, amazing, super, spectacular road trip of 2009 begins! It's a rather circuitous road trip this year, including stops in the following pitstops:

* a visit to my brother in Kentucky
* a trip to IU for research and reminiscing
* a visit with Meghan :)
* a library conference in Chicago

And after all that, I'll drive back to H'burg. It will be a whirlwind trip, but I think it will be fun. I'll try to blog and post pictures along the way, but I make no firm promises on this. I did just get a new digital camera (woohoo!), so I may be inspired to post more frequently because of that.

I'm mostly packed. The car has had its pre-trip check up :) Now it's time for bed...

Argentina: Part 6: Buenos Aires

This will be the last of the Argentina posts (I think), but I wanted to write a little about Buenos Aires before I wrapped up this series of posts.

the Buenos Aires skyline from 20 stories up

From Argentina Nov 2008

Buenos Aires has a very modern feel to it with a population of around 13 million. Despite Argentina as a whole being classified as a 2nd world country, Buenos Aires feels distinctly first world. I felt quite poor when we went to one of the downtown shopping malls. While I generally feel that my salary lets me live quite comfortably in the U.S., I don't think there was much of anything I could reasonably afford in this mall.

a mural from the mall I couldn't afford

From Argentina Nov 2008

Near the Naval Hotel that we stayed at, there was also a pedestrian mall filled with little street-side cafes, shops, and street performers. We saw street musicians and living statues and tango dancers. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the tango dancers. They weren't really the greatest dancers, but it was still neat to see them preform live in the pedestrian mall. Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera with me when they were dancing because I would have liked to have pictures of the dance.

a live statue of a saint (I don't remember which one)

From Argentina Nov 2008

street art

From Argentina Nov 2008

Buenos Aires has fantastic architecture, much of which has a heavy European influence. I'm no good with architecture terms, so I'm not going to embarrass myself by attempting to label styles and totally mess things up.

From Argentina Nov 2008

the Obelisco de Buenos Aires

From Argentina Nov 2008

a pedestrian bridge in Buenos Aires

From Argentina Nov 2008

One last thing about Buenos Aires: the city and the country for that matter thrive on fútbol (soccer). We didn't go to a fútbol game while we were there. The timing didn't work out, and I guess their sporting events aren't the safe, family-oriented events that are here. Actually, when I told Diego early on that I thought it would be fun to go to a fútbol game, he said only if I wore my worst jeans and really dressed down and didn't talk so that no one would know I was American. Anyway, those were all moot points since we didn't get to go.

On our last day there, however, we were having coffee/tea at an outdoor cafe when several buses full of River Plate (D's favorite team) fans drove by. The fans were hanging out windows and waving River Plate flags and singing songs (all the teams there have specific songs their fans sing throughout the entire game). Just sitting there, I could feel the rhythm pumping through my body. Diego knew the song of course. I think he still had it stuck in his head 12 hours later when we were waiting for the plane to leave for the states.

Argentina: Part 5: "America" in Argentina

Like much of the rest of the world, Argentina has been influenced/invaded/affected by the United States. You'll see from the pictures that we really ship out our, um, finest overseas.

McDonalds and the Argentine flag (not the greatest shot, but you get the idea)

From Argentina Nov 2008

Hooters

From Argentina Nov 2008

I'm serious when I say that McDonalds were everywhere. I think we also spotted TGIFridays, Shell, and Burger King: all fantastic representations of "American" companies.

I put "America" and "American" in quotation marks because Argentines (and perhaps others from South and Central America) seem to take offense at the fact that we citizens of the United States have co-opted the terms "America" and "American" to refer to our nation and citizenship. I can see their point in that anyone who is a citizen of a North, South, or Central American country could claim the label American or say they are from America.

I guess I've never thought of our use of those terms as denying that people from other countries in this hemisphere have a claim to them too. Also, what else will we call ourselves? United Statesers? United Statsians? Ew. Residents of the United States of America. Too long. Perhaps we are somewhat justified in calling ourselves "Americans" (not only for lack of a better label) since the country's official name is the United States of America.

Up next: Buenos Aires

Argentina: Part 4 - Marble floors and barred windows: Daily life

One of the perks of visiting a foreign country with someone from that country is that I got to see more of people's daily lives than the average tourist sees. Instead of stopping at the front doors, I was able to enter people's homes, eat at their tables, and observe family interactions.

For most of the trip, we stayed with Diego's mom and her sister in the apartment their parents bought years ago. I would guesstimate that it's in neither a rich nor a poor neighborhood. They live comfortably yet economically there. It stayed pretty cool in there in both the daytime and the evening even when the days were hot outside. The apartment had marble floors, which helped with keeping temperatures down, and wooden shades could be rolled down, covering the outside of the windows and patio doors. The wooden shades seemed to serve a dual-purpose: temperature control and security.

To prevent break-ins and burglaries, most windows and doors with glass panes had either wooden shades, iron bars, or both. The bars - which ranged from merely functional to highly decorative - remained on the windows at all times while the shades could be pulled up or down from a rope on the inside. It also seemed that people kept their doors locked at all times. When we would leave the apartment, we would have to unlock the door with a key from the inside in addition to locking and unlocking from the outside. I kept thinking how dangerous it could be to be locked in if there was a fire. Perhaps the danger of break-in is more prevalent though.

Functional window bars:

From Argentina Nov 2008

Functional yet decorative window bars:

From Argentina Nov 2008

Notice the glass shards at the top of the wall to keep intruders out

From Argentina Nov 2008

Another common feature of the Argentine home seemed to be the bidet that sat next to the toilet in every bathroom. I should have realized that's what it was when I first saw it, but I'm just not used to seeing bidets period. Diego and I had a conversation that went something like this:

me: That's interesting that there's a urinal next to the toilet.
Diego: Umm... that's a bidet.
me: Oh, right

Silly American.

Despite the ever-present bidets, I opted not to use them during my trip. I'm sure they're just fine, but I couldn't quite convince myself that they're sanitary. Plus, it's just not part of my bathroom routine, and if I ever considered using it, I just imagined the whole thing going awry and me ending up with wet clothes.

The other bathroom/plumbing related thing was that instead of H and C on the faucets for hot and cold, the faucets are labeled C and F for caliente and frio. Good do know in case you thought a cold shower might be nice on a hot day. The C wouldn't work out for you very well in Argentina in that case.

caliente y frio

From Argentina Nov 2008

Up next: "America" in Argentina

I swear I'll wrap this up soon. Thanksgiving just got in the way. Hopefully you're enjoying the posts, but there are other (current) things I've wanted to blog about and haven't since I don't want to lose all momentum on the Argentina stories.

Argentina: Part 3 - The Ocean

Argentina has an extremely long Atlantic coast, and since Mar del Plata is right on the coast, we had to spend some time at the ocean. Since it is spring there right now (opposite seasons from the Northern Hemisphere), we had a mix of cold, rainy and warm, sunny weather, much like we would have here in the spring.

One day in the middle of the trip, Diego's friend Fernando drove us around the city in the afternoon so that I could see more of the city. As part of the tour, we went to the port area which smells very much of fish and sea lions. Unfortunately, about the same time we were at the port, it was raining buckets and blowing like crazy; fortunately, the rain let up and the clouds cleared up eventually so that we could actually get out of the car.

the clearing of the storm

From Argentina Nov 2008

a statue of Jesus at the end of the pier

From Argentina Nov 2008

who needs a weather vane when you have my hair?

From Argentina Nov 2008

We also got to visit a couple of the beaches on different days. It's very common in Argentina for a family or other group of people to rent a little shelter at a particular beach for the entire summer. This gives them a place to go to get out of the sun and a place to stash their stuff while they're at the beach. Then in between the shelters and the oceans is more of a public area.

me with beach shelters and ocean in the background

From Argentina Nov 2008

waves roll in

From Argentina Nov 2008

And of course, me being glow-in-the-dark white, I got a lovely sunburn for my outdoor excursions. The sad thing though is that I didn't acquire my sunburn while at the beach but while sitting in the sun in a backyard in 70 degree weather. I think I just finally finished peeling from that one :)

Up next: Marble floors and barred windows: Daily life

Argentina: Part 2b - Food: The Rest

Obviously even Argentines cannot live on beef alone, and I certainly cannot ;)

Here we're so used to going to the supermarket, buying all of our groceries in one place, and stocking up for a week or at least a few days. There it's much more common to just buy what you need for the day. Most neighborhoods have little grocery stores scattered throughout them, so you might have to walk only a half a block or a block to purchase what you need for the day. You might go to one store to pick up produce and breads, another to purchase meat, another to pick up pastries, and yet another to get wine or beer. I kind of liked that. It seemed like a less stressful way to do grocery shopping, but obviously that wouldn't work quite as well here where everything is so spread out.

Fruit? Vegetables? Anyone?

From Argentina Nov 2008

Because of the high number of Italian immigrants in Argentina, yummy Italian food is easy to find. The pastas there are excellent and remind me quite a bit of what I've had here actually. The pizzas tend to use different ingredients like salami or ham instead of pepperoni or sausage, and they're very yummy.

Pizza anyone?

From Argentina Nov 2008

Another common food there is the empanada. If you're unfamiliar with them, empanadas are a mixture of ground beef (or some other meat), raisins, egg, and spices, wrapped in a pastry dough and either baked or fried. We had baked ones that Diego's aunt made from scratch (see pictures below) and fried ones in restaurants. I have to say that I think the ones his aunt baked were way better than the restaurant ones.

The meat mixture

From Argentina Nov 2008

Empanadas ready to bake!

From Argentina Nov 2008

One other observation on the food: I saw hamburgers on the menus quite frequently, but they're not exactly the same as hamburgers here. In Argentina, it seemed quite common to have things like ham and fried egg on a hamburger. Not being much of a fried egg eater, I didn't try it with that, but they were surprisingly good with ham on them.

Egg on burger

From Argentina Nov 2008

Despite all the yummy, yummy food, decent napkins seemed to be in short supply. Every once in a while we would eat somewhere that had a full sized and absorbent napkin, but more often than not the napkins would be little 3-inch squares or be made out of what looked and felt like tissue paper. Of course, everyone there seemed to get along just fine with these. Maybe I'm just a messier eater than the average Argentine. That's always a possibility.

Up next: The Ocean

Argentina: Part 2a - Food: The Beef

If I could say only one thing about the food in Argentina, I'd say that it's amazing. But since this is my blog and I can say as many things as I want, I'll give you a bit more detail than that :)

First off, Argentina is a beef eater's paradise. Beef isn't just what's for dinner. Beef is what's to eat. I think it would be safe to say that there are very, very few, if any, vegetarians in Argentina. Asados (i.e., barbecues) are practically a national pastime. I think we went to 4 or 5 in the 10 days we were there.

It's not at all uncommon for people to have a customized, brick barbecue in the backyard. No gas grills here - charcoal or wood only thankyouverymuch. I think the key to the Argentine asado is the quality of meat and the slow cooking time. While bread, salad, and some nice Argentine wine are served too, the main focus is the meat: short ribs, morcilla (blood sausage), chorizo (sausage), entraña (meat from the side of the cow). And sometimes they'll even throw in some other body parts like the kidney or intestines. I have to say I'm not totally sold on the kidney/intestine/morcilla varieties of meat. The rest of it is so very, very tasty.

Meat slow roasting

From Argentina Nov 2008

Almost time to eat

From Argentina Nov 2008

Asado at a restaurant (there are hot charcoal briquettes underneath)

From Argentina Nov 2008

And yet more beef... get the idea

From Argentina Nov 2008

Since I know I have more to say and more pictures I want to share about this topic, I think I'm going to adjourn this post and begin a new one.

Up Next: Food: The Rest

Argentina: Part 1

I've been back from Argentina for almost a week now, and if I don't start posting stories about the trip soon, then it may not happen at all. It's always difficult for me to write about big trips (too many things to say, perhaps), and the longer I procrastinate, the harder it will be. I've decided that rather than narrate the whole thing (no one wants to read that), I would chunk up the trips into topics.

Travel
If nothing else, traveling to Argentina was a lengthy process, kind of like a relay race that went something like this:

1. from my apartment to Diego's apartment
2. from Diego's apartment to his work
3. from his work to the West Falls Church Metro stop (co-worker gave us a ride)
4. Metro to the airport (all that and we just made it to the airport)
5. 2 1/2 hour flight from DC to Miami
6. 8 hour flight from Miami to Buenos Aires
7. 5 hour shuttle ride from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata
8. 10 minute car ride from the shuttle stop to Diego's aunt and mom's place.

* To return, reverse directions.

All in all, from leaving my apartment to arriving at our final destination, it took more than 24 hours. Needless to say, it was wonderful to finally stop moving.

I slept on and off for most of the freezing cold plane ride from Miami to Buenos Aires, so it didn't seem as long as it actually was. Although I certainly could have stood for more sleep after the flight, I was not very successful sleeping on the shuttle.

The drive between Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata reminded me very much of driving across eastern South Dakota, but somehow it seemed more desolate. It was beautiful, of course, but fewer small towns and farms dotted the landscape. The land was pancake flat and stretched to the horizon with very little disrupting the view. Here and there, clumps of trees spotted the prairie with herds of cattle interspersed throughout.

Somewhere between Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata

From Argentina Nov 2008

If the drive to Mar del Plata was uneventful, driving in Mar del Plata (or Buenos Aires for that matter) was a completely different experience. Only major intersections, and honestly not even all of those, have stop lights or stop signs to regulate the traffic. Instead, whoever "gets to the intersection first" gets to go first, or something like that. I guess there are some laws governing how the right of way is supposed to work: you yield to traffic coming from the right but get the right of way if traffic is coming from the left. This is made slightly easier by the fact that most of the streets are one way only. I never saw any accidents, but I might have gotten a few more gray hairs just sitting in the passenger seat. Needless to say, I was definitely not going to get behind the wheel of any car while in Argentina.

View of a Buenos Aires intersection from 20 stories up

From Argentina Nov 2008

Up next: Food

way down south

For a few months, Diego and I have tossed around the idea of going to Argentina together. Initially we were thinking we would go in January or February because it's summer in Argentina then, but between our work schedules and the ridiculous price of airfare, we opted for a different time of year.

Saturday we booked a flight to Argentina for the middle of November! We'll fly into Buenos Aires and spend a little time there probably right before the return flight. Most of the time we'll be in Mar del Plata, where he grew up and where some of his family still live.

I'm very excited to see his Argentina :)

where i've been

Hi! I haven't yet disappeared from the face of the planet, but I apologize if it has seemed like I did. There have actually been blog-able things happening in the past few weeks, but I never seemed to find the time to sit down and write about them. Sigh. Rather than rehash the minute details of everything, I'll give you the highlights, or I'll end up being hopelessly behind forever.

Since my last post...

I helped Diego move from one apartment to another. Many boxes were lifted. Many pieces of furniture were moved. Many things were thrown out. Many muscles were made sore. But my lovely boyfriend bought me an hour massage as a thank you :)

Diego and I went to Michigan for the wedding of one of his close friends. The interesting thing about this was that it was a Muslim wedding. Having never been to one before, I was quite interested to see what they're like. They're quite different from Christian weddings and may warrant a separate post in the future. For now, you can see the pictures here.

Stephanie came to visit for a week. It was wonderful having her here :) We did some of the touristy things around DC (Smithsonian, monuments, the zoo, Georgetown, and old town Alexandria) and then headed to the H'burg area so she could see where I live. We shopped for bridesmaid dresses, went to the Shakespeare Theater, and saw Monticello. Pictures will be forthcoming.

And...

I went back to work on Tuesday. Sigh. Poor me. However will I survive! But seriously, I was very spoiled having 3 months off, but I knew at the beginning that it wasn't a permanent thing. Still... it's a bit sad having to work full-time again. I'm planning to ask my supervisor if I can work from home on Fridays so I can make faster progress on the book. I'll let you know if he OKs that.

train travel

Growing up as a little girl in the Midwest who read and daydreamed far too much, I developed a very romanticized idea of train travel. Train conductors wearing jaunty hats and in navy suits with gold buttons. Semi-private travel compartments where the occupants faced each other. Rail lines that ran through scenic areas. The conductor yelling all aboard as the train whistle blew and later checked ticket stubs as the train wound around narrow mountain passes. It seemed to be a perfectly lovely way to travel.

Unfortunately, passenger trains don't run through South Dakota, so I never had an opportunity to ride a train. That is until this past weekend. I had a conference up in Philadelphia, so rather than drive or fly, I decided to take the train from Charlottesville.

Train travel is really brilliant. There's no need to show up to the train station more than 30 minutes early unless you're checking bags. No one cares if you bring liquids on board. There are no security lines, no metal detectors, no rigorous ID check. Having traveled so much by plane since 9/11, I've grown so accustomed to the hassles of flying that it was really a huge shock to not have similar hassles with train travel.

While there were no semi-private compartments with facing rows of seats (at least not in the car I sat in), there was an amazing amount of room available for each passenger and virtually no restrictions on moving about the train. Complete with dining and sleeping cars, the train in and of itself rather lived up to my expectations.

My expectations of a scenic ride were not exactly met. Between C'ville and DC, it was somewhat scenic, but between DC and Philly, the tracks were lined with urban decay and slum neighborhoods. I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised, but it was rather disappointing and disheartening to see how horrible some of the living conditions are.

I was not disappointed, however, by the conductors. They really do wear jaunty hats and in navy suits with gold buttons, yell "all aboard," and ask to check ticket stubs midway through the journey. It warmed my heart to know that at least one of my childhood ideals about train rides was still true.

let the road trip begin!

Well, I'm off! Today I'm driving through parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana, which is my final destination for today. I'm so excited. Tonight I'll be sipping margaritas or martinis or something with Meghan. I'll stay there for a day before I head on to South Dakota to see friends and family back home.

I may see you soon!

georgia weekend

Since it was a 3-day weekend and because my window of opportunity for taking this trip was rapidly narrowing, I drove down to Georgia this past weekend to visit my older brother, who is stationed at Ft. Gordon for the time being. He's been there since February, I think, and I just have not made it down there. There are only 2 to 3 more weeks to go before he gets shipped out to some other base somewhere else in the world, so I knew that this may be my one chance to see him. Once he gets shipped out it could be 6 months to a year (or more) before I see him again.

So I drove the 7+ hour drive to Augusta... there on Saturday, back on Monday. It was a really short trip, but it was totally worth it :)

Weekend Highlights:
* I added 3 states to the list of states I've been to: North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

* I bought Georgia peaches from a little old man who was selling peaches out of the back of his pickup truck at a rest area. Mmm...

* We went to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Fabulous. Go see it. Now. I feel like the ending was a bit unresolved, which makes me think they might have a fourth Pirate's movie in the works...

* I got to explore the army base. It was much larger than I thought it would be although Derek said that it's actually small for a base. When you enter the base, you have to zig-zag through a series of gates. I wish I had thought to take a picture of it. The turns were so tight that 5 miles per hour may have been too fast a speed to make it through. To enter you must be with a person who has a military ID, and they perform check 100% ID checks for all persons entering the base, and they are serious about that 100%. On base, it felt something like a cross between a college campus and a campground, which makes sense considering the classes taught and training offered on the base. I also got to see the barracks. They were, um, stark... depressing... lacking imagination... worse than dorm rooms, but livable.

* We explored the Augusta Riverwalk. It's a park that runs through downtown Augusta along the Savannah River. It was great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.


* Best of all I got to spend a couple days with my older brother :)

seattle recap

My trip out to Seattle this past weekend was fabulous but too short. I spent most of the weekend going to meetings with other lit librarians. The meetings were actually really good, but I would have liked to had more time to wander through the city and see some sights.

I spent Saturday morning traipsing through the city. I had planned to visit the Space Needle, but its unimpressive appearance paired with a highway and a somwhat questionable looking neighborhood between me and the tower, persuaded me against it. Seriously, the Space Needle is so much shorter than I expected it to be. Pictures of the Seattle skyline always make it look like it towers above the city's skyscrapers. That's a total lie. I don't know from where or what angle they take promotional pictures of the city, but the needle is absolutely not the tallest building in the city.

Since that plan didn't pan out, I spent the morning window shopping and wandering around downtown Seattle. The city reminds me somewhat of San Francisco. I think that's probably from a combination of the waterfront, the hilly streets, and the nature-lover meets high-end technology population. Oh, and there really is a Starbucks on almost every corner, and if it's not a Starbucks, it's a Seattle's Best Coffee or some other coffee shop. I visited the the original Starbucks, and it was, well, very much like every other Starbucks just older.

I took a few pictures of the city, which I've uploaded to my Picasa albums. I wasn't in much of a photo mood, but I figured I'd kick myself later if I didn't at least take a few pictures.

One thing I wish I'd known before I went to Seattle: There a whole underground city underneath the streets of Seattle. I guess there are purple squares in the sidewalks that allowed light to the underground city. The city was reserved for the Chinese people who lived there up until the early 1900s; they weren't allowed to live above ground with the white people. I guess it was that way in a lot of cities in the Pacific Northwest. If I'd known that before I went, I totally would have gone to see what's left of the underground city. I guess I'll just have to visit Seattle again...

beware of the librarians

If you can at all help it, never fly with a plane full of librarians.  For people whose lives are more or less devoted to organization, they don't queue well at all, and they tend to take up more space than the average person due to this terrible habit they have of carrying large over-stuffed tote bags, which they invariably got for free from a vendor or publisher. (Librarians are obsessed with swag).  They may come in a close second to college students when it comes to collecting free stuff.

However, the oddest, and perhaps most irritating thing, about travelling librarians is that they treat airplanes like a cocktail party - not in terms of their drinking habits, but in terms of their socializing.  On my flight to Seattle earlier today, numerous librarians left their seats and wandered through the plane cabin to chat with other librarians.  They stood in the aisles and around the lavatory chatting with one another.  And not just a quick "hi, how are you?" conversation.  No, some of them would actually stand and converse for 30 to 45 minutes.  Unbelievable!

For heaven's sake, people, this is an airplane, not a social hour.  If you need to catch up with someone, make plans to do it over drinks or dinner, but please don't block the aisle while you chat about your current research interests or library approval plan.  Ridiculous.

So if you can at all help it, don't ever, ever, ever fly with librarians.  Check the ALA website to learn when and where the upcoming conferences are located, and then avoid them like the plague. 

---

Aside from ridiculousness on the trip out here, I'm excited to be out in Seattle for the weekend.  I had dinner and drinks with some fun Indiana people tonight.  I have some meetings to go to over the next couple days, but I'm hoping to see some of the city as well.  I'm sure I can make time for that :)  I don't know if I'll post more while I'm out here, but if not, I'll give you an update once I'm back in Virgina.

meet in the middle

 

The trip to Chicago came at a perfect time. I was kind of going crazy here up until I hopped in my car to drive up to DC last week Wednesday. Sometimes I just need to get away from here and see old friends, the ones who already know the stories.

The first half of the trip was primarily filled with wedding related events: the bachelorette party, the rehearsal, the wedding itself. The second half of the trip we played tourist: Sears Tour, Navy Pier, Art Institute.

The best part? Little conversations here and there with Alex and Carrie and Meghan and Stacey. Laughing about inside jokes (No one else would understand why we would even think to compliment someone's clavicles anyway).

Oh, and Eric & Meghan are so perfect for each other. They just fit. I couldn't imagine anyone else better for her :)
 

happy vacation

Only 4 more hours until I head up to DC. I'm antsy as all get out, and my vacation can't begin soon enough. That said, I've been quite productive so far today although I can see that going down hill in the next few hours.

I've printed off all of my driving directions for when I'm in Chicago.

I've reserved my taxi to take me to the airport.

I've had the gift shipped directly to Meghan & Eric.

In 1 1/2 hours I'll check in to my flight.

All I have to do is run one errand once I leave work, and then I'm outta here.

I can't wait :)

back in business

I got back from New Orleans on Wednesday night. It was a fabulous, but exhausting trip. I never had a chance to experience New Orleans pre-Katrina, so I don't have anything with which to compare this experience.

It's a bold and brassy city that's unapologetic for what it is. The music on Bourbon Street is far too loud inside the cafes and bars and somehow is even louder out in the streets. You can buy massive daiquiris from street vendors and wander the streets as you sip your drink. Some of the shops have entire walls covered with Mardi Gras beads and masks, and in some areas, the tree branches are covered with beads. The streets are littered with refuse from many nights' worth of party goers and are filled with police officers and street musicians.

For all its seeming fullness and life, New Orleans feels like a shadow of its former self. The shops and Riverwalk seem empty as tourists and convention goers have been hesitant to return to the Big Easy. The French Quarter has more life, but it seems that even those streets have a tangible lack of people and movement.

But the city is rebuilding - slowly. Deserted cars and other waste were removed from the French Quarter to provide the city with a better image for the convention attendees. There are construction projects everywhere, and the local news shows the greater clean-up and reconstruction efforts across New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. There's a deep resentment towards FEMA for its poor response to Katrina. The bitterness is evident everywhere from the local news reports to FEMA t-shirts sold in local shops.

Through all this, there was an amazing amount of gratitude towards the librarians for coming to the city, spending their money, and showing other potential convention-holding organizations, that the Big Easy is back and ready for business.

the big easy

I'm barely back from my trip out to SD for Karen's wedding, and I leave for my conference in New Orleans in just a little over a week. I might feel caught up at work by the time I leave, which of course means that all of that catching up will be for naught the second I leave for the conference. But that is how my June is going to go whether I like it or not.

In spite of missing so many days at work, I am really excited for the conference. It's not really the conference I'm excited for; it's seeing some of my Indiana people. Angela and Kate and Jodi and Susan... It'll be great :)

The conference organizers will send text messages to my cell phone if there are any weather alerts I need to know about. And in the case that there is a hurricane, Jodi's providing the getaway car since she and Susan are driving down. In the case that we need to escape, then Angela, Kate, and I will be eternally grateful considering that we're flying in.

Hopefully, there will be no weather alerts sent to my cell phone. Hopefully, there will be no need for a getaway car. Hopefully, we'll all have a fabulous time in the Big Easy :)