a love deserved

I will be the force behind his ambitions, the inspiration for his joy, the light behind his darkness.  And he will appreciate, cherish, and love me for it with all of the chaos and madness I may bring.  This is the love meant for me.

Failed Americans

The Week Magazine 9:424 - An excerpt of an excerpt on American health care reform as seen from the eyes of columnists and commentators outside of the U.S.
The trouble is, most Americans just don't care about the poor, said Christina Patterson in the London Independent. The have-nots are seen as "failed Americans, Americans who let the side down." That's why it's so hard for the U.S. to enact any kind of reform that might help the less fortunate. "Sure, America's got talent, but it's also got some of the most unpleasant, uncompassionate, unerringly ruthless people on the face of this planet."
I can't say that I disagree with that last statement. Throughout this health care debate, I keep hearing "What's in it for me?" Opponents fear "rationed" care. Open your eyes people, health care is already rationed to those with employment and those who can afford to pay. With the highest unemployment rates in the last 20 years, one would think that every American knows at least one family without health insurance. I held two hourly jobs for three years; neither employer offered me health insurance. I paid hundreds a month for the most basic of plans that had a high deductible and barely covered services beyond emergency care. I am not a failed American. My lifestyle choice meant that I didn't fit into a cookie cutter recipe for exempt employment with health care coverage, but I was working hard. Didn't I deserve to have decent health care? By the way, as a nursing student at one of the premier teaching hospitals in NY state, my student insurance currently covers visits with a nurse practitioner and emergencies only. Forget prescriptions or labs or specialists.
Americans don't care about the poor. Americans don't care about their neighbor either.

No Snow Globes

I visited Adam and Amy in Boston and then another Amy in NYC over this past weekend. My last day in NYC I had $20 cash. This is what I bought.



Lamb shawarma from the King of Falafel and Shawarma in Astoria.




Salty pretzel near 5th Ave.




Chai and a toasted almond donut from Doughnut Plant in the Lower East Side.




A quarter pound of tasty Vermont cheese from the awesome Essex Street Market.




Fish balls on a stick in Chinatown.




A giant apple pear to wash it all down.




And finally, a train ride to the airport.

Toni Morrison's Letter to Barack Obama

Morrison's letter brought tears to my eyes. They were the kind of tears that well up when I feel pride for my country, for when she shows her full potential for having a positive impact on our world, our humanity.

I don't usually activate much in politics, but this election is different. We are at a pivotal point in history. Domestically, a mountain of woes has been piling, teetering; job loss, faltering education, health care - collapse of the middle class. Internationally, we have bridges to rebuild and new ones to found. This time the end result matters more, somehow. For a left-leaning independent, my only "choice" is for who the Democratic nominee will be. It's already been boiled down; Clinton or Obama?

I probably have more time on my hands than many to keep up with the news, read editorials, research candidate records, etc. I haven't. I read the headlines, scan articles, catch sound bytes. As far as I can tell, their positions on issues important to me are essentially the same. Their differences are details that I am not sophisticated enough to fully digest. Both want to change our world for the better. How do I know whom will better represent this country? I don't, but I have a feeling. A feeling that is getting stronger every day.
I read Obama's Audacity of Hope. He exuded integrity and empathy. His central message was clear. Every American shares the same core values, hopes, and dreams with his neighbor. When you dig to the core, we all want to feel safe, earn enough to support ourselves or a family,access to education, a fair chance at a decent, if simple, life. We must remember that we have common goals. Even if we disagree on how to achieve them, we can find a way to reach them together. There is such thing as common good, common ground, if both sides want it enough. And I do. I'm tired of being wrenched from side to side. Having just finished a tour of India, it was not lost on me that his message could carry across borders.
When I finished the book, I was hesitant to wave Obama's flag. Some of his rhetoric sounded too idealistic, naive. As much as I agreed with what he wrote, I wasn't convinced that the rest of America would. My cynic concluded that his ideas wouldn't work; politics would inevitably stall progress. If we lived in a perfect altruistic world, maybe, but we don't. One could only hope...and there it was...I picked up his flag. I am audacious enough to hope, to believe, to dream. If I'm not courageous enough to stand up for my hope, my dream, who will be?

Barack Obama '08

Backwaters and Beaches

Happy Holidays!!
I don't mean to boast, but I've been spending the last week either sleeping on a train, lazying on a house boat, or sunbathing on a beach. ;)
After leaving Chennai, Sai, Sundeep, and I went to Kerala to spend a day in its backwaters. Kerala is also known as God's Country. We rented a house boat for a whole day. Seriously, this thing had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The bathrooms were nicer than some of the hotels we've been staying in! The three of us and our three person crew floated along the canals and lagoons. There were always small houses tucked into the palm trees, precariously built on narrow man-made strips of land. The strips enclosed rice paddies that went on forever. The locals rely on ferries and canoes to get around. Just imagine having to get to school or the market in a canoe! The day we spent on the boat was a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle and crowds of India. The scenery was beautiful; however, the signs of human contanimation were hard to ignore. This is something that has somewhat marred my impressions of India. The country truely is beautiful and elegant with its cities, temples, and natural wonders. But you have to be able to look past the garbage, waste, and stinky sewers. I think the in-your-face poverty would be easier to bear if India's waste management system were more effective and its people more aware. Then again...there are over one billion people here! I don't imagine it to be easy to change that many people's mindsets about environmental concerns when they're fighting just to feed themselves.
Sai and I spent Christmas eve and Christmas hanging out on the beach. Erase that picture of pristine secluded beach out of your mind. The beaches here are packed with food/drink shacks made of palm leaves and bamboo. Beach recliners and umbrellas take over the sand. On Christmas eve, the beach was lit up with partiers, diners, and revelers. Fireworks were launched only 100 meters away from where we were sitting. The dancing lights, candles, fireworks all on a backdrop of a full moon was pretty darn magical. Oh and the sand!! The softest sand my toes have ever felt!

mmmMadras!

Greetings! Namaste.
Actually I haven't heard one person say "Namaste" yet. People usually waggle their heads from side to side. It's not a nod nor a shake. You can do it by trying to touch your ears to their respective shoulders. Side to side. I'm trying to emulate, but my body automatically nods instead of waggling.
Yesterday, I met the most famous auto-rickshaw driver in Chennai. Rama brought out greeting card after greeting card from happy customers. He showed me articles on him in Indian newspapers and even one from Switzerland! Most famous indeed! He has started a co-op of 30 drivers (out of 30,000) who are dedicated to providing nice, kind taxi services. See, Chennai's auto drivers are notorious for being rude and charging way more than they should to tourists and locals, alike. I think it's really awesome. He charged me about $1.50 to drive me around for three hours! So, I took him out to lunch and he showed me a trick to eating with your hands. That trick proved useful since I went to a wedding reception last night where there aren't any utensils in sight! I did pretty well thanks to Rama. And Bonus, I didn't look too bad in my snap-on sari either. ;)
The wedding was weird. I wish someone had told me that South Indians don't dance at weddings. The actual ceremony was today and it was held on a stage with auditorium seats. Hundreds of people attended but no one was paying attention to the ceremony at all! Everyone was talking and socializing and wandering about. I had no idea what was going on. The ladies looked gorgeous though! And food was excellent.
So, I'm in Chennai aka Madras. Signs that you are in a economically wealthier city: the presence of SUVs and bigger cars and TV ads for luxury hotels and luxury cars instead of super glue. Not much to do in this city. I've had my full of temples and churches for the time being. There is a nice beach. It's actually one of the longest city beaches in the world. The locals claim it is THE longest. Unfortunately, the crazy winds make for crazy waves and deter swimming in the Bay of Bengal.
On the upside, I have landed in the middle of the Chennai Dance and Music Festival! I have a classical dance show and a dance opera slated for tonight! I'm thrilled!
There are 10 lame pictures up on http://trixyone.smugmug.com I've found a USB cable, but I've not yet found a reliable computer with USB or fast enough connection. poo. Coming up...Kerala and a house boat trip through the backwaters. I have no idea what to expect here. We've rented a two-bedroom houseboat?! How big is thing going to be?? I'm hoping to meet with an astrologer while I'm there too!

half of my india budget

for the special few who might actually understand and laugh at me for this.

so i was window shopping in delhi yesterday. i met an older gentleman who was probably in his mid-fifties along the way. he was eating an ice cream cone. anyway, he ended up leading me to a coffee house where locals hangout. but before we sat down for coffee, he said, "oh, let me show you this good kashmiri carpet place that is just around the corner." out of politeness, i went into the store which had rich carpets and silks hanging on the walls. the salesman started rolling out carpets and explaining the quality and history of kashmiri weaving.

whoosh, carpet, whoosh, carpet, whoosh.

i listened attentively and oohed at the appropriate times. i was enjoying the salesman's distinguished english and a kahava (a special kashmiri drink) with cookies.

whoosh, carpet.

now, you all know what persian carpets are like. they were mostly in bright bold colors that never match anything in a house like cinnamon hot red, royal blue, forest green. and the patterns were equally gaudy.

whoosh, carpet.

he rolls out one in MY color!! an olivey-lime green, more olive than lime. it also has browns, golds, and a hint of orange. the pattern is interesting but not too obtrusive. it could match a lot of my furniture and my taste in decor. i loved it. i bought it. i spent more than half of my trip's budget for it. but it'll be shipped directly to my door in chicago. and it's an investment that'll be passed down for generations right? besides, carpets go under a different budget heading - housewares/furniture. i left laughing at myself. only i would randomly meet a man on the street and end up spending more than $500.

Overstimulated

A few notes.

1. I'm dirty. Everyday my face and nostrils are caked in dirt and grime. Thank goodness for facial wipes.

2. The men in India are drab, at least in attire. The women are like gemstones in a basket of pebbles. It doesn't seem to matter what their economic status is, the women's saris are always a rich, bright color. It's like nature reversed where the females display their plumes and waggle about to attract a mate. I don't think that's their intention, but it certainly attracts my eye.

3. Life in India is organic. Even the traffic. It is always flowing. Adjusting and altering course to get around an obstacle. Even though every bit of day-to-day life is chaotic and frantic, things get done. As Sai remarked, it has to. I kind of envy it. American life is so rigid in comparison. You have to fill out the right forms, follow the right steps, in the right order, at the right time. We could use a bit of the flavor here at home.

4. Traveling without knowing the language is hard! I got around in S. America fine because I spoke some Spanish. But man, I would be so lost here without 
a translator. All I can do is stare back blankly when someone tries to speak to me. I feel so dumb! I've just started to pick up a few Hindi words like one, two, hundred, how much, no. But we'll be heading to South India where they don't speak Hindi. D'OH!

5. Holy sugar high. I feel like I've been eating non-stop since we took off from Chicago. Every meal is followed by either chai or coffee. Both of which are sugared and milky. Yum, yes. Happy tummy, no. There are some traditional foods and treats that are nearly pure sugar. They taste so good, but my body just won't take more than a few nibbles.

Whoa. India.

Whoa...I'm in India.

We arrived Sunday morning around 3am (about 4pm Saturday Chicago time). 

In an attempt to adjust to the local time, we went to bed. I don't think either of us slept much. Instead we listened to the orchestra of India. A dog barked incessantly outside the window. At about 5am, a rhythmic swish, swish, swish, swish counted the minutes away as someone started their never ending battle against dirt and dust. A man sang to the sunrise, and the train whistles near by sounded like a battalion of trumpets.

My first day was spent learning to avoid being slammed into by rickshaws and mototaxis while trying not to step in a pile of cow dung all in the same moment! Let's just say that I'm lucky Sai has my back.

Much more to reflect on, but we've got to make the most of our day here in Delhi. We're off to Varanasi this afternoon.

watch out! whale shark!

I blogged about going to the Georgia Aquarium back in February 2006. The opportunity to go came up July of this year. Tabitha was going to Atlanta for a business trip, so I tagged along. I think I was in town for just a little over 24 hours. The first thing we did after I got there was to lounge by the pool. We listened to a hot hot hot boy sing "Wicked Games" to us. For dinner I took Tabitha to Dante's Down the Hatch, of course. It's a fondue place that's built and decorated to replicate a 19th century dock in London. My mom and I had gone there back in 1999(?). I had a great time then, so I had to take Tabitha. It's fondue. Who can pass up fondue?

The next morning, I left early for the aquarium so I would have to deal with as big of a crowd. Tabitha met up with me later to go on our Behind the Scenes Tour.


I immersed myself in front of the second largest viewing window in the world for nearly an hour. Schools of brown-nosed rays swirled around like a barrage of B2 Bombers. Two huge sunfish just hovered and stared right out the window as if they were studying us. Of course, the most fascinating were the whale sharks. The aquarium had just flown in two new whale sharks that were about 14ft long to join the other two 18-footers. That's as big as a semi truck. AND they're no where near full grown! These gentle giants circled near the top of the tank. If I remember correctly, the docent said there were over 10,000 fish in that one tank. Hardly a representation of a real ocean in that you would never find that many fish concentrated in one place. I wondered if the fish got stressed out from the congestion. Anyway, my eyes were bedazzled and awed.

As if that wasn't enough, our Behind the Scenes Tour took us through the aquariums innards. We saw their water filtration system, labs, and "state of the art" fish operating room. Best of all, a top view of the big tank and of the whale sharks!

My day at the aquarium was all that I could imagine! I would love to come back in 10 years to see how the reefs and fish have grown. Tab and I took a lot of pictures that reside on her Flickr page. I get to take credit for half of the amazing ones. =)

chicago moment

Location: Washington and Dearborn. Across the street from the Chriskindlmarket (aka Daley Plaza).

Time: At the tail end of morning rush hour. The last of the late risers trotting to work.

Seen: A black woman around 65 years old perched, cross-leged, on a planter (one of those anti-terrorist tall planters). She was dressed in all shades of blue, mostly royal blue. Even her bouffant hair was spray-painted "blue". Outfitted in a smart dress suit and accessorized to the nines in cheap gold earings and big blue necklaces, she waved at passerbys with one hand. In the other, she gingerly held a martini glass filled with what looked like Irish coffee with a mound of whipped cream. It might have been fake, since there was not one swash with all of her waving. I think she was softly singing to me as I turned to wave.

Regret: No camera!! Maybe she'll be there tomorrow.

suspended

"No-one, and nothing [can] really hurt me. No-one, and nothing, [can] make me very happy."

-Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Batman...come out to play!

Batman: The Dark Knight has been filming in Chicago for a couple of months and are scheduled to do so through September. The crew is using the empty lot next to my office as a staging area. The entire operation has been understandably uber-secretive. Even so, I am truly disappointed at the lack of Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, and Maggie Gyllenhaal sightings. Actually, aside from on-the-set glimpses, Bale and Ledger seem like ghosts in this town. I respect these actors and would love to hang out. But really, I just want them to be out and about, falling in love with the city, and raving about how wonderful Chicago is. The stunt guys regularly come to the restaurant I work at and update us on the filming schedule, so I know you guys are here! C'mon come out and play!!

cicada hunt

Tabitha and I went on a cicada hunt sometime last month. These guys emerge from the ground once every 17 years for a mass mating. Their babies hatch and bury themselves for another 17 years.

We finally found them at a forest preserve in the northwest suburbs (Glen Ellyn, IL). Boy were they loud! And e v e r y w h e r e. And so ugly. It was awesome. On one small plant, I counted over 30 cicadas. They were pretty inactive; just sat there and stared with buggy red eyes. But, when they climbed up a tree to find a mate, they were in a real hurry! My scientific observation and calculation puts them at a proportional speed of 35 miles an hour. We must have ogled for almost an hour. Tabitha has a video of one climbing and of us screeching in delight in the background.

Click blog title for pictures at Tab's flickr page.

new bullet point

on my list of people that i roll my eyes at.

• people who cannot fathom the idea of anyone eating food other than foods they are comfortable with. examples: guinea pig, cricket, rat, squirrel, cicada, worm.

while heading to work from my infusion/lunch, i passed a small group of people discussing the latest travel programs they watched. a girl squeamished, "i saw one where this guy was roasting a guinea pig on a stick. i mean, how can you eat guinea pig? yuck." (click for photo, courtesy of tim)

well, dear lady, you eat guinea pig, rat, squirrel, cicadas, and worms when that's the food that is available to you. it's fine if you don't like the idea of eating guinea pig or worms. howver, you cannot scoff at another culture's or person's choice of food. it makes you sound small minded and ignorant. by the way, guinea pig tastes pretty darn good and juicy, kind of like duck.

just because i roll my eyes at you doesn't mean i don't like you. just maybe a little less than i did before.

looptopia

I emailed the following to my friends who are associated with Chicago. I posted it here because I am that enthusiastic about Chicago.

Dear Once, Present, and Future Chicago Citizens,

Looptopia is this Friday from 5pm to sunrise. Chicago's theater, music, arts, film, dance, and other spectacles will be showcased for FREE! All night long!! It is billed as America's first all-night cultural and artistic celebration and there is no better place than our fair city.

Events like Looptopia and SummerDance are what make Chicago stand out as the best city to live in. In my eyes, Chicago is an innovator in city sponsored activity, community building, and culture. And then there are the grassroots events that make me grin from ear to ear. I really feel like Chicago tries it's best to get it's citizens to appreciate food, art, culture, theater, creativity, community, sport, and his neighbor. This isn't only a good place to earn a living, it's a great place to enjoy living.

Take a gander at the first-ever Looptopia schedule (http://www.looptopia.com). Pick out two or three things you'd like to participate in. Make it a point to go! This is the innaugural year, make this one a success.

I will be volunteering from 8pm to midnight. I will be taking part in as much as I can pre- and post-shift. Chess at 1am anyone?

diseased

I went in to see Dr. Gordon Trenholme, an infectious disease specialist, at Rush today. He brought in a fellow to see me as soon as he learned that I have leishmaniasis.

I recounted my story to both of them. They looked at my ugly open sore briefly. For the curious, it's gotten bigger, deeper, and developed an icky smell yesterday. The fellow examined me and took two pictures; she pulled a digicam right out of her lab coat pocket. I either have Leishmania Viannia panamensis or L.(V.) braziliensis. The latter is more likely. Since I don't have other sores on my body by this late stage, it is unlikely that I will develop others. That's good news. There is a risk that it will spread to mucousal tissue, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned. The next step is to get a skin biopsy so he can send one sample to his lab and one to the CDC. The CDC will find out which species I have and send treatment. Dr. Trenholme mentioned that the medication would be free courtesy of the CDC. Treatment for L.(V.) braziliensis is administered through an IV; the doc called it a parental. It is a 20 day treatment where I think I'll have to have the IV strapped to my arm. Side effects have shown to be severe, but the doc said that the drug is usually used to treat people who are unhealthy and malnourished. Wikipedia mentioned that there is an oral drug being tested now and the USDA has just given it orphan drug status. Maybe I'll get to be a test subject.

Dr. Trenholme and I are going to a dermatologist for a skin biopsy tomorrow; he said he needed a few things looked at too, "two birds with one stone." Testing and speciation should take about a week. Apparently, Dr. Trenholme treated a guy a couple of months ago. He claimed that it is hard to find an infectious disease doctor to treat leishmaniasis and that I was lucky to find him. I thought it was easy to find him, he and Rush are on the internet.

So anyway, prognosis seems good. It's not contagious (as long as you don't lick my ugly sore) and doesn't look like it's spreading. The doc estimated about a grand in expenses. I'm not insured, but Rush gives an automatic 50% discount to those paying out of pocket.

Several poor decisions have allowed this gross sore to get to an advanced stage. I was hoping I would heal myself and that maybe inurance would come through. I should have kept my old insurance. I should have seen someone in Peru. I should seen someone earlier while I was home. My fault completely. I was trying not to freak out about the possible consequences. Now that I've seen Dr. Trenholme and action is being taken, I feel more comforted.

last words

Well, that went by quickly didn't it? I'm back in the Bay Area! It feels great to be home enjoying the wildlife of California (a family of deer just strolled by my window). I'm glad to be vegging out and taking a few days to decompress from moving around every 3-4 days. This traveling experience has been wonderful though frustrating at times. I am positive that I've learned a little bit about how the world functions. I'm sure that I have changed, grown up a bit. These lessons are hard to put into words, but I think they will manifest themselves in my daily life and future interactions with the world around. One thing is certain, I'm not quite done with traveling the world (sorry mom and dad). However, I do want to figure out a more stable way to do it...maybe move to Buenos Aires? =)

Now, for a flashback to my last couple of weeks in Latin America.

My stay in Panama City was a bit bubble-like. Tabitha met me and Natalie there. She had arranged for us to stay in Casco Antiguo, the site of the city's original foundations. I say bubble-like because Casco Antiguo is situated at the end of a small peninsula (easier to defend back in the 1500s) and the charm of a neighborhood in mid-gentrification has attracted fancy restaurants and affluent tourists. Since being declared a World Heritage Site in 1999, the neighborhood has gone through quite a bit of renovation. At this moment, about half of the buildings are bright, shiny, and newly restored while the other half are crumbling into mere skeletons of their old grandeur. The city itself looks a lot like Chicago, with huge condominiums lined up along the waterfront. Interestingly, the tourist maps we picked up all featured real estate and pictures of fancy buildings (including a Trump) instead of marking museums or other points of interest.

The highlight of our time there was definitely crossing the Panama Canal. The inner workings of the canal has not changed since 1914, when it was finished. The trip took about 8 hours and involved our boat climbing 87 ft up from the Pacific and then descending down to the Atlantic. We passed through 6 locks in total. It was amazing to watch HUGE tankers be lifted in the lock next to us at the same exact rate our little boat. And then equally mind-boggling to look across the water to see the Atlantic Ocean a 25ft drop below. All of it is done by gravity, no pumps of any kind are involved in the crossing the canal!

Costa Rica is where Natalie and I parted ways and Jen and Vicki joined me. I visited Monteverde Cloud Forest, Manuel Antonio (read: beach), and Arenal Volcano. At Monteverde we saw the most fascinating butterfly exhibit. We stood and watched as cocoons broke open and beautiful butterflies emerged, dried out their wings, and flew off. Manuel Antonio brought us to our first monkey encounters! We watched cappuchin monkeys groom each other, spider monkeys jump from limb to limb in search of the juiciest leaf, and listened to a howler monkey howl. The beach and ocean was very pretty, but it was way too hot to be sitting in the sun. No eruptions from Arenal Volcano, but Tabitha and I enjoyed a relaxing time at the hot springs which are heated by the volcano. One pool was 113 degrees Fahrenheit! I jumped in it, but could only stay in it for about 3 seconds before my skin boiled off. A word to others considering travel to Costa Rica, book a tour. Independent travel is much more difficult and considerably more expensive there. Oh, and forget buying property in Costa Rica. Nicaragua is the newest hot spot.

Pictures linked in blog title.

Ambato

Sorry if I sounded a bit jaded in my last email. I'd just crossed the border from Peru to Ecuador and was miffed because we'd been scammed by a cab driver who left us semi-stranded after we declined to have him drive us 7 hours overnight to Ambato. In the end, we lost only $1.50 but it just left a sour taste in my mouth. Peru hasn't been the nicest experience. The country itself is gorgeous with a lot of archaeological points of interest. But, it is inundated with tourists and people trying to squeeze every last cent out of them. What I hated the most was that the minute we'd step off of a bus there would be at least 3 men in our faces essentially trying to drag us to their taxis. Ugh. Shaking it off.

During Carnaval it is customary to throw water and get people wet. Throughout the month of February, there are kids and big kids who wield water balloons to throw into open windows of cars and buses and load up water cannons and buckets to get a hapless passerby soaked. Nat and I have spent the month dodging these assaults or at least trying not to react much when we do get wet. The more you react, the more you get wet.

At the last minute, we decided to go to Ambato for Carnaval. It's famous for it's Festival of Fruit and Flowers during the last weekend of Carnaval and therefore very popular among Ecuadorians. Throwing water in Ambato is illegal. Instead, people spray foam at each other or throw hand fulls of flour. Monday night was the peak of Carnaval festivities. Thousands of people lined the streets to watch a parade. I didn't understand why there were so many people because it turned out to be the same exact parade that had passed through Sunday morning. But as soon as the parade finished, the real fun commenced. Throngs of people armed with spray cans of colored foam stormed the streets. Foam Fight!!! The most common technique was to walk casually by a person pulling out the spray can at the last possible moment so that you can get him right in the face and run away before he can react. Nat and I, being a pretty girl with "blonde" curls and a rare Asian gal, were targetted hard. I remember hearing "Mira, la chinita!" several times right before being creamed and blinded by blue/green/pink foam. But don't you worry, we fought back. We got everyone that sprayed us, even if it meant chasing them down and smearing our enemies faces with our own foam filled faces. After the foam fights, dancing in the street was requisite. Definitely a unique experience.



Now, I'm killing time in Quito before I fly out to Panama City. We visited the Equator the other day. We went with three cool guys (Diego, Juan Cristobal, and Raimundo) from Chile. It was like going to an amusement park! There is a massive monument marking 0°-0'-0" longitude (actually, it's off by 200 m) surrounded by several museums, cafes, and restaurants. An orange stone line is drawn into the ground. I was surprised how fun it was to jump from north to south to north to south to north to south. Weee! Of course, I ran a bitty science experiment in a bathroom sink. Water drained straight down!

dim sum yum

It was a Sunday in Lima, Peru.

On Sunday, I'm supposed to eat dim sum.

Nat and I leave our hostel in search of Chinatown in Lima. A long bus ride from posh Miraflores into Downtown Lima. A long stroll to Chinatown which included being soaked by a bunch of kids with water cannons and water balloons.

Sunday in Lima, Peru means carnaval "celebrations". That translates to kids tossing water balloons and wetting passerbyers.

We find a table at a spot that serves dim sum everyday. I hope for carts and carts full of tasty goodies that I have been craving for weeks. No such luck, however, there are two large Asian families sitting and large round tables. That's a good sign. A menu is set in front of me where I should indicate what I desire. My conundrum: the menu is written in Chinese, which I can't read, and translated into Spanish, which I don't recognize. What does JaiZow mean? The only items I could figure out were the ones I didn't want, like Chai Sow Bow.
After about 10 minutes, the only waitress that speaks some Mandarin comes by, she is obviously in high demand. I spout off the things I'm craving in Mandarin to her. We had about a 30% match rate. The dishes came one by one. I was surprised by how good the fish jook was and disappointed by the shiao rong baos. I wouldn't consider it a horrible first time dim sum experience for Natalie by my judgement, but I can't wait for her to come to the bay so I can show her what real dim sum is like.