Rhianna Banana

spring wildlife

I'm back in NYC now, after trips to DC and San Diego to visit friends and family. Pierre and I aren't going anywhere for awhile, other than Michigan for Memorial Day weekend. He and I are now focused on enjoying NYC as cheaply as possible! We are also trying to avoid all the huge crowds at the touristy spots in Manhattan. Our strategy is to go to bed early, wake up early, and get to places before anyone else. And then we pack a lunch to save money =) This past weekend the weather was perfect so we headed down to my favorite free spot in New York, Central Park. We walked almost five miles, exploring the park and discovering places I had never been to before, like the Conservatory Garden. Pierre took a bunch of pictures, including this cool shot of an egret hunting for fish in Turtle Pond:

Here's a link to the rest of his pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pierrebull/CentralParkNYCSpringtime

My trips to DC and San Diego were really nice because I stayed long enough to spend quality time with lots of people I hadn't seen in awhile. I also seem to be doing a tour of American baseball stadiums. I went to a game at the new ballpark for the Nationals in DC and then a Padres game at the Petco stadium in San Diego, which was new to me. Next, I'll go see the Mets in Shea stadium, our new neighborhood team!

While I was in San Diego, I took the train up to see my friend Katy. The train from San Diego to Los Angeles is really nice because it runs along the coastline, so you can watch the beach almost the whole way. Plus the seats are really comfy and each row has its own outlet, so you can watch movies the whole way! I realized that I have ridden trains in lots of parts of the world; in Europe from Geneva to Berlin; in Peru to get from Cuzco to Machu Picchu; in Ecuador from Riobamba to Alausi, down the Devil's nose; and in the Midwest and East Coast. I love the train! I wish America had a more extensive train system.

Katy took me to a beach in the O.C., which was very exciting for me since I'm a big dork and love that show. We saw lots of things with the words O.C. on them, which was very cool =)

Another fun thing I did in San Diego was visit the elementary school where my friend Cindy teaches to talk to her kids about Ecuador. Cindy teaches bilingual 2nd graders, so I got a chance to speak in Spanish again, which was nice. The kids had written me letters when I was in Ecuador, so this was my opportunity to answer all the questions they had sent to me. I did a brief PowerPoint presentation with lots of photos from Ecuador. The kiddos seemed to really like all the wildlife shots. I also showed them some arts and crafts from Ecuador. Most of the kids are familiar with the Mexican pop group Rebelde, so Cindy said I should dress up like Rebelde for the presentation. I guess I wasn't a very convincing Catholic schoolgirl, because none of the kids seemed to get it. Oh well. I also demonstrated some Ecuadorian gestures, and made them all imitate me and then quizzed them on the meaning of each one. That seemed to go over well. I asked them some questions about my presentation and gave them stickers for correct answers. Then I ran out of things to do, so I taught them the Thriller dance. I realize that has nothing to do with Ecuador, but I did learn the dance when I was in the Peace Corps. . . The kids all seemed to really like that!

Going to San Diego is always wonderful because I get to see all my old high school friends. We are all still really good friends, which I know is rare. I am really grateful to have such a tight group of friends who have always made time for each other and supported and loved each other for almost 15 years now! We always have fun together, no matter what. I usually end up laughing and getting giddy whenever I see them. I am always sad saying bye to them, which made me wonder why I keep doing it. Plus my parents are in San Diego and my mom's relatives, and my lovely geriartric kitties, Shnowy and Chessie. I always miss all of them when I leave.

When I was living in southern California, I wanted to see the rest of the world. Other than my four years in Boston, I've been living in places for two years and then moving again. Which means I now have friends all over the country, which is nice, but I also think maybe I should settle down some time. And I think I might just have to eat my own words and say that I want to live in southern California again.

I've said ever since I left San Diego that I don't think I could ever live there again. But I think I took a lot of things about San Diego for granted. On this last visit, I did a lot of more touristy things with my parents, like visiting Sea World, the Wild Animal Park, and the zoo. We all also went to Earth Day, which used to be my favorite day in San Diego. The fair is so big, I've never seen anything like it in any other city. Booths cover all of Balboa Park, and there are so many people who attend every year. Almost too many people, but we just waited until the end and then the crowds were more manageable. Anyway, visiting the zoo and Earth Day reminded me about all the things I do love about San Diego. I also miss going to the Del Mar Fair (now called the San Diego county fair). And I want to share those things with Pierre, but we can probably only really afford to go to San Diego once or twice a year. So, it would just make more sense to live closer! Plus, our parents all live in southern California now.

But I don't think we'll be moving out there any time soon. We are enjoying New York City now, and there's still so much more to explore here. And we might still want to live in the Midwest for a bit. Maybe we will make our way back to the West Coast via Chicago or something.

The only other new thing to report is that Pierre and I are training for some races this summer. The first one we're going to do is Miles for Mom over Mother's Day weekend. It's a 4 mile race in Central Park. We are going to make t-shirts with our moms' faces on them. Then we're going to try to do a 10K in DC in June. It's called Lawyers Have Heart, and I was thinking I could make a shirt with pictures of all the lawyers in my family for that one. I don't know if I'll be ready for that, but I'll try. We're also looking for some race to do in the fall, so let me know if you hear of anything that looks good!

posted by Unknown @ Monday, April 28, 2008