The Country

Bill and Daniele have a country house out in Western Virginia. It's amazing. If you haven't seen it, and you too are related to the Todds, you should check it out. You don't even have to be all that closely related - Bill is my grandmother's cousin, so I don't even know what that makes me. Bottom line - a visit to the country house is worth stretching the limits of hospitality.

My visit started with a highway escape from the DC area which suddenly switched to hilly roads winding through the farm-speckled countryside. I was lucky enough to catch the peak colors of the autumn foliage. The result was a relaxing ride in the passenger seat through a picturesque orange, red and yellow display of nature's best (minus all the McCain/Palin signs polluting the view). It made me think of the "Eat your view" campaign. Eat local produce and meat - protect the beautiful farmland and open space in your backyard.

The country house itself is a shady modern-style cabin tucked away off of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The layout is cozy and welcoming; the furniture comfortable and trendy; the decor pleasing to the eye. It's big enough and small enough. But we didn't spend much time in the house - too many beautiful farms and dirt roads and little streams and pretty lakes and forest paths to explore. What a perfect escape from all the DC craziness.

I'll be back that's for sure.

GObama

DC is nuts for politics. Ninety-something percent of DC residents voted for Obama and they like to make their opinions known. So basically there were a ton of posters, flyers, newspaper articles, volunteers, stickers, TV specials, pins, discussions, t-shirts, etc. related to the election all over the place.

When Obama won, the city let loose! This huge mob gathered in front of the White House and did what every other happy mob does - screamed, jumped up and down, sang, hugged anyone and everyone nearby, and screamed some more. It didn't matter that it was pouring rain. It was pretty awesome. I unfortunately wasn't there. Having campaigned all day around Virginia, I was ready to just chill with the Todds. Actually that's false, the main reason why I didn't go was because there's no bus that reaches the Todd's house after 9PM. I sort of wish I had just gone anyways and figured it out on the fly. Oh well.

Speaking of volunteering for the finely tuned Obama Volunteer Machine, I hope he runs the country as well as he organized his volunteers. Seriously, it was amazing. You show up at the nearest volunteer event or location near you (which you find the second you log on to his website after this huge screen pops up that simply says "Volunteer Now. Find the Nearest Place. Go." or something to that effect.) You show up, and they shuffle you into a line. A guy comes out and says "We need people to ___". If you have a car, you step up to drive around and knock on doors. If you don't, you partner up with someone who does. Otherwise you sign up to go walk around, make phone calls, prepare materials, be at polling places, etc. All of which is busily happening in the cozy little volunteer headquarters.

I partnered up with a lady to knock on doors. We were promply given specific directions (and a map) to get to a local volunteer's house. The campaign had tagged registered Democrats that were sporadic voters. We got another map to a group of houses, a script, door-hangings, information about residents, and boxes to check off. Throughout the day, volunteers would make 3 sweeps to the houses to make sure that people either voted already or got a ride to the polls if they needed one. The volunteer coordinator would update the lists after every sweep. A steady stream of drivers came in and out of the house for the few minutes we were there. We finished up, handed in our sheets, and I got dropped off back at the headquarters for rounds 2 and 3. It was awesome, and made me all the more supportive of our president elect.

On election day in downtown Arlington there were volunteers cheering enthusiastically on EVERY corner. There were old people in wheelchairs, young students with hand-written signs, parents with children - you name it. The first lady I canvassed with was a retired elderly woman. The second was a young professional with three kids and three tours in Iraq under his belt. Volunteers answered Obama's call in droves, both here and across the country. Just goes to show you what a little change can put in the minds and actions of Americans of all shapes and sizes.

And he won! Yesssss! The best is yet to come.

Dance and Disc

Leah and I wanted to rekindle a little Euro flame and go dancing, Spanish style. That means only the best in sketchy, late-night discotheques with throbbing techno-beats and overpriced drinks. So we did. It was great. Highlights of the night were those ear-splitting tunes you just can't get enough of (well actually, you can, and we did), caipirinhas, and finding $16 on the ground. Oh yea, and the dancing - all night long.

Another highlight - Ultimate. As usual. I picked up with a co-ed league for an all-day tournament last weekend and played in a charity hat tournament the weekend before that. It reminds me of one of the primary reasons for my coming to DC - the climate. Both days were 70 degrees and sunny. It was awesome.

Chillin in the District

Well, things have been fun! I like DC more and more each day, and I started out liking it. So now I really like it. When I applied for a job in Seattle today, my heart was in the position but not the location. I've checked in here.

Here are a few fun discoveries I've made:

• Playing frisbee anywhere you can meet cool people, and it holds true in DC. I picked up with a co-ed team this weekend and it was a blast. Although you also meet some weirdos - and that was the case as well.
• Everyone in DC is political. And by political I mean democratic. I haven't heard a conversation anywhere here that hasn't included the words "election" "Obama rocks" or "McCain's an idiot." It's cool though - everyone's up on the latest and there's always a good discussion to be had, even if they're usually pretty one-sided. You better have a good head on your shoulders to be a Republican in the District (well, I guess that's sort of an oxymoron).
• Kids are fun, Hana and Alek included. It's fun coming home to practicing recorders, games of pictionary, color-changing fingernail polish and "telephone." The tantrums, bickering and yelling - eh, I could do without. But on balance, positive.
• Julia's Empanadas. Look it up. Connecticut Ave off of DuPont Circle. Eat them. They rock.
• Getting back into the public transportation thing is great. I love walking to the end of the street, swiping my sweet little card, chilling out on the bus and reading a book for 15 minutes, and being in the center of DuPont Circle ready to go. Although I missed my appointment today cuz the bus never came. I guess you gotta take the good with the bad.
• I have a suit. It's gray with pants and a jacket. I love my suit. It makes me feel awesome. I can take over the world in my suit. It makes me look tall and in charge. I wear it every day. But I got some yogurt on it so I need to take it to the dry cleaners tomorrow.
• Linda and Ilir love it when I cook. I love to cook. We have a great partnership.

Well, that's some of the fun stuff. As for jobs, it's been interesting to explore the field I'm interested and talk with other people who are just as passionate as I am about what they do. That's one of the cool things about DC. A lot of the people aren't caught up in the 9-to-5 grind, they're living out their dreams and making change in the world. They're into what they're doing, and are willing to help you find something that will make you just as happy. So far I've spoke with so many interesting people and uncovered a few good looking opportunities.

What I'd like to do is find something that combines public health and the environment. I'm most interested in organizations looking to solve the paradoxical dual issues of obesity and hunger by making use of sustainable/locally grown/organic foods. This could be anything from working with urban community gardening projects, advocating for fresh fruits and vegetables in school lunch programs, working in corner stores to improve the quality of their products, etc. Fortunately a lot of this sort of thing is going on in DC. And the District seems to be quasi-protected from this whole financial crisis thing, at least more than some. We'll see. I'm optimistic. Peace.

The Quest for Employment

Well, I'm bored. Might as well continue with my blogging. I'm now down in Washington DC trying to make it into the ranks of working America. So far, I'm not there yet. But I'm talking to a lot of people and writing lots of emails (seriously, my typing skills have exponentially improved from all this computer time). Hopefully it will lead me somewhere to something. When I get there and do it, it will be great. I can't wait.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying DC. I'm house/dog-sitting for the Todds, so I'm spending a lot of time with Chanel, the sophisticated mini black French poodle, and Sasha, the affectionate half-wolf/half-husky. They're great.

I forgot to mention, in my first 24 hours here I got a job! Linda called and asked me to babysit for Alek and Hana. Not quite the pay rate and hours I was looking for, but definitely high on the fun-and-rewarding scale. Best conversation from the night:

Andrea: Hana, can you flip on the light?
Hana: Why?
Andrea: I can't really see my cards. [We were playing a game]
Hana: Do you want to die?
Andrea: [slightly taken aback] No, not yet... why?
Hana: There's a global warning. Turning on lights is bad for it, and it can make us all die. We need to conserve energy. Do you want that to happen?

Touché. I suffered through, after we had a really interesting conversation about "global warning" and what she had learned about it in school. Fun stuff!

We're all going apple picking and horse riding tomorrow, woohoo! That will be fun, considering my highlight of today was supposed to be a pickup frisbee game. But after getting all the way downtown to the National Mall, I couldn't find a parking space. After driving around for a half-hour, I came home. Boo.

Summer = Done

Hey all. I saw a wooley bear caterpillar today. That officially means summer is over. All that's left to do is read up on what I've been up to. So scroll down and get to it!

Day 11 – Madrid, Spain

So we got to Madrid around 5AM, and were woken up by the bus station security guards around 6. Diana led our tour de Madrid in the morning and we caught all the best sites – Sol, Plaza Mayor, a palace on the hill with an attached garden, and the bear-with-cherry tree statue. We ended up at the huge park called Retiro. Highlights of the park were its HUGE-ness, a beautiful glass palace, and a big lake with a column statue thing on the edge. We were both pretty tired and grumpy. I think our end-of-trip lack-of-sleep was catching up to us. After a nap in the park, our spirits lightened and we saw some more Madrid. I have to go back. One day is just not enough. Especially since the one museum we really wanted to see (the Prado) was closed on Mondays. Bummer.

So we bought movie tickets (discounted for a Monday) but were too cheap to split a bag of the popcorn we both loved, so we just admired it from a distance. Instead, we found a café and ordered the usual (me = sparkling water, Diana = coffee with milk). The bartender told us to sit down, so we went outside and had a seat. When our drinks came they were twice as much as what we saw on the menu! Turns out if you sit outside, they rip you off. Mind you this was a crappy café overlooking a gross plaza, movie theatre and parking garage! We spent the next half hour complaining to each other and to our waiter. Then we played cards. We were happy. After doubting our frugality by splurging on the movie, we truly were still as cheap as can be. But we were angry, because we could have gotten three popcorns for the price we paid for our drinks. Oh well.

Our last night in Spain turned into some delicious wine, interesting conversation and endless dancing. We made it to the airport in time for our 8AM flight to Paris, and navigated our way to Pitouche’s house. The hot shower, warm hospitality, home cooked meal and friendly faces were priceless. In Paris we did some exploring (we’re getting quite good at it) and there we met up with my mom and Terry for some great times.

What a great summer! I wish it could have lasted forever, but now I’m back in the States chilling out and looking for jobs. Email me! Say hi! Share what you’re up to! Come visit! Tell me where you are and I’ll come visit you!

Lots of love. Until next post,

Andrea

Day 10 - Cordoba, Spain

Well, the free breakfast at the hostel in Seville wasn’t super, but I for one ate my money’s worth: donuts, bread and jam, cocoa crispies and tea. It lasted me all the bus ride to Cordoba, where it was HOT! And it was also Sunday, which meant everything was closed. We sat down at a touristy café and asked for tapwater (mistake - we got some seriously nasty looks from the waiter) but had some good (if expensive) tortillas and soup.

We then saw what we came to Cordoba to see - the largest mosque in the Western hemisphere. It also was cool and dark, so we subsequently escaped the heat for a while. The mosque was really huge - it could hold upwards of 50,000 worshipers in its prime. It was about the size of a city block (Diana and I nearly fainted from the heat when we walked around it) and the inside was made up of impressive striped arches that formed perpendicular rows ending on each wall with decorated chapels. In the center was an enormous pulpit and space for the choir, all decorated magnificently. Too amazing to be captured in words or pictures - go see it.

Our second greatest find in Cordoba (after the mosque) was an awesome Salon du Thé where we escaped the rest of the afternoon heat. We have our guidebook to thank for that. It was decorated with all sorts of plants, pictures, fruits, comfy couches and pastries. We had mango smoothies and chilled for a while. After some wandering, veggie empanadas, and down time in a beautiful square, we caught our 1AM bus to Madrid.

Observations:

1. We played lots of cards. I taught Diana hi low jack, which is a great game. Those of you who know me know that I’ll play cards with anyone anytime anywhere. And since Diana was there, we played a lot.

2. Spain is really really hot in the summer. If you want to go, be prepared to hide away in an air conditioned/very shady place between the hours of 1PM and 7PM, unless you want to die.

3. Sleeping is overrated, especially in Spain. We were there for 5 nights, and only slept for 2 of them. Easy on the budget, fun for the spirit, but tiring on the body.

Days 8 & 9 - Seville, Spain

We arrived in Seville, Spain around 10PM, left our bags in lockers, and set off into the night. It took us a while to make it to the center of the city, but we had a fun night once we got started. We visited a well decorated café (wine = great), a chic outdoor bar (average age = 38), a little hole-in-the wall bar (boy to girl ratio = 10 to 1), a fun outdoor bar (number of drinks = ?) and sketchy Spanish nightclub (STD infection rate = high). All in all it made for a fun night. The next morning, Diana and I had some churros and toast and apricot jam and espresso and began our exploration of Seville. We found our favorite grocery store (Lidl - sketchy, cheap and delicious) and got some lunch before heading back to the train station to grab our bags.

Unfortunately, we trekked and bussed for about 3 hours in the sweltering 100+ degree heat (damn you Portugal and Spain on a Budget) but made it, sweaty and disgruntled, to another campground on the other side of town. When we realized the supposed pool was dried up, we took cold showers and immediately started sweating again. When we realized the tapwater tasted like ocean/sewage, we got some bottled water from a café down the street. We took a sweaty nap in our un-ventilated tent. I guess that campground was great, minus the lack of pool, undrinkable water, crazy number of cats that would attack our stuff, ant infestations, and lack of reliable transportation. It did have toilet paper though, to give credit where credit is due.

We went into Seville for Tortillas, a delicious omlette-esque dish made with egg, potatoes and onions. Verdict – delicious. Diana’s sort of addicted, so you can imagine they were not our last.

Okay, this was our super hard core sightseeing day. We visited the palace, cathedral, and art museum – all wonderful and impressive. Diana was my personal art guide, which was awesome. The palace and its Moorish influence was impressive, but it really can't be captured in words or pictures. Then we had some ice cream and Sangria, and saw FLAMENCO! It was amazing! We were lucky to find a smaller venue that was very genuine. There was one live guitarist, a singer dude, and both male and female dancers. They didn’t dance together, but each one was super emotional, talented and spellbinding. Seriously, if you’ve never seen flamenco, you should go to Spain and do it. And that night we slept in a hostel! Hot shower, bed for a night, and breakfast included. Let me tell you, it was great.

Observations:

1. You might see a theme here – “exploring.” That’s how Diana and I did places. Few plans and much walking. It was great – we saw a ton, avoided the tourists, and got a more realistic feel for each place we visited. But of course we did the big sights too.

2. Picking a good travel companion for is key. They can’t be all that moody (cuz you barely sleep), they can’t love complaining (cuz you’re together all the time), they have to like the same things as you (cuz you do ‘em all together), they can’t be boring (or you’d get bored) and you have to like to talk with them (cuz you have lots of down time). Diana was awesome on all fronts – seriously, she rocked. I’m really grateful for that. And I guess it helped a tad that could speak the language, too. And she put up with 2+ weeks of me.

Days 6 & 7 - Olhão, Portugal

We made it to Olhão in the afternoon – a small fishing port near the southernmost tip of Portugal. It was a stark contrast to the lively, upbeat Lagos – more locals, less flair, more fish, and tons of really cool graffiti. But the campground was a 10. Nicknamed “desert oasis” by Diana and I, it had a pool, well-stocked supermarket, permanent residents - even a bar/disco. Although in order to get to the pool, you had to walk through this line of cold showers. Whoever came up with that sort of torture was mad (and probably lost that pool a few customers.) After some a dip and some exploring, we set up camp on the volleyball court and called it a day.

On Olhão Day 2, we checked out the two huge brick buildings that serve as the town markets (one for fruits and veggies and the other for seafood). One was considerably more appetizing than the other (and hint – it was not the disgusting smelling one with all sorts of slimy sea animals and salty goo all over). I bought a giant peach, and it was deeelicious. We took a ferry out to an island off the coast and chilled for the day. For dinner, we splurged on our first hot meal, and it was a good decision. Menu: olives, bread, butter, sardine spread, green bean soup, tuna steak, potatoes, salad, red wine, and espresso. Three hours and full bellies later, we were happy to roll into home sweet Desert Oasis volleyball court.

The next day we got our bus tickets to Seville for the late afternoon, and wandered around Olhao all morning. It’s made up of an old walled city with a beautiful church, another older part, and a newer shopping district. We covered all three, then stopped at a café for some Porto. Great decision. Porto rocks!

1. NEVER PICK CACTUS FRUITS. Especially not prickly pears. You might think you're avoiding the little spikey prickles, but NO! There are INVISIBLE ones! And they stay in your hands for a long, uncomfortable time. Diana got hit worse than I did, and I bet she's still pulling out the little buggers.

2. Beware of the Olhão clothing market ladies. If you even make eyes at a dress, it’s already over your head and they’re going on in Portuguese about how good it looks on you.

2. Europeans consider toilet paper unnecessary. What?! Why?!

3. Markets are awesome. They’re just so cheap and delicious and beautiful. And the markets here really are the center of the life of the town. Good stuff.

Days 4 & 5 - Lagos, Portugal

We took an early afternoon bus to Lagos, a town on the southern coast of Portugal known for it’s beautiful beaches, amazing rock formations, and “spring break” feel. And yes, the city did have a very different aura than Lisbon or Sintra - it was quite a mix of ages and nationalities, and everyone was on vacation, wearing bathing suits, and friendly.

We made our way to our campground/refugee camp. It was basically a parking lot with an odd assortment of poor, traveling people (mostly backpackers like us), a grimy bathroom and a reception booth. Awesome! We hesitantly left our tent and locked up our bags, took our valuables, got dressed up and headed into the old part of the town. We got some drinks in a bar, met some Australian randos, switched to a bar with dancing, and did just that - danced. Then we made the trek to home sweet refugee camp.

Our second day in Lagos started off at the beach - yay. We found a nice spot in a cove surrounded by cool rock formations behind three funny tanning old ladies. We walked around the old part of the town for a bit, grabbed lunch, and headed across the drawbridge over to another beach. But there were crazy gale force winds forcing sand in our eyes, ears, hair and everywhere else you can imagine to the point where it started to hurt. We build a pretty sweet sand castle, and subsequently watched it get wrecked by some punk kid. We walked for a while along some beautiful cliffs, went into town for some delicious caipirinhas, and hit the hay.

Observations:

1. The water off the coast of Portugal is FREEZING! Why didn’t anyone tell us this?! Boo!

2. Diana and I used cafés very frequently for a number of reasons: to get Diana her two daily coffees (and subsequently subdue the intense headaches and general wrath that accompanies her coffee withdrawl), to use the bathroom, to escape the heat, to rest our weary legs, to play cards, and/or to chat. They were a pretty integral part of our trip.

3. If you’re ever looking for a spring break spot in Europe, look no further than Lagos. It’s full of expats who came to have some fun and never left. Very chill, young and beachy.

Day 3 - Sintra, Portugal

We took the bus and then the train from our campsite in Lisbon to a nearby town called Sintra. Unfortunately we learned that they didn’t have campgrounds there, and were too cheap to check our bags at the train station. So with packs on our backs we started wandering around towards the historic part of the town (keeping our eyes out for soft open spaces to sleep on the side of the road). In the morning, we toured the huge castle that overlooks downtown historic Sintra. It was neat, and the highlight was the old kitchen with two enormous cone shaped cement vents where the ceiling would be. We had our best lunch yet (bread, cheese and tomato sandwiches and carrots) and spent some time searching for a place to stay. The cheap hostel was full and the expensive hostel was expensive, so we decided to do more wandering and worry about sleeping later.

For the rest of the afternoon, we walked in the misty rain up this HUGE mountain so that we could see another castle. I guess we took the long way, and a few hours later we came to this crazy Medieval park in the middle of the woods. There were huge rock formations, weird ponds, and winding pathways - made all the more mysterious by the cool misty weather. With our ponchos on over our huge backpacks, we looked like sad, traveling turtles on the road to perdition. After we wandered around the park, we came to a unique castle that we explored for a bit. But we were pretty wiped. It’s quite liberating carrying everything with you on your back, but also kinda tiring. We made our way down the hill (which was much more pleasant than going up) and back to the train station where we ended up buying tickets back to the campground in Lisbon.

Observations:

1. We walked around a LOT in Sintra. This was only fully realized in retrospect.

2. Diana and I both really like kettle corn. We got some from a cute old couple on the street, and let me tell you it was worth every euro cent.

3. Europe is crazy old. There are old things everywhere.