Glued to election news

According to Blogger, I haven't blogged in 2 months and 3 days. Sorry. I plan to rectify that this week with Chris updates and pictures from our recent West Coast trip! But I must post, even if ever so briefly, tonight. I'm tired (still on West Coast time, had to wake up early the last few mornings) and this has led me to being sick (coughing, aches) and I don't want to do much besides sit on the couch - no, lay on the couch to sleep. But I can't stop watching multiple TV channels on the election (mostly CNN and NBC) and surfing the 'Net (Google News, NY Times). Plus I'm waiting to watch Indecision 2008. But I just have to watch until they officially call the election for Senator Obama (it's looking good!). Hope Chris and my North Carolina blue votes turn the state blue! And I'm proud of Ohio this year! And happy about Michigan too. Go Obama! I can't wait for January 20, 2009 and hope our lame duck president doesn't do TOO much damage before he leaves...

YAY!

Mr. Superstar has exceeded so many expectations and improved so much over the last week that the team feels we are ready to go home! I think doing so well on our weekend day passes really helped as well. So we are set for discharge from the hospital in the morning and get to go home for good! Chris will still be doing physical/occupational/speech therapy for the next few months but it can be done on an outpatient basis. We are so happy and wanted to sincerely thank everyone for keeping our spirits up and making us feel loved over the past month. It's been a tough one but fortunately things are much brighter now.

We would still love to keep hearing from everyone and hope that you all make it over to visit sometime! Anyone in the North Carolina/Triangle area will be welcome at any time!

Superstar status...again!

Hi all! We finished our first week in the acute rehab side (I know, it gets really confusing...he's bee in 2 different kinds of rehab, if you want more of an explanation, let me know) and Chris is doing REALLY well. He things progress has been slow but at least steady, I disagree. I think there are huge improvements day to day and definitely week to week. Thankfully, I am validated by all of his doctors, therapists, and nurses taking care of him. Plus, I heard at least 2 of his therapists re-confirm that he is a star for working so hard and doing so well! Chris is more like himself every day. So well that we get a really nice treat this weekend....day passes to go home from 10 am - 8 pm Saturday and Sunday! I'm so excited to take Chris home for a bit. I think Chris is more excited to see his fancy TV again. Another team meeting on Monday to reassess how much longer Chris needs to be in the hospital. We've had a lot of fun hearing from everyone - Chris is trying to e-mail back everyone who sent good thoughts and wishes over the past month - if you haven't heard from him, you will soon! Or you can give us a call at home this weekend. Yay! Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Lazy Sunday

This is actually the first weekend we have been alone since all of this happened 3 weeks ago. But in a lot of ways, it didn't feel lonely because we made and received lots of phone calls and visits from family and friends and of course, the continuing e-mails and posts on Facebook...thanks for all the thoughts and wishes! Chris really appreciates all the support.

We had a little rehab on Saturday then spent much of it hanging out and getting some rest. More rehab tomorrow! Oh, and Alice is getting up to speed on the world of fantasy football so she can help manage Chris' team this year. The draft is on Tuesday so we've been reading up on all the players.

Chris has otherwise stayed busy...like taking a shower and trying to make friends with his fellow rehab patients although they are not terribly friendly. So we'll just focus on our rehab. 3 hours a day is kind of a lot but Chris is doing really well with it. That'll be the focus for the next week then we've got more out of town visitors to plan for! Chris is very excited to see Brian, Kate and Prashant in a couple weeks.

Chris just got all the good stuff....drugs for pain and sleep so it's time to sign off. More updates later this week!

We've moved!

We keep moving through the system - still in rehab but more intense than before! We are now in WakeMed Raleigh, room 2C10. We think this will be the last room change but you never know. Time to get some rest since there is a lot more rehab to do tomorrow!

"Don't get in an accident...."

Chris' verdict on the situation: "Don't get in an accident....it sucks." That ought to give you a good idea of his state of mind - practical yet still with a sense of humor hidden underneath. He actually said that a couple days ago and this morning he said "Don't get pelvic fractures...they really suck" (because he can't stand on the left leg for another month). He's actually doing really really well and is the star of his floor at the moment. His doctors and nurses are getting a good look at what we all know is there....and are impressed! So we focused on rehab - it's only been a day so far (there wasn't much over the weekend) and we still have hard work but we're starting rehab from a really good point. He still needs to focus on his rehab, especially now at the beginning, so we're trying to minimize most distractions. But things are looking are very good...

Great news!

We have moved to Rehab! Chris is now safely among his own kind again....we've just moved to to Room 5B37, still at WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh. We are very happy to be here! We're going to take the weekend to get settled, visit with family, and get our new bearings. The real work starts on Monday....wish us luck..and strength...and stamina.

Alice & Chris

Midweek update

I'm sorry I haven't sent out an email for a while - I did actually update this blog a couple days ago but have otherwise been on an email break. Chris is more and more alert on a daily basis and really progressing very well from a physical standpoint. In fact, we are waiting for a stepdown bed to open up so he can go there before heading to rehab and to Chris' natural state. :) Hopefully the transition to rehab will happen sooner than later as this is where the bulk of his recovery is going to happen. Chris is actually still fighting things a little - mostly the restraints, to the despair of the nurses. Otherwise, his fighting is on the good side to get better as quickly as he can. He waves "Hi" to everyone.

I probably will not be updating daily anymore as the small things that excite us may not do the same for you. But seriously, at this point, I think the bigger changes will be on a week to week basis, i.e. he has come SO far in the past 2 weeks since the accident. I will try to update twice a week either by email or by blog (address at the bottom). Remember: no news is good news! That means we are still on the slow and steady improvement plan.

Thanks for continuing to keep up in your thoughts.

Love,
Alice & Chris

Moving on up

We are very close to getting out of the ICU - we are really just waiting for a bed in stepdown (which is actually upstairs from the ICU) to open up for Chris. Hopefully that will be a short stint before we get to rehab although he is getting some PT/OT while he's here in the unit. Everyone is really pleased with how he's doing and he has come an incredible way in the last week. Almost all of the tubes are out/gone although not enough for Chris. We are focused on alternately working on different things and letting him rest - this is hard stuff! Chris waves "Hi" to everyone!

Weekend update

Hi everyone -

We've had a fairly quiet weekend here in Raleigh but Chris has continued to make progress every day. He is definitely awake and aware that we are around him and both the nurses and doctors are surprised (in a good way) and pleased at the progress he's making. I think we're going to really focus on getting him to do more each day so I may not update daily anymore. In this instance, no news is good news! But if you have burning questions, please go ahead and contact me by email and I will respond as soon as I can.

Chris' latest update

Chris is continuing to do well. He's more awake and responsive than yesterday and he's also starting to wean from the BiPap machine, which is really good because he seems to hate it. He fights the mask just as much, and maybe more, than the tube! But it may be more from discomfort rather than trouble breathing. He also participated in some PT (physical therapy) today again. So we are continuing to do well and hope to make more progress over the weekend!

Chris is a fighter, not a lover... (just kidding!)

Hello all -

Chris is certainly fighting...both in a good and bad way. He pulled the ventilator tube out...twice...over the past couple days. This is not ideal as he is not fully awake and so there are always concerns about him getting enough air to breathe. On the other hand, pulling at your tube is often a sign that the patient does not need or is close to not needing his tube anymore. Thankfully, Chris has been able to manage breathing quite well without the tube for 24 hours but is still getting some breathing support from a mask. Otherwise, he opens his eyes regularly, follows some commands, and is much more alert. He does though, have quite a bit of pain so they are keeping him on pain meds as needed, which keeps him sleepier. And he gets tired pretty easily with everything going on.

But! Chris has made huge strides in the last couple days and I think we're getting out of the woods, which I know you are all as glad to hear as I am. He even sat up today (with assistance) to participate in some physical therapy. Since this is what he does for a living, I think he knows he has to be a good patient! Barring further complications, we think we will be in the ICU another day or two then move on to the next phase. I'm so excited to be able to share all the wonderful messages you have all sent over the past week and have him remember them! I know he will be so touched, and probably really embarrassed about all the attention focused on him but I absolutely know it has helped so thank you.

Inching forward

Hi everyone -

We're still on the slow and steady plan. Chris is still drowsy overall but definitely more alert today and has been opening his eyes and responsive to questions. Unfortunately, this also means that he is more aware of the pain from all his injuries so he's been in a fair amount of discomfort at times. The nurses have been wonderful about trying to keep him more comfortable and everyone is pretty happy about the progress he's making. Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers, I know it's helping. More tomorrow....

A Good Day

Hi all -

So far things are continuing to be pretty stable. Minor bumps along the way (including Chris extubating himself while restrained in the bed. All of his doctors and nurses are pretty impressed. He must have been REALLY annoyed by the tube). He does still need some ventilator support so he was reintubated but quickly weaned back down to even better settings than yesterday. AND! He opened his eyes to voice, multiple times, this evening! To his nurse, his brother, and me and my sister. I'm thrilled and think this is a really good sign - we know he's in there and fighting to come back. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and hope we take another big step forward.

Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. There are literally prayers coming from around the world - I am so touched and so glad I can tell Chris what an impact he has had on people. Keep your fingers crossed for more good news tomorrow!

P.S. There is a little confusion, which is common. Chris is at WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh, NC but is NOT part of the Wake Forest system. Wake Forest, NC is nearby but this hospital is not in Wake Forest (Raleigh is in Wake County, NC). Wake Forest University is in Winston-Salem, NC about 100 miles away. I know, confusing. I just finally got it all straight, after living here a year.

P.P.S. I know some of you have asked about where in the hospital he is and what room number. Chris is actually in one of the Intensive Care Units here and if you are so kind as to want to send something to his room, please wait until we get a private room! They will not allow any plants or even balloons in the ICU. Unfortunately, there isn't even a lot of room for the cards without being the way of some kind of ICU equipment. But I'm reading cards to Chris and saving them for later!

Slow and steady

Hi everyone -

The nurses were very sweet and didn't mind my staying in the room for much of the day yesterday so I took every opportunity to stick around and be with Chris! Consequently, I haven't had much time to do an email update. But I did continue to get lots of notes of support and made sure to tell Chris.

Things were pretty good today. I had the opportunity to talk to all of his surgeons today and we think he will pull through physically. Not to say that we won't have some rough days but overall I think his body will be able to heal. They are still watching him closely but clearly, every hour that goes by, the risk of the need for surgery gets less and less and the prognosis gets better and better. Chris is also starting to respond more and require less pain medicines. We still have to wait and see what his neurological status will be like once he wakes up fully but he is definitely making slow and steady progress. We are hoping for even more tomorrow!

Thanks again for caring so much and flooding us with support - it is much appreciated. Be in touch soon!

Chris update, day 2.5

Hi all -

Thank you so much for all of your emails and calls and offers of kindness. It is so wonderful to really know how many people care about us and wish Chris well. I'm trying to remember to relay all the messages but there are so many! I told him that I will start writing them down so I won't forget!

It's been a pretty stable day without too much change. There are a couple bumps, which is going to happen along the way, that we are watching closely, ready to treat if necessary. So far, no talk of any surgery. His doctors are giving him every chance to heal on his own since he's young and pretty healthy. He is starting to become more alert and active, although not on a consistent basis. But small steps each day are good. In general, the first few days are the most critical and I think he is holding his own. It will still take a while for him to make huge leaps and jumps in recovery but we're looking for small victories each day.

Please let me know if you want off this list (i.e. too depressing for you to handle), want me to add someone. I will also post these updates on my blog so you can refer people there or forward this on. My blog: http://annotated-alice.blogspot.com

Thank you again for thinking about us and praying for a speedy recovery. Be in touch soon.

Love,
Alice

Back in Raleigh

I did mean to be in the States today, only briefly before heading to Vancouver but I never could have dreamed I would be back in Raleigh and for such horrible reasons. My love, my best friend, and my soulmate was involved in a very bad car accident early Friday morning and once I heard, I spent most of the rest of the day in a haze focused pretty much only on getting back to Raleigh as quickly as humanely possible. I feel so fortunate that I had some wonderful and dedicated friends to help me get to RDU and some very sympathetic people along the way who prayed for Chris and ensured I got on the flight no matter what.

I'm afraid this blog is going to be much more serious now....I will try post updates on Chris' condition but may not manage to in all the hubbub. My attention is focused on everything and anything I need to do for him. I hope you are all well and never have to go through something like this....

Surviving Pacaya

Hello! I'm back! First of all, congratulations to my friends Stephanie and Justin! They had their twin girls this morning! The twins are a little early but doing well and I can't wait to see them when I visit Portland in 2 weeks! I have several other friends who are due during the time that I am travelling so you may see other announcements as well!

Back to travel blogging. Why travel in the first place? To see the world...to immerse yourself in other cultures....to do things you might never do in everyday life...and to be outside of your own normal self. Travelling for me is a change from the hectic pace of my life the last few years, a chance to see new and familiar places, to visit with friends, to do some introspection, and to challenge myself. Yesterday's overnight hike to Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala definitely falls into the last category. It was not something I specifically chose to do but thought it would be a great experience. Since my friends Beatrice, Peggy, and Benji were so nice as to want to travel with me and meet me in Guatemala, I wanted to do things they wanted to do as well. What I failed to truly realize is that they are all a little more trail-hardy than me! For example, Beatrice has done big trips to various parts of Africa and Asia for 1-2 months at a time and has done a fair amount of trekking around. Peggy and Benji, on the other hand, have travelled more than any one I know. They climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro (Peggy has done it twice) recently and have traveled extensively around the world...it's actually a lot of fun to sit and listen to all their travel stories. So for all of them, a little overnight hike was nothing.

Admittedly, the hike sounded fun and really neat. It was supposed to be an "easy" hike of about an hour then make camp. You would get to see the volcano at night and some lava fields. They would provide warm clothes, food, camping equipment, and a guide. This is pretty much all that I knew coming down as I didn't get around to fully reading about the trip before I left. But I figured that it couldn't be that bad. And I was only half wrong. The trip wasn't bad, in fact, parts of it were amazing but I just felt so unprepared. I packed as lightly as I could for a 2 month around the world trek and it didn't really include camping gear...not that I have any anyway. So I didn't have the right pants, a headlamp, or rain/waterproof things (just a glorified garbage bag as an emergency poncho). Plus, a storm started rolling in as we were getting ready to leave. All in all, not a great start to things. Our guide asked if we had any questions before we started and I didn't even know where to begin. I'm just so grateful that my friends were there to help me though (sorry for being the weak link guys!).


Now this may make you guys laugh, but it's actually true (think about it, you'll see!). When I get into new situations where I don't feel comfortable, I will actually become a little more passive and quiet until I feel more sure of myself and what I need to do. So I was a little nervous about the whole trip but wanted to make myself do this. It's happened before that I have not tried things because I was scared or nervous and have regretted it. And like I said, part of this trip is to challenge myself. So I was going to do this even through the rain, mud, etc.

It did rain on the drive up to Pacaya and I was getting rather wet but fortunately, the rain let up as we began our hike. But, the way was rather steep and there was no avoiding all the horse manure all over the hiking path. And it was pretty steep. It was a mile and a half hike with a 1000 foot climb. Our guide told us it was pretty easy ... but he does this 2-3 times a week! I am definitely not in the right shape for this...especially with a 20+ pound pack on! We took many breaks, mostly for me (thanks to Benji for "going slow" and bringing up the rear so it was not just me!). Our guide told us to tell him to go slower if needed but he didn't really get the concept as he never really did. Just stopped until we caught up. I felt really pathetic once we made it to the top and one of the other girls in our group who was right up there with the guide the whole time and barely broke a sweat, then grabbed her smokes and lit up! On the other hand, I was pretty proud of myself for making the hike, as this is really the first time I did something like that. My memories of camping as a kid was car camping with the family where we occasionally set up a tent in a KOA but could sleep in the car if needed. Plus there was always the instant ramen for dinner! We did have a more grown-up version at the camp....a veggie chow-mein dish that our guide cooked up after we set up the tents.


Dessert was 2 Oreo cookies that had been twisted apart and peanut butter added in between! I don't love peanut butter but these were yummy!

We got camp set up (amidst a lava field and lots of cow patties) before it got too dark. We also got some great views of the flames spouting out of the top of Pacaya although the clouds were still rolling in and the thunder rumbled ominously in the background. There was lightening as well, which made for an electrifying scene..to see it lighting up the sky. Our guide was concerned about getting caught in the storm but we thought to at least to hike a little and get a better view of the active lava and the top of the volcano. Off we went, with me trying to improve my night vision and not stumble over the edge of the cliff. Again, our guide didn't really pace himself to the back half of our group but fortunately, the hike wasn't too too bad. We got to a ridge where we could see the volcano top well and an orange glow down the side of the mountain where the active lava was. It was exciting to get some night shots of Guatemala City on one side and the orange sparks coming off the mountain on the other. It's not quite as exciting in these particular photos but you'll just have to trust me that it was pretty cool.


Unfortunately, there were storms on all sides of us and the clouds kept rolling in, obscuring our view of the volcano so we opted to head back to camp to prepare for a storm and then wake up early to try and get to the lava fields. Of course, 5 minutes after we got back to camp, the storm seemingly passed us, the clouds blew away and everyone else wanted to head back out to go as far as we could. Again, a moment that I wasn't entirely comfortable with (hiking quickly in the dark without a head lamp and in unfamiliar terrain was not my idea of a cup of tea) but thought I should do. So we headed off again, this time with the rain started to fall a little, and got further this time until we could actually see the lava on the side of the mountain.


Nature stymied us once again though by putting some wild cows right in our path on the trail! They had a calf with them as well so they were more protective....they actually took a few steps towards us as if they were going to charge us! We retreated quickly and the clouds rolled in again anyway so we headed back to camp. But here again, our guide even told us that we could easily get lost or lose our footing with the thick clouds but often went too quickly for us! We wanted to get back quickly since it was raining as well but it was just a little more difficult for us (ok, me). We just didn't feel like he was a great guide.

I was soaked but thankfully my friends suggested I hike in my scrub pants so they at least dried overnight. It was nice to get into the tent but it wasn't exactly water-tight so our sleeping bags were a little wet. It was not the most comfortable night. So I was a little disgruntled this morning. It didn't help that some daytrippers who started at the crack of dawn walked by talking very loudly. But overall, it wasn't really a miserable experience and I'm actually pretty proud of how I did on my first real hiking/camping experience but I think a lot of it was that I just felt so unprepared. I think that I'm much more of a city person than an outdoorsey type of person but please don't rule me out completely if you want to do an outdoorsy trip, just give me time to prepare correctly! On the other hand, we were smart enough to book ourselves a treat at the end of the trip by staying at a fancy coffee resort for the last couple days. We took a taxi here and I took a nice long hot shower! My friends immediately noticed that I was a much happier Alice when clean and dry! We are planning for massages tomorrow and I think after all the hiking at Tikal and Pacaya, I will really appreciate it!

I will say that this coffee resort, the Filadelfia Coffee Resort and Spa in Antigua, is completely amazing so far. It's a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World and it definitely lives up to that! I will have you all know that even though I love my creature comforts, Beatrice is the one who found this place and wanted to stay here! But for the price, which isn't even that expensive by US standards for a luxury hotel, it's a complete steal (especially split 4 ways)! We've only been here a few hours and I would already recommend it highly to anyone looking for a romantic getaway or a relaxing spa. I've never had the staff take us on a tour of the hotel on the way to the room and have the executive chef come out to greet us! I would actually recommend the O.X. Pacaya by Night experience as well because it was really cool to see the lava and it's completely different at night when you can REALLY see it, I would just not recommend it for an inexperienced hiker. Beatrice - any other thoughts (she's been dying to see what I write about this!)? Comment please!

Note on the pictures....we're all picture freaks here and have agreed to share pictures so some of the other pictures with me in them are on my friends' cameras and I won't get them until later.

I will say that overall, Guatemala has been more amazing that I thought it would be. Between sunrise at the ruins, Lake Atitlan, and Pacaya, it has definitely been quite an adventure and full of many memorable and picturesque vistas. One more day in Antigua (also a very cute little town) then off to Vancouver for my cousin's wedding.

Lago de Atitlan

We all passed out last night from our long long day but woke up to a beautiful sight: Lake Atitlan. It´s a volcano-ringed lake that is one of the deepest lakes in the Americas. And our hotel room had a lake view right from our little back courtyard. There were clouds wreathing the volcanoes and it made for a very picturesque panorama. We couldn´t wait to get out onto the lake to be in the midst of all the loveliness.

And our hotel, La Posada de Don Rodrigo, is quite charming as well. It is situated in a burst of bright tropical colors and flowers with a pretty garden courtyard lined by hammocks for those of us who are more lazy. The rooftop restaurant is the perfect place to wake up and enjoy the sun shimmering on the lake.

We had a simple breakfast of many pastries from a local panderia (bakery) accompanied by canteloupe and pineapple waters (freshly made/blended fruit with water) before finding someone to take us out on the lake. We only had a couple hours so we saw just a few little towns but they were very cute. And they do amazing textile work here...both mass produced and handmade. We saw this woman (one of many) weaving table runners (along with scarves and shirts) along the road. She says it takes 3 weeks to make a table runner....the colors are gorgeous and they look amazing. We all got one. And a picture.

But the best part was being out on the lake and enjoying the amazing views on all sides of the volcanoes, the lush greenery, the onion fields that is part of the economy here as well as some amazing looking houses that would not be out of place in South Beach Miami (I took pictures but they don´t do it justice. Pictures of the lake are much prettier).

We came back to munch on yummy tacos before heading to the Reserva Natural Atitlan to do some ziplines in the rainforest. Unfortunately, as we were walking up there, there was ominous looking clouds coming towards us, punctuated by loud cracks of thunder. As suspected, they were not running the zipline for fear of rain and safety. We waited a while to see if it would rain quickly then stop but the rain only got worse. So Beatrice, Peggy, and I just hung out in the reserve for a bit before taking the local taxi form called a tuk-tuk back to the posada.

Off to find dinner now then back to Antigua tomorrow for our overnight trip to Pacaya Volcano so no updates til Thursday at least.

Greetings from Guatemala!

All right loyal readers: to show my loyalty to you, I am posting some pictures and updating my blog after a LONG day that started about 20 hours ago and just ended in a rather treacherous 3 hour drive from the airport to the hotel in a large passenger van taking sharp and winding turns over horrible roads! We woke up 3:30 am and only ate one meal and hiked in the damp humidity for several hours. And yet I´m here to tell you about it! And getting a little ahead of myself.

Chris and I left Buenos Aires on the red-eye Saturday night and actually flew to Houston together before separating to get different connections. It was rather a traumatic parting and I´m very sad not to be seeing and travelling with Chris until mid-September. Fortunately for me, I had friends waiting for me in Guatemala to ease the pain for me. I´ve known Beatrice practically since birth as our families lived around the corner from each other and we´ve trudged our way through med school (one year off) together, got married the same year, etc etc. Peggy was Beatrice´s college roommate who also became a very good friend and Benji is her boyfriend, who is hilarious...he and I have shared a few adventures too, mostly involving blizzard conditions and the Detroit airport. I´m so lucky that they all wanted to have a little adventure as well so we met up in Guatemala! Here´s a shot from the plane:

We didn´t have much time in Guatemala City as we were actually flying up to Flores, Guatemala later in the day as our base point for the trek to Tikal, heart of the Mayan civilization. But we had enough time to walk to an Artisan Market where they had gorgeous craftwork and eat some street food as well. Yummy! Then off to Flores where the shuttle picked us up and took us to our posada. We had a quick dinner then went right to sleep as we had a 3:45 am pick-up for the sunrise tour to Tikal.

If anyone ever visits Tikal, you MUST do the sunrise tour. It´s amazing...as you can see. We got there just as the sun was rising and saw it burn off the mist in the surrounding rainforest with temple tops peeking out. Howler and spider monkeys woke up the forest with their loud calls, birds were chirping, and the cicadas were doing their thing. All together, it was rather magical.

Our tour guide then took us around a bit of the rest of the Tikal archeological site, which was amazing. Í´ve been to and climbed Chicen Itza but this was probably more impressive. Especially from a heights standpoint! I´m a little afraid of heights and was worried about climbing up and down these steep temple steps but my friends were very encouraging and it wasn´t quite as bad as it could have been. But I don´t think the pictures can convey how really steep they are. The heat and humidity didn´t help. But it´s a fascinating place and well worth the visit.

However, we were super tired on our return and didn´t even have breakfast or lunch! So we were very hungry and went foraging for food. This lady across the street had a juice stand that we inquired at to ask for watermelon water (Benji´s favorite...very refreshing!) but ended up with a homemade meal! Thank god Benji is fluent in Spanish....muy muy utilidad! The lady told us what she had and would be able to make, which consisted of a vegetable soup and steak fajitas (with a plate of veggies for Beatrice, our resident vegetarian). OH MY GOD was the food delicious! I´m sure some of it had to do with our being so hungry but it was really really good food. The soup had grated carrots, potatoes, and squash and was so good! The steak fajitas were also really yummy with freshly made corn tortillas! And all of it for $25 Quetzal dollars which is less than $4 US. That´s right, 1, 2, 3, 4 US dollars. What a steal! We were too tired to do much after that besides sit in our air conditioned room until we left. We did venture out once to buy up some local wood crafts from an artist next to our posada....gorgeous boxes made from a local tree whose leaves were used to help varnish it as the consistency is like sandpaper! They were so pretty that we nearly cleaned out his supply!

Back to the airport to fly back to Guatemala City..unfortunately, we got back late enough that little was open to eat so we decided to wait. But, after 3 hours of the long and winding road, we were all too tired to get food and just wanted to get into bed. Which is what I´m going to do now. Will try post more adventures and pictures tomorrow!

¡Adios Argentina!

The day that you travel home is always kind of weird. Do you leave early in the morning so you can get home earlier? But then you´ve wasted a day and have spent it travelling, which isn´t very fun these days. Or do you leave mid-day and have breakfast then take your time getting to the airport to get home (or your next destination)? Or do you leave late in the day, especially if you are taking an overnight flight. This is not a bad option (and really the only one that we have leaving Buenos Aires to fly to Houston on Continental) but you get stuck in the awkward place....hotel check out is 11:00 or noon, you don´t REALLY need to leave for the airport for several hours afterwards. Not enough time to really go out and be in the city and do a lot but too much time to just sit around. So what do you do?

If I were by myself, I´d probably sleep in, check out then wander aimlessly or find a cafe or bookstore to hang out in. Fortunately, I have company and we are still reaping the benefits of Chris´upgrade to Hilton Hhonors Gold VIP status. We woke up late this morning as we were out late trying to find food (open ¨late¨didn´t mean as late as we would have thought in BA) then packing our bags. So we got up in time for the breakfast buffet. Then I went to ask if we could have a late check-out and the instant the hotel guy saw that Chris was a Gold VIP, he literally said ¨Oh, it´s no problem at all! 4 pm will be fine.¨

So we had some more time to get things cleaned up then went to wander around the Ecological Reserve (read: marshland) that is near the hotel. It´s actually quite a nice little area with lots of parkland around it and good trails for running or walking. And of course, since we are leaving today, it´s a beautiful and sunny day here in BA! Took a few ¨ambience¨ photos but they are on Chris´camera so can´t upload any. But we wandered around and soaked up the sun, explored the little flea market that was going up and salivated at all the Choripan (sausage sandwich)/grill stands that lined the streets. Now we´re back at the hotel to check e-mail a last time, check out, then grab some food before we head for the airport early this evening.

I´m headed to Guatemala to meet Beatrice, Peggy, and Benji for the next week. We´ll be intensively sight-seeing for the first few days, going to Incan ruins, Pacaya volcano, Lake Atitlan but will relax at a spa the last few days. Hopefully there will be Internet access and I can blog some more but if not, I may not be able to get on again til I hit Vancouver on Sunday, Aug. 3 for my cousin´s wedding. Hope my loyal readership can hang on that long! If you´re really hurting for new material, maybe I can get Chris to upload some more pictures from home. ¡Adios!

Dulce de leche

(Above picture belongs to the last post...I´m sitting in the famed Cafe Tortoni, enjoying a cafe con leche with Chris)

Guest blogger today! Chris is actually typing part of the post instead of making his contribution by reminding me of all the things to blog about. See if you can figure out who blogged what!

Mmmmm...the classic Argentinian sweet. Chris thinks I have overloaded on it as I like to put in on my morning croissant. Think of it like Nutella on a sugar steroid. The various forms we´ve eaten it in: straight out of the jar (ok, put on a croissant), sandwiched between 2 cookies to make a much better Oreo-type of cookie, and ice cream. Oh so yummy. We tried the dulce de leche ice cream from a local chain, Freddo (Italian for frozen). It was pretty good, but if you know us...you know we had to find a small artisanal ice creamery to get the really good stuff. Our search ended at a small place called Nonna Bianca in San Telmo. The ice cream was artery-clogging rich and cavity-inducing sweet, but worth every chilly bite.

Oddly enough, it was just down the street from La Brigada, a Parilla that serves spoon-tender beef, that we ate at earlier in the week. La Brigada, which was an amazing deal in terms of price and good food (the garlic fries were yummy as well!) is so into its beef, that it uses the hide to cover its menus!

Otherwise, it´s been another lazy day, wandering around different areas of the City Center and doing some shopping. I actually regret a little that Buenos Aires is first on the list instead of last because I could have done tons of shopping otherwise and headed home instead of lugging it around with me for 2 months. So, very little shopping. More ogling at all the leather goods. Chris is probably happy about the no shopping though since he gets bored watching me shop.

After finishing up shopping, we meandered over to Plaza San Martin in Retiro to sit on a bench and people watch. It´s a beautiful plaza with plenty of giant shady trees. There´s a little playground in the middle for the niños to monkey around in. We also discovered this hill overlooking part of the plaza where all these people were making out. They sure aren´t shy here! Seriously, winter is just an excuse to lie on top of each other...or stand really really close and keep each others´tongues warm all over the city (on a park bench, at a cross walk, in front of the patrolling policemen, in front of a passed-out-drunk homeless dude...really anywhere). Finally, we saw some suavely dressed dude trying to hawk some knock off cologne/perfume on a couple of American chicas. He was really turning on the South American charm, and they were giggling like Japanese schoolgirls. We were secretly hoping he´d come over try his magical ways on us...but he didn´t.

Now we´re going to head out for a late night dinner and try to party it up like true porteños...well, as much as our geriatric selves can take.

A walkable city

Our travel guides have said that Buenos Aires is a very walkable city but they still would probably think that we were crazy. Traffic is totally nuts to the point where it´s actually amazing that more people (pedestrians, motocyclists, drivers) don´t die from accidents. Pedestrians cross the street whenever, drivers run red lights as a matter of course otherwise you´d probably never get anywhere. So Chris and I have only taken a taxi from the airport (which was scary enough. Tailgating is a sport here.) and have otherwise walked everywhere. We could take the bus but see above re: traffic and crazy drivers. We could take the subway but we´d rather walk (although you generally get a face full of cigarette smoke mixed with smog in many areas). So we thought we´d walk to the Palermo neighborhood even though we knew it was a bit far. But we figured we could always take alternate transportation if we got tired. It wasn´t too bad but it did take us 1.5 hours to walk up there.

We treated ourselves to a nice lunch though by having sushi at the Japanese Garden. It was actually very good sushi although heavy on the salmon. They LOVE salmon down here - I think I have been eating a year´s supply of it while here! But the fish was fresh, the rice was good and it was overall yummy. The gardens, although a bit bare since it´s winter, were quite pretty as well.

Then we wandered around different parts of Palermo, including the Botanical Garden which was a nice little green respite from the city and chock full of cats. Seriously, many many many cats. Then we stopped at a cafe for some hot chocolate and coffee. They call hot chocolate a ¨submarino¨ here and I think it´s basically a bar of chocolate dropped in some very hot milk that you stir up. Yummy!
We had dinner in the hipper Palermo Viejo district then debated heavily about walking home vs a taxi. It didn´t help that it rained again but less than the other day. So we just decided to start walking...and kept walking...and walking. Fortunately, the rain stopped during our walk home. Sometimes it honestly felt like we would never get back. As long as we were moving, I was ok but if we stopped, we´d both get kind of tired. And started to look forward to getting into bed and going to sleep! We estimate that we probably walked 10 miles or so during the day and didn´t get back to our room until 12:30 am. We figured no one else would be as crazy as us but it was kind of funny while we were walking.

We did return to sanity this morning and decided to treat ourselves to a very lazy day...taking our time getting up and getting ready to head out then just travelling locally. We saw the famous Cafe Tortoni which was very elegant on the inside and had a little line of tourists waiting to get in. And then wandered around the shopping area a little to get some souvenirs. Then came home. See? Very lazy. But I´m going to try and get Chris to go to a tango milonga with me in an hour so we can learn a little dancing.

Ok....I know pictures make the blog but I think I tried to upload too many...it´s been trying to upload pictures for almost half an hour. I´m gonna have to cut and run now and try to upload just a few pictures later....

What a difference a day makes...

Yesterday: rainy, cold, and wet. Charming BA... not so charming (but it was funny).
Today: sunny, happy, pretty! Even when visiting a cemetary spanning several city blocks!

We thought the rain would last until at least noon and were bracing ourselves for more wetness but got a pleasant surprise when it turned out to be sunny and dry. And our jeans and shoes dried off as well. We set off for the tony neighborhood of Recoleta, which includes the famous Argentinian cemetary where Evita is buried. It was quite a hike but much nicer to do in fine weather. It also included a dash across the widest street in the world, Avenia 9 de Julio, which has 16 lanes of traffic! At a normal walking pace (or even a quick walking pace), you can´t actually cross it all in one stoplight. But, as Chris and I found out yesterday out of need, if you run across in the rain, you can make it! As a saving grace though, there is a very nice view of the Washington Monument-like obelisk from the middle of all those traffic lanes! Got a good picture but the camera is not here as we had to steal Internet time from these business-y guys who hoarded the Internet all day to do work.

(aside: if you are going to spend all that time doing work on YOUR LAPTOPS that you brought with you, why not just charge the Internet expense to your frickin´room and by extension, your expense account. Is this not precisely what expense accounts are for? Then again, I´m not in business so maybe someone can enlighten me.)

Back to happier topics - the cemetary! It was a pretty amazing sort of place and not as gloomy as you might think avenues of tombs might be. We found Evita´s tomb, the classic touristy spot, but also meandered around the rest of them to gawk at the elaborate family resting spots that included stained glass windows, expensive wrought-iron scrolls, and ¨the graveyard cats¨that roamed free (another aside: all dogs and cats seem to roam free here, sans leash or owner). Then we went walking through pretty Recoleta and amused ourselves by trying to pick out all the women we suspected of being ´plasticized´as BA apparently has an exorbitantly high rate of plastic surgery. Then we come back to the hotel and find E!´s Dr. 90210 on, and can only shake our heads. We also saw the Flores Generica, this really cool and huge metallic sculpture that looks like a tulip. It supposedly opens during the day and closes at night but it wasn´t open today, perhaps because it was cloudy at times? Again, will update with pictures later.

Now I have to make sure Chris is well-fed and so we´re off in search of that famous Argentine beef that you can supposedly carve with a spoon!

Playing pool while tipsy....ok, drunk

Haven't posted about our awesome hotel yet. We're staying in the Hilton Buenos Aires in the newly developed Puerto Madero area. It's a short 10-15 minute walk to the city center and is right on the river. We read some reviews beforehand talking about how it's a pretty standard Hilton and didn't really have any of the "local" Buenos Aires feel to it ("sterile" is how someone described it) but Chris and I are pretty happy here. It's a luxury hotel and we appreciate being pampered a bit on our vacation/"real" honeymoon. Plus, the lobby is an amazing 7 story high atrium!

On top of all of that, Chris and I got upgraded to the executive floor as a part of Chris getting an offer to be a Gold VIP Hilton HHonors member from Continental. We have definitely taken advantage of it! The room is probably the same but the amenities in the executive lounge are amazing!

0 Full breakfast buffet every morning with pastries, croissants, hot and cold breakfast foods, fruit, cereal, yogurt, coffee, tea, juice, the works (and the little jam bottles of dulce de leche...so good!(
o Water, coffee, tea, mints, and these little cookie sandwiches stuffed with the drool worthy dulce de leche as above at any time
o Free internet access
o Free sauna/gym access
o Afternoon tea, cookies, pastries, coffee
o Cocktail hour! Argentinian Malbecs and Chardonnay, Champagne, soda, beer, a full bar, and little cold cuts and hors d'oeuvres.
o Executive lounge access with TV, pool table, games, etc

So we've been taking advantage of the breakfast and cocktail hour each night. I try different alcoholic drinks, only to not want to drink them (being the alcoholic lightweight that I am) and promptly give them to Chris. So he had 3 or 4 drinks last night including wine and Jack and Coke (Coca Cola Light is better than Diet Coke and goes in a Jack and Coke much better here) before we started playing some pool. It was pretty funny to play with Chris as he was...impaired. And yet, I still lost a couple games to him. What does that say about me? Anyway, it was a fun way to dry off from the rain and enjoy the hotel. Off to see more of Buenos Aires!

Lluvia en la ciudad

¨Raining in the City¨is what the TV screen said as Chris and I were already out walking this morning. But it was only misting, sort of like a nice Seattle morning so we were ok. We were headed for Barrio Norte/Recoleta area to see this really nice bookstore and thought we´d be OK. We flirted with the idea of getting an umbrella several times today (I didn´t bring one on my trip just in case I wasn´t allowed to bring it on board) but then decided why bother, it wasn´t that bad. We stopped at the Galeria Pacifica, which was a very fancy looking mall with gilt edged staircases, fancy stores, and a cathedral type ceiling with a large mural on it in the center! After walking around for a bit and drying off, we headed for El Ateneo, our destination.

I read about El Ateneo in one of our guidebooks. It´s an old theater that has been restored as a large bookstore with a cafe on the stage! I thought it sounded like the perfect place to hide out on a rainy day. And it was! It was so incredibly beautiful! It´s such a neat idea - Chris and I thought briefly about quitting medicine and trying to do this in the US! But really, words can´t really do it justice so here are a couple pictures (sorry - haven´t quite figured out the formatting thing):

We had a nice lunch in the cafe on the stage, explored the bookstore a little, then decided to head home. One of the reasons that we stayed as long as we did (besides the fact that I love bookstores and this was a really really cool place) is that it started pouring during lunch. So we waited it out a little but it was still raining. We didn´t think it would take us that long to walk back...I guess we weren´t thinking. We could have taken a cab....or gotten an umbrella...or taken the subway. All reasonable things any normal person would have considered. But we just zipped up and charged on. After a while, Chris commented that an umbrella wouldn´t have helped that much as it would really only have kept our heads dry...our legs and feet were still going to get really wet. It was a somewhat soothing thought as we accidentally ran through some large puddles and got our feet sloshed! An hour later, we made it back to our hotel pretty darn wet and a little cold. Que idiotas! But really, a little water never hurt anyone. Our biggest concern is to get everything, i.e. shoes and jeans, dry for tomorrow....another rainy BA day. We´ll be taking a taxi tomorrow...if we even leave the hotel!

Now we toasty and dry and checking the Internet, trying to decide if we´re willing to brave the rain again for food. As a last resort, we can always gorge ourselves on our executive lounge happy hour, where there are plenty of eats!

Tango the night away....

Hola from Buenos Aires! It's day 2 here and we are out exploring the city. Yesterday was a bit of a struggle with the "jetlag," which really means that we didn't sleep very well on our overnight flight. We took a 3 hour nap during the day but we were still pretty tired walking around a few places. Today was much more fun as we walked through the famous "La Feria" in San Telmo. There were so many people packed along this one street, Defensa, buying, selling, singing, dancing. We walked up and down the street a few times and managed to restrain ourselves from buying lots of things (well, Chris restrained me). We bought a huge empanada from a street vendor, had afternoon "tea" with cafe con leche and medialunes (mini croissants) for me and a grilled ham & cheese sandwich for Chris. Then we watched some very good dancers doing the tango in one of the plazas. Very inspiring - hopefully we'll take a tango lesson or two this week to try and look as smooth.

My internet connection is running out of time so I'll post more tomorrow! No pictures yet but will try to upload some soon if we can!

*NEW 7.21 * I figured out how to post pictures! Here are some from La Feria and the milonga:

Checking in...around the world!

Freedom! I'm leaving in about 10 hours to start my around the world trip for the next 2 months and am very excited! Many last minute details to finish but here's the rough itinerary:
July 18 - 26 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
July 26 - Aug. 2 - Guatemala
Aug. 3-4 - Vancouver, British Columbia
Aug. 4 - 16 - Will be travelling down Pacific coast down to San Diego **will be in US**
Aug. 16 - Sept. 5 - Australia
Sept. 6 - 9 - Seoul, Korea
Sept. 9 - 12 - Prague, Czech Republic
Sept. 13 - 21 - Barcelona, Spain/South of France
Sept. 21 - Home to Raleigh!

Will post again later today if I get everything tucked away!

All-consuming things

It would be nice if the all-consuming things in my life were things like....writing on my blog, checking out the different food options in the Triangle or being out and about with Chris. I do get around to some of that (this weekend has been pretty good so far) but really, the all-consuming thing in my life is work. I generally spend 12+ hours at work Monday through Friday, was in this morning to see a patient and now have to go in tomorrow to see a different patient. Plus, I'm trying to get into an all-consuming "study" mode for my ophthalmology boards in March. Work and studying is not my idea of fun.

But in the grand scheme of things, I can't complain too much because as much time as I spend at work, I do find some time to have fun too. We went to Miami with Stephanie and Justin a few weeks ago and saw lots of our friends in Cleveland this past weekend. And we've tried a bunch of fun new dining places around home this weekend. I want to post on it but I'm feeling guilty about blogging instead of studying. Will try to blog in bits and post a picture or two later this weekend.