A quickie

Today, in absence of more time and patience, I'll do a quickie. A quickie post, that is. You figured that already, cause you're smart.

This quickie will be a swift report of our trip to Montreal for the new year.

Dec 29: We arrived to Montreal, met our couchsurfing host Liga, and after leaving our stuff and talking for a bit, we went out again. We met with my high school friend Veronica for lunch, it was nice to see her after all this time, and hear her stories about her journey to Canada. Another educated brain that leaves Venezuela seeking better life conditions. And how can I blame her, I'm one of those too.
At night, we went to a couchsurfer's place for dinner, he made this cool indian meal, while we watched a Bollywood movie (actually the first one I see from start to end). It is quite an experience to see so many people dancing and singing for three full hours.

Dec 30: We headed to the Bell Centre to watch Cirque du Soleil!!! It was breathtaking!! The spectacle was so beautiful, it reminded me of the magic a kid can feel when hearing a fairy story. I'm sure I'd pay again to see another of their shows.
After that, we visited Dominique and Pierre, who are spending these weeks taking care of Felix, their 6 weeks old son. We had a really great time, just talking over dinner and spending time with the baby. We ended up staying with them that night, cause we didn't really feel like going out in the nasty weather and they were nice enough to offer the couch :)

Dec 31: We had a failed attempt at ice skating; the indoor rink was very crowded and we had to pay to get in, so we decided we'd do something else. We walked around the old city with Koichi, and it was an interesting walk. Many places were closed, though, and we ended up eating some fries at a not-so-special place. At least there was some beer :)
Later, we headed to this famous Smoked Meat place with Liga. After walking in the cold wind for quite a few blocks, we arrived to find the place closed, which was a pity. Hungry and disappointed, we continued looking for some dinner, only to find virtually everything closed. Our new years eve dinner ended up being shawarma and tabule. Not very traditional, but at least it was cheap :D
After eating we met a large group of couchsurfiers at one of the guys' place, and shortly before midnight we all migrated to the Mainline Theater which had organized a party. We received the year there, and it was fun. Very different from the usual family gathering with venezuelan music, but fun nonetheless. After a couple hours of not-so-festive music which slowed us down to the point of reminding us we were well past our usual bedtime, we decided to call it a night (the party's theme was 50's beach, so it was the beach boys and the likes). We couldn't finish the night without trying some 2am poutine, of course, which i must say was great.

Jan 1 started with a New Year's Gongyo, a traditional gathering of SGI. Montreal has many members, and the meeting was a very energetic one. My french must be improving, because I was able to understand some of the phrases in the messages they read :). After that, we went for lunch with some members to a nearby indian restaurant, which was great.
Tired and ready for a nap, we had the great idea to go to a nearby theater to get some afternoon sleep. The idea of sleeping in a movie that charges 2$ per movie sounds so intelligent when you just ate something bigger than your stomach. So, after walking for 20 mins in the middle of a snow storm and not finding the theater, we decided maybe it was smarter to take the nap at our host's place. D'oh.
After a revitalizing hour of sleep, we went for dinner to Dominique and Pierre's, and this time Koichi came with us too. It was a nice evening, lots of cheese and wine and food and dessert :D

Jan 2nd was our return trip, but before that we decided to join some SGI youth members who were having a long chanting session. We stayed for about 1 1/2hrs, and then went for lunch. They say third time is the charm, but we were luckier than that and actually found Schwartz open at our second attempt (the smoked meat place). The sandwiches were great, and the coffee later was even better. It was time to catch our bus already, so we ran home to get our stuff.
The trip was quick but we did a lot, and we had a lot of fun. It felt nice to be back home though, knowing what a packed and interesting year awaits us.

Soooo, if you got this far, you are either family or you get paid for reading this blog. You will be surprised that there are no pictures of this trip, but we seem to be bothering less and less about taking pictures. It takes some of the joy of the moment, I must confess, so I wont complain much. I promise to take a few pictures next time something interesting happens around us.

Good year to all, us included, and Ill stop typing before I lose half of my audience. I don't think thats exactly possible, cause I can't lose one and a half readers.

Au revoir.

Quien diria que Detroit es humedo

Acabamos de completar la primera fase del viaje a Burning Man. Anoche tomamos el Greyhound Bus de ottawa a detroit, y salvo una espera particularmente larga en la frontera por un pasajero con el que se pusieron fastidiosos, todo estuvo viento en popa. Dormimos casi todo el camino (7pm a 6am) y llegamos sanos y salvos a Detroit. Nos esperaba Jason en la estacion para llevarnos a su casa, donde pasaremos el dia preparandonos para salir manana temprano.

En este momento estoy escribiendo desde su casa. Ya vimos el Jacuzzi Bus y ya esta practicamente preparado para llevarnos en el largo viaje hasta Nevada. Partimos manana a las 0600. Patrick todavia no esta con nosotros, y no se bien como se nos unira. De alguna forma se solucionara.

Lo que viene se ve largo pero interesante. Un bus loquisimo, un grupo de gente medio heterogeneo, un camino largo, un desierto muy seco y muy polvoriento.

Quizas les tendre una sorpresa pronto. Si no, nos vemos dentro de dos semanas.

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We just completed our first phase of our trip to Burning Man. Last night we took the bus from Ottawa to Detroit, y apart from a particularly long wait at the border because of one passenger, everything was swift and cool. We slept most of the way (7pm to 6am) and we arrived safe and sound to Detroit. Jason was waiting for us at the station to take us to his place, where we are to spend the day, preparing to depart tomorrow morning.

Right now Im writing from his place. We already saw the Jacuzzi Bus and its mostly ready to take us in our long trip to Nevada. We depart tomorrow at 0600. Patrick is not with us yet, and Im not sure how will he get here. Something will come up.

The near future looks interesting. A crazy bus, a group of heterogeneous people, a long road, a very dry and dusty desert.

I might have a surprise soon. Otherwise, see you in two weeks.

Burning Man

En dos semanas nos vamos para Burning Man. He estado queriendo escribir un post larguisimo, contando lo ansioso que estoy por ir, como tengo anios esperando para ir, contando todos los detalles, mis expectativas e impresiones pre-festival, etc. Pero si sigo asi no escribire nunca. Asi que dejo que los curiosos ojeen la pagina oficial y la entrada en wikipedia. Con eso tengdran suficiente lectura por un buen rato.

Por ahora les dejo un par de fotos pa que tripeen.

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In two weeks we will be departing for Burning Man. Ive been wanting to write a super long post, telling how anxious I am, how Ive been planning for years, telling all the details, my expectatives and pre-festival impressions. But if I keep waiting for the right time, Ill never write. So Ill leave the curious to browse the official page and the wikipedia entry.

Just a couple images to give you an idea...





(photos taken by Brad Templeton)

Gatineau Park

El parque gatineau esta en la provincia de quebec, y ocupa 361 kilometros cuadrados, mayormente ocupado por pinos y agua de lago. Este fin de semana tuvimos el chance de ir a visitarlo con un grupo de gente del grupo de la sgi.

Luego de estacionar, bajamos dos canoas del techo del carrito de Sue y las cargamos con el equipaje que llevariamos para dos noches de campamento. Cuatro personas en dos canoas, una de ellas bien experimentada, otra con algo de practica, y dos nuevitos (dani y yo). El viaje de ida lo hicimos dani y yo separados, por aquello de que hacer canoa es bien dificil y puede poner mucha presion en la relacion de dos personas que quieren disfrutar de un fin de semana relajado :)

El campamento estuvo excelente, recorde tantas cosas de mis tiempos de guia... mucho mas relajado esta vez, claro, nada de hiking ni de muchachitos que cuidar. Pero igual recorde muchas vainas que vivi en el avila. Las comidas estuvieron de lujo, el lugar demasiado relajado, el lago excelente para baniarse.

Tuvimos un encuentro demasiado impresionante con una tortuga que parecia de lo mas prehistorica. Estaba llena de algas por todos lados, la cola era larga y tenia unas pezunias un tanto amenazantes. Se acerco tanto a la orilla (veran en las fotos) que saco la cabeza apenas suficiente para respirar. Habia tanto silencio en el lugar que escuchamos su respiracion, sonaba como un silbido apagado. Fue realmente impresionante. Trate de tocarla pero se fue antes de que la alcanzara. Me quede un largo rato esperando a ver si volvia, pero obviamente estaba ocupada en mejores cosas que un par de turistas fotografos.

En la vuelta dani y yo remamos juntos, parandonos con el grupo en un lugar divino para baniarse, con unas rocas perfectas para saltar. Este matrimonio paso la prueba, pues ni una hora de canoa con viento en contra logro hacernos perder la paciencia :)

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Gatineau park is a natural reserve on the quebec province, occupying 361 square kilometres, mostly occupied by pine trees and water. This weekend we had the chance to go camping with a group of sgi people.

After parking, we unloaded our two canoes from Sue’s little car and tossed our gear in them, enough for two nights camping. Four people in two canoes, only one of them with a lot of experience, one with some practice and two new paddlers (dani and I). We decided to paddle to the camping site separately (dani in one canoe and me in the other one) to avoid the pressure and stress that might come from a potentially frustrating experience. We wanted to enjoy the weekend, so we followed Sue’s advice to try separately first.

The camping was excellent, I remembered many things from my days as a Claret Camping Guide. This was a much more relaxed experience, though, no hiking nor kids to take care of, but I did re-live many things from my hiking trips. Meals were awesome, and the place was incredible. The lake was particularly enjoyable.

We had the most amazing encounter while relaxing on the rocks by the lake. This prehistoric looking turtle came to us, full with algae and mould, with claws that looked mildly menacing. She came so close to the rocks that she came out for air just centimetres from dani’s feet. There was such a silence that we could hear the air coming in and out of her nostrils, like a muted whistle. It was impressive. I tried touching her but she swam away before I reached. I waited a long time to see if she would be back, but she was obviously occupied in more important things : )

On our way back, we stopped on another beautiful site, perfect for a swim. A cool rock perfect for diving. Dani and I finally passed the test: an hour paddling with the wind against us, and we didn’t loose our patience!