what a shot!

i'll admit--i did not take this photo. i've never been in a hot air balloon (not that i can remember, at least). saw this photo from tim's grandparent's safari in tanzania this summer and had to share it. their trip included a sunrise balloon ride over the sergengeti grasslands. not too shabby! love those trees. this makes me want to listen to toto.

photo credit (!!): richard and nancy higley

where's the snow?

i thought it was supposed to snow before thanksgiving in boston! still --nothing. still waiting. still deciding if i'm going to be able to ski this year without landing myself in the er.

funny enough, i took this photo last year, on november 19, 2009, from our apartment in washington--it was snowing there!

 

oh, santo domingo

i won't deny that i had some complaints when i returned from the dominican republic after a trip for work. the whole "caribbean" lifestyle and mindset doesn't really apply when you are traveling for work and not play. no, sir, i won't have a cocktail at 11 am.

however, santo domingo itself was pretty incredible, and gave me a taste of what it might be like to travel within south america. i look forward to it--someday! many tourists who travel to punta cana or la romana don't ever venture into the capital, which is full of historic buildings. we certainly sensed tension with many immigrants crossing the border into the dr from haiti--i wonder if this has changed post-earthquake.

view of the water from my hotel room

ozama castle--oldest formal military building still standing in america

alcazar de colon: diego (chris' son) columbus' house in santo domingo

downtown santo domingo...mamajuana (and tobacco) salesman.

some restaurants i'd recommend:

-el conuco: bright, fun environment, great local food, lots of dancing--a great time had by all the night we went here!
-adrian tropical: casual restaurant directly on the ocean. i think one of the decks is actually over the water. great local food (maofungo was my favorite here--yucca with vegetables).
-restaurant vesuvio: seafood/italian, a little fancier, good outdoor seating. huge lobsters!
-meson de la cava: didn't get here, but heard great things. you eat dinner inside of a cave...sounds amazing!

flat stanely in dc

flat stanley also got a tour around the district of columbia. thought i'd post these as well. just to prove that we were truly excited about the flat stanley project.

flat stanley

i first heard of the flat stanley project when my cousin asked me to take his paper friend, "flat stanley" with me to bangkok, and take pictures of him all around the city. i'd never heard of this "flat stanley" guy, but agreed to take him with me in my suitcase. turns out, its a way that school children (and adults) are becoming aware of life outside the classroom. students make their own "flat stanley" and send them to friends and relatives near and far. he eventually returns to the student with stories and pictures of his journey.

i'd heard of similar teaching methods (a classroom having a doll that goes home with a different student every evening), but never a project which involved the whole class in an effort to increase global awareness. it turned out that flat stanley actually started in 1964...and that everyone knows about him! when i was taking photos of him around bangkok, i met many tourists who were as fond of "flat stanely" as i was--some people even offered to stand in with him!

here are some of the pictures i took with flat stanley during the 12 hours i spent outside of the hotel in bangkok. they were of course sent back with stanley to my cousin's classroom for show and tell.

favorite camping trip within driving distance of d.c.

when i was in 2nd grade, i was quite obsessive about the "misty of chincoteague" books--wild ponies living on an island, getting penned and sold once a year--it was quite romantic for a 2nd grader. when tim and i were living in dc and looking for a weekend camping trip, we we found assateauge island national seashore in maryland (directly north of chincoteague). the island is free of any summer homes, and only offers campsites (on the bay side of the island as well as on the ocean side). for future reference, i'd recommend the ocean side if you can reserve it early enough...for the bugs.

the island is teaming with "wild" ponies who walk along the beach by day, and rummage through campsites looking for food at night. it's a very unique spot, and i loved camping there--during our time living in d.c., we managed to get there three times. spent the days hanging out on the beach (with tons of sunscreen of course), grilled at night, had bonfires right on the beach...it doesn't get much better than that.

http://www.nps.gov/asis/

our first campsite on assateague, on the bay side...buggy!