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!

little walk on the wild side

there wasn't much time to be a tourist when i went to zambia (my first time in africa!) to study. our schedule was filled with visits to the university, the house of a local alumnus, local NGOs...and a lot of waiting. and waiting. and waiting. for everything! macrina and i stole away for 12 hours while we were in lusaka--for some of the only free time we had through the entire trip. we found a privately-owned, absolutely beautiful safari lodge in close proximity to lusaka, where we rode horses to get up close with the elephants, went on a game drive had the opportunity to see a wide variety of traditional and modern african art, and enjoyed quite a few glasses of pimms (very african, of course)! it's interesting that all of the land/animals were privately-held, and i'm sure i could start a debate with my environmental friends about which is better in the long-run. we didn't have the time or the money to go on a full-blown african safari, but our day trip did the trick.

the place we visited: http://www.chaminuka.com/. 

i bought a book about the owner and all he has done in africa, but sadly, still have not gotten around to reading it!

weekend in connemara

i don't know what made me think of this. maybe the trailers for the new harry potter movie coming out. during my time in ireland, i spent a weekend in connemara, which is an absolutely beautiful part of the country. i'd love to go back at some point!

for an ireland photo (and my photography skills), it doesn't get much better than this!

charley almost blew away!

breast cancer awarness month

october is breast cancer awareness month....and wonderful organizations around the world are drawing attention to breast cancer along with other important women's health issues.

i took these photos in cairo last october, when the first susan g. komen race for the cure was held at the giza pyramids. it was incredibly powerful to see so many egyptian women (and supportive men) out to race --and erase--the stigma of breast cancer in egypt.as breast cancer and other women's health issues are still taboo, breast cancer is often detected in later stages, and the event aimed to raise awareness.

the pyramids were even turned pink at night! sadly, i wasn't there to see that in person...just in the newspapers.

participants and the sphinx post-event...notice the usaid logo on the hat--the event was supported by the american people!

geography in scotland

what a nice looking geography department at the university of edinburgh--such a scholarly location. i feel like studying here would really inspire me. given the title of this blog, i thought it was only appropriate to share this photo that my good friend megan, a fellow geography fan, sent from her studies in edinburgh.

why didn't the geography programs i attended look this inviting? the geography department at colgate was in the basement (with no windows), and the geography department at university college dublin was in one of those concrete 80's buildings.

but this place? wow!