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I made good on one of my new year’s resolutions this year and made it to Los Angeles to visit my family at least once every two months. My most recent visit was for Thanksgiving. It’s a funny thing to me when I get asked about my Thanksgiving by friends, strangers and co-workers. I take comfort in saying that Thanksgiving is exactly the same as it is every year. There is a certain amount of relief in the routine of having the same music, same food, same people and same jokes since I’ve been a kid. That’s the beauty of family – knowing that regardless of whether I’m 10 or 28 we all remain the same. With the notable exception that my beloved Tia Alma is no longer with us for this Thanksgiving we have several new additions to the family all of which I am grateful for. I have plenty to be grateful for. 1. Life. If you had asked me as a freshman or sophomore in high school that my life would be where it is today and I wouldn’t have believed you. I’m truly happy with my position in life. I live comfortably, have fun, enjoy my job and try pretty hard to enjoy my life to the fullest. 2. Family and friends. I’m incredibly grateful for having a loving family that I can always depend on despite the distance and my being the only one in San Francisco while the rest are spread out in Los Angeles, Texas, Georgia and El Salvador. 3. Health. As most of you all know I’ve had 4 knee surgeries (ACL and meniscus repair in both knees) in the last 3 years. I’m happy to report that I am healthy and while I gave up the great love of my life (soccer) my training for a ½ marathon in February is going well. I’ve been a runner since high school and while I like staying fit nothing will ever compare to the thrill of the beautiful game that is soccer. Oh well. I’m still grateful for having two functional legs and being able to run. You’ll see a lot from me in terms of races and sprint and Olympic distance triathlons in 2010. Some pictures from Thanksgiving weekend (though oddly I noticed I didn’t take any pictures with my SLR thanksgiving weekend. Strange)   Caption (above): My first meal in Los Angeles was a street elote. Score! Double score for it being 80 degrees on Thanksgiving day!   Caption (above): Mom prepares tha turkey (chumpe)   Caption (above): The final product  Caption (above): The family gathers outside for Thanksgiving dinner. As I left Los Angeles we hit snow on the grapevine. In the 18+ years I’ve lived in Southern California I’ve never seen that much snow so close to LA on the grapevine.  **************************************** **************************************** **************************************** **************************************** ******** I NEED to go to at least one auto show a year. NEED. On good years I go to the Los Angeles, SF and San Jose auto shows. This year it looks like I’ll miss the LA show since they changed the date and only be able to do SF and San Jose. Here are pics from the 2009 SF auto show: Caption (above): Video. This car is just insanely beautiful. If I had a lot of money the Audi R8 would definitely be in my garage.   Caption (above): No car inspires more lust than the Mustang from Gone in 60 Seconds, Eleanor. Good god I would kill for this car.  Caption (above): The CHP has the new Porsche Panamera? I asked the CHP and he said it was just a demo. Tax payers would FLIP if this was publicly financed auto.   Caption (above): I overheard a woman ask “is this necessary?”. Lady, you’re at an auto show. None of it is necessary. Admire and move on.  Caption (above): I am totally getting a pink Smart car when it drops in 2010.  Caption (above): The workmanship in these old cars is really impressive up close. Good job Academy of Art for putting these on display. **************************************** **************************************** **************************************** **************************************** ********  I scored some tickets to the Lakers v Warriors. I had no doubt in my mind that the now 16-3 Lakers would CRUSH the 6-14 Golden State Warriors.  Caption (above): Let’s jump to the final score. Lakers 130, Warriors 97. That is a good old fashion ass whoopin’   Caption (above): I’m poor. I do nosebleeds.  Caption (above): Since I’d rather jump off the bridge than pay $5 for water and $8 for a nasty hot dog at the arena I made a pit stop in the Fruitvale of Oakland for some tortas.  Caption (above): Welcome to Oakland. Hello, weapons behind the counter. haha   Caption (above): The biggest torta I’ve ever seen. Respect.  Caption (above): Taller than Monta Ellis? Almost. **************************************** **************************************** **************************************** **************************************** ******** While we’re at it, also went to a Warriors v Pacers game: Caption (above): Best part of a Warriors game: the flying W’s.  Caption (above): Haha  Caption (above): Yeah, Yao is pretty damn tall. **************************************** **************************************** **************************************** **************************************** ******** I love any excuse to wear a tux but combine that raising money for a good cause and I’m sold.  It was a fundraiser for a mentoring organization called City of Dreams. See: http://www.city-of-dreams.org/It was held at the James Leary Flood Mansion down the street but a world away in Pacific Heights.   Caption (above): Grey Goose open bar may be a little problematic.   Caption (above): My date for the evening. Strange story is last time I had two dates and the time before that I was 1 of 2 guys escorting 1 female. First time with just one date. haha  Caption (above): The ladies   Caption (above): With the Polish Eagle  Caption (above): You saw it here first: there were brunettes at the event.  Caption (above): The ladies looking lovely in their gowns.   Caption (above): With the lovely Kremen sisters.  Caption (above): Sagging your tux pants. So 2009?  Caption (above): Grawrrrr  Caption (above): * Sizzzzzzzzles *  Caption (above): Educator and fellow yelp elite!  Caption (above): Festive drink in hand. Where did my eyes go?  Caption (above): I was…umm, falling and it seemed like a logical place to put my hand. Yes, officer.  Caption (above): The Christmas tree was THE place to take your pictures. This video will give you somewhat of an idea of what it was like in there: And these pictures have surfaced from the photobooth:  Caption (above): No comment.  Caption (above): Paging David LaChapelle. If I’m going to take a picture I’m going all out with the composition. **************************************** **************************************** **************************************** **************************************** ******** It has seemingly been months since I picked up my SLR camera. I took an opportunity prior to the gala to photograph my date for some candid shots. In contrast to the posed shots above while at the party I asked my date to just go about her business and not to mind me and my incessant shooting as she got ready for the party. Below are some of the pictures from this somewhat annoying project while she rushed to get ready.  Caption (above): Ok, that’s her cat. Next.  Caption (above): This one is probably one of my favorites. Not MC Escher exactly but that’s what it reminded me of. I loved using the mirror to reflect part of her image. I think I also like that the pictures have somewhat of a voyeuristic feel to them as if you’re watching someone get ready without them knowing it.   Caption (above): Again with the mirrors and MC Escher type shot.  Caption (above):  Caption (above): I really like this one. I made the picture grainy so as to give it the feel of a film camera surveillance shot. Slightly creepy I know, but I like the shot.  Caption (above): Final inspection  Caption (above): Hour 2 of applying make up. Just kidding. It was actually a pretty speedy process.  Caption (above): Hour 3  Caption (above): I finally let her look at the camera. Haha. Didn’t want her need to make eye contact to get in the way of my photoshoot!
 As a kid I was fortunate enough to have a teacher in elementary school introduce me to the game of Scrabble. At the time I thought I laughed at the game thinking it was nerdy, uncool and something I’d never let anyone know I’d be remotely interested in.  I had always been terrible at math and this teacher managed to inspire the competitive side of me. The truth was I just wanted to win, and it didn’t matter what shape that win took. And so…I was hooked on Scrabble. Recently I started a Scrabble club. I invited some friends to join me and lately we’ve been gathering once a week at a local restaurant/bar to play a round or two. I’m excited about expanding my game. For now I’m an average player but the hope is to use my defeats as fuel to improve. **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ******************************  Recently a friend asked me to join him as he shopped for a new car. Being the enthusiast of all things fast that I am I was pretty ecstatic to tag along. Don’t worry – I’m not going to buy a new car. I’m just like checking them out for fun.  On one lovely weekend day we were able to visit Mercedes, BMW and Audi to check out the latest in German engineering.  My favorite hands down was the Audi S5 (pictured above). The car was stunning and with a V8 engine purred with authority. I was able to drive it on the freeway and hit 100mph in 3rd gear in what felt like no time.   For fun I was able to test-drive a car with a V10 engine, which was a first for me. All I have to say is: wow. There was so much beauty in that excess of power. I had an interesting conversation that evening. As I drove down in an $80,000 car I wondered if I would ever want to change careers. To what ends would I go to in order to be able to afford a car like that? While I sped through the streets of Marin in these luxury cars the thought crossed my mind of what it would be like to own one of these vehicles. Honestly, I don’t think I’d trade what I have. I’ve never doubted my ability to make money. I’ve never doubted my ability to give everything I do my 100%. For now – I’m very happy with feeling I contribute to the greater good as nice as German cars are. **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ******************************  Ah, the trials and tribulations of a Cal fan. We went from a ranked pre-season favorite to losing to Oregon State University. Jesus.   Since the game was supposed to be a blowout (we lost) ticket prices were cheap. We waited for the 1st quarter to end and managed to score seats two rows from the end zone.  Now, unfortunately I got a craving for turkey legs and waited in a 30 minute line for the privilege of this tasty delight. It was DEFINITELY worth the wait.  In the spirit of the big game rivalry, I laughed so hard when I saw this urinal at Henry’s.  **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** Adding to my list of firsts, I took a little night cruise on a yacht recently. A friend invited me to check it out and it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. I mean – how often does an educator get to hang out on a boat? * insert I’m on a boat song here *  Caption (above): Sorry for the crappy picture but it was the best my point and shoot could muster up. No SLR here.  Caption (above): guys on the yacht Caption (above): Video from the boat  Caption (above): Wow. Audi R8 in the parking lot. Don’t see those every day. I believe I considered taking the bus back to my house. Classic. Haha **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ******************************  The brunch scene in SF sort of cracks me up. If you have a place that is popular you’re almost guaranteed to have an hour wait. It’s a funny foodie city that way.  My latest excursion was to Dottie’s True Blue Café.  See: http://www.yelp.com/biz/dotties-true-blue-cafe-san-franciscoUnlike a lot of other places, Dottie’s focused on no frills simple food which I’m always a fan of (mostly because I can’t afford expensive brunch spots). I don’t know that Dottie’s lived up to the hype of a 1-hour wait but it was certainly a very good meal. **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** We recently got together to celebrate a friend’s birthday.  Caption (above): Storm trooper on the cable car? Definitely one of the most random things I’ve seen this week.  Caption (above): The scrabble queen  Caption (above): The gang  Caption (above): Yeah, don’t know what to say about this one.  Caption (above): Or this one. **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** The SF triathlon team recently held its end of year party. While I started working out with them this year I was injured (knee surgery) about two months into training. I’m currently running again and looking to do the Kaiser Half marathon in February 2010.  Caption (above): Katya, a future Ironwoman wins the Newbie award. Go Katya!  Caption (above): Adam wins the Hello Kittie award! ☺ **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** I’ve been carless in San Francisco for about a year now. At one point I realized I could get around perfectly well on public transportation. Recently, my brother was kind enough to give me his old car so I now find myself out and about on weekends. One of my first excursions out of town was to the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay. While I can’t afford to stay at the Ritz they have an awesome restaurant with a burger that I absolutely love and with million dollar views it is worth the drive.   Caption (above): Wow, hello November in California.  Caption (above):The gang   Caption (above): The beautiful California coast  Caption (above): Jokingly counting my money at the Ritz. Muahahahaha!  Caption (above): Jesus, the crème brulee was good. Probably the best I’ve had.  Caption (above): Pumpkin pie  Caption (above): Enjoying my life…and the views. **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ******************************  One thing I have ALWAYS wanted to do: paintball. This weekend we managed to get a group of 20 people and take our aggression down to San Jose to engage in 5 hours of paintball battle.  Caption (above): Camo!  Caption (above): Getting ready for battle  Caption (above): The women…who coincidentally managed to detroy us when we played men vs women. They beat us both times.  Caption (above): Mug shot  Caption (above): Ok, so I got a little dirty with all the ninja rolls. haha  Caption (above): Shot to the head? Ouch. I got hit in the face twice but luckily hit my mask so it didn’t hurt at all.  Caption (above): My wrist ☺ **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** Courtesy of a very awesome friend who just got a job at Twitter I was able to take a tour of their new offices. I didn’t take a ton of pictures but it’s always cool to see the offices of the services you use regularly. Thanks to DD I got to check out Google. Up next, hopefully Facebook? Palo Alto isn’t too far. ☺  Caption (above): Front desk  Caption (above): **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** One of my top 5 brunch spots in San Francisco is Zazie. See: http://www.yelp.com/biz/zazie-san-franciscoDespite the 1 hour wait we waited patiently and there was a consensus at the table that the food was awesome and well worth the wait in the cold.  Caption (above): Thank you for the giant bowl of hot cocoa on a cold morning!  Caption (above): The chorizo scramble was so tasty.  Caption (above): Monaco poached eggs with prosciutto
 In the spirit of Halloween my triathlon team did a Halloween ride. You have got to give them props: it’s hot when you go out on rides in cycling gear. It’s crazy hot if you’re in costume.  What better way to end the ride than with food and drinks in Tiburon, Ca!  I’ve been to Sam’s many times, but this is the first time I’ve seen 30+ bikes on the dock. **************************************** ******************************** **************************************** ********************************  This year we decided on the W hotel in San Francisco for our Halloween night. The idea was there: a great hotel, 4 dance floors, 3 different levels. In practice – trying to keep 10 people together at a party with that many rooms and over 1,500 people was a little trickier than I would have expected. Regardless, I had a great time and a lesson was learned: stick to big parties with ONE room when travelling with a large group you intend to keep together.  Caption (above): The group  Caption (above): The Bobbits. This was disturbing. I tried to not lool down but it was futile.  Caption (above): Super Mario and the hick  Caption (above): 80’s girl and cigarette girl  Caption (above): Butterfly, karate kid and cop.  Caption (above): Ladybug and cop  Caption (above): The ladies  Caption (above): Our gracious host, the pirate, and the beer girl  Caption (above): 80’s girl slays the trojan  Caption (above): Trojan slays the fairy  Caption (above): The pirate finds his booty ☺  Caption (above): I laughed so hard when I saw the hamburglar. That’s straight from my childhood.  Caption (above): This picture cracked me up. Karate kid versus the trojan **************************************** ******************************** **************************************** ******************************** The day after Halloween we needed something a little more wholesome to help us relax. We decided to drive out to Land’s End. 80 degrees in November is THE reason you live in California.  Caption (above): Beach and bridges: San Francisco at its best. Caption (above): Sometimes video is better at capturing the panoramic beauty of the area.   After our mini-hike we visited the Cliff House, a restaurant I would normally not visit because it’s rather expensive. We went in and had some appetizers and drinks to sample the goods. See: http://www.yelp.com/biz/sutros-at-the-cliff-house-san-francisco    Caption (above): Views from the Cliff House
 I’m always on the hunt for a great taco. It’s no secret that my preference is for street food but every now and then there is buzz for a restaurant that really motivates me. The latest example of this was Chilango in the Castro. See: http://www.yelp.com/biz/chilango-san-francisco-2 Another one of my recent fascinations has been chorizo and when chilango offered me a taco that was carne asada AND chorizo there’s no way I could say no to all the unhealthy goodness. While at Chillango I checked my twitter and realized that the Crème Brulee man was nearby. While Crème Brulee is one of my favorite desserts there’s no way I can not visit a guy who advertises his whereabouts on twitter. The idea of it being somewhat of a cult following that is fanned by twitter sold me. You can follow his whereabouts at:  http://twitter.com/CremeBruleeCart As you can tell from Yelp, he has quite a following in SF: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-creme-brulee-cart-san-francisco**************************************** *********************************** **************************************** ***********************************  Being October and all I feel that I’ve spent the whole month in costume somehow. I was recently invited to participate in a baseball / beer pong tournament. Naturally, I was selected to be on the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team decided to dress the part and pay comedic homage to the East LA following of the Dodgers by dressing up as cholos.    Sadly, our team was pretty terrible at winning but it was a fun afternoon regardless. **************************************** *********************************** **************************************** ***********************************   What do you say when you get an email about a Doctor throwing a Halloween party at a gigantic house in a part of the city you don’t spend a lot of time in? You say yes, and quickly. Houses in the city are about 1 million dollars and not very large so to find a house that is enormous and actually has acreage is pretty rare. The party ended up being incredibly crowded, which did not surprise me at all.  Caption (above): Whoa, he creeped me out when I turned around.  Caption (above): Pretty elaborate.  Caption (above): Stab her!  Caption (above): With the naked man  Caption (above): Checking her heart after coming into contact with naked man  Caption (above): The ladies  Caption (above): Nothing gets the party started like a stripper pole? **************************************** *********************************** **************************************** *********************************** Again, I have a hard time saying no to costume parties and if you add that it’s for a great charity I’m pretty much there. I was invited to an 80’s party at Ruby Skye and it was a recipe for a great time.  Caption (above):I decided to go as an 80’s geek. I had no time to shop for a costume so I ran into goodwill and grabbed the ugliest sports coat, pants, shirt and tie I could find and called it a day during my lunch break. This was the result. I threw in the badge from Macworld for extra effect.  Caption (above):The ladies  Caption (above): Anytime people are in costume, people just have more fun. That’s just how it is.  Caption (above): Ms. Photogenic #1 and Ms. Photogenic # 2  Caption (above): Rockin’ out! Caption (above): I don’t like 80’s music but this band was pretty awesome. Go Poprocks!   Caption (above): The bad had some horrifically bad suits that were just awesome.  Caption (above): One of my favorites!  Caption (above): 80’s poster girl.   Caption (above):  Caption (above): Bad girls smoking in the back room  Caption (above): I didn’t walk in with sunglasses but somehow picked some up. Strange how that always happens. **************************************** *********************************** **************************************** *********************************** You’re probably thinking I do a lot for Halloween but all this stuff isn’t even Halloween itself. That will be its own separate post! A friend from the triathlon team invited us to a party at her house that took up all 3 floors of their Victorian home.  Caption (above): In some alternate universe Karate Kid and the airline pilot makes sense. Yes .  Caption (above): Marty McFly was cool. The hover board really sold me on the costume though.  Caption (above): This may be my costume for next year. A guy in full geisha gear was AWESOME.  Caption (above): JD, chicken and beer.  Caption (above): The guys   Caption (above): The funny thing was they didn’t plan on going as the same thing.  Caption (above): Airline pilot and cigarette girl  Caption (above): Karate Kid regulating on country boys  Caption (above):Pirate and Karate Kid  Caption (above): Bear is getting kinda frisky!  Caption (above):
Despite living in the bay area, home of pacifists and ultra radical hippies one of my favorite events is fleet week. For a whole weekend the US Air Force flies by our marina and performs stunts along with several other planes. Since a lot of my friends live in the Marina it seemed like their was an endless choice of rooftop parties to attend.  Truth be told – it was FREEZING cold that day so that put a little damper on the festivities but fun was had by all. It was amusing to watch the planes on Sunday from Russian Hill and seeing all my neighbors up on their roofs and hearing the alarms go off on all the cars as the planes whizzed by. **************************************** ********************** **************************************** ********************** The kickball season has come to an end.  After finishing first in the regular season and defeating our arch-rivals we made it to playoffs and strolled through the first two rounds in a pretty commanding fashion only to fall to the previously mentioned arch-rivals in the final game of the playoffs. Regardless, it was a great season. On the upside, our team still earned a bid to Las Vegas. Kickball team = Vegas = trouble. Lord help us all.  Caption (above): Making a run  Caption (above): The pitching is no joke  Caption (above): The guys  Caption (above): Trying to beat the 1st base throw **************************************** ********************** **************************************** ********************** I honestly don’t know how I get invited to these things, but I was invited to preview CNN’s “Latino in America” documentary.   It was all somewhat surreal. The picture above is where the event was held: the Bently reserve. In the middle of San Francisco’s financial district, it was pretty…how shall we say…baller-ific?  While being a documentary about the Latino experience represented by Latinos from a cross section of society that certainly wasn’t the vibe I got from the event. It was what one might expect – well-heeled latinos, lots of suits and well-dressed women etc. One would have thought we were at a fundraiser given the venue and the attire. On one level I was happy to be there…to be included in that group of latinos that through one way or another was invited. On the other hand I wondered if these types of events given the the venue and the producers are even meant to be for those “other latinos”. You know – poor, likely not high school or college grads and probably illegal. The goal of the documentary is to shed light on these types of people but my sense was that these people were not there. I’m sure the friends I was with can all agree on this (though I may be guilty of not knowing if this is true based on looks alone). I was comfortable in my group of Berkeley and Stanford alums but it definitely begs the question of who this documentary is directed to and how much effort was put in attracting a true cross-section of the latino spectrum. Since I don’t know the answer to any of these things, I will reserve judgment. On top of all the above questions and concerns – there has been a great deal of controversy brewing on the internet about the seeming contradiction of having this documentary while employing Lou Dobbs. This video sums it up well: My friend Laura, called CNN out on the Dobbs issue and asked how they could push for an appreciation of latin culture while employing one of the biggest critics of latinos and latino immigrants, Lou Dobbs. This was her question and the response from the filmmakers: CNN having Dobbs makes total sense to me. I dislike Dobbs as much as the next liberal latino but stepping away from my granola bar I can see that half the country is conservative and in order to stop the hemorrhaging of conservative viewers from jumping ship to Fox it only makes sense to keep him. I also imagine there are tons of corporations out there that LOVE to advertise on his show to reach that audience. It’s all about the dollars and cents. From an editorial perspective I’m sure it helps them avoid the claim that they are completely liberal. CNN can always point to Dobbs as their flagship conservative commentator. * Sighs * Back to the event – we managed to take some pictures while there:    **************************************** ********************** **************************************** **********************   It’s rare that I travel for work the way some of my friends do. Last week I was able to fly to Los Angeles (which happens to be my hometown) for a conference focusing on after-school programming. It was a great opportunity to meet other educators as well as learn about how other after-school leaders function.  Caption (above): And the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in award goes to…the Torrance Marriott. Damn, that bed was comfortable. It was firm and the bedding felt so great against my skin. I was tempted to sleep naked just so I could feel the thread count against my body.  Caption (above): It cracked me up when I got back from a workshop and found my bathroom looking like this. I had left this stuff scattered all over the bathroom and the housekeepers were nice /OCD enough to organize it for me. I called my mom (who is a housekeeper) to tell her. She also found it amusing (and pointed out that I was a slob).  Caption (above): Tough times, guys. The conference was about 95% female.  Caption (above): I don’t usually go to events like this for work so I was impressed by the lunch set up.   Caption (above): Tasty! Caption (above): This was a ton of fun, actually. It was a good way to wake us up for the 8am conference start. Yes, I was THAT guy up on the stage drumming with one hand while videotaping with the other. Tell me you’re surprised!  Caption (above): One of my favorite workshops. One of the big reasons I was there was to see what sources I could look into to get more funds for our programs. **************************************** ********************** **************************************** ********************** One advantage of having the conference is Los Angeles was being able to drive to Hollywood at night to see friends and family. I managed to pay a visit to some of my nephews:    Another favorite was catching up with my old friends Wilma and Ephra:   Last but not least, you can’t leave the club in LA without picking up a bacon hot dog!  I LOVE street food! Speaking of food, I finally got to try a place near my house that does tapas. Ever since I returned from Spain I’ve been looking for something that matches the food and the vibe I felt in Spain. Cobras y Matadores is the best I’ve seen thus far. See: http://www.yelp.com/biz/cobras-and-matadors-los-angeles Caption (above): While the shape was unfamiliar to me their churros con chocolate were fantastic.  Caption (above): Bacon wrapped figs were HEAVEN. Holy Jesus they were good.  Caption (above): The skirt steak was ok, but the corn a-la-street style was a nice touch.  Caption (above): Menu **************************************** ********************** **************************************** ********************** On the less fancy side, I hit up La Guelaguetza to try some Oaxacan food. While I love Mexican food, my adventures in Oaxacan food have forced me to consider a foodie trip down to Mexico. See: http://www.yelp.com/biz/guelaguetza-restaurant-los-angeles-3 Caption (above): It started with the free chips with mole and queso fresco. Best free appetizer EVER.  Caption (above): Chorizo and queso fundido. YUM!  Caption (above): The reddish meat was very tasty.  Caption (above): Whoa, he busted out the chamoy for the ice cream!  Caption (above): Meat + cheese. How do you go wrong?  Caption (above): What’s a day in south central without some King Donut?
Back in 2003 I started this blog in an attempt to discuss my thoughts, but mostly to keep friends, family and stalkers up to date with what was going on in my life. For the most part I keep mum on my dating life. Recently, I was having a conversation about relationships and the inevitable question comes up “what are you looking for in a relationship?” Being the list maker I am, I took it upon myself to develop one that really addressed the qualities (both physical and non-physical) that I look for in a relationship. To give you a sense of how I have progressed, see this blog from 2004 that also describes my relationship wants: See: http://calmenda.livejournal.com/51367.htmlAgain, this is what I look for in a relationship…a committed, equally monogamous relationship. If you’re looking for a laugh, please see my list of what I look for in “miscellaneous” relationships. See: See: http://calmenda.livejournal.com/183994.htmlI can see a lot of people reading my current list and thinking that I am delusional in wanting all these things in a partner. I can assure you I don’t sit at first dates with a clipboard checking off all my requirements. The beauty of dating is the more you date, the more you discover positive (and negative) attributes that can be incorporated into what for most people is a mental checklist. Since I like to document things – this is my attempt to give you an insight into the type of woman that I hope to settle down with someday. Writing these things down is a healthy exercise for me. I find that I don’t often sit and gather my thoughts the way I’d like to. I feel I owe it to myself to visualize the ideal and go about in the world determined to find it. Trying (emphasis on * trying *) to be the best at things has got me pretty far in life thus far, and expecting the most from my relationships (regardless of how successful or surprisingly disappointing relationships in the past have been) is the way to go. **************************************** ************* **************************************** ************* 1 - Experience in a committed relationship 2 - Understands the meaning of being in a committed relationship 3 - Honest 4 - Believes in helping others 5 - Preferably in a line of work where she helps others(nonprofit, education) 6 - Success in her career track 7 - Gainfully employed in a salaried job with benefits in a professional industry 8 - Does not live with parents 9 - College graduate is preferred, but not necessary. 10 - Can hold a conversation in different crowds (college educated, non-college educated) 11 - Can respect people of different socio-economic, sexual orientations, religious and ethnic backgrounds 12 - Is regarded as a loyal friend by her peers 13 - Is comfortable with her sexuality 14 - Ambition - whether it be in her career or personal 15 - Desire to learn more 16 - Own network of friends 17 - Own social life 18 - Not jealous of significant other spending time with female(s) 19 - Feels comfortable being at a social event without significant other 20 - Ability to speak to strangers with ease 21 - Passion - should be passionate about something in her life 22 - Close to her family 23 - Believes in true love 24 - Believes in supporting her partner's ambitions 25 - Physically active 26 - Someone who is aware of what is happening in current affairs 27 - Can handle a healthy debate 28 - Can handle a partner who is not afraid to disagree with her 29 - Not afraid to leave at a moment's notice for an adventure 30 - Maintains a semi-clean living space 31 - Is comfortable dating someone from a low socio-economic background 32 - Is not considered anti-social 33 - Does not base her self-worth on looks or what men think of her 34 - Prefer politically moderate with leftist tendencies. 35 - Respectful of people's feelings 36 - Is not condescending towards others 37 - Can tolerate someone who listens to rap and/or Spanish music 38 - Is ethical because it is the right thing to do 39 - Can make good decisions when under pressure and/or confused 40 - Dresses appropriately according to situation 41 - Does not play victim on a daily or semi-regular basis 42 - Can see herself married 43 - Would love to have children…by me…in the future (2 ideally) 44 - Comfortable meeting my family who speaks only Spanish 45 - Can tolerate someone who is not fond of the "we" speak 46 - Financially responsible 47 - Works out at least 2x a month 48 - Is comfortable outdoors (hiking, camping, running etc) 49 - Computer-literate 50 - Can communicate feelings clearly 51 - Can write and respect basic grammar conventions 52 - Has a core group of friends that she has had for years 53 - Does not believe she is the center of the world 54 - Not a prude 55 - Between 5 and 6 feet tall (helpful, huh?) 56 - At least 100 lbs, but no more than 150 lbs. 57 - Medium to long hair preferred, but not necessary. 58 - Good hygiene - showers daily, no bad breath 59 - Does not wear a lot of make-up 60 - Doesn't find it necessary to show off. Modest in displaying physical “attributes”. 61 - Be 21 - 35 years of age
As an adult, it’s not often that one gets awards. I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m competitive. I dedicate myself 100% to what I’m involved in. In everything from sports to work I am there giving it my all. I started my work in education as a sophomore in college back in 2000 volunteering as a mentor for a middle school program in Berkeley. My time there got me a position as both a tutor and a mentor to other Berkeley students who were mentoring middle school students, a position I held until I graduated college in 2003. At that point in my life I really wanted not only to further my own academic goals but to help a middle-school student reach his goals. My career path then took me to neighboring Oakland to work with an organization whose mission is that that every child in America have access to safe, healthy play every day. Sports had always been a big part of the reason I am where I am today in that it kept me busy and out of trouble. I had always looked up to coaches and sports figures and I wanted to spend a year of my life dedicating myself to combining my two greatest passions: sports AND education. After Oakland I decided that the key in my educational experience had been getting to college and I was determined to work at the high school level with latino students to help them achieve those goals. From 2004-2005 I was an assistant coordinator for a high school after-school program. I was fortunate enough to be promoted in 2005 to run an after-school program, academic support services and mental health services until 2007. My time working at the high school level was one of my most satisfying experiences as I was able to spend enough time there to see students achieve their goals and reach their dreams of becoming college students. My point in giving you a narrative of my resume was to get to last week when the organization I work with awarded me a “Best Practices” award of which I was very proud. You have to imagine someone as competitive as me going to an awards banquet for over 5 years hoping to get one of 3 awards in an organization with over 1,000 people. It never happened until last week.  While it’s just a piece of plastic – I was honored to finally be chosen for an award that is named after the guiding principles of our organization. They are: “1. We persevere, are dependable and act with integrity. 2. We recognize the needs and strengths of students and support their development. 3. We are continuous learners - stretching, growing and innovating. 4. We build healthy relationships and are guided by a caring heart. 5. Our services are based on proven models and methods. 6. We work within communities and build alliances to meet community needs. 7. We focus on results. 8. We are humble, hopeful and have a sense of humor.” Last year I sort of gave up on getting the award and when I was chosen and asked to give a speech I was totally unprepared but I am very grateful to my supervisor (D.B) for his continued support and all the administrative staff that I work with that have helped us achieve the goals we have had for running after-school program in San Francisco. **************************************** ***************************** **************************************** ***************************** One of my favorite places to hang out in SF is Tunneltop. See: http://www.yelp.com/biz/tunnel-top-san-franciscoI love it because it’s small, free and has awesome Dj’s on Tuesday and Friday/Saturday nights without the sketchy people you’d find at a large club. We recently visited Tunnel Top on a Tuesday night:  Caption (above): It’s not a party at tunneltop until someone hangs from the beams  Caption (above): All the ladies I couldn’t dance with because I haven’t had time to take salsa or merengue classes! jaja  Caption (above): Queso!  Caption (above): I always get crap about this hat. I got it from my brother. I swear! I don’t even know where the Armani Exchange store is (ok, sort of not true). **************************************** ***************************** **************************************** ***************************** Our kickball team, KIAB (Kick in a box) managed to finish the season with only one loss which makes us eligible to go to Las Vegas at some point to play kickball teams from all over the country. It may sound a bit silly but you really can’t argue with a team full of great athletes and fun people who are always down to “socialize” after games.  Caption (above): The team Caption (above): This cheer ALWAYS cracks me up. Caption (above): If you’re unfamiliar with the game of flip cup, this is how you flip a cup. As someone who isn’t good at it, trust me that it looks a lot easier than it is. **************************************** ***************************** **************************************** ***************************** There is one game I look forward to EVERY year (or at least for the last couple of years): Cal versus USC. This year was no exception. USC was ranked #3 in the nation and Cal was ranked #6 earlier in the year. The hype, expectations and talk of BCS bowls were intense. When the dust settled, USC crushed Cal 30-3. You can read about it here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/10/04/sports/s121735D55.DTLDespite that, fun was had by all parties involved. It was actually a crazy weekend in SF as Love Fest, Castro street fair, Bluegrass festival, Cal v USC, Stanford v UCLa and 49 ers versus Rams all hit the bay area. I had NEVER seen so many people in all the years of living in the bay (since 1999).  Caption (above): Tommy Trojan invades SF’s Union Square the night before Cal v USC for a rally Caption (above): This little kid was awesome. He was doing the “fight on” sign to the annoying USC fight song despite probably not being able to speak Caption (above): The Cal band performs at homecoming Caption (above): It was very heated before the game started. I had never seen so many fans from the opposing team at a game in all the years I have bene going to Cal games. They took over SF the day before, took over Berkeley and their team ended up owning us on our own field. Caption (above): This will give you an idea of what a fraternity party looks and sounds like on a big game day.  Caption (above): Raise your hand if you think petting a snake at a FRATERNITY is a bad idea. Oooh, me, me, me!  Caption (above): I always love walking by this statue to see what Rally Comm came up with.  Caption (above): Wow, you didn’t realize that until you got to Berkeley? Someone needs to get this guy in a history or sociology class.  Caption (above): The greatest parking permit…EVER. If you win a Nobel Prize, you too can have a spot in front of the building you teach in.  Caption (above): Bacon dogs in Berkeley?! YES !!!!!!  Caption (above): Ummm, why are there so many red shirts at my fraternity? We have officially been taken over.  Caption (above): Got flip cup?  Caption (above): 72,000 fans at a sold out memorial stadium in Berkeley. One thing said at the USC rally the night before the game was about our crappy stadium. You know what, USC – at least we have one. Last I checked USC doesn’t have a football stadium they own (they rent from the City and County of LA).  Caption (above): Despite being a USC fan she was asked to take off the USC visor and wear the blue and gold to support the team.  Caption (above): The USC fans filled up the visitor’s section and were damn loud. Caption (above): Ok, THIS cracked me up. I was on BART and these people were being obnoxiously loud. At one point their antics started cracking me up so I decided to videotape. The video above is the result.
I like to think that I don’t take things for granted very often. It’s never lost on me that the life I lead is not average and to say that it is would be a complete delusion on my part or at the very least a slap in the face to people who work hard, make very little and don’t have the luxury of vacation time, a salary or friends willing to join them on trips. This weekend I went to South Lake Tahoe with a group of friends. In these parts – a trip to Tahoe seems to be pretty standard whether it’s in the winter to ski and snowboard or in the summer to do some boating and hang out on the beach. It’s a strange feeling – to get lost in privilege. I can see how when you are surrounded by things that all your friends and their friends do you * begin * to think that it’s normal. I’m lucky enough to have grown up in less fortunate circumstances to know that some of the places I go, things I do and experiences I have whether free or whether they are purchased are not normal and I’m grateful that my education and experiences have put me in a place to enjoy them. My hope is that no matter where I go or who I become I can always have that reality check and appreciate what I have knowing that there are millions of people who look like me and are from the places I came from and don’t have a chance to live the life I live. Okay – that’s my random thought for the day. And now for some pictures from the weekend: ****  Caption (above): Lake Tahoe is beautiful. It’s clean, deep and perfect year round for snow sports or water sports.   Caption (above): This was my 1st time on a boat that I had helped pay for. Our boat maxed out at 35 mph but it was a ton of fun. DEFINITELY need to do that again.    Caption (above): We all took turns driving the boat  Caption (above): Brandon read. I had trouble just keeping my balance – don’t think I could have read anything.  Caption (above): Taking in the scenery   Caption (above): After a long day of lounging on the beach and messing around on the boat we ended up at a place called Sunnyside lounge. I definitely recommend this place. The food was decent but you could pull your boat up and they had a boat valet. A great palace to socialize and grab drinks while you take a break from the boat. See: http://www.yelp.com/biz/sunnyside-resort-tahoe-city Caption (above): When you’ve been eating camping food all weekend, the baby back ribs taste pretty damn good.  Caption (above): Jordans + boat + tahoe = life is good.  Caption (above): Enjoying the sunset  Caption (above): Looking on
I had the opportunity to see a special screening of Michael Moore’s new film “Capitalism: A Love Story”. Living in San Francisco it’s almost a given that I’d be a fan of Michael Moore’s work. As a fan of non-fiction the documentary genre is one that was not popularized until Michael Moore came around. Love him or hate him, no documentary filmmaker has the distribution that Moore has. Luckily for me, his films tackle crucial issues. My two favorites being Sicko’s critique of our healthcare system and Bowling For Columbine’s criticism of Gun Control. The first video is a trailer for the film and the second one is video I shot at the Q&A session we got with Michael Moore. Courtesy of the Commonwealth Club we were able to have a Q&A session with Michael Moore: **************************************** ************************************ **************************************** ************************************ Stepping outside the Russian Hill / Pacific Heights / Nob Hill / Marina / Cow Hollow bubble I decided to attend a www.latinosamorir.com party. The Independencia party was held on the 46th floor of the Hilton and had spectacular views of San Francisco.    Caption (above): Oooh, ice sculpture!  Caption (above):  Caption (above):  Caption (above):  Caption (above):  Caption (above): **************************************** ************************************ **************************************** ************************************ My mother was in town this weekend. Despite living in the bay area for close to ten years now, my mother has only visited me 5 times, 4 of which have been for times when I was recovering from knee surgery. This is the first time I’ve been given the opportunity to show her around so I took it as an excuse to play tourist with my mom for the weekend. One of the first things we did was go to the free Opera in the Park event held at Giants Stadium. I was able to get there early and score good seats on the field, front and center.   Caption (above): My mom represents with my Lakers hat.  Caption (above): 28,000 people attended opera in the park.  Caption (above): We brought travel scrabble to keep us entertained.   Caption (above): Sleeping was common as the night wore on.  Caption (above): Sofia tries to beat the cold with her knit hat Caption (above): VIDEO: A snippet of the opera Caption (above): Opera version of “take me out to the ballgame” **************************************** ************************************ **************************************** ************************************ On day two of my mother’s visit I took her out to all the sights.  Caption (above): My mom on the cable car. I didn’t really convince her to get on; I just made her. Haha. I don’t think she would have done it had I explained what the cable car ride entailed (especially being on the outside of the car). Caption (above): Video of me trying to scare and joke around with my mom  Caption (above): Mom raises the root at Bernal Hill park  Caption (above): Mom at Alamo Square with the Painted Ladies homes  Caption (above): At the Palace of Fine Arts     Caption (above): At a very foggy Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin headlands  Caption (above): Smiley mom  Caption (above): Mom with Alcatraz in the background
Kickball season continues to go well. Our all-star Kick in a Box squad is undefeated at 3-0 and I’m having a blast being involved in something semi-athletic now that I can’t play soccer. One thing that will never be said about this team is that it isn’t a fun group of people.  Caption (above): One of our crowning achievements…the manamid (man pyramid). AKA: Anamid (pyramid with Anna on top).  Caption (above): We are determined to step it up and build a 15 person manamid. Stay tuned.  Caption (above): In what I imagine is a tradition across the board at most kickball games is the time honored tradition of hitting the bar for a game of flip cup immediately after the games. Girls on top of the bar also seems to be a recurring theme.  Caption (above): Party in the streets! Is that a boombox? Yes, yes it is. **************************************** ******************************** **************************************** ******************************** While I’ve only known her for a couple of months, Laura has become a dear friend in a short amount of time. A couple of weekends ago I took the opportunity to celebrate her birthday at Crissy Field. What I found particularly amusing about the party was the location. I think of Crissy field and I think Marina. I think Marina and I definitely don’t think latinos, tacos and birthday celebrations with piñatas. Laura is awesome like that though, so we went ahead and threw an awesome party.  Caption (above): Our gay pride Dora the explorer piñata?  Caption (above): Me with the birthday girl  Caption (above): Yes, she’s 15?  Caption (above): Munching on some oysters  Caption (above): Oh yeah, we didn’t bring burgers and hot dogs. We didn’t even bring our own grill. We straight up brought our own taqueria to the park. Boooyah!   Caption (above): Chorizo and carne asada tacos with mango and pineapple salsa. DAMN good. The bridge in the back for dramatic effect. Caption (above): Happy birthday, Laurita! **************************************** ******************************** **************************************** ******************************** I went back to what is hands-down my favorite brunch place EVER. I made a pilgrimage to the wine country last week to Ad Hoc last week for another amazing brunch experience. See: http://www.yelp.com/biz/ad-hoc-yountville-2  Caption (above): Ad Hoc is latin for “god-damn we make some good-a** brunch” (ok, loose translation)  Caption (above): Summer sangria looking beautiful  Caption (above): Ad Hoc does simple foods INCREDIBLY well. I can almost guaranteed that anything you try will be the best of that thing you’ve ever had from the butter up to the main courses.  Caption (above): The bacon here changed my life. Seriously. You can’t try the bacon here and look at bacon from anywhere else the same way. A life without Ad Hoc bacon is not worth living.  Caption (above): Menu for the day: summer sangria + bouchon breakfast breads + huevos rancheros w cornmeal waffles + peach and blueberry crumble. **************************************** ******************************** **************************************** ******************************** After a long hiatus I decided to stop a Yelp Elite party for old time’s sake. As usual, a good time was had by all.  Caption (above): If you’re into Japanese pop you may want to check this place out. It is a mall dedicated to Japanese pop culture. See: http://www.newpeopleworld.com/  Caption (above): Posing with the not un-attractive employees. haha  Caption (above): Okay, guy on right was a bit strange. **************************************** ******************************** **************************************** ********************************  Caption (above): Only in Los Angeles is the sample car at the mall a LAMBORGHINI! The one in SF is a Toyota or something. haha  Caption (above): Any type of eggs benedict dish if my favorite.  Caption (above): My mom picking out some clothes on her birthday. Caption (above): Me joking around with my mom in Spanish about her birthday plans. To make a long story short I ask her what she is doing for her birthday and she says “not cooking”. Acting a bit surprised I ask “you’re cooking tomorrow though, right?”  Caption (above): The scallops for dinner were PHENOMENAL  Caption (above): Birthday dinner with my mom, brother and cousin Patty.  Caption (above): Night out with long-time friend Wilma at La Cita in downtown LA. **************************************** ******************************** **************************************** ********************************  Caption (above): El Salvador v USA game. Sooooooo close. **************************************** ******************************** **************************************** ********************************  USC is ranked #3 right now. Cal is at #7. I think this may be the year we beat them again. Last time was in 2003 in a triple overtime game where we snuck one by them with a 3 point victory. I’m not going to miss this one at home, so I picked up tickets today. I am SO excited.
 You know, I’m not really into crying. It’s not…me. I consider myself to be a very stable and logical person. It has been a year since I last shed tears and it happened again today on the anniversary of my tia Alma’s passing. To be honest, I tried to forget about it until my cousin mentioned it on facebook. I think it was my way of not coming to term with my feelings about her loss. I vividly recall getting back to SF after being in LA for about a week and sitting on my couch with my ex-girlfriend on the bed as I sat on couch and I started crying uncontrollably. I tried to hide my emotions and while she was very supportive it wasn’t something I wanted to share with anyone.  I was fortunate enough to have seen her in her final hours and to have been there with my family. I will never live with the guilt of not having been there in her final moments. I never really talked about this when it happened, but I got a call one weekday night a year ago and my mother asked me to come to LA because my aunt was very sick and that if I didn’t make it soon I may not see her alive. It was probably 9pm and I was at an end of year dinner with co-workers and had nothing with me other than the clothes I was wearing and my phone. I apologized to my coworkers and immediately hopped in the first cab I saw on Mission Street to SFO airport. I recall being in the cab and trying to book the last flight out to LAX. By 1030pm I was in Los Angeles. At the time I didn’t think about the clothes I would need, glasses, contacts, work or any of the things I had to do that week.  Despite having many pictures in my room, the only one that is framed is of my tia Alma (it is the picture above this text). Many a times I’ve looked at the picture and sadness has started to come over me and I look away and go about my day. Not for lack of love, but because I recall my aunt telling me before she passed that I shouldn’t be sad and that I should try to keep everyone’s mood up by making jokes and doing things the way we normally did at family gatherings by being loud and joking around. I think we all had a special bond with our tia Alma. We grew up with her and she was like my 2nd mother as were all my aunts. Alma was a sweet and kind woman. She was the type of woman and mother who would give you what she had even if she didn’t have much. I wish I could say I was as selfless as she was, but this last year has definitely taught me a lot about thinking of others and the importance of being there for our mothers. I will be in LA this weekend for my mother’s birthday and I have no doubt my aunt’s passing will come up. While I feel sadness for no longer having her in my life, I have NOTHING but happy memories of her. Other than my mother, my tia Alma is one of the women I have most respected in my life. I often wondered how I should alter my life after her passing. In catholic countries there is a period of mourning. Growing up American that wasn’t something I wanted to be a part of. Beyond that – I know my aunt would not have wanted me being sad about her passing. With that said – I have spent my time enjoying every moment of my life and trying my best to help others whether they are part of my family or students at the schools I work with. You’ll have to excuse me if this is more of a rant than usual. Well, here I am. Speechless…and that’s pretty hard for me. I guess all there is to say is that a woman I loved and respected passed away and that she will forever be in my thoughts. May she rest in peace and my thoughts go out to my cousin who I can’t be with on the anniversary of his mother’s passing. This song, which I believe is by Rocio Durcal always reminds me of her. My favorite version is actually by Juan Gabriel even though Vicente Fernandez also sang it. “Tu eres la tristeza de mis ojos Que lloran en silencio por tu adiós Me miro en el espejo y veo en mi rostro El tiempo que he sufrido por tu adiós Obligo que te olvido en el pensamiento Pues, siempre estoy pensando en el ayer Prefiero estar dormida que despierta De tanto que me duele que no estés Como quisera, ay Que tu vivieras Que tus ojitos jamas se hubieran Cerrado nunca y estar mirándolos Amor eterno, E inolvidable Tarde o temprano estaré contigo Para segir, amándolos Yo he sufrido tanto por tu ausencia Desde ese día hasta hoy, no soy feliz Y aunque tengo tranquila mi conciencia Se que pude haber yo hecho mas por ti Obscura soledad estoy viviendo La misma soledad de tu sepulcro Tú eres el amor de cual yo tengo El más triste recuerdo de acapulco.” IN ENGLISH (I didn’t translate this. Found it on the internet): “You are the sadness in my eyes that cry in silence because of your love I see myself in the mirror and see my face the time that I have suffered because of your good bye I force my mind to forget you well I´m always thinking of yesterday I rather be asleep than awake Because it hurts a lot that you aren´t here with me I wish, ay, that you´d live that your little eyes had never closed and be seeing them Eternal Love, and unforgettable sooner or later I´ll be with you to continue loving each other I have suffured because of your absence Since that day till today I´m not happy Even if my conscience is clear I know I could have done more for you I´m living a dark loneliness The same loneliness when we buried you You are the love that I have the most sad memory of Acapulco I wish, ay, that you´d live that your little eyes had never closed and be seeing them Eternal love, and unforgetable sooner or laterI´ll be with you.” **** From last year: http://calmenda.livejournal.com/182878.html
I actually feel a great sense of accomplishment right now. Not because I did anything extraordinary but because I finally got around to doing something that I have been meaning to do for about a year now. Sadly, I have IKEA pictures up on my wall. I say sadly because given the fact that at last count I have somewhere close to 30,617 pictures on Flickr you’d THINK I’d have a couple of those on my wall. This weekend I went ahead and framed some of my pictures. I was sold on using www.mpix.com this weekend after receiving some of their promo stuff in the mail. The paper they use is pretty amazing and made the color in my pictures pop, so I was sold. See: http://www.mpix.com/Papers.aspxI feel like I’m plugging this website now. Oops. Either way – these are some of my favorite pictures that made it up on my wall:  For the wall above my bed I went with some landscapes:  Caption (above): If you’ve followed my blog for the last couple of years you know that I love the open road and I’m always looking for an excuse to go on a roadtrip. This picture was take on my roadtrip to the Utah national parks and really reminds me of the beauty of the desert. As a city boy, this is something that is incredibly beautiful to me even if only because it is novel to me.  Caption (above): On my roadtrip from Boston to California last summer I was hoping to get an image that screamed “Americana”. In my mind – this is that image. While the concept of an agrarian America is fading, there’s that little piece of me as a historian that misses simpler times. This beautiful blue sky and open field represents that ideal in my mind.  Caption (above): Taken at Arches national park in Utah – ok, enough of the narrative. I was hiking and the sky with rocks looked cool so I took the picture. Voila!  Caption (above): If you’re familiar with the LA river, you know that’s it’s not a river. I went on the wrong side of the tracks to take this picture of a railroad sign with the Los Angeles skyline in the background.  Another wall is dedicated to portraits. While portraits are my favorite type of photography I can’t say I’ve actually done as much with them as I’d like. Regardless, these are some of my favorites:  Caption (above): Taken in Los Angeles, Ca this is a picture of my niece looking through a hole in a fence. This picture reminds me of Dennis the menace for some reason and also of my childhood and the curiosity and mischief that came with growing up in Los Angeles.  Caption (above): Taken at a modeling event for Yelp.com, this is one of my favorites of the lot of pictures I’ve done at these types of shows.  Caption (above): Probably a bit on the controversial side if my mom walks into my room, this picture means a lot to me because it was the first time I used my Canon 40D. Second, it made it on the main page of CNN.com. Last but not least – selfish reasons out of the way – it is funny to see someone protesting gay marriage as two men make out in front of him. Stepping back it is also a symbol of the freedom the city of San Francisco has to be out on a limb as they make an effort to have equality for all people.  Caption (above): Taken in Santa Barbara, Ca this picture strikes me as mysterious. Somebody recently told me that the picture could be anyone. I know it’s Sofia, but part of the mystery to me is not knowing if the woman is sad and staring out into the sea or very serene and taking in the scenery. The flowy blonde hair appeals to …well, me, if you believe what my friends say and that I’m only into blondes but that’s another story.  Caption (above): Taken in Barcelona, Espana this picture screams bad-ass to me. This gypsy girl performs a pyro trick that really wowed me.  Another wall was dedicated to…whatever didn’t fall under landscaped and portraits!  Caption (above): Take somewhere outside the badland of Wyoming this picture reminds me of ghost towns and bad western movies; part of that “Americana” idea again.  Caption (above): One of my favorite books is Old Man and the Sea and this boat out in Marin brings me back to that loneliness and man versus world feeling I got from reading that book.  Caption (above): Caption (above): I just LOVE the way this came out in print. This picture was taken at Grace cathedral in San Francisco.  Caption (above): Taken at the Miguelete Tower in Valencia, Espana.  Caption (above): One of my all-time favorites. Part of it is the depth of field (front spike is focused while the others are blurry) and the other is the intentional lack of color in the background.  Lastly, the pictures below just didn’t fit anywhere else:  Caption (above): Again, the road. This time in vertical format. I particularly like the definition in the road.  Caption (above): Also same picture as before except in a vertical format.  Caption (above): While this may look like something in a Swiss countryside it’s in Olympic National Park in Port Angeles, Washington. It was truly breathtaking lansdscape of a field with snow capped mountains in the background.
My life post-Spain is slowly getting back to normal. While I had difficulty adjusting to seeing my friends again and being back on an American dinner schedule, I’m grateful for all the friends I have here in San Francisco and it’s never lost on me how much I enjoy living in this city. Below is a series of pictures from the couple of weeks I have been back: **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** One of the first things I did upon getting to the US was to attend a dinner at Katya’s house. In what is an incredibly rare thing for me I was late an hour to the dinner. I was pretty jet-lagged and had a lot of trouble being places on time, something that is very uncharacteristic of me. Caption (above): Happy birthday Mike!  Caption (above): Apparently Katya has a little sister. That one was news to me (far left). haha **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** When I returned to the US I made an effort to reach out to good friends I hadn’t seen in a while and have the foods that I missed while abroad. My first meal back was at In-n-out. I NEVER go to In-n-out despite it being a short cable car ride from my house but after a month without a burger it just seemed fitting. Also on the list was Senegalese food at Bissap Baobab ( http://www.yelp.com/biz/bissap-baobab-san-francisco ), Vietamese food at Cordon Bleu ( http://www.yelp.com/biz/cordon-bleu-vietnamese-restaurant-san-francisco ) and Puerto Rican food at Sol food ( http://www.yelp.com/biz/sol-food-puerto-rican-cuisine-san-rafael ).  Caption (above): Pastelles at Bisaap Babab. The spinach ones are amazingly delicious. Definitely one of my favorite spots in the mission.  Caption (above): I can’t say no to platanos.  Caption (above): With kickball buddies Glenn and Alana.  Caption (above): Mike in what is one of many fernet shots. **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** KICKBALL is back!!! I took a hiatus from my adult kickball league ( * insert laughs here *) and now that my knee is good I’m back for my 2nd season with KICK IN A BOX. Our team is kind of an eclectic collection of athletes. At 5’10” I’m the 2nd shortest guy on the team. We easily have 5 or 6 guys over 6’2” who are quite agile. I think we’re a force to be reckoned with this year. The last time I played our team came in 2nd place and qualified for the national tourney in Vegas.  Caption (above): One of my favorite kickball pictures  Caption (above): An awesome addition to this year’s team is a line-up song for when we kick. We each get to pick a song and I chose DMX’s “Party up”. See:  Caption (above): Our team is awesome.  Caption (above): Yes, that is Gatorade.  Caption (above): That’s textbook kicking right there.  Caption (above): Post kickball socializing  Caption (above): It is a WAKA tradition to play flip cup with the team you just played on the field. Every team has a chance at redemption.  Caption (above): Our fearless leader.   Caption (above): Interesting bathrooms at Ireland’s 32 **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** One of my favorite places to be in San Francisco is the Mission. I don’t know exactly what it is about that neighborhood that I love so much. Perhaps the people, the sun or the cheap eats. Whatever it is, I feel at home there despite residing in a very different type of neighborhood.  Caption (above): The view of downtown SF from Dolores park  Caption (above): My honorary Salvy sister from San Jose   Caption (above): Having a paleta in the mission always brings me back to my childhood in Los Angeles and memories of summer.  Caption (above): Flor and I make a pilgrimage to Pan Lido, a Salvadorian classic. See: http://www.yelp.com/biz/pan-lido-salvadoreno-san-francisco Caption (above): Semita!  Caption (above): Mmmmm, Vietnamese chicken @ Cordon Bleu. We started off the evening with dinner and somehow ended up at the karaoke place next door and were distracted for a couple of hours before meeting up with friends in north beach.   Caption (above): Glenn and I karaoke. Caption (above): Caption (above): My rendition of La Bamba  Caption (above): This girl’s behind was way too close to our faces. This picture montage depicts how uncomfortable or comfortable we felt.  Caption (above): The mannequins in the mission are always booty-licious. **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** San Francisco is random. It just…is. For the 60th anniversary of the Candyland game the company decided to visit Lombard street, the most crooked street in SF and convert it into a giant game of candyland. Luckily, I’m a 5 minute walk from Lombard street and got to witness the world’s largest board game in action.     Video of the game : **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ******************************  To celebrate a successful end our summer program the staff met up at Benihana’s to have some sushi and a lot of theatrics.   Caption (above): Staff photo Caption (above): The Benihana chefs put on a show Caption (above): I feel like a little kid here. This is the Onion volcano. Caption (above): In my defense we were competing against the other group for best karaoke performance. Our version of Like a Virgin. **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** Mariachi night in the mission was sort of insane. It started off with us dropping by to a listen to a mariachi band a friend was thinking of hiring. It would be a LONG, LONG night.  Caption (above): Ceviche! Caption (above): Mariachi Caption (above): Laura breaks it down   Caption (above): We ended up at someone’s house and someone broke out te DJ set. Party stopped at 4am and noise complaints. Mission accomplished.   Caption (above): The hats are always popular  Caption (above): Laura and Amanda.  Caption (above): This tequila bill may explain why the night was so long. That’s what a tequila tab looks like with 15 latinos at the table. **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** This weekend was the SF street food festival. While we showed up the lines were insanely long. Me being me I decided to abandon ship and walk around the mission and sample all kinds of latin-american food.  Caption (above): Caption (above): First stop, tortas.   Caption (above): Tortas!  Caption (above): Sarah’s hat always cracks me up.  Caption (above): Chorizo sopes are gooooood  Caption (above): Pupusas  Caption (above): Chorizo and eggs breakfast  Caption (above): Karen enjoys the chorizo and egg breakfast  Caption (above): Platanos  Caption (above): muahahahaha  Caption (above): Carne asada tacos  Caption (above): Taco truck!  Caption (above):  Caption (above): Blackberry time on Balmy alley **************************************** ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** Quality time at the SF MOMA:  Caption (above): Which one doesn’t fit? Hmmm.  Caption (above): Family friendly SF moma!  Caption (above): Yes, urinals are art. Thank you, Marcel Duchamp.
Ah, where to start? Life back in the United States. I can start with really bad jetlag for a week. The highlight of that would probably be my falling asleep while getting a haircut. Or – I can start with my usually annoyingly punctual self being…fashionably late. Whatever it is, I still haven’t quite grounded myself. I arrived in the United States and immediately went to an institute I work with every year. Summer Application Institute (SAI) is a free 1-week college dormitory experience held every August to help aspiring students develop successful college and financial aid applications. Students learn to: * Find the right college * Prepare for the SATs * Write a successful college entrance essay * Pay for college For the last years I have taken a year from my vacation time and taken up residence at Dominican University dorms for this fantastic program. While I could work at any number of programs (or enjoy an extra week of vacation) I work with MEF because rather than just talk about helping students it puts money behind these kids and helps them fund their college dreams. Some picture highlights below:  Caption (above): Students had the opportunity to meet and chat with college reps.  Caption (above): We tried to find out whose bright idea it was to put the Berkeley rep next to the Stanfurd rep.  Caption (above): With the Arizona state brochures  Caption (above): Showing off their pamphlets    Caption (above): Last year we started a tradition where our students posed with the Dominican University mascot (the penguin)   In addition to exposing them to college reps, the students were able to tour a couple of schools. This year we went to San Jose State University and St. Mary’s to give them the contrast of a big vs small school and private versus public. Another great thing about the program is teaching them about the application process and what it takes to get to college. While sad that it has been my experience and that of some of our students that sometimes there are barriers placed in front of them to attend college. In my time in high school I wasn’t placed in courses that would get me to a UC or Cal State school. I had to take it upon myself to ask for those courses in order to get where I am now. Sadly, it doesn’t seem much has changed for some youth of color today. And this is where program like Summer Application Institute come in trying to help close that achievement gap. While the achievement gap is a slightly annoying buzz word in education circles it is a mission I wholeheartedly believe in. Marin Education Fund and Summer Application Institute work to inspire students, fund them and see them through their senior year so they can get to college. In the last couple of years the program has had a 100% college acceptance rate. While 100% isn’t impressive in many areas, it certainly is given the populations we work with.       It never ceases to amaze me how resilient these students are. No matter how much I feel I’ve gone through or seen in my life, as time goes on I hear more and more stories that blow me away yet inspire me as students continue to succeed and achieve their dreams with the support of adults (inside or outside the home) who believe in them and their potential. When I worked in counseling at the high school level one of my favorite things to write in people’s yearbooks was “I believe in you and your potential.” There were always that handful of students who I knew would make it and I knew had it in them to get to places nobody would have thought simply by looking at their background or transcripts. And, now that I got off my soapbox, the kids had fun too. Below are some pictures from their party on the last night of program.   Caption (above): We put out hula hoops for some reason. It was still amusing.  Caption (above):  Caption (above): I “borrowed” a PVC pipe to start this limbo game.  Caption (above): Infra-red salsa  Caption (above): Infra-red dancing Last but not least, here is me with my group on closing ceremony day:  My experience at Marin Education Fund’s “Summer Application Institute” always reminds me of how much I enjoy working directly with students. While I currently work in administration, my true passion is in working directly with students. I’ve found ways of doing both but who knows what the future holds for me. My biggest ambitions right now are to be an Associate Executive Director by the age of 30 and I feel I’m well on my way to doing that. I’ve also considered going into college admissions, particularly in the EOP sector (recruiting 1st generation and underrepresented minorities).
I don’t think it’s a secret that I love Anthony Bourdain and not-so-deep down I want to be like him.
I recently watched Bourdain’s Episode on Los Angeles and the introductory segment resonated with something I have long known about Los Angeles.
Los Angeles is full of real people with real jobs that are not glamorous. These are real people who are not what we see on TV or read about in magazines or gossip columns who inhabit the city. Unlike San Francisco, LA is so vast that it hasn’t yet priced out it’s less fortunate inhabitants.
Good lookin’ out, Bourdain. Besides his commentary on food, his social commentary is always fascinating.
1- The line between a bar and a restaurant is blurred. A bar is often a restaurant and a restaurant is often a bar.
2- You don't have dinner before 10pm.
3- A cana is a small glass of beer. If you ask for a cerveza, you'll stand out as a tourist more than the people having dinner at 7pm.
4- A tubo is slightly larger than a cana (glass of beer).
5- A botellon is an informal gathering of friends to drink in public (preferably a plaza or park). It usually involves buying alcohol at a local convenience store.
6- Laws prohibiting drinking in public are more a guideline than a mandate. Let's just say it's pretty much optional.
7- Vegetarian means that it does not have jamon. It does not mean it will not have chicken, atun or beef.
8- Coronas are called coronitas.
9- Just because you are in Spain does not mean everyone speaks Spanish (Castillian, actually). See: Catalan, Valenciano, Basque, etc.
10- There are LOTS of South Americans living and working in Spain.
11- To tirar a door means to pull. (PS: This does not make sense. To tirar is a forward motion.)
12- Jamon Iberico de bellota is for ballers (and foodies).
13- Pig's leg, jamon, is an acceptable gift or trophy. Seriously.
14- El Corte Ingles is everywhere.
15- Carlos Baute…is also EVERYWHERE.
16- The song "Colgando En tus Manos" is also EVERYWHERE !!!
17- Wi-Fi is pronounced Wii-fee (like nintendo Wii, and fee like a charge)
18- Mullets are acceptable. Sigh.
19- Harem pants are acceptable. Double sigh.
20- Bread is everywhere, but will likely be stale.
21- Napkins suck. They are more like small pieces of wax paper.
22- When it comes to currency a period is a comma and a comma is period.
23- In Spain, coins are actually useful. The 1 euro coin will be your friend.
24- Condom dispensers on major streets are not uncommon.
25- It is acceptable to go overboard on PDA if you are under 30.
26- Stores close between 2 and 4pm. Give or take two hours. You know, gotta siesta.
27- It is ok to drink before noon.
28- It is always cheaper to eat at the bar than to eat out than to eat outside or at a table.
29- Pepsi is virtually non-existent in Spain. Coca-Cola is king .
30- Despite being very catholic there is a popular expression "hostia" which means I crap on the eucharist (body of Christ).
31- Vale is the magic word. Use it freely. It means "okay".
32- It is ok to be an American again in the post-Bush era.
33- 30 degrees celsius means it's hot.
34- 40 degrees celsius means you need to find a pool or a mall with AC and stay there all day.
35- Going to bed at 6am as uncommon as you may think.
36- Blondes (natural) are in short supply.
37- Prostitution is legal; pimping is not. Prostitutes seem to hang out by police stations.
38- It is acceptable to hang out on the plaza (especially Mayor) all night. No trespassing laws like in the US after a certain time.
39- Spanish is not the same as Castillian.
40- If you want to argue - accuse someone of being a Franco supporter.
41- If something goes wrong they tend to blame Africans, Muslims or South Americans.
42- Nobody drives an automatic car. Nobody.
43- Tio and Tia do not refer to your aunt or uncle.
44- Hiripoya is BS, more or less.
45- Don't expect thank yous, smiles, or a you're welcome
46- IVA included in your meal means you don't need to tip.
47- Bathroom is called an aseo or lavabo
48- Soap and towels in bathrooms are mythical at best
49- Spain is PC-landia. You won't be seeing many Macs here.
50- Tinto de verano: 1 part red wine and 1 part La Casera.
51- Calimoxo:50% red wine and 50% cola.
52- Chapstick is called cacao.
53- 60% of street performers are dowright odd or scary. The other 40% are incredibly talented.
54- Don't expect to hear rap.
55- Cover at a bar/club includes a drink or two.
56- You can smoke practically everywhere.
57- TV after midnight in most places is practically porn.
58- It's ok to throw your napkin and toothpicks on the floor at a bar.
59- A computer is an ordenador.
60- The metro is 1 euro no matter where you go (except the airport).
61- Personal space does not exist.
62- Nobody wears baseball caps.
63- Laundromats are virtually non-existent.
64- The ground floor is 0 and the one above it is 1. The floor below ground floor is -1. Get it?
65- Sunday is the Lord's day…and soccer day. Expect things to be closed.
66- People hang out in parks and public spaces…a lot and at all times of day and night.
67- Don’t say jugo for juice. They call it zumo.
68- If you're 5'10" you're pretty damn tall here.
69- If you need an all around expletive, cono or joder will work.
70- If you need to brush something off and say that it's "fine" or "cool" you say "no pasa nada"
71- Beer and wine are cheaper than coca cola.
72- McDonalds, Burger King and most fast food places sell beer.
73- George W Bush is NOT popular.
74- Some people refer to Americans as Yankees. Sorry, Redsox fans.
75- Vale can be used as a question. Vale?
76- Spanish lines are 2x as long as they need to be. Nobody is in a rush.
77- Push or be pushed. This will come in handy on the street in the chicken battles you will inevitably face.
78- The economic recession is called "la crisis"
79- While punishable by death in the US, the Manpri (male capri pants) is standard in Spain.
80- Tap water is agua de grifo.
81- If you want the house red wine just say you want some tinto.
82- I'm not going to tell you about white wine because nobody cares about it. Tourist!
83- Despite having french bread everywhere, 80% of it is crappy and would be better even if McDonald's attempted to make it.
84- Pintxos are what the Basque call their tapas. They are amazingly good.
85- Murcilla is blood sausage and DAMN good.
86- Lady popular is annoying in Spain too. It's also everywhere. Good job, clearchannel communications.
87- Espanoles en el mundo is a cool show to watch.
88- The dating show hosted by Carlos Baute cracks me up.
89- A greeting in Spain is two kisses. One on each cheek. Tue, Aug. 11th, 2009, 05:34 pm
Madrid, Espana
**************************************** *************************************** **************************************** *************************************** Part 3: Madrid, Espana At the beginning of the trip I had a feeling that I would end up liking Madrid more than Barcelona. I’ve never really been one to be content with the underdog, so it seemed only fitting that I would prefer to capital city over the lowly northern city of Barcelona. To each their own, right? I have many friends who swear by Barcelona being the best city in Spain, and while my experience didn’t validate that I’d be more than willing to go back and check it out with someone to ensure I didn’t miss something. Madrid is a city after my own heart. After spending time in Los Angeles, SF and NYC I think I’ve at least sampled some of what the largest and most cosmopolitan US cities have to offer. The city was just spilling over with energy. Whether it was 4pm or 4am, weekday or weeknight, the city was just bustling. The mix of cutting-edge modern buildings with centuries-old palaces was stunning. While it was overrun with tourists like us, we really approached Madrid the same way we spent our time in Salamanca: just relaxing. Lindsay and I joked about how even when you didn’t do anything, it was difficult to go to bed anytime before 3am. To give you an idea of what a normal day looked like, a a typical day involved: 10am: Wake up 12 noon: lunch 2-6 sightsee 6-8 nap 8-10pm hang out on the plaza or at a park 10pm: dinner 1am-3am: hang out / drinks on the plaza Perhaps it’s the fact that I am 28 and thrive on being out late. Perhaps I’m looking for an excuse to compare Madrid to the US, but regardless Madrid is a city I could see myself living in. All the pictures from Madrid are at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/calmenda/sets/72157621750373670/detail/ Caption (above): Again, Lindsay demonstrates the abundance of outdoor seating.  Caption (above): Lindsay with bouncer whose girlfriend was hovering over him. I had to ask nicely to get him to pose for a picture. Talk about whipped!  Caption (above): The stairs to your room are crooked? No worries!  Caption (above): Botellon (public drinking) in the middle of the night on a children’s playground.  Caption (above): Condom dispensers in the streets seems like a good idea.  Caption (above): This Cristiano Ronaldo ad was ALL over Madrid. I believe it was popular with the ladies.  Caption (above): I still don’t get why they say tirar to pull a door. Tirar anywhere they speak Castillian / Spanish is a forward motion. Tirar the ball, tirar anything is forward.  Caption (above): WTF? Ooooooooook.  Caption (above): The Reina Sofia museum, home of the Guernica.  Caption (above): I just felt like I fit into this painting well.  Caption (above): I love staircases.  Caption (above): Me with Picasso’s Guernika   Caption (above): They had this whole exhibit of statues of midgets pretending to observe the art. It was a bit creepy.  Caption (above):  Caption (above): If this painting isn’t brilliant, what is? ☺  Caption (above): The Mercedes cab was the standard in San Sebastian. In Madrid it was a little more difficult to find.  Caption (above): I will translate: coca cola $2.10. Beer is $1.40. Wine is $1.60. And the winner is?  Caption (above): Salad with atun (tuna) is about as vegetarian as you’re going to get in Spain.  Caption (above): Love this picture. This is me looking at the guidebook outside the Prado. The prado was OVERWHELMING. I think I could have done without it .  Caption (above): Reppin’ USA at the Palacio Real  Caption (above): At first we thought it was a joke. We would discover it again at a bar some other night and we HAD to try it.  Caption (above): A rosca. Damn it was good.  Caption (above): It exists! Great thing about Spain is they give you free stuff with your drink. Not like chips or peanuts but actual food. Caption (above): Our room in Madrid. We lucked out with our hostels. This place was right off the Puerta Sol and super nice for 30 euros a night.  Caption (above): Plaza de toros en Madrid.  Caption (above): Three amigos at the plaza de toros  Caption (above): Lindsay the toreador  Caption (above): We spent sooooo much time just hanging out. It was great .  Caption (above): Some typical spanish meals. We probably have 70% of the meals on there .  Caption (above): When it’s 100 degrees, the tinto de verano is your friend.  Caption (above): This Dolce ad was all over Spain.  Caption (above): The Spanish teens are into their PDA.  Caption (above): While the rest of the tourists got their picture in a dark hallway, I waited for all of them to leave and politely asked the tour guide if I could take mine in the actual plaza de toros. Here is the result.  Caption (above): I needed a substitute toro.  Caption (above): Lindsay  Caption (above): Ok, so Lindsay and I were pretty tall. I thought Spaniards would be taller but that wasn’t really the case.  Caption (above): That’s how my baby rolls: Real Madrid car seat.    Caption (above): It’s definitely a good idea to climb up on the Don Quixote and Sancho Panza statues on the Plaza Espana at 4am. Totally.  Caption (above): We surveyed the country for the best churros and chocolate.  Caption (above): Open 24 hours for churros. Awesome.  Caption (above): Nacho-like meal with potato chips? Came with jamon of course. And I wonder I came back weighing 7 pounds more.  Caption (above): LOL. Also funny because the neighborhood is called La Latina.  Caption (above): There was a lot of rat tail in Spain.  Caption (above): If there’s a pollo campero, the central Americans will find it.  Caption (above): I’ve done Pollo Campero in LA and El Salvador.  Caption (above): If there’s a park, people will hang out in it. Day or night.  Caption (above): Steam vent + toiletpaper = art.  Caption (above): The plaza…in the middle of the night. People seriously don’t sleep.   Caption (above): Club night  Caption (above): Apparently we were demonstrating people how to do the soldier boy dance. Oh my.  Caption (above): From the cameraphone files.  Caption (above): Corte Ingles and Carlos Baute are EVERYWHERE.  Caption (above): Mission Accomplished: Saw both the Bernabeu in Madrid and Camp Nou in Barcelona.
Avila y Segovia, Espana Once in Madrid, we decided to take a day trip to nearby Avila and Segovia. Avila is well known for being one of the few cities in the world that have an intact wall protecting the city. Considering the wall was built in the 11th century, it was incredibly impressive to see something form ancient times completely intact when so many other cities walls are either in ruins or only partially intact. All the photos from Avila / Segovia can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/calmenda/sets/72157621880876930/detail/ Caption (above): Prior to taking off from Madrid. Sometimes you just need some comfort food!  Caption (above): In Spain, castles (castillos) have a military function. They are outlooks. Nobody actually lives in them in times of peace, unlike in France ,Germany etc.  Caption (above): Ávila is most known for the medieval city walls, that were constructed of brown granite in 1090. Talk about old? The whole wall is still intact, which is amazing. Most of the other walls are in ruins or only part of them remain.  Caption (above): Catedral in Avila  Caption (above): The church of Santa Teresa  Caption (above): Everyone else seemed to have heard of Santa Teresa de Avila. Apparently she’s a big deal in the Saint World. Go figure?  Caption (above): Lindsay outside the wall of Avila. I guess the exit isn’t wide enough for a Ford Excursion. Imagine that?  Caption (above): The story of the city was passed along by the art inside the church. I found it a really interesting way of documenting historical events at a time when the printing press had not yet been invented.  Caption (above): The roman aqueducts at Segovia are still intact, which is also amazing.  Caption (above): Lindsay at the aqueduct  Caption (above): My classic pose.  Caption (above): Alison at the aqueduct  Caption (above): The gang  Caption (above): Apparently the catholic church is proud of killing muslims. This one is of the Matamoros, which eventually because a last name and the name of a couple of cities. Literally means “killer or moors”  Caption (above): Spanish countryside   Caption (above): Lindsay and I at the Alcazar de Segovia  Caption (above): First time I had ever seen a real moat  Caption (above): An armory museum. I liked this picture.  Caption (above):  Caption (above): The ceilings are unreal. The Moorish influence was definitely a step up for architecture.  Caption (above): The glasswork is also impressive .  Caption (above): Lindsay atop the alcazar de segovia  Caption (above): It was crazy hot. The ladies cool themselves with fans.
Salamanca, Espana One of the main reasons I chose Spain over some other countries I had in mind was that my cousin was living in Salamanca, Spain over the summer working on her PhD dissertation. She’s a student at Emory University in Atlanta and did a good job of convincing me to visit her in Spain. With flights at $600 roundtrip, it wasn’t hard convincing me to go to the land of sun, parties and great food. Salamanca was a change of pace for us. I’m sure a lot of you can relate to needing a vacation…from your vacation. Getting from point A to B required figuring out what bus to take to the airport, booking the flight, booking the hotel, booking the bus from the airport you arrive at to your hotel and all of that for every city you went to. With us being out everyday doing our sightseeing it was exhausting to come home at 3am and have to plan the next day. My cousin warned us about her room being small, and small it was. I had a great time though. It was great catching up with her and chatting about our family and things we had in common. It’s so rare that I get to talk to anyone other than my mother so it was nice to see Nanci. Nanci was a gracious host and showed us the sights in Salamanca. What most stood out for me in Salamanca was how little we did. You may be thinking this is a negative, but this is the point where I felt we started absorbing a bit of Spanish culture. It’s hard to walk around Spain and not see people just hanging out enjoying themselves. It doesn’t seem to be a fluke either. Every day we would see old and young alike doing nothing. Perhaps the most fascinating epiphany for me was realizing that as Americans, or at least those in big cities, we constantly feel the need to DO something. In Salamanca I learned to sit for hours and just chat with Lindsay and Alison. Alison is a good friend of my cousin’s who happened to be in town and it was great meeting her as well. Alison and I had a great deal in common as far as our religious background and spent a good deal of time comparing central American culture to that of Spain. While at first I found the Spanish pace of life to be an indication of laziness I came to truly admire it. The slow tempo really allows people to form closer bonds with their friends and relatives. Growing up near my family, I always found that we found excuses to see each other though not nearly as much as people in Spain seemed to spend time with each other. The ability to sit down after work and just chat with those you care about is pretty priceless and definitely something that I will take to heart. We often are so caught up in ourselves that we forget to check in with those people who we care about. Through community – I observed – people seemed more joyful. Everywhere we went we saw people who ran into their neighbors and friends and seemed genuinely excited to see them. While I didn’t think the Spanish were particularly friendly to us, they were always cordial with the seemingly never-ending parade of locals they ran into on the street. That is certainly something I lack in SF, despite my best efforts to chat up the neighbors. It’s just not part of the big city culture here. Salamanca was the place where we started to realize that the Plaza Mayor was the place to be. At any time of day, whether it was noon or 330am you could find people just hanging out on the plaza. Whether it was having a botellon ( a group of friends drinking in public) or just taking in the sun on the plaza this was something I had never experienced in my life as an American. I can’t think of a place like this in Los Angeles or SF where both locals and tourists gather to just hang out and chat. After a while we definitely caught on with local customs and picked up some other PhD students to join us for a botellon and to just sit and reflect on our lives as Americans and the experiences we had thus far in Spain. The reflective nature of hanging out in Spain was something I thoroughly enjoyed.  Caption (above): Plaza Mayor en Salamanca  Caption (above): It’s amazing how dedicated these cleaning people are. They are out all day, everyday. We could learn a thing or two from them when it comes to keeping tourist areas clean.  Caption (above): They start them young with the manpris (Man Capri pants)  Caption (above): Dear God that is a LOT of Jamon  Caption (above): In America we buy cars and TV’s when there is a recession. In Spain, they are encouraged to buy jamon. Haha.  Caption (above): I’m sure astronauts existed when the façade of this church was made in the 16th century. Ok, maybe not. Either way – it is a big tourist draw to try to find the astronaut that was added much later for god knows what reason on a very old church.   Caption (above): Lindsay and I at the public library fountain.  Caption (above): Cheesy picture but I liked how this couple just sat at the bench across from us for hours and looked all lovey-dovey.  Caption (above): Bad picture but it was creepy how they had pictures of saints carrying their heads post-decapitation.  Caption (above): One of my favorite things about Spain: eating outside at any time of night with a group of friends.  Caption (above): Botellon is a term we learned while in Spain. It is an informal gathering of friends to drink in public. It’s not as bad is it sounds. Really people just sit around for hours and chat, sing and otherwise be merry. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botellon Caption (above): My cousin Nanci, our gracious host in Salamanca.   Caption (above): Plaza mayor in Salamanca is beautiful at night.  Caption (above): The roman bridge in Salamanca. It’s always strange to be at a place that you read about in your Spanish classes in high school. I NEVER thought I’d be at the Rio Tormes while I read Lazarillo de Tormes in high school.  Caption (above): La catedral  Caption (above): Alison journals her way through Spain   Caption (above): We definitely mastered the art of just hanging out while in Salamanca. We did most of it in the plaza mayor. I don’t know about that last picture and hanging out right in front of the main entryway. Oops. Haha.  Caption (above): My cousin Nanci and I with our tinto de verano. Damn that is a good drink to have when it is hot out. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinto_de_veranoTinto de Verano is a wine-based drink similar to sangria and is very popular in Spain. It is simpler than sangria, usually made up of 1 part red wine and 1 part La Casera - a soda similar to Sprite, but less sweet. Another good one we larned about is Calimocho. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalimochoCalimocho is a drink consisting of approximately 50% red wine and 50% coca cola.  Caption (above): From the top of the catedral   Caption (above): We couldn’t leave Spain without having the Jamon flavored Ruffles. Lindsay enjoyed them. I thought they were so-so.  Caption (above): hahahaha. Translation: the day I read alcohol was bad for you, I stopped reading.  Caption (above): After hours hanging out at the park, I try the zipline.  Caption (above): The design of the streets lends themselved for people to hang out after work. And that they do until the wee hours of the night.
By this point you’re probably reading all of this and thinking this is a “Where’s Waldo?” game and trying to decipher what I’m up to and what I am eating now. Believe it or not – it was never my plan to have this trip about food. In restrospect, it makes total sense as food is an integral part of my life (as with most people) as is writing reviews on Yelp.com and my obsession with Anthony Bourdain’s shows “No Reservations” and his books. Really, at this point, if the man wrote it or it has hit a TV screen I feel like I have seen it or read it. I have been very happy to eat my way through Spain. Much like a person chases their genealogical roots, a lot of the foods that I have cherished memories of have their roots in Spain and thus I feel that I am a food historian…you know, without having to write a thesis on it like I did in college. More on this in a bit. We made our way from San Sebastian to Valencia in a little journey that was a bit over 277 miles. On the first leg of our trip we flew from Madrid to Barcelona via Ryanair airline. From Madrid to Barcelona and San Sebastian to Bilbao via two local bus companies similar to Greyhound. It was always our intention to mix up the mode of travel; so while travelling by Burro was out of the question, we gave the RENFE a try. Renfe is the state-owned company which operates trains on the Spanish national railway. RENFE truly makes me jealous of many western European nations that have a nationalized rail system. It truly does wonders for tourism and to be able to navigate the country efficiently. I was very impressed by the speed, relatively low cost and comfort of these trains. I was even able to plug in my laptop rather than watch the dubbed version of Step it Up where ghetto youth spoke in Castillian Spanish. Ok – I lie, I watched it. It was comedy. I wish I had taped a sample for you to see. Another first for Spain was my finding a place to stay via Couchsurfing.org A friend from Yelp, Mitch, introduced me to Couchsurfing a couple of months ago. Initially I thought it was a way to find housing in foreign countries and as I observed the interactions and stories people had to tell as they housed people and they were housed by others I realize there was something to this couchsurfing. Couchsurfing’s mission statement is to: “internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding." In a nutshell you post a profile of yourself like you would on Facebook and you seek out people in foreign countries (or in the USA) to let them know that you need housing or that you are willing to host. We were fortunate to hear back from Lucas and Araceli about a possible stay in the Valencia, Spain. A young couple originally from Argentina, they welcomed us into their home. On a surface level I was very excited about their beautiful home where we would have our own room, bathroom and access to a pool. More importantly, staying with Lucas and Araceli gives me a bit of more hope for the good in people. Couchsurfing is an organization that asks strangers to let strangers into their home. For most Americans (or anyone I imagine) this concept is potentially scary. Lucas and Araceli welcomed us into their home, gave us a key and treated us like family. I know how clichéd that sounds but we literally dined with them, watched TV with them and went through the evening’s motions like you would with a family by laughing, joking and learning about each other. This is a link to Lucas’ couchsurfing profile: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=62M71TFHere is a link to my page: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/sfcarlos/Throwing in another cliché: maybe it’s something about us latinos? I truly felt like they took us into their home and I was a member of the family. Like a distant cousin he hadn’t seen in years. We chatted, poked fun at things, caught up and roamed around the city. We were able to come and go from their house as we needed and they were always available for questions or to recommend a place for us to eat or go. One of the highlights of our stay with them was our visit to Valencia for Paella. The home of the Paella is Valencia, so there is NO way we were leaving without trying it. Sadly (or not sadly), I learned that paella came from Valencia when I watched the movie “Sex y Lucia”. I could really learn anything that comes from the starring actress, Paz Vega. At the restaurant we chatted about dinner manners in Spain, Argentina, El Salvador and the United States. We discussed 9/11, racism in Spain and the quirks of the language that we all share but that it is comically different from place to place. As Argentineans, Lucas and Araceli seemed to have more in common with some of my Spanish words than I would with a Spaniard. We also discussed issues of “belonging”. Born in the Los Angeles, California it has never been a secret that I feel Salvadorian culturally while fully acknowledging that by nationality I am American. As an Argentinean by birth, Lucas discussed his loyalty to Argentina and his Argentinean accent and words while respecting his newly-acquired Spanish citizenship. I think respect is key to this discussion. I, too, love America and it has always been my home, and at the same time I can acknowledge that my cultural upbringing is Salvadorian and I owe a lot of who I am to that culture which I also respect greatly. I think Americans tend to be a bit more reserved in conversation and perhaps less likely to interrupt each other. You would have laughed seeing Lucas and I converse as we both are rather loud and talk over each other when we talk. One would think we were arguing, but it’s a sure sign that the conversation was getting interesting and was active. It has been in talking to Lindsay (or anyone over the years) where my conversation volume is usually far too loud for American standards. It was great to stay up watching TV one night and while Lucas swore he would go to bed at around 11pm we stayed up until 230am chatting even though he needed to be up for work at 6am. I like to tell myself that is just how we latinos roll. Dios mio – the heat in Valencia is no joke. It has averaged 35 degrees Celsius which is about 96 degrees of toasty goodness. Luckily, that has translated into a lot of pool time. We’d be passed out by the side of the road otherwise. Despite my growing up in Los Angeles, this heat is just intense. Any discussion on discrimination is always interesting to me. My assessment here is you need a couple of things to be good: 1) Physically, look Spanish 2) Speak Spanish 3) Bonus points if you speak the local variant – Basque, Catalan, Valenciano. 4) Be Christian 5) Be born in Spain This discussion arose as a result of my observing a good number of people in this country, mostly of African descent who had none of those 5 things and I imagine and or observed were outsiders. While the United States certainly has its issues, Spain’s situation is further complicated by a history of conflict with muslims and other non-Christians. We talked about how I could potentially pass for Spanish but my accent would give me away in about .01 seconds. I could easily spot the South Americans I spotted at nearly every restaurant I went to. Physically darker and the accents would betray them as speaking non-Castilian Spanish. I don’t say this as a negative as much as to suggest that much like in the United States, while immigrants live amongst us they are always the “other”. This is part of what drives me to keep my identity as a Salvadorian. I am fully aware that in many parts of the United States I am not what people think of as an American and people would certainly say that I am not a true American based on my looks, name or family background. Luckily, I live in California and don’t ever have to deal with that kind of attitude, but a similar dynamic seems to exist here in Spain based on conversations and things I have read about the situation here.  Caption (above): Joking around as I work on my laptop on RENFE and pretend to book lodging on our cell phone. Yes, we got a cell phone while in Spain. It has come in quite handy actually. Phone company: Movistar. Holla!  Caption (above): Welcome to Spain in July, land o’ backpackers. Caption (above): Not terribly interesting or scenic, but will give you an idea of the Spanish countryside. I didn’t get to tape the sunflowers that were EVERYWHERE because I didn’t have the window seat at that point. Caption (above): View from Miguelete tower, atop Valencia. This thing deafened me when the belltower went off a couple of minutes later. Caption (above): Randomly stumbled upon a jazz festival playing some Billie Holiday.  Caption (above): You have no idea how much I LOVE that almost every dining place has outdoor seating. Something about having dinner at 11pm outside on a warm night having a loud conversation over great food and with good company that is just heavenly.  Caption (above): Lucas and Araceli show us the Valencian ways by having paella with us. I am very grateful that we met them and they opened up their home to us.  Caption (above): You can get paella pans to feed an entire soccer team in Valencia.  Caption (above): The paella we had in Valencia was about 8,935,672 times better than the one we had in Barcelona. I suppose that makes sense since Valencia is the home of paella. The secret is in the crispy, caramelized, toasted bottom (called socarrat in Valencia) that is the true sign of an awesome paella. “Paella is a rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near lake Albufera”( which coincidentally is where we went to go have our paella).   Caption (above): One thing I also had to try is the pulpo a la gallega. For those of you unfamiliar, as I was prior to trying, this is octopus. I won’t lie to you – I’m not a big fan of seafood but I am always willing to try something at least once.  Caption (above): The pulpo a la gallega (octopus) was pretty good. The slimy texture threw me off a bit but the taste was decent. I’d try it again if it was on my table but wouldn’t rush to order it. The rice in pig’s blood (Murcia) I’d definitely do again in a heartbeat.  Caption (above): After dinner, you know, at like 130am we went to go have helado (ice cream) at a local heladeria run by some Argentinean friends. The ice cream was awesome. I had dulce de leche with some other ice cream that was dulce de leche. Haha. It was a good time continuing the conversation and joking around. At one point the owner came up to us and told us a joke about Argentineans and their ability to exaggerate which I found hilarious.  Caption (above): Lucas does a promotional shot for Glasol heladerias.  Caption (above): Lindsay and I partake in the helado.    Caption (above): I know this may seem cruel, but I kinda want to check out a bull fight at some point. These pictures are from the plaza de toros in Valencia. It’s the first thing you see when you get off the RENFE.  Caption (above): 34 degrees Celsius translate into REALLY f’ing hot.  Caption (above): Seriously, if you love churches, this is the place for you.  Caption (above): Valencia from atop Miguelete tower.  Caption (above): My classic pose  Caption (above): Lindsay holding her skirt so it didn’t blow up like the last girl who took that exact same picture.  Caption (above): Picture from the ajuntament de Valencia.   Caption (above): As a Salvadorian, I take my horchata seriously. When I heard that horchata originated in Spain, I was in disbelief. I took it upon myself to visit two of Valencia’s oldest horchaterias (yes, that’s all they serve) to see which of the two would prevail. Horchata bar hopping, if you will.   Caption (above): Pssssh, this place had only been around for two centuries. Whatevs.  Caption (above): Old-school horchatera   Caption (above): This is horchata con fartones. The fartones are fanstastic pastry that you dip in the horchata. I was a big fan of the fartones, but the horchata was decent. After doing some research I learned that the horchata in Spain is a bit different from that in latin America. In Spain, it usually refers to orxata de xufes (horchata de chufas), made from tigernuts, water and sugar. Originally from Valencia, the idea of making horchata from tigernuts comes from the period of Muslim presence in Valencia (from the 8th to 13th century). The horchata found in El Salvador is primarily made from Morro seeds not rice. Other common ingredients include; ground cocoa, cinnamon, sesame seeds, nutmeg, tigernuts and vanilla. Other nuts that may also be used include peanuts, almonds and cashews. Because of these ingredients the Horchata is usually strained before serving. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horchata Caption (above): I’m not a big soda person, but coca cola is everywhere. It is waaaaay better than the ones in the USA. I believe it is because they use cane sugar instead of corn syrup. Caption (above): One of my favorite picturtes from Miguelete tower.  Caption (above): Another fine example of the Spanish mullet  Caption (above): Ad for an art museum? Sure!  Caption (above): Another thing I also loved is how families just hang out in front of their homes and chat. Reminded me a lot of my time in El Salvador and Nicaragua.  Caption (above): One of the tricky things with backpacking is carrying only a couple changes of clothes and having to wash often in order to have wearable clothes. Here we go old-school and do the air drying. With the heat being at 36 degrees (95+ Fahrenheit) the clothes dried in about 20 minutes.  Caption (above): For our last night in Valencia, we went out to an Argentinean asado place with Araceli and Lucas.  Caption (above): This is ensalada rusa (potato salad) and macambre (lamb something or other)  Caption (above): Lindsay was a fan of the salad. To me, salad at an Argentinean restaurant is like buying vitamin supplements at a smoke shop.  Caption (above):Dios mio, that is a LOT of meat for four people. Araceli quit half way in, but we held it down in finished it.  Caption (above): The buding with dulce de leche was so good it was wrong.  Caption (above): We paid a visit to the torres de Valencia in the middle of the night. This was the entrance to the city in medieval days when it was a walled city that protected its residents from invasion.  Caption (above): Our gracious Argentinean/Spanish friends, Lucas and Araceli.   Caption (above): Me having fun at the torres  Caption (above): One of my new favorite shots  Caption (above): We were fortunate enough to get a night tour of the Ciudad de Ciencia y Artes. It is to Valencia what the Guggenheim is for Bilbao. It was designed by a Valencian local Santiago Calatrava.  Caption (above): It’s like something out of star wars. It was really awesome to see at night.  Caption (above): The lights make for a cool effect.  Caption (above): Lucas poses with the Hummer limousine.  Caption (above): Lindsay in the…I don’t even know what that is.  Caption (above): El arpa (harp) bridge  Caption (above): Lucas walks on water  Caption (above): Welcome to our planet!  Caption (above): Lindsay poses  Caption (above): The mothership is enormous!  Caption (above): Valencia from Lucas and Araceli’s house.  Caption (above): The gang on our last day.  Caption (above): Throwing Lindsay in the pool  Caption (above): Lucas and Mustang All of the Valencia pictures can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/calmenda/sets/72157621592771106/ |
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