Thursday, July 02, 2009
I have seen the Southern Cross for the First time...
He visto la Cruz del Sur por primera vez. :)
My flight from Buenos Aires to Montevideo on Sunday was over an hour late leaving, but only one hour late arriving. I think that’s funny. Anyway, what was NOT funny was that my suitcase was THE last suitcase from my flight to hit the conveyor belt. It took over an hour to get my bag, and at this airport, they don’t allow anyone but passengers in the baggage claim area, so poor Gianella was waiting outside for me for SO long.
The weather was cloudy and cool – apparently typical for the wintertime here. When we left the airport, Gianella took me on a quick driving tour of the coasts of Montevideo. What a beautiful city! There are miles and miles of riverfront property, with a “rambla” (or a lovely walkway along the waterfront) on one side of the riverside road, and many tall buildings (mainly apartments) on the other side of the road. Then we went to her home and had a mid-afternoon snack and watched the news for awhile. There had been a military coup in Honduras, which was of course one of the main stories on the station “CNN en español”. There were also national elections in Argentina and primary elections in Uruguay on that day, all of which was of great interest to Gianella. I was using the opportunity to practice my Spanish listening skills, which are rather lousy. :)
Before dinner, which is often a late-evening affair in many parts of the world, we drove a bit more around the city. Gianella showed me the main public square and some parts of the “old city” and some statues of famous Uruguayans. We had dinner at a wonderful restaurant called “The Famous Grouse” – I had arroz con mariscos (rice with shellfish). Mmmmm… But the BEST part was dessert – panqueques de manzanas, apple pancakes served with the best (literally) ice cream I have ever tasted in my life. (And you know me … I am an ice cream expert, a talent/skill inherited from my father!) Mmmmmmmmmmmm…………..
The next morning it was pouring down rain and there was lots of thunder and lightning. Originally, it had been my intention to rent a car and drive the 5+ hours from Montevideo to Rivera, but eventually changed my mind and allowed Leti to buy me a bus ticket. I was SO glad, because the weather was so bad, and the entire bus ride (which ended up being almost six hours) was through mucho, mucho rain! I planned to read a lot on the bus, but ended up sleeping a lot. I’m not sure why, though, because I wasn’t necessarily tired. Hmmm…
Leti and Gerardo AND both of their children, Micaela (11) and Juan Martín (7) were all at the bus station to pick me up. They drove me around the city of Rivera a little bit before going home. Rivera is a fairly large city on the border of Uruguay and Brazil. There is really no distinction between the parts of the city that are Uruguayan and those that are Brazilian. You wouldn’t necessarily know if you’d crossed from one country into the other, which we have now done several times.
Their home is on a small piece of farm property about 15 minutes outside of the city of Rivera, in a jurisdiction called Curticeiras. Gerardo is a local politician and was running for national parliamentary office in the primary elections the day before (and he won!), so their phones (home and cells) were ringing non-stop. Several days later, they are still getting frequent calls of congratulations. In between phone calls, they started a fire in the fireplace, and Gerardo set up a small grill, called a “parrilla”, over the fire. In Uruguay, there is a style of cooking meat called “asado”, which involves cooking sausage (“chorizo”) and different red meats over the open fire in a barbeque pit or in your fireplace. We sat around drinking DELICIOUS Uruguayan red wine (a shiraz that I wonder if I’ll ever be able to find in the States…) and eating the asado as Gerardo pulled it from the fire. Meanwhile, Mica practiced her English with me (she speaks like a native!) and Juan showed me some of his notebooks from school (which were exceptionally neat and organized … I wonder if I can ever get my own students to keep such wonderful notebooks…) We also drank a Uruguayan drink called “mate”, which is similar to tea, but is served in a special container, you pour hot water over the yerba mate (which is ground to a tea consistency) and drink through a metal straw-like contraption called a “bombilla”. Mate is rather bitter, but of course, because I love black coffee so much, I am no stranger to hot bitter drinks. I really like mate. I’ll need to bring me home some of the necessities and see if I can find yerba mate at a local international grocery store. Dessert was dulce de leche and cookies. I’ve had dulce de leche with almost every meal since then. Also another yummy tasty thing that I’m indulging in while here.
Before going to bed, we noticed that the skies had cleared, and they took me outside to show me the southern constellations, including the Southern Cross. I hadn’t realized that Southern constellations are different than the Northern ones. Quite fascinating. Since we are in the countryside, the lights from the city did not distract from seeing a zillion stars and a bright, bright winter quarter moon. I don’t often get to see such a beautiful night sky when in the DC area.
Breakfasts this week have mostly been “continental” style – breads and jams and cheese and juice and coffee and mate and so on. One kind of jam that they have lots of is quince. “Quince” is the English word (“membrillo” in español) for a fruit of which I have never heard. They happened to have one on the property and Mica went to find it for me. It is a bit bigger than a mango, bright yellow, and very aromatic. Apparently you don’t really want to eat it raw (as it is supposedly quite bitter), but it is great when prepared for jams, etc. I wonder if I can find it in the States… I suppose I’ll be spending lots of time in the international grocery when I get back home. :)
Yesterday morning, instead of the “continental” breakfast, Juan Martín, with really not much help from his mother, prepared panqueques for us. They were not like fluffy American pancakes, but more like flat crepes that you spread things on and roll up. Of course, Mica and I used dulce de leche in ours.
Leti and I have spent the mornings this week just sitting and talking, catching up (I haven’t seen her since she was in DC in October when we met). It is so much fun being here with her, in her home, in her country. I’m having a wonderful time!
Their tradition is to have a large lunch, snacks with mid-afternoon tea, and a late and large dinner. One afternoon, we went to the city and used the computer in Gerardo’s office to check e-mail and Facebook and do other random stuff online (like looking up the Jimmy Buffet song about seeing the Southern Cross for the first time ?). We’ve explored Rivera a little bit, saw some of the sights like a place on the top of a hill where you can look down over the whole city, and we marveled at all of the places where Gerardo’s face, name and political advertisements are painted HUGE on walls around the city. I also had my photo taken on the international border, with one foot in Uruguay and the other in Brazil. Another afternoon, we took a scenic drive in a gorgeous valley called “Valle del Lunarejo” – climbing on rocks with the kids, climbing through a barbed wire fence to get a better view (and better photos) of the valley, and just looking at all of the gorgeous countryside. We have spent only a very little time shopping. I’m not much of a shopper, but will eventually want to stop for a few souvenirs and some gifts before I leave Rivera on Friday afternoon (my flight from Montevideo, Uruguay to Lima, Peru will be on Saturday afternoon).
One evening, after dinner when Leti took Juan Martín to pick up Gerardo from work a bit late, she said something to Mica very quickly in Spanish. I didn’t think anything of it. While they were gone, Mica and I sat eating our manzanas con dulce de leche (apples with dulce de leche) and gabbing (did I mention that her English is excellent?). Suddenly she says to me that her mother told her that she was not supposed to allow me to do the dishes. Well, you should have seen the conversation that ensued. No one (NO ONE) tells me what to do and what not to do … especially a kiddo. She insisted that if I attempted to get into the kitchen, she was going to lock me out. Later she told me that they don’t have a key for the one door that would have let me into the kitchen. Anyway – I gave Leti a hard time for using my ignorance of the Spanish language against me. It was all in good fun … but, again, I MUST work on mi español!!!!! Oh – and Mica just told me that I have to tell you that … she won! I did NOT do the dishes. :)
Obviously, Mica is proofreading this for me. She wants me to add that I think that Juan Martín is a HAM! It’s been interesting trying to explain to her what, exactly, I mean by that description. But he is really, truly a ham. I keep telling Leti & Gerardo that “no necesitan un televisor” (that they don’t need a television set) because Juan Martín is entertainment enough. (They DO have two television sets … but really, the kid is in a constant state of “hilarious”!)
So, with all of this talk about dulce de leche I have to add this little story. As I was pondering whether to bring my “good” camera or not, I got advice from several people that I should NOT bring the camera if I was going to be in Lima. After checking with my homeowners insurance and talking with some more people, I decided to bring it. So this evening, Leti & Gerardo and I were walking along, eating churros filled with dulce de leche, and I looked down to see hot dulce de leche dripping down my entire sweater and ALL OVER my camera. You’re not supposed to get a digital camera wet in any way, so I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to clean it. Ugh! Well, it DID get clean and my sweater is fine. But who thought that the dulce de leche would be the downfall of the camera, and not a pickpocket in Lima…... :)
Leticia is an English teacher at a local high school. She probably knows more about my language than I do. That makes it very easy for me to ask her some very analytical questions about my Spanish learning (you know how my brain works). That has helped a lot. We have tried to converse in Spanish here and there. But it’s difficult to have a deep conversation with a girlfriend in a language that you know very little of. Mica speaks English and wants to practice with me. Juan Martín has started learning English in school, but is rather unsure. When he speaks to me in Spanish, he forgets to speak slowly, and he runs his words together, so I have had difficulty understanding him. But I try to speak to him in Spanish, and he is comfortable correcting me, and is always VERY polite when he does so. Gerardo doesn’t speak much English, and Leti is pressing him to learn a bit more. He has tried to speak English with me a little, and I have tried to speak Spanish with him a little. But our conversations end up turning political or to some other more complicated subject, and Leti ends up translating for us. Some day we’ll both be fluent in the others’ language.
As I said, I will leave Rivera on Friday, we’ll spend the night at Leti’s parents’ house in Montevideo. Saturday morning, I believe that we’re going to do some more shopping and have lunch with Gianella. I’ll need to be at the airport mid-afternoon for my flight to Lima. I’ll connect through Santiago, Chile and arrive in Lima quite late. I will hopefully have time to update again sometime while in Lima. Keep checking back! :)
Sunday, June 28, 2009
At an Internet center at the Buenos Aires Airport
Apparently I haven't been spelling Buenos Aires correctly in my Facebook posts. Haven't I watched/listened to Evita enough times to be able to spell the name of the city!!??
Anyway - not much news to report yet. My flights from DC to Miami and again from Miami to Buenos Aires got off fine. I didn't realize until the last minute that I had a layover in Buenos Aires. Now my flight to Montevideo is delayed by about an hour. So I had time to look up an internet center to post a little bit.
Interestingly, we were required to fill out an extensive health form and wear a surgical mask before getting off the plane in Argentina. I'm not sure if it's about the swine flu or something else. But when I asked about how long we had to wear the mask, I was told that it was up to me and how comfortable I was with breathing the air without the mask. That's an easy one ... I don't tend to be a hypocondriac, so I immediately took the mask off. lol....
Had some strong coffee in a little cafe in the airport and am continuing to read my summer murder-mystery (Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series, "Flesh and Blood"). Not sure when I'll have a chance to update next, but please keep checking back!
Chao!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Summer of 2009
So I didn't really end up back at my blog again since my post in December, more than 6 months ago. But I have decided that this blog will be the best place to keep you updated on my travels this summer.
As per usual, my summer travel plans have come together within the past few months and I have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to see new parts of the world – to experience new cultures and to grow a little bit along the way. I have even been dusting off my español in anticipation of a trip that would involve a week in Uruguay and a week in Lima, Peru.
Tickets were purchased, arrangements for lodging were mostly completed, and plans to spend time with friends in Latin America were eagerly awaited. And then, during the last week of May, a late evening phone call put a twist on all of this. The friend who I was supposed to visit in Lima had the opportunity to work at a ministry conference in Nairobi, Kenya during the very week that I was supposed to be in Peru. She wanted to know if I would be interested in going to Kenya with her.
Well, many of you are aware that for several years I have had a very soft place in my heart for a ministry in Africa called Amani ya Juu. Amani ya Juu (meaning “higher peace” in Swahili) is a sewing-marketing-training project for marginalized women in Africa. The main center is located in Nairobi, Kenya with sister centers in Rwanda and Burundi. The women involved in the project are learning to work together through faith in God who provides a higher peace that transcends ethnic differences. Amani itself portrays a unique picture of diversity with women coming from Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia as well as from other African countries. During the summer of 2007 I had the great privilege of spending two weeks volunteering at Amani and immersing myself in the culture of healing, peace, and reconciliation that underscores Amani’s great impact in East Africa.You can read online about my previous trip in my blog at: http://www.louannsplace.com/Africa/Africa2007.html
After much prayer, quite a bit of indecisiveness (on my part), and several conversations with Amani staff and admin, I have decided to accompany my friend to Nairobi. While she is working at a conference just outside of Nairobi, I will be working at Amani (whose campus is located in downtown Nairobi). I am confident in the Lord to work out the remainder of the details.
My travel itinerary is roughly as follows: in the next few days, I will travel from Washington, DC to Montevideo, Uruguay and spend a week with a friend who lives in Rivera, Uruguay (which was part of my original plan) - about 5 hours from Montevideo. Then I will travel from Uruguay to Lima, Peru to spend a couple of short days there. (It was supposed to be a week. I already want to plan to go back some day!) Next, my friend and I will travel to Nairobi, and will be there for about ten days. Due to the best prices on flights, I will fly back to Lima and directly back to DC from Lima.
I covet your prayers as I prepare for the trip and as I travel to Nairobi in July. I would ask that you pray that the Lord will use me in significant ways to glorify Him and to truly minister to the hearts of the Amani women and to the Amani center. Please also continue to pray for all three of the Amani centers in East Africa and the women who are being served by this wonderful ministry. The Lord is working amazing things in the lives of these beautiful ladies!
On that last note, please share with me some of your own prayer requests. It would be my privilege to lift your needs up in prayer to our gracious Lord and Savior.
Contact me at:
louannaepelbacher@gmail.com
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Merry Christmas!
I have obviously not posted to my blog in a few months. But I do not intend to abandon my blog completely. I'm just trying to arrange my priorities.
In the meantime, for some holiday fun, take a look at Photo.net's Editors Picks photos for the 2008 holiday season. Although my photo of the Capitol Christmas Tree was taken in 2006, they decided to use it in this year's display. I am quite humbled! Enjoy the holiday photos!
Have a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in 2009!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Life is good!
Just one of those relatively "up" days. Yeah. Three things occurred to me as I was coming in tonight after my rehearsal:
1) I had on my favorite shoes today. That's enough to make me smile!!
2) My Mary Kay gal came to my orchestra rehearsal to find me ... just because she knew I wanted some blush. She had no reason to be there ... just to bring my blush to me instead of making me go to get my blush. (I wasn't expecting her.) AND, she brought three different colors to pick from, told me to take them home, try them, and get the two I don't want back to her. She'll worry about the receipt later. Yeah. How can you not LOVE Sheryl!?
3) We started working on Christmas music in rehearsal today, and I was SO happy to be playing Christmas music. In September. Knowing full well that we will have over three straight months of playing Christmas music. A lot. And I LOVE it. I even put on my Christmas playlist on my iPod in my car on my way home from rehearsal. Just to hear some of the familiar carols.
Life is good. Ahhhhh......
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Green Tea Ice Cream
A few years back, while visiting a Japanese restaurant owned by one of my student's parents, I was served green tea ice cream. It was homemade in the restaurant, not on the menu, and was AMAZINGLY delicious!! I have heard that the best green tea ice creams are home made and can only be found in good Japanese restaurants. I'm not sure how true this is, but I have always asked about it whenever I'm in any Asian restaurant. It's typically an expensive dessert, but extremely well worth it.
Well, I recently discovered that Haagen-Dazs has made a special, limited-edition Green Tea Ice Cream flavor. I had some tonight and it's really good. It's not as good as the first bowl I had way back when my student's parents brought me their made-from-scratch version. But it is definitely worth the trip to the store. You'll HAVE to try it!
Saturday, August 09, 2008
The Buffalo Bills at the Washington Redskins!!
The Bills and the Redskins are in different conferences. The Bills are AFC and the Skins are NFC. Basically this means that they don't play each other too often. It's only every couple of years they play each other, and it's not always IN Washington. And somehow I always have something previously planned that day that is nearly impossible to reschedule.
Several months ago my cousins from San Diego (who have never been to Western NY) decided to come to WNY to see the family and go to Niagara Falls and so on. They chose this week, and my mom planned a family get together for tomorrow, Sunday August 10. In fact, there are several members of the Buffalo family who have never met these cousins. My brother hasn't seen Michael since about 1973. So, of course, I decided that it was important for me to be in WNY for this small reunion.
Then the Bills' 2008 schedule came out. The first preseason game: Bills AT the Redskins, Saturday August 9. IN WASHINGTON. WHILE I'M IN BUFFALO. (sigh....) At least the game is on TV in Buffalo (if it were a home game, it might not be on TV here).
I even had to pass up a great opportunity to watch the game with some Skin-fans who are friends of mine at their home. What fun THAT would have been!! (sigh.....)
The next time the Bills play IN Washington, I am going to buy expensive tickets immediately after the schedule is released so that I don't have any excuse to miss the game.
By the way - I wish they wouldn't wear those retro-helmets with the outline of a red buffalo on them. Uck!
Oh, and - go Roscoe Parrish! My current FAVORITE Buffalo Bill!! Close, close, close second favorite: Trent Edwards. Woot!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Enough already....
Okay, I KNOW that Marion Jones did a bad thing by taking steroids. I understand that she had to give back her Olympic medals. I even understand that she had to serve prison time. I appreciate what a bad example she set for young athletes and for other people in general by what she did. But come ON! She was as public with her admission/confession as she was with her previous athletic accolades. I think we need to move on and leave the woman alone. One of my biggest arguments for leaving her alone is to point out that she is FAR from being the only one. How many athletes have been caught and had their hands slapped and haven't had the public humiliation that Marion Jones had? How many athletes haven't been caught?
Yet, when I stopped at the mechanic today I noticed a copy of today's USAToday on the counter. This photo caught my eye on the front page. The woman has a beautiful face. And this photo is a fabulous photo. But, of course, the story immediately beneath the photo was about doping and the Olympics. It's not even an article about Marion Jones. For crying out loud. Is she the new poster child for Athletes Fallen from Grace?? Enough already. Leave her alone now to put her life back together. We all make mistakes. Some are worse than others. But most of us don't have to live them out over and over again on the front page of USAToday!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Tim Zimmerman and the King's Brass
Wow! I thought I was going to be bored, sitting at a concert with a brass ensemble dressed in tuxes. Well, they were dressed in tuxes (for part of the concert) and they were a brass ensemble (yet with no French horn players....) but it was ANYTHING but boring!! In fact, it was a BLAST! The group was Tim Zimmerman and the King's Brass. The group consists of a pianist, a drummer, three trumpets, three trombones, and a tuba. They had a few classical pieces, and several religious pieces, but almost everything was done with a touch of jazz and lots of humor and exceptional musicianship! They had the most amazing arrangement of Yankee Doodle (no kidding ... a whole variations-on-a-theme approach ... it was amazing!) and played jazz standards like Somewhere Over the Rainbow and In the Mood. In several of their songs they worked in several different related melodies. It was just so much fun! If you ever hear that they're in your town, you MUST see them. Here's a clip (it's Christmas music, but it was the best video that YouTube had....) Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Beijing 2008!!
Are you looking forward to the Olympics? I am. I've always been a fan of the Olympics. Just the idea that the whole world sets aside their differences and comes together in a spirit of sportsmanship and competition - to support and encourage one another - it's so profoundly meaningful!
This year, I feel even more strongly about the spirit of the Olympics because they are being held in China. Many of us will have to think outside the box to embrace the idea that we can enjoy the experience of the Olympics in China!
Recently I discovered a fabulous photoblog at Boston.com called The Big Picture, News Stories in Photographs. They always have fabulous photo essays tied in to current events. This morning I discovered that their latest photo essay is about the upcoming Beijing games. You can see all of the images in this essay at http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/. I especially love the building shaped like the Olympic Flame.
Go USA!!
