Amazing Arizona - Part 1

Arizona - the desert state, the high oven of the United States and, of course, the Grand Canyon State... I flew over it once, but I never actually had it on my list of places I have to visit. It's just too hot for me... but then I found this conference in New Mexico and it collided with my *Canadian family's* annual trip to AZ, so I thought "why not?" and booked a flight to Phoenix. Boy was I in for a treat! I mean, seriously people, if this isn't the Wild West I don't know what is...

Welcome to the Wild West!

The temperatures were rather cozy in the upper 20s (Celcius that is - about 85°F), which is kinda high for February, but it's a dry heat, so it wasn't as unbearably hot as I had imagined. Still, I don't think I could visit this state during the summer months... We stayed in the camper at a ranch that belongs to one of my family's friends down in Arizona, a Canadian who fled the norther cold one day and settled in the desert instead. This is what caught my eye when I first arrived:

Giant Cactus anyone?!?

And yes, of course there were horses everywhere :) The main part of our trip to Phoenix was spending time at the annual Arabian Horse show in Scottsdale, where we saw many beautiful horses and I learnd about the different disciplines and rules for shows like side saddle or hunter seat. Hopefully, Randy will start here next year, and who knows, maybe I'll be back too :)

All the pretty horses...

We also checked out some of the Frontier towns in and around Phoenix. They were heaven for Roz and me; I think we went into every single store and bought tons of gifts and souvenirs for everybody :) I realize that it's all made up for the tourists, but I just completely fell in love with this one town just north of Phoenix: Cave Creek! It's just so adorable!!!

Shopping mall - Cave Creek style

Plus they have an amazing Mexican restaurant there with a little pond in the outdoor seating area and the best Mexican Food I ever had! So, if you're ever in Phoenix, check out Cave Creek and try to get a table at El Encanto!

The gang and our shopping bags in front of El Encanto :)

Thanks for an amazing time in Phoenix guys! I will always remember my first adventure into the Wild West!

Back to Boston - 10 months later

After a couple of days in upstate New York, I took a bus through the night and arrived back in Boston the next morning :) I couldn't wait to spend a few days at my favorite house in all of Savin Hill! Also, I finally had the chance to see an NHL game, although it was still pre-season, but who cares? GO BRUINS! :D

Blond Boston Bruins Selfie ;)

I was also invited to join Maureen on one of the Gravestones tours *scary* and I have to say, I had a lot of fun wandering through downtown Boston at dusk :) Though it's weird to be one of the guests when you know the tour guide and driver...

Check out the Ghosts and Gravestones Tours!

And yes, you guessed it, there was also one of those *did that just happen* moments waiting for me while I was visiting Beantown: one morning, Maureen came home and said "We're gonna go to a gala tonigh!" Oh, and it wasn't just any Gala; it was a Gala filled with free food from the best Restaurants in the Bosten Area!!! *Foodie Heaven* Apart from enjoying the ridiculously delicious food samples, they also served free Wine and I got to meet the Govenor and the Boston P.D. comissioner and some of Boston's best ball players :) Oh yeah, definitely a *did that just happen* moment :D

"Hello Govenor!"

Oh how I love Boston... and Maureen! Girl, you're the best! Say hi to the kids for me!

Couchsurfing Weekend!

....I don't think I've ever had so much fun with so many strangers before :) I LOVE COUCSURFING! As I've already told you, we climbed up the volcanos on Saturday which is probably why we took it a little easier on Sunday and drove into Taupo to sit in a hot river at Spa Road. It's a river and a hot spring in one, so basically you're just sitting around and there's hot and cold water flowing all around you :) Fascinating experience! We used it to chat and chill in the river :)

just chillin' in the river....

We brought our Couchsurfing banner of course :) We also started a massage row, which had some of the other people look at us with envy ;) Well, we know how to make a spa experience a real spa experience! I think we were sitting around in that river for about three hours... When it finally got too hot for us, we went back into town to have dinner and hang out at the waterfront, taking over the entire Buger fuel and the pub next door ;) Here are some expressions from our group:

Cheers Couchsurfers!

Bryana and Gerard enjoyed the music

Enjoying some live music and the sun

Me and my girls Denise and Bryana

Sadly, some of the surfers already left that day or went up to Rotorua from Taupo. The rest of us went back to the camp and had a very... interesting... evening :)

Gerard's look says it all :)

And then we went white water rafting *yay* SO cool! we met at Okere Falls just outside of Rotorua. When we got there (we were the third group) Nick just got back and when we asked him how it was, his answer was "We flipped, it was awesome!" Nick, I'm still not sure why flipping with a raft after a 7m drop is awesome, but ok... glad you had fun ;) Our raft didn't flip *yay* so we could just enjoy the view! It was absolutely stunning!

We did it!

Okere Falls

The last run lost their guide.... 

"Where is Simon?"

but it was all good, he appeared right next to the raft ;) What a FUN day! What an AMAZING weekend! thanks to everybody who was at the Couchsurfing meeting, I think we all had a blast :) Kinda makes me want to come back next year just to see y'all again :) Awesome! Wicked fun! *happy*

YAY Couchsurfing! :)

International Street Artists entertain tourists and locals on a beautiful October weekend

First Faneuil Hall Street Art Festival successful in spite of low advertising

Saturday, October 20^th 2012

More than 30 International street artists performed at the first Faneuil Hall Street Art Festival at Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, Boston all day Saturday and Sunday. In addition, visitors could enjoy live music, food and shopping at the popular Boston sight. 

Internationally renowned street artists performed at two different locations around Quincy Market last Saturday and Sunday, while musicians filled spaces in between West End and South Market Promenade. Some of the street artists came from far away to entertain the crowd in Boston. Dave Cox, who presented his program Dangerous Comedy in front of a cheering crowd at the West End Promenade, insists on using his tips to “get a flight back to Australia” for example. Others, like Jim from the Jim show, are local but have performed internationally before.  Visitors took advantage of a beautiful, sunny late October weekend offering perfect conditions for the outdoor event. Although most tourists hadn’t known about the festival beforehand, they enjoyed the offered variety of comedy, juggling artists and live music. Tourists C.J. and Steven Jane took a Trolley Tour before they came to Faneuil Hall and were surprised that their tour guide did not tell them about the festival. However, they intended to “stick around for a while” and enjoy more of the performances around Quincy Market.

Matthew Johnson confirmed the scarce advertisement for the event. In his position at the information desk he observed “people seem to just be coming through” as the marketplace is a must-see for Boston tourists and there is always something going on at Faneuil Hall. He recognized many of the artists from performances earlier this year, which had been auditions for the actual event.

Visitors were delighted to be entertained during their stroll through Faneuil Hall and readily picked up one of the offered programs at the booth. Stacey Fields, 42, did not know about the festival either, but was enjoying herself during one of the performances, confirming that “it’s very fun” to watch what all these artists had to offer. For students Brian Chaves and Kristina Cirillo, Providence, it was the first visit to Boston and the couple admitted to just have “stumbled upon” Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market during their tour through historic Boston. They were a little surprised by the number of people strolling through the cobblestone streets. They stopped to observe the performances and enjoyed the live music.

Paul Wright, who was performing with his two man band Tall Heights, explained that the festival was the end result of a year-long project initiated by Faneuil Hall management, in which artists could audit by performing at Faneuil Hall throughout the year. Their band got chosen to become part of the festival after having played for the touristy crowd earlier this year. He said “it’s been really great” for his band and a great opportunity to “come out and practice new material.” He enjoyed meeting new fans and found it “interesting to see what people respond to.” The crowd seemed to enjoy their acoustic performance as well. Already on early Saturday afternoon, the old suitcase at their feet was only half-full with CDs – the other half was occupied by a number of 10 and 20 dollar bills. 

 

Whale Watching!

Wow! I mean, seriously, WOW! I know that whales are big animals, I happen to like biology, but I didn't quite imagine just how big exactly... Until today :) WOW! And not just because of the whales...

I finally decided to go on one of the many whale watching cruises. It was a beautiful day (very warm for mid-october) and I thought why not. (and yes I had a paper to finish, but that's what nights are for! ... ) Man am I glad that I did this! What a beautiful day....

This is the view from the ship as we left Boston harbor. I really chose the best city :)

As we left for Stellwagen Bank in search for big mamals, the fishers came in from their morning tour. 

There are many cute little islands and beautiful rock formations in Boston Bay. The ride alone would have been worth the trouble. And then we found the whales....

 Not one, not two, no THREE big full-grown humpback whales!

 Everybody was excited of course :) 

 One of the whales - Valerie - flapped her side fins at the boat (it really looked like she was waving to us...) while the other two went for a dive (see back fin in the background)

 Look at that! And that's not even the whole whale!

It was really awesome seeing them appear and disappear right next to the boat. They seemed pretty happy, too :) AND I got to spend 4 hours on the Atlantic ocean! Awesome!

The way back was a little rough...

but SO worth it! Look at the beatitful lighthouse and the sun glistening on the water! 

And the Bostonian Skyline slowly appearing in the mist....

We also passed Logan International on our way back (no this is not an emergency landing...) 

In the end, I was very cold (very windy out there) and my face feels weird because of all the salt in the air and the mist but OMG it was SO worth it! Beautiful, beautiful trip! I always knew I liked the Atlantic :) And now I know that I can handle rough waves.... Did I mention that I love my life? :D

Bostonian Word Nerds

Technically, I wanted to travel some more this weekend. But after about 10 days on the road, I decided to stay home instead and write my papers (yes, I do have school every now and then). The upside was that I could attend the Open Mic night at Savin Bar&Kitchen. It's part of a series of readings organized by students from the UMass MFA program (here's their blog, if any of you are interested:
http://www.writeonthedot.blogspot.com/)

It was really great! I am so happy to have found a couple of Bostonian word nerds :) Immediately after I walked in, I was welcomed in their group and started talking to some of the other writers. The atmosphere was very relaxed and some of the work that was read was really great (one guy wrote about his banana plant and another one read a short story called "the pigeon interlude" which was absolutely hilarious!). So I decided I'd give it a shot and got up there, too! *yay* it was really cool to be reading to a crowd of complete strangers :) And apparently they liked what I read! So, now I'm keeping in touch with Aaron, who is sort of the mastermind behind the project, and we will brainstorm together and discuss a couple of ideas, because I told him about our projects in Germany and he wants to know more! *connections-yay*
I also met a nice guy called Colin, who wants to show me Boston's north end *looking forward to it* and I met this unbelievably cute guy who's also in the MFA program and just absolutely knocked me off my feet - so now my mission is to find him again ;) wish me luck!

The evening also made me consider the MFA program at UMass and I might actually ask Alexandra (my creative writing instructor) about it. Sounds like it would be perfect for me... so, who knows, maybe I'll do my masters in Boston after all....

UMass Welcome Event

Today was the UMass Boston International Students welcome event. I knew that it was supposed to be today, but I didn't know where or when or any other organizational info. So I checked the website and, sure enough, the time and place was on the OITA website (http://www.umb.edu/academics/oita) Just to make sure, I also sent an email to our German coordinator, who then appparently contacted Lurlene, since I got an email from her later today. But let's start at the beginning. I live so close to campus that I can walk over there. Takes me about 15 to 20 minutes and today, the weather was absolutely fantastic, so the walk along the harbor was just the perfect start for the day. 

UMass Boston really is RIGHT ON THE WATERFRONT :) The Buildings you see on the left there? Yep, that's part of the university! So I strolled along the ocean in the morning breeze, almost forgetting that it was only quarter to eight, just enjoying the view.... lots of sailboats out there....

Which reminds me, UMass offers free sailing lessons! I have to sign up for that... They also offer a free harbor boat tour every monday - but more on that on tuesday ;) I finally made it to the University Student Center (which is right on the tip of the "island", basically surrounded by water, with an incredible look on the Atlantic!) just to then learn, that exchange students don't have to be in until 11:30..... well .... I went back....

I mean, it's not like I'm gonna wait around for another 3 and a half hours when I can sit at home on the couch drinking tea.... besides, it was such a lovely morning and I really felt like walking, so I just went straight back. Back home, I saw the email telling me that the orientation started at 11.... ok, so I was JUST OUT THERE and they told me 11:30! Apparently, organization is not necessarily one of UMass' strong suites.... I made it back around 11:15 only to spend the next hour or so having lunch... well, it was nice to meet fellow international students but it still felt like I didn't really need to be there....

And future exchange students, here's a tipp: you're in Boston to MEET NEW PEOPLE not to hang out with other Germans! So, don't sit on a table with all the other exchange students from your program! Mix and mingle! That's so much more fun! I myself had lunch with a girl from London, one from the Ukrania, two girls from India and another one from Japan! That was way cooler :) The girl from London actually lives pretty close by, so I'm hoping we might do something together... That's what it's all about, after all!

The actual introduction wasn't that helpful, to be honest. You can pretty much find all the information online as well, so unless you mingle and meet some fellow international students, there's really nothing much for you at the welcome event... The important part is that you actually have to bring your passport, because they need copies of your visa and so on. I didn't bring mine of course, because nobody told me... So I'm gonna go back there tomorrow.... Well, at least I know the way by now ;)

Going away party

Although its still four weeks to go, I've decided to throw a birthday/going away party last saturday. So, this is for all the amazing people who were there with me: I LOVE YOU! (I know, I've said it before...) I had a blast on saturday! You guys are the best :)

Five weeks and counting...

5 weeks to go - just had my first Hepatitis shot -.- Really wished it wasn't necessary... Ah well, I'll survive...

Last week was the End of Term Party at my "home" University and I must say, I did feel a little sad saying goodbye to all those people who have grown so dear to me. I will miss them, that's for sure. On the plus side, they will probably all still be here when I come back, so there's something to look forward to!
AND, another plus side,: I took a bunch of pictures with my Frankfurt Friends! *yay* Love you guys!