Catching up in 2015

I am wayyyy behind on my blogging for a few reasons. For starters, it's been a busy winter and time for blogging has been scarce. And for another, it is hard to get out amidst the snow and sleet to find something picture-worthy to post!

Here's what I've been up to!

Wrapping up the living room "Wildflower" collage! I finally finished up the paintings in the living room Linda and I started Easter weekend 2014... took me long enough but I am so happy with how it turned out. Linda contributed the beautiful poppies and adorably delicious strawberries. Now I just need to muster the strength and creativity for my next work of art :)

Climbing outside (less so now than in the fall but you get a nice semi-warm day when the frost thaws and the rocks are clime-able... ) and enjoying this super cool hammock my friend Jeni brought. Honestly, the hammock-sitting can be just as enjoyable as the rock climbing.

Celebrating birthdays and enjoying the company of GREAT friends! So happy to have this friend state-side again (only to move across the country but still- its nice to be on the same continent :)

Doing a bit of work travel! I've been at my job for nearly a year now and have gotten to meet some really incredible people doing some much-needed work for the food and agriculture system in the one and only U.S. of A. The biggest trip was a visit to two of our grantees in Mississippi and Alabama where I got to see the movement taking shape in the Deep South and, more importantly, where I discovered my love for persimmons. 

Knitting! I learned to knit over the Thanksgiving break and so far have knit some scarves and a few hats. I've learned a lot along the way and my addictive personality has begun to show through, knitting into the wee hours of the morning and sneaking in a row or two between emails at work. I'm enjoying learning new techniques, discovering different patterns, and giving away my knitted items to family and friends.

And finally, enjoying the holidays with my beautiful family. Wrapping presents with Fluff, ice skating in Arlington, and finding that sneaky elf, Sebastian.

The National Arts Festival

This year Costa Rica's National Music and Arts Festival was hosted in and around Ciudad Colon. The event featured crafts and other products from local artists, musical and theatrical performances, events for all ages, and lots of food stands (which reminded me of county fairs back home when I saw a man spinning massive bundles of cotton candy onto their paper stems.)

I bought some jewelry (like this totally awesome authentic bird feather and stone earring...), listened to a few concerts, enjoyed some delicious food, watched some Capoeira (Brazilian dance fighting), and enjoyed the company of this tiny weird community I've called home for the past 4 months... 

concert in the farmer's market pavilion

painted by my host sister, Monica :)

A FULL DAY OF PARIS: Early in the morning to late at night

Unless I say otherwise, assume we woke early... this time off to the Musee D'orsay, an old train station turned museum. We skipped the long line (our first of two today) and went right in with the Paris Pass, snagged an audioguide, skipped the backpack check-in (not trying to lose anything at the hands of careless museum workers..) and got to work surrounded on all sides by great artists like Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, Cezan, and many more. We got a few views of the Sacre Couer from the top floors, watched a parade of soldiers on horseback go by in the street below, and watched a lady paint a copy of a painting hanging in the museum right there in front of our eyes!

After the museum was braved the cold rainy drizzle and gypsies to put one of our extra locks on the bridge and shredded the combination! (Bridges all over Europe especially but other places today as well are covered in padlocks, sometimes intialed, dated, and even engraved. According to one of our hostel roomates in Paris, the tradition started in Venice when padlocks were first invented. Couples would lock their padlock onto the bridge and throw the key into the body of water below to symbolize their eternal love- so Ashley and I aren't a couple in the traditional sense but we will love each other forever :).. that counts in my book!) We went home to change into dry clothes and headed to the Eiffel Tower for our ascent to the top! We skipped a huge line of at least 150 people and walked casually straight to the front of the line and were on the lift within 10 minutes. The beauty of pre-ordering tickets. We got to the tippy top, took some pictures, and headed back down. We walked around a bit, stumbled upon a cute little market and pedestrian area on Rue Cler, then back to the Eiffel Tower that night at 10pm sharp to see it lit up and sparkling. AMAZING!

DIA 337... 5 de junio 2011

SUNDAY! We woke up early to get a french breakfsat that consisted of OJ, a croissant with butter and jam, a little baguette, and a yogurt you had to put a packet of sugar in.. odd. And finally the most chocolatey hot chocolate I have ever had. We rushed through breakfast to have time to shop around at the market before we had to pack up and leave for Figueres, the hometown of Dali and where his museum is today!
We got to the museum around 11:30 and the tour was around an 1.5 hr. Dali was interesting to say the least! All of his works have so many hidden meanings and more symbolism than Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird; and if you had Ms. Satterfield for english at North you know how much that is! Back to Dali... the guide made the visit a million times better with all these little details and hidden secrets of Dali's art. One of the coolest paintings was a huge piece that just looked like random pictures surrounding a picture of a women walking with her back to you (Gala, Dali's wife who appears in most of his art and even gets her name signed on some of the art because he felt like she really contributed to his art.)but if you look through a camera lense or squint really hard you can see good old Abe Lincoln. I didn't think to ask why Abe Lincoln at the moment because I was so amazed by the optical illusion.
Inside the museum was also his tomb, a pretty cool idea if you ask me! After the museum we wandered around Figueres and then at 4:30pm headed home to Tarragona!

DIA 323... 22 de Mayo 2011

Second day in Barcelona and this time we're on our own to complete a worksheet full of questions about Barcelona and its many sights :) We mapped out our route while sipping Starbucks listening to music in english (just like home!) Our worksheet took us from our residence to the port in more or less a direct route. Along the way we saw the Cathderal (where 30-40 people began a spontaneous round of a Sardana dance, the traditional circle dance of Catalunya), tons of plazas bustling with city life (the Plaza de Catalunya being the largest with huge 5-6 story advertisements which reminded me of NYC), many of Gaudi's works, a statue of Christopher Columbus pointing towards the Americas, and tons of expensive shopping (none of which was open because today is the day for local elections in all of Spain!) In the Plaza de Catalunya there were peaceful protests with signs and banners hanging from every tree, gate, and statue regarding the elections. When we finally got to the port we had lunch and turned around to start our journey home, this time down Las Ramblas were all the vendors set up camp, as we had to meet bak at the residency at 6pm for the bus ride back to Tarragona. After two days of being my most vigilent self ever and clutching my purse/camera in a death grip, I am happy to report nothing got stolen or pickpocketed from me or anyone in the group! Let's keep this trend going :)Now it's time for bed and gearing up for a second week of classes, but not before I get a good stretch in... the walking here is a way of life, my legs hurt worse than they did in Disney World circa 1997/2001.

more pictures day 322

DIA 322... 21 de Mayo 2011

Off to Barcelona for the weekend! We learned a lot of Gaudi in class and on our trip to Reus/ Ruidoms and now it was time to see his works in real life! First stop: Sagrada Familia which is still unfinished after Gaudi's death in 1926. The estimated completion time is 2030 and most of the funding for construction comes from tourists. Our guide told us so much cool stuff that I could not possibly spit out on this blog but I highly recommend reading up on its history and details, it's fascinating! Nest we picniced in Parc Guell, designed by Gaudi. Next, Mont Juic for a bird's eye view of the city of Barcelona and a visit to a former castle and later prison. Finally, off to Camp Nou, home of the one and only FCB. Dinner and then for a much needed night of sleep!

DIA 321... 20 de Mayo 2011

Today we ventured to Ruidoms and Reus which are very important in the story of famous Antoni Gaudi (although it is still highly disputed where he was born!) We saw his house where he lived as a boy in Ruidoms (lots of pretty flowers in backyards of all the houses in Ruidoms!) and later to Reus for another guided tour and the Museo de Gaudi. Y despues.. fuimos de compras! Por supuesto!! After a long day of walking my legs are killing me but it was a day full of excitement, adventure, culture, and fun!!

Week 43

This week's installment: The end result of Morgan's hours upon hours spent in the studio slaving away to achieve IVS Gallery greatness! You'll have to ask her all about it to be fully amazed by the creativity and detail as I cannot do it justice with this photo alone. This is what I can tell you from what she told me in art talk: They took star maps and layed them out in an area and where the constellations for each season ended up that's where they would plant flowers that bloom in that season (EPIC!!) and then there was a feature with water and the way the water would hit these materials would make different noises to not only sound and look pretty but to block out street noise. I probably just explained it all wrong but it's awesome, just take my word for it! Even though I never left Harrisonburg and the Gallery is in Roop Hall where I took statistics, I felt like Carrie Bradshaw for a brief moment going to a very important Gallery Opening for my good friend Charlotte York