White Out

We finally had our first big winter storm since moving to New York over 2 years ago. After mother nature dumped about a foot of snow on us, we did what any true southerners would do - ran around like kids and took pictures.

The snowfall provided a valuable learning experience that taught us a thing or two about living in the northeast.

Winter lesson #1 - If the streets have been cleared and the sidewalks haven't, it's okay to walk down the middle of the road. Everybody does it actually because it's the only way to travel.



Winter lesson #2 - There's more than one good argument against having a car in New York City.


Winter lesson #3 - Jeans are not the best attire for making snow angels. Not that Randy wouldn't do it again anyway...

Beef, Tango, and Eva Peron

We decided to make use of the whole week of Thanksgiving and took a pre-holiday trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina before going to see the family in Georgia.

Plaza de Congreso - the music was live

We picked Buenos Aires because we wanted to go somewhere warm (as usual) and we had never been to South America before. It was a great opportunity for us to brush up on our extremely rusty Spanish skills, too.

They say BA is much more European-feeling than the rest of the continent. It reminded us of Spain the most. They start and end their days late and there are cafes everywhere.

Casa Rosada

The Casa Rosada is where the President works. This lucky president has a pink house instead of a white house. We went on a tour and saw the offices of the president. There was hardly any security which was really surprising.

Since the tour was in Spanish, we missed a lot, but we got to see the balcony from where Eva Peron famously rallied the working class citizens. Argentine presidents and even Pope John Paul II have also stood on this balcony. And so did we...

On that famous balcony with Plaza de Mayo behind us.

The food was pretty cheap and we ate a lot of it. Our most memorable meal was at an unlimited meat restaurant (similar to the Brazilian Steakhouses in the U.S.). Argentina is known for having good beef. We ate all we could of steak and ribs and passed on the chicken. Just as impressive as the meat was the extensive bar with salad, vegetables, pasta, and much more. And of course we couldn't resist dessert.

Buenos Aires is the birthplace of Tango. The fancy footwork and lifts make it extra fun to watch.

Andrea's usual knack for getting pulled out of a crowd found her in the arms of a zealous tango partner.

We were innocently watching a tango show while dining at an outdoor cafe when this happened. Previous experience and proper attire were not required, although they would have helped.


Later we went to a show to watch the professionals. Here's how it's really done...

RIP Randy's Job...Nevermind...for now

This past year has been full of ups and downs - and mostly downs - in the airline industry. Randy's company started laying off pilots in the fall of 2008 and since then we've figured his days at the helm of a CRJ 200 were limited.

Probably the most unexpected thing was how long it actually took. After getting rid of over 300 pilots during several waves of layoffs, the airline abruptly stopped. Finally, in October, it was Randy's turn and his last day of work was Halloween.

Two weeks after Randy thought he flew a jet for the very last time, he got a letter offering his job back. Of course, this was a pleasant surprise for us.

Randy is still keeping an eye out for new (more stable) career possibilities, but plans to start back with the airlines in January 2010.

So with that said, if you are interested in hiring a pilot or engineer, or looking to fill a position in any other job in the New York City area requiring excellent analytical and people skills, see his Linked In profile here:

www.linkedin.com/in/randyreese19

Parents in the City

A little rain never stopped us from crossing the Brooklyn Bridge!

We had a great visit from Andrea's parents in September. The long weekend was mostly characterized by eating, eating, and more eating. Luckily, we did a lot of walking too.

Carnegie Deli for big meal #2.

At least we pick famous places for stuffing our faces!

Grimaldi's - the best New York Pizza restaurant - for big meal #5

We had a lot of gloomy weather but it finally turned beautiful on the last day. We left our umbrellas behind and went to the Cloisters in Upper (way, way Upper) Manhattan to enjoy the nice day and take in the good views of the Hudson River.

They're not really sick of each other, just caught of guard by this picture.

The Big Move

After two years in New York we decided to upgrade to a bigger place. It was actually a small move as far as moves go since we only moved two blocks east and across the street. But the two full days we spent hauling our stuff that short distance sure made it feel painful.

We do not recommend moving in this completely ridiculous fashion.

Our new 1-bedroom feels like a stadium compared to the studio we used to live in and it even has a real kitchen. Sometimes we lose each other in all the space and we have to actually check to make sure the other person is in the same room before we start talking.

We have this curious little Jewish object on every door frame of our new apartment so we did a quick internet search to find out that it's a Mezuzah. A Mezuzah is a tiny case that contains a tiny scroll with handwritten verses from Deuteronomy about how you should love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength and how these words should be written "on the door frames of your houses". There are all kinds of Jewish laws about how it should be hung and what qualifies as a door frame. We're not down with Jewish laws but we're okay with loving God so we're going to leave them up for now. Maybe one day we'll take one down and see if there really is a tiny scroll inside.

Mezuzah

Budapest - Days 2 and 3

Day 2

On the second day of our trip we went to the House of Terror, a museum in the building that formerly housed two terrorist dictatorships in the 1940s and 50s- first the Hungarian Nazis and then the Soviet-backed Communists. One person from every third family was seized, mistreated, or crippled under these regimes.

After our history lesson, we spent the rest of the day walking the streets and bridges of Budapest, watching boats float down the Danube, and enjoying an authentic Hungarian meal for dinner.

Mmmm...Hungarian goulash and potatoes. Like everything else we ate in Hungary, it was rather salty, over-seasoned, and brown. We went with the mushroom goulash because the only other option was gizzard goulash and that would have been a little too adventurous.


Day 3

We started Saturday with a run around Margaret Island - an island in the middle of the Danube between Buda and Pest. After a quick lunch we went to a thermal bath to relax.

This was the main pool of the Gellert baths where men and women can bathe together. There were also thermal baths that were gender-specific. The thermal baths had several pools of water of various temperatures and a steam room. Pictures were not allowed inside of the thermal baths because clothing was optional.

This is us happy and relaxed after soaking in the multiple hot tubs for 4 hours.

Budapest - Day 1

We both had a long weekend off for the 4th of July so we decided to take a trip to Budapest. We had been wanting to go to Budapest for a while and it finally seemed like a good opportunity. It was sort of a last minute decision so we didn't plan as much as we usually we do. Our preparation was nothing more than packing some clothes in a bag and grabbing our Lonely Planet Eastern Europe book.

We arrived on the morning of Thursday, July 2nd. After finding a hostel and dropping our stuff off, we set out to see the sights.

Our first stop was St. Stephen's Basilica. Notice the absence of tourists, or anyone else for that matter. Always suckers for a good view, we went up to the dome in the center and walked around the outside.

Elevators are for wimps, we took the cool spiral staircase.

Budapest from above.

The city is made up of two distinct areas, Buda on the west side of the Danube River and Pest to the east. We stayed in Pest, the flatter side with more buildings. Buda is more hilly and residential and we spent plenty of time there too. Nine bridges connect the two sides and we walked across four of them.

A view of Parliament from the Buda side.

Annie and Catherine in NYC

After a long and lonely stretch of no visitors, Annie and Catherine came to visit us in early June! This picture shows us celebrating Annie's birthday with a world famous frozen hot chocolate and an apple pie sundae.

Who knew there is an Engineers' Gate at Central Park? We're thinking really hard because that's what engineers do.

The highlight was going to the Live with Regis & Kelly! show. Standing in the rain for two hours before most New Yorkers wake up paid off nicely with front row seats! Regis wasn't there so adorable and charming Anderson Cooper co-hosted instead. Sorry Regis, but we didn't miss you.

Annie and Anderson during a commercial break. I'm sure they would've really hit it off if they had gotten the chance to meet.

The Shoes That Went the Distance

These flip flops may not look like much but they are no ordinary shoes. After 5 years of wear and trekking through an estimated 12 countries, not to mention countless miles back home, Andrea's teva flip flops finally bit the dust in Cape Town when one of the thongs broke.

Teva, if you are reading this and think it is a good advertisement for your product, feel free to send Andrea a new pair for free, size 8 1/2 please.

Back Home

Saturday morning we began our series of flights to get home. First Victoria Falls to Johannesburg, then to Dakar, Senegal, and finally to JFK. Luckily we gained a lot of time flying westward and arrived early Sunday morning. We are tired and nursing mosquito bites but had a great time and would do it all over again if we could. Our tour was awesome as we got to see a lot and make new friends. We also very much enjoyed our time in Cape Town.

You can tell how long we've been traveling by the length of Randy's beard.

Victoria Falls - February 26-28

We ended our tour in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Due to the political and economic state of the country, Zimbabwe is a damaged country right now. You can't use a credit card anywhere and they won't accept their own currency so it's essential to have cash in either U.S. dollars or South African rand and lots of small bills since you probably won't be getting change. We stocked up on food and water before entering the country because we'd heard the grocery stores wouldn't be well stocked. Many stores and restaurants are closed down completely.

The town of Victoria Falls is cute but empty. Every time we left the hostel we would be immediately surrounded by people trying to sell us various crafts like wood carvings. They didn't just ask for money but also wanted to trade for our flip-flops or socks, anything we could give them.

Every day people from Zimbabwe cross the bridge into Zambia just to buy basic groceries like bread and fruit. The country is also suffering from a cholera outbreak but not in the Victoria Falls area.

Here is what hyperinflation looks like - a note for one hundred trillion dollars that is worth pretty much nothing.


Zimbabweans do have this beautiful landmark to be proud of. Because of the low volume of tourists right now we had Victoria Falls National Park almost to ourselves. The falls are called one of the seven natural wonders of the world and they did not disappoint. Over twice the height and width of Niagara, these spectacular falls stretch for over a mile along the Zambia/Zimbabwe border and push out 184 million gallons of water per minute.

Despite all the problems, we did feel reasonably safe while in Zimbabwe. The unrest in the country is mostly related to the political situation and therefore doesn't involve tourists. Even so, it was important to always be vigilant and aware because with such high numbers of desperate people its easy to see how the security conditions could deteriorate very quickly.

Chobe National Park - February 24-25

We visited Chobe National Park in northwestern Botswana and spent one night at a campsite in Kasane. The park has a very high concentration of elephants. We went on a sunset cruise on the Chobe River and saw lots of elephants bathing and drinking water along the riverbank. Our boat got really close to the elephants. We also saw kudu, impala, and baboons.

We went on a morning game drive and saw a buffalo and two lion. Game viewing is tough this time of year because it is rainy season and the vegetation is very dense.

Okavango Delta - February 22 - 24

We spent two nights camping in the bush in the Okavango Delta - a freshwater wetland in northern Botswana. The delta is beautiful and pristine with clear water and an impressive concentration of wildlife. To get to the delta we rode for 3 hours in a 4 x 4 truck from Maun and were then transported for another 2 hours to our campsite by mokoro, a traditional canoe made from a sausage tree. A poler stands on the end of the mokoro and pushes it through the waterways with a long pole. It is very relaxing to slide by the reeds and water lilies. We passed a hippo but luckily no crocodiles. They also used the canoes to transport our cooking equipment and tents to the campsite. We were specifically instructed not to leave the campsite without being accompanied by a guide because of safety concerns with the animals.


Our polers and guides were from a nearby village called Ditshiping. They grew up in the area and are very knowledgeable of the land and plants and animals. We went on bush walks to look for animals. We also went swimming in the waters of the delta, which was fun until Andrea found a leach on her finger and then everyone wanted out.

This might happen to you if you ride in a mokoro.


Sunrise at our campsite


Early morning bush walk


Giraffe

On our final night, the polers entertained us with song and dance around the campfire. Afterward they asked us if we could sing them a song. The one song we could come up with between all our nationalities was Wonderwall by Oasis.

Maun, Botswana - February 21

We arrived in the city of Maun (rhymes with town). This little city serves as the gateway to the Okavango Delta. We took a flight over the delta and saw herds of elephant, giraffe, and lots of hippos.

The delta from the air. That little spot near the center is a hippo.

This is how we lived for six nights. The hardest part was setting up and taking down the tent everyday. Luckily Randy is from the wilderness of South Georgia and his inner bushman really came out during this trip.

Our Tour Begins - February 20

Today we joined a tour with Nomad Africa and took off in an overland truck from Windhoek, Namibia. Our group was made up of 17 people from 8 or 9 different countries and three guides. We did a lot of driving the first day and spent our first night in Ghanzi, Botswana. It was early evening when we arrived in Ghanzi and it was raining lightly. There were a few thatched roof shelters at the campsite and our guide advised us to hurry and set up our tents under the shelters before any other tour groups came along. It did rain at 5 in the morning and we were glad to have the cover over our heads.

Our truck named Nina - think army transport vehicle meets a greyhound bus.

Our cook, Soliwe

Local bushmen tribe

February 20th

This morning we will be leaving from Windhoek, Nambia to start our adventure tour across Botswana and into Zimbabwe. We will be camping for the next 5 nights. Hope it doesn't rain! We won't be able to post anything for a while but hopefully we'll have some good stuff to report later.

Katatura Township

Today we arrived in Windhoek, Namibia from Cape Town. We spent the day visiting the township of Katatura. Townships in Southern Africa were created during apartheid as areas where blacks were forced to live. We spent the whole afternoon at an after school center run by an American woman named MaryBeth Gallagher. We contacted her before leaving the U.S. and were able to bring some books and things for the kids. Since a large percentage of the adult population has AIDS many kids are raised by grandparents or extended family members or friends. The center gives about 300 kids a safe place to go after school and it is pretty much chaos with kids of every age running around. The kids were so fascinated that we were married and kept asking how many kids we have and wanted to look at our wedding rings. They also enjoyed taking pictures of themselves with our digital camera and then seeing themselves on the little screen. They kept asking if we would be back tomorrow.

Story time

The kids had a way of attaching themselves and not letting go.