Roma

Switzerland

Geneva
The view from my porch ...
One of the main roads. Families heading for the village gathering.

Cows.
Not a bad view for a Sunday brunch ...
My apartment
The kids of Gryon had a pumpkin decorating contest!
The most beautiful and delicious bake sale I've ever attended.

Africa

Id have to say that this has been my craziest trip yet. My plan? Penetrate the most destitute continent in the world, stay with a Senegalese family, and hope that I could be of some help once there. My contingency plan? If the family doesn't show up and the NGO's don't want a volunteer getting in the way - cheap hostals and powerbars. My travelogue:With dad's warnings of AIDS ringing in my ears and the doctor's warnings of menginitis and malaria contraction racing through my head, I try my best to mount the plane without mounting my anxiety as well. On the first plane ride my frazzled nerves are quickly soothed as my traveling luck once again kicks in. By the end of the plane ride, I have met two girls from Belgium that switched seats to sit with me, I'm carrying the phone number of a Parisian who insists that I call for a personal tour as soon as I'm back in the city, and I am full from the first class dinner selection I was offered by the hostess. And if thats not enough, right before landing, the Belgium girls tell me they work for a job recruiting center. No problem - They'll help me find something in Belgium if I'm interested. Score! From Morocco to Senegal, however, I start to get nervous once more. No one comes to sit with me. No one gives me their number. No one offers me a job. Not only that, but the plane smells bad and the people are dressed funny. I decide to take things into my own hands - I target a white woman sitting nearby. I lean in and ask her a grammar question in French ... Lame, I know. But it does the trick. Five minutes later, I have her number and a contact just in case I need anything while I'm in Senegal. Relief.Coming off the plane the first thing I notice is the heat. It's three in the morning and the heat has an almost tactile quality. Nevertheless, I pull a light jacket around my shoulders to ward off any malaria-infested insects that could kill me with one bite. Don't look at any stranger, I think to myself, they'll steal your visa and take over your identity! I cross my fingers and hope that my Senegalese family will be there to pick me up. Africa in the middle of the night seems the perfect setting for a horror novel ... especially with a disillusioned American traveling alone acting as the main character. Interpolation: young, white, female, dissillusioned American traveling alone. My first day in Dakar, in Africa really, I go into sensory overload as all five of my senses are pummeled by new sensations. New smells, new tastes. Startling sights and strange sounds. The pungent odor of horse maneur lying in the street. A handful of cooked rice and fish mashed against the palm of my hand. A flash of color as rickety buses barrel down the street. The satisfying crunch of a cocunt as I bite down on the hardened flesh. The sound of vendors trying to sell mangos on the side of the road. So this is Africa. Im staying in Pikine, a tiny village outside of Senegal's capital. Its known for its destitution. No paved roads, no garbage collection. Sewage treatment? That's what the ocean is for, naturally. I explore the market with Yacine, my Senegalese host while I am here. The vendors are scattered haphazardly within an incongruous series of disheveled ramshakes and dilapidated sheds. It is "markets" like these that contribute to Africa's GDP - 70 percent of which isn't accounted for by the government. If you are expecting a receipt after purchasing your eggs, think again. If your lucky, you might get a tiny plastic bag with your purchase. And as I said, that's if you're lucky. The family I stayed with was incredibly warm and welcoming. I felt comfortable right away and was able to get to know each one pretty well during the time I was there. I was always with one of the family members. Whether I was exploring Dakar, going to the market, or watching television, I was never alone. The villagers themselves were also really nice, and I met 3 Canadians that were friends with Yacine. Despite the warmth of the people, however, the reality of the living situation wasn't as inviting. First of all, there were flies everywhere. I felt like a horse in a barn, constantly swatting at " les mouches. " Try eating a mango in Africa - its a protein-enriching experience (; Furthermore, I was staying in a 4 bedroom home that was shared by 12 people. I shared a room with Yacine and her younger sister. I was just happy to have my own bed. There were two bathrooms in the home, and while each one boasted a spicket with running water, there was neither soap nor toilet paper. A rather pertinent detail when all meals are eaten with your hands ...Needless to say, I didn't last the three weeks I had planned on staying.The last night I spent with the family the sweltering heat had literally transformed into a tangingle force that was actually pushing down on my lungs. Everything was damp. My pillow, my sheets, my legs. The worst were my arms, sticky with a thick film of grime - a melange of silt from the day's adventures in the city and moisture from the air's heavy humidity. I tossed. I turned. I sighed. Random memories of mom's AC fanatacism drifted in and out of my head. How could I have complained when she blasted the airconditioning in the house? I vascillated between cherishing the coolness of these memories and growing bitter for the intolerance to heat she had fostered. I tossed. I turned. I sighed. There was no way I was sleeping tonight. Exasperated, I pulled my mosquito net to the side and headed for the "shower." Too late - it looked like I had to wait my turn. There were two cockroaches crawling up the side of the bathroom. The next morning, I packed my bags. After five days, I had to escape ... from reality. I wanted back in my bubble. Now! I rummaged through my backpack looking for the number of the younger woman from the plane. Found it. "Call if you need help. 436 67 86. - Tashina." Two hours later I was sitting across from her in an air-conditioned French restaurant. The second half of my trip to Africa -Poolsides, cocktail parties with world-wide embassadors, and an air-conditioned car.Oh, and did I mention personal lessons on discreet bribery from the police chief himself?To be continued....

Africa: Part II

(Just in case you didn't read the first half - this entry is from my stay with the couple I met on the plane. They were in their later 20's, so just by the default of age we got along really well during my stay)

I soon realized that Tashina had quite a few connections in Dakar – I suspected it the first day while we were at lunch. From the time we parked the car to the end of the meal as we payed the check, it seemed to me that she knew almost everyone. It wasn't until she answered a phone call from the ambassador of India, and sent a text message to an Egyptian diplomat, however, that I began to realize the extent of her contacts. Tashina, as it turned out, had some pretty interesting friends.

While I enjoyed the social benefits of her network as I tagged along to cocktail parties and lunch-ins with politicians and ambassadors, we soon found out just how advantageous her connections really were one Wednesday afternoon ...

Technically, Tashina was living in Dakar illegally. For over one year now, she had been without a Visa because she didn’t want to bribe the officials to issue it. In order to switch electric companies, however, she had to present her Visa to the comany. Therefore, late Wednesday morning we drove to the police station - Tashina ranting about governmental corruption the whole way. Arriving at the building, I was already prepared for a long wait to talk to an official that would only send us off on a scavenger hunt to fetch a paper that doesn’t exist from some department in the middle of nowhere. And then bring everything back to the station only to discover that they closed early for the day. (You get the point). When we walked up to the building, however, one of the head police chiefs came up to us smiling. Go figure – Tashina knew him. He sat with us for an hour as we waited for the official to come back from lunch. The conversation passed rather uneventfully - that is, until the topic of bribery surfaced. The police chief quickly shook his head at the word “bribery” and patiently explained that, well, there’s a difference between bribing and giving money. You see, bribing a cop isn’t necessarily bribing a cop. Oooohhhh. Suddenly, I understood! So all this talk of corruption was really just one global misunderstanding. I wish someone had explained this to me before! Encouraged by my feigned enlightenment, the chief pulls out his “briefcase” (a beat- up bag with a broken zipper), pulls out his wallet (a folded over piece of leather of similar quality to that of the briefcase), and proceeds to demonstrate how to tactfully bribe a cop. Oh, excuse me. He proceeds to demonstrate how to tactfully give money to a cop. Fold, slip, smile … and "Voila" …afterwwards ... just roll up the window and drive away. 15 minutes later, our expedited Visa is ready, and Tashina practices her new trick … twice. Our friend the Chief and the Visa man were quite tactfully compensated for their services.

Coming up (if I get around to it):
A rotting infrasctructure .... Fainting in the middle of the night ... Prostitution and AIDS...

My host family.

MT - hiking with Dad (and running trails with Bethany)

After my visit to MT - Dana and I road-tripped to Niagra Falls (on the Canadian side) and visited Eli at Cornell. One of the highlights of the trip was our dining experience in Buffalo, NY (at the restaurant where Buffalo Wings were very first created) Dana's mom treated us to a gourmet three course meal at the Prince of Wales hotel in Canada. Ostrich eggs anyone?
During the commute from Ithaca to Canada, we digressed from the highway and explored the Amish Country, plantations, and vineyards surrounding the Finger Lakes.

Summer Sculpture

My latest sculpture - a rendition of Michaelangelo's David. I'm really frusterated, however, because I spent hours agonizing over proportions and trying to perfect each detail .. and when I finished .. I realized that ... well, his "masculinity" (if you know what I mean) was egregiously underemphasized ... (sigh)
I should have had a male give their advice before I let it dry out. ):

Culinary Kids

I was working with one of the kids in the kitchen, when I turned around and saw a camp coordinator's nightmare - Ryan (a Decal cook from UC Berkeley) was holding a gun to a camper's head. My heart started racing as images of angry parents demanding answers and threatening lawsuits swarmed my mind. But, just as I was about to demand that he put the gun down, I heard him solemly inform her, "Your temperature is 99.2. You need to calm down." A wave of relief assuaged my racing heartbeat. I quickly realized that the gun employed not bullets, but rather an ultraviolet ray that measures temperature. Sajdah had been too rowdy and Ryan wanted some quantifiable evidence to prove his point.

Pulling taffy? Culinary Kids ...

The Oakland Zoo

The Oakland Zoo

Me - feeding a giraffe! My suitemate works in the African department so I organized a trip with some friends over to the Oakland Zoo - behind the scenes!

A visit to the bay

I took Bethany to the Ferry building in San Francisco - the famer's market is incredible. Olivia, Bethany, and I had a busy weekend between touring Berkeley and exploring SF.

Documentary "Business"

This is Sara Levi, a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor. Right now I am doing a documentary on her life - her grandparents fled Spain because otherwise they would have been forced to convert from Judaism to Catholicism. They relocated to the Island of Rhodes, a quaint island in the Mediterranean Sea - where she grew up until Hitler gained power. I took Olivia, Bethany, and my new suitemate to visit her ...

My new apartment

This is Angela and Gaeton - one of my best friends here at Berkeley, and her Parisienne boyfriend. Angela actually grew up in Taiwan - and moved to the US when she was 12. We might spend Christmas in Corsica at Gaetan's place!





I had a crepe night at my new apartment - Gaetan showed us how true French crepes are made - but flipping proved to be a challenge.


This is the campus side of the panoramic views - you can see the belltower that Berkeley is famous for.






This is Adam (my boyfriend)



Olivia came to visit me for a week ...

Spring Break

My spring break was spent sliding along the slippery east coast (it was rainy for about half of my trip) and visiting friends and family. It was SO nice to see everyone; by the end of the trip, I realized that I had stayed in a different town every night. Philadelphia, Medford, New York, Princeton, New Haven ... the list goes on.
One of the highlights of my trip, however, was seeing Isaac! He is the cutest baby ever! Ann looks incredible, too. I must say, Bethany and I have done a good job dressing her in top-notch hand-me-downs. (; But besides that, she is the perfect mother. Already Isaac is more cultured than most - Ann only speaks with him in French!
I also got to see Dad, which was really fortuitous because he just happened to be in Philly the weekend I came in. At the last minute, we decided to meet Chris at Princeton and so we spent a few hours walking around campus and catching up. Dad bought Chris and I the ugliest umbrellas ever - boldly sporting Princeton's orange and black stripes. I can't wait for it to rain at Berkeley!
The next day, Dad and I went to visit one of his friends that lives in Philly - you should have heard how many good things he had to say about Dad! Did you know that Dad won a really prestiguous national award for a surgical video he did? He's considered one of the two best obstetrical surgeons in the nation ...
Anyway, I also spent a day shopping and restaurant-hopping with Anna and Aaron. We had so much fun! Aaron is hilarious - and Anna is the most laid-back girl ever. Aunt Barb's house is right next to Tufts - in a beautiful neighborhood and only a bike ride away from Harvard square. They did such a great job remodeling it; its beautiful!
The trip, however, was entirely too short. I can't complain, though, because my friends are flying me back to PA this August before I go abroad. That way, I will have plenty of time to road trip and visit. We are going to be staying in Canada for a few days and stopping along the way at Niagra falls and Cape Cod.

The Cal/Stanford Cook-Off

This picture is of one of the Berkeley contestants preparing the final touches on their dishes. Lucky me - I got to go to all of their practices! Berkeley won - but it was only by a mere fraction of a point ...


This Cook-Off was my huge project fall of 2006 - check out the articles!

Ecuador

This was in Ecuador - I belayed waterfalls with a couple that I met in the bus. I still don't know why I am smiling in this picture because I think I had just fallen off the ledge ...