Hey there,
Just in case you thought I had dropped off the face of the earth, well, perhaps I had. I have enjoyed my vacation - four weeks of travelling around and visiting friends and family. Tomorrow (Monday) I am back to work, hopefully I will remember how that goes...
In summary, I was in Toronto for a week, Vancouver for a week, Sydney, Australia for just under a week and then Melbourne for under a week before returning to Vancouver and Toronto for a few days. Now I am on my way back down to San Jose and work as I write this. I have been generally avoiding the computer and email although not completely, just enough to try and wean my dependency.
Now for the somewhat gory details...
I abandoned Costa Rica with relish - not because I am not enjoying myself, but because it is always good to get a chance to come home, have a break and visit with friends and family.
I arrived late at night, lugging a heavy box for delivery to Andrea's mom - she better appreciate that. :) I stayed with one of the members of my group (Cindy) when I was a leader last year in Toronto. It was good to catch up and throw all my junk all over her house. I bought about $900 of things from Mountain Equipment Coop (about $30 for me, the rest for people in Costa Rica) and stored it at Cindy's. Poor girl.
I visited my parents, brother, grandparents and saw my nephew Matty again. He is about 3 1/2 now. Still fun to play with, but he is now more independent, he invents his own games and amusement.
I managed to catch up with my sister, a few friends from university at a BBQ, a FOG volunteer, Berj, two classmates from LAMP and a good friend from RJI/Costa Rica that has returned home. I managed to catch a play at the Fringe Festival, see a movie, Sexy Beast, and go dancing, although the dancing was pretty limited, but we did get to see a drag show at least.
After Toronto, I headed to Vancouver, and stayed with my friend Tyrion from LAMP. Thanks to Erin, another classmate, I was not stranded at the airport during the bus strike. I managed to catch up with more friends from Nortel, YCI and LAMP, some I hadn't seen in years and even got to go cosmic bowling! I showed off my exemplary bowling skills :)
I ate lots of good food, although it was/is straining my budget.
Of course, I whine a lot about my budget, but I did go to Australia, so perhaps I shouldn't complain. I had no money to do that, so I cashed some RSPs and left after some difficulties with my visa card and my Australian visa. (Perhaps I am too dangerous to let into Australia :)
I arrived in Sydney two days after I left Vancouver. Two friends from Costa Rica, Dom and Elke, who had just got back to Oz a few weeks before themselves, picked me up. We had a cereal breakfast on the beach and then walked up several beaches.
It is winter in Australia, so for the inevitable questions about my tan (I don't tan anyway, even if I bothered to try) it was too cold. It was about 10-15 degrees during my stay and rainy on most days. This didn't bother me as such as I went to see friends, not lie on the beach.
After an afternoon nap, Dom, Elke and I caught up with Rachel that evening before returning home to a nice homecooked meal and fudge. I taught Dom and Elke the recipe and have heard that they are continuing to make it. Gramma's world-famous fudge is now making the rounds.
The next day, after getting a little lost and arriving quite late, I met up with two others from my group when I was a leader, Dan and Harriet. We spent the afternoon at a cafe at the beach, eating slowly and talking lots. That evening, I went out with the YCI crowd in Australia, didn't really know any of them, except Dom, Elke and Brendon - the director there - but it was fun. We went to a schwanky place down by the harbour.
The next day, Sunday, Dom, Elke and I went for a hike north of Sydney. It was great to see a bit of the life outside of the city. It is beautiful, and different than wilderness anywhere else I have been. I think I need to get back in the summer to see the real thing though.
I also managed to meet up with two people that were in Guyana with me in 1992 that I hadn't seen since then, so that was great. Both are married and both have children or are with child. It's fun to meet people after a long time to see what they have been up to...
I stayed at Dan's a few nights and we also made fudge. This, if anything, was the theme of my trip I think.
In Melbourne, I stayed with Mark, my co-leader in Costa Rica. Mark, Simone (from our group) and Jacky (from Mark's other group) met me at the gate which was fun. We immediately drove out to the bush and went for a hike and a climb. Actually, Mark went climbing and we watched. Both Jacky and I tried, but with limited success. We had a great picnic lunch though.
That night I met one of the Australian volunteers at a fundraiser - a showing of the Bridget Jones movie. She'll be in Costa Rica in September, it was fun to meet her.
The next day, Jacky and I explored Melbourne - getting tips from the information office - and found some free sites that were great. One was using the bathroom in a fancy hotel on the 35th floor to get a free, great view of the city.
We ended the afternoon at Mark's work, a children's farm in the city right on the Yarra River. We helped feed the baby lambs, goats, etc. Jacky, Tom and I went to Baraka as well. Good movie.
The next day, Simone and I made fudge and gallo pinto for Mark. I had an afternoon nap, always the highlight of any day. In the evening we explored three of Melbourne's pubs including the pokies (video poker machines) and the race betting tabs.
Simone also took me to a Aussie rules football game. I am not nearly as interested in sports as Simone is, but I enjoyed the game and found it to be much more skilled and less violent than the highlight reels would lead one to believe. That night Summer, another of our group, came over and we had a great dinner with a rousing game of Barricade in which Mark betrayed our team (me) and we lost. He always was untrustworthy, that jerk. :)
On my last day in Australia, Bethany came in from Adelaide and we had a big reunion with five of us at Mark's house for a slumber party. It was great to catch up, see photos and we actually slept during our sleepover.
The next morning the whole crew came to the airport with me and wrote notes to various other Canadian friends. It was a quick but fun trip.
Back in Canada, I caught up with more friends and family again in my last few days... It was great to see everyone, although I can never seem to catch up with everyone no matter how much time is available...
So, I am heading back into Costa Rica and work. Should be a busy, fun and challenging year....
Hope to hear from you soon,
Rob