that's where I am right now. Back in ye olde neighborhood in Capitol Hill. I spent this weekend apartment shopping, sort of... I walked around the neighborhood yesterday and wrote down contact info for some places that looked interesting. I had planned on calling on them all today, but that didn't happen. I did send out some emails to building managers for ones that had email addresses though. We'll see. I have a couple weeks yet to find a place. However, the time is ticking away quite rapidly.
I went to a restaurant last night with a couple of friends. The name of the place is Marakesh and it is in Belltown, on 2nd street for anyone that knows anything about Seattle geography. It was awesome. We all sat on really low benches or cushions around a table that was about 1 foot off of the ground. There were no utensils, so we used our hands to eat everything. There were 5 courses to the meal. We started out with a tomato based soup with squash, next was bread with a couple different sauces. The third food item brought out was a pastry that tasted somewhat like baklava, but had chicken in it and was topped with powdered sugar. Very tasty! Next was the main course. Well actually 6 main courses that we all shared family style. There were lamb kabobs, some kind of plum chicken, game hen, a cous cous dish, and I can't remember what else. All of the dishes were good. Finally there was dessert, which was tea and a sweet meringue like dish. The server brought hot water and a wash basin to the table and poured the water over our hands both before the first course and then before dessert. He also poured rose water over our hands before dessert. We had 3 bottles of wine and a belly dancer to entertain us while we enjoyed our meal. All in all it was an excellent experience, one I definitely plan on doing again. Next time, we are going to get the whole lamb (which we would have done this time if you didn't need 3 days notice).
After the meal, we hit a couple of capitol hill bars and had a few brews. We wanted to make sure our stomachs were completely full! My friend Theresa was kind enough to allow me to crash at her place and avoid the drive home. The next morning Chris, Theresa and I hit the Broadway Grill for a greasy breakfast and a bloody mary. Man I love Seattle! Well, I'm going to get going so I can finish my coffee and vegan sandwich (which is surprisingly good!). Have a good night all.
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
So Here I Am
...in Redmond, sitting at my desk, at work. I don't have internet connectivity at home currently, so I'm staying after work to take advantage of the free access. Won't spend too much time though, so it's going to be a short entry ;)
The arrival and move into my apartment went smoothly. They rented me a Pontiac Grand Am which is a nice roomy car, and the temp housing they put me up in is about 5-8 miles from work. Today is my second day of work. My first day consisted of NEO (New Employee Orientation) from 8:30am untill 2:30pm, meeting the team, setting up my office, getting some reading material, and leaving at about 4pm. Not too shabby! I'm sure it will prove to be the easiest day I will ever have at work here :).
I'm sharing an office with another new guy (he's been here about 2 months) who also happened to be an intern over the summer. In fact, I met him over the summer. It also turns out that Justin Wilcox, another Poly grad and friend of mine, is on the team as well. It really is a small world after all! Heh. Truthfully though, I should have remembered/realized that Justin was on the team (since he told me when I ran into him during one of my trips here for interviews), but we all know how Miguel's mind works sometimes (or doesn't work for that matter).
Well, I'm getting hungry so it's time for me to say goodbye.
goodbye.
The arrival and move into my apartment went smoothly. They rented me a Pontiac Grand Am which is a nice roomy car, and the temp housing they put me up in is about 5-8 miles from work. Today is my second day of work. My first day consisted of NEO (New Employee Orientation) from 8:30am untill 2:30pm, meeting the team, setting up my office, getting some reading material, and leaving at about 4pm. Not too shabby! I'm sure it will prove to be the easiest day I will ever have at work here :).
I'm sharing an office with another new guy (he's been here about 2 months) who also happened to be an intern over the summer. In fact, I met him over the summer. It also turns out that Justin Wilcox, another Poly grad and friend of mine, is on the team as well. It really is a small world after all! Heh. Truthfully though, I should have remembered/realized that Justin was on the team (since he told me when I ran into him during one of my trips here for interviews), but we all know how Miguel's mind works sometimes (or doesn't work for that matter).
Well, I'm getting hungry so it's time for me to say goodbye.
goodbye.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Tiring week
Wow, back in the states now. There's still so much I'd like to say about my experiences in Chile, but it will have to wait for another time (if ever). So I got back in the middle of the day on Monday.
The movers came yesterday, packed up all of my crap and are now on their way to Redmond. I myself will be on my way to Redmond at 6am tomorrow morning. BBQ with the fam last night, then off to Larry's for awhile, I'll be visiting with Wayne tonight, and finishing packing :). Speaking of which, I gots'ta get goin'.
The movers came yesterday, packed up all of my crap and are now on their way to Redmond. I myself will be on my way to Redmond at 6am tomorrow morning. BBQ with the fam last night, then off to Larry's for awhile, I'll be visiting with Wayne tonight, and finishing packing :). Speaking of which, I gots'ta get goin'.
Tiring week
Wow, back in the states now. There's still so much I'd like to say about my experiences in Chile, but it will have to wait for another time (if ever). So I got back in the middle of the day on Monday.
The movers came yesterday, packed up all of my crap and are now on their way to Redmond. I myself will be on my way to Redmond at 6am tomorrow morning. BBQ with the fam last night, then off to Larry's for awhile, I'll be visiting with Wayne tonight, and finishing packing :). Speaking of which, I gots'ta get goin'.
The movers came yesterday, packed up all of my crap and are now on their way to Redmond. I myself will be on my way to Redmond at 6am tomorrow morning. BBQ with the fam last night, then off to Larry's for awhile, I'll be visiting with Wayne tonight, and finishing packing :). Speaking of which, I gots'ta get goin'.
Sunday, August 08, 2004
6 minute blog
I've got 6 min until my time at the internet cafe expires, so a quick entry it will be. I have one more day before my Chile experience is at it's end and I must return to the real world :(. Well, it's been a great experience, and I can't wait to be able to take a vacation and travel again. lol
My parents left on Friday, so it's just been my sis and me. We went to her friend Peter's house for a party on Friday night and I drank too much for my own good. There weren't very many people that spoke English, so I only ended up talking to like 4-5 people. There were other foreign students living at the house, so there were alot of French people there. Pisco, beer and wine, mmmm... Speaking of drinks, they drink some odd things here. Fanschop is beer mixed with orange fanta, and they drink red wine with Coke. Strange.
Well, I'm gonna go so that there is enough time to post this page before I'm kicked off. Later
My parents left on Friday, so it's just been my sis and me. We went to her friend Peter's house for a party on Friday night and I drank too much for my own good. There weren't very many people that spoke English, so I only ended up talking to like 4-5 people. There were other foreign students living at the house, so there were alot of French people there. Pisco, beer and wine, mmmm... Speaking of drinks, they drink some odd things here. Fanschop is beer mixed with orange fanta, and they drink red wine with Coke. Strange.
Well, I'm gonna go so that there is enough time to post this page before I'm kicked off. Later
Thursday, August 05, 2004
A Day Alone
Today is the first day that my sister is attending classes for her new semester. My parents are going shopping at these little "artisan" shops in the city. I´d rather not be doing that, so this is my day to myself. I said to my family last night that it won´t be until today that we actually realize how much we´ve been depending on Rebecca.
I rode the metro to school with Rebecca. I´m currently sitting in a computer lab, catching up on emails (more relocation stuff mostly) and writing to my blog. It´s a familiar feeling, being in a computer lab like this. The drone from the fans in the machines and the buzz of quiet conversation surrounding me. It´s really no different from the labs at Cal Poly. It doesn´t matter that I can´t understand a word these people are speaking, I´m not listening. They just provide the background noise that allows me to sink my mind into my work, which at this moment is writing.
I´ll go grab some coffee as soon as I finish this entry and watch the people walk through the buildings here on campus. I´m also going to go do some shopping of my own today, if I can manage to find my way around this city without Rebecca. Beyond that and eating something, I don´t really have any plans for the day. Just relaxing. :)
I rode the metro to school with Rebecca. I´m currently sitting in a computer lab, catching up on emails (more relocation stuff mostly) and writing to my blog. It´s a familiar feeling, being in a computer lab like this. The drone from the fans in the machines and the buzz of quiet conversation surrounding me. It´s really no different from the labs at Cal Poly. It doesn´t matter that I can´t understand a word these people are speaking, I´m not listening. They just provide the background noise that allows me to sink my mind into my work, which at this moment is writing.
I´ll go grab some coffee as soon as I finish this entry and watch the people walk through the buildings here on campus. I´m also going to go do some shopping of my own today, if I can manage to find my way around this city without Rebecca. Beyond that and eating something, I don´t really have any plans for the day. Just relaxing. :)
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Chile Segundo
So, I´m in another internet cafe in Chile. Apparently, they are abundant here. (I guess they are in the states too, but I´ve never needed to use them) The one I am at is about 1/2-1 mile from my sisters place. She exchanges time on the computers here for time working with the owner on his english.
I´ve had tons of good food and drink since last I wrote. Much too much of it to comment on all of it. I´ll make it back to the food on a future post. For now, it´s about the other experiences.
We´ve pretty much been running around non-stop. We went to all three of the houses of Pablo Neruda, the Nobel Prize winning poet from Chile. One of them had closed for the night, so we didn´t have a chance to ´tour´it. (All of his houses have been converted to museums per his request in his will) The houses were awesome in and of themselves. They also housed many interesting and amazing things. He was obsessed with ships, so there were women masthead figures from actual ships all over. Also rooms that were architected to seem as though you were actually on a ship. There was also original art from many famous artists. Among these was a painting of his third wife by Diego Rivera. My memory may be failing me (which it seems to do more and more so as the days go by), but I beleive that Diego and Frieda housed Neruda for awhile during the whole Allende, Pinochet "thing".
There´s so much more I´d like to write about the trips to the Neruda houses, but I only have so much time before this place closes. I should write when I have time when I get back, but of course I probably wont. Anyways, on to the next thing.
I went snowboarding in the Chilean Andes! Actually, there shouldn´t really be an exclamation point. I was pretty dissapointed with the conditions and the equiptment that I rented. However, the mountains were beautiful and I can imagine how incredible they must be after a good dump. (We went a couple days after just the second storm of the season) The trip up and back was pretty incredible though! haha It was filled with steep climbs and tons of switchbacks. You could look up or down the mountain and see 5 or 6 roads full of cars criss-crossing each section of the mountain. Pretty impressive both during the day and night.
We´ve also had the chance to visit a few museums. Pre-Columbian art, history of Santiago, and an exhibit from a Chilean artist by the last name Chavez (can´t remember the first). All pretty neat stuff, especially the art from Chavez. Look him up on the internet, because I don´t have enough time to describe his stuff in this post. In fact, I need to get going so I can try and sort some stuff out with the movers that will be moving me a couple days after I return!!!
I´ve had tons of good food and drink since last I wrote. Much too much of it to comment on all of it. I´ll make it back to the food on a future post. For now, it´s about the other experiences.
We´ve pretty much been running around non-stop. We went to all three of the houses of Pablo Neruda, the Nobel Prize winning poet from Chile. One of them had closed for the night, so we didn´t have a chance to ´tour´it. (All of his houses have been converted to museums per his request in his will) The houses were awesome in and of themselves. They also housed many interesting and amazing things. He was obsessed with ships, so there were women masthead figures from actual ships all over. Also rooms that were architected to seem as though you were actually on a ship. There was also original art from many famous artists. Among these was a painting of his third wife by Diego Rivera. My memory may be failing me (which it seems to do more and more so as the days go by), but I beleive that Diego and Frieda housed Neruda for awhile during the whole Allende, Pinochet "thing".
There´s so much more I´d like to write about the trips to the Neruda houses, but I only have so much time before this place closes. I should write when I have time when I get back, but of course I probably wont. Anyways, on to the next thing.
I went snowboarding in the Chilean Andes! Actually, there shouldn´t really be an exclamation point. I was pretty dissapointed with the conditions and the equiptment that I rented. However, the mountains were beautiful and I can imagine how incredible they must be after a good dump. (We went a couple days after just the second storm of the season) The trip up and back was pretty incredible though! haha It was filled with steep climbs and tons of switchbacks. You could look up or down the mountain and see 5 or 6 roads full of cars criss-crossing each section of the mountain. Pretty impressive both during the day and night.
We´ve also had the chance to visit a few museums. Pre-Columbian art, history of Santiago, and an exhibit from a Chilean artist by the last name Chavez (can´t remember the first). All pretty neat stuff, especially the art from Chavez. Look him up on the internet, because I don´t have enough time to describe his stuff in this post. In fact, I need to get going so I can try and sort some stuff out with the movers that will be moving me a couple days after I return!!!
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