No thanks, I prefer blueberries

How about this... when life gives you lemons, and you don't like lemons, pass them on to someone who does and go pick your own fruit. Take charge, advocate, find your passion and go for it.

Who WOULDN'T WANT to live here?

To travel and live in a 3rd world country you need a good sense of humor. That combined with sarcasm makes for some fun times. Laura and I have a very similar personality, I know, you love her already, huh? Today we decided to go for a walk from our house around where we live and document what we see...

First step is to leave the house, which often times is difficult because we know what is waiting out there for us. This afternoon we mustered up the courage to venture out on the streets of Santa Cruz. Here's our house...

Our little neighborhood is quite nice. We pay for it though. The fees to live here are high and without splitting it 3 ways there is no way I could afford to live here, but we do split it and we like it. The neighborhood is very small. There is no way you can just walk around INSIDE the condo complex because it would take 2 minutes. So we head out the entrance to the condo...

Here it is - Condomino Britannia. Today we decide to turn left and head on our walk.

Laura is standing at the wall of the condo and our house is right behind her. I'm on the road that leads to our complex. This section of Santa Cruz is not paved and when the dirt roads become potholed the solution is to take bricks and trash and fill in the holes. Yes, you are seeing a STREET. Oh, you want to see the same street from a different view... ok

Here's looking the other direction. If we go straight from here we would head towards our school, grocery store and downtown. Instead, today, we decide to go the other direction and do some exploring...

Not sure what is happening here, but this "factory" is directly behind our condo on the other side of the dirt road.

This is the other side of our condo, see that little shack looking thing? The guards sit in there and keep an "eye" out along the dirt roads.

Across the other dirt road, behind our condo is this lovely property. Not sure why they have 5 dogs running around, maybe they are guarding something special in there.

Walking along, we stop to admire the trash that has accumulated on the side of the road.

Here we are at the 5th ring of the city. I have no idea why the city department of transportation would decide to just stop paving RIGHT here.

 The city is made up of concentric rings starting in the city center which is surrounded by the first ring. 

We are now at the 5th ring (which isn't really a complete ring) and Av. Grigota and heading away from the city (South West corner of the map)...

This house is on the corner of the random dirt road we live off of and the 5th ring. Oh wait, what is THAT - over there... Look 

A turkey? Yup.

Getting ready to go on Av. Grigota, which is actually called the doble via La Guardia out this way...

This is a MAIN intersection in our town.

Each of the "highways" in the city have a median with a sidewalk, and as we were waiting to cross into the middle this semi passed by. I'm sure it meets all highway regulations and remember safety first.

Here's the paved sidewalk in the median. Nice. Now, let me share some of the "attractions" on each side of the road.

This must be the distribution plant for Arcor, which is a company that makes candy and other sweets. Arcor - magical moments await you.

Just a little restaurant on the corner. Wish you could hear the music blasting from the giant speakers out front.

Need your car washed? I'm sure it's cheap.

Yup, this is on the side of the "highway".

The road to Motel Parus looks nice. Should I book you a room for when you come visit me?

Did you need an industrial sink? I know a couple of good shops.

One of my super pet peeves of this city is that someone has decided to put SPEED BUMPS in the middle of a HIGHWAY! I know, this isn't I-95, but it is the fastest roads here, so why in the world would you put in speed bumps???

I should show you some halfway normal stuff... this actually looks like a real gas station.

Of course, across from the gas station is the agency of beer, oh and some more sinks.

Because I have such a positive outlook on life and although I am super sarcastic and love to see the "funny" side of things, I know that life is what you make of it and I love my life. On our little journey today we also saw this - 

Should I stay or should I go nowwwww

It's that time of the year, well for international teachers anyway, to start looking for a new job for the following school year. I know it seems far out, but with the visa process and picking up your entire life, it's good to have a nice head start.

I am only a few months into my second year here and the school year is going MUCH better than last year. My group of students this year are heaven and I am thoroughly enjoying being their teacher, and since 80% of my life is my work (while school is in session) that is a major part to consider. The other part is the town I live in and, well, you know how I feel about that. Santa Cruz is a strange place. The people here have so much pride for their city. The other day my kids asked me if I thought people here were "nice" and I told them they needed to walk down the street a few steps behind me to answer that question. We, gringos, stick out here and let's just say that this town doesn't seem to be very welcoming to being "different". My roommate with her really blonde hair, my tattoos and our new adopted brother is over 6 feet tall in a society where 4'10" is more normal than 6'. Whew, we are a walking circus act... To bear it you have to put up some thick walls and just bust a move on the sidewalk. Now, even when I wear long sleeves the stares happen, I just like to blame it on my tattoos. Don't even get me started about when they discover I only have one partially brown eye.

Then there is the trash and chaos that is the city. Each time I leave the house I am reminded. Reminded that the quality of air here has my lungs smoking a pack a day. Reminded that men continue to just pee anywhere they feel, not bothering to even shield themselves in any way. Reminded that the canals built to deal with the monsoon rains during rainy season are filled with trash. I am a broken record with this stuff. Can I bear another year AFTER this one?

Then I think of my students. Those young beings that I have made a part of my family.

I have a mental pro and con list started, but I need to put it on paper. I am paying a colleague to "fix" my resume and think it would be irresponsible of me not to even look for other jobs, so let the fun begin.

Solicited advice

What would you say if I told you that I was considering thinking about staying in Santa Cruz for another year? :: at this point I've covered my face, in case you decide to hit me :: but seriously, what do you think?

My dad is on some email list for quotes of the day and more often than not he forwards them on to the family because they have some significance in our lives... well this was one he sent recently:

I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes."

--Gene Fowler,
American journalist, author and dramatist

Mama Lisa

My teacher lunch table has become so unbearably negative that I've decided to extend my girlosophy group into lunch and as a group eat together and chat. Today was the second day that we ate in my room and after finishing our food and some girl chat, my 19, awesome, 10th grade girls decided to practice their dance routine for the upcoming Halloween party. I'm sitting towards the back of the circle we've formed with the desks, and the girls jump in the middle and all together start dancing, laughing, and working on the routine. While I'm sitting back in my chair I had this overwhelming feeling of pride. I actually got a bit choked up while I watched them and at that exact moment, 1:35 pm on 14 October 2010 I realized, oh my god, I found what I'm supposed to do in life. This is it. I am their "mother". I am supporting, nurturing, disciplining, caring for, and enjoying 19 teenage girls and I'm loving every single minute of it.

I get asked all the time, "why don't you want kids?" and today is why. If I had my own family I would be 100% focused on them, but because I am not a mom, I can give all that love to my kids at school. They are my children. I know that sounds corny, but I feel like their school mother. I have no desire what-so-ever to replace their real mother, but let's face it, I probably spend more time with them than their home mother. And guess what, since I'm not really responsible for them I can focus on the good stuff. I can stay positive and help them see what beautiful beings they are.

Before the bell rang to release us from lunch two students came over to me and said, "Miss, we don't like our ears, we want to have surgery. Look at them, they are big, I have to pull my hair over them." Because I know what it's like to be self conscience and have a low self esteem I was able to take a deep breath and say, "Girls, I want you to hear me... I think your ears are beautiful and a part of you, and you look great, however, if you think about it more and want to change something I will support you no matter what."

I chose my all girl homeroom and we've become a family.

Thank you - sister!

Welcome to my newly designed blog - all thanks to my super creative sister! She is a fantastic artist and full of creative ideas. She gets that from my mother who can whip up anything you need if you give her a needle, some thread and material. I did not get that gene. My sister and I are definitely a combination of our parents, but in very different ways. We are also 8 1/2 years apart so that plays a role, especially when dealing with computer stuff. I'm like my mother in that way and just need direction on what button to push, which I'm sure is the reason that my sister just logged into my blog and designed it without trying to tutor me along.

A few summers back she created this little scrapbook page from our photo! I love it.

She also did a page for Winnie after she was diagnosed with cancer... it is awesome.

Every holiday I look forward to her cards, which are hand made! She has even managed to get them to me in Bolivia! 

Pedigree = mutt

I am curious about my ancestors. Who where these people that picked up and left everything they knew for an unknown land. What was it like back then? Was there so much buzz about the new world that people couldn't resist? What kind of people were they? I relate to those few that said, hey, what the hell, let's try it somewhere else, BUT they did this without google earth or internet at all. Did they have any idea what they were getting themselves in to? Can you imagine leaving for a trip without a map, or in these days, photos and a lonely planet guide, without having any clue was was ahead? Was life that bad in Norway or Italy, or was it just the draw of something new and different.

You know what else... I don't even know much about my grandmothers' heritage. Where did their families come from and why did they venture to the US, and when did that happen. In my liberal mind this is unethical. Everyone talks about the grandfathers, oh he did this and he did that, but what about the other side of the family?

I guess people want to know about their past so that they can justify their lives. Oh, I'm just like crazy Uncle Stu, or she's so smart, just like her Aunt Katherine. If we know that our weird quirks are in our genes, it some how justifies them a little more.

So here I am in the early stages of contemplating where I'm going to live next year and it has me thinking... which crazy relative am I like? It has to be the one that got on that boat and sailed off, not knowing where they were going and didn't worry about leaving a legacy behind. No kids, no genes to spread. Here I am thinking of my past and not planning to leave a future.

It makes sense to me that I would be a wanderer. It makes more sense to me than sitting in the same town with a family and never leaving. My ancestors were the ones that left! All four of my grandparents came from different places. Their families were the odd balls, the ones that said, let's do it, let's take a risk and leave everything we know. Doesn't it make sense that I'm doing the same thing?

Cave - what?

Parque Torotoro is south of the city of Cochabamba in Bolivia.

I live in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, which isn't that far if there were decent roads to drive on and I had a car, so my roommates and I decided to fly to Cochabamba and then head south to the very small town of Torotoro (population 200). For some reason the government decided that it would be too expensive to actually pave the 110 km road from Cochabamba to Torotoro, so instead they had people place cobble stones - one by one - to build a "road". Needless to say the 110 km trip took 5 hours.

We knew the plan was to see dino tracks, waterfalls and caves. Living and traveling in 3rd world countries, one thing you learn really quickly is to lower your expectations for pretty much everything, so when we heard "cave" we thought, ooookaaaayyy...

Well, on rare occasions we are pleasantly surprised and this just so happened to be one of those occasions.

The cave... was... awesome...

We geared up...

and headed to the cave...

of course along the way, of course we saw some dino tracks...

as we got closer to the cave I started thinking... huh, this may not be so bad after all!

We go deeper and deeper, flick on the headlights and bam, we're in a cave.

We are in a large room and it feels cool and comfortable. We keep walking and all of a sudden the room gets smaller and smaller until I realize that I'm going to have to crab walk to fit...

I'm starting to panic a little bit. I have issues with tight spaces and this is certainly getting tighter. My heart is racing and I'm leading the way to get this part over with as quickly as possible. I haven't crab walked since elementary school...

Made it! Well, for a while anyway...

Wait, what, you want me to go where? No, I can't do it... ::heart racing:: I'll just stay here and hang out in the dark cave for the rest of my life... I wonder how long it would take before I go crazy? No, I can't, seriously, ok, I'll try, really, do I have to? 

squeeze

drag

crawl

I DID IT! Whew! What a feeling! You know when you push yourself to the limit and force yourself to do something that you don't think you can do? Well, here I am at the end of that push and man does it feel good! This is the point that I decide - you know what, I'm not going to stress about getting older anymore! That's IT, I'm changing my brain thoughts and every time I start to complain about getting close to 40, or a wrinkle, or my sagging skin, I'm going to STOP myself and remember the feeling of pushing myself and succeeding. Corny, cheesy, I know, but what a relief! I don't have to worry about getting older. I can just enjoy the fact that here I am at 38 - living a fantastic life - a life I've dreamed of - exploring the world.

Dino Tracks 101

Dinosaur tracks, footprints, traces, trails... the fossil evidence left behind when dinos roamed the earth millions of years ago. You need a nice sandy or muddy surface and a dinosaur to tromp across it, then you need it to get covered and stay covered, compress under pressure and turn to rock and, finally, get exposed millions of years later.

You can see from part A that an indentation is made by the dinosaur foot in soft sediment (deepness can depend on not only the size of the dino, but how soft the mud is as well). In the underlying layers there can be undertracks, which are just parts of the lower sediment layers that receive an indent, but are not the exact surface the dino was walking on. Usually these undertracks will not be as distinct or have claw marks. The layer above fills in the track itself, and forms a natural cast, if this consists of different sediment it can form a unique cast of the print itself.

In an area with the right aged rocks you can search under overhang layers and find tracks... which is exactly what I did on my drive from Cochabamba to Torotoro, Bolivia. 

We stopped for lunch at a site of a newly built bridge. The river was trickling down the almost dry bed and snaking its way through the canyons...

The bridge itself was the only shade around, so we headed under to find a cool lunch spot. The distinct layers of sediment weather and erode differently, depending on the resistance of the sediment. Shale (ancient mud deposits) erode faster than sandstone. These shale layers break apart, fall out of the outcrop and the more resistant sandstone is left. Under that bridge last week is where I looked up and exclaimed, "Hey, those are dinosaur tracks!" Natural casts actually.

How does this happen? What is going on?

Imagine: A quick, three toed carnivore is running across a section of mud near a lake... as he runs he leaves behind footprints and in the really mucky areas he sinks deeper than in the drier areas. He's off to another spot, when the rains start. This time it's a heavy rain. Pouring. Flash floods bring sediment from the higher areas onto the mud flat and all those three toed tracks are filled with a fine sand. The storm lasts for days and the original layer is being covered by meters of sandy flow. The rains stop, the area dries out and in a few months the rains repeat and repeat and that footprint layer is buried forever. Well, not really forever, because then the continent crashes into an ocean plate and the earth rises into the air and forms mountains. These mountains are high up and this time the rains cause erosion. Chunks of rocks break off and make their way down river for more layer building, but that original layer has now resurfaced and we are ready to see it. Voila the tracks that were left 100 million years ago are now back on the surface!

If you are lucky the original surface was nice and flat and the dino left a long trail of tracks... Here you see a trackway left by an Ankylosaur type dinosaur.

Notice that the ankylosaur was not "turtle like" nor did it walk like an alligator. Dinosaurs had and upright stance with legs under the body instead of sprawled out.

Do you want another look at those tracks?

This photo was taken from outside our room at our hostel in Torotoro, Bolivia.

Notice that I said that these tracks were left by an ankylosaur type dinosaur. Tracks have their own classification system that is NOT the name of the dinosaur. Unless you find the skeleton still stuck in the footprint there is not enough evidence to say exactly which dino made the track. Instead tracks are divided into their own categories...

Can you identify the type of track from the photos?

Notice the claw mark on the middle toe. Can you see the pad impressions on the right toe? Imagine the soft mud as this therapod races across the surface.

Using my foot for scale, this is an obviously big track. Huge, roundish tracks, with a bit of overlapping between the back foot and the front foot.

Sauropods are my favorite dinos...

Whoa...

This is actually a close up of one of the tracks on a huge slab near the El Vergel waterfall in Torotoro.

Ye-haw I love dino tracks!