Dan's Adventures

Easter Monday, home from school for the morning

2009-04-13T06:56:00.000-07:00

So I went to a humungous outdoor theatre show of the Passion of the Christ. That was pretty groovy. The eight stages (each in a huge gravel depression, for sight and sound to carry to the thousands of spectators) were magnificent, and the horses, chariots and Roman soldiers rocked my socks! It's the first time I've been significantly inland from Recife, and it was really nice to see a bit of a different landscape. The hills rose up, stopped being covered with little houses and started being covered with boulders instead. There were a bunch of fun exchangers on the bus (a few ones I hadn't met before too, from Caruaru) I also ended up at the Recife Iron Maiden concert - surprisingly shoddy sound, but the 25,000 screaming, jumping Brazilian men made up for that. What a crazed atmosphere!

I have a challenge going with Alex, one of my good friends here - we're writing poetry every day of April (though I'm sitting at 2/3 days). Lots of fun, nonetheless. Writing and memorizing my faves helps beat the dullness of school. Privacy is not as holy as in Canada, so I often get asked what I'm writing. I've taken to saying I'm working on a novel. It's sort of a fun thing to say, and it also makes me wish I was being truthful. I had the urge for a few days, to make April the equivalent of Manuary. In January, though, I might have better odds for respectable facial hair.

This day, I'm staying away from school for the morning, since I had a sub-ideal night. I had rough stomachaches and didn't manage to fall asleep until three-thirty. In my awake-but-half-dreaming state I wrote that "He used to use his long fingernails (like splinters) to shoplift. It looks bad on me, and now it really looks bad for him". It made me chuckle this morning since I have no memory of writing it down.

Kay, over and out,
Dan

aitz... the post-swim post

2009-03-18T12:27:00.001-07:00

Right. I'm freaking zonkered. I just came home from my first swim practice at Colégio Boa Viagem, and I had two options – read Nietzsche or write a (short-ish) long-overdue post. The post won out, in the end.

I can only recall one workout session in the pool since I quit the swim team. If that was after grade ten, it makes it three years. Right now, as far as hardcore-ness goes, my body's only used to medium-sized runs and sleep deprivation. And heat. But not swimming in hot water. I only swam about a kilometer, but that did me in good, gave me a nice sailor's stagger toward the changing room. Once I stepped into the shower, I sat down, cross-legged, under the falling water, my back braced against the wall. I didn't trust my legs to keep me off the ground. The feeling of my head expanding and shrinking in time with my heartbeat – first my temples, then the back and behind the eyes –started going away. My fingers were still tingly when I got out to chat scheduling with the coach (which in Portuguese felt like a lot of effort), and my upper lip was salty again.

Then I took the lovely Piedade bus home, after having perhaps the second-best soda of my life. (The best one was certainly at the football game, in the sweltering stadium, chanting about the Nautico mascot-rat teaching us his dance). The bus is always lovely here, crowded, hot, hard to keep your balance on, but interesting every time. There are people to watch, to talk to, streets and stores to recognize, windows to hang your head and arm out of, breezes to feel on your skin.

So these photos are all from an amazing trip that Erica and Italo arranged for me, before they had even met me! I spent an absolutely wonderful week on Fernando de Noronha, an island of only 26 square kilometers. This is all it is (and sorry tons for the crud on my sensor).

There were tons of tourists on the island, and still, very few people could speak English. I went on a minibus tour of the place (6km of paved road) and had the opportunity to translate for a neat Swedish couple I met. The next bay down the line from this picture is Baia de Sueste, where I snorkeled for an hour. Saw the most marvelous creatures under the surface – a few green sea turtles, which are fantastic, huge, graceful, seriously prehistoric-looking creatures. A couple rays, a shark and a barracuda, both about leg-sized. There would be schools of fish that looked like prickly-pear leaves lit up from the inside, one fish, two fish (and often huge schools of many more very close), red fish, blue fish (more blue than red, actually). That evening I realized why the red fish had been hiding – they had been scared away by the big reddening one in a life jacket, Bermudas and snorkeling gear. I peeled bad a few days later.

Here, in a restaurant, I came to adore "musica popular brasileira". Guitar and voice with chord progressions that I had never imagined existed. And poetry that I could appreciate just for the sounds of the words. It's nice to just listen for this, without needing to look for the meaning. Something I can't do in English, and probably not in Portuguese anymore. Ahhh, I'm reduced to fragments. It's time to go to my second option.

one week in recife

2009-02-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

And now I’ve been in Recife for a week. The place is amazingly different, and really quite amazing. A massive city in the tropics – very much another world. I live with Erica and Italo – and Minnie the shar-pei - in a seventh-floor apartment four blocks from the beach. I haven’t seen much of the city yet, but I walked the dog with my host dad a couple days ago, just a couple of blocks. Some of the trees here have flowers that smell absolutely amazing; there are canals that don’t smell as amazing. I met my first couple of boratas (cockroaches) on the walk. Totally caught me off guard, and my automatic reaction was this little dance to step on them. I adore the rains here, and it makes me laugh when everyone runs for cover. It’s such a refreshing thing. Ahhh; agua de coco was so refreshing, after today’s run. The beach 60 clicks north of here (where the family has a house) is super swell, and next time we go, I will snap some shots.

I can think of so many things I’d rather spend twenty-five hours of my life doing than sit in noisy planes and busy airports (with the TVs blaring the same news every half-hour). Sleep, for one. But it really was an okay trip. And a few really nice things happened on the way. I got to watch some doves and sparrows that had taken up residence at JFK, New York. Tremendous. I always like birds, though.

In Atlanta, I met a group of people headed to Fortaleza, and spent the last leg of the trip with a sick Ana Luísa (also sick as in very cool). She was kind enough not to get me sick, and really good company. I meant to practice some Portuguese, but it is so, so difficult. Still, I am amazingly grateful for the Portuguese that Monica managed to teach me. Without it I might be feeling not-so-hot about being here. And there was also the foolish drunk guy across the aisle: I had to help him with his customs card since he’d forgotten his reading glasses. A little bit entertaining.

Only one horrible thing has happened so far – on Friday morning, as Italo and I were rushing out the door to get to school on time, I realized that my tube of toothpaste was empty. I grabbed the next tube on the counter, and started brushing with the most foul stuff, assuming it was toothpaste. Nope. Shaving cream, which I didn’t find out until the evening, having doubted it all day. Gross. Apparently the people in charge at school find lateness very upsetting, perhaps connected to Brazilians seeming pretty relaxed about timing. They’re not so relaxed about school (and they did put me in the last year of high school, after all), and they seem to spend every weekday studying. So I need to find some good things to do when everyone else is freaking out about their uni. entrance test.

Oh yeah, this one’s for Matt: I had to decline some food the other night (my host grandparents are worried I’m not eating enough, and I worry the reverse). So I said “não neste noite”, NOT ON THIS NIGHT

here come the photos

2008-09-29T05:31:00.000-07:00

Tereza and Maddy on Mt. Royal

Nicola

This place felt very Narnian

wild grapes coming into Montreal

the Metro in Montreal

Tereza and I on Mt. Royal this morning

thought I'd botched both Toronto pidgeon-pictures

me again

cool beans, as they say

the ferry from Prince Edward County to the mainland

Alex Cuba in Toronto

Angela at the show

looking at a car / planter

we couldn't do much without verbs

my mannequin friend

my jeans are falling apart...

2008-09-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

and each time I patch them, I become infinitely more attached. My Captain Blackbeard t-shirt is beyond faded, from salt and the sun. I often have a "wash-off tan" (also known as road dirt). So it's no wonder I had a woman give me directions to Brampton's soup kitchen.

A bit of context, too - I'd taken the bus from Guelph and was hoping to get downtown on the bus, skip the city biking and all. But, the driver refused to let me on, so I ended up stuck in Brampton without a map, and with a bunch of Toronto to bike through. So I went to town hall in the hopes of finding a map, got sent to the Economic Development Office, and got some amazing help from the secretary there. She got me a Google map to Angela's place on Springmount Ave, made sure I knew where the soup kitchen was in case I was hungry (which I thought was a very considerate thing to do), and was just generally kind. Anyway, we weren't aware that Toronto has two Springmount Avenues! So I ended up going to the wrong part of town. But I met a friendly Swede named Ulf who set me straight (total fluke).

Toronto was amazing, especially Chinatown and Kensington Market. And also especially the art galleries on Queen. Cities are really quite cool. Montreal is also really amazing, and much kinder on bikers (although I did get a bent rim from one of the city's infamous potholes). McGill is really impressive, and hopefully tomorrow's chemistry lecture will be as impressive as the Chaucer class at Laurier.

It's really nice to be back in Canada, because now I'm seeing people I know from before. The basic getting-to-know-each-other is already done, so you don't have to start from scratch every time. It's also given me the chance to spend time with people I haven't seen for a while, and haven't spent enough time with. It was so, so nice to be with Scott & Jen and Nicola & Alex and catch up on who they are and how they are and what they're up to. Thanks guys!

Something snuck up on me on the way to Kory in Brockville - Lake Ontario (with islands a ways from shore) gradually turned into the St. Lawrence River. So gradually that by the time I noticed the change, it was all over, and felt quite abrupt.

I encountered two very odd smells that day, too. A couple of times, the air smelled hugely of cheesies. I think it was from the trucks whose sides proclaimed "COSCO - Quality Corn Products". "Natural cheddar flavour"? I also smelled rårörda lingon (basically cranberry sauce, but I like it better).

As usual, Kory and I had a huge amount of discussion to do, and spent lots of time talking politics. We entertained ourselves by considering the idea, among others, that "Aulac survives mainly through vampirism". I got to meet Kory's entire Peruvian-Canadian Canada World Youth group, and am super-happy to have spent some time with them. I also tagged along and helped out at the Prescott food bank, which is actually something I could imagine doing back home.

So, that's only really the beginning of what I'd like to say, but I think it's all my fingers can manage. Moving on to some pics. Wait, Tereza needs her computer, so another time.

Love to all

/Dan

Michigan - thank goodness for forests and cool nights

2008-09-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while. I'm in Munising, Michigan, on a computer at the high school library. The end-of-day announcements went off a few minutes ago, and the buses rolled by outside the window. I'm not allowed on Facebook. Whatevs... That'll speed me up.

I've spent two nights on Vermillac Lake, a bit west of here. Someone recommended it to me at a little cornerstore nearby. In the morning, it was covered in a thick fog, and looked wonderful for swimming. It was, warm and shallow. While I was frying up some pancakes, Wayne came by and said to come over for some leftover ribs if I wanted. He was camped out just a little ways down the shore, for the summer. One of his friends offered me his canoe, and I took it out for a couple hours. Really peaceful on the lake, very quiet except for the water sounds and far-off noises from the shore.

Lake Superior is the bomb, too. Much colder and wilder. I met a fellow (named Dan) outside the grocery in Marquette who took me for a boat ride, and they ended up feeding me and giving me a place to camp out. Wonderful company at the cottage, even though the four other people there were a generation older than me. I also spoke some Swedish to a woman whose mother came from close to Pajala. The smell of the red pines reminds me of Sweden, and I haven't smelled them since Itasca State Park, where I camped out with a wonderful couple from Grand Rapids (I think) - Jewell and Dave. We spent an afternoon biking down there together, and shared a multi-course meal. Pretty basic courses, but courses nonetheless. It was super to have company on the bike.

There are blueberries, Saskatoons and wild apples around here - delicious, and varies my diet a bit. Last night I camped out illegally at a scenic lookout, and had a numbingly cold swim in the sunrise. Figured no one would bother me there, with the thunderstorm and driving rain. I stayed dry, though, no Wakefield this time.

I've heard a deer sneeze - that was a strange thing to experience. And I forgot to mention to Matt/Alex especially - when I was in Minot, ND, I saw a Happy Panda Chinese restaurant! It made me chuckle, and if they'd had a buffet, I would surely have eaten there. I also have these urges every so often, courtesy of Dave and Matt, to shout "biking for a reason!" or "Swedes for life!". You'd be surprised how often this feels appropriate...

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone when I get back home - I suppose you're all in school by now. Anyway, some photos:

Jewell and Dave in Itasca

State Park roads sure are nice to bike on

trees - a common sight, to say the least

I suppose you'll recognize me

Vermillac Lake

sunrise this morning, pre-swim

the prairie post

2008-08-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Right now I'm in Fosston, Minesota, and loving life on the road. It's kind of rainy, so I'm at the library for a while. I'm kind of at a loss for what to write - I've seen so much that it's hard to know what to pass on, especially since I haven't put anything up since Calgary.

So I'll start with the obvious: I've been in the States for a week. North Dakota was beautiful, and so is Minnesota. There are more trees here than in Saskatchewan, and now I'm coming in to forests and lakes. People are generally just as nice as north of the border. There are lots of people to spend time with, but less than in BC. In Estevan (Sask.), this guy named Carl took me in, fed me, gave me a place to wash my clothes, a bed to sleep in, and so on. He's a grandfather, and was really good company. I've also had great company in Brooks, where P.J. made me a fantastic meal, with corn and king crab. We played board games for a while.

Cycling on the prairies is kind of monotonous, to start out. After a while, it gets interesting again, when you start seeing the slight changes in the landscape, and when you start watching the sky. Clouds can be tremendous entertainment. Sunsets and moonrises are absolutely fantastic when they have so much sky to play out on. My second full moon has passed. The night of the full moon (I think), there was a coyote that watched me for a long time, followed me to my campsite for a long ways down a side road. The way they jump to see above the grain is really neat!

The border crossing took ages, since they ended up searching all my gear. The border guards really take their jobs seriously. And they took my oranges! That's what really hurt. I suppose I get my vitamin C from Gatorade powder, though. I've been eating pancakes, as per Alex's recommendation, but unfortunately, they turn into scrambled pancakes for lack of a spatula. Still quite tasty. Soups, cold oatmeal, and powdered potatoes are all very satisfying as staples.

Em and I at the cottage

and Ken & Pat

reminded me of Elysium, in the film "Gladiator"

power lines

the kind of place that gives the States its character

prom flowers!

beautiful ND

and a beautiful roadside to camp out on

beach on Devil's Lake, ND

self-portrait, from yesterday

the missing captions

2008-08-01T00:11:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should mention why I've put these pictures up, and what they are:

The first two are in Vernon, with Heather and Allison, and more of the wonderful Harkers.

Next is the lake in Three Valley, toward evening. I guess this photo is pretty similar to the Kenomee pic

A shot of one of the perhaps half-dozen avalanche sheds I had to bike through after Glacier Nat. Park, I think. I hid from my first rainstorm in one of them. A bit nerve-wracking.

Next are Saskia and Marco fom Holland. I spent the better part of two days with these two, and Dean. We hid from the rain in the cooking shelter at the Takkakaw campground in Glacier and then ended up reconnecting in Lake Louise. Amazing folks.

A butterfly I saw in Yoho Nat. Park. The moneyshot out of maybe fifteen.

Remo Bruppacher. A super-cool Swiss boy that ended up hanging out at my campsite three days in a row. We spent a lot of time trying to communicate in German, Swedish and English. Lots of pointing at objects and naming them, motioning, and so on. His parents made me coffee two mornings.

Remo doesn't exactly have a steady hand, but this is the best picture I have of myself at the moment. The hat feels right for life on the road. I've appreciated it in the sun and the rain.

Heather flowers above the treeline in Glacier.

My lunch spot on the first epic hike, of two. Probably the coolest spot I've eaten lunch recently, on a ridge overlooking two different glaciers.

photo upload from Calgary

2008-07-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

2008-07-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hey again! Right now I'm at the library in Golden, BC. I've fallen in love with the mountains. It's pretty near impossible to capture the feel, and the magnificence of the place with the camera. I spent most of yesterday hiking up to a glacier and hanging out up high. I was the only person on the trail for the six hours I spent up there. The Okanagan valley was beautiful, in a very different way. The sagebrush in the hills, and the orchards are very different from each other.

I've met so many nice people on the way. Everywhere I go, there are people to spend time with. Jean and Marie-Claire in Osoyoos, Louis who took me in and fed me supper in Revelstoke, Heather and family and friends in Vernon, the Swiss family that fed me breakfast at the campground this morning. (So many thanks to you all).

Camping has been really positive. I've slept lots of strange places, like peach orchards, beaches, and on the mowed patches behind cell-phone towers, and have been eating surprisingly well. No trouble finding places, and no run-ins with irate landowners. Lots of really neat animals - deer, a bear, cool squirrels, birds, marmots. Nothing dangerous.

Some photos:

2008-07-13T22:23:00.000-07:00

Hey Sackville! My week in Vancouver has been fantastic. With all its greenery, neat places to visit, and people who seem open and open-minded, it has to be the coolest city I've visited. The mountains make a crazy backdrop, and a super place to hike. Wandering through the Downtown Eastside was really strange, though, scary place to live. Anyway, here are a few photos:

waterfront

reflecting

some guy

landon waiting for his sushi

sushi!

first picture - kenomee '07

2008-06-26T10:55:00.000-07:00