Sympa!

Palais Garnier/Opera de Paris.

I'm going out of order with my pics. Will organize and post album of Paris and Africa either on Facebook or Flickr. On a whim, I'm posting this one of me at the gorgeous Palais Garnier in Paris...it's a girl's (...okay, my) dream come true to be around such beautiful architecture and musical history.

Flash blacked out background.

No flash. You can see the ornate architecture. And I'm blurry! :)

Visiting the Maasai

Taken at a "boma" in Lemong'o. I'm standing in front of a Maasai "enkaji" (house), which is made of mud, twigs and cow manure.

With some of the children from the boma. They were great.

Maasai boys herding goat and cattle.

Scene from the Maasai market in Lemong'o. The picture doesn't do the village justice. The colors at the market were vibrant and beautiful amongst this dry and arid landscape.

This man was sitting at the market sewing on this old-school machine. Pretty cool.

Grace (and Smiles) Under Fire

Taken right after a very improv live shot on first day of Gloria Fire (Thursday) with a cell phone. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see the soot on my hands and arms and my tired, tired eyes. Of course, I say all of this in vain...nothing like the firefighters who are my heroes.

More Fire Breaks...

Fire. A little bit of France. Vegas. Fire and more fire.

That pretty much sums up these past two weeks.

Currently covering back-to-back fast-moving blazes. My lips are chapped and I have a permanent smokey, fiery scent to me. The hazards of being a reporter on the fire lines: My lip balm melted and exploded in my pocket today after being in 100-degree plus weather and flames. But all of this pales in comparision to what the amazing firefighters do.

Promise to post Africa/France stories and pics soon.

Fire Break

Jambo. My blogging has taken a break because I've been covering the Lockheed fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Have been working 12 hour plus shifts this past week..and though I love the breaking news aspect, I am tired. Not as exhausted as the thousands of firefighters battling this blaze, but pretty exhausted. Was beginning to get over jet lag, but fire schedule set me back a few hours.

Promise to write more and post pics. Have been looking through my journal of Paris and Africa and reliving some amazing moments in my head.

Laugh May!

I am having way too much fun in this photo. Don't know why I'm laughing so hard. Jean-Claude snapped this. Who knew that this day would end up being one of the longest, tiresome, but most memorable days in Rwanda.

My Little Friends

I bonded right away with this little bundle of joy and cuteness at the MCW center in Majengo, Tanzania. Karibu!
With some super kids in Kayensi, Rwanda. Taken by friend and MCW volunteer Jean-Claude Harabagabo on his lovely Nikon D90. Rwanda Rwiza!

Paris-Africa

So much to write about my travels. Sipping on a hot cup of Rwandan chai -- and thinking about my lovely time here in Africa. I'm sad, though, it is an emotional trip. I tweeted throughout my trip, but it looks like Twitter wiped out all my tweets. Very upsetting. I've kept a journal, and will write about all my experiences. Pictures and posts to come. In the meantime, here are some photos from Africa. Jonathan and me at the MCW center in Majengo, Tanzania. The children here are amazing.

Me and Tete ("Tay-Tay"), our surrogate mom at our house in Nyamata. She is a wonderful cook!

Jonathan, Cesar, Me and Jean-Claude in front of our house in Nyamata, Rwanda.

TeTe

TeTe ("tay-tay") is our wonderful cook/surrogate mom in Nyamata. She graces us with her smile and wonderful food. Eating red beans, rice and African fries (frites). Will post more later, will now enjoy this lovely food.

Have so much to write, and so little time.

Jambo

Sorry for the dilatory post. In Africa. Left my heart -- and sunglasses -- in Tanzania and currently in Rwanda. Internet connection is spotty, as is the cold water that we use to shower. Love Africa and have enjoyed every minute of my volunteer project, Pictures, memories and details to come soon.

Have enjoyed being among the locals in the villages. Travel should be about exploring the food and immersing yourself in the culture. Can't stand travelers who go to foreign countries and go to the bars, clubs and nightclubs. (You're bound to hang out with ex-pats, righteous NGO's workers and non-profit volunteers who think they're holier than thou.) Seriously folks, you can do that in your own hometown. Not saying all non-profit volunteers are righteous, but they're out there.

Okay, will call it a night before the cold water stops and I have to do bucket showers.

Bienvenue

D'accord. Allo.

Je suis tres fatigue. Will post more later. Need nap(s) and then nightlife a la City of Light. Bon.

Very Soon...

Gum Etiquette

What's worst than people cracking and smacking their gum? ... GUYS who do it. Honestly guys, that is one of the most unattractive things you can do. On the street this morning, the guy in front of me cracked and popped his gum and then turned around and looked at me. Ugh, not pretty folks.

Oh, and another thing you can do to get me running the other way: smacking your gum while at the gym.

It's Close

Risotto

Why is it that I find a guy who can cook perfectly simple and delicious risotto so sexy? It's even more attractive if his job has nothing to do with food. I appreciate anyone who enjoys cooking. Seriously, if you enjoy, have patience and appreciate cooking, your food will turn out well. Risotto is one of those dishes which require patience, love and happiness. They say the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach...I think it also may be a detour to a girl's heart as well.

New iTunes app

I don't know how to start this without sounding like one of those spam-porn-Twitter/email posts. But here goes, check out my friend's new app on iTunes. It's called Global Eater and it's a pretty handy food reference guide for any of you out there who like to go out and be adventurous on your restaurant journeys. The app has Italian, Mexican, Thai, Japanese food glossaries, and there will be a Chinese section too.

But Mr. Peabody...

A classic. Would love to have a Peabody...and Sherman isn't that bad.

Luscious

Is it me, or have chefs been thrusted into the "sex symbol" status as of late? Cooking can be very sensual and expressive, but I've known a fair share of chefs who are anything but. Try manic, rude, arrogant, spastic and weird. I guess whatever twists your noodle. Enjoyed New York restaurant critic Gael Greene's write-up on The Daily Beast about the secret sex lives of chefs.

OMG

Went through my phone and scrolled through my recent calls. You'd think I was dating someone who has a toll-free number. No, folks, that number belongs to Delta's customer "service" line. It has been 10-plus straight days of long, taxing phone calls to Delta. I wasn't born with a silver spoon, but I hardly think that air travel is this difficult, especially if it just involves pressing a button that says "save."

Sad Week

What sad news we had this week. It's still so hard to believe that Michael Jackson is dead.

Frontline/WORLD Iran: The Stem Cell Fatwa

My friend, Jonathan Schienberg's piece on stem cell research in Iran. Please also read sidebar story on Iran's juvenile executions.

On Second Thought...

Maybe I shouldn't have went to the gym so late tonight; now I'm having a hard time falling asleep. Knew I wanted to turn in early tonight, but my trip to the gym got delayed by phone calls. Not a bad thing actually, since something one of my friends said really got me thinking.

"It seems like every time you mention him, it's always something bad. It's never anything good."

Many second thoughts now...
I need to stop putting myself into situations where I end up sabotaging, hurting myself. Funny how we DO hold the power to make ourselves happy, miserable, sad, ecstatic. (I'm worth it...you are not.)

Thought of The Day

"...And go out
And just loose it all

I feel stressed out
I wanna let it go
Lets go way out spaced out
and loosing all control..."

Oh Ikea

To the European couple in front of me in line at Ikea tonight:

Thank you for not offering to let me go ahead of you even though I only had one item, and you had about 50 small, odd items. I know you two were very excited to find an "EE-key-ah" in Palo Alto (East Palo Alto to be exact -- that's right, it's in the 'toh), but I would have appreciated it if you had offered to let me ahead to so I could pay for my one futon cover. I especially liked it when you didn't know how to work the ATM machine and your gazillion items used up all the cash register tape.

Sincerely,
I'm over it...I just wanted to blog about it. :)

Just Stop

Finally realized why I check my Facebook less frequently now:

1. Status updates
2. Conversations on "Walls" and those little "comment" boxes.

Per #2: Really people? The fact that you have to broadcast your long-drawn convo's for everyone to see makes me think you're that person who talks really loud on your cell phone in public or just loudly in general. Why don't you email the person? Or better yet, pick up the phone.

I always thought the purpose of the Wall was a quick hello! Shout out!...and the purpose of "comment"...umm, yeah, it's is to comment on something. Comment on a photo, on one of those overly-annoying apps or quizzes, etc.

I don't think Facebook was intended for status updates. That's what platforms like blogs and Twitter are for. People know what they're going to get. I just get turned off when I log on to FB and immediately get inundated with "I combed my cat" and "I am bored" or "so and so is in (fill in the city)."