Geeky Yet Waterproof

As of noon yesterday, I’ve arrived in São Paulo! Iza, her family, and a few of her friends met me at the airport, and then we drove to her apartment which is about an hour from the airport.
São Paulo traffic is almost like the Philippines, only with a slight difference… In the Philippines, because of the traffic, cars simply don’t move. Here, either the cars don’t move, or they move really fast!

We pretty much had the day free, so Cintia, Iza, and I drove around São Paulo a little bit and they showed me Iza’s school. When we came back we just relaxed around the house. I also got to meet Iza’s godmother, who came over for dinner.

Check out my photo gallery, which I’ll probably updating every day with new photos.

UPDATE: The link to my photo gallery didn’t work before, but I’ve fixed it… try it again.

Last night at 9:30pm about 18 of us hooligans and fun-seekers met in a parking lot to play Commandos. The way it works is like this: there’s a starting point and an ending point, and everyone has to make it from the starting point to the ending point without being caught by whoever is driving in the car. It’s like sort of like hide-and-seek, with the seeker being in a car.
The fun part is trying to find an obscure path from point A to point B that the driver(s) won’t expect. Luckily for us, I had Google Maps in the palm of my hand thanks to my iPhone! Without it we would have been completely lost, because we used almost all back-roads so as not to be seen. Oh the uses of the internet these days…
We did three rounds of Commandos, and by the end we were all ready to collapse from exhaustion — we had basically just sprinted about five miles.
Afterwards Sammi and her friend, Tori, Kyle, and I all went back to Sammi’s house to crash there for the night so we wouldn’t have to drive home after all this. But when we got there, oh no! The Lucky Charms source had been depleted! So, at approximately midnight, we got back in the car and drove to Roth’s, Wal•Mart, and finally Winco in search thereof (the last one being successful).
None of us ended up going to bed until around 3am for Reasons Unknown To Man, but I can tell you, when we did we all slept soundly.
And woke up sore, but ready for more! (Maybe in a week…)

Winco, the Final Destination

Treasure hunters…

Yes, I know. I haven’t blogged in two weeks. My entries are always late. I’ve become a lazy bum when it comes to blogging, and I’ve lost all my mad writing skillz.

But at least I’m blogging!

As you may be aware, last Friday was the 4th of July here in the USA. We had some Bearcat people over and went swimming/boating in the lake, then made a campfire and roasted s’mores. After a while we went inside and everyone participated in a ping-pong tournament, while Sammi and I jammed on my Les Paul.
It was a smaller party than we usually have here, but nice and relaxed.

—-

The next day I had to get up brutally early (for a 5th of July morning), because I had track racing state championships that day. So we headed to Alpenrose velodrome in Portland, and as soon as we got there it started pouring rain! Now, because the track is so steep, it’s impossible to ride around the banks without imitating an amateur skier, so they had to postpone everything until the track was dry.
Two hours and 500 towels later (not really) Alpenrose was dry, and people started zooming around the track. We soon discovered that my 17-18 year-old age category consisted of myself and Richie Suditu, an unfairly fast 18 year-old national-caliber racer.
We both did two matched sprints at the beginning. This happened to be the very first time I did a matched sprint at an actual race (yes, at the state championships). Of course Richie beat me both times, but the second one was by less than the first. Matched sprints are about 90% strategy and 10% legs, and I used better strategy my second try.
Our other races were a 1k time trial and a 20-lap points race. The points race was interesting — every 5th lap there would be a sprint, and the first four finishers would get points. The race basically consisted of myself, a couple unattached guys, and four riders from team BBC. Three of the BBC guys worked together for the whole race and I hung with them most of the time, drafting here, bridging a gap there… I came in 4th in each of the sprint laps, and I finished 4th at the end of the race.

I ended up getting a silver medal for the overall, because Richie and I were the only 17-18 year-olds (even though I am, in fact, 16). This (state championships) was a fun little break from swimming, and an opportunity to try out my new track racing skills.

A few weeks ago I got to see some of my high school friends again, because Sarah was having a party at the neighborhood pool. Morning practice that day had cured me almost completely of the urge to swim, but the heat of the day and the blue water prevailed over my will.
After a while we were all starting to freeze, so we got out and sat around a fire eating hamburgers and roasting s’mores. I tried to break my previous record of two hamburgers and seven s’mores in a row, but I only made it to six s’mores this time, because — thank goodness — after some time they took away the s’more materials.

When it was dark, we were all sitting around trying to think of scary stories to tell each other, but didn’t progress much farther than, “Somebody should say something scary!” — that is, until Troyce suddenly exclaimed, “Did Eamon bring the Mercedes?!” And before I knew it, Troyce, Joe, and somebody I didn’t know were marching out to go “sit” in my car.

As we were all sitting in the dark car blasting Franz Ferdinand through the speakers, somebody had the idea that “we should go to 7-Eleven and get a slurpy to pour on Sarah!” So we drove half a mile to the 7-Eleven to complete this mission. When we got back, we responded to Sarah’s “can I have a sip?” with, “of course!” *pssssshshhhhhh*.
It was a great success.

But soon afterwards, I discovered my cell phone had gone missing from my pocket. We looked for it all over the car, but unfortunately it was on vibrate mode, so calling it didn’t do any good. I figured it would turn up eventually, so I borrowed someone’s phone to let my parents and Iza know I didn’t have my own with me.
Later, some of my friends started calling (on the other phone) to say they’d been getting constant foul messages from my phone. At first I thought someone from the party must have taken it as a joke, but after further investigation nobody seemed to have it. It then dawned on me that it might have fallen out of my pocket at the 7-Eleven and somebody took it.

I won’t take the time to explain the steps we took in trying to figure out if somebody at the 7-Eleven did indeed take it, but unfortunately that was the case and I’m currently (partially) phoneless. So until an iPhone finds its way magically into my hands, should you need to contact me, call my old number but with a 6 instead of a 3 at the end. (The number of my sister’s phone, which I stole BORROWED for an extended period of time).

Although it was at the time still Winter here in Oregon, I spent the last weekend at the beach in Waldport with Iza, her family, and Mark’s cop friend with his two (younger) boys.
The ocean water being about -200°, we didn’t go wading past about two inches, but we roasted marshmallows on a camp fire and made (many) s’mores.

On the way back, I got a few rather frightening photos when we stopped at a friend’s house for a barbecue…

The one in the orange is yours truly.

Last Friday, my dad and I made our triumphant return to the Alpenrose Velodrome, which I hadn’t seen since track season last summer. Alpenrose is one of the steepest velodromes in the country, with banks sloped at 43°. It was scary going around the track for the first time in so long, but I quickly got used to it.
This was also the first time I was able to try out my new track bike, which I got last December for Christmas, but hadn’t been able to ride until now! Track season lasts only in the summer, so I’ve been eagerly waiting to try it for five months.
The bike is amazingly light, and I can accelerate really fast. Part of the reason for this is the pedals we put on: your shoes lock in like with any normal clip pedals, but to release your foot, you have to pull a little lever on the back of the pedal. Now, remember that this is a fixed-gear bike — so you can’t stop pedaling to pull said lever! It takes some getting used to, but after a while I could do it without any trouble.

I had three races: a ten lap scratch race (which is just a regular race), a 15 lap point-a-lap race (where the winner of each lap gets one point, but nobody else does), and a 15 lap points race (every fifth lap, the top four people get points).
Having been away from the track since last year, the best way to describe my first two races is with the word “pwned”. The last one went a little better though… I didn’t get any points, but then again most of the racers didn’t, and I finished in the middle of the pack, even though most of them were fast 30 year-olds. I probably would have come in a few places farther ahead, but somewhere in the middle of the race a guy wiped out directly in front of me — all I saw was him cartwheeling in the air and his bike flying, but he miraculously landed on his feet, and the race continued. He was surrounded by other riders when it happened, but somehow nobody hit him, although I had to swerve up-track to avoid the crash, which cost me some speed.

It was fun racing at Alpenrose again and getting back into the track culture. And I didn’t even have to face my worst fear: not being able to clip out, and tipping over in the grass!

Although I neither go to school, nor would I be a Junior if I did, last Saturday was Prom. Because Iza, being an exchange student, has certain superpowers here, we went as sophomores.

I met up with Iza and Allison at Iza’s house for Photos Round I. After that we drove over to Trevor’s house (Allison’s date) for italian sodas and then Photos Round II.

After this, we rode in a Cadillac to Corvallis where we had dinner at The Gables, then we went back to Salem where the dance was.
The McNary school regulations were comical. There were teachers wearing identical blue shirts stationed every 10ft on the wall, with the principle standing on a chair (of authority?). There was a rule that the lights had to stay on, but that rule was broken after about 45 minutes. At one point the principal actually went up to the microphone and demanded that everyone “spread out”!
Despite these factors, it was still a lot of fun. At about 10:30 we went back to Trevor’s house to watch a movie before splitting up, and then we all desperately avoided the Keizer cops until safely home (well past curfew).

The next morning we had to get up early for a swim meet in Corvallis, but the last night was worth the 15 second add in my race…

I can’t believe we’re actually in Rome. The civilization we’ve been studying for the past seven years, and now we’re at the center of it.

We went out to explore Rome early in the morning, and came back at about 8pm. We took the Hop-On busses intermittently with walking, and we saw a lot of amazing things today. We passed by the Castel Sant’Angelo at least three times, at which a battle scene took place in my dad’s book, The Fall of Rome.

The first places where we stopped were two very old churches. What was incredible was that at one of them, we saw the pillar at which Jesus was flogged.

When we were done looking around and being amazed with that, we briefly stopped by the former controlling center of civilization: the Roman Forum. Of course it’s all in ruins now, but there’s still a lot left. This was the first time I’d seen ancient Roman ruins that are actually in Rome, and it was stunning to see them in person. The ruins are not just in Rome — they were the heart of the known world!

But we didn’t stay long, because one of the most famous monuments ever was staring us right in the face: the Colosseum. We’ve all seen it a million times in movies and video games, but there’s nothing like seeing it in person. It feels unreal walking down a cobblestone street and seeing the great ruins right in front of you. There were even Roman soldiers wandering around, although a few of them were smoking cigarettes…
When, for four extra euros, we had instantly conquered the endless line to get in, we decided to take a guided tour of the inside. The wooden floor is no longer there, but what was underneath it remains: a series of stone corridors in which the gladiators and animals would wait their turn to kill or be killed. People now aren’t allowed in these former subterranean corridors, but you can go on any other of the four levels, including the top.
In ancient times, the wealthy citizens would sit near the bottom of the amphitheater, while the poorer ones would sit near the top. We saw the exact spot where the Caesars used to sit and watch — at the very bottom. I can understand why they call the top the “Nosebleed Section”, but I think they should call the very bottom just the “Blood Section”, because it’s so close to the action you could get splattered!

We spent two hours exploring the Colosseum, although it felt like 45 minutes. We could have stayed a lot longer, but when you’re in Rome for three days, you want to be able to see everything. So (after waiting half an hour for a non-existent bus), we walked half a mile to the Circus Maximus — the ancient hippodrome where public games would take place, and most importantly, the chariot races. It’s a massive venue that could accommodate 250,000+ spectators. Behind it you can see the imperial palace, and down inside you can see… joggers. You may remember a few days ago I said that Barcelona is “a mix of the old and the new”, but it’s nothing as extreme as Rome.

After marveling over this, we waited another 45 minutes for the tour bus (it turned out one had broken down, leaving only two operating in all of Rome), which we stayed on for a while until it started to get dark. Some of it was the same route we had taken before, but there’s just so much out there that we saw something new each time we passed by — including the actual place where Julius Caesar was murdered.

When dusk (and hunger) fell upon us, we sat outside a little restaurant and had pizza (I think I ate six pieces) and later gelato. Those dang Romans not only know how to rule the world, but they also know how to eat!
Tomorrow is our last day in Rome before we leave. I’m not sure exactly what we’ll be doing, but we’ll definitely tour the Castel Sant’Angelo and the Forum. Here comes another wave of 400+ photos…

Yesterday we arrived in Cadiz, Spain. Cadiz is the oldest city in all of Europe, dating from way back in the 1100’s… BC!

We were pleasantly surprised when we stepped off the ship into Cadiz to see the same Hop-On, Hop-Off busses that were in Portugal. So to initiate our 8-hour stay in southern Spain, we took an hour-long bus ride around the edge of the city.

Since Cadiz is so old, I think it was probably the coolest place we had been so far. During the first hour alone we saw the ancient walls surrounding the city, the ruins of a Roman amphitheater, and two castles.
After the bus tour, we (purposely) found our way to a guitar shop. Nobody in the shop could speak English, and none of us could speak Spanish, but we somehow got the point across that I’d like try try out a few guitars, and they understood.
And guess what happened: I ended up buying one! It has a really nice sound, and they said it was made in the north of Spain by a very old maker (but don’t ask me how we understood that).

After that, we went and sat by the beach for a few minutes so I could play it a little, then we went to go find lunch. We ended up eating outside a little restaurant (the owner/waiter/employee of which didn’t speak any English) in a plaza right under a HUGE cathedral. Again, we all had fish, and again, it was all delicious.
While we were eating, some utility guys dressed head to toe in neon green started taping down the sidewalk. Pretty soon, as we were having our dessert, they started up a dismayingly loud machine. They were laughing and smiling at us, because they knew how annoying it was! Then it was apparent that the machine was a power-sprayer, and they proceeded to paint a green line onto the sidewalk. We didn’t realize until after our lunch when we began our walking tour guided by our little map from the tourist office, that we were supposed to follow the green line! How could this be? They had just painted it!

So after our lunch, we followed the green line around Cadiz, and eventually ended up at a cool 15th-century castle. We explored a lot inside, and patrolled the walls a little bit.
The castle was located right on the edge of the water, and by this time it was getting really hot; the Spanish sun beats down on you with a force probably equivalent to that of a place like Arizona! The water looked really tempting, but we had to start heading back to the ship lest we be left in Spain.

So after calling home from a pay-phone in a Spanish bar (which, believe me, was an adventure), we boarded the ship to sail to Casablanca, Morocco.
We had a lot of fun in Spain, and somehow communicated with people even though the majority didn’t speak English. I guess that’s the good thing about knowing Latin: you can understand anything!

This report may have been rather short, but we have now, at the time of this writing, arrived in Casablanca and are getting ready to leave the ship. Expect to hear from me on the African continent soon!