Primavera

Suddenly, it seems as though everything's teaming with "spring." Skirts, flowers, outdoor cafes, concerts and much more. I don't remember it being this way last year, but it's nice to feel the change of seasons through the change in excitement than in air temperature. Hope you're feeling the springtime energy wherever you are.

Spring Break 2007

A week after returning from Brazil, it was time for a vacation. Deepak came to visit for the last time while I'm in Mexico and, since it was spring break, we decided to do it in style. There's not much of Mexico you can see in four days, but we did our best. Here's our trip in pictures (with captions):

We explored Mexico City for a day and went to see the oldest hospital in America (as in both North and South). It was founded by Cortes himself in 1524 and is still a running hospital to this day. Since I didn't bring my camera, check out Deepak's blog for pics and more details.

From Mexico, we spent a day in historic Taxco, an old mining city still known for its silver and it's charm. We arrived in time for lunch, wandered the small town square, had dinner, dessert, and stayed the night in a cute inn, before heading off to our next destination: Acapulco.

We arrived in Acapulco in time for lunch and, after checking into our fabulous hotel, we found our way to the beach where all of the spring breakers were being hosed down and walked down a bit to where we could get beach chairs and watch the boogie boarders wipeout. It was an excellent mix of crazy nightlife and relaxing vacation only 4-5 hours away from Mexico City.

I would show post pics of me in my new bikini, but then you would see pics of me in my bikini ;). If you ask Deepak, he may probably show you a video of a wave knocking me over. Stay tuned. I may post some more pics soon.

Feijoada

I apologize for my bad blogging habits of late. I should be used to travel and long work hours by now, but it's still a struggle. I have lots to write about, so set aside some time and be patient because I may not be able to post it all right away.

First, my trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil:

Day 1: Learning from my last trip when I saw nothing but the inside of the office, I came a few days early and left a few days after our latin american team meeting. I didn't, however, have anything planned when I got there and I forgot that I don't speak Portuguese. After a 14 hour overnight trip, I arrived on Saturday morning, Feb. 24 and. After a long ordeal getting from the airport to my hotel, met up with a colleague and explored Pinheros' saturday market in the summer heat and humidity.

Day 2: Sunday, more people began to arrive and I went to explore the city with another two colleagues who showed me some favorite spots of the city including the historic district and the market, where I bought some Cachaca (aka Pinga) for Caipirinhas and tried Pastel (Brazil's version of empanadas).

During the week: The team gathering went well, though a bit short for all we tried to cram in. The Brazil team took us out past Sao Roque to a tranquil retreat where we spent the whole week eating and working. We got our first taste of all kinds of traditional dishes, including feijoada, a historically-charged food of the slaves which is a rich mix of pretty much everything (rice, beans, meats, etc.). Overall, it was a good week to get to know our teammates better, asking the same questions and trying to find answers, and creating a new language mixing english, spanish and portuguese.

Day T-2: After our meeting, I still had a weekend left to explore, but most people returned home right away. I managed to recruit Marcelo (a colleague from Argentina) and Daniela (a collegue from Brazil who was recovering from a long hospital stay) to flea the city and head to a "nearby" beach. I figured I had to see a Brazilian beach before leaving. We took off on a road trip and ended up at Ilhabela, a gorgeous getaway 3-4 hours from the city, near Sao Sebastiao.

The island is 70% national park, a weekend escape for the rich and has an impressive mix of mountains, lush vegetation and tropical beach. Although everything in Brazil is ridiculously expensive, we managed to find a hostel for $18 a night per person and a 5 min walk to the beach (to be honest everything's close to the beach 'cause it's an island). We began our stay swimming in the beautiful pool with naturally warm water and a view of the stars.

Day T-1: We went to a nice warm breakfast, we visited Dani's old beach house (they'd just stopped renting it a month before). We couldn't beat the view!

Around lunchtime we went to the Ferry to met Yadira (my roomie in mexico who came to Brazil for a meeting the following week) and went to a delicious lunch overlooking the sea. Dani took us around to all of her favorite spots and we ate, drank, slept, swam and sunbathed to our hearts content.

Last day: We went back to the beach one last time to get our fill of vitamin D and to test out the water before speeding back to Sao Paulo so I could catch my 8pm flight. The 14 hour flight home was a bit more bearable with remnants of saltwater and sand and memories from a great week in Brazil.