Nan Nan

Dearest Nan Nan,

Your generosity will live on through your teddy bears.

Your comfort and tenderness through your mashed potato recipe.

Your wisdom and stubbornness through your antiques and beautiful possessions.

Your optimism through your glistening Rings!

Your touch through nothing more than your unforgettable hugs.

You were so many things to me, and you taught me that it is OK to show the people that you love that you really love them.

You loved us every second of everyday, and for that I am forever grateful to you, because Love is a special thing and we all need to love and be loved.

Thank you for spoiling me rotten, making me mashed potatoes when I was sick, taking me to the pool when my Mom wouldn't, buying me that Dress that my Mom wouldn't, pretty much everything that my Mom wouldn't let me do:)))

Thank you for teaching me how to bargain, I wouldn't be where I am today without that skill, but most importantly, thank you for being my NAN NAN and truly believing that I am the most wonderful thing in the world, even if it's not exactly accurate:)

You will always hold a special place in my heart, and your memory will live on.

I hope that you are where you wanted to be, be proud of yourself, your children, grand-children, your life and your memory. Your accomplishments never cease to amaze me.

I will love you always and forever.

Sincerely,

Your Clairee

Identity Crisis

1.) Left ID and credit card in cab because of my own stupid mistakes.(aka incoherent)

2.) Left bag with all important docs visible and car got broken into.

3.) Spent two weeks canceling all bank accounts, passports, reporting identity theft, and to be honest freaking out just a little bit.

4.) Guy finds my bag with everything in it besides my credit cards, and I get bag back.

I am going to look at the positive side and point out that I only spent a $160.00, a few phone calls, and irritable moments to get my identity back.

I guess sometimes you have to learn the hard way, or maybe I should just start being responsible, but who are we kidding??

Be good to yourself. (period)

We may judge others

we may compare ourselves to others

we may even wish to live the lives of others,

But you are you and I am me,

This is certain, no matter who we wish to be.

So be good to yourself,

Accept your flaws

Strive to cater to your strengths

Look in the mirror and smile everyday.

Because there is only one you and one me.

But only you can be your own worst enemy

or your best friend.

Life is short, but the longest relationship

is the one you have with yourself.

California

After traveling to some different international places and loving it, I feel even more fortunate to return to my own stomping ground and realize how beautiful not only San Francisco is, but it's surrounding areas.

California in general is an amazing, place because we have the beach, city, mountains, lakes, and deserts all within a day's reach, but how often do we take advantage of our own back yard?? When we travel we explore every inch of these new lands, but at home we tend to not do the " "touristy" thing....well you better believe, that I have been to Alcatraz, lombard st, Hollywood Blvd., the Getty Muesem, the Rose Bowl, Yoesmite, Palm Springs, etc......All thanks to my parents influence to explore and enjoy our wonderful California. But now I am ready to see MORE....only an hour to two hours away lies wonderful national parks, beautiful beaches, amazing wine country and endless fun! Because let's be honest, we Californians are spoiled, but let's not take our riches for granted.

Next stops:

Tiburon Wine Festival....love me some good vino

Gilroy Garlic Festival....my breath is naturally sweet

Big Sur...who said hiking and biking had to be done sober?

Muddy Buddy in Walnut Creek....running, biking, and crawling across a mud pit to get to end goal..BEER GARDEN ( and money goes to help cancer)

Russian River.....me, inner tube, and a beer, need I say more?(yes I drink beer now:) and I like it!

These are just a few things that I will be doing to take advantage of the place where I live, but let me know of hidden CA places that you love.....

Digas lo que digas

Mentira....

Tu eres mentiroso

pero no es mi problema, nada mas.

Espero que tu aprendes de tus errores

Te deseo una vida feliz

pero no de mi cuenta.

No es la culpa de nadie que falta

el amor entre nosotros

pero, ahora no es mi responsibilad tampoco.

Vete de San Francisco

No es tu hogar

pero yo soy fuerte y vas a ver mis acciones.

No me digas nada de la verdad

y era mi culpa por te crei.

pero yo digo la verdad.

Una persona mentiroso no sabe la verdad

Te enseno que no puedes vivir una vida como asi

pero no tengo amor para ti.

Solo quiero hacer cual es correcto por la ley.

es mejor para mi, y despues del pasado esto es lo mas importante

pero, otra vez no te quiero, solo quiero cual es justo en la vida.

I am in Love with this City

For some time now, I have know that I left my heart in San Francisco....But now that my heart is back in it, I can't get over this feeling! Everyday I drive out of SF across the bridge to Oakland and every afternoon as I enter my beloved city I think to myself how long will the honeymoon stage last, but after 3 years, SF and I are still going strong and although we have our ups and downs my loyalty and infatuation has never waivered. Some may complain about the weather, parking, expense, but they have never seen the sunset in ALAMO sq., walked barefoot along baker beach with the nudies, or eaten a Turkey Dog at 2 am. from "What's up Dog?"

These are the things that keep me and SF going strong! And although I know there may be a time in the future that we have to break up and move on, there will always be a piece of my heart in San Francisco!

Voodoo Gypsy Couch

"Sometimes the best things in Life are Free." Walking through Golden Gate Park again for the first time in 7 months made me realize how much I had missed San Francisco, and of course it was one of those glorious days that only the locals get and everyone else thinks they do not exist in the bay area. My girlfriend and I chatting and planning our next weekend trips when low and behold, sitting on the corner of Fell and Baker I spot a bright Purple Loveseat on the sidewalk. Now, most people might not particularly like a purple loveseat with curly Q's on it that could quite possibly be contaminated.....Yet, this did not stop Jenny and I from loading it into her jeep and me holding onto the backside so it didn't fall out and then pushing it up 3 flights of stairs. Some people might say that it would have been worth it to pay for this service, But when you are YUWP (Young Urban Working Professional) it is that difference of $500.00 that may just give you a few extra happy hours! :)) And for me, my new FREE purple voodoo, gypsy couch has quite possibly made my week and even my year!! After fabrizing the "F" out of it, it is like new and suits my already funky studio.

Cambios

Dejame en Paz

Todo el tiempo yo estaba pensando en ti

Pero nada mas

No me dices nada Romantico

No me dices nada Sentimental

NO ME DICES NADA

Estoy mejor que nunca

Estoy en lugar Maravillosa

Estoy Feliz por fin!

Te cuento solomente que

Tu eres el pasado y

Yo vivo en el presente

POR FAVOR

Dejame en paz

Sigo la vida feliz!

Bubble Lounge, Scientology, and Crystal...first night back in SF!

Planning on meeting my friend for happy hour at the infamous swanky bubble lounge in SF to celebrate the finding of my studio apartment turned out to be quite the event. My girlfriend told me that her boss and a few co-workers may stop by, which of course was fine by me. Her boss bought a bottle of Rose Champagne for the table and a few appetizers, which was more than a treat! However, 3 hours later, 5 more people, 6 bottles of Crystal and a bill of more than $4,000, my friend and I were kind of slap happy...... Ironically enough, across from the bubble lounge lies a Scientology Institution, needless to say my friends were not warm-welcomed into the building despite the chocolate covered strawberries they offered to the employees. All in all, first night back in the city was a complete success and can't wait more!

San Francisco de Nuevo

Soooo.....after my six month stint in Chile and month long travel session, I guess it is time to return to my beloved SF and begin working for real! Starting March first, I will begin working for Paramount Export Company as a Sales assistant for the South American Market working with table grapes and apples. However, I am not worried about finding material to write about, because SF always gives me new and exciting literary ideas:)) So stay tuned for new adventures in the same city .......

Foz de Iguazu, Argentina

Las Cataratas de Iguazu are quite the spectacle. The thrill of the falls is like the feeling you get right before you are going to go down a roller coaster, partly nervous and partly excited for the drop! It definitely puts your tiny life into perspective, as the power of the water and overall size of the falls are ridiculously gigantic. However, once you get to La Garganta del diablo (the devils' throat.) that is when you really start to feel impressed. It will make you dizzy if you stare at it to long, but it is hard to take your eyes off it, and you almost feel like a bee attracted to its' honey. Although, I did not get to the Brazilian side, the Argentine side was more than sufficient to realize what a natural phenomenon la Foz de Iguazu is.

Paraguay

Price: $65.00 US dollars to obtain Paraguayan Visa (not in local guarani currency)

Price: $40.00 US dollar fine because the bastard didn´t stamp my passport (again not in local currency) Priceless: Riding on the back of paraguayan moto with a sweaty paraguayan while be eatin by mosquitos just in order to change my gurani pesos into american dollars to pay my paraguayan fine...MASTERCARD, accepted no where in PARAGUAY......How I am going to miss traveling, it seems that all the things that you truly hate while traveling are the things that you sincerely miss afterwards, oh the irony of being young and poor and unemployed!!!

Buenos Aires

Love at first sight......Tango in the streets, great food, party till dawn, free museums, what is not too love. The people are stunning and the city is always buzzing, and the best part is that you get all that european feel and romance for half the price. Normally I am not a big shopper, but I am a sucker for a bargain and that is exactly what Buenos Aires is, a bargain for the value. Yes, I am not the first nor the last to say that it is a magical city and would love to live there if I could, jejejeje. Museo de Bells Artes en BA puts the one in Santiago to shame, and the amount of cafes and pizzierias give you the Italian affect plus the argtine castellano has a similiar rythmn to italian. Then you walk down the cobble stoned streets and past apartment buildings and I feel like I am in Madrid all over again. France has also kissed BA with various structures and influences, overall it is a great mix of europe meets latin america.
On another note, FYI to obtain a paraguayan passport in Argentina you cannot pay with credit card nor argentinian pesos nor the garani (local currency) you must pay in cash with US dollars. Just a friendly tip, it was quite strange to have to go to a money exchange and change my argintine pesos to US dollars, not to mention that my bank charges me a foreign exchange fee to extract foreign currency only to change it back to US dollars!

Torres de Paine...Ushuaia

What an adventure, hiking in the infamous Torres de Paine National park is one of the most wonderfully scary and mysterious experiences that I have had travelling. As you arrive in Puerto Natales, the gateway for all the travelors to the park, you start to feel that you have left Chile and arrived in the land of european and american travelors. For some reason it is quite hard to get information about the park ahead of time and therefore you have your hardcore hikers, inexperienced yuppies, and the average adventurist all trying to scramble around and get ready for what is quite possibly the most unpredictable weather in Patagonia. Torres de Paine creates a culture and atmosphere all its own, and it is quite remarkable the kinds of people you meet, for it is quite distinct that just your average travel gossip in the typical hostels. The range being a group of 20 +65 germans taking over the comfortable refugios in the park, to the most common travelor trekking the W route, to the extreme hiker living off of practically nothing and hiking the entire circuit of 12 to 14 days. Yet, almost everyone has an entirely different experience that is all dependent on your luck with mother nature and when she is scorned, beware. Luckily after my first day of horrid rain and waste deep river crossings, the next two days were gorgeous, sunny and clear, she tried to scare me off but it didn´t work!! Yet, after 3 days of hiking and camping and carrying my life on my back I was glad to get out of the park and return to real travel culture, HOSTELS!!

The 10 hour bus ride and crossing of the magellane strait, good have been worse if I hadn´t been sooo exhausted from Los Torres, but Ushuaia is well worth it. I always forget how much cheaper argentina is, and am amazed my the Italian influence and the great quality of food! Of course the argentins all make fun of my chilean accent and insist that Argentina is better, and I have to admit for a young person traveling, I whole heartedly agree. After visiting the glacier and national park with stunning views and navigating through the beagle channel with beagle beer, I am ready to get back to the warm country......Buenos Aires here I come!

Puerto Montt/ Puerto Varas

After a night out at my friends bar in sleepy Puerto Montt, I woke up the next day feeling a bit hung over, but ready for our canyoning adventure!! I invited my friend to join me and I guess I thought that since he is from Puerto Montt that he knew what canyoning was, but the poor guy had no idea that in a couple of hours we would be jumping of cliffs into the river, sliding down natural falls, and repeling the backside of an enormous waterfall, which he didn´t quite make it too, whoops! Anyway, it was sooo much fun, such a thril and our french guide was a bit non-traditional in the sense that the so-called precautions were virtually non-existent. The look on my friends face after swallowing practically the entire river said it all, and our guide told him he could get out and walk the rest of the way whenever he wanted to. Poor guy, although I didn´t really feel that bad...hahahaha. Anyway, the hostal I stayed at was nice and I had the room to myself so that made it even better. On my way to Punta Arenas and then to Torres de Paines and I hope that I have at least one day of hiking without rain!

2010..Renaca..Talca..Los ANgeles..Pucon...Valdivia....

After the locura of New Year´s in Valpo and trying to go anywhere in Renaca during this time, it was a bit of a shock getting to Talca where you were lucky to find a retaurant open and of course I forgot that no wineries are open on sunday!! Chillan and Los Angeles are small insiginficant stops on the route la Laguna de la Laja, but el VOLCAN Antuco and the laguna was well worth the time and effort, if not for the views then for the feeling of being the only people in this national park. Villarrica and Pucon of course were touristy, but the everyday adventures of rafting, canopy, and hiking the base of a still active volcanoe were enough to make the crowds shrink away. I arrived in Valdivia to find myself in a German Cerveceria with 8 samples of yes, delicious beer, something I thought I might never say, but after meeting two americans from CHicago and 3 rather large beers later the beer never tasted better! Laura, Kevin and I showed true american style and continued to drink the entire day, we wound up with two bottles of wine in the middle of a Pinera Rally, an election candidate here in CHile, the elections are on the 17th. Then of course we went to an Irish bar and had some pisco, and then live jazz and another pisco at what looked like an old western bar, all in all, it was a pretty good time. Off to explore the fish market and the lily gardens and then Puerto Montt.