May Days

Last weekend/week I went to Seattle and Vancouver with Palina and Lisa. The weather was perfect- low to mid seventies and clear skies. It was nice to escape the 100+ central califonia heat. I had so much fun visiting with Atya and Helen. I feel so close to them even though we only see them maybe once a year. Every time we get together you can feel that comfortable Chordas bond. We arrived Friday morning- walked around campus, say Atya's work, went to the University Village and the bookstore. In the evening we had a yummy pasta dinner at Atya's house and drank good polish vodka. We toasted to everyone in the family- if you count the number of people in the family you will realize we had a lot of shots.


The next morning started out rough- everyone had hangovers. We didn't let it damper our plans though. We hung out in Fremont, ate greasy cuban sandwiches and then went to the street faire which was a lot like Whole Earth. There were way more people though. Since the weather was nice. First time they saw sun for the month of May- tons of people were out. Later we took Atya out to a Ethiopian restaurant I found on-line prior to the trip. It was pretty empty and in a seedy part of town but turned out to be delish and probably the best food of the trip. The place was like walking into another country- cement floors, open kitchen door (reminded me of Miss Mirariam's in Costa Rica). Atya said she loved it and now wants to take friends there. After dinner we went back to her apt. and tried many beers from around the world that I purchased from the Bottleworks shop around the corner from her house. Probably my favorite store in seattle. We all agreed that Seattle is such a great city and doesn't quite feel like one since it is broken into smaller neighborhoods and everyone is so easy-going. It doesn't have that city rush and that's why I love it so much.



On Sunday we got up early and drove to Canada. Lisa did all the driving which was alot...but well worth it. It took us about 2 hours to get to the boarder and once we crossed the first thing we were hit with was a cow manure smell for the next 5 miles. We joked about the smell and then were taken aback by the beauty of Vancouver. The city is more like a city- people rushing about, taxis, etc...but it is surrounded by snow-capped mountains all around. We went to Stanely Park and ate fresh fish, drank a pitcher of beer (Canadian beer insnt anything special). Then we went to the aquarium. They had 5 month old baby fur seals that were so cute and other animals we had fun watching. After that we made our way back into the city and found a parking spot in Robson shopping district. We were not sure if we had to pay since it was sunday and saw a parking meter guy emptying out the meters. We asked him and he said yes, but he can do it for us. We were all taken aback and thought we misunderstood. But he asked for a quarter and put it through the meter until it bought us 2 hours. A quarter only bought 3 minutes so he put that single quarter in quite alot. then he even handed it back to us. We were shocked by how nice a city government worker could be. It made us feel positive about human kind. We walked around the city, felt a little under-dressed in jeans and tshirts, and then went to a few bars since Palina could drink in Canada.







On Monday it was Lisa's Birthday. We went out to breakfast and then to Pike Place Market. It was nice going on a monday because it was quiet and not crowded. When Palina and Lisa needed to find a bathroom- we went to the pike brewery. I bought an IPA and fell in love. Probably one of the best IPAs I have ever had. I wish I could have stayed longer and tried more beers but we had a plane to catch and were all disappointed about coming back home to the heat and daily routines of life.

I spent the week grading like crazy. Yesterday my class was observed- well my teaching. The faculty member said he wanted to talk to me in regards to me evaluations from last quarter. I thought oh shit. Then he proceeds to say (In front of all my students and across the classroom) they were the best evaluations he has seen in years. I told him thanks for some odd reason. And he said dont thank me, I have to thank you...you are preparing these students so I have nothing to teach them when they get to high levels! Then he turns to my students and says you are all lucky...you have the best of the best this university has to offer. I felt so happy. Then I ran an amazing class. My students all said smart things, most of them talked, they all were positive. It was an amazing day were I felt positive about teaching again. A day where I thought maybe I can do this....