Yahooo

Day one was exciting. Saw some bedazzled burkas, ate some amazing
breads, saw some ruins,and only a few were in museums. I am in love
with this amazing almond and powdered sugar pastry thing. The fruit is
so good. Had papaya, mango and bananas. Turns out a big bottomed white
girl can turn heads here. Had lots of kisses thrown my way.

Saw people fishing off a bridge. They were pulling fish out of the Nile river.

The traffic lines seem to be for decoration and losers.

--
treena and kootenay
adogabroadayear.blogspot.com

Egypt here I come!

For those of you keeping track here is the plan.

The first day will filled with the excitement and angst that comes
with travel. I will be checking my ticket once or twice or maybe even
a few thousand times. Oh and the plan is to remember the passport!!! I
will rest my head in Cairo this night.

Then after the first night in Cairo it is time for a coffee in Naguib
Mafouz's cafe and then off the see the city of Cairo. I'll head out to
see the Citadel, which was finished by Mohammed Ali (not the boxer).
His tomb is the next thing i see. And, there is nothing like a stop in
a few museums. Maybe there will be some Pharaonic treasures. Let me
know if you want me to pick up anything for you. King Tutankhamun is
hiding here and i intend to find him. I wonder if he will recognize me
from Expo? There is a light show that happens at the Pyramids. I want
to try and see it this night. It's like the dry grad version of Laser
Pink Floyd.

Now for day three, i am heading to Luxor, which is founded around the
site of Thebes. Look out Karnak the amazing i am coming to i plan to
see your temple. Rameses II 's statue, Hypostyle Hall, a stone
forest, and sphinx are all here. We'll see what i can check off.

Day four is time to hit the Nile. I will visit Dendara built in the
1st century. It honours Hathor the Goddess of maternity, love and
music. I guess i can get behind the music part. Apparently there is
one of the few likeness of Cleoatra and Ceasarian (Julius's kid) here.
The Temple of Luxor is not far from here. We'll see if i can get there
as well.

Next day i am off to see Thebes, which i will get to by floating along
the Nile. I anticipate handsome Egyptian men fanning me with palm
fronds as i journey along. I'll let you know what happens. I
anticipate picture opportunities as the Colossi of Memnon, two giant
seated figures of Amenhotep III is around here. Queen Hatshepsut a
female Pharaoh is also buried along here. There are rumours of camel
rides this day. This is where the hat will really pay off. The day
will end with the boat making its way through the Esna Lock and onto
Edfu. Phew. I am tired already.

Now what to do the next day. Well... the Temple of Horus is at Edfu
and is dedicated to the Falcom God. I guess i will have to see that.
Time to put on the galabea and hit Aswan for dinner. I hope to find a
Galabea party. Waaahoooo.

The next day there is a motor boat ride across the Nile to see the
complex of Isis on the island of Philae. There is a granite quarry,
the High Dam, and obeliks to gaze at. Aswan has some botanical gardens
so i hope to sail through them on a felucca this night.

This day i sail the Nile (just like saying that) to Kom Ombo to see
the Temple. It is dedicated to Horus the Elder and Sobek the Crocodile
headed God, which is amazing 'cause gods in those days did share
anything well, let alone a temple. The temple used to house
crocodiles. Hope we don't see any. There is a mummy on display here as
well. Guess the crocks did like the taste.

Ahhh. A day of rest. Sailing along the Nile i promise to take lots of
photos. And back to Luxor and then onto Cairo again.

On our last day in Cairo i hope to hit Memphis, see the stature of
Rameses II, Skkara to see the Step Pyramid of King Zoser (2700 BC),
see Gisa, Sphinx, and the Pyramids baby!

This day will be a travel day. After a final coffee in Cairo i am off
to Paris. Gay Paris here i come.

Once in Paris i am off the to train station. An overnight trip and I
will wake up in Nice. (That's pronounced niece you anglos).

The next few days are open and flexible. A day at the beach. A day in
Monaco. A day sipping red wine in the cafes. You get the idea.

Then i am on my way home. I will be happy to see everyone, but a bit
sad to be home....

Reader's Block

They are everything I love in books. They are translations. They offer up the promise of excitement and foreign destinations.

I love the feeling I get when I'm reading a book written originally in another language. Sometimes I can almost hear the echo of the original story.

So I started the trilogy Your Face Tomorrow by Javier Marias. And then I started it again. And again. And again.

I don't understand why they won't work for me.

Senselessness by Horacio Castellanos Moya. Loved it.

Ghosts, An Episode in the Life of A Landscape Painter, and How I Became a Nun by Cesar Aira. Fantastic.

War by Candlelight, and Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon. Great.

Roberto Bolano, Jose Saramago, Javier Sierra, Alina Bronsky, Elena Ferrante, Robin Yassin-Kassab, Mohammed Hanif to name a few others.

Books in Translation

More people need to read books in translation. Recently I recommended The Lost Daughter to a friend. She loved it.

The books is by Elena Farrante. She writes about motherhood and conflicted emotions surrounding children. Her prose is candid and challenging. The main character vacations by herself on the Ionian coast. With her daughters moving to Toronto with her ex-husband it is first time alone in years. She becomes engrossed in drama surrounding Nina, a young mother. Exploring the comfort and complications that come with family she dares you to like the main character despite her human frailties. If you can find it I recommend it.

Elena Farrante also wrote a great piece for the NYT. She tries to explain Naples to us. Enjoy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/opinion/15ferrante.html?_r=1&scp=10&sq=ferrante&st=cse

So Soft

I love my new robe. It is brown, fuzzy and soft, soft, soft, soft. I think it is the softest thing I have ever owned.

When I first move out on my own I inherited a couch from friends. We called it the snuffaluffagus. It was big and soft and oh so comfy. The new robe makes me miss that couch a little.

But, we all have to grow. So the couch was passed down. My brother and his friends lived with it for many more years. It gave many weary partiers a place to crash, and was eventually retired from service all together.

I think of that couch each time I put on my new robe. The robe only gives one weary folk a comfy place to crash.

That's okay. Because I am the folk.

I love my new robe.

Sick

God. I've been sick for two weeks now. How much longer can this last. It started with allergies. Then it became a stuffy nose. From there it went into a cough, and then back to a stuffy nose and now it is finishing up with a cold sore and canker sore.

I haven't even had time to plan my dream home. It's odd. I can picture every part of it. The lights over the breakfast bar are so real to me. They are made by hanging three bulbs from the ceiling and then using fishing traps as shades. A little salute to Portugal.

Okay maybe I have invested some time in planning it this week. But, I haven't had time to check my lotto tickets to see if it can be something other than a just a wish.

Take to aspirin and call me in the morning.

Wow. After the big travel (as I am calling it now), I have come back to experience allergies. I don't understand how people live with them. Itchy eyes, runny nose, and sneezing are all new to me. I feel like a big baby.

To add to the pain, I now have a cold as well. It seems like every month I am catching some new bug. What happened to me while I was away? Perhaps I need to plan on travelling again. Because staying home is killing me.

hummm

It amazing how quickly time can pass. I have been back in Canada for a year and a half now, and have settled back into a routine that is dangerously close to the one I had before I left town. I get up in the morning, walk the dog, work the day, walk the dog, make dinner, clean up, watch a little tv and go to bed.

Gone are the hours of reading, walking, and writing that I enjoyed on my year off. I have come back to my old life and not made the dramatic life altering changes that I had hoped for.

I have written 70,000 words that could probably be a novel, but the self-doubt I carry about is making it difficult to put the work out into the world. But, if I don't put it out there I will stay exactly where I am.

Outdoor Water

If it is off the pool I want to have it raised. It would be great a few steps higher than the pool, so it doesn't feel like you are just sitting in the pool. I could turn on the jets, lie back, sip a glass of wine and enjoy the stars. And I wouldn't have to worry about the dog trying to get in with me. She would definitely jump in a pool, but she would never climb a step to get into warm swirly water. But, if it is too open and too far from the bedroom… well no naked tubbing.

But, if it is next to the bedroom, what do I do when I head to bed early and my guests use it. I would be tempted to eavesdrop. That rarely goes well. Don't want to overhear a list of my faults. (short list, but still it might hurt)

When I stayed with Ana and Carlos I loved their outdoor shower. It was not something you use often in Canada. Too cold most of the year. You would end up freezing bits off. A few times I would open my eyes from rinsing the soap from my hair and find the dog sitting inside the shower stall watching me rinse. It startled me at first. You don't often find a giant hairy white dog sitting in the shower stall watching you shower.

So I definitely need an outdoor shower as well as hot tub. Maybe the shower I off the bedroom patio and the hot tub stays down by the pool. Other than Kootenay I can't imagine very many people needing to shower on my patio. K only likes it until you try to shower her. The minute you aim the shower head at her she is off. Although when it is really warm, she like drink from any water you try to wash her with. So I guess while I get to use it, the shower will also be for the dog. I have hear people say "love me love my dog" this time it will be "shower for me shower for my dog".

Guess this all requires a bit more thought.

Warm Daze

The pool will be nice. I'm a bit concerned about the dog. She loves
water. She will jump in the pool. Whenever we get close to a beach she
runs to the water. She loves to lie in the waves and have the water
wash over her. She will even lie down in a puddle if it is deep
enough. Guess this mean a few hours of training for her and me. She
will need to learn to recognize the stair exit no matter from where
she enters the pool.

I want to have a ramp as well. If Steve comes to visit I want him to
be able to access the pool as well. He will need to be able to get a
wheelchair in and out. It won't be a true zero entry pool, but the
ramp will be wide enough to give him access.

The 25 meter width will be great for keeping in shape. I hope to swim
a number of laps each day before I write. The morning will be a nice
30 minute walk with the pooch, a few laps and then some tea and toast.
Then writing. Then if I am lucky it will be bread guy day. Some warm
rolls, a glass of wine, and a nice salad before tucking into the
latest book.

Amongst the chairs around the pool will be one that lies flat. It will
be where I read on sunny days. The dog will have her own bed beside
it. If she gets up on my chair it won't be long until it stinks of wet
dog so badly I won't want to be on it.

After a few hours of reading I will have to track down some friends to
meet for dinner. I don't want to send too much time alone. It is easy
for me to do. I can slip into a routine of eating, reading and walking
the dog very easily. It's not exactly the more people I meet the more
I love my dog, but….

--
treena and kootenay
adogabroadayear.blogspot.com

The Bathroom

I designed my dream bathroom today while I sat at our woefully underappreciated booth at the UBC Consumption fair. It seemed very few people were interested in the glamorous recycled products we brought. Luckily this gave me lots of time to dream.

It has slate 2X2 tiles on the floor and walls. The shower is a walk-in stall that has a rainfall head. It's a nice big head that showers down on you with a ton of pressure. My current shower has such low water pressure that asking the cream rinse to leave the strands of my hair would be as effective as the spout some days. The shower stall will have a bench and a steam set up as well, I believe. There's nothing like a eucalyptus steam to clean out the nasal passages.

And the tub, how beautiful it will be. Claw foot, with a white enamel finish inside and a Chinese lacquer red outside and it will be deep enough to drown in. None of this shallow can't even get the top of my knees wet crap I have right now. Nope there will be depth and there will be bubbles. A rack will lie across the top. I might put a candle in the rack when I have the night time bath.

Have I mentioned the in floor radiant heat? When I get out of the tub the floor will be warm. And the towel will come off the heated rack all toasty and absorbent, and they will smell of sunshine (the housekeeper will often air my laundry on a line in the sun). She will be a bit crusty, but loveable. This will be handy, because I often absorb people into my life so she will set boundaries for the both of us.

This will be my master en-suite, so I don't envision a door as being necessary. There won't be casual party-goers going it this space. If they end up here it will be by invitation only, and that is another reason for the big deep tub. Hehehe.

The sinks will be bowls that are set on a solid black abutment and the taps will come out of the wall. The small tiled ledge above the taps can hold the incidentals.

The toilet stall will be behind a small pony wall. It will be shaped in much the same way as the shower, but with softer lighting, and maybe a way to play a little music. You know, for the moments when you need a little extra distraction. Oh, and there will be a small trash bin there, with a bag liner in it. I was lectured by a boy one time because the garbage pail in the bathroom didn't have a bag in it and he couldn't decide how to dispose of a used piece of personal protective wear. Really we just had sex and you're going to lecture me on how I line the garbage pail….

The nicest feature of this room will be the fireplace with a flat screen tv mounted above it. This will be viewable from the tub. A woman cannot live with books alone, and damn I love watching movies in the tub.

And that is it. Oh, I will have to have an upholstered chair in there. The dog likes to hang out in the bathroom when I relax in the tub. Tile floor is hard on her old bones. Now, she drags my towel off the rack and lays on it if I forget to bring her bed into the room. And there is no way she is dragging my lovely large dove grey towel down and sleeping on them. Sorry K. I love ya, but I've gotta draw some boundaries.

Dreams

I love reading Harlequin Romance novels. I love that the couples always work out their troubles. They are completely at odds with what I normally read. Other than romance novels I don't like my fiction to have a happy ending. I like complicated, messy lives entwined by love and lies.

I could be happy if I could spend the rest of my time reading and writing romance novels. In my dream life I would spend six months in my home in Europe and six months in Canada. I would have a home in Vancouver as a base, but I could always spend my time back in Canada hopping from friend to friend. A few months with Treesa. Some time with Michael. Some time with Diane. Some time with Matt and Mel. And I could squeeze in time with Megan & Zach, and Bill and Jen.

I'm sure Kootenay would get used to the flights. She seems happy where ever we end up. Whether we are driving across BC or Alberta in the frozen winter, or flying across the ocean, she always is happy when we get where we are going. Although she is not very fond of the actual travel.

I can picture the house we would build for our European home. I can see the open plan living room, dining room, and kitchen. I can even see the lamps that I would build for over the island. And there would always be extra bedrooms for my friends and family.

I would sit out by the pool and write. I would need to plan on being somewhere the bread van would deliver to. When I stayed with my friends Ana and Carlos. The bread van would come by every other day. He would honk his horn and all the people home in the neighbourhood would come out and buy bread. The back of the truck was insulated so the bread would still be warm when he came by. It was the closest I have come to perfect relationship.

Now I just need a little stake to get this plan underway.

Another Start

How did I get so old?

I don't mean that in the classic, feel so bad for me I miss my youth, kind of way. To be honest there is not one part of me that wants to go backwards a year let alone a decade.

One day when I was a teen I stopped thinking of myself as ever aging. Maybe I stopped believing I could ever age. Tomorrow seemed so far away that everyday was measured just as another today.

Lately I have started to see that I'm getting older. The eyes don't focus quite as well. The body doesn't keep in shape as easily.

And, I realized that my mother was only six years older than I am now when she died. When I think of my mom I remember her as about thirty five. I can see how she dressed, what she read, and how she laughed. Although the only reason I can remember her laugh is because it is the same as my sister's laugh. If I close my eyes when Treesa laughs I can almost think it is Mom.

Must be getting close to that time of year. Oscar parties and sadness.

A New Cooking Plan

Eating better. It is not an easy task. This week I started a new routine. I have made up a menu, bought the appropriate groceries and am trying four new recipes.

All my old standbys are boring me. I can make a darn good panko crusted chicken breast. And my oven-roasted potatoes are fantastic.

One of the things I missed while travelling through Portugal was a variety of potato options. There were no baked potatoes with sour cream and chives and no garlic and lemon oven roasted nugget potatoes. Don't misunderstand they can rock the French fry and their olive oil over boiled potatoes was really nice, but I didn't realize how many different ways there are to get your starch in Canada.

So to start the new cooking plan I made chicken cutlets dredged in garlic and panko with a nice spicy honey lemon sauce. Yummy and apparently low in fat.

Tonight I made a grapefruit avocado salsa and served it on broiled herb crusted pork chops with a lovely jasmine rice sidedish.

Guess what I am having for lunch tomorrow. Ah leftovers. They are so much better than sandwiches.

let's test this out

well i am getting back to blogging. the only problem is that the email
address used for this account has expired. Unfortunately my memory of
my password has also gone. so i will test this note and see if it
comes thru. if it does get ready for some new entries.

--
treena and kootenay
adogabroadayear.blogspot.com

Milano

Things to note about Milano.
- Armani has a whole city block filled with his good. I couldn't even afford the air conditioning.
- La Sacala theatre is closed for renovations. The lobby and the museum are nice though.
- Milanese do not find references to the Da Vinci code very funny. The last supper is pretty amazing even if John looks a lot like a Mary.
- Drinks can cost you 5 eruos, but they come with all the snacks you can eat. The bruchetta was particularly good, but i would not sneeze at the salami, mozzeralla, ham sandwiches, and homemade potato chips, and if you think your drinks are overpriced and you are trying to make up the cost by trying a few of everything then ignore the waitress giving you an angry glare.
- The galleria is amazing. The light comes pouring in the glass ceilings and show off the Prada bags very well. It is too bad they spelt their name wrong on the one I bought, guess that is why it was marked down.
- Cab drivers are cab drives no matter what country you are in. A ten dollar cab ride can for twenty can seem like a good deal if you are standing on the side of a road in a strange city, you have two kids with you, and it is pitch black.

Our last night in Milan was very dramatic. There was a storm that included lightening, thunder, huge pounding rain drops and hail.

They Came They Saw They Conquered

They made it. The family finally got to see where I have been hiding for the past year. After a long flight from Canada to London the made the hop to Lisbon, rented a van (big enough for all the tourists in Nazare) and drove to see me.
Kootenay and I were walking through the plaza when we saw them. We were both happy to see them. I think my dog may be tired of hanging out with just me.
While they were visiting we swam in the Atlantic, ate fantastic seafood, and heard some great music.
Aisha managed to drink her first legal beer, taste a great sangria, have a mojito, and get kissed by a cute european musician. She did more exciting things in her first two days than I did in my first six months. Look out cute euro-boys i need to catch up.
We hit Obidos a small walled town for an afternoon of tourist pictures and some cheese, bread, olives, and various other tapas. Yummy. The portuguese do a great bread, and their cheese is pretty good as well.
After an amazing dinner at Maria de Mar, which consisted of a cod boullaibasse, shimp in lemon and garlic sauce, sardines (bigger than you would expect), pork alentejana, and wine Aisha, Jerry and myself went to Ta Bar to see a friend play some music. You can google him at Blister music. He is pretty talented. Check him out.
I was reminded how small a town Nazare was, there was long hair, bad hair, dalmatian dad, and Maria who cooked us dinner all in the same room. Maria even sent us over a round of drinks. Aisha can't seem to keep off the beer now. She seems to be channelling her mom.
We are now in Milan, but my internet time is running out so you will have to wait a day or so until you hear about it. Just a sneak peak tough.... it includes amazing pizza, large beers and rude waiters....

There are a lot of people in town right now. My sleepy little cobblestone village has become a summer resort town. During the winter Kootenay and i wandered the town and the beach leashless hearing very little english. The little that we did hear was usually from friends calling us over to chat.
Last night a boy came up to us and wanted to throw the ball for K. He wandered over and asked in accented english if he could have a turn tossing the ball, and he wanted to know what type of dog Kootenay was.
His mom quickly ran over to interpret for him. She was surprised to find that understood him. She was even more surprised to find that I couldn't understand a word she said in Portuguese.
They are from New York and have family here. The boy had a NY drawl. Not too difficult for a Canadian girl to understand.

Tourist Trolling

Kootenay and I take our big walk in the evenings now. There are so many people here that night is the only time when we can get anywhere near the beach. This has exposed us to a whole new group of people. Here are a few answers to the questions I have been most consistently asked over the past three weeks.

Sorry. I don’t speak a lot of Portuguese. Falar um pouco de portugues

We are from Canada.

I have seen a bit of Portugal. Alentejo, Comibra, Lisboa, Porto, Tavira, Fatima

I am not really comfortable walking in the forest at night with someone I don’t really know.

Tell your Mom thanks, but I have already eaten dinner.

Honestly we have met a few times already.

Yeah. I am the girl with the dog.

Ahhh. When you asked me if I wanted a little Portuguese I mis-understood. I thought you were talking about dinner.

I don’t really see Canadians as being that culturally repressed.

No. Thank you. It was a flattering proposal.

Really people do that in the tents at night?

Ha. Ha. (uncomfortable interjection)

I understand what puta means…

I said your phone was fancy. Not that you were my fantasy. But….

Luggage? Really?

I am pro recycling. I think we throw too many things in the garbage that can and should be recycled or reused.
In Nazare recycling can seem like a lot of work. There are lots of places to drop off your garbage, but a limited number of bins for recycling tin, paper, glass etc. The recycling bins nearest to the apartment are by the taxi stand across town. The taxi drivers line the benches along the street waiting for fares and keeping up on the town's comings and goings. At first they looked at me very questioningly as I dragged bags of stuff the bins. Now that it or I has become a regular occurrence they smile at me rather than shaking their heads in confusion.
My only convenient recycling bin is for wine bottles. That has come in handy as I have developed a taste for vinho verde and that has led to a lot of wine bottles for the recycling department.
Friday I landed in Lisbon after a week long visit to meet my new niece Emily. She is beautiful, pink, and has the newborne cone topper. (Jen is a small woman and us Chambers' have big noggins. Some have even been compared to pumpkins.) There I saw evidence of of a re-user that tested the limits of the usefulness of the idea. As luggage started coming off the plane a slightly used sun umbrella came tumbling down along with all the bags. The umbrellas here run from four to ten euro, so I have to question the sense of dragging one from Germany to Lisbon. It would seem the carbon footprint of that umbrella would be rather more than buying one in Portugal and gifting it to some beach family as you leave town.
Then again i just increased my carbon footprint enormously in order to meet my new niece. That umbrella must really be loved.