by Mark | Sep 28, 2011 | Pulled Back
Foyer of National Gallery of Art
Sometimes we don’t find the next road until the last minute. Like this time. There we were scurrying around like the squirrels in Presque Isle, Michigan, looking for places in Cape Cod, Asheville, Virginia Beach, Charleston, then we discovered an amazing apartment for a five-week stay near Dupont Circle in Washington DC. Let’s call it luck.
Arriving September 21, we have spent the past week settling into this beautiful apartment, exploring, reading about the city and getting some work done. Where did the week go?
After meeting the engaging owner of the apartment and getting the “how-tos” of the apartment, we drove her to the airport, found our way back with a quick stop at Whole Foods and started unpacking. Beyond offering an ideal location, this apartment is spectacularly designed. Here is a favorite piece among way too many to show…
The dining room is a beautiful airy place to work.
Parking the car was a big relief, mass transit or walking is so much simpler. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is one of the best; between the subway, buses and Circulator, it is a breeze to get around town.
Four bridges and two tunnels along an 11 mile railbed of the B&O railroad
We joined the Captial Bikeshare ($25/month) and will start to utilize that popular program as well. It is a 10 minute bike ride to the National Mall and about the same to the Capital Crescent Trail a popular and scenic shared use trail from Georgetown, D.C. to Silver Spring, Maryland, along the historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
To get acquainted with the Circulator which is only $1, we rode several blocks over to Georgetown, south and west of here, did some window shopping, took in the scenery along the Potomac and had a quick bite to eat.
Sunday we walked down to Dupont Circle for the weekly Farmers Market.
The produce was irresistible…
Later, a bike ride to the Mall ended up at the Captiol building.
We may not make all of the Smithsonian Museums in the next few weeks (so far we have visited the Natural History Museum, National Portrait Gallery, and American Art Museum), there are oh, so many restaurants to try, neighborhoods to explore and places to see; but from this last minute, lucky apartment discovery, we plan to know Washington, D.C. well before we leave.
by Mark | Sep 25, 2011 | Pulled Back
Campanula rotundifolia (Harebell)
After two months in Baltimore, we packed our bags and headed north to Presque Isle, Michigan. Wait, don’t click to Google Maps, just hold up your right hand, palm facing toward you. Presque Isle is at the tip of your index finger approximately 750 miles north of Baltimore.
We spent two weeks nestled among the trees visiting friends who live on the shore of Lake Esau, a small beautiful lake in the heart of Presque Isle. The setting provided a stark contrast to the urban landscape in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, where we had spent the previous two months.
Our friends left us alone for a week (not exactly, they left their cat) as they traveled to Vancouver, Canada. We enjoyed their amazing self-designed and built lakeside house and caught exceptional sunny days with highs in the 70’s. Did I mention the jacuzzi in the sun room?
This area is a stone’s throw from Lake Huron, a historical cargo passageway among the Great Lakes. Lighthouses are common on the Great Lakes, in fact there are 149 of them in Michigan, more than any other state. Here there are two exceptional examples. The lighthouse below was build in 1840.
And then this one replaced it in 1870…
While we occupied most of our time with a contagious mixture of basking in the sun, working, biking, walking and relaxing, we did make it to the local farmers market in Alpena, about 20 miles south, had breakfast at a local hangout, and toured the city a bit.
Luckily, our visit coincided with one of the biggest cultural events in the area. The 60th Annual Posen Potato Festival was taking place in Posen (pop. 292) about 15 miles west of Lake Esau. We marked that on our calendar with a big “must do!”
We started our Potato Feast with breakfast at the local VFW hall.
You guessed it, eggs, polish sausage and potatoes. There was a big turnout and some huge appetites. After that feast, we moseyed over to the flea market and caught another glimpse of Americana…
We decided it was time to get back to the lake on this beautiful September day and as we walked back to the car, Potato Festival enthusiasts were already setting up chairs to get ringside for the main event, the Sunday Potato Festival Parade. I know, you’re thinking how could we leave now, and it was a close call but the sun and lake were too big of a pull and besides, we had a lot of city life in Baltimore. The tranquility of the wilderness called.
We leave you with one more glimpse of Northern Michigan lakeside living at its finest…
From the beauty of Northern Michigan, the next road leads to our nation’s capital Washington, D.C.
by Mark | Sep 8, 2011 | Deep In It
One goal of immersing ourselves in the Buenos Aires culture was to learn as much Spanish as possible. We began by placing a Craigslist ad for a Spanish tutor that received unexpectedly rich results. We narrowed the respondents down to four or five and then scheduled interviews. That process worked really well, and we chose to work with Maria.
Learning a second language anytime if you’re not 5 years old or growing up in a bilingual household is difficult, but learning when you’re in your 50s can be paralyzingly intimidating!
Our Spanish teacher, Maria
Maria seemed to understand; she didn’t giggle or laugh too much at our Mark’s horrible pronunciations, or even at our inability to carry on anything approaching a meaningful conversation.
Let’s stop here for a second. Verbs in Spanish are amazingly effective and unbelievably complex. They convey meaning far beyond English verbs. The concept is easy: verbs convey gender, context, relationships, all the tenses, etc., so If you can’t conjugate verbs effectively, get out of the room. The rest of the language is relatively easy.
After roughly two months of three-day-a-week, two-hour classes, we had mastered present and some past tense conjugations. We could — for the most part — convey what we wanted or needed to in stores, restaurants and taxis. It wasn’t pretty but we were understood. Well, Betsy was understood, Mark was struggling with the “T” sound. As Maria kept reminding us, no “cha cha cha.”
It drove us mad once trying to convey that something made us triste (sad). Looking straight at the person, we made faces, ran fingers down our cheeks to illustrate tears, and repeated the word several times but could not make the person understand. That is how important pronunciation is. The “t” sound seems simple but it isn’t, and you have to roll the “r”. We don’t realize how subtle these sounds can be.
It was particularly funny as we practiced our burgeoning language skills that when we failed to understand what someone was saying to us in Spanish the first time, they would repeat it louder and then again louder. If you are ever guilty of this behavior to a non-English speaker, believe us, repeating things louder and louder does not help the other person understand.
We had so many funny and trying experiences with everyday communication. Our portera (doorman) was a super person, and we came to really enjoy him. He spoke almost no English. We saw Ruben several times a day and became friends but never communicated very well verbally, although you can’t say we didn’t try really hard.
Classes were intense. Brain matter was pulsing, neurons flashing. After two hours, if felt like someone had been walking on your skull. It was the definition of “brain dead.”
We laughed, worked hard, practiced, used our knowledge every day, and in the end, we can say this much, we had fun and did the best we could. They say learning a second language is one of the best mental exercises. That may be true, and for us, it was all of that plus making a new and forever friend.
Need a wonderful Spanish teacher?
So if you’re looking for a great Spanish teacher in Buenos Aires, no matter what your skill level, we recommend Maria! (Yes, she’s a real Spanish teacher with great credentials and not to be confused with Maria in The Sound of Music.) And the name wouldn’t be pronounced the same in Austria, either.
The Spanish we did learn while in BA is a credit to Maria, and what we didn’t learn can only be blamed in our case on the students.
Maria speaks four languages and is also conveniently a travel agent who can help you with your travel plans in Argentina and other countries. She’s an excellent source of local information as well, and what she doesn’t know, she will try to find out for you. Her e-mail is majo1313@arnet.com.ar.
Maria is so much more than a Spanish teacher. Muchas gracias to our friend, Maria!
