Historic Dive Into The Ocean's Deepest Depths

Have you heard the news? Check this out!!!

There's a more complete video on the National Geographic website, but try as I might I can't seem to be able to embed it!

James Cameron is now the third person (and the only one to have done it solo) to have reached the Ocean's deepest point in the Mariana Trench! I first happened upon the story via the fabulous site io9, and while reading the story I just linked to, what particularly hit me was the fact that humans have only visited the bottom of the Mariana Trench ONCE, in 1960 (there have also been two unmanned trips)! To think, we've sent more ships to the moon than we have to explore the ocean's depths...

You can find out more about the amazing National Geographic DeepSea Challenge at their website:

"We know less about the deepest points on our planet than we do about the surface of Mars. The DEEPSEA CHALLENGE team is dedicated to advancing the world�s understanding of our ocean�s vast range of biological and geological phenomena. The historic expedition to the Mariana Trench�s lowest point, the Challenger Deep, which lies 6.83 miles (10.99 kilometers) below the ocean surface, is the first extensive scientific exploration in a manned submersible of the deepest spot on Earth. Piloting the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER, which is outfitted for scientific exploration, James Cameron will conduct tests, collect samples, and document the experience in the high-resolution 3-D for which he�s known globally."

I for one look forward to seeing more footage of the dive and reading about any possible life he might have seen down there! :o)

Movie Madness: crazy premiere in London!

Talk about walking into a madhouse! My sister and I were trying to cross Leicester Square tonight to collect our Mamma Mia! tickets with enough time to have dinner before the show... and found our paths blocked by a horde of screaming people!

My sister's like: "Thursday night? Oh, probably a movie premiere... I wonder which one it could be?... noooo... wait a minute! not... HARRY POTTER?!?!?!?!"

We found ourselves at a corner of the Square amongst a crowd of people looking up at a big screen showing the highlights of what was going on in the "fenced-off" zone (protected by Death Eaters no less!).

keep reading!

Missing again?

You might have noticed it's been a bit quiet around here again lately... and that I haven't been visiting my favourite bloggers... haven't flown off to the moon or anything, just had my life invaded by cousins! My cousin from Mallorca has been visiting this past week with her 11 month old baby and her younger brother and sister (8 year-old twins)... I've been teaching the twins how to snorkel (they go crazy with the slightest little fishy... in a safe calm spot I take them that really isn't a big deal underwater!), and they still insist on using me as a jungle gym in the water... fortunately they saw me with crutches at their first communion last April so I just tell them I have to be careful if I don't want to re-injure myself and they calm down. :o)

my aquababy niece with her mommy (my cuz)

my snorkelling-crazy cousins!

And although wonderful and fun... it's EXHAUSTING!!!

Not to mention reddening... why do kids always want to go down to the pool/beach during the peak hours? They've got lovely Mediterranean skin and don't realise their redheaded cousin is turning into a lobster!!! So much for sunscreen... I had it right all these years by avoiding the 12pm-5pm time frame... and worse... I'm getting a thick white stripe up to my neck from my bikini and it's going to look aweful when I'm all dressed up for one of my best friends' wedding in 2 weeks! :p

Mix that in with a heavy dose of classes I have to prepare and run around to get to on time (always more work in summer when students are out of school)... and the result is "internet? what's that?" I have so much to write about too! The madness that is winning a World Cup, a unique procession and dancing in the town just up the coast, haven't written about books or movies in months! And I've still got Hogueras tales to share! Fun video segments from these various events to weave together... where do I sign up for 48h days?

Cousins leave tomorrow, but my sis is here from London and I have to catch up on class prep work (plus have 3 new students) so I might still be silent for a while longer... and will start writing before I catch up on reading ('cause otherwise I'll never get anything written!). But to leave you with a foretaste... this is me right before setting out to watch Spain's historic (and highly stressful!) World Cup victory:

CAMPEONES! CAMPEONES! OHE! OHE! OHEEEEEEE!!!!

Football Fiesta in Alicante!

Well, I don't think it matters any more how the Spanish team does in the World Cup... at least not for a segment of the Alicante population! Fans of the local football team Hercules are going to be partying all night for a reason completely separate than the Hogueras... they won their final match of the season today which means they get to move up from the 2nd division of Spanish football to the 1st! This means they'll get to play against the likes of the Real Madrid and the Barcelona next year... good luck! They're going to need it! If I'm remembering right the last time they made it to 1st was about 15 years ago and they only lasted a year before getting knocked back down to 2nd... but I do remember all the partying in Alicante, t'was crazy! :p

keep reading!

Fallas en Valencia!

So yesterday, San Jos� a.k.a. March 19th, was the culmination of one of the biggest fiestas in Spain: las Fallas in Valencia. You remember my posts last June about the Hogueras (introductory post here)? The big carton-cardboard-wood-painted sculptures displayed all over town depicting (often satirically) the current events of the past year that are then burnt down on the night of the feast of Saint John? Ok, well think pretty much the same thing... but BIGGER! The budget for the Fallas in Valencia is much higher than that in Alicante, and they don't have a limitation on height... The style is different too. Where the Hogueras are like cartoons based on simplified characteristics of the figures (kind of streamlined, more geometric shapes), the Fallas have a tendency to exaggerate characteristics (sometimes a bit bufoonish, and curvier). Am I explaining myself right? Does that make sense to you? Maybe a few pictures will help:

Hogueras 2009, Alicante

Fallas 2008, Valencia

keep reading!

Ever seen an Easter Egg sticking out of a foot?

Voil�!

doesn't look like a foot? allow me:
keep reading!

A long drop...

Now this looks like a good way to start off the New Year!



Isn't it great to see a birthday present so enjoyed? ;o)

Snowy Alicante

Remember me complaining last month because I was missing the unique sight of seeing snowy mountains from the beach in Alicante? Well, guess what?!

SNOW!!!

keep reading!

what Cris did her last night in Liege...

GO CRAZY!!!!          ;o)

Ok, I know I've been too busy to actually write about what I've been doing here these 4 months, I'll get to it eventually (short version: teaching scientific English at the University). But in a packing interlude (I'm leaving tomorrow) I just wanted to share a few photos of what I did my last evening here...

I woke up this morning happy to see this:

 

because I hoped it would be a sign of possible snow before I left tomorrow. I had an ice-covered car 2 days ago (took me 15' to defrost it!), and was really hoping to have some snowy, goofy fun before heading south to the snowless lands.

Well this evening I was meeting friends to go ice-skating at the outdoor (but covered, it rains a lot here!) rink downtown in the Christmas market, and as I left at 18h I saw this:

COOL!!!!

(there were some Brazilians out enjoying their first snow earlier, lol!)

So, big event of the evening:

crazyness on the ice!

Spinning:

Helping a friend skate for the first time:

Warming up later with melted cheese:

then admiring all the snow downtown (where it almost never sticks, this is pretty rare here):

trying to catch snowflakes:

and going crazy again:

Back up on campus there was even more snow:

I hope some of it's still there in the morning so I can get some daytime shots before I go!

Now I've got to get back to my packing, and looking forward to getting home in time to hopefully still see this:

Also quite rare, to have snow-covered mountains behind Alicante! (photo taken 2 days ago by my mom)

Happy Halloween!

I hope you're all having a SPOOKY evening!

I don't have anything special planned this year. Halloween's not a big deal on this side of the pond, although I did have a blast organising a big fiesta two years in a row when I lived here before... I re-discovered a love of Jack'o'Lanterns:

keep reading!

La Nocturne des Coteaux

a.k.a. my favourite night of the year in Li�ge! :o)

One of these days I'll get around to giving you a proper tour of Li�ge, but right now I'm just going to talk about what I think is the most awesome night of the year... when the oldest part of the city and the hillside gardens and forest that lead up to the old Medieval walls are all glowing with candles and lanterns and music fills the air!

keep reading!

Am I in the right country?!

So after 2 more days of lengthy hours on the French highways (plenty of traffic, closed exit to Luxemburg due to an accident), I made it to Li�ge... exhausted and with a fuzzy brain but in one piece. Or so I though until I wandered around downtown yesterday and ran into this:


HUH?! A GUARDIA CIVIL in Li�ge?! What, is the King of Spain visiting? (The Guardia Civil are a type of spanish national police)

Nope, turns out this is going on:


Ummm... I must have my geography mixed up, 'cause I could have sworn that by driving 2000+ km I would have LEFT Spain! But I must still be in the Peninsula 'cause otherwise how could I have run into the Vuelta Ciclista de Espa�a (the final of the three "Grand Tour" cycling races -El Giro de Italia + Le Tour de France + La Vuelta de Espa�a)?!

Well a little research (i.e. asking people in the streets + a helpful e-mail from my mom) informed me that for some reason the Vuelta started this year in Holland (?!?!?!) and had an "etapa" ending in Li�ge yesterday! (aparently today was a day off so they could skip France by flying directly to Girona to continue the race in Spain) Were the organisers trying to recapture the 16th century glory days of the Spanish Empire when the Low Countries were Spanish? No idea! Seems kind of crazy to me... but hey, these cycling races have been trying to up their international publicity for years! The Tour de France actually started in Li�ge several years ago (and the against-the-clock portion raced under my window when I lived downtown! Nothing so boring as having a cyclist zip under your window, one a minute for 4h!). I think the Giro did a few years back as well. And hey, apparently I missed out on one hell of a good party they had going this weekend to celebrate the Vuelta being in Li�ge: concerts, dancing, horses, and of course lots of food and drink! I did catch the tail end of the celebrations yesterday:


I love the horses!!!

Ok, now I have to go back to getting settled in... not easy in a dark dorm room associated with a communal kitchen (which when everyone arrives will be used by a whopping 32 people! and we each have to have our own stuff... the place doesn't even have an oven?! argh!!!). Also have to start getting some work done. I just wish the Belgian summer hadn't decided to disappear on September 1st... :p

Guess what day today is...

This should help:

(2005)

Anyone want to join our bbq and fiesta tonight? I make a great mojito! ;o)

Surprise on returning from London!

Well, I had been planning on getting a bit more writing done in here... but a "little" surprise my family had in store for me means I haven't actually been spending much time on the computer!

"what's that?" you ask... "what could be more important than sharing with us your wonderful London adventures and photos?!"

Well... this:

Confusing? I might have to explain a bit then... When my parents came to pick me up at the airport the other day, my dad had me take my suitcase to put it in the trunk of the car... which I couldn't do because the thing was already full! With a crazy Kiwi redhead!

In case you didn't know, Kiwis aren't just a fruit or a funky flightless bird with a pointy beak, they're also New Zealanders! And my sister (the one just after me) has been living there for 3 years now doing her PhD. She said she couldn't afford to come this summer, my parents hadn't been able to get the money together in time for an "inexpensive" ticket and yet there she was, in the trunk of the car!

You know those Mastercard "Priceless" ads? Well apparently my face when I opened the trunk would have made an excellent scene for one of them!

(this is the key moment, but wrong angle of camera to get a good view of my shocked face)

I'll get back to you with London stories... but I'll probably be a bit scarce over the next week while my favourite Kiwi is home! That and I learnt we'll all be together next weekend as the youngest is hopping on a flight home from London! All 5 crrrrazies in the same city?! Hasn't happened in 2 1/2 years!!! YAY!!! :o)

Obama "roasted" in Alicante, Spain

A bit late, I know, but other posts and "Real Life" (pesky thing isn't it?) kept getting in the way!

Way back during the Hogueras (so a month ago) I dropped a line at the White House webpage asking if they would be interested in seeing some pictures of the POTUS in Alicante, no answer! I also wrote up a (rather lengthy) note about President Obama's presence in the Hogueras de San Juan in Alicante and sent it to the Washington Post in case they might be interested (hard to find an e-mail address to send stuff to!)... but never got an answer so I'll just adapt it and post it here! But perhaps with a few more photos! Be sure to click on them if you want to get a closer look! ;o)

Every year for the past century the inhabitants of the city of Alicante, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, have greeted the arrival of the summer solstice with the construction of large wood and paper sculptures called Hogueras or Fogueres. Composed of larger than life figures and smaller �ninots�, these images are often the equivalent of an editorial cartoon brought to life. Amongst figures representing the �average Juan� trying to get through daily life (or survive the current economic crisis), more �saucy� representations of famous persons abound: politicians, athletes, actors and other celebrities from the tabloids, of both national and international origin. Anyone is fair game. They populate the streets of the city for 5 days and then on the night of �San Juan�, June 24th, they get burnt to the ground amidst the noise of firecrackers and fireworks and the cheers of the crowds.

With the effects of the 2008 US elections having such an international impact, there was no way President Obama wasn�t going to find himself a part of this summer madness. Indeed, he appeared in 3 of the biggest Hogueras.

In the Hoguera Hern�n Cort�s he was present as a chess piece, placed on a white square, representing �el Rei Negre en una casella blanca� which is to say �the black king in the White House� (casella is a square on a chess board, but it�s also the diminutive for house).


Each figure is accompanied by a note, usually adding a bit more depth to the representation. One of the notes accompanying President Obama says:

"When Obama moves a piece
the world is engrossed
since the play is called
short castling of the King."

In the Hoguera del Puerto, floating in Alicante�s harbour, President Obama is represented as a cowboy atop a raging bull, placed next to Buzz �George W. Bush� Lightyear.


And finally, in the Hoguera Pol�gono de San Blas, the U.S. president has been placed with the Spanish and French Presidents Zapatero and Sarkozy.


The three form a marching band (Obama plays the drum, the others a trumpet and saxophone) trying to awaken the world from the global economic crisis.


As the sign says (click on photo to read the Spanish):

"A percussion awakens the whole world
It's Obama with a musical air
(charanga would be a festive marching band of wind instruments)
A trumpeteer joins the rhythm
They awaken the economy against the money problems."

They dig a bit into Zapatero:

"In the Americas and in Paris they're improving the jobs
We have our dear Zapatero
And even though the news talks about swine flu
With this president my salary isn't even enough for swine."

President Obama has been honoured in a distinctive manner, unique to the Valencian Community in Spain.

And in the "just to prove I was there" category, I made sure to get my photo taken with the 44th President of the U.S. of A! :o)



I wish we could have gotten a glimpse of Obama engulfed in flames (for more about the crem� read this post), but as you can see below we had a bad angle (he's just to the left of zebra, right behind that bush!).


So which one's your favourite Obama? The chess piece? The cowboy? Or the musician? I think by the number of photos you can probably guess mine... ;o)