Wandering Tango

I was invited to add one of my pictures to a photo group on Flickr called Tango Errante (Wandering Tango). This seems rather fitting, considering my penchant for finding tango anywhere and everywhere (dancing tango at these found places, well, that's another issue all together).

It's nice to get a little recognition, even if it is a very little bit.

A Word About Strays

La Serena, Chile.

I was warned about the stray dogs in La Serena. People had mentioned them, mostly with a tone of disbelief. Even the locals seemed to talk about them like they were a nuisance at best, and a menace at worst.

They certainly seemed wrong to me.

Maybe it's just me, but they seemed more like part of the scenery, rather than a problem. They simple wondered about, sniffing for food, and generally looking rather decrepit. Defeated might be a better term for it; they looked more like dogs which had been beaten for the majority of their life and, as a result, always looked at people with a guilty look in their eyes.

Not to say I didn't see any bad behaviour from the dogs, only amongst themselves. I did see a few dogs fighting, but not in a fashion that seemed overly violent. The fight looked more like an alpha dog reasserting his position in the hierarchy. The larger dogs did seem to travel in packs, the smaller ones on their own. Of these smaller dogs, they still would be considered a medium sized dog, were they a pet. I would venture a guess that most smaller breeds had either been run off, killed or were exceptionally good at hiding.

Diving!

Hilo, HI

I feel pretty good about getting around to one of the new things on my list of things to try while I'm here in Hawaii: scuba diving. After last week's lessons-only day (the weather would not permit a first dive), we had our first dive yesterday.

I can't say that it was an amazing experience, given that most of the dive was spent practicing fundamentals. It was still exhilarating. You have to put a great amount of trust in the equipment^[1]. Putting your face in the water and breathing requires you to overcome a rather powerful intuition that this should not be possible. Hence, it's a good idea to start breathing through the regulator before putting your face in the water.

Again, this was a dive that was practicing fundamentals: taking off the regulator and putting it back in while under water, using someone else's alternate air source, recovering your regulator, etc. Most of these things are important to know and practice in a controlled dive environment. Once you know what it's like, you are less likely to panic.

I'm looking forward to the future dives. There will be more fundamentals, but they should be more interesting as well. More depth, hopefully, as we only went down 15 feet on this first dive.

I'll be putting it off for a few weeks, as I'm headed to La Serena, Chile tomorrow night. It'll take two days to get there, so I'm planning on loading my laptop up with some pending tv shows.

[1] This is not to say that you do your own equipment checks on the rentals. The O-ring on my tank was looking a little used. It was fine for this dive, but the dive instructor made a note of it for replacement. Not to worry, I'm going to keep my eye on those O-rings.

Day at the Beach

Sunset
Originally uploaded by pschwarz.

Hilo, HI

I finally made it to the beach. I'm not a beach guy but it is nice. It's also the first sunset I've seen since I've been here.

Beautiful.

Big Island Tango

Hilo, HI

There's tango here. It is a small community, but it's relatively new. There's about a dozen regulars, but a couple of beginners came this week. During the week, we have a lesson and a practica. Both are useful for retaining skills, but I do find myself surprisingly on the "skilled" end of the spectrum.

The other islands actually have pretty decent tango communities, even though the populations of many of the others are smaller. Apparently there is a workshop on the island of Kauai, which should have a decent turnout - it has a real Argentinian, after all.

This tango group is definitely giving credence to the idea the Big Island is the last place to get anything.

Promises, Moves, and Concerts

Hilo, HI,

Promises

First thing, first. Now that I'm settled, I plan on updating this blog every Friday and Sunday. Really, I promise, I'll do it.

Moves

This leads me into the part about being settled: I've found a permanent place to live. It's a recently renovated duplex. I live in the upstairs unit, and the downstairs unit is only temporarily occupied by my landlords. They're moving to Oahu (which actually seems to be pretty common with many rentals - the owners don't live on the Big Island), so they're hunting for a tenant. If I can find one soon, I'll get a free months rent.

I've been spending this and last weekend unpacking. I'm almost done with the major stuff - a couple of half-filled boxes of dishes awaiting their turns for the dishwasher, and a some boxes of clothes to put away. After that, I'll hang up my art pieces and I'll be more settled than I ever was in my Girard apartment. I'll post some pictures soon.

Concerts

Last night was a three stage, six hour music festival of local[1] bands. It happens once a year and seems to draw about a third of the town. Since I've been here, I haven't seen so many people in one place. It actually made me feel a little uncomfortable. My expectations of small crowds has skewed my perception of big crowds. Back home, I would not have had a problem with fifteen thousand people, but here it just seemed overwhelming.

Needless to say, I didn't hang around too long. I had arrived late, due to unpacking, so I only caught the tail end of one band which had a good sound. Fortunately, on my way back to my car, I ran into some folks I met a few nights ago, and went back to the concert, stayed fifteen more minutes, and then went back to their place for cigar and some fine, Guatemalan, 23-year aged rum.

Tasty.

[1] It seems to me that "local" here means the state of Hawaii. The bands were from all over the islands, with a few from the Big Island. This seems true of most things - produce, furniture, art, etc. I'm getting the sense that there's much more of an affinity between the islands then there is between Hawaii and the Mainland.

At Gemini

At Gemini
Originally uploaded by pschwarz.

Hilo, HI

As far as programming jobs go, this one is a mixed bag. I've never worked in an organization that required so much in the way of documentation and meetings. My next six months will be less coding and more designing on paper. I try to keep my fingers in code, just to do a little testing of concepts, but I think my life will be dominated by writing words.

On the other hand, I did get to go to the army base and practice driving a four-wheel drive vehicle on dirt by weaving cones and doing donuts. That's not a perk in every job, is it?

It also involved driving up to the summit. I hadn't actually thought that I do it a second time, at least not anytime soon. It was much better than the first time. I felt great up there. A little light-headed durning the drive up, but that may have had to do with the road conditions (bumpier than all hell), then the altitude.

The drive down, on the other hand, was a pain. I drove from the summit, back to the office (about an hour's drive) in a very thick fog. Fortunately, this only started at the paved section of the mountain road, down. It would have been extremely white-knuckle otherwise. Of course, there are miles of construction on the Saddle Road which in foggy conditions is pain to drive.

The trip was made easier by my passengers: the two brits spent most of the time talking about how Captain Cook died. There's no better distraction than people discussing how an Eighteenth-centery explorer was dismembered by the natives.

Sunfish!

Ready to Go
Originally uploaded by pschwarz.

Hilo, Hi.

I checked out the Na Hoa Holomoku Yacht Club today. They have a little fleet of Sunfish, a couple of Hobie Cats and a pair of Volksboats. Well, without my life-jacket, hat, gloves, shoes, or really anything sailing related, I only took a couple rides on the Hobie cat.

I'll go next time, certainly. Since I should be getting possession of my car soon (the location of all the aforementioned sailing gear), I'll be set to practice tipping the boats, riding the swells (if I want to risk sailing past the breaker - which I do), and generally getting extremely burned.

I think a better sort of hat is in order.

The Rest of Me

Hilo, HI

My things have arrived on the island. Not in my possession, mind you, they've merely arrived. My car is at the docks, some where. My container of personal belongings is also there, I imagine, stacked there like that warehouse in Raiders of the Lost Ark, never to be seen again.

The hunt for a more permanent residence has been a flurry of showings lately. I have seen a house a day for a week. Yet, still no luck. As I was told yesterday at a company BBQ, I need "to get used to a different standard of living."

Ah, crap.

So I'll keep looking. I'm headed to see another place this afternoon. Might be a good candidate. If it doesn't work out, I going to get a room in someone's house, pay a weekly rate until I can find a place of my own. There are a few options there, as well.

This weekend there is a intro meeting for the local sailing club. I plan on checking it out, sailing one of those little dinghies in the bay. It should be fun. I haven't sailed a really small boat since my UW sailing team days.

If I Really Wanted Frequent Blog Posts...

... I could write them like this.

They are interesting, if short. It's almost like Orwell would have been right at home using Twitter.

A Little Sightseeing

Hilo, HI

I'm slowly doing a little sightseeing, here. I can't say that I'm getting out frequently, but I feel like I have plenty of time to see things. There's only so much to see, and I've got to pace myself.

It is an island, after all.

Well, that's not entirely why I haven't rushed out to see everything and anything worth seeing. I still not quite feeling settled, and that's limiting me to small excursions. I keep thinking that I'll get out and do something longer and more involved, once my car gets here and I get a permanent place to live. Once I have all my stuff, and I have permanent internet access.

Eh, excuses, excuses. Like not dancing because I don't have my shoes^[1].

On the plus side, I don't have to worry about things closing down for the winter. Back in Minneapolis, I always have to be concerned about the limited summer season limiting my activities. There's only so little time, for so many things.

It's not going anywhere, and I'll see it all by the time I'm done here.

[1] Of course, as anyone who knows me, I don't need much in the way of excuses not to dance when I'm on my own.

Relocated!

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Originally uploaded by pschwarz.

Hilo, HI

I'm not sure this would be classified as travel, but I've relocated. Sure I'll come back to Minneapolis in the future, but for now I'm enjoying a change of scene.

In Hawaii, of all places.

More on the move and the job in future posts.

I've a little stretching to do to get back into writing shape. I need to rebuild the habit, so these entries may be slow in coming. Not to mention that I don't have access to internet outside of work...

Forthcoming Posts

Munich, Germany.

So, as it turns out, I forgot how much internet is a pain in the ass in Western Europe. It's pricy and hard to come by. Compound that with the fact that the German keyboard has a slightly different layout.

I've had to type every 'y' and apostrophe at least three times.

What does this mean, with respect to my posting more on this blog? I probably be doing a big dump of information in two or three long posts after I get home. Of course, Wi-Fi has been pretty common at hostels¹ here, so perhaps some ultra-portable computer might be a good idea for next time.

1. I finally figured out the best way to identify Australians. The pronounce the word 'hostel' with an accent on the last syllable, like hotel. Actually, it kind of makes sense...

Industrial Heart

Dortmund, Germany.

I arrived here in one of the industrial hearts of Germany, spending the Thanksgiving holiday with my friends. We wandered around in order to find a few ingredients for the big meal. Turkeys are not huge here, no sweet potatoes, pretty much just threw together a recipe for stuffing.

Should be interesting.

As for Germany (well, Dortmund, anyhow), it's pretty clean and efficient. Actually, it's amazingly clean and efficient. The train ride from the Düsseldorf airport was on time, to the minute, and so pristine you can eat of the...well...alright, not that clean, but pretty damn clean.

Dortmund is a pretty bland city, when it comes to architecture, but the Christmas market is shaping up to be something pretty spectacular. The tree easily rivals the one they put out in front of the White House, or Rockefeller Center. They start things up tonight, but we'll be heading over there on the weekend.

I'm starting to shape up my plans for the rest of the time here. I'm currently thinking about heading to Berlin for a few days, and then down to Munich. Other than that, not much else planned out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wiping off the Dust, Kicking off the Rust

Minneapolis, MN

Man, it's dusty around here. All this stuff just lying around, collecting dust from all those readers coming through here, looking for some new content. Yep, the vast horde that is my readership is just kicking up all sorts of dust.

That's right, hordes.

So I've been away for a while. It's been tough, what with working and all. Imagine that, I don't get out as much as I used to.^[1]

Fortunately, I'll be heading back out into the world this week. It won't be for a long time, but it will be somewhere new (for me, anyway). I'm headed off to Germany on Tuesday. I'll be heading to a town called Dortmund, via Düsseldorf. That's about all I have planned for right now. I have two weeks in country, and no idea what I'll do with most of it.

Ah, to travel again. The more people ask me what I'll be doing the less comfortable I get. I prefer not knowing what I'll be doing. There's no pressure to see everything, or go everywhere. Not having a real agenda feels good.

It should be a good time. I'll take in some sites, enjoy time with my friends who've moved there, and try to do the usual: find a tango joint and see how the locals do it. Maybe even dance at one of those places. I do feel like I've a better grasp on this whole tango business.

At least I'll take pictures.

[1] Nor do I really write much, it seems. At least this is the 100^th post.

2006 in Pictures

2006 was a crazy, long, eventful year. Here's a handy little way of reviewing my year in pictures.

The Update

I'm going to deliver on something for which the readers have been clamoring . There have been cries for "where are you now?" and "what are you going to do next?" So here it is, the Update. The story that everyone has wanted to know. The answer to the question of "What now?"

Back to the world of the Ordinary.

I've been working at a full-time, salaried position (that's right, I'm a salaried man again) for ObjectFX. It is a good fit for a variety of reasons. The first is that they are a vendor for my previous employer. I was familiar with the basic operation of the software, and the expected results. Secondly, I was the second of what is now three former co-workers of mine that used to work at said previous employer. Third. It's about maps.

What's more fitting than that for a traveller.

Granted, they are only maps of the good, old U.S. of A., but it's still pretty interesting work. I get to use my math training more than ever. Of course, geometry was never my strong suit, but it's coming back with a vengeance.

I've also landed myself a pretty decent apartment. It's a great old place with an interesting layout. I took the lease over from a previous tenant, and I'm currently debating whether or not I should sign an new lease. It would force me to get all my things out of storage. I think if I did that, I could truly feel like I live in the place. Perhaps I'm resisting moving in completely. It would mean that the travelling is at it's end.

It would be nice to have all of my stuff, though. I'm starting to miss a few things. Mainly my whistling teapot...

I've also met a delightful, engaging, attractive, young woman named Jessica. The bonus? She tangos.

Where does all this Ordinary leave the blog? Well, the answer to that is that it will be put on extended hiatus. I don't plan to put it down permanently. It'll make a great archive for the stories, for one. Also, I don't think that I'm going to be quiting travel anytime soon. I'll be going new places soon enough.

I'll keep you posted.

Travel Burst

I recently spent a long weekend in Savannah, GA. It's a lovely, smallish city that lies on the Savannah River. The city center is full of beautiful, old pre-Civil war mansions, as well as a revitalized river-front of cotton mills - turned restaurants.

Further east lie a series of islands, some belonging to Georgia, others to South Carolina. We spent a day on Tybee Island, where many of these pictures were taken.

Savannah in late Fall has cool, but very manageable, weather. The island, on the other hand, was marred by high winds. This did not, by any means, ruin the experience.

The views from the top of the Tybee Island lighthouse were spectacular. From two hundred feet up, one can see for miles over the Ocean and the interior of the island.

It was a short, yet sweet and relaxed, trip to South. It wet the appetite for more travel. It already seems like it's been too long.

Heartland Tango

Heartland Tango Festival, originally uploaded by pschwarz.

It's been a long time since I've updated the blog. Mostly due to the fact that my vagabond ways are pretty much done with.

At least there is still some tango.

In early September I went to my first local tango workshop. It consisted of daily classes and nightly milongas for the full weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). It was intense, exhausting, educational, and, most importantly, a damned lot of fun.

There were a three sets of instructors, with only one half of a pair from the Cities. One couple, Cecilia and Jaymes, reminded me of my favorite instructors from Buenos Aires. They had a fantastic report and lightweight, easy-going instructional style.

The weekend also got me started on improving my low-light photography skills. Namely by getting a friend to shoot them for me (as in the above photo).

Yet another thing to practice, practice, practice.

Off into the Sunset

Minneapolis, MN

I'm done with the travel game for the time being. I only have to find myself a place to call my own for more than a couple months, and then I'm settled. I'm stable, employed and sedentary.

So, now what?

Well, I still need to work on an afterward, I suppose. I mean, I'm still looking for a permanent place to live^[1]. I'm still getting the hang of this whole "working thing" again. The transition from all-the-time-in-the-world to maybe-six-hours-a-day-plus-weekends is been tough.

The other questions that still need to be answered are: what have I learned, and have I really changed as a person. I'll have to think for a while.

I can't wait too long. Otherwise, all reflection will get lost in the mundane in and out of the new day-to-day. It's funny how fast memory fades these days.

[1] If anyone knows of a great apartment, with low rent and available now, let me know. It would be much appreciated. Please?

Pretty please?

Please, oh God, Please.