"Watch out for those Mohave Greens; there's no antidote in the region for them. They'll have to fly you out if you get bitten. But those rare Mohave Reds are even worse. You won't miss their bite." I was walking slowly and cautiously through the landscape of Lucerne Valley. I could distinguish between 4 or 5 different plants in the area outside of the Sage and the angular Joshua Trees. One little bush was blooming white and each flower had it's own little beetle in it engorging itself nectar. This land is filled with harshness and fear where people avoid looking [View Full Entry]

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So i am in the united states, writing this from the convenient and comfortable confines of my backyard, underneath my gazeebo to be exact. It has been four days since I've arrived in the states and the weirdness of being back is beginning to wear off. The final flight , per my typical nature , carried its own adventures, me , ab , and steve met two body guards from californina, who had justbeen on a detail in the GAlapagos protecting one of forbes 50 richest men in the world, and so we chatted, and they gave me their business card [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone! Just thought I'd check in and let you know whats going on. I graduate from Hawkeye on Friday... with a 4.0 for the whole time that I've been there:)! I've been so busy with finals and now its time to pack. June 7 is just about 3 weeks away! I can't believe that its coming up so soon! We have refresher training next Thursday the 22 to go over things and get a packing list, etc. Some people have already left, a few from my group. Well, thats all I really have to say, I'll see you all at [View Full Entry]

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El diez de Mayo, no special holiday, as far as I know. Just the day the Local Filipino Community in Hawaii happened to pick for their Annual Fiesta in the Park. The Parade started at ungodly hour of 8AM. Sorry don’t have any photos for you on this event. When I finally arrived at the Park, a Escrima or Kali demo was going on with guys in Kendo Armor battling each other with a pair of sticks each. Latter came performances, that seemed Catholic in nature, resembling scenes from Mexican movies of villagers honoring Jesus or Mary. Next were performances that [View Full Entry]

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i fly in two weeks. i guess i should consider my luggage options. oh, and find my phrasebook and directions and my old phone and my stash of chinese yuan RMB and let my bank know not to freak out when beijing ATMs come up and decide what bags and shoes to take and which ones i can buy cheaper in the market and whether i trust checking a piece of luggage or not and i need copies of my passport and visa and to back up my photos online and download a proxy server so i can view foreign sites [View Full Entry]

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Of all the trips we have taken this one really stands out! This is the first cruise and I must say I have fallen in love with the idea of my "hotel" going with us to all the different locations. Plus....room service 24 hours a day.... [View Full Entry]

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Hello again. After our marathon 20 hours travelling we've spent 4 days here at San Francisco. It's supposed to be the city that everyone wants to live in and we can see why. The weather is great. Clear blue skies with a really cool breeze from the bay. It's such a friendly city as well. The main pier area is Fishermans Wharf. It's got loads of nice restaurants and bars. We've seen loads of funny stuff including a man chaining himself to a tree for some reason and a gypo and another man having a slap fight in a crowded park. [View Full Entry]

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Forleden fandt vi en rigtig fancy campngplads lige uden for hovedstaden og med direkte busforbindelse, så vi ikke behøver køre skrumlet ind mellem de mange politifolk, motorcykler og biler. Det er bestemt en fordel, for det er ret krævende at køre kæmpesvinet "ELMO" RV i tæt bytrafik...Den er både høj og lang. Washingtons Metro er desuden noget lettere at gennemskue end NY hvor vi konstant måtte spørge os frem for ikke at ende det helt forkerte sted. I metroen blev vi kontaktet af en venlig dame, Fran, der fulgte os næsten hen til White House, alt imens hun konsant smalltalkede. Vi [View Full Entry]

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Aloha! To be truthful, I think the travelling is catching up with me a bit - I am so tired! But today was to fabulous not to share. We got up this morning and my Dad fixed a great breakfast of french toast - yummy! It was fun having breakfast with everyone and catching up since I hadn't seen my family since before I left for China. After breakfast, we went to punchbowl cemetary and also Peal Harbor. Punchbowl was so awesome. My Grandpa told us about where he had been in the Pacific during the war, and other people that [View Full Entry]

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Here are more photos of the little guy [View Full Entry]

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