South Africa Trip - Day 3

So, day 3. Started off with a morning breakfast served by the lady of the house. Judy made us some delicious cheese sconces and fresh bread. We also got a little taste of home when she introduced us to her pug, Olive! That was a lot of fun. Much different from Robo, but it still reminds us of home.

We planned to spend the day out in Stellenbosch, which is a big city for wine in South Africa. We headed out for the train station with a little direction from Judy, who was surprised that we were taking the train. She said that she had never done that before which made me feel a little worried. We pressed on however and caught our first train towards Cape Town City Bowl. Strangely enough, we haven't been there yet, and might not go until we head there for the World Cup game.

Our first adventure of the day was trying to figure out how to use the trains and how to know what train to get on. I'm still not sure we know how to use them, but we asked around and were directed to the right one. After we got to our first transfer station, we found out that they had canceled one of the trains out to Stellenbosch, so we had to end up waiting for the next one to come about one hour later.

We finally got on the train and had a really good train ride! After about 5 stops on the train, we were the only ones left in our cab so we opened a lot of the windows and were looking out like happy dogs in a car. We got some good pictures of the mountains and wine country (again, pictures still to come!).

Once we got to Stellenbosch, we decided to ask a "tour guide" what our best option would be for wine hopping. Unfortunately, either they misunderstood them or we misunderstood them because they ended up giving us directions to a restaurant. So instead of following those directions, we started walking our own direction looking for stuff the map pointed out to us. Luckily for us, after about 10 minutes of walking, a nice hotel manager came running up to us. He told us that he had seen us struggling from his window and thought he'd come see if we needed some help. There are some really nice people out here!

We were directed to a wine tour place where they called up a couple of tours so that we could try to get on them. We ended up catching the second part of a day tour with Niel and 2 Dutch couples. Niel took us to lunch first where Ank and I had some REALLY good chicken pie. Spicer and Jennifer had some Grandma's Bootie ;) and Brian had some fried fish. All the food was really delicious. Probably the best meal I've had so far.

Niel took us to three different wineries. He explained to us how they made all the wine and why each winery was so special and unique. We went to Tokara, then Graham Beck, and finally Solms. We picked up a couple of wines that don't import to the US and a wine that we really liked the name to: "Cape Jazz Shiraz". Jenn had fun repeating this MULTIPLE times.

Our guide offered to take us back to town since the Dutch couple was already asking for a ride, so we took him up on it. He dropped us off right at our door! Again, what nice people here! From the house, we decided we were going to take the train to Observatory, a neighborhood closer to the City Bowl, and watch the South Africa game with Tessa. Unfortunately, when we got to the train station, we found out that the train station was closed at 6:30 (it was almost 8 by that point). We decided that we would then try to catch a cab up to there. We walked all the way back to the house without signs of a cab and decided that we would call one from the house. When we asked to use the phone, however, Judy told us that she would just take us because it would be faster and cheaper. So we took her up on the offer.

Once at the Observatory we watched South Africa get screwed multiple times and came away really upset with that game. We caught a cab back to the house and planned our next day before we went to sleep.

That's all folks!

South Africa Trip - Day 2

Day 2 of our trip had us waking up at 5:30 local in Dubai. We headed down for a free breakfast provided by our hotel and to meet up with the rest of the guys. Successfully met up with Ank and Spicer, but after having breakfast and waiting in the lobby, there was still no sign of Brian. Went to call him at the front desk to find out that he was just getting down. Oh well... at least we didn't lose him on the first day like we though we did.

At the airport (a really nice airport btw), we only had to wait about 45 minutes to board our plane. On the plane, we found out that both Jennifer and Ank had empty seats next to them. We thought about letting Spicer know about the seats, but figured he liked sitting in the back of the plane so we let him stay. Besides, he wouldn't have been able to share the stories of the crazy mean lady sitting next to him if he had moved.

This plane ride wasn't bad. It was only 10 hours from Dubai to Cape Town. No interesting stories here except that it went by pretty quickly :)

Finally having arrived in South Africa, we gathered up all our bags and got our World Cup tickets. What a relief! We grabbed a couple taxis and headed for our little B&B. More pictures to come later, but here's a link if you are impatient: http://www.hedgehouse.co.za/

Once we got to the Hedge House and through the gate, Spicer realized that he was missing a bag. We got the B&B owners to drive Spicer to the airport to see if he could find the taxi that brought us there. While he was gone, the driver came back to drop off the bag. It was funny because when he dropped it off I said thanks in a rather sour tone, but he waited there. It was like he was waiting for tip for bringing back Spicer's bag. What a douche! Anyways, nothing was stolen so Spicer was happy.

We met up with an old High School friend, Tessa, and head out to a bar to catch the Brazil vs. North Korea game. We went to a bar called Trench-something. It had a very Reggae/Bob Marley feel to it. It was fun. Had some South African beers (nothing very good). Left the bar after the game and came home to get some much needed rest.

Alright folks. That's it for now. Talk to you tomorrow night! Again, pictures later!

South Africa Trip - Day 1

Hello folks! J.R. here, and it’s the end of day 1 of our trip to South Africa and we’re in our Hotel in Dubai. This is probably going to get posted at the end of day 2 since we don’t have internets in the hotel.

So… I was having trouble getting excited for this trip since Jennifer hadn’t shown any excitement. She kept saying that she would get excited when she got to the hotel, or whenever we finished packing, or when we got past security, etc. Anyways, the day finally came, and Jennifer was super stressed out. We were running around last minute buying shovels, doing some last minute gardening, getting the dogs groomed, etc (don’t ask ;) )

Getting to the airport and checked in was no problem at all. One thing that was getting me a little annoyed was the people checking bags in front of us as the airport. There were about 15 people travelling together and they all seemed to have 2 bags and a carry-on. They also left all they’re stuff right in front of the check-in counters so EVERYONE was crowded. But once we got past all that, everything was fine.

Once on the plane, the guy sitting next to me and Jennifer (in the window seat) was asked to switch seats with the child sitting in front of him. Apparently, children traveling alone aren’t allowed to sit next to men, so they moved the kid next to Jennifer. It all started out being pretty cute. The kid was about 6-7 and generally quiet and shy. He curled up in the seat next to Jennifer wearing his sleep mask and blanket. We figured he would sleep most of the 14.5 hour trip, but, unfortunately, he woke up for food about 30 minutes later. Being the cute kid that he was, he took his napkin and tucked it into his shirt.

Then things turned for the worst. He proceeded to spill his tomato juice over ALL of his stuff! Jennifer helped him clean it. Then he opened up to her and started talking for a long time about him being vegetarian and his parents sending him away for months at a time. I could tell that she was trying to pretend to sleep so he would stop talking, but he didn’t. Just kept going… At one point, he started watching a movie and would laugh EXTREMELY loud and wake everyone. Once the sun came out, he would open and close the blind on the window letting a LOT of light in. When he was asked to stop doing that, he pulled out his flashlight and started flashing it. He had a HUGE backpack that he kept taking stuff out of. Of course, to take things out of it, he would throw it into Jennifer’s lap, and then he would laugh thinking it was the funniest thing in the world. Luckily, Jennifer was finally able to get to sleep when he fell asleep.

The plane trip was pretty good for me though. Each seat had individual TVs with over 600 channels. I was able to watch about 5 movies on the way over. I was pretty surprised with how up to date the movies were. They had things like Avatar out. Good stuff!

After 14.5 hours, we landed in Dubai. The weather was a cool 102 when we landed and you could feel every bit of heat. Once checked in to the hotel, we booked a night tour of Dubai so we could at least see SOME sights. We were able to see some of the bigger attractions like Burj Dubai, the Palm Islands, and Atlantis. Picasa will be updated with pictures as soon as we get time.

For the last stop of the night, we went to Biggles, an English pub just outside the hotel. Lucky for us we were all dressed in non-England soccer gear! I finally got to try a Kilkenny too. Sorry guys… good, but you hyped it too much J

It’s 3am here and I have to wake up in 2.5 hours. I guess it’s a good time to try to catch a nap. I’ll update you guys more tomorrow. On the agenda: 10 hour flight to Cape Town, checking in at Hedge House, possible dinner and a soccer game with an old friend.

Moscow, Russia

Where to begin?! I came to Moscow for work purposes. You see, the flight planning group always has someone stationed in Moscow as a kind of liason between the Houston planners and the Russian planners. These people usually have 3 month stints, but the Shuttle flight planning group usually sends one planner out for the space shuttle missions. For STS-127, they sent ME out.

Moscow was a real shocker for me. From the moment that I left the airplane, everything was different. It seemed dimmer, older, and smellier :) When we left the airport and we were driving down the highway, I would look to the right and left and see cars parked/dead on the side of the highway. People would park wherever they needed/wanted to. It was crazy. I saw a lot of old cars that were broken down on the side of the road.

Once we got further into the city, I wondered to myself where the "nice" parts of Moscow were. Unfortunately, we were driving into the worse parts of Moscow :(

When I finally got to the Volga (my hotel), I didn't know WHAT to expect. I had heard many horror stories about the hotels. Safe to say, it was NOT as bad as what everyone had said. It was probably worse than a Motel6, but not by much :)

Due to the shuttle launch slipping a few days, I got the chance to explore Moscow. For the first couple of days, I just went out to various "night-life" locations around Moscow. Things like restaurants, bars, and a club were all included :D Funny, but I actually didn't have "Russian" food until about my 4th day here! We would usually go to america, mexican, or indian food!

The first sight-seeing place that I went to was the famous Ismailova. It is a flea market where everything is cheap! This is where I bought all of my souvenirs! It was a very interesting place that really reminded me of Guatemala, including the smell! For a while, NASA employees were asked to not visit due to threats to foreigners that entered the area. Fortunately for me, they lifted that ban a couple of days before I got there. They had tons of different stuff including nesting dolls, jewelry boxes, furry hats, DVDs, or just about anythink you might want to get. Attached to it, was this area that had really interesting architecture that we walked through. They also had painters that were selling their artwork, persian rugs... it was crazy! UNfortunately, due to illegal black-market dealings going on, they "closed" the market. We tried going back, and nothing seemed to have changed :D Lucky for us, cuz I had a bit of shopping left to do!

The next place that I went to was the Red Square. This is considered to be the "center of moscow." It's where the president lives as well as where "all roads lead to" in Moscow. It is a very beautiful place with a things like Lenin's tomb and St. Basil's cathederal, as well as the GUM (a pricey mall).

The next place that I visited was the Space Museum! It is marked in Russia by a HUGE tower in the shape of a rocket blasting off into the sky. It had amazing statues around it and images at the base of the tower. Under the tower was the actual museum. Unfortunatly, on the day that I visited, they were closed, so I didn't get a chance to go in :(

That same day, I went to watch the Russian National Dance Show. Just across the street from the Space Museum, in the Cosmos Hotel, it was a VERY interesting experience. I was expecting something in a nice auditorium (thinking Hobby Center nice). When I walked in, however, the place was WORSE than my high school auditorium. The show was very intesting though. They went through the history of Russia and some of the dances in that history. Of course, they did the expected "squat-kick" dancing as well as other dances and flips all over the place!

After that, work started and I didn't get the chance to do much sight-seeing. I worked the night shift (9pm-5am) and slept during the day. Of course, I went out to dinner at various other places, had Abe cook some delicious dinners for me, as well as lived off of Ramen and Coke for a few days!

All-in-all, I say that I would have liked to see more of Moscow, but I'm ready to go home. After almost a month spent in Russia, I'm ready to go home, and see my wife and "kids" again :D

For more pictures, check out my Picasa album here.

Some Changes coming

It's been while... I hope everyone is doing well...first off there are some changes coming our way...I finally submitted my application for grad school at Lamar University. Weirdly enough I haven't heard back from them, but hopefully I will start in July. I am also going back to teaching this coming school year. For me to be able to get my Principal-ship I need a minimum of 3 years of teaching. I only have 2 under my belt. So this will be my third year. I am hoping to get in 4 years and then start applying for assistant principal jobs. Who knows...hopefully in 5 years or so you can call me Principal Reyes! How awesome would that be??? Right now I am teaching summer school. Most of your should know that my certification is in Social Studies...well guess what??? I'm teaching Biology this summer...How crazy is that?? I'm learning a lot though as I teach myself the night before I teach my students. This is my life... JR was suppose to be in Russia right now, but the Russian space people are being slightly ridiculous so JR probably won't be going until November. That means he may miss Christmas or Thanksgiving :(

JR and I recently celebrated our 25th birthdays! Wow we have both lived a quarter of a century...its still kinda hard for me to wrap my head around. We had a huge birthday outing with several other June birthdayers! Happy Birthday everyone!! It was a lot of fun. On my actual birthday I spent a day out with the girls. I wish all of my ladies could have been there. Thank you for those that could take time off to celebrate with me. Alexis, Nicole, Jesii, Carol and I drove to the Blue Bell factory toured an ate deliciousness. We then went shopping at some outlets in Houston! We ended the night joined with JR and other friends for some Italian at Zios ;) Thanks for everyone's birthday wishes :) JR and I got each other bikes for our birthday. When we went out for our first bike ride, I was a wreck. It was almost as if I had forgotten how to ride! I could ride for very long... but now that a few weeks have gone by, I can ride about 5 miles! That is a lot for me and I am pretty proud of myself.

Well that's a quick update on life!

<3
Jenn