My Journey Round The World

First ruins of the trip in Monte Albán, a Zapotec civilisation. Quite impressive to see & hard to imagine how it could have been before… I met a friendly Swiss guy, Vincent - who already travelled a lot in Central America & lived 1 year in Equador - & spent some time together, really nice to share his experience. We went to the Mercado 20 de Noviembre for lunch in order to have this famous bbq & tortillas with quit spicy vegetables!  Tomorrow direction Porto Angel, on the Pacific coast.

Oh, I forgot also, the fun experience of the day was to taste the grilled grasshopper (? not sure if it’s the right word in English…) Not really tasty I have to say… Sorry, no picture – only 1 witness – as it was just before choosing food – I cannot do eveything!

Hey! I made it safely to Oaxaca So happy to see some nature after all those big cities! I even managed to get a cheap taxi up to the hostel thanks to a helpful guy at the bus station. Hostel is clean, with free internet access (yes!) & really close to the city center. It seems that for now I’m the only one in my 8 people bedroom. I already had the chance to visit the center a bit: main square – full of people & with a improvised dancing place, such a nice atmosphere! Mercado Juarez where you basicaly find everything… Food is really impressive to see, especialy meat! Tomorrow I’ll go for sure to the Mercado 20 de Noviembre for lunch! They are making bbq just in front of you

Yesterday was pretty hard, I didn’t expect it to be so difficult… Small cultural choc I would say! Not easy to be in such an unknown environment where I’m not able to communicate properly. I guess, I need to accept that I look like a tourist not as in Boston or Vancouver, where it was easier to look like local people.

Luckily, today was already a bit better! Thanks to a nice evening with Gabriela & Beto, I discovered some Mexican food: molotes de tinga & de cochinita pibil with Agua de Jamaica – a non-alcool drink from hibiscus flowers, in a local restaurant. Really good!

Today I was already a bit more confident while walking around the city. I tried to speak or asked people if needed, ok, only few words & most of the time hard to understand the answer but it’s a start! I also had a great family lunch & taste a regional home made dish: mole poblano – sauce made with chocolate, peanuts, 10 differents peppers type… cooked by Vanessa, Gabriela’s sister. Lunch included also a free Spanish course with Enrique, Gabriela’s Dad Tonight little chat in Spanish – more or less – & diner cooked by Marta – Gabriela’s Mum: Quesadillos. I must say I’m really spoiled!

I finally decided to skip Mexico city. I wanted to stop by but I realised that I might run out of time! I have a flight in San Jose – Costa Rica on 13 November & I still want to visit Oaxaca, Mazunte, Chiapas, Guatemala, Nicaragua & Costa Rica… Not sure I’ll manage all that in 1 month! Don’t want to rush…
I guess it would be easier to come back to Mexico city another time – I hope so!

So I’m leaving tomorrow for Oaxaca. No more support to rescue me in the afternoon… Third step in the big adventure… Let see how it goes!

I didn´t miss any fight & arrived safely in Mexico Strange feeling to be in another country where I don´t get the language anymore… I must say I´m really anxious about it & don´t feel really comfortable! I guess & hope confidence will come back soon

Luckily, Gabriela & her Dad – speaking french! – welcomed me in Puebla. It was really nice after again 18 hours travel to arrive in such a friendly-family atmosphere! Thanks a lot!!!

Yesterday, great meeting in the plane from Vancouver to Houston, with an amazimg kind of person! (No wonder his name is Alexander ) who travelled nearly everywhere in the world already!!! He will be crossing Canada with the Olympic flame next year. He gave me good tips on where to go from Mexico to Costa Rica as well as where to eat in Houston Terminal E while waiting for my flight to Mexico Thanks a lot!

So… Easy part is over now… Friends to share time with & to rely on, dayly internet access to keep in contact with you…

I want to thanks Alex & Tanya for hosting me at the beginning of this experience. It was great to be able to spend time with you in a “secure” environment!

So from Sunday, new big step… (I’ll try my best not to miss my flight! ) New adventure in totally unknown country… I must say I’m a bit anxious about it… Especially as my Spanish is pretty far away – hope it come back quickly! I’ll try my best to give you news as soon as possible. Please, don’t forget me if you don’t hear from me for a while I look forward to receive your messages soon & for sure I’ll think of you overthere!

I have to say that Vancouver is an interesting city with wonderful landscape all around. The city looks really modern & people are pretty friendly! It often happen that they stop to ask if you need help when they see you looking at a map!

• Transportation: Metro – or Skytrain as they call it here – is absolutely clean & I guess brand new! Every single bus driver will say hello to you & would be more than welcome to answer your question if you search your way – good luck to find that in Paris! Funny thing to ask the bus to stop, you need to pull a cable which run all around the bus You can easily travel by buing a Faresaver Tickets booklet (10 adult 1 zone tickets) for 19$ instead of paying 2,50$ one way, valid for 1:30 hour.
• Finding a flat: you can of course have a look in the newspaper however, they also have an interesting way to do it: as for hotel or guesthouse, they put a sign in front of the building telling you that a room or flat is free. You just need to call the agency to take an appointment…

1 week was good to get to know the city a bit, however I’ll need to come back to discover Victoria Island which seems to be a beautiful place to visit for a long weekend… Next time for sure!

 

Last trip with Tanya on Bowen Island, beautiful place to be reach by boat: little cruise for my last day in Canada! I definitly have to come back for a cruise to Alaska!

Sunset evening with an amasing view on the city & the ocean with Tanya’s international friends from Canada, Mexico, Australia, Ireland, which make me want to come back & leave in Vancouver for a while We’ll see?!

Hard not to compare things you know about… As it was a rainy day, I decided to go exploring the aquarium. I should say, I was a bit desappointed… True, they have more animals than Nausicaa – the aquarium in Boulogne-sur-Mer where I used to work for more than 4 years.  However, I found the mise-en-scene not as good as in my former aquarium! Yes, they have two huge Underwater Viewing – as they call it – but so big that you hardly see the dolphins or belugas… Some others tanks doesn’t seems real, plants are fake, sharks are small… Ok, one good point is that circulation is really easy & you have map telling you where you are. Dolphin show was interesting to see – really American way Funny was to see the fishs we have on our French coast relocated on the Canadian one.

In the middle of my visit, I heard French speaking people saying that the best aquarium they’ve seen was Boulogne… Did I heard that right?! I couldn’t miss that & confirm that yes, Boulogne is one of the best They were from South West France & used to visit aquariums on their journey. We had a quick chat about the one they’ve seen & result was that Nausicaa was the best! I should say I was proud   Guys, you’re doing a great job there! (I never doubt about it!) CARRY-ON!!! I look forward to see the changes on my next visit

Today, I would like to give a special thanks to my blog friends! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP for helping me to keep in touch with you all!

THANK YOU to:

• my blog Master Thomas – Sachiko
• my great translators: Ulli, Carmen & Jorg
• my scientific & cultural support: Catherine
• my blog coordinator & her wonderful patchwork picture skills: Ariane

Thank you so much to be here, wihtout you I couldn’t have make it!!! I am so lucky to have you on my road…

Alex xxx

Take it easy day – as would say Tanya   I went to visit the University of British Columbia – UBC Campus. A mix of historic & modern architecture, complemented by diverse gardens. The campus offers fantastic views across the Strait of Georgia in the middle of the huge Pacific Spirit Regional Park.

Pacific Spirit Regional Park also known as UBC Endowment Lands have many trails leading around the peninsula. I’ve decided to take one going down to the beach & walking along the sea with a breathtaking view on the mountains around. After a while & arriving at the next trail, I had a break, sitting on the wooden “bench” on the beach, enjoying the sun & my “take it easy day” – Feeling a bit guilty not being at work… But still, lucky me to be here! Life is good! After writting some postcards, I looked around a bit more & noticed some naked men around, sunbathing – with 15 degrees!… Even building some “hiding” part further down… I thought it was time to go back. What a surprise to discover on the trail that clothing was optional on that beach… Tell me why I’m always finding such tricky situation!!!