News from the land of the free, or 20 things I have learned about Texas.

Finally I'm getting around to an update. I have mostly settled in my new apartment and life. Of course being in Texas is quite fascinating! Here's a list of 20 things I have learned so far (in no particular order):

1. You can buy apples as big as your head in the grocery store.
2. There are trees and plants everywhere. Stepping outside is like stepping into a greenhouse. It's so lush!
3. There's tons of cool wildlife! They have lots of really colourful birds, and turtles, and lizards, and really big butterflies. Snakes and alligators are also common, but thankfully I haven't encountered any yet.
4. Everybody really does say "y'all".
5. It rains. A lot. And after that even more. And it's not just rain, but torrential downpours and thunderstorms all the way through. They say it's unusual though.
6. In most places I've lived I take an extra layer for when I'm outside. Here I take an extra layer for when I'm inside.
7. Having a pool at home is awesome - a bit like going on a vacation every weeknight and weekend.
8. The pool also helps to offset my lack of a bus ride: I get lots of reading done on weekends.
9. Walking, apparently, isn't a thing here. Ever. Even when it's not that hot out. Sidewalks are basically unheard of in most areas.
10. The Woodlands has a system of "trails". Turns out when they say trails they really mean paved bike paths.
11. HEB is my new favourite supermarket. They have them everywhere, and they have a really big organic section.
12. Of course I already came by a shooting range. And a gun & ammo shop. Maybe even multiple.
13. On weekends, it seems like everybody and their dog are the mall.
14. Using a cellphone while driving is legal. Seriously?!
15. I can buy beer and wine at the grocery store again. Yaay!
16. Ben & Jerry's ice cream is so cheap.
17. Southern/creole style food is quite common. I've already tried dishes like seafood and Andouille gumbo, or fish with hominy. Tasty!
18. When you go hiking, bring a gallon of insect repellent. Or more.
19. Even when it's pouring rain and my cold-weather brain wants me to bring an extra layer to go outside, it's really completely unnecessary. I don't think we've had temperatures below 22 degrees Celcius since I got here, night or day, rain or shine.
20. Fun fact of the day: Apparently, gas stations don't commonly have vacuum cleaners here. Even when they say they do.

So far things have been quite well. I'm slowly getting used to waking up at 6 AM. Last Friday I had to drive to Houston for some training, so I had to get up at 5. Even that didn't seem so bad anymore. Work is good, and they have a really nice gym on campus, so I'm already quite nicely settled in my daily routines, and tim is flying by. I still have some work to do unrelated to my project here, so my weekends have at least partly been filled with that. After I was in Houston already on Friday I stayed for the evening/night. I went to a really cool art museum, the Menil Collection, which was even better because it's free admission. I met up with some friends after to go for sushi (delicious, but not cheap - volcano roll for $23...), and then to a beergarden type pub after. Last weekend we joined The Woodlands Hiking Club for a little hike, which was great too. Hopefully I can get most of my weekend work done before I'm on my way to Europe in 3 weeks, and then I can start to do more fun things in the area when I get back... I'll keep you posted!

Almost ready to leave

Three days to go before I'm leaving Vancouver for 4 months. I'm excited! My bags are maybe 75% packed. In fact, I started making piles of things I want to take with me last weekend. When I then started putting the piles in my suitcases I realized pretty quickly that (of course) there was too much stuff. So then I started to remove things from the piles. In the end, when I weigh my suitcases on Tuesday I will probably realize that I took too much out, and put some things back in... #firstworldproblems

It'll be quite a change pace-wise at work. Getting up to be at work at the same time every morning, not being able to randomly go for coffees with friends during the day, trying to fit in with the business environment. We'll see how it goes! Of course Houston will also be way different than Vancouver, but I'm not too worried about that. After all I've done a few big moves now, and it's not the first time that I'm moving to a place I've never been before. A 5 hour flight away from home (i.e., Vancouver), and only a 4 months stay seem almost not worth mentioning compared when I took off to New Zealand for 2 years. It's all relative! I'm also quite excited about my new apartment. It's not unlikely that this will be the only time in my life that I'll have a pool where I live! If I come back and have turned into a fish you know why.

There are only a few things left to do before I'm on my way. I need to finish a few more things for my work here, I need to figure out how to get electricity and internet in my new place in Houston, I need to prepare the talk I have to give when I get there. Nothing major, really.

The weather was quite variable here last week (truly April-y, with all seasons occurring in one day), so Genevieve and I weren't quite sure whether the pre-birthday/farewell BBQ we were gonna have on Friday could actually take place. But, come May 1, it turned beautifully sunny and it has been nice since. The BBQ was great fun (thanks everyone for coming over!), and I've spent the last two days mainly hanging out in the backyard. It's great weather for an outside workout too, not too hot, sunny, and dry. Last November James showed me an app for my phone that I can use when I don't have time to make it to the gym. It's called Nike Training Club, it's free, and it's really great. I've been using it at times when I'm busy, or when I want to be outside, workout, but not go for a run. It has tons of different workouts, depending on whether you want to get some cardio, build up muscles, or just stretch for a little bit. I tend to do two or three 15-minute ones at a time. There a tons of options, from classic programs like ab workouts and cardio drills, to yoga and pilates. There a videos to explain the exercises if you don't get it from the description, there is a timer that beeps when you're supposed to switch sides or move to the next exercise, and there is usually a voice giving encouraging comments when it gets tiring. Perfect for somebody like me, who usually needs an instructor at the gym to motivate me to really finish an exercise without getting sloppy. I also used it quite a lot when we were in Tunisia, it was great for morning workouts at the beach. If you ever don't wanna pay for a gym but still target specific parts of your body with your workout I highly recommend the app (shameless advertising, you can thank me later, Nike).

Maybe I can combine it with some swimming exercises in Houston... Although, probably it'll be too hot. Hopefully I will get a chance to write an update about Houston soon!

Really? A long overdue update.

It's been almost a year since I last updated this blog. Whoops. I was convinced there were some updates in between.

So maybe we need a little summary of what happened over the last 10 months...

James came over for 6 weeks in July/August. We spent some nice summery days at the beach, Kits pool, Darby's patio, and various other pubs/restaurants/summery locations. We also did a little hike on Bowen Island, went for some kayaking and paddle boarding at Deep Cove, and did the summit hike at Mount St. Helens with a stint to Seattle for a day. All of the above were fun in many different ways. The volcano hike in particular was awesome, after we managed to get permits at the last minute we enjoyed stunning views from the top into the crater and onto the dome, and onto the surrounding Cascade volcanoes on a cloudless day.

In September Susi and Beni visited for a few weeks. They toured for about a week or so by themselves first. I booked a flight to Kelowna about half way through their trip, and we did some hiking along the Kettle Valley Railway line. We spent two nights in a beautiful B&B: EcoLodge near Hope. They have a few little wood cabins, an outdoor jacuzzi in the woods, a beautiful veggie/flower garden, a nice deck with sofas/chairs and some hammocks right by the river. Great place to hang out for a couple of days, relax, and detach from city life. On the way back to Vancouver we stopped for some miniature golf at Castle Fun Park. I hadn't played in ages, but it was total fun!

After they left I only had a few weeks before the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, which happened to be in Vancouver. It was quite different to have a conference at home. They had some very good workshops on various topics, and I volunteered at the registration desk for a couple of days, so it definitely didn't get boring.

In November James came back for a few days, and we flew to Ecuador for a workshop. The workshop was good, especially the field trips, and we spent some time afterwards exploring the country a bit more. Our trip included a failed attempt at climbing one of the country's highest volcanoes (Cotopaxi, almost 5,900 m; and because it's close to the equator it's one of the furthest points from the centre of the Earth), a trip to zero latitude, and a couple of days in the jungle.

December was dominated by conferencing and Xmas, as usual. San Fran was quite rainy, whereas in Germany we got a winter wonderland on Boxing Day. I did a little Europe hopping while I was there, stayed in Plymouth and Bristol for a few days over NYE, spent an afternoon in London at Sandra's new pad, and then went back to Germany for a week.

The spring term (January-April) has been quite busy. I spent some weeks in Vancouver before relocating to Bristol for all of March and early April. I am currently trying to write up my second publication from my PhD, and preparing for my summer: In two weeks tomorrow I will be starting a 4 month internship in Houston! Going to the US of course requires some prep regarding visa, housing, insurance, etc., so with all this plus the paper at least it never got dull... On the upside, we managed to sneak in a week of vacation in Tunisia, which provided a much-needed rest from everything. We spent the entire week migrating back and forth between the bed, the beach, the pool, the restaurant, and the bar, and I disconnected my phone from my email for the first time in years. What a liberation! I highly recommend it!

I only got back to Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. It's been nice to be back home, but I'm already busy packing to leave for the US. My friend Elisa is subletting my room for a while, and it's been nice to have someone around the house.

I'll put some photos from the last few months below, and I will hopefully have updates from sunny and warm (hot??) Houston soon!

We did a 5K colour run in Vancouver. James would say it was a walk, but I was definitely running...

View from our hike to Mt. Gardner on Bowen Island.

Happy face looking down into the summit crater at Mt. St. Helens, with the lava dome that was created between 2004-2008.

Some fun was had in Seattle...

Susi and I at the Totem Poles in Stanley Park, Vancouver.

Susi-Sushi. Yum.

Somebody got a bit tired after hiking up the BCMC to the top of Grouse Mountain.

The weather wasn't epic on this first day, but volcanoes give me a happy face regardless. Cotopaxi, Ecuador.

Much nicer the next morning.

This house got buried by pyroclastic flows of Tungurahua, Ecuador. Wouldn't want to be in the way of that.

Nice dip in the jungle. Mindo, Ecuador.

Ecuador is so colorful!

For some reason we all ended up in colour coordinated outfits for our equator visit.

  

Oh yeah, view of my backyard in Vancouver one Saturday morning. This actually happened.

English impressions of spring. It doesn't always rain, apparently.

Yay, spring.

Of course a touch of summer isn't so bad either. Historic medina, Sousse, Tunisia.

Tunisia can be colourful too!

Spices. Unfortunately it was impossible to shop in peace and quiet, so we didn't spend much time.

The wall of the medina in Sousse, with the historic part on the right and the new part of town behind the wall on the left.

Spending a few days doing absolutely nothing wasn't bad at all.