heidi*

go tigers!

ok, so i've never been much of a tigers fan, but we just beat the yankees and msu football is nothing to get excited about. here are some pics from the tigers game we went to back in august- i don't remember who we played (that may have something to do with miller lite) but we lost.

my birthday gift under justin's collection

comerica park - my first tigers game!

at least i don't look as wasted as justin

crazy race season

here i am on a sunday night not waiting on people and mopping the floor at hippie wasteland. yes, i have found better employment and now proudly call myself a meter reader. for the time being, that is. also been doing a few crazy races. i ran the grand island trail marathon with jay and sue on their wedding day, then the crim, then the dances with dirt relay in hell, mi, then the 24-hour reach the beach relay in new hampshire the next weekend.

other news.....not much new. hopefully i will finish my program this semester but i think that i am still a believer that i work better under some sort of time crunch.

here are some recent (recent being since last july) photos....

my boyfriend and his hillbilly friends and their favorite activity

at jay and sue's wedding in rapid river, mi

after the grand island (near munising) trail marathon

me and my krystal in o-town

asia and sienna in lansing

sleep deprived in new hampshire for the reach the beach relay

more from hadlock

though port hadlock is small, smaller than o-town, i had a good time! it's small enough that you can get everywhere by bike and the public transport is excellent. people are also so much more environmentally conscious. here's some more shots from the quimper peninsula in washington.

the family at hurricane ridge

another beautiful day near puget sound! this is a shot from the dock at the boat school with indian island in the background.

eric, miles, and brian working on a large product of the rape of a rainforest and small amazon tribe.

eric and a product of the small boat building course.

once i got back to minnesota i took a bus north to duluth and met justin at grandma's marathon. here he is stuffing his face afterwards.

planes, trains, and automobiles

and buses, bikes, ferries, light rail, subway, and wooden boats.

so i am a bum. this is what we do, ok?

since i haven't been required to stay in lansing for purposes of employment, i visited my brother and his family in northern washington state while he's in wooden boat building school. i found a cheap flight out of minneapolis and since i have plenty of time i took the train from e.l. to chicago and then from chicago to minneapolis. i didn't spend much time in chicago but the ride from there to minn was great! the train followed the mississippi for much of the duration and cut through several small towns. i spent most of my time talking to weirdos in the sightseeing car and reading guns, germs, and steel. when i got to minneapolis i was stoked that public transportation actually exists in the midwest. i caught a bus to the hostel and after running the next morning and spending the day at the art museum i took another bus to the rail station and caught the light train directly to the airport. from there it was on to seattle via plane, then to the dock by bus, and ferry to bainbridge island where my brother and the family met me and it was off to port hadlock, home of the northwest school of wooden boat building.

seattle skyline from the ferry ride to bainbridge

my nieces, sienna-bear and asia-monster

the confluence of chimacum creek at port townsend bay in puget sound near kala point. we went down here quite a bit as it's just a short trail down the hill from eric's house.

port townsend overlooking the straight of juan de fuca

me and the girls at the pier in pt. townsend

eric and i rode 9 miles to gibbs lake and did a 2 mile trail run and 2 mile walk through some awesome forests. most of the area is surrounded by the olympic nat'l forest and state and/or country park land so there are plenty of trails. after riding another 9 miles back home and realizing eric lost the house key (you know you did!) on the trail, we destroyed my license then had to ride our tired asses up to sienna's school to get a spare key.

view of the olympics

a better view of the olympics...he, he, he

this bear was just hanging out next to the road on our way in and was still there on our way out.

what's the word?

what's the word... well still unemployed.

although i am a waitron (yes, that's what hippie wasteland really calls them) extraordinaire at the club. but that doesn't really count. other than that .... sarah and chuck got married on friday, i had a horrible case of food poisoning from the mexican joint i watched brazil lose to the dirty french at, and i haven't eaten in two days (don't worry, i'm not wasting away). here's a few recent pictures that i wasn't able to add in the last entry.

justin's parents' visit back in may

at the lugnuts' game

heather, dikki, and me in traverse after the bayshore 1/2

who doesn't like a good teabag?

umm, you're disgusting, sarah.

unemployed

what does one do when you return from a tropical paradise to lansing, michigan you ask??
well, nothing. i am now unemployed and hating it. i've spent my time doing various things to catch up friends & family and with chores around the house.

first justin's parents came to visit from Pennsylvania so it was a mad frenzy to get the house in order. then it was up north to see the fam and go morelling in Oscoda. afterwards mom came down for her birthday and we went to a Lugnuts game.

then it was catching up with some friends. after the bayshore half marathon in traverse city, dikki, heather, and i went out to celebrate the race and heather's birthday. then it was back home to organize sarah's bachlorette party.

mais minas

lavras novas

the next stop on tour was lavras novas, a very, very (i think the population is probably around 500) small town that was founded as a quilombo, or run-away slave haven. it was pretty high in altitude so no wonder it made a great hideout. and, i can't imagine anyone being able to find it. the bus ride there was like driving through a cloud, you can't see shit and, of course, the driver was doing like 60. ok, maybe that's an exageration. but i did think i was going to barf, especially when i looked out the side window at dusk and we were teetering a few inches away from a huge gorge, then looked out the front window and concluded the driver must have been using the force.

pretty, out-of-focus flower

the only place open for business in town. we survived off of salty bread, yogurt, and coffee.

thanks, paderia.

random dogs, ok, that's to be expected in latin america. random cocks, that too. but this cow was just hanging out outside of the bar, the only bar, in town. reminds me of itabata.

judging by his eyes i think he had a shot or two.

after a few hours we found one of the several waterfalls in the area.

i was actually standing on a small makeshift mud bridge about 15-20 feet overlooking this. it really was much more interesting in person.

what would any s. american experience be without a random dog? this is one of our friends who joined us for our hike to find the waterfalls.

most of the time being outdoors was like standing inside of a cold cloud. here we're on a stark mountaintop where it looks as if all the vegetation that could survive here has been scraped and washed away by water. because it was so humid, it seemed as though it was always lightly raining.

really, i had to drink to sleep in these quarters.

me in my trusty poncho

of course i have to include the church! this was the center and focal point of town. aside from that, there realy wasn't much else other than the small, hut-style cottages there.

MeeNas

i love minas!

here are some outdated shots from the state of minas gerais (translated 'general mines'). this state fascinates me because it has so much history that is well preserved and the people are genuine. there's also so much variation, although the ornate church thing does get a little old after a while. here's a quick lesson in history....the state was never really important until gold and gems were discovered in them there hills. bands from são paulo were sent to exploit them and with the sweat of millions of slaves, minas soon became one of the wealthiest, most powerful regions in brazil. now that has faded away, but many of the small mining towns have retained their character.

looks like someone i remember from the landshark

one of the hilly streets of ouro preto, the token tourist city of minas

the state, particularly o.p., is known for its soapstone work. this guy is designing a bowl carved on a lathe with a simple tool that pounds in his design. i think he said it only took him a few hours to make.

in front of some church at night. take your pick, they all look the same.

doors in front of cathedral de pilar (if i remember correctly). but i do remember that this is the second most lavishly decorated church in brazil, second only to one in salvador. sorry i forgot all the details.

another street shot. try slithering up these.

...and minas loves me!

i told you they all loook the same... these are actually different cathedrals. mineiros luv 'em.

ilha bella and são sabastião

after the half marathon in são paulo, which was way too hot, i went to são sabastião and took the ferry to ilha bella with jerry, the crazy irish leprechaun.

yes, i feel the same way too.

ilha bella was beautiful although it was a bit upitty, mostly a resort type place for rich paulistas.

good-bye weirdo jerry.

one of our only successful hikes on the island to a really beautiful waterfall. this one was like a waterslide and we slid down to the pool below.

one of the pools around the waterfall.

just a cool shot i found on one of our fruitless hikes to find another waterfall. this is the type of place you really need a guide because, as we later found out, most of the falls are on private property.

stop for some agua de coco.

praia grande

view from the ferry on the way to the island which is the largest island off the coast of brazil.

our excellent meal of garbage. sheila would have loved it.

just a cute little church on the island near praia grande.

this was a creepy moving statue in downtown são paulo. i gave him a few centavos and he did a little jig for me and then gave me a worthless heart trinket. but it was really cool.
me and my friend the figueiro on one of our scouts throughout the city.

são paulo and the dangers of cachaça

Please read the following warning, i should have learned my lesson by now-

government warning: after drinking cachaça your teeth may look like this.

or you may spew blood all over the tasty lime and rum mixture

or you may try to take a dump while making caiparinhas

if you do, please do not drink the brand 51

here are some other pics that probably also involved cachaça, a dane, a leprauchaun, and a brasileiro

ok, more pics will be in the next post as i cant seem to add more here...

disculpe

oi amigos!

sorry that i havent posted anything in a while. i have a lot of recent pics that i havent been able to put up and i promise they will be up shortly. you all know im a technology idiot.

beijões!

heid

more weekend photos

here are more pictures of vegetation...

sunset in jacareipé

sirlei and her pet bromeliad at the fair

weekend update

i spent the weekend in vitória with my family. saturday we spent the day in jacareipé (i think thats how to spell it) with some friends and met some really cool artists. the town was a small surfing hangout and fishing village about an hour outside of vitória until recently. its developing into an expensive weekend town for rich capixabas.

anyhow, the artists we met are pretty well-known in brazil and specialize in recycled and natural art. we visited five houses or showrooms of theirs perched up on a hill off of a shitty, impassable road - needless to say they were pretty rustic but awesome.

here is neusso´s dining room. he built this house and all of the furnishings and artwork himself.