on bluebirds, rice and the bathroom floor

it's strange being out of school and having nothing to do. I need a project. for now, i am debating what to do with toast masters. i should continue my advances speeches series, but for now focusing on the leadership program , i am half way through. but now its time for club election. i can be president. well there is no real competition. its a small club and if i choose to run, no one will run against me, will i win such election? but do i want to commit, that is the question. i may take one of the VP positions, still arguing with myself. with free time, i am arranging another amazing race event, it will be fun. i love arranging these thing, i will share photos after the event. 

mean while i am having fun with mattanchuk.

a few days ago, he discovered a bag of rice and decided to hold it up side down, its very exciting to see grains fall. and these grains go everywhere. i cleaned it up and when i was done, he found another bag of rice and id it again!!! cleaning rice is hard, they scatter to far, i pile the grains and mattan goes to the pile and scatters them by hand, it was so funny.

i took him to the shower, on an unrelated day and had him without a diaper for a second and he peed on the bathroom floor. cleaned it up and took him to the shower and when i got up, i was surprised to find poop on the floor. i have no idea when he did that, it was either him or a very big rat.

on sunny days we started being active, i took him on a couple of hikes, saw some blue birds. i saw blue birds on my street, but not in my back yard yet, i need to find find the food that attracts them, very pretty birds. i took him on a ride in his little car, and now he learned to put his foot on the ground, Flintstones style and slow down, which wrecked his shoe! 

he now says hi, that his the 1st unofficial word, i am waiting for another. he is an expert at taking of shoes and socks, peeing on the bathroom floor, activating the nap time music thing by his bad, muting the tv with the remote,  and practicing his building blocks ability, ball handling and other such skills.

today he managed to flip pages on the tablet, so cute. and he is addicted to Hebrew songs on DVD he got from his aunt. he started eating oat mill porridge and now so have I. i think i have a mom habit of eating whatever he doesn't eat, but the weight loss continues... with a long way to go...

summer is out and i hope to make it as fun as i imagine it to be, rain stay away in the evenings.... so i can continue playing beach volleyball, bike and hike, its so much fun.

cheers

on speeches, trees and feet

could every day be this day?

 

woke up early before 6 am , Mattan woke me up, and while i take a shower, he tries to go into the shower with clothes on to play with shampoo bottles. then breakfast, bottle of yukky stuff for Mattan and granola for me. diaper change of  both 1 and 2 and then heading downtown for graduation. i am not sure of the origin of the graduation dress code. i was placed in a robe of black and green. on top of that, something that is not a vest, not a scarf, but yet drapes from my neck. colored black green and brown. and the traditional hat with a brown tassel. why does business school get brown? do they no business is S##t? i was surprised to see so many people i had not seen, all MBA grads, i was not aware the program was so big. so many future contenders for my next job.

we were placed in a line and made our way to the center courts (the ceremony was in an arena), where every body walks the line to their sits while looking for families in the audience.

the gown has some strange additions  (a kind of fingerless gloves at the ends of the robe) that you can stick your hand in, again, the purpose is not clear and i saw no use at first, but then we found a use, place the phone in, since the robe has no pockets. it held my water bottle as well, a most handy and strange thing.

 

the ceremony began, with one greeting after another, the president,  Representative of the board, alumni rep, the speeches went faster than i assumed, then some honorary titles to people I've never herd of, a few doctoral awards and Finally, over 200 or so graduates, went up, got my side photo, had my name read, one more photo with the president, one More by myself, very efficient graduation machine. then we waited for the entire undergrad class and soon after an hour and a half only we were done, they didn't have everyone throw the hats in the air...shame but some did anyway (so i had to join them). a few minutes later, we got some more photos next to the beautiful blossoming trees. the best time of year is right now, when all the fruit trees are blossoming.  the gradation almost feels complete, as i still wait for my last grade....

after the event i drove to an orienteering event and Quayle hollow. i have not had great success there, once a was stung my so many mosquitoes, i actually felt bad, another time i was lots for a while. but today i was on fire. i have not ran in 6 weeks (took a break for the vacation and end of school), so , i therefore did not expect to be able to run much. but i surprised myself and ran for the most of the 90 minute event, 4.6 miles of woods running, definitely my best orienteering pace ever. this was a score event, meaning a set time and many points, collect the most you can, with further or harder to find points worth more, so to win you must move fast and make no mistakes. this time (unlike the usual) i was mistake free, almost. spent no wasted time. at one creek crossing, i walked on a tree to cross, and at the edge, slipped and got both feet wet. since that point i didn't care for streams and ran through them, where usually i would be more careful and waste time.

towards the end of the time, i made a push for one more point, got wet again and made it back in time (there are severe point penalties for being late). no results yet, and again i will not win, but definitely my best event ever.

and a bonus, got to see some deer and a lovely green forest.

 

now resting at home, with sore but satisfied feet.

this is how every day should be...

 

 

yearly report- season 6

slightly late... but i owe you the yearly report...

 

what did we have in the last year,

we had a graduation, ceremony this weekend and i will graduate with the highest honors..wooooohoooo. i don't know really what has changed to get me to honors, since it's was not so before. perhaps the program is easier, perhaps i am more mature, or more focused. but have spent countless hours and worked my butt off.

 

travel has seen 2 countries, Iceland and cost Rica which brings the total to 55 countries but no new states... how can this be, need to get to Alabama some how, the list of missing states is short, but none are near by.

 

 

the plan for next year includes possibles of Portugal and south of space with bonus Gibraltar, Peru, perhaps more central America. but honestly, i want after the work project ends to take a month off and tour several countries. how to do it with the little one, time will tell.

 

in local travel, we went to a big cavern in south Ohio and that's it, well we did have more work at home.

 

movies- i think i only saw 2-3 the whole year,(though many at home), we saw the blue man group and hardly any music shows.

 

well, its been a busy year of wiping, washing, cleaning, dressing, undressing, dressing,undressing, pee cleaning, poop picking, filming, holding, calming, panicking, medicine giving, creaming, carrying, piggybacking, napping, soaping, salining, laughing, smiling, barking, squirrel pointing, reading, singing, grabbing, driving, sliding,catching and many more surprisingly fun activities of watching mattanchuk discover the world. 

they told me raising a child is fun, i didn't appreciate how much, its awesome, but yes one is enough.

 

running was a big part of this difficult winter  with 8 races so far with improving times, but still have not came close to the 30 minutes goal. i did do 1 8k race and 1 triathlon, internal. there will be more of these this summer,

i had 2 orienteering events and another rogaine orienteering, lost my way once, and managed to pass through so many thorns on one event, that i had marks all over my legs, arms and even head- last rogain for me in thorny Pennsylvania.

 

i didn't spend enough time on the treadmill, need to return to that, and do more weights. i gained >30 pounds in the last year and almost lost it all, i hope by the time you seem me back home, that i will reach a point lowest in the last 4 years. i am doing wight watchers and greatly changed my bad eating habits.

 

cereal changed to granola, beef to fish, lots of edamame, one item per meal, waiting before seconds, putting the fork down and many more changes, i am in my seconds session, it is not part of work, but it's at work which makes it easier to attend.

last year has seen more plate changes including heart of palm (not yummy), squash (i still cant believe i ate it), gefilte fish!!! what the heck is happening to my taste buds.

 

i started going to Toast masters this year and completed my competent communicator status after completing 10 speeches, i am now in the process of a leadership program that will take me the rest of the year, as my club has a meet every 2 weeks, and also proceed with more advanced speeches program. what will i do with all these new learning's and skills, i don't know yet. when i will grow up i will decide what's next.

 

fun activities included surfing, wind surfing, volcano bathing, hiking, biking, jet skiing, kayaking, kanoeing, rafting, jungle tracking, zip lining, canyoning, rappelling,  high jumping to natural pools, water hole swimming, orienteering, rogaining, triathalonearing, running, swimming, snorkeling, volley balling.

 

interesting moments

i swam naked in a volcano pool!!!!! that was awesome, and zoomed in photos by paparazzi does exist, but photos were never shared with me. did i mention the pool was cold.

 

i walked where astronauts practiced the moon landing.

 

i ate great testing hot dogs, purchased them and when tried them here, they were horrible.

 

i learned to surf, and managed to bruise my ribs

 

i learn to wind surf... i need to find local clubs here.

 

i play D&D till 8 months ago in a fun campaign, need to fun another since the organizer moved out of town.

 

i swam and jumped into the incredible water holes in Mexico

 

i saw impossible to find frogs, lizards that look like a leaf and more interesting animals.

 

i launched pumpkins in an Amish farm, and almost hit the target.

 

i tried apple butter (not bad)

 

i played lots of back gammon and word with friends.

i finished season 4 for braking bad, season 1 of home land, season 5 of breaking bad... yes i watch TV too much.

i watched wreselmania live, for the 1st time. i still cant believe the undertaker lost!!

 

i went fishing once, and caught nothing, which is good, why hurt the poor fish.

i didn't have new visitors in my bird feeder, a repeat of the same, but still nice to see. i saw my 1st coyote hear.

i had a few injuries, 1 sprain, neck and beck issues, better now.

 

wow, i start every paragraph with the word i, i need to improve my writing style.

 

for a while, we went dancing and learned some moves, that was fun, but we didn't stick with an an above beginner program.

 

 

in traffic, i had 2 fines this year, parking and expired tags.

on an unexpected side, i did planted and created my vegetable garden that actually grew 2 pumpkins. we even carved them into faces and scared kids in Halloween - my new tradition, 2 years in a row.

traditions continue with matzo ball soup in passover and my killer 3 layer mattza cake.

 

next year... lots of fun activities are considered now that school is over and i promise to continue writing and documenting it all.

 

cheers for year six

pura vida

happy Independence day Israel, and happy cinco the mayo.

 

 

on constrictors, deserts and baby waves

I'm sitting here, by the pool at 6:30 am looking at the jungle , waiting for something to pass by. yesterday a huge iguana walked here, looking at the jacuzzi. 

the day before yesterday we left monte verde and drove down the bad roads towards manual antonio. the 1st part was a descent from the high mountains with a glorious mountain and pacific ocean views. but most of the way was on a lovely coastal road. we had a lunch stop of the usual and saw a big iguana (not as big as the one we saw here) and alla got lucky and was given 4 mangos from an orchard workers. those are mangos that fell to the ground, he just handed her a bunch of them. he must like curls.

we stopped on a bridge over a river where crocodiles lay on the bank and some in the water. i counted almost 40 of them, just waiting for a tourist to fall. on the bank there were some iguanas and birds. one iguana charged at a bird and almost got it. the birds walks so close to the crocks, crazy birds.

manual Antonio is much warmer then the other places here. we came in before check in time, so we placed our begs on the side and headed for the ocean. wow, the water is so nice and warm, with fun big waves and the shore is sandy and pristine, with the jungle all around, and the hotels do not stand out in the sky line. this beach as some islands near by. we splashed for an hour, then headed back to find that most activities begin at 2 pm and now i was shortly after, so we planned our next few days, got an ice cream cone and discovered that most places here are tourist places, more expensive and not as good in general. why do they think i want a burger in costa rica?

in the evening, we hopped on the bus and went to the very fancy gaya hotel. were a car took us from the gate to the hotel!!! , this is not were we stayed. but they have a spa here and Alla enjoyed a massage and facial , while i read in the lobby. after that we enjoyed a yummy desert/ the restaurant chef went out to ask us how we like the lava case. fancy place.

after a luxurious massage and check restaurant, the obvious next step is to  take the bus home. but the bus didn't come, so we started walking and hitched with a french guy that kept complaining of a corrupt police force.

yesterday we began we a kayak tour in the mangroves, at damas estuary. right at the beginning we spotted a boa constrictor on a bush. we saw more iguanas' crabs, a sloth, several herons, ibises, bats, sand pipers, fly catchers, king fishers, grackles, butterflies, a possum and all four kinds of mangroves (papaya, mango, guanabana and pineapple). kidding. its white, black and i forget the other 2 kinds.its was a relaxed kayak tour, we went on various channels in the estuary and very narrow one where we had to use our hands to traverse the mangroves and was probably a hundred crabs on the many mangrove roots.

we napped for a while, had an over priced lunch an headed for a surf lesson. we did some ground practicing, then headed for very large waves. for the big waves which came in threes. we swam below and let them pass, wait for some baby waves, then tried to surf them. it took lots of tries just to get on the thing. many just to lay there on the board without falling off, but finally we did it, we managed to stay on the wave and head to shore. what an awesome feeling. but after every success attempts came several failure, we get up too late, to early, to close to the edge, to close to the other edge. it has to be right or you simply don't move. but most of the time passed battling the huge waves.  the waves got higher and higher and we cut the lesson short, since there were no baby waves. we will continue today in the after noon. but hell ya, we were surfing.

a day of fun awaits us....

pura vida from Manual Antonio park

on howlers, rice and beans

i am sitting here at 5:540 am , and once again the impressive volcano is completely invisible behind the clouds. the huge mountain is 1 K away from us, but we cant see it. how ever, there are many bird species creating a nature orchestra.

 

yesterday, we awoke and had a traditional costa rican break feast for rice, beans, fried plantains, yuka (some kind of potato). ,but first we had a Delicious fruit plate of fresh pine apple, water melon, bananas. this is how i should eat every day. we got on the transport bus and arrived at the sky adventure center. we began hiking up the mountain with a guide. it was a nice day, no bugs and no need for bug spray in this time of year and the guide explains about all sort of unique trees and their usages.we reach the 1st of several hanging bridges, those are wobbly a bit and are place above deep canyons and let you see over the canopies. interesting variety is on display below and above us. birds are everywhere with interesting collors. the tanager is so far my favorite, with a dark blu\black color and a bright red patch in the wing.  we see many sub species of humming birds and hear monkeys, howler monkeys. we start to look for them and follow the sounds and they move from tree to tree and finally spot a small clan. we see them, even a little one, move from one tree to the next, but it is hard to see them, all the way in the top of the tree. we spot a big toad, a lizard moving fast under a bush. warblers are nesting by the trail and we saw the chick inside the nest. a view points lets us see lake Arenal and the clouds slowly uplifting from the volcano.

we return to the jungle and reach the half way point, for a nature break, and even here, there is a big wooden resembling beetle in the urinal!!, i hope it was doing number 1. this was no dung beetle mind you. on the out side, i spotted a common sight of Alla glancing in the mirror. Alla misses no chance to verify the hair is not freesy.

 

we passed by a couple of nice waterfalls and more bridges. there are lovely spots of red flowers that are in stark contrast to the green all around.on occasion, we see butter flies, including the famous blue one, that looks like an owl when not moving. we ended the tour with a butterflaryum for a few more easy to see butterflies. a very nice 3 hour hike left us hungry and just in time for a typical costa rican lunch.

this time it was beans with rice, plantains, yuka and yummy fish, served with a freshly squeezed fruit juice,...so good. and as we sit the clouds finally reveal the entire volcano. i quickly take photos before the clouds set down again.

 

just before going up the sky tram, we saw a bug green lizard shaped like two leaves, the ridges are looking so real. then we went up the mountain with the tram at canopy height seeing very nice views. now it was zip line time. we have done several Ziplines in the past, but this was higher and faster from the rest.over deep canyons, with clear sight to the mountain , the lake and the vast jungle all around above the canopy. best Zip line so far. to relax after the exhausting effort of sitting down while gravity does all the work, we had a crepe.

 

we returned to the hotel after seeing a turkey high on a tree, turkies here are smaller, and can actually fly!. transportation here is minimal in the evening , so we hitched our way in to the town of furtuna. we were furtunate to quickly catch a tourist family. Fortuna is a small town, but liely. it has a dominating church and a lovely grass square swampled with local kids flying kits by day, or some projectile eminating various lights at night.we skipped the tourist traps and headed for soda (local's restaurant) ara. we got the traditional costa rican supper of yes, rice +beans, plantains, some yuka and banana salad with fish. we strolled in the town and sopped at Pops of delicious ice cream and returned to the hotel, early morning the next day..

 

the next day, we woke early, and got on the bus for a fun day. the 1st stop, canyoneering. that was after a quick stop for empenadas. canyoneering. we learned how o rappel, then began our path in a creek, following it for a couple of hours. during the hike, we rappeled 4 time, two short ones, and 2 really high ones, where we rappled half the way and were then asked to grab the secondary rope and let go... gravity does the rest as we plummet down and stopped by the guide. what a rush!, there was also one hole that we jumped into head height level water and at one point, the guide dammend the creek, we set down on the water fall below, and he move, letting a tzunami flash flood overtake us , that was fun. the guide is doing par cour and he jumps from banks to banks, on rocks with such ease, while we slowly make our path in the creek, its an impressive sight. at the end, after 300 hundred stairs climb,d with a costa rican breakfast, i am sure you know what it is by now :) and some great tasting fresh juice.

 

we get back in to town and head for action#2. we stop on the way at a fruit plate and i get a fried plantain plate snack. 20 minutes later, its rafting time.

 

as rafting goes, this is not on my top 5, its a level 2-3 ,but the water is not high enough and we are slowed down by the rocks, but the water are also warm, so its fun to splash and be splashed on. we get to ride the bull, meaning seating on the front on the boat, feet out in some of the rapid, and swim next to the boat in the deeper sections. we finally spot a sloth, sitting on a tree doing nothing, Turkey vultures, herons, king fishers, fly catchers. the guide stops on a bank, digs around and finds a poisonous frog, a tiny thing the size of a quarter. we get to hold it in our hands, but don't lick it... at the sopping pint with great pine apple, 3 cows stand very close and wait for fruit left overs, this is a popular spot for them and they eat the bark of the pine apple and water melon, a very sustainable practice. i go to the side to extract some liquid residue and see another of these poisonous frogs jumping around.

 

not long after, we reach the end of this two and a half hours raft, fun experience after all, due to the animal part and the other couples with us on this raft.

 

with dry clothes, we had for a little ranch with great mountain views, once again the mountain was not visible in the morning, but it is now in the after noon. great views and also beautiful birds. we get some traditional costa rican lunch, with a shot of some local moon shine , and enjoy the sun set views over the volcano. we then watch a demonstration of ancient (60 years ago) sugar can making process and get to sample the raw juice and the freshly made sugar.

 

we get back to the hotel and plan to return to town that night, but crash till morning.

 

 

on Panama, humming birds and a single letter

I am sitting out side at 6:30 AM, stupid work habits, got used to waking early. i just saw a bug hummingbird and a small one, perhaps the kid, green grass, red leaves bushes and the jungle is in front, and the huge Arenal volcano is somewhere above, behind a veil of mist.

 

around 28 hours ago, after finishing last minute work for work and school. we went to sleep at 2:30 am, planning to wake up at 3. never trust an exhausted person to set the alarm.. we some how woke up at 3:50 and were out the door in super rush 15 minutes, driving faster then usual, not parking in the economy lot, skipped go , did not collect 200$ , and made it 5 minutes before the 1 hour cut off time (only to find out the cut off time was 30 minutes...). with poor food choices here i got something at the local Oils R us and slept through the 1st leg of the flight.

 

almost 2 hours layout, and a healthy but not filing chilly, i prefered that over Alla's Crepe (yes, i said no to Crepe) and packed Panda express for the plane, i don't know why i eat more in airports. i slept most of the way of the 4 hour flight and soon the rugged costa rica appeared below a layer of clouds.

 

we waited for a long time for our suit cases and most of the people on the plane moved on. we started walking around looking for my brother and i noticed Alla's polka dot pink suitcase of the baggage claim from Panama!, i was not aware we just went there, perhaps i slept longer then i thought.

 

well, we made it out side and saw the guy with our names on it, that sign had 3 names, one of them was suppose to land minutes before us. we didn't see that flight on the landing monitor, that was odd, so we looked at the reservation to see if there was another lay over and then we saw it. San Jose CA (not CR) , one letter different. it hit Us, Shay went to the wrong airport!!!!! this is no joke. and this is not a movie. at this time, due to the time different, we knew about it before he even landed. we called the landing authorities and explained the situation. i just want a recording of him landing and saying, oh shit!!!.

 

well, he was supposed to join for several days, so now he will stay in stead in California and we will enjoy Costa Rica.

 

we laughed here, as this type of mistake is more fitting for me to do.

 

we began the drive to Arenal volcano at the happiest country in the world (per the local signs), enjoying a very rugged and very green country, palms, plantations and hills. twice we saw a blooming yellow tree, those stood in incredible contrast to the green all around. it rained on occasion but the weather is nice and warm. after a few hours we stopped at a place for lunch. so much better then plane food. a on a plate (a wooden board , with a big leaf on top) we got, rice black beans, fried plantains , corn + something, a salad and a steak. we begun digging in. i cautiously tried the fried plantains (its a kind of banana) and it was yummy. i tried the something next to the corn and it didn't kill me, was kind of plain. i checked ,it was squash, which makes this my 1st time eating squash and not returning it (also 1st time plantains..) . next to us, they place bird feeders and humming birds of all sizes, some purple, some green, some with white tails came can enjoyed lunch as well. we passed through the town of fortune, and checked in at the erupciones bad and breakfast (breakfast soon...).  a quick shower and we headed for a hot spring resort.

 

what a beautifully place. this hot spring is semi man made. the hot water are coming down from the volcano which i still cant see, stupid mist. the hot river was adjusted in to several small hot creeks, they adjusted the water levels with mini, almost invisible dams, to control the water levels and create dozens of water falls, in between these water falls, they create tiny pools, most are the size of say , a home pool, but they look natural, with palms and other jungle vegetation all around. you walk at night with just a bathing suit in the little lit trails and discover more of these tiny pool, soak for a while and move on. some are very hot, some are more mild. bird sounds are all around and frogs as well i think, we see none of them, only hear. this placed is packed and yet the spreading of trails and pools make each of the pool a secluded piece of jungle paradise.

 

the water here are not sulphur, they feel like regular water, no oily feeling.

after a while, it was dinner time. i prefer local food usually,however, this was a quality Italian buffet, so no complaints. yummy fuchsia with olive spread, stuffed pastas, carrot salad, pine apple, fish are some of the things i sampled. Alla ate like she hasn't eaten for days and the deserts were good too. bloated, we went for a second dipping session then we hitched our way back to the hotel , for a much needed sleep.

 

and now its time for breakfast, a day of adrenalin awaits...

Mattan Movie

For Mattan's birthday we made a movie - a short 30 + minute feature film- a collection of his journey

 

enjoy...

 

http://youtu.be/ro3xH56kEKA