Alright, so all my stuff is here, moved in, I moved some of my stuff back to my dad's because it doesn't fit. Overall, it's a tight squeeze, but everything I need is here. I'm not sure I will be able to get my couch back out of the apartment, but whatever. The move was not so smooth - my movers (Frisbie Moving in Ann Arbor/Detroit - boo) have damaged some of my stuff - nothing ridiculous, but my headboard/footboard have been damaged, along with my bed frame. And my old TV is also worse for the wear, but everything is still usable. But it was super annoying, and as usual, they are making it as hard as possible to make insurance claims - taking 2 weeks to send me the forms!
It's been pretty hot and humid here, and I don't have an air conditioner in yet, b/c my windows are being replaced next week - which is almost 2 weeks later than what I was originally told. I figure I'd wait until the new windows are in. So, I have two fans going at all times in the apt. And I'm at two showers a day. I try to find places with a/c to pass the time, so I've seen a bunch of movies recently. Here are my reviews:
Knocked Up: A-. Izzy isn't as annoying as she is on Grey's, and Seth Rozen (the dude from 40 Year Old Virgin) is hilarious, as is Paul Rudd. I'm pretty excited for Super Bad too.
Die Hard: B-. Pretty good action, Bruce is still awesome at 50, but the ending is super cheesy and really obnoxious.
Transformers: Solid A. I really liked it - the action and special effects are great. Great movie, it's a bit long, but you don't feel like it.
No Reservations: B. A pretty good rom com, there's no real conflict in the movie, so its pretty harmless. Supposedly, the restaurant where Catherine Zeta-Jones is the exec chef is on Bleeker and Charles - down the block from me! Oh, and Aaron Eckhardt is hot.
I've also read the new and last Harry Potter - I'd say this is probably the best book since book 3. It's long, but goes fast, as usual. I won't say anymore in case some of you have not read it and are planning too.
I've gone to Bed, Bath and Beyond a lot the past two weeks. Thank god my mom sent me all of her 20% off coupons. They really need a Target in the city - I know there's one in Brooklyn, right off the 4/5 subway stop, but really, who wants to go all the way out there? I still need some things, like a small filing cabinet to put some papers in. Shelves, hooks, and other ways to create more storage space - I should go to Home Depot.
Anyways, I start work in a week - August 7 - I got my training schedules for the week (Tues - Fri). Apparently, there are lessons for Excel and Powerpoint. Awesome, I'm glad I spent the past two years in bschool for this. But I'm excited for my first paycheck - which probably will not be until the end of August - kill me. Being poor in NYC is no fun. NO FUN I TELL YOU.
Well, sorry for the boring update, but I haven't really been doing anything fun except deal with apartment stuff for the past two weeks. It's really a big hassle. Moving sucks. I'm sure I'll have more exciting updates after I start working. We can chat about the ins and outs of business casual attire.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
NYC Apartment!
I have finally done it! I have found an apartment in the neighborhood I want, in the budget range I want! Well. Let's be honest. I'm paying my max amount possible for a small studio in the West Village. Small as in, it's barely 9 feet wide, but it's very long with a brand new kitchen and bathroom. My kitchen has granite counter tops and comes with a microwave. Nice! And its a ground floor apartment, which I am not in love with, but I am having bars put on them, so it's safer. And an easy move in. I signed the lease this week and get the keys before the weekend! My lease starts on July 15 which is perfect since my movers are schedule for the 16-21st. So my apartment seems to be almost done. I still need to put in shelfs and curtains, etc, but that should be fun and good since I don't start work until Aug 7. So I have plenty of time. woo hoo! Here are some pictures for your amusement at my living situation.
Besides that, it has been great to be back in NYC. It has been super hot this past week - mid 90s and humid. that's made for a super sweaty Wendy stomping all over the city. Pretty gross. Dewy, I like to call it - that sheen of sweat that has been constantly covering me all week.
Anyways, that's the update for now!
Besides that, it has been great to be back in NYC. It has been super hot this past week - mid 90s and humid. that's made for a super sweaty Wendy stomping all over the city. Pretty gross. Dewy, I like to call it - that sheen of sweat that has been constantly covering me all week.
Anyways, that's the update for now!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Links to Online Albums
Okay, I've put together all my pictures. I tried to filter them - but I couldn't delete all the pictures - there are some that are blurry if viewed screen size - that zoom! The albums are broken down by country.
They are all located at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/wendyy
It's over 1000 pictures, sorry they are so many - I am a bad editor!
They are all located at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/wendyy
It's over 1000 pictures, sorry they are so many - I am a bad editor!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Videos
Okay, so I have uploaded 4 videos.
Video 1: Two oryxes fighting with their horns - taken from the overland truck in Etosha National Park in Namibia.
http://www.motionbox.com/video/player/1f9cdfb01f1ae392
Video 2: A bunch of elephants washing themselves at a watering hole in Etosha. This one is awesome!
http://www.motionbox.com/video/player/1f9cdfb01217e392
Video 3: A group of vultures picking at the remains of a wildebeest in the Serengeti.
http://www.motionbox.com/video/player/1f9cdfb0121ce892
Video 4: Elephant on the side of the road in the Serengeti eating some tree branches - HUGE elephant!
http://www.motionbox.com/video/player/1f9cdfb01316e392
I think the links work - let me know if they don't!
Video 1: Two oryxes fighting with their horns - taken from the overland truck in Etosha National Park in Namibia.
http://www.motionbox.com/video/player/1f9cdfb01f1ae392
Video 2: A bunch of elephants washing themselves at a watering hole in Etosha. This one is awesome!
http://www.motionbox.com/video/player/1f9cdfb01217e392
Video 3: A group of vultures picking at the remains of a wildebeest in the Serengeti.
http://www.motionbox.com/video/player/1f9cdfb0121ce892
Video 4: Elephant on the side of the road in the Serengeti eating some tree branches - HUGE elephant!
http://www.motionbox.com/video/player/1f9cdfb01316e392
I think the links work - let me know if they don't!
Back in NYC - with lots of Pictures!
Alrighty. After 26 hours of flying and waiting in airports, I am back in NYC - and apparently, it is quite humid. I prefer Africa hot to this. Really. Anyways, I am posting a bunch of pics that recap my trip from start to finish, kind of - the videos will come next, they are taking a lot longer... for those of you that are around the tri state area, give me a ring or shoot me an email, I'd love to hang out! And show you the rest of my photos. Or not. And I have to find an apartment. And figure out what to do with my car.
So, without further ado...
We stopped by an ostrich farm on the way down to Cape of Good Hope. The pictures will get better, I promise.
These flowers were all over in Capetown - King something.... that was like 2 months ago, you can't seriously expect me to remember!
A penguin hiding out in its little burrow, I might have chased it there, who knows...
Nelson Mandela's cell at Robben Island, off of Capetown.
I think this is sunset in Camps Bay in Capetown - I took so many, I can never be sure - but they are all kind of different - at least in hue...
A bedazzled car in Capetown!
A snapshot of Fish River Canyon in Namibia - it was nice, but I still think the Grand Canyon is way cooler.
A rhino at the watering hole next to our tents in Etosha (Namibia).
Ann and Mina were apparently bored by our safari in Etosha and napped on the truck.
Ann and Mina posing by their mukoros (dugout canoes) on our way to our campsite in the Okavango Delta (Botswana). We rode in these canoes while our "polers" pulled us for 2.5 hours in the delta! My poler sucked, he got me really wet. I was not happy.
Crossing the river in the mukoros. I wanted to bring one back and use it as a bookshelf - a bunch of the lodges in Tanzania had them as furniture. I didn't think I could check it at the airport.
Baboon sitting in and eating elephant poo. Love the primates.
Hippos just chilling in the Chobe River - this is at like 6:30am mind you.
Hyena being lazying in Chobe National Park - they are ugly!
Crocodiles munching on a dead buffalo in the Chobe River!!! You can see the horn of the buffalo - it is severely bloated.
Two elephants chilling, going for a walk.
Elephant and hippo stand off at the edge of the Chobe River. Here's how it went down, the two elephants in the pic above were walking along the edge as the hippo came out.. and then the 2nd elephant turned around and kicked some dirt at the hippo and trumpeted a little and then turned around and stormed off - as much as an elephant can storm. The hippo didn't really pay it any attention. But hippos are scary - they can run up to 35 km per hour!
Here is me, Mina and Ann at Victoria Falls, thoroughly drenched from our walk of it. Highly recommended - altho they are supposedly better from the Zimbabwe side, since the Zambia side only has about 500 meters of the falls.
Our last dinner with the overaldn group! This is Kelly (she's the red head, I'm the Chinese one) - she's from Australia.
Mina and I in our "bus" t-shirts (I will have to explain to non-Michigan folks some other time) in front of our overland truck - with Letaloi, our driver. He is not a bus driver - he is a truck driver.
Here are some pictures from our Lion Encounter adventure in Zimbabwe. These are the two 12 month old cubs - when they said cubs, I thought they would be like kittens, but apparently, they are almost full grown. And like to make out.
Me and Mina petting one of the cubs... I kept freaking out whenever he twitched!
Lions are really beautiful animals, even if they could rip me apart in one swipe. But you know, still really pretty.
Me on the gorge swing by Victoria Falls in Livingstone, Zambia. Never again. Thanks a lot, Mina - you big bully.
Our guesthouse in Johannesburg - we stayed in the Houghton Estates suburb - very posh, 4 blocks from Nelson Mandela's home. Behind 5 different forms of security. That's Mina if you can make her out.
Butcher shop in the Soweto townships in Johannesburg! YUM.
A view of Mt. Kilimanjaro from our plane.
A warthog up close in the Ngorongoro Crater - they are ugly! But I got used to them and in the end, found them kind of cute. Pumba (Lion King) really put the warthog on the map!
Baboons in the road in Ngorongoro - we had to stop and wait for them to move, the babies are kind of cute, but that's about it.
Giraffe crossing in Ngorongoro.
After the Ngorongoro Crater, we stopped by a Masai village before heading to the Serengeti. The Masai tribe spans Kenya and Tanzania and most of the warriors wear the traditional red blankets - one of our overland tour guides is a Masai warrior, and he always had his blanket draped over his normal clothes - he said it was better than a woman!
Here is a traditional Masai "manyatta" or hut - they live and cook in these! It's so crazy!
Now onto the Serengeti, apparently lions chill out in trees!
Beautiful giraffe, can you see the eyelashes?
Wildebeest crossing - we were in the middle of the migration - probably over a million wildebeest moving from the Serengeti up to Kenya...
Hippo pool - they really smell.
Another one of the mom lion and her two cubs - soo cute!!!
We kind of drove off the track to get a little closer to the lion...shhh.
Isn't he beautiful? Look at his yellow eyes!
Here's that preening leopard again...
The buffalo seem a little mad that we're snapping pics of their baby....
And finally, here is the beach at Zanzibar. That was the view from our bungalow. A great ending to an amazing trip.
So, there you have it - I know that was a lot of photos, but I have 1151 that I need to edit through and then I will upload them to picasa or something and send out the link - and if any of you go to Africa - bring a REAL camera, not a small digital one - you need a serious SLR to get the great animal pictures - a lot of mine are fine small, but even blown up to my laptop screen, a ton are blurry - sigh, digital zoom vs optical zoom I guess...
So, without further ado...
We stopped by an ostrich farm on the way down to Cape of Good Hope. The pictures will get better, I promise.
These flowers were all over in Capetown - King something.... that was like 2 months ago, you can't seriously expect me to remember!
A penguin hiding out in its little burrow, I might have chased it there, who knows...
Nelson Mandela's cell at Robben Island, off of Capetown.
I think this is sunset in Camps Bay in Capetown - I took so many, I can never be sure - but they are all kind of different - at least in hue...
A bedazzled car in Capetown!
A snapshot of Fish River Canyon in Namibia - it was nice, but I still think the Grand Canyon is way cooler.
A rhino at the watering hole next to our tents in Etosha (Namibia).
Ann and Mina were apparently bored by our safari in Etosha and napped on the truck.
Ann and Mina posing by their mukoros (dugout canoes) on our way to our campsite in the Okavango Delta (Botswana). We rode in these canoes while our "polers" pulled us for 2.5 hours in the delta! My poler sucked, he got me really wet. I was not happy.
Crossing the river in the mukoros. I wanted to bring one back and use it as a bookshelf - a bunch of the lodges in Tanzania had them as furniture. I didn't think I could check it at the airport.
Baboon sitting in and eating elephant poo. Love the primates.
Hippos just chilling in the Chobe River - this is at like 6:30am mind you.
Hyena being lazying in Chobe National Park - they are ugly!
Crocodiles munching on a dead buffalo in the Chobe River!!! You can see the horn of the buffalo - it is severely bloated.
Two elephants chilling, going for a walk.
Elephant and hippo stand off at the edge of the Chobe River. Here's how it went down, the two elephants in the pic above were walking along the edge as the hippo came out.. and then the 2nd elephant turned around and kicked some dirt at the hippo and trumpeted a little and then turned around and stormed off - as much as an elephant can storm. The hippo didn't really pay it any attention. But hippos are scary - they can run up to 35 km per hour!
Here is me, Mina and Ann at Victoria Falls, thoroughly drenched from our walk of it. Highly recommended - altho they are supposedly better from the Zimbabwe side, since the Zambia side only has about 500 meters of the falls.
Our last dinner with the overaldn group! This is Kelly (she's the red head, I'm the Chinese one) - she's from Australia.
Mina and I in our "bus" t-shirts (I will have to explain to non-Michigan folks some other time) in front of our overland truck - with Letaloi, our driver. He is not a bus driver - he is a truck driver.
Here are some pictures from our Lion Encounter adventure in Zimbabwe. These are the two 12 month old cubs - when they said cubs, I thought they would be like kittens, but apparently, they are almost full grown. And like to make out.
Me and Mina petting one of the cubs... I kept freaking out whenever he twitched!
Lions are really beautiful animals, even if they could rip me apart in one swipe. But you know, still really pretty.
Me on the gorge swing by Victoria Falls in Livingstone, Zambia. Never again. Thanks a lot, Mina - you big bully.
Our guesthouse in Johannesburg - we stayed in the Houghton Estates suburb - very posh, 4 blocks from Nelson Mandela's home. Behind 5 different forms of security. That's Mina if you can make her out.
Butcher shop in the Soweto townships in Johannesburg! YUM.
A view of Mt. Kilimanjaro from our plane.
A warthog up close in the Ngorongoro Crater - they are ugly! But I got used to them and in the end, found them kind of cute. Pumba (Lion King) really put the warthog on the map!
Baboons in the road in Ngorongoro - we had to stop and wait for them to move, the babies are kind of cute, but that's about it.
Giraffe crossing in Ngorongoro.
After the Ngorongoro Crater, we stopped by a Masai village before heading to the Serengeti. The Masai tribe spans Kenya and Tanzania and most of the warriors wear the traditional red blankets - one of our overland tour guides is a Masai warrior, and he always had his blanket draped over his normal clothes - he said it was better than a woman!
Here is a traditional Masai "manyatta" or hut - they live and cook in these! It's so crazy!
Now onto the Serengeti, apparently lions chill out in trees!
Beautiful giraffe, can you see the eyelashes?
Wildebeest crossing - we were in the middle of the migration - probably over a million wildebeest moving from the Serengeti up to Kenya...
Hippo pool - they really smell.
Another one of the mom lion and her two cubs - soo cute!!!
We kind of drove off the track to get a little closer to the lion...shhh.
Isn't he beautiful? Look at his yellow eyes!
Here's that preening leopard again...
The buffalo seem a little mad that we're snapping pics of their baby....
And finally, here is the beach at Zanzibar. That was the view from our bungalow. A great ending to an amazing trip.
So, there you have it - I know that was a lot of photos, but I have 1151 that I need to edit through and then I will upload them to picasa or something and send out the link - and if any of you go to Africa - bring a REAL camera, not a small digital one - you need a serious SLR to get the great animal pictures - a lot of mine are fine small, but even blown up to my laptop screen, a ton are blurry - sigh, digital zoom vs optical zoom I guess...
Saturday, June 23, 2007
A Few Pictures from the Serengeti!
Okay, I finally got to upload a few photos - I can't upload more, the site keeps timing out on me - but hopefully these will give you a snapshot of all the cool things I saw in Tanzania!
Mother lion and two cubs - look at the one on the left yawning, how cute! This is in the Serengeti - they were high up in the rocks.
A zebra on the side of the road in the Ngorongoro crater. Isn't she beautiful?? Or isn't he handsome? whatever, you know what I mean.
The giraffes in the Serengeti are known to be darker than in other parts of Africa. Why? I have no idea. Someone else can google it or look it up on wikipedia.
And finally, the hardest to find (besides a cheetah) - a leopard! Look at him, all posing for the cameras on the dead tree trunk. "I'm so pretty. Look at all my spots." Seriously, this cat was posing and preening for all of us. There was a caravan of 4x4 trucks lined up on the road to watch this cool cat!
Alright, so that was a preview - I will upload ALL 800+ of my pictures later this week when I get back - I'll be back in NYC on Thursday! And I'm going straight to eat chinese food! and maybe some sushi. and a big salad. Apparently, no one eats vegetables in Africa. Just red meat and carbs. So much for my diet.
Mother lion and two cubs - look at the one on the left yawning, how cute! This is in the Serengeti - they were high up in the rocks.
A zebra on the side of the road in the Ngorongoro crater. Isn't she beautiful?? Or isn't he handsome? whatever, you know what I mean.
The giraffes in the Serengeti are known to be darker than in other parts of Africa. Why? I have no idea. Someone else can google it or look it up on wikipedia.
And finally, the hardest to find (besides a cheetah) - a leopard! Look at him, all posing for the cameras on the dead tree trunk. "I'm so pretty. Look at all my spots." Seriously, this cat was posing and preening for all of us. There was a caravan of 4x4 trucks lined up on the road to watch this cool cat!
Alright, so that was a preview - I will upload ALL 800+ of my pictures later this week when I get back - I'll be back in NYC on Thursday! And I'm going straight to eat chinese food! and maybe some sushi. and a big salad. Apparently, no one eats vegetables in Africa. Just red meat and carbs. So much for my diet.Stone Town, Zanzibar
After 5 days on the beach on the North Shore, we have moved to Stonetown - which is the largest city on Zanzibar - where about 200,000 people live. It is on the West Coast and about 30km from Dar es Salaam. I'm quite tan after being on the beach, a bit sunburned in random places (that always happens), and attracting new bugs to bite me. We got here yesterday and today took a Spice Tour - after all, Zanzibar is known as the Spice Island! We went to a spice farm, and were shown all sorts of plants and trees - cinnamon, cloves, ginger, curry, vanilla, etc and also all sorts of fruit trees and plants - oranges, litchi, pineapple, etc. It was really good, we got to taste a lot of different things, but as I'm not much of a cooker, I didn't buy any spices to bring back. If you want something, let me know, I'll see what I can do!
Tomorrow, the girls and I will take a Historical Walking tour of the city - and learn more about Zanzibar's part in the slave trade. We've run into some other bschool friends here and they really enjoyed their time, etc. I only have 5 days left of my journey! I fly back to NYC on Wednesday night, arriving on Thursday - I'm excited for the movies I'll have on KLM - good airline! Africa has been wonderful, I highly recommend it for those of you who have not yet been here - the scenery and animals are amazing! And come in the winter (our summer) - the weather is great, and not too hot!
Tomorrow, the girls and I will take a Historical Walking tour of the city - and learn more about Zanzibar's part in the slave trade. We've run into some other bschool friends here and they really enjoyed their time, etc. I only have 5 days left of my journey! I fly back to NYC on Wednesday night, arriving on Thursday - I'm excited for the movies I'll have on KLM - good airline! Africa has been wonderful, I highly recommend it for those of you who have not yet been here - the scenery and animals are amazing! And come in the winter (our summer) - the weather is great, and not too hot!
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