Circumnavigation Part 2: Austin - White peacocks, Stalking squirrels, and a Whole lot of Mexican food

So I backtracked my steps a bit in my journey around the world, back to my PhD home, Austin.  I was there for a short conference and a sweet reunion with my old friends.

The conference dinner was at Green Pastures, a super nice restaurant I could never afford to go to in my PhD days.  One of the highlights was seeing a white peacock on the grounds.

Who joined up with his bronze friend.

The grounds for the conference dinner were quite beautiful.

The choices for dinner were trout or prime rib.  Oddly enough, all the Texans ordered trout, when all the out-of-towners ordered the rib.  And of course that is what I chose.  How could I not?  When a piece of meat hanging off the edges of the plate was set down in front of us, the Korean sitting next to me exclaimed, "What is that?"  That, my friend, is how we eat in Texas.

Being in Austin again, I was able to spend some time on campus.  My first day there and I had my breakfast next to the turtle pond.

Nice scenery, yes, but I forgot that the campus squirrels stalk you when you eat.  


They have... no fear.

No, I will not feed you.

Soon, they were in the trees above me, and others were making a semi-circle and boxing me in from behind.

Really.  I'm not going to feed you.

I made my escape, leaving half my muffin uneaten (by me, or the squirrels).  The turtles were much more docile.

Mossy heads.

Ah, the pretty tree lined streets.

Since I've left, there are a lot more new buildings on campus.  It's hard to believe we are in an economic depression with all of this building going on.  The only depression I feel is how my old department is getting less and less appealing, located in its old drab building, with all these new, pretty, glass pieces of art going up around it.

Of course, what trip to Austin is complete without the obligatory Tex-Mex.  Or in this case, Hawaiian-Mex... chili rellenos topped with mango.  Yummy!

Sarah and I enjoying our lunch on the river.

Of course, what trip to the US is complete without bowling!  We had a true UGAP reunion, since my friends Jessa and Rodolfo just happened to be back from Israel the same town I was in town.  So everyone came out to say hello and to do some bowling.

Hyewon excited, while Janine and Sherwin get on their game faces.

Ann and Rodolfo discuss strategy.

Ernest getting some mid-frame dancing in.

Trying to capture on film Rodolfo's patented "one leg in the air" bowling posture.

 

Ann, with her hands in the air!

The Circumnavigation of the Globe Part 1 - New Mexico

I recently set out on an adventure - to circumnavigate the globe!  So I set out to follow the sun!

There it goes!

My first stop was New Mexico.  And the rain followed me from France.  But this time, it turned torrential!  I had forgotten quite how intense the storms in New Mexico could be.

The rain approaches.

Soon, we had hail falling like snow, which coated the backyard.

The torrential rain created a river, making paths in the hailstones.

The hail piled up to form "drifts".  This really puts French storms to shame. 

 

Of course, no visit to New Mexico is complete without an ultimate sunset!

I've traveled all over, but sunsets here are still the best.

It formed a "curtain of light" across the city.

No visit to New Mexico is also complete without a hike with my parents.

Suiting up.

Dew on the mountain leaves.

Dew-da!  Dew-da!

The storms in New Mexico have been hitting the mountains pretty hard.  The trail was blocked by one of the trail "markers".

 Dad models his warm gloves, while mom models, well, everything.

Trees over the path.

We also saw the rare hopping trees of central New Mexico.

If a tree hops in the wilderness and no one is around, does it make a sound?

Old fallen trees begin the process of returning to the earth.

 

A lot of trees were falling, so dad was man enough to hold it up so we could pass underneath. 

I'll leave you with one more incredible view from the Land of Enchantment. 

Coming up next - my circumnavigation of the globe continues with a visit to Austin, Texas!  Yay BBQ!

A Little Pre-Japan

Bram and I recently went to a Japanese expo - a little taste of Japan in Paris. 

Japan visits France

We tried some interesting pan fried balls of dough.  The cooks put a mixture of batter, green onions, and seafood in grills shaped sort of like rounded muffin pans.  Then they continually turned them, eventually creating a batter ball.

Our final "batter balls", filled with salmon and shrimp.

An albino peacock.

And a blue one.

Inside the sculptured Japanese gardens.

With unique tree shapes!

I was even able to try some calligraphy.  I used a brush and some black paint, and the final result looked pretty nice.  A point to someone who can guess the word I am writing! 

Giant people attack the crowd.

 

An interesting kabuki performance.

Later, we get our picture taken with the star of the kabuki show!

It starts to rain, and everyone takes out their umbrellas.  It made it really hard to see anything.  My poor short friend really has some difficulty seeing over the crowd. 

And I can't even fly.

Japanese women line up for the kimono fashion show.

The kimono fashion show was fun to watch... there were very modern styles...

To more traditional ones.

Japanese fan art.

This kimono is typically worn during weddings.

The littlest member of the kimono show.  She was supposed to throw petals at the audience, but didn't seem to understand that to toss the petals, you actually had to "let go".