And we're back!

From the hot beaches...


to the frigid bleachers!

Bear Down!

Ilhabela

Our last official stop was on the island of Ilhabela, Brazil. After a day of bussing around the south of Brazil, we arrived at Sao Sebastiao for a twenty minute ferry ride to the island where we stayed at Pousada dos Hibiscos (The Hibiscus Inn). Right away we could smell the fragrant hibiscus flowers that made the courtyard of the inn feel like a botanic garden. After all of our hard work and traveling, we were excited to arrive for some rest and relaxation in the sun! Right across the street from the Pousada was pizza place that had some of the best pizza. We also had several dinners in the nearby Vila (town center), which was within walking distance along the waterfront. On one walk to the Vila, a stray dog decided to follow us the whole way and then all around town once we got there. The whole trip in South America, we (and particularly Derek!) were very careful of strange dogs. This one really took a liking to D for some reason. It was wasn't until we arrived to dinner and the restaurant owner's dog (a very fat basset hound) scared off D's new friend. The dogs really know where to find the food though. Our last night out, a cute golden retriever showed up in the restaurant looking for scraps. He couldn't find too much on the floor, and Derek wouldn't let me give him anything off of our table. But he was lucky that another fellow was willing to feed him. He proceeded to give him french fry after french fry straight from his plate! The weirdest part was that the restaurant staff didn't seem to mind. Not bad for the dogs!

Some highlights of our stay on the island included renting bikes to ride to the north end of the island to relax at one of the less inhabited beaches. But our favorite adventure on the island was definitely on the last day when we hiked to Cachoeira Toka (The Toka Waterfalls). After slapping on some very greasy citronella bug repellent that everyone was using, we headed to three different parts of the falls. Two of the three had tobagones naturales (natural slides). The rocks of the riverbeds were so smooth from years of water running over them that we could shoot right down the falls. It was so much fun!

It was a great way to finish off our three and a half month honeymoon. We were sad for it to all end, but excited to get back for the holidays and seeing everyone in Chicago. It was just the right amount of time for celebrating our wedding, and we got in all three parts that we wanted: hiking, volunteering, and relaxing. It was just perfect!

Finding Yoda at the Santa Cruz Circus

The great thing about having so many volunteers cycling in and out of the Centro Medico team is that there is plenty of energy for going out to be tourists and explore new things Cruceño. A couple weeks back we finally made it to the circus (sadly without Mike). For a twice daily show and pretty low attendance, there were some real gems there-probably the most flexible woman and most daring trapestas I've ever seen. Some of the other filler acts weren't so hot, but then came the finale of the first act: Star Wars circus--a short re-enactment of Empire Strikes Back in full costume mixed with dancing and really bad sword fights. All the major characters were in attendance, except of course for Luke Skywalker who must have had the night off. After the act was over, our group went up on stage to take a polaroid (hopefully soon to be scanned and added) with all the Star Wars characters. Char gave chewey a big high-five.

Some other highlights of our last couple weeks in Bolivia included a return to Casa del Camba (Derek's favorite restaurant in the Cruz), a return to the zipline and amazing lunch buffet at Ricoñada a few miles outside the city, a trip to buy new mattresses for the house with Nico the super shopper and master bargainer, and several new volunteers in for power paps week (thanks to Dr. Janice Duke). Char and I also made a trip up to the top of the bell tower in the main cathedral to get a good birds eye view of central Santa Cruz on a bustling evening.

In distributed energy news, a slot finally opened up for an empty SUV trip from Santa Cruz to Palacios to bring out the solar thermal panel and solar water still--too bad a last week of mostly rain made final testing a bit difficult. Derek also brought out some technicians from Enersol to go over the plans for the solar electric system. Hopefully the new bids will come in a bit lower and the system will be the optimal fit to move forward. Both of Derek's projects will remain works in progress.

Our last weekend in Santa Cruz happened to be Ibaña's high school graduation and party which worked out well as we spent on more night out dancing in the streets with our friends in Palacios. The Buena Vista HS has a great tradition of a ceremony in the plaza followed by setting up tables in the streets of the square so that each graduate's family can throw its own dinner party while bands play music throughout the plaza. Readers who previously volunteered with CMHP will be saddened to hear that the party doubled for a goodbye party for don Celso, Aide, and Luz who are bittersweet in leaving the clinic for greener pastures. Hopefully some day they will fulfill their dream of returning to build their own house in Palacios. The clinic will miss their family dearly. Celso is a daily source of humor, wisdom, inspiration, and a reminder that todo es tranquilo. "Muuuy bieeeeen Carlita!" will be forever adopted in Derek's vocabulary.

Finally, we said goodbye to DJ. We will miss that pup!

Gretchen's Last Night

Equipetrol...need I say more!