Self Espresso

When I was a child, I was not allowed to drink espresso, and rightfully so. I imagine it would have added to my already high levels of energy.  I however did relish the opportunities as a child to get my grande steamed milk with almond from our favorite neighbor Starbucks.  It was often a reward for good behavior or academic achievement.  That at those jo jo potatoes things from the mini mart after daycare…man the incentives seemed endless.

But as I grew up, I internally knew I was on the precipice of discovering a new world.  For so long I had been like many early pioneers and viewed the world as flat…in relation to espresso my only point of reference was steamed milk with Almond.

Fast forward to my years of independence beginning with my the procurement of my drivers license, I now had the means of transportation to go explore without the restrictive boundaries of my parents.  I began to explore various drinks from Starbucks, I specifically remember and entire summer drinking just the espresso brownie frappucino.  They were good, and despite the calorie index, my body thoroughly enjoyed the combination of brownies chunks, espresso and ice cream base.  As my tastes matured and I realized that it’s not really man like to drink only frappucinos, I began to stick with the staple grande vanilla latte (Starbucks still being my venue of choice).  This was the case for a number of years probably 5 years straight I always had my latte.

The most drastic Espresso conversion came when I moved to Seattle, WA.  Unlike my hometown of Puyallup, there are a multitude of cafe’s and roasters with in city limits.  With varying cultures, blends, and artistry all associated around the coffee bean.  Additionally the social scene around the cafe  seemed much more established  than the traditional Starbucks, I often spent afternoons studying in a cafe, drinking espresso while listening to a local artist, all the while people around me could be doing the same or simply showed up just to enjoy the music.  I spent 4 solid years living in Seattle attending the University of Washington all of which opened up my eyes to the complexity of the coffee bean, and its many expressions.  Don’t worry I got an education too, not just an obsession with coffee.  I had arrived at a destination where my taste buds along with my emotions determined what I would drink, and from where.  I was free from the traps of branding, and unabated from mass-produced espresso.

With the acquired aficionado status of  espresso came the next phase in my journey – the coffee plant and its fields.  I am currently enamored with such qualifiers as, where is the bean grown, when was it roasted, how was it roasted, and even how was it harvested.  My espresso hobby has migrated from consumption to production.  I am always thrilled when I come across a new local roaster where I can watch  the beans get roasted, and then purchase the very beans that were once in raw form that same day.  I even made it a point to visit a roaster in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica while on vacation this year.

My fascination continues to grow, I cannot put my finger on the reason as to why.  Maybe because it was prohibited for me as a child due to the concerns of stunting my growth.  Or maybe it is because of the community created by its venues.  Never the less it has opened my eyes to the life of the this bean that has played such a significant role in societies for centuries.

I currently frequent the following establishments: Stumptown, Zoka, Mandolin, Cafe Vita, Cafe Fiore

Not sure the importance of this post. I think it highlights my tendency of self indulgence, on this occasion through espresso.  Enjoy.

Z

 

My View of the inFLUenza

The luxury of being sick as a child meant, staying home from school, sleeping in, watching Saved Bell The Bell in the morning, and having your Mom wait on you hand and foot. Well as a grown adult the luxuries of infection are seemingly gone.

When I was young and fell ill, the doctor told me to rest and I’ll be okay, sending me home with a lollipop. People seemed to flock to my aid, to ensure that I resume to wellness. As an adult male, I wait in a doctor’s office lobby with other infected humans for over an hour to be received by a nurse and a “student” who was shadowing her. They take my vitals. I, trying to lighten up the cold atmosphere, ask, “How do you all seem to stay so sick free?” She replied, “We don’t, we just act like we do.” How can a sick person make me better?

I get past the nurse and am now alone in a room, sitting on one of the those table beds with butcher paper that my mother told me not to lay down on. The doctor walks in, cough drop in mouth and asks me how many times I work out, I tell him. That answer wasn’t good enough so he asks me what do I do when I work out. His response, “Oh.” None the less he goes over what flu like symptoms are. All to inform me that I do not have any influenza indicators. The hard thing about this dialogue is that I was trying to keep my head from exploding from the congestion that I was not focusing on what he was saying at all. All I caught out of the flu speech was that they are going to test me for the flu.

So again, I sit alone in the room, congested, stuffy, nauseated in fear of the germs on the paper bed table thing. A new nurse comes in, with a different “student,” it must have been take your adult child to work day, it was weird. She asks me, “Did the doctor tell you what this flu test is going to be like?” I replied, “Nope.” She asked me again, I replied the same. She said, “Well uhh, it hurts really bad.” Comforting I thought, really soothing. She asked me not to swipe at her or shake my head. She asked me to lay down, I did so reluctantly, thinking of the childhood commands not to do so. But non the less I was on my back, hands restrained from swiping and ready for this flu test. My favorite quote of the whole visit came up next, “This is going to feel like I’m picking at your brain.” Giving me no time to brace myself she sticks a q-tip that is so long it needs a wooden extension up my nose to indeed my brain and holds it there. The pain was horrific.

The test was over and off they went. Nurse and “student” out the door. I stayed laying down avoiding crying from the pain, not caring about who or what had been laying on that bed before me. The Doctor came back in and told me I tested positive for the flu. prescribed me meds that cost too much money, but then told me, “Hey if you have been sick for more than two days, it’s not worth taking the meds, they won’t even work. You will have to let the virus pass.” Really encouraging, I thought. They would never tell a child that, let a lone their parent.

They say as you grow older, life changes. responsibilities grow, horizons expanded. But this week I learned that illness just gets worst. Eventually you get sick enough and they tell you, you are going to die. All I want is to sleep in, eat Cookie Crisp and watch Saved By The Bell, The College Years.

Zach

Polar Bears

I assume that I enjoy the sunshine and warm weather just as much as anyone else.  However as of late I have been transistioned into a new  “climate phase.”  I feel like a polar bear with no igloo…in a dry dry desert.  When temperatures reach 90 degrees and warmer I swell up, and the worst is I feel bloated.

In my car I can turn the A/C on.  When outside I can manage, because I knowI am getting a tan.  But inside my home is where I suffer, you see we have no air conditioning and I swear that my house follows the sun as it moves through the sky. My house temperature gauge reads 90 degrees daily, and all hours of the day. Now if it were winter and I wanted it to be toasty, I’d be okay.  But when I have to check and make sure the fireplace isn’t on, it is not a good thing.

My body is changing…I used to love the heat.  I used to like feeling my skin bake in the sun.  But now all I want is shade and a fan on my face. I think I might be pregnant.

I have been ran out of my house by the solar powers at be.

What I Thought Was The Best Haircut Of My Life

It has been a while since I have posted but I feel some recent events are blog worthy.

Let me give this story a little bit of a background. We were in LA a few months back and I really needed a haircut but it was Memorial Day, so most barbershops were closed. I finally found one that was open, hopped in a cab by myself (bad idea) and was on my way. Long story short, I arrived at the barbershop, to discover it was a guys house and his barbershop, it was not the most sanitary of conditions but I needed a haircut. I got my haircut, and tried to ignore the lack of barbicide to keep things clean.

Fast forward to this week, my hair had finally grown out and I was feeling the itch to cut it. Hopefully the itch isn’t lice from the barbershop in LA.

I made an appointment at Supreme Cuts in Seattle, with John. The only guy I trust to cut my hair. Living in suburbia I have had some not so pleasant hair experiences (getting your fade, taper or line up is not meant to be done in the South Hill mall, so please parents spare your children). I wanted this hair cut to be different, I was tired of my usual haircut. So I hit up Google and finally found what I wanted. Being me, I printed out a picture brought it to Supreme Cuts and John made magic happen.

I left the shop, met up with some friends at Tutta Bella, they loved it. I get home to see my wife and her response was emotion filled too. “Babe, no you didn’t.” I replied, “Didn’t do what?” She then retracted and said she liked it. It took much coercion to get her real opinion out. When it came out it was really funny. Here’s how the dialogue went. “What do you not like about my hair, be honest?” She replied, “Well, I think it looks like Sanjaya!” I couldn’t even respond, I just started laughing.

In closing, I can deal with Sanjaya. My style has always been forward. But I have never been compared to Sanjaya. Hopefully this comparison will never be made again.

Side View

Front View

Last Days in CR

The Internet has been spotty the past couple of days, I have been eager to write but my many attempts ended in failure. We have spent our last few days here laying out on the beach after breakfast for hours on end. It is so relaxing to fall asleep in the sun to the sound of waves. It is pretty soothing as long as you are wearing sun block, in my case I left the beach every time a little bit more pink.

We made it a point to walk two miles into town daily to have lunch, savoring the local food a few last times. We also bought some “trinkets” from the street vendors. I got a frog instrument (to go with my shofar and drum from Israel, I almost have enough to start my own band). Sarah got a necklace and we got some domino’s too. The street vendors are friendly and are from all over.

This morning is our last day in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. We took a taxi in Quepos, and went to a local coffee roaster, and explored a bit. On a side note its been crazy not to see a Starbucks at all. Kind of nice actually. From the local perspective, most people enjoy drip more than espresso drinks. Most coffee offered is in drip form. There are numerous coffee fields that produce beans for the entire world. After our time at Milagro Coffee Roaster, we went next door to their restaurant and enjoyed a light lunch. It was a great 1.5hr trip.

I am excited to come home to my city, and meet Merci Ann Wymore in person!

Z & S

view from our balcony

Milagro Coffee Roaster

perrier and a fresh orange carrot smoothie…perfect pairing

our casita

view from lunch into town, what you can’t see is the stylings of Bob Marley playing in the background made this the perfect meal

Sarah really likes this flower

Manuel Antonio

We safely made it via flight across Costa Rica yesterday via our twin prop plane from La Fortuna to Quepos. The best part about this traveling experience was not having Sarah not throw but rather, while we were waiting for our flight in the local airport, the town of La Fortuna was hosting an HIV awareness session for adults. It was a small gathering maybe 40 people in total, but it was still awkward, I know enough Spanish to comprehend most things and this time it was very interesting to listen in on this presentation. You could tell that the local people felt just as awkward too, knowing that the Americans in the airport were listening to them learn about HIV.

Our resort is right on Espirella Beach, which has some of the biggest waves I have ever seen. It is amazing, since arriving we have seen sloths, monkeys, Halloween crabs, and lizards on the property. It is beyond a green resort, it is self sustaining, they are very creative in their use of eco friendly and recyclable products. An obvious tool is the recycled paper used for all the printed items but most eco friendly thing that we have found is that they use bamboo straws instead of plastic straws. Not only is it eco-friendly but it takes your tropical drink of choice to a whole new level of cool.

This morning we walked to the Manuel Antonio National Park, it is about a 2 mile walk to the park but worth it, once in the park we again saw a sloth, and a family of monkeys. The park eventually led us to a beach, Manuel Antonio Beach, where there is a trail that leads to Espirella Beach, eventually back to our resort. It was a long walk home but very worth it. The 3+ hour journey gave us time to work on our tans, and enjoy some gelato.

We had a relaxing afternoon, enjoying the privacy of the beach, body surfing in the giant waves and trying not to drowned. We were later greeted by a monsoon that ended our leisure time at the beach.

We are determined to not let the night time monsoon hold us captive so we ventured out to the restaurant and enjoyed a great dinner tonight together, the restaurant has no windows it was fun to hear the pounding rains around us as we ate by candle light, I must add that we preceded dinner with our new nightly game of chess in the common area in the reception are of the hotel. I lost twice tonight, as I lost four times last night. Not to discredit the mind of my wife but my lack of patience ultimately leads to my defeat each time.

just a guy tanning on a rock

trail along the beach

the scenery looks like something from a travel magazine

walk down the beach

Franklin’s vs Wild

Yesterday was a good day, woke up to a fresh fruit breakfast. We lounged around most of the morning and spent our afternoon on the Hanging Bridges Tour, which is a couple of miles away from our resort. The tour guide was nice, and had a bit of humor which kept us on our toes. There were large suspension bridges that went across canyons and waterfalls, it was scary to look down and see how far up we really were. The total hike was about 2.5 hours. We saw poisonous frogs, wild turkey, howler monkeys, and a sweet owl. The best part was towards the end of the tour Sarah and I heard this really loud growl. We both looked at each other, and asked the tour guide what that loud growl from the bushes was, we do not think he heard it because this was his response, “oh its just a fly.” We thought,”a fly?” Needless to say we picked up our walking pace and made it out of the jungle alive. We got back to the room and were wiped, ordered room service and crashed. We had to get a lot of rest, because of what was awaiting us in the morning.

Sarah and I signed up to do canyon and waterfall rappelling. She was quick to say yes, and I was quick to sign us up. Our shuttle came at 6:45AM and we did not wake up until 6:29AM. So we rushed out the door grabbed some pineapple, bananas and sausages on the way to meet our shuttle. As we got closer and closer to the base camp Sarah got more and more nervous, I was nervous too, but we couldn’t afford to both be nervous so being the great leader I am, I shielded my emotions and focused on the task at hand…surviving the next 4.5 hours.

We eventually arrive at the base camp where we get our gear on, and the instructions. The first decent we approach is 168ft. Sarah began to shake on this one, and I began to sing hymns in my head (no sweeter name than the name of Jesus) as we approached. You would think they would start off with the smallest decent first, but not this time. I was the first to go between Sarah and I, I did alright smacked the rock face with my body a couple of times, Sarah on the other hand conquered the drop like a professional (must of been all those years living with Jessica Reich) and pushed of the wall maybe 3 times. It was incredible. For being so nervous she did awesome. The next few were in the middle of waterfalls, so as you would be trying to give slack to the rope you had water pummeling your face, it was quite the experience. As we trekked on it got more difficult, even though the distances were not 168ft, the walls beside us got a lot more narrow. Leaving not a lot of margin for error. The descents were 168ft, 85ft, 45ft, 95ft, and another 85ft to finish off. We then hiked 20 min out of the jungle where unbeknownst to us our guides saved our lives. Below our last rappel point was one of the most deadly snakes in all of Costa Rica, they killed it with a stick. We made it back to base camp safely, where we had hot lunch, and coffee waiting for us.

Pure Trek Canyoning was our tour company and provided an excellent experience.

During our hikes between descents, I looked at Sarah and said,”Now I know what its like to be Ryan Thomas and Kevin Harkins.”

We are not sure what the rest of today holds, we are going to check out the hot springs down the road that are heated by the magma from Mt. Arenal. Tomorrow we fly to Manuel Antonio. We are going from the northern region to the southern pacific coast.

Sarah is not too sure what she has agreed to…

Ready to go

First drop, 168ft

One of the more narrow waterfall rappels

Poisonous frog that the guide wanted to pick up

One of the bridges in the jungle

Me and my new friend the tour guide looking for monkeys

Eventful Start To Our Journey

Okay, so I didn’t post yesterday, read on and you will see why.

We made our SEA to LAX flight just fine, Sarah and I slept a little bit felt tired, which was natural at that point. We arrive at LAX get our bags and prepared to check in for our international flight to El Salvador. This is where the party began. We find the TACA check in counter and ask how to get in line, we are directed to go outside and wait in line out there. No joke the line was half way down the terminal. Little did we know, the discounted fairs advertised on the internet had caused thousands of people to fly to out of the country the same night we were. Sarah’s response was, “Babe, I don’t think we are going to make it.” I looked at her and replied, “Well, thats not an option.” So Sarah went outside and stood in line, while I went and negotiated with the TACA check in counter. Long story short they let us cut everyone in line because our flight left in an hour and the thousands of people outside were there early due to the other flights going out that night. We barely made it, as we were checking in our bags, they closed check in for that flight, the trip started off tense, but it gets better I promise.

We stop in Guatemala City for about 20 minutes as the plane refuels and passengers exit and board, pretty standard. Sarah is not doing so well as she could not sleep on the last flight like I did. So we finally take off and I pass out again, and this time while I am asleep Sarah takes some medicine that is to help her fall asleep. We land again, in El Salvador and have to switch planes, the flight from San Salvador, El Salvador to San Jose, Costa Rica is relatively short. Sarah wakes up in in Costa Rica dizzy and drowsy. She tells me how she doesn’t feel good and feels like she is going to throw up. We get off the plane, and she runs straight for the nearest trash can, drawing many eyes to her convulsing ways.

She throws up once which I had hoped would remedy the situation, well not this time we then find a bathroom in the San Jose Airport and she throws up again. In my mind I am thinking she must be okay now. So we go through customs, she looks pale as a ghost with a hint of purple, I was nervous but I kept my game face on. We were not going to go home now. We get our bags, and hop into an orange cab to another local private airport that will fly us to La Fortuna, the town we are staying at. So we get in the cab and she starts to throw up again, the cab driver, Frank, pulled over and bought her water. So we finally arrive at the smaller local airport and we throw away my neck pillow, that now had puke all over it. I gave her my shirt to trade in for hers and we seemed like we were going to make it. We get some saltines and Gatorade which make her feel better. We board the small prop plane and are in the air. It was a really cool flight, lower to the ground saw all kinds of birds, animals etc. We were about 10 minutes from landing in La Fortuna and she threw up again in the airplane, this time I was ready with puke bags in hand. So to end this novel, picture this, me walking off a plane with Sarah’s puke in two nicely labeled Nature Air – puke bags, and my sweet voice saying, ” Just go puke in the grass.”

We hop in our shuttle from there and are off to our hotel. It wouldn’t be normal at this point if she didn’t throw up. We are on our way through Los Lagos and La Fortuna when she pukes again. This time more manageable but still sad. We make it to the hotel at about 12 noon, and she an I sleep until 4:30PM which was good for her body to recoup and rest. Then we went down to the resturant and had dinner, came back and slept some more. We did a lot of sleeping but it was much needed. She is all better now. My hypothesis as to why she got sick was the medecine she took on an empty stomach and not getting enough sleep for it to work properly, and her body freaked out.

All in all, could you really think we can go anywhere without having a story. Our hotel is beautiful and is nestled in the jungle, with river trails, birds, sloths, pumas, and jaguarindos.

Today is a new day, rainforest here we come!

the building tucked away is the restaurant for the resort

It was really over cast but this is the first view we saw when we entered into our room, behind those clouds is the active volcano Mt. Arenal

our quaint balcony attached to our room

Over The River and Through The Woods

We are embarking on what many considered crazy. We are going to the rain forests of Costa Rica…doing absolutely nothing, except for traversing volcanoes, swinging through tree canopies, lounging in natural hot springs, watching lava flow and holding baby sloths. My wife informed me that sloths are some of the dirtiest animals on earth, so much so they grow plants on their backs.

Never the less, stay tuned to my blog, as I am going to blog our daily adventures and discoveries. Hopefully we will able to do some video blogging as well.

Trusty Spanish to English and English to Spanish Dictionary. As well as the amazing 501 Spanish Verbs guide.

Just packing has gotten me intimidated. I think this might be a little intense.

Wedding Cake

I have officially been married a year.

Living with a girl has been an adventure, from the pristine hygiene to the anti-clutter mentalities possessed by most females, my life has been changed for the better. The past year of marriage has contained many events, adventures, songs, and celebrations. Best spoken in pictures we have laughed together, cried together, and if you know me at all, we have hustled together.

My life is far better with Sarah, and our futures are much more brighter now that we have eachother. The Lord truly has orchestrated something amazing in our marriage. Marriage has been and will continue to be a learning experience, I have learned a lot this year, the importance of leadership in relationship, the power of words, how important my integrity really is. But the biggest “aaha” moment has been that she is who she is and I will choose to love who she is and not try to change her to what I think she should be.

Oh yeah, we got so much swag its not even fair.

Wedding Party

Love and Happiness

Celebrating New Years 2009 Eve in NYC

Laughing at me, a common occurrence in our marriage.