I am Pablo

I know, it took me over a week! But after having our 2nd canceled flight of the weekend we certainly needed time to recover. NY was an absolute blast! Congrats to you both TK and Jos!! Hope you are having a fantastic time in Greece!

I attended the wake of a friend today. The last time I had heard from him was just over a year ago - he had sent out an e-mail titled “Important - Tim Butler”. In it, he described his diagnosis and the beginning of his battle with lung cancer. I was so taken aback I had no idea how to respond, I starred the e-mail so that I would respond to it when the news had some time to settle. As time went by, the message made its way to the bottom of my in-box. The few times I would happen by it, I would ponder once again how to respond and save it for another time. As I knelt by his casket I thought I was too late. How could I have waited so long? After sharing my condolences, thoughts and love with his family and friends, I headed home. As evening fell and the events of the afternoon started to sink in, I decided to light a candle in his memory and re-read his message while listening to Adagio for Strings. While reading, a response finally took shape.

The last line he wrote was: “Thank you all and I look forward to laughing about this with you in the future.”

Tim,

I’ve had your e-mail starred in my inbox for the last year. I keep on beating myself up for not having responded to you sooner. I’m sure you understand that your e-mail totally took me off guard, and I had no idea at all how to react. Your candor, strength, and lightheartedness were at a stark contrast to what you shared with me, I think it goes to show how you will handle this into the future. I sincerely appreciate you including me on this message. Though I was never as close to you as some other mutual friends of ours, I always saw what a good person you are. Not only because of the ways in which our friends respect you, but also because of the way that Peggy adores you! You are very fortunate to have found each other and to have started a family together. She will be by your side through all of this and your relationship will be stronger for it. Your friends and family are here to support you as well - if there is anything I can do, all you need do is ask. I sincerely believe that everything happens for a reason, though it may not be clear now or even down the road, there is a greater plan for us all. It is obvious that you have touched the lives of many people and will continue to do so no matter what the future brings. That being said, I want you to know that I have been keeping you and your family in my prayers and I will continue to do so. I pray that you all have the clarity, strength and lightheartedness that you have already shown. I too look forward to talking to you and laughing about this with you in the future - but take all the time you need, we have all eternity.

Until next time,
-Pablo

I hit send, finishing what I should have long ago, knowing that somewhere in the ether my message will reach its intended destination.

I apologize for the lack of posts after Greece - T-Mobile roaming in Cyprus was spotty at best!! I have returned and wanted to get the newlyweds their pictures as soon as possible. Thats about all I have the energy for tonight! The wedding was in 3 parts; the traditional bridal dressing ceremony at Maria’s aunt’s house, the Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony at the church, followed by the reception and dancing. It was truly an incredible event!

One of our board members gave us 14 tickets for Thursday’s Cubs game and, as I was one of the first to respond to the e-mail, I got free tickets!! It was ~45F and sunny and beautiful out when I left my apartment - but I ended up freezing at the game. Well worth staying though, as the cubs pulled their first win of the season! I’ve never seen Wrigley empty so fast though - I guess everybody else was freezing too! GO CUBS GO!!!

I stepped out onto Canal St. where the tracks split the street in two. I then walked up a couple of blocks to the Carondolet stop, hearing the streetcar approaching before seeing it lumbering down the tracks. One soon arrived and it was filled with people from all walks of life. As they spilled onto the street we patiently awaited our turn to get on. I clutched the money in my hand confirming the presence of the dollar and a quarter necessary for a ride. The paint on the outside was a faded green and the light from the naked bulbs escaped through the open windows. The conductor closed the door before anybody could get on telling us to wait for the streetcar behind. It hurried away with its tail following the electric wire above. The next streetcar arrived empty, with the door ajar, waiting for its void to be filled. We entered one by one, scurrying for empty seats. Suddenly a strange sound emitted from beneath as a lethargic pump came to life. As I took my seat, the noise subsided and the pump sighed to a halt. As I leaned back into the seat, it creaked and then snapped. The cantilever system for the bi-directional seats had lost its strength over the years. The electric motors kicked in and the vibrations of old wood and metal, groaning to support one another, filled the air. The sound summoned memories of the American Eagle. As our speed picked up so did the brisk breeze, the passengers adjusted the ratcheting windows accordingly. The bare bulbs flickered as we turned down St. Charles Avenue. The ancient pump burbled to life once again, only to wheeze to a stop moments later. The cacophony of sounds eked a smile out of this weary traveler’s face. Keeping my arms inside the car, I leaned on the windowsill taking in the scene; beads hanging from anything above arm’s reach, beautiful columned homes, joggers running down the middle of the tracks - this is the Big Easy. Soon enough the leisurely ride had ended, we had reached our destination. I thanked the conductor on my way down the steps and into the New Orleans night.

My supervisor at work offered me a “guest pass” to the Wilco show at the riv, the last in a series of 5 shows where they played their entire discography - it was incredible! Front row balcony seats, plus a backstage tour after the show helped! :)

I’ve been really busy… too busy it seems! More on that soon…

I finally finished going through all of the pictures over the weekend! Just in time for the family slideshow on Sunday (just over 500 pics for the slideshow). I have uploaded the albums to my Picasaweb account and plan on giving a bit more of a detailed account of the trip along with posting some videos. As usual - click on the above slideshow to see the album in higher resolution.

Took this last Friday and didn’t get a chance to post it. It snowed all night last night and into the morning, everything is covered in fluffy white snow - its beautiful. Can’t wait to enjoy more of it tomorrow! Tonight its off to the Museum of Contemporary Art’s First Friday. Should be fun!

Mike was kind enough to ship me DVDs of the pictures I had downloaded onto his computer during the trip. Now that I have them together, the totals are as follows:

Pictures: 2,065 (5gb)
Videos: 242 (2.34gb)
Panoramics: 17 (32mb)

Obviously the panoramics were the easiest to sort! They don’t come across very well in the slideshow above, so go ahead and click on it to get to the full-res pics. Be sure to zoom in and pan around - lots to see! In the mean time - I have lots of data to sort through, wish me luck!

First night in Saigon went from calm to crazy very quickly. I ended up walking to a restaurant that the hotel had suggested, and it was PACKED. They ended up seating me with a family of three. It was a bit odd eating at the same table with a family I couldn’t communicate with, but the food was fantastic! They left fairly quickly, and others arrived. I think the amount of booze I drank that night has erased my name memory! Hopefully they come to the blog and remind me! But the husband and wife were from Malaysia and Northern Vietnam - his uncle from Malaysia, but living in the UK, and a Southern Vietnamese friend. We had a blast hanging out and talking about Vietnam! Then a few of us went out to a couple of clubs - it was nuts! They headed home and I took a cab and ended up at a local “tourist” bar - where I befriended and Austrian and an American expat. When I ran out of money (I didn’t bring all of it with me, thank god!) I headed to the other local tourist bar and met a few French and brits! I have no idea when I got back, but I had to ring the buzzer and wake up the staff. Oops! Suffice it to stay, LATE start yesterday. But I saw Paul, an expat from North Carolina, and he asked if I would like to hit the cafe. I hopped on his motorcycle and off we went! It was called “Cafe Windows” - and was the place to people watch. I stuck out like a sore thumb with shorts and hiking shoes! We then took a tour of a few districts in Saigon - the income disparity is quite obvious once you get out of District 1 (the city center). One of the districts reminded me of Miami, FL! We ended up getting Indian food for dinner (I was in need of something completely different) and I hit the sack early as I was exhausted. Woke up early this morning and took a boat ride up to the Cu Chi tunnels. Fascinating! Now I’m back and in need of USD for my trip to Cambodia! Apparently the local currency is worthless and everything is done in USD. I leave early tomorrow morning for a tour of the Mekgon Delta, a family stay, then a boat ride up to Camboia! Internet access might be sparse, so it might be a while until I post again. Thanks for all the great comments! Glad that you guys are enjoying following along!