beautiful

not a native species of brasil but a welcome member of my uncle's farm.

o meu sertão

sou filha do sertão. i'm a daughter of the desert.

before the rain

a holy moment in the city of recife

people and places i love

gabriela, me, rafaela, matheus! i love you!

The Walls of separation

A wall in Bethlehem. Creative expression of the injustice and frustration. From the project titled "Face2Face," the work of self-styled French "artivists" JR and Marco. Found accidentally by Opa and I as we wandered, lost in the streets of Bethlehem.




The Western Wall. Looking to the heavens between Sabbath prayers.

Roma is divine

I think so and so do millions of others. Here I am with some of my 2007 Maratona del Roma running buddies. Anyone for Prague next year? :)

Mothers continued

Tuareg and Hausa mothers. Women in Niger have one of the highest fertility rates in the world, having on average 8 children. Maternal mortality: over 80/100,000.

Innocence

Beautiful women

The maternity ward

Grandmothers and their grandchildren on the grounds of the maternity ward. Many beautiful babies and happy mothers, but infant mortality rate of Niger is almost 120/1000. Life expectancy 43years.

Dr. Zoolkoski

Chris Zoolkoksi, a family practice doc (who does primarily general surgery here) with boundless energy and compassion. He can fix just about anything!

Jerusalem

Dusk in Muslim Quarter.



















Opa at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Château-d'Oex

At Chateau-d'Oex I saw, for the first time in my life, hot air balloons! I was as giddy as the little kids on the train as we arrived. Lovely! Afterwards Farah and I met the marvelous Fam. Margot, friends of Phillipe, in Rossinière, a gem of a village in the Swiss Alps. We walked to Rossinière through the woods, along the railroad tracks, and along winding roads, arriving at dusk without an address. But a kind lady in town directed us and we found ourselves embraced by one of the dearest families ever.

Je suis Suisse, bien pas encore.

Am feeling official. This is my bus pass... though do a little more walking than bussing. I actually ran across to France yesterday!

Tributes con't

Another tribute to the good mothers of the world, from my ever expanding collection.

Blue Footed Bobbies

Can you imagine what sort of creature has these funny looking feet? Even my artsy sister Ruthie would be proud to walk in these shoes. God, you're pretty darn creative! A picture from Ashley and my adventure at the Isla de La Plata, the poor mans Galapagos. Where the birds are charming and you can charm the director of the park.

Goodby Apunag

On a whirlwind goodby visit to the Chimborazo communities I fell in love with, I saw this lovely lady again. A little shy, but nonetheless gorgeous.

Volcan Tugurahua and Cotopaxi

Summiting Cotopaxi, the largest active volcano in the world with Dan, Kevin, Phillipe (ya'll are wonderful) and the nasty guides! Tungurahua was in the distance. My first moutain climb: now am officially an addict for more.

So driving past Baños last week we could see that Tugurahua was a little angry. Last time there was anything serious, in 1999, the entire town was evacuated of its then 20,000 residents.

Chapada dos Guimarâes

A beautiful 100meter waterfall in the center of south america (Brasil) surrounded by red cliffs of sedementary rock and deep green untouched valleys. Consider yourself (ok, myself) lucky to have been there and been guided by a local tough guy, Senhor Waldir Davene de Sousa, Jr and his sidekick Thiago.

abc: my first documentary

Bono and Siomara?

I dont think I´ve ever had this much fun pulling teeth (actually filling in cavities). Dra. Siomara Gonçalvez Morales Ribeiro, my dentist, is the sister of my spunky Itajubanian mother, Sonja. They are obviously related. I think I might Bono here.

Hospital Escola, Itajuba

Wondering what life is like inside the hospital here? To the left you can my classmates (in ALL white) listening to the venerable godfather of OBGyn Dr. Aurelio Rocha. To the right the baren but sterile obstetrics/gynecology operating room. Order of the day is: rounds, class, OR, if I´m lucky.

Minas Gerais

A few views of the southern state of Minas Gerais, north of Sao Paulo, third largest city in the world! It is a beautiful, though almost completely deforrested sub-tropical region. To the west of us is the pantanal, the marsh jungle.

The Ribeiro Family (another one!)

So with my new family I do a lot of laughing.... namely about language, literature and love. These are my sisters here: Marina (R) is a dedicated 23yo geography student and discipled runner who loves outdoor adventures and solitude, Cinthia (L) is a 19yo hippie-loving, Australia-headed, social-butterfly with a big smile and even bigger heart. My sense of humor is evolving here.

Dance Dance Revolution

Well ok not quite. In case you did know, I´ve moved from Ecuador to Brasil and am currently doing an OBGyn rotation in Itajuba, Minas Gerais. A friend of mine is a professional dancer here and I asked to come along to see what it was all about. I found myself chatting enthusiastically with Keila afterwards, near midnight, as we walked down dark winding streets in the center of town. Here are some images of her world. Music and dance is poetry here.