The Porter, Atlanta

Wednesday was a beautiful afternoon in Hotlanta and Neto had just finished his big lighting job (someone has to work!). This was reason enough to walk down the street to a bar called the Porter in Little 5 Points. Its another "gastropub" (pub with higher end food) The style of the Porter is rustic with a cement bar stretching down the long narrow space. Lined with chatty locals, and no pretentiousness, it's a true pub atmosphere. The beer list is insane -about 4 pages long. Smita and I both tried the Blanche de Bruxelles (a blonde beer spiced with coriander, bitter orange peel, nicely lemony) So refreshing!

The apps were equally satisfying. We feasted on the Belgian fries, the brandade (a codfish, potato and garlic confit) and the fried goat cheese sticks.

The Porter has outdoor seating [on tree stumps], friendly service, and interesting people watching (if you have been to Little 5 before you know what I mean) If you are looking for a good happy hour or are a beer connoisseur, I highly recommend you stop by.

Habitat Fundraiser at JAM

On Friday night Habitat held a fundraiser at JAM in Santa Ana. (Organized by Andres'...many connections this boy has)Its a perfect venue for bands, rather intimate with couches very lounge-y. 3 bands played and the admission $$ went to Habitat. We sold T-shirts and had brochures as well. I forgot to bring the big signs that say "Habitat for Humanity" ...idiota!! My other assignment (which I did do) was to walk around with this piggy bank to collect money. This heavy-ass clay piggy bank. I gave it a kiss for good luck! It worked....we collected about $150 in the 2 pigs.Since I wasn't sporting a Habitat shirt- I added several stickers to myself! My friend Bobby was in San Jose for work and came out to JAM with us.
Between bands Andres got on stage and gave a really nice speech about HFH and what we can all do to eliminate inadequate housing. Marco was filming the night and Im sure will make a great video (which I will post later) It was a really fun night, even though there was no dancing involved:(

Fiesta de Caipiguaros

Eduardo is back in town for two days from his trip through central america...he is leaving Monday returning to Brazil. In the 6 months he has ben here he made a huge group of international friends. He wanted to have one last party before he goes and Kate offered her place. Instead of the Brazilian favorite Caipirinias, which uses cachaça, we used the costa rican liquor, Guaro. Hence the name Caipiguaros. Ernesto Kate and I went to the market in the morning and bought fruit for the drinks. Lime, strawberries and my personal favorite ..........maracuyá (passion fruit) The seeds were just left in the drink and they were so good.
Eduardo was the official bartender, but after ordering my third drink, he taught me how to make it myself:) Which was great because this is how I started talking to Gillian (in pic below). I made her a caipiguaro. She's Americana, lives in San Jose and works for the Tico Times newspaper! We are going to get together soon....and speak spanish of course!Kate and I really like this next picture because it reminds us of a 1970's ad for....some kind of alcohol. Don't you think? looking through the arch into the kitchen? The lighting is horrible, but I like the way it turned out.I met Maxime through Eduardo. He is a Frenchie and will be in Costa Rica only a few more weeks. Que triste! I have to post this picture of me with him because it is the only one I have where his eyes are actually open! Muy fotogenico Max!We took a group shot with everyone using the timer.
The plan was to go to Castros for dancing....YES! salsa dancing! (thanks for listening to my request Edu!) Some of us couldn't wait to dance...I did make an awesome playlist on my ipod for the party so it was hard to NOT dance. A mix of reggaeton, salsa, hip-hop, reggae...let me know if you want a copy:) We rolled into Barrio Mexico at about 1130pm. Castros is a cool club. There is a great mix of people and that means great people watching! Las chicas con Eduardo and his brother. The dance floor was packed! Too crowded! There is one dance that I just sit and stare, it is Cumbia....and I MUST learn it. Here I watch and learn ......must.........learn......cumbia.........Check out this short video. You may want to learn it too. They dance it very differently here..it is like swing dancing and it looks like such a workout! ...and to answer your question T.J.....NO, it was not raining in there! I was sweating my a%$ off. Thank you very much! (he commented on this picture in Facebook) This was actually after I danced the best 15 minutes of salsa in my life! It was one of Eduardo's friends Chalo. During my 15 minutes of fame, the heel of my shoe got caught on someone and I fell....gracefully!! Then got up and carried on dancing! I usually love crowds, but on the dance floor you need some space!! Lots of great action shots taken that night! Oh, these guys could break your back if your not careful!

"apple bottom jeans (skirt), boots with (no) fur, the whole club was lookin' at her, she hit the floor, next thing you know, shorty got low low low low low low low low low"
....As long as we GO HOME together at the end of the night, right?
As you can imagine, we were dead tired on Sunday. Coming home at 4am is....somethin' different. Kate and I laid out in the sun for a couple hours and Ernesto slept until 230p. He said..."Man, I just can't do that anymore" Im tempted to post the picture I took of him when he laid down in bed that night.....Kate and I stood in the doorway laughing. Crazy Nester! Ill save him the ridicule.....this time! Our co-worker and neighbor had some people over to celebrate Colombias Independence Day Sunday night. More dancing and great food! and just a one minute walk. Thats about all we could handle.

Lebanese Loungin'

Just the mention of Lebanese food made my mouth water. Thanks for arranging Diana! Lubnan is a really cool restaurant on Paseo Colon en el Centro (the main street downtown) Besides the food being delicious, the atmosphere was cool and the company fun! From left to right: Ricardo, Annie (both volunteers) Samir and Diana (both Ticos) Kate, me and Neto. We had a cool tent in the back by the bar, fully equipt with incense, pillows on the floor and lanterns. I wish I had taken a picture of the bar stools, they were tree trunks with leather animal skins draped over them. Ill file that idea away for when I have a house again.........We ordered a sampler and it was a perfect amount. We actually couldnt even see what we were eating with the ambiant lighting. I took this picture and the flash gave us a peek. mmmmm Definately a REPEATER!!

Van Gogh

Its hard to believe that I have only known Eduardo for one month. He is such a sweet guy and we have really become good friends. He has been a volunteer for the last 6 months in San Jose and now he is leaving for a one month backpaking trip through Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatamala and Belize. Lucky ass! His last day at the office was Friday, so Thursday night he invited all of his friends to a club called Van Gogh. The deal was pretty rediculous....reminded me of college. 3000 Colones ($6USD) for all you can drink?? The music got better as the night went on....started with dance music then finally ended up with reggaeton and some latin. Before I knew it....it was 3am! Here the Habitat Crew poses Eduardo, me, Marco and Diana.

Hot Night Out in Mumbai!

Nameeta, Smita's sister took us out to a really cool place called "Hawaiian Shack" for our 2nd night in Indians. Besides the Indians, you might think we were in the US. Everyone was in "western wear" as they call it,(jeans and such) but the difference was the music. This place had 2 levels, these pics are from the lowere level where they played a mix of 80's music and even olders songs that I would not play in a million years, but we all sang and danced to it anyway...oddly enough, it's never as cheesy when you hear it in a different country. (familiarity?) The upstairs was more night club and Bollywood-Indian dance music..I love love love it! (why did we stay downstairs so long?) We stayed until they closed and of course, at the end I was at the DJ booth begging for one last request (sean paul, I'm sure)...some things never change!