a mixed bag

though i miss costa rica and la pura vida, returning to the u.s. has been great for me personally. i am so enjoying time with family, friends, and the good old places i love in the northeast. but turning on the news or thinking about the stock market is a little scary and kind of makes me want to leave the country again. this is not a politically-fueled blog, nor will it ever be, so that's all i will say about that!

my time in costa rica ended a little over two weeks ago now...with a BANG! we had two successful performances of medee in el teatro de la danza in san jose and our opera scenes recital on the last friday of the program. on saturday, we enjoyed a beautiful lunch at ale's house, and ended it with a lovely recital performed by karen esquivel and joyce guyer, with gustavo castro on piano and yours truly on pages, and sunday was a LONG day of traveling for me!


creuse et nerine...
the smoky first scene of the opera...and i was in it! i loved performing the role of nerine...even though medee was out of her mind!!


l'amour et nerine...

the catholic church in santa ana, where we performed our scenes program...

(left to right) hasmig, me, ale, and cara...finally care-free after ALL of the performances!

as i landed in boston, i couldn't resist thinking about all that has happened since the last time i was in boston...that trip was the event that first inspired my re-invented mostly travel blog that i have been intermittently contributing to since september 2010. i am more motivated than ever to keep exploring new places and meeting new people...and to blog about it as much as i can stand to. :)

today i'm blogging from my sister's place in pittsburgh (photos to come in the next post), after a great week-long stint in the 603, including reunions with friends, naps on the beach, church with family, and a beautiful wedding...and time spent here with my nephews, my parents who graciously made space for me and all of my luggage in their van on the way down here, and more memories made with friends. i love life WAY too much!

my pile of stuff...ready to go to austin!


friends since kindergarten! (i started taking pictures of my trip to nh on saturday...i wish i had photos of all of my fantastic rendez-vous with lifelong friends!)

i met deb in kindergarten...and now she has these two cuties and a kindergartener of her own (wait, i actually think she's in first grade) you get the idea. oh, how the time flies...

yup, that's me! one doesn't need to be in costa rica to have a little fun...

...or to see some beautiful natural scenes! beautiful lake winnipesaukee!

the happy bride and groom (rachel and tim)...

...and the happy party-goers. especially kai, who basically had four dates.