Archive for June 2008

bilbao

June 30, 2008 by j.

We are in the heart of the Basque countryside of Spain.. Bilbao. The Guggenheim shines at us from a distance.. tomorrow morning we go to discover its treasures. In Parte Vieja (old town) we walked on cobbled streets and stared up at what feels like the oldest buildings in Europe. But underground rumbles what we are told is the most modern subway system in the world, designed by some famous architect. Old meets new.

Our caretaker at the pensione is a lovely Dutch woman who is both beautiful and kind. She somehow makes both of us speak English with an accent. Those trixy Dutch folk!

Eats in Spain have been delightful thus far. We found the BEST pintxo bar in all of San Sebastian, bar none. And tonight in Bilbao, we are going to have chuleton de buey, which is a special cut of steak that is especially famous in this town. Pictures will follow, once we get home. And speaking of….. it´s time to eat!

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san sebastian

June 28, 2008 by j.

In San Sebastian now, blissfully full of sun and good humour! This morning we wandered the narrow alleyways, peering into bars that had gigantic heaping platters of tasty and colorful morsels, begging us to come in for a bite to eat. And eat we did! We found one that had good traffic, and shyly took little jamon sandwiches to nibble on. The bartender and other patrons did not look askance at us, so we boldly had another. And another. Before we knew it, it was full belly hour. Payment was purely on the honor system, which I thought was very trusting and very cool. The afternoon found us basking on the beach in the Spanish sun. By the way.. topless is the norm here. But it is neither as sexy or interesting as it sounds.

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sur le toit

June 27, 2008 by j.

Last night we had dinner at a restaurant called Boeuf sur le Toit, which translates into Beef on the Tw-t. Hehe, no it doesn’t really translate to that, but we are very immature, what can I say? We just got back from the Eiffel Tower where we took some inappropriate pictures and ate baguette (unrelated concepts), and we also walked by the American embassy, which was heavily guarded. It was surrounded by a tall black iron gate, and I wanted to re-enact the final scene of The Saint, when Elizabeth Shue runs into the embassy screaming OPEN THE GATE I’M AN AMERICAN!! But Kevin wouldn’t play along. What a buzzkill :)

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sacre coeur

June 25, 2008 by j.

Bonjour again! Accidentally slept in until 1:00pm today - woke up to the hotel manager banging on the door wanting to know if we wanted breakfast (but really, I suspect, wondering if we had died during the night). The day was lovely, although my feet may not forgive me for months to come, for the abuse I am putting them through.

Wandered the streets of Montmartre (of Amelie fame). Climbed *straight up* a mountain to sit in the Basilica de Sacre Coeur and ponder the existence of God and the existence of his mercy… it is somehow easier to believe when you are sitting in a European cathedral, with their vaulted ceilings so high and so holy that it’s not impossible God is really on the other side. I lit a candle to Ave Maria and said a prayer for Michelle. Climbed straight back down the mountain, which was totally fun, and just wandered until our feet bled. Saw the Moulin Rouge. Wicked.

There are many stories I can’t type because this keyboard is completely jacked. French women just wear whatever the hell they want to. On the way to this cafe, we saw a lady wearing a flimsy lace shirt (think grandmother’s doily) with nothing under it. Ooo la la!

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paris

June 24, 2008 by j.

Bonjour from lovely Paris!! Not even in the City of Lights for three hours and Kevin and I have managed to lose our only English guidebook. Woops, my bad. This keyboard is completely wack btw. And the man sitting across from me bears a striking resemblance to the doctor on House. Ok I gotta go. Mr. Fake House just reached into his pants.

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cubist

June 19, 2008 by j.

Excerpt from a lunchtime conversation yesterday about a random actor:

Eric: He looked like Hugh Jackman. But demented.
me: Oh! You mean that ugly guy in Armageddon? You know… *makes buck teeth face*
Five people at once: STEVE BUSCEMI???!?
me: Yes!
Five people at once: WHAT!??!??
< five hysterical minutes of blabbering >
me: Well…. if Hugh Jackman got his face caught in a steamroller one day, and the doctors couldn’t quite piece it back together the way it was before. Then. It would look exactly like Steve Buscemi.
Eric: Ok that’s not really what I meant by demented.
me: < defensive >
Eric: Impressionist Hugh Jackman. Not cubist Hugh Jackman.

Daylight fading, come and waste another year
All the the anger and the eloquence are bleeding into fear
Moonlight creeping around the corners of our lawn
When we see the early signs that daylight’s fading
We leave just before its gone
- Counting Crows -

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michelle

June 17, 2008 by j.

Oops, it’s nearly been an entire month since my last post. So I’ve dropped off the face of the jeannita-earth over the last few weeks because all of my waking hours have been completely consumed with Project Michelle. I am heading up the DC regional efforts in getting as many Asian-Americans registered in the marrow donor registry as possible, in order to save sweet Michelle. Response has been great, and the support has been overwhelming - I’m truly awed over and over again at just how big people’s hearts can be.

Here is an excerpt from the event notices I have been sending out for marrow drives that I organize:

Michelle Maykin is a 26-year old Vietnamese/Chinese-American woman living in the Bay Area. Diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (cancer of the blood) in February 2007, Michelle underwent chemotherapy for seven months and battled the cancer into remission… but recently relapsed a few weeks ago and now desperately needs to find a bone marrow match in order to save her life.

While her donor may not necessarily be of Asian descent, her highest chance for a match lies within the APA community. Did you know that only 3% of all Asian-Americans are registered in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)? Consider this: a recent NMDP report estimates that Caucasian patients searching the donor registry have an 80% chance of finding a match, but for people of minority race, more importantly those of South Asian descent, the chance of finding a match drops to as low as 20%. The Worldwide Bone Marrow Registry indicates that fewer than 0.1% of the ethnically South Asian population is registered. In this country alone, there are over 14 million APA individuals in the country that likely do not even know that they have the ability to save a life. The miniscule number of Asian-American donors makes Michelle’s search for a donor match a very very desperate one…. we need as MANY Asian-Americans as possible to step up and become registered donors.. for Michelle, and for the thousands of people like her.

The first step in becoming a hero requires a cheek swab and ten minutes of your time. If you are a match, the transplant can often be done entirely through the blood. We need to find a match for Michelle by JUNE 21. The outcome is simple — someone lives because of your donation. You could be the one to save Michelle. Will you?

If you’re of Asian descent (or even if you’re not) and reading this, please visit Project Michelle or National Marrow Donor Program and take a minute to read what’s there.

Michelle darling… you are my hero and my inspiration. Mad love from DC.

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