Kodak Watersport

Just in time for Christmas vacation, I bought the Kodak Watersport camera to take along to Uruguay. The camera was comfortable and took awesome footage.

Warning #1. After you use the camera is salt water, make sure to take a cotton swab to it with regular water or else the closures will get stuck and you will spend hours trying to get it open.

Warning #2. I am not a film major, nor have I ever really filmed before. So the footage might not be as good as a professionals. That's what Digital Product class is for in March.

This is from Cabo Polonio. In order to get there, you have to take jeep style vehicles over the dunes.

This is a shot from Playa Verde, in Montevideo. The water might look brown and gross, but it was absolutely beautiful to be able to swim right in the middle of the capital of Uruguay.

Monte de los Ombues in Rocha, Uruguay. This tree is either a tree or a shrub. No one really knows. The park was amazing though.

Searching for flights 101.

Every time I'm about to buy a plane ticket, I get anxious. Anxious I won't get the best price, anxious some sort of emergency will come up and I won't have the money, anxious I'll change my mind about going and anxious to see my bank account dwindle. Although I haven't been able to get rid of the anxiety of losing the money, I have found ways to find the best fares through a variety of options. Here are a few of the sites I use when looking for plane tickets. Most recently, I bought a plane ticket to North Carolina to visit friends on spring break and I visited every single one of these.

1. Skyscanner.com

The first time I used Skyscanner was when studying abroad in Spain last year. The site lets you search for flights and see different prices through different companies and compare prices. I wasn't sure if you could use this to fly within the U.S., but turns out it's almost as good as Kayak.

2. Kayak.com

Kayak is a lot like Skyscanner, except they show you a calendar with prices throughout the month before you even click search.

Out of the two sites, Kayak and Skyscanner, I recommend Kayak if you're in the U.S. and Skyscanner if you are in Europe and simply traveling throughout Europe. In the last couple of months, I've purchased both my tickets to NYC, Uruguay and North Carolina through Kayak because they offered me the best price and made searching easier.

3. statravel.com & studentuniverse.com

STA is a student traveling website that offers trip ideas, student discounts, internship opportunities, volunteering abroad, etc. When I purchased my tickets to Spain, I purchased them through STA and got a student card to use for discounts while traveling. STA used to be available only to students, but the company recently changed it to include teachers and those under 26 years of age. Although most students might believe they're getting a good deal with these student travel sites, most of the time the tickets are more expensive than buying them through a regular company and if you try to change your flight, your dates are limited because not all flights have student seats available. I mention this from witnessing a friend having to leave Spain a month early and letting her Greece tickets go to waste. Not a good time.

Student Universe is just like STA, but less known.

Most people believe buying your plane tickets far in advance gives you the best deal. In reality, most of the time it doesn't make any difference. From experience, buying plane tickets Wednesday nights or Thursday nights are the best times and I tend to buy them two months before leaving.

Another thing to remember is to erase cookies from travel search sites when you're looking for plane tickets. If a site remembers what you've been searching, you might get skewed results.

Happy travels!

*If you fly with LAN, make sure to know at least some Spanish.

Snow, cold, time to start the music.

Cold, snowy day in South Dakota, but thinking warmer...more tropical places.

A few shots of Uruguay 2011

This week, I don't have very much time to write a post since my final semester is underway and there are many things to get done; however, I couldn't help buy upload a few pictures from my recent trip to Uruguay this past Christmas break. Many more to come. Enjoy!


Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. Typical everyday sunset between Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Colonia.


My grandmother lives about a 5 minute walk from the best beach in the beach town of Playa Verde, Maldonado. Caipirinhas at a cheap price and delicious taste.


Mate for the road.


Caipirinha #2 in Punta del Diablo.


Fuerte de Santa Teresa in Rocha.


Boat ride to the Ombues forest. Ombues are very interesting trees/shrubs, google them.


The dunes of Valizas, Uruguay. Such a beautiful sight.


Cabo Polonia, Uruguay beach restaurant/bar/perfect siesta stop.


Cabo Polonio, Uruguay. Don't let the clouds fool you, the sun was relentless.


Mercado del Puerto, Montevideo. Every trip to Uruguay, I always stop at this amazing place.

I Need Spain

One year ago today, I was boarding a plane in Minneapolis to Murcia, Spain for six months. Those six months would turn into the best six months of my life filled with new experiences, thousands of photographs, amazing friends and a new idea of what the world has to offer. In light of this anniversary, a fellow Spaniard sent me links to the new tourism campaign for Spain. I hope someday you'll visit this wonderful country full of amazing architecture, food, countryside, plazas, entertainment and most importantly...amazing people.

New York City Christmas Storm

On December 24th, my parents and I braved the winter storms and flew to New York City to spend Christmas with my brother and his wife. Flying this time of year and with these weather conditions is a big risk to take and surprisingly, the only minor glitch we came across was the taxi driver telling us he didn't know how to get to Sunnyside, Queens, and asking me to call my brother to ask for directions.

Christmas was beautiful; however, the New York winter storm was not. Even coming from South Dakota, I had never seen a storm of such magnitude before. The streets of the city were so empty, my sister-in-law and I made snow angels right in the middle of Wallstreet. Christmas night, we stayed in watching movies, watching car after car get stuck in the middle of the street and witnessing my first snow thunderstorm. It was incredible! The next morning, it felt like the apocalypse. Cars were stuck in the middle of the street, parked cars were literally under snow, people were walking in the middle of the street and there was a strange silence as the metro system was closed.

Bellow, are a few photos from the winter storm.

A taste of the Midwest in Sunnyside, Queens.

This used to be a VW.

This was before the storm got out of control.

Student Exchange Video

A friend of mine recently made this for all of the exchange students for Christmas. What a great memory.

Murci, Spain (One of many posts on this beautiful place)

These are a few of my favorite images from Murcia, Spain, where I lived last January to July. Murcia, Spain, is a beautiful city in Southern Spain. It's about an hour away from the coast and has so much history and beauty. Instead of visiting the typical cities in Spain, which are also beautiful, I definitely recommend checking out smaller cities like Murcia, Alicante, etc.



This is the Murcia Cathedral. There is a huge plaza with restaurants and a few shops. The best time to see it is night time. It's so easy to get lost through the allies branching out from the plaza.



This is in Plaza Santo Domingo. The plaza is about a block from the university campus and is the most popular one for eating and simply hanging out with family and friends. There is also a church and an elementary school in the plaza, so there was always a bunch of kids playing. I had to walk through this plaza more than twice everyday. The plaza is beautiful and it's amazing how people take time out of their day to simply sit down and have a drink, talk with friends or have a coffee.



This is the view from the Cathedral into the plaza. The people in the photo are a group of friends.



This is the church in the Plaza Santo Domingo.



This church was about two blocks from my apartment, down one of the many allies. I hadn't seen it until I went for a walk when my mom was visiting for a week and it was an absolutely beautiful sight.

Kodak PlaySport HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera

Happy early Christmas. Or more like happy early school supply shopping?

This spring semester, I registered for Intro to Digital Production. It's a sophomore level required course, but my schedule never gave space to it.

Instead of a textbook, we're required to buy a camcorder to film projects. As Cyber Monday came to a close, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to buy the camera. Not only will it be an interesting class, but I'll be able to take this waterproof camera with me to Uruguay this Christmas break. Hello underwater jellyfish shots.

Hopefully, the reviews were true and it's a great product.

The Invisibles | Trailer by Gael García Bernal and Marc Silver

I can not get enough of this documentary by Amnesty International and Gabriel Garcia Bernal. After meeting a lot of Mexicans while I studied abroad in Spain, I can't help but keep thinking about this country that's so close to the U.S. and going through so much. I hope this documentary gets around, especially since it's available on YouTube.

South Dakota

It's getting cold in South Dakota, but worth visiting once all the snow is down on the ground.

I wish all my family vacations had looked like this. **Correction: If my family were fair skinned and all had lighter hair, we'd look like this.

Uruguay

In honor of Uruguay and the Celeste's (nickname for the national soccer team) upcoming match against Chile tomorrow, I decided to upload a few shots from a trip back in 2008. Hopefully seeing these photos and the video at the end will entice you to visit this beautiful country and get me excited to visit family this New Years. If you do decide to visit, let me know and I will be your personal...trip advisor. Enjoy!



Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, has a boardwalk all around the coast. It's impossible to get lost, just head toward the water. After 7 P.M., friends and families gather at the "rambla" to drink some mate or exercise. Each neighborhood has their own "rambla" and most have their own beach. It's such a beautiful time of day!



This is another part of the "rambla". Just around the bend from where this photo was taken, my two North American friends who came along for the trip and I enjoyed our last outdoor meal of the trip. Fresh and delicious seafood.



This is a photo from the lighthouse of Cabo Polonio. Such a beautiful place to visit and a once in a lifetime opportunity.



This is another photo from Cabo Polonio.

Anthony Bourdain did a great episode on Uruguay and some of the food that can be found there. Here is a short clip.

Photojournalism Project: Through Other Eyes: 24 Hours in a Temporary Neighborhood

Open publication - Free publishing - More antiguo

This project was created for my photojournalism class last semester in Murcia, Spain. The assignment consisted of us finding a topic we felt we could dig deep into.

The following text was translated from my project description:

The San Andres neighborhood, where I have installed myself during my studies in Murcia, has been my neighborhood for the past six months. Through this report, I hope to capture and leave testimony of its everyday life, the tranist of people from all parts of the world and the places I have had the chance to know.

(El Barrio San Andrés, en el que me he instalado durante mis estudios de intercambio en Murcia, ha sido mi barrio durante los últimos seis meses. A través de este fotorreportaje, espero poder capturar y dejar testimonio de su vivir diario, su transito de gentes de todas partes del mundo y los lugares que he podido conocer.)

The Photos (Las fotografías)

During the process of taking the pictures, at first it took me a while to decide what elements from my neighborhood were necessary when describing how I perceived it. At first, all the photos I took were dark and of elements that did not favor the neighborhood; however, after slowing down and walking through the neighborhood instead of just passing through it, I was able to find exactly what I wanted.

(Durante el proceso de ejecutar las fotos, al principio me costo decidir bien que elementos de mi barrio eran imprescindibles en cuanto a como lo percibía yo misma. Al principio, todas las fotos que tomaba eran oscuras y de elementos no muy favorecibles a un barrio. Pero, después de caminar mas lento por el en vez de caminar por pasada, pude encontrar exactamente lo que yo quería.)

Taking the pictures also helped me meet people I saw on a daily basis on the streets and in the plaza infront of my apartment. Before doing this report, I only knew them from seeing them everyday and now was able to establish not a friendship, but at least know about eachother.

(Tomando las fotos también me ayudo a presentarme a gente que he visto casi diariamente por las calles y en la plaza enfrente de mi apartamento. Antes de realizar este fotorreportaje, solo los conocía de vista y ahora he establecido no amistades pero por lo menos una imagen de quienes son.)

Photo Editing Style (Estilo de edición de las fotografías)

After uploading all the photos onto the computer, the second dilemma was deciding how to present them. From the start, I didn't like the photos in color, but I found them to be too dark in black and white. In normal color, the views I wanted to demonstrate in my report did not stand out enough: antique, history, diversity, etc. I chose the antique color because in my opinion and because of the same opinion from my friends, the neighborhood was just that: antique and foreign. Rarely did I walk down the street and here Spanish being spoken. The only thing young from my neighborhood were the children and even they were different from the children I know in the U.S.A.

(Después de tener todas la fotografías cargadas en la computadora, el segundo tema era elegir de que manera presentarlas. De primera, no me gustaban mucho en color, pero me parecían muy oscuras en blanco y negro. A color normal, no resaltaba tanto las vistas que yo quería demostrar en mi fotorreportaje: antiguo, historia, diversidad, etc. Seleccione el color medio antiguo por que en mi opinión y por lo que mis amigas han percibido de mi barrio es exactamente antiguo y extranjero. Rara vez camino por la calle y oigo Español. Lo único “joven” de mi barrio son los niños y hasta ellos son muy distintos a los que conozco de EEUU.)

Presentation (Presentación)

The photos are placed in an order that would generally represent the way in which someone would arrive at my neighborhood. From the bus station, to the plaza and then directly to Arrixaca Street.

(Las fotografías están puestas en un orden que generalmente representaría la forma en la cual alguien puede llegar a mi barrio. Desde la estación de ómnibus hasta la plaza y después generalmente derecho por la calle Arrixaca.)

Conclusion (Conclusión)

In the end, I feel that working on this report helped me appreciate and enjoy my neighborhood more than I had. The first months living in it were hard because I didn't understand why there was such a large number of people from different countries passing by everyday. But after taking the photos and with the few weeks I hve left, I think I'm going to miss the things I see on a daily basis and in a sense the people as well.

(Al fin y al cabo, siento que trabajar en este fotorreportaje me ha ayudado a apreciar y disfrutar más de mi barrio. Los primeros meses viviendo en el eran difíciles por que no entendía el gran numero de gente de diferentes lugares que pasaban todos los días, pero cada vez que salía tomar fotos y con las pocas semanas que me quedan en el, pienso que voy a extrañar a las cosas que veo diariamente y en un sentido a la gente también)

Ireland

This weekend, a colleague and I found out we had something in common-we had both visited Ireland recently and had fallen in love with the country. The weather in South Dakota now kind of reminded us of being in Ireland, minus the Irish accents, loud, obnoxious drunks at 5 p.m. and thousands of sheep.

Not only was the scenery and beer delicious, but the people were amazingly friendly (although there was no Gerard Butler "P.S. I Love You moments). Just like in Germany, I wasn't expecting the people to be so helpful and outgoing. If someone were wondering whether or not a visit to Ireland is worth it, I'd say in a heartbeat. There is so much to see and do all over the country, you can't not have a great time.

The Guinness museum was really educational and really well organized. They inspired the whole set up after the industrial style of Chicago. Not only that, but for 10 or 11 euros, students get in to the museum, get a free mini taste of the beer after going through the whole process of making it and then at the end, get to pour your own pint AND get certified. Zing.

One of the many bus stops on the tour.

The bridge was actually less terrifying than it looked; however, it didn't help that it started raining right as we went across. Slippery, windy & cold while crossing a rope bridge...not a good idea.

Stunning clear water I would have never expected to find in Ireland.

New York & Uruguay

First post to an updated and changed blog. Before, this was mainly used for my study abroad experience from last semester. Now, it'll be a platform for blogging about trips I'm planning, trips I've taken and overall experiences or favorite photos from traveling.

To start...it's official, my parents and I will be visiting my brother and his wife in New York City for Christmas and from there my mom and I will be going on to Uruguay until January 11. It's been a long time since we've both been back home to visit family and it'll be an amazing break from the snow. A good week with my grandmother at her beach house should give me a good lift for the last semester of school.

Although I was just in New York at the end of September for Advertising Week, it's going to be beautiful to be in the city in winter time.

Now that I've mentioned advertising week, here are a few photos from that trip.

Times Square Target ad

The Flatiron building. Absolutely stunning.

The week were in New York with Advertising Club, I stayed with my brother and his wife in their Queens apartment. This was my view every morning...

And this is who I woke up next to every morning...BB Cash.

New York City

Our last night in New York, we went as a group to Jon Stewart with Justin Timberlake. The sky was really strange while we waited out on the streets.

Times Square

A few late Lisbon, Barcelona & Greece snapshots

Mykonos, Santorini & Oia, Greece

Barcelona, Spain

Lisbon, Portugal