Out of Hibernation

After a 9-month hiatus…I'm back to blogging! And I deeply apologize for my absence, I've been getting numerous requests for trip tips and even with my super busy schedule I do miss writing. So returning to Cynthia in Wanderland is one of my many New Year resolutions. I thank you for the continued support, and I promise my next destination blog is coming soon!

New Year, new start, new goals, new perspective and most exciting of all new adventures. 2013 is gonna be another good year everyone, I can feel it!

My recently edited motto: "Work hard, Play hard, LIVE harder." 

Ciao for now.

Fashionably late

 

The snow has finally come (and so has this blog, apologies for the late entry)! Although it decided to wait until spring to finally get some fresh powder, it's definitely better late than never! After getting the news that a big snow fall was going to hit Tahoe, I packed up my snowboard and new GoPro sports camera and headed to South Lake Tahoe for the weekend. We rented a huge cabin at Aston Lakeland Village Beach & Mountain Resort and hit the slopes at the nearby Heavenly Ski Resort. It was my first time snowboarding there and won't be my last. Heavenly definitely lives up to its name, while on my snowboard runs I found myself getting completely sidetracked with the breathtaking views of Lake Tahoe. So much so that I ate snow after falling flat on my face, not one of my prouder moments but it happens. Thank goodness for fresh soft snow, and not the ice covered with a thin layer of fake snow that I've been skiing on in Wisconsin while living in Chicago. Tahoe is the place to be. 

Heavenly Ski Rsort

I just had to catch my breath, but the view wasn't tops shabby either

View from the gondola to Heavenly's slopes

on the second floor (out of 3) of our cabin at Lakeside

finally some powder

Hunger Games hype

Archery has been an interest of mine since the Lord of the Rings came out and I decided that if I lived in Middle Earth (I know…nerd alert!!!), I'd definitely be an elf because of their weapons were bow and arrows. But I've only recently taken it up as a hobby about a year ago. Now with all the hype of the much anticipated Hunger Games Trilogy (btw, it's a "must" read and WAAAAAAY better than the movie) it's sending me to the range at Pacifica Archery even more. If you haven't read the book or watched the movie, the main character, Katniss is an unbelievably skilled archer, so now you can sort of understand the connection. Although I'm not at the "Katniss" level yet, I'm officially addicted to the sport! Try it, I'm sure you'll enjoy too!

Tango's beating heart

A couple of weeks ago I had a dream that I was doing the tango…although all other details of my dream were vague, I still took it as a sign that I needed to try and learn. So last week I booked a flight and headed to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I know it seems crazy but it only felt appropriate to take my first lesson at the capital of tango.

We followed the suggestion of our hostel's front desk guy and went to the milonga (term for a place where tango is danced) at La Cathedral in Buenos Aires' Almagro district. It's definitely not a typical milonga in an Art Deco building or old dance hall. Whatever expectations I concocted in my head beforehand went out the door as soon as we stepped inside. The place is a little hard to find since there's no sign outside. But once you find it and head upstairs you'll discover that you've actually entered into an old factory building that they converted into a tango salon. It's pretty dim inside and the place is full of old furniture and odd/scruffy memorabilia which adds to the grungy atmosphere (I swear, it's a lot more interesting in person). Personally, I loved the place. I thought it was a pleasant surprise and completely original.

A big portrait of Carlos Gardel, also known as "the King of Tango" hangs from the wall behind the stage area. 

La Cathedral offers tango classes each night that teach you the basics, step by step. This milonga attracts a younger crowd and plenty of foreigners. It costs 30 pesos for the class and 15 pesos to just sit there and watch. Our class had about 16 people in it, half of which were locals.  

What was supposed to be an hour lesson ended up being over 2 hours, so I got more than my money's worth. It was nerve racking at first and much harder than I thought! I had no idea what I was doing and was sure I looked foolish. It's safe to say that becoming a tango master will be crossed off my list of possible future careers. But after I set my nerves aside and started soaking in the experience, I really started enjoying myself. And I'm glad to be able to check "learn tango in Argentina" off my Bucket List.

We had two instructors, Carra and Julio and although Carra only spoke Spanish they both made an effort to make everyone feel comfortable. We started off doing some stretches, followed by interlocking arms and doing basic steps (while moving around in a big circle around the dance floor), while learning about the "heart of tango" as we go along. After quickly introducing basic steps, we partnered up and and did blind exercises, where one had their eyes closed and just dances ("feeling the music") while the other guides them away from other couples. Next, we do multiple footwork exercises with our partners, where one is the leader and the other mirrors their footsteps. And towards the end of class we are finally let loose to tango tango tango!

 

You have plenty of opportunities throughout the class to partner up with one of the instructors...both of which are so good that they make my mediocre tango skills seem envious...I don't know what or how they did exactly but before I knew it I was busting moves I never thought I had in me. Julio made me look way better than what I am, so Julio...extra kudos to you. Although I was sweaty, tired and had to take multiple sangria breaks, I had a great time and would definitely go back for more lessons the next time I'm in Buenos Aires. 

Trying to teach Charlotte the new Tango steps I learned

Motto of the lesson: if you can "feel" the music, you can tango!

overdue...

I know I've been completely M.I.A. the past month, and asides from a few quick domestic trips my travels have been fairly light. But it's a new month and I'm craving some international sun and fun. I'm losing some color and I'm way overdue for a vacay. So March, bring on the madness, I'm ready.

Do some Good

As I mentioned in my last blog, I'm going to "get it together" in 2012. One step in my process is really figuring out what I want to do with my life and what I have to accomplish to get there. For those of you who don't already know, my dream job is to work for the United Nations. So this past week, I made another trip to New York City and visited the UN Headquarters in Manhattan. And it was learning experience in itself.

United Nations Headquarters, NY

"imagine a world in peace..."

one day I'll have a delegate seat here in the UN general assembly hall 

I'm huge on any type of humanitarian efforts, regardless how big or small the contribution is. Since I travel extensively I've been exposed to many of the world's continuing problems, like extreme poverty, hunger, women's rights, lack of education, and war/political unrest. Some of the UN exhibits that touched up on these subjects really hit home for me, and made me want to be associated with the United Nations even more...

Of course many people want to give back, but I know times are rough and if you can't make monetary donations or have time to volunteer, you can still help out. During my tour of the UN, I found this AMAZING website called www.FreeRice.com which is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Programme. On their website you can choose from 6 different subjects (Language, Humanities, Math, Geography, English and Chemistry) and play trivia games. You're probably thinking, so what's the big deal?! Welllllll…For each answer you get right, FreeRice will donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Programme to help end world hunger. I personally think it's a genius idea! So I highly encourage everyone to make an account (it's free, so no excuses), play the games and help feed a person in need. It's a win-win! I love it and I do the trivia questions whenever I have any kind of down time, not to mention I always feel a little bit smarter after completing a level. =)

So go on and do some good! 

New Year, New Adventures

I know I'm pretty late with the New Year's blog but better late than never! Every year I make the typical NY resolutions like working out or eating healthy, etc knowing that I'm more than likely going to break it well before February. So this year (in addition to adding on to my already ridiculously long Bucket List) I've decided to make my resolutions more realistic, in a sense that I not only want to get these things done but that I NEED to get it done. 2012's theme is it's time for me to "get it together."

1. Learn to swim

I love the beach, I love to boogie board and surf, and I'm tired of getting all those crazy looks from everyone when they find out that I can't even swim! But in my defense, I was traumatized when I was a kid…so I think this is the year to finally get over that mishap that's semi scarred me for the past 20 years.

2. Re-learn Italian

I studied in Rome in 2007 and absolutely fell in love with anything and everything Italian. 5 years later I hate that I've lost that connection with the language, so this year I'm going to re-learn the basics and move up a level in my communication skills.

3. Learn to fence

It's just time for a new hobby...

4. Narrow down grad school choices

Apparently in order for me to land my dream job I need to have a Master's degree, so we'll take it one step at a time.

5. Take the GRE

Time to hit the books hard…

Now the fun part…my top 5 new additions to my forever growing travel bucket list. 

1. Himalayas/Nepal/Tibet

And yes, I fully intend to climb Everest (at least to the base camp)

2. African Safari
3. Explore the Amazon  

4. Galapagos/Machu Pichu, Peru

5. Argentina (including Patagonia)/Brazil

Given, I probably won't get all of these checked off this year but if I can at least get 1 or even 2 done I would be satisfied and I can always do the rest the following year. Any one care to join? I'm always looking for fun new travel buddies :)

2012, Im going to make you amazing.