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birdwatching in the usa

it’s hard to describe how fun birdwatching in a new continent is. every single bird is new and more exciting than the birds you see at home! especially in the “new world”, where birds are often really colorful!

we ended up adding some 20-something new birds on our life list just by walking around the neighborhood in the early mornings of the first week, trying to fix our jetlag. 😅 we’re now up to 186 observed birds, which is cool — almost 200!

anyway, enjoy are some pictures from the camera:

the cedar waxwings (with their “sunglasses” and wind-swept “hair”) were pretty cool, but my favorite of the bunch is the very red northern cardinal, so often featured in american stamps — it was lovely to see it in person, and i knew immediately which bird it was.

i wish we had had more time to explore and see more birds, but alas, it’ll have to wait for next time! :)

foooood in the usa

weeknotes, 23/26

have you heard of the let-down effect? basically, your body performs well in high stress situations for a while, and then, after the stressful period is over, it collapses.

that’s what happened on our last week in boston. after the stamp launch and all the meetings and work things were over, our bodies immediately went on strike and we both spent a week in bed, suffering from aches and fevers that wouldn’t go away. 😩 what a waste of our last week! i had such big plans for birdwatching and museum hopping, and ended up watching crappy american tv shows in bed instead…

on the last 2 days of the week, feeling a little better, we managed to gather enough strength for a couple of outings and went to the harvard natural history museum and the mit science museum — both great!

the harvard one had been recommended by our friend clarisse, who told us to check out the “glass flowers” exhibition. so we went… and wow… what a wondrous thing that was! a whole suite of glass flowers and other plant models, all painstakingly made by hand by a german father and son team over their lifetimes. they were so impressive, so beautiful and life-like! and it was impossible to tell they were made of glass — even while we were looking at them, our brains couldn’t quite figure it out. sadly, no pictures allowed, but you can check them out here. if you’re ever in boston, go see them!

we also had time to grab some last meals, this time chipotle and banh mi sandwiches, which we hadn’t had in years.

and then, it was time to send some last postcards with these gorgeous stamps and fly back home.

bye-bye, america!

foooood in the usa postcrossing

weeknotes, 22/26

our second week in boston was all about stamps! we attended the boston 2026 world expo, a big event that takes place in the usa every 10 years (in different cities). it’s a huge thing, with postal services, stamp dealers, and all kinds of philatelic associations and collectors coming together to celebrate stamps. usps launched a new stamp every day of the show, and the postcrossing one came out on tuesday!

friends, it was such a beautiful thing. there were speeches, pictures and autographs, but also the opportunity to meet and chat with hundreds of people throughout the week — all kind-hearted and full of beautiful stories about postcrossing. it felt amazing to be there and experience this collective joy for something we’ve been working on for over 20 years – and also to see these beautiful stamps start to make their way around the world. i want to bottle this feeling and remember it when i get frustrated in front of a computer.

we even got to chat with antónio alcalá, the usps art director responsible for many of their amazing stamps. and we met graham and laura (from pixpost and exploring stamps) too and they were both so nice! aaaaaaaaaaah! 😍

but it wasn’t just stamps! we also got a little bit of time to go to a diner with our friend addis from puerto rico, and try some other american staples, like grilled cheese sandwiches, lobster rolls, clam chowder, mac & cheese and dr. pepper!

and! we visited a local post office to see one of their historic new deal murals — something that had been on my bucket list for a while now.

sadly (but not surprisingly), after all the excitement was over we immediately became sick… 🙄 *le sigh*.

in the usa

weeknotes, 21/26

we’re in the usa! specifically in boston, for the launch of the US postcrossing stamps. it’s a BIG deal! the local postcrossers have been asking for these stamps for over a decade and USPS finally relented and made it happen, in the best way possible: with a fun format and amazing designs. so everyone was eager to see these make their debut, and we didn’t want to miss the party! :)

but anyway, this week before the event was actually relatively chilled, mostly waking up jetlagged super early in the morning and walking around the neighborhood to see some birds. all of them are new and exciting, and our life list has grown quite a bit in the time we’ve been here. northern cardinals! baltimore orioles! mourning doves! so many birds we’ve heard about but never seen… visiting a new continent is easy pickings and excitement for these newbie birdwatchers.

as is going to the supermarket and finding all the brands we usually only hear about in movies and tv series! or just walking down the street and marveling at the familiar urban architecture, the little free libraries, the sirens, the flags everywhere, the delivery vans…

boston is pretty and historical, so there’s lots to do and see. besides work, we haven’t done much apart from a few walks around north cambridge or in boston itself, but that’s ok! there are speeches to prepare and just work to get done. the excitement for the week ahead is palpable!

weeknotes

weeknotes, 20/26

a quiet week, getting settled in aveiro. everything feels very temporary, with plates, cutlery and other things borrowed from family. but at the same time, the city is all new and fresh, with surprises (and ovos moles!) around every corner.

we registered for the buga bike scheme and i rode them around town on a couple of days. what a beautiful thing, all this infrastructure on our doorstep, ready to be used! :D

we spent a couple of days with family, picking (and eating) even more cherries straight from the trees! friday was “international day of family” and our seniors’ daycare center invited us to attend a little party they were having there — now we live close enough that we can just go and attend these things. :)

i haven’t had much time (or energy) for reading, but still finished a prayer for the crown-shy (the second book of the monk and robot series) and nana upstairs and nana downstairs these past few weeks. i’m digging into leviathan wakes now, a space opera that my czech friend recommended. it’s been fun!

i had another look at my cholesterol levels, and although they’ve improved a bit since the last check, my LDL levels are still highish. they’ve been that way since forever, and i think everyone would be more comfortable if they were actually within the limit. but how does that work, if we’re already not eating much meat at all, and close to no dairy/cheese…? well, the ovos moles might not be helping, but this feels like a complicated jigsaw puzzle without a happy solution in sight. sigh.