On Saying Goodbye

I cannot wait to start taking photos of elephants starting Thursday (but I'm flying out tomorrow!). 

Thus tomorrow brings yet another goodbye to my family and my home, the PNW.  What makes us travel?  One thing I love about it is experiencing new smells.  Good and bad, they are the part of a place that you cannot experience in a photo or video, and they are deeply tied to memory, so the rest of my life I know I'll always get that whiff of Valdivia and feel nostalgic.  And soon I'll have East Africa to add to my olfactory bank. 

But it was recently brought to my attention that I have a tendency to leave town.  I cannot deny this habit and won't say that I'll ever stop taking long trips, but I will say that it does not mean I love my family and dearest friends any less.  It's not that I don't want to be here, it's that I want to be everywhere.  I promise to be safe and I promise not to forget you.

TZ and Me

My backpack as a pie chart:

Leaving on Monday, pit stop in London on Tuesday, Tanzania Wednesday!  I'll try to update but it will be entirely dependent on the internet situation.

Oops, summer's over

What a summer!  Amidst the white pines but mostly deciduous trees of the Adirondack "Mountains" I laughed, played, swam, hiked, biked, ate ice cream and got in touch with my inner nine year old at summer camp.  Here is a brief list of things I saw/did.

-- Got used to carrying around my kids' baby teeth.
-- Applied various topical creams to campers' feet, butts and legs on a nightly basis.
-- Helped a girl wear her first braid.
-- Gotten excited about using gel pens.
-- Blatantly lied to children.
-- Pretended that How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days was about me for a bedtime story (they ATE IT UP)
-- Saw a FLYING SQUIRREL!  You guys!
-- Performed an original song in front of hundreds.
-- Pelted children with balls.
-- Skipped a heartbeat upon seeing anticipated mail in the mail bag.
-- Invented state laws preventing kids from doing things I don't want my kids doing.
-- Watched a guy try to clean up spilled mashed potatoes with a broom.
-- Stole clothes/toothpaste/sunscreen/floss/Q Tips/scissors/string/candy/soap/shampoo/markers, etc. from kids.
-- Laughed and laughed and laughed.

So yes, it was a fabulous summer. I even have freckles that I didn't used to have!

Things I Love About Iceland

1.  They have a national obsession with hot dogs.  (And so did we)

2. The horses (not ponies) are as friendly as the people. (super friendly!)

3. Outdoor activities are plentiful.

4. But there is a lot of weather, so indoor activities are equally popular. (We got so much reading and SET in and it was great)

5. But the best thing about Iceland is that I was there with these people.

SPRING BREAK

Inspiring.

See you cats Sunday after Sunday when me and my favorite girls will be welcomed back to the US with MAD MEN PREMIER Sunday night!!  Life is good.

At the Zoo

 My last day as a volunteer walk leader for Seattle's senior fitness group, Sound Steps, was yesterday.  We went to the zoo and walked around it every Thursday and I will really miss everyone!  And visiting the zoo so frequently.  It was really neat to get to know the animals and their habits and personalities.  Plus I feel like I can't even say I was a volunteer because I got the senior discount on hot cocoa, incredible.  Anyway, go to the zoo!  It's so weird to just walk up to a giraffe steps away from the city, or learn what a tapir is.  Also, volunteer!  Public social programs are important for local communities in so many ways.

The whole group drinking coffee after the walk.

Book List

I finished a book!  And I'm not keeping a journal right now, so I thought I'd use this space to write a little reflection on it.

Palace Walk, by Egyptian Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz (translated from Arabic by William Maynard Hutchins) is the story of an Egyptian family at the end of WWI.  It follows this family through several years, beautifully narrating day to day life in Egypt during British occupation after the turn of the century.

I really enjoyed this book because before I read it I had little idea of what life might have been like in Cairo in 1917, or even today, really.  And that's what the best books do, expose us to worlds and worldviews otherwise outside of our own experiences.  So while I was at times frustrated with the Father or the Mother or the British or almost everyone, it's about a culture so foreign to my own that I was content to just soak it all in.  In an academic setting, I know it would spark lively discussion about cultural differences and equality issues, especially regarding the role of women in Islam, a more complex topic than I think many of us realize.  I highly recommend it to anyone curious about Egyptian life or Arabic literature.  Also, it was really timely because the last third of the book is about demonstrations in Cairo to overthrow British occupation, which is definitely relevant to Egypt's struggles to govern itself today.  Lastly, I think this was a great place to start my personal African literature tear in preparation for this coming Fall.  Next up, a nonfiction work called 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa, no doubt illuminating but also a great example of how diverse African literature is, not something I always think about.

Leap Day Madness!

The scene: Me eating cheerios and putting on my work pants, when I check the schedule to make sure I had to go in at 4 and not 5, only to discover I'm not on the schedule at all!  A leap day miracle!  What followed was perhaps one of the most productive afternoons of the year.

Homework: dominated
Taxes: nailed
Barista applications: killed
Fun reading: still ahead of the NYer (feels so good)
Dinner: chicken with tomatoes, capers, artichoke hearts and asparagus (ON A ROLL)
Cupcakes: yes!

Have I made prettier cupcakes?  Yes.  But have I made prettier cupcakes that tasted this good ON LEAP DAY?  Harder to say. 

I know we got an extra day of February this year, but it still feels like it just got here.  I do know, however, that it is going to be a great March.  (Hello, Iceland!)

More cake that I made and what the view out my window sometimes looks like

 Happy Birthday, Carl!