The Princess Speaks

2011: A Year in Review

2012-01-06T22:47:00.003+02:00

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T18:08:00.002+02:00

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noel

Milad Majid

Lebanon June 12 - Beirut - by David (aka Dad)

2011-09-27T08:54:00.005+03:00

Today we went to church. It was a wonderful experience. This is a truly international branch, a collection of Lebanese, Americans, French and Armenians. The opening and closing prayers were in Armenian, a sacrament prayer in French, and the speakers (Karma, me and the branch president) spoke English, except for one phrase which I spoke in French. They are all great people, and were very kind to us.

Of particular interest was the French missionary couple who, as it turned out, lived in my mission. Frère Marie, as I knew him, was the district president during the last year of my mission. He moved to Arras shortly after I left there, and was able to give me news on many of the people I knew as a missionary but of whom I had had no news for 30 – 40 years.

After church, we returned to Jessica’s apartment where we called Michael on Skype to wish him happy birthday, and worked on getting caught up on our journals. Then, Karma and Jessica made us a tasty dinner of Quiche Lorraine for dinner, and a couple of small fruit tarts.

Turkey/Lebanon June 11 - by David (aka Dad)

2011-09-26T10:52:00.007+03:00

After only four hours sleep, we had to arise to get to the airport on time, so we were up at 6 a.m. and left by 7 a.m. We arrived at the airport without further incident, and caught our flight to Beirut.

From the airport we went to Jessica’s apartment and took a short nap before heading out to Beiteddine Palace, built in 1788 - 1818 by emir Bashir Shihab II.

The trip alone to get here was an experience. First, our driver had to wend his way through the streets and traffic of Beirut and then drive the long and winding road up the canyon to the palace. Only part of the palace is open to the public, the remaining portion being the summer home of the Lebanese president. It is an impressive building. I was particularly taken by the thick support pillars we observed underneath the emir’s residence, and the intricate tile work in the rooms.

After that, we stopped at Moussa Castle. This is a hard one to describe. It is like a child’s image of a medieval European castle, built in the early 1900s as a museum of sorts. There are representational dioramas of Lebanese life, and a huge collection of weapons, primarily rifles. It was built by a private individual, with a couple of the displays being figures of him, his wife and their children. It really was quite interesting, but just not what one thinks of when one envisions a castle and/or museum.

Next, it was a stop at the grocery store, and then home. Jessica fixed us tacos for dinner. Then, Karma and I both tried to do journal entries, but only succeeded in falling asleep.

Turkey June 10 - Ephesus - by David (aka Dad)

2011-09-13T11:36:00.008+03:00

This was a long day. We stayed at another “pension” in Selçuk, where we had to pack our bags up four stories. The upside was that the veranda where breakfast was served was just one story above us. Still, I would have preferred to be lower, and not pack my suitcase that far.

After breakfast, it was off to Ephesus. Most of us only know Ephesus as a town of the New Testament visited by the apostle Paul and to whom he wrote one of his epistles. In fact, those events are only a tiny blip in Ephesus’s history. The ruins here are considered among the most well-preserved Roman ruins. You can actually trace follow the main road from the southern entry to the city down to the other end of the city where it met an artificial bay used for water traffic between the city and the sea. Along the way are the ruins of a bathhouse, smaller amphitheatre, personal residences, numerous temples, monuments and fountains. In between is the library, the most well-preserved and reconstructed of the ruins.

This was the third largest library in the Mideast, next only to the one in Egypt and the one in Bergama. Egypt was so jealous it banned the sale of papyrus outside of Egypt, if I have the story right, to prevent this library’s continued growth. The two-story façade of the library has been restored and is very beautiful. Men and women were allowed into the library during the day, but only men were allowed at night. There was a secret passage to the brothel across the plaza, so the joke is that a man would tell his wife he was going to the library, and actually go there, and then make his way through the underground passageway to the brothel.

To the north of the library is another, much larger, amphitheatre. It is also much larger than the one in Bergama, with more structure to it. But while it is also cut into a hillside, it is at the bottom of the hill, and so does not match the awe of the one in Bergama which appears suspended near the top of the hillside.

After Ephesus, we went to the ruins of the Basilica of St. John in Selçuk itself. Sitting near the top of a hill, the ruins are sufficient to see the floor plan of the basilica, with partial walls and many columns remaining or restored. The main feature of this sight is that it is the alleged burial spot of John. There is a tomb in the apse which is supposed to be where John was buried.

Finally, at close to 7 p.m., we left Selçuk for our return drive to Istanbul and an 11 a.m. flight to Beirut. We reached Çanakkale at 11 p.m. and boarded the ferry after spending half an hour trying to find it. That seems funny as we were just there the day before, but it was now dark, and coming into a fairly large town and finding a particular spot is more difficult than leaving the spot and getting out of town. After boarding, we had to wait another half hour before the ferry sailed. Thus, by the time we reached the other side of the Dardanelles, it was after midnight. We drove another hour before stopping in Keşan to sleep.

We managed to find an open hotel and were told a room would be 100 Turkish lira. Karma and Jessica were taken to the room while I was still unloading my stuff from the car. When I reached the reception desk, I was asked to pay in cash. I did not have enough, so I said I needed to go to the room to get some more money. I am not certain they understood all that, as I know they hardly understood any English at all.

At the room, I discovered Karma had no Turkish lira, and Jessica only had about 41 lira. I decided to just deal with it in the morning and we began to prepare for bed. The man at the desk called and kept repeating “How much!” clearly not as a question, but more as a demand that I come pay him. It became apparent I had to deal with it immediately. So, I returned to the desk and gave the man a credit card. For some reason, they did not want to take a credit card. Frankly, I think they were just employees, and as it was nearly 2 a.m., they were pocketing the money. So, I tried to explain to them, through gestures and simple words, that we did not have enough cash. They kept pulling out two 50 lira notes and showing them to me. I took their note pad, where one of them had written “100”, crossed that out and wrote “85”. They shook their heads no, and began again to show me two 50 lira notes. I finally gestured that we would have to leave. I am not certain they understood, but I just returned to the room and told Karma and Jessica we had to leave.

They were already dressed for bed, and not too enthusiastic about that option. So I took Jessica’s 41 lira, returned to the desk, put all 91 lira on the desk, and then pulled my trouser pocket inside out to indicate we had no more money. The man at the desk rolled his eyes and took the money, I returned to the room and we went to bed. It had been a long day.

Turkey June 9 - Troy/Bergama - by David (aka Dad)

2011-09-12T06:38:00.006+03:00

After arising, we visited the Troy ruins, and Jessica and I clambered into another replica of the Trojan horse to have Karma take our pictures. The ruins were discovered by an eccentric millionaire named Heinrich Schliemann. Unlike other archeologists who believed Troy’s location to be elsewhere, he took the Iliad as his guide, determined by its descriptions where Troy should be, and began digging. And found Troy.

The ruins were interesting, but it is more the story of The Iliad and more particularly of the Trojan horse, and of Schliemann’s story of discovering these ruins, that creates the interest here. I chuckle at the irony of tourists flocking to a spot to see the location of an event that likely never happened, and the replica of a wooden horse that likely was never built.

After Troy, we drove to Bergama to see the Acropolis. On our way, we again missed a turnoff, and ended up driving alongside the ocean through a seaside resort area, with its slow traffic, narrow roads and numerous stop lights, adding most likely another hour to our drive. Of course, that is part of the adventure of driving in a foreign country, getting lost and enjoying what you found. The Acropolis sits atop a very high hill overlooking Bergama. There was a large Roman temple to Athena, below which sat a large amphitheatre cut into the hillside, 200 steps top to bottom. I know, as I counted them on my way back up after having walked all the way down to the stage. Frankly, the technology of the Romans is amazing. Their architecture in building and supporting the temple and the amphitheatre, and all the facilities and requirements relating thereto, is incredible.

After coming down, we visited the ruins of a large building which served as a temple to the Egyptian god Serapis, and condemned by John in Revelation, and was later converted into a Christian basilica. Following that was dinner in the Azur café and then a rather long drive to Selçuk (pronounced “selchuk”), the town adjacent to the ruins of Ephesus (Efes, in Turkish).

Turkey June 8 - Gallipoli/Troy - by David (aka Dad)

2011-09-05T07:16:00.007+03:00

After another movie worthy breakfast on the veranda, we hired a transportation van to take us to the airport where we had a car reserved. It took so long to get the car I would have thought they were using chisel and stone to write it up and carrier pigeon to communicate with the garage. I must say, though, that is not indicative of Turkey generally which I have found to be quite efficient.

After a few minutes trying to find our way through the maze of roads before us, we were finally on our way to destinations outside of Istanbul. Our first goal was the WWI battlefield, Gallipoli. Looking at the map, we decided to take a road that appeared to follow the coast. We drove to and through the first town after reaching the coast and, as we headed out, came to a gravel road and a ticket shack. We asked if this was the road to Gallipoli, and the man there said yes.

So, on we went. The road changed from gravel to dirt, though a well-traveled dirt road. We reassured ourselves because the man at the shack had confirmed this was the road. So, for the next 20-30 kilometers we followed this winding dirt road up and over a mountain, and down the other side till we finally came to another paved road. In reviewing things and the map after figuring out where we were, we realized that we had apparently missed a turn in town, and ended up taking this winding dirt road. However, the man was right, it did takes us to Gallipoli, it was a visually stunning view of the mountainside and ocean and, frankly, a very pleasant drive.

So it was that, about an hour behind time, we arrived at Gallipoli. This campaign was fought by British Commonwealth forces, primarily from England, Australia and New Zealand, to gain control of the Dardenelles, the strait between the Aegean Sea and the Marmara Sea, with the objective of taking Istanbul, knocking Turkey out of the war, and opening a more direct supply line to Russia, one of the allied powers. These forces landed on the opposite side of a peninsula from where ships attempting to enter the Dardanelles were being shelled intending to cross the peninsula and take control of the position from where ships were being shelled.

However, these forces met surprising resistance from the Turkish forces. There was an initial attack in April, 1915, and a subsequent one in August. Forces remained stalemated, fighting trench warfare for nearly eight months, before the allies abandoned the effort and withdrew their forces. By then, a combined 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers had been killed.

The site is now a collection of numerous small cemeteries and memorials, both Allied and Turkish. As you drive through this area, you can occasionally see the remnants of trenches, with the distance between opposing trenches at times being a matter of 20-30 feet. It is a very sobering experience, and a very worthwhile visit.

We left there close to sunset, caught the ferry across the peninsula to Çanakkale (pronounced “chau-nauk-au-lu”) and drove to a small village adjacent to the ruins of Troy, the setting for the ancient classic by Homer, The Iliad. Before leaving Çanakkale we paused to see the replica of the Trojan horse used in the Brad Pitt movie, Troy. It is displayed on the coastal boardwalk. It was a very pleasant evening, and we spent a little time just enjoying the atmosphere, and then had dinner in a small restaurant with picture windows opening onto the boardwalk.

We rolled into Troy about 10 p.m. The hotel was closed, which turned out to be our good fortune. We found a “pension”, or bed and breakfast, nearby owned by an older couple. It was an older home, simply furnished but very clean, and the second floor was all ours. We had three bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom and veranda. Too bad we were too late to enjoy all this, particularly the veranda. In the morning we had breakfast on a garden patio, all for about $70.

Turkey June 7 - Istanbul - by David (aka Dad)

2011-07-13T18:09:00.006+03:00

Today, we again had a lovely breakfast on the upper veranda overlooking the Marmara Sea. Then we were off to the underground cistern. This is a large cistern built by the Romans when they occupied this region. It was just discovered in the late 1900s, and opened to the public in 1987. It was so well built that, though badly in need of repair, it still did not leak water.

Next up was Aya Sofya. This huge edifice was originally built around 550 A.D. as a Catholic Cathedral. When the Ottoman’s conquered Constantinople, they converted it to a Mosque. Finally, after Turkey became a republic in 1922, it was made into a museum. During its fascinating history, the original mosaics of personages and icons, sparklingly rich in color, were, during a period called the iconoclastic period, covered in plaster and painted with designs. Then, after the iconoclasts were ousted, Christian iconography was again affixed to the walls, only to be removed by the Muslims who affixed huge circular placards with the names of Allah, Muhammed, and four caliphs inscribed thereon. Currently, you can see many of the mosaics which have been restored, evidence of icons removed and the huge Islamic placards. It is quite an impressive building with a rich religious and secular history.

Okay, that was long, but it really was fascinating. From there we headed to the Suleymaniye Mosque. This huge mosque, bigger even than the Blue Mosque, is also very striking in its architecture and detail.

From there, we headed to, and strolled through, the Grand Bazaar, a gigantic indoor market of goods and wares. From colorful dishware and copper goods to leather goods and furs, to cheap t-shirts and socks, you could spend hours, if not days in here haggling for just about anything you night never need.

Completely beat from walking and sight-seeing, we had dinner atop the Ambassador Hotel which provided marvelous evening views of the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, Bosphorus River, Marmara Sea and the Asian side of Istanbul on the other side of the Bosphorus and Marmara. That was followed by a very relaxing massage and Turkish bath at that same hotel.

Turkey June 6 - Istanbul - by David (aka Dad)

2011-07-11T20:40:00.006+03:00

I awakened refreshed today and, after a nice shower, joined Karma on the veranda for the lovely and relaxing breakfast provided by our hotel. After that, we headed out for the Aya Sofya (Haghia Sophia), a former Catholic church and mosque which is now a museum.

As we approached, we were greeted by a friendly man (probably trying to sell something, most likely his services as guide, I thought) who informed us the Aya Sofya was closed today. He then told his he had a “little shop” where he sold carpets and invited us there, as friends, with no obligation, to share some tea. So I was partially right, he was trying to sell us something.

However, we spotted the hop on/off city tour bus, and escaped by telling him we wanted to jump on that bus. He was very friendly and nice about that, introduced himself as Ahmet, and said he would find us when we came back.

While it was a hop on/off bus, we stayed on the entire tour as it was an hour between buses. We saw much of what we had seen on the boat cruise, plus quite a lot of the area away from the river banks. Istanbul, and probably Turkey and most Islamic countries generally, is striking for the mosques and their minarets, much like the Catholic churches and cathedrals in Europe, and Mormon churches in Utah that dot the landscape.

After the bus tour ended and as soon as we stepped off the bus, Ahmet was there to greet us. So, off we went to his “little shop” where, after much friendly haggling and me starting to leave saying we would think about it, I finally reached the price I felt was close to as low as he would go, and we bought the carpet (we would call it a rug) that we wanted. I must clarify, however, that Karma and I came to Turkey knowing that we wanted to buy a rug for our new home. So, we did not buy something that we really did not want.

After that, we were off to Topkapi Palace, the residence of the Sultans of Constantinople (Istanbul), including the harem where the wives and concubines lived. We also went through a collection of Islamic relics in Topkapi Palace which includes Moses’s staff, David’s sword and several locks from the Kabal (holy of holies) in Mecca. It turns out the Catholics are not the only ones to have relics.

After Topkapi Palace, we located an outdoor café which included two men singing and playing traditional Turkish music. Also, there was a performance by a whirling dervish which, though technically against the law, is good for tourism and so the law is not enforced. After that, it was back to the hotel and to bed.

Turkey June 5 - Istanbul - by David (aka Dad)

2011-07-09T18:37:00.025+03:00

In June I traveled to Turkey with my mom and dad. My dad wrote emails to our family every couple of days, so I'm taking a short cut and using his emails to tell you about our trip. It was fabulous~

Ah, Istanbul. We arrived in Istanbul at 10:30 where we met Jessica, who had also just flown in, at the airport. From there we went to our hotel, and then set off for a cruise on the Bosphorus River. This river flows south from the Black Sea to Istanbul where it flows into the Maramara Sea. It was a good way to get a feel for how the city populates the shores and hills adjacent to the river and the sea. The ride was pleasant and fun even though the commentary was pretty useless.

After the cruise, the organizers took us to the Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar. This was a colorful, indoor market of all things Turkish, particularly (of course) spices, but also Turkish Delight, ceramic dishes and pottery, carpets and rugs, scarves, etc. A market like this is just something one has to experience to understand it. They are usually crowded, with salesmen working the crowd trying to get you into their shops. They are colorful, loud and energetic, and actually quite fun and interesting.

By the time we were dropped off at the hotel, it was evening and we were hungry. We found ourselves a street café and had shish kebob for dinner. We were close to the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Cami), it was nighttime and the Mosque was lit up. People were milling around the park and grounds just outside the mosque, while street vendors sold bakery goods, grilled corn on the cob, pretzels and bread items and ice cream. There were little blue balls of light ascending and descending in the night sky. These were small, battery powered whirly-bird affairs with blue lights that are propelled into the air by rubber bands

The Blue Mosque itself, with its six minarets, was beautifully lighted against the night sky. It was about 9 p.m. and the mosque was still open. Karma and Jessica donned head scarves, and we removed our shoes and entered. Inside, the mosque was a beautiful collection of tiled walls and painted arches and domes. Muslims do not believe in painting people or animals, so the designs are generally flower and geometric designs. It is like an Arabian carpet imposed upon the massive interior of the mosque.

The mosque is mainly just one large room, with the center section reserved for men to pray. Mosques lack all the iconography, statuary, and the like of European churches. They are really simple, elegant and graceful structures. We observed men praying and chanting while there and were impressed with the faith those present showed to God (Allah). Mostly, we felt the sense of reverence created by the Mosque and the people within.

While a secular country, Turkey is nevertheless 99% Muslim. In Istanbul, the majority of women cover their heads with head scarves, and are covered to their wrists and toes. A very few wear the full black bhurka, with even fewer (we have seen maybe 10-20 total), having their faces covered. Still, they are not drab, and give no appearance of sadness or oppression. Rather, it is simply what their faith asks of them, and they appear comfortable and relaxed.

It was late, and after leaving the mosque, we immediately headed back to the hotel ready for a long-awaited full night of sleep. The night did not disappoint, and we slept soundly, especially Jessica and me who slept right through the early morning call to prayer.

Netherlands: Zaanse Schans

2011-05-30T17:11:00.010+03:00

On my last day in the Netherlands I visited a very cute, very touristic town called Zaanse Schans. I had read about it in various brochures, which advertised the opportunity to see a working windmill, wooden clog factory, and cheese factory. How could I resist?

Zaanse Schans is located on the banks of the river Zaan, and the cute, tourist attractions are all on one side of the river. The other side of the river looked more populated, but this side had windmills and fields. (FYI: What you see here is a canal, not the river.)

My first stop was the wooden shoe factory, where there was a 15-minute demonstration on how wooden shoes are made. In the old days one shoe took 3-4 hours to make. These days, with machines to do most of the work, the rough shoe is done in 3-4 minutes.

Here you see the shoemaker demonstrating the proper fit of a wooden shoe. It should be worn with a thick pair of socks, and leave enough room to put a finger between your foot and the back of the shoe.

I was very amused when I passed the shoe factory on my way back and saw the shoemaker out mowing the lawn in his wooden shoes. Clearly good for all occasions, which you can also see in the pictures below.

Be honest: aren't these just awesome?

I passed this lovely scene on my way from the wooden shoe factory to the cheese factory.

While I wasn't there when there was a live demonstration, there was a video playing that showed the process of making cheese, right up to the dipping in wax to seal and preserve it. I hadn't intended to buy any cheese, but they had samples available. I really couldn't resist.

Part of the cheese-making crew, who I saw on my way to the windmill.

These are the gears inside of the windmill which are turned but the wings on the outside of the building. In turn, these gears cause two millstones to turn against one another, which grinds to dust anything in it's path. It requires serious power to make those stones move. On the day I was there, the wind was doing an admirable job, and the wheels were turning. It was awesome. My only regret: no video. What was I thinking?

Here you can see the miller tying the sails and wrapping them around the wings, so that the wind is no longer being caught and used. He was getting ready to close for the day.

And I thought this was interesting: the wheel is used to turn the top of the mill (the part with the wings attached) so that it can catch the wind regardless of which direction it is coming from.

From there I walked through a quaint, little town with restaurants and shops for the wandering tourist. I just loved this house and garden - and the necessary access bridge across the canal.

And here's me standing next to the Zaan River with the windmills lined up behind me. It was a gorgeous day, but not warm. Still, I'll take chilly with blue skies over warm and cloudy any day.

I loved this day trip, and recommend it to anybody visiting the Netherlands. It was a great finish to a fantastic trip.

Netherlands: Keukenhof Gardens

2011-05-22T19:39:00.009+03:00

I spent one day in the Netherlands at Keukenhof Gardens, where the flower producers put their wares on display for about two months each spring. It was so fun. The gardens are large, and each producer gets a section to cultivate. I arrived at the gardens with a fully charged camera battery and several hours. My battery died 300 photos later. Thankfully I was just about to leave, so it was perfect timing. I had a hard time choosing pictures to share, but here's 20 of the 300.

Most of my pictures are close ups, but there are a few of them that give a better idea of the gardens.

The gardens have various pools and fountains, which I think turned out some of the best pictures.

There are also sculptures on display in various parts of the garden.

It was a beautiful way to spend an afternoon!

Netherlands: Delft

2011-05-10T19:21:00.007+03:00

I spent an afternoon in Delft, a beautiful Dutch town complete with canals, a marketplace that hasn't changed in centuries, and the Royal Delft porcelain factory.

While walking to the porcelain factory, I got to watch this bridge raise and let the boat go through. The bridge is small - only pedestrians and bikes allowed.

I learned a few interesting things at the Royal Delft factory.

1. In the early 1900s most of the porcelain produced was for industrial purposes, used in interior (and exterior) decorating, as seen below.

2. Royal Delft is still painted by hand - making it very expensive.

3. Royal Delft makes a special edition Christmas plate each year.

4. They have done a tile reproduction of Rembrandt's Night Watch. (more than 400 tiles are used to create this. they were numbered, then painted, then reassembled. wow.)

5. They have beautiful toilets.

Here's a picture of one side of the market square. There is a Vermeer Center one street over, which talks about the artist and his life in Delft. He grew up in a house on the corner of the marketplace, and probably played in the square.

Super photo of the spires of a nearby church.

Interesting photo of the flowers growing in the cracks in the walls of the canal. I was interested in the fact that there were no railings along the sides of the canals. I wonder how many people fall in.

A very large and very interesting building that was built as a private residence.

A light post made from porcelain.

A lovely view on my way out of town.

Delft is a lovely little town, and my only regret was that I didn't get to spend more time there. I'd have liked to take the tours of the churches, as well as a couple of other museums. Perhaps next time.

Netherlands: Den Haag

2011-05-09T19:11:00.010+03:00

Got back from a trip to The Hague, Netherlands a couple of days ago, and thought I'd share a few pictures. It is a great city. I visited Amsterdam in 2009, and while I enjoyed it, I was ready to see some of the other sights the Netherlands has to offer.

the Houses of Parliament

I talked my friend into a trip on a ferris wheel, and it paid off in beautiful views of the city, including this one of the Houses of Parliament.

While getting to the ferris wheel, we passed this entertainment:

The kids climb into the ball, then they close it and pump it full of air. Then they get to run around on the water. How fun would that be? The water was only about 2 feet deep - if that. The kids were rolling like gerbils. It was awesome.

We took a canal tour, which wasn't as fun as it is in Amsterdam. The canals run around the downtown area, so you only get to see the sights on the outskirts. But one thing I noticed there, as well as in other areas I passed through, was the number of residences with decorative windows. The Dutch must really like them. Or all the houses were built in the Art Deco era, and the windows are still there. Regardless, I thought it was interesting to see various houses and apartments with beautiful decorative windows.

My friend lives right on the shore of the North Sea, and has a beautiful view of the sea. (It's almost as beautiful as my view of the Mediterranean - except it isn't the Mediterranean, which makes my view better.) One morning we walked along the boardwalk before eating a pancake breakfast at a restaurant on the pier. Here's a hotel that is built right on the beach. It was a gorgeous (but not warm) day.

The boardwalk and the hotel from the back.

The people on the beach. You can see that they are mostly dressed for the weather - even the crazy people who are wading in the sea.

I had to include this apartment building because it is just such interesting architecture. I wasn't sure at first if it was residential, but all the windows are of the variety that can be opened, and office buildings don't usually offer that. I'd be curious to see the blue prints of apartments located in a round building.

While in Holland, I had the chance to visit the LDS temple in Zoetermeer. It was another beautiful day, and the location is lovely. This view is from behind the temple, where a canal runs. There is a small town market area just behind me as I take this picture. It is a great neighborhood.

And finally, I just found this statue to be very moving. The woman looks out over the North Sea. The plaque on the statue reads (roughly):

for all those who left and never returned

Stay tuned: more to come from the Netherlands!

This One's for You, Dad

2011-05-05T22:56:00.002+03:00

garden sculpture in the Netherlands

The Beach!!

2011-04-26T21:52:00.003+03:00

sun...

sand...

surf...

and two beautiful beach babes.

what more could you want?

Jessica Day George

2011-04-18T21:24:00.008+03:00

To my mother's great disappointment, I had no grand adventures to report this week. Part of the blame can be laid on my author du jour, Jessica Day George. It all happened like this:

One day a couple of months ago, I was browsing books on amazon.com, as I do sometimes, and my browsing led me to several books that are fairy tales rewritten. I love fairy tales, and when somebody is able to take a beloved 10-page story and turn it into a 200-page (or more) book, I'm not only impressed, I'm delighted. I love those books.

Somehow, and this part I can't explain because I don't normally do this, I moved from amazon.com to the webpage of one author: Jessica Day George. And there I saw a picture of the author - whom, to my great surprise, I recognized.

You see, back in my college days, I spent a year living in what was known as the French House. It was a wonderful year, and has yielded me some of my closest, and longest-lasting, friendships. But one of the people that I haven't kept in touch with is Monsieur George. During that fun-filled year, Monsieur George got engaged to Jessica Day.

The summer after that year I left on a mission, and never saw either Monsieur George or Jessica Day again - until I came to the website of Jessica Day George and found her picture! I was delighted and immediately wanted to read all of her books.

So I went back to amazon.com, because I am a totally devoted customer, and looked in the Kindle store. Sadly, I only found one book by Jessica Day George in the Kindle store, and it turned out to be the third book in a trilogy. So I used the "Contact Jessica" page of her website, and sent a message saying hello (just in case she remembered me) and telling her that I hoped she'd put all her books on Kindle soon because I cannot buy anymore books because they are too heavy to ship around the world in this crazy lifestyle that I've chosen.

And then I bought other books for the Kindle and went on my merry shopping way.

Happily, I recently looked up Jessica Day George in the Kindle store again, and ta da! All of her books are there! I promptly bought the Dragon Slippers trilogy, and promised myself that the next purchase would be the Princess books.

And then, on Friday night, when I had a few free hours, I opened my Kindle and began to read Dragon Slippers. Today is Monday, and I have finished Dragon Slippers and Dragon Flight. And I have read more than half of Dragon Spear. They are truly delightful books. If you like Patricia C. Wrede or Gail Carson Levine, then you should pick up the nearest Jessica Day George book and dive in. You'll love it.

At least, I love it. And I consider myself a particular fan of fairy tale books.

A Visit to Saida

2011-04-10T21:01:00.004+03:00

I went with some friends to visit the city of Saida (Sidon), south of Beirut. It has an old sea fort, which was our first stop.

This picture was taken from the top of the building on the left side. It was fun to climb up and see the view from up there.

After the sea fort we visited this old house turned museum. This is a central room, and between the two doorway arches is a birdcage housing several canaries.

Here's me lounging in the lifestyle to which I'd like to become accustomed.

We stopped at the Church of St. Nicholas. If you look closely, you can tell that the wall on the right side was actually built down the center of the church. It was built to divide the church when there was some kind of division between orthodox and non-orthodox believers.

The meat market.

The next stop was a soap factory turned museum. It's a beautiful musem that demonstrates how soap used to be made. This photo shows large blocks of soap before they are cut into the small bricks. The hammer in front of the woman is a stamp to put the symbol of the company on the soap.

In addition to the museum, we toured the family home of the owners of the soap factory. I loved these wall decorations. They look like they were taken from some old ruins and turned into wall hangings.

the ultimate family tree

A beautiful home decoration. I'd love to have one like this, but in this apartment I don't know where I would put it. But maybe I'll buy one just before I move away from here.

Vienna Parlament

2011-04-04T07:11:00.005+03:00

I had an opportunity to tour the Vienna Parlament building last October, but never posted any pictures, so I'm fixing that today. The building is rarely open for tours, but they always open it on Independence Day (October 25) so I made sure to be there and take advantage of the rare opportunity. This is the main parliamentary assembly room.

I have a fascination with light fixtures - they are all so unique and interesting. I thought these three were especially lovely.

I loved the decorative touches throughout. Here's a few samples:

Lebanese Ski Bunny

2011-03-28T06:42:00.003+03:00

I went skiing this weekend at the Faraya resort. It was a gorgeous day - the sun was shining, and the snow was fabulous until it got slushy from the sun. And even then it was still pretty great.

The Lebanese boast that you can ski and swim in the same day here. My ski buddy and mountain guide, a Lebanese friend, told me that one time when he was younger he actually did the ski/swim thing. I'd imagine you'd have to be young in order to have both the energy and interest in skiing and swimming in the same day.

The clouds were rolling in, and had just started to cover the mountain when it was time to go. Perfect timing!

Cedars of Lebanon

2011-03-21T06:57:00.003+02:00

A couple of weeks ago my mom asked if she would be able to go to the Cedars of Lebanon if she came to visit me. I told her that she would, and to prove it I went and visited there myself. Here's the proof:

This cedar tree is five thousand years old.

On the street outside of the Cedar Reserve, there are souvenir shops where you can buy various knick knacks. This picture is a small cedar chip turned into a keychain. The person is decorating the chip with a Cedar tree and writing my name and Lebanon on there. They all give you these keychains for free to demonstrate their skills.

The #1 Reason for Leaving Work On Time

2011-03-14T19:42:00.002+02:00

Sunset over the Mediterranean Sea

You Have Got to be Kidding Me

2011-03-07T19:29:00.001+02:00

Got this ad on my Yahoo! Mail page, and am rather disgusted. I'm a pretty quiet feminist, and don't get riled about much, but seriously? What is she - Grant Girl? Qualify Woman?

After the Movers

2011-03-02T19:33:00.002+02:00

The movers came today and unloaded all my stuff. They even helped to unpack nearly all of my boxes. Now it's up to me to get everything organized.

Behold:

the kitchen

the entry

the bedroom

the living room

the bathroom

Thank you for the good karma you've sent so far. I'll need more throughout the weekend and probably all through next week in order to bring order to my home, but I'm confident that I can do it.

Sadly, I can't have the best Karma of all. My mom is a ball of energy who loves the feeling of being done with a task. Faced with this, she would dive right in and start organizing. She'd probably be organized before the weekend. I am not her daughter. I look at everything and want to know where I'm going to put it before I move it. However, most of it I'm not sure where the best place is. Rock - hard place.

So instead of diving in, I'm posting a blog. Because that's who I am. After all - this stuff isn't going anywhere.

Got Enough Stuff?

2011-02-28T21:26:00.002+02:00

My household effects have arrived at the port in Beirut, and my colleagues in charge of shipping have arranged to deliver them on Wednesday. As we were making these arrangements, they asked me if my apartment is one bedroom or two. When I responded that it's one bedroom, they said, "You have a lot of stuff. Is there enough room for it all?"

I knew, when I was advised that I should only bring half of my weight limit, that it was going to be a problem for me. I have a lot of stuff. I have a piano that I inherited from my grandmother. It tickles me to have a bit of her with me, and I refuse to leave it behind. I have thousands of books, and the bookshelves to store them on. They are my constant friends in a lifetime of change. I have treasures from all over the world, and I'm a sentimental fool, which makes it really hard for me to part with things. It's like throwing away my memories. I adore Christmas, and have a large collection of decorations. All of this stuff comes together to make each new place home for me. It wouldn't be the same if I had to leave half of it in storage.

When I was packing up in Vienna, I tried really hard to sort out the things that I could live without. But in the end, there was not a lot that I was willing to leave behind. After all, I'm not just passing through here. I'll be living here for two years.

So, on Wednesday, I'll be spending my day unpacking and trying hard to find a place for everything so that I can put everything in its place. If you have some good karma to spare - please send it my way. I'll be needing it.

Byblos

2011-02-21T18:58:00.003+02:00

On a beautiful, sunny day under gorgeous blue skies I visited one of the oldest cities in the world. The ruins in Byblos were created by a variety of previous civilizations: the Greeks, the Romans, and the Phoenicians among them. Along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea you can see the ruins in the middle of the town that is still thriving. The continuous inhabitation of the city is a testament to the great location.

Seen through a crack in the wall of the castle tower that is still standing is the town mosque.

The cannon balls embedded in the walls testify to the dangers that have threatened.

You can see that there are several different walls, marking the boundaries created by different civilizations.

A look out over the ruins to the sea and the coastline.

More of the ruins.

Our guide liked to point out that they've been recycling for centuries here - the columns built by one culture were taken down and used in the wall of another.

Me sitting on the alter in the amphitheater.

There are tombs here that have been excavated. The shadows on the back wall are cast by me and my friends.

When you climb down into the tomb, you can see the sarcophagus buried there.

After visiting the ruins I shopped in the souk (market area) and ate a delicious lunch. Life in Beirut is going to be a great adventure.

Quiz Night

2011-02-11T22:55:00.004+02:00

It was quiz night tonight, and those of you who've participated in such events with me before know that I am not much help. Really. I just don't remember a lot of trivia - which is the theme of all quiz nights everywhere. Tonight was really no different - but I was proud of the few answers I was able to contribute.

1. Which is closer to the equator - Hollywood or Bollywood?

Answer: Bollywood

2. In bowling, what would your score be if you played a perfect game, except for scoring a zero in the first frame?

Answer: 270

3. (I'm most proud of this one - years of following the Tour de France finally paid off.) Name two people besides Lance Armstrong who have won at least three Tours de France.

Answer: Eddy Merckx and Greg LeMond (they are two of ten - I believe - who have won at least three)

I was pretty proud of myself, and wanted to share.

The Funeral of Chadi Mrad

2011-02-06T15:10:00.003+02:00

I had an interesting experience this week. I had the opportunity to attend a funeral. A colleague, Chadi Mrad, collapsed during a physical fitness test the week before I got here. His heart gave out. He lived on life support for a couple of weeks before his heart stopped for good this week. He was 32 and left behind a wife and 9-month-old daughter.

The funeral was held on Friday afternoon, and was a real cultural experience. My boss had visited the family at the hospital every day since I arrived, and he had talked about the intense grief that they displayed there. I experienced it for myself during the funeral.

Chadi was Maronite Catholic, so the funeral was held in a church - what I think of as typical European. The big stone church with one large room inside. Wooden pews on either side of the aisle, and the alter at the front.

When we arrived we were led first to a room under the church. Chadi's family was there, and we went through a receiving line of sorts. His wife was inconsolable, as was his father. Culturally, they express grief so differently here. It's big and loud. Sobbing and collapsing. Waves of emotion swirling through the room.

We walked through the receiving line giving our condolences to the family. Then we were led upstairs to the chapel. The casket was in the aisle at the front of the church. When the family came in, the weeping and wailing swelled as they walked past the casket.

The mass was in Arabic and lasted about an hour. Then they took the casket out to the cemetery. The family followed behind the casket, and I can't describe how awful that was. It was like Chadi was being carried away from them, and they were trying to stop it. They were reaching for and grabbing the casket as they wailed over their loss. Their grief was so huge.

We were told to stay inside the church after the service, and the reason soon became obvious. They shot off hundreds of rounds just outside the church. It sounded like both regular guns and AK-47s. For about 20 minutes it sounded like there was a war going on in the street. It was wild - and a little bit scary. One of my colleagues commented afterwards about the insanity of such a tradition. The physics of the situation - what goes up must come down. All of those bullets came down somewhere. The thought is a little terrifying.

And then the funeral was over, and we piled back into our cars and left.

My heart goes out to Chadi's wife and father - as well as the rest of the family for their sudden and profound loss. May God bless them.

Treasures from Vienna

2011-01-31T07:25:00.002+02:00

A few weeks before leaving Vienna I was walking past a second hand store and saw that they had Tiffany-style lamps. I had been wanting one for a long time now, so I decided to stop in the shop and see if they had anything that I liked. To my delighted surprise, I found this beautiful lamp, and immediately knew that it was exactly what I'd been looking for. The shade is beautiful, but I also love the trunk-like look of the lamp.

While in the shop I was glancing around and saw this beautiful clock. I immediately loved it, and gave a half-hearted effort to talk myself out of it for about 10 seconds. Then I caved because it was so fabulous. It has a key for winding, and chimes on the half hour and the hour.

The packers came 5 days later, and my new treasures got packed up. I can't wait for them to get to Beirut so I can use them!

New Year's Resolution

2011-01-23T19:51:00.007+02:00

I've made a resolution to post to my blog every week. You may look at my history and think, "We'll see." And you're lack of faith is totally understandable. But check back frequently so that I can have a chance to redeem myself.

One note: I'm exempting myself on weeks that I'm traveling. Which is why this is my first post of the year.

I left Vienna for good in early December. It had been a good two years, but having the travel bug that I have, I was excited to leave and get on to the next big adventure.

From Vienna I headed home to Utah to attend Marinda's wedding! It was so wonderful to be there, and be a part of that special day. Marinda's husband, Joe, is a wonderful man. She's as lucky to have him as he is to have her.

Left: Marinda & Joe
Clockwise from Marinda: Marielle, Kimball, me, Rachel

Left: Joe, Marinda, and Bijou
Right: Newlyweds with the nieces and nephews
(note: it is impossible to take a good photo with all of them, so this was considered pretty successful!)

Rachel, Marielle, Marinda, Heidi, me

Marinda got married a week before Christmas, so she and Joe were back from their honeymoon in time to celebrate with us. It was a really nice holiday.

Dad reading The Polar Express with Keagan and Alli

After Christmas I headed up to my parents cabin in Island Park. We were only able to be there for 3 days, but it was so fun to go up again. I always love the together time that we have there, free from distractions. Bonus for this year: I won at Risk! (thanks to the new accelerated version, which wasn't really fast, but at least I didn't have to conquer the world)

After returning from the cabin, Marinda, Joe, and I took off on a 10-day road trip to visit Rachel in Texas and then Marielle in Arizona.

We arrived in Texas just in time to bring in the New Year. Then, on January 1, my oldest nephew celebrated his 8th birthday and was baptized. It was awesome to be there celebrate and share that day with him.

Zander blowing out the candles with help from Keagan

From there we drove to Arizona where we had three beautiful days where we didn't have to wear coats, which we took advantage of by going on a small hike to this hole in the rock (which probably has a name, but I've forgotten it). It was fabulous.

Ian and Caleb with Bijou, the shaggy dog

Sadly, my visiting with family came to an end. Marinda, Joe, and I returned to Utah, and I spent a day running errands before leaving for DC. There I had several meetings in preparation for my next assignment.

Then, on January 16, I arrived in my new home: Lebanon!

Although I didn't take this photo, this is the view I have of Beirut from my bedroom. I've been here a week now, and the weather has been fantastic. Highs probably in the 70s each day, with clear skies. It's been a wonderful welcome.

Denmark

2010-10-07T15:46:00.014+03:00

I had the opportunity in August to spend time in Denmark - 3 days visiting friends in the north, and 3 days in Copenhagen. It was so fun! I had mostly beautiful weather - especially for my days in the north. As you can see from the below photo, the sky there was amazingly blue.

This is the home of the friends I visited. That's right - they live in the shadow of a windmill! Sadly, one of the wings of the windmill was damaged in a recent storm, so for now it has only 3 wings. But they are hoping that will be repaired soon. The windmill still has all the gears and equipment inside from the days when it was used to grind flour, and when it has 4 wings it still functions. My friends have dreams of getting it up and running and making it a place for tourists to visit. So next time you visit in Lonstrup, Denmark look for the newly-renovated, functioning windmill! (Note: in Danish there is a slash through the "o" in Lonstrup, but I can't figure out how to make that happen here.)

Here's my friends and super tour guides for the "topfen af Danmark" - Harald and Jon Aron. I had such a nice time with them. It was a memorable trip for the good company and beautiful scenery.

The beach with the imported palm trees - although I was there in August, it was not very warm. I don't know if the Danes ever actually go in the ocean!

The beach at Skagan - the northernmost tip of Denmark. It was so beautiful I couldn't stop taking photos, so you now get to see them. Amazingly gorgeous day.

There it is! The top of Denmark! Interestingly, two oceans meet here. You can see that the waves come from two different directions, so they actually crash into each other.

On the top: the precursor to the "modern" lighthouse.

On the bottom: the coast near Lonstrup - which is falling into the ocean at an alarming rate. The community there is in danger of disappearing in the not too distant future (like a decade or two).

On the beach in Lonstrup. The day I left a storm was coming, and the waves were bigger than usual.

And then I left Lonstrup and headed for Copenhagen. My first day there was cloudy and a bit rainy, but it cleared up for the rest of my trip. Copenhagen is a delightful city - not very large, so it makes it easy to get around and visit. It is a city that is fun to walk around.

the LDS Temple in Copenhagen

The Little Mermaid statue - or at least the location. This year, the Little Mermaid statue is on an exchange to the World Fair in Shanghai. The jumbo screen shows the statue in real time and people walking by it in Shanghai.

Hans Christian Andersen and me

On the left: the Stock Exchange building. The spire is made of up three dragons with the tails entwined, representing the three participating countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

On the right: Rosenborg Castle

the royal residence and the changing of the guards

Tivoli

Venice - the fun parts

2010-07-29T14:35:00.012+03:00

After months of technical difficulties with my computer, we are up and limping along again. I think I have to suck it up and buy a new computer, but in the meantime, I will get by with the limping along one.

Thanks to my super parents, I got to Venice and picked up money from the Western Union, and was off on my way!

The Grand Canal

In the interest of time, I decided that it was worth buying the 36-hour pass for the vaporetto (the water bus), and off I went! One thing I loved about Venice was riding the vaporetto. I just loved the view of the city from the water, and the feel of the breeze on my face. Bijou also really enjoyed the breeze, and I got a few cute pictures of her.

I made it a point to see the major sites including:

The Rialto Bridge

including the traffic on the Grand Canal

Basilica di San Marco

Palazzo Ducale di Venezia

The Grand Canal by night

The Peggy Guggenheim Museum
(Peggy and I have the same taste in art, so this was a truly delightful find.)

Everything was amazing. And the weather was fantastic while I was there. I'd guess it was around 80F to 85F with lovely breezes blowing. I really loved the city. I love the small alleys, the narrow canals, and walking on the quais along the canals. I loved using the small bridges that allowed foot traffic over the canals, getting lost, and then finding my way again. It was all so fun.

I loved the architecture of the city. It was so interesting (and cool) how the buildings were built right on top of the water! And it was fun to see the gates that led to the under-the-building boat parking.

But I think the thing I loved the most was seeing the everydayness: the delivery boats, the water taxi, the construction boat. It really drove home that this is the way a few people live all the time. (As seen out the window of my hotel room - excellent view!)

Like so many of my trips, I find myself wishing to be one of the people who call this place home. Maybe someday.

Robbed on the Train

2010-06-03T12:46:00.003+03:00

That's right - I was robbed while traveling on the overnight train from Vienna to Venice. Here's the story:

Bijou and I boarded the train in Vienna at 8:30pm. I had booked a seat in a couchette - a compartment with bench seats that convert into 6 bunk beds (3 on each side). I figured out how to convert the benches, but couldn't find a ladder in the room, so the prospect of getting onto the top bunk seemed complicated. When I realized that I was the only person with a seat reserved in that compartment, I decided I'd just set myself up on the bottom bunk. Having heard stories about people being robbed on the train, I arranged my stuff in a way that seemed more secure. My small suitcase was at the end of the bench near the window, and my purse was between the suitcase and the back of the bench.

The first time a conductor came through I indicated that I needed to pay for Bijou, but the conductor kindly told me it was no big deal since she was so small. Sadly, his kindness came back to haunt me later on.

Around 11:30 I laid down so my head was near my suitcase and purse, figuring I'd hear if somebody disturbed my stuff, and went to sleep. I overestimated my ability to wake up at the slightest sound (which I shouldn't have - I know I'm a deep sleeper) and I underestimated how little noise is needed to take a wallet (probably none).

Mistake #1: Although the door had a chain lock, I didn't put that on. I figured if somebody else wanted to use the other bench to sleep in, it was fine with me.

Lesson: Lock the door. I'm now resolved to be less friendly and trusting. If somebody wants to pay to reserve one of those seats, they can have it. Otherwise, I'm not sharing.

Mistake #2: This one I'm mortified to admit. I firmly believe that no victim is at fault for being victimized. What I did was stupid, but what the other person did was illegal. Still, admitting this causes me to feel like a total idiot. I left my purse unzipped. The conductor came in several times during the night to check tickets, and it was easier to just grab the ticket from my purse, so I didn't zip it up.

Lesson: Not only zip the purse (the lesson for idiots), but use the purse for a pillow. It's much more comfortable than waking up to find your wallet gone.

Nervous feeling #1 (that I ignored): Shortly after I laid down, before I fell asleep, somebody did open the door to the compartment and ask if the space was free. I indicated that it was, and he lay down and promptly started snoring on the other bench. I lay there feeling a little nervous, but telling myself that there was nothing to be nervous about. And about 30 minutes later he got up and left.

Nervous feeling #2: Sometime later the conductor came in to check tickets, and I woke up to find that the man across from me was back. He and I both showed our tickets, and then I heard the conductor say something about 12 euros. I was feeling very sluggish, but started to reach for my wallet, assuming that he was talking to me about paying for Bijou. Then I realized he was not looking at me, so I said, "Me?" He pointed to the bunk above me, and I realized there was another person up there. That freaked me out a little - to realize that somebody had managed to get on the bunk above me without me waking up was a bit scary. I lay there thinking about that after the conductor left, and saw the man above me get down and sit on the bench across from me next to the other man. Sadly, it was around 3am, and I was exhausted, and fuzzy because I had been sleeping. So, I fell back to sleep before I could decide what to do about this situation that was making me nervous.

Lesson: Act on those feelings when you feel them. Who cares if they seem silly? There's never anything wrong with putting your purse in a more secure position, so there was no reason to ignore the feelings or wonder what to do. Just do it and be done.

At 3:20am I woke up and saw that the men across from me were gone, and I thought, "I better check my wallet." So I reached up and started digging around in my purse. When I couldn't find it, I sat up and started pulling things out. When I still couldn't find it, I turned on the light. Sadly, even in the light, it wasn't there. I suddenly realized that those nervous feelings I'd had earlier had lead to this because I hadn't acted on those feelings.

Thankfully, only my wallet was gone, which only had about 30 euros in it, along with my credit cards. My passport had been packed in my suitcase, and although my return train ticket, Blackberry, and iPod were in my purse, they were still there. So I grabbed my Blackberry, used the internet function, and searched for a phone number for canceling my credit cards. I found one for Citibank very easily, and called them at 3:30am.

Then I called my parents to explain what had happened and to ask them to wire me some money. They asked me how to do that. I didn't know, but told them I'd seen advertisements for Western Union, so to check there. They said they'd figure it out and call me back.

Next I searched for a phone number for Chase to cancel my second credit card. It took me about 20 minutes to finally find a number without having to log into my account from my Blackberry. But I called them at 4:00am. They asked me about two charges from that day, both about $30, which weren't mine. So I knew that the thief had managed to use my cards already.

Finally, I called and canceled my debit card. They also asked me about some charges that had been made which weren't mine. One was for about $30, but the other was for $185! Thankfully, I am not responsible for the charges that I didn't make.

My parents called back to say that they had sorted out the Western Union thing, and that the person there had said that Western Unions are often located in train stations and airports, so I should check around the train station in Venice, and hopefully I'd be able to get the money pretty quickly and easily.

I finished making the calls around 4:30am, and shortly after that a girl got on who had a seat reserved in my compartment. She was Romanian, and she spoke fairly good English. I told her what happened - mostly to warn her to be careful. Around 6:00am the conductor came through to check tickets again. I gave him mine, then he pointed to Bijou, indicated that she also needed a ticket. I told him that the other conductor said I didn't have to buy her a ticket. He promptly reminded me that this was Italy and he only spoke Italian. When I asked if he spoke German, he said Italian. So I tried to just say that somebody had stolen my wallet and I couldn't pay, but he didn't understand. He jabbered back at me and said something about the police and about getting off at the next station. I told him no. I could only imagine the trouble of getting off before I got to Venice. Who knows if small town Italy would have a Western Union, and once off the train, how would I get to Venice without any money?

We finally stopped yelling at each other, neither really understanding what the other was saying. The nice Romanian girl offered to pay for me, but I told her she didn't have to do that. She got off the train around 6:30am, leaving me alone again for the last 2 hours, but not before trying to give me some money. She said, "I don't have much but I'm happy to give you a little." I explained that my parents were sending money, and I'd be fine. Then she said something about being lucky to have parents who could help. How true!

Every time the train slowed down, my heart started racing, and I began to wonder if that conductor would bring the police onto the train or try to force me off the train, but nothing ever happened. I arrived in Venice at 8:30am, and asked the woman at the information desk where I could find a Western Union. She wasn't sure, but thought that there might be one outside the station that way (vague hand wave). So I went out and started walking, but after only 3 or 4 minutes I realized that I'd quickly get lost. So I returned to the station and assessed my options.

By that time it was past midnight for my parents, so I didn't want to bother them any more. So I decided to call a friend in Vienna, who willingly went online to Western Union and searched for a location in Venice. She had been to Venice before, so she knew where the train station was, and when she saw the location of the Western Union, she was able to point me in the right direction. I headed off (in the opposite direction from the one indicated by the woman at the information desk), and found the Western Union about 15 minutes later.

I got the money (yay Western Union!), and felt gratitude that it had all worked out relatively well. After all, altogether all I lost was 30 euros and a couple hours of sleep. Finally, my drama was over, and I headed off to a glorious day in Venice!

Meanwhile...

This story isn't over yet. I realized after talking to my friend in Vienna, that my Blackberry was running out of power. I also realized that I hadn't brought the charger with me. So, I turned it off, thinking to save what little juice it had left for whatever other emergency might crop up.

Around 11pm, after a long but satisfying day in Venice, I returned to my hotel room and turned on my Blackberry. I found three new emails: two from my dad telling me to call him asap, and one from my boss saying that he heard from my parents that my wallet was stolen, and was there anything he could do to help.

Turns out, I made another bad choice. I turned off my Blackberry without calling my parents, or sending them an email, to say that I had the money and everything was fine. When I checked my voice mails a couple of days later I had a call from my mom about 4pm just checking in. But when the hours dragged on and they still didn't hear from me, they started to really panic, and called my office to see if they'd heard anything. The office cast a wide net checking to see if any of my colleagues knew anything, leading to the email from my boss.

I called my parents, whose relief at hearing that I was fine outweighed any anger they may have felt at my thoughtlessness in not calling sooner. I thanked them for their love and concern, and for all the help they'd given me, and apologized over and over. Seriously, I felt terrible that they'd spent hours worrying about me and wondering if I was okay, while I was happily jaunting around Venice seeing the sights and eating gelato. But, being the wonderful people they are, they forgave me.

I finally went to bed around 1am - nearly 24 hours after waking up that morning to find my wallet stolen. It was a long, and very dramatic day, but it really did end happily ever after, for which I am exceedingly thankful.

Curly Who?

2010-05-23T00:50:00.002+03:00

Recently I took medication that had a side effect of some hair loss. I had to take the stuff two separate times, about 6 months apart, so I was lucky enough to suffer this hair loss twice. When the hair finally started growing back in - it came in curly. Well, curlier. I've always has some natural wave in my hair, but it has become significantly curlier. I tried to take photos to show it off.

When the photo of the front didn't really do the job, I decided to also take one of the back. Ever tried to take a photo of the back of your head? Not really easy to do. But I finally got one.

I don't know if you can really tell, but I can tell you that it has taken me some adjustment. I'm not complaining - the curls are fun - but it has been a challenge learning how to do my hair again. After having the same hair for 15 years, trying to find myself again has been interesting. I got a cut yesterday, and I finally feel like I know this new hair enough to like it. It's a nice feeling.

Ski Bunny

2010-02-01T13:40:00.006+02:00

I recently got the opportunity to go skiing, and took it because it seemed like a crime to live in Austria for 2 years and not go skiing. But here's the thing: I enjoy skiing in very specific conditions. I am a fair-weather skier. I'm a little embarrassed about this because I come from a family of Skiers - with a capital S. And according to my dad, a bad day on the slopes is better than a good day doing anything else.

The lovely town of Otscher as seen from the ski lift.

Skiing is serious business in our family. When I was growing up, I skied two or three times a month. And that's the other condition that I prefer for skiing: to be doing it with my family. We've bonded over the years through hundreds of hours spent riding ski lifts together, and then racing down the hill and doing it again. My dad also comes from a family of Skiers, so it's really in our blood. My dad and his siblings are some of the most beautiful skiers on the hill. If you watch from below it's like watching a movie: beautiful form and that fabulous ribbon-like trail left behind them.

visibility at the top of the mountain

I mentioned that I'm a fair-weather skier? I should also mention that it has been a few years since I've been skiing. So my day on the slopes was not the best ever. It snowed most of the day, laying down a layer of powder over the crusty, icy mess underneath. The powder was appreciated, but the wind was blowing it all over the place making it hard to see, and leaving the ice exposed. Not great ski conditions. It was a miserable day - except that it wasn't. I don't know if it's a result of the influence of my family, but despite the ice and snow and wind and the fact that my family wasn't there with me - despite all of that I had fun. I would have had MORE fun if it had been sunny and warm (spring skiing anybody?), but all in all it was a good day.

I didn't get a photo of myself on the slopes, so I'm substituting one of myself skiing in the sunshine at my parents cabin in Island Park, ID.

Email Conversation?

2010-01-28T15:30:00.002+02:00

I had the following conversation via email with a coworker recently.

From: Patrick
To: Jessica

J
TY
P

From: Jessica
To: Patrick

P
NP
YW
J

From: Patrick
To: Jessica

J
YTB
P

From: Jessica
To: Patrick

P
IK
J

From: Patrick
To: Jessica

OKTF

At this point, I got lost. That last one means "OK, that's funny."

I was laughing. And it was made funnier by the fact that my coworker sits one office away. I could hear him laugh when he got my replies, and he could hear me laugh. Good times.

Need a translation?

TY: Thank you

NP: No problem

YW: You're welcome

YTB: You're the best

IK: I know

Home for the Holidays

2010-01-11T08:24:00.003+02:00

Bijou and and I traveled to Utah for the holidays, and loved every minute of it! I spent time with my siblings, my parents, and - the great entertainment - my nephews and nieces. Those kids are a riot, and kept me laughing while they kept Bijou thoroughly entertained.

Here's some of the highlights from our trip:

Greece!!

2009-12-14T07:53:00.006+02:00

"Chaos," she said, "is a Greek word." That was the beginning of the answer my colleague gave when asked what it was like to live in Athens. But for my 10 days there, it was fabulous.

I went to Athens for a Conference the first of December and stayed for a few days to see some sights. It was glorious! The weather was amazing (just below 70F all the time) and it only rained while I was inside. The sun was warm, and the breeze cool - just fabulous for being outside. I walked to the top of the Acropolis, and took tours to Sounio and Delphi. It was wonderful! I hope to go back again some day.

Cruising the Danube with Mom - Day 3

2009-11-09T08:15:00.006+02:00

Our third day was docked in Vienna. We skipped the tours, and went off to a couple of museums. We had a great visit at the Albertina (an art museum), and at the Haus der Musik, a great museum on various facets of music here in Vienna (some stuff about composers; something about the Philharmonic; we got to write a waltz with a toss of dice - all very fun and interesting). Since I couldn't take photos inside, there isn't a lot to show. But here's a few:

Mom in front of the Albertina - which had an amazing exhibit. I love art museums.

Karlskirche - gotta love the palm trees.

The monument to the WWII Russian soldiers. My German wasn't quite good enough to understand exactly why this monument exists. (In traveling around Eastern Europe I've seen several monuments to the Russians, which seem rather ironic in light of the post-war attitudes. But it is true that we were glad to have them on our team during the war.)

The Friendship Pagoda. I've been wanting to visit this, and was glad to see it from the river and learn where to find it. Next step: see it from the land.

Cruising the Danube with Mom - Day 2

2009-11-09T07:13:00.009+02:00

After the adventurous first day getting to the cruise, we went to bed exhausted, and woke up already docked at Melk Abbey. This is a Benedictine Abbey in Austria that was opened in 1089. It is gorgeous, and we were there on a stunningly beautiful day. After the pouring rain of the previous day, our second day started out sunny and cool. As we got further south it got warmer, but wasn't really hot until our last two days, which we were really grateful for.

Kudos to my superstar sister-in-law for using Photobucket slideshows first. She's awesome.

The Wachau

2009-11-09T07:08:00.009+02:00

Melk Abbey is located in an area along the Danube in Austria called the Wachau. It is a corner of heaven, as you can see here. It is the home to quaint towns with mountains rising up behind them that are often cultivated with vineyards. I'd had the chance to take a boat through this region once before, and I was so excited to share it with my mom. After boarding in Melk, we sat on the top of the ship and watched the scenery go by. Here's a few photos for your viewing pleasure.

Human Rights for Childless Fathers

2009-10-05T12:32:00.003+03:00

Today I'm in Warsaw, providing support for a conference. As I sit here I'm watching a group of protesters outside. They are beating drums and blowing whistles, and I think they have a police siren going as well (not sure if that is them or the actual police). They are protesting because they claim that the family courts here don't give any rights to fathers. I don't know anything about their situation, or about the courts here. But how sad for fathers to have to stand outside and beat drums in order to advocate for their right to be fathers.

Cruising the Danube with Mom - Day 1

2009-08-17T15:21:00.007+03:00

In July my parents came to Europe: Mom and I went on a cruise, Dad went to be a Tour de France groupie. Mom and I toured beautiful cities along the Danube; dad rode up Mont Ventoux 3 different times. It's really hard to say who had more fun. (But I think it was me).

Of course, if you compare first days, his must have been more fun. The problem was that our cruise started on the same day mom arrived in Vienna - but we had to board the boat in Passau, Germany. If all went well, we would go smoothly from the airport - to my apartment - to the train station - to Passau - to the cruise boat! However, we got off to a rocky start, and it only got worse. Here's how it happened:

7:30am: wake up in order to leave around 8:30 to meet mom at the airport.

8:15am: get a phone call from super-bro-in-law-acting-as-international-operator Michael: Mom had missed her connecting flight in Paris, and won't be arriving until 11:30. Think to self, "Well, we won't be able to stop by my apartment, but if her flight arrives on time we'll still make it to the train station for the 12:30 train."

10:30am: leave for airport with suitcase in tow.

11:30am: arrive at airport; see that due to rainy weather mom's flight is circling and not landing.

11:50am: still the same.

12:00pm: mom's flight lands. We will never make the 12:30 train. Well, if we make the 1:30 one we'll arrive in Passau at exactly the time we are supposed to be finished boarding. Close enough - probably.

12:20pm: mom exits the luggage area without luggage. Chat with the luggage people who assure her that her bag isn't there, but they will deliver it when it arrives from Paris. Leave the address of a friend, since we will be cruising on the Danube. Arrange to pick up the bag from my friend when the cruise stops in Vienna the next evening (since we will be passing through Vienna so soon, the missing suitcase is not a disaster, just an inconvenience).

12:40pm: head for the train station.

1:10pm: arrive at the train station. Find a train heading to Passau, but not for another hour. That won't work!

1:20pm: learn that a different train is leaving for Passau in 5 minutes. Yes!

1:25pm: board train and depart for Passau. Call cruise ship and tell them we will arrive in Passau at 5pm, and go directly to the ship (not even passing GO).

4:45pm: train stops, and makes mysterious announcement in German that some nice person explains to us means the train can't go farther due to work on the tracks. A bus will arrive to take the passengers to the final destination.

4:55pm: still waiting for bus.

5:10pm: finally on bus, and crazy woman insists on being taken to a different drop off point (you know - the tiny stop between here and the end of the line where only she was planning to get off). Call cruise ship, and explain the delay. Promise to get to ship ASAP - will swim if necessary.

5:45pm: arrive at the train station in Passau. Run to a taxi for the 1 mile trip to the dock. Get to the dock and see the ship still there - YAY!

6:00pm: step on boat exactly one hour past the time it was supposed to leave port. Thank the crew profusely. Learn we are the only Americans on a cruise boat full of French people. Still count our blessings - after all, we could be the only Americans who didn't make it on to the cruise boat full of French people.

6:05pm: collapse in our cabin, and attempt to recover from the stress of the day.

Thankfully, that day did not set the tone for our adventures. It was just one of those days - you know: the kind Murphy wrote his law about.

Salzburg with Tom and Camille

2009-07-27T11:52:00.005+03:00

At the end of June, I got a visit from my Uncle Tom and Aunt Camille. They were visiting London and Paris, and decided to include a few days in Vienna. I was thrilled. Sadly, I landed in the hospital again (same problem as before - only this time the stay was only 4 days), and missed the first 2 days of their visit. Thankfully, I was able to spend their final day with them on a day trip to Salzburg. And what a day it was!

The day began by leaving my apartment by 6am in order to meet the tour group downtown by 7am. We actually got there quite early, but that was better than being quite late! So we boarded the bus, and settled in. At 7:15, we left Vienna, and headed for Salzburg. We had a tour guide who was ridiculous, and at times offensive (telling jokes about why being married was a terrible thing and periodically telling jokes with racial tones), but if you ignored him and enjoyed the scenery, the bus ride was fabulous.

One lake we passed by on our way to Salzburg. The drive through the Alps was lovely.

My favorite site in Salzburg was Mirabell Gardens. The picture below shows the gardens and, if you look close, the cathedral, and the fortress at the top of the hill. It was a gorgeous view.

Here's another picture from the gardens - I thought this fountain was just so darling.

Aside from these gardens, we also walked through the town, and visited the cathedral. It was a fun afternoon, and I was so glad that I was able to share it with Tom and Camille. Thanks!

I Can't Take the Heat!

2009-07-08T13:20:00.005+03:00

The weather in Vienna is some of the most unpredictable I've ever encountered. Let me start by pointing out that no matter where I live, the locals have had a saying: If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes. I am vastly amused that this saying is used everywhere, but not surprised. After all, the weather is one of the things about this world that continues to stump us. But Vienna is my most unpredictable by far. Here's a run-down of my time here so far:

November 2008: cloudy and rainy

December 2009: snow arrives; clouds settle in for the winter

January 2009: snowy and cloudy

February 2009: cloudy, with some snow

March 2009: cloudy, with rain

(OK, so far, pretty predictable. I was beginning to wonder if the clouds ever left.)

And then:

April 2009: TA DA! the sunshine breaks through, and we have gorgeous weather for a month

May 2009: spring decides it missed a step, and we get lots of rain

June 2009: spring decides there's not enough water yet, and keeps on raining. But it is June, so we have several sunny days as well. Due to the amazing amount of rain, these sunny days are not only hot, but humid. Turns out, we got our beautiful days in April. Now it's too hot to be outside, AND they don't have A/C in the stores or on the public transportation, which means that it is NO FUN to go places. Really.

And so here we are at July 2009: In the first 8 days we've had rain, sun, heat, humidity, and then today dawned sunny and cool. I have no idea where the cool came from, but I am extremely thankful for it.

I am one of the lucky few here - I actually have a few A/C units in my apartment, including in my bedroom. Thank goodness! The room next to my bedroom (home to TV and computer) is at least 10 degrees warmer than my bedroom, and gets no air flow. Well, until today when I got a fan to blow some of the cool air around. I am very excited about that! Ah, the simple pleasures.

Home Sweet Home

2009-05-22T23:58:00.006+03:00

I have several things I need to blog about, but I just keep putting them off. Today I'm feeling extremely guilty, so here's one for you faithful few out there. I have been promising a friend of mine photos of my apartment, and finally they are here for your viewing pleasure.

The entrance to my apartment is a small entryway not pictured here. On the left, as you enter the apartment, is a half bath. On the right is the kitchen:

My kitchen comes complete with a clothes washer and dryer, as well as all the usual appliances. I don't mind - better than not having them, or having to share them with the building.

Here's the view of my living room, and the door leading into the guest bedroom. From where I'm standing to take the picture, I can see the front door (just to the left of the picture).

Here's the view from the other corner of the room - you can see the kitchen at the back of the picture. Just behind me as I take this picture is a staircase that leads to the second floor.

Here's my media room: my cane chairs for watching tv on the left,

the computer and shelves on the right,

and my tv cuddling up with my computer desk. It's a tight fit, but it works for me.

And here's my bedroom as seen from the door looking left,

as seen from the closet side,

and as seen from the window side. I love these closets! Who said European apartments don't have enough storage space?

So there it is: Home Sweet Home. And it is sweet. I love the apartment - it's truly just my size. I feel like Goldilocks.

The Easter Egg Personality Test

2009-04-09T12:59:00.004+03:00

Your Easter Egg Says You Are Curious

You are truly optimistic, open, and hopeful.

And your optimism gives you the courage to live life adventurously.

You love new experiences, ideas, and challenges.

You see life as a fluid, growing process.

The Easter Egg Personality Test

*Disclaimer: I do not believe in these personality quizzes unless I like what they say about me. This one is clearly true.

What Kind of Shoe are You?

2009-04-09T11:17:00.003+03:00

You Are Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person.

You seek and almost always achieve a really sound balance in your life.

You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm.

You are the perfect mesh of contradictions.

No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life.

People know that they can truly depend on you.

You should live: In Europe

You should work: At a company dedicated to helping the world

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

*Disclaimer: I don't believe in these quizzes. But this one seemed so accurate! Amazing.

It's Easter... and Spring!

2009-04-08T21:08:00.009+03:00

A couple of weeks ago (when it was still cold outside and spring seemed far away) I began seeing a strange sight at my local grocery store. They had cartons of colored eggs. That's right - eggs that you bought already hard-boiled and dyed. Seriously! Here's the pearlized eggs I bought just so I could take a photo and share this interesting sight.

At that time I also noticed the spring and Easter decorations (not to mention candy) that popped up. One tradition that I find especially beautiful here is to hang eggshells from tree branches or from pussy willow branches. So I bought myself some plastic eggs and some pussy willow branches to follow the tradition. I thought they looked especially festive in my Bangladeshi jug. (I know - there's a lot of eggs. But they came in bags of 12 of one color, and I wanted more than one color, so... you get the idea.)

~look at that cute Bijou! she gets cuter all the time~

A couple of weeks later I heard about the Easter markets. Yes, Easter markets. Like Christmas markets, but with Easter eggs! (Among other things.) So on a lovely spring evening I visited a couple of these markets and bought myself some REAL Easter eggs. The market had a huge space of egg cartons full of hollowed out egg shells painted by some enterprising person in an amazing variety of designs. They were beautiful - it was hard to pick my favorites. I loved it!

If you have a minute, click on this photo and get a closer look at the eggs. They are really amazing.

Life is just so good right now. I have my beautiful eggs, spring has finally arrived bringing warm days and cool breezes, and the day for celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and therefore my eventual resurrection, is nearly here. What more could a girl ask for?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T22:37:00.002+02:00

And Happy Birthday to my dad! Since he was born on St. Pat's day, we've always celebrated this green holiday with much fervor. So you can understand my dismay when I logged onto Google at work today and saw the little shamrocks declaring this a special Google day. I forgot to wear green! Thank goodness I wasn't home - I would have been pinched for that. As it was, I made a point to dress my blog up in green and call it good.

This clip is near and dear to my heart. It has all the essentials - young Sean Connery singing about an Irish lass. The movie includes magic and leprechauns. What's not to love? Thanks, dad, for introducing me to another great movie classic. I love you!

Brussels

2009-02-22T23:19:00.005+02:00

I'm visiting a friend in Brussels for the weekend, and spent an overcast and chilly day on a walking tour around the city. Despite the chill and a few rounds of misting rain, I had a great day. Here's some of the sights from the day.

The Royal Palace - no longer home to the Belgian Royal Family. They've moved permanently into their summer home.

The Fine Art Museum. I'm not sure why, but they've covered the outside of the building with this picture. Whatever the reason, I liked it.

A facinating, old facade. I like that the restaurant has the word "caprice" meaning "tantrum" in the name, although I'm not sure why.

The Manneken Pis - a famous statue of a little boy peeing into a fountain. The love for this statue has grown into something epic. People now dress the boy up for special occasions. Today he looks like a Boy Scout in honor of Robert Baden-Powell, who began the Scouting movement. Really.

My day ended at the Grand Place, a square surrounded by the Town Hall, and guild houses built around 1697. In fact, they were rebuilt at that time, having been destroyed in 1695 when the French bombarded Brussels with artillery, destroying a full third of the city.

So far, I'm loving it, despite the chill. I bought some fabulous jewelry in a market we passed, and a parasol at one of the lace makers. All in all, a very successful day.

Lost Generation

2009-02-10T11:01:00.001+02:00

Somebody sent this to me, and I love it, so I thought I'd post it here and share with anybody who came along. I think this is a powerful message, and an important one. Kudos to the person who made it.

Fit and Fine in 2009!

2009-01-22T22:22:00.002+02:00

My dad has issued a weight loss challenge to my family (complete with a monetary reward) and I want to participate. As added incentive, I've posted a chart (seen on the right here) where you can all watch my success (not failure). Currently the chart is blank, because it will only show you my change in weight. (I'm just not willing to show my beginning weight, but I want a little public humiliation for some motivation.)

So, feel free to comment on the chart whenever it strikes your fancy. I'm off on a new adventure!

New Haircut, New Woman?

2009-01-21T22:24:00.006+02:00

I got a haircut on Monday, and the stylist assured me that she was going to give me a great cut and style. Three days later, I barely recognize myself in the mirror, and while I think that woman looks kind of chic, she really doesn't look like me! I'm still trying to decide what I think. So I'm going to let you help me. What do you think? Yes? No? Maybe if I styled it differently?

Christmas in Vienna

2009-01-08T21:15:00.003+02:00

As party of my Christmas celebration this year, I decided to attend Midnight Mass at Stephansdom, the cathedral in the heart of Vienna. I got there early, in hopes of getting a good seat. In the end, I spent 2 (cold) hours walking around the plaza around the cathedral, as the doors didn't open until 11pm. And then it was so cold inside the cathedral, that I left after the prelude music. But it was sure fun to be there for a while. I thought this photo of the spire with the Christmas tree on the plaza was nice.

On Christmas day, I attended a concert put on by the Vienna Imperial Orchestra. As you can see, it is a small orchestra, but what a great concert. They did several classical pieces, including a few opera compete with the opera singers, and a few ballet complete with dancers. It was a wonderful production, and a fun thing to do for Christmas.

This is a nativity on display at another church in Vienna. I love that they put evergreen trees and poinsettias in their nativity.

And finally, I got my picture taken with Mozart. Pretty well preserved, isn't he?

I'm an Esme

2009-01-04T00:09:00.004+02:00

I just finished reading Breaking Dawn, the 4th book in the Twilight Saga. I am a committed Twilight fan, and can't wait for the movie to arrive here in Austria. In the meantime, I've been reading everything on the Stephenie Meyer website, and then I found this quiz on a friend's blog. Which Cullen heroine are you?

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I'll Be Home for Christmas

2008-12-22T21:23:00.003+02:00

No, not home with my family, but at my home, rather than in the hospital. That's right. I'm posting this from the (quite amazing 5-star) hospital, where I've been for the past week. It all started with this rash...

My sister is angry with me for not taking pictures, but it was so awful looking, I just couldn't. So you'll just have to imagine it. It started on my legs... then spread to my arms... When it started spreading onto my torso I figured there was a problem, and went to the doctor. The original diagnosis was wrong, and I spent a week using a cream that wasn't helping. When I went back to the doctor, they took one look at me and said I needed to be in the hospital. So off I went.

Thankfully, I was able to find a great place for Bijou to stay. I thought I'd be in the hospital for a couple of days. I mean, it was just a rash! Eight days later, I am on the verge of getting out. Finally! For those medically inclined, the diagnosis was pustular psoriasis. It isn't chronic. It will be treated with Vitamin A, and should all clear up. The reason for the hospital stay is that the diagnosis took a while, and it was infected when I got here and I was really dehydrated. So I've been getting IV antibiotics and fluids to treat those problems.

But the real reason the hospital stay was so long is because I'm in Austria. Apparently, they are really cautious here. Once you're in, they don't let you go until you are healthy. I've felt fine for days, and the rash has been clearing up, but they just didn't want to let go. Thankfully, the doctors and nurses have been so great. I've been well taken care of.

Here's a picture of my hospital, Rudolfinerhaus

Here's a few interesting facts:
1. There is smoking allowed in the cafe at the hospital entrance. That was just weird to me. More so because I think I walked past the smoking area while I was following a guy with an oxygen canister. That is just wrong.
2. They provide bottles of water in the rooms - either still or sparkling. Pretty posh.
3. The food here is EXCELLENT. I could stay longer just for the great food.
4. I was lucky enough to have a private room. And they have wireless internet here. So I have a pretty sweet set up. This was especially nice because I was able to keep my family informed about everything that was happening. It helped to lessen their worry.

I have watched a whole TV season, as well as several movies, and read one 750 page book. I am now ready to get out of the hospital. But I've been really thankful for the excellent care. Also for the amazing support of the people I know here. When you consider that I met them about 30 days ago, you can understand how grateful I am for their support. My colleagues have been fabulous.

The moral of the story: if you have to go to the hospital, do it in Austria!

Finland Independence Day

2008-12-06T21:48:00.005+02:00

I had the luck to be in Helsinki for the celebration of Finland's Independence Day. In honor of the holiday most stores are closed, lots of the tourist things have limited hours, and the Finns (according to something I read) spend the day with family. In the evening they tune in to hear their president speak. They also have two other traditions that I found intriguing.

The first is that they put candles in their windows. According to Wikipedia:

It is traditional for many Finnish families to light two candles in each window of their home in the evening. This custom dates to the 1920s, but even earlier, candles had been placed in windows on the birthday of poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg as a silent protest against perceived Russian oppression. A popular legend has it that two candles were used as a sign to inform young men on their way to Sweden and Germany to become jägers (volunteers from Finland - then the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland - who went to fight for Germany in World War I) that the house was ready to offer shelter and keep them hidden from the Russians.

I was touched and delighted to see not just homes, but shop windows and office building with candles in the windows. So I took several pictures!

This is the Presidential Palace with candles glowing in every window.

In addition to these pictures, I happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture another lovely tradition. The students march past the presidential palace carrying torches and sometimes singing. They all wear white caps, and make their way to Senate Square, in front of their national cathedral. Once they have all arrived, there is a program of speeches and music. One song, written by Jean Sibelius (a famous Finnish composer) was immediately familiar to me! It is one of my favorite hymns, known to me as "Be Still, My Soul." It was an inspiring performance, so I recorded it, and have pasted it below. (I was talking, but you can't really hear what I'm saying. However, if you hear me call this building the Senate building, I was wrong. It's a cathedral.)

I ate reindeer... and liked it!

2008-12-02T19:20:00.002+02:00

Despite my colleagues teasing me that I was eating Rudolph (a blatant lie), I decided that it would be a crime to be in Finland and not try one of their local specialties: reindeer. So at dinner one night I ordered the reindeer entree, and I am here to tell you that it was delicious! I thought it might be the sauce they used (which was also amazing), but the next day I was served a reindeer sandwich at the conference I am attending, and it was also good! So, when you get the chance, try the reindeer!!

on flying out of vienna

2008-11-30T10:36:00.005+02:00

Today I entered the Vienna International Airport for my first ever departure (to Helsinki for a conference). Here's what I learned: arriving at the airport 2 hours before my flight is completely ridiculous. (Unless today was an exception...)

I arrived at about 8:20 for a 10:30 flight. I checked in (including rearranging my luggage because they weighed my hand luggage and said it was too heavy. Who weighs hand luggage?). I entered the boarding area. I passed through security. I bought a bottle of water and a pretzel. I found my gate and sat down. I looked at the clock and found that it was 9am. 9am!! How is that possible? One must admire the Austrian efficiency... Next time, I'm sleeping in another hour.

birthday shout out

2008-11-23T00:08:00.002+02:00

I just want to give a quick birthday shout out to my sister
Rachel
who is currently proving to all of us that
30 is the age of accomplishment!
I'm so proud of her for all that she is doing right now.
Happy birthday to one of the most amazing women I know!

snow!

2008-11-22T23:49:00.003+02:00

It snowed today! We had a nice rain/wind storm last night, and I thought there might be some snow from that, but it was not to be. I woke up to a cold, blue sky. But by 1pm it had clouded over. It snowed on and off all afternoon. And not the light, fluffy, melt-in-a-minute stuff. This was the heavy, make-a-snowman stuff. I thought of making a snowman, but opted for the warmer entertainment of turning Bijou loose in the stuff. It was her first sight of snow, and it was quite an experience. She raced around sniffing and tasting. When the wind would blow bits of it around she pounced on them. I think she likes it. =)

These are some trees you can see from my balcony. I thought I'd get a photo of the first snow of the year. I think winter is here!

vienna

2008-11-18T11:27:00.002+02:00

i've finally arrived in vienna, though not without some trauma. just a hint: don't leave your passport on the airplane. it is much harder to get into the country. sadly, my passport was never found. happily, in the end they let me in anyway, but not without some difficulty. i don't recommend traveling without a passport. just fyi.

outside of that inauspicious beginning, i am doing well here. i had the weekend to relax and attempt to recover from jet lag. that turned out to be good because the recovery has been really hard - even harder than in bangladesh! i have no explanation for that. except this time i didn't bring any sleeping aids to help with the process. note to self: don't do that again. i needed the help in sleeping through the night, so i could get onto the schedule here. it has been a rough transition, but hopefully it will work out soon.

i started work yesterday, and met most of my coworkers. they all seem like nice people, and i think it will be a good work environment. i also had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Consulate (to apply for a new passport) yesterday. along the way i got to see a lot of the city. it is beautiful, and i can't wait to explore more. the Christmas markets opened last weekend, so i have good motivation to get out and explore by going to them!

blog background

2008-11-10T23:13:00.002+02:00

I have recently had blog envy of all the people who know how to make cute backgrounds. Thanks to TheCutestBlogOnTheBlock.com, I am now one of those people. This new background is free from them, along with great instructions on how to make it happen. Yay!

one of those quiz things

2008-11-10T18:49:00.006+02:00

I love these things - just a fun opportunity to share a little about myself. My brother says he hates them because they are so superficial. But whatever.

10 Years Ago I...
1. was serving as a missionary in the Canada Toronto East Mission.
2. was half way through my Bachelor's degree.
3. opened my first internet based email account (which is still my main account because i can't face the headache of changing email addresses).
4. wrote a letter home to my family every week (now we use Skype).
5. shook the hand of Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

5 Things on today's "to do" list...
1. finish organizing for the packers
2. watch the packers while they work
3. take a nap (#1 took me until 5:30am, and the packers came at 9:30am)
4. take Bijou for a walk
5. post a blog

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire...
1. pay off debts
2. invest in property
3. become the nanny for my sister's kids, since I wouldn't need any money
4. hire somebody to manage my money (because I am appallingly bad at it)
5. travel the world

5 places I have lived...
1. Utah, USA
2. Ontaria, Canada
3. Feng Yuan, Taiwan
4. Le Vesinet, France
5. Dhaka, Bangladesh
and soon to be: Vienna, Austria

5 jobs I have had...
1. receptionist for the BYU English Department
2. English teacher
3. nanny for a French family
4. Customer Relations Manager at a car dealership
5. Electronic Mail Sorting for the U.S. Postal Service

As a bonus, I have a funny video of Bijou playing with her mirror reflection (who she doesn't see often).

Fall Leaves 2

2008-10-15T04:07:00.003+03:00

My friends Randy and Anne invited me to go with them to see the leaves, and I couldn't pass up the chance - despite my aversion to hiking. Lucky for me, it wasn't really a hike. Just a climb up a hill that their 2-year-old son Sam was able to do. And I made it, too. Whew!

This is headless Randy racing up the hill with their dog, Stella, and my Bijou.

Me, Anne, Sam, Bijou (hiding behind Sam), and Stella at the top of the hill. We are snacking on Goldfish - yum.

The view from the top of the hill. Isn't it lovely?

I also love to see the colors up close. They are so amazingly vibrant.

This is the pumpkin patch we walked past. We saw some kids going to pick their own pumpkins.

This was one of my favorite sights. There is this vine that grows up the trees, and the leaves on the vine were a brilliant red, making a fabulous contrast to the still-green leaves of the tree.

Welcome to the World!

2008-09-30T00:59:00.002+03:00

I just wanted to post a welcome to my newest nephew Ian River.

You can learn more about him and his arrival at Marielle's blog.

mel's dinner

2008-09-25T04:55:00.002+03:00

it was the last night before mel left for madagascar, so we decided to go somewhere special. we went to a fabulous moroccan restaurant, Marrakesh, where we ate a delicious meal, watched a fun belly-dancing show, chatted with and had our picture taken by the owner (which he said he'd put on the website, but i couldn't find it there), and generally had a great time. thanks for giving us this opportunity, mel! enjoy madagascar, and keep us posted on your new adventures.

DC in the fall

2008-09-24T19:50:00.000+03:00

I saw my first real hint of leaves turning red today, and I was so excited! I am loving the weather here - cool and crisp. It's like Dhaka in January, but not humid. I love it. Maybe I'll get some fabulous pictures and post them here.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

2008-08-13T16:14:00.002+03:00

I saw this on my cousin's blog, and I thought it was a fun idea. So I'm subjecting you to it as well.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Despite the instructions in #2, I don't actually care if you post this on your blog, but it should be fun to see the responses. Thanks to all those willing to participate!

The Foundation for a Better Life

2008-07-16T19:43:00.003+03:00

When the billboards sponsored by this organization started coming out, I loved them. I still love them. They inspire me. I love to see, mixed in with the advertisements, these billboards that give you a moment's pause to contemplate the values they talk about. I feel better by just seeing them. Then one day, I saw my favorite one ever:

And so I have this to say to you:

Live Your Dreams.

Pass It On.

Road Trip to Arizona

2008-07-03T19:33:00.005+03:00

My mom and I went on a road trip to visit my sister and her family in Arizona. Along the way we stopped at some of the places that I wanted to see, and we had a great trip.

Our first stop was in Las Vegas. We got there about 9:30pm, so only had a couple of hours to spend seeing the sights. We decided to go to the Paris Las Vegas, where we went up in the Eiffel Tower and could see the strip for miles. Across the street was the Bellagio, and we got to see part of the light and water show from the tower.

It was great. We caught the next show from the ground as we were making our way over to go inside the Bellagio. What a beautiful hotel they have! You could be entertained for days just visiting all the shops and galleries inside there. I went because I wanted to see the glass ceiling designed by Chihuly. It was awesome to see it in person.

I decided that I needed to share this photo because it is so fun. It was a sweet shop specializing in chocolate. As far as I can tell, the cakes, and the dress of the woman are made from chocolate. It was as sweet for the eyes as it would have been for the tongue.

From Las Vegas we drove over Hoover Dam. We didn't have time to stop and tour, but I did get to take this picture. What an amazing system they have set up there.

Hoover Dam was a quick stop on our way to the Grand Canyon. We didn't spend a lot of time in the park, but we stopped at several view points along the way and I took plenty of pictures. It was the Grand Canyon Lite Tour. My mom was so great to go along with my crazy ideas that extended our road trip from 12 hours to about 20 hours. I had a great time.

While we were in Arizona we went to the Frank Lloyd Wright house (now an architecture school) Taliesin West. That was amazing. The house is interesting, the scenery is desert beautiful, and the art they have is fabulous.

I especially loved the sculptures by Heloise Crista. This one is called "Solar Wind."

While visiting my sister, we celebrated my nephew's 2nd birthday. This is him making his debut as a sports prodigy with his new bat and ball. Amazingly, he hit the first 5 balls thrown to him. He wasn't able to maintain that average, but we continue to believe he is a prodigy.

On the way back from Arizona my mom and I traveled through Cedar Breaks National Park. It was stunningly beautiful, and wonderfully cool. I even saw a last bit of snow that was not yet melted.

I loved these rock formations because they look like towers on a castle, but were actually formed by nature, and not by man. Nature is an amazing creator, as I saw abundantly on this trip. I love this corner of the world.

Beautiful Utah

2008-06-13T04:21:00.011+03:00

I'm home with my family, and loving it. I've stayed busy every day except today, where I spent the day reading "Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague," the 3rd book in a fantasy series by Brandon Mull. I love the series, and find these books to be on par with the Harry Potter books.

Here are a couple of pictures I've promised.

This is my darling Bijou playing (fighting?) with her sister Bindi. Aren't they so cute together? They chase each other all over the house and attack like their lives depend on it. Luckily nobody got hurt.

This is the painting I bought. I saw it and loved it and had to have it. It's taller than I am. Getting it home was another issue all together.

This is the painting in my car. It took about 10 minutes to get it into the car and situated so I could drive home. It took about 25 minutes for me to figure out how to get it out once I was home. Thankfully, no damage was done throughout this adventure.

packing for the move

2008-05-26T20:27:00.004+03:00

I am in the middle of two days of packing in preparation for my move. This is the final step. I have spent the past month getting ready to pack and move.

First, I had to buy the things I've been planning to buy "sometime before I leave." This included getting couch covers made, which turned out fabulous. My next place is going to be beautifully dressed. It also included buying a set of china, which is gorgeous. White round plates with pearlescent rims. I forgot to take a photo, and the china is packed, so you'll have to take my word for how lovely it is.

I also knew that there were things that I wanted to get rid of, so I organized a community garage sale. I've got a box of things that will be finding new homes next weekend.

Probably the hardest part was trying to figure out what to put in my air freight. I get 250 lbs. that will be with me for the next six months, before I arrive in Vienna and can receive the rest of my household goods. As I was organizing my house I kept throwing things into the box - things that I can't live without (like the sweaters that I'll need before I get to Vienna), things that will make my time away from my household goods more comfortable (over the door racks, two pictures of family, a few games and books, etc), kitchen items that I am sure won't be provided (my Pampered Chef chopper and garlic press with which I can make an amazing crab dip in 10 minutes)... You get the idea. Imagine trying to take the items in your house that you need to be happy and comfortable for six months. It is a challenge. When the movers arrived today I showed my box of air freight items to the supervisor, and he said something reminding me that it can only be 250 lbs. Not looking good for me. That will get packed tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.

In the three days before the packers came I spent a total of 42 hours organizing, filing, shredding, packing my suitcases (so I know what not to send in the boxes - and so I don't save more than will fit in the suitcases), and generally getting exhausted so that by the time I was actually packing the suitcases (a task I saved for last - maybe not my best idea) I kept walking from room to room following stray thoughts, forgetting to turn off lights, changing tasks in the middle so that I could not keep up with what I had done and what I hadn't. I'm a little worried that I may have put all my socks in the suitcase, but no underwear. Well, it's not quite that bad, but there is some concern about my state of mind while packing. It will be interesting to open the suitcases and find out what, at 3am, I thought needed to travel with me. A task which I will be doing shortly. But I just wanted to take a minute to share all of this.

Oh, and one last thing. I cannot say enough good things about the Homebound crew who have been doing the packing. All of the items are packed with extreme care, but they are also efficient. They were here for 7 hours today, and packed about 75% of my house. It was amazing. They will finish tomorrow, and it will all be put into a crate later this week. Today my house is looking empty and full at the same time - none of my things are in their proper place (except in the kitchen which is what is left to pack), but there are huge piles of boxes all over taking up space. Soon my apartment will not be mine anymore. Instead it will be the shell of my apartment - a space to stay in until I leave.

This is, I know, the hardest part of moving on: the actual fact of moving on. The preparations, the packing, and the saying goodbye to the life you've been living. It is always a bittersweet experience for me. I love the opportunity to move on to a new adventure: new people to meet, new places to explore, new opportunities to expand my horizons. But it means leaving the people I've met and come to love here, leaving this place which has been my home for two years, and leaving all the opportunities here - both those I've taken advantage of, and those I haven't.

Well, I'm tired (in case the rambling didn't tip you off), so I'll close for now. But stay tuned for a blog about the beautiful painting I bought last week. I did manage to take photos of that before the packing extravaganza began.

Picking up speed...

2008-04-30T08:48:00.002+03:00

I've been waiting for something fabulous to blog about, but nothing has come along. Life is BUSY just now. Work has picked up. Some of my good friends are moving on, so there have been a lot of farewell events. I'm getting ready to move on, so my weekends are full of To Do lists. And I have this MUSICAL, and the rehearsals take up a lot of time! All that combined with the cute new puppy...

Yes, let's talk about the puppy. She is so darling. And I am her favorite. I love it. And I love her. In less than a month, I find myself realizing that leaving every morning is the worst part of my day because I can't take her with me. And going home in the evening is the best part of my day. I now weigh going out in the evenings without her against staying home with her, and find staying home to be winning more than I expected.

Soon I'll put up some pictures of her "playing" with her sister. It is hilarious - and a little terrifying. They go after each other, and look like they are trying to tear the other apart. But so far, no injuries. Thank goodness.

my puppy!

2008-04-06T15:45:00.005+03:00

In January, I began thinking that this living alone thing was just not for me, so I started thinking about getting a dog. After a little research I decided that I wanted a dog that was part poodle, because they are supposed to be good for people with allergies. Because I have many allergies and because I want my mom to keep visiting me, this was important. But I don't particularly like poodles, so I thought a cross-breed would be nice. Something small and cuddly. However, I'm moving a couple of times this year, so I thought I'd wait until I arrive at my new home in Vienna before pursuing the dog idea.

In February I found out that some friends of mine, who have a toy poodle, had puppies available. They had bred their poodle with a Yorkshire terrier, and had turned out the cutest bundles of fur!

In March I decided that since this was pretty much the exact dog I wanted, I should go ahead and try to get one, despite the upcoming moves. So I contacted my friends, and they said they might have one available for me.

In April I got a call that they did have one for me, and I could pick her up when I wanted. So last Thursday I went and collected her from my friends and took her home. I've named her Bijou. See how cute we are?

This was the best picture I got of us both, not because we look so great, but because you can see her eyes. The black eyes often get lost in the black fur.

This is my cute girl walking towards me. I took this picture, and got a nose in the lens seconds later. It was not easy trying to get her to hold still for a picture. She's not trained at all yet, so I have a job ahead of me there. I've been reading all kinds of stuff online to get some tips.

This is my cute girl sitting in my spot on the couch. I move, and she moves into that spot and curls up into the heat.

I'm having so much fun with her, even though training continues to be a mysterious endeavor for me. She is so loving and fun. She follows me all around the house. I even have to stay in the kitchen with her to get her to eat, although yesterday she did keep racing into the kitchen to grab a bit of food, before racing back to where I was and eating it.

She's helping me to create some new habits. She gets me up earlier than is my habit (between 6 and 6:30), so we have time not only to go outside a couple of times, but to eat breakfast together before I have to leave for work. And, of course, she is getting me outside because she needs to be outside several times each day.

Because this is the first pet I've had that lived outside of the water, I find myself in a new culture of Pet Parents. It is a little strange for me that people keep saying things like, "You'll be a great mom" when I tell them I've just adopted a puppy. I don't really consider myself her mom. But I'm working on adjusting to the culture of the puppy parent, and accepting it for the loving culture that it is (although I have always thought that people who were that enthusiastic about their pets were a little strange). I can't see myself ever being like that, but this is a new adventure for me, and it is possible that I will become something different now that I'm in the culture, rather than on the outside looking in.

Shakhari Bazar

2008-03-31T18:38:00.009+03:00

My good friend, Anne, is involved with a group of architects who are trying to encourage preservation of Old Dhaka. Sadly, neglect and the desire to build apartment buildings is eating away at the amazing architecture that has been here for centuries. A couple of weeks ago I went on a walking tour through an area knows as Shakhari Bazar with Anne and her architect friends, and these are some of the pictures I took along the way.

This first picture was more for my memories of life here than anything else. We came into this building, that houses several families, and were looking at the architecture. Meanwhile, below us two women were washing clothes, and this boy was bathing. Interestingly, many people bathe with their clothes on here. I don't know if it is tradition, or a practical aspect of life dictated by not having a space dedicated to bathing. In any case, he was giving himself a thorough rinsing!

While visiting another building this woman went walking by us carrying her water jug. It is another photo that is so representative of life here, I just couldn't resist sharing.

This is an interesting example of some of the architecture here. You can see the arched windows with the round decorations above them - remnants of a former beauty. Also the iron work inside the window comes from another era. But what I loved best about this picture was the contrast from the grey to the turquoise.

This is a small Hindu temple (I think) in the middle of a shopping arcade that has been built up around it. You can't see it well, but the top of the temple has an Om sympol on it. Thankfully the temple has survived thus far, but there are no guarantees.

This last picture is the facade of another Hindu temple. The inside of the temple is being torn out. While they claim to be trying to preserve the facade, you can already see cracks where the loss of support is causing problems. Sadly, for whatever reasons, they haven't taken the necessary precautions to reinforce the facade before gutting the building.

Like in many developing cities, people are coming to Dhaka from the rural parts of the country to find work and a better life, so the demand for apartments is huge. Development is booming right now, and many people are looking to tear down their buildings in order to build apartment buildings, or other structures to help support the growing urban population. All of this is to the detriment of these old buildings. There is not yet much governmental support for any kind of preservation of these buildings for the sake of heritage. If you are interested in learning more about the efforts towards preservation you can contact the Urban Study Group at usg.dhaka@gmail.com or the Friends of Shakhari Bazaar at friendsofsb@gmail.com. They'd love to hear from you!

Little Shop of Horrors

2008-03-17T07:26:00.003+02:00

Our community theater group, Dhaka Stage, is putting on "Little Shop of Horrors" this spring, so I thought I'd try out.

Things I've learned:

1. go to the try outs with a song prepared - and be ready to sing unaccompanied

2. the plant is named Audrey II (not Seymour as I previously thought)

3. everybody should see the movie (1986 version) at least once - did you know that Rick Moranis has a lovely singing voice? you probably did, but it was news to me.

4. i love being cast in the chorus because it takes a lot less time (no lines to learn)

Goodbye Winter

2008-03-16T11:03:00.002+02:00

Well, winter - or rather the coldest it gets here - has officially left us behind. I love the winter here. It is the season that most resembles spring in Utah. The humidity drops. The temperatures hover in the mid-70's. We get those fabulous, sunny days that have just a hint of coolness in the air, and those cool nights that require a jacket for going out. That is my favorite climate.

Now we have moved into the next season: hot. (The seasons in Dhaka: cool, hot, hotter, rainy, hot.) Already the humidity and the temperatures are climbing. Just stepping outside in the daytime causes you to instantly begin to perspire. There is no escaping it - except in the air-conditioned coolness of work and my apartment. Thank goodness for air conditioning - and dehumidifiers.

My Sister's #36!

2008-03-13T05:43:00.003+02:00

This picture of my sister and her two boys was taken almost two years ago, but she hasn't changed a bit! Well - her hair might be shorter - and redder - but other than that she hasn't changed. What she has done is get accepted to the University of Utah Physician's Assistant program, and I am so proud of her I wanted to post it here for everybody to see. Rachel, you rock!

Carpets

2008-02-19T18:37:00.004+02:00

I have recently joined the carpet owning crowd. My first acquisition was a carpet that my uncle and aunts picked out for me and brought back from Nepal. It was perfect, and I was so excited by it. This is the carpet from Nepal.

That fun addition to my house inspired me to get another carpet while I was in India. Aren't they both so beautiful? I am so excited about these two carpets, and the new looks they are adding to my home.

India!

2008-02-19T17:58:00.013+02:00

Oh, that far distant, and exotic land of India!

Well, it's not really that far, nor that exotic, from Bangladesh, but it was a great visit. We flew in to Delhi on a Thursday, and arrived at the bed & breakfast we were staying at (owned by the father of a friend) just before lunch time. We spent the afternoon leisurely wandering around the area and doing some shopping. The evening was a nice visit in the garden of the B&B. Little did we know, that was the last moment of relaxation we would get for the next 3 days.

On Friday we did a day long tour of New and Old Delhi, beginning with the largest mosque in India. I loved this picture I took because of the birds - there were pigeons EVERYWHERE. And you weren't allowed to wear shoes inside the gates of the mosque, so there I was getting pigeon poop all over my socks first thing in the morning. Thankfully, they sell socks for the bargain price of 50 rupees (about $1.50). They must make bank on that little racket!

I have a fascination with arches and columns, and taking photos through them. I really liked the below photo of the north gate of the mosque.

Our next stop was the Raj Ghat, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi that marks the spot of his cremation. Our visit here sparked a discussion on where the first eternal flame was lit. I've since learned (from Wikipedia) that the eternal flame on John F. Kennedy's grave was the first lit to honor an individual. Apparently, the eternal flame here was added later, although Wikipedia did not know when that was.

Following the Raj Ghat, we visited the Qutb Minar and it's surrounding monuments, which were build in the early 13th century. The Qutb Minar is the tallest brick minaret in the world. The minaret and the surrounding monuments, including two mosques, were made from bricks taken from 20 Brahman temples.

This picture is just cool. The monk was there meditating, with his blue crocs sitting below him.

After a few more stops on Friday, we finally returned to our B&B at 7:30p.m. We dragged ourselves out for dinner, then to bed so we could be ready to leave for the Taj Mahal at 5:30a.m.!

Here are two fun photos from the Taj Mahal. I tried to get a decent self-portrait, but after about 15 tries, this was the best. It's not great, but it does show off my new haircut nicely!
I loved this other picture. Apparently they don't turn on the fountains very often - only on special occasions. Since we were there, they were turning them on. Just kidding. The Prime Minister of Fiji (or something like that) arrived not long after we did, so they turned on the fountains for his visit. So, in order to turn on the fountains, the gardener had to go put the fountain heads on each of the fountains. That is just so classically South Asian!

I loved the Taj Mahal. It is amazingly beautiful - especially up close. I have to say that seeing it from the entry gate was actually anti-climactic. I've seen so many pictures - it is so famous - it didn't seem like anything new. Until you get up close. Then you can see the amazingly intricate carvings and the stunning inlay of the gems and precious stones. Below is an upclose picture of some of that inlay.

I learned at an inlay shop later in the day that the carnelian stone is actually transparent, so when you put a flashlight up to it, you can see it glowing. That is pretty cool.

This is the Agra Fort - used, as far as we can tell, as more of a home for the reigning moghul, and as a prison for Shah Jahan, who build the Taj Mahal, when his son overthrew him. Though we asked, our guide was not able to tell us if it had ever been called upon to function as a fort.

This is the section that Shah Jahan was imprisoned in. We could see the Taj Mahal from here, but it was a hazy day, so the view wasn't great.

Last, we visited the Fatipur Sikri - another pleasure palace as far as I could tell. This view was near the living quarters. I don't know if this was meant for a bath, or just for a view, but it is lovely. We were here in the late afternoon, and it was lovely. I think we all would have enjoyed some time to just wander around, but it was not to be. We had a 5 hour bus ride ahead of us to get back to Delhi. We arrived in Delhi at about midnight, completely exhausted.

To bring a crazy ending to this trip, our tour people picked us up at 8:30am for a 12:30pm flight departure. We were at the airport by 9:15am, checked in by 9:45am, and through security by 10:15am, which left us more than 2 hours of sitting around in one of the only airports in the world that doesn't have any shopping (they are really missing an opportunity here - I think we all would have succumbed to the boredom and spent some money). We finally boarded at 12:00pm, then sat on the plane waiting for who knows what until 1:00pm. I made it back to my home at around 5:00pm, where I crashed for the evening! But all in all, it was a great trip.

The Hinckley Challenge

2008-02-04T09:51:00.000+02:00

In honor of Gordon B. Hinckley, late president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one person has suggested reading The Book of Mormon in 97 days (the age at which President Hinckley passed away). There is a website to participate in this effort, and an opportunity to chart your progress - even post it on your blog (which I have done - one way of keeping myself on target is putting it out where all can see). To join the fun go to:

http://www.hinckleychallenge.com/

Huge kudos go to the webmaster for thinking of this challenge, creating the webpage, and sharing with others to help us better ourselves, and come closer to God.

Movie Review

2008-02-04T06:27:00.000+02:00

While traveling between Sri Lanka and Dhaka I watched a movie that I had heard nothing about. (Since I haven't heard anything about any movies for almost 2 years now, this is not a surprise.) "Martian Child" stars John Cusack, Amanda Peet, and Joan Cusack, and was a GREAT movie. It is about a widower who is contacted by an adoption agency he and his wife had been in contact with before she died. There is a boy who claims to be from Mars who needs a lot of love and understanding. John Cusack (who I think is a fantastic actor) does a great job as a man with love to spare, and a desire to help. It is a really touching story, and I highly recommend it.

Sri Lanka

2008-01-27T07:57:00.001+02:00

Right now I'm sitting at a desk in my hotel room looking out onto the ocean, and being extremely thankful for the few days I had to relax before heading into the conference I'm here to attend.

Above is a view of what can be seen from my balcony. At the bottom of the picture you can see the railing from the balcony. It is so beautiful, and the sound of the ocean is so wonderful. I have got to get myself to an assignment by the ocean one of these days. But for now, I'll just have to take vacations where I can walk on the beach.

This is the beach that I walked on, and the hotel I'm staying at. I remembered that I love to walk on the beach, but prefer to swim in pools - sand in the bathing suit is just not fun. But laying on the beach was lovely, and I even picked up a nice collection of broken shells. My obvious fascination for the shells led one clever entrepreneur to bring by a fabulous collection of large and beautiful (not broken) shells for sale. I picked out 3 I liked, and he offered to sell them to me for $18. I had to turn him down, saying I wouldn't pay more than $4. He packed up and left, only to return an hour later offering them to me for $5, because business was slow. I took them, feeling like I really got the good end of the deal - and like he probably still made a decent profit.

And this is one of my photos. I love sunset photos - they look beautiful without any help from the photographer. This is also taken from my balcony, and on the left you can see part of the hotel. That's where the pool is, and also where they showed a movie last night - The Invasion. An action packed movie about aliens taking over the world starring Nicole Kidman. It was made significantly better by the fact that I was sitting on a patio feeling the breeze from the ocean.

Visitors!

2008-01-14T14:59:00.001+02:00

It has been over a month since I have posted anything on my blog, but I plan to make up for it this week, so keep up!

Two weeks ago I had the great opportunity to have my second set of visitors! My Uncle Nick, his wife Nancy, and my Aunt Darlene stopped by in what turned out to be a whirlwind trip. I was so glad that they took a few days to see me. In exchange, I organized a day long tour of Dhaka. It was exhausting, and crowded, but all together a great day. My friend Pat joined us, and we laughed all day long. This is the five of us in front of the Parliament building.

Uncle Nick, Aunt Darlene, me, Aunt Nancy, and Pat

One of the fun parts of our day was the crowds we attracted everywhere we went. This was especially the case at the National Memorial. Below are a few pictures showing this. The first was part of a series of pictures I took - I stood in one place, and took pictures all around me. That is what it was like on each side. A bunch of people gathered and watching like I was a tiger in the zoo about to pounce on my dinner. The second picture I thought was just classic - the looks on the faces of those men are just indescribable. The incomprehensibility of what they are looking at is overwhelming - especially when you know they are looking at you.

a few of our admirers

Several months ago, my parents also came to visit. They stayed for two weeks, and we had such a good time. I am so glad that they were able to come and experience my life for a time. Below is a picture of us while we were in Nepal.

I just want to thank all of them for coming to visit me. The time they have spent with me has been very fulfilling for me, and I have both enjoyed and appreciated it. I love you guys!

Comin' on Christmas

2007-12-22T13:59:00.001+02:00

And because it is coming on Christmas, I put up a tree and decorated. And everyday I find comfort in the flashing colored lights. I don't know what it is about the colored lights, but the glow gives me peace. I could sit on the couch all night and watch the lights chase around the tree. It is just so beautiful!

Additionally, I ran one strand across my piano, where I have pictures of my family on display. Darling photos of my siblings, my siblings-in-law, my nephews and my niece. They make me smile, which makes every day a little better. Put photos and blinking lights - my home decorating is complete. I love it!

Bengali Wedding

2007-12-22T13:39:00.000+02:00

I recently had the opportunity to attend several different functions in conjunction with the wedding of a friend of mine. The first ceremony I attended was the Gaye Holud. As a friend of the bride, I was invited to the one where the bride is welcomed into the groom's family. Below is a picture of my friend, Priyani, in the sari given to her by the groom's family for the occasion. During this ceremony the groom's family take turns feeding the bride some of the sweets in front of her, and putting some turmeric on her. (You can see the orange spot on her forehead where the turmeric was applied. It was wiped off each time, so the color didn't stay.)

I also attended the wedding reception hosted by the bride's family. This is held on the day of the wedding. Over the next 7 days the couple will spend 3 or 4 nights with each of their families, and then the groom's family hosts a reception the following week. Below is a photo of me talking to Priyani. The woman behind her is feeding her. (I'm not sure what the significance of that is.) The man to the left is her new husband.

And finally, a photo of my friends Chris and Luke in their beautiful punjabis, and me in my sari. Aren't we fabulous?

NQR

2007-12-04T07:50:00.000+02:00

It is the theme of my life. Practically a mantra.

I'm sitting at a formal dinner at the Westin Hotel (the newest and nicest hotel in Bangladesh) where the silverware is all placed so nicely, including the dessert spoon above the plate. The waiters remove the dinner plates and silverware, including the dessert spoon. Then they bring out dessert, and a soup spoon to eat it with. I roll my eyes. NQR.

Not Quite Right. It's these little things that remind me I'm in a country where the thinking is so different that even when they try to accomodate the Westerners, it is just Not Quite Right.

I go to our work cafeteria for lunch the day before Thanksgiving, and order the special: turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies, and stuffing. The stuffing is a round chunk, and when I take a bite I taste anise. NQR.

I leave 1000 taka for my housekeeper to go buy some lights for me to use in decorating the Christmas tree. I tell her to just get as many as she can for 1000 taka (about $13). She comes back with 2 strands, and 750 taka (just over $10) in change. NQR.

My friend goes into a china shop, and finds a set of dishes that she loves and wants. They are wrapped together, and have a price tag on top. When she tries to buy them they tell her it's not possible. (This is a common phrase, and it cracks me up - like somehow the thing you've asked for is beyond the realm even of imagination.) The dishes aren't for sale. The price is wrong. Reason after reason. Then they say these dishes are a sample, and she has to order them if she wants them. So she tries to order them. They say it's not possible. (One wonders if they ever manage to sell anything.) NQR.

You're reading this and thinking, "Seriously, it's not that big of a deal." And you're right - the first time. And the second. And the third. But after the 50th or 100th time it is enough to make you crazy. Two years of living in Not Quite Right Land can be overwhelming. Especially because there is no way to solve it, nothing that can be done. It is what it is.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-01T09:05:00.001+02:00

It's officially here! Nobody can accuse me of jumping the gun on holiday spirit once Dec 1 has arrived. Of course, there are no accusations that would keep me from beginning my celebrations early, but that's another story.

Last weekend I put out several of my holiday decorations and started my All Christmas Music All The Time routine. Yesterday I borrowed a Christmas tree from a friend who will be home for the holidays. Today I need to find lights for the tree, then I can decorate it! Tomorrow I will ship off the package of Christmas presents to my family. (Are you all jealous because I'm so on the ball? I won't tell you that it is necessary if they are to get the presents before January 1. Instead you can be so impressed with me.)

All of this, and still, it doesn't FEEL like Christmas. I remember this feeling from the year I was in Taiwan until Dec 22. You may be getting overwhelmed by the canned Christmas music playing everywhere, the store displays encouraging you to show your spirit by dipping into your wallet, and the overwhelming rush of events and activities in addition to your long to do list. But you can be thankful for all the things that bring your attention back to the fact that it is December, and you are preparing to celebrate Christmas. This year I'm missing all of that. Missing the canned music, the crass advertisments, the holiday rush. If you only knew how lucky you are!

Still, my real joy is being with my family, and we are doing all we can this year to be as close as possible. (Webcams - if we can make them work. Tech savvy we are not.) I love Christmas - the sights, the sounds, the feel of it all. So, for me, take a minute to appreciate being surrounded by the season. And if you're not - you and me, we can work together to surround ourselves!

PayPal comment

2007-12-01T09:02:00.000+02:00

Thanks to all those who have offered suggestions. One thing I should clarify: I can't remember if I got an email saying I had a problem with my accoutn - I usually ignore those. My first indication was when I logged on to send money to a friend. I was unable to do it because, after I logged on, I was directed to a page that said my account was frozen. All the fun happened from there. Still no resolution. Urgh.

Marine Ball Again

2007-11-22T08:39:00.000+02:00

Back, due to popular demand!

Because my mom asked, my hair was pulled up, not short, and I tucked some roses into it. These are pictures of the creation I made out of it. I was very happy with how it worked out.

As requested, here's a full-length photo of me in my beautiful ball gown. I was caught on the dance floor here, but it's the only full-length photo I have, so it will have to do. What you can't see is that the top of the dress crosses over in front and ties in back, leaving a bow trailing down. I loved it, and felt beautiful.

Vienna, here I come!

2007-11-22T07:28:00.000+02:00

Late last night, I got my onward assignment. I was dancing around the room when I read in my email that my next home will be Vienna, Austria!

Austria (the pink country in the center) and it's neighbors

geographical map of Austria - Vienna is the red dot in the northeast

Already, I've been online looking up what wonderful things I can see and do in my time there. My head is filled with churches and castles and museums, in addition to the excellent travel opportunities from there. I CAN'T WAIT!

That's made my Thanksgiving fabulous. I hope yours is, too!

Happy Birthday, Rachel

PAYPAL

2007-11-20T06:58:00.000+02:00

So, PayPal. I have loved it from the first time I used it. So clever - pay people without giving out your bank info, or having to wait for checks to clear.

Several weeks ago I got an email from PayPal saying that there was suspected fradulent activity on my account, and it had been frozen subject to my verifying certain info. So, I logged on to the PayPal website, and tried to do just that. To my great frustration, I was unable to update any info until I verified the two methods of payment I had submitted to them. The first was a credit card I registered a couple of years ago. I have since closed the account, and no longer have the card, so was unable to verify the account number. The second was my bank account, which I tried to verify, but it kept telling me that the account number I was giving was incorrect. I know it wasn't, so was quite confused.

Because I wasn't able to verify the information they asked for, I was also unable to make any changes in my contact info or anything else. So I sent them a message in their "Contact us" section asking for advice on a next step. I clarified that I live outside of the US, and am unable to call on their 800 number, and could they give me another number to contact. I heard nothing.

Then I used my phone at work to call the 800 number. (I hate to do that, but felt like there was no other option.) I was on hold for 2 hours waiting to talk to a live body, and finally had to hang up and get on with my work.

So I sent another message through their "Contact us" section, expressing my problems in contacting them, and my frustrations in trying to sort this out. I have still heard nothing.

I have no idea what to do next. I don't know how else to contact them, or how to get help in resolving this problem. I currently cannot use PayPal, because of the freeze on my account. IT IS ALL SO FRUSTRATING!

So I thought I'd share with all of you, and hope for some insight into possible next steps. Any ideas? Suggestions? Because I'm tapped out.

Cyclone Sidr

2007-11-18T08:04:00.000+02:00

Cyclone Sidr came through Bangladesh in all her wrath on Thursday/Friday. As you can see from the map below, the cyclone did not pass directly over Dhaka. Dhaka was the recipient of a huge rain/wind storm which left the city strewn with debris, but mostly unharmed.

Not so for the southern regions of the country. Referring to the map, the dark blue regions were severly affected, the light blue regions were moderately affected. Here at work, we are in full relief effort mode, and working to coordinate our efforts with everybody else. The Red Cross/Red Crescent Society is looking for donations, if you would like to contribute to the relief efforts.

Thanks for the emails checking on my safety. I am fine, and now working to make sure that others will be, too.

Marine Ball 2007

2007-11-12T16:53:00.000+02:00

I'd say we were the belles of the ball, but in fact, we were only some of them. One thing I love about the ball is seeing everybody so dressed up (since we don't do this for each other very often). We were, of course, four shining examples of the belles of the ball.

Durga Puja - Video

2007-11-06T18:42:00.000+02:00

I tried SEVERAL TIMES to get some video from Durga Puja online, and I finally got one to load up the other day, so I hope you appreciate this!!

Big Ugly Bug vs. Big Bleeding Heart

2007-11-06T18:34:00.000+02:00

I was at the tennis courts a couple of days ago, and we suddenly noticed these big, ugly bugs. They were flying around the lights, like all the other bugs, but were much larger. When some landed on the ground near the courts several of us felt the need for a closer inspection. It was great fun - especially the few that landed on their backs, feet wiggling in the air, wings moving in and out from the body as the poor thing tried to turn over. Feeling that I needed to take a photo (with my camera that was at home) I captured one of the beasts and took it home. Then, the going got tough. I realized that it wasn't going to pose for me, and it was TOO CREEPY to simply allow free access to my home, so I locked it in an air tight container and waited for it to die.

Can you believe that? I completely ignored that voice inside me that kept trying to remind me that the only thing the beast had ever done to me was BE BIG AND UGLY. The voice did not prevail - until 24 hours later when I noticed that the poor, big, ugly bug was STILL ALIVE - though not very alive - inside that box. By that time, of course, there wasn't much life left, so the wings were not moving, and the beast couldn't escape me. I took this photo, then put the poor bug outside my door, and hoped it would revive enough to get some food. This morning it was still there looking dead. I think I killed it. And even though that was what I tried to do in the beginning, I feel extremely guilty. Maybe it's the size - I mean, I don't have these sentiments for most bugs. But most bugs aren't 3 1/2 inches long, either! (Just figure out how big that is for a minute - that's longer than my middle finger. Imagine seeing a bug that is longer than your middle finger! It's more like a small animal!) Maybe it is the terrible death it must have died. (After 24 hours it hadn't quite suffocated. It was a fighter.) Whatever the reason, my conscience has won this round, causing me extreme guilt. No more bug catching in my future!

It reminded me of my bull fight experience in Spain. While visiting Madrid with my family, we decided to go to a bull fight. The atmosphere was fun: hot summer night, sitting in an open air arena, eating treats. The toreros were pretty, and fun to watch. Then came the bull. The first (and only) fight I watched, the torero did not win quickly. You see, the goal is for the torero to stab the bull in just the right location, killing it instantly. I suppose, in the middle of this horrible situation, that is the most humane way to go. But only the really good toreros can do it, and only when their strike, and the bull, are in just the right place. Not so on this night. It took the torero several stabs to kill the bull. It was awful, and I cried. I mean, that bull certainly never did him any harm - and furthermore, it never would since they have precautions in place to get the toreros out if something happens. Not that I want the bull to have his chance. I am opposed to the whole thing. I am all for a kinder, gentler world. (Except for mosquitos, who all deserve to die.) The end.

Halloween

2007-11-05T05:48:00.001+02:00

jack-o-lantern

OK, I know you can't tell, but my pumpkin says BOO and has 3 ghosts carved into it. It was really cool!

fairy princess jessica

I made the wings by myself (with gold spray paint provided by a friend). I was quite proud! It was a fun day - the children of my colleagues came and trick-or-treated at work, and they were so cute! Then I went to a party hosted by a friend. It was a great day!

And now, despite what my sister thinks, it is Christmas music time! Actually, I usually start mixing Christmas music into my listening in September, but have not yet felt the pull this year. But the time has definitely come! (I love Christmas music, and definitely think that one month is not long enough to have it playing in my house.) And I have a Christmas tree coming to Dhaka with the household shipment of some friends (hopefully it will get here before the big day...). Nothing but good times ahead! =)

Durga Puja

2007-10-24T15:52:00.000+03:00

Durga Puja is a Hindu celebration of the goddess Durga, a goddess who was created to do battle with a demon who had defeated the gods and was reigning over the heavens and the earth and wreaking havoc. The gods joined their power together and created Durga, a 10-armed woman with the power to defeat this demon. Each year her victory is celebrated.

a statue of Durga

I attended one of the many celebrations in the area. It was so much fun. It took place at a school where the students put on an amazing performance of dances that was just beautiful. I took some video footage, and will try - again - to get some of it loaded so you can see. It was being difficult during my last attempt. In the meantime, you can admire the photo I took of one of the dancers. These dancers did a dance with clay pots filled with burning incense. It was so cool. Fortunately, the performance was outside!

I am so proud of this picture! The costumes are displayed so well, and that girl was looking right at me. It is just so cool!