tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50192279035086843272024-02-20T14:12:59.106-08:00McLErvin' Around the Worldanother foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-9301694797502235362013-04-06T05:36:00.002-07:002013-04-06T05:36:29.836-07:00A summer love affair<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-49516759843486462772013-04-06T05:30:00.001-07:002013-04-06T05:30:16.600-07:00Cousins, adored and missed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-72799328838360764242013-04-06T05:25:00.000-07:002013-04-06T05:25:31.655-07:00The slip'n slide method of reorientation and re-exposureThe foreign service bible of regs, aka the FAM, dictates that we spend a vacation stateside every couple of years in order to "ensure that employees who live abroad for an extended period undergo reorientation and re-exposure in the United States on a regular basis." In other words, they don't want us to stay out for so long we forget who we are and "go native." For the girls, all it took was a little slip'n slide action in the company of their expert cousins to re-integrate. For coach Mike, a frosty mug did the trick.<br />
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another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-49819915177925632862013-04-02T18:03:00.000-07:002013-04-02T18:03:47.332-07:00And this is how it felt....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So this is how I felt about getting out of Guadalajara. I think you feel this way after every tour, whether it was good, bad, or indifferent. Sometimes it's just time to be back in the good ole US of A, which is why the State Department insists on home leave, a mandated vacation within the borders every couple of years. That's me below, inaugurating ours. It's a lot of moving, packing, organizing, pulling up roots, and saying goodbyes. By the time we got the dog out on the overland route via Tijuana, with Mike picking him up at the border to drive north all the way to Seattle to fetch me and the girls, it was a relief. And not really because of "la violencia," as they say, although that was pretty stunning at times. </div>
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Leaving Mexico was bittersweet for us, as both Mike and I have put a lot
of time into Mexico between this tour and our life before the foreign
service. Guadalajara had been his first pick job-wise, and the girls
thrived there. It was hard to see Mexico living through the current moment, and hard to do that in Guadalajara, which is a strange, strange town. That's not to say there's not a lot to recommend about it, dreadful air quality aside. It's considerably more toxic than Mexico City sometimes these days, thanks to Mexico City's green mayors and Guadalajara's conservative ones. </div>
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Guadalajara's famed narco-towers, as every taxi-driver will tell you.<br />
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This time of year makes me long for the city's verdancy, especially its gorgeous flowering trees. Once, when trying to identify them, I googled the name of one (the famed tabachines), and much to my horror, the image of a mutilated body popped up, in the neighborhood of one of our housekeepers, along with many pictures of the tree in question. That's how the narco violence felt, something awful that cropped up out of nowhere, on beautiful sunny days when you least expected it. It never affected us, but it was there, just under the surface, along with the fascinating and creepy devil's compact between Guadalajara's ultra-conservatism and narco-culture. <br />
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Parque Colomos was a daily pleasure, from the jacarandas to the endlessly amusing exercise routines of its patrons. </div>
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This couple was doing a mobile Kundalini-ish routine. I did not laugh out loud on this day. <br />
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Everyone longs for Tonala and Tlaquepaque and the shady patios of the restaurants on a Saturday afternoon once they leave. </div>
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And then there's the artesania, which some say is among the best in the world, but I'll have to verify that as we go along in this life. This one's for Red Bonya. </div>
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Cocktail stick gardens.<br />
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The tree of life, always fascinating in the details. </div>
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A little Sergio Bustamante on display on the main drag of Tlaquepaque.We can't afford him. <br />
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And then there was PV and the Riviera Nayarit. Fortunately, we're going to live on an island in the tropics.<br />
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In the end, it was a great tour. The girls thrived and Mike loved his job. But I was still jumping up and down for joy to hit home leave. More on that to come. <br />
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<br />another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-36408920130527846942013-03-31T06:02:00.000-07:002013-03-31T06:55:10.935-07:00Catching upSo, to play a little catch up on what we've been doing for, wow, almost a year now, here goes. We'll pick the story up last spring, as we started to gear up for the move back to the States. We did a lot of things for the last time in Guadalajara: <br />
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Last Día de la Madre performance, one of the more bizarre yet charming rites at our school.<br />
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Last birthday lonche, this time for Iris, who is a summer baby and did
hers on one of the girls' last days of school. Ruby was the guest of
honor, of course, and yes, Iris is wearing pajamas, as it was pajama day too.<br />
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Last days at the club.</div>
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Last breakfast in our house.<br />
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The hardest of all, last day with Natalia.<br />
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And then we were on the plane.<br />
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And then we were here.<br />
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another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-79451349690536001782013-03-30T14:59:00.003-07:002013-03-30T14:59:39.338-07:00Kite FestivalAfter some false starts, spring felt like it had finally arrived today. We hoofed it to the mall, stopping at the Netherlands Carillon just in time to hear the bells strike noon.<br />
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Then it was across Memorial Bridge to the Mall for the kite festival. We took a quick peek at Abe, but mostly enjoyed the view (and how tall Ruby is). <br />
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A little rainbow pride after this past week seemed fitting. <br />
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Iris enraptured by the sights and sounds of hundreds of people and their kites. <br />
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And then the spring fever really kicked in....<br />
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<br />another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-544280627051384382012-05-03T14:50:00.004-07:002012-05-03T14:50:51.068-07:00Sun, sand, sea, smiles in San Pancho<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-50335125147213807092012-04-19T09:10:00.000-07:002012-04-19T09:10:40.776-07:00Buenos días, gardenias.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjlpTYJXvOeJEEJXs8XW_bpRQFFYTRcYxyjBo4K8dIbTY4V8MLGyTj6H0rqnYi9LZi8ebp26wvZ799VLc9C8QLIZD2sOOhuSAomqs93YhtdrlD0rtRpiv3Ca9UPaMXJpwFXwU2jpCNLk/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjlpTYJXvOeJEEJXs8XW_bpRQFFYTRcYxyjBo4K8dIbTY4V8MLGyTj6H0rqnYi9LZi8ebp26wvZ799VLc9C8QLIZD2sOOhuSAomqs93YhtdrlD0rtRpiv3Ca9UPaMXJpwFXwU2jpCNLk/s400/015.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-6000365110144792512012-03-23T19:29:00.000-07:002012-03-23T19:29:22.578-07:00Festival de primavera<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEite4siuYNO32Uyi0QBFmm14EXvcIRYMus_qDIVaZUsN3rq_U-XTDtxIJQxh2JwnY6b2cifk0OTHE3JSU9B4qIN1Ayi4q1LYEeJyLaKE03n9A1xPFtBy8uL_ZVD1pmXIpxKHjD4tM7Txsg/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEite4siuYNO32Uyi0QBFmm14EXvcIRYMus_qDIVaZUsN3rq_U-XTDtxIJQxh2JwnY6b2cifk0OTHE3JSU9B4qIN1Ayi4q1LYEeJyLaKE03n9A1xPFtBy8uL_ZVD1pmXIpxKHjD4tM7Txsg/s400/010.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3hQAikzd7uA-I2bMDN5tfgFSD5OmUhlyFFh3iEQsjBc3tQaFcQMqR6fg8apKq9GLuCGHRGFcU9jX_TMRxAnwOnazKATomqhZm7upc0Uo5J8GrQRQPQ0oR4jpz9Z4HELOMq65xlLapdfA/s1600/093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3hQAikzd7uA-I2bMDN5tfgFSD5OmUhlyFFh3iEQsjBc3tQaFcQMqR6fg8apKq9GLuCGHRGFcU9jX_TMRxAnwOnazKATomqhZm7upc0Uo5J8GrQRQPQ0oR4jpz9Z4HELOMq65xlLapdfA/s400/093.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>We had our spring festival at school today, which was a riot of color and random costumes and sugar. Our girls went as fairy princess butterflies, of course. Iris worked the crowd as usual, with both her entrance and with the wagon. It could be rough for her to go back to the states where she no longer garners special attention just for being blonde. Ruby made the rounds with her new teacher. That transition had meant a couple of rough weeks a while back--there was clearly a new sheriff in town who cracked down on the chit chatting and demanded a little more work but Rub seems to have come around and now loves her and school with a little more enthusiasm these days too. Naturally the whole affair ended with paletas (popsicles), as what would any sort of kid party here be without a massive infusion of sugar?another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-16658122254838181302012-03-21T14:12:00.000-07:002012-03-21T14:12:52.061-07:00Baby fever<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaHYFjHSDSfIZ2MeofU-6HvaOnKQ2K2D0u7pOSOUAUYcsOruc_xquIU-tSlr7pNPTt7YWmiF2Ni06lc2_yoIFDRULekXDe7Tt8CLm3EzgElsNpW_MqU4sAor9pBMyzAUwCh5NNA7TtlY/s1600/245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaHYFjHSDSfIZ2MeofU-6HvaOnKQ2K2D0u7pOSOUAUYcsOruc_xquIU-tSlr7pNPTt7YWmiF2Ni06lc2_yoIFDRULekXDe7Tt8CLm3EzgElsNpW_MqU4sAor9pBMyzAUwCh5NNA7TtlY/s400/245.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
We've been in the midst of a minor baby boom, with new little ones here, in Portland, Pittsburgh, Brasilia, and several more on the way around the world (we are not participating, by the way). Iris takes all these events very seriously, asking to touch the babies even when they are thousands of miles away, as she does not fully grasp the mystery of a picture versus the real thing. What she really wants is to give all those new mamas a break by putting the babies in her belly, as she frequently announces, and on this day, modeled. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaXhc9lH2JtI47MyQt0XUti6I_s9juss1QOPKOmJis98LZ_Kw91wOuLKkiBUHkhm1JMko3AimI3E6qGBhyrUFVT1v04aSivbMv7a53gynU-6VlvT0llhCkqerrmgDkMmr1PyRYXEdhtHE/s1600/246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaXhc9lH2JtI47MyQt0XUti6I_s9juss1QOPKOmJis98LZ_Kw91wOuLKkiBUHkhm1JMko3AimI3E6qGBhyrUFVT1v04aSivbMv7a53gynU-6VlvT0llhCkqerrmgDkMmr1PyRYXEdhtHE/s400/246.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-71346810678700833782012-03-21T11:23:00.000-07:002012-03-21T11:23:16.921-07:00Poolside<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAIB4IXwc5UEyfBZEFSFrwZsGyqATvXBMfIEyo5QGqUo2VUB6-JwMYh2RzO5de2YxKfs9_qW3mwyTtU4w4GPa0pejfaliKPyO8quSYhQ8eBrOnIBRu510Lxfq1Sv31s61sLfvFVrdpwY/s1600/258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAIB4IXwc5UEyfBZEFSFrwZsGyqATvXBMfIEyo5QGqUo2VUB6-JwMYh2RzO5de2YxKfs9_qW3mwyTtU4w4GPa0pejfaliKPyO8quSYhQ8eBrOnIBRu510Lxfq1Sv31s61sLfvFVrdpwY/s400/258.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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Winter lasted exactly one week, sometime back in January, I think. We had rain and temps in the delicious 60s during the day that week, but it didn't keep us out of the pool for long. And now spring has sprung, in the sense that the amazing trees of this town are flowering and we're headed from the upper 80s into the 90s within the coming weeks. Our hottest months upon us, with April and May sure to be scorching, so we're doing a lot of swimming these days, along with a lot of post-swim snacking as well.another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-51605921707508449552012-03-21T11:11:00.000-07:002012-03-21T11:11:30.947-07:00Bikes!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZRZEcFixIRT_QRksf58Hd7Zlwajw8NxdXbQnvmq5DJE0Gg0SDfQ2QSkkWgpBKJgLvRoYxfSBKOgGd_EKdISnbrH59Jri3lphDrO81_DjDHKfr_m-O3IDiRXelxRtEAw5uPlOx-_VHWY/s1600/240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZRZEcFixIRT_QRksf58Hd7Zlwajw8NxdXbQnvmq5DJE0Gg0SDfQ2QSkkWgpBKJgLvRoYxfSBKOgGd_EKdISnbrH59Jri3lphDrO81_DjDHKfr_m-O3IDiRXelxRtEAw5uPlOx-_VHWY/s400/240.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
It's not easy to ride bikes around here, as the sidewalks tend to be a bit unpredictable and our gorgeous neighborhood park does not allow them (or dogs, sadly, but all with good reason as it would be chaos). Ruby, who has always felt the need for speed, took off her training wheels recently and is zooming around some fairly tight turns with more and more confidence (you'll notice our lovely babysitter protecting the neighbors' car with a floatie above as Ruby worked on making it around the palm tree). Iris, who is generally the more confident and dare-devilish of the two, is going to take some coaching to get her on wheels, but she'll get there soon.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0CgoBUmGVRNe58XE2fcIoPoOIYaGG28NuXmPcgbmFDhnzYMDAK76IZZXUliUEECkFxNFSpF-LXgLXkcE-tey59QOLqkp4oyceS-yhEgYbYw036pnYM-W4S74owvd57OCANMxSu_NVC4/s1600/216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0CgoBUmGVRNe58XE2fcIoPoOIYaGG28NuXmPcgbmFDhnzYMDAK76IZZXUliUEECkFxNFSpF-LXgLXkcE-tey59QOLqkp4oyceS-yhEgYbYw036pnYM-W4S74owvd57OCANMxSu_NVC4/s400/216.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-27204943987225803472012-03-20T16:10:00.000-07:002012-03-20T16:10:40.982-07:00The blue series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVdvLm15ky8Sp_-ySmiPwB9QcQ7-IMD0e0YPKBTyyHsWMXPdVIcAA6x9C-qndvooQqaCou01lwlOtD1ubLjsCortZ08gY4W8jKrCpj681ZPc-6XrijADCTIpCtU-Oz0ODFl-jgRoT3ec/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVdvLm15ky8Sp_-ySmiPwB9QcQ7-IMD0e0YPKBTyyHsWMXPdVIcAA6x9C-qndvooQqaCou01lwlOtD1ubLjsCortZ08gY4W8jKrCpj681ZPc-6XrijADCTIpCtU-Oz0ODFl-jgRoT3ec/s400/011.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYfgEYcv5Ar3KhhNXYNVtvrd_X6jXT6CESlHE0FrHWBKRdwpA-PQGrq69G1cGjFZ33Rsd6XG8mY7oMB_Fr5umH_MGG31Sacu6idsFb_7ji5D6wsYTaDFLnJEWg10F2uuD77MbfZghUJpA/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYfgEYcv5Ar3KhhNXYNVtvrd_X6jXT6CESlHE0FrHWBKRdwpA-PQGrq69G1cGjFZ33Rsd6XG8mY7oMB_Fr5umH_MGG31Sacu6idsFb_7ji5D6wsYTaDFLnJEWg10F2uuD77MbfZghUJpA/s400/009.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-49333457897781243462012-03-20T15:51:00.000-07:002012-03-20T15:51:28.381-07:00Breakfast boat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1eL4AnRGNvnMdqFh63-0hvLEnzyycGgeuSmzvlj5pnnAJ8B9Qch3fpfGBpEHRFGsseUQna2HZCyymtTd0do63soDMtRTmukPiyuWc-3X-jUlhJFQr4vuJQRFx2-W4vxcUpX3XyCoxBw/s1600/318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1eL4AnRGNvnMdqFh63-0hvLEnzyycGgeuSmzvlj5pnnAJ8B9Qch3fpfGBpEHRFGsseUQna2HZCyymtTd0do63soDMtRTmukPiyuWc-3X-jUlhJFQr4vuJQRFx2-W4vxcUpX3XyCoxBw/s400/318.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-35231969163074983382012-03-12T15:30:00.000-07:002012-03-12T15:30:16.269-07:00Our little narco-eventWe had a little narco-event last Friday, involving a military operation in which several (hopefully) key leaders of the local cartel were caught. Cartel members retaliated, with the intent of both sending a message and offering some distraction, with well over a dozen blockades throughout the city and some of the main highways (meaning they hijacked buses, semis, and whatever other vehicles they could get their hands on and set them on fire--very few were hurt or killed, thankfully). There were also some incidents involving grenades, but no one appears to have been injured. The consulate went into lockdown, the phone lines were in and out, and I got my first ride in a "blindado" (an armoured vehicle). The choppers continued circling through the night and following days but things had actually settled down by late afternoon last Friday. While I wouldn't say it's been calm here in GDL, if one actually reads the news and thinks about what the narco-related murder rate must be running these days, we haven't had anything even approaching this scale in quite some time, if ever. News of Chapo sightings have already pushed GDL out of the national news cycle and the international media didn't even really bother, what with the mess in Syria and the ongoing tragedy that is Afghanistan. I wouldn't cancel that vacation to Mexico lindo, by the way. Of the millions of tourists who visit this country each year but a handful find themselves in narco-related problems and with a few tragic exceptions it's not generally by coincidence but you might want to stay away from Los Mochis. another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-38686018998436580062011-12-23T11:40:00.000-08:002011-12-23T12:08:28.347-08:00Santa in GDL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGgO4Nyz5Xl6aup48XNq9AFqmX9OhOfaFXrNvwcgUV2mQJug1Ktu4vCntSuOAOIkYRr-vTJV7Z0pfxyMedA52HJznSqGmA1DoUUCjLJVQHdug4f5gsqyjuxBmbOjeGPqmXFi6L1zXyeQ/s1600/045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGgO4Nyz5Xl6aup48XNq9AFqmX9OhOfaFXrNvwcgUV2mQJug1Ktu4vCntSuOAOIkYRr-vTJV7Z0pfxyMedA52HJznSqGmA1DoUUCjLJVQHdug4f5gsqyjuxBmbOjeGPqmXFi6L1zXyeQ/s400/045.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>It was a leaner but not meaner Santa this year who came to visit during this year's posada, which caused some skepticism from Ruby at first. She took one look at those scrawny legs and called the bluff. Iris went straight to his lap, however, and her older sister, once she realized that Iris might dominate the negotiations, took her turn cheerfully too. By then, Santa had retucked his pants into his boot tops, which didn't hurt either. Santa was sweet and gentle and we really appreciate him coming to Guadalajara. Ruby recently suggested that maybe Santa would like some carrots and celery instead of cookies on Christmas Eve, as he must get a little tired of cookies that night. She seemed to buy the story regarding the skinny legs and lack of belly that maybe Santa had thought a little bit about his health and started eating better this past year. The trickier questions of late involve exactly where he parked his reindeer the day of the posada.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsR8J6mTRW4eMED-3X6FySQtRnssURPsUHv60ooh90rqVdwMm8EgSJ-F2TGfrCY-un69A2vVI_O1F9SvsvHREmWdcEGuSzir_aWj84RY-6JW8tHeBnMI7sra3wnsuF4tw2LKlZVN3Q_FU/s1600/101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsR8J6mTRW4eMED-3X6FySQtRnssURPsUHv60ooh90rqVdwMm8EgSJ-F2TGfrCY-un69A2vVI_O1F9SvsvHREmWdcEGuSzir_aWj84RY-6JW8tHeBnMI7sra3wnsuF4tw2LKlZVN3Q_FU/s400/101.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-36096715431741867262011-12-20T13:23:00.000-08:002011-12-20T13:23:39.303-08:00The turtle warsChalk one up for the school on the turtle wars. Let's hope it doesn't end in a lawsuit in which their small victory becomes a huge defeat. Guess what they gave out at the end of our school's Christmas posada? Nasty little salmonella carrying turtles. Those of you who have long memories and have actually read this blog over the course of our tour here know that I've been on the warpath about the turtles before with our school. The sale of turtles with shells of less than four inches in width has been prohibited since 1975 because, yes, they carry salmonella. The bacteria apparently flourishes naturally on their skin and shells. A cursory search online will yield the news of various salmonella outbreaks in recent years in the U.S. that have been traced back to turtles. When Iris first began attending, our school had turtles in an open tank in the babies' classroom. Granted, we were not in the U.S., but a health regulation that has stood the test of time for forty years there (and numerous salmonella outbreaks have been traced back to turtles in the U.S., in spite of the ban) might be worth considering when one, you are a school that desperately wants more foreign, and especially English-speaking students, and two, you've got a mother of just such students who patiently explains why it's not a good idea, over and over again. It took me the better part of six months to convince them to remove the little beasts. At the time, I explained to no less than three administrators, including the owners of the school, why allowing bite size turtles in an preschool classroom was a bad idea. I was clear. I was concise. I was polite but insistent, in both languages no less. They understood. Or at least I thought they did, until they took the remarkably irresponsible action of giving away the gods only know how many turtles today. And to make matters worse, in a moment of parental panic (not wanting the girls to be upset, not wanting to appear ungrateful after all the work the school's teachers had put into the posada, which was great, and just generally not wanting to be those disagreeable gringos), we took two turtles home. By the time we had gotten to the house, tremendous remorse and utter despair at what idiots we were and not a small amount of annoyance with the school had set in and we had decided that the turtles were not staying. The girls, ironically, did not seem to care one way or another. After all, we have a huge dog who is ultimately a lot more interesting, entertaining, and affectionate than a reptile could ever be. Those fearing the worst for the turtles should be reassured. Mike headed back to work with plans to dump the turtles at the school with apologies and a subtly phrased reminder that they were not the healthiest of gifts for a preschool to give out, but our door guy already has two and wanted to expand the turtle family. Happy ending. We also avoided an awkward moment with the school's administration at the end of a very nice day on which we would prefer to appreciate their hard work. But yes, you might guess that I am secretly hoping that someone from the school sees this (I have a feeling they take a peek every once in a while, especially after last year's politically incorrect posada). So if you're family or a friend or someone in the FS or thinking about the FS who is curious about our life or just one of our stalkers, you can probably stop reading right here. If, however, you happen to be someone from the school, you should click on the links below and learn about salmonella. I know you can read English if you've gotten this far, so do it, for the sake of the children you take care of at your otherwise quite wonderful school, and also for the sake of the pregnant moms and grandparents and anyone with a compromised immune system. Salmonella can at the very least make one miserable and in the worst case scenario, it can kill. And there are enough food-borne illnesses in this country that we should take the precautions to eliminate another factor, especially among a vulnerable population like our children. Take a look at these sites to learn more:<br />
<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/spotlight_an_turtles.htm">Center for Disease Control Healthy Pets</a><br />
or<br />
<a href="http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/guidancecomplianceenforcement/complianceenforcement/ucm090573.htm">US Food & Drug Administration Salmonella and Turtle Safety</a><br />
And while I'm ranting, I bet there will be a lot of little turtle deaths within the coming weeks as a result of this ill-conceived gesture, accidental and otherwise. The directions for care that came with them were inadequate and while a turtle is not an expensive or difficult pet to maintain, asking parents in this economy, in this country, to lay out the cash for an appropriate tank, rocks, a filter, etc., a week before Christmas, knowing that half those families will go on vacation, was just not smart. I don't care for them, but they are living creatures after all. another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-67720222878640460812011-12-11T07:27:00.000-08:002011-12-11T07:27:32.390-08:00Iris in her Tapatia tacones<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv42zFhWe4piW9M017_m8zrMMfooA9cgocE7ch3rawUFkvMRkrzie3HjuFgmrGbwi-gZaeVyi7tE5fRlWuU-hqJpFIPLGFcxSSy9OVLexL8sB5_5mG1BtIJ_pQWAYaH0-gacpQQecbDas/s1600/104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv42zFhWe4piW9M017_m8zrMMfooA9cgocE7ch3rawUFkvMRkrzie3HjuFgmrGbwi-gZaeVyi7tE5fRlWuU-hqJpFIPLGFcxSSy9OVLexL8sB5_5mG1BtIJ_pQWAYaH0-gacpQQecbDas/s400/104.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>You know your daughter has been living in Guadalajara too long when she dons loads of jewelry, the obligatory shades and her "tacones," or high heels for any outing. She can even run in the heels, which is more than most Tapatias can do, but that may be a reflection of her rather more practical heel height, coming in at a whopping inch rather than the six inch stripper styles favored by the local ladies. The panda bear instead of the Gucci bags also seems like a wise choice for the fashion forward toddler.another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-63208051244560642692011-09-09T08:05:00.000-07:002011-09-09T08:05:42.887-07:00Colombo 2013!In the midst of R&R, the chaos of visiting with family and friends and eating everything craved in the last year and soaking in the sun and clean air and shopping like crazy in anticipation of the coming year and of course, tangling with a two year old and a four year old without the respite of school or babysitter, we submitted our bid list. It was a tough balancing act (not so much because of the vacation with small children) but more for the need to find some sort of equilibrium amongst the factors we had ranked as crucial to us, in the hopes that the powers that be would show mercy in making the assignment. A reporting job for Mike (meaning a job as either political officer or in a pinch, econ officer) had to be offset by the need to find posts where we could live reasonably, (meaning we hoped to avoid a horrible security situation, be able to purchase milk and other basic necessities, find adequate medical care and send the girls to a decent school). We had axed most of the places on Mike's list where anything greater than a cold required a medevac, the only English speaking school boasted a dirt floor, car jackings occurred on a daily basis, or milk sometimes absented itself from the store shelves for months at a time. We had, however, compromised by listing a number of places with such attractions as malaria, packs of wild dogs, and milk at over $10 a box (which isn't even close to a gallon). Our top ten included posts in Africa (north and sub-Saharan), Asia (and there we covered virtually every sub-region) and eastern Europe. Most were what are considered by the State Department to be hardship posts, meaning that these are still developing economies with all the challenges that living in such places can bring. Much to our surprise and relief, we got our first pick, Colombo, Sri Lanka. It's a place that neither of us know much about, but it appears by all accounts to be remarkably livable, albeit at a great distance from the U.S. So the plan for now is to leave GDL next summer, spend roughly 7-8 months in DC, where Mike will study Tamil and do some training. I'm currently on the fence about studying Sinhala or just taking that time to reorganize, enjoy DC and figure out how to put together 2500 pounds of consumables to ship to Colombo--more on that later. Ruby will start kindergarten in Arlington, hopefully at one of the Spanish immersion schools in the area and we'll have to confront the frightening expense of some sort of school in the area for Iris as well. And of course, we now have to face the conundrum of housing for such a weird period of time in DC. The State Department makes it easy in some ways with its contract with Oakwood corporate housing but there are other much nicer options available if one is willing to deal with the enormous hassle of negotiating the kind of lease that we require, which must include strange rent arrangements to account for shifting per diem allowances and a diplomatic clause allowing us to get out of the lease as necessary if Mike's assignment changes. There's much to ponder and plan for, which is one of the reasons why we have over a year to figure out how to handle the DC end of things, and even more time to make arrangements for Colombo (right hand drive cars, for example!).another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-4835409813060359982011-08-31T14:01:00.000-07:002011-08-31T14:02:49.009-07:00Low tide<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Cousins at low tide, crab in hand.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sandfish spotted.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4JQn7fbVeNd1zOUZkH-sSjSQFb5Zh-stu8gBI2Gbpwc6zJXwn-dttYEDK8DZ8OJZSferA0FEeR3DC-xO1CuJ48f5yvZe3DkHnUQ_fsPH3NF0OPcUwdrz01-O3Unp20_fSvIlqoePd0o/s1600/283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4JQn7fbVeNd1zOUZkH-sSjSQFb5Zh-stu8gBI2Gbpwc6zJXwn-dttYEDK8DZ8OJZSferA0FEeR3DC-xO1CuJ48f5yvZe3DkHnUQ_fsPH3NF0OPcUwdrz01-O3Unp20_fSvIlqoePd0o/s400/283.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water warrior.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting wet.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She eventually just got naked.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nate found an eagle feather.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trevor captured a hermit crab.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaJhm8be-7-Rt6UEBaLIvCu2IrbGZtjRA9VbF2c4RvBD2q3JK1p4yQG_cAAr-GEwfWPpkHCkDKdlW1fCm_uv8XYyygqyTH2Uy31kXGBtzPrrDypW2xVolJQ_JJLNfKVTd86TyaPJ2bpc/s1600/332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaJhm8be-7-Rt6UEBaLIvCu2IrbGZtjRA9VbF2c4RvBD2q3JK1p4yQG_cAAr-GEwfWPpkHCkDKdlW1fCm_uv8XYyygqyTH2Uy31kXGBtzPrrDypW2xVolJQ_JJLNfKVTd86TyaPJ2bpc/s400/332.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike enjoyed his coffee and felt cool in his new t-shirt.</td></tr>
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another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-41861747552499369362011-08-31T13:57:00.000-07:002011-08-31T13:57:05.285-07:00The Marine Life Center in the 'ham<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTNlH5-8NKEQSAZ5yezNACFKQ3Ud7ArJtXYCbuV1KObx_cpqosMMxxlr7CtO2WyclIuq3yc-LXP752Tf9kh0oQPD0-26NkP-I3xEJ-IZ9X8EF2m5i_Q9Yot5-kwajFQxIlxLUoWal2Is/s1600/232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTNlH5-8NKEQSAZ5yezNACFKQ3Ud7ArJtXYCbuV1KObx_cpqosMMxxlr7CtO2WyclIuq3yc-LXP752Tf9kh0oQPD0-26NkP-I3xEJ-IZ9X8EF2m5i_Q9Yot5-kwajFQxIlxLUoWal2Is/s400/232.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mugga and the cousins with the critters in the touch pool.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Irie entranced.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruby underwater.</td></tr>
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another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-17589680818339276212011-08-31T13:54:00.001-07:002011-08-31T13:54:42.684-07:00Snack time in the treehouse<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blueberries and edamame.</td></tr>
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another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-41753042722932626192011-08-31T13:54:00.000-07:002011-08-31T13:56:31.190-07:00High tide<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandpa Bob came to visit us at the tree house. He brought a tent for the beach.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three generations in the morning sunshine.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Irie, pixie-like, joined us to play fairy tea set for a while.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iris, pouring tea for fairy friends. It's all fairies, princesses and mermaids these days..</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf42fY7pKvfrbmh52jOaMWYPC1-G1yEv1LTS0mjW-m5WqTcdvHjuCb16z_Ld2s-45CLmHIc-6Bt09tGUBpoy2xo5wyadTMrlr4ey8ZLqTG5sjt6xqj2xFGoTWRrSGPwlEY0awZH_7rSbc/s1600/223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf42fY7pKvfrbmh52jOaMWYPC1-G1yEv1LTS0mjW-m5WqTcdvHjuCb16z_Ld2s-45CLmHIc-6Bt09tGUBpoy2xo5wyadTMrlr4ey8ZLqTG5sjt6xqj2xFGoTWRrSGPwlEY0awZH_7rSbc/s400/223.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruby, looking ethereal herself. Is there such a thing as a beach fairy?</td></tr>
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another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-4719148242803153292011-08-31T13:53:00.000-07:002011-08-31T13:53:18.140-07:00The third and final leg: Tree house, beach house<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNekD_cCKUNwrvFzHqeL3Go0blZDMBkkpTdzt0wFAm_3KCmRnWyJXWC4KM00UXEyHrI9QkuQRVY_g7yC_Y8172F_NjHEJESvXCxv_-i0mhLET27AokIuryXi5CAeB92dU4vZ5oy9SwvNg/s1600/172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNekD_cCKUNwrvFzHqeL3Go0blZDMBkkpTdzt0wFAm_3KCmRnWyJXWC4KM00UXEyHrI9QkuQRVY_g7yC_Y8172F_NjHEJESvXCxv_-i0mhLET27AokIuryXi5CAeB92dU4vZ5oy9SwvNg/s400/172.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg55NWQ1TTUmFLpcmotgQDJDxVfBTPElB3pjQ-CUrHIsTXKTU7ktpiMjXlvRQXzLYXuPJE-UF-35gMSp9gczzrwg28HQjIiqSjvnyYvKRKTHs2vSlnyZRNoXKKCeSMk9IhSqeTC18VbXg0/s1600/163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg55NWQ1TTUmFLpcmotgQDJDxVfBTPElB3pjQ-CUrHIsTXKTU7ktpiMjXlvRQXzLYXuPJE-UF-35gMSp9gczzrwg28HQjIiqSjvnyYvKRKTHs2vSlnyZRNoXKKCeSMk9IhSqeTC18VbXg0/s400/163.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63p1jNpD8DJ4utZKOef-XsjDwvQmBSsmqF9zO6M64Su57OTasIXlSbQdDGzrheqB2Q71_ogLfVUsR9QVhMxd2gzVpZ57ZBYwJT-qFHnx_wmYeOj8Vznf53hliHd-SXgHXwbcPz3KQ8Sc/s1600/156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63p1jNpD8DJ4utZKOef-XsjDwvQmBSsmqF9zO6M64Su57OTasIXlSbQdDGzrheqB2Q71_ogLfVUsR9QVhMxd2gzVpZ57ZBYwJT-qFHnx_wmYeOj8Vznf53hliHd-SXgHXwbcPz3KQ8Sc/s400/156.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>We spent the second week resting and recreating on the Lummi peninsula just minutes from Bellingham. As my sister's house is in the midst of renovation upheaval, we rented a luxurious little casita built up in the trees with views of the northern Cascades and the Strait of Georgia. We searched for stones and shells and ate blackberries from the brambles growing along the path down to the water. A pair of great blue herons graced us with their presence, nesting somewhere up behind the house in the enormous trees and croaking over us in the night. We slept looking out onto the bay, watching the lights of passing ships slide by while bats dipped and swung after the mosquitos and awoke to the calls of the gulls as they flew in to feast on clams and crabs at low tide. It felt like home, even if it wasn't our house, in the way the northwest has always felt like home to me, a refuge from the stark cornfields of the midwest. And for now, it will be what the girls call home, even if it isn't a fixed location but rather a feeling, the chill in the air of the desert night on the east side of the mountains or the dampness of the ocean on the west side, smokey sockeye on the grill, the sweet summer berries, the pungency of evergreens everywhere, the verdant produce at a farmer's market, and that strange cultural blend of hippies and loggers and dot.commers and happy transplants like myself doing their thing in the PNW. another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5019227903508684327.post-14680257238289754872011-08-31T08:26:00.000-07:002011-08-31T08:26:21.447-07:00The second leg: Ellensburg<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWB7uuhyphenhyphenREMiy3lK3l5jH7VnJLr58K8qRW5rMC2m9FoWazycW2vwmI7Agg7HpmF52QGH2-uauN-oMFEOB_Yl4aXIm9csidkBJGmggNvRXVQHgygcKTTScN75DuipPbN0-gIW8nUc_bNsI/s1600/116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWB7uuhyphenhyphenREMiy3lK3l5jH7VnJLr58K8qRW5rMC2m9FoWazycW2vwmI7Agg7HpmF52QGH2-uauN-oMFEOB_Yl4aXIm9csidkBJGmggNvRXVQHgygcKTTScN75DuipPbN0-gIW8nUc_bNsI/s400/116.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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We headed east along the Colombia, hanging a left somewhere after a pit stop at The Dalles' Burgerville (uh oh--second round of fish and chips, along with truly northwestalicious blackberry shakes) to snake through the wine country of the Yakima valley and up over the hills and down again toward "Elsenburg," as Ruby still calls it. We spent a few days in the 'burg catching up with dear old friends (thanks for the lovely meal and the quake advice for our bid list and sorry the girls were so crazy with colds and vacation fatigue, Marie and Stephen!) and spending time with friends who are newer (but feel like old ones anyway, although we wish we had met them sooner when we were still in town). We did the obligatory nostalgia tour of our old house and campus and our favorite neighborhood park, leaving souvenir cocktail sticks from Tonala here and there, and yes, believe it or not, we ate Mexican food. If you asked Ruby, she would probably say those enchiladas from El Caporal were the best meal she ate the entire vacation. She hummed to each quesolicious bite. The rest of the time we spent just hanging at Sarah and Derik's beautiful house out a ways in the valley, on what was essentially a three day playdate for Ruby and Iris with their girls, Lanie and Lily. Lanie and Ruby go way back, along with their friend Alice, who came over to play one day too. It didn't take the girls long to renew the bonds of friendship. another foreign service spousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04875812748159557543noreply@blogger.com0