GO GARFIELDS

LISA'S BLOG IS UP AND POSTING

2009-10-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Come on over to www.lisameadowsgarfield.blogspot.com and follow along with me on my new project. See you there!

PREVIEW POST: THE WONDER OF WALKING

2009-09-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

I watched the new movie Julia and Julie this weekend and was inspired by Julie Powell's blog project. (Go see the movie: Meryl Streep does an astonishing job as Julia Child.) And then I remembered a Friends episode where Ross makes a New Year's resolution to try one new thing each day. (Remember the leather pants?) So, inspired by Julie and Ross, I have decided to try one new thing every day and blog about it at least five times a week. The new thing can be anything from a new recipe, restaurant, acquaintance, book, idea, observation, activity . . . you get the idea.

So here is my first blog about the new thing I did today. It is my intention to set up a separate blog, connected with my under-construction website, www.lisameadowsgarfield.com, but I wanted to alert all of you, our faithful travel companions, so you can follow along with me as I continue to explore the world.

THE WONDER OF WALKING

My grandson, Nate, just learned to walk. He took his first tentative steps in Mongolia, in the living room of his other grandparents, while we cheered and clapped at each step. Now, a couple of weeks later, he just stands up and heads across the room on two feet before he realizes he's actually walking. Of course, as soon as he realizes he's upright, he gets startled and drops to his knees to continue the journey. But every day he takes a few more steps. He wobbles and falls regularly. What amazes me is his undeterred spirit, his determination to keep trying until he gets it.

Today I took my first Tai Chi class at the gym. I watched the old-timers go through the forms with grace and perfect memory. I tried to copy their movements, but my muscles have no memory of all those waving arms and rocking feet. The teacher had us walk around the room at our normal pace. Happily, I proved quite adept at walking. At least at my normal speed. She then had us slow to half-speed and it suddenly got more difficult to walk. My balance was off. My feet couldn't quite get the exact sequence of movement, heel-toe-heel-toe. I thought of Nate. I felt like Nate. When the teacher had us walk slower still, everything in me stilled as I concentrated on the wonder of walking. Such a complicated movement! It took all my attention to walk with any grace at all.

Attention was precisely the point, of course. When we pay attention to even the simplest, most routine things in our lives, we suddenly realize how marvelous it all is. With beginner's mind, in slow mode, we remember that Nate-like determination to master a new skill, the hope and pure joy of discovery. Try walking very slowly. Pay attention. You'll know what I mean.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

2009-09-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Most people, when they hear about our round-the-world trip, respond something like this:
"Oh, I would love to do that, but we could never afford it." Here, then, are our figures, so you can see if that's really true. I believe if you really want something, you will find a way to do it.

We had a pretty cushy trip, really. We always slept in comfortable places, we ate well (and saved a bundle by preparing most of our own food) and we splurged on a few activities, such as tickets to Lion King in London and Disneyland in Tokyo. We spent most of our time in Europe, a very expensive part of the world. But we offset that with free lodging through home exchanges, which was our biggest money-saver. There are lots of ways to lower your travel costs. Prices vary dramatically around the world, so either go somewhere cheap or set up home exchanges. We used www.homelink.org, but there are a number of reputable home swapping organizations.

We were lucky in that Stephen could work along the way, so we had some income throughout the trip. Many jobs can accommodate telecommuting. It puts extra stress on the wage earner, and therefore on the family, so weigh the costs of such a plan. The insurance benefits and income were worth it for us, though frankly, it would have been a better trip if none of us had to worry about finding internet access and fitting in work hours each week. It did allow us to return home in pretty good financial shape, though, so I'm grateful.

Another key thing is to lower your costs at home as much as you can. We set our mortgage payment to pay only interest for the interim of the trip. We cancelled all magazines and lessons and services we wouldn't need. We set our Comcast account, utilities, hot water heater, and car insurance on "vacation" mode until our home exchangers arrived. We kept our charitable giving and college savings plans in place, but you might adjust yours. We used automatic payment plans to pay all bills. Online banking makes it easy to take care of financial business from anywhere in the world. If you still have car payments or other credit accounts, pay those off before you embark on a big trip like this. And it's essential to have someone you trust at home to take care of any unexpected bills or problems. (Thanks, Genevieve and Scott!)

Here, then, are our costs for our trip. Remember ,this is for four people, three adults and a child.
(There's another cost-saving tip: take your children before they are twelve and have to pay full price for most things, including airfares.)

Flights and long-distance buses and trains: $11,000

Portland-Chicago-Guatemala City-Atlanta-Malaga-Barcelona-Ibiza-Barcelona-Marrakesh-Pisa-(train)-Venice-Paris-Copenhagen-(bus)-Hamburg-(bus)-Antwerp-(train)-London-Dublin-London-Beijing-Ulaan Bataar-Tokyo-Portland

Car rentals, gas, and local transportation: $2,500
Car rentals and gas are expensive in Europe, but often the best way for a group to travel. We rented cars in Malaga, Barcelona (for moving around Spain), Ireland, and we hired a van with driver in Mongolia. In cities, we used local subways and bus systems.

Food: $3,300
Includes groceries, dining out (mostly in cheaper places like Guatemala and China) and gelato every day in Italy.

Lodging: $4,800
Motels are very expensive in Europe, much more reasonable in some other places. We spent $1,300 for an entire month's lodging in Guatemala and $1,050 for just six days in Ireland. In Mongolia, we spent $150 on six days at tourist camps. We used three weeks of timeshare exchanges in Spain, and rented apartments whenever possible, which saved a lot on food costs. And in Chicago, Atlanta, Ulaan Bataar, and Tokyo, we stayed with family, always a welcome option.

Activities: $3,000
Includes Spanish classes, museums, local tours, shows and concerts, amusement parks, etc.

Total: $24, 600 for 5 1/2 months of (cushy) travel for a family of four

TOILET TALES

2009-09-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

Taking care of business varies widely around the world. In Guatemala (and a few other places) we used "regular" toilets, but threw the used toilet tissue in the garbage, since the sewage system is in no shape to handle such foreign objects.

In the Mongolian "outback" we used this type of toilet:

In Italy, we encountered our first porcelain hole, which had Grace completely bamboozled. These are also common in China and many other places in the world. Frankly, this is my favorite kind of toilet; squatting is a healthier way to do it. And most of these flush.

We used our first Japanese toilet in our London exchange house (the wife is Japanese) but because it was acting up, we frequently got squirted in the face with the "clean your butt" sprayer. We loved the heated toilet seat but we were scared to actually use the toilet.

In Gordon and Aya's Tokyo apartment, we got another chance to try the fanciest toilets on earth, apparently adored by all Japanese. The lid lifted automatically when we opened the door to the "throne room". There were so many incomprehensible (to us) buttons for cleaning your rear in various ways that it brought on test anxiety every time we went to the bathroom. Water would pour out of a faucet on top of the tank when we flushed, so we could rinse our hands. The contrast to our recent experiences of hole-and-plank toilets was actually a little disconcerting. (The others might report, however, that it was more like sitting on a heavenly throne.)

Next time you use the bathroom, don't take anything for granted!

TOKYO

2009-09-21T09:07:00.001-07:00

From the charming rusticity of Mongolia, we came to super-efficient Japan. Our son, Gordon, and his girlfriend, Aya, live in Tokyo. This is the view from their lovely apartment on the 45th floor of Harumi View Towers.

We were happy to be able to attend the Tokyo temple one day.

Tokyo is a modern, busy city, but it does have areas that evoke the feeling of old Japan.
This is in a garden in Akasuka, one such area of Tokyo.

Gordon and Aya pose in front of a Buddhist temple in Akasuka. We had such fun being with them. Aya is a marvelous cook and we enjoyed many a fine meal at their table.

And of course, we went to Tokyo Disneyland.

We didn't have enough time in Japan to do more than visit Gordon and Aya in Tokyo. The Japanese people are gracious and reliable. Since this was our last stop on our amended itinerary, we were glad to be able to spend it with family, as it eased our transition home.

Look for more posts on our favorite places, toilet tales, budgets, and transitioning to home life.

GERS AND GOATS

2009-09-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

Big Sky country

Visiting an ancient Mongolian walled city

That's grandson Zach on the left, with some new friends.

Grace and Zach ride a yak.

Gloria in front of our ger at a tourist camp.

Inside a local family ger, having breakfast of sweet rice and milk.

Stephen reads inside our ger.

The source of your cashmere.

We had a great evening playing in the dunes of the Little Gobi desert.

The countryside is very fine.

Our favorite part of our visit to Mongolia was the six-day camping trip that Bayra's father and brother arranged to the countryside west of Ulaan Bataar. As our hired driver was fond of repeating, "The countryside is very fine."

Think Big Sky country. It was lovely landscape, wild and vast, with nary a tree for mile after mile. Scattered sporadically over the grasslands and hills were single gers--or sometimes a small group of gers--belonging to the nomadic families that tend the large herds of goats, sheep, cows, or yaks that rule this part of the world. We never saw a fence. Fashion's demand for cashmere is a boon for these goat herders, and their pots are always full of mutton soup, with buckets of airag always available. Airag is fermented mare's mile, very tart, very popular. Our driver would stop at will at some random ger, walk in the painted door without announcement, and return to the van with gallons of airag.

The spirit of hospitality is strong in this country; winters are harsh and you don't survive without this open spirit of "what's yours is mine, what's mine is yours." When we wanted to ride a yak, we simply stopped at a ger that had a yak, asked for rides, and gave the man some money. Once we stopped so our driver could buy some airag and the woman invited us back for breakfast the next morning. Of course there is the hope of renumeration, especially from obvious tourists, but no expectation. The inside of the gers are clean and comfortable, no small feat when you're surrounded by dirt and animal crap. Every season, four times a year, the families dismantle the gers, pack up all their belongings and move on to new pastures. Because it was time to move for autumn, we saw quite a few blue trucks on the dirt roads, apparently all from some entrepreneurial outfit you can hire to move your stuff. Families would be crammed into the cab, all they owned piled in the back of the blue truck.

The "highway system" consists of one long straight paved road leading west out of the capital, with 50-kilometer stretches of dirt road interspersed between sections of pavement. When the pavement runs out completely, you simply make your own road, or follow the tracks of some pioneering vehicle that has gone before you. The Autobahn it was not.

We loved staying in the gers in the tourist camps. I'm sure Bayra's family would have been happy to roll out blankets on the ground, but we certainly appreciated the bathhouses and beds and the dried dung to burn in our small stove. Garrett taught us all how to play poker, so many a night we gathered in gers to wager our pile of Skittles and M&Ms. Games are a great way to bridge the language barrier. And thank goodness for Bayra, our sole interpreter on the trip.

Travel is challenging and rustic in Mongolia, as in all third world countries, but oh so memorable. We were so grateful to be with our Mongolian family, who eased our way and made it all so enjoyable.

MONGOLIA

2009-09-17T18:51:00.001-07:00

Mongolia--what a trip! We were so happy to arrive in Ulaan Bataar and be greeted by son Garrett, his Mongolian wife, Bayra, her lovely family, and our two grandsons Zach and Nate.
We packed a lot of exotic experiences into our couple of weeks there and especially enjoyed getting to know Bayra's wonderful family.

Here is Gloria trying on a Mongolian hat and Zach and Nonnie riding a camel. Then there's the river with the horse-drawn wagon fording it and all the gers (what we improperly call yurts) in the background. Yes, that is a yak in the middle of the road (there were frequently animals in the middle of the road.) We visited an enormous stainless steel statue of the national hero, Chinggis Khan, and actually climbed up through its tail to stand on the top. Here you see lots of family photos near the statue. And finally, there is Grace holding a golden eagle, common to the western part of Mongolia.

BEIJING

2009-09-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

We spent a mere four days in Beijing, so only got a taste of the rich land of China.

Yes, here we are at the Great Wall of China.

We always enjoy the places where we can afford to eat out and China stars in this area. Yummy food!

Grace and Gloria learn about the process of making silk. That basket of white cocoons is where all your silk clothing comes from.

Here is the "Bird's Nest", the Olympic Stadium, which you may recognize from watching the 2008 Olympics.

ITINERARY

2009-09-09T00:10:00.000-07:00

We have just arrived in Tokyo to spend the last few days of our Big Trip with Gordon and Aya. They have a lovely apartment on the 45th floor, from which we have a commanding view of the city, including the Hartford building nearby, where Gordon works. We have decided to go home from here, rather than continue for the planned nine months. We've had an incredible 5.5 month adventure traveling around the world. It's a rigorous, demanding lifestyle, believe it or not, and the group consensus (really, it was a 3 to 1 vote) is to cut short the trip and get back to a more routine life. Most of us (the 3) are very excited to be coming home soon and the other one of us is both excited and sad. We are on standby for a flight to Seattle on Sunday, 13 September (thanks, Dad!) so if all goes well, we'll be home sooner than we leave Tokyo, since we cross the international date line.

Keep checking back as we catch up with blog posts on China, Mongolia, and Japan and the return to stationary life.

Here then, is a log of the places we've visited on our trip:

Chicago, Illinois
Guatemala (Antigua, Flores, Tikal, Panajachel, Guatemala City)
Atlanta, Georgia
Spain (Malaga, Ibiza, Barcelona, Denia, Tarragona)
Marrakesh, Morocco
Italy (Pisa, Cinque Terra, Florence, Verona, Venice)
Paris, France
Copenhagen, Denmark
Hamburg, Germany
Antwerp, Belgium
London, England
Ireland
Beijing, China
Mongolia (Ulaan Bataar, camping in the countryside)
Tokyo, Japan

INCREDIBLE IRELAND

2009-08-20T15:31:00.001-07:00

BLARNEY!

2009-08-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

I found some 5 Pound flights from London to Dublin, so here we are in Ireland for a week. We are in a rental car, touring the southern part of this Emerald Isle. And really, it is green, green everywhere -- incredibly lovely landscape. We drove south from Dublin through the Wicklow Mountains, visited the Waterford Crystal Factory and then Cobh, a port town from which most Irish emigrants left the country for a new life elsewhere. Cobh was also the last port of call for the ill-fated Titanic, and the rescue center for the equally disastrous Lusitania voyage.

Today we visited Blarney Castle in County Cork. There is quite a bit more to Blarney Castle than the famous stone and we enjoyed a full morning exploring the extensive grounds and local village.

Here's a view from the castle. We joined hordes of other tourists in climbing Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone.

I'd never read the details of HOW you kiss the stone. After climbing up a treacherous spiral stairway in a corner tower of the castle,
you have to lie on your back and tip your head back over open space to reach the unobtrusive, triangular stone set in the upper wall of the castle. Here is Grace making the brave attempt to improve her eloquence. For that is the promise of the magical Blarney stone: kiss it and be forever eloquent. We gave each other before-and-after eloquence tests to see if it really works. In Grace's case, it made a tremendous difference! She went from stuttering fool to eloquent orator, all the result of a neck-kinking kiss.

I particularly enjoyed the area that long ago was a druidic settlement. We wandered through the fairy glade, the Druids circle, the Witches Kitchen, and here is Gloria by the Witches Stone. The whole area felt very mystical and alive.

After our day in Blarney, we headed north to Killarney, where we are ensconced for the night. We plan an early start (to beat the tour buses) on the Ring of Kerry tomorrow, a loop drive around a scenic peninsula here in County Kerry. We hope to be in Limerick for church on Sunday morning. (I wonder if they will worship in rhyme?) We have a couple of days planned in Dublin before we head back to London on the 19th. We are all loving Ireland!

LONDON, BABY!

2009-08-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

No Death Eaters appeared to destroy the Millenium Bridge when we were walking across it, as happened in the opening scenes of the new Harry Potter movie, which, incidentally, Grace and I saw here in London last week. We also (all of us) went to the stage production of The Lion King at the Lyceum theatre -- absolutely stunning.

Here's a view from the London Eye -- through a bit of rain. You can see the Houses of Parliament down there on the right bank of the Thames and Big Ben sticking up.

Well, I look downright scary, but aren't my brass rubbings nice? Grace, Gloria and I spent a lovely afternoon in the crypt of St. Martin in the Fields, at the brass rubbing center, while Stephen whiled away his time across the square (Trafalgar, to be precise) in the National Gallery. They have candlelight concerts in the church on many nights (without Neville Mariner, sadly) but we just sit in on the afternoon rehearsals and hear some great music, minus the candles and the cost.

We really enjoyed attending the Hyde Park Ward on Sunday, it being the first time we'd been to English-speaking church in many months. Afterwards, we wandered through nearby Hyde Park and discovered the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, which Grace and Gloria particularly loved. We also listened to several impassioned speakers on their makeshift soapboxes at Speakers Corner.

HOME EXCHANGE

2009-07-31T06:05:00.000-07:00

We are staying in the home of Frank, Kathleen, Sari, and Rani in Antwerp, while they are suffering through the biggest heat wave Portland has ever experienced in our non-airconditioned home. Meanwhile, the weather in Belgium is cool and pleasant. Their cat, Morske, is very glad to have people around. The fish don't seem to care except when we feed them, but the chickens greet us vociferously and even laid us one egg.

Here is our Antwerp abode. I'm telling you, if you want to travel, home exchange is the way to do it. It keeps our costs very manageable and gives us a comfortable home base from which to explore. Plus, we know we have responsible people looking after our home in our absence. We used www.homelink.org, but there are several good home exchange companies on the internet.

There is a huge, lovely park near our place. We walk or bike there frequently. Tonight, we're hoping to find the open-air concert and the food stalls that Kathleen told us about. As you can see, even in Belgium, Grace and Gloria remain . . . themselves.

Though our home schooling efforts have dwindled quite a bit with summer vacation, we do make attempts to get a little school work in. At least, that's what they are supposed to be doing.

ANTWERP

2009-07-31T05:49:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Antwerp, Belgium, the heart of Flanders. Of course, the heyday of the famous Flemish artists is long past, but Antwerp is proud to keep alive its claim on Peter Paul Rubens, who lived and worked here in the 17th century. We toured his house and studio yesterday and here is his statue in the main square, near the big cathedral.

Much of the fun of a trip is discovering and doing things you didn't plan. We wandered past this horse-drawn stagecoach near the Rubens statue just as it was about to head off on its slow-paced tour of the city. For 5 Euros, who could resist? A spry old man drove the coach and halfway through the tour, he stopped, dug out a bucket and filled it up at a hand-pumped water faucet in the middle of the sidewalk to water the horses. Since I couldn't convince the group to hire a horse-drawn camping caravan for a week in Ireland, this was the next best thing. Anyone up for caravaning in Ireland?

HAND WERPEN = ANTWERPEN

2009-07-28T12:13:00.000-07:00

So this is a statue of Silvius Brabo, in the Grote Markt of Antwerp, Belgium. Notice the giant hand he is about to throw into the river Scheldt. Legend has it that a giant named Antigoon set himself up at the bend in the river and levied a heavy toll on all passing shipmasters. If you didn't pay the toll, the giant cut off your hand and threw it in the Scheldt. Finally, along came Brabo, a Roman centurion, who killed the giant, cut off his hand, and threw it in the river. (On the other side of the statue lies the fallen giant, water squirting out of his severed bronze wrist.) Thus the name: Handwerpen (werpen means to throw) which was later changed to Antwerpen. Though Americans call it Antwerp. Now you know.

Of course, there is also the more probable theory that the name Antwerpen derives from the word aanwerp, "an alluvial mound in the River Scheldt." Hardly the stuff of good legend.

I thought they spoke French in Belgium because my friend Tracey served a mission here and spoke French. So imagine my surprise when we arrived in Dutch-speaking Antwerp. Actually, some native Belgians do speak French. Others speak Dutch. Still others German. At least they use the common Euro. Oh, there's the fallen giant right behind Grace's head.

OBAMA

2009-07-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

This is a note of hope for all you American readers, no matter what you think of our President. I have noticed that everywhere we go, people love President Obama. They speak of him and of America with a new enthusiasm, a renewed hope for the whole world. People around the world really do look to America to be a leader in goodness and progress. In Morocco, in Spain, in Italy, in France, Denmark, Germany, and Belgium, people often comment to us that they are so glad to see a leader in the White House that seems to have such a diplomatic spirit, a peaceful approach to international issues, and an intelligent plan for addressing important concerns of our day. Everyone is glad that President Bush is gone.

I share this observation not from some political soapbox; I'm as apolitical as they come. But it has surprised and gladdened me to see the new hope that our new President has engendered in people here in Europe. People trust America again. I can't predict whether President Obama will "succeed" or "fail" as a President. But he is already bringing much (and much needed) good will and hope to the world, a feeling of optimism and faith in America as the world leader that we are. And that is a good thing.

As fellow Americans, I thought you should know.

We Went To Copenhagen and Stayed Awake To Tell About It!

2009-07-26T06:37:00.000-07:00

By which I don't really mean to say that Copenhagen is boring--it's just that we arrived here right after Paris, and to say that pretty much anywhere is not quite as exciting as Paris is like saying that the Louvre is a place with lots of pictures. Anyway, it's in Copenhagen that we finally perfected the internationally recognized tourist gesture, which I will explain for the benefit of those of you with future travel plans. The gesture is made by standing on a street corner peering at a map in one hand, while (or better, "whilst") scratching your head with the other. Extra credit is given for holding the map upside down, and even more if it's a map of the wrong country.

Based on our stay here, we have come up with the following conclusions: (a) Copenhagen is very flat (the terrain, that is) which is very helpful for it being (b) the bicycling capital of probably the whole planet. Virtually every street in the city of any consequence is divided into three explicit components: one for driving on, one for walking on, and one for biking on. If you happen to be standing on the biking component (peering at a map, no doubt) you will be met by an immediate chorus of bicycle bell jingles telling you to get out of the way. We could learn a lot from the Danes about their commitment to biking. And while it seems that at any given moment they are all on their bikes going somewhere, it never seems that they are trying to get there FAST. They don't appear to get anywhere fast, and yet they get there. I would sum Danes and Danish society up by noting that they are quietly efficient, and I'm not at all sure that they would care if you notice or not.

Grace, Gloria, and HC Andersen

Original of The Christus by Thorvaldensen.

Lisa, some sea water, and the Opera House.

MY DAY AS A HAMBURGER by Grace

2009-07-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

Hello peoples of the world. Today we are in Hamburg, Germany with Jan-Philipp, Tom, Antonia, and Inga. Jan-Philipp was an exchange student with Mom and Dad 16 years ago. They met us at the bus station and walked to the metro station with us. They were really nice and funny. Antonia wouldn't let us carry our own bags; she kept saying "YOU'RE OUR GUESTS!" On the Metro we talked a lot despite the fact it was 10 at night. Once we arrived at their house we were completely exhausted, not that we weren't before, just that we were more so. The house was really cool. They had things everywhere -- not messy, just tight. So we settled in and went to sleep. We woke up around 10 in the morning. Gloria got up much earlier, as usual.

Inga made this HUGE breakfast. I mean we could eat it for the next week! Later on that fine summer day we sauntered out the door heading to the bus station close by. We reached the station and boarded the heavily crowded bus. We got off the bus and started the fair amount of walking to Jan-Philipp's apartment. Then, we blinked, and just like that our day was turned upside down. It started raining like it would never rain again. It came by the buckets. But everyone had an umbrella except my mom, who didn't want to carry one all day. (cause and effect). So now my mother is drenched but my dad, who has an expectionally small umbrella, is now on the verge of his right side of his body being drenched while attempting to share with my mom. We all make it to the apartment. The small dog named Jasper whom we took with us, is the wettest of the bunch for he didn't bring HIS umbrella. Wet, cold & muddy we marched into Jan-Philipp's clean & quiet apartment. We sat down in his living room talking quietly amongst ourselves. Glorie and I dry the little dog. We leaft the towel on him and he's soon a cute sleeping bump on the ground. Then Jan-Philipp brings out this 2 ferrets. They were very funny. We tried holding them but they kept running away and hiding behind things. Inga fell asleep on the couch while my mother was attempting to do the same. Inga finally got up and I took her place. For people who know me are aware of the fact that I can sleep anywhere and any time, and that's exactly what I did. I took a short nap. By the time I woke up people were anxious to leave the apartment and go somewhere. So we started walking to a park where they had a marvelous water and light show. We quite enjoyed it. After that day we went home, had a great dinner, and went to bed. The following day we went to the fair and played carnival games.

WE HAD AN AWESOME TIME IN HAMBURG. IT WAS REALLY FUN AND I MADE NEW FRIENDS.

A DAY WITH KATJA

2009-07-21T03:11:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we met a nice lady named Katja at church. She gave us her phone number so we could call her in the morning. At 12 we met her and daughter, Benedicta, at the Hans Christian Anderson statue in downtown Copenhagen. We started walking down the longest pedestrian street in the world, called Stroget. We were headed to the canal so we could go on a canal tour. It was really cool. At the end we got wet because the wind kept blowing
the sea water in our boat.

This the family, with us, Katja, Thomas, and Benedicta.

We were walking to the movie theater when it started raining A LOT. We ran to cover. And guess where that was? In the Church of our Savior, where Thorvaldsen's Christus statue was. They have a replica of this statue in the St. George temple visitors' center.

This is mom and Benedicta. Benedicta kept talking to mom but she didn't know what she was saying. So she kept nodding her head in agreement. When we were at their house, Benedicta pulled mom into her room and started reading and singing books to her in her secret cave. She was really cute.

KIM AND JON MARRY IN THE MOUNTAINS

2009-07-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

My sister, Kimberlee, got married on 11 July in the breathtakingly beautiful north Georgia mountains. I flew to Atlanta the day after the day we arrived in Copenhagen and surprised Kim and Jon, since initially, I had not planned to come. But as the day drew near, I realized I had to be there. Besides, Genevieve came, too! I met her at her gate in the Atlanta airport and it was SO good to see her.

Here are Vicky, Kim (the bride) and Nancy -- my sissy and my two fantastic sisters-in-law.

My sister has been single for close to twenty years. In that time, she has done some extraordinary work on her personal issues and spiritual development. And Jon is equally extraordinary, a very welcome addition to our family. I am so happy for both of them. They were married at a little community center in the Coosawattie River Resort an hour north of Atlanta, where my Mom has a "cabin." We call it the cabin, but it comfortably hosted both bride's and groom's not-so-small families for the "rehearsal" dinner. (We actually didn't have a rehearsal, but skip supper in the South? Never!) And quite a number of us slept there, all of us in beds of some sort. It's a very nice cabin. Here is the just-married blissful couple, Kim and Jon.

I love my siblings! I love it when we are all together, since two of us live on the East Coast, and two on the West. We have a tradition we call The Sibling Breakfast, which is just what you presume. This time, we had breakfast at the local diner down by the Conoco on the morning of the wedding. I guess Jon will have to join the Spouses' Club next time. Here are the four of us: Greg, me, Kim, Phillip.
Oh, I didn't pack wedding clothes, so I am put together for the day by a whole generous team. I'm wearing a dress from Barbara, my Dad's wife, Vicky's shoes, and my mother's girdle and jewelry. The birth order is: me, Kim, Greg, Phillip, in case you're wondering.

I also got to visit my Mom and Ron, and my Dad and Barbara, plus Marge and Wayne, my favorite and aunt and uncle. I met a lot of Jon's family, who were entirely delightful people. I couldn't quite get used to the fact that everyone around me spoke English, but I have rectified that somewhat awkward situation by returning to Denmark, where, as it turns out, most of the people speak very good English. I think it's because the American TV shows are shown in English here, with Danish subtitles, unlike the rest of Europe, where the shows are dubbed. Which is lucky for me, since I know exactly four Danish words, which don't get me very far.

CONGRATULATIONS, KIMBERLEE AND JON!!!!

THIS IS TO PROVE WE DID THE LOUVRE

2009-07-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

They're so happy because I finally said we could skip the 548 galleries that we missed during our visit to the mind-bogglingly enormous Louvre.

This is the Winged Victory. I really like it.

This is a bad photo of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. It's bad because I was standing shoulder to shoulder, like sheep in a slaughtering pen, with scads of other camera-wielding tourists bent on proving they've seen the real thing, whether they like the painting or not. Despite the lovely name (though that's not even its real name and I've forgotten the real one, like most of you) I'm not a big fan of this painting. Grace had just read "The Da Vinci Code" so she was fascinated by the feminist details.

And here's Gloria's favorite part of our Louvre visit--the fountain by the pyramids. Just after I took this photo, she fell IN the fountain and had to ride the Metro home all wet. Ah, the memories.

YES, WE CLIMBED THE EIFFEL TOWER

2009-07-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

I was just as happy with this view of the Eiffel Tower, but the girls insisted we climb it.

What you're missing here in this picture is the mob of tourists standing in line to get tickets. Of course, we were part of the mob. It's true that the Parisians skeedaddle out of town in July and August and leave the town to the tourists and the poor schmooks that have to service them. Apparently, the American economy isn't so bad that Americans aren't traveling. We see a lot of them here in Paris, now that it's summer vacation. Sometimes we deign to talk to them, but sometimes we keep mum and pretend we're locals. That only works until we have to consult our Metro map. Or until we find ourselves in line to climb the Eiffel Tower.

Grace and Gloria prepare to summit the Tower! I'm sure you know it was built by a guy named Gustave Eiffel. Did you know it was built in 1889, to commemmorate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution? There was a contest (like the contest for the Firenze baptistry doors) and some of the pictures of the other entries were pretty hilarious.

Grace pauses to enjoy the view from the second level. There's the Seine River down below.

GIVERNY

2009-07-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

Today I rode the train out to Giverny, to see the house and gardens of Claude Monet, my favorite Impressionist artist. The house and gardens have been restored to look like they did when Monet lived there from 1886 - 1923. It was an incredible experience to see the original water lily pond and Japanese bridge, the house and the flowers and the garden paths that show up in so many of his great paintings. The other three travelers opted to stay home and work/watch videos all day, so I enjoyed a lovely day alone.

You can see Monet's house behind part of the huge garden here.

There were so many varieties of plants and flowers! It took me a very long time to get through the garden, as I snapped pictures of every beautiful thing until my camera battery died. We had a brief afternoon shower, so the raindrops still hung on the plants. Plus this bug.

This is my accidental Impressionist photo, a la Monet.

The water lily pond was just as you might imagine it, although most of his water lily paintings (huge wall murals) are more blue and turquoise, rather than the greens that appear in real life.

VIVALDI! SAINT CHAPPELLE!

2009-07-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

This is really the Rose Window in Notre Dame cathedral, but the photo is better than the one I have of the Rose Window in Saint Chappelle, so I'm showing you this one instead.

Look at the intricacy of the stained glass!

Here's the view of the apse in Saint Chappelle. It's a very small chapel, built by Louis XV.

Tonight we attended a concert in Saint Chappelle, my favorite chapel in the whole world. The walls are almost completely glass, in tall Gothic arches, with Bible stories in stained glass all around. We heard Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", which Grace particularly enjoyed, since she learned a bit of it last year on her violin. Like your life, our sometimes stressful life on the road is punctuated by bright moments of beauty. Tonight was one of those moments.

ITALY

2009-07-04T13:00:00.001-07:00

"Juliet's Balcony" in Verona, from which she pined over Romeo (a city's gotta make a Euro somehow)

Stephen poses with the DeLorean from "Back to the Future" at Movieland

Walking down Mazzini Street, Verona's version of the Magnificent (quarter) Mile

Gondolas, Grace, and Gloria in Venice

The cheesy guy at Magic Wood who did the one-man farting elephant play

The Grand Canal in Venice

They still use this 2,000-year-old Roman arena in Verona for operas and concerts

It rained the day we went to the zoo

Waiting for the train to Venice

Gelato!

We were only in Italy 11 days, too short a time to explore and enjoy this beautiful country. From Pisa, we took the train to Florence, then spent 6 days in Verona in a flat loaned to us by two of the nicest people we've met, Efrem and Luciana. We enjoyed a concert and gelato with them one evening and Efrem was kind enough to drive us around to the zoo and the train station, so we didn't have to rent a car. We went to Movieland one day, on Lake Garda, a movie-themed amusement park. After church in Verona on Sunday, we went to a toy museum and a cheesy "Magic Wood", where we watched a little children's play in Italian. We presume it was about an elephant who had a huge flatulence problem. Another day, we visited Juliet's house and stood under her balcony sighing "Romeo, Romeo . . ." We rode the train to Venice one hot day and wished we could jump in the liquid streets. I read three books. We ate gelato every day. We took a day off and rested in the flat; this is a very active piece of our trip and we get tired. Italy deserves more time than we were able to give it this time around. But there's always next time!

Here are some random shots of the Garfields in Italy.

THEY DON'T CALL IT FLORENCE IN ITALY

2009-07-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

For some reason, they call it Firenze, which sounds a lot more Italian to me anyway. I understand it's the birthplace of the Renaissance, which ha ha come to think of it must mean "the birthplace of the rebirth". Okay then, let's just say it's where the Renaissance got its legs, or better yet it's where there is a whole lot of stunningly beautiful art and architecture and such that probably didn't get labeled Renaissance or anything else until years after the stuff got created. And just how talented were the artists that made all this amazing art anyway, I bet you're wondering. Thanks for asking, because I've got a really good answer. There's this really nice cathedral in town that they built a baptistry for in about 1500 and what do you know, they forgot to put doors on it! So to cover their tails they have a contest to see who can design the best doors. Now Michaelangelo gets wind of it and he enters the contest, and he doesn't even win! Michaelangelo, for crying out loud! Can you imagine having Michaelangelo and this other guy he lost to (his name was Ghiberti) in the same high school? They'd have gone undefeated in Art all four years for sure. By the way, Lisa is showing you the doors in one of the pictures below. She maintains that they are her favorite doors in the whole world, which is kind of embarrassing for me because my list of "favorite things in the whole world" is confined to things like doughnuts and cartoon characters from my childhood. Anyway, back to Michaelangelo. He's bummed out about losing, to the point that he considers giving up art to start a dry cleaning franchise with his brother in law. But then he comes to his senses, picks up a hammer and chisel and blasts his famous David sculpture out of a huge chunk of marble. And we got to see it, because there it was in a Florence museum called the Accademia. We'd have taken pictures of it but we weren't allowed, even though a lot of people did anyway. They were pretending they couldn't read the Italian signs which was pretty comical because most of them were speaking Italian like they know it pretty well.
So Florence was great, and I hope you enjoyed the history lesson. Most of what I said is true, although I did embellish a few details to improve the narrative flow. For instance, some respected scholars insist it was his cousin, not his brother in law.

CINQUE TERRE

2009-06-25T08:58:00.001-07:00

The view of Maranola from the hiking trail

The porcelain hole had Grace bamboozled

Our balcony lunch in Vernazza with Mary and Jill

We are almost to Vernazza on the Cinque Terre National Park trail

Yes, we hiked this high. Can you believe this view?

I've always wanted to come here to Cinque Terre ("Five Lands") ever since Rick Steves started writing about it in his Europe Through the Back Door books. It's about an hour north of Pisa and is simply a group of five small villages perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and connected by a 10 kilometer walking path. Here's how the day went:

6:49 a.m. Took the train from Pisa to La Spezia, then changed to the local train to Monterosso, the first of the five villages

8:16 a.m. Bought tickets for the National Park, which includes the walking path

8:17 a.m. Gloria threw up, dashing from inside the train station to a trash can mounted on the wall at her chin level (very flexible manuevering on her part)

8:20 a.m. Cleaned up Gloria and sat at the cafe while she sipped her Coke and we waited to see how she was feeling

8:35 a.m. Grace had to go to the bathroom, but couldn't figure out how to use the toilet

8:57 a.m. Wandered slowly toward the center of Monterosso to see what we could see

9:28 a.m. Noticed that we were right at the start of the trail and that Gloria was feeling good

9:29 a.m. Began the 3 km hike to Vernazza, the next village, not realizing that this was the most strenuous section of the trail. We climbed up and up and up.

10:03 a.m. Stood gaping at the incredibly cobalt sea below, the green, grape-laden hills above. Snapped photos right and left, landscapes, seascapes all.

10:35 a.m. Paused to rest and eat a little snack. Chatted with two fellow hikers, one an American nurse from San Francisco/New York named Mary and her traveling partner, Jill, a doctor from Cambridge, England. They had met while working in Cambodia some 20 years ago.

11:45 a.m. After climbing up and up, we then hiked down and down until we arrived at Vernazza. Mary and Jill invited us in to their hotel room to use the bathroom and to share some lunch.

12:00 The six of us gathered on Mary and Jill's balcony to share a delightful lunch of bread and cheese, salami and olives, cherries and nectarines. Gloria discovered two new open sets of ears for her incessant chatter and Grace loved talking with two new interesting English speakers (besides her ever-present, ever-interesting parents.)

12:54 p.m. We all wandered to the harbor to buy some Italian gelato. No other ice cream as good!

2:12 p.m. All six of us took the train to the next village, Corniglia, then hiked up 356 steps to the town center. Gloria got stung by a wasp and Jill just happened to have a bug-sting stick in her bag. Plus acetametaphine. And who knows what else. Doctors and Scouts hike prepared.

3:25 p.m. Bid a fond farewell to Mary and Jill as they began the hike back to Vernazza and we headed the other way toward Maranola, the fourth village. Mused about buying property on the Mediterranean as we walked, on flatter ground now.

4:45 p.m. Wandered through Maranola, getting tired now, but looking forward to the last trail section, a flat 20 minute walk to Riomaggiore, the last village.

5:32 p.m. Realized we couldn't be on the right trail, as we had been climbing for 30 minutes toward the high hills. Headed back downhill.

6:14 p.m. Found the right trail, but were too tired to manage the last leg, especially after we learned that we had to be back in Monterosso to catch our train to Pisa and that we couldn't catch it in Maranola, as we had supposed. Took the train back to Monterosso (a 13 minute ride).

7:03 p.m. Caught the express train back to Pisa. Talked over our perfect day, despite throwing up, wasps, strange toilets, and losing the trail. Smiled over the surprises of travel, the new friends we made, the stunning beauty of this area of the world. Looked forward to sleeping in the next day.

8:30 a.m. Got up the next day.

PISA

2009-06-25T05:35:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Pisa late Sunday evening, Father's Day. We took a taxi to our hotel. The place was really nice. The room had a big kitchen but we had one problem. There weren't any dishes, no plates, no cups, no anything. The next day we got up, went to the supermarket and bought food(only food that we didn't need a knife for ). After a filling lunch we headed up to the Pisa square. We took the traditional picture of pushing or holding the Leaning Tower. It was great fun. The leaning tower had been closed for 10 years and they just opened. So we had a chance to climb to the top. While we were walking up we could feel the sensation of the tilting. It was very windy at the top. We had an awesome time in Pisa.

MAROC

2009-06-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

We loved Morocco! It was a bit of a surprise to me to fly into Marrakech and find a clean, organized city full of the friendliest people we have yet encountered. I guess I expected more of a third world experience, but no, Maroc (Morroco) is a progressive, prosperous country. It was the first place we've been where the language barrier had a real effect on our (in)ability to talk to the locals. Given time and lots of luck, Stephen and I between us can figure out what many French signs and instructions say, but jabber at us in French, even in short bursts of childish speech, and we are helpless. I thought, with its proximity to Spain, that there would be more Spanish speakers in Maroc, but perhaps Marrakech is too far south. Luckily, as is true everywhere, we found enough people who could speak enough English so that we could get by.
ButI noticed that the less language skill I have in a place, the more I feel like a stand-out tourist. It's inevitable in world travel, but I never like that feeling. It's impossible to blend in.

We stayed in the second-home flat of a French family in a lovely villa outside of town. It isolated us a bit and made transportation challenging, but it was comfortable and spacious and had a great pool. We are so grateful for the generosity of the Bouvin family who shared their flat. We met them online at homelink.org, the home exchange organization that we use to arrange home swaps. In some cases, such as this (and our stay in Verona, which begins Friday), the exchange families do not have current plans to visit our area, but are kind enough to let us use their home anyway. We look forward to welcoming them to Washington at some point in the future. Our experience in Maroc exemplifies the spirit of home exchange, which I so appreciate and value.

We hired an English guide for an interesting tour of the souks of Marrakech, and another day, we took a bus tour to Oarika valley, where the highlight of the trip was visiting a Berber home and meeting the funny and interesting host family. Morrocans are very outgoing and sincerely hospitable. Traditionally, a guest is served mint tea in little glasses, so we drank hot mint tea on several occasions. Gloria and I, in particular, loved the tea, but on the days when the temperature soared above 40 degrees (104F) ice would have been nice.

Our camera was acting up, so our Morrocan shots are not the best. But check out the video of Grace and Gloria dancing with the Berber ladies in the Oarika valley restaurant. Grace rather wished she were elsewhere, but we certainly enjoyed it.

Sometimes you visit a place and know it's a place you'd love to return to. Morocco is such a place.

FOR OUR FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS

2009-06-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

We have been in Marrakech for a week and we loved it! But we didn't have access to internet, so we are way behind on blogging.

We are in Pisa, Italy now and back in connection. But we are so busy trying to fit all our Tuscan plans into ten days that we are still way behind in blogging.

This is a little note to beg your indulgence and patience.

We'll be back soon with a plethora of news and photos.

Ciao!

The Amusement Park (Grace)

2009-06-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

Today, all four of us went to the amusement park in a city called Benidorm near where we’re staying in Denia. The park is called Terra Mitica and it means Land of Myth. It has sections for Egypt, Greece, and Rome. We arrived there early in the morning and got started right away. First, we went through the Egypt part and saw a huge pyramid. We went on rides that got you sopping wet. And Mom and I went on this old wood roller coaster. It went so fast. It was better than California Screamin, in DisneyLand. We also rode these horses that went around a little garden. We had lots of fun.

Gloria's thoughts:

We went to a cool amusment park and my favorite was a kid rollercoaster.

THOUGHTS FROM TARRAGONA

2009-06-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

We've been in Spanish-speaking countries for two months now and we're all becoming quite accustomed to the Latin rhythms, the smooth and sonorous sounds of Spanish. For example, Gloria's report of her experience in Primary at church this morning: "I didn't know what they were saying, but I could still sort of understand them." That's pretty much the way it's been. As the (sadly) most proficient Spanish speaker of our group, I can understand about half of what I hear, and about three-fourths of what I read. I can negotiate transactions and understand most instructions, but I am always aware that I don't get it all, and I am always wondering what I'm missing and hoping it's not important. It's at once comforting to know I can get around and frustrating to know I can't really carry on a decent conversation. So I feel isolated within the confines of my limited knowledge of the language, and yet, I also feel a real part of my great extended human family.

One of the greatest benefits of world travel is experiencing the humanity of the whole human race, no matter the language or cultural context. We are in Tarragona, Spain now, a beach town an hour south of Barcelona. It's dotted with Roman ruins 2,000 years old. and sprinkled with medieval buildings half that old. Europe has always fascinated me that way. We can be eating in a modern cafe, looking at medieval architecture and Roman ruins all on the same street. There's nothing like it in the United States -- this sense of human history all around. Europe feels so old, and somehow, I feel connected to all these people that have come before us. I don't think it's because I have European roots, because the same feeling hits me in Asia. I think it's simply that it makes me feel more human, a part of some great saga, full of pathos and glory.

Last night, the girls and I wandered downtown and joined in the fun of a local Children's Festival. We got purple balloons and ate bread and chocolate and threw confetti all over each other. Gloria made friends with some local girls and ran up and down the Rambla, while Grace and I sat on the curb listening to the band and watching the little one and two-year-old Spanish kids try to figure out what sort of silliness their people were engaged in now. We had a ball.

Tomorrow we fly to Marrakech for six days. New culture, new language, new experiences.

DENIA

2009-06-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Denia, Spain, about 100 km south of Valencia. The beaches are lovely, though, believe it or not, we´re getting a bit tired of beaching it. And as in some other places, we have to seek out internet cafes to get online and do anything like update blogs and check in for flights to Marrakech (next Monday.) But after the busy bustle of Barcelona, this has been a nice, quiet week. The highlight of the week comes tomorrow, when we are going to an amusement park. It´s in the same town (Benidorm) we drove to on Sunday to go to church, but we never could find the church, so it turned into a nice drive involving high highway tolls.

Getting here was a bit of an adventure as well. We rented a car in Barcelona and set off for the 5 hour drive south. Nine hours later, after a lovely, unplanned detour through the rolling hills of Murcia, we rolled into our timeshare complex, only to be advised that they were having a problem and would need to put us up in a local hotel for the night. Hotel rooms here (even the 4-star variety, which this one was touted to be) are small and never set up for 4 people. Once we get all the beds set up, there´s no room to walk. But we like jumping on beds, so it all worked out well.

We will try to send photos of Morocco as we can.

A DAY AT THE AQUARIUM (by Grace)

2009-06-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

Today, we went to the Barcelona Aquarium. It was really cool. When you enter the aquarium, you start walking down a really cool ramp with bamboo hanging over you. The fish were really amazing. They were all different colors, different shapes and sizes. We got to see sea horses. We also got to see Nemo and Dori, from Finding Nemo. There was also a big tube that you would walk through and above and around you would be sharks and stingrays. It was an awesome experience. We had a great time. I hope you like the videos.

MONTSERRAT

2009-06-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

I love monasteries. Perhaps it's because whenever I am at a monastery, I feel the pull of the monastic call once again. I would have been a great monk. A life devoted to worship, study, focused work, and prayer seems ideal for one like me, one who loves God and silence and song and spiritual community.

Montserrat is an old monastery; it's been around for 900 years or so as a Christian site, and was a religious site long before then. It's perched way up on the side of some lumpy limestone that incredibly, was once underwater. The view is magnificent and the mountain setting inspiring.

We took the train out of Barcelona, traveled for an hour, then rode the cable car to Montserrat.
The boys choir performed for us in the beautiful, acoustically-incredible basilica. We admired the Moraneta, a statue of the Virgin Mary that is about 900 years old. It is one of the few famous Black Virgins, made so by centuries of sharing space with sooty candles. There are apparently some lovely hikes from the monastery. We hiked the shortest of these, the "Way of the Crosses" since it's not worth the moaning and groaning from certain of our party to attempt anything lengthier.

Despite the hoards of tourists, there is an aura of serenity at Montserrat, a subtle feeling of Something behind and beyond what we see and do every day. I admire monks, Christian and otherwise, for the work they do to bring that kind of spirit to the world. We could all use more of it.

GAUDI'S PARC GUELL

2009-06-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Today, we walked in the park. It was very pretty. There was this long, curvy, mosaic bench that was made out of very cool and interesting tiles. Then we sat in the shade and fed the pigeons. We fed them like all of our chips. They came in swarms. The birds were fighting over the big chips. They got really close to the four of us. Some of them tried to eat my thumb. And others tried to eat my toes. One pigeon landed on dad's arm. And this really weird one was trying to get inside mom's pants pocket. It was hilarious. While we were enjoying the quietness of the shade, we saw this man playing the guitar and singing. He was really good; I even recognized some of the Spanish songs. When school groups came, they gathered around him and started clapping and singing along. It was all good fun. We also got a chance to see the famous Gaudi lizard near one of the exits. It was really gorgeous. We had a great adventure today.

~Grace

MY SECOND "BEST DAY EVER"

2009-06-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

We are in Barcelona and we rode two Metro trains today to get to the statue of Chrisopher Columbus down at the port.

This is me and my Dad on the bridge across the harbor. There are restaurants, a big mall, an Aquarium, and Imax on the dock across the bridge.

Then we walked up the Ramblas. My favorite part of our walk was seeing all the street performers dressed up funny. This picture is my favorite picture because it's a guy sitting on a toilet. A little boy stood by the toilet man to get his picture taken, and the guy pretended to fart really loudly.

We explored several alleys on the sides of the main Ramblas street. It stunk a little like the sewer. We saw many stores in some of the alleys. I like alleys.

This is a picture of little mice that are very cute. We were passing a little stand on the side of the Ramblas walkway and we stopped and looked at the animals. There were gerbils, ferrets, chinchillas, bunnies, chipmunks, birds, turtles, chameleons, and more for sale. It was funny, because where we live they don't have pet shops in the middle of the street.

There was a big tile mosaic in the middle of the Ramblas made by Joan Miro, a famous artist from Barcelona. He gave it to the city.

Everything we saw was very cool!

THE HORSE PHOTOS FROM MALAGA

2009-06-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

GAUDI (by Grace)

2009-05-31T10:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we arrived at the town of Barcelona. We found a really nice, fancy hotel to stay at. After we settled in, we started our regular evening walk. We started down the busy streets of the town and made our way to the masterpieces of Gaudi. Gaudi was a a famous architect during the early 1900s. That evening we went and saw the church named Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia. Gaudi was working on this church before he died. He never finished the brilliant church. He did do one side, called the Nativity facade. The opposite facade of Gaudi's original work is the Passion facade. The Passion facade is made with a whole different style. The work is blocky and is by another architect. Many people think that it doesn't go well with the church and I agree. We also saw an apartment building by Gaudi called La Pedrera. It was very weird. We had a good first day.

IBIZA: IT´S NOT A VIRUS

2009-05-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to find yourself on a remote island in the middle of the Mediterranean that´s teeming with European tourists, and the only internet access you can find costs one Euro (that´s $1.30) for 10 minutes? Well, I did once, but I woke up in a cold sweat, pledging never again to eat a bucketful of shrimp with the eyes and other vital organs still on them. Actually, it was just last week, when we arrived on the beautiful Spanish island of Ibiza. You won´t find it on any map because the inhabitants are four inches tall and they tie you to the ground when they find you -- whoops, I´ve just been reading Gulliver´s Travels and I guess I´ve been on this trip long enough now that I´m no longer able to separate fact from fantasy, particularly true when I check our bank balance. Anyway, returning to the residents of Ibiza, they are charming and pleasant folks who share many traits in common with the rest of us, such as charging more for stuff than you would dream of paying back home, but somehow making you feel okay about it. The island itself is not large, in spite of the fact that they insist on measuring distances in kilometers; you know, the Celsius scale, which I suspect is actually nothing more than a sneaky form of inflation. You could probably walk around the whole of it in a day or two if you were finished tanning yourself on one of the 60 or so beaches.

As far as historical sites are concerned, Grace and Gloria were disappointed to hear that we discovered one that we dragged them along to today: it's called Dalt Vila, which doesn't exactly sound Spanish to me either. It´s a kind of walled fortress city built on a prominence that was first inhabited by Phoenicians (whoever the heck they were) about 2,600 years ago, then by Moors in the 11th and 12th century or so, then by Christians from the Spanish mainland, and finally to its present state of subjection at the ruthless hands of Euro-wielding tourists. We came, we saw, we ate ice cream!

(We can't add pictures because this isn't our computer.)

SOME DAYS . . .

2009-05-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

. . . I just want to go home. But then, when I am home, some days . . . I just want to run away. So that´s the way some days go, whether you're dealing with the day-to-day in Ibiza or Camas.
I had no illusions about life on the road, so it doesn´t bother me or send me searching for last-minute airfares. And really, I´d just as soon deal with the squabbling kids and the makeshift meals and missing my grandsons while looking out my window at the Mediterranean Sea than watching the bunnies on my lawn at home (also a treat, truth be told.) I knew, too, before I left, that I would miss the demands of daily life at home, simply because it gives my days purpose and structure. Here, we create purpose and structure from travel brochures and whims of the moment, and while that has its own appeal, it is a different lifestyle and it requires submission to its peculiar realities to really work. Mostly, it´s working for us. But some days . . .

BEACHES AND BOOKS

2009-05-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

You would think that it would be easier to find internet connections in Spain than in Guatemala, but alas, that has not been the case. Here we are in Ibiza, an island in the Mediterranean. It seems to be the beach playground of Europe, much as Hawaii is for Americans. Today Gloria went off on an excursion with some new young friends from England (and their parents) to visit one of the 50 or 60 beaches here on the island. Grace and I sat around and read books and Stephen looked very busy at the computer all day, though I have no idea what he was doing without an internet connection. We are sitting in a little cafe on the bay now, using up our "free" hour of wifi. There is a huge marina just across the way, with little boats and big yachts from all over the world. We are staying in a little town called Santa Eulalia, 20 km north of Ibiza town, or as the Spanish say it, "Ibitha". Every evening, we join all the people in strolling the waterfront, in the ritual "paseo" so common here in Spain.

Here's what we're reading lately:

Lisa: A Wrinkle in Time, Demon in the White City, Angels and Demons, The Outside Man, Dracula, Shadow of the Wind (excellent!), Into Thin Air.

I am currently reading a 1200 page book by Rutherfurd called London, which provides a pretty interesting fictionalized history of London. And Harry Potter in Spanish, which, while it is a bit of work for me, I am quite enjoying. Also a quick British murder mystery. And the Book of Mormon.

Grace: Dracula (the original by Bram Stoker), Because of Winn-Dixie, A Wrinkle in Time, Jane Eyre (which she loved), The Princess Bride. She does projects for each book for homeschool.

Gloria: Dr. Dolittle Tales, Charlotte's Web, Harry Potter, Peter Pan and Wendy, Because of Winn-Dixie. She, too, has done some interesting book projects.

We are reading Midsummer Night's Dream together.

Well, we're off to finish our nightly paseo.

Tomorrow, more books and beaches.

ANDALUCIAN DANCING HORSES

2009-05-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, we went to a Flamenco show. You know the dance -- passionate, colorful, fast-tapping heels, twirls and swirls and castanets. It was great fun, and had we had the foresight to take the camera with us, we would share photos. Alas, we did not, so we will not.

However, the next evening, we went to a dancing horse show. Really, it's "dressage" (or, as they say here, "high school") but it really just means "dancing horses". These are beautiful horses bred and trained here in Andalucia and it seems to be a point of pride here. They must be the Spanish cousins of the Lippizan stallions in Vienna (the horses you've heard of). We remembered the camera and even dared to try out its video feature, which rarely occurs to us, but we were so inspired by Nolan's fishing video on the Johnson Family blogspot, that we are now going to attempt to post our video of the cabriole (that's the jump and kick dance move.) Good luck to us and happy horse show to you. (OK, video upload not working; you'll have to do with still shots.)

Our current status: we flew to Barcelona today and are holed up in a small but immaculate Holiday Inn in Girona, just north of Barcelona. Tomorrow morning, we fly to Ibiza, an island in the Mediterranean a bit south of Mallorca (the island you've heard of). We're looking forward to a week of low-key beachin' and bummin'. It's been difficult to get internet connections this week and we don't expect that to change soon, but we will do our best to keep you updated on our Grand Tour.

(Something's wrong with my cookies. These crumbs of literary info will have to do for now, minus the visuals. Imagine horses . . . dancing . . . )

WISH YOU WERE HERE

2009-05-19T08:16:00.001-07:00

Here in Malaga, Spain, we are having trouble finding internet connections, so our communication is suffering some. Nevertheless, this is the view from our apartment balcony, so all we can say is: wish you were here!

We are in the first week of our four weeks in Spain. Thought we ought to put to use those Spanish lessons we paid for in Guatemala. So far, we are getting along well in Spanish Spanish, though they have a funny lisp that still makes me laugh, as in "grathias".

We are on the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun) which is a huge mecca for sun-lovers from all of northern Europe, particularly Great Britain. We went to the international branch of the church (in English) Sunday morning, then joined the throngs of tourists Sunday afternoon in line to enter Gibraltar, which is a British zone, requiring passports and British pounds. Yesterday, we drove up into the Andalucian hills and saw a lot of Pueblos Blancos (white villages). We also visited a cave with some actual prehistoric cave paintings, one of the very few in Europe that you can still enter. The famous ones, like Lascaux and Altamira, are closed now, because the paintings were being destroyed by the presence of so many tourists.

I love being in Europe again. For some reason, it always feels like home to me here, even though I've never been in this particular spot. (I feel the same way in Hawaii!) From here, we fly to Ibiza, an island in the Mediterranean, then we'll spend a week in Barcelona, then a week in Denia, south of Valencia. All our Spain destinations are on the Mediterranean Sea, which I doubt we will tire of. It doesn't get much better than this. Really, we wish you were here!

GRACE TURNS TWELVE!

2009-05-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

Surprise! When we got to Atlanta on my birthday, my Grandma and Papa had planned a surprise birthday party for me at . . . Chuck E. Cheese! We had a lot of fun. I beat my cousin, Grant, in the car-racing game. My Aunt Vicky brought a very cute cake with ME on it.

I met my new Uncle Jon, who is pretty cool. He is going to marry my Aunt Kim in July.

Then, I went to Walmart to get my hair done. I got highlights for my birthday. So I got gold highlights. My hair stylist was really nice. It was fun and cool.

KENNESAW MOUNTAIN

2009-05-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

Friday 8 May 2009. The place: Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park, just outside Atlanta, GA. The site of an important Civil War battle in 1864. Motivation for visiting: valuable and stimulating educational experience for Grace and Gloria, according to Stephen and Lisa; Mom and Dad said we had to, according to Grace and Gloria. The girls were a bit skeptical about the whole idea until they saw the old Monopoly-style cannons. This ratcheted up their interest level considerably until it dawned on them that no one was likely to shoot any actual cannonballs out of them. At this point we headed into the Visitors Center for a brief orientation and then hiked up to the summit of Kennesaw Mountain itself, which qualifies as a mountain by Appalachian standards, I suppose, but out West would probably get picked on and teased by all the other mountains. Still it was enough of a climb to tax our hardy tourist attraction-hardened bodies to a degree, and from the top we enjoyed a panoramic view of Northwest Greater Atlanta below, including a couple of large malls that Sherman must have overlooked when he burned the city in 1864.

A DAY WITH HELEN

2009-05-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I went to go see Helen. Helen was my foster mom when I was little. I went and saw where I grew up. It was so cool. First, we walked to where I used to play with my pals. Then, we continued down the hall and I saw where I slept. Then, we waited for Helen so she could give us an official tour. She took us to her room. That was where I slept when I first came home from the hospital. After that, Helen showed us where the health room was. We continued to the main sitting area and talked for a little while. I went and played with the four other kids in the playing room. They were soooo cute and kind, sweet, open and silly. The kids ate lunch and Glorie and I ate chocolate chip cookies and milk. It was a cool experience to see my foster mother and the house I grew up in.

~grace

THINGS I MISS / THINGS I DON'T

2009-05-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

We have arrived at my mother's house in Georgia. It is both good and strange to be back in the USA for a week. I think our first month on the road has been a general success. The transition to our new nomadic lifestyle was smooth enough, with no major surprises or upsets. The girls still squabble at will, but protect each other fiercely. School is working pretty well, we all enjoy sleeping in a bit most mornings, and we are balancing exploration and quiet absorption nicely.

THINGS I DON'T MISS ABOUT GUATEMALA
* not knowing whether I'd have hot water or not, every time I showered
* gaping holes in the sidewalks, if there were sidewalks
* bad plumbing, such that we had to toss our used t.p. in the trash
* dirty, lung-destroying air in the cities
* untreated water supply

THINGS I MISS ABOUT GUATEMALA
* the people, who are as warm and polite and good-humored as any people on earth, and far more so than Americans in general
* the slower pace
* the happy factor, especially among the children of Guatemala
* the street venders and the mercados
* the beautiful textiles, especially in the clothing of the indigenous people
* the lovely landscape of lakes and volcanoes
* the sense of living close to the heart of life, without trappings or pretension
* the people

MAYAN FAMILIES

2009-05-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

Marcos is studying computer engineering at the university on weekends.
He works at Mayan Families during the week.

Maria and her mother

Talking to Irma and her mother

Irma and her family

Ester and her family (sponsored by Garrett and Bayra)

Nicolasa just received her report card from school. She is doing very well.

Nicolasa and her mother, Ninette (sponsored by Genevieve and Scott)

Here in Panajachel, we were able to meet all the students we sponsor through Mayan Families, including the two that are sponsored by Genevieve and Scott and Garrett and Bayra. It was such fun to actually hug them and talk to them. All of them were with their mothers, and we met a few siblings, as well. I especially loved talking with the mothers. A mother's heart is the same all over the world. They want the best for their children, and here in this area, it is impossible for many of the indigenous families to send their children to school. Young girls are particularly vulnerable, since they are the ones required to stay home and tend younger siblings when parents need to work. The illiteracy rate is very high in Guatemala. The welfare of girls and women across the globe is an issue dear to my heart, and our family is very glad to have this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these few students and families. Over and over, the mothers hugged me and expressed their gratitude that their children are able to go to school. They know it's important. Mayan Families makes it possible.

Please take a minute and check out the website at http://www.mayanfamilies.org/. They have some great programs and it costs so little to make a huge difference in the lives of the families here. We talked at length with the director, Dwight Poage (Sharon, his wife, is currently out of the country, though she is usually the one running things here) and were very impressed with what they have accomplished in the 3-4 years they have been in operation here in the Lake Atitlan area. Mayan Families sprang into existence after Hurricane Stan obliterated many homes and businesses here in October 2005. Genevieve's sponsored family has been in temporary housing since the hurricane, but the mother told me that their house should be ready to inhabit in the next month or so, which was welcome news.

I am not sure how the pictures will post (the layout of our posts is always a bit of a surprise and I still haven't learned how to move things around very well) but here are pictures of us meeting

Marcos, Irma, Maria, Ester, and Nicolasa. Please consider sponsoring a student of your own, or contribute to one of the other important programs of Mayan Families. I promise you will love the experience.

LAST DAY IN PANA (by Gloria)

2009-05-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Today we went to church in Panajachel. Mom and Dad had class in the church, but Grace and I had Primary outside under a tree. Mom and Dad felt a small earthquake during Sunday School, but Grace and I did not feel it at all. We made new friends named David and Brian from BYU. We are having dinner with them tonight.

Tomorrow, we are going to Guatemala City for dos dias (two days). On May 6, Grace's birthday,
we leave for Atlanta, where my Grandma and Papa live. My cousins, Grant and Parker, and my Aunt Vicky and Uncle Phillip live there, too. Auntie Kim is getting married to a boy named John. We are going to meet him in Atlanta. He adds to my uncles now. We stay there for one week, then we are flying to Spain.

ZIPLINES AND BUTTERFLIES

2009-05-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hey, this is Grace. Today we went to the Reserva Natural Atitlan near Panajachel. They have a private beach, a butterfly garden, an oak forest, several waterfalls, nature trails, and a zip-line. The butterfly garden was amazing. There were millions of butterflies of all different sizes and colors there. We got to see the different kinds of plants they ate. We walked around for a little when Gloria found a little house. We walked over and saw it was where the caterpillars were. In this one cage there were literally millions of caterpillars. The cage wasn't the best of all cages, so there were loads of cracks that they could crawl out of. It was really fun. So was the zip line.

This is now Gloria reporting. Today we went zip lining. My sister went alone. I went with a guide since it was too fast and was hard for me to stop at the next platform. We had eight platforms to go to. We had so much fun. We loved it! My mom and dad did not come with us. We went through the jungle. While we were walking to the very first platform we saw spider monkeys and a coatimundi. We had a fun activity: you walk across a bridge that is not wobbly. Then you go on a swinging bridge that is hard to keep your balance on. I made it to the platform on the other side. My sister had a lot of trouble. First she made it across the first bridge. But then the wobble bridge was a problem. She slipped through the rungs and got tangled up in the ropes. The guide had to help her get out. It was a fun day!

ONE ROOM LIVING

2009-05-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

Well, living in one room together for a month is beginning to wear on us all. Overall, we are doing well, but everyone is getting a bit anxious for some privacy. We've worked out the TV and computer "rules" fairly well, and we've made adjustments to our sleeping patterns; bedside reading lamps are a sanity-saver. At least nobody snores too badly, though Gloria can rack up the decibels when she's really tired. We are looking forward to Atlanta, where we presume we will have two bedrooms (thanks, Mom!) And our first stop in Europe is in Malaga, Spain, where we have reserved a 2-bedroom timeshare condo. Here in Panajachel, we are delighted with our studio apartment; we agree it's the nicest place we've stayed in yet. Still, it's only one large, well-designed room, plus the bathroom.

OK, I'm done beefing. I'm going to cook up some eggs and potatoes, then we're off to the Nature Reserve just outside of town. It's a gorgeous, sunny day here in Pana. Hope yours is super fantastic, too!

FLORES

2009-04-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

We loved Flores! The rural Guatemalans seem friendlier than the jaded city folk of overrun Antigua, and the tropical countryside was lovely. It reminded me of Florida a bit. Here are some shots of Flores, which sits on a small island in the middle of Lake Peten Itza. We took a boat across the lake one day and hiked around in the jungle and up to a viewpoint, where we could see the whole island. Pigs and scrawny dogs roam around the streets of the small towns. Grace and Gloria loved the motel pool and we have discovered "licaudos", the Guatemalan version of a smoothie.

OLD MAYAN TEMPLES (by Grace)

2009-04-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went to a place called Tikal. Tikal is an old site in the jungle, which has Mayan temples in it. We woke up at 3:30am to get ready for the early shuttle to the bus station. Once we made it to the bus station we all got into our comfortable seats, and sat there for nine hours. We slept on and off throughout the trip. Finally, we made it to Flores and rested for a day. At 6am we all got on another shuttle to the National Park in Tikal. Once we got off the crowded shuttle we just started walking around, planning where to go and what to do. Our first stop was the Grand Plaza. The Grand Plaza is where they buried their kings and queens in temples. The temples there were soooo big; the details were also very interesting. Right in the middle of the Grand Plaza are stelae which is what they recorded family history on. We climbed on one of the temples, too. On the top you had perfect view of the temple in front of you and the ones around you. There was this one palace where the archaeologist stayed while he excavated the Mayan site. We made our way through the jungle without being bothered by bugs (yes!). Unfortunately we didn't see any monkeys. Nearing the end of the trip, we climbed another temple. It was so high up you could see all the way over the top of the jungle. When we climbed back down, we saw a group of missionaries. After we finished talking with them it started to rain. It made me feel right at home. We made our way out of the park and ate some lunch. We waited a while until our shuttle came. This was an experience I'll never forget.

SKORTS, SHORTS, AND BUS BATHROOMS

2009-04-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

Today we spent 10 hours on a bus riding from Antigua to Flores. There are flights to Flores, but they cost thrice as much and just reinforce the idea that we have to move speedily all the time.
Some of my most pleasurable travel moments are when I'm in transit, just poking along aiming for Somewhere. And the BEST moments are when I don't know where Somewhere is. I love to take long, rambling walks and just see what I see, hear what I hear, smell what's there. I have a good sense of direction, so I rarely feel truly lost, but that almost-lost feeling is so fun! (Stephen can't do this. He is lost most of the time, even in his home town. Literally, not figuratively. On more important levels, he's nicely grounded.)

Okay, the whole day wasn't wonderful. Trying to use the bathroom in a rolling, pitching bus was an experience I don't need to repeat to feel fulfilled. Then there was the guy that got on the bus halfway through the journey and sat across from me sending strong wafts of bad B.O. my way for 150 kilometers. And he jabbered nonstop at the young gal next to him, so I kept my eye on them, to see if I needed to "rescue" her from the could-be-a-creep. But that ended well enough when he got off the bus in a cute little village that was having a parade in the middle of the street that the bus was negotiating. Through the window, as we made our way slowly down the street against the flow of the parade, I shot photos of Guatemalan cowboys on horses and young girls wearing plastic silver crowns waving at the crowd. But I'm using a hotel computer tonight, so I can't upload the photos for you.

Mothers and (presumably) sons would board the bus every so often with baskets of food and drink. We bought fried chicken (a Guatemalan staple) and "tortillas de carne" (YUM!) and rice and tortillas. We paid $5 for three meals. We drank the juice boxes we'd brought and munched on our chocolate. Gloria lay in my lap and looked up at the clouds, imagining. Grace read "Dracula" and slept. Stephen napped and jotted down some notes for work. I watched the landscape change from dry hills with cactus, to burnt sugar cane fields, to green hills that reminded me of home, to palm trees and more green -- and always the craggy, volcanic mountains.

Now here we are in a motel in Flores, a pastel-hued town on a small island in the middle of a lovely lake in Peten, the largest and most northern of the 22 Guatemalan departments (states.)
It's a jungle out there, or so I'm told. We have tickets for Monday morning to visit Tikal, an important and famous Classical Mayan site. It's set in the middle of the huge Mayan Bioreserve, a largely unexplored jungle, full of many other Mayan sites, most of them not yet excavated, and many not yet even discovered. This is an area rich with mystery and possibility.

I get to wear my shorts and tee-shirt to church tomorrow. We only brought our backpacks, since we are staying only 3 nights. When we checked online for the location of the church here in Flores, we didn't find any, so I took my skirt out of my backpack and left it with our luggage. But it turns out (coincidentally?) that the shuttle driver here in Flores is Mormon (I asked him about the church) so we now know when and where to show up tomorrow morning. The girls have skorts and Grace is rather appalled at my proposed dress, but of course, Jesus doesn't care, and that's good enough for me.

LA VIDA BUENA

2009-04-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks have been devoted primarily to studying. In the mornings, we have 2-3 hours of home school, which has its ups and downs, but on the whole, is working well. In the afternoons, Grace and Gloria study Spanish for 2 hours with Roxanna, and I study with Marco for 4 hours. It wears out our brains, but we are all learning quite rapidly. We usually break up the day with a walk about town, either to do errands or just to see what's out there. One day we walked through a nearby cemetery and often, we find ourselves down Calle Santa Lucia at the video store. Tonight we brought home The Wizard of Oz. This morning, we went out for breakfast and also bought all the bus tickets we will need for the rest of our time in Guatemala. We leave Saturday morning at 4:00 a.m. for Flores and Tikal. I'm actually looking forward to the 9-hour bus ride, as it will take us through some beautiful parts of the country.

Here are some random shots of the Guatemala Garfields.

(I've tried 4 times to upload more pictures. I quit.)

CHOCOLATE!

2009-04-23T18:59:00.001-07:00

Wednesday we went on a school excursion to visit the "palacio" of the first Catholic bishop from Spain, who arrived in Guatemala in1527. We enjoyed the tour of the palace grounds, but we MOST enjoyed what happened next! We followed our guide across the street. She knocked on a gate and we waited. Some time later, a woman appeared and invited us in to see how they make chocolate. It was a little family operation and we found it fascinating. So here is your lesson in making chocolate, one small batch at a time. 1) Here is Grace holding a cacao bean. 2) The women have roasted the beans on an open fire and are now blackening their hands by crumbling up the cacao beans. 3) The man sends the roasted, crumbled beans through this mill, which turns them into a sticky paste, then mixes it with sugar. I tasted it at this point, and while the flavor was amazingly rich, the texture was quite gritty from the sugar. 4) They send it through the mill once more, which grinds it up fine and dry. 5) The man weighs the chocolate, then forms each piece by hand. It's like stiff clay, at this point. (And the small concrete room smells wonderful!) 6) The chocolate wafers are wrapped in one-pound packages for sale.
7) Finally, here is Marco, my Spanish teacher, with fellow student Kieran from Kentucky, and Gloria with their little pink bags full of chocolate. Grace and Gloria pooled their money to buy a pound of cinnamon chocolate and Stephen and I bought a pound of almond chocolate. Each pound cost $1.50. It is so rich that we can't eat much at one time. Tonight we are going to try using it to make hot chocolate. Seriously, you've never tasted anything like this. Pure cocoa, with just enough sugar to make it delicioso. Hurray for chocolate!

VIEWS OF ANTIGUA

2009-04-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

The town of Antigua Guatemala is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was a Spanish colonial town, so we see lots of ruins of old churches and convents all over town. The town is surrounded by lovely green hills and three volcanoes. The climate is ideal, which is why Guatemala is called The Land of Eternal Spring.

ZOO DAY (by Gloria)

2009-04-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

I had a great day on Friday!!! We went to the zoo. My family and I held a tarantula. We saw many reptiles. Grace and I swam a lot.

STEPHEN TAKES A BREAK

2009-04-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Perhaps some of you have been wondering how it is to work online from Guatemala, as I have been doing for what feels like the last 23 centuries dating back to a week ago Tuesday. My answer to this smouldering issue is that it is remarkably similar to telecommuting from the comfort of my computer room at home in Camas, Washington, with the exception that my room there does not double as lawnmower storage (see note at bottom). Another small difference at our place of lodging here in Antigua is that there appears to be a relationship between internet access and availability of hot water--on any given day you get one or the other, absolutely guaranteed! I have not found this to be a problem at all, as I very seldom shower while working online. So in brief, it's been working pretty well so far, and I'd be happy to provide specific details on the actuarial work I've been doing, but I'm waiting for someone to ask first. Truth be told, I've been waiting on that since 1982, when I began applying actuarial methods to the problem of world peace.

Note: I know what you're thinking, and I did try to log on to the Craftsman 8320 Shur-cut, but evidently I had the wrong password.

DR. DOOLITTLE AND GLORIA TRAVEL THE WORLD

2009-04-14T18:26:00.000-07:00

Home school is great! My parents teach me. I am learning how to write in cursive, and I am also learning how to write paragraphs. I love it sooooooo much! Every morning, I am the first one up and I always get my work done before Grace. In my head, I say, "This is easy." I am learning about Native Americans, even the ones in Central and South America like the Incas, Mayas, and Aztecs.

I am also taking Spanish classes in the afternoon with Grace. My teacher's name is Roxanna. Here are some words I've learned: feliz, yo, rodilla, negro, and amarillo. You can look them up to find out what they mean.

I just read Doctor Doolittle Tales. It was a great, great, great book. It seems like I was Tommy Stubbins, who is the little boy who wants to be a veterinarian, like John Doolittle. John Doolittle is a great veterinarian. He used to be a regular doctor, but for some reason, he liked animals better than people. Polynesia, his pet parrot, taught him how to speak to animals. It was awesome to read to my parents. Tomorrow I get to make a play about it. And next time, I will tell you about Charlotte's Web, because that is the next book I am reading.

A DAY AT THE VOLCANO

2009-04-12T16:25:00.002-07:00

Yesterday Gloria, Lisa, and I climbed all the way to the top of the world and saw the world create itself. We went and climbed a Volcano called Pacaya, which is one of the four active volcanoes in Guatemala. Guatemala has 31 volcanoes. We all rode horses up. Lisa always guided her horse the long way, so she wouldn't run over the hikers just ahead of us. Gloria’s horse was very smart and always took the right path. And mine . . . my horse ran into other horses. Without my awesome guide, I would think the horse would run of its own accord. On the way up the horses had to go on these horrible trails, cobblestone. But once we passed that, it was just dust and some narrow parts. We stopped a few times admiring the beautiful countryside. When we got to a part where the horses couldn’t go, we were all grateful to get off a walk, for we have been sitting for about and hour or more. When we got off the horse we saw a huge hole in the ground we couldn’t see anything at the bottom for we were in a cloud. We made our way around and out of the cloud. Then, we headed down into the crevices filled with dried lava. It took a while for everyone in our group to get into the crevices for some places weren't stable enough to stand on. When we were stopped, people started to roam around and some found a hole in the lava where a fire was starting. There were also places where you could feel the hot parts of the earth; some were so hot you couldn’t put your hand there. My sister Gloria started heading up, way up on the highest point you could go; I started following her. In this one area I was making my way down this hill of lava then I fell, because it was so hot, but I quickly went to the other side. Half way up to where Gloria was, I turned around. I went and sat on a cold lava rock, because my shoes were so warm I thought they were melting! After a while our group headed back. My mother’s knee isn’t so well, so we (my mom and I) were behind because I hurt my ankle. It was getting dark fast, but we made it down the volcano.
Now we can say I climbed an active volcano in Guatemala!

EASTER SUNDAY

2009-04-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

One of the handy things about being LDS is that wherever we go in the world, there is church.
Because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a global church, we can celebrate Easter with Latter-Day Saints here in Antigua today and everything but the language is pretty much the same. The forms of worship, the class curricula, the spiritual feeling -- it's all familiar and much welcome. Even though none of us understood many of the words today, we all got the spirit of it, and it was good to share this special day with our fellow church members here.

This facet of our travels will, I expect, provide a touchstone of truth and fellowship for us, all around the globe. For that, I'm grateful.

My Best Day Ever (by Gloria)

2009-04-10T08:18:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was my best day ever! We went to a picnic park down by the church. My mom, sister, and I had a peppery bean sandwich with homemade tortillas. There was a big fountain in the park. I took an itsy-bitsy bath.

It is Semana Santa here. People are making street decorations to celebrate Easter. They use colorful sawdust and cutout stencils to make the designs. They also use tree needles and flowers to design pictures.

And finally, I got a foam toy dog. (Mom says he's an iguana.) He is like a little puppet because he has a wire handle sticking out of his neck.

IT WAS THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!

p.s. We are having a lot of trouble with the internet, so I will post pictures later to go with this post. Hasta luego!

LIFE ON THE ROAD

2009-04-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

We are now in Antigua, Guatemala, after a fine day of traveling (minus all throwing stars and incident reports). We are staying in a large room right at the Spanish school where Grace, Gloria and I will be studying for two weeks, beginning next Monday. The Internet is not working there, as promised, so we are sitting tonight in a fast food chain restaurant called Pollo Campero, tapping into their wifi connection.

The girls are happy to be in Guatemala and adapting well to the changes in our lifestyle. Better than I am, really. This past week has been an emotional roller coaster, and though I did expect that, it is nonetheless unnerving. I figure it's a combination of missing Gabrielle (though we did get her first letter today and she is doing very well -- yay!) and missing good sleep and a transition in my homeopathic treatment for depression and the stress of trying to make sure all travel details are in order. Now that we are here and settling into one place for the next three weeks, I expect my mood will improve.

Now it's a matter of finding a rhythm for our days. Home school doesn't really take that much time in the mornings. Grace and I are reading a lot, and Gloria spent a lot of time today watching the Disney Channel in Spanish, which actually is a great way to learn the language. Stephen is still on a full-time work schedule, so he is preoccupied with irascible internet connections. We are learning to put our used toilet paper in the trash, not the toilet, and doing our best to figure out meals from the offerings in the chaotic supermarket and the outdoor mercado. (Great fruit here!) We have access to a kitchen, but it's pretty grimy, so cooking is a challenge. We were hot today and cold last night. There is a lot of unstructured time, despite today's excursion to see the Children's Procession -- part of the Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations. BUT, we got some extra blankets for tonight and I managed to cook up a decent dinner of rice and beans and salad and Grace and I both finished a book today. The girls discovered a lime tree in the yard this evening and decided to bring some downtown to sell. This did not work out so well, partly because none of us knows how to say "lime" in Spanish. So now they are happily cutting them up at the table here and eating them.

I expect the next few weeks will be primarily about adapting to life on the road, as well as living in such close proximity to each other 24/7. Yes, life is simpler in some ways, and the stress I've experienced so far has been no surprise. So all is well!

The B ig Chicago Bean

2009-04-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hey, this is Grace.
Today we went to downtown Chicago. We (my brother, sister, mother, and ME) went to the zoo, the big bean, and the Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago was my favorite part, aside from the big bean. They're famous for the Impressionist collections. Monet was one of my favorite artists. He painted the same things at different times. For example, he painted a hay stack in the winter, summer, fall, and sunset. Harald Sohlberg, another of my favorites, created the famous 'Fisherman's Cottage', which is a lovely picture of a cottage in the evening. Now, I saved the best for last. Vincent Van Gogh! This art museum has a wide selection of Vincent Van Gogh paintings. We only had half an hour in the museum, so we had to speed through everything.
I like cows!
~grace

Hi! This is Gloria now.
sssssssssssssssssssssss!!! You just heard the python!!! We went to theLincoln Park Zoo. My mom, brother, sister and me went on a bus. We saw lions, tigers, coyotes, and many other animals. My favorite is the baby monkey. We also saw reptiles and nocturnal animals. My other favorite is the sand cat. I took pictures of the animals with my camera.

Lisa here, to sum up our cold but delightful day in Chicago. Chicago sits right on Lake Michigan, which thawed just two weeks ago and is a roiling, muddy mess right now. We had a couple of bright, beautiful days here, but today was barely above freezing. Undaunted however, we braved the cold to visit the (free!) Lincoln Park Zoo, which turned out to be a really wonderful small zoo. The animal exhibits allowed close observation and perhaps because of the cold, most of the animals were quite active. And perhaps because it's often cold in Chicago, many of the animals were housed in warm buildings, which we lingered in just to stay warm.

We spent longer than we'd anticipated at the zoo, so only had a brief half hour at the incredible Art Institute of Chicago. (We had a free pass from the local library.) When we discovered that they're most famous for their collection of Impressionist art, I got quite excited, since that is my very favorite style. I squealed with joy to see original Monets and Renoirs and Gaughins all hanging side by side on the walls -- room after room of them. I told the docent that we were going to Paris and would see many of the Impressionists there, and she said conspiratorially, "Well, we have more in our collection. The French didn't like the style, so we bought up as much as we could before they realized how great it really is." On the way out, we zipped through the Asian art and learned a bit about Hindu gods and stopped to admire the Mongolian wedding headdresses. (Since Bayra is Mongolian, we've a special interest.)
We then walked through Millennium Park and stopped to investigate the Big Bean, a huge, reflective silver bean in the middle of the park. I have no idea what it's supposed to mean, but it was fun to join the other camera-toting tourists buzzing around the bean, chattering in myriad languages.

It has been great to spend a few days here with Garrett and Bayra, Zach and Nate. Zach and Nate are hilarious fun and we are looking forward to seeing them next in Mongolia. Early tomorrow morning, we fly to Guatemala and will be there a month. We arrive just in time for Semana Santa, a big Easter deal in Antigua.
Hasta luego!

Chica-go!

2009-04-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

Day One: "Incident Report." Portland Airport, 6:30 a.m., security line. Gloria's backpack contains a metal Chinese throwing star that big brother Gordon gave her (which makes it precious and -- oh yes, a weapon.) Three TSA authorities descend with clipboards and reams of paperwork and grim faces. "I just had it in there for Show and Tell and forgot it was there," whispers Gloria as the TSA officials demand, "Who is responsible for this child?" Star confiscated. Incident reported to the federal government in triplicate. We are told to expect a letter and a fine. Gloria is mortified, Grace is anxious about missing the flight, Stephen is bemused, and I am laughing out loud as we finally board the plane for Chicago.

Here we are arriving at Garrett and Bayra's apartment in Hyde Park, just up the road from President Obama's house. Notice our amazing packing job: one carry-on and one backpack apiece. Notice how adorable our grandsons, Zachary and Nathan are. See how happy we are to be finally embarked on our Big Trip.

Hermana Garfield checks in to the MTC

2009-04-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Gabrielle is now an official missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah yesterday and will be there about 8 weeks studying Spanish before she heads off to Santiago, Chile. Stephen and I flew down with her to turn her over to the Lord's service. It was so hard to see her walk out that "Missionary Exit" door, but we have strong faith that what she is doing for the next 18 months is exactly the right thing for her.

Here is her address in the MTC:

Sister Gabrielle Garfield

MTC Mailbox #89

CHI-SATE 0601

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

There is a handy website called http://www.dearelder.com/ that allows you to send her letters for free, even when she is in Chile. They also have care packages you can purchase and have sent to her. Missionaries love mail, so I hope you will all take a moment now and again to send her your love. The above information is all you need: mailbox #89, mission CHI-SATE, date to leave MTC 0601. Her mission is called Chile Santiago East, which you will need to know when you send letters to Chile. Of course, you can also send a regular letter or package.

We are very proud of Gabby. She really is an exceptional young woman and we are confident she will be an amazing missionary.

Thanks to all of you who support her and our family. Many of Gabby's friends from college came to wish her well the evening before her first day at the MTC and again the next morning at Denny's. And most of Stephen's family were with us as we went to the MTC. Love matters, and we so appreciate all the kindnesses and generosity extended to Gabby and to us.

p.s. This is my first attempt to upload photos. Obviously, I know nothing about layout, so bear with me while I keep practicing over the next weeks and months. Tomorrow: Chicago!

OUR (ever-changing) ITINERARY

2009-03-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

This has been tough, choosing just the few spots we can manage to visit around the world in 9 months. Basically, it becomes a question of quality: is it better to experience as many places as we can, or to go slower and experience deeper? We're opting for the latter approach, which I think will suit us for several reasons. 1) We've got kids in tow. That always slows things down, but in a good way. It forces us adults to look at the world the way a child sees it, and I anticipate
many refreshing insights to come from Grace and Gloria. 2) We've got almost-oldies along. Yep, it's true; Stephen and I are awfully close to being able to get those senior discounts. We're slower, too. So it's easier to think in terms of weeks, rather than days, as we plan our itinerary.

Now you realize this plan changes all the time. Not so much the stuff I've already booked (I'll mark those with an *) but the stuff we dream of, the places we talk about wanting to go. Our Spring/Summer segment started out much more ambitious (and included Israel, Egypt, South Africa and Victoria Falls.) You'll notice that all of those places are missing. There's simply not enough time to do it all. We chose to spend more time in Spain, since we're coming from a month in Guatemala studying Spanish. It seemed silly to waste that, trying to get around in Arabic or Hebrew.

So here is our travel itinerary, in its highly-fluid (except for those *'s) state:

April 3-7 *Chicago: visit Garrett and family, celebrate his #30, hug grandsons, see Chicago

April 7-27 *Antigua, Guatemala: study Spanish at a language school (apartment at school)

April 27-29 Tikal, Guatemala: visit Mayan ruins and cloud forest

April 29- Panajachel, Guatemala: visit our sponsored students and volunteer at
May 4 Mayan Families

May 4-6 Guatemala City

May 6-14 *Atlanta: visit Lisa's family

May 15-22 *Malaga, Spain: on the Costa del Sol, check out Andalucia (timeshare exchange)

May 23-30 *Ibiza, Spain: an island in the Mediterranean (timeshare exchange)

May 30-June 6 Barcelona, Spain

June 6-13 *Denia, Spain: south of Valencia on the Mediterranean coast (timeshare bonus)

June 13-14 Gerona, Spain

June 15 *Marrakech, Morocco (homesit)

June 19-July2 Vienna, Austria (pending home exchange)

July 2-7 *Paris, France (apartment rental)

July 7-23 *Copenhagen, Denmark (home exchange)

July 23-Aug 1 *Antwerp, Belgium (home exchange)

Aug 1-22 *London, UK (home exchange)

Aug 22-Sep 7 *Mongolia: tour with Bayra's family--Garrett & family here (hug grandsons)!

The dates get very fluid from here on:

Sep 7 -14 Beijing

Sep 14-21 Tokyo: visit Gordon and Aya!

Sep 21-Oct 17 Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam)

Oct 17-24 Delhi, India

Oct 24-31 *Bangalore, India (hospitality exchange with Indian family)

Nov 1-7 *Bapatla, India: visit sponsored students, volunteer at Open Arms India

Nov 7-23 Australia: southern coast, Melbourne to Adelaide; maybe Uluru, Sydney

Nov 23-Dec 3 New Zealand-south island (caravan camping)

Dec 3-10 *Roturua, New Zealand (timeshare exchange)

Dec 10-26 Chile: Santiago, maybe Easter Island, Christmas with Gabrielle!

Dec 26-Jan 9 Peru: Macchu Pichu, Amazon

HOME

DAVE'S DEATH

2009-02-27T11:55:00.000-08:00

We just got word that Stephen's boss died today. He was at a conference in Florida when he had a couple of deep strokes a few days ago. He's been in a coma in a hospital there and died this morning. Dave was a friend of ours, just four months older than Stephen, and an all-around good guy. We are shocked and heartbroken.

Life can change so quickly. Unemployment. Illness. Accident. Death.

Would I be prepared? Would you?

I'm so deep into planning and preparing for our Big Trip that I begin to believe I have real control. That I can make happen what I want to happen. And often, that is true. Or seems so.
But the reality is, we control nothing. Not our families, not our stuff, not our plans, not our life. All we truly control is our own will.

Dave's death is a lesson for me in Serendipity. Again. A reminder to stay humble, to stay grateful, to stay flexible. To remember Who is in control. To remember to love life while I'm here. To remember to love.

Life is precious. And fragile. A gift of time and experience. I hope I use mine well. I hope you use yours well. I hope Dave is content with his, in retrospect.

Live well.

BLACK SKIRTS AND SKIMPY SHIRTS

2009-02-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

It's all about simplicity. That's one of the great things about traveling. You have with you just your few clothes, your few books, your few choices. I love that! The first thing I do when I arrive at the motel or the condo or my mom's house is unpack my small suitcase and arrange my stuff. It's so freeing, to have just one drawer of things to wear, one little bag in the bathroom, a couple of books on the nightstand. Life is gloriously simple!

I'm packing today. Or practicing packing. Packing for nine months is really not much different than packing for a week. We three girls have our black skirts and our skimpy shirts. Skimpy as in lightweight. I've planned our trip to follow Summer all around the world. Stephen has his zip-off cargo pants and a pair of lightweight dress pants. I'm making piles on the bed. Here's what I have so far:

For us girls: 2 skirts (just 1 for Grace and Gloria), 2 shorts, 2 long pants, 6 blouses and shirts, 1 swimsuit, 1 nightgown, 5 pair of underwear, 3 pair of socks, 1 pair of good walking sandals, flip-flops, 1 light jacket.

For Stephen: 1 dress pants, 1 shorts, 1 zip-off pants, 6 shirts, swimsuit, underwear, socks, shoes, jacket. He doesn't own pajamas. (And I'm only taking a nightgown for the hostel halls.)

That should do it.

There is a difference, though, in packing for a long trip and for international travel. I have a separate pile with things like tampons, bathroom products, first-aid supplies, electronic stuff (including two new netbooks--what a great invention!), adapter and converter, sink stopper, calculator, clothesline, etc.. Then one more pile of passports, tickets, planner, notebooks, guidebooks, schoolwork.

I just bought airline tickets from Chicago to Guatemala on Mexicana, and from Guatemala to Atlanta on Spirit Air. Mexicana still allows you to check two bags free, but Spirit charges $15-$25 for each checked bag. Air travel is changing fast, and not always to our economic advantage. Spirit even charges $12 for a pre-assigned seat. Although, to be fair, the fares are staying low, and the airlines have to make money somehow. So I hope to fit everyone into a carryon bag. (I mean their stuff!) Though I'll have to deal with the stupid liquid/gel rule.

We're sorting and tossing and stashing like mad all the stuff we have here at home. Stuff is such a bother! Sometimes I wonder if I'm going on this trip just for the simplicity it promises. I'm hoping I learn something about bringing that simplicity home. I'm not a shopper, not into stuff. But still, the stuffed animals breed in the dark, the garage piles up with half-empty containers of brake fluid and fertilizer, and we all have too many clothes. How does that happen?

Someday I'd like to try the Walden Pond experiment, like Thoreau. For now, I'll enjoy the simplicity of traveling light. I'll don my black skirt and skimpy shirt (which I recently washed in the sink and hung to dry -- practicing, you know) and hit the road happy.

Now, back to packing . . .

Plans, Cancer, Serendipity

2009-02-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

We've just survived a cancer scare. This is our first major health scare, so we're calling it our debut into the stage of aging bodies, boring conversations about our current aches and pains, and expensive prescriptions.

Stephen's doctor has been monitoring his PSA for about a year. Because it has remained high, he referred him to a urologist recently. Did you know they can do a digital exam of the prostate gland? (I will leave the details up to your imagination.) Since his PSA was high and his prostate enlarged, the urologist did a biopsy and told us that there was a 30-50% chance of cancer. We got the lab results yesterday: no cancer detected.

Waiting for results offered me a great opportunity to practice serendipity. Stephen gave me a book for Christmas by Richard M. Eyre called "The Three Deceivers/ The Three Alternatives." The three deceivers of this world are Control, Ownership, and Independence. When we live our lives from these paradigms, the results are not what we've been led to believe. Guess what the alternative paradigm is to thinking you have control over your life? Serendipity. Which I define as keeping an open mind and heart, so that whatever comes into your life you can welcome with optimism and joy. Yes, even "bad" things. Like cancer or cancelled plans.

Maybe you've heard stuff like this before. I had. How cancer brings its own gifts. How people learn valuable lessons through difficult trials. Sometimes it just feels like great theory, or great theology, so I do welcome opportunities to test whether I'm really "getting" it. Last week was an interesting test of my commitment to Serendipity.

I did remain calm and open, unworried. My approach to potential trouble is to play out various scenarios that may occur, "practice" my response, then put it all in a mental box to pull out as necessary. I can do this fairly fast now, perhaps because I include the Lord in the practice runs. So last week I created three boxes: A) Stephen doesn't have cancer and we'll proceed with our life (and our Big Trip) as planned. B) He does have cancer, but we can manage it and still do a modified trip. C) He's going to die soon and all my plans will change in a major way.

Remember that General Conference talk by Joseph B. Wirthlin called "Come What May -- and Love It"? That's the idea of Serendipity. Come what may -- I can handle it, I can be glad of it, I can love it. I believe in living life like that. We really don't have control over anything but our own will. So we can decide how to respond to whatever comes our way. That we can control.

Traveling with an attitude of Serendipity is crucial to a good experience. No matter how much I plan and prepare, no matter what my expectations, something will go "wrong" and lots of things won't be what I expect. So as I work on our travel plans, I'm always aware that Barcelona or Ibiza may not be what I anticipate, our home exchanges may have glitches, we're certain to get lost somewhere, someone will get sick, and it's bound to cost more than my careful budget projections. But that all makes me smile. Because I'm certain that Barcelona will offer up unexpected gifts, we'll find hidden gems of experience while we're lost, and the budget? Oh well.

WHY? . . . . WHY NOT?

2009-01-12T00:49:00.000-08:00

People sometimes ask me, "Why do you travel?" I never know quite what to say. To travel seems as necessary to me as breathing or eating. It doesn't have to be a big trip. When we had no money in graduate school, I drove the eight hours from Chapel Hill, NC to my mom's house in Marietta, GA -- just me and my baby -- as often as I could. I'd pull over to nurse him as needed and munch on the crackers and apples I'd brought for myself. Just the memory of those trips evokes again the thrill of the road, of moving, the world whizzing by outside my window, ever new horizons just ahead.

I don't know what it is. I get excited thinking about what a wonderful world we live in, what amazing people populate the planet -- most of whom I'll never meet, never know, never understand as I'd like to. We can sink so quickly into our own narrow little world, a world of rigid belief systems and habitual patterns of living. Even those of us who think of ourselves as "enlightened" or "broad-minded" are just as stuck in our own myopic view of things (e.g. "I am so broad-minded.")

I travel to remind myself that what I think I know is not necessarily so. That there are other ways besides the American way, the Mormon way, the intellectual way, the middle-class way. There are other ways to live and contribute and be happy. I travel to shake myself up, to try to loosen up the inevitable rigidness in my own judgments of the world. To free myself to see.

My friend Tracey once said to me, "Lisa, you are an explorer. That's who you are, at heart. It's how you live your life, on all fronts, as an explorer." I'd never given that ineffable inner need a label, but I immediately recognized the aptness of it. It explains, perhaps, why this poetic snip by T. S. Eliot has sat on my desk for decades: "We must not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and know the place for the first time."

I expect I will come home to Camas from this Big Trip changed. For the better, I hope. But on a more mystic scale, I hope to arrive where I really began better than I left it. I have always felt like a traveler here, on a journey away from Home, a journey of exploration and discovery. It's a fascinating trip, and I'm trying to make the most of it. My objectives? Truth. Love.

No, you don't have to go 'round the world to find truth or love or adventure or beautiful, interesting people. But why not?

Snowed In!!!

2008-12-21T13:25:00.000-08:00

This is Gloria talking. Hi peeps. Being snowed in is kinda fun and not. I mostly got frost bites. If you live in the mountains you'll have fun in the snow. All the kids will miss school a lot. We missed school four days and only had one day of school. It's a snow storm!!!!!!!!
TaTa for now(See you next time I write to you.)

Hey this is Grace speaking!!! It's really weird to be snowed in a whole week. The roads are really slick, and loads of snow. I just sleep, play outside, read, listen to music, and watch TV. CU l8er BE HAPPY!

SNOW everywhere! (This is Lisa now.) It's so beautiful, all the frosted trees and piled drifts. Our little fluffball dingbat cat is having a ball in the snow. Her more sensible big brother is just waiting it out in the garage. It's actually nice to have a good excuse to stay home, feed the fire, make music, play games, talk to each other, prepare our Christmas service gifts for the family. We had church in the living room this morning, complete with talks/testimonies by the five of us, songs, the Sacrament, and even a musical number -- Gloria playing "Stars Were Gleaming" on her violin. Amy Grant is belting out "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" on the i-Pod. The only bummer is that Garrett and Bayra, with my young grandsons Zach and Nate, are stuck down in Tualatin, where they went last Thursday to visit friends. They flew in from Chicago on Wednesday and we haven't seen them much since. We're planning to bless 2-month-old Nathan here at our house on the 23rd. That's my baptismal date, so it's a special day. We blessed two other grandsons--Zach and Gavin--on the same date two years ago, right here in the same place. I hope it happens -- we have a big party planned.

UPDATE on our BIG TRIP: We won't leave home until 7 April, since Gabby doesn't leave for her mission until 1 April. The plan is to fly to Chicago to visit Garrett and Bayra, then from there to Guatemala. We have some credit on Mexicana airlines, because we had planned to be in Guatemala all this year and had already bought tickets. But now they don't fly to Portland, so we have to get to Chicago. Luckily for us, we've incentive anyway!

I'm having great fun arranging home exchanges for our trip. So far, I've arranged exchanges with families in Copenhagen, London, and Antwerp during July and August. Home exchanges are the best thing going on in the travel world! We get to stay FREE in comfortable homes, all set up for families, and in most cases, use their car. This makes places like London and Copenhagen in high season actually doable. Accommodations is a large chunk of most travel budgets, and this will cut our costs considerably. I'm also working on plans to exchange our timeshares for places at Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), Ibiza (Spanish island in the Mediterranean), Goa (Indian coastal resort), and Roturua (New Zealand). Other "free" weeks include the one we'll spend in Atlanta with my mom, brother, and sister (I hope--it depends on the flights); the week in Tokyo mooching off our son, Gordon; the two weeks in Mongolia with Bayra's family (though we plan to be out on tour with them most of the time); and the week we'll spend at the school in India where we sponsor a couple of students. We're planning to use caravans and campgrounds in Australia and NZ, so we'll have our wheels, kitchen, and beds all right there with us. And for the few remaining weeks, there are plenty of little apartments to rent here and there all over the world.

I'm excited about my progress in arranging accommodations for us. When I travel alone, or even with one other, I don't always arrange all the accommodations ahead of time. But it feels different with kids. Like this week of snow, I expect traveling long-term with kids will require a slower pace, a different mindset. One of the dangers of a trip like this, particularly with children, is trying to do too much, see too much, move around too much. So I think in terms of weeks, not days. We can decide what to do with our days within the context of our week+ stays. For instance, we have the London house for 3 weeks. That will be our base for exploring Great Britain.

We are open to all suggestions, ideas, and offers.

Have a wonderful Christmas!!

Gabrielle's Mission Call!

2008-12-12T14:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I (Gabrielle) have been in the process of filling out the paperwork to be an LDS missionary for a few months now, and last week everything was finally turned in! So yesterday here I was waiting for the mail to come (it comes SO late-- like 4:00! Exasperating!). Anyway, I'm thinking my mission call could possibly come, but more likely not this week. So at 4:15 I venture out to get the mail with moderate hopes of seeing a big white envelope addressed to Sister Gabrielle Garfield. Sure enough, there was! I was very surprised, actually. So I'm all giddy and skipping back to the house. Dad was the only one home, though. So I call Mom who naturally has her cellphone off. I call my sister Genevieve who answers neither her home phone nor her cellphone. I call Garrett and Bayra who don't pick up either. And I think, "forget you guys, I'm opening it without you!" (Not really, but it was very frustrating) So I continued to make dinner as the most important piece of mail in my life was taunting me on the counter. Garret and Bayra did call back, I should add, a couple times ("Is Lisa home yet??"). And finally Mom and the girls sauntered in. Genevieve, however, was ever-elusive. I decided to try calling one last time before I would give in and open it without her. Miraculously, she answered and was on her way to our house for an unrelated reason! She didn't know what was going on when she walked in until she saw what I was holding. I got everyone I wanted on the phone and quickly proceeded to yell at everyone for several minutes to pipe the heck down. (My nephews were being very loud goofballs). Finally I opened it! I was trying to avert my eyes so I wouldn't see anything before I actually read it, so I moved the first paper to the back. Naturally, the next paper was an application for a passport, so I knew right away I was going on a foreign mission. To be more specific, and to end the suspense, I have been called to serve in the Chile Santiago East Mission! I am to report to the Provo MTC on April 1st. It's an unusually long wait, but oh well! I'm very excited to learn Spanish and go spread the good word to those Chileans! Until then, thus concludes my very detailed report of getting the mail yesterday.
Abrazos,
Sister Gabrielle Garfield

Here we go again!

2008-11-07T17:04:00.000-08:00

We've had this grand idea for a round-the-world trip for quite some time now. And now we're finally going! We plan to leave in late March and be home around Christmas time. It's just the four of us: Stephen and Lisa, Grace and Gloria. Gabrielle will be on a mission, so perhaps we'll pop in and visit her (though we don't yet know where she's going.) We plan to go to Guatemala for a month, then on to Europe/Middle East/Africa for the summer, then to Asia/India/South Pacific in the fall, and spend most of December in Peru/Ecuador. We'll visit Gordon and Aya in Tokyo and spend some time with Bayra's family in Mongolia, while they are also there visiting.
We're scrambling to get everything in order before March. This blog will be our way to communicate with you. We even have a family blog schedule already set up, so we hope to be interesting and faithful bloggers, though we have no real experience. Now, let's hope the internet connections work wherever we are!

OK, our passports are ready, and we're signed up for Spanish School in Antigua, Guatemala for April. Stephen is busy trying to get his boss on board his latest shenanigans, while I'm researching French gites and volunteer opportunities. We'll keep you posted on our progress.