ZOO DAY (by Gloria)

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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?