One more day...

For Kari: Tomorrow is that day that teachers all over the world both eagerly look forward to and dread: the day before a major break. Yes, at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow, I will be a free teacher. For two whole weeks.
For Ryan: He is leaving his job of the last 9 years. Tomorrow is the last day of that job. Very bittersweet for him.

We Miss Connor!

Ryan and I did the first rake of our yard yesterday. We sure missed our nephew, Connor. He helped us a lot last year.

Bigfoot marries Elvis

What you are looking at is Ryan drinking....(suspenseful silence)....a cappuccino. We found a place in Greenwich Village that says it brought the cappuccino to the United States.
And my coffee-hatin' hubby, good sport that he is, ordered AND DRANK the whole thing.


He'll be an addict before I know it!

An UnWicked New York

Ryan and I are back from New York and Connecticut. I was up for an NCTE (National Conference of Teachers of English) conference. The conference was good. Amy Tan was the opening speaker, and I was able to hear a few gurus in education.
Ryan came up on Sunday. We did walking tours of Greenwich Village, SoHo and the Financial District.

We loved the MoMA--This might be my favorite art museum thus far. It is the museum that your modern art history class textbook authors came to to write their textbooks.

I always thought the soup cans were all together. The spacing was interesting. My favorite Warhol by far.

Starry Night


I am in the picture to give a little perspective. I had no idea this Jackson Pollock was so HUGE!

This was Ryan's favorite picture. It is actually an ariel photograph of junk. The "man" and his reflection are the floor space. The junk is full-sized junk. Old chairs, coke cans, tires, etc.

We saw the Radio City Spectacular with the Rockettes. That was an amazing show.

Walking around the Times Square area, we saw many many people holding signs and drinking coffee. What impressed us about these people (mostly men) was that they weren't working. Which meant our Wicked tickets were only good for the refund. We are two for two for vacations and strikes.

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This was a sculpture that stood between the Twin Towers.

They have moved it to Battery Park. They have added the flame at the base.

Ryan took this video of the Merchant Marine sculpture. The effect of it varies with the tides.

Another year older....

Ryan and I have had a busy month. We both had our 32nd birthdays. I turned 32, but Ryan turned 33.
For Ryan's birthday we went to Lake Ray Roberts (just north of here about 20 miles) with some other couples. 4 couples, 7 kids (all under 6).

Ryan took me to hear Lyle Lovett (this is all you do when you get the cheap seats). Then off to Texarkana and Mountain Peak.
This is our first of two straight weekends at home. We get to do things like finally mow our yard, pull weeds, do laundry, clean our house, take a nap and have a potluck.
One of our friends became a United States citizen recently. We had a party here last night for him. The Larson boys came and decorated our house beforehand.

Acronimity

Ryan and I were talking about PVC pipe tonight. Everyone knows what PVC pipe is, but, without cheating (looking up the answer through any means), do you know what PVC stands for?

1st Semester Spanish Love Song

Nos llamamos Ryan y Kari. Sabemos un poco español. Este es un canción para ustedes.
(Gracias a babelfish translation).

Up, Up and Away

This weekend Natalie and Norman were visiting. Friday night, Ryan and I lost to the Houstonites at bowling, and are tied 1-1 in couples air hockey. We are hoping our bruises go away soon from the flying mallets. Natalie and Norman: we are up for a rematch any time!

Owwwwwwwww

Ryan's had a fun week. He has been complaining of his tooth since getting a crown on it. After a trip to the dentist, he ended up with a trip to the endodontist...for an on-the-spot root canal. What could be better than that news?
I think I will be driving until he runs out of those fun pain drugs.
I am back at school. My kids were EXCEPTIONALLY good today. I kept staring at them, waiting for the riots to start. Am hoping this keeps up for the next 167 days. :-)

How Much are You Worth?

This is a fun calculator. I am worth even less than I could imagine. Maybe I will start working less while at work to make it all even out.

Where to now?

Ryan and I are thinking about our next trip in December. Any ideas for destinations? (We are especially interested in ones that will put stamps in our passports without emptying our bank accounts).

Ica News

We had some word from Ica. The Ramos family is safe. There was some damage to the wall surrounding their garden. They sent a few pictures of some of the damage. I thought I would include it so you could see as well. They said supplies are beginning to trickle in, but there is much fighting over the distribution of them, so that can be a bit scary.

Driving in the Rain

We were up in Tulsa to surprise Dad for his birhtday. We drove up in rain sent to us by the weather on the coast. We drove home in it. Dur to some mixed communication, we left about an hour later than we we thinking we would. When we got to Okmulgee, we were glad we came through late. The closed down Highway 75 through town after "10.5 inches of rain fell in about four hours." I kept exclaiming and pointing and the parking lots and fields that we filled.
Here's a link to an article and a slideshow.
http://www.nowpublic.com/oklahoma-ts-erin-causes-massive-flooding-death-tornadoes
And another: http://newsok.com/article/3106856

Don't Call Us...We'll Call You

That's right. As of August 5, our Voice-Over-IP service no longer is our service. They just forgot to mention this little tidbit via e-mail, phone call, telegram, singing telegram, courier, UPS, DHL, USPS, or any other way of getting our attention. After hearing that calls weren't coming through, Ryan checked the site and sure enough:
While services to customers may be discontinued at anytime, all services will be discontinued no later than August 5, 2007.
Our cell phones still work and are, as usual, the best way to get in touch with us. We will, however, have to change our phone number. Give me 5-6 months before you hold me accountable to knowing our new one.

Human Tetris

These are hilarious. Watch the expressions of the people.

Looking in my Garden

Lantana must be butterfly food. This is what I found in our garden. He/She was beating his wings to much in a "happy dance" while eating I had a hard time getting a still shot.

Jiggety Jog

We are home again. Glad to be back. After being gone for 3 weeks we were glad to see our house. Now to get back into the swing of life here.

Nasca and Ica

These are a last few pictures from our last stop of our trip. We went through Nasca to fly over the Nasca lines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines) and then on to Ica. In Ica, Sara and Elvia met us at the bus station and took us to stay with the Ramos family. They were so kind and had rooms with welcoming signs waiting for us. Carolina and Brenda went out to the Ballestas Islands with us, (http://www.go2peru.com/gal_ballestas.htm), one of our best tours, and then we went will everyone to Huancayo--an oasis in the middle of the desert.

btw, small airplane rides that bank to the left and right a lot=roller coaster rides=rolling stomachs.

Nasca lines--on the right is part of the hummingbird. Lots of other unidentified lines.
The Ramos family, Elvia and Sara
The pelicans were trained. Boys on the beach would feed them for money. This was the closest we have ever been to pelicans.

Volcanic Island. Thousands/Millions of birds lived on these protected islands. The tops of these islands are unnaturally a whitish/yellowish color due to the guano (bird poop). Every four years the guano is harvested and is worth $70/barrel.
Can you see the face on the right side of the arch?

The Cathedral, in the Paracas National Park
Near the top of the dune

Monasteria de Santa Catalina

On Wednesday, we visited a beautiful place in Arequipa. It was too amazing not to mention. This is a very old convent that began in the 1800s I think. The rich would pay a dowry to have their daughter placed there. The daughter, after the first novice years, would then get a house and would often have servants to take care of the cooking and the cleaning. It was a self-contained very wealthy rich community...all women. The families wanted a daughter praying for them, and their solution was to put them here. It is a pretty place and the food we got there for a quick lunch was some of the best we have had here. They paint the walls to tone down the while sillar rock which the sun glares off of. The "streets" are modeled after places in Spain and named accordingly. Here is a taste of what we saw.

Below is the laundry area. A stream of water rolls down the center. To fill the pot, just put a leaf, rock, etc. to stop the hole in the bottom and then put your hand into the center. It will filter the water down your pipe into your pot. I like it when Ryan does laundry.

Condors in Flight

Yesterday, we woke up at 1:30 to head out to Colca Canyon to see the condors take flight. They need the updrafts in the canyon to soar. We probably saw 25 condors taking off, circling above us.

To get back, our driver decided to skip the road problems and took our bus over the dirt roads in a nature sanctuary. There were lots of fun switchbacks and many interestingly placed rocks to avoid, but no angry crowds.

Yesterday, the farmers went off their strike, but the teachers are continuing their strike. We finally found information we can understand. It seems they are striking for more pay (the lament of teachers everywhere) and because the government passed a new law calling for all teachers to have to pass a standardized teaching test (within 3 tries) or be fired. The standardized teaching test would help ensure a quality of education in the teachers before they teach the students. One test was given in February and quite a few of the teachers failed. From the article we read, it seems that the test is fairly basic math and reading comprehension, not the higher subjects of chemistry, physics, calculus. They seem more organized in the square today. Each region or school seems to have its own banner and the teachers are marching behind that banner. From the colors the teachers are wearing, it actually looks like the teachers we passed going to and from Puno that were throwing rocks in the road.

We do have our room for one more night. That part, I don´t mind.

We LOVE our hotel

At the suggestion of Mylene and Chris from our hike, we are staying at this place in Arequipa... for less than the price of your average Motel 6.

Protests in Peru

The teachers have been protesting here and it has made for interesting travel. Our bus leaves relatively on time. We get out of the city relatively easily and then...












The rocks were placed on the road to block traffic and were not being thrown at the cars and buses.



The protests today were worse than what we saw yesterday. We were a little worried at one point they were going to get violent when the police were firing tear gas into the crowds, and "teachers" were throwing rocks at the police. One police took a banner and it started a small scuffle next to our bus. We plan to be in Arequipa for a few days (avoiding the roads) and may just fly to our next destination!

El camino inka a Macchu Picchu

On Thursday, Kari and I started on a 4-day trek to Macchu Picchu. The trek started at about 10,000 feet. The altitude was no problem, since we had been staying at over 11,000 feet in Cusco for several days. The second day was especially gruelling. We climbed 2 passes, including the one below, at 13,828 feet. The views were incredible. Note the hat and gloves. Hmmm... summer in North America means winter in the Andes.We went 45 km, over 3 passes, ultimately ending in Macchu Picchu. The trail was built by Incas several hundred years ago to thwart gringos like us from enterring their sacred area. Our trekking group consisted of Kari and me, two women from Belgium, and a newlywed couple from Ireland. We were a fast, fit, group, and got to Macchu Picchu in 3 days instead of the targeted 4... giving us a 4th day to go back through Macchu Picchu at a more leisurely pace.

The view above is from the Sun Gate descending into Macchu Picchu on day 3. Note the shorts here. We started in a cold desert-like mountain environment, and ended in relatively warm jungle mountains.

We have hundreds more pictures. We will post more of the trek when we get to the land of faster internet connections.

Love,

Ryan and Kari

In Peru

We are in Peru. Our flight was very smooth and shorter than most international flights. We were greeted at the airport and went to the home of Celso and Vera. They were very welcoming. On Saturday afternoon, Luz took us for a tour around Lima. The taxis are definitely the most exciting part of Lima. We'll have to get a video and send it along. We were there for Sunday morning meeting--about 40 people. On Sunday, we went to the afternoon meeting at the home of Jose and Griselda. Afternoon meeting starts at 1pm, so was a mad dash to eat lunch, pack and get across town for the next meeting.
Lima was cloudy and COLD the whole time we were there.
Monday we arrived in Cusco, greeted at the airport by Alfonso and Pedro and the sun. Beautiful warm sun. We could finally take off some of our long underwear. They toured us around the city yesterday. Today we took a tour of the Sacred Valley. Lots of ruins and many answers of "No, gracias" to all the requests to buy any number of trinkets.
Lunch was interesting today. Trying to find a restaurant suggested in the guidebook, I was overconfident of the wrong address and ended up in a very small, interesting restaurant. We might pay for that mistake for the next few days, and we missed playing ping pong while waiting for our food (as we re-read the information about the first restuarnat in the guidebook :-( while eating at our dubious eatery).
We have learned thus far:
1. taxi drivers are crazy
2. a honk means move or get your feet/body run over
3. our hotel is nice, but could benefit from a heater
4. the altitude in cusco is 12,000 ft. and the air is a little thin. it is beautiful during the day and a WEE bit cold during the nights. (see no. 3).
5. we look way out of place and will be approached by each vendor on the street.
6. the welcome from the friends is overwhelming.

(Sorry, no pictures yet.)

Much Ado About Beans

On Tuesday, I threw some beans on the stove while I was running off to work, leaving a cute sign for Ryan to turn them off when he left for work. He worked from home, and forgot until he started sniffing a strange smell in the air. Burned, charred beans. He said he went downstairs and found it smoky.
Now, we are trying to get the smell out. It smells to me like we have come off of a smoking binge. We have ionizers going, baking soda and vinegar out...hoping all traces go away soon.
(Ryan did point out we could also have cool volcanos all over our house with the baking soda and vinegar!)
Any hints?

Garden News

My corn really is high as an elephant's eye.

And I decided to do something about part of our weed patch in the front beds. I was drawn into a local nursery and loved all the bright colors. I'm crossing my fingers these are all clay-loving plants.

I Made It...

Greetings from Silverton, Colorado!

Memorial day weekend we were out to Durango

for a little bike race for Ryan. Alyssa and I made it past the

cutoff and over the mountain with the kiddos in the back

showing a little brotherly love.

He did the Durango-Silverton Iron Horse citizens race

(timed only by the individual bikers) in 4 hours and 29 minutes.

Excellent for this flatlander. :-)

He was glad to bike with Ron and glad he made it over the mountain!

We watched Barry in a criterion in downtown Durango on Sunday. These guys are flying.

You can see Barry on the front row at the starting line in a blue jersey.

Someone said this looks like Ryan and me. She looks interested in the criterion.

Sunday night we went out to the Bar-D for the dinner and music. Brae loved the train.