Web Robin

On the way to Africa!

I'm leaving tonight for Ethiopia and South Sudan--a trip one year in the works! Our church has a large group of South Sudanese refugees, and when South Sudan held a vote in January 2011 to decide independence, we started making plans to help rapatirate refugees from an internationally-displaced-persons camp.  If you want to follow along, we'll have people posting updates that we phone in at www.facebook.com/klcsouthsudan or www.klcsouthsudan.blogspot.com

Guess Where the Wards are Going Next?

One hint is the flag, but it's a flag for a country, which doesn't even exist yet.  

Yes, our little family is headed to the planet's newest country in February, 2012!  Can you guess the country? 

Post your guess, and click the link to learn more about our trip, and see if you guessed right. 

Green Ireland

Kathy wanted to see some pictures of Ireland; this is my favorite.  We had a wonderful time the week we were there. We had just left England (a week there). The difference was great. The people in Ireland were very friendly and love Americans. Good food. Great Hotels (we moved every two days). We really had a super time.

Ellis Lake in Marysville: Still There!

Ellis Lake In the Evening Yesterday

After years of talking about it, Kristine and I have finally packed up and left the Bay Area to see Brownsville for a day - just so I can see what's still there, and she can get a good idea of where many of us went to elementary school. Last night, we stayed in Marysville, and yesterday evening, we took Matthew and Sarah to Ellis Lake to see the ducks and geese. Since the twins are still small, you don't see any pictures of them interacting with the fowl, but trust me, they were watching.

Matthew and Sarah Playing With the Hotel Jacuzzi - Imps!

A Mom Duck Chasing After Her 12 (not all pictured) Offspring!

A Gallant Goose, With Reflection in the Lake

Another Mother Duck and Two Little Quackers

Sarah Admiring The Local Flora And Fauna

Today, we're going to be headed uphill and see Brownsville. Hopefully more pictures soon!

Bonaire Photos

We were on the island 8 full days, but in the water most of the time, so I didn't take many photos. Click here to see photos I took of our island tour, grocery shopping, one of the boat dives, and the last-night party.

We're in the water

After flying all day (SF --> Dallas --> San Juan, Puerto Rico -->  Bonaire) we arrived at Buddy's Resort. Because it was later (10:30 pm) we just went to our rooms, unpacked and turned in for the night.

This morning we had breakfast in the restaurant that's affiliated with the resort, then had a Dive Orientation for an hour or so. Afterwards, we did our checkout dive.

Every diver in Bonaire has to prove his or her ability to dive and keep buoyancy control. All the reefs are part of a national park, and the island takes special care to keep them in pristine condition. In fact, there's one section of the shoreline that is closed to divers. Researchers continually compare the conditions of dive sites to that area. When a site shows degredation, it is closed for a while.

Well, for being simply a checkout dive -- for which we walked down the steps from the dive shop to the water -- the underwater hour was fabulous. There were so many fish and so many kinds, it was almost bewildering! We saw schools of small silvery fish, lots of parrot fish, tangs, cow fish, trumpet fish, jacks, and many small schools of neon tetra sized fish and what look like juvenile damsels. Many bright colors -- it was wonderful. Also magnificient are the purple vase sponges that look like a collection of 2-3 feet high purple tubes arranged in a cluster. We also saw brain coral, staghorn coral, christmas tree worms, a free-swimming segmented worm, and groupers.

As the week goes on, I'll update this post with comments. That way you can keep up with us, but I won't dominate the entire Web Robin page.

As soon as I finish here, we're going to drive down the shore a little bit and go diving again. The entire western/southern short is dotted with dive sites -- marked by yellow rocks painted with the name of the site. This evening I hope we meet up with the group from Folsom; we've only seen them at breakfast so far.

By the way... even I think it's hot! You would never know it's November. But it's beautiful -- palm trees, sandy beaches, and clear water.  ;-)

Where to now???

FYI -- Rick and I are traveling to Bonaire for a scuba vacation. We'll be gone from 11/13-21. Internet access is supposed to be plentiful, so you'll probably hear from us, but I wanted you to know we'll be away. The map shows that Bonaire is a little island (in red) north of Venezuela.

October Excursions

October was a busy travel month and I got behind in sharing my photos. Click the links below to see collections from each trip.

The first set was taken on Columbus Day, at Sue Hansen's wedding to long-time partner Judy Stone. The wedding took place in Berkeley, and though politically uncomfortable, was an enjoyable gathering of family and friends. (Politically uncomfortable because the minister -- Sue's cousin -- mentioned Prop. 8 during the ceremony, and several people -- including Sue, whose boss was one of the "4 judges" who'd written the decision overturning Prop. 22 -- mentioned gay & lesbian activism.) It was great that Cameron & Shayna and Louis & Kristine + twins and Malinda were in attendance -- their presence demonstrated that we could all be friends in spite of political differences.

The next outing was to Wyoming. Originally, I was going to another friend's wedding that was to take place in Salt Lake City. Because she grew up in Wyoming, the reception was there. My colleague Glenn had been one of her high school teachers. Since he was attending everything, he volunteered to drive me around and host me for the weekend. I invited myself along on his Saturday hunting trip. As you know from my previous post, he didn't even spot an elk that weekend, but he did bag one two weeks later.

The final trip was to a town just south of the Arizona border where friends who'd gone to Galapagos for a marine ecology class with biologists from the University of Arizona were meeting for their annual reunion. It was a quick trip, and -- at $10 a night -- communal living at its best! No privacy, no beds, no maids, and no food. But we had a great time exploring the tidepools and snorkeling. Because most of the people were from Molly's year (2005), I got to meet a lot of new friends, too. Turning over rocks to see what's underneath (the pygmy octopuses were my favorite) made me feel like a kid again -- out exploring like my Kathy and I used to. It was really a treat to have an invertebrate specialist on hand to help identify our finds!  By the way, Cindi's sharing her photos too, so make sure you check them out.

¡Hasta la vista!

Molly and I are headed out Friday morning to Rocky Point, a few hours south of Phoenix, for a reunion of the group that has gone to the Galapagos.

We'll be there just for the weekend, staying at a marine research station and playing in the tidepools.

The best part: Cindy is going to meet us there!!! We'll share picks when we return.  (If you're interested, read about the location here and the research station here.)

traveling on Wednesday morning

Wednesday morning, my friend T (using initials only becase she's a kid) and I are leaving for Ethiopia.

T is going to be my traveling buddy for this trip--she's a friend's daughter, and a really sweet, responsible girl who wanted to visit Ethiopia again, which is her birthplace.  She's 14 but mature beyond her years. 

We're flying Seattle to Amsterdam, to Kartoum (Sudan) to Ethiopia, and I'll be settled in by Friday or Saturday enuogh to post to my blog at www.jessc098.blogspot.com.  Friday I'll meet Melat for the first time, and on Monday or Tuesday we have our first Embassay appointment.  We're scheduled to return to the USA on September 26th, but we're hoping  to return earlier if some necessary paperwork moves fast enough.

It's hard to believe that this day we've waited for four nine months arrives the day after tomorrow.

For the flight, I've got a few nice books--a biography of Mother  Theresa, and "Three Cups of Tea" and my Bible. We're also bringing some movies. Singin' in the Rain,  Pirates of the Carribbean, and Toy Story.  The laptop computer has a DVD player, so that may help tame the bordom of the long days in the guest house (kind of like a hostel).

We've been told that we won't be able to take Melat with us to our guest house--that she'll have to stay in the orphanage until the day we leave Ethiopia to return to the USA.  We've also been told, that's not true in Every case, so I'm hoping that the two outfits I've packed for her, and the four I've packed for me are going to be enough. As it is, I have nearly 200 pounds of luggage (almost entirely orphanage/humanitaian donations).  Myself and T  will be quite a sight in the Airport  with all these gigantic bags.  Take care everyone!  Bye for now.