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Two weeks out and Africa still burns in my mind. My departure from Niamey was smooth. The connecting flight out of Paris went without a hitch and I landed in Dulles on time. What I didn’t expect was to see our firends Steve and Scarlett Hughes waiting for me to take me to my hotel in Georgetown. How great is that? After checking in, I took a walk and everything seemed switched. Gotta deal with the ATM/credit card and pay sales taxes on items as marked (no haggling). The packaged fruit at Trader Joe’s seems man made and the meat on the shelf has a quarter inch of fat around it. I kept saying "Bonjour" and "Merci."

The Leadership course at FSI turned out to be surprisingly good. The instructors were motivated and touched on interesting topics such as personalities, cultural differences, and management and communication skills (or more commonly, lack there of). I was glad to visit with Mama Lana. Five days went by quickly and I had the pleasure of connecting with my dear friends Rajesh and his family who were staying at our hotel and on their way to Manila. We will be staying in their condo in Portland in a week.

I flew to Sacramento and rented a car (Hurts). My sister and brother-in-law (Bob and Valerie) had a very nice reception for me. They threw a great welcoming BBQ at their house. Seeing Dina and the kids was like being lost for three weeks and finally finding someone you know. I got to visit with my in-laws, Natalie and Alison, Dave, Carol and Steve, Gary, Tiffany and their little girl. Lots of dogs and the cat! I have missed them all over the past year and often think about them so the visit, though too short, was very nice.

We arrived in Davis Saturday night. My cousin Mike and his family are my kin and being with them is being home. We made some great meals together, spent hours talking, and planned our backpacking trip into the Sierras with the kids. I also visited with Lidia and my aunt Bo. Monday we went to Petaluma to see Tyotya Irina, Rich and Liz. Reenie was there too so we had a nice lunch and caught up on our adventures. Rich let me drive his bathtub porche! On Thursday morning, Serge and Adriana came up with Anya and we all drove to the Sierras. The hike in was nice. The weather was perfect and the smell of high alpine woods and wild flowers was fabulous. We set up camp on Lake Margarite and spent 3 days swimming, hiking, and lounging around. The kids had a terrific time with their cousins and I felt myself completely relax. 

Now it’s Monday and we still have two more days here in Davis before heading north. Tomorrow we will venture into the city (SF) and then visit with Tori and John and have dinner with Evan and Luanne. Dina is out running and exercising. The kids are playing with a doll house with Ana. I’m sitting here listening to them laughing and thinking back on these past two weeks. I almost forgot a few things.