twenty-something years of "what have you been up to?"

place2place

  • worldwide flexibility

    My last week at MED was predominantly attending classes at FSI. Our biggest concern was trying to get the loan check from the Credit Unon (their hours coincided with my classes.). I had a sense of finality with orientation being done, although I still had 4 days of errands.

    Dina beautifully highlighted our weekend on the Deleware coast. The only other thing I might add is that the afternoon spent at “Great Falls Park” in Virginia was most memorable. A beautiful panoramic view of the falls and the gorge with a well groomed trail along the ridge top. Stefan really enjoyed jumping off rocks and small boulders plus socializing with neighboring picnicers and kicking a soccer ball. He’s quite the talker.

    These past 4 days were also busy. We got our diplomatic passports and visas, notorized our documents, and prepared to send some things through the mail pouch. Carmax (where we bought our car) insisted on doing some body work and picked up our vehicle but of course it took longer to fix than they thought and I had to go pick it up in Rockvillle, Maryland. And I am proud of Dina for doing so well on her french tests at FSI.

    Wednesday evening we got dressed up and decided to go out and have our last dinner at a nice restaurant in DC. There is a place in Georgetown that we have walked by numerous times which advertizes a fresh lobster dinner. Dina and I shared a nice bottle of Cote de Rhone with that. Stefan had fries and Camille had a clam chowder she liked. They both dipped marccino cherries in their drinks. It was a relaxing time.

    We woke up yesterday to the news that a terrorist plot was thwarted in London (sincere thanks to Amy!) It became clear early on that it made no sense to go to London. MED has temporarily closed down operations there and the Heathrowe airport will be a nightmare for the next few weeks. I was instsructed to schedule another flight directly to Niamey. So we get to stay here in DC for a few extra days — how bad is that? We fly out on Monday evening to Niamey via Paris.

    It’s a little dissapointing to not go to London. We were looking forwrd to it. But it’s a good thing that we weren’t caught there right as this whole thing was mushrooming. We’ll have other opportunities to go to London. The good news is that now, becasue our travel time exceeds 14 hours, we get to fly business class on Air France. Our time here in DC has been great. It now seems like an extended vacation.

  • everybody limbo

    Well, our plot to buy lemon curd and ride on a double decker bus to the Tower of London has been foiled. Still not sure what our plans are, but it doesn’t look like they will include London. Will update as soon as we know something, anything. “I think you better turn on CNN,” emailed Amy from Beijing. Thanks for letting me know something was up, Amy!

    Update: We will catch the Paris to Niamey flight we were suppose to be on on the 15th. We leave here on the 14th at 6:45, business class to Paris.

  • Land Cruising

    Yesterday when we went to pick up the car, we had no idea we were on an odessey. With the sound track from Annie playing, we drove over the (Chesapeake) Bay Bridge–when I see a sign to the Bay Bridge I think I’m going to Oakland. It was so beautiful, so A Time of Wonder; we were on our way to the Delaware seashore, Bethany Beach. The three hour drive took five hours because of traffic. As soon as we got to the beachy town we raced to the sand and touched our toes in the lovely water under a twilight sky and gorgeous moon. We pounded our way, with mallets, through a fabulous crab dinner, at a charming place where they toss the crab on a brown-bag covered table and bring you hush puppies and buckets of cooked-but-not-shucked sweet corn. Peter and I had a glass of pinot gris that was perfect. This place wasn’t crusty at all, really cute and the food was really some of the best I’ve ever had. I enjoyed watching Peter eat every last crab leg.

    After the crabfest: we discover that this is the busiest week on the eastern seaboard. At first we think the lady at the Holiday Inn is exagerating. But after checking a few places in Bethany Beach–all full, and one no vacancy sign after another–we faced facts: there was NOWHERE to stay. The owner of the restaurant made a phone call for us and struck out. We drove down the coast to two other towns, running in and out of lobbies, getting turned down. At 11:00 pm, we finally turned inland. We checked every hotel on the road home, and ended up all the way back in Washington. Our place is the closest place to the beach we could find! The whole three hour drive home, (at least there wasn’t any traffic) we kept pulling into hotels behind people shaking their heads, also being turned away. One sight that really had us going in an only-at-2-in-morning kind of way: passing by a teenager leaning over her car door throwing up in a McDonalds parking lot. “Do you think it was the food?” Peter asked me. We stopped at six hotels on the way home. All full.

    Got home at 3:30am. Would have gotten home at 2:30, but no, had to get lost in DC first. This was our first time navigating the city by car, and we got totally turned around. After a harrowing one hour drive through DC’s seedy side, all the recent high-crime rate Washington Post articles running through my burned-out brain, we finally found our hotel. I was never so happy to be home to the Washington Suites. A valet parked the car. Bliss.

    Peter and I have never NOT been able to find a room. Antibes, France in August. Showed up and got a room. Has this ever happened to you? Oh we did find one place, sort of early on, so we were feeling not the beggers-can’t-be-choosers that we were: it was $450 a night. The website says Bethany beach is quiet and affordable.

    Today we drove a short way and had a hike and a picnic under the trees, by some falls. I was surprised, but after lots of tea/coffee/juice and working our way through the Sunday paper and watching a couple rounds of Nick Jr, everyone wanted to go somewhere in the new car!

  • One Week to Go

    It’s like being pregnant. Instead of “When is your due date?” it’s “When do you leave?” Next Thursday, August 10. But Friday is pizza night no matter where we go.

    Today CaSt and I did a completely decadent thing. My excuse is: 100 degrees and the air quality is terrible. The kids don’t want to go anywhere because it is too hot–the complaining that starts as soon as we leave the lobby of the hotel is too much to cope with–or so Camille and Stefan tell me. I paid $14 for a taxi to the National Art Museum, which is probably less than I would have paid if we had walked, considering how many Starbucks there are between here and the National Mall. Today the paper confirmed my hunch: Washington DC has more than eleven Starbucks for every 100K people, the most in the country, even Washington State. Camille says we go to Starbucks ten times every four days. But I figure we are going to the last Starbuck-less place on Earth, so it’s okay.

    At the National Art Museum we walked through the Rousseau exhibit. They ingeniously have cell phone-like devices with a little symbol for kids to look for, enter in a number and listen to a shpiel about a painting or two in each room. This was great, as somehow they managed to make it interesting to kids, although I suspect Stefan was just interested in the listening device itself. I got to read lables and actually look at the paintings. Camille has all kinds of information about Rousseau now: Did you know he carried a sketch pad with him at all times? I forgot that he painted Carnival Evening and it was a treat just to see that one painting. Stefan wanted to go see any other exhibit that had the listening device, but the museum closed. And I found $110 dollars on the floor of the cafe, beating the record for the time I found a $100 dollar bill in a gas station parking lot. Quite a memorable afternoon.

    Rousseau_carnival

  • tourists

    Dscn2436_1
    Wash_mon_1
    Special note for west-coasters: The bottom picture is taken from the Washington Monument out one of the teeny-tiny pinhole sized windows you can (barely) see at the top.

  • Week 2 — we buy something

    The week went by rather quickly. I spent the first three days At the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland stuying parasitology and biological and chemical exposures (ie; malaria, worms, giardia, anthrax, small pox, explosive and nuclear exposures). Holy smokes!

    Thursday was an assigned day for personal consult and we had a lot to do. We spent the entire day at the State Department trying to figure out advance travel vouchers, travel orders, and opening an account and applying for a car loan. Everything shut down at 4PM and we barely had time to finish what we needed to do. Lana came and picked us up and we went out to a nice Chinese restaurant for dinner.

    Friday at work I had briefings on food inspection. It ended with me going to the cafeteria and doing an inspection there. Let’s just say that I’ll think twice before eating at a greasy spoon again. Dina and the kids met me for shots. It was hot when we got out but we walked 14 blocks to the Natural History Museum. The kids had struggled through a monotonous day and they wanted to go there again. The animal displays are so well done. We ate gelatto ice cream and caught a cab home. Pizza for dinner. Dina and I had a fine chilled french rose.

    Saturday morning was used up on car reviews and phone calls. The Xterra we had our eye on fell off the internet because it sold the day before. We decided to ride the metro out to Rockville, Maryland to a Carmax (reputable used car dealership) and test drive their Xterra’s. They had two 4WD but only one with manual transmission. We test drove it and didn’t love it. It was hot and we were hungry so we took a break and went to eat. Walking back in the hot sun we decided we would be ok with it for 2 years. We decided to walk the lot and just look at all the SUV’s. The kids sat in the shade while Dina and I did that. I deduced two other vehicles that I felt we should test drive and then choose one for Niamey: a 2004 Land Rover Freelander and a 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser.

    After test driving the Exterra and the Freelander, the Land Cruiser won hands down. It was far more comfortable, durable, and safer. We all agreed and bought it. It was built for Africa. The downside is that it is a gas guzzler. We have 6 days should we change our minds.

  • I lost 500 pounds today!

    Yesterday and today: passports, banking, mail forwarding, plane tickets, travel advance/voucher (we need a class in this, it’s very important and Peter and I just don’t get it) visas and shots, the second round. Camille, after powering through three shots last week, really resisted today and become absolutely no-don’t-make-me-do-it-I-can’t-do-it crying hysterical. I don’t know what Peter and the nurse finally did, I had to leave the room. Then we went to the Natural History Museum and had a gelato and bought her a stuffed panda and the drama was over.

    Our shipment was over by 500 pounds, we could either pay $1500 or lose 500 pounds, so the piano is going to storage. After two years of piano lessons, Camille is thrilled with our decision–it was even better than the panda.

  • post modern

    The universe is cruel.

    July 29 update: the universe trying to make up with me.

  • First week in DC

    Although it’s been scorching hot with high humidity, we really haven’t suffered much. Our hotel accomodations are on constant AC and we find ourselves needing long sleeved shirts and a blanket at night. My walk to work is about 15 minutes. Just long enough to feel it but not quite long enough to build up a sweat. And it has cooled down some since our arrival. Yesterday, we got caught in a downpour thunderstorm.

    My office overlooks the Kennedy Center. The people at MED have all been really nice. I have had meetings with different areas of the department such as overseas medivacs, medical records, computer training specific to patient care, as well as a meeting with the medical director, his assistant, and the department of psychology. We also had our immunizations started. Ouch! I took my valium to prevent my vasovagal swan dive off the table and don’t remember most of the conversation we/I had with the nurse. All I remember is her name was Porche and she could have been a car for all I know. But at least I didn’t pass out.

    In addition to work, we have eaten out at some really good restaurants, shopped at bookstores, and went to a huge mall where we bought shoes and some clothes in preparation for Africa. We aslso walked to the mall to see the monuments and Dina took the kids to the Natural History Museum one day after visiting me at work where we had lunch together.

    I was trying to coordinate their arrival and called the hotel. I asked for room “nine-thirteen.”
    The voice on the line sounded destinctly foreign. “There is no such room number here sir!”
    “But that’s the room my family is in!” I replied.
    “I’ve been working here for over 10 years and I can assure you, there is no such room as nine-thirteen sir. How do you spell your last name?”
    I spelled him my name and he said, “It’s room nine-one-three for future reference sir! I will connect you.” :—)

    We are considering buying a car (not a Porche, my arm hurts everytime I see one). There are primarily Toyota and Nissans in Niger. We visited a large reputable new/used car dealership on line and sort of fell for a Nissan Xterra. This week we’ll look into a car loan as well as diplomatic visas and passports.

  • AC DC

    In_our_room
    Whitehouse_papa
    Shots