Salutations!
Welcome and thank you for visiting. Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a note. Please be kind and respectful. I bruise easily.
Squeaks's Top 5:
- Kicked off weekly Spanish practice with mi amiga, CR (coolest neighbor ever), with a couple of dramatic telenovela-inspired Destinos lessons and challenging vocab games. Cool sentence we created for this week's la Familia (family) theme: Mi cuñado es el otro hijo de mi suegro. (My brother-in-law is the other son of my father-in-law.)
- Invigorating stroll to Pacifica pier with the folks on a sunny winter day. Rainbows straddling crashing waves; risk-taking fishermen violating the "no overhead casting" rule (duck!); crabbers measuring their scrambling catch with calipers, making sure to throw back the females -- as a little boy told me, "we can keep the boys but not the girls".
- Dissonant -- but nonetheless awesome -- jam session with fellow learner guitarists. Once we get the hang of "down-down-up...up-down-up", we've got a girl praise band in the making.
- Enriching first study of Tim Keller's Gospel in Life with our Friday night group. Psyched.
- Good times..."experiencing" South America through AT's animated travel stories, and celebrating with new friends at PW's bridal shower.
Green tea after 6PM and pre-bedtime Kerouac (reading Dharma Bums) induces restless sleep filled with random scenes like
- A boat chase culminating with a death-defying leap to take down a would-be assassin
- Crawling under train seats and calling out to my missing shoe
- Dancing on a Santa Barbara beach next to a glowing conch shell emitting sitar music
- Precariously riding a heavily-laden -- and lugubrious -- donkey sidesaddle on a narrow ledge in the Himalayas
Exhausted.
Ever heard of AMDA? Me neither,...until tonight on
NHK World on
KTSF-26, my new favorite multilingual over-the-air channel, courtesy of our "bunny ears" antenna.
AMDA is the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia, and they're doing
awesome work in Haiti, among other places. The news report featured Japanese AMDA doctor Naoki Yao, a specialist in prosthetic limbs who has been working with Haitians who lost their arms and/or legs in the January 2010 earthquake. Apparently over 4,000 survivors of that earthquake are amputees.
The group arrived on scene within 2 days after the disaster and have been hard at work ever since, with...
- Providing emergency relief to earthquake and then cholera victims.
- Making artificial limbs -- 42, to be exact, as of the end of 2010.
- Helping young folks with trauma rehab through a "soccer and cultural exchange programme."
AMDA = Heroes.
_______
Photo credit: AMDA
Squeaks's Top 5:
- Saving >2 gallons of water each day, thanks to enviro-tip by friends. Before showering, run the initial cold water into a bucket while waiting for pipes to warm up - then use the extra water to fill the toilet tank. Let's see how this affects our water bill...
- "By the power of Grayskull,...it was awesome" to stumble upon He Man, Orco, and Battlecat on the Qubo channel, which mysteriously showed up among our otherwise 4-channel digital cable stations. Aah, life's little pleasures.
- Joined an early celebration of the Gaelic festival of Imbolc -- the halfway mark between the winter solstice and spring equinox -- with "music, poetry, and lore" with a friend's group, Triskela Harp Trio. Left with an ethereal feeling and an urge to plant a tree.
- Met with our realtor about putting our home back on the market...again. Coming soon!
- Brazilian fare at Cybelle's Pizza! Our Portuguese-speaking Taiwanese-Brazilian friend introduced us to Brazillian chicken, steak, and fish dishes with sides of nutty (and powdery) yucca/agave, and a salad potpourri of pumpkin, potato, and greens at this pizza joint. Esta refeicao foi deliciosa.
(Intro note: This post falls under the "better late than never" category. Thank you, Toastmasters, for the kick in the butt to keep the story going.)
After a long
Day 7 that left us drifting into humid sleep in Algeciras, we awoke to exciting thoughts of crossing the
Strait of Gibralter by ferry...to Africa! I had yearned for an Amazing Race-like moment at some point in our trip, and I finally got my wish. Our leisurely stroll down to the Port of Algeciras quickly become a mad dash from the ticket counter, up escalators, through a couple of checkpoints, and down three long hallways to a ferry that was due to leave in 5 minutes. The scheduled departure time came,... and went..., and we soon realized our first cultural lesson of the day when the ferry set out to sea a 1/2 hour later. JUST CHILL.
During our 1.5 hours on the water, announcements in Arabic, French, Spanish, and English -- all by the same woman -- reminded us to have our passports stamped by the Moroccan police onboard before arrival. Our encounter with the officers was mostly cordial, except for the odd questioning about whether my husband and I were siblings due to having the same last name; and where my American-born Korean beau was really from..."no, really."
When we arrived at the Port of
Tangier in Morocco, we immediately knew that we had been transported into another world. Animated conversations, mostly in Arabic with a smattering of French, surrounded us, along with dusty streets and stone buildings in the shadow of the towering mosque nearby. We hailed a "petit taxi", the smaller -- and cheaper -- of the two types of
taxis that zip through downtown Moroccan streets. "Bonjour Monsieur. Parlez-vous francais?" (Do you speak French?) -- I asked through the window of the red Datsun. "Oui," came the drawled reply. We then haggled a 20-dirham ride down to 10 dirhams (or US$1.20) and were soon speeding to the Tangier train station, dodging donkey-drawn carts along the way.
"Snapshots" of images at the station and subsequent train ride:
- The pleasant Moroccan (who bore a strikingly dreamy resemblance to Terrence Howard) who advised us to tip the woman sitting outside the restroom 1 dirham before going in.
- The "helpful" porter who showed us to our train seats, then kept his palm outstretched until my guy dropped enough coins into it.
- The abundance of trash and fighting wild dogs along the train tracks.
- Beautiful rolling hills in the distance, occasionally dotted with sheep, donkeys, and cows escorted by a young shepherd.
Three hours later, we climbed down the train in
Kenitra, dusty and fatigued. And that was just the first day of our Moroccan adventure.
Squeaks's Top 5:
A look back with fellow volunteers at our year-end stint at four colonias in Ensenada, Mexico. Missing those carne asada and adobada tacos from El Poblano...- Thanks, Blood Centers of the Pacific, for my "1-gallon donor" pin...and then poking and prodding me for another >300 mL. Couldn't fill the pint-sized bag this time (blasted tiny veins!), but assured that they could use what they got.
- Four thumbs up (borrowed my guy's two) for "The King's Speech," which we enjoyed even more with Mum who remembers listening to King George VI on the radio as a child in Singapore. It may not have fared as well as hoped at the Golden Globes tonight, but at least (dreamy) Colin Firth represented.
- Relnsp Bldg 101 update - Good times with cool neighbors (mmm...lamb tagine), close family (Skype date with overseas aunts; Happy Birthday, big sis!), and church community (take the 1-minute testimony challenge). So very grateful!
- New restaurant picks of the week: The Vault (brunch), Green Chile Kitchen (New Mexican), Lilly's/Da Pitt BBQ (take out).
- Flooding in Brazil, "the worst natural disaster in at least 40 years," has killed >600 people in the mountainous area near Rio de Janeiro. Steady rainfall is expected to continue into next week.
- Former President Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returns from exile in France to his homeland, claiming intentions to "help the people of Haiti" -- as the country enters its second year of recovery from ruins following the massive earthquake.
- Scientists are exploring the Marianas Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, to "enhance our understanding of how the deep trenches contribute to carbon cycling in the world's oceans." (Big grins in nerd-dom.)
- "Tensions remain high in Tunisia," which has been in a state of emergency since ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali "fled amid widespread anti-government protests."
- U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head last weekend in Arizona by alleged gunman Jared Loughner, has been upgraded from "critical" to "serious" condition after being successfully taken off a ventilator. (Go girl!)
A new week (with new opportunities) ahead. Ready,... set,... GO.
Welcome to the first of a weekly series featuring recent high- and low-lights in Squeaks's small world and elsewhere around the globe (according to news and other sources picked at random). Here goes...
Squeaks's Top 5:
- My blood test results reveal gross Vitamin D deficiency. Prescribed mega-doses for the next 3 months. This Smeagol needs to get out more. Literally.
- Update on home guitar lessons: Getting the hang of G2, C2, D, A, and E chords; and the intro to Tom Petty's Free Fallin'. Uh huh. That's right.
- Back-to-back episodes of Criminal Minds and/or Without A Trace on ION... Until the unsubs and their gruesome deeds creep into my dreams, this new pre-bedtime routine is kinda nice.
- New volunteer orientation at Clinic by the Bay, a non-profit providing free healthcare to the working uninsured in my own community. Can't wait to get started!
- Birth of our friends' baby boy, Benjamin!
- Republicans take control of the House of Representatives, marking "Congress's likely descent into bickering and stalemate..."
- Tensions rise in Cote d'Ivoire, "where Laurent Gbagbo is still refusing to step down after losing his bid for re-election at the end of November."
- Queensland, Australia, is underwater, "but Prime Minister Julia Gillard has more on her mind than the billions of dollars in damage to mines, farms and cities in the boom state."
- Boris Nemtsov, former Russian deputy prime minister under Boris Yeltsin -- and a leader of the liberal opposition party -- is arrested, "charged with disobeying the police and swearing, despite video-footage that showed him asking the police to 'calm down'."
- Suicide bomb kills at least 21 Egyptians, mostly Coptic Christians, but bloggers say it has "nothing to do with a crisis in Muslim-Christian relations, but rather with how all citizens suffer under ubiquitous corruption and oppression."
Hello, this side of the sun! It's been awhile -- 365 days, thereabouts -- and we've reached another opportunity to pause and look back,... then forward,... before continuing our journey. As a fan of checklists and to add a variation on the "R" word (given my less than stellar performance on past "R"s),
voila my top 5 "to do"s for 2011:
- Daily Walk - Physical and spiritual exercise. Join the leaders of our church in going through the entire Bible this year, but with a twist. Instead of reading the New Living Translation version like the others, "experience" it -- following the same schedule -- with The Bible Experience audiobook. While on my daily walk (literally). I'm not a fast reader, so this should help me keep up.
- Relnsp Bldg 101 - Opt to call people -- and, whenever possible, visit -- instead of relying on e-mail communiqué. In the midst of our tech-driven society, cherish the value of the more personal touch in fostering my friendships and connections with family.
- Creative Bucket List - Don't neglect the other side of your brain, you big nerd! Make time to keep the creativity alive. As a lefty, you're supposed to have more of it. Make progress with that creative bucket list this year (e.g., songwriting, improv, poetry slam, short film,... ).
- Hola, Nei Hou - Become basically conversant in Spanish and Cantonese. Why these two in particular? Most practical for the Bay Area, especially in underserved communities.
- "Do or do not. There is no 'try'." - Yoda is so wise. Stop putting off acting on ambitious thoughts and ideas for fear of not doing them perfectly. Instead of being paralyzed by wanting to do it "just right", JUST DO IT.
Okay, time for that Daily Walk. Covering Genesis through Chapter 9 today, to catch up with the others.
Happy New Year, everyone! Wishing you all the best with your lists.
