Felix and I spent a long weekend in London. We originally planned to meet up with Pete, Miranda, Dave, and Chelsea, who were all flying in for the London SEARCH International School Job Fair – Chelsea and Dave from Seattle, Pete and Miranda from New Zealand. But our little gathering evolved into an incredible weekend celebration…
My Mom and Denny came to Europe for Christmas this year. They stayed for 3 weeks and covered more ground than most people cover in 3 months. We started, of course, with the infamous German Christmas markets. One Saturday night we explored the enormous, packed Nueremberger Christkindelsmarkt, sampling the sugary Gluhwein and little sausages the city is famous for.…
For Thanksgiving break, Felix and I spent a long weekend in Portugal, visiting some of our favorite friends, Katinka and Fabian, and hang out on the beach in the sun. We took an all-day hike along the rocky, cliffy coastline from Praia do Abano north to Praia Grande. Deep into valleys and up rocky hills, climbing down to…
Some updates on our new favorite home: The kitchen We designed and built the kitchen including putting in a new floor, cabinets, the breakfast nook, appliances, refinishing the tiles on the wall, even the kitchen sink. We painted the hallway a rich marigold to match Ralfie, our van. When we started, the walls were white,…
It’s been a little while. A little while to breathe in and breathe out, and make an apartment into a home, to remember how to teach, and rediscover the blissful mountain bike trails of the Taunus. And suddenly Fall Break is waving like a pink flag on the horizon. Have I really been back to work for…
A little reminder of fun times in Belize with Chippa: Felix and I are finally back together in Euope, and what an incredible welcome it was! The day after I flew in, Felix and I headed over to Belgium to meet Chelsea and Dave, who were visiting for 10 days, and our Belgian friends Erwin, Sanne,…
One month volunteering at Wildtracks passed in a blur, suddenly it was my final week. Hannah left a few days before me and went to San Pedro, on the little island of Ambergris Caye, off the coast of Belize, to learn how to SCUBA dive. My dad and Diane came down to visit and check out the…
Every morning I spend time with Chippa and Izzie in their enclosure. Adult spider monkeys can be very aggressive, so volunteers do not enter their enclosures. We feed them and give them water through the fence and send them to a connected central enclosure to play while we clean their enclosures. But Chippa, 2 ½,…
Wildtracks is a primate and manatee rehabilitation center in northern Belize. My good friend Hannah and I are volunteering at Wildtracks for one month. She flew in from Colorado and I joined her a few days later from Tahiti. Working with monkeys is something we’ve talked about since we were housemates in undergrad, so we…
Moorea is a mountainous island fringed by coral reef, the smaller, quitter sister of Tahiti. Felix and I hitched from the ferry port in Vaiare to our next surf spot, Haapiti. The smiling Tahitian who gave us a ride wore her long black hair in a high bun with a white flower tucked behind her…
Tahiti is known for its amazing surf: intense reef breaks at the mouths of the passages leading into the lagoons. The waves break directly onto the barely-submerged coral reefs, a dangerous place to be should a surfer miss the takeoff and get washed. Felix’s surf guide describes the most famous break, Teahupoo, as “kamakazee and…
Tahiti. Synonymous amongst wedding planners for “paradise”. Synonymous amongst coconut milk run cruisers for “underwhelming – get in, stock up, and get out”. What will Tahiti mean to us? We sailed to the main city of Papeete and docked at the newly re-designed marina downtown, so new the slips were half off for the month…
We stayed at the south pass of Fakarava Atoll for a week, or maybe more, it felt like it could have been a lifetime. We fell into a leisurely routine. Breakfast: pan-baked scones or biscuits – we’ve taken a moratorium on oatmeal. Then a drift dive through the pass with our friends Jess and Chris.…
The Tuomotus are incredibly remote. The largest town we’ve seen in the past couple months had one paved road and a bakery which hadn’t made bread for two weeks because the oven was broken. I love the tranquility, I love the beauty. I love not being able to connect to the internet, I have no…
The South Pass of Fakarava Atoll is where it’s at. We are anchored in brilliant blue water off a strip of low-lying motus packed with dense palm trees. A handful of other boats are anchored around us, and a rustic dive resort is nestled along the pass, but else wise, there is nothing but nature…
Popsicles for Dinner 