July 2007 Archives

Our very good friends Scott and Suzie came through SLC last night on their way to Olympia, WA (where Suzie's moving to be nearer to Scott.) We met them at Trolley Square, drove up to the University of Utah to get great views of the valley and then toured Temple Square. You know, the typical Salt Lake City tour. We finished up the tour by having dinner at Squatters (another SLC establishment.)

Seeing Scott and Suzie was a special treat. It was great to get together and chat and catch-up. They're such great friends. :)

We've had five (or six?) nieces and nephews born since we left for Peace Corps on one side of the family only. Tonight we had four nieces and one nephew over to Dennis and Colleen's house - three of whom are new since we left in 2005. They were pretty shy at first, but adorable of course. Clockwise above: Me and Colin (4); Brian teaching Brian to ride his bike without training wheels; Brian and Brittany (8) playing badminton; Brian's sister Jennie, Colleen and Amelia (2); Colin (4); Tessa (8 mos); and Hailey (2).

We flew back to Salt Lake this afternoon after spending a week in Seattle. The primary purpose of the visit was for my sister's wedding last Saturday. Of course the wedding was beautiful. Just beyond words. There was a little bit of rain for the ceremony, but what else do you expect in Seattle?

We spent the rest of the time spending time with Brian's sister, her husband and our nephew Awsumb. We always love to stay with Ken and Wendy because they love the same "German board games" that we do so we stayed up late many nights playing games.

The time in the U.S. is not going as quickly as I thought, which is good. It feels like we've been here forever already and we still have three weeks to go. Looking forward to catching up with the REST of the family in the weeks to come.

There was an interesting article in the Washington Post (subscription requred) on Sunday about the problem with HIV-positive mothers using infant formula. MSN has a free, non-registeration version titled Effort to cut AIDS a formula for disaster you can read.

Heather and I have a lot of first-hand knowledge and experience with this complicated issue. Coincedentilly Nkange, the main village mentioned in the article, is Scott's old village. And we caugh up with Scott yesterday in Seattle. Anyway, the article is good and gives insight into the political controversies over this issue.

• I think that the handle to flush to toilet is on the opposite side here than in Bots. It seems that everytime I go to flush the toilet I reach for the wrong side.
• When we arrived in Atlanta Brian and I were like "Look at all these white people!" Being amongst way more white people also made me feel like I was about to run into somebody I knew, because whenever you're at a mall in Bots and see a white person you're almost guaranteed to know them (or at least to have seen them before.)
• The number of options for everything you'd want to buy is totally overwhelming. In Bots you have access to pretty much everything you need but you're usually limited in brands, etc. It's almost paralyzing trying to pick something here amongst all the choices.
• Brian and I are entertained by the smallest things like the conveyor belts at stores that bring your items upto the cashier. I had totally forgotten about them.
• We are enjoying having access to the internet at home. Will post more thoughts and updates in the weeks to come.

I've been looking around on etsy.com a lot recently (don't follow the link unless you have a lot of time!) I saw this really cute skirt made out of this really cute fabric but it was $70! I thought to myself, "self, I could make a skirt like that. I just have to find cute fabric!" Ever since I've had this deep itch to create something, anything. I'm not really much of a sew-er, but I do love to collect fabric (as I may have mentioned). So, today I took the plunge and bought the pattern seen above and the following fabric:

I know we'll have some downtime while people are working during our trip, so I'm really looking forward to sitting down and making these. I hope the pattern is as easy as it looks!

My mom emailed me last night after reading the previous blog post to tell me that my sister Carolyn, who is coming in from Germany for Allison’s wedding, is ALSO planning on Taco Bell for her first meal. Then she says “Where did we go wrong?!” So, for my mom’s sake, I just wanted to clarify that it’s not necessarily that I WANT Taco Bell to be my first meal (not that there’s anything wrong with that), it’s that I’m trying to be realistic at what I can have in an airport.

Therefore, in the spirit of planning my first meal, I decided to look up what restaurants are at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. I’m not sure what terminal we’re arriving in or out of so these are all my options:

• Concourse A: ABICA Coffee, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Brews & Blues Bar/Hot Dog City, Budweiser Brewhouse, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Chili's Too, Cinnabon, Domino's Pizza, Freshens, Great Wraps, Hot Dog Construction Company, Houlihan's, Krystal, Manchu Wok, Paschal's Southern Delights, Plane Delicious, Sam Adams Brewhouse, Starbucks, The Grove Natural Snacks, Vending Machines (Snacks), Wall Street Deli.
• Atrium: Atlanta Bread Company, Domino's Pizza, Edy's Grand Ice Cream, Houlihan's, Manchu Wok, Paschal's Southern Delights, Seattle's Best Coffee, Wendy's.
• Concourse B: Au Bon Pain, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Charley's Steakery, Freshens, Magnolia Bar & Grille, Mandarin Express, Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, Popeye's Chicken, Sbarro Pizza, Seattle's Best Coffee, Sports Scene, The, Starbucks, TGI Friday's, Vending Machines (Snacks).
• Concourse C: Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Charley's Steakery, Last Call South, Miller Lite Victory Lane, Paschals Resturant/La Carrousel Bar, Popeye's Chicken, Samuel Adams, Seattle's Best Coffee, The Grove Natural Snacks, Vending Machines (Snacks), Wendy's.
• Concourse D: Burger King, Burger King/Cinnabon, Chili's Bar & Bites, Freshens, Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, Phillips Seafood, Quizno's, Sojourner's Bar & Lounge, Starbucks, Vending Machines (Snacks).
• Concourse E: Arby’s, Caribou Coffee, Freshen, McDonald’s, Nature’s Table, Panda Express, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Sojourner's Bar & Lounge, Starbucks, TGI Friday's, Vending Machines (Snacks).
• Concourse T: Brews & Blues Bar , Burger King, Famous Famiglia, Freshens, Hartsfield Bistro, LePetit Bistro, Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, Red Brick Tavern, Starbucks.

You’ll notice that there are no Taco Bells in the list above, so my first choices by concourse are listed in bold. I really hope we’re not stuck in Concourse T because there aren’t many good choices there. Taco Bell’s going to have to wait until we get to Salt Lake.

A frequent conversation among PCVs is what their first meal will be upon returning to the U.S. The topic has been on my mind frequently these days as we get ready to come home for a month. Here's the list of food I'm really looking forward to:

• Taco Bell: I'm trying to be realistic about what my first meal in the U.S. will be. Given that we have a pretty long layover in Atlanta I'm guessing my first meal will have to be something found at the airport. Taco Bell has a pretty good chance, right? A bean burrito with no cheese and lots of sauce will really hit the spot! (I plan on my first non-airport meal in the U.S. to be mexican. I really don't care where, just good ol' mexican food!)
• Chili's If I have my way I will eat chips and salsa everyday of our trip. (Our friend Ann who's on her way home after 3 years says she's going to swim in salsa.) Chili's was always a favorite of ours for their unlimited chips and salsa. They also had great salads, burgers, mashed potatoes, fajitas and so on.
• The Training Table A Utah original (as they say). We make our own fry sauce concoction here with mayo, sweet chili sauce, mustard and ketchup. But, as Brian said this weekend ,you cannot beat Training Table fry sauce (mayo + barbeque sauce.) Also looking forward to their great burgers.
• Taco Time My mouth waters just thinking of crispy bean burritos from Taco Time. As Homer Simpson would say "arggggh."
• Texas Roadhouse Grill Oooh, I could eat their rolls all day and night. They also have super yummy salads and of course the hand-cut stakes are to die for.
• Sweet Tomatoes I know there's nothing spectacular about Sweet Tomatoes, but I am really looking forward to salad bars. There is no such thing in Botswana and sometimes you just want to make your own big salad with lots of veggies and blue cheese dressing.

Other food on the list, not necessarily related to restaurants includes: salmon, bacon, Zesta saltine crackers, sharp cheddar cheese, parmesean cheese, oh and all kinds of candy . . . The list really could go on forever, but I'm pretty sure this covers the highlights. Less than two weeks to go!

Place: UB Tennis Courts
Date: Friday, June 29
Time: approx. 5 o'clock

Heather (retrieving tennis balls hit over the wall): Brian? Do warthogs attack people?

Brian: No, I don't think so.

Heather: Okay, 'cause they're staring at me and they're right by the balls.

Seriously, where else do warthogs interfere with your tennis?