Mike and Sara Kopp

Cat Pile

2011-01-05T18:14:00.001-08:00

In the spirit of making up for lost time, here are some pictures of our cats. The multi-color tabby is named Beaker. She got that name because she sounds like a certain muppet character of the same name. The white one with the stubby tail is named Buko. Buko is the Tagalog word for coconut. The small, orange tabby is named Lily. She earned this name because we came home from a beach weekend in Boracay to find her in the garden, under the lilies. She was about 3 weeks old at the time, and I still maintain that she won the "kitten lottery" by being abandoned in the garden of Sara "crazy cat woman" Kopp. At first, the big girls didn't like Lily, but they have grown to tolerate her. That is most evident when they all sleep together in what Sara has affectionately termed "the ball of fluff".

Bring it on, Hong Kong

2011-01-05T17:39:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was a change in pace from the last two years that we spent in the States. With Sara 8 months pregnant, there was no way we could make the long-haul trip back to Spokane. However, the three week holiday was far too long to spend sitting at home preparing the nursery. So we opted for a short trip to Macau, and then to Hong Kong.

In spite of the thick smog, Hong Kong has a breath-taking skyline, particularly at night. The nightly laser light show that plays from the buildings is really a sight to see. We went back to the harbor a couple of times in the evening just to see the light show. In addition to the skyline as a whole, there is some intriguing architecture up close. One of our favorite buildings was Two Financial Tower - especially festive because of the lighted Christmas tree in front!

But Hong Kong wasn't all flashy buildings and laser light shows. One of the most engaging elements of the city is the many interesting side streets and pedestrian walk-ways. You could easily wander the streets for hours, day or night, without getting bored. Since this was the closest that Sara and I have been to mainland China, we were particularly drawn to all of the lanterns, bright colors, and sundry

knickknacks.

But one of our favorite places among the shops was the Lock Cha Tea Shop, where we stopped in for a tasting. All of Lock Cha's tea comes directly from the farmers and is prepared and served more traditionally than what I am accustomed to.

As a Special Administrative Region of China, Hong Kong had a unique feel. There was definitely a sense of collision between East and West - vestiges of the 99 year lease that the British had on the area following the Opium War. English is generally understood, and it's easy enough to get by as a tourist. There's something entertaining about seeing a city that is huge, polluted, and by all accounts a Chinese city - but that operates with the efficiency of a western capital. Double-decker buses, a modern rail system, and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks all work together to make Hong Kong a delightfully modern city (especially when compared to Manila), even though it has the highest population density of any city in the world! The crowds at Christmas were suffocatingly enormous (especially outside the luxury shops in the posh shopping districts), but somehow everything still worked. There is order to the teeming masses.

Even when the crowds got to be too much for us, there were plenty of places in and around Hong Kong to stretch your legs and get away from the crush of holiday shoppers. We traveled just outside the city, to Lantau island, to visit a giant Buddha. And we also walked to a local park, right in the middle of the city, that has a respectable aviary. The best part about Hong Kong's public parks is that they are free! And considering how expensive everything else is, that's a welcome change.

As much fun as it is to see the parks, the museums, the temples, and the streets, there is nothing quite like the sight of Hong Kong at night. One of the highlights (and most freezing cold outings we took) of the entire trip was looking out at the harbor from the vantage point of The Peak. Now that's a skyline view worth the price of admission.

Where's That?

2009-04-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

Living in the Philippines, I can't say that I have traveled to a lot of destinations that are well-known tourist hot spots. And our most recent vacation is no exception to that. For Spring Break, Sara and I traveled with our friends Matt and Heather to the northern part of Luzon. Specifically, we went to the town of Sagada and to the rice terraces of Banaue and Batad. These places are a bit off the beaten track, but well worth every effort to get there - though I must admit that it's easier to say now that I am sitting on this side of the 10 hour bus trip and endlsee jeepney rides up dirt mountain roads.

Our trip started from the Manila bus station, where we boarded a pink-clad tour bus for the 10 hour, windy, sickness-inducing trip up north. But after the trip, we were afforded breathe-taking views of the "Eighth Wonder of the World", the Banaue rice terraces. We also had the chance to hang with some of the locals - for a small fee, they even let us take their picture!

From Banaue, we four bus-weary travelers packed ourselves into the back of a jeepney with various other adventurers and settled in (as best you can in a jeepney) for the four-hour drive through the mountain passes to Sagada. Upon our arrival in Sagada, we were greeted by the smell of fresh, mountain air, the feel of cool temperatures, and the cooking of (in my humble opinion) the Philippines' greatest French chef. Yes, a French chef. Tucked away in the isolated town of Sagada is a properly trained French chef who, once a week, opens his home to guests to come sample his amazing cooking. His restaurant, stationed in his house, is aptly named "Log Cabin". It is set among the beautiful surroundings of the laid-back town of Sagada, and it was a delightful place to eat dinner and sit by the fire.

Our next few days in Sagada were spent eating amazingly fresh food, especially at Yoghurt House, wandering the streets of the town, drinking weasel coffee, hiking, caving, and generally just relaxing.

One highlight of our time in Sagada was our descent into the nearby caves. After hiring a guide in the town center, Matt, Heather, Sara, myself, and our fearless guides headed deep into the underbelly of the world. If that sounds melodramatic, it's not. There were more than a few sketchy moments in the cave traversing. But that's the great thing about traveling in third world countries - you don't have all that concern about "safety" and silly things like that. Check out a couple of these "cave shots". The other fun thing was that we did lots of the cave journey in our bare feet.

Emerging from the depths of our little cave adventure, the four of us were taken aback by the sight of the evening sun over the rice terraces of Sagada. It was one of those moments captured in time, where everything stands still and nothing else seems to matter. I wish our camera could capture that, but Sony has yet to develop a digital camera capable of taking in the feeling of a place just as well as the image. This picture is my best attempt.

After reluctantly saying good-bye to Sagada, we four travelers boarded another jeepney bound for our return to Banaue and the adventures that awaited us in Batad - a town that can only be reached on foot. But, as you can see, the drive back to Banaue was absolutely beautiful. For this leg of the journey, we elected to hire our own jeepney so that we could move at our own pace and stop for lots of photos.

This is as good a point as any to explain the rice terraces. First of all, rice is to Asia what wheat is to Northern Europeans - a staple crop that is the primary food source for millions. For my Northwest U.S. compatriots, the best way to imagine the rice terraces is to think of the wheat fields of the Palouse being carved into the side of the Rocky Mountains. For thousands of years, the people of the Philippine Islands (and elsewhere across Southeast Asia) have tended to these rice fields that are literally carved into the side of the mountains. Here are a couple of the better terrace pictures to illustrate this point.

Arriving in Banaue after a magnificent drive (and, believe me, there aren't a lot of jeepney rides that can be characterized as such), Matt, Heather, Sara, and I rested our travel weary bodies and took in the sites of Banaue. Rising early the next morning, we embarked on an exploration of nearby Batad. This began with a two hour jeepney ride (again!) up narrow mountain roads, then a moderate hike down into Batad. But all the effort was worth the experience of actually walking through the Batad rice terraces, standing in the spray of one of the nearby waterfalls, and playing with sharp machetes. Visiting Batad is almost like stepping back in time and out of the frenetic pace of modern life. A great experience.

This trip was certainly a well-needed dose of nature and fresh air after spending so much time in Manila. Now, if it just weren't for the 10 hour bus rides and the endless jeepney trips, I could head back to Sagada next weekend.

So, I'm 27.

2009-02-25T04:56:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since our last post. Old age, you know - it just slows you down. But seriously, things have been crazy. Right now, Sara is coaching track and I am coaching softball, I am taking classes for my master's degree, and we are both teaching up a storm at our great school. We have also been dabbling in the Philippine Ultimate Frisbee scene the past couple of months - yes, Ultimate is a real sport. It's all been great, but it doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging.

The last "big event" I can think of is my 27th birthday. I was planning on doing nothing to celebrate, but then our fantastic friends, Matt and Heather, asked us if we wanted to go to the beach with them. We did want to go, and we went, and it was great. Here are a couple of pictures of the outing.

You know, for a guy with a January birthday, I'd say hanging out at the beach is a pretty great way to celebrate being a year older. So, I'm 27.

Even though this is shamelessly self-promotional, I am going to do it anyway. As a part of one of my master's courses on educational IT, I have created another blog. It's an educational blog, so many of you will find it woefully irrelevant. But those of you who like reading my writing (and I think that's pretty much limited to my mom - love you, Mom!), you might find it interesting. There are some great comments I have received already from some of my colleagues and from an educational blogger from the website www.change.org - if you're a teacher, his blog is also worth reading - Clay Burrell at http://education.change.org. Anyway, all that to say, some of you should check out my new blog over at http://kopptastic.wordpress.com. Let me know what you think.

The Cold

2008-12-16T18:55:00.000-08:00

A shiver ran down my back this morning as I stepped out of the lobby of the condo and into the brisk December air of Manila. The temperature was a cool, moderately humid 70 degrees Fahrenheit - quite cold by Manila standards. As I arrived at work and meandered into my classroom, I toyed with the idea of switching on the air conditioning - just to get some fresh air in the room. But it was far too pleasant a morning to be ruined by the blast of air conditioning. As per my morning routine, I turned on my computer and logged on to the Internet to check my email, fantasy basketball team, and the headlines for the day. Knowing that I will soon be flying to Spokane, I decided I ought to check KREM.com for the weather forecast. Ignorance is supposedly bliss - and I see why. One of KREM's top headlines implored Spokane residents to cover themselves in layers of clothing, as any uncovered skin would freeze within minutes of exposure to the sub-zero weather conditions. I'm not sure "Tropical Mike" will be able to handle this cold weather very well. Does anyone have a down jacket I can borrow?

Merry Christmas Blog Junkies - and to any of you who will be in Spokane, be sure to contact me and Sara. We would love to see you - especially if you will lend us warm clothes.

It's Clean, It's Tropical, It's America . . . It's Hawaii!

2008-11-18T04:31:00.000-08:00

There is certainly something to be said for cleanliness. After two years of traveling around parts of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, Hawaii was a welcome change in the sanitation department. However, there were many raised eyebrows at work when I responded to the, "where are you going for October holiday?" question. The typical response was a look that said something to the effect of, "you live in an archipelago of thousands of tropical islands, but you're going to fly 11 hours away from here - to a different archipelago?" The answer, of course, was a resounding YES! This trip was not as much about seeing Hawaii as it was about seeing the entire Kopp clan, all together in tropical America to celebrate Mom and Dad's (a.k.a Grammy and Pops) 35th wedding anniversary.

Sara and I had such a great time that I thought I should post some of the highlights. Let me preface this by saying that my experience at the international airport in Manila warrants a blog entry of its own. But more on that later - suffice it to say that the eleven hour flight was the easy part!

Sara and I arrived in Hawaii earlier than the rest of the Kopps, so we headed off to Kauai for some rest and relaxation. As much as we both LOVE our new jobs at ISM, we were ready for a break. Our first night in Kauai gave us a chance to watch the sunset and listen to the ocean. You can see that from this very cliche Hawaii Sunset picture (no that's not a postcard - just Sara's mad photography skillz).

One of Sara's favorite parts about our accomodation in Kauai was the resident kitten that came by our cottage to visit every night. His name is Sox (not our choice - someone else had already named him). The whole 'resident kitten' thing fit in perfectly with Sara's ongoing efforts to procure a kitten for the Mike & Sara residence back in Manila.

One of the other highlights of our time in Kauai was a helicopter ride in a Hughes 500 (the kind with no doors - yikes!). Sara convinced me that this would be a fun and relaxing trip. I tried to remember that while I grasped my seat and prayed that a heavy wind would not extricate me from the chopper. I was able to snap a few great pictures, but merely by luck - as I was too nervous to actually use both hands to steady the camera. Here are a couple shots from the helicopter ride.

The helicopters, hiking, and great eating in Kauai were great, but there were other things on our agenda. Namely: The Highlight of the Trip. One of the best parts of the trip for me was getting to hold my nephew Andrew, and getting to play with my nephew Jacob. Being an uncle is definitely one of the best things in life! It was so GREAT to catch up with my nephews, but it was equally as fantastic for me and Sara to get to spend time with Matt and Brianne. Things just kept getting better with the arrival of Grammy and Pops and Uncle Dan. This was the first time in quite a while that all of the Kopps have been together. And, of course, the hardest part was saying good-bye when our time in Hawaii ended. But not before the whole family lived it up in true Hawaiian style at a luau.

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!

p.s. comments are welcome on the subject of why Mike and Sara should NOT get a kitten! (See Sara, that's what you get for never doing the blog updates! he-he)

Where I Come From . . . .

2008-10-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

It goes without saying that living far away from family can make one appreciate all of the things that make a place "home". This post is dedicated to stuff about where I come from. For me and Sara, the best part about the Summer of 2008 was getting to spend it with our friends and family in Spokane. Just this afternoon, Sara was organizing the pictures we had taken in the summer, and we were commenting on what a beautiful part of the world we come from. So, in a tribute to the Inland Northwest, here is a picture of the Spokane River, taken by Sara the expert photographer.

The picture on the right was also taken by Sara, as we drove to Seattle with Mom and Dad. This one makes me homesick for the open road - something that Manila clearly lacks. This one also makes me think of Steve Earle's music. Sara and I have been on a bit of a Steve Earle kick lately, initiated by our recent viewing of Season Five of The Wire (our favorite television show EVER). Oh, Americana.

Also on our trip to the States this past summer, Sara and I were privileged with a visit to the Boeing Air Museum in Seattle with Dan and the Rents. Here is a picture of Dad, me, and Dan standing outside the museum.

The next few pictures are pretty much just for family. Sara and I promised that we would get copies of these posted - so here they are:

And Mom, I should apologize for posting this picture. It was our last night in Spokane before we moved to Manila, and I think you were about to start crying - perhaps a bad time for pictures? Oh well, thanks for being such a good sport.

Lessons from Manila

2008-09-30T23:28:00.000-07:00

This picture of a sunset is the starting point for lessons about Manila. The first lesson is that lots of air pollution from vehicle emissions leads to beautiful sunsets over Manila Bay. I know I already posted a sunset picture, but this one (taken by Sara) was just too good to pass up. The craziness of the city melts away in the evenings as we watch the sunset from our living room.

Magandang Hapon! is my next lesson. It is a Tagalog greeting ("Good Afternoon"). Sara and I have enrolled in a Filipino language and culture class offered at the school. We have felt so welcomed by our host country, that we feel the urge to assimilate with some language skills. Fortunately for Sara, all of the vowel sounds in Tagalog are the same as in Spanish. Unfortunately for me, I took German in high school. I guess I have a lot of studying to do, ja?

My final lesson is karaoke. One has not truly experienced all that Southeast Asia has to offer until one has participated in this act of public indecency. Regardless of their ability or musical prowess, Filipinos will sing anywhere, anytime. Music appears to flow from the soul of the Philippines. And it is a wonderful thing - except, in my opinion, with karaoke. As near as I can surmise, karaoke was invented for one (or all?) of the following reasons:

1) A way to embarass one's friends/family members

2) A method of torture

3) Cheap entertainment for highly intoxicated individuals

4) A way for hipsters to behave ironically

Unfortunately, all of Manila (and a good part of Asia) failed to receive that memo. Not only is karaoke socially acceptable (!), it is encouraged - regardless of one's blood-alcohol content! I learned this on a recent weekend excursion with some friends to a karaoke establishment. Said establishment was not the smoky dive bar of Hollywood films, filled with travelling Western businessmen and Japanese guys in suits. Oh no - it was a fine establishment populated by young, attractive, energetic people. And the karaoke was not done as a spectacle for all to see, but rooms were available for rent. Notwithstanding the vague similarities between this style of establishment and the operation of houses of prostitution (i.e. renting a small room where one performs unspeakable acts), this made me immensely uncomfortable. It's one thing to stand up and "do karaoke" in front of a room of drunken strangers, who will applaud your performance regardless of its merit. It is something quite different to sit in a private room with ten other people (none of whom I had known for more than about a month), a television screen, and two microphones.

Let me conclude this third and final lesson by saying that you, reader, should excercise great caution before approaching karaoke - it is a wild, untamed beast that must be approached with great abandon, great irony, or few inhibitions. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Floor Twenty-Four

2008-09-05T19:55:00.000-07:00

One of the perks of living on the 24th floor of an apartment tower in the middle of Makati, Manila is the great view. Our building happens to feature floor-to-ceiling windows, making those views all the more spectacular. Sara and I stood at the windows last weekend to watch the "light show" going on over the backdrop of the city. Sara was able to snap a couple of spectacular lightning pictures which you can see here.

The other benefit of our perch on the 24th floor is the view of Manila Bay as the sun sinks below the horizon. This picture is a view from the computer room in our apartment. You can see the bay in the distance. On a clear day, you can even make out some of the nearby islands.

And, finally, here is a picture of our living room. It's a great escape from the hectic nature of the city! Since this picture was taken, we have added to our "greenery" with a local palm tree and a few other flowers. So, that's a brief tour of home sweet home.

Conspicuous Absence

2008-08-28T03:18:00.000-07:00

Upon reading my last posting, "The Year in Review", Sara commented to me: "That was a great post, but, uh, didn't we go to Jordan?" To which I responded, "Of course, but since Jordan was our favorite trip of the year, I assumed it warranted it's own blog posting." The fact is I just overlooked the folder of Jordan pictures - oops. But the trip we took to Jordan was certainly one of our all-time favorite Middle East excursions. Here are some of the highlights:

Sara and I started our trip exploring the ancient city of Petra. To get to Petra, one must walk down a steep, narrow canyon. At the end of the canyon, the walls part, dramatically revealing the main gate to the city. I don't say this very often, but it truly was breath-taking. To see something that had been carved into sandstone centuries ago in the earliest days of civilization is an awe-inspiring experience. That said, I understand that visiting the ruins of ancient civilizations is far more exciting than looking at the pictures - but I get a "nerdtastic" sensation from sharing the pics. Below you will see an image of the canyon and another of the city gate.

On the way down from visiting the monastery on the far edge of the city, Sara and I encountered a boy and his goats. Sara held a goat, as you can see. What you cannot see is the sensation of pure joy in which she basked at the prospect of holding a genuine Jordanian goat.

One of the many fascinating features of the desert landscape of Jordan is the deep red color of the sand. After Petra, Sara and I traveled to Wadi Rum, where we were given opportunity to take in the vastness of the desert scenery. The red sands of Wadi Rum evoke images of Lawrence of Arabia, Indiana Jones, and a dying culture of nomadic bedouins. It's a place that simply emotes, and one cannot help but be pulled in by rhythm of the desert. (Do you think National Geographic will be calling me any time soon?)

The desert and sands of Wadi Rum behind us, Sara and I journeyed north to Amman and the surrounding area. On the way we toured an old crusader castle and sat back as the desert landscape lulled us to sleep in the car - which was fine, because we actually had our own personal driver for this trip. Saleh, our driver and tour guide, gave us some great insights into Jordanian culture - and he was just a cool guy to hang out with. Pictured below are me and Saleh eating lunch together in a fabulous Lebanese restaurant.

S

While in Amman, Sara and I were priveleged to visit two sites of Roman ruins. Above is a shot of Sara exploring the ruins on the Citadel, a strategic hill overlooking the city of Amman.

After Amman, it was on to the Dead Sea, where we covered ourselves in mud and partook of the "healing powers" of this mineral-rich pool of water located at the lowest point on earth. On the left is a photo of the sun setting over the sea, with Israel visible in the distance.

Jordan is a fabulous place with a much different feeling from the "Gulf". Traveling there gave Sara and me a different outlook on the Middle East in general - and, you know, the food was great! I have found a new love of olives and babganoush since visiting Jordan. And I will leave you with this thought: "One of the best parts about traveling is the food." - Unofficial travel philosophy of Mike and Sara

Hellllooooooo!

2008-08-26T05:15:00.000-07:00

So, exactly how long does one have to leave a blog unattended before people give up on it? I suppose I am soon to know the answer to that question. Perhaps a better title for this blog entry would be "The Year(s) in Review". As many of you already know, last year Sara and I finished our contract in Bahrain and accepted jobs at the International School of Manila in the Philippines. I think it would be fair to say that things ended on a positive note for us in Bahrain, and we were very thankful for the time we had there and the great people we met along the way.

This past year was pretty exciting. We were privileged with a visit from our good friend, Steve, who can now lay claim to the fact that he has seen the infamous, world-renowned "Tree of Life"! (Steve, please forgive me for putting this picture up, but it really sums us up on so many levels.)

After travelling with Steve from Bahrain to Dubai for the weekend, Steve boarded a flight to New York (direct!) while Sara and I headed off to Germany and Switzerland for the October holiday. Our plan was to rent a car in Dusseldorf, then take a road trip around Germany, ending up in Zurich, Switzerland where we would return the car and fly back to Bahrain. And the trip was pretty much awesome! Sara quickly fell in love with our gutless Skoda, and quickly learned (re-learned?) how to drive a five speed - look out Autobahn, here we come!

We packed in a surprising amount of tourism in Germany - from the wine country, to the castles on the Rhine, to the little quaint villages. Good people, good beer, good fondue - Germany is my kind of place.

Lest you think Sara and I did nothing but travel, I will take this moment to say that after Germany/Switzerland, we returned to work until Christmas time. Then it was off to the sun, sand, and cities of Southeast Asia (this was before we knew we would be working in Manila, of course). We spent Christmas in Singapore, which is now perhaps Sara's favorite city in the world - and for good reason! They know how to celebrate. From there, we went on to the Indonesian island of Bali for some relaxation and soul-searching. Because once our time in Bali was finished, we were off to Bangkok for a job fair (the outcome of which you now already know).
Left: Orchard Road Christmas lights in Singapore

Right: Hiking in Bali

Well, many long plane flights, a few water-borne intestinal illnesses, and two brand-new teaching contracts later - Sara and I found ourselves back in Bahrain for the last few months of our stint in the Middle East. Realizing that we had precious few more days to spend with our friends in Bahrain, Sara and I opted for a long weekend trip to Dubai with our good friend Catherine.

By Way of explanation, I should mention that Sara loves to go to Starbucks at every country that we visit!

And here we are partaking in the goodness of a Dubai Starbucks.

Well, after the trip to Dubai there were only a few short weeks of school left. For Sara, one of the highlights of these weeks was training with Australian national team olympic hopeful, Lachlan - the brother of one of our friends and colleagues - the infamous Murray.

Can you guess which one is the best runner? I'll give you a hint - it's not the guy in black standing on the far left. This photo was actually taken at the Bahrain National Stadium, which we were able to use because of a gracious friend at the Bahrain Road Runners. Thanks guys!

The year in Bahrain finished with a great visit to Bahrain's wildlife park, which was surprisingly nice given its relatively low profile and seeming lack of funding. The highlight, of course, was visiting the park with our wonderful friend Mary Ann.

As great as our time in Bahrain was, Sara and I were grateful to be back on "home soil" by the end of June, the same month that we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. Sara and I both agreed that our fifth year of marriage was one of the most challenging and rewarding years we have yet faced. And as all you relationship veterans out there know, it is those blessed trials and triumphs that make marriage so great - truly an expression of grace.

Summer of '08 was brief but fabulous. We had to report to our new positions by the 26th of July. But we packed in a full summer. The holiday included a visit to Seattle to see my thoroughly concussed brother (feeling better yet, Dan?). Dan had met the business end of a soccer ball shortly before seeing us. There was also a visit from Chris, flying to Spokane from Philadelphia to spend some time with us. Chris was able to be in Spokane to celebrate Sara's 30th birthday - which was a blast! We had a huge party that was attended by friends and family from all stages of life. Thanks to everyone who could make it - it was a memorable day for Sara and for me. The summer also included a couple rounds of golf, a hair-raising (if I had any hair) backpacking trip with Cory (I now know what it feels like to be inside a thunder/lightning storm), and lots of great time with the Kopps, Winthers, and Overbys.

So, before I wax on any further, I should wrap this thing up. Sara and I are sitting right now on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building smack in the middle of Metro Manila. We have started our new jobs at ISM, and we are looking forward to a great year. The school is great, the students we have are top-notch, and we have a lot to be thankful for. The only thing we want now is to see some of you come visit us! This is an open invitation to all family and friends: you're welcome any time to visit - we have spare bedrooms and bathrooms (5, bathrooms actually) enough to accomodate you - and we won't even make you stay in the maid's quarters (not making that up - there really are maid's quarters in our place). So come visit - but if you can't do that now, at least post a comment so that I know you're out there. And watch the blog for further entries. I will do a better job updating this time (I hope).

Indian Night

2007-06-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Our social calendar can sometimes fill up rather quickly this time of year. One of the recent events we attended was put on by our fabulous friends Susan and Joe. (Susan and Joe are from India, but they have adopted Western names for use with people like me who would otherwise butcher their given names). This first photo is a picture of the folks celebrating Indian Night in traditional Indian dress. Susan owns somewhere around 5 bajillion saris, which was more than enough to outfit all of the ladies in attendance. As for the men - who are deftly hiding in the background of this picture - we just wore hats, which, incidentally, are quite a lot less complicated to put on than a sari. The smiling couple in the foreground of this picture is none other than Susan and Joe, our great hosts.

In this picture I am enjoying my not-so-traditional Indian hat (I guess they just sell hats like these to the tourists, who buy them thinking they are traditional). My comrades are Bobby and August, both of whom I work with at the school. And, yes, I know that their clothes are much more cool than mine, but I don't own a lot of traditional Indian clothing.

This last picture from Indian Night shows me and Sara enjoying a laugh with our friend Samir (or just "Sam", if you like). Sam also works with us at the school, and is always up for a social event. One of my favorite Sam stories involves the time a student insulted him in Arabic - when Sam responded to the student in Arabic, the student was quite embarrassed (obviously this student was not aware of Sam's Lebanese heritage). If you are a student at our school, I guess it pays to know who are the "Sams" and who are the "Samirs".

Here is a shot of the two of us - Sara is sporting her genuine Indian sari, and I. . . well. . . I'm standing there smiling. For those of you who are interested, make sure to ask Sara about the process it took her to actually get that thing on. Oh, sure, it looks all easy from where you are sitting, but there is quite a process.

After the great time we had, I decided Sara and I should add India to our list of future travel destinations. Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to convince her. . . .

April In Paris

2007-04-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, we recently returned from Paris, "the most beautiful city in the world." We spent a lovely seven days there taking in great works of art, admiring beautiful buildings and monuments, shopping in wonderful little stores, attempting to speak and understand French and, of course, eating croissants, crepes and all sorts of fabulous French foods.

Here's an account of the highlights.

On the day we arrived, we did a bit of shopping and had lunch at a cafe where there were lots of locals (working men who wore jumpsuits and smoked a lot). Everybody we met so far was super friendly, and we got to speak a little bit of French with the waitress at the cafe. We then walked along the Seine (where we got our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, visible in the background of the photo), visited Notre Dame (and admired a statue of Charlemagne), and ate dinner at a little cafe on the Isle de St Louis.

On our second day, I (Sara) went running around the Louvre and the Jardin de Tuileries (Tuileries Gardens). It was inspiring to see a ton of other runners out - something I have not been used to in Bahrain. After breakfast (croissants, coffee, etc.), we visited the Louvre - the crowds were astounding, and we only arrived about an hour after it opened. We teemed with the masses to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo - and then found ourselves strangely alone when we ventured into the "Greek and Roman Antiquities" wing. We also visited the Egyptian Antiquities, Apartments of Napoleon III, and Dutch Paintings, along with a couple of other small sections.

After the Louvre, we visited the Arc de Triomphe and walked along the Champs-Elysees. Along the Champs-Elysees, we did a bit of shopping and stopped in a cafe to get out of the rain and have a snack. Due to my inability to speak French, I accidentally ordered our food "to go," so then we went to another cafe to get some drinks and get out of the rain.

Paris has so many beautiful parks (gardens), that you end up walking through or past one everywhere you go. On our walk down the Champs-Elysees, back towards the Louvre and towards our hotel, we walked through two different park areas - the Elysees Palace Gardens and the Tuileries Gardens.

On day three, we took the train to Giverny, where we saw Monet's house, gardens and water gardens. It was fun to visit the places that we have seen in so many of his paintings.

On Day 4, we went to the Eiffel Tower. Here are pictures from the bottom and from the top.

This photo is of the Peace Monument, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The words on the glass are "peace" in all different languages.

We walked to the Jardin du Luxembourg after our visit to the Eiffel Tower, stopping for lunch at a cafe along the way. It was wonderful to eat outside in the sunshine and watch people go by.

The gardens were lovely - we spent a couple of hours there, sitting and reading and watching people walking in the sunshine.

On our fifth day, we visited the Musee d' Orsay - my favorite museum of the trip. The collection of Impressionist art there is amazing! After viewing the work of Sisley, Pissarro, and Caillebotte, we added these names to the top of our "favorite artists" list.

After d'Orsay, we visited Sainte Chapelle - a beautiful cathedral with impressive stained-glass windows.

On Day 6, we took the train to Versailles. We were both impressed with how big and magnificent the palace is - everything is so lavish. It was interesting to observe how the aristocracy lived. We walked all through the inside of the palace, and walked outside around the grounds a little bit, but it was very windy and cold, so we didn't stay outside for too long.

After our visit to Versailles, we took the train back to Paris, where we had a late lunch at Cafe Angelina - a cafe with wonderful food and the best hot chocolate in the world. Highly recommended!!!

We then went back to the Louvre - which is open late on Wednesdays - and saw Medieval Art Objects, some Renaissance Art Objects, and French Large Format paintings. "Raft of the Medusa" was my favorite painting that we saw. Here is a picture of it:

Our last full day in Paris - Thursday, April 5th - we walked north from our hotel to explore a different nearby neighborhood. We walked past St. Eustache cathedral, and admired all the little beautiful shops in the area. Also, there were a lot of fresh markets with lots of good-looking produce. Here is a picture of St. Eustache (taken on our first day in Paris) and another of the park area and some buildings nearby (taken on our last day).

We walked to Pompidou Centre (The Modern Art Museum) after exploring the St. Eustache area. We saw works by Picasso and Matisse, among others. Two of our favorites are pictured here (although we don't really "get" the electrical cord one):

After the Pompidou Centre, we took the metro back to Cafe Angelina for lunch. We had salad, French cheeses, wine, and bread. It was excellent.

We walked to the Rodin museum in the late afternoon, where we saw "The Thinker" and many other sculptures. I was really impressed with Rodin's work, and his house/gardens (which make up the Rodin museum) were beautiful to walk through.

After visiting Rodin's house, we walked back to our hotel, taking in as much as we could of our last afternoon in Paris. Here are a couple of photos that we thought were representative of many of the street fronts.

We ended our trip by taking one last walk across the Seine - the Eiffel Tower shines at night, as does the rest of Paris - "the most beautiful city in the world."

Spring Sands

2007-03-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

Springtime in Bahrain does not bring showers of rain, but rather sprinklings of sand. Check out this picture of an "overcast" day. This is the view from just outside our apartment. There are a few clouds, but the darkness you see is primarily due to the wind kicking up lots of dust and sand.

As you can see in the second picture here, most of the empty space in Bahrain is occupied by dirt, sand, dust, and sundry particulates that enjoy being swept up in a stiff breeze - and the wind does blow this time of year.

But, we can't complain. We are averaging about 75F every day! The running and golfing are great this time of year if you can stand the wind. It's almost a daily occurrence to get a text message: "Fancy a game of golf this afternoon?" Yes - yes I do.

Golf In Bahrain

2007-03-10T00:37:00.000-08:00

Coming from Spokane, the land of green grass and cheap golf, it was quite a shock to witness what is called the Awali Golf Club here in Bahrain. The course is all "sand", which means that what most golfers call "greens" are termed "browns". It also means that when you land in the fairway, rather than hitting the ball where it lies, you place it on a small piece of astro-turf that you carry with you throughout the round. Sara and I had our most recent golfing adventure at Awali with our friends Matt and Mya.

Here is a shot of Matt chipping onto the brown from the fairway. The sand is very smooth, but not so soft that you sink in. The area beyond the trees in this picture is where Bahrain Defense Forces (BDF) conduct military activities. It's especially interesting when the Blackhawks fire up right in your backswing.

And golf in Bahrain just wouldn't be right if you didn't have to chip over the occassional oil pipeline. The smells of oil and natural gas permeate the air during the typical round of golf here. And the fairways and other boundaries are marked with some sort of tar spread over the dirt. It's not exactly communing with nature in the same sense as playing 18 at Indian Canyon, but it is golf.

Our recent experience at the Dubai Desert Classic in UAE was quite different from golf in Bahrain. The biggest difference was the grass. The next biggest difference was that Tiger Woods plays golf in Dubai. We had a great time watching some of golf's greats from right up close. Sara was very excited about getting to see Sergio Garcia play - and she got his autograph. And we were able to experience our first rain delay. I would describe watching live golf as somewhat akin to playing an intense game of red-light-green-light. If that doesn't seem to make sense, then next time you watch golf on tv, look for those guys that hold up the "quiet please" and "stand still" signs. Then, watch as the mob of fans goes running as soon as their favorite player hits the ball.

One More Night in Bangkok

2007-02-17T00:37:00.000-08:00

We spent New Year's Day traveling from Ko Tao to Surat Thani to Bangkok. We had one day in Bangkok before flying home to Bahrain on the evening of 2.Jan.2007. We visited Wat Phra Kaew and saw the Emerald Buddha (no pictures allowed of the Emerald Buddha).

The Grand Palace is located in the same area as Wat Phra Kaew. We got our obligatory "palace guard photo," saw the guest palace where presidents of other countries stay when they visit, and enjoyed walking around the palace grounds on our last day in Thailand.

The Islands of Thailand

2007-02-16T23:38:00.000-08:00

We flew from Chiang Mai to Bangkok to Ko Samui on 26.Dec.2006. We stayed one night on Ko Samui at a place on the beach.

We arrived a day or two after some pretty heavy storms had come through the area. As a result, the sea was still pretty rough and the beach was fairly quiet.

After our night on Ko Samui, we took a boat to Ko Tao - a smaller, less populated island. Here is the view from the restaurant of the "resort" where we stayed.

We spent a lot of time snorkeling, reading, eating, and doing nothing on Ko Tao. It was great. Here are some pictures of our "Corona commercial" setting.

We stayed for three days on the southern end of the island, and two days on the nothern end. The sea was very rough on the northern end, so, rather than snorkeling or swimming, we opted for an extremely exciting kayak excursion followed by lots of reading, tea drinking, and coconut shakes.

Chiang Mai - Highlands of Thailand

2007-02-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

Sara and I spent our first week in Thailand in Chiang Mai. The weather was great (if a little cold at night) and the scenery was even better.

Here is a shot of Sara enjoying the flowers at Mae Sa Valley, where we stayed for three days.

Here are more photos of Mae Sa Valley:

The Queen Sikirit Botanic Gardens were right down the road from our bungalow. The vegetation was a nice change of pace from Bahrain, or Brohwnrain, as I have come to call it.

One of the highlights of Chiang Mai was our visit to the Mae Sa Elephant Camp - a preservation-minded habitat for Indian elephants. We were able to feed the elephants, ride them, watch them put on a "show", and see the paper that is made out of elephant poo.

Sara soon learned that elephants don't care if you leave the peel on the banana.

Here is one of our elephant friends. Sara wanted to name him "Stampy" - (see Season 5 of "The Simpsons").

Our visit to Chiang Mai also involved a visit to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep - a famous Buddhist temple in the mountains that requires climbing a multitude of steps to reach. The temple holds all sorts of sacred Buddhist artifacts and is surrounded by a sizable community of food-sellers and amulet dealers.

This is a shot of us at the foot of the steps leading to the temple - ahhhh, I can smell the incense now . . . .

The structure you see below is the "Golden Stupa" - you need sunglasses just to look at it! Next to that is a picture of Sara standing next to one of the retailer stalls near the temple grounds. We grew accustomed to hearing the proprietors saying "have a look, sir-mam".

Buddhist artifacts in the temple, along with people burning incense and offering flowers.

We followed the visit at the temple with a visit to a Hmong hilltribe further up the mountain. Below is a shot of two Hmong girls in the surrounding village, and also a shot of me chilling with the folks from whom Sara bought some jewelry.

Enjoying the view of the mountains. Cheers!

After our stay in the mountains, we packed up and headed to the city of Chiang Mai. We visited the ruins of the old city (about 600-700 years old), enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner in a German restaurant, and celebrated Christmas morning with a sunshine-bathed breakfast next to the Chiang Mai river, followed by a trip to the zoo.

One Night in Bangkok

2007-01-23T05:43:00.000-08:00

Yay! We are finally posting highlights from our Thailand trip! We visited three different parts of Thailand, the first of which was Bangkok. We arrived in Bangkok at about 9 a.m. on Monday, 18.Dec.2006, and stayed there for one night (just like the song).

We had excellent Thai food (of course!) for dinner, and some super-friendly Thai people took this photo for us after dinner.

After dinner, we saw this street cart full of fried bugs - we were not at all sad that we were too full to try any.

We were amazed at the amount of traffic in Bangkok - and the number of scooters!

On Tuesday (19.Dec.2006), we went shopping and had Thai food for lunch at a mall with a really neat food court - the chickens hanging in the window with their heads still on were a bit off-putting for me, though.

We were impressed with the green grass, green trees, flowers, and general beauty of the public spaces in Bangkok. Even though the city is big and bustling, we felt like it was always peaceful because of the vegetation and beautiful structures.

On Tuesday evening, we rode our first tuk-tuk (motorcycle-taxi) to the train station to catch the night train to Chiang Mai. We took the sleeper train, and got very little sleep.

"So, how was Dubai?"

2006-10-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

Dubai was great!! Here is the day-by-day account, with lots of pictures. (Most of the pictures will get bigger if you click on them):

21.Oct.2006

Unfortunately, Mike spent our first day in Dubai battling illness. Fortunately, he got to be sick in a very lovely hotel room, and I spared him from shoe shopping with me. (Shoe shopping with me can make even a healthy person very ill. On this trip, however, I picked out a nice pair of tan sandals in record time - about 30 minutes.) After I returned from shopping, Mike felt well enough to have dinner by the rooftop pool at our hotel (The Movenpick). We also went for a swim. Very nice.

22.Oct.2006

We had a lovely breakfast at the hotel. I wanted to take pictures of the buffet, with the baskets full of bread, the towers of fruit, etc., but Mike said I shouldn't take pictures of people eating breakfast. He also said he realized that, for me, "it's not where we go - it's what you eat when you get there." Amen.
After breakfast, we walked to Creek Park - a very large public park that reminded me a bit of Central Park in New York. It was so nice to get to see so much grass all in one place.

The views across the Creek were also very nice.

One area called the "desert garden" reminded me of Arizona because it had a saguaro and several other cacti. We also saw a bird that looked like a parrot - it was drinking out of a grate.

After the park, we went shopping. Then we went golfing at the par-3 night course at Dubai Creek Golf Club. It was absolutely beautiful. The climate and setting was perfect.

After golf, we had dinner at the Boardwalk restaurant - we sat at a table outside that was right by Dubai creek, and watched boats go by as we ate. A lovely night.

23.Oct.2006

Today we went to Jumeirah Beach Park - a public beach in Dubai. The water in the picture is the Persian Gulf (the Arabian Gulf). If you kept swimming straight out, you would eventually hit Kuwait. Mike is the white guy in the middle of this picture (you can only see his head sticking out of the water).

We started taking turns swimming after people came and sat in our chairs the first time we ventured into the water. When I went swimming by myself, men would start talking to me and one guy asked me if I was by myself. When I said no, he said "darn." I also got stared at a lot. It was kind of weird. [Note: I (Mike) told Sara that when that happens it's called "flirting", and that most women are actually flattered by the attention that men give them. She still didn't understand. Then she said I looked like Magnum PI in this next picture - she told me that was supposed to be a compliment. I still didn't understand.]

When we drove home from the beach, we passed a lot of the new construction areas. One out of six of the world's cranes are in Dubai. Pictured on the right is the construction of the Burj Dubai, which will be the tallest building in the world when construction is completed.

24.Oct.2006

Today we went on a desert safari. We rode with an experienced driver and a family of three out into the desert in a Toyota LandCruiser. Then our driver took us "dune bashing" - driving over sand dunes, driving on the sides of dunes, and kicking up sand so high it would go over the whole windshield. I got to sit in the front because I was sure I would get sick. I didn't. It was so fun. [On that note, I (Mike) had to sit in the "boot" as a compromise for Sara sitting in the front. I still have bruises, but it was totally worth it.]

On the way to the "desert camp," we stopped at a camel farm where I got to pet a camel and see them up close. That was really fun. Their feet are huge! Then when we arrived at the camp, we got to go on a thirty-second camel ride.

The activities at the desert camp included sandboarding (that's me in the picture), henna painting (a traditional Arabic thing to do - and very fun, because you get a temporary tattoo for about 3 weeks), and shisha smoking (which Mike likes, and I don't like - I did try it, but the tiniest little bit made my lungs hurt). [I (Mike again) wouldn't say that Sara "tried" sheesha as much as I would say that she "lamented" it.]

We ate a wonderful Arabic barbecue meal at the desert camp, and then on the way home we had a rousing discussion with our Pakistani driver named Zada. [Zada overheard the other passengers asking me (Mike) about George W. Bush, which prompted him to add his two cents (and then some). After going on, sometimes unintelligably, about his political views, Zada made a poignant comment. He said that he believed that President Bush will always be safe in Washington without threat against his life - he also said that Osama Bin Laden will always be safe in his hiding place without any legitimate threat against his life. Zada's conclusion was that "they are safe over there, and they are safe over here, but I lose you, and you lose me." He was commenting on his sadness about the personal effects of war that strike the hardest on the average citizens rather than the ruling elite. Zada then shook my hand, gave me a hug, and said, "tell the Americans what we are really like here. Tell them we want peace just like they do." I then told the other people in the car that they are lucky we had arrived at our stop, because next I was going to ask Zada about Israel - they all glared at me and then broke out laughing.]

25.Oct.2006

This was Mike's favorite day, so he gets to do the account of it:

The early part of our day was occupied with shopping in the Karama Shopping Area. "Karama" loosely translates from Arabic into English as "place where many guys come up to you and try to sell you pirated DVDs, knock-off fashion accessories, and 'designer' clothing." At least that was my understanding of it. These salesmen take you into a small shop, where they press a button that releases a hidden door, which leads through a narrow corridor to some rickety stairs, under a few ceiling beams, and into an entirely different upstairs shop that lacks any windows or outside entrances/exits. The great part about all of these shops is that the salesmen always ask you where you are from, then say, "because you are from _____, I give you good price." We had a fun morning, but obviously took no pictures.

The photo below is of Sara standing at the textile Souk. This was the next stop of our day. The Souk was packed with inexpensive fabrics of all sorts, as well as clothing shops, tailoring shops, and the like. It's an experience just to walk through the Souk, which is part of "old Dubai", to get a feel for the traditional culture.

From the Souk, we walked to Dubai Creek, which runs through the middle of the city. Here we took an abra (water taxi) across the creek to the wharf/shipping area. You can see pictures of the creek and the abras below. The abra ride afforded some great views of the city and its buildings, especially as the sun was dipping lower in the sky.

We disembarked from the abra right into the hub of Dubai's shipping industry. The wharf was packed with ships that made you wonder if they are actually sea worthy. There were boxes, palates, bags, and every other imaginable type of container holding cargo bound for all over the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world. The white bags pictured below are full of peanuts, and the brown boxes are full of noodles. We engaged a worker in conversation, and he gave us permission to climb into his boat.

Below is a picture of the cabin of the boat, where all the workers eat and sleep during the voyage, and a picture of Sara standing in the boat. Sara provided the entertainment for the boat's crew by trying to scale the wooden ladder into the boat while wearing a skirt and sandals. I provided my own entertainment for the crew as I played the role of "funny, bald, white man with a digital camera". I took pictures of everything.

One of the unique parts of our boat visit was afternoon tea. Since it was late afternoon, all of the boat's crew had settled down for their "tea break". In accordance with Arab hospitality, the crew offered Sara and me some tea. One of the crew handed me the cup he had just been drinking from, and, in accordance with accepting Arab hospitality, I began to drink. Sara was offered a "clean" cup that came from a plastic container filled with water, sand, and various insects. And, for one brief moment, hell froze over as Sara began sipping tea from a less than sanitary beverage container. (She said later that she observed this same phenomenon in Venezuela, so was quite less surprised than I was at the lack of sanitary conditions). So, we sipped tea and spoke in broken English with a bunch of sailors - it definitely made my day, and I'm guessing it made their day, too - especially when Sara almost lost her sandal in the creek as she was trying to climb out of the boat without flashing everyone.

We ended the evening with a walk through more of Dubai's many downtown souks. Below is a picture of Sara standing in front of a store that sells spices and other food.

As we cruised back across Dubai Creek in the abra, we could hear the call to prayer begin to sound. Below is a picture of the Grand Mosque. This picture is significant for a few reasons. Just above the Mosque, you can observe a crescent moon, which is a significant symbol in Islam. Since the Islamic world uses a lunar calendar, the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan is marked by the appearance of a crescent moon. Also, this picture looks really cool, and that's worth something.

This is Sara again:

After our walk along the water, we took a taxi to the Emirates Towers - currently the tallest buildings in Dubai, and probably the most recognizable from skyline pictures (although we don't have a picture - sorry). We had drinks in the bar at the top of one of the towers, and looked out over Dubai and the water at night. It was really neat, and a good way to wrap up our visit.

So, there you have it. Our trip to Dubai was really fun! We would love to go back sometime.

dubai info

2006-10-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we are going to Dubai for a 5-day holiday. I have been reading some fascinating things about current building projects underway in Dubai, and thought I would post some of them:

Note: The last picture is real - the others are artists' renditions, since the projects are not yet complete. The "sail" building in the last picture is the Burj Al Arab - currently the world's tallest hotel. We're not staying there, but we are going to try to visit. I guess it's pretty amazing.

Cricket - the most exciting game ever!

2006-10-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Mike's cricket team, and Mike himself after batting in a cricket game this past weekend. In a recent discussion about the game, I believe Mike said "Cricket is about as exciting as watching paint dry." I went to cheer for his team this past weekend and found myself hoping for somebody, anybody, to get out so that the game would speed up. An official game can take days - thankfully Mike's team was able to pull out a win in a matter of about 3 and a half hours. The last 10 minutes were actually very exciting. Really.

A typical day in Bahrain

2006-10-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

A few of you asked what a typical day in Bahrain looks like for us. Mike posted his very entertaining response yesterday, while I typed up the entirety of my thoughts before publishing them - and now here they are. Here is a typical day for us (it's very long - if you make it through the whole thing, I applaud you...) -

- wake up around 5:10 a.m. (or 5:20, or 5:30 at the latest)

- keep on the lookout for cockroaches as we go into the kitchen to eat breakfast (we have had a bit of a cockroach problem here - we've probably seen about 25 of them in our kitchen over 6 weeks. They are not big (about an inch long), but are quite gross. We've had our place sprayed three times now, and (knock on wood) we haven't seen a cockroach since the last time the people sprayed - about a week ago. After spraying and disposing of any of the little guys, we usually eat breakfast very quickly (at least I do), so we are not the last ones on the bus.

- catch the bus to school around 6:15 (we ride the bus with a bunch of our colleagues - it is the transportation that's provided by our school). We would like to get a car soon, but are glad to have the bus for now.

- arrive at school at about 6:50 a.m. It takes a long time to get to school because of traffic - there are soooo many cars here, and poorly planned intersections. Also, our school is one of about 4 in the same area - including a university. The civil engineers who came up with that make me wonder...

- teach (in English, to Arabic-/English-speaking kids) 4-5 classes each day, from 7:10 a.m. until 2:10 p.m. The day goes quickly because we only have two 20-minute breaks, rather than a longer lunch break. The good thing is that we have two planning periods each day. We both teach very demanding courses that require several hours each day of planning/preparation/studying, so those planning periods are really helpful. The students that we teach are very nice, and very impulsive. They tend to say whatever they want, whenver they want, without really thinking about if that would be disruptive or not. They are extremely chatty. This can be a challenge to deal with - Mike and I are both working hard at getting them to raise their hands and to not blurt things out. They are learning, slowly but surely. The students are also very good at coming to class prepared, having homework done, etc., so that is really nice. They all bring their books, they all do the warmup problems, and I'll usually only have one or two kids a week who have an incomplete homework. They are very hard workers, and ask a lot of questions. They are energetic and fun. Also, their English is perfect, as they have been learning to read/write/speak in English from about 3 years of age. One of our jokes about them is that they do not use contractions, and they enunciate very clearly ("I would like to see number twen-tee"). We think that is fun.

- The bus picks us up from school around 3:30, and we usually get home by 4:00 p.m. Sometimes I stay late to try to get more work done, but other times I will take work home. Some evenings I spend 2-3 hours on math work, and Mike often spends time as well working on his curriculum. I have to do lots of math problems every night in order to stay ahead of the kids. Half of what I'm teaching is stuff that I haven't taught before, so I have to spend a lot of time recollecting what I learned in college (7 years ago!!), and then figuring out how to explain it well to high school students. Also, I get very nervous in front of the class when they ask me questions on their homeworks (for the higher level year 11 and year 12 students), so I try to do the homeworks on my own at night so that I can answer their questions the next day.

- Aside from working in the evenings, we often do some form of exercise. I am running about three days a week, and Mike plays a lot of afterschool sports with our colleauges (soccer is his favorite - they also play basketball and hockey, and sometimes cricket). It is very hot and is humid about every other day right now, so I have been trying to gain back my running endurance that I had when we moved. I am finally starting to get acclimated, and am now able to run farther/faster than when we got here. It is a nice feeling. More on running: Every Thursday afternoon, the Bahrain Road Runners club has a race (3K,5K,8K, so far). There are usually about 30-40 people there, and everybody is very nice. They all like Mike and me, and are always encouraging us. One guy, Hussain, tells me every week that we will keep getting better as we keep training in this climate, and as we keep training in general. He is super nice.

- Some nights we go to the Brit Club to work out in the gym there or to sit by the pool or swim. The Brit Club is a social/sport club where they have a couple of restaurants and a couple of bars/smoking rooms/soccer-watching rooms, as well as nice athletic facilities. Mike and I got memberships for the year. It is about a 10-minute walk from our flat, so that is nice. They have a very large, very nice pool outside, with lots of lounge chairs and people who will bring you food/drink, so that is really fun. I have only done the pool thing twice so far, but Mike has been several times - it is very relaxing. There is also a cute orange cat that wanders around the area, and sometimes sits in the lounge chairs. Mike and I have named him orangey. ...There are lots of cats here, and they are all homeless. We see them hanging out in and around garbage cans all the time, because that's how they eat. Some of them are very small and sickly-looking, so I get sad sometimes when we see them. I bought a little box of dried cat food, and sometimes take a baggie with me when we walk to the grocery store, so that I can feed some of them. They are wary of people, so I usually just dump some food by the garbage can and then hope that they come eat it later. I am attempting to "make friends" with the cat near the garbage cans closest to our flat, but it doesn't seem to be working very well.

- Another night activity, of course, is making dinner or ordering dinner. It's super cheap to order food, and everybody delivers - a huge dinner (with enough left-overs for lunch the next day) costs about $5-$11, depending on where we order from. So far, we have ordered more food than we've cooked. We are trying to cook more, though, and have made a few lovely meals. One notable meal was pasta with white sauce and parmesan cheese on top, with broccoli on the side. It was notable because white sauce is hard to find (there was only one kind at the store, and now there isn't any), and the canister of asiago/romano/parmesan cheese mix that we bought cost about 6-8 dollars, I think. It was a special treat, so we decided it was worth it. Food is actually not very hard to get here, depending on what you're looking for. The imported food can be expensive (Frosted Mini Wheats ($5-6 a box), Driscoll raspberries ($8 for about 20-30 berries in a tiny container), a block of Kraft cheddar cheese ($8-9)), but there are often local brands that are good prices. Bread is very inexpensive, and there are a lot of really good kinds to choose from. Some kinds of produce, like bananas and cucumbers and carrots, are also quite cheap. Most other things cost about the same as in the States.

- The other thing that I like to do in our free time is walk places. We live in a city, so there are a lot of cars and everything is always very busy. It's kind of nice just to get out and watch things/people go by. It is also very safe here, so going out after dark, even by myself, is never scary. It is a 10-minute walk to the grocery store or to the Starbucks next to the grocery store, and is only about 5 minutes farther to a string of shops and restaurants. Starbucks is a special treat (I think I have had it 4 times since we got here), because it is a bit more expensive than in the States (about $5 for a tall frappucino). It's funny, though, because when you go inside, you feel like you could be anywhere in the world. The decor/music/colors/smells are all just like Starbucks at home. It is nice sometimes to have something comfortable and familiar like that. (Wow, I am certainly part of a target market, I think).

- After doing any of the above evening activities, we usually go to bed about 10:30 p.m., after I check the bed for cockroaches, which really bugs Mike (no pun intended) :-)

And that is a typical day at the Kopp household in Bahrain. Pretty much what you would expect, right?

"So . . . . What do you guys do?"

2006-10-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

One of the questions we frequently get is "what do you guys do?" and "what is life like in Bahrain?" The answer to those questions is probably about the same as it would be if you answered them yourselves. Bahrain just seems more "exotic" because there aren't as many white, Protestant, English-speakers here. However, in spite of the fact that we work, play sports, go out to dinner, etc. just like we did in Spokane, we do all of this stuff in a different setting. So I guess the other part of the answer to the above two questions is that everything is totally different for us. Cryptic. Anyway, one of our favorite activities right now is walking everywhere - since we don't have a car. The picture to the right is the Grand Mosque (lighted up) as observed on an evening walk along the water-front. We also enjoy seeing how low of a price we can offer to pay a taxi and still have the driver let us get in the car.
Many people have asked us about cultural activities in Bahrain. Since we spend the majority of our time at work during the week and a majority of our leisure time with other expat, we have not exactly lived up-close and personal with the local culture. However, one of the fun cultural events we attended was the Bayan School's Ghabga. The Ghabga is basically a school-wide party where all the students wear traditional arab clothes, dance to arabic music, get henna tattoos, and eat food. It was a great experience. Other "cultural" activities include learning to call soccer "football" and learning how to play cricket. Incidentally, it's not as much like baseball as you might think. And, of course, one of our favorite cultural activities is eating food that we've never heard of! Another cultural activity involves smoking flavored tobacco out of a water pipe (sheesha, or houka, depending on who you ask) - and since Sara's not standing here right now, I can say that it is pretty fun.

The following are a couple of pictures from the Ghabga. The first is us with a co-worker, Bob (middle) and one of Mike's students, Mohammed (right). The second photo is Sara with a lot of her students.

Monsoon restaurant pictures (continued) - 28.sept.2006

2006-10-06T22:51:00.000-07:00

Me and Mike outside the restaurant by a big stone elephant.

Ice Cream after dinner (Mary Ann, Louise, Mike, Ed, Me).

Monsoon restaurant - 28.sept.2006

2006-10-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

Marge (our Australian friend who teaches art in the primary school) and me. We both ordered Pad Thai, and I had a wonderful Thai Iced Tea.

Mary Ann (journalism teacher for high school - she's from Houston, and the Phillippines before that) and Robert (Marge's husband, who is the dean of students for the elementary school).

Louise (from England - the high school drama teacher) and Jemma (from New Zealand - a primary school teacher).

Me and Mike.

A beautiful centerpiece in the middle of the restaurant.

"We're lucky that we were born where we were"

2006-09-27T06:32:00.000-07:00

Every morning as we go to school, we see truckloads of men on their way to work. They ride in open-backed trucks, with about 15 men in one truck, all sitting there in blue coveralls. They all appear to be Indian. We heard they live with about 15 people in one apartment, and they make about 70 dinar a month (about $190). They work all day in the hot sun as delivery men, car washers, construction workers, road workers, maintenance men, and other things. The teachers at our school, on the other hand, each make about 10 times what they do, with housing and transportation paid for.

Mike and I were discussing this with some friends the other day, and we decided that it is easy to think (without realizing that you're thinking it) that you're better when you have more money. We can hire people to deliver stuff to our door, we are college-educated and have good jobs, and it's easy to think that we have those things because we worked harder, or we were smarter, than other people. As we cautioned each other about this, our Australian friend Marge said, "I just think we're lucky that we were born where we were. I think that's really the only difference." We are so rich in America. It has been very easy to take that for granted, to take for granted public education and easy access to higher education. It is interesting to think that my quality of life is in many ways just determined by where I was born, and thus by all the opportunities I have had because of being an American.

I know that it is not quite that simple, that there are many factors that play into everybody's life, including work ethic, geography, genetics, culture, upbringing, personality, etc. But, this has definitely been good stuff to think about...

Bahrain's buildings

2006-09-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Bahrain doesn't look like this yet, but it will in a couple of years. This is an artist's rendition of the new "Bahrain Financial Harbor" downtown. Here is another picture of Bahrain in the future.
This one is for real. I took it on the bus on the way to school this morning, and it was the best shot I could get to give a perspective on the buildings shooting up in Bahrain. If you look closely and start counting from the far left of the picture, you can count 8 or 9 cranes. Note the cranes on top of what I like to call the "lumpy" buildings. There is also one on top of the "triangle" building. The last time we drove through the downtown area, I counted 27 cranes.
One more of Bahrain's future. The two buildings on the far right are nearly finished, as well as the "triangle" building, and several more have been started.

Patriotism

2006-09-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

A few days ago we drove past the American Embassy, which is about a mile from our place in Bahrain. On top of the building flies an American flag, the only one I have seen since we arrived. Never before have I realized what a big deal a flag is. We are halfway around the world, and most things here are very different from America. But, seeing the flag, it feels like we are home. It feels like we are safe, like we belong to something, like we are cared for. I have seen thousands of American flags before, and have even flown one from the house on holidays, but never really understood until now why flags are such a big deal. I love driving past that flag, and it reminds me that I am a citizen of a great country. I think I'm starting to understand what patriotism really is...

family pictures - July 31st, 2006

2006-08-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

My brother Chris, my mom, me.

Mike, Chris, Mom, Me

Chris and Annie

Vacation Pictures - June 2006

2006-08-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

Mike and me at Avalanche Lake, Glacier National Park.

Me at Avalanche Creek (on the way to Avalanche Lake).

Me eating at Avalanche Lake.

Rowing on Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park.

Mike and me by the helicopter we rode in at Glacier. We saw many beautiful glaciers and hidden lakes that can't be seen from the road. It was quite a ride!!

Me at Logan Pass. The road just opened two days before this picture was taken - there was a ton of snow!!!