Futbol

I have seen two futbol (i.e. soccer)games here in Xela. Earlier this year,Xela won the league championship. i think that was in June. There seems to be a new season now. I don´t know if i am good luck or not for the team. they are 1-0-1 when i see them play.

the crowd is abit dfferent than you´d find at games in the states. A little more vocal than the states, many more fireworks being set off by those in the crowd and the police seem to carry bigger guns.

let´s see if i can attach some pics of the game.

I Support Child Labor

And if you were in Guatemala, you would too. There is not much you can do about it here. Boys and girls do all sorts of paid work here in guate. Although school is out for the next month or so, i am not sure how much difference it would make with most of the kids i see working.

This afternoon, i had my shoes shined by a 10 year old. On any given afternoon, there are 15 or so males (mostly men but some boys) with shoeshine stands in the smalll central park. They all charge the same price for a shine Q5 (about $0.65). sometimes the shine is worth that and sometimes it is not.

I wish i had taken a pic of the scene. you have the 10 y o shining my shoes, his younger sister playing beind the chair, and his mother sitting on the ground breastfeeding a (fairly new) baby sister. As he was finishing my shoes, his younger brother and a friend show up - both with shoeshine kits.

I paid my 5Q and i gave them all packets of some crackers. i made some key lime pie today and i had some (crust) crackers left over.

i keep trying to post some pics but i have not had too much success lately.

soon, i hope.

bjm 11-16

guess what!

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!
Where's the car? Guess!
Where's the Good Deed Do-er? Halfway to Georgia.

Will I survive? As long as I have books to read.
And peanut butter.

Bye bye from the Mountain Top Nance

Hints from Mom to help?

I have tried to eat ´right´while i am here in Guate.

and by ´right´i mean - purified water and no food from street stalls. i try to believe that the raw veggies i eat were disenfected (bleach is a good choice).

Today, i bought some raisins at an open market. prior to getting home and washing them, i ate some.

if i become ill in the next day or 2, it´s due to the dirty dried grapes.

although the damage may have been done, i did put them in bleach when i got home.

bjm 11-10

great news

Sean and Deb are in the good ol' US of A and we will see them tomorrow (saturday).
Bad news: all the people we voted for -LOST.
Clare is off to New England to show Mike the joys of Maine and New Hampshire - all in 3 days. Her car has gone Kaput! So big expense is in the near future.
She should have snagged Brendan's car when she was at Meg's!

This is all typed to show JJM how to use a blog; he isn't the swiftest pupil on the planet if I know more than he does about computers.
Students at FM stole the user name and password to all the info in the school files and had a ball changing their marks - til they tried to sneak into the school one night and found a policeman on the other side of the backdoor!!!
that's it, amigos - nsm

Election in Guate

Guatemala held the second round of elections this past sunday. I belive all those eligible to vote are required to vote. i do not know what the actual voter turnout was.

the new president, Colon, is said (by the people in my house) to be a bit on the weak side. the slogan of the other candidate was ´with a stong hand´.

of the few people i asked, no one was happy with either candidate.

I think Colon will be the better option for Guate.

In addition to many things being close on election day sunday, the markets were not allowed to sell beer to Guate citizens starting mid-afternoon saturday. the ban lasted until 0600 on the monday after election.

thelocals don´t like it whenthey can´t buy their 32 oz Gallo beer ($2+ in bars)

i went to see the local team play soccer the night befor election (pics soon). beer is never sold there - can´t risk it.

i believe the gov´t thought there may be some violence during election sunday but there was none-as far as i know.

That´s the news from here.

bjm 11 8 07

life`s basics

6 november.

Although i don´t miss the news from America, there are things i do miss - like being able to flush toilet paper.

The plumbing in Guatemala is not quite as good as that in America. In all bathrooms, you are required to put the post-use tissue in a basket next to the toilet. (i believe it´s the case in many countries but it takes a bit of getting used to.) This works out....okay, all things considered - unless the bin is not emptied too often (the case in my house).

enough tp talk.

(i`ll try to attach some pics later)

laundry seems simple enough here. i can bring mine to 1 of 2 places near my school. i pay Q5 (0.65) per kilo for wash, dry and fold at one or Q20 for wash dry and fold a decent size load at the other. Not a bad deal.

You can get shoes shines here by any one of the 10 or so men (or boys) in the park. the price is $.50 - 1.25 or so - depending on your negotiation skills. but it is not easy to get your shoes repaired. the Sr. of my house thinks he knows of one placve to get shoes repaired but he is not sure. while walking the streets, which i do often, i did find one. since i may run into rain here, i want to swap out my leather soles.

I believe there are more butchers in this town than in all of USA. And by `butcher`i mean a person with meat and a knife. if you think of `butcher` as someone who works in a fairly clean and cold environment while wearing a white coat and some sort of head gear, then we`re not speaking of the same thing. if you´re in the market for meat, you can buy it from various women in the markets - they`re the ones in the market road, in mid-day sun with chickens in a plastic bin. you never know about the weight but just trust that the two weights they use to balance total a pound.

For the four-legged animals, and their heads, you often have to go inside the market. don´t try to feel the air for a colder section of the market beacuse they don´t use refrigeration (or freezers) in the market. and the guy who just shook hands with someone, then ran his hands through his hair, and picked up a not so clean newspaper --- he`ll be the one cutting your meat today.

Eat well.

What i know about EEUU (i.e. USA)

6 november.

Living in Xela, it´s easy NOT to know what is going on in the world. Most of what i know about the USA is learned through ESPN and Fox Sports. there are at least 2 ESPN channels on the TV in my house.

it seems Boston won the world series and the Dolphins still stink.

I did catch a bit of CNN Asia(?). I´m sure is was ´`asia´rather than ìnternational`. i believe there is a bit of trouble in Pakistan and bad floods in Mexico and Canada.

Is there still a war in Iraq? if so, it does not make the papers here.

Aside from sports, there`s not much news about the states. That`s not always a bad thing.

more pics

here are some more pics of my time in Xela.

here re m

Photos below

I see that i had some success attaching photos to the blog.

The first one is the view from the front door of my home stay. The road you see is probably slightly below average quality - but certainly not the worst in the city.

the second pic is a girl showing me the sign for the candidate of the green (not¨Green¨) party. it also seems to be the sign used by many women to keep me away.

Just another Monday

It´s monday afernoon in Xela and i just finished lunch with my family. Well, it wasn´t with the family. the two other americans where there and the youngest son was eating, too. And Senora was there too make the food. I´m not sure what i had. i think it was crepes with eggs inside. and rice on the side. Sometimes it´s best not too ask. The senora knows that i don´t eat the four-legged criters. i´m sure they like the situation as they save some money by not buying beef.

The weekend went by but i didn´t seem to do too much. However, i didn´t get around to completing my homework. oops. My teacher forgave me. I´ll do it tonight, i think.

Once again my lack of spanish skills was evident. i ran into some people who were working the Tour of Guatemala bike race. I asked where the race would start on sunday. They told me. I went there. Right time. Wrong place. But i was on the right road so i did see the guys go by. I´m not sure the Tour de France works the same way as here.

The road was never shut down completely. About a minute before the cyclists came, they stopped other traffic from driving on the road. Less than a minute after the last support van passed, it was business as usual.

I went to see a presidential candidate speak. the election is sunday november 4. the crowd was not as big as i would expect. Each candidate has their own election song. Music seems to be an important part of life here.

i´m told that the candidate i saw, Colon, was asked`Is it true you shot and killed a man while in a bar in Mexico?` His response `No. I shot and killed two men.`

I´m told that the other candidate stole $100million + from the treasury. He went south for 10 or so years and now he`s back.

All the sudden the US candidates don´t seem so bad.

I hit the markets on both weekend days. I wish i could have taken pictures of the goat heads for sale but, for some reason, i didn´t feel comfortable. despite the fact that i could probably afford them, I didn´t ask the price.

I think you can buy anything you want at the market. there was a spice corner, a (non-refrigerated) meat aisle, a whole block of shoe kiosks and plenty of fruit.

It is all good.

Time to pick up the laundry (Q5 per kilo) and hit the books.

Pics soon??? I hope.

pic

Chicken Bus

Where are all the pictures from Guatemala? Due to technical difficulties (read - Brendan no es intelligente) there are no pics at the moment.

Soon. I hope.

I took my first `Chicken Bus`on the Guatemal adventure. A Chicken Bus is what the gringos call the Blue Bird school buses that travel the roads of Guatemala. you get on the bus and don´t try to wonder how long ago it was that this same bus was transporting the youth of America. One bus had `South Bend Schools`on its side.

Yesterday, i went to a town that is no more than 50 miles away. it may be 30 - difficult to judge distances. to get to that bus i had to take a minivan across town ($0.15 for any ride). After the mini dropped me off, i only had to walk 10 or so blocks to the chicken bus terminal. However, if you can´t speak the language, the 10 blocks can take an hour.

Security man: Go down 4 blocks and on the right.

Store owner 3 blocks later: go back past the market and go for 2 blocks

Street kid: No se

Security number 2: Go to the corner and take a left, continue for some blocks.

Shop keepers just past the corner where i took a left: Go down (the avenue i just came from) and go past the park.

etc.

An hour later, i happened to run into the bus i wanted.

I got a ride back from the town in a minivan. it was much better than the chicken bus.

All the chicken buses have a driver and a guy who yells the destinations and collects te money. today, i saw that he has another job. While going up a hill, the money man may have to hop out of the moving bus with a little bucket of water - which he throws at the bus´radiator. Repeat 5 or so times. i cried because i was laughingso much.

This weekend is a big market weekend in Xela. it has something to do with October and the Virgin saint of the town. i will take some pics.

if all goes well, i may be able to post them.

todos por ahora

bjm 26 october

You´re not in America...

When the McDonalds has a security guard and that guard has a machine gun.

That is life in Queztaltenango (or Xela´´, as we locals call it).

I arrived in Guatemal City on Sunday to a cold rain. I have plenty of gear for cold and wet conditions, thanks to years at REI. However, all that gear is in a basement in CT.

Mistakes were made in the packing. Cést la vie.

An arrival in GC is a bit confusing to those who do not speak Spanish. I was one of those people. When you leave the airport, there is a mass of people - waiting for friends, waiting to rip you off, willing to give you a ride in their minivan.

After walking in a circle for 15 minutes, i was able to hop in a cab with a woman. I´m not sure where she was going but i was able to get a ride to the bus station.

we had a great conversation. i thought She was telling me about her work with a Honduran chicken company. i didn´t understand why she was saying ´chicken´instead of ´pollo´. I turns out she was telling that she was from a town near Honduras and the town´s name sounds (to me) like chicken.

I caught my ´fist class´bus (circa 1960 - no bano) for the 5 hour ride to Quetzaltenango´. if you always wanted to see the result of a car without airbags impacting a school bus, come to Guatemala.

i think i saw the remains of 5 or so accidents. Wet dirt roads and questionable drivers are not a good mix.

On the bus, i met a woman from Florida who was coming here to visit her sister. she grew up near Xela. I was lucky to meet her. When we got to Xela, her sister gve me a ride from the bus station to my school. the school was closed but i used sis´s cell phone to call the owner. All worked out.

I started school on Monday. 5 hours a day. I have some great cheat sheets for learnign spanish verbs and words. those sheets are safely stored in CT. Darn.

There are a number of schools in Xela. i picked Miguel de Cervantes. I believe they´re all similar but some teachers are probably better than others.

There are a few options with respect to the housing situation. i chose to live with a family. I am with a mother, father and 3 boys (18, 14, 11). Two americans are in the house, too. the Americans and i live in a front house, where the family has its kitchen. the family lives in the house behind us.

It´s working out for now. I may stay with the same family for my time (4 weeks?) in Xela. I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with the family 6 days a week. (Meals are provided but i do not have to eat with them) I will be on my own on Sundays.

Lunch is the big meal. Dinner is often leftover lunch plus black beans. Breakfast was pancakes on tuesday and Kellogs Corn Flakes today.

The school costs about $105 per week, while the homestay is $35. Quite a good deal. I don{t know if i can get a job here but i can live cheaply.

Tonight is salsa night at on of the discos (Xela is the 2nd biggest city). I will check it out and try to impress the locals with my gringo dancing skills.

Tomorrow, i will skip school. i am going to the beach with the family that helped me out on Sunday. it´s not as warm here as i would have hoped. I guess i should have read the guide book. Aside from the risk of catching a disease, a little sun and surf should make for a good day.

all for now. bjm 24 october

Last week in Arlington

I'm off to CT and NYC next week. And then it's off to Guatemala for a few weeks studying spanish in Quetzaltenango.

I do plan to update the blog on a regular basis. but i also planned to get in great shape this year. Plans don't always happen as we plan.

I went to a happy hour with some friends last night.

With friends like this, i'm not sure why i should leave the area.

i bought a digital camera so i expect to add some cool shots to the blog. we'll see.

bjm

Sheila jumping - Oct. 2007

Hi all... hope you've had some time to enjoy the fall. Below is a link to a video from last weekend when Erin and Sheila competed at a show near Dover, NH.

Off to Guatemala

Well, I bought my ticket and i'll be on the road (or in air) soon. i am headed from NYC to GUA in about a month.

the "plan", if that's the word for it, is to be in Guatemala for a month or so and then work my way down south. the thought of going by land and sea all the way down, will not happen. it turns out to be not too easy to get from Panama to Colombia. so, i will probably hop a flight from somewhere in Central America to Somewhere in South America.

i will keep you all informed. i hope to add to the blog with news of my travels.

see ya.

B

Sean's 70.3

Dear Family

As some of you have heard I ran a race this past Sunday.
And I use the word ran with a very loose definition.
Better stated, I was in a race.
And truth be told, finishing and not requiring hospitalization were my 2 goals
Actually, not requiring hospitalization was really my main goal
Some may say that the fact that I entered, in fact,shows I could probably use hospitalization.
And when a spot opens in a nice wing of a Swiss psychiatric clinic I'll be there.
But until then I will probably continue to push some boundaries Right now however I am having some trouble pushing myself out of the chair. I am in a little pain.

The race was the first ever Ironman 70.3 held in Asia. It is called 70.3 because it is half a full Ironman I don't think the participants wanted to be called half-Ironmen. Anyway it is a distance that is catching on in the world of tri-athletes. As a matter of fact the reigning world champion competed in this race

As many of you know, the Ironman started in the 70's.
Some arguments were had as to which were the better athletes swimmers, bikers, or runners. So some sadist thought, let's find out by having each athlete do each sport, one after the other. I think it was in the late seventies that the first Ironman was held.
The original and still considered the ultimate race was held in Hawaii
Athletes were to swim 2.4 miles in the open sea
Get out, hop on a bike and pedal 112 miles
Drop the bike and run a full 26.2 mile marathon
The first one across the finish line was the first IRONMAN.

The race enjoyed a small but fanatic following for a few years
I actually remember watching some of the races on WW of Sports
By the mid eighties, Europeans and Australians started joining
Other races were held around the world and the Hawaiian race
became something of a world championship

I am not sure which came first,
the world wide explosion of races and participants or
Brendan competing in these races in the eighties.
Nor am I certain one didn't cause the other.
With or without a causal link,
Brendan did in fact ride the wave, so to speak.
I am not sure how many he in fact competed in but I am certain
he was better prepared then I was Sunday morning.

I actually competed in a triathlon in about 86 or 87.
I swam a mile in a lake
biked 25 miles in a park and
ran a 10K (6.2 miles) to finish
I remember having prepared by swimming and running
Thinking back, I remember thinking
Boy that was stupid
I should have done some biking to be better prepared
Remembering that lesson I did in fact bike to prepare for this race

Those distances became the standard for the Olympic triathlon
I forget when
but the triathlon became an Olympic sport
maybe at the end of the eighties?
The Olympic distances are 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run
I thought of those distances on Sunday

This Singapore Ironman 70.3 was an inaugural event
As such it got a lot of extras
We were the first to (legally) bicycle across our highest bridge
We were the first in Singapore to ride on an expressway
We are actually the only Ironman 70.3 in the world
to have the whole race entirely in the city limits
Singapore did it right
Some downtown streets were closed
We ran through the business district
They put up a barrier and gave us an express lane
Which by the way had a terrific view sine the city is at sea level
and we were up above the streets for that part of the race
The transition from bike to run and the finish line
were on the largest floating stage in the world
which had been built to have the National Day Parade.
During the NDP there were probably 10,000 plus people on stage
There weren't that many at this race but it was still pretty exciting
running in front of the stands and finishing on stage.

The race it self goes off in waves with the elites taking off at about 7:15
Then the physically challenged athletes went
I thought I should be in that group
Next went all the women
And for some reason,
the start of the age group waves began with
the 18 - 24 year olds and the 50+
IN THE SAME WAVE.
The start is a mad rush into the water by hundreds of sleek bodies
OK not everybody was sleek
But the three of us with over 20% body fat still had to rush into the water
Needless to say I had to swim over the backs of some young guys
I say I was trying to pass them,
they may say I was hanging on for the ride

I will say that I looked a bit out of place
I am not kidding when I say I only saw three people
with 35+ inch waists
And I can still remember back in 1984 when I had a 35" waist

Other races I have been in always had the weekenders
the guys that were just in the race to have fun and finish
I didn't see any of them in this race
Truth be told, Five minutes before the start I was wondering
where all my mates were
the guys you knew would be bringing up the rear
You don't know them before the race but you form a bond at the end
I didn't see any of them there
At least not with swim suits on

That is why I thought I should have been in the PC group
I guess I'm glad I wasn't
I walked over from our bikes to the beach with a guy with one leg
We talked a bit
In the back of my mind I thought, surely,
over the course of 1.2 miles I will pass him in the water.
I didn't
Actually I don't know when he got out of the water
But I do know he beat my final time by 2 hours and 23 minutes
I did not beat any PC athlete that completed the race

Anyway back to the swim
It was 250 meters straight out
Turn left, swim into the rising sun for 800 meters
(remember the sun rises here about 7am)
Turn let again, and swim toward shore for 150 meters
Turn left again and swim 600 meters
Turn right and swim 100 meters to shore
That's 1900 meters if you swim straight
Which I did for 250 meters
Then I turned left and followed the crowd
There were four huge buoys where you made the turns
Then every 200 or so meters there was a smaller round orange ball
Well I don't know about you but even in my younger years
I'm not sure I could see 800 meters while in water
with about one foot swells
Well neither could the guy at the front of my pack
I'd say at least 50 of us started heading to one of the return buoys
I was probably 30 meters away from an orange ball when I noticed
a lot of people swimming toward that same buoy
from the opposite direction
That is not good, I thought,
Man, all those elite athletes are swimming off course.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to realise I might be off course
Which was good because
There were no rocket scientists with me at the time
But a bout 50 of us sighted the correct bearing
which at the time was directly into the sun
Convenient but a bit bothersome
It was about the third turn when I thought
That 1500 meter Olympic distance sure makes sense
But I finished at the beach in 49 minutes 29 seconds
Great time for me even with the slight detour
I was figuring on an hour

Now most triathletes run to their bikes
They will get some water on the way and maybe a protein gel
They slip their feet, sans socks,
into their bike shoes which are already clipped to the pedals
and they are off, still in their wet suit
These suits have a bit of padding for the bike ride
and dry quick.
The athletes swim, bike, and run in the same outfit

I don't
I walked to my bike
Had some water, had a protein gel, got my bag
and headed to the changing tent
In Singapore they didn't want folks changing in the parking lot
I took off my bathing suit and put on some bike shorts
With a lot of padding
Put on a pair of socks and bike shoes
The elites run the 100 meters from sea to bike and
50 meters out of the transition area (no riding in this area)
in under two minutes
I took almost 15
But I expected that so I was still ahead of schedule by 10-15 minutes

I hopped on my bike and was on my way
In my training I have been riding at about 25k per our
Not terrifically fast but steady
This pace if I kept it
would allow me to finish the 90k in under four hours
Being realistic,
and having not bicycled more then 50k straight in, oh,
25 YEARS
I planned to take the whole four hours to do the ride.
Anyway I am off at about 24-25k per hour pace
I know it is a cliche but
The other athletes passed me like I was standing still
The elites (which I never saw) averaged 43- 45 k per hour
For those stateside, I was averaging 15 mph, they were at 28 mph

The route was 10k from the sea to the stadium
then 4 laps of 20k each
I think it would be fair to say that the only people I passed
were on the curb fixing flat tires
I thought I passed one of the PC athletes
who was pedalling by hand in a very modified wheelchair
But as I went by the stadium to start my 3rd lap
he turned in finishing his fourth
More then once I thought
boy, that Olympic distance of 40k seems perfectly reasonable
I did finish the bike leg
though it seemed to go on as long as this email
The time 4 hours 8 minutes 18 seconds
Which includes whatever time I used to transition to the bike

Now again the elites hop off the bikes
they do slip on running shoes
as the bike shoes are still attached to the bike
and take off
There is water,electrolytes, protein, bananas
within 50 meters of the transition
I didn't see them but it wouldn't surprise me
if they transition in under a minute
I took 10 -15

Again I changed out of my bike costume
and into running shorts, shirt and thick padded socks
to cushion and prevent blisters
and a nice pair of running shoes
Here I was able to sit in a chair to change
The first transition you sit on the parking lot
That chair felt good
But I had miles to go before I sleep
It actually felt great to walk
or at least to be off the bike
Basically we had 2 ten kilometre laps
then a 1.1k loop to enter the stage

My plan was to walk a bit to get my legs back
I hoped to slowly jog in the shade and to walk if I was in the sun
It did feel good to be on solid ground
My plan here was to go at a steady clip of basically fast walking
Last spring when I was walking for exercise
If I walked fast and steady, I averaged 15 minutes a mile
If I jogged the straight aways and walked the curves I brought that down
to 12 - 13 minutes a mile
I was realistic
Remember, I biked and swam to prepare for this race
I hadn't been able to put in many miles on foot
Especially after hurting my foot this summer
So I thought 15 - 17 minutes per mile was doable

A marathon is 26.2 miles
so this is 13.1 miles
I ran a half marathon in 1979 in Phelps, NY at the sauerkraut festival
At the time I was running about 50 miles a week
I did the race in just over two hours
15 minutes per mile is just over three hours for 13.1 miles
Certainly doable

I won't bore you more with the details of the run (walk)
But there were two complete downpours
Pretty typical for Singapore
My shorts and shirt and hat are quick dry
The rain felt good

Remember those thick padded socks
They may have been quick dry also
If it didn't rain the second time
or there were ways to cross the huge puddles
Basically I walked in sopping wet socks for about ten miles
(The padding felt great the first three dry miles)

In any case
I did try to jog a couple times
but it never lasted more then three or four steps

That is until the end
As I entered the stadium area
the announcer said
"Hey guy in the yellow shirt
The official clock stops in three minutes
Who is this guy ... 251... Sean Murray
Hey Sean you have about two minutes and 30 seconds
Crowd can we get a rousing cheer for Sean here
Let's bring him in to finish the inaugural Singapore Ironman 70.3"

And the crowd, what remained of the crowd
stomped their feet on the metal bleachers
and let out whoops and hollers
I forgot my feet, knees, back, shoulders, and neck
and slowly jogged through the finish
with 8:58:21 showing on the clock

My walk time was 3:49:58 (including the second transition)
Meaning if I had started my walk
when the winner started the race
I would have beat him to the finish line by one second
Yes that is right
The winner crossed the line,
from first splash to last step,
in 3hours 49 minutes 59 seconds

Since the clock started at the gun
and I was in the fourth wave
my actual time was
8 hours 48 minutes and 18 seconds

I can tell you for certain
I did not pass anyone
who didn't pass me later
or who dropped out of the race

I also personally thanked every volunteer
who was still at their post on my first walking lap
I wasn't sure they would still be at their post
An hour and half later when I passed this way again
And I was right
There were a few still on the route on my second lap
and if they were there I shook their hands
They should have given me a wagon
I could have picked up the cones along the way
as no was behind me


There was supposedly 1300 who signed up for the race
The race results seem to indicate 838 athletes started the race
which breaks down to 676 individuals and 54 teams of three
Forty nine teams finished
Six hundred forty individuals finished
I know as I finished 640th
Thirty six DNF or were DQ'd for some reason

I can tell you that 61 of 66 men and women
older then me finished ahead of me
And I finished ahead of the current 70.3 world champion

This was truly the hardest physical thing I have ever done
And it was an amazingly inspiring day
And when the pain goes away
I am going to be really happy I
trained, entered, participated, and finished

Thanks for listening/reading

sean

Brendan News

Not much to report. I have now begun to plan for a trip south.

Well, i haven't actually started the planning yet but i hope to, soon.

I have a good few days in Canada. Labor day weekend saw some of the best weather of the summer.

we're having so-so weather in VA. And by "so-so" i mean blue skies, sunshine and 80's.

I hope all is well in your parts.

B

Family Dinner!

 

The first day of school!

Day one of Sheila's high school experience... where has the time gone!?

Mango's tail meets new kitten!

Well, we have two new kittens, actually - but I couldn't resist posting this video of "Tiki" and Mango - hope you can connect to Youtube and view!

Quack

How I spent the 4th of July - 8:00 a.m.

Evan Arrives for Mice on a Stick

Hi Friends and Family

As the title suggests, I arrived safely in Malawi this afternoon after a long series of flights (total time in transit, approximately 36 hours). All in all the trip went smoothly, although I narrowly avoided having to pay 325 pounds ($650) at Heathrow to check my second carry-on bag (they only let you carry on one, and were going to charge me 27.50 per kilo). Fortunately, they decided at the last minute to allow me to pay the fine I would've incurred in Boston had I checked it there (only $100). Next time, I'm not going to try and carry four laptops onto the plane I guess.

Touched down in Nairobi this morning at around 6am local time. It was just starting to get light and my first glimpses of Africa came as we started to descend through the sparse cloud cover around the airport. Had some excellent views though on the flight to Lusaka, including a breathtaking look at Mount Kilamanjaro and and equally spectacular volcanic crater lake thingy just past it.

Zambia passed by in a rush, and I didn't get too many looks at Malawi until we were on the ground. A former PIHer was kind enough to pick me up at the airport, and drove me the half hour to the place I'm staying, which is just around the corner from the headquarters of the Clinton Foundation.

Two things about the drive stuck out: one, we were driving down the left side of the road, something I realize I never really did when I was in Ireland and is a little freaky, and two, there were lots and lots and lots of young kids selling mice on a stick perched right on the edge of the road. Apparently the tail is really good, but I'm not sure I'm going to be going for that just yet.

I'm going to try and set up a blog this week and will post some pictures to it once I do.

Thanks for all the help you guys have given me, and talk soon.Best,Evan

Asia Adventures Continue

Just thought we would send along a brief e-mail update on our most recent Asian adventure.

We are in currently in China and have had a great visit so far. We spent four days in Beijing-- saw the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and much more. Sean and the kids spent a day visiting with a local Chinese family and touring the local community. We then flew to Xian, the historic Capital of China. We went to a fabulous. Chinese Cultural dinner and performance completet with a dumpling banquet. More dumpling than you could imagine and certainly more than we could eat. There must have been ten courses of dumplings-- there were beef dumplings, eel dumplings, chicken dumplings, squid dumplings, pork dumplings, veggie dumplings, pumpkin dumplings and more. To be honest by the end of the meal we were just plain dumplinged out!!

The next day, we toured the old town of Xian saw the beell tower, a drum concert in the drum tower and strolled through the Muslim shopping street. Later, we went to see the Terra Cotta Warriors Site and Museum. These are thousands of life size Warriors, horse and chariots that were buried near the tomb of Emperor QinShihuang the First Emperor in Chinese History. It was only recently discovered in 1974 when a group of local Chinese farmers were digging wells in search of water. It is an absolutely amazing site. They call it the eighth wonder of the world and we clearly feel it deserves a place in a wonder of the world list-- right there with the Great Wall!! For those who can, you may want to look it up on the internet-- I am sure there is a website for it so you can see a bit of what we saw. It was another unbelievable Asian experience!!

We are now in Guangzhou. Shannon and Connor have been trying out their Mandarin while they are in China. There is no substitute for being thrown into a foreign speaking country to force language skills not to mention humbling one a bit on their personal skill level!!

Connor is like a rock star here with all the teenage girls. No matter where we go with him there are girls pointing at him, wanting their picture taken with him. Now, we know he is good looking (though we admit to being a bit biased!), but we are still not sure what the deal is-- is that he is so tall, has "blondish hair (by Asian standards that is!) or that he is a westerner-- what ever the reason, he certainly gains lots of attention!!

We leave tomorrow morning for two days in Korea and then five days in Japan. Our move to Singapore continues to provide us with wonderful opportunities to see the world. We are so thankful for the wonderful family adventures the move has provided. Hope all is well with you all. We will write again from Korea. Love to all.

A (very) short video of Erin jumping with "Grace" - a new horse which Erin recently began leasing.
You should be able to view if you have decent-speed Internet connection.

comments

just added a comment to Brendan's post, so check it out. this may not make it because I keep being told that my password isn't correct - and I have no idea what password I used to use for blogs.
too bad :-( Maybe I have to make up a new blog for myself. THAT'S It !!!! I deleted my own blog. nsm

We're not twins

Separated at birth or at the bar?

Open the Cottage

Opening day starts with the pump
In addition you must work on the sump
We struggled all day
For a new pump we did pay
Now a flush rids all waste from the rump

Summer 2006. Additional Pic

The pics in the previous post include the shortest Henry the Heron and a pic of the house as some would like to see it. These pics below include the shortest international bridge, the photographer, and a guy who went along on the ride.

Summer is coming. People get ready

We hit the 80's in VA this past weekend.

I'm looking forward to a fun-filled summer. here are some pics from last summer.

Spring in New Hampshire!

Just wanted you all to see - and appreciate our beautiful
spring here in the Granite State!

And, our snowblower just conked out!

A great dog!

Dec 20, 2006 **** We lost a wonderful friend today. Mookie suddenly became quite ill yesterday and it turns out he was suffering internally from some pretty serious cancer. At the end of a long day the four of us were with him at our Vet's office and held onto him while he was put to sleep.
We don't have to tell you what a great dog he was. You all got a chance to know him. He'll be impossible to replace - although young Mango is trying his best!
Enough for now - enjoy the holidays - hug your pets - and each other!
The nhmurrays

Singapore Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all from beautiful Bali, Indonesia where we are spending a sunny and warm Thanksgiving at the beach!!We flew in yesterday morning-- spent the day at the pool and walking along the beach. We are at a huge Indonesian resort right on the beach.

Last evening we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey, all the fixins and even pumpkin soup-- but no pumpkin pie for Sean-- too bad!!

We spent today visiting several Bailinese artist communities, and the local markets. Midday, we drove up to the volcano area and ate lunch a stone's throw away from the second largest volcano on the island. it last erupted in 1965-- the lava fields are still clearly visible all the way down the volcano. It is amazing that the rainforest hasn't overtaken the area after so many years.

We drove back to the hotel by way of the terraced rice fields. They are everywhere and so beautiful. We watched a young artist painting some rice field scenes and couldn't resist purchasing two of his paintings. Shopping at the markets is a blast-- so much to see. Even the kids have gotten into the shopping swing of things here.

Shannon is in cat heaven. There are hundreds of stores that only sell wooden cats-- every color, every size, every design of cat you can imagine. We had to take pictures of a few of the stores so we can show you all just how many cats!!Shannon loves spending her money here-- she bought one cat for 25,000 Rupiah-- that's a whopping $2.50 US. She loves walking around carrying 100,000 Rupiah in her pocket--feels like a whole lot more than $10 to her-- and it does go a whole lot further than ten dollars would in the States!!

Connor spent his time in the video stores where he enjoys bargaining for DVD's and CD's while Caitlin spent her time in the jewelry and purse stores. Sean bought some beautiful dragon kites-- but so beautiful they won't actually get used as kites. We plan to hang them on the walls of the family room in Singapore.

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We do miss spending the holidays with family but we are having a great adventure here. Tomorrow we are off to see the Balinese Temples and maybe a few more rice fields. In the evening we are going to a native Balinese dinner and cultural show at a beautiful outdoor theater.

We stay till early evening on Sunday and then it is back to Singapore.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Sending our love-- The Singapore Murrays

Thanksgiving Day - 2006
We had a wonderful day her in New Hampshire. It was a bit wet on Thursday but since then we've had blue skies and sunshine.
Fairly relaxing - although a mixture of soccer games (indoor) and horse stuff (riding and mucking) have kept the girls busy.
Today, Sunday, Annie is riding (!) in the woods with Erin, Sheila is working on a school assingment (!) and I'm readying for a post-turkey leftovers grocery store fun :-(
Here's a few shots we captured from Thursday.
Cheers! Martin

11/26/06 our Skype conversation today with brendan inspired me to create this masterpiece!

sheila a. murray

I can ride for miles and miles

Well...not as far as Biker Mike, but not too shabby for me.

My goal this year was to get 2,000 miles in on the road bike. it should have been fairly easy, considering all the free time i have. however, it wasn't until 2 weekends ago that i passed the mile marker.

I'm not sure it the bike will be put away for the winter or not. one never knows here in VA. it will be 60 and sunny one day and 40's and wet, the next.

I hope you're getting your miles in by whatever means necessary.

bjm

Stick with what works

The Blueman has worked for me in the past but i think it's now time to say good-bye. Although the ladies seem to love him, he didn't look the same this year. bjm

Survey Says...

If you could learn the truth about one crime in the past, which one would it be?

bjm

Cottage Closing

Well, Paul and John AND Eileen and Brendan, instead of George and Ringo, went to Canada at the end of September to close the cottage.

Despite a brief but heavy downpour, we did enjoy a nice fall weekend. we didn't get in a last sail but 3 of us did get in a last swim. When you got out of the 63 degree water and into the 70 degree air, you realize the water is not too bad.

And speaking of water, Paul was quite the trouper when it came time to turn off the water and “winterize” the pumping station. He, with rubber-gloved hands, jumped right in to offer assistance. A key to this year’s process was dumping 10 or so buckets of lake water directly into the tank to load the pump to holding tank pipe with cleaner water. There was no screaming when it came time to trip the dreaded butterfly valve.

Somewhere along the way, the pump à tank pipe broke – so a repair must be made prior to turning the water on next spring.

On Saturday night, I played my only game of hearts the whole year. Paul, a first time player, won the game by shooting the moon on the last hand. We all saw it coming but John and Eileen didn’t want to make the sacrifice and take a heart.

As you know, the blue boat is gone, which was a great relief when it came time to close up shop. Although we had improved on that system, it was always a pain – even the Egyptians advanced from rolling heavy objects on logs after some time.

It’s 80 in VA today but we’ll be in the 50-60 range this weekend.

Fall is here.

bjm

Singapore Update

Dear all

Life in Singapore is so much like life anywhere else We are sometimes too busy. Altho lately Deb, Shannon and I have had some quiet time on Sunday afternoon. I must say I miss the fall the most. It was always my favorite season. Leaves do change color here
But usually it is green to brown and it happens year round. Right now there is a stretch of road with yellowing leaves. That may be as close as we get. There is also a stretch of road with the brightest fusia along the road and hanging from the overpasses. That is not bad either.

Things are moving along here as normal. Cait is studying for her SATs. (I don't tell her that in our day that meant reading the sample questions in the application packet). She has a great friend named Chrissy. They seem to be two peas in a pod. How a kid growing up in Thailand and Singapore can be as quiet and innocent as one growing up in Cincinnati - I don't know. But the two of them are much alike and great for each other
They have started tutoring 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders after school and Cait coaches kids on a Special Olympics swim team

Connor is finishing up soccer. So far his team hasn't won (several ties) but he has grown as a player and a quiet leader. There are so many kids on the team that each tend to play about half the game. Connor and a couple of 10th graders manage to play more than three quarters of every game. He is probably disappointed with the season but instead talks about how good they will be next year. (Is that a budding Orangemen fan or what). He and Cait both ref soccer on Saturdays

Shannon is being Shannon. She has several best friends. One lives only a 5 minute walk away
So she is finally able to play with somebody after school without actually having to set up a play date. I am the keeper of Shannon's schedule. So I have to make myself available. Monday for soccer (coached by her older twin sisters). Tuesday I have off. Wednesday for the 4th grade Singing Geckos. Wednesday evening for HipHop. Thursday for Street Magic. Friday for Taekwondo. Saturday for Soccer and a serious play date with someone. Sunday is often reserved for Shannon, Deb and I to walk thru the park. Somewhere in there she finds time to collect things
We have found rock collections, leaf collections and dead bug collections. All of which are better then the live meal worm collection from last year

Deb is being Deb. (No wonder I see a lot of Deb in Shannon). Her past two weeks or so [have been difficult]

On a brighter family note - we are heading to Cambodia in two weeks. We will help build a school, some houses, and deliver some collected goods. It is a semi annual trip of a organization I'm a member of called Caring for Cambodia. We'll be near Siem Reap which is where Angor Wat is. See Goggle for images of Angor Wat

There is probably more happening but I can't think of them now

peace to all, sean

Dr. In the House (in 3-8 years)

So, it has been three weeks of medical school and it's been extremely busy, but also fun. I'm getting to know my new classmates. They are a set of brilliant people who can drink a lot! And my days are taking on a routine. Wake up, go to class, come home for lunch to feed/walk Maya, go back to school, study, come home, study, say hi to Dave, study, go to bed. But despite all the studying, I feel like I've learned so much already. We are well into our cadaver in Anatomy. It's a man who had at least two heart bypass surgeries. He doesn't have interesting tattoos like some of the other cadavers, but we're just getting into it. We've dissected his chest, lungs and hearts and will soon move onto his arms and back.

Stanford had an induction ceremony for us the first week of school. I was accompanied by my mom and Dave. We took some pictures (see below) and Stanford recorded the event (they tape everything, even lectures!) I've attached a link if you want to watch: (it's an hour long. The dean and various other people talk for the first 35 minutes or so, but you may be able to fast-forward to where they call my name. It takes place at minute 42:57)

Other things are going well. Dave is good, happy to be back in the sunshine. Maya is huge! We just took her to the vet to have her inner female bits removed and she was 30 pounds! Three times as much as when we got her! She also has new favorite things to do… She loves the bathtub! (See pictures below) As long as there's not water in it, she'll jump right in. We aren't quite sure what she'd do if there was water in it, that's an experiment for a rainy Saturday. The other thing she loves to do is crawl under the bed. It's not something I would normally condone, but I figure she's growing so fast that she won't be able to do it much longer anyway. And she has also started teething. We weren't experiencing any increased chewing on furniture and/or clothes, but then I found one of her baby teeth on the floor. So cute! Our little Maya is growing up!
Hope all is well with you! Continue to send the emails, I love knowing what's going on in the real (non-studying) world!
Love
Sha

End of Summer?

it's hard to believe this is the end of what we think of as summer. It's still in the 90's here in VA. however, they're saying temps in the 50's for Thursday morning.

Between now and the coming colder weather, i am trying to get out on my bike. i went to RI last weekend and biked 100 miles with my friend Dennis from C-State. Yesterday, i biked 100 miles in hot, hilly and humid metro DC.

This weekend, it's off to Charleston for my last(?) trip to the cottage this year. I'm trying to figure out how to spend more time up there. My thoughts are a. marry rich or b. win the lottery. The latest line from Vegas puts both odds at 70 million-to-1.

...which means i still have a shot.

The weekend after Canada, I bike 100 miles in and around Gettysburg. it's tough enough to ride the hills in that area on a bike and on paved roads - I dont' know how the North and South got so many men, animals and equipment to that spot.

That's it from here.

BJM

summertime

What a summer this has been: wonderful and yet difficult. We met two new people: Suzie and Paul. We reunited with our clan members from Singapore (hard to say goodbye again). We sold our old blue boat that carried us to picnics, cliff-jumping, the store at Outlet, and zoomed many a daring swimmer/passenger around the lake.
Five of us encountered health problem - three that remain unresolved: Martin, Maureen, Mike, Neal and Himself, JJM. Healing energy has embraced all 5, even from long distances.
Our first wine-tasting affair - our first champagne party in the pool - our first sighting of a buck, with his doe, at Circle Rd.
Broken lawnmower, stolen bike, amazing lightening storms . . . nothing keeps us down for long.
It's almost Labor Day and "real" life will begin again - school, college, meetings, elections - all the busi-ness of ordinary life.
I've loved every moment that I shared with most of you: missed the ones who couldn't visit.
Let's stay in touch - in thoughts, prayers, e-mail, blogs and "spikes" (sic). Mom/Nance/Oma

New Hampshire Race Aug 10th

Hi! We had a blast Thursday evening at the annual Cigna Corporate Road Race (5K) in Manchester. There were more than 6,000 runners - the winner finished in about 14 minutes!
Official results can be viewed here. I'll let you hunt for the times... but I can tell you that Brian finished nr 555; Erin nr 1427; Sheila nr 1811!; Martin nr 2064 and Annie nr 2783.
Its now 24 hours post race - and I haven't had to visit the ER yet!

A hike w/Mike (et al)

This is a bit late, but... here's a couple of snaps from our great hike of a few weeks ago. We summited both Mt Adams and Mt Madison (that's Mt. Washington, behind the pic of Cath and Mike). Both are four thousand footers and we had a total elevation gain (we hiked) of more than 5,000 feet (whew!). Ten and-a-half hours total (whew, again!).
Funny how I felt great after that day but a little 5k race the next week and I'm flat on my back! It was great to spend a terrific day like that with Brendan, Evan and Kristin too!
Martin

Osceola Hike - May 2006

We went from cold and rainy to hot and sunny seemingly overnight... Annie and the girls decided to head for the ocean - that was my cue to head for the hills (I'm really not a beach guy!).
My friend George Argeropoulos and I hiked a 4,000 footer (Mt Osceola). George waited on the summit while I went down/up (steeply!) the neighboring East Osceola (it's on "the list" so it had to be done!). All this to try to prepare for Brendan's upcoming visit/hike. Today my knees are reminding me what I did over the winter (very little!).

Better book than movie?

I finished the DaVinci Code. the last read ended at 4:15 a.m. I found it to be a page-turner, although i was disappointed with the ending - just like his other book. i have yet to see the movie.

I am off to Canada for Memorial weekend. i may get some reading done there between the chores. i think there's been a big chill up north this past week so i may not spend too much time in the water.

B

And Noah said . . .

Whoa! Those waters are awesome - and frightening. Not the time to go rafting. I wonder how many domestic and wild creatures got swept away. I won't ask Eileen; she'll be out on the highways and byways looking for them.
We escaped with just a few showers, but enough clear days for Clare to buy out the entire crop of pansies and plant them here on Mother's day. My kitchen windowsill is a still-life watercolor: pansies primping and preening.
I hope that flood is the end of bad weather for the summer yet to come, but it hasn't warmed up here. Think of Maureen ------ it was 104 degrees the other day!
Thanks for the glimpse into Spring in New England. That's a title for a poem for Sheila to write.

From Central New York - 3 Seasons-in-one-day Paradise, nsm

NH Water

Additional pics

Come on in, the water is fine!

Martin sent some pics from his office. A typical May and May 2006.