Aarons in Panama

Jan and Rich Aaron have been good friends of my parents for many years.  We have spent many a Thanksgiving and Easter together.  When they came down to Panama for a two week adventure, it was great to see them.  We saw some great animals at both the Smithsonian Museum and the Summit Zoo.

Dinner at my favorite French restaurant

A huge iguana, about 7ft long from tip to tail

graceful stingrays smiling at us

a 28 year old turtlbe guarding nurse shark babies

a gorgeous puma putting on a show for all of the zoo visitors

Colby Reunion

In Boston for a conference, I got to have dinner with three of my favorite Colby class of '99 graduates.  And we all agreed that none of us have aged a day...

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Volcan St Pedro

local fisherman in a handmade canoe

gorgeous Mayan weaving

me after a long hike at a high altitude

Why I love Amsterdam

beautiful cathedrals

cheese and plastic cows?  Perfect.  

A huge Amsterdam sign that you are encouraged to climb around.  And I got to see and laugh with my long
lost friend Mallory, which was also pretty amazing.  

A diamond the size of a golf ball, with such little security??

The Dutch began regulating drugs with these opium packets in the 1800s.  To make sure that no one overdosed, they figured that regulation kept out the bad junk, which led to their liberal views on drugs today.  

Surinamese Animals- Suriname III

hilarious monkeys who used their tails as a 5th arm

monkey tightrope walkers

a family of turtles sharing lunch

these birds, called kanikans, only live in Brownsberg Nature Park in Suriname.  I wish I had an irridescent blue necklace permanently around my neck.  They were the size of turkeys.

peaceful religious coexistence- Suriname II

Suriname has many ethnicities, and many religions which accompany them.

Here, a gorgeous Protestant (Dutch) church made out of wood.  It is in the center of town, and is beautifully maintained.

Across the river we found a huge Hindu (Indian) prayer ground, complete with 10 ft tall statues of Shiva, Vishnu, and a lot of prayer flags.

My favorite site!  A mosque on the same street as a Hebrew temple!  What???   Every Middle Eastern country should take a lesson on peaceful coexistence from Suriname.

LPHS refugees unite!

Suzanne was a math teacher at LP for six years before the frustration and general soul-draining misery drove her to look for another job.  I was a history teacher at LP for seven years, and just got fed up with policies that hurt kids and a system that I couldn't change.

So we both got jobs at sweet int'l schools, and are much happier people now.  She works in Maastricht, Holland, so while I was in the Hague, I went to have dinner with her.  We had a great time.

Who will be the next LP teachers to flee the system, and join us at next year's LP Refugee Reunion of 2015?