Greetings everyone around this large globe!
I will not apologize for the lack of posting over the last several months. Our lives have been so chaotic making the transition from Warsaw, Poland to Balikpapan, Indonesia, with a two month's stay in the good old USA to see family and friends.
I'll try my best to get the world updated on our happenings from Europa to Indoland...
1) First off, a huge thank you and farewell to Polska and all the wonderful people there. Packing up for the shipments and flights, selling the car and dealing with our lovely landlord really consumed us and distracted us so much that we barely recognized that we were leaving this land and it's great temporary and fulltime occupants for good. Many of the farewells caught us off guard and we don't feel many people got their due in the time/respect/love department. You know whom you all are and we surely hope to cross paths with you again on one side of the equator or the other. Hopefully sooner than later. Huge thanks to everyone who made our farewell gathering during our last night in Warsaw, to Angie, Michelle and Larry for their amazing last minute "movin' out" support, and, lastly, to Martin for his heartfelt send-off and assistance at the airport.
We miss all of you.
Here's Iza learning some football/soccer movesin our backyard in Warsaw, circa May, 2008
And Iza holding her own (bottle), a big step back in the Spring, thus giving dad a little more mobility around the kitchen!
Iza and Maddie... 2 little monkeys jumpin' on the bed!By the time we left Illinois everyone was in better health and the stairway and upstairs hallway had finally been stripped of some very old and beat up 70s wallpaper. Sorry we didn't have time to put down some new paint mom and dad!
2) Minnesota/Wisconsin/Michigan family visit
Jill's fam is much larger and spread out than mine, so we began the tic tac toeing of the upper Midwestern states to connect and reunite everyone with us and the ever-growing/changing Iza.
We made it to Jill's sis', Jackie's in Minneapolis, in time for the 4th events, some sweltering bike rides and runs and a cool, old school baseball game. One new 'first' for Izabella was her first haircut! Develan, Jill's bro, gave her a stylin' do that made Iza look about 50 years older, and much more sophisticated. Just like that, our baby was no longer, but it at least got rid of her pseudo-mullet! Thanks, Develan! Oh, I'll hopefully get footage of the cut and Iza's aunt trying to entertain her all the while on this site or youtube... prepare for laughs!
Oh, I finally got to see some of this year's le drugish freeish Tour de France. That was fun and addicting, but sadly we never had reliable footage after this visit. Congrats to Carlos Sastre, btw! You can ask Jill, he was my pick back in early July :)
We did get in several games of badminton and a few of Iza's cousins got to go 'camping' for their first time in our mega Quecha family tent in the backyard. Kudos to everyone surviving the night and grandpa Jerry's bear moans!
Next destination was the Wisconsin Dells, a unique geologic region in south central Wisconsin that has several sandstone glacier carved rivers and lakes... and some horrendous touristy stuff built about and in the vicinity, too. We got to go on the most vicious rollercoaster I've ever been on, called Hades, and surf a mega wave at Poseidon's wave pool, plus Iza got to play on some cool water slides and kiddy pools... until she had a massive blow out that she'd been holding onto for 2 days or so. Yuck! (Thank goodness for baby 'swimmies'!). In the Dells we got to see Jill's mom, her bro some more and for our birthdays we had a large family reunion where I got to meet even more of the clan (only about 20 or so left to be met!).
Wisconsin, like Cedar Rapids, had some massive storms this summer. The night we got to the Dells it thundered and poured and lightning struck in our RV campground for 16 hours straight! It was frightening, but, as usual, Iza was a trooper and never too scared. Once free from the storm, the mosquitoes were horrible... Iza doesn't seem to mind their bites, but she did learn how to swat or clap them to death, which was very amusing. She was always put on 'kill the lone mosquito flying inside the car' duty the rest of the buggy summer.
Next up was a visit to Jill's dad up in Menominee, Michigan, just across the border in the upper peninsula. As has been typical, we had lame weather for sailing on his 27 footer, but we did get out for day sails and I refreshed my meager skills he taught me last summer. By the third day I'd gotten a good handle on it all and he even complimented me and said I'd be giving up climbing in no time! :) The town of Menominee is a good place to call home. It has a burgeoning Main street with some gorgeous turn of the century wharf town buildings, heavy on stone and brick and water views. We did find a Thai restaurant which was about as good as you'd expect this far from Bangkok and on a fresh water lake.
Oh, and yes, I'll admit it here. We played Scrabble and I lost. It was one of the ugliest boards I'd ever seen. A perfect staircase diagonaling from bottom left to upper right, with no possibilities of expanding above and to the left... we were hunting for two letter word spots before the game was halfway through. Congrats, Jill!
2.5) TIM AND AURELIA'S WEDDING!
Back in the car and racing across the state... we drove through another massive storm and picked up Iza from Judy's in the Dells (Iza's most nights away from us (3!)) and raced to and through the beautiful countryside of Spring Green, Wisconsin, just in time for the rehearsal dinner being held at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesan studio/visitor center. It was wonderful to see Tim and Aurelia again, two great friends from Seattle, and my previous roommate (Tim), and to meet their many friends and family and to see Tim's dad and bros again. Aurelia's dad had a double feature of slides of his daughter and Tim's gradual entrance into her unique life growing up in this part of the state.
Their wedding was wonderful. It rained lightly in the early morning, making everyone nervous, as the region had been suffering from some damaging flooding in the last few weeks, but it held off for the gorgeous ceremony. The wedding was held at a field near 'Global View', an art/sculpture importer of goods from Tibet, Nepal, China, Thailand, Malaysia, and, yep, you guessed it, Indonesia. We wandered the four stories of Buddha heads and statues, dancers, masks, cats, elephants, etc. and only drooled at the thought of what we'll be coming across on our own adventures once in this part of the world.
Aurelia grew up in this area and close family friends were all there, all circled around the front of a massive, old tree, which framed the festivities, which included music on guitar, flute and some singing by all. Tim 'n Aureliy, I made lots of video and photos of your special day and will get you a CD/DVD in the mail before xmas! They both looked great and Aurelia wore her own handmade/designed dress. Pics later, too!
The following day, A's dad gave us a great tour of Taliesan (East). Living in Arizona earlier, I got to see Wright's Taliesan West back in '94 with my family. It was nice to see how Frank worked his northern home and studio into the very different terrain and color schemes of Wisconsin.
We bid farewell to the wedding party from a nice state park/lake and dealt with a massively unhappy baby in the car en route to Milwaukee.
3) Seattle visit (Jeremy only)
Earlier in the spring, my best friend, Kris, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. Because our summer was already shortened by having to change posts around the world, we originally had no intention of spending time in Seattle or anywhere besides the Midwest. However, with Kris' diagnosis, I made plans to come out for a visit. Using my Alaska air miles, I was automatically getting routed through Seattle, their main hub... so why not spend a little time and catch up with some folk?
Erden Eruc, the great Turkish human-powered adventurer (www.around-n-over.org), had returned from his nearly complete cross-Pacific row a few weeks earlier and picked me up at SEATAC and whisked me off to Vertical World to pick up his wife, Nancy, another super human being. We ate some tasty Mexican that night in Ballard and I got to see their new home near Greenlake. Erden steeped me deeply into his upcoming leg of part 2 of the Pacific row, trying to boomerang from the Philippines east back to the east coast of Australia through some scary ribbon corral reefs, all of which could do heavy damage to his little rowboat. He hopes to set off in December, after the current typhoon season takes a rest (our friends, the Schwartzkis, are getting hit right now in Hong Kong... hopefully all will be OK for them!)
Next day was pretty crazy- a quick visit with Patty, whom married us, then a lovely visit to our sardined storage locker on Cap Hill to get Jill's dive gear for Indo, moved into Kim and Erik's, raced downtown for a fun and yummy lunch with Kris Cummings (our 1st visitor to Borneo?!), stopped by to say 'hello' to the good folks at The North Face, had a tasty, non-Hairy Armpit Girl Cookie (Macarena's instead, but still good), then met Erik and got to see his cool shared studio office off Western... then had a very fun Mango gathering at the newly remodeled, and expensive, Virginia Inn. $5.50 or more for a pint. We're not in Polska anymore, Iza! While there I finally got to meet little, beautiful Sophia, Scott and Susana's baby. She was great and very responsive for a few months old. Enough beers warranted a Dick's visit for Erik so I had a celebratory shake and fries, too.
Next and last day was more storage rummaging, a good phone call with Sue Long and a tasty Thai lunch with Erden before we headed back to the airport. Definitely too short of a trip in Sea-town!
4. San Francisco visit
A short flight south and I was landing at SFO, the first time I'd ever flown into the Bay area... very different from driving. I took the BART north and Kris and Jess, his girlfriend, met me downtown somewhere and we headed off to a very tasty Mexican joint for some take away.
(more later)
some pics for you all... finally!
Iza, though under 2 years of age, got her own seat reserved for the mega flights from Chicago O'Hare to Hong Kong, then Singapore, then Balikpapan. Most of the airline attendants were a bit confused... and Iza wasn't quite brave enough to take off and land in her own seat just yet. Here she is with her new stuffed English Bulldog,
"Wilbur",
a fine send-off gift from her cousin, Maddie.
We had a bit of down time in Singapore while waiting for our visas. Jill got all done up in a mega mall just around the block from our hotel. Everything here is in Singaporean Dollars, valued roughly $1 US = $1.25 SD, and there weren't any great deals to be had, at least in the limited areas we traveled.
We made a visit to the Botanical Gardens of Singapore. A real treat, though we could've done without the heat. This is Happy Iza before she turned into Melting Iza
Iza's first Singaporean friend
Trying to get an idea of what kind of trees we'll be living amongst in our new home. the 'roots' on these natural wonders were very cathedral-like, with their own kind of 'flying buttress' design bringing up water from the soil yet has less bark surface area so it can't become too moist/water-logged through its skin. No clue what the top of these giants looks like!
anyone know what this is?
this tree needs a closer look. The biological name had the word 'sperm' in the middle of it, and if you enlarge the image, no pun intended, you'll see why
The BG also had a gorgeous orchid section. Iza was loving the bold colors yet seemed a bit disappointed that they didn't smell at all.
we found an alien life form, too
one of our faves
these flowers, and a few of their cousins, are very abundant here in our part of Borneo, too. Not sure what they're called yet... no one here seems to know...
(front view)
(side view)
these, too, are here in Balikpapan up on our ridge. Don't know the name yet but they are quite large, hanging over a foot or two down (half meter), and yes, they are that bright red in color!
these 'pods' were in the 'rain room', like what follows. No sign nearby so I have no idea what they are or what they may turn into. Lovely, though.
and...
finally, for our last amazing species seen at the Singapore Botanical Gardens...
The Amazing Pitcher Plant
These cool things (genus Nepenthes) are also on Borneo. It's a bit like a Venus Fly Trap in that insects are attracted to the tasty nectar inside, fall into the liquid at the bottom, drown and decompose for more nutrients for the plant.
According to Wild Borneo (2006, MIT Press), "Although true pitcher plants are widely distributed through South-East Asia and some outlying localities as far west as Madagascar and east to New Caledonia, few would deny that Borneo boasts a diversity of species more spectacular than anywhere else. They are a conspicuous and integral part of the island's flora that have become synonymous with it." The inner walls are also very slick, in case the insect is a good swimmer, it usually can't climb the inner walls, too... and if they can, they have a wicked overhanging lip, rated at 5.14c-x (death is imminent).
No recorded ascent (escape) has been made to date.
What's even cooler is that what you're looking at is actually 2 'leaves' of the plant. Some are terrestrial, some aerial, thus catching different types of insects.
We're looking forward to seeing more of these things, and the mighty Rafflesia, a flower which blooms to a size of one meter/yard across!!!
Iza, though under 2 years of age, got her own seat reserved for the mega flights from Chicago O'Hare to Hong Kong, then Singapore, then Balikpapan. Most of the airline attendants were a bit confused... and Iza wasn't quite brave enough to take off and land in her own seat just yet. Here she is with her new stuffed English Bulldog,"Wilbur",
a fine send-off gift from her cousin, Maddie.
We had a bit of down time in Singapore while waiting for our visas. Jill got all done up in a mega mall just around the block from our hotel. Everything here is in Singaporean Dollars, valued roughly $1 US = $1.25 SD, and there weren't any great deals to be had, at least in the limited areas we traveled.
We made a visit to the Botanical Gardens of Singapore. A real treat, though we could've done without the heat. This is Happy Iza before she turned into Melting Iza
Iza's first Singaporean friend
Trying to get an idea of what kind of trees we'll be living amongst in our new home. the 'roots' on these natural wonders were very cathedral-like, with their own kind of 'flying buttress' design bringing up water from the soil yet has less bark surface area so it can't become too moist/water-logged through its skin. No clue what the top of these giants looks like!
anyone know what this is?
this tree needs a closer look. The biological name had the word 'sperm' in the middle of it, and if you enlarge the image, no pun intended, you'll see why
The BG also had a gorgeous orchid section. Iza was loving the bold colors yet seemed a bit disappointed that they didn't smell at all.
we found an alien life form, too
one of our faves
these flowers, and a few of their cousins, are very abundant here in our part of Borneo, too. Not sure what they're called yet... no one here seems to know...
(front view)
(side view)these, too, are here in Balikpapan up on our ridge. Don't know the name yet but they are quite large, hanging over a foot or two down (half meter), and yes, they are that bright red in color!
these 'pods' were in the 'rain room', like what follows. No sign nearby so I have no idea what they are or what they may turn into. Lovely, though.and...
finally, for our last amazing species seen at the Singapore Botanical Gardens...
The Amazing Pitcher Plant
These cool things (genus Nepenthes) are also on Borneo. It's a bit like a Venus Fly Trap in that insects are attracted to the tasty nectar inside, fall into the liquid at the bottom, drown and decompose for more nutrients for the plant.According to Wild Borneo (2006, MIT Press), "Although true pitcher plants are widely distributed through South-East Asia and some outlying localities as far west as Madagascar and east to New Caledonia, few would deny that Borneo boasts a diversity of species more spectacular than anywhere else. They are a conspicuous and integral part of the island's flora that have become synonymous with it." The inner walls are also very slick, in case the insect is a good swimmer, it usually can't climb the inner walls, too... and if they can, they have a wicked overhanging lip, rated at 5.14c-x (death is imminent).
No recorded ascent (escape) has been made to date.
What's even cooler is that what you're looking at is actually 2 'leaves' of the plant. Some are terrestrial, some aerial, thus catching different types of insects.
We're looking forward to seeing more of these things, and the mighty Rafflesia, a flower which blooms to a size of one meter/yard across!!!
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