Emory

Another epoch in my life is beginning. I got moved from Tuxtepec to Atlanta and have been going to school at Emory for three weeks now. It's a lot of work and a ton of reading and I'm not sure how I will do in Dr. Robin's 18th Dynasty Tombs class. But, here are some cute pictures around campus. I am so afraid I'll flunk out my first semester.

4th of July 2010

Last 4th of July I was at Giza climbing around on the pyramids and goofing off with Lindsey. How freaking cool, huh?
This 4th of July I was at work. At UNPA. In the sweltering jungle of Oaxaca near Vera Cruz.
We didn't get the holiday.
We did go out for a couple of beers afterward at the Happy Place. I'll post pictures if I can remember.

Earthquake Signs

I can't remember the exact day, but one day last month I was sitting at my desk in my office in the morning, talking to my mother on the computer, when the floor started to slide back and forth a bit. The building was shaking and I thought it was a big truck going by outside, but there aren't any roads or big trucks. So I realized it was an earthquake and probably a big one. When I heard something crash and break in the hallway I told my mother I had to go because there was an earthquake. I ran outside. The motion had stopped and there weren't any noticeable aftershocks.
I later found out that it had been over 6 points on the Richter scale and originated in Veracruz.Scary, that, since there is a nuclear power plant in Veracruz.
Anyway, when I got home, I documented the movement with this picture. You can see the little camels and bottles overturned and you can also see the clean spots where the coins had been lying until they got sloshed aside in the quake.
Thank goodness for my slovenly dread of dusting or I'd have very little evidence of this earthquake.
For the record, I've felt three earthquakes since I've been here, but there have probably been more than that.

Firulaiza

I found my next dog. Or she found me. Her name is Firulaiza, a word that in Spanish in Mexico means Stray. It sounds like Fertilizer to me, so I'm trying to figure out what to call her. I think I'll just call her Liza.
She lives at Mariana's house right now in Tepoztlan, but I will get her in July and make her into a Gringa. If she survives that long. She walks in the street some.
She reminds me a lot of Sunny.
I loved her at first sight.

I miss Gilligan!!!!
He has been dead for about 2 years now. Well, let me think. He died in October of 2008. So that makes it 2 years and 4 months that I have somehow survived without my Biggie.
In the meantime, I'm just going through the motions of living an exciting life.
I am gonna try to post more regularly now.
I know, I know, I say that all the time. But really, I'm getting tired of FaceBook and I like my blog a lot better. I can say what I want easier cause I figure nobody is really gonna read this :)
Anyway, I am now living in Mexico. In Tuxtepec, Oaxaca.
I teach English at the UNPA - Universidad del Papaloapan.
I live in a castle.
I work with very fun people.
Jenni-Cita. Maggie-Gaga. And Granpa-Joe.
A man was selling these cool little dogs on the sidewalk on the way home from work a couple of days ago. I bought 2 for 10 pesos each. My thought was that I would give them to people as presnuts. But most likely I will keep them because they are super-cute.
So I took them home and arranged their leashes in the hands of the dolls with masks.
And I dreamed about Gilligan.
I was scratching his back and that spot just above his tail that he really liked me to scratch. It was so nice. And now I'm just pissed that he's gone.
Probably my life wouldn't be all roses and sunshine if Gilligan were still with me - but I like to think it would be.

Giza with Sayed

We went to Giza to the pyramids!!!! It was Sayed's first trip there but it was my 4th so I felt like an expert :) But we did go into the burial chamber of the Khafra pyramid - something I had never dared to do before. We wanted to go into the Khufu pyramid but they ran out of tickets while we were waiting in line.
But the BEST part about this trip to the pyramids was that we had out marriage papers and I got to pay the EGYPTIAN price to get in. It rocked my world. 5EGP instead of 60EGP.

Valentine's Day picture 2010

Me and Sayed at the High Dam at Aswan. Nice.
Technically this picture was taken on about the 2nd of January 2010. But I'm using it for my Valetines Day picture. Because Sayed is my sweetheart.

More pictures at Dawn's

More San Giving Day pictures at Dawn's. These were before I jumped on the trampoline. Don't worry. I'll post those. I didn't throw up.

Parrish Veterans Memorial

OK, about 3 years ago or maybe it was 4 or maybe even 5 - it all runs together for me these days- Daddy's friend George conned him into helping him organize this small "memorial park" kinda place on the corner of the 4-way stop in Parrish. It is dedicated to everybody from Parrish who died in any US war, and also to current veterans. It is just inside the corner of the BP gas station, across from Jack's and Lace Hardware. Every Veteran's Day they have a ceremony and for the past couple of years Daddy has been forced to emcee the thing. He HATES it. But he just can't say no. So here we are this year. You can see Daddy's brick.
Hmmmmm...I wonder if I should get a brick to commemorate my grueling 6 months of supreme sacrifice in the US Air Force?

Mardi Gras 2009

I skipped German and went south for some Mardi Gras parades the weekend before Fat Tuesday. Mommy and Daddy (and Rick- I won't even get into that) went to the parades with me and we caught more beads than we could carry and a bunch of Moon Pies too. Here's our total haul from 3 parades piled on Mommy's dining room table in all its glory.

44th President

President Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in today.
I cried all morning. It was wonderful :)

Memphis Snow

It's not really a nature walk. But nature is outside, and I did walk outside my door to get this footage. The day of President Obama's historic inauguration greeted me in Memphis with SNOW!!!
I can't believe they didn't cancel class and close all the schools and roads. It totally sucked. I had to go to class and work anyway. And it was SNOWING. BIG.

Ricardo Montalban

Ricardo Montalban died today. He was a good actor even though he had some silly roles (Mr. Roarke comes to mind). But he will always be Khan Noonien Singh to me. He is the only "Star Trek" movie villain who previously appeared on "Star Trek" (1966). He played Khan Noonien Singh in the "Star Trek" (1966) episode "Space Seed" and Star Trek: The Wrath of
Khan (1982). He won't be forgotten.

Daddy's 2008 Christmas Tree

This year Daddy said he didn't feel like cutting down a tree from our convenient Xmas Tree farm, so he bought one from display in the local Dollar General, complete with decorations. He just carried it out to the car as is and put it on the TV at home.

Doctor Luis - Part IV

After the first part of the ceremony we all went, along with Rodrigo's family, to a fast-food burrito place for a quick lunch before the second ceremony. I was only able to get one or two good pictures at the second ceremony. Luis' other brother Alfredo couldn't come, but he and his wife Lily sent a cake. The k9 boys couldn't keep their little eyes off of it.

Doctor Luis - Part III

Outside the arena, here is Luis and his brother Ruben. And Luis with Rodrigo. And Luis and Rodrigo with Ginger and Rodrigo's wife Ani (the two doctors and their wives, heh heh).