The next thing I knew I woke up dazed on a British Airline plane. It was all a dream. Then I looked around and saw a London newspaper dated March 23 and then I felt something heavy in my pocket and it was the Medal I got and I looked around and everyone but me had an orange and then the stewardess walked over and told me that they lost my luggage.

I arrived in Chicago last night 2 hours later than scheduled.  These days that's a good flight.  Got to Lou and Paula's, ate some yummy pizza and started catching up with them.  I love that feeling with good friends where you feel that you've never really been away.  I did manage to leave Bozeman without my coa...

Left the house at 8am today, on our way to Hobart, Indiana to drop off a couple boxes at Jonathan's house and have a fun little breakfast w/ Mary, Nicole & Christine's family.  We said goodbye to Mom, Dan, E'Daniel, Quinton & Winston w/ heavy hearts.  They had been the greatest little hosts to us, even giving up their amazing m...

Hello, everyone! Well, I'm back in the land of Chicago for a couple of days.  I returned yesterday, and so much has happened! The night before I left, as Morgan and I were walking back into the community after running some errands in San José, the father of three of the program's students told us that his cousin was selling his property for...

Off to American Girl Place (5 min. walk) to get Jess and Molly's hair done and buy some new outfits with hard earned allowances.  The Ghiradelli Chocolate Store and the Hershey Store are just across from the AG Place.  Picked up some goodies for Easter. An extra long walk to Navy Pier (went 10 minutes north instead of South...ooops)&nb...

The airport waiting began at 4:10 pm on Wednesday, January 31st.  O'Hare International Airport is huge but we only saw the international terminal which was disconnected from the main domestic terminals.  My mom and dad drove me down and luckily we didn't hit any bad traffic.  I sat in the back watching familiar landscapes and citi...

Dear All, As George and I are struggling through 30 lessons on CD of Pimsleur's Chinese (so far we can order two beers and ask someone back to our place: let the Chinese seduction begin!) I get my signed visa application and our hero, Allan who has been so helpful in Hangzhou, with everything writes us the best note yet: "Dear Elaine: Glad ...

As Jon and I prepare for our journey, we feel an overwhelming need to speak as if we are disconnected entities from the rest of the world. I do not know quite why, but maybe that is what I'm going to find out over the next month. Speaking of next month, here is the (overly) ambitious European itinerary, which I stole from Jon's travel blog. Sept...

August 31, 2006 Departure for Parts Unknown 1:30pm Chicago, Illinois Dear Readers: Two weeks at home / office between tours saw a huge amount of work accomplished. Jonathan and I cranked out a brochure that will hit the mails shortly after Labor Day, and I got a couple of new tours posted on our web site. My daughter, Alexis, is home for a semes...

Pre Departure: -17 and counting.... I'm FINALLY getting excited. My mom introduced me to a Guatemalan live-in woman, who stays and works for two of her elderly clients. It was awesome to speak with her in Spanish..and UNDERSTAND what she was saying! I'm totally ready to practice and get to know the culture better. To date, I still have no idea w...