Deirdre Straughan | Countries Beginning with I

I’m staying with my old friends Gianluca and Brian in San Francisco. Yesterday we participated in theÂ Sparkle SF Bubble Games, a fundraising activity forÂ Under One Roof, a local charity whose mission is “to generate unrestricted funds for agencies that provide HIV/AIDS education and support services.”

The activity was a scavenger hunt in downtown San Francisco organized byÂ Go Games. It was a fun way to explore the city, in good company and for a good cause.

Afterwards, our team went to a new Brazilian restaurant calledÂ Bossa Nova Social Club, which proved to be excellent. We tried several appetizers: a brazil-nut crusted goat cheese, spicy ceviche, and tuna tartare. Our entree choices included a seafood curry-like dish in coconut milk, with sweet coconut rice; grilled skewers of assorted meats with three dipping sauces; and a spiced pork chop. The favorite side dish was grilled corn on the cob with a butter and blue cheese sauce, though we all regretted that the house special plaintain chips were not available that evening. Of the five desserts we shared, everyone’s favorite was the passionfruit mousse, with the creme brulee running a close second. Highly recommended by Geeks & Queens!

Aug 13, Monday – Though still tired and sore from our strenuous hike the day before, I went to the Sun gym to do the physical part of my fitness assessment. Even more tired after that!

Aug 17, Friday – Took a 6 pm flight from Denver to Albuquerque, where Steve Ediger, a long-time Woodstock friend, picked me up and drove two hours to where he and Sharon Seto and their son Robin live. Steve and Sharon work at the United World College in Montezuma, New Mexico. The school year was just starting, so Sharon had to be at her dorm to welcome the kids (she supervises a dorm of 45 girls, and also runs the school’s outdoor program).

The hummingbird feeder on the porch is refilled daily, attracting dozens of birds from several species. Heard close to, hummingbirds sound disturbingly like very large insects.

Saturday we visited the local flea market.

Sunday Sharon and I went to Santa Fe, then Steve drove me back to the airport in Albuquerque.

Another busy week at Sun ensued. I was intensely disappointed to learn that the fitness assessment had been a mistake – as a contractor, I’m not allowed to use the gym! (I hope the nice guy who did it for me didn’t get in trouble for having done the assessment – he was supposed to have checked my badge, apparently.) All my motivation to start getting into shape had to be postponed. I do have his detailed assessment and recommendations to work from, at least.

Aug 26, Sunday – I survived a scary (for me) drive to Conifer, Colorado, to the mountain home of my colleague Charles. He and his wife Elaine had invited me and a long-time friend of theirs, Marj, who graduated from Woodstock in 1978 (she was a lofty senior when I was a lowly freshman, so we hadn’t really known each other in our schooldays). Marj and Elaine had met years before when both were teaching in El Salvador.

It always seems to happen with Woodstockers that we find plenty to talk about even if we didn’t know each other well (or at all) while at school. Marj had brought albums of fascinating photos from a trip she and her husband had made to the far corners of the world – fuel for conversation. Charles and Elaine are no slouches in the travel department, either – they’ve even lived in Antarctica!