Mishi
Last weekend, I headed down to Central Park to cheer on my college roommate Alexis in a 10k race. Some famous runners participated in the race, including the U.S. women olympic marathon team. Here they are, walking around after crossing the finish line. The winner of the race was from the Netherlands and she won $10,000! Alexis finished with a great time, and looked awesome crossing the finish line with a big smile on her face. She and I are thinking of doing a 10k together next month in Central Park that ends with a swim in Lasker pool with all the other race participants.I've bailed on the 10k in DC this weekend because I thought I was going to be attending a training weekend for the Obama organizing fellowship in Michigan. I've decided not do that because none of my expenses were going to be covered and I didn't really want to spend 6 weeks driving around Michigan, guzzling gas and running up my credit card bill. And I have to admit that I'd rather spend 6 weeks in NYC rather than in Michigan, since there's still so much for me to explore here. My brother is calling me a quitter for bailing on the race this weekend. Oh well. I'll just have to find some other race to do in DC some time later.
After the race, Pierre and I wandered around Central Park, checking out places we hadn't seen before. Here's the famous Bethesda fountain, which I recognized from movies and tv shows.
I think this area of the Park is just called the Lake. You can rent rowboats for $12/hour, which I think is just way too expensive.
We also stopped by Strawberry Fields, since Pierre hadn't seen that before. I definitely have to take Jamie here when she visits!
I loved this plastic walrus since "I am the walrus" is my favorite Beatles song. =)
Another shot of the Lake with some buildings on the west side of the park in the background.
Not too much else going on. For Memorial Day weekend, Pierre and I went to Michigan to visit with friends and relatives and pick up some of the stuff I had left at my uncle's house. We also met the first baby on our baby tour of America! We saw Lucy, the daughter of Joe and Melissa. She's 6 months old, and adorable. Another one of my friends in DC just had her baby yesterday!
Pierre and I got the chance to listen to my Grandpa preach when we were in Michigan. He told lots of jokes, which Pierre and the rest of the congregation loved. Here's Pierre's favorite:
I liked this one: I'm planning on living to 100. They say that women live 7 years longer than men, so when I turn 93, I'm going to have a sex change so I can make it to 100!
Grandpa also likes to introduce his family members to the congregation when we attend his services. He was very sweet, telling everyone my whole bio. He likes to mention that I finished Harvard in 3 years and that I just got back from the Peace Corps. He also introduced Pierre and told everyone a little bit about his background. He also talked about how he is going to marry us next summer in Chicago. We waved and smiled like celebrities.
Grandpa Tex Rickard doesn't preach regularly at any churches, he just occassionally subs for other pastors or gives seminars. Pierre and I were thinking it would be a good idea to try to get him to record his memoir or something. A project for our next visit to Michigan!
As soon as we got back from Michigan, I headed down to DC for an interview at my old employer, the EPA. That seemed to go well, and it gave me the chance to hang out with my siblings, Rakhi, my friend Amanda from my early days at the EPA, and see Carrie before she moved to Baltimore. Carrie is starting nursing school in John Hopkins. I realized that she, Rakhi and I all seemed to be on the same career track until Carrie abandoned us to go to nursing school. All of us got natural resources graduate degrees from the University of Michigan, we all worked at the EPA, and we all have international experience or want to have some international work experience. Oh, and we've all been to Ecuador and Cedar Point. =) It's so nice to live near them again.
My sister gave me her Ecuador soccer jersey when I was visiting, so I wore that one day in DC. One man called out to me when I walked by him "Hola Ecuador, como esta?" Lots of people have been talking to me in Spanish in DC and NYC. If I'm wearing my Ecuador shirt or a Che shirt, people are definitely more likely to start talking to me in Spanish. But even when I'm not wearing those shirts, some people will just start speaking to me in Spanish before even trying English. I'm not sure if this has been happening to me my whole life, but it is nice to be able to answer them in Spanish.
Pierre and I got heckled last week when we were running in our neighborhood park. Some teenage girls yelled, "Corre, corre!" Pierre had no idea what they were saying, but I turned around and yelled something back in Spanish. Aah, being able to yell back at people is one of the nice benefits of serving in the Peace Corps. . .
In other sister news, Sasha's friends got her an adorable little kitty from a local shelter. Sasha has named him Mishi, which is the Kichwa word for cat. He is 4 months old and black and white like a cow. He is super playful and affectionate and sweet. I got to meet him before I headed back to NYC. The newest member of our family!
It was really hot and humid on Saturday, so after Central Park, we went to one of the museums that we knew would not be crowded: the Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television and Radio. My brother got us an annual membership, so we can go whenever we want and watch old episodes of lots of tv shows! Pierre and I watched Get Smart in preparation for the movie, the Muppet Show, Frasier, and Square Pegs, which is a very bad show and also kindof weird. I am definitely going to take all my visitors to the Paley Center because it is so cool!
Not too much else going on. For Memorial Day weekend, Pierre and I went to Michigan to visit with friends and relatives and pick up some of the stuff I had left at my uncle's house. We also met the first baby on our baby tour of America! We saw Lucy, the daughter of Joe and Melissa. She's 6 months old, and adorable. Another one of my friends in DC just had her baby yesterday!
Pierre and I got the chance to listen to my Grandpa preach when we were in Michigan. He told lots of jokes, which Pierre and the rest of the congregation loved. Here's Pierre's favorite:
The length of a sermon should be like the length of a woman's skirt: short enough to keep the interest, but long enough to cover the subject! Pretty risque for an 87 year old guy!
I liked this one: I'm planning on living to 100. They say that women live 7 years longer than men, so when I turn 93, I'm going to have a sex change so I can make it to 100!
Grandpa also likes to introduce his family members to the congregation when we attend his services. He was very sweet, telling everyone my whole bio. He likes to mention that I finished Harvard in 3 years and that I just got back from the Peace Corps. He also introduced Pierre and told everyone a little bit about his background. He also talked about how he is going to marry us next summer in Chicago. We waved and smiled like celebrities.
Grandpa Tex Rickard doesn't preach regularly at any churches, he just occassionally subs for other pastors or gives seminars. Pierre and I were thinking it would be a good idea to try to get him to record his memoir or something. A project for our next visit to Michigan!
As soon as we got back from Michigan, I headed down to DC for an interview at my old employer, the EPA. That seemed to go well, and it gave me the chance to hang out with my siblings, Rakhi, my friend Amanda from my early days at the EPA, and see Carrie before she moved to Baltimore. Carrie is starting nursing school in John Hopkins. I realized that she, Rakhi and I all seemed to be on the same career track until Carrie abandoned us to go to nursing school. All of us got natural resources graduate degrees from the University of Michigan, we all worked at the EPA, and we all have international experience or want to have some international work experience. Oh, and we've all been to Ecuador and Cedar Point. =) It's so nice to live near them again.
My sister gave me her Ecuador soccer jersey when I was visiting, so I wore that one day in DC. One man called out to me when I walked by him "Hola Ecuador, como esta?" Lots of people have been talking to me in Spanish in DC and NYC. If I'm wearing my Ecuador shirt or a Che shirt, people are definitely more likely to start talking to me in Spanish. But even when I'm not wearing those shirts, some people will just start speaking to me in Spanish before even trying English. I'm not sure if this has been happening to me my whole life, but it is nice to be able to answer them in Spanish.
Pierre and I got heckled last week when we were running in our neighborhood park. Some teenage girls yelled, "Corre, corre!" Pierre had no idea what they were saying, but I turned around and yelled something back in Spanish. Aah, being able to yell back at people is one of the nice benefits of serving in the Peace Corps. . .
In other sister news, Sasha's friends got her an adorable little kitty from a local shelter. Sasha has named him Mishi, which is the Kichwa word for cat. He is 4 months old and black and white like a cow. He is super playful and affectionate and sweet. I got to meet him before I headed back to NYC. The newest member of our family!
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