Oh man. Apparently it's been almost a month since I posted last. Sorry about that. Quick update: I went to the Clearwater Camp reunion, which was lovely and hilarious. For those of you who don't know, this is the camp where my sisters and I went for several years as kids, where our grandmother was the camp nurse, and where Marty is now a senior (!!) counselor and head of the sailing program. While we were there, we went riding, water skiing, and sailing, but I only got this one picture of us in our riding gear:
Immediately following the camp reunion, I went to Portugal, which was also lovely and hilarious, though in a different way than the camp reunion. I met up with my friends Sandra, Inga, and Patrick, as well as Inga and Patrick's now 1-year-old (!!) daughter, Mathilde.
We spent a lot of the vacation at the beach, but we did also visit the city of Porto. It is an incredibly picturesque place to visit, full of old churches (see below), cafes on the Duoro river, and other variations on the theme of dilapidated glory.
Also full of port wine. I love port wine, and good port (I like older tawny port best) is either hard to find or too expensive for me in the U.S. But in Porto, the wine was both cheap and delicious, especially in the various port cellars along the river.
There were also a few cool bridges, including this one, which was built by a student of the man who built the Eiffel Tower.
In the evenings, we hung out at home (Sandra's parents' place) and cooked and ate and drank. They built a really neat brick oven in their backyard, which we used for grilling fish and veggies.
Did I mention the bakeries? There were bakeries. We stopped for pastries probably twice a day. Everything was either 70% egg yolk or deep fried, except for a delicacy called fertudas (or something like that), which was both.
There was also lots of time in cafes, including the one on the beach:
And, again, the beach. If you know me, you know how easily I burn, so you should be proud that I remained white the whole time, until the VERY LAST DAY, when I somehow forgot to put sunblock on the backs of my knees and my right buttcheek, resulting in the most uncomfortable trans-Atlantic flight EVER.
Since Portugal, I've been stuck in a whirlwindtimesuck known as teaching orientation, and in my spare time, I've been buying that house I mentioned a month ago.
Speaking of orientation, it's been a source of constant amazement lately that I'm headed into my second year of graduate school. Also that I'm getting married, that I'm buying that house, that I'm being trusted with the minds of America's youth (who will be calling me FRAU JORGENSEN), that March is finally over.... Given how the passage of time kind of sneaks up on me, it's hard to believe that in just another month, I'll be living it up in the new house. (FYI: moving day is September 28th. We'd be happy to have you, especially if you have any carpentry experience or a wallpaper steamer. If, for some reason, you can't make it, do what you can to make sure it doesn't rain that day.)
Immediately following the camp reunion, I went to Portugal, which was also lovely and hilarious, though in a different way than the camp reunion. I met up with my friends Sandra, Inga, and Patrick, as well as Inga and Patrick's now 1-year-old (!!) daughter, Mathilde.
We spent a lot of the vacation at the beach, but we did also visit the city of Porto. It is an incredibly picturesque place to visit, full of old churches (see below), cafes on the Duoro river, and other variations on the theme of dilapidated glory.
Also full of port wine. I love port wine, and good port (I like older tawny port best) is either hard to find or too expensive for me in the U.S. But in Porto, the wine was both cheap and delicious, especially in the various port cellars along the river.
There were also a few cool bridges, including this one, which was built by a student of the man who built the Eiffel Tower.
In the evenings, we hung out at home (Sandra's parents' place) and cooked and ate and drank. They built a really neat brick oven in their backyard, which we used for grilling fish and veggies.
Did I mention the bakeries? There were bakeries. We stopped for pastries probably twice a day. Everything was either 70% egg yolk or deep fried, except for a delicacy called fertudas (or something like that), which was both.
There was also lots of time in cafes, including the one on the beach:
And, again, the beach. If you know me, you know how easily I burn, so you should be proud that I remained white the whole time, until the VERY LAST DAY, when I somehow forgot to put sunblock on the backs of my knees and my right buttcheek, resulting in the most uncomfortable trans-Atlantic flight EVER.
Since Portugal, I've been stuck in a whirlwindtimesuck known as teaching orientation, and in my spare time, I've been buying that house I mentioned a month ago.Speaking of orientation, it's been a source of constant amazement lately that I'm headed into my second year of graduate school. Also that I'm getting married, that I'm buying that house, that I'm being trusted with the minds of America's youth (who will be calling me FRAU JORGENSEN), that March is finally over.... Given how the passage of time kind of sneaks up on me, it's hard to believe that in just another month, I'll be living it up in the new house. (FYI: moving day is September 28th. We'd be happy to have you, especially if you have any carpentry experience or a wallpaper steamer. If, for some reason, you can't make it, do what you can to make sure it doesn't rain that day.)
