The Travelling Rubeshes

How to use printers... to collect water

2012-01-07T06:07:00.002+01:00

I got a special "Christmas Surprise" just a couple days before Christmas this year - month-long renovations in my office were just wrapping up, when water pipes in the ceiling burst, drenching the freshly laid carpet, the ceiling, my co-workers, and much of our communications equipment. Months of planning, thousands of dollars of equipment and weeks of work - all washed away in seconds by a massive burst of water from "on high".

As we poured water out of printers, dried off networking gear, ripped up sodden carpet, and pulled down soggy ceiling tiles, it occurred to me that a guy named Joe experienced a somewhat similar Christmas surprise a couple thousand years ago. In case you don't know this particular story, Joe was a carpenter, plying his trade in Nazareth. He was engaged - to a lovely young lady named Mary. I'm sure he and his family had spent months of planning, and thousands of shekels (?) for his upcoming marriage. Dates were planned, the reception hall booked, the caterers hired (OK, permit me a bit of creative license here, OK?) When all of the sudden... unexpectedly... from on high, he got a rather shocking message. In Joe's case, it wasn't a gush of water, but rather, a heavenly visit from on high. His fiance... pregnant! The baby? A Messiah! Talk about a dramatic change of plans! The news must have hit him... well, a little like a burst of highly pressurized water from a fire sprinkler main.

It can be a little hard to feel the Christmas spirit while ripping your newly renovated office apart. No doubt Joseph found it hard to stay the course when angelic messengers dropped a messianic bombshell his lap. But that's the wonder of Christmas. In the midst of the chaos of Bethlehem at census time; ensconced in the squalor of a stable; sought after by shepherds and wise men from far away, the Prince of Peace was born.

May you and your families experience the peace of Christmas this season - whatever your circumstances, and wherever you happen to be calling home this year.

2011 - A year in the rain forest

2011-12-24T18:50:00.003+01:00

Another year has flown by, and it's time for an update on what the Rubesh family has been up to for the past twelve months!

Kevin continues to enjoy his job managing the computer and communications systems of the US Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica. Erin keeps busy as a full time mom, chauffeur, entertainment coordinator, culinary specialist and Chief Operations Officer of "Rubesh Inc." Jad's almost nine, a tall (where does he get that from?) third grader who enjoys computer games, drawing, legos and his most recent hobby, horseback riding. Danna is seven and is loving second grade, hanging out with her friends, playing with her pet bunny and riding both horses and her bike. Kyler turned four, and started preschool this year. This is a good thing because he's also is rapidly becoming master of odd questions. Where better to ask them than in school?! We're thankful for a more settled year this year in Costa Rica - good health for all of us, and a great new school for the kids.

2011 begin with Erin and the kids ringing in the new year with a trip to Miami - now famous for beaches, manatees (Jad's absolute favorite marine animal), "Tayta and Jiddo" (Erin's parents) and cousin Cory (thought the last two probably won't turn up in any guidebooks!) Jad turned eight and Kevin followed suit by turning 38. No igloo building this year, but it was nice to see the sun come out after the long months of Costa Rica's rainy season.

In February, we said goodbye to Kevin's grandpa Fred Miller, aged 87, and Kevin joined his family in Oregon for a celebration of his life. We'll always picture him with either a well worn Bible or a greasy rag and wrench in his hands... oh, and a cookie to go with the ice cream for dessert. Meanwhile in Costa Rica, Jad changed schools, which meant no more uniforms, and we filled out the rest of the month with curry parties, trips to the beach and a "Problem at Outpost 25."

In March, Kevin visited the Nation's Capital for some training, and while there, "Murphy's Law of Absent Husbands" struck and Kyler added a "Harry Potter Scar" courtesy of a table corner at a cafe. Fortunately, the owners of what's now our favorite cafe in town rushed "Harry" and Erin to the hospital for a quick stitch-up. Kevin got back just in time to go to Boy Scout Camp with Jad. We said goodbye to our good friends and neighbors from Sweden (boo hoo), but welcomed our first friends from home for a visit to Costa Rica (yay!) Oh - and Danna made her first music video.

For Easter vacation, we headed to Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula. Five minutes from the end of our five hour drive there, one of Costa Rica's famous potholes beat one of Germany's tires. CR roads: 2, Tires: 0. Our first trip to Volcan Irazu and movie production day at Jad's new school rounded out the month in good style.

May featured Danna's seventh birthday, her first swim meet, as well as a visit from "Tayta". Jad's first ever entry in a Boy Scouts Pinewood Derby brought home the 1st place ribbon for his troop.

We headed back "home" in June to furnish our new home in Portland, Oregon for the summer. In between furnishing a house, running to swim lessons, library visits and Vacation Bible School, we did manage to squeeze in lots of time with friends, family, as well as soaking in the natural wonders of the Northwest. Danna's kidney biopsy showed that the treatment she's been on for the last 2 years is on the right track. In July, Kyler celebrated his fourth birthday, and we took in a real life fourth-of-July fireworks show. Kevin took the 2 "big kids" down to Medford to visit with "Grandma Jane" (Kevin's grandmother) and his mom before heading back to work in San Jose. Erin and the kids enjoyed another month in Portland with Tayta and Jiddo before returning to Costa Rica.

After a great summer in Oregon, we settled back into a routine in Costa Rica again. All three kids started up the school year at the same small school. With Kyler joining the ranks of "school kid", Erin found herself with 3 1/2 'kid-free' hours each morning for the first time in eight years! Labor day was the perfect combination of a day off from work for Kevin and a regular school day for all three kids. Great excuse for a "date day" hiking up in the hills above San Jose! Danna started horseback riding lessons, and immediately fell in love with all things "horsey/" Costa Rica's independence day brought out a lot of red, white and blue.

By October, the rainy season had started in earnest... and we discovered that a tree growing in your primary drainage pipe really doesn't mix well with heavy rain shower. Interior floods resulted... until we finally got to the "root" of the problem. The resulting dry floors were perfect for indoor camping as the rain forest did what it does best - rain. We adopted two bunnies, and of course, almost immediately made them stars of the (very) small screen.

We made our first trip to Costa Rica's Carribean coast - oceans apart from the busy, touristy Pacific, and enjoyed a long weekend away with some good friends. Jad took up horse back riding as well, and Kevin and Erin got all "fancified" for the annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball.

Which brings us all the way up to December - a month full of preparations for Christmas! Erin (costume designer extraordinaire) and Kevin (video greenscreen magician) both played key behind-the-scenes roles in the International Baptist Church's annual Christmas production - helping to bring "The Jesus App" to life to an audience of over 1,000! Jad and Danna played roles as a Wiseman and a Dove, respectively. Not a lot of lines, but a tremendous amount of wing-flapping and regal bearing required. In between play practices, costume fittings and Christmas parties, we carved out time to visit Volcan Arenal's natural hot springs, and welcomed Erin's parents back to Costa Rica in time for Christmas.

And that brings us up to date for now.

From the Rubesh family in Costa Rica to all of our friends and family around the world, a very Merry Christmas! May this be a season of joy and peace, wherever you may be!

From Igloos to Volcanoes - a Rubesh year in review

2010-12-23T04:46:00.024+01:00

Three countries, 7200 pounds, lots of suitcases and yet another new continent. Time for a quick review of the last twelve months!

They say the third time's the charm, and we proved it in January with our first ever (successful) family ski vacation. The key? Having Erin's parents along to keep Kyler entertained while the rest of us went skiing. The Austrian alps in January? Gorgeous! Hot chocolate on top of a snowy world, before yet another slide back down the hill? It just doesn't get much "besser" than that! Jad celebrated his seventh birthday (and Kevin his... more than seventh) in our little mountain hideaway while we were there. Back home in Prague, we got snow. Lots of snow. Igloo building snow, in fact. If it's going to be cold, it might as well snow, right?
We liked Austria so much that we went back in February. This time via train, and this time, unfortunately, without babysitters. Austria's museums, aquariums, Sri Lankan restaurants and... pharmacies make it a great place to come back to! We've found that a truly "bonding" family vacation is one that starts with one sick kid, and finishes up with three. With a hotel room and pharmacies tying them all together!
We celebrated Easter on a hilltop back in Prague, and then rounded out the month of April by joining in a truly Czech tradition. A hockey game! We enjoyed watching the action on the ice. But even more, we relished finding one of the very few public places where Kyler could be as loud as he wanted... and not be heard!April was a month of Very Important Visitors. When you work at a US Embassy overseas, the first one was truly a presidential-sized job... yet another visit of POTUS (President of the United States of America) to Prague! No sooner had we bid Air Force One a fond farwell than the real important visitors arrived - Kevin's parents. A little icelandic volcano with a cute name (say "Eyjafjallajökull" three times fast) became our good friend during this visit. The volcanic ash paralyzed flights all through Europe. But this isn't a bad thing when you have grandparents on the ground where you want them to be by the time the flights are frozen!

We then put the volcanic ash behind us and headed west - to the south of France, to be precise. Kevin's cousin not only found, but married a lovely French lady, and we got join in the celebrations (by way of a fourteen hour drive)! Danna discovered dancing, and grooved the night away under the disco ball while her brothers snoozed in the playroom and her parents enjoyed the pleasures of French cuisine. France was lovely - but spending time with Kevin's uncle, aunt, cousins and new French extended family was even better. We even got to talk politics... in French (over croissants, of course!)
We had just enough time in May to celebrate Danna's sixth birthday before starting to pull up roots in Prague. 7200 pounds was the magic number. The limit within which we're required to compress our lives every three years as we travel around the world. It's nice in a way. Call it a periodic forced "Spring Cleaning." It was our chance to look at what you have, and decide what's really important to keep around (and what's not). We sold, we donated, we tossed... and then we shipped, hoping to see this stuff when we arrived in Costa Rica months later!
June brought goodbyes to Prague, and hellos to Portland Oregon! June's a great time to be in the Pacific Northwest, and we fell in love with the place all over again. With family in the area, the month was marked with curry nights, trout fishing, real life cowboys, cheese pizza and plenty of "cousin time" with Kevin's brother and his family. Kyler got to meet his great grandparents for the first time.
In July, we headed back east... but only as far as Oklahoma. Yet more cousin time, a small-town fourth of July parade, and Kyler's third birthday - in his birthplace, no less! We also did our part to help the American economy, in preparation for moving back to the 110 volt side of the world. To round off our time in America, we took advantage of willing babysitters and flew to Boston for the reunion of Erin's high school from Amman, Jordan.
August brought our spashdown in San Jose, Costa Rica... where it rained. And rained. And rained some more. For at least 40 days and 40 nights. No arks - but plenty of potholes, floods, landslides and the random cow or two roaming down the street. Lots of changes - new school, work, language, food and culture. Oh, and did I mention the rain yet?
Looking for some excitement in September, we headed to an active volcano, and explored the type of things that bring tourists to Costa Rica - lush rain forest, exotic animals and bridges hung in the treetops.
October. Let's just skip October for now. Leave it to say we invested heavily in Costa Rican
health care and learned fancy Latin words like "pneumonia" and "bronchitis" (maybe they're Greek words?). In between the visits to the doctors offices though, we did squeeze in some more Costa Rican flora and fauna.
We finally found the famed Costa Rican beaches in November, when we escaped to Manuel Antonio on the Pacific Coast - only three hours drive away, despite landslides having taken out the country's only highway the month before. Surfing, sand castles and Gallo Pinto at the "beach shack," along with the best gelato in Costa Rica (so far) made for a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend!
So far, December has featured sheep, stars and a chorus of singing angels at our church's Christmas Production. Jad passed his first ever Tae Kwondo exam, and we imported some some wise parents from the north - bearing gifts. Like ham! And M&M's! We can't figure out who's having more fun - the kids or their "Tayta and Jiddo!" (Erin's parents).

Which brings us right up to date. To all of our friends and family around the world, a very Merry Christmas! May this be a season of joy and peace, wherever you may be!

The daily commute

2010-10-07T06:22:00.009+02:00

For those of you wanting a "taste of San Jose," here's what my daily commute to work looks like. This is one of about 5 different routes in to work, but this one is special. It features the infamous crossing over the "Bridge of Doom."

Mile 0.0 - leaving the house on "Rubesova Street." I didn't steal the sign from Prague - I bought it. Really!

Condominios Altos de Escazu.

Mile 0.25 - one of our favorite potholes. This one's been growing for over a month, and is shaping up to be a real car-swallower.

Mile 0.75 - I think they ran out of asphalt on this stretch. The lack of pavement makes the dumped building refuse fit right in.

Mile 1.0 - Kyler's preschool "The Kids' University", followed by the local dairy. "Se Vende Leche!" fresh from the cow each morning.

Mile 1.5 - One of about four river/creek/raging torrent crossings

Mile 1.75 - on the "Main Road" to Escazu. 6:45 traffic ain't bad.

Mile 2.0 - Mmm! A "Lunch Ejecutivo" at Tony Roma's would hit the spot!

Mile 2.75 - Hipermas grocery store. AKA "Walmart"

Mile 3.0 - The "Bridge of Doom". Jad saw the video, and said "Hmm - that looks like fun!" (much to his mother's horror)

[about a mile of very boring warehouses and train tracks]

Mile 4.12 - Just another day in Uncle Sam's service.

Volcano, with a side of cow tongue, please

2010-09-10T03:19:00.020+02:00

OK - so you don't usually run into volcanoes and cow tongues on the same weekend, but there we were, in a hole-in-the-wall hotel/restaurant in the mountain town of Ciudad Quedasa and it just... happened.

It was pouring down rain, we had hours left to drive to get back to San Jose, and the guidebook recommended the Hotel Don Goyo's steak (it also said the hotel would make a great Quentin Tarantino movie setting, so we really couldn't go wrong.) We started leafing through the menu (only available in Spanish), and settled on steak looking items and a plate called "Lengua con salsa de carne." Using our excellent Spanish, we quickly deduced that "lengua" was something similar to "linguini" and that a plate of "Spaghetti with meat sauce" would soon appear.

What appeared was clearly not spaghetti, but we weren't sure what is was. Danna started digging into it with a gusto - "I've never tasted such yummy meat!" she commented between mouthfuls. And then it clicked - a memory from our honeymoon in a small town in Mexico (our only prior experience in a Spanish-speaking country), where Erin and I found our way to a local church for the Sunday morning service.

Once we figured out the passage for the day (James 3), we were able to piece together the gist of the sermon - "La importancia de una lengua hermosa" - or importance of a beautiful tongue. Kind of like the tongue Danna was chowing down on.

The meal was delicious - the best steak we've had... well almost ever. The meat was fresh from the surrounding high pastureland - and in fact, it may well have wandered right off those pastures directly into the kitchen. And, in case you're wondering, no snappily dressed hitmen visited us during the meal. Delicious tongues on a Tarantino movie set. And that's just at the lunch stop on the way back from the volcano!

Tasty tongues aside, a volcano was the real destination for our first trip out of San Jose - an active volcano. In fact, Volcan Arenál is listed as one of the ten most active volcanoes in the world - it's been continuously erupting since 1968! About 3 1/2 hours out of San Jose, the Arenal Observatory Lodge is the place to see it from. Situated on a ridge less than 3 kilometers from Arenal, you really can't get much closer without burning your feet. Getting here involves a 10 Km drive over "native road" - (rough, washed out gravel) after exiting the main road just Northwest of the town of La Fortuna.

The lodge started its life as an observation station for vulcanologists from the Smithsonian Institute, and still retains a bit of the original expeditionary feel. It's no luxury resort - but the rooms are comfortable and clean, the shower's hot and you really don't come all the way out here to watch TV or surf the internet anyway. You come all the way out here to sit on your balcony and watch the volcano slip in and out of the clouds.

The restaurant serves up delicious (though a bit pricey for a rustic lodge - $50 for lunch for our family of five) meals as well as a commanding view of both the Volcano and the Arenal Lake at its base. The breakfast buffet, included in the price of the room, is almost worth the price of admission in itself. There's even a buffet set up outside for the tropical birds.

The kids kept themselves entertained while waiting for food by taking up chess on both of the oversized boards. Kyler soon picked up the essence of the game - you use one chess piece to violently knock over another piece, until all the pieces are on their sides. Bobby Fischer he is not (yet).

What's really neat about this place is that you're really out in the middle of the woods. The woods in this case being real, live rain forest! Every morning, a guide from the lodge leads visitors on a free three hour hike; first over the property's hanging bridge and via paved trails, past trees, bushes and shrubs that are labeled for your Botanic edification. Did you know, for example, that the one of the primary ingredients of Chanel N°5 perfume is the leaf of an extremely fragrant tree that is pollinated by bats? I wouldn't have believed it until I sniffed a crushed handful of leaves.

The trek then heads off the beaten trail to a waterfall surrounded by green. A great place to break in new rain boots, throw rocks into the rapids and pretend you're Indiana Jones searching for the long lost somethingorother.

For those without kids... miles more of interesting hikes await - to lava flows, flooded craters and more.

Of course, being in the rain forest, critters abound as well. The purple flowery bushes buzz with hummingbirds, furry racoon-like critters roam the grounds looking for a handout, white-faced monkeys glare at you from the treetops, and if you pause to look carefully at the plants lining the trail, you find an incredible variety of tiny critters roaming about (pardon the scientific terminology in the above paragraph).

What do you really want after a hike in the rain forest? A soak in the hot tub, of course. Being a lodge in the rain forest, you do have to cross a hanging bridge to get to the pool and hot tub, but it's worth the walk!

All good volcano trips do have to come to an end, and soon we were back on the road to San Jose - winding up and up the narrow mountain roads, in the rain (they don't call it "rain forest" for nothing!), and eating delicious cow tongue along the way.

I get a feeling this (and not the litter-strewn, potholed streets of San Jose) is why people come to Costa Rica.

Painting day

2010-08-29T04:31:00.007+02:00

One nice thing about this job? The free housing! Before we even arrive in a new country, a board meets, deliberates, and assigns us a house. Zimbabwe, Oman, Czech Republic or Costa Rica, we're assured of getting something livable to house us for the three years of the assignment. We're also assured that our house will be issued to us with government-standard white walls. Nine years and four houses after we started this Foreign Service life, we've always lived between white walls, and until now, we just haven't had the time, energy or experience to do anything about it. Perhaps being pregnant or arriving with a newborn in hand at each of our previous three posts had something to do with it?

Kyler surveys yet another white-walled bedroom

Our arrival in San Jose was different - for the first time, we had three walking kids... two of whom started school the week after we got here. Time to bring some color into our lives for a change!

Last week, Erin and her capable assistant (Kyler) made a trek down to San Jose's equivalent of Home Depot. Still without wheels, they summoned our new best friends - Taxis Escazu. Once the red taxi appears, the next trick is to use our two-week old Spanish to get the taxi where we want it to go. This conversation was about par for the course:

Driver: "¿A dónde?"

Erin: "Epa, por favor."

Driver: "¿Qué?"

Erin: "Epa, por favor?"

Kyler: "Kapachoowee"

Driver: ¿Qué?

Erin, at this point, writes down the name of the store... "EPA" on a piece of paper and shows it to the driver.

Driver: "Ah! Epa, si!"

At least they know how to find their way to our house now, which is more than I can say for Ambulance drivers around here - but that's another story. Anyway - EPA found an English speaking employee to help Erin out, and she came home equipped with paint and the tools of the trade.

After a quick breakfast, we shooed the kids out of the way and started work.

Good thing I'm tall - these ceilings are up there - even standing on top of furniture! Photos courtesy of Danna.

For newbies at this painting stuff, we didn't do to badly. Managed to keep the paint off the hardwood floors (mostly), the furniture (well, except for that one little spot), the kids (at least one of the three), and ourselves (eh... not really).

Walls dry, curtains back up and bed back in the room - all in one day!

By just after lunchtime, we had two of the three kids rooms done. Kyler and I put the finishing touches up in his "new" room by putting up his car, plane and train decals.

Yes - the paint was actually dry before he leaned on the wall!

Of course, the new base color is just the beginning. Both Jad and Danna would like their rooms to sink into the undersea universe of their imagination. Jad wants a shark staring at him every night. Kyler has asked for "Maskween" (Lightning McQueen from "Cars"). Not sure what's going to eventually appear on Danna's walls - unfortunately, our favorite mural artiste is still in Prague, so Ariel may not make a repeat appearance.

But... despite the fact that there's still paint under my fingernails, this stuff is kind of FUN! And really not a bad way to spend a rainy Saturday without wheels in Costa Rica. Who knows - in a couple weekends, we may not have any white walls left in this place!

A tale of two markets

2010-08-21T22:37:00.011+02:00

Ask anyone who's visited Costa Rica what they liked and they'll regale you with stories of rain forests, tropical birds, pristine beaches and zip lines. Food courts? They don't make the tourist route quite as often. Not being tourists in this place, we hopped in one of our favorite red taxis today to make a quick trip down to the Mutiplaza Escazu.

Two floors of luxury shopping

Boasting over 500 stores, this mall sets the pace for western commercialism here in Costa Rica! Cartier, Hugo Boss, The North Face, and and Timberland are just a few of the big names we passed on the way to our two main destinations today: the pet store and the food court.

Danna rubs noses with a feline friend

As you can probably imagine in a place like this, the food court is filled with exotic, Costa Rican restaurants. Like MacDonalds. And Taco Bell. And Pizza Hut.

Fast food - Costa Rican Style

Two cajitas felices ("happy boxes" = happy meals) and a Taco Bell meal in hand, we headed to an empty table and chowed down on junk food that looked and tasted just like the stuff in the US. OK - the happy meal boxes were in Spanish... but apart from that, we could have been eating the processed, frozen, reheated and internationally uniform meals in the Quail Springs mall in Oklahoma City! As a point of reference - the "Happy Meal Economic Index" here is about $4.

Donuts? Fashion? Ride-on toys? Multiplaza Mall is your kind of place!

Just down the road from our house though, is a very different kind of market. Open every Saturday morning, the Escazu Feria (Farmer's Market) is the place to go for fresh produce, fruit, and a much less "developed" shopping experience.

A street in the center of Escazu turns into a weekly farmer's market

This is the kind of market I grew up around. A busy pedestrian street packed with temporary stalls. Shoppers wandering from stall to stall to find the freshest veggies or best deal. Dogs playing in the gutters. There didn't seem to be much haggling here - prices were scribbled on handmade signs, and that was that.

Kyler and Danna check out some HUGE bananas!

This market wasn't the most fun for the kids... especially on a hot morning. But the copos (shaved ice with flavored syrup dumped on top) made the trip worth it!

Ice + Flavored syrup = Copos

And if you're really feeling energetic, you can join the guys on the basketball court next to the market for a quick game up pickup hoops.

Wanna shop? High-class or low-class, San Jose's got you covered. And those rain forests and beaches? We'll get there eventually!

Splash down in Costa Rica

2010-08-15T03:51:00.009+02:00

San Jose, Costa Rica gets an average of 10 inches of rain in August. Most of that 10 inches seems to have fallen in our first 7 days here in San Jose. It's not the constant gloomy drizzle of say - the Pacific Northwest in the winter. Rather, the average day starts out gorgeous - puffy white clouds against a blue sky. Around noon, the dark grey clouds move in to replace the white ones, and with a clap or two of thunder, the heavens open up. The clouds move down from the mountain tops surrounding the city. A single watery splat on a leaf is joined by a ping on the tin roof next door, which is accompanied by a cascade of slaps on the leaves of the palm tree... and then BOOM. The heavens open up, and the air turns to water with a liquid roar.

Rain on our driveway

We got the full taste of a San Jose rainstorm firsthand on day two here in Costa Rica. We had noticed a frozen yogurt store "just down the hill" from our house, and decided to take an afternoon walk to get some dessert. As we left the house, the clouds were beginning to gather - and about half way down the hill, down came the rain. The kids were suited up in their rain gear, "just in case", but Erin and I quickly found that our Old Navy anoraks were just not up to keeping out a real rainstorm. After a drippy snack, we headed back up the hill to the house in the middle of a thunderstorm. Kyler, buckled in his stroller, promptly fell fast asleep. Soaked the bone, we made it back home 15 minutes later - having survived our first family walk in the rain.

Stuck in the rain without an umbrella? No worries - just pick a REALLY BIG LEAF!

Costa Rica is an interesting study in contrasts. It's a country fighting for "developed" status, but not quite there yet. In our neighborhood, high walls surround palatial villas and condominium complexes (AKA town houses on a compound). But the houses are wired for electricity via a bare wire twisting down between the tree branches from the overhead lines to a junction box outside the gate. Tap water is clean and safe to drink in San Jose. But the gutters on the sides of the potholed streets look (and smell) quite a bit like open sewers.

Our neighborhood in the Escazu hills above San Jose.

Taxis are clean and safe, and are driven by smart, tie-wearing drivers. But the "addresses" those taxis are dispatched to start with a well known (you hope) landmark, and proceed with directions such as "100 meters south, 125 meters southwest..." The distances - and even compass bearings seem to bear little resemblance to geographic reality, so most rides involve the taxi driver waving down a passerby to ask for directions. Add our mangled "Spanglish" to the mix, and it's a wonder we're able to direct a taxi to our place at all!

One of our neighbors.

TV and Internet in San Jose is provided via cable, but the installers insisted that the only place they could install our internet was in our laundry room. This is the same laundry room that came complete with plugged drains and pipes that can't keep up with our washing machine's output. Worried about a flood outside during a torrential downpour? Well, we have a flood inside as well - but thankfully only during the rinse and spin cycles!

Yet another reason to always pack duct tape, and our "home office"

It's always tricky to land firmly on your feet in a new place - and our arrival to San Jose has been no different. This first week, we've felt like we've been caught in a rainstorm - and not just the one outside on the way to the frozen yogurt store.

Trying to describe to a taxi driver in Spanish on a cellphone how to find your house... SPLAT!

Meeting a whole new Embassy worth of people, projects, issues and personalities... PLOP!

Fighting leaking washing machines while keeping three kids occupied and off each others nerves... DRIBBLE!

Trying to figure why the cable guys are looking for the "cable largo y negro" poking out of a wall and why they have to install the internet in the laundry room instead of at any of the other perfectly good cable jacks in the house... PITTER PATTER DRIP DROP.

BOOM! FLASH! ROAR!

But the nice thing about the rain in San Jose? It never lasts for long. The clouds move on, the sky clears up, and a light breeze circulates the cool, slightly damp air through the house. It's crisp, clean and refreshing. And tonight, as I look down on the lights of San Jose glittering like a thousand diamonds in the valley below us, I realize something. That this type of "everything is frustrating and a little bit overwhelming" thunderstorm is normal for a splashdown in a brand new place. And just like the rain, it too will pass eventually. With every new word of Spanish, each new discovery, each new friend and contact, this place, like any place we bring our little tribe to, will feel more and more like home.

I do need to get a new raincoat through!

Coming "Home"

2010-08-06T05:26:00.017+02:00

As a kid, America was a tantalizing but slightly hazy dream. When television came to Sri Lanka, my brothers and I learned about the multi-lane highways waching CHiPs or Knight Rider. Pictures of National Monuments would shine from the pages of our World Book encyclopedia set. To us, America was the land of the impossible. Drinking water from the tap without getting sick. Flying along in a car at 60 miles an hour or faster, and not having to dodge potholes, elephants, pedestrians and ox carts. Our mouths would water at the mention of that mystical temple of culinary elightenment called McDonalds. Everything was bigger, shinier, cleaner. America was the place our passports told us was home. Though we didn't really know why, it was the place we were "from" somehow.

Our kids, growing up in an age of instant information and connectivity, webcams and satellite TV still feel a little of the same cultural dislocation. When Jad informed us at the dinner table that the New York Yankees were his favorite baseball team we were surprised. How did he become a Yankee fan? Turns out that his Polish buddy at the International School in Prague told him they were the best. Ask him to how the game is played and he wouldn't have a clue. An Eastern European first grade teaching our American kid about his national pastime. In a way, it tells the story of sometimes strange life we lead as expat Americans.

Sipping from Portland Oregon's "Benson Bubblers"

"Home Leave" is all about closing that gap with your homeland. Seeing through your own eyes what your own country is all about. After three years in Europe, we were ready to re-introduce our own tribe of global nomads (including ourselves) to "home."

Saying goodbye to Rubesh cousins (Thailand branch)

Kyler's not so sure about the cold waters of the Pacific

Trout fishing in Trout Lake, Washington

"Kissin Cousins?"

"Real live cowboys" in Washington State

Spending time with the kids' Great Grandparents

On the rim of Crater Lake

Danna makes a new friend at the AKC Dog Show

Fourth of July "picnic" during an Oklahoma thunderstorm

Small-town Fourth of July Parade

Finale of the Fourth of July fireworks show

Kyler meets a new friend at Toys R Us

A couch full of cousins.

Hanging out in the pool.

Living room fashion show

Hanging out with the Cartoon Network

High School reunion in Boston

Collecting eggs on the farm in Texas

Meeting "Barbara Manatee" in Dallas

We didn't quite make it all the way from "sea to shining sea," but we got close! From the West Coast to the East, from Boston to Dallas, we made fantastic memories in during the last two months. Memories we'll all file away and add to our cultural identity as Americans. Mental snapshots to remind us of what America is all about as we head out tomorrow for our next adventure overseas - this time in Costa Rica. Farewell for now - but we can't wait to find out what new things we'll discover the next time we visit this place called home!

Chasing 7200

2010-06-03T22:11:00.006+02:00

The house already sounds lonely. It's those empty echoes of noise bouncing off of bare walls that make this move thing finally seem real. As the last box was packed, loaded and sealed into a shipping crate the metamorphosis from home to house became complete. 6835 pounds of computers, bikes, electronics, toys, stuffed animals, pots, pans, trash cans, pictures, coloring books... and all the stuff that we drag around with us from post to post around the world, packed away to be seen next sometime this Fall when we arrive in Costa Rica.

7200. We've been chasing the magic number for the last month or so. 7200 pounds. The limit within which we're required to compress our lives every three years as we travel around the world. It's nice in a way. Call it a periodic forced "Spring Cleaning." A chance to look at what you have, and decide what's really important to keep around.

The National Geographic Magazine collection that's been gathering dust, waiting for that perfect moment of down time to read all those fascinating articles? Donated to a worthy cause. Ten year old road bike that's only been ridden once on Prague's cobblestoned streets, and isn't likely to get much use on San Jose's congested calles? Sold at bargain basement price. Collection of hundreds of CD's? Digitized and downsized. Untouched toys, plastic bits and pieces and scores of precious "works of art" in crayon, marker and watercolor? Given away or surreptitiously carried out to the trash once the kids were asleep.

And so the bits and pieces of our lives here have been sold, donated, trashed or packed away until there's not much left but an echoing, empty house, some suitcases ready to wing their way across the Atlantic next weekend, and the little bitty computer I'm typing this on. But as the truck with our 6835 pounds of stuff pulled away down Nad Markytou road, I realized that the really important things we've accumulated here in Prague don't weigh a pound - and we don't even need to pack them away!

Goodnight snuggles; discussions over breakfast oatmeal on whether or not Aliens really exist; walks over the Charles Bridge in the dead of winter when no tourists are around; ruined castles and medieval festivals; fresh snow in the morning; friends old and new - some who've left Prague before we will, and some who'll be here long after we move; Presidential "Hi-Fives" and chats with "Joe" (Biden); goulash and dumplings and chicken schnitzel and words with absolutely no vowels. All these memories and more we get to take with us wherever we go, and talk about for years to come.

And home? It's not really where the stuff is. It's wherever in the world our little tribe of global nomads happens to be. No matter what stuff we have surrounding us!

Pulling up roots

2010-05-10T20:37:00.005+02:00

Maybe you remember what it's like when you've just plunked a potted plant into new soil. It's all self-contained and portable, not firmly attached to anything. You have to push the dirt down hard to make it stand up straight - pack it tight and add a little water. Come back a couple months later and it's a different story. Roots have wormed their way firmly into the ground, the plant has grown... and try to pull it out? You're in for a chore!

It's been three years. In this odd work/life thing we call the Foreign Service, that means it's time to yank up the plant. But as usual, "Family Rubesh" isn't quite as portable as it was when we pulled in to Prague - six suitcases, three car seats and a stroller in tow. Our family plant has done a bit of growing and root-spreading. Tendrils have been working through the classes of ISP, through the neighborhoods and back yards of Mala Sarka, winding their way around the chairs of Sarka Valley Community Church... and even through and under the 400 year old walls of my palace office. Ripping this plant up and starting in a brand new hole - on the other side of the world - is never easy.

2007

2010

Five weeks from last Saturday, we file onto a plane to start a new life (again), this time in Costa Rica. New climate, home, school, friends, church, wardrobe, work, boss, colleagues, language, food, currency, voltage, address, doctors... (did I miss anything?). It's exciting. It's stressful. It's frustrating. It's also an adventure - one more chapter in a book of memories that's taken our growing plant to three continents.

We have it easy(ish). My grandparents moved 5 kids to India via ship and steamer trunks. My parents did the same to Sri Lanka with 3 kids via 747's and 55-gallon barrels. We'll be using a team of packers, lift-vans and a 777 or two to transport the third generation of globe-trotting Rubeshes to the other side of the world.

So - let the fun begin. Chores for this week? Do a packing survey (packers come to estimate how much stuff they'll need to ship), wade through three years worth of accumulation in preparation for our neighborhood yard sale (ie: will I really need my cross-country skis in Costa Rica?), and go digital with our entire collection of CD's (too many - that's how many!)

Easter on the Hilltop

2010-04-04T22:07:00.010+02:00

He is Risen!

Our Easter service this morning at Šárka Valley Community Church was a little different than usual. To start it off, we went in our hiking boots! Hiking boots firmly strapped on, we headed down the trail into the forest.

The first stop was the "tomb" (a cave) where the "stone" was still firmly in place. Note the plywood "stone" (OK, I know... but you get the idea, right?)

We moved up the hill to see the empty cross...

... and then returned to the tomb to find our plywood stone rolled away, and an angel telling us that Jesus was not there!

A great visual reminder of the Easter story - and one we'll remember for years to come.
We returned to the church for a brief message on Easter, a story for the kids, and a delicious Easter Brunch!

All that walking builds up an appetite!

A Bethlehem kind of year

2009-12-22T22:42:00.007+01:00

Have you ever had plans go awry? Had a "sure thing" dissolve in the mists of uncertainty? A well practiced tune go a bit flat? Yeah? Us too! In fact, our entire year seems to have trundled well off the track we thought we'd set for it! If we've been out of touch with your recently, feel free to click the links to 'catch up'.

Here was the plan - Erin and the kids return from the uncertaintly of a three month "exile" for medical treatment in the US. We'd be back together as a family, and Danna's kidneys would respond well to the "mini-chemo" treatment. She'd join Jad at the school just a couple hundred meters out our door, and they'd both have a great final school year here in Prague. Meanwhile, at work, I'd coast to the end of our three-year tour here in Prague.

Ahh... (I chuckle)... how plans quickly go awry! Erin and the kids were back from the US for about a month before Danna relapsed again, and she went back on steroids (so much for the the chemo-cure). Our intricately planned ski vacation (day care for Kyler, Ski School for Jad and Danna, and "ski-dates" for Erin and me) went south when half of us got sicker than dogs (and the other half had to take care of the sick dogs). I passed the "sickies" on to Erin and the kids, who were nice enough to pass them back to me just in time for the Prague half-marathon, for which I'd been training for months (bronchitis and races do not go well together). We zipped through the summer in pretty good fashion, and things kind of went back to plan... for a while. Danna started Kindergarten, but shortly after she did so, also started a new course of drugs that severely suppress her immune system. Meanwhile, I kind of disappeared from the scene (and banished any dreams of "coasting" at work) for a while when I simultaneously took over my boss's job for the rest of our tour here in Prague, entertained guests from the White House, and hosted 160 of my colleagues for a regional conference.

By the end of October, the Rubesh Jalopy looked to be heading back to the Autobahn when we hit another detour... by the name of Swine Flu. As you may have read in the news, severely suppressed immune systems do not get along well with Swine Flu, and Danna's combination of strong medications and underlying health issues made her high risk for complications. Vaccine? Nowhere in sight. Jad and Danna went from ISP (International School of Prague) to RSP (Rubesh School of Prague) starting in November. Erin went from Chief Domestic Engineer to Educator in Chief. Ever tried to homeschool a first grader and kindergartener with an energetic toddler underfoot? Yeah? Not easy, eh? As if teaching / babysitting / cooking / mothering wasn't enough, the search for H1N1 vaccine was on. We looked under each rock and around every corner - emailing Doctors, Senators, and even the White House! In the end, the US Army came through, and we got the entire family vaccinated at a nearby base.

By now, you're probably wondering... "Wow - that's great and all, but I thought this was going to be a Christmas letter." Well, I was thinking the other day about the challenges of this year... and realized that all this "planning gone awry" stuff is really nothing new. In fact, the central characters in the Christmas story had a year even more chaotic than ours has been! I'm sure you've all heard the story - but here's what stood out to me this year.

Joseph strikes me as my kind of guy. He was a planner - you kind of have to be, to be a carpenter! No doubt he spent months planning his wedding - only to find out his fiancee was pregnant. Talk about a change in plans! He had just about finished redrawing his blueprint, deciding to protect Mary and end the engagement quietly when he got a visit from an Angel. Hard to plan for that! Knocked back onto his original track by the heavenly visitor, the dutiful husband probably starting working on getting the house ready for the new addition. Until the next bombshell hit - this one in the form of the Roman Emperor! Before you know it, he and a very pregnant Mary are on the road to Bethlehem - over 100 kilometers away - to take part in Caesar Augustus' census. This is back before you could hop on the internet to plot the best route and reserve a room at the inn. By the time they arrived in Bethlehem, there wasn't a bed in town! As a planning Dad/Father/Provider that's gotta hit hard! Fortunately, the baby arrives safely, Mary's OK, and apart from a couple unexpected visitors with sheep and camels in tow, things are looking good. Soon it's back to the woodworking shop , home, and "the plan"... right? But no - now a jealous King Herod's after Joseph and son, and the story takes another dramatic and unexpected turn - an exile in Egypt!

Unexpected pregnancies. Angelic visits. An Imperial summons. Death threats and exile in a faraway land. And I thought our year had surprises! The thing of it is... even though Joseph's year probably was nothing like what he had planned, the twists and turns fit perfectly into God's design. Amid the chaos of upset plans and unexpected detours, God's plan was born - in the shape of an infant... lying in a manger. In the commotion of a crowded stable the Prince of Peace entered the world.

Our year? Definitely not one for the planner in me! But if the story of Bethlehem is any indication, God uses the shattered pieces of our best laid plans to accomplish His purpose. Among the joy of presents, trees and wrapping paper this Christmas lies the reminder that the real reason for the season will continue to guide us, and give us Peace no matter how many unexpected twists and turns our path takes.

God bless, and Merry Christmas from Prague!

When Daddy can't be Superman

2009-10-05T22:47:00.008+02:00

Dads out there - you know this already, I'm sure. From the day your first kid is born, certain hidden super powers start to emerge. Brought to life by the magic of that first glimpse of a wrinkly, helpless, crying little person, you soon realize that you can DO things you just couldn't do before.

You have the power to banish all variety of "owies" with nothing more than a kiss and a band-aid. Superhuman strength to toss squealing kids into a pile of pillows. Inhuman wisdom in answering life's important questions. Supernatural engineering skills to fix just about any broken toy with nothing more than a scrap of duct tape, a couple of toothpicks and a tube of super glue. It's great being a superhero! Until you hit that shard of Kryptonite that rips through even your most impressive powers and makes you realize that you're just... a Dad. Who can't fix everything after all.

My Kryptonite lurks inside my five year old. An insidious, unrelenting villain has a hold deep inside her. Just when you think he's been banished back to his evil lair, he rears his ugly head again - like he did last week. Danna's battle isn't with something you can see, touch, or banish with a quick burst of superstrength - but with a disease that's got a grip on her kidneys, and just won't... let... go. And last week, when Danna's cute five-year old cheeks started getting puffy again, despite her low sodium diet, despite her regular course of steroids... we knew it was time to head back to the drawing board.

And this Super Dad feels small. Powerless. And - can a superhero even admit this? Scared.

So - allow this scared not-so-super hero introduce you to the real hero in the Rubesh family. She stands about 3 feet 9 inches tall, and has beautiful brown hair, freckles and grey-green eyes. She loves ice cream (chocolate please), Hannah Montana and Princesses. She stages dance shows in the bay window and enjoys dressing up her dolls, toddler brother and cat. She's an excited Kindergartener, is learning to read, and "writes" long letters to imaginary friends.

She takes her own treats to birthday parties, where she can't eat the snacks the other kids can. She has her own special "salt", popcorn, chips and crackers... looks a little longingly at the "good stuff", but doesn't complain. She's stares down any incoming needles in disdain - and barely whimpers when she has to give blood... yet again. She's not quite sure why the pants that fit her fine last week are uncomfortably tight this week - but she rolls with the punches and finds another pair. She's a great pill swallower, which is good. While many kids her age might have multivitamin with breakfast, she swallows potent cocktail of 8 pills each day. One will suppress her immune system. Another weakens her bones. Together, they should help her kidneys keep on doing their thing.

She makes me laugh. She breaks my heart. But most of all, she makes me so... incredibly... proud... all at the same time.

Danna's my little girl - and my true Superhero. And as she battles this villain - and I stand by helpless - all I can do is love her. And use whatever powers I still have at my disposal to keep her smiling through her fight.

Viennese Cuisine - Third Culture Kid Style

2009-07-24T23:07:00.025+02:00

OK - so there Erin and I were - surrounded by the fine culture, class and cuisine of Vienna. Erin's mom (still my favorite mother-in-law) bravely volunteered to corral the kids for a weekend, and we had jumped on just about the first train out of town. So... like I said, there we were, standing in the U-Bahn station, heading to our hotel, when I saw it. Beckoning at me from the other side of the tracks. My camera was, of course, stuck in the very bottom of my bag. "Erin!" I yelled. "Get your camera - QUICK! Take a picture of THAT SIGN!" Being a mom who rarely has more than one hand free at a time, Erin's camera is small, svelte, easy to pocket and unpocket... and burgundy to boot. She sprung into action and grabbed this shot:

Now to someone who hasn't grown up in Sri Lanka - the sign on the left may not mean a whole lot. An ethnically dressed character posing next to a sign for... grasshoppers? Not quite, my friend! Ask any Rubesh (of the Don Rubesh lineage) about hoppers, and you'll get the salivation of a Pavlovian dog at a handbell choir recital. Hoppers are like... Guiness to an Irishman... Steak to a Texan... fine wine to a Parisian... Schnitzel to a Viennese.

Picture (and address) firmly on memory card, our first stop in Vienna, after checking into our hotel just outside the Schönbrunn Palace was Colombo Hoppers. Eager to dust off my rusty Sinhala, I eschewed the German menu and ordered off the cuff in the majority language of Sri Lanka to our waiter - who clearly had no idea what in the world I was saying.

Fortunately, our host and the owner of Colombo Hoppers seemed happy enough to trade German for my oddly accented Sinhala, and we soon settled on a good variety of string hoppers, curries and fruity drinks, all the while serenaded by Sri Lankan baila on the stereo and the whine of mosquitoes (imported from the Replendant Isle, I'm sure)

Looking for Viennese Cuisine with a kick? Look no farther than Colombo Hoppers - as the sign in the metro says, its just down the road from the Pilgamgrasse U-Bahn station on the U4 line.

Not to be outdone, the very next day, we hopped off a perfectly good (and dry) streetcar and into the pouring rain when Erin spotted her equivilant of Sri Lankan cuisine - Restaurant Beirut. We were the first ones in the door for lunch, and the tabbouleh was fresh off the cutting block and delicious. Our waiter/chef did not look very Lebanese, and we soon discovered that yes, we were actually speaking in Arabic to an Indian who cooked Lebanese food in Austria, and whose first language was English. Go figure!

One thing to keep in mind while dining in Vienna - don't forget a well-stocked wallet. Classy eats like these don't come cheap... and apparently, between cutting up parsley and frying falafal, they haven't had time to fix the credit card machine at Restaurant Beirut.

If you're looking for a quick warm up after all this traipsing around town to find decent eats, look no farther than one of Vienna's famous cafes. One like Daniel Moser, on Rotenturmstraße, for example. It has the best coffee in town (really, their awning says so)... and, they've been serving it since 1685 (really, their saucers say so). Actually - it was good coffee... very good coffee!

We did actually find traditional Viennese cuisine on our last night in town - it must have been authentic - we could actually hear the chef pounding the schnitzel through the kitchen door.

Between all this fine eating and drinking, we did actually get to see some of Vienna. Here I thought that Prague had some impressive Palaces and gardens. After wandering through the Hapsburg's summer retreat at Schönbrunn Palace, and the other palaces, large and larger that litter the city, Prague's best all seem rather... quaint and provincial... .

The best way to get around town? The U-Bahn's not bad, but you really can't see much. A much more "in touch" way to tour the city is from the seat of a Vienna Citybike. Here's the idea - walk up to a kiosk, insert your credit card as a deposit, and unlock a bike that's FREE to ride for an hour. Lock it up at another one of the 60 or more stations scattered around the city, and then return to check it out for another free hour of riding. Exceed your free hour? You'll be charged all of one Euro for the next hour. The bikes even work in the rain (we tested them to make sure!)

Bike are fine for getting around Vienna - but for the trip back to Prague, Czech Railway's Pendalino high-speed trains are the ticket! Smooth, quiet, fast and fully air conditioned, these things are like flying - but at ground level. Four hours after pulling out of Vienna's Sudbahnhof, we were back at the decrepit, filthy Hlavni Nadrazi main train station in Prague (don't worry, they're renovating it).

Buy your tickets online and speed off to Vienna - for a weekend of excellent cuisine, multilingual conversations, impressive palaces and free biking!

Birthday Dollars

2009-07-20T20:31:00.006+02:00

Ever since I can remember, my brothers and I each got a very special birthday card each year. Inside, in addition to cute pictures, birthday wishes, and occasionally a stick of chewing gum, there was always a single dollar bill. Growing up in Sri Lanka, we treated these dollars like pure gold - hoarding them in our secret hidey holes, counting them up, and waiting eagerly until the day when we would be in America and could spend our treasure! Grandpa and Grandma Miller (mom's parents) never forgot a birthday - and never forgot a birthday dollar - no matter how many thousands of miles away we were!

Now that we're all grown up and parents of our own kids, we don't get birthday dollars anymore. But sure enough - just like clockwork, Kyler's second birthday card appeared in the mail from Oregon. This time, it flew all the way across the US to a military mail dispatch center in New York. From there, it hopped a plane across the Atlantic to Prague, and from our Embassy mailroom into my backback for the run home. Kyler opened up his card, and out fluttered a single dollar bill. He's not sure quite what to make of it yet... but I'm sure he'll soon join his brother and sister in carefully stashing his birthday dollars away at the bottom of his piggy bank.

When Grandpa and Grandma got married and Grandpa started work as a pastor, he was just as likely to get his salary paid in a tithe of eggs or chickens as in greenbacks. They raised a family of five kids and sent them out into the world to start their own families... but their jobs didn't end there.

In college, Grandpa and Grandma's house in the tiny town of Creswell, Oregon was my haven - a place to unload the stress of the week, get my laundry done (by Grandma) and fall asleep in the lazyboy, belly filled with a homecooked Sunday lunch of Pot Roast followed by a bowl of ice cream, a couple of peaches, and an oatmeal cookie. Their house just outside of Eugene always had a neat smell to it. A smell of home during a time when this third-culture-kid was busy trying to figure out where in the world "home" was. We'd work our way through Grandma's archive of photo albums - documenting our family history on pages of 3x5 prints behind cellophane sheet protectors. Play a game or two of dominos. Watch Pat Sajak or Alex Trebek on the TV set. And then, laundry done, I'd head back to another week of college life.

With the birthday card last week came Grandpa and Grandma's loving touch from many miles and three generations away. They're older now - Grandpa's Alzheimer's has really taken a toll in the last year. Grandma's arthritis makes it harder each year to write the greetings on the birthday cards.

But their calendar is marked with the birthdays of all their kids, grandkids and great-grandkids, stamps and cards are bought, and many times each year, a dollar bill wings its way across the globe to find great-grandkids just starting out life's journey. And though Kyler's too young to understand it now, someday I'll sit him down on my lap and tell him about his dollar bill. How it can smell like a Sunday roast right out of the oven, a scoop of vanila ice cream with a fresh-baked cookie on the side... and a lot of love from many miles away.

A little slice of Holland

2009-07-12T20:59:00.015+02:00

With "Tayta and Jiddo" (Erin's parents) in Prague for a visit, we drove to Holland this weekend. OK - not really to Holland, but it kind of felt like it! The Eastern end of Lipno Lake, along the Czech-Austrian border was "discovered" by Dutch developers several years ago, and a bustling little resort town - including a marina, a golf course and a ski area - has sprung up out of nowhere. Today, just about all the signs appear in three languages - Dutch, German and Czech, and every other license plate is from Holland.

We were looking for a family friendly hotel within easy striking distance of Český Krumlov, and stumbled across the Lipno Lake Resort via the Internet. A couple emails later, the van was packed, kids' bikes loaded on the back, and we were on our way. Minus potty stops and a lunch break, we rolled into the the resort reception in Lipno nad Vlatavou just about three and a half hours after we left Prague. A signpost pointed out the number of kilometers to Prague... and to Amsterdam!

The resort was all the website (in Dutch, German, Czech, and poorly translated English) billed it to be. We picked up our keys from the friendly Dutch park managers, plunked down a wad of Czech cash, and found our home for the weekend - and it was nice.

Our "LLR8S" apartment featured three bedrooms spread over two floors, a spacious dining room, kitchen and living room, balconies overlooking the lake, and a sauna! Cool! The kids wasted no time staking out their beds and testing the sauna.

We've tried out quite a few apartment-type hotels around Germany and the Czech Republic in the last few years, and this one was by far the nicest. The pool ("heated"), playground and trampoline right outside the apartment didn't hurt! What makes this place really nice though is the location - wedged between Lipno Lake on one side and a ski resort on the other. In the summer, mountain bikes take the place of skiis on the lift, a ropes course is in full swing, people are zipping down the bobsled run, and the evenings echo to the sound of live music.

Lipno Lake is a great place to bring your bikes - even if you're not planning on riding down the ski slope, bike and inline skating trails run along the lake, and crisscross throughout the forested hills. Don't have room to pack them? Pick up a rental by the hour, day or week at any one of a number of rental spots - including one featuring the latest downhill bikes at the foot of the ski slope!

Lipno Lake Resort's "sister property" the Lipno Lake Marina across the road features the "Aquaworld" mini indoor water park. If you're staying at the resort, keep your receipt and present it at reception for a full refund. The lake was still a bit cold this July weekend... but the strip of sand just beside the Marina made for Kyler's first beach experience and was fun anyway (Kyler doesn't look convinced in this picture!)

Lipno a great home base to use for all variety of day trips - including our trip to Český Krumlov - one of the Czech Republic's most beautiful "Castle Towns". A day's just about enough time to tour this town - and explore the country's second-largest castle complex (after Prague Castle).

Our only regret? At just three days, this stay in beautiful Southern Bohemia was just a bit too short!

Kindergarten Graduate

2009-06-21T13:59:00.010+02:00

Last Thursday, our first official graduate came home! It seems like just yesterday that we sent "Big J" off to KG, Wall-e backpack firmly in hand. A year of letters, drawings, baking, recess, reading and new friends has just whizzed by, and Jad's now officially a "1st Grader!"

Jad's favorite part of Kindergarten? "The math - because I like math. Also I love math because it is really fun. My favorite class was all of the classes. Almost all of the people in my class were my best friends"

In other words, he's had a great first year and has done well, despite being uprooted for a three-month exile to Oklahoma mid year. Jad's actually reading - something I don't think I was doing at the end of Kindergarten... and before long, he'll be able to read himself the Asterix and Obelix books he loves!

Reading a book

A plant-growing project

Counting beans

With buddies Ray and Ken (and assistant Danna) during a baking project

So now - off to 60 days of summer vacation, and then Danna starts up in the fall!

A Castle with a Playground

2009-05-23T20:27:00.015+02:00

Hidden Prague
Secret spots off the beaten cobblestones of Prague

What: A shady retreat far from the bustle of "Tourist Prague"
Where: Vyšehrad Castle - V Pevnosti 159
Public Transport: Vyšehrad metro stop
Map: Click here
Price: Free!

Once upon a time, the legend goes, Princess Libuše had a vision. A dream of the future glory of the city of Prague, sited on seven hills. Though revered for her wisdom, the sensibilities of the time just didn't have room for a woman leader. She rose from her throne and dispatched a delegation to fetch her a common ploughman named Přemysl - who she promptly married. Together, from their fabulous palace at Vyšehrad, they founded 400 years of rule under the Premyslid dynasty.

Today not much remains of the castle of the "Castle on the Heights." Perched on a rocky promintory out of sight of the teeming hordes crowding Charles Bridge, the sun-dappled pathways that wind through the ruins of Princess Libuše's home offer a welcome break from the crowds.

Most folks that actually make it up to Vyšehrad come to visit the 11th Century Church of St. Peter and St. Paul or the Slavin Cemetary housing the bones of Czech luminaries such as Dvořák, Mucha and Smetana. While those sights are fascinating, we came mainly for the playground!

Tucked in a shady glade just above the St. Martin Rotunda lies a fabulous playground, built from rough timber and surrounded by totem-pole like statues of key players in Vyšehrad's history. Ladders lead up to towers connected by bridges, while "secret tunnels" quickly carry you to the edge of the play area. The playground's surface is deep gravel, forgiving enough to soften just about any misstep by tiny feet. Our kids' main concern was who was going to get to ride the zipline first! The play area is circled by benches where you can relax in the shade while the kids work out all their wiggles.

Don't forget to take in the scenery from the battlements of the castle. With a commanding view of the Vlatava river below and the much more visited Prague Castle and Mala Strana in the distance, it's an unfamiliar, but breathtaking view of the city.

The castle complex is large and fun to explore, but a challenge for strollers - a mixture of cobblestone alleyways, shady paths, and curious passageways through ancient walls and tunnels. The labyrinth just outside the "New Provost's Residence" makes for a fun diversion for the kids. The large lawns guarded by statues under canopies of green are a perfect spot for picnics.

The quickest way to get to Vyšehrad is via the metro - the aptly named Vyšehrad stop on the red line is about a 10 minute walk away.

Easter Herring

2009-04-12T09:58:00.007+02:00

What do you get when you mix two expatriate families, gorgeous spring weather, a turkey and some herring? A unique Easter Eve smorgasbord a la fresca!

Admittedly... turkey and herring don't usually go together. But when you combine a Butterball Turkey with Swedish Meatballs, lingonberries, boiled potatoes and cream sauce, (oh yeah - and a couple bottles of pickled herring) the result makes for great Swedish-American eatin! Even here in the middle of Central Europe, good Scandinavian Cuisine is only as far away as the neighborhood IKEA (correctly pronounced "ee-Kay-ah", by the way).

Did I mention there was a trampoline in the backyard? And barbequed chocolate-stuffed banannas for desert?

The reviews from the junior gourmets were unanimously positive:

Jad: "I liked the meatballs and the gravy!"

Danna: "I liked jumping on the trampoline. And also I liked the meatballs!"

Kyler: "Babaaaa! Babaaa!" (Kyler-ese for "Spiderman" - one of the toys he found)

And the turkey? I think we have at least one new Swedish fan of this American bird!

Chasing Balloons

2009-04-06T22:01:00.005+02:00

I've always thought that running is a great way to work out a cold. Perhaps so... but maybe not running for 13.1 miles. I've been "run-commuting" to work most of the past year - (it's uphill both ways, by the way), and thought I would shoot for Prague's annual half-marathon. Training was going well - distances slowly increasing each week, and miles piling up.

Then the "Prague Spring Sickies" hit... in the middle of our ski vacation. Bummer. Not that I was particularly surprised... (yeah, we did it last year too). Being a polite family, we believe in sharing bugs & viruses just as well as toys & books. So - once Kyler and I were done with our nasty-old-cold-flu-icky-illness, we passed it on to the "big kids" and Erin. Who passed it back to me. Just in time for the half-marathon! No problem - nothing that a good dose of Ibuprofen on race day can't take care of, right?

Which brings me to the balloons - the race was very well organized - and included pace runners - runners whose goal was to run the race at a set pace - 1:30, 1:50, 2:00, 2:10, etc. Each pace runner carried helium balloons marked with the time they were running. President Klaus shot the starter's pistol, and we were off - all 5000 of us! My sights were set on the white 1:50 balloons, bobbing just a couple hundred yards in front of me. For a while, they were right there... just... out... of... reach!

And then the meds wore off and things (other than me) started going rapidly downhill! Before long, the balloons were chasing me! When my dreams of sub-two-hour glory ran by in a black track suit, I knew I was in trouble. A couple kilometers later, a grandma carrying the 2:10 pace balloons sped by. I'm pretty sure I saw a three legged dog ease by shortly after that, followed by a sloth.

The winner finished in just over one hour, and didn't appear to be breathing all that hard. When I crossed the finish line in two hours 15 minutes, all I wanted to do was go home and curl up on the couch for a day or two. Official result? 3,837th place. Next year, I'm shooting for 2,000th... and those white 1:50 balloons? They're mine!

To ski or not to ski....

2009-03-01T10:07:00.002+01:00

...that is the question. Unfortunately, the answer turned out to be "not to ski". Yes, this was our 2nd year in a row to attempt a European ski vacation and yet again we were thwarted!!

Originally, I had NO DESIRE to go anywhere during ski week since the kids and I had only been home 20 days since returning from our medivac in Oklahoma. In fact, I still wasn't finished unpacking! (Two huge boxes of excess "stuff" from my shopping forays to Target had just arrived and needed to be unpacked.) But some friends had reserved a cabin in German ski country that they couldn't use so they offered it to us. How could we say no?! The real impetus for me was when I discovered that Jad and Danna could be in ski school while Kyler was in daycare which would mean Kevin and I would be able to ski together, just the 2 of us!! With that goal in mind, I moved into travel mode and began to organize, pack, arrange, and make lists.

When we arrived at the Vacation Village in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, it was truly a winter wonderland --snow, snow, and more snow! This was a good omen! However, the first night was rough -- Kyler had trouble sleeping and had wheezy breathing --uh oh! So on Monday, instead of skiing with Kevin, I was at the German ER with Kyler. He had a fever of 104 F (40 C) -- YIKES!! For the next 2 days my focus was on Kyler -- keeping track of which medicine to give when, holding him lots, trying to keep him hydrated, letting him sleep in my arms, etc. Kevin focused on our "big kids" and getting them to and from ski school, outings to the indoor pool and library. Things went from bad to worse when Kevin developed a horrific cough and fever by Tuesday evening. On Wednesday Kyler seemed to have perked up a bit, so we went to the indoor pool but by lunch time Kevin and Kyler were in desperate need of rest. Those 2 took a 3 hr nap (!!!) while Jad, Danna, and I hung out at the local US army base library.

After a very restless night with Kyler, I threw in the towel and said it was time to go home. I needed to be back at home, in my environment, with my stash of medicine so I could focus on getting Kevin and Kyler well again. They are now both improving, but not back to 100% health yet. Kyler seems to have a combo of teething, flu, cough, and a tummy bug while Kevin has flu/cough/tummy bug but not teething!

So, will we attempt this again next year? You betcha! We'll be successful next ski season since 3rd time's a charm!

Crash Landing

2009-01-31T20:53:00.002+01:00

The family landed back in Prague today after a long trip from Oklahoma (OK, sure... all flights with three kids and only one mom officially qualify as "long" - this one was no exception!) As usual, Jad and Danna were star travelers, and used their "Native American eyes" to help out mom this trip (the kids are about 1/16th Native American - so we've told them that they each have one eye and one ear from that side of the family.) Danna found a loose passport under their seat in the plane (whew!) Jad spotted one of his cowboy boots on the tarmac (I guess it slipped out of the bag after an over-zealous TSA search). The boot made the rest of the trip in Erin's carry on (sure, there was plenty of extra room!) The passport successfully got Danna back into the Czech Republic.

On landing in Prague, Erin got a rude reminder of how customer-friendly folks in this part of the world are. One mom, three kids, eight pieces of luggage, two luggage carts and a stroller. Pleas for assistance fell of deaf ears, and though Jad is big enough to push a cart, he's not big enough to see over the stack of luggage to steer it! Needless to say, they were glad to let me take over!

As if traveling along across the Atlantic with three kids wasn't hard enough, Erin caught a stomach bug somewhere just before take off. Emergency trips to the lav at 30,000 feet are even more fun when there's a sleeping toddler on your lap! Danna picked up the same bug and hasn't even been able to keep down ice cubes this afternoon.

Jad? He's the only one that actually slept much of the flight - and he has played hard, re-discovering all his toys, until he quite literally passed out on the floor in mid-play! Our newly adopted cat is not quite sure what to make of all this action, but I'm sure she'll adjust to the extra attention!

We're back! Hit the play button - life in Prague goes back to full speed starting tomorrow!

Update on Danna

2009-01-16T20:39:00.001+01:00

Yesterday Danna and I took the 3 1/2 hr drive (one-way) to Dallas for her follow-up visit with her pediatric nephrologist. All went remarkably well!! Her dr was very pleased with her reaction to 8 weeks of low-dose chemotherapy and he suspects that she'll be in remission from nephrotic syndrome for 2-3 years. Her white blood count stayed within normal limits despite the treatment, which he saw as a good sign. And there hasn't been any protein in her urine for a few weeks, so these are all positive signs. She had no hair loss nor weight loss nor rashes -- nothing that would be considered a negative response.

This morning was the first time in 7 months that she didn't have some type of medicine to take-- it was wonderful! We are waiting to hear from the medical office of the State Department regarding paper work and tickets back to Prague. The sorting, organizing,and packing of the last 9 weeks (which included Christmas and Jad's b-day) begins today!

Thank you for all the support, concern, prayers, and well-wishes from so many of you -- REALLY appreciate it! Now, if any of you are near Oklahoma City, wanna come help me pack?!?! :-)

Erin

Back in Prague...

2009-01-14T23:26:00.002+01:00

... where the eggs are so fresh that they come with part of the chicken still attached:

I've been chasing "White Christmases" all my life... and the year we all travel away from home to go "home" for Christmas... one comes here to Prague. It started snowing on Christmas eve, and we still have 2-3 inches on the ground! For a guy who's never lived through a real winter, this stuff is fantastic, and I'm enjoying the 20 degree weather!

Erin and the kids are still in Oklahoma City, but Danna is responding really well to her treatment, and we hope to be reunited back here in Prague later this month or early next. We can then "un-pause" our life and get back to normal living here in Prague... cleaning chicken feathers off of eggs, included!