Thanks for the memories

Hi Andy - Thanks for the photos! I have all of these photos so maybe they were taken with my camera or maybe I got copies from someone - who knows. But anyway, it was fun to see them. I also want to learn how to put on photos, but I am just too busy to learn something new right now. Maybe this summer I can add that to my list of things to do. I am swamped at school, as usual. This year seems more difficult than years past. We are under so much pressure to catch kids up that are below grade level so they can pass standardized tests so that our school will make AYP. Sometimes it seems the system administrators are more interested in "documenting" all the strategies we are implementing than in actually helping the students. This drives me crazy! I spend more time filling out paperwork and documenting what I do than actually teaching. My Mom fell and broke her shoulder over Labor Day so I have been quite busy taking care of her while she cannot drive. She is making good progress, but things take longer to heal the older you get. I am working on getting ready for Thanksgiving - both cooking the dinner for my family and Ron's and training for running the Atlanta Half- Marathon. This race is an Atlanta tradition and I love to run in it even though it makes having dinner at my house a bit difficult. Fortunately, Ron cooks the turkey while I am running. It he didn't do this I don't think we could pull it off.

I haven't heard from Katie so I don't know if she got to go to Portland, Oregon? Has anyone else heard from her? Well, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope everyone has a great holiday!

Lois

Photos

Finally today I got my scanner fixed and found some of the Rome pics as well as one of Loise and me in Nashville visiting Ron with Katie back in the summer of 1973. I don't remember who took these photos, some have captions on the back. Also Im not clever enough with the blog to combine text with photos in one entry which is why today is a record for the blog. Ten entries! That's way more than the whole year. I will slowing add more photos, of my kids for instance and mi wife, Cristina. Amazing my son, Leo, our blog master (and seriously he is willing to help anyone with advice on how to load photos and such -- his email is leotzin@gmail.com) well he is now older than I was when the photos I just put on the blog were made! Well hope are well.

At last Photos

blogging

Hi Lois: I actually wrote a comment to Katie's entry but I suspect the comment part of the blog is more for individual bloggers and not a group blog -- I guess or hope that the blog will take its own form as we go along. My son, Emilio, is visiting us before going on an exchange semester at UC San Diego, so hopefully I will get a chance to get my scanner functioning once again and start scanning photos from Rome. Just imagin Mike! we both had hair back then. I do have this blog site in my internet screen list and check it quite a lot since this year will be spent almost full time in front of a computer. Also as you mentioned Lois concerning Chinese recalls, when I listen to the ups and downs of the stock exchanges under the cloud of the subprime mortages I do wonder how things are in China and New York, Mike. And thinking out loud with this August comment I do hope we can get Ron signed into the blog. Sending him an email is on my list of things to do.

Hi from Hotlanta!

Hi Everyone - Katie - Welcome! I am so glad you got on the blog. I also do not know how to post photos. If you figure it out, maybe you can help me. I am glad your father is doing a little better. My Mom seems to age every day - it is really sad. I have not checked the blog is a while because I had to get a new computer and get it set up and also the beginning of school has been hectic as usual. The job interview I went to in Baltimore turned out to be a wild goose chase. But I'm glad I tried because I would have always wondered what if . . . So I am back in the old grind of teaching, testing, paperwork, etc. Katie, I hope you get to go to the workshop in Portland. That was one of the cities we visited on our vacation this summer. If you get there make sure you go to get some Zombie Donuts. It is a hole in the wall place open late at night with really good donuts. Make sure someone goes with you - it is in a not so good part of town. Also visit Powell Book Store. I believe it is the world's largest bookstore (or maybe the largest in the US). Anyway, it is quite interesting.

Atlanta is sizzling, literally. WE have had 8 days of over 100 degrees. It is just too hot to do anything outside. Even the kids at school don't want to go out for recess! What does that tell you. Oh, to be back in the ice and snow at Mr. Rainer and Mt. Hood! Katie, maybe you can visit Mr. Hood while you are in Portland - it is very close.

Mike, Jeff, and Andy - What are you all up to? Mike - have you been in Chine lately? What do the Chinese think about all the product recall problems? Well, I'm going to sign off because my eyes are hurting. I have already gotten pink eye from one of the Kindergarten kids I have been testing. The kids are little germ buckets! Everyone take care!

Lois

I finally made it!

Hi everyone,
I am feeling really proud of myself that I finally made it onto the blog! It was great reading your old posts and seeing the photos Andy put on the blog. I have no idea how to do this but maybe with Costas' help I can mange to post a photo of us for those who haven't met him.

As some of you already know my mum passed away last month and my dad, my husband and I continue to live in Larnaca at our beach house , which is right on the beach, with our two dogs, both beautiful muts, Hooch 101/2 yrs. old and Booby 2 yrs. We are doing OK thou'my dad has aged alot in the last year due to health problems and ofcourse my mother's death. He seems to be picking up now and i am very happy about that.

I continue to remain active in politics athough I am no longer an MP and I am in the process of translating a book my dad wrote recently about his 10 years in the presidency focusing on Cyprus'accession to the EU and the negotiations for a solution which led to the Annan plan, from Greek into English. My latest project is trying to learn Turkish as part of my reconciliation activities. However I find that living down by the sea make you feel as if you are continually on holiday and it is not so conducive to being productive. I realise now that I am at my best when I am under pressure.

In October, 8th-15th, I am invited to participate in a workshop on Cyprus at Portland State University which I hope very much to attend all being well with my father. I hope to be able to combine it with a short stop-over in NY as a guest at Mike and Jeff's wonderful apartment so I will keep you all posted in case there is any chance of a mini-reunion.

Hope you all have a wonderful summer, see you all soon on the blog,
Katie

photo from Puerto Vallarta

Hi Lois:

Great to hear about all your travels, especially this year since I will for the most part be held up in my study trying to finish with editing two books that are long overdue. No travel for me so its nice to hear about all your adventures. I tried to upload a photo taken of Mike, Jeff and Cristina while we were visiting in Puerto Vallarta. Hopefully I managed.

About almost a month ago I got a message that Katie had accepted to open a gmail account so hopefully that means she is moving towards joining the blog. I haven't heard from Ron but with luck his computer savy children will be home for Summer. Again it was great to hear from you and I still have it on my list to find old photos, scan them and put them on the blog.

Happy 4th!

Hi Everyone - I just finished running the Peachtree Road Race, an Atlanta tradition, and thought I would wish everyone a Happy 4th of July!. I have been up since 4:00 AM because I volunteer at the start of the race and then run it. So if I am incoherent, you know why.

I'll catch you all up on my latest adventures. Amy (my daughter) and I went out to San Francisco the 3rd weekend in May. I had always wanted to run in the Bay to Breakers Race (12K) and I decided this was the year to do it. It is an inconvenient time for me since I am still in school and I couldn't take much time off. So we just went for the weekend and had a fabulous time! The weather was beautiful - sunny and clear - does that sound like San Francisco? We did as much as humanly possible in 2 1/2 days - Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Cable car ride, Ferry to Sauslito, shopping, etc. The race was on Sunday morning and it was different from any race that I have ever run. They divide the race into 2 groups - runners and people in costume. Even a lot of the runners are in costume and some men run naked (this is a Bay to Breakers tradition). The whole race is like a giant party. I screamed when I saw the first naked man and everyone was laughing at me. I said "We don't do this in Atlanta!" Another runner yelled back, "This ain't Kansas, Dorothy!" Anyway, you get the picture. The race was a blast and I'm so glad I did it. Also, it was very nice to spend some time with Amy.

Then Ron and I took a week's vacation out to the Pacific Northwest which I had never been to before. We flew into Seattle and rented a car and went down the Oregon coast. We stayed at Cannon Beach which is beautiful. I am not used to being cold at the beach but it was quite chilly and our room had a fireplace in it. We went to an Oregon State Park - Silver Falls - which has 10 waterfalls. We got there very early in the morning, so we had the place to ourselves. I love to hike when there is no one else around. We then went to Portland and then drove along the Columbia River Gorge. The gorge was pretty but not spectalular as we had expected. We went on to Mt. Hood and stayed at the Timberline Lodge, built in 1937 by the WPA. It is a great place to stay because you are right at the foot of the mountain. I could look out our window at the Lodge and see snow on the ground! Actually, they have year round skiing at Timberline so the place was packed with skiiers and snowboarders. I had never been to a ski lodge before, so I really enjoyed watching all the skiing. I would really like to try skiing someday, but Ron is not at all interested. Anyone want to go skiing with me? I would have to take lessons. After Mr. Hood we went to Mr. Ranier and stayed at the National Park Inn. It is very rustic, no phone or TV. We did not get to hike much near the mountain because there was still so much snow. We did one "easy" hike and almost killed ourselves in the snow and ice. Apparently you have to go in August if you want to avoid all the snow. We did find several nice trails at lower altitudes that led to waterfalls. We finished the trip in Seattle. I really enjoyed Seattle - we had great weather - no rain! I visited the original Starbucks several times and drank coffee constantly.

Well, that's about it for me. I need to take a nap so I can stay awake for a 4th of July party tonight. What have you all been up to? Hope everyone is well. Take Care!

Lois

Welcome Lois

Hi Lois:

I confess I haven't been visting the blog for the last few weeks since I figured I needed to scan some old photos and put them on the site in hopes of interesting you guys to come on board and as usual I've yet to get around to finding the photos much less scanning them. But like everything these exchanges have their cycles. I will send Katie and Ron invitations to join gmail since that may be one of the things that is blocking their arrival to the site.
Way to go on the mini-marathon runs. I would need a couple years to prepare since my excercise is now extreme stationary cycling. Nonetheless travelling to different runs in major cities sounds exciting. I'm sure running in San Francisco would be a thrill. I was born on a sort of island naval base in the bay, Mare Island -- lots of us were while our parents got pulled into the Korean war-- but I've never made it back beyond the SF airport. I imagine that a SF run means going up and down hills but hopefully close to sea level. Here in Mexico there is a Mexico City marathon but that is at 2,200 meters, say a half a mile higher than Denver which should really change your running.
Glad you made it to the blog. Hope Mike finds time to comment and I will try to send those gmail invites to Ron and Katie.

Greetings from Lois - the new Blogger

Hi Mike, Andy, Leo and anyone else who has figured out this Blog thing. I had to get my husband, Ron, to help me but maybe I am now a member of the Rome Mates. This is the most exciting thing I have done is weeks so what does that tell you about my life! Actually, things are going pretty well. My aunt (who had a stroke) is home and doing much better. I saw her today and she is walking pretty fast on her new walker. We had better come up with another reunion pretty soon before we are all on walkers! I ran in the Georgia ING Half-Marathon a few weekends ago and survived. I no longer worry about my time; just if I finish. In May, my daughter Amy and I are going to San Francisco and I am going to run in the Bay to Breakers race. This is supposed to be a fun race and I have always wanted to do it. Unfortunately, I will still be in school and we can only go for the weekend. Amy is very excited about going because she has not been to San Francisco since her Dad died in 1995. Bill (my first husband) always wanted me to run this race so I think it will be cool. I am really looking forward to school being out - I am SO burned out this year! I have not heard from Katie - I hope her Mom is all right. Hope to hear from ya'll soon.

Lois

Hi, again.

I referred to 2 reunions that took place in 2006, but omitted mention of Andy's name with the second one. It was Andy & his family (minus one child) that I met in Puerto Vallarta over the year-end holidays.

It was the first time we had seen each other in 20+ years. They drove something like 6 hours from their home in Michoacan, spent a few days relaxing on the other side of PV's Pacific bay, and then drove down to spend half a day with Jeff and me. It was great catching up with Andy & Cristina and meeting two of the kids I'd seen as children "all grown up".

Mike

Hi from Mike

Hey, Andy & Leo & the rest of the extended AUFS gang.

Thanks for setting this up for alumni of the AUFS Institute for Mediterranean Studies Class of 1972! It will be a nice meeting point for us to share news, information, photos and whatnot in-between our infrequent reunions.

[For the record, though, I note that we did manage to have TWO reunions in 2006 - the first one was in NYC in the fall and included Katie, Lois, Ron & Mike. The second was in Puerto Vallarta between Xmas & New Years and included (with most of family) and Mike.

I've been reading a number of blogs for the past year or so, but this will be the first time that I've been a regular contributor to one. I look forward to the experience!

Voliamo gelato!

Mike

A message from Andy

Well I made it to the blog site and now I will post this. Hope the blog site name is ok but then again it can be changed as can the very black background. In the next few weeks I will look for some of my old Rome photos and try to put them on the site with help from Leo, our blog master, of course.

Hi Everyone

Hi,

So I have set up this blog as requested by my dad. Once you add yourselves to it, you will be able to add posts fairly easily, and put them up on the blog. And also change anything you might want to change in it (the address, the template, the title, everything is changeable).

If you got any questions, you can email me (or my dad, he can forward them to me... hehe).