MIA on Book Club Posts... but here were our last few books in case you're looking for reading recommendations!
#1 Oct 2010: A Scattered Life by Karen McQuestion
Would not recommend
#2 Nov 2010: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrel
Recommend
#3 Jan 2011: Those who Save Us by Jenna Bloom
The story from a German family during World War II.
Recommend
#4 Feb 2011: Love Story by Eric Segal
Would not recommend
#5 Mar 2011 A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
Would not recommend
#6 April 2011 ROOM by Emma Donoghue A sad story of a woman kept in captivity and her child's escape.
Highly Recommend
#6 May 2011 Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson more like 3 cups of deceit - the 'story' of a man who wants to promote world peace by providing education to underprivileged communities.
Would not recommend
#7 June 2011 Bossypants by Tina Fey so hilarious, it's worth the quick-light read
Highly Recommend
#8 July 2011: Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor Mary Ellen's friend wrote this and it's totally worth reading! An honest diary of one woman's life as she lost her husband while pregnant with their first child. Makes you appreciate life, love and family.
Recommend
#9 Aug 2011: Scandalous Women by Elizabeth Mahon Short stories, easy reads, but not particularly a can't-put-it-down-page-turner.
Would not recommend
#10 Sept 2011: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Loved Kite Runner, Loved this one too
Highly Recommend
#11 Oct 2011: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon oops, didn't read this one!
Didn't Read
#12 Nov 2011: Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot An interesting story of a medical breakthrough due to one woman's cancer cells.
Recommend
#13 Jan 2012: UNBROKEN, by Laura Hillenbrand
Didn't Read
#14 Feb 2012: Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez classic....ly boring
Would not recommend
#15 Mar 2012: Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Socilogist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh
Recommend
#16 Apr 2012: Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson The pages keep turning as you wonder if the next day will be the one of revealation. An incredible revelation about 3/4ths of the way through.
Highly Recommend
#17 May 2012: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain I found myself incredibly curious about the life of Ernest Hemmingway after this story of his first wife.
Highly Recommend
#18 June 2012: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese Takes awhile to get into, but the second half of the book moves quickly once you've started deeply caring for the twins, Marion and Shiva.
Recommend
#19 July 2012: 50 Shades of Gray Trilogy
Recommend
#20 Sept 2012: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern The mythical story of a circus and two children bonded forever in a game where there are no rules.
Highly Recommend
#21 Oct 2012: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn A disturbing fictional story of a married couple bonded together by the psychotic wife.
Highly Recommend
#22 Dec 2012: Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
49 hours in Haiti
Ernie & I recently spent a long weekend in Haiti. Having been around the world, I can safely say that Haiti is unlike any place I've ever seen in the world. Although there is extreme poverty everywhere you look, there are thousands of helping hands from around the world.
My good friend Tony from Kellogg, aka "Travel Buddy" coined during our jaunt around southern Africa, is one of the many who are pitching in. He has spent 44 weeks down in Haiti working to provide access to clean water for those in the Central Plateau.
We met a kind woman on the plane (who recognized us from TV) that was traveling down to work in an Orphanage/School about an hour from the city. A Colorado native, she spends much of her time in Haiti educating and caring for children orphaned by the earthquake. We learned that there are makeshift-orphanages that solicit foreign donations, yet are not really an orphanage. They recruit neighborhood kids to pretend to be orphans while donors visit to check in on their investment. She cautioned us to check into any orphanages we might donate to.
Tony picked us up in the Port-Au-Prince airport on Friday morning. We had a jam packed day of meeting Tony's professional network. The fastest (but not safest) form of transport was mototaxi. We traveled in a gang of mototaxis from one meeting to another and it was quite the experience! I had never been on a motorcycle before but I trusted Tony's judgement on this one.
Saturday morning was spent with 17 kids at a local orphanage where Ernie played soccer with the kids, they sang and jumped rope. The soccer ball was so old and deflated, the ropes were several pieces of twine knotted together. Kids ages 4-14 ran around in knock-off Crocs in the most vibrant colors worn to the sole. We often take for granted how easy it is to stop by the local sports store and buy a new soccer ball or new toys, while these children really test the longevity of material goods because they have very limited access to them. I wish we had brought toys to donate, rather than cases of cookies and candy, although I'm sure they are grateful for anything we could have brought.
In the afternoon, we took a private "tap tap" (minivan) on a driving tour of downtown. The palace was crushed and crumbled, while the once beautiful green park is now covered in a massive tent city. Approximately 600 thousand people live in tents. It's been almost two years since the damaging earthquake, yet there is still vast reminders of the destruction. Roads are torn up with potholes every few feet, trash is carlessly littered everwhere and there's no goverment trash removal, houses with three walls and families still living inside. Devestation was everywhere, except on the people's faces. Haitians seem content, happy and faithful to their religion.
Off we were to the southern coastal city of Jacmel. A tourism company owner from last night's book club encouraged us to go. She said "it's like New Orleans with the Creole architecture." It may be Creole but there was little to no resemblance to New Orleans. We stopped at a lovely hotel for a lobster lunch. "The view was better than the lobster," Tony accurately remarks. The remainder of the day was spent with ex-pats on the beach eating fresh oysters and lobster (again) over lively conversation.
We met such a wide array of people, and thank them for their generosity. Meetings with leaders included the Haitian Tourism Board, American Chamber of Commerce, Red Cross, Cross International (thanks for housing us!), Save the Children, Caribbean Harvest Foundation, We Advance (a women and children's empowerment organization), World Vision, Rotary and perhaps the most inspirational of all - the Peace Dividend Trust. There's somewhere between 2,900-5,000 Non-Profits making a social impact.
Despite all this help, there's still no infrastructure for some of the basics like education, electricty, clean water or sanitation. I worry about the level of dependency the country has on foreign aid. A new political leader was recently elected so time will tell if the significant changes needed will come to fruition.
My good friend Tony from Kellogg, aka "Travel Buddy" coined during our jaunt around southern Africa, is one of the many who are pitching in. He has spent 44 weeks down in Haiti working to provide access to clean water for those in the Central Plateau.
We met a kind woman on the plane (who recognized us from TV) that was traveling down to work in an Orphanage/School about an hour from the city. A Colorado native, she spends much of her time in Haiti educating and caring for children orphaned by the earthquake. We learned that there are makeshift-orphanages that solicit foreign donations, yet are not really an orphanage. They recruit neighborhood kids to pretend to be orphans while donors visit to check in on their investment. She cautioned us to check into any orphanages we might donate to.
Tony picked us up in the Port-Au-Prince airport on Friday morning. We had a jam packed day of meeting Tony's professional network. The fastest (but not safest) form of transport was mototaxi. We traveled in a gang of mototaxis from one meeting to another and it was quite the experience! I had never been on a motorcycle before but I trusted Tony's judgement on this one.
Saturday morning was spent with 17 kids at a local orphanage where Ernie played soccer with the kids, they sang and jumped rope. The soccer ball was so old and deflated, the ropes were several pieces of twine knotted together. Kids ages 4-14 ran around in knock-off Crocs in the most vibrant colors worn to the sole. We often take for granted how easy it is to stop by the local sports store and buy a new soccer ball or new toys, while these children really test the longevity of material goods because they have very limited access to them. I wish we had brought toys to donate, rather than cases of cookies and candy, although I'm sure they are grateful for anything we could have brought.
In the afternoon, we took a private "tap tap" (minivan) on a driving tour of downtown. The palace was crushed and crumbled, while the once beautiful green park is now covered in a massive tent city. Approximately 600 thousand people live in tents. It's been almost two years since the damaging earthquake, yet there is still vast reminders of the destruction. Roads are torn up with potholes every few feet, trash is carlessly littered everwhere and there's no goverment trash removal, houses with three walls and families still living inside. Devestation was everywhere, except on the people's faces. Haitians seem content, happy and faithful to their religion.
Off we were to the southern coastal city of Jacmel. A tourism company owner from last night's book club encouraged us to go. She said "it's like New Orleans with the Creole architecture." It may be Creole but there was little to no resemblance to New Orleans. We stopped at a lovely hotel for a lobster lunch. "The view was better than the lobster," Tony accurately remarks. The remainder of the day was spent with ex-pats on the beach eating fresh oysters and lobster (again) over lively conversation.
We met such a wide array of people, and thank them for their generosity. Meetings with leaders included the Haitian Tourism Board, American Chamber of Commerce, Red Cross, Cross International (thanks for housing us!), Save the Children, Caribbean Harvest Foundation, We Advance (a women and children's empowerment organization), World Vision, Rotary and perhaps the most inspirational of all - the Peace Dividend Trust. There's somewhere between 2,900-5,000 Non-Profits making a social impact.
Despite all this help, there's still no infrastructure for some of the basics like education, electricty, clean water or sanitation. I worry about the level of dependency the country has on foreign aid. A new political leader was recently elected so time will tell if the significant changes needed will come to fruition.
The Amazing Race
Hello Again!
Sorry for the posting hiatus. I'm not sure that anyone will even see this post since it's been so long since I've updated the blog. As you may or may not have heard, Ernie and I recently raced around the world on Season 19 of the Amazing Race! Check out some of the fun articles that were posted during the cast announcement:
Sorry for the posting hiatus. I'm not sure that anyone will even see this post since it's been so long since I've updated the blog. As you may or may not have heard, Ernie and I recently raced around the world on Season 19 of the Amazing Race! Check out some of the fun articles that were posted during the cast announcement:
Entertainment Weekly got the exclusive annoucement!
I never thought we'd ever be in People Magazine. Not only once, but twice!
Thanks to some local support, you can read about us in the Chicago Sun Times and the Red Eye Chicago.
Perhaps the true mark of "making it", we got a small shout out in The Soup!
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