Tara!!

Monday, my dear friend, Tara, with whom I worked in Moscow, came to the city to visit the Turkish Consulate. We got a chance to catch up and even had time for a late lunch before she got the train back to Connecticut. Tara will be moving to Istanbul in the fall to be a College Counselor, a job at which she is INCREDIBLE!

Spending time with Tara today was a precious gift and I enjoyed every minute of it! Thanks, Tara! See you in Istanbul or Doha, whichever comes first!

Japan Day

Sunday was Japan Day in Central Park. Lance, Jin and I walked around the exhibits for at bit. The coolest exhibit was this robot. It was so real! Until you took a good look and realized her moves were a bit jumpy.

We found a nice place to sit under a tree and frisbee began. It was really nice just to lay on the grass and watch. Watch frisbee, watch people, watch the trees moving in the wind. We met a nice guy, named Amos, and a boy of about 10 or 11 who joined the frisbee game.


The highlight for the guys was helping some kids get their Aerobie (a ring that you throw like a frisbee) out of a huge tree. It was this little red spot about half-way up the tree. The guys threw everything at it, trying to shake it out and they were successful after about 15 minutes of attempts. I really wanted to see someone climb the tree, but I was left disappointed. :-P

Julia, Tammi, Ed, and Nicole showed up and played frisbee for a while and then Jin, Lance, Julia and I went for all-you-can-eat sushi at Yuka (2nd and 81st). On the way, Lance showed up this really cool Hungarian deli that sold Russian cookies called Iryaneekee. They are a soft gingerbread-like outside with filling (orange, my fave) inside. Ah, nostalgia!

Class on a Friday night??!!!!!??!!?!?!

So summer classes at Columbia started this past Monday, Memorial Day. I'm auditing a freshman level computer science class that meets on Mondays and Wednesdays. Due to Memorial Day, we didn't have class Monday so the instructor decides to hold class on Friday instead, as a 'make up day.' No problem, guy, what time of the day on Friday? "Same time as class." That's 5:30 to 8:40 on Friday night! Talk about messing up my plans for the evening.

Anyway, as soon as class was over, I went to meet up with my friends from the InterVarsity group and had a great time. Afterward, I sat with my friend on the steps of Low Library on an absolutely gorgeous night. It was the first time all year I actually was able to enjoy Columbia's campus. I plan on enjoying it a bit more before I leave here!

My mom and aunt are visiting next weekend!!! Yipee! I'm looking now for theater tickets and trying to find a reasonable price. Since they're going to be here on the weekend, standing in the lines in the afternoon to get the cheap tickets really won't work as that's only for weekday shows, so I'm told. We'll see what happens!

Driving in Moscow

People frequently ask me what it was like driving in Moscow. I've tried to explain it but words continue to fail me. Take a look at these YouTube videos for some examples:

A typical street experience in a 'suburb'


Turning left in Moscow


Normal city traffic on a snowy day. Pray you don't need an ambulance.

Memorial Day

Today is a day to honor all those who have fallen in battle for our country. I say it is also a day to honor all those who risk their very lives for our country now as well as all those who have risked their lives in the past. To all servicemen and women, especially my cousin Don, I am proud of you and I support you in all you must do to keep freedom free! As for me, today will again see me running into Sailors and Marines. It's Fleet Week here in Manhattan and they are everywhere, exploring the city and enjoying a little time off.

Today I will meet up with a new colleague from my new school, Kimann. We met briefly at the job fair while she was accepting the position. I'm excited to talk to someone in the same position as I am, finishing up here and yet thinking about there. I'm sure we have lots of the same questions and we can compare the answers we've found so far. It will be great also to go to Doha already knowing people. My friends, Mike and Rose, work there at the school already but they won't be there until a week after I arrive. Have fun on vacation, Mike and Rose!

So I am trying to learn Arabic. Yikes. It's a difficult language, especially the written script. So a letter has three ways of being drawn: one way if the letter starts a word, another way if it's in the middle of a word, and yet another if it ends a word. So there are really three alphabets in there. Wish me luck and great memory!

My friend, Kristy, is going to take me into many Arabic stores in Astoria later today. It will be good to learn which foods are which before I get to Doha. I really appreciate knowing this kind of thing because I don't want to end up buying or eating something strange and awful. :-P I'm going to look at my Arabic letters again before we go and maybe I can sound some things out.

Happy Memorial Day to all, and please remember what it's all about!

The Next Chapter

So, why a blog? Because I want my friends and family to know what my life is like overseas. Because I want a record for myself. Because I want a place to list all the websites I want to view. Because I want to learn something new. Because I absolutely suck at writing emails in a timely fashion, as all of you already know! So, here is my blog.

Why the name? Well, in college, my friends affectionately named me Footnotes because I don't tell a story in a straight line, like from point A to point B. Instead, I take my listeners on lots of little side stories, or footnotes, on their way to the end of the story. More than 15 years later, I am still the same Footnotes. So, to the ones who named me (A.J., Shane, and Ronn), you are always in my heart!! [And pumpkin pudding is still up my nose!] As for the 'From Afar' part, I'm not that afar just yet, although NYC does seem like another country. But there's no time like the present to begin a blog, so for a while, it's from Near-Afar.

The boxes have been packed and shipped. The dorm room is looking pretty empty. The flights (all 4 legs!) are arranged. Doha, here I come! Are you ready for me? I leave exactly 11 weeks from today and, although I still have much to accomplish this summer, I am so excited about going! The excitement is partly because I'm going to have a normal apartment again with all my treasures around me and partly because I'm really looking forward to working with the kids again. This year off has been wonderful but it has shown me just how much I love working with the students.

As for current events, today is my friend's graduation party out in Long Island. Renee, I wouldn't travel two hours for just anyone, dear!!! It'll be great to celebrate with her and meet her family from Jamaica. I helped a friend pack up her belongings last night and this morning, just as my wonderful friend, Perien, helped me do last week.

Right now, classes for Summer A have begun, but my classes don't start until Wednesday. So I'm on a mini-holiday for a few more days. Wahoo!!!