WOW! What a trip!

The two weeks spent in Guatemala was a real eye opener. We experienced happy times and sad times as well as fun and entertaining moments. Our work at Casa Angelina was tough and very gratifying and we know we made a difference. The orphans we saw and visited were so wonderful and asked for nothing. It was a real pleasure to be able to make a difference in a few children's lives.

We visited 4 orphanages and spent some quality time with many of the children. We saw kids of all ages and from all walks of life. The one thing they all had in common was there love for life. None of them complained about anything, it was very humbling and made you feel that you can do more for them. I need to get the message out and to try and raise some funds to help some of them lead better lives.

Orphan Resources International is truly a wonderful organization that is helping 40+ orphanages in a 50 mile radius of Guatemala City. They deliver food to them and try and bring down work teams, like ourselves, to help the many homes.
http://www.orphanresources.org/

I want to thank everyone for a wonderful opportunity. The students from Northumberland High School were great friends and rose to every challenge. They are the best!

Here are a few pictures from one of the orphanages:

I drove Devon to the Registry of Motor Vehicles today where he wrote and passed his beginners driving test. He is now out with Nadine driving around the neighborhood.
16 years go by so fast. It seems like only yesterday that I was giving a math test to some business students at the College when Nadine called to say it was time.
I am so very proud of him and wish him a very Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Devon.

A very Happy New Year to everyone. We had a quiet New Year's eve at home this year with Colin, Peter and Devon and I. (Devon had a couple of friends over). New Years day found about 25cm of snow on the ground and very high winds. Colin's 11:40am flight was cancelled but he got booked on another one at 3:00pm. After an hour of snow shoveling, Colin and I drove to the airport. What normally takes a little over an hour, took us two and a half hours of driving in terrible conditions. I got him there at 2:20, just in time for his flight. He didn't take off until 4:30 though. I turned around and drove home, I made it in 2 hours. Another 20 cm of snow fell during the day and our drive way is filled back in again.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday this year and I wish everyone a prosperous 2009.

December 24th and all is well in Durham. All of the boys are home for the holidays and we are all enjoying this time together. This is the first year that one of us had to work on Christmas day, Devon has to work at the local convenience store (Lyons Brook Food Town) from noon until 5 pm. We are all going to keep him company during the day.

I hope everyone has a wonderful time during these holidays.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

How time flies when you are in a nice warm climate. The weather here has been very cool according to the locals, today it was a cool 24º in the afternoon and it was about 8º in the morning. I could get used to this cold weather.

I have been meeting and dining with friends I have made here in Guadalajara. I have been to dinner with 4 different people so far and have been treated extremely well. The people here are very friendly.
I have also seen many different looking sculptures around the city and have put some of the pictures on flickr.

I was the guest speaker for a class in international relations on Monday morning and showed a presentation and chatted about Nova Scotia and Canada. I also had some very successful meetings on Monday and today dealing with new projects for students and staff from both institutions (UNIVA and NSCC). The trip has been a great success.

It is very different to see palm trees and christmas trees in the same place and warm weather...it does not feel like Christmas.

This has been a wonderful opportunity to reacquaint myself with old friends and see the real people of México.

The tree from the last post lit up.

After 81/2 hours of flying time, I made it safely to Guadalajara. I went for a quick walk last night and had a nice supper of spaghetti and salsa. Today I went to the historical part of town and took a few pictures and walked through the Mercado Libertad (the liberty market) there is over 2800 stalls in the 3 floor building. Unfortunately I am not a shopper and I walked out without spending a cent. I did notice that most of the Christmas decorations are up (as can be seen by the photos) and the christmas music is in the stores. I will post some more pictures when I take more.




This picture was taken in the downtown area of the city.

This picture was taken at Plaza del Sol.

Nadine and I had a wonderful 4 days in New York last weekend. We stayed in Midtown, Manhattan and were about 2 - 3 blocks from Times Square and 1 block from Broadway. We saw many of the popular sites including Wall street, China Town, the financial district, the site of the world trade buildings, and we got to the top of the empire state building. We also had a “Big Apple Greeter” who showed us around most of the south part of Manhattan on Saturday morning. We went to one broadway play (Spamalot) and one off-broadway play (the Perfect Crime). The weather was a little wet, however, we saw everything we wanted to. It is one great city.

A view from the Hudson River

Macy's, the world's largest store.