Los Angeles (Aug 6 - 8, 2010)
On August 6th, we flew out of Sydney for LA. There we hired a car and drove to my Aunt Margaretha's home in West Hollywood. Raina and Margaretha were introduced and within five minutes they became the best of friends. If you see some of the photos and videos of this time, you will observe how happy Raina was the be with Margaretha in her lovely home. (It got even better when we returned a month later.) At this point I had a suspicion that this trip was going to be all about Raina.
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| Raina and Tom playing "I Spy". |
Hard to believe this was just our first night in the US. Jet lag was the only thing that prevented us (including Raina) from staying up late to be together. Raina seemed to get her second wind at around 10pm and didn't want to go to bed.
Orlando (Aug 8 - 14)
The primary reason for my trip was to attend Agile2010, a software development conference in Orlando. When I said I might be going to Orlando, home of Disney World, Mei-Ling announced, "you're not going without Raina and me", and so it was, we made a whole big trip out of it.
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| Goofy came to say hello. |
Sad, but interesting, this conference was originally planned for the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, but in May, the hotel was flooded and badly damaged, and so the conference was moved to Orlando. Not so bad for us, though - we got to have a holiday that we probably wouldn't normally do. And we got to visit Nashville anyway.
Chicago (Aug 14 - 17)
After Orlando, we flew to Chicago for three fun-filled days with Amelia and Shahram Dana and their 8-week-old baby boy Caelin (who is simply adorable), and Raina's cousins Emily and Juliette.
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| Dinner with the Chicago gang. |
Amelia is the perfect Mom - very patient and easy going. Caelin has adoring parents and is one very lucky little boy. We loved staying with them in their 23rd floor apartment in the heart of Chicago, overlooking the lake. Chicago is such a wonderful city, there's no doubt about it. If we had had more time, we certainly would have gone to see a show, since Amelia and Shahram live right in the heart of the theatre district.
It is fortunate that Amelia and Shahram are very good friends with my nieces Emily and Juliette, so we were able to do many things all together.
Emily was so kind and attentive, picking us up from the airport, taking us to the Baha'i House of Worship, inviting us to her concert in the park and the Sunday devotional at her home. Her cute little apartment is obviously a centre of much activity and she is a most hospitable host.
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| Cousins: Emily, Raina & Juliette. |
Both of the girls were apparently caught in Raina's spell. By the end of the stay, Juliette even let Raina brush her hair.
Thanks again Milly, Shahram, Emily and Juliette for a great little Chicago escape!
Nashville (Aug 17 - Sep 3)
Family and Friends...
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| Fun days with Auntie Charmaine. |
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| Ahhh, the Hammock! |
Of course it wasn't entirely about Raina. I had a selfish brother-sister only day with Charmaine, which was superb. We started the day with an early-morning clothes shopping expedition, then we went to the famous Kroger for groceries, had lunch, made a silly YouTube video together, went to the movies (Inception), went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, and watched another movie on Tom's 42" TV. Try doing all that in a day anywhere else!
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| "Cute Poses". |
While at David's, we had a little catch up party with some old friends. It was so nice to see Laura D'Angelo, Cindy Alinikoff, Nikki Gundry, Carmel and Vipul Lakhani (and to meet their kids), Jan Ray, Jim Traub and Lishy. It was a special evening, and we seemed to have quality time with everyone.
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| Dinner at Auntie Lishy's. |
Special Visits...
As if this trip wasn't special enough, two of my closest friends on the planet went out of the their way to come visit us in Nashville. I was very touched by this and have to say how happy it made the trip being able to see them.
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| Suyash and Tamsin. |
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| Hanging out with the Newells. |
My BMI Buddies...
One of the great things about being back in Nashville was seeing the many friends I made while I worked at BMI from 1998 to 2006.
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| With David & Mitzi at City House. |
I also had lunch at McNamara's with Jay Allen, my Project Manager and former tennis buddy. He moved on from BMI a few years back, so we had lots to catch up on. It was great to see him. I really miss our fantastic games of tennis!
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| Dinner with Tene & Joseph, Lisa & Jamal. |
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| Janise, me, Michelle, Sallie, Peter & Jeff. |
The New Bahá'í Centre...
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| At the Baha'i Center with Bahman & Faran. |
Reminiscing...
One of the places on our must-see list was our old condo at 420 Bowling Avenue. I have incredibly happy memories of living there and am still a bit sad that we had to sell up and leave (although I am told that I did sell at the best time possible!). We made no specific plan to visit it, but after lunch down-town one day, we decided we'd just do a drive-through to check it out. In the driveway, who do we see, but our neighbour, the incredible Capucine Monk. Such a coincidence, not just that she happened to be home at this hour, but also that she had moved out for some 13 months and only recently moved back in. We had lost touch with Capucince, so it was wonderful to be invited up and to catch up on her life and all the gossip from the property!
Regrettably, there are a number of friends in Nashville we didn't get to see. I guess that always happens when you go back to where you lived. Part of it was our fault for not getting out and about as much as we should. Anyway, sorry to all those we didn't get to see:
- Eli Bowe (congratulations on your recent marriage!)
- Amir and Fruz Roshan
- Rasheedah Pardue
- Marabeth & Ken (Mei-Ling got to see them at their Nashville wedding reception, but I missed it. Congratulations, you two!)
- Maxcia and Louis Lizarraga
- Kathy Diaz
- Karen and Derek Streets-Anderson
- Gina Mendello
- Lua Crofts
- Denice Hicks (hope the Shakespeare festival went well)
- And anyone else we left out (sorry)!
There is also one solitary relative we didn't get to see. Rachael, Raina's youngest cousin (on the Price side) lives in New York now, and was unable to meet up with us anywhere on this trip. However, we had dinner with her boyfriend, Marshall, on Rachael's birthday, so you could call that a kind of proxy catch-up. It was great to meet Marshall.
The Restaurant Check-list...
Mei-Ling and I had talked about all the restaurants we HAD to go to again. You know, those places you haven't been to for five years, and your mouth waters every time you think of them. So here's the list:
- Baja Burrito - check!
- Noshville - check!
- Las Americas - check! (the BEST cuisine from El Salvador)
- Lotsa Mexican - check!
- That Persian restaurant on Thompson Lane - check! (Darwin and Andrew)
- Logan's Roadhouse - check! (not exactly high on our list, but it was the only place open on Labor Day as we rushed to the airport)
- New places: City House in Germantown (great Italian), The Hutton Hotel (cheaper than it looks, great burgers), and McNamara's Irish Pub in Donelson (great corned beef)
- :( - we missed out on: Hot Kabobs (closed, I hear), F. Scotts (where I proposed to Mei-Ling), Kazu (also closed apparently), Ken's Sushi, Tony Roma's.
Tennessee Bahá'í School (Sep 3 - 6)
Squeezing the Tennessee Bahá'í School (TBS) into our trip was essential. This is a milestone event in the TN Bahá'í community's year, and Mei-Ling and I have fond memories of past schools. We had every intention of attending as many sessions as possible (and we did - a couple), but for us, TBS was mostly about seeing our dear friends again after so long and introducing them to Raina, and Raina to the millions of children who have popped up since we left Nashville. It was a remarkable thing!
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| At TBS with Lishy, Shiva, Joel & Mei-Ling. |
How utterly fantastic to see Charity and Dan Hofert again. Charity's brilliant art (See www.etsy.com/shop/charityelise) has gone from greatness to further greatness and this is only topped by her love and enthusiasm for us ... well ... Raina in particular! I really miss Charity's wit and humour. There's nothing quite like it!
I had a wonderful time catching up with Neda Ferdowsi again after so long. We always have lots to talk about and it was just like the old days. Neda had just come back from a big trip to Canada and other parts of the US, and is travelling some more now, I believe. It's a great time in her life.
It was lovely to see Sandy Gordon. I so often think of her beautiful daughter Laura, my dear friend who passed away in 2003. Sandy has turned the grief of losing her into a wonderfully creative enterprise called Forlora, producing Baha'i burial rings, shrouds and so forth, providing a unique and special service to the community that is truly remarkable.
I also had the pleasure of a really long (fairly uninterrupted) conversation with Dorothy Marcic over dinner, which was magnificent. I wish I had half of Dorothy's energy, enthusiasm, intelligence and persistence. Afterwards I had a mini mid-life crisis when she let me drive her Lexus sports car back to the school. I should point out that Mei-Ling and I are already considering buying a mini-van, so this was a spectacular departure from my reality!
Also had lovely (but too brief) catch-ups with Jim Traub and the whole Traub gang, Bijan and Venus Ferdowsi, Korkhi Smothers, Carol Mansour, Lana Bogan, Holley and Giachery Lizarraga, Genevieve Bogan, Juliet Seals and numerous others. TBS has burst at the seams with some 450 attendees, so it can be difficult to properly catch up with everyone.
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| Raina hitches a ride on Neda's back. | Solomon, the "Tickle Monster". | Playing games on Dorothy's iPhone. |
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| Charity and me. Check out all her cool work! |
One of the highlights of TBS was actually off-campus. Each night we drove six miles with the gang to dinner at University of the South's McClurg Dining Hall. If you ever find yourself in the apparently remote part of Tennessee called Monteagle (or Sewanee), please make sure you check out this university. It has the old world charm and structural magnificence of an Ivy League college. And the dining hall, at $10.50 for all you can eat dinners, is a bargain and a half. I know that we might have missed out on some of the camaraderie at the TBS dining hall, but by the third night, after all our talking it up, it seemed we had half the school down at the University with us anyway! I especially enjoyed Solomon Hall's company at the dessert table.
But back to TBS, I really should say a special thanks to the organising committee, the unsung heroes of the school: Lishy, Carol Mansour, Nick Cote, Jennifer Leigh Block, Leanna Landry and all the other organisers. And of course to Allesandra, Richard and Naghmeh, who took the 3 & 4 year olds for the whole school and kept Raina occupied and interested while we attended sessions (and chatted to our old friends).
LA Part II (Sep 6 - 10)
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| Enjoying Crepes at the Farmer's Market. |
This was the first time I have seen Margaretha since my Uncle Julian passed away. She was so kind to take us to his resting place in Hollywood Forever, a crassly-named but rather pleasant cemetery off Santa Monica Boulevard. Julian's neighbours include Douglas Fairbanks and Johnny Ramone, amongst many other celebrities.
I've never visited LA without seeing a celebrity. Margaretha took us to the Farmer's Market Grove and we were in a kid's clothing store, when the papparazzi started taking photos of a woman (in the store) I didn't recognise, but Mei-Ling did. She was Michelle Monaghan, for those of you who know of her.
The Grove is a great place to hang out and we found a fantastic Creperie in the old part of the markets to have dinner.
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| We ate delicious Mexican food with Crystal. |
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| Rosh Hashana at Froggy's. |
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| Maya, Uzi, Eden and Raina. |
I loved watching Raina play with her older third-cousins. I think it might have been fun for Eden, too, not to be the youngest for a change.
On the Thursday, we all went out to celebrate the official start of Rosh Hashana in a joyous ceremony held at the Center for Energetic Healing in Simi Valley.
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| At Old Susana's Cafe in Simi Valley with Hope, Maya and Eden. |
Miscellany
Shop Till You Drop
Ross, TJ-Maxx, Kohl's, Wal-Mart, Fry's (even Macy's). You know the names. You know the prices. We couldn't help ourselves. Compared to Australian prices, these places are the best. Suffice it to say: we left Australia with two suit cases, we came back with three. How materialistic, I know, but you gotta wear clothes, right? And computers... don't get me started. Mei-Ling now sports a brand new Toshiba Netbook that she keeps on the kitchen counter to do property research, look up recipes and read her email.
The Perfect 10
I can't say I'm a big believer in astrology (anymore), but here's an interesting thing. Three of the greatest men I know are born on October 10: David Hall, Uzi Eliahou and Suyash Prasad. If you know them, you will agree that they are very gentle, very smart, and great listeners. These men are amongst my very best friends on earth, and they regularly come to mind when I think about how I'd like to behave in many situations. And I had the great pleasure to spend time with all of them on this American trip, so how's that for an added blessing? It must be a special year for them, too. David turns 59 on 10-10-'10 and Uzi turns 50 on 10-10-'10. Pretty important milestones in very symmetrical number patters. I love it.
Flights
How about that A380? We flew to LA and back on QANTAS' new jet. Granted, it was still economy, but those new planes are magnificent. The first thing you notice is how quiet they are (compared to other planes), and the other thing is the absolutely brilliant entertainment system. On-demand TV, movies, radio, you name it. Raina watched the kids shows - they kept her entertained and happy for hours. I watched my arthouse films, documentaries and British TV comedy classics, while Mei-Ling enjoyed her romantic comedies and blockbusters. We were all happy.
Final Observation
You know, this trip was meant to be. Do you ever get that feeling? Like you just know it's going to happen? From the time I found out about the conference, when it was not really likely that Cochlear would send me across the world to attend it, I felt like I was going to go. Mei-Ling felt like we were going to go. It was the right time for us to go back. The signs were there. This might sound strange, and a bit trivial, but - for some reason - for a number of months before the trip was decided, and afterwards as well, on my daily commute to and from work, I regularly saw cars with registration plates with the letters "BMI" and "BNA". More often than you'd think was statistically likely. BMI, of course, is the company that I worked for in Nashville for over seven years, and BNA is the airport code for Nashville. They say God works in mysterious ways, but that's the oddest sign I've seen from Him.
When people ask me for the number one highlight of this trip, I say the best thing was introducing Raina to our family and friends, and watching her interact with everyone. It was all about her, really. The trip would have been lovely for Mei-Ling and me alone, but it was a whole different experience seeing it through the eyes of a four year-old. Over the five weeks, I observed a small developmental change in her. Before we left, Raina would usually take about 15 minutes to "warm up" to someone new. By the end of the trip, she was eager to meet people (especially children), and was starting conversations in a matter of seconds.
This was the kind of vacation you'd call comfortable over adventurous. We were in familiar surroundings and with people we've known and loved for years. That was the right choice; it's what we needed. Having so much time off from our home routines and being surrounded by so much positive energy and love was VERY good for Mei-Ling and me. We work very hard in our "everyday" lives, and the year has had it's ups and downs, so this was just the injection we needed. The perfect vacation.
Special Thanks
You know, the reason this vacation was possible was because of Cochlear, and my manager, David Hargreave. I work for Cochlear in Sydney, and David pushed for me to be able to attend the conference in Florida. David has always been very supportive of me and going to this conference was fantastic, so thank you, David (seems like I've had a few David friends and bosses, doesn't it?).
1 comment:
You write so beautifully Darwin. Such a lovely story and a wonderful record of your trip which sounds very exciting. It is obvious that you all had a ball.
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