Note - Africa pics below.

I started a blog post for the rest of my Africa pics a while ago and only just now finished. They are located below the pics of D and R below.

-A

Re: first teeth!!!!

Finally! Some long-awaited photos of Ranier's first teeth. They are so cute, and it will be such a brief period when he only has 2 teeth--so enjoy! It's tough to get him to smile just right for the camera, but here are some of our attempts to capture them.

Dad and the boys reading a story. Aren't they all handsome???

Dahrius is having a grand weekend with so much attention. Maman took him to Lawrence Hall of Science in the morning, he helped Baba pick persimmons and quince in the afternoon, and mom and dad took him for a ride on the steam trains at nearby Tilden Park. What a lucky kid! Let's hope it goes OK with starting back up at preschool tomorrow.

More pics from Africa

I've browsed the rest of my pics from Africa and have strung together a quick travelog. Enjoy.

My lodging during the conference.

The conference location at the Shuttleworth Foundation.

There was a weaverbird building a nest in the garden.... so cool!

After the conference, I had two days to see as much of S Africa as possible. On the first day, I drove to the end of the Cape with two fabulous colleagues, Rich Baraniuk (Connexions) and Dave Rosenfeld (PIRGs) . We started by heading towards the Atlantic Coast and getting on a spectacular cliff-edge road around Hout Bay. The road, unfortunately, was closed due to a rockslide, but we could still drive up to the blockade and enjoy many of the views.

Views of Hout Bay.

My fellow travelers at Hout Bay. Dave , myself, Rich.

We then worked our way South towards Cape Point. The drive is spectacular: all cliffs, blue waters, and picturesque (if slightly overbuilt) towns that look like they could be part of the French Riviera. It was a glorious day, so it was also busy, but we were in no hurry. We decided to stop at one of the beaches on the way, and lo and behold, it turned out to be a penguin colony! Penguins, you say? Yes indeed. The Jackass Penguin is native to these parts and have several protected nesting sites along the coast. It brought memories of the Galapagos, not just because they were penguins, but also because they were quite unafraid. I wished Dahrius was there. And I loved the signs...

Penguins!!

Tee hee.

Onwards with the drive, with lots of stops to admire the awesome scenery. We eventually entered Cape Point National Park and worked our way to the lighthouse at Cape Point. There is a good climb at this point to actually get to the lighthouse, which we did in a hurry since we were starting to run out of daylight and feared we would be locked in to the Park. Interestingly, it turns out there are actually two points at the end of the Cape. The more spectacular point is called Cape Point, which has the lighthouses and is most popular. The other point is the Cape of Good Hope which is the final turn the sailors made as they enter the Atlantic Ocean proper. We ended up taking a risk and visited them both. It was a pretty awesome feeling to be standing on the tip of a continent. Admittedly, the true southernmost point of Africa is actually located some distance to the East, but this felt like the tip, and visitors that have visited both sites agree that this is the place where you really know you've reached the end...

Another gorgeous beach along False Bay.

The tip of the Cape! The only land beyond this is Antarctica.

The sign says it all.

Looking back towards Cape Town from Cape Point.

At the Cape of Good Hope.

Just when you might have gotten used to the idea that you could be in California, or Spain, along comes an ostrich. Totally cool!

We ended the day with a fabulous meal at an Indian restaurant in town. By the time I got everyone dropped off, it was quite late, so I didn't get a very early start the next day, my last in S Africa. I eventually got on the road and headed into the famous S African wine country. I decided to get farther in than Stellenbosch, which is where most folks go. I went to a stunning valley called Franschhoek. I had a nice outdoor lunch in a cafe and was just getting used to the idea that this could be somewhere in Provence when I ran into a band of Baboons, also completely unafraid, the first of several packs I saw that day. This place is crazy!

Views across the vineyards in Franschhoek.

In the town of Franschhoek.

Baboons!

I then returned to Cape Town, slowly, on a scenic drive, and spent what time I had at the beach in Simons Town, on the Eastern edge of False Bay. It was a bit kitschy, but otherwise a lovely way to soak up a bit of Cape Town before the long flights.

View from beach at Simons Bay.

It was a great trip, and the best part is that I think we really accomplished something important during the meeting. We are in the process of writing up a draft declaration for the Open Education movement now, and I look forward to seeing how that develops.

S Africa seems to me a country with a lot of promise, but also some really substantial problems that make our issues in the States seem positively quaint. The state of the "townships", the polite name for the shanty towns where most of the native Africans live, is truly abysmal. I met many wonderful people who were each helping, in their own way, to change things for the better, but the crush of immigrants means that they seem to keep losing ground. But S Africa is also a testing ground for the hopes of the southern continent... we should wish them all much luck.

More old pics - from Ahrash

It’s been busy over here on the West coast. In addition to the move itself, we have been running around resolving day care issues, looking at houses, reconnecting with friends and family, and working and travelling. In any case, it’s about time we put up some more pics, so here they are (from me anyway....Megan already posted more below).

Ranier seems to be quite happy with the change of climate. Other than continued sleep issues, he’s been a pretty happy fellow. Dahrius seems to have settled right into things with his usual aplomb. We’ve been trying to keep him occupied, with some success, but he’s also proven once again to be remarkably capable of managing himself. Thank goodness for that!

Ranier likes to stand up.

We borrowed a clever baby device called a Bumbo that we had not seen before, which is surprisingly effective at keeping Ranier happy for a bit… long enough that one or the other of us can often scarf down some dinner before he needs to be held again. Trains, of course, continue to be a big agenda item, and the brothers both seem to enjoy playing with them.

Ranier in the Bumbo.

Silliness on the floor.

We decided to seize the chance over Labor Day weekend and headed over to the house in Inverness for a few days. We had a number of nice hikes and very nice swims in Tomales Bay, which is seasonably warm by now. We also had a great afternoon visit by friends Sarah and Eric and their two daughters, Helena and Ellie.

On Shell Beach in Inverness.

In Tomales Bay at Shell Beach.

With the Kansas at Inverness.

Given Ranier’s size and obvious interest in eating, we decided to go ahead and see what he thinks of solid foods. The rice cereal seems to be a hit, but not the banana. It’s a long road of introducing things slowly, so we’ll just keep at it and see what comes.

He likes the spoon, anyway.

Ahrash had a business trip to South Africa over his birthday, so we celebrated early with a fabulous Bissell-cooked meal and early presents. Posts from that trip are elsewhere on the blog!

Early birthday for Ahrash.

So far so good back in the Bay Area!

Re: finally---long awaited new photos for Ranier's 5 month birthday!!

Sorry for the big delay in new photos--I know that nana and papi are dying to see photos of these kids...esp. Ranier, who changes almost every day. After Mina and Ahrash were gone for a week or more, they felt he was bigger and different even from then. ANd I finally figured out how to download photos, since our usual computer set up is buried somewhere in a storage unit.

So...first some old photos of my beautiful Bissell boys in the old whale pool back in Durham. Ranier seems to love the water, and we try to give him baths with Dahrius, too. You can see our little sumo wrestler with many rolls of chub.

When we first arrived here in Berkeley, we had no good way of bathing Ranier. He strongly protested his first shower, but he didn't seem to mind the sink. Update: just 3-4 weeks later, Ranier really can't fit into the sink anymore!

I've been enjoying spending more time with my favorite 3-yr old. Dahrius here was being very silly and running around with long socks, underpants...but no pants! We've also been enjoying outings to the nearby parks in Berkeley, trips on the bus to the library, visits to Lawrence Hall of Science, and trips to the store and getting oriented with Berkeley.

The neighbors, Jack and Barbara, have a new grandchild, Jacob, who is just 2 months older than Ranier. IT's fun for everyone to see the parallels with Nank and Ahrash growing up together and their kids: Jake and Ranier who are the same age. Barbara sometimes babysits Jake and lent us this cool chair while they were on vacation. Ranier really likes it, as it makes him feel more grown up. He can actually now sit up for a few moments while supporting himself with his hands on the ground.

We took a lovely weekend away to Inverness and had hot dogs one night for dinner and gourmet lamb and sauteed veggies, good bread and wine another night. Dahrius had great fun sleeping and playing in the loft and swimming/playing at the beach. Ranier (and the adults) hardly slept. Ah well, it will pass, right?

While Ahrash was off in South Africa (see below), mom and the kids ventured off to LA to visit the Uhls family. Dahrius was thrilled to see his much adored cousins, and they were excited to meet Ranier for the first time. The older kids played, mom got some good time talking to Yalda and a bit of help, and we all had a grand time...except we probably brought along some sleep disruption to the household. Sorry!

More updates a bit more regularly from now on, I hope...

An update from the field – Ahrash in S. Africa

OK, this is a lot of text, but if you want to read a travelogue, read on. You can also just look at the pics.

:)

I am in Cape Town, South Africa for a short conference on “Mapping the Open Education Domain.” It is being hosted by the Shuttleworth Foundation and the Open Society Institute, and leaders of the open education movement are flying in from around the world to participate. It’s a long way to come for a conference (along with a bunch of other meetings with people from the Foundation and others based here in S. Africa), but it has been an interesting time. Fortunately, I have had some times scattered on either side of the conference itself to try and explore the area little…

The connections here are sporadic and slow, so this post is a few days delayed.

I arrived early in the morning on Tuesday, and since I could not check into my hotel room until that afternoon, I had the day to wander. The hotel is on the Victoria and Albert Waterfront, which is the historical and still-active waterfront that gave rise to the city. Most of the waterfront has been converted to a sort of amalgam of giant malls and other random storefronts, interspersed with functional (and very active) dry docks, loading wharves, etc. A bit disorienting, but pretty nice as a model for proving that you can have a tourist development in an active industrial zone. I walked over there and spent the time taking in the views and trying to get oriented. Everything seems backwards, and everything IS in fact backwards! Very strange.

Where am I? A LONG way from home!

The waterfront, with cloud-enshrouded Table Mountain in the background.

I slept in the next morning and then took my time at breakfast (which was quite nice, with plenty of local fresh fruit and decent coffee) and afterwards, taking care of some business issues, and then figuring out what to do for the middle of the day before some afternoon commitments. I decided to see if I get a hike in, and I figured out that there are some trails out of the rear end of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens that go up to the top of Table Mountain. I took the long way there, around the East side of Table Mountain, along an absolutely spectacular coastline, and to the town of Hout Bay, where I found a Woolworths stocked with good food for a picnic lunch.

On the drive around Table Mountain.

The scenery here is really superlative. Big fluffy clouds (and occasionally some rain, at least in the evenings) drift constantly over the mountains, giving some sense of their scale. The core of the city is actually located to one side of the metropolitan area as the population has expanded massively to the north, south, and east of the original city limits. The mountains are not oriented in any obvious manner (as is often the case with sedimentary massifs); between that and their massive size, it’s really hard to make sense of the layout in any regional fashion. In fact, though we are practically on the tip of Africa, the city itself (especially the harbor) faces mostly to the north, taking advantage of the bay that has given shelter to sailors in these parts for centuries. The sun, of course, is also to the North, which just adds to the confusion. At one viewpoint, I was looking at what I had assumed to be the Atlantic Ocean, but upon further reflection I realized that I was actually looking at the Indian Ocean (or at least the other side of the Cape… the actual “start” of the Indian Ocean is debatable)! To top it off, the city is laid out in classic northern European fashion, which is to say every which way and in no sensible fashion at all. I love that, actually (nothing worse than the uber-grid, Texas-style…yuck), but it definitely makes life more challenging for a visitor.

In any case, I managed to eventually work my way to the botanical gardens, which are absolutely incredible. They claim to be the first botanical gardens in the world that were established for the purpose of showcasing and preserving the native flora. It is the very end of the rainy season here, not quite Spring, so things were just starting to bloom and the scenery in general is quite green and lush. The whole feel is not unlike that of Northern California in early Spring… warm sun but cool, moist air. Very pleasant.

The entrance to the gardens.

A view from the lower gardens.

A natural spring and pool.
My lunch spot.

Native proteas... gorgeous!

I worked my way through the gardens, wishing I had more time to explore. I managed to spot a few of the native sunbirds, really colorful creatures that are the “hummingbird-equivalents” for Africa; they were abundant in the gardens, but you could hear them more often than see them. I also found a lovely lunch spot and managed a quick lunch before beginning the ascent up the mountain. The garden works its way up onto the flanks of Table Mountain, and eventually the path changed to rough steps and a rustic trail up into a defile called Nursery Ravine. The recent rains, coupled with the naturally wetter conditions of the rainy season, as all of the watercourses flowing quite heavily… waterfalls and seeps abounded, and I was accompanied by the sound of falling water throughout the hike.

On the trail up the mountain - more native flowers (unk.)

And more native flowers (unk.)

One of the first viewpoints.

The path worked its way up into dense Cape Beech forests, interspersed with lots of other familiar-looking but certainly exotic (to me) plants, such as tree ferns, yellowwoods, buckwheats, and lots of lilies. Mosses and lichens dripped from the rocks and trees, and the whole place felt much like the coastal forests in Oregon – thick with life and decay, primal.

A waterfall, one of many on the hike.

A sundew - a type of carnivorous plant.

As I worked my way up and up, I started to get some of the expected views above the city. I also spotted more organisms that specialize in living in the cooler, harsher habitats on the mountain, such as sundews (a type of carnivorous plant). I could hear a lot of frogs but figured I had no hope of actually seeing one (I didn’t). On up I went and suddenly I was on the plateau. The top of Table Mountain is laced with miles (oh, sorry, kilometers) of trails criss-crossing the plateau; I could only venture in a little ways before time pressures forced me to start heading back down. Clearly, I was going to have to return and explore more thoroughly at some point in the future.

Approaching the top of the plateau.

Some Calla Lilies growing wild out of a rock.

I worked my way along the edge of the escarpment, rewarded with spectacular views throughout. Eventually I worked my way over to Skeleton Gorge which as a trail back down to the Kirstenbosch Gardens. There was a sign at the top warning about the roughness of trail, especially in the wet season, but I find that such signs usually overstate the warning, so I went on down anyway.

On top of Table Mountain.

Little sundews in a bed of moss.

Another view from the top of the plateau.

A view of the trail down - Skeleton Gorge.

Well, in S. Africa they apparently don’t overstate such things! The trail plummeted straight into the gorge and eventually disappeared into the stream-course itself, which of course was full of rushing water. I decided there was nothing but to trek down the stream itself… It wasn’t too bad if I took my time, which of course I did not have, but I decided that caution was warranted here. After descending several hundred yards down the gully, a series of ladders appeared, suggesting that the path was just getting steeper! The ladders are plastered with signs indicating that the usage of the ladders is at the user’s own risk… fair enough, I figured. The ladders actually made quick and pleasant work of what would otherwise have been a pretty challenging descent, and I was able to rock-hop my way below the steepest part and onto the better-graded path below. Another 15 minutes had me back in the Gardens, where I could take in a retrospective view of my hike. It was all fantastic!

Starting down the gorge.

The path quickly descended into forest.

More waterfalls.

A view across the gorge.

The trail here IS the creek. I slowed down.

It's steep!

Back in the gardens, looking back at Table Mountain.

It’s amazing that such a supreme wilderness exists literally looming over this huge city. Ten minutes later I was back at the hotel, wondering at how long such a strong contrast of space could last in such close proximity. What a great thing for the people of Cape Town though!

After some work and a shower, I headed out to the main drag in the core of town, called Long Street, where I found a good Irish pub for dinner, accompanied by a broadcast of the rugby cup… what a crazy game! The cricket world championships are also being played at the moment, hosted right here in Cape Town. One of the people I met on the flight down here was flying all the way from London just to catch the games. 4 of the 6 channels I get in the hotel room are broadcasting either cricket or rugby, with the occasional break for soccer (Asian cup) or some sort of int’l track meet. The sports craze is universal, even if the sports aren’t!

I have otherwise been in meetings for the last few days, but I'll be doing some more exploring before I head home. Look for another post once I get back to CA.

-Ahrash