Birthday Blog--What a year!

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33!

I sit to write this blog on the eve of my 33^rd birthday. For my birthday last year, I was going out to dinner in Seattle with Peter and our good friends Steven, Emily and Jules. Afterwards, we went to see the Pogues. This year, I am feeling a little homesick for my friends in Seattle—we are so new in Atlanta that we don’t yet have a gang with whom to celebrate our occasions like birthdays, so it will mostly be a family affair this year. (And, unfortunately, I will also be working some this weekend.) Now, don’t get me wrong—we have had an amazing year and I wanted to move to Atlanta to be closer to family, to be in a place where we could afford to buy a house and to be out of the cloudy, drizzly weather of Seattle. And, I have all of that. Still, I can’t help but miss all of our dear, fun friends there, especially at a time like a birthday.

Since I last wrote, a lot has happened in Peter’s and my lives. First, we bought a house and we moved in last weekend! We are delighted to be homeowners and the house is adorable! We even have some pictures up on the wall and have started to make it feel like ours. Plus, we are in a wonderful, neighborhoody part of the city of Decatur called Oakhurst, where we are able to walk to cafes, bars, restaurants, and the subway into the city. Neither of us has to have a car to get to work at this point, which is such a relief after our 1.5 hour commute each way for the last month from PTC.

Our journey to getting the house was a little fraught, however, in the week leading up to closing. Because of the crappy, ridiculous, totally unnecessary and preventable (if only we had had competent leadership these last 8 years!) state of our economy, Peter and I learned that the Federal Reserve had put a freeze on all federally-backed cash accounts, about two days before we needed to access ours to get our money for the downpayment! After a frantic appeals process, our financial advisor was able to free 90% of the amount we had requested—still leaving us short by about $5000. We ended up having to take out an additional, last minute loan from the bank to cover that shortfall. Crazy! We had the money and weren’t allowed to use it b/c the government was afraid that there would be a run on the banks! So strange that it was easier for us to get a loan than it was to access our own money. . . we did close on time, but not without a lot of stress—we were literally sitting at the closing table, 20 minutes after the closing was supposed to start, not knowing if the money would arrive in the closing attorney’s escrow account or not. Suffice it to say, I do not want to move again for a VERY long time. An amusing side note to this whole fracas is that I got to talk personally to GA’s republican Senator Saxby Chambliss on the phone because I had called our legislators to see if they could help us and he was nice enough to return my call. He couldn’t do anything, but it was fun to actually talk to a Senator.

Enough about finances and politics! After we got all of that squared away, Peter left for California to see our young nephew Ben, who had to have brain surgery to remove a tumor. He came through the surgery beautifully, thank goodness and we are all very much relieved. While in Cali., Peter also got to celebrate his sister Victoria’s fortieth birthday with her. Yay, Victoria!

After a week in the west, Peter then flew to Roanoke, VA, where he met me and my parents and the whole rest of my extended family on my mom’s side for my cousin Brian’s marriage to Olivia. We also got to meet Kyle and Annika, my cousin Vonnie's two twins who are just so fun and beautiful! My mom, dad, Peter and I then rode all the way back to GA smooshed into my mom’s tiny Saab, which was funny until it became almost unbearable.

Finally, when we moved into our house, we welcomed Pico the kitten into our family. Isabelle is still working on truly welcoming him, but Peter and I love him. I have never had a kitten and it is amazing how much energy and how little fear he has! At the same time, he is equal parts cuddly and clumsy and SO tiny. He has perfected the art of scaling my bluejeans and then climbing onto whatever piece of furniture or counter I happen to be standing next to. He does this to compensate for his almost-total lack of leaping ability at his age. I can’t wait to see him grow!

As for the rest of it, we are still settling into jobs and trying to find friends—let us know if you see any! So far, my job is fun and I even got to go interview witnesses in South GA by myself, which was a hoot. Who knew that there was a town called Santa Claus, GA (with streets named “Reindeer Way,” “Elf Drive”, for example), or that Waynesboro, GA is the bird-dog capital of the world?!? Now I do. Peter is still evaluating his. So far, it’s been frustratingly slow, coming from the public defender pace that he was used to. Hopefully, it wil pick up when the legislature is in session.

So, that’s pretty much it! I’m 33 today and am excited to see what shape our lives take during this next year in our new home. As always, please be in touch, visit, call, or email if you can! And, go vote November 4!

Xoxo, robyn:)

Pictures, top to bottom: Pico asleep in a packing box; Me, cooking in our new kitchen; Peter in the dining room; Peter and Ben, post-surgery; Happy 40th, Victoria, in Santa Cruz!; Me and my cousins Vonnie and Lauren; Our new dining room; Our new living room; Brian and Olivia--Just Married!; My mom and her two sisters Aunt Tata and Aunt Jan; We meet Kyle and Annika!; Pico perched.

The End of Vacation and Back to Work!

Since I last posted, we have been really busy, even if we haven't been working! Shortly after landing in GA, we made our residence official by swearing into the GA bar, applying for jobs and getting drivers' licenses. The local bar in Fayette County GA was so wowed by a husband and wife lawyer team, that they even ran an article in the local paper about us! We both applied for several jobs, but ended up hitting the GA market at a weird time for both of us. For me, the criminal defense options were few, as the GA public defender system is currently imploding. For Peter, immigration gigs were scarce because Congress has not authorized any new visas for immigrants recently. Fortunately, though, we both found good options and will start work tomorrow! I will be working at the GA Resource Center, where I will be working on habeas corpus petitions for people on death row here in GA--possibly my dream job. . .we'll see! I am very excited to be able to focus more on individual clients and researching their cases inside and out, rather than appearing in court every single day. I will still be in court sometimes, but only for select arguments--this frees me from wearing a suit on a daily basis--yay!

As for Peter, he will be working at MALDEF (the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund--kinda like the Latino NAACP), where he will be doing civil rights class litigation on behalf of Latinos in GA and lobbying the GA state legislature for better laws for Latinos. I don't think GA state law makers have yet realized what they are in for. . .:) Serendipitously, Peter is also starting work tomorrow and we will be able to commute together in the mornings on the train, which should be amusing.

In other news, we have filled our time while we were waiting for job interviews and acceptances with lots of fun stuff! We took a road trip in our Neon in July to Chicago for Randal and Megan's wedding, which was great, and then we continued north to Madison, Wisconsin, where we visited Peter's Grandma Betty. In the middle of July, we got a call saying that the Obama campaign was actually working in Peachtee City(!) and would we like to help? We were very excited and are now in our fourth week of registering voters here in my hometown and the surrounding counties, which I never would have thought would have a chance of going Blue. I have been really pleasantly surprised with how many closet Dems. there are around here! The beginning of August had us watching a lot of Olympics and starting the house hunt in earnest. We focused on Decatur, GA, which is 6 miles from downtown Atlanta and on the train line. Decatur is also the home to both Agnes Scott College and Emory University, which both contribute to an artsy, progressive vibe in the town. About a week ago, we found our house (see pictures above)! It is 3 bedrooms, 2 baths on top, which front and back porches and a gorgeous kitchen. It also has a 2 bedroom, one bath rental unit on the bottom with kitchenette and living room. We just think it's adorable and will give us a lot of flexibility to add to our income, if need be, while we are paying off our student loans. When we no longer need that income, it will potentially give us room to grow. It has big old oak trees in the back yard and is 2 blocks from the local park and about 4 blocks from a shopping area. We are very excited!

Finally, at the end of August, my brother Matt and his boyfriend Woody visited, bringing our cat Isabelle with them from Seattle. It was a momentous time because it was the first time Matt has brought a significant other home and all went well. Also, my dad turned 60 and they were both able to be here for the party--yay! We just took them back to the airport yesterday and the house seems empty without them, even though there are still four people a dog and a cat here.

So, thanks for reading! That's about it for now. ..my plan is to post about every month to keep people updated on what we're up to. We'd love to hear from you, too! Drop us a line at robynp88@yahoo.com or pisbister27@yahoo.com. Our phone numbers are still the same, too!

Have a happy September!

R & P

Tsarabaria!

Here are some photos from the day we spent in my old village:

Mauritius

We hate Marituis and its airport. Ask us later.

Rainy, Lovely Paris

Well folks, in so little time there is so much to say. I am writing, here with Robyn, from the Malagasy capitol city , but fear I will not even be able to finish a full Paris post tonight. And due to our camera being low on juice and good batteries being hard to rustle up here, photos , sadly , will be a bit delayed.

But I must still try to bring you at least some news of lovely, rainy Paris. We were only there 3 days, and it was gray most of the time and rainy some of it, but we will still treasure the memories forever.

Our hotel was on the left bank in the Latin quarter. It was small and quaint and refreshingly first world. Breakfast of croissants and coffee was included every morning. The main front desk host was the gloriously gay and multi lingual Edson. He was impeccably dressed.

Robyn's favorite memory of Paris, she claims, was seeing my excited face when we stepped off the metro and into our neighborhood. The old architecture amazed, and yes, they REALLY do have pastries, flowers and cafes every few feet. Delighted was an understatement.

The first afternoon went perfectly. We moved seamlessly from the Louvre, to the Tuliere gardens, down the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe (excuse that I can't spell French) It was cold, but amazing. In the Louvre we saw the Mona Lisa. The spectacle of people around her was almost as amazing as she. We also saw much sculpture that R remembered as captivating that she wanted to share with me ... and it was. I learened more and more last week how much sculpture speaks to her. We also saw crown jewels and Egytpian burials caskets. But you can lose a week in the Louvre if not careful, so we were away ...

On the Champs Elysee we were captivated by a showroom of tiny Peugot race cars. Robyn was surprised by how much the exhibit at the arc de Triumph has expanded.
Paris lay out before us .. and we were hooked!

More later ... food, snafus, art, mom's house, Robyns friend Roberto and our dreams of return.

But in case you are worried or curious ..
Madagascar is beatiful. Changed and the same it turns out, of course.
Robyn's Malagasy is coming back fast, though she wishes of course it would come faster

We set off tomorrow toward the south, and will end, with zeal, in her beloved northern region.
I am very excited, and so honored to have been invited.

Pictures from Mexico

For some reason, these wouldn´t go with the text, so see below to hear more about our adventures!

Things Lost while Travelling. . .

We have now been on the road for about six weeks and tomorrow will mark the halfway point of our trip. We were noticing that our bags seem much lighter. At first, I was hoping that I´d just become that much stronger; however, I think that the truth is just that we´ve lost a lot of stuff! Here´s some of what we´ve lost so far. . .I´m sure we´ll lose even more as we journey through Europe and Africa!

• Peter started it off by losing his cell phone cord in Monterrico
• I followed his example by losing my glasses case
• We both lost our lambas
• I lost my PJ bottoms
• Peter lost a t-shirt
• I lost a bra (luckily I had two others!)
• You know already that I lost the camera cord
• Collectively, we think (hope!) we lost ten-pounds
• The clasp to my bikini broke
• Two pairs of Peter´s flip flops have broken
• Any romantic memories we may have had about chicken buses are long gone
• My lunch (twice--yuck!)
• A pair of earrings
• 900 quetzales
• Our freakishly pale Seattle skin color
• Our snootiness about people who vacation in, GASP, the first world
• Any illusion we had that we are "young travellers"
• Our passing interest in "what Honduras might have to offer"

Keep your fingers crossed that we can keep most of what we have for the rest of the trip. . .we´re pretty much down to the bare minimum now!
xoxo, r

Of Boats, Border Crossings and Scuba Adventures!

Hello again! Sorry it's been a while since I last updated things--we have not been in the most web-friendly territory lately. And, to make things worse, I lost my camera-computer connector wire (I think I left it on the boat--aargh!), so no pictures this time--just lots of news!

When I last wrote, Peter and I were getting ready to board a 4-day catamaran cruise up and down the Rio Dulce. In short, it was wonderful! We were two of four passengers aboard the 46-foot Sirenas, which sailed first to Lake Izabal, where we had the pleasure of swimming in cascading hot springs. Then, we travelled down the river, through a canyon, to the city of Livingston. Finally, we sailed back to Rio Dulce. The best parts of the cruise were the times when we were just sailing, motors off, in the sun, laying in the hammocks that hung over the water reading our novels. Other boats would go past and we would wave, wondering if this is how the Kennedys feel. . .We had a wonderful crew, who sailed the boat, cooked all our meals, and entertained us with stories of pirates. Aside from some rough weather one night it was lovely and so relaxing!

The end of our cruise down the Rio Dulce marked the end of our planned Latin America itinerary. While we have been on the road, we had heard good things about the Bay Islands of Honduras, so we thought we'd check them out. It took us 1.5 days of traveling from Guatemala to reach the island of Utila, from where I now write. First, we had to cross the border and travel a few more hours to the city of San Pedro Sula. Then, we got on another bus to the coastal city of La Ceiba. We had a slight snafu of communication with the bus attendant, so we bought tickets thinking that the bus was leaving right away, when in fact it left about 2 hours later than we thought. This made for a late arrival in La Ceiba, where we had to stay overnight and wait for the morning ferry to Utila.

The ferry ride to Utila was very rough and about an hour long. I count it as a personal accomplishment that I did not get seasick (Peter didn't either--yay!). Once we got off the boat, we were bombarded by promoters from the different dive schools on the island. We managed to fend them off, though, and find a beautiful bungalow on the beach. Both of us were trepidatious about diving, so we decided to take it slow and go on a snorkel expedition to look for whale sharks instead. We didn't find a whale shark, but we had a great time snorkeling. Most of the rest of the time we've spent here just sitting on our porch, snorkeling, napping, or being at the beach. We've also met some fellow travellers here that we've spent some evenings with. Nonetheless, we decided that it would be silly to come to Utila and NOT at least try diving (Utila is apparently one of the best, and cheapest, places to dive in the world. . .I did not know this until I got here:) ). So, today, Peter and I actually went scuba diving! It was pretty incredible. . .tons of beautiful fishes and coral. I felt like I was in an amazing aquarium and then I realized that I was the little plastic guy at the bottom blowing bubbles! We had a great instructor who made us feel very safe as well, so that was helpful.

Tomorrow we leave Utila and head toward Mexico City. Depending on the route we take, we may go through San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico or we may spend more time in and around Mexico City. I am really hoping I can get a replacement wire there and upload some pictures soon! We will then fly to Paris on the 27th of April and from that point on, Peter will take over writing the blog so that you can hear his impressions of all of the places that will be new to him.

Lots of Love and Happy Passover!
Robyn & Peter