Maya's Shopping List

Really Clean Glass

Here is the same image, not cropped. I liked Alison's guess that she wanted it as a pet though. That was close...we have a good-sized empty aquarium at home that we have been wanting to get fish or a lizard for. A few weeks ago, when we were talking about it, Maya told me she wanted a marine iguana to live in it. I thought, since we can barely handle caring for two cats, it might be a bit much to get a marine iguana shipped to us from the Galapagos Islands...Here is a four minute video about marine iguanas if you are curious. The photo below is from Google Images. For now, we will continue to see our huge reptiles at the zoo instead of the living room.

Guess How

Guess how Maya is this close to a komodo dragon without anyone worrying about it...

One Reason We Are Tired...(as a profession)

When you have a few minutes, watch this video. I am taking a history content class on Thursdays for the past few weeks (we have to have 180 professional development hours every seven years or our certificates expire... I guess they figure we don't have enough going against us). Anyway, my teacher showed us this video clip which I had seen on TV a long time ago...totally hilarious.

Obviously I am not on Spring Break anymore and haven't been updating much...I'll add more soon.

For the Star Wars Fans

Pod Racing...

Stones Into Schools

This is the sequel to the book I wrote a post about a little over a year ago, Three Cups of Tea. If anything, it is even better than the first book.

In Stones Into Schools, we continue where Greg Mortenson left off in the story of his life's work thusfar, to help build schools in the remote parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, for all children, but especially girls, as they have often been denied the right to go to school in those countries. This story continues in post 9/11 Pakistan and Afghanistan, with all the things Greg and his foundation, the Central Asia Institute, did to continue their work even with significantly more dangerous conditions. He tells first-hand accounts of the horrible impact of Taliban rule on the every day lives of Afghans and of the devastating earthquake in that region in 2005, but mostly it is an inspiring story of hope.

It is heartening to read about all of the wonderful people doing life-changing things in that part of the world who have struggled against radicalism for so long. We so often only hear the loudest and most extreme voices from that region so it is refreshing to hear a different perspective. I think what sets Greg Mortenson and the Central Asia Institute apart from other charity organizations is that in Pakistan and Afghanistan, they operate with local people and have built relationships with all types of people from all walks of life. The schools are mostly funded through the institute, but part of the deal is that the village donates land and labor also. The local people are an integral part of the building, staffing and maintenance of the schools. Also, they travel and build in very remote parts of the region where few, if any foreigners dare to venture.

I thought that this book would take me a little while to get through, being about 400 pages, non-fiction and with tons of places and people in it. Nothing could have been further from the truth- I had trouble putting it down and was through it in three days and wanting more. The book included maps, an alphabetical directory of people and a glossary which made it even more clear. I highly recommend this book, especially if you read and enjoyed Three Cups of Tea.

If you have a minute, check out the Central Asia Institute website and read about some of the work that they do. They are an amazing group of people.

Mud, a Big Tree House and a Komodo Dragon

Last week we went to the zoo. We hadn't been for at least 6 months, so it was really nice to go. They have a sting ray exhibit where the kids can pet the sting rays that is always fun. One thing that was new since last time we were there were 2 adult Komodo Dragons. They were really neat and we all liked seeing them. I didn't get a good picture because the one that was close enough was behind plexi-glass.

Maya and a bunch of other kids waded and played "mud" in the creek by the playground. Arizona kids don't get many opportunities to do this...

This is a really fun, huge tree house play area that all the kids love. It is right upstream from the mud. Try to find Shayne in the picture.

We had a lot of rain this winter so everything is very pretty and green (green for the desert anyway).

Maya really liked the Komodo Dragons. When we got home, we found a 15 minute video on the Internet about Komodo dragons. After she watched it she drew a picture of one and wanted to know how to spell it.Here is a family of Komodo Dragons