Penny's First Christmas

Penny got to enjoy quite a Christmas. Several family members stopped by for intimate introductions. While in New York, Uncle Thomas and his family (including the expectant Sharon) stopped by to see us. Penny spent much of the time napping on the coffee table -- apparently, the table reminded her of beds in England. Sharon is looking forward to greeting her little one (and getting rid of the weird body functions that seem intrinsic to pregnancy). Not too long after we arrived in Dayton, my godfather, Uncle Bill, stopped by to see Penny and pick up a Christmas outfit for his newly arrived grandson. Aunt Rose also stopped by on the Saturday before Christmas to check out my arm and our little cutie. She's looking pretty good as she nears her delivery date.

The days leading up to Christmas saw the introduction of two new members of the family. Indio was expected to arrive just after Christmas, but he decided he couldn't miss such a fun holiday so Jessica went into labor the week before Christmas. This is a photo my Aunt Marian took in the delivery room.

Dan's cousin Shaila delivered a healthy little Noah right on schedule in the same week (induction helps with being "on time"). Two days after Christmas, Penny and I went to Aunt Rose's baby shower. As seems customary, delivery stories were shared at the event. The more of them I hear, the more thankful I am for how straightforward Penny's delivery was.

And now, for a quick health update: Penny is doing great. Putting on weight and length -- grew out of her premie and newborn clothes, so now we're into the extensive part of her wardrobe (0-3 months). My mom was wearing her stylish catheter/purse when we arrived. Her doctor appears to have done a splendid job fixing up her bladder and she's feeling awesome now that she has shed that pesky little purse. We just have to keep her from getting carried away with being able to get out and about again. I managed to do some entertaining damage to my shoulder. My arm just doesn't do what I ask it to -- no movement of shoulder forward or straight out from my body, though the forearm and hand seem to be working fine. Urgent care doctor thought strained rotator cuff, but once the orthopedist started examining me (instead of asking questions for which he didn't listen to the answer), he said it might be a nerve problem. I went for an electro myelo gram (EMG for short and only fun for those who enjoy being tased repeatedly while undergoing acupuncture). The physiatrist who did the test didn't interpret it, but he did mention that he was getting weird results, so it may have at least been the right kind of test to figure things out. I'm going back to the orthopedist on Friday to get the test results interpreted and hopefully come up with a plan of action.

There's a certain amount of relief in being told it's a nerve problem. Advice up to that point had been to exercise to the point where it hurt, but it hurt in every position with little or lots of weight equally. I was afraid to exercise because I wouldn't know when to stop -- the pain was equally bad no matter what I did. Now I feel better about obeying the advice of Aunt Rose and my father-in-law to exercise the arm as much as possible -- the pain is because the nerves aren't working right, not because I'm doing more damage. Plus, the pain has decreased a bit. It is really weird, though, trying to reach for a sheep card and inexplicably finding my hand settling into the pizza instead. Now my biggest challenge is finding the time to exercise in between feedings, burpings, changes and general entertainment of Penny. A major plus to the injury is that while I was afraid to do anything, Dan was really picking up the slack with Penny's care. In Newcastle I did everything for her, so he didn't get to bond much. Now he has had the opportunity to really enjoy hanging out with her. He is really cute with her, even when he's changing a diaper and she decides that's the perfect time to do her impression of the Fountain of Youth.

I have to say, it's a little sad to be back in the States and trying to figure out the health insurance scene again. It seems none of my doctor visits so far are covered by the school health insurance -- definitely not fun to think about after having free health care in England for the past year. I'm also going to have to select a pediatrician for Penny while we're here just in case she gets sick or something. Penny's first shots will be with my Aunt Ann, who's a pediatrician, but we should probably have someone closer to home for emergencies. Keep me and Penny in your prayers as we face the doctors in the coming weeks.

Stateside at Last!

Due to the lack of standby seats in the coming weeks, Penny and I had to make a dash for the States a bit earlier than expected. So Penny and I had to travel alone before Dan finished his exams. Maria escorted us to the airport (carrying my ridiculously heavy suitcases with Penny's extensive wardrobe), since there was no time for John to come and help us with the move. We really only had time to pack and snap a few family photos with Dan before dashing out.

We have been in NYC for the past week, generally relaxing and enjoying my mother-in-law's cooking. Penny has enchanted everyone with her winning smile and cute gurgly noises. I've gotten a little free time to catch up on re-packing for Grenada and other fun stuff. I also had my first opportunity to sample baby formula at airport security (a classic parent experience these days, I'm sure). Luckily, they didn't feel it necessary to have me sample the breast milk I'd packed.

We were a little sad to leave England. It was a lot of fun and our abrupt departure meant we didn't get much chance to say goodbye to our friends. We're looking forward to seeing everyone over the holidays and then getting set for Grenada. Who knows, one day we may get the chance to go back. There's always room for a sequel...

Getting Ready to Go

We're gearing up to move out of Newcastle. Penny, Dan and I spent much of last week packing 16 boxes and a table to ship them directly to Grenada. One of Dan's classmates has family in the shipping business, so was able to arrange a container for all the students to ship their things directly to Grenada. It was tough squeezing packing into our busy feeding/burping schedule, but most of our belongings are now on a slow boat to Grenada and shoudl arrive sometime in late December or early January. Then we just have to figure out how to get them from the truck to our apartment.

We did finally get an apartment. Dan will arrive first, and have a fun time finding it since there are no street addresses as far as we've been told. The landlord told us the various closest landmarks, so hopefully it will be fairly straightforward. All the other tenants are St. George's students and several have young children, so we should have plenty of fun people to hang out with. Now it's just a matter of packing up our few remaining belongings and getting them home with us on the plane (my brother John is going to help us with that).

We also have to figure out how to survive our last few weeks in Newcastle with just the bare necessities we have left. It has gotten colder lately and now that we know how our heaters work, we are trying to use them properly. Sadly, they arent' quite as effective as I'd like. We also suffer from a difference of opinion with the British as to what constitutes comfortable home temperature. As you can see from the handy thermometer I picked up at the library, "Comfortable" in British begins at 16 degrees celsius (64 farenheit). I start to feel comfy when the sun streams into the bedroom, heating it up to 27C (about 80F). Perhaps this derives from having our utilities included in our rent in Silver Spring, MD.

The thing that has surprised me most has been Penny. According to our British baby book, at 16C, we should have four cellular blankets and a sheet on her. I have found her getting sweaty with one blanket folded in half, though. Because Dan needs his sleep and Penny tends to be kinda noisy upon waking and upon going back to sleep (see video), we usually don't spend the night in the bedroom with Dan. I huddle in a sleeping bag on the couch with Penny uncovered on my chest. More often than not, I wake up shivering and she's all sweaty! I hope she adjusts to Grenada as easily as she seems to have adjusted to the temperature here.

Penelope's First Big Trip

To bring Penelope home with us, we have to get her a passport, which can only be issued from the US Embassy in London. When I went to schedule an appointment, I got an e-mail Friday evening that the only appointment available was Monday (yesterday) afternoon at 2pm. So we spent the weekend gearing up for Penelope's first big trip - three hours on the train, a nice little subway ride and walk through London. Previously, I'd only taken Penny a couple of blocks over to the Grainger Market and even that was tiring on my still-recovering muscles.

We got to do a long-term trial of the Moby Wrap baby carrier Aunt Helen brought over from the US. Works quite well -- Penelope stayed asleep whenever she was in it, though she did come out looking like she needed to reinflate for a few minutes. We also did our first trial of the diaper bag. The only thing I seemed to have forgotten was what I put in the bag and where. The bag was so heavy that Dan had to carry it everywhere. It was an incredibly tiring day because it was the longest I'd been out in a while and I've still got a bit of healing to do. However, it was all worth it because we now have a consular report of birth abroad, Penny's passport will be mailed back to us in a few weeks so we can leave by mid-December instead of at Christmas, and she'll have a social security number by January. We even had some time leftover so we could visit the arthropod exhibit at the Natural History Museum. Overall, a great trip.

We had our first Health Visitor appointment today. I love having medical professionals visit me instead of having to go to their office. Penelope now weighs 7.14lbs and has grown out of the preemie diapers (more for poo quantity than butt size). She wasn't thrilled about having to be weighed without any clothes and lodged a urinary protest (though she didn't cry through the whole procedure, despite being woken from a nap). Generally, both Penny and I are doing fine and slowly figuring out how to work together. We're definitely going to continue to work together on our traveling, though, because going home and then to Grenada should be considerably more complicated than our little London trip.

Passenger Revealed -- Penelope

As you might have determined from the long radio silence, I didn't have much longer to wait after the last post. I posted the Halloween thing, then went to the party later that night. After the party, I enjoyed a few lovely hours of contractions. They went away, though. Same on Saturday night/Sunday early AM. I continued to enjoy irregular contractions throughout Mass, shopping and the new Bond movie on Sunday. For some odd reason, the contractions seemed to get more serious and regular throughout Sunday night. I called the hospital a few times to see if it was time to come in, but each time they said I should wait a little longer ("until the contractions are 2-3 minutes apart," "until the contractions are that far apart for two hours straight," etc.). So I spent some more quality time with my little TENS (electroshock) machine and took a warm bath without the TENS. Finally, when my water broke and I was having trouble resisting the urge to push, they said it would be ok to come in.

I'm guessing the cabbie who brought us to the hospital was less than thrilled if he ever checked the seat after dropping us off (water doesn't break just once, I was pretty wet by the time we completed the five minute ride). Unlike in TV, we had to wait in the maternity assessment area to be checked out -- you know, just to make sure it's the real deal -- before heading into the delivery room. The midwife on duty there had quite a shock as she checked for my dilation and was greeted by a full head of hair. She quickly arranged for someone to wheel me over to delivery -- no time to fill the birth pool, sadly, so no feedback on that for anyone. No time for any pain killers, really, so no feedback on those either. By 10:55 am, we were holding our lovely little Penelope Supriya Saha. Dan was great support throughout the process, staying up with me through the night and massaging my back as we went through the final stages. He took a couple days off school to help Penny and I get established at home as well. So he's a little behind in his studies, but really enjoying hanging out with Penny when he comes home in the evening. He's the one on whom she has puked most often at this point.

So Penny is now officially a week old. We have almost figured out the eating thing, though there are still a few kinks we're working on. She's not sleeping through the night (that's MUCH further down the line as I understand it), but Dan seems to, so he'll be able to catch up with classes. It does help that we have two bedrooms to work with. Penny doesn't seem to be bothered by the racket on our little street, which is great.

On another note, thanks to everyone who has been keeping my mom in your prayers. She underwent her last chemo treatment this past week and is doing really well. She's got another surgery or two scheduled, but generally well along the road to recovery. She's really looking forward to getting to hang out with Penny while we're home over the holidays.

Please understand if I'm a little extra slow in responding to things. I've had tons of calls and e-mails over the past few days and, sadly, sleep usually wins over turning on the computer.

Still Waiting

According to my sonograms, today is the day the passenger is supposed to make his big emergence. Of course, that doesn't quite jive with the due date disk that Aunt Julie gave me (according to that, I've got several more days). Plus, the baby was only 3/5 engaged (3/5 of head was still touchable above my pubic bone) when the midwife checked on Tuesday. So the waiting game begins. I've got my library books on parenting to keep me occupied for a bit, plus plenty of household chores. We have to start preparing to move to Grenada, after all.

The passenger already has a lovely wardrobe, as you can see here. We share a closet. At the top, you can see Dan's contribution to the repetoire: "Toon kit" means "Town uniform," so the passenger now has appropriate attire for attending a football match or generally being seen about town on a match day.

It has gotten a little colder here of late. Dan got pelted with icy precip yesterday when heading home and I noticed this little icy pileup outside our front door. Dan's thinking the passenger has noted the change in temperature and may prefer to hang out in the nice warm womb instead of taking his chances out here. He's got to come out eventually, though, because it is getting obviously pretty tight in there. Just a few slow and strong shifts in position these days, no sharp or big movements.


Since the passenger hasn't really been making much of a move to leave, we took the opportunity to go to Party Tyne, a fundraiser Dan's program was doing on Halloween night. When we were in Egypt back in July, he had debated long and hard whether he'd be able to get a second use out of our galabayas (native outfits). Low and behold, the passenger accommodated by staying cozy inside me. Of course, everyone at the party seemed to think we were the Holy Family (even though they went to Egypt AFTER their kid was born). In any case, everyone was surprised to see me there and generally really pumped that one of their classmates is going to be a dad. I didn't get to dance much, but it was fun seeing the variety of creative costumes. Can you guess what the person in the picture is (answer in post label)?

I'm proud to have figured out a way to facilitate my flapjacking in bed -- just wear a slip to bed! There were lots of recommendations to make a giant loop of satin or wear satin jammies to help the rotation, but that's additional things to buy and pack and what do I do with them afterward? The slip has really made the flipping easier and less painful and it was something I already had. It's just not very warm, but after a few minutes the bed warms up. I'm sleeping a lot better now that I can roll freely and because I'm not fighting Dan for the covers anymore. Sadly, we're not fighting for covers because he's sleeping in the guest bedroom. Being woken up every time I rolled was taking a toll on his sleep, though, so there are mutual benefits. I was about to say "hopefully the baby will be here soon so we can go back to sleeping together," but I think at that point we'd both lose any hope of sleeping. It'll be nice having the passenger external, though, to actually play with and so my hips can go back to normal.


So wish us luck as we go into the home stretch here...

General update

I am enjoying some time not at work for the past week or two, though I haven't found it to be full of free time as my coworkers implied I would. It took several shopping trips, but I've now got everything I need for going to the delivery room. The shopping involved a bit of grit and lots of breaks because the hip pain was getting pretty ugly. I stopped by the back pain clinic because when I didn't wear my elastic belly support my hips hurt, but then when I did wear it, the passenger kept kicking at it because it was tight and hurt. The new bigger size has been quite nice and the little dear no longer protests nearly as much. So I usually do one errand outside the house each day.

Sleep continues to be elusive as I struggle with pillows and numerous blankets. My hip pain is worse than the bathroom breaks, so I spend the night flipping more than a pile of flapjacks. We've made up the spare bed in case one of us can't take the other's thrashing at any point, but it has gone unused so far. I could always resort to playing this video repeatedly, but it hasn't gotten that bad yet.

Maria and Lauren organized a lovely shower for me two weekends ago, which Mom was able to join live via satellite (Skype). We had lots of fun games, one of which Mom even won (she guessed I had a 40" waist and I was 41" at the time, see measuring to right). I've decided to let the diaper cake decorate our living room for a bit (we can work our way through each layer after the baby arrives).

This past weekend, we had a big potluck to celebrate the end of midterms and Canadian Thanksgiving. Canned pumpkin is unheard of here, so we had to wait until pumpkins for carving made it to the market. After carving a couple of jack-o-lanterns, I had scrapings and pieces equivalent to three cans, plus some tasty seeds. So I made some pumpkin cookies from scratch, Brent and Celeste made some tasty pies. Everything was very tasty and we even watched some recorded American football to complete the T-day experience.

Newcastle Football

A new season of football has started here in Newcastle. We lost our manager in a flurry of controversy, but that hasn't stopped the fans coming to see the Magpies play. It seemed like a shame to have come here and never see a match, so Dan and I got some student discount tickets and put on our most patriotic gear.

St. James Park, home of the Newcastle United, seats something like 53,000 people and it is usually full for most games. This game was against the Blackburn Rovers (not a big enemy or anything). This is an impressively game-focused day out. The gate we entered took us to a staircase that went straight up to our section, no walking all around the stadium past all the vendors. When we finally exited the stairwell, we found ourselves at the concession area. No alcohol was allowed into the stadium seats, so everyone hung out in concessions until kick-off. There were no people walking around the stands selling anything. The concessions even closed after halftime. People were on their feet for almost the whole game (brutal on someone who's eight months pregnant, by the way).

I felt bad because we were seated at the edge of a large group of St. George's students, none of whom knew the appropriate chants. The nearby Geordies kept trying to lead us in a number of chants with familiar tunes (When the Mags [Saints] Go Marching In, etc.), but their accents were thick enough that the mostly American students had no idea what the words could be. Plus, the students were obviously talking to each other and not about the game!!

After a bit, I noticed there was a section with a strong police presence. Based on the timing of their cheering, it soon became obvious that they were the cheering section for the Rovers. I suppose it's good that Newcastle wants to protect all guests at a match, but goodness...who knew it was so dangerous to go to an away game for your favorite team? The horses with riot gear outside were another reminder of how excited people around here get about their favorite sport. I wonder if Uncle Joe's horse Charlie ever had to wear an eye shield.

After just two hours, the action-packed match was over. Newcastle defense and passing left something to be desired (allowed two free kicks without much effort). Newcastle's single goal was from a penalty kick. There was no big scoreboard or other place where the score was posted because it was assumed you were paying attention to such things for yourself. Most people stayed until the 90th minute, but after the final whistle, people were headed to the pubs. The picture of Dan above couldn't be more than 15 minutes after play ceased. Overall, I was just really impressed by how much the whole experience focused exclusively on the game, not the snacks, souveniers, socializing, etc. It was a really fun experience; I just need to bring a booster seat or something if I'm going to be standing that long.

Visitors from Ohio

I'm a little slow in sharing details, but we did get a visit from Aunt Helen, Grandma and Grandpa Saluke in early September. They came on 9/11 (hopefully some nice discount tickets for flying on such a date) and rented a car so they could see as much of England as possible while here. With school and work, Dan, Emily and I were only able to join them on their excursions about half the time, but they got to see quite a bit in their brief 10-day stay.

The first excursion was to Alnwick (pronounced AH-nick) Castle, ancestral home to the Duke of Northumberland. Northumberland is the county where Newcastle is situated, the largest in England. Like many large counties, it is kinda big and empty. Here the sheep outnumber the people. Impressive when you consider there are about one million people in the Newcastle/Gateshead metropolitan area. A friendly guide at Alnwick gave us directions to the local moor -- a landscape I have been dying to see since arriving. A moor is an ecosystem with low-lying plants, often kinda boggy and used in lots of literature to reflect desolate landscape. The moor to the left is just starting to bloom with heather supposedly. The guide mentioned that we were catching it at just the right time because they do a controlled burn to enrich the soil shortly after the heather blooms.

Our next stop for the day was Bamburgh (pronounced BAM-bur-uh) Castle. This seaside castle has a commanding view of a vast beach and some nasty rocks. For a while, the inhabitants of the castle made a small fortune in salvage from the various ships breaking up just offshore. They'd collect the leftover bits by just pulling them in with giant chains with links the size of a person, then charge the owner a salvage fee or sell them themselves. This one beach shot captures the photographer, showing that Dan does indeed take the occasional break from studying to get out and see the world. Aunt Helen was in charge of bringing photos back for the grandparents because the climb over to the beach was a little too arduous. I also got to explore the secret exit from the castle. See the hidden path in the picture to the right?

Another big day trip was heading West to the Lake District. This area is a favorite holiday spot for hikers, poets, boaters, and outdoorspeople. Plus, there's plenty of cultural events in such a touristy area as well. In England, they weren't able to set aside national parks as giant swaths of land to never be settled. Instead, their national parks, such as the Lake District, are areas with special building codes and other restrictions to preserve the natural beauty and allow people to continue to live in their towns and farms as usual. It's an interesting balance.

Our first stop was Castlerigg -- don't be fooled by the name, it's actually a stone circle similar to the one at Stonehenge. These are volcanic stones that were moved here between 15,000 and 35,000 B.C. for a purpose not quite understood yet. Leading guess is a religious use. There's lots of interesting archaeology going on currently at a village just outside of Stonehenge that is thought to have been where the people who built that circle lived. So perhaps soon we'll have a better understanding of what these circles are all about.

While visiting a famous gingerbread shop in a nearby town, we took a leisurely stroll through the local cemetery. Here we stumbled upon one of the folks who helped to make the Lake District famous locally and internationally. William Wordsworth really enjoyed this area and found it inspirational for several of his works as I understand it.

Our visitors trekked out to many other destinations -- Edinburgh (pronounced ED-in-bur-uh), Hadrian's Wall, some abbeys, tour of local schools, etc., but darned exams and work got in the way for us. They impressed the many English tourists we met along the way because each of these day trips would be a week-long holiday by British standards.

Last, but not least, I wanted to include a picture of some little friends. This is a ubiquitous hazard once you get out of the city. Apparently, it is one that customs is on the lookout for as well. Aunt Helen reported that as they entered the US, all three travelers were asked if they had walked through active pastures in the UK. Apparently, they got some kind of special mark in their passport and special shoe treatment for having done such a thing. When I had visited the UK in 1999, I just threw away my hiking shoes -- more room for souveniers. I'll probably end up doing the same with my icky shoes from this year.

Nearly New Baby Stuff Sale

For those of you who enjoyed the Filene's Basement wedding dress sale, I think I have the next big adventure for you -- the National Childbirth Trust's Nearly New baby stuff sale. Venue: the activity room at a community center, about the size of a standard elementary school classroom back home. The room has pushchairs (aka strollers) and furniture near the single entry door, then two long tables running the length of the room with Ziplocks full of gently used baby clothes in package deals. These are not organized. Toward the back, clothing racks with single-item sales, usually heavy coats, especially cute items or other things more conducive to hangers. Along the periphery of the room, bench-seating covered in miscellaneous items such as books, toys, tights, bottles/sterilizers, nipple guards, etc. So you could walk the path of a capital letter "N" and cover most everything, that's if you could walk the path.

There were likely at least 100 rather pregnant ladies (and some sleepy little cuties) packed into the room on Friday. According to my breastfeeding instructor, late Sept. and early Oct. is peak delivery season (something about the influence of Christmas and New Year), so perhaps there were a few mothers out there trying to snatch those last few items to complete their nursery setup and baby wardrobe before the big arrival. With only an hour to work, and an IKEA shopping bag in hand, each of us meant business when we approached the various tables. The usual exclamations about cuteness were kept to a minimum as mums looked for the best deals on pricey commodities. The exclamations that did ring out tended to be along the lines of "Oh, no! I have to pee" or "It's stifling in here."

I was very proud of my preparation for the event. I had generated a list of needed clothes and supplies, catalogued items already in hand (including the spiffy items loaned by Aunt Rose and transported overseas by Aunt Helen & Co.), and had a good idea of what I still needed. Having already started the registries, I also had some clue about prices of things over here, which is why I was inspired to engage in this insane garage sale in the first place. To give you an idea of how cool the prices were here, these two items are a snow suit (mittens attached) and a sleeping bag for someone 0-3 mos. The sleeping bag is used to substitute for blankets overnight or on cold outings. If I were to purchase them new, I'd easily expect to pay 20 GBP. Going to this lovely sale, though, I managed to pick up snow suit, sleeping bag, cute rain slicker, reversible jacket, sweater, 2 nightgowns, 6 onesies, t-shirt, hat, 9 pairs socks, coveralls, a cute pants suit and 6 sleepersuits. All that for 27 GBP! Only two items were must-haves because of cuteness, but it's definitely a decent start on the passenger's wardrobe.

Once my haul was in hand, I scootched between tables (yes, I did actually manage that in my current state without knocking too much over) and joined Lauren (another student's wife) in line. Since there was only one cash box in operation and one door in or out, there was a hefty line. After 10 or so grueling minutes waiting in the stifling heat as latecomers disappointedly picked over the disheveled remains of the sale, we finally reached the fresh air of the outdoors. I went home and updated the registries to eliminate items no longer needed. Today I picked up a closet organizer to act as dresser for the little one, now that we've got a wardrobe started. In the next few weeks, I can start washing things with our clothes and have them all ready for when she (September is a she month) finally arrives.

Major congrats to Ed (Dan's groomsman) and Natalia, who welcomed their little Anna Isabella Morrell this past weekend!! She looks quite cute.

Harry Potter Tour

I'm guessing most of you have heard of Harry Potter and seen at least one of the movies. Part of the fun of Harry Potter is that although there are a few references to locations in the "real" or "muggle" world, Harry enters into a whole world that is hidden within that world. Since we've been here in England, we've been able to uncover several familiar elements from the wizarding world as seen through the Harry Potter movies, so I thought I'd share some of our discoveries with you.

When we first arrived in the UK (after our little ordeal at Heathrow about not having valid visas), we took a train from London to Newcastle. We departed from King's Cross Station, the same one Harry uses to get to Hogwart's School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. This station is the main hub for trains bound to the northeast of England, so we are obviously well-placed to find more Harry Potter places where we live than anywhere else in the country.

It didn't take us long to find Diagon Alley. Though in the movie, we're led to believe that Diagon Alley is someplace in London, we found that at least the imagery in the movies is based a place in York. The Shambles, as it is called, is a series of narrow streets in York that have been home to shops almost from medieval times. The top floors overhang the bottom ones so that when people emptied their chamber pots back in the day, they didn't dump them on their downstairs neighbors.

While Dan was enjoying a conference on global health issues in Oxford, Brent and I went exploring the town. We discovered that Christ Church College served as the setting for filming several scenes for the Harry Potter movies. Christ Church is the grandest quad and boasts the most distinguished students, including 13 Prime Ministers. Seemed like a fitting setting for a movie about an incredibly prestigious school for wizards. The Tom Quad, pictured to the right, takes its name from the seven-ton bell in the tower. It has called the undergraduate curfew (9:05 pm, since it is 5 minutes West of the Greenwich Mean) since 1682.

The dining hall at Christ Church should be a recognizable twin for the great hall at Hogwart's. Even the staircase leading to the dining hall had a somewhat familiar feel. Sadly, the dining hall was closed when we visited, so we only really got to see the entry stairs.


Yesterday on an excursion with my grandparents and Aunt Helen, we explored another filming location just to our north, Alnwick Castle. The outer bailey (courtyard) and Abbot's Tower were the location for the filming of the broom flying lesson in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (known here as the Philosopher's Stone). Dan said he could almost pick out Professor McGonagall's window in the castle keep as well. With such a direct tie-in, the castle holds special wizardry tours and has people dress up like characters from the movies. So...museums here employ similar techniques to museums at home (think American Girl tours at various historic homes).

Alnwick Castle has been the home of the Duke of Northumberland (the county where we live) since at least 1309. The first Duke of Northumberland happened to have an illegitimate son named James Smithson, whom he refused to acknowledge. Mr. Smithson dedicated his life to investigating the natural world, traveled the world, published some pretty important findings, and shrewdly invested his earnings to amass a respectable fortune. Upon his death, he willed his fortune to his nephew, or if his nephew died with no heirs, the money should go "to the United States of America, to found at Washington, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." So even the Smithsonian Institution seems to have its roots here in the northeast of England. Who knew we were going to such a cool place!!

Here is perhaps the least-expected Harry Potter reference. While Dan and Mike were enjoying the view from Notre Dame, I was exploring the achaeological site beneath it. Apparently, there was a Nicolas Flamel (an alchemist, no less) who paid for a portal to be installed late in the 15th century in the church of Sainte-Genevieve des Ardents, located across the square in front of Notre Dame. Weird...how many other characters might be based on real life people lurking about somewhere out there?

Whitley Bay and Baby Supplies

This past Sunday, we went with Celeste and Brent (Celeste is a neighbor in Dan's program) to Whitley Bay to check out the tidepool critters. The thoroughly slimy terrain did provide a bit of a challenge, especially for those of us with center of gravity challenges, but we all had a good time searching for signs of animal life.

Cool finds included sea anemones (brown slimy things pictured), which had their numerous little arms drawn in because they weren't below the water line when we saw them. There seemed to be a billion limpits (little mollusks that look like pointed hats) and plenty of barnacles. The occasional fish were to quick to photograph, or even really point out to anyone because they hid too fast.
Then Celeste spotted a crab, which Brent was quick to scoop up, as you can see in the video. Here is a picture of the little hermit crab peeking out while in a pool shared with limpits. We enjoyed some corn snacks while the crab sampled the local seaweed in the pool. As the sun continued to set (see all the sun in the video?) it did seem to get a bit cooler and the tide started to come in. Because the area we were exploring definitely gets submerged more than head high, we started to head home.

The following section is for those of you thinking, "I want to get something spiffy for the baby, but I really don't know what Sandy & Dan need."

For starters, we're going to be moving around a LOT for the first few months/years of the baby's life, so we're trying to keep our gear to a minimum. We are already talking with various relatives about borrowing large items (baby seat, crib, stroller, etc). So the majority of needs are things like clothes, bottles, diapers and the like. To give you some specific suggestions, I have created wish lists online.

Supplies for UK: www.mothercare.com click on "gift list" in the far upper right. Then "find a gift list" under "Sandy Saha." Mothercare is THE baby store here in the UK, so they definitely have everything, but you also pay a premium for it. My gift list at this site is merely a list of ideas, ranked by their usefulness, with notes about the qualities I'm looking for in these items. You're welcome to purchase items from this site for convenience sake, but I know better prices can be found elsewhere (ie: eBay, eBay.co.uk or www.amazon.co.uk). If you buy from the gift list, my shipping address is already attached there. If you consider buying in US and shipping to UK, remember 1British pound = $2, shipping to UK can take as long as 1 month and it can be expensive to ship internationally (hence the suggestions for online shopping at .co.uk). Our mailing address can also be obtained from either set of grandparents-to-be (or by e-mailing me/Dan). I'll do my best to update this gift list as we get supplies here.

Supplies for US and Grenada: www.amazon.com click on "Gifts and Wishlists" tab at top center. Click on "Baby Registry" then write "Sandy Saha" in the box. I figured Amazon would have the widest selection of possible baby supplies, so I'd be able to register in just one place to cover a variety of needs. This baby registry is generally a list of ideas, ranked by their usefulness, with notes about the qualities I'm looking for in these items. "Must have" here indicates a specific item for which I checked the reviews, it had all the characteristics I was looking for and you'd be safe buying straight from the registry. For clothes, I was forced to select specific items because of the nature of Amazon, but the list shows the types of clothes we'll need while in US (2mos old-4mos old at most) and in Grenada (whenever we go until 14mos old), plus the variety of colors/patterns I feel are gender-neutral. If you buy from the baby registry, my mom's shipping address is already built in. Her mailing address can also be obtained by e-mailing me/Dan. I'll do my best to update this registry as my mom recieves supplies.

There will be no nursery, so no theme to stick to. I have absolutely nothing against receiving gently used items. For those of you willing to wait, you can buy supplies for in the US and then you'd already know gender, which folks have indicated may make clothes purchases easier. The Amazon list especially will be left up through Christmas because those are all supplies we'll be using after that date. Below is a timeline to give you an idea of when we'll be where (good for Saha tracking and shipping plans).

Halloween: Baby due to arrive in UK
Christmas: Sandy & Dan return to US with little one
Feb/Mar 2009: Sandy and little one join Dan in Grenada
December 2009: All Sahas return to US (whew!)

Egypt -- Cairo

So Cairo is a city of 18 million people all packed ridiculously closely together. The city was filled with apartment buildings that looked a lot like the ones along the Nile -- mud bricks, looking unfinished, no roofs, crammed. Our guide told us there were tens of thousands of people living in the mausoleums in the city's biggest graveyard. Too poor to afford housing, they live among the dead. The city of Cairo has grown right into the Giza Plateau, so it's all one big metro area and the buildings go right up to the pyramids, as you can see.

Cairo was our last big stop in Egypt and by the time we got there, I was really starting to feel some hip pain from all the walking we'd been doing. So...while Dan crawled around the interior of the middle pyramid, I took a nice air-conditioned stroll through the solar boat's museum. This is the actual boat that carried the body of the pharaoh to the pyramid and was subsequently buried at the foot of the pyramid. Archaeologists discovered it pretty much intact, right down to the ropes that tied the various wooden boat parts together. So, they were able to put it back together and generally restore it to the condition you see here.

Even though camels are not native to Egypt, it's tough to pass up the super-cool opportunity to ride around a wonder of the world on a unique form of transportation. For some reason, this was not an activity recommended for pregnant chicks, so I fulfilled my duty as photographer for the experience.

Though this is the biggest sphynx in Egypt, it seems kind of puny next to the pyramids. It's hard to believe this cool monument is slowly being eaten away from below with water seepage.

After a full day of hiking about wonders of the world, and riding a wheelchair through a museum with the bodies of some of the ancient world's most famous people (Ramesses, Hatchepsut, etc.), we flew back to Luxor to catch our flight home. It was just fascinating seeing the Sahara sands creeping up to the green ribbon of the Nile, plus the rocky outcrops that seemed to be eroded into fascinating branchy patterns by years of slow water erosion.

We had a last meal with our friends from the boat. We had great times with everyone, though I seem to have washed the piece of paper where we wrote down everyone's contact info. So...if you know these people, tell them we say hi and we've lost their contact info...