I tried to upload the video of Isaac and Jackie dancing… Isaac had been bragging about how well he and Jackie could dance since they had taken lessons… I guess the Mexicans like to dance to country music, and their favorite song to dance to, especially at weddings, is Billy-Ray Cyrus and ‘Aiky Breaky Heart’… OH YEAH!
So look for it on youtube under: ‘Isaac and Jackie dance’
On the night before we left for home, we visited the city of Cuernavaca to get some ice cream and see some of the sights at the center of the city.
There were a lot of people, and families, in the city.
As the sun went down, and we were finishing our ice cream, a concert started with a popular singing star.
We wandered around, looking at the different churches and buildings.
By the time we got through looking around, the concert was almost over, so we stayed to watch the end and the encores. It was a great evening.
The next city we traveled to was Cuernavaca, where Isaac’s new home is located.
This is the outside of his home on Grand Masters street. Most homes in Mexico are gated for protection.
There are two separate automatic gates, for two vehicles.
Going into the front door is a small hall. To the left is a stairway leading to the three bedrooms upstairs, and eventually to the roof-top patio. In front is the living room.
The living room. To the left is a sliding door leading to their backyard and the pool area.
The dining room, with another set of sliding doors leading to the yard.
The kitchen to the right of the dining room. The door leads out to a small courtyard where the washer and drier would be placed, and to the servant’s quarters.
This door leads to a small room, and small bathroom, where a guest or servant could stay.
The entire house is a different level. Most split-level homes have three levels, this one has lots and lots! The living room is a step down from the hall and the dining room; next to the stair going up is a stair going down to a full bathroom and to a movie/playroom, which then leads though sliding glass doors to the pool.
Once outside is the pool and the yard, with a beautiful tree that gives the yard and house shade most of the morning.
This is looking out at the pool from the movie/play room.
This is looking at the pool and house from the backyard.
Going upstairs you have a hall that has several stairs and levels. There are three bedrooms and three full baths.
Eventually the stairs turn and go up to the roof.
A typical bedroom on the 2nd level
Here is a view of the roof-top patio. Eventually they will put plants and an arbor or something up here.
On the roof of the house is a heating system for the pool water.
This is a view of the street and homes in front of the house.
And a view of a large new home being built behind the house.
another view of the backyard.
We had a barbeque on one of the days we stayed at the house. Jackie taught me how to make a wonderful bean soup, then we had barbequed meat that we put into tortillas with home-made salsa and guacamole sauce. Wow!
It is a fabulous home in a gated community with security, just outside the city of Cuernavaca.
My father and I made a trip to Mexico to see my son Isaac. Although he lives in Metepec, the large city nearby was Toluca. Having never been to Toluca, we made our first visit:
There were three or four large churches in Toluca, right in the middle of the city.
The inside of the churches were beautiful, and still being used for services.
Each church was a little different, and each had been dedicated to a different Saint. This church had a large Madonna and child. People would purchase pins and ribbons to attach to the dress of the Madonna– each representing a prayer.
This was a second church surrounding a central square in Toluca
The churches all had been built in the shape of a cross, with the altar built in the center.
We had arrived just after a mass was said, and many of the lights were still on, giving the altar a beautiful glow.
The Tinian Times will soon come to an end. After two years of living in paradise, and coming to love both the island and the people of Tinian, Terri and I have made the decision to leave Tinian.
It has been one of the most difficult decisions we have ever had to make. On one side was our love for the people of Tinian, and the joy we have experienced living on Tinian. On the other side were changes in work and family circumstances that we could not change. If we had the power to do so, we would have continued to live on Tinian. But life seldom goes as planned…
A number of people have written, wondering about our trip home. There were lots of reasons we decided we needed to leave Tinian for a while. Terri and I have decided to take some time off to travel and see family. We both have parents that are old, and some are ill, so we wanted some time to visit parents, children, and grandchildren. In addition, Terri is attending two medical conferences–one in Chicago and one in…Virginia? I forget.
While Terri is busy there, I have a book convention to attend, and will be traveling to Mexico to see my son Isaac.
Terri’s contract with the clinic on Tinian is renewed in August. We have to decide whether or not to stay on Tinian or to move to the mainland. We would like to stay on Tinian– we love it there, but the decision may not be up to us. Since we are unsure of whether or not we will be able to stay on Tinian, we have no choice but to see what our other options might be.
Terri and I took a trip to South Dakota. These are some pictures of the Badlands.
The landscape was quite stunning… although, I suppose if one had to live here, well, there is a reason it got its name!
Terri and I stopped to get a picture taken at one of the look-out points.
Most of the area we drove through was simply open prairie, grassland, or acres of farmland. It was amazing to drive hour after hour and see nothing but open prairie with an occasional farmhouse as the only thing breaking up the view!
This is the Crazy Horse monument that is being carved out of a mountain in the Black Hills. The entire Mt. Rushmore could fit into the area by the head! The last time I visited, when I was about 14 yrs old, they had not even completed the head yet.
After visiting an Indian reservation, we eventually headed into the Black Hills. It was here we found this monument. You can get a feel for what it will look like– they have painted the rock with the eye and ear of the horse.
As you can see, there is a lot left to do! Perhaps by the end of the century they might finally be done!
Just up the road a ways is Mt. Rushmore. It was completed in less time than they have already been working on the Crazy Horse monument. Of course, Mt. Rushmore was a government project, where Crazy Horse is a private project that is being paid for by contributions from visitors.
Here is a three generation picture (we are missing Jeremiah, the fourth). Kingsley the great-grandfather is to the right, I am to the left, and two of my grandchildren, Ben and Kael.
Kael is patiently waiting for the cake to be cut.
And Ben is ready to blow out the candles!
Although we are already in Utah, I thought I would post some odds and ends on the site… until we take some new pics of our travels here. We spent a few days on Saipan (Terri had some meetings, and we did some touring of Saipan with Liz).
The apartment building at the end of the street is being worked on again– the outside is being finished, and the upstairs is being worked on.
Next door is the new pizza parlor that is being built. The work is on and off, so there is no way to know when it will open.
Liz had a few appointments to take pictures of individuals and families while on Tinian. One family decided to have their pictures taken at the House of Taga!
Spring/summer must be upon us as many of the trees are producing again
This is another view of the new pizza parlor. Looks nice, eh? Hopefully the food will be good too!?
Work continues at the amphitheater… we all look forward to some kind of official opening.
Concrete has been poured at the parking by Broadway.
As hard as it is to believe, the hole in the ground behind the theater is still being dug… I’m not sure how much bigger and/or deeper they can make this hole! Perhaps we can turn it into a community swimming pool?
I am still working on how to use the underwater camera (I got a waterproof cover for my camera). Sometimes it is still too blue, and sometimes too red, etc. It is hard to get the true colors one sees with our eyes, through the camera.
We did catch sight of a floating whale….
The main road through Tinian is finaly ready to be paved. By the time we return from our trip to the mainland, it should be done! Here is a view of the road now, from Broadway to the dock.
This is looking east toward Broadway, from Tinian Ice
This is looking west from the same location. You can see all the concrete work is done, and they have graded the road so that the dirt is about 2″ below the concrete edge– just enough for the asphalt paving to meet level.
This is the large, ugly hole in the middle of town, where all the water draining from the new road will end up! They are building a wall around the hole, for protection… and I suppose to hide it…
This is one of the two cross-overs in the road. One is across from the Mayor’s office, the other is next to the Post Office and Medical Clinic. The cross-over by the Library has been closed.
This is a view of the Police station, on the left
A view from the Post Office– you can see the second cross-over
Looking at the Library, where they continued the sidewalk and closed the cross-over
Looking at the corner by the church
Heading down the hill towards the dock area
they are still working on the sidewalks in some areas, like this one where they have to hand-carve out the hill to make room for the sidewalk to fit.
This is the area next to the park
And it comes to an end at the dock. They still have some work to do, but not much. In one or two weeks they should be paving the road.
On a side note: while digging the drainage line across from the House of Taga, they found some ancient remains. There are two archaeologists working at 2-3 sites looking for artifacts and documenting what they find. i was going to try to interview them, and take more pics, but we had to leave before I got to it. I encouraged them to have the paper do a story on whatever they find.
As for Terri and I… we are on our way to the states for a vacation. While there Terri will be interviewing at a couple of clinics who have been requesting meetings with her. Terri’s contract with Tinian clinic is up soon, so we have to decide whether to stay another year on Tinian, or leave for Saipan, or the mainland. Only time will tell.
