Pre-Departure Dinner

I was wondering who was going to feed me this week, what with Jim being gone and almost all of the leftovers also gone. 

Sunday night I had dinner with Jennifer and Graham, and Kitty the Dog came along for the ride.
Monday I had to feed myself!! Imagine that!  :)

Tonight, Tuesday, Gene and Barbara (Fellows from 2009, I believe) hosted a lovely dinner at their house in San Francisco.  Gene made a Moroccan dinner that Jim will want to know every detail about, and all I heard was stew over eggplant somethings, and Baklava for dessert.  Now, even though I don't know the names of the dishes I was eating, the dinner was wonderful!

Coming down from Marin to the city, I picked up Sarah Diefendorf, Executive Director for the Environmental Finance Center at Dominican University.  She is listed on the 2010 Fellows list as Faculty-In-Residence.  I felt like I was grilling her with questions about the program, how Dominican fits in with Teach with Africa, and about Cape Town in general.  Mostly I listened to her talk about her hopes and goals for the program, all which line up with why I am doing this.

We got to Gene and Barbara's house, due to an error on the arrival time, an hour early, but had a chance to chat with Gene and admire their garden.  At least I admired the garden.  I wish I had photos.  It was an absolutely beautiful evening in the Outer Richmond District of SF.  All the talking, and I kept thinking that I wanted to be sitting on the warm flagstone pavers outside smelling the lavender and some other purple trailing vine thing that I didn't have a chance to go and smell and feel.

Many of the Fellows from the orientation were there - Jennifer, Heather, Katie, Subina, ummm ......  a couple of others whose names I have already forgotten.  Katie and I talked about packing - what is in our suitcases, how many clothes are we bringing.  Heather and I worried about what to do when we get to the Cape Town airport - do we need to take a cab?  Do we need to rent a car?  Do we need directions?  In all of the literature, nothing says what to do when we arrive.

Good thing we asked - Amy said that someone would pick us up at the airport.  That's a great thing because I have at least 3, if not more, large duffel bags filled with soccer gear, and I can only imagine my hauling those even from the Baggage Claim to any sort of taxi or bus. Not fun.  But now, not a problem.

I also placed my wine order. Here it is Tuesday, and I let Jennifer (our Coordinator) know my wine preferences.  Priorities, ya know?

Well .... 9:37, Kitty the Dog says it is time for bed.  Time to shut down this All Too Quiet House and head to bed. The next couple of days are going to be busy.