Miracle Cure?

As I was brushing my teeth and lamenting my headache this evening, I remembered an experience from my childhood. When I was maybe 6 or 7, I was spending the night with my Grandma and Grandpa Foster. At some point during the evening, I developed a terrible headache. The pain was so intense that I was crying.

In hindsight I realize that I was having a migraine, but at the time I didn't even know the word. I remember Grandma Foster trying to calm me down and ask me questions about what was wrong. After we had established that I had a really bad headache, and that I hadn't hit my head on anything, Grandma asked this question:

Do you need to have a bowel movement?

I remember, because I didn't know what that meant and had to ask. Grandma chuckled and rephrased the question for me. In case you're curious, no, I did not need to have a bowel movement.

And now the question for today: what was that all about?!? I've had many a headache in my day, but I'm reasonably confident that taking a dump has never been the cure.

So, cyber-readers, since Grandma is no longer with us, I bring the question to you. Any idea what that's about? Is this a generational thing? Some little-known Depression-baby remedy? Or was Grandma Foster just out of related questions, and had she resorted to grasping at straws? Inquiring minds want to know...

Mindo 2010

This Thursday and Friday the 7th grade at AAI went on their annual overnight science field trip to a nearby cloud forest town called Mindo. A cloud forest is like a rain forest, except that it's at a higher altitude and it gets a lot of its moisture from the clouds which actually come into contact with the land because it's so high up.

This is my third year of Mindo Tripping. It was a great, exhausting adventure. Here are some pictures and thoughts on the trip.

[Editor's note: if you're wondering why Leslie, an English teacher, is going on a science field trip, it's because she teaches mostly 7th grade, and so is an easy staff member to "replace". Also, Leslie is a glutton for punishment.]

I think this picture sets the scene really well. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

Ecuador has a lot of birds. Though this tiny country only covers about .02% of the Earth's land area, it contains about 10% of the species of birds found on the whole planet. Like I said. A LOT of birds.

Mindo has a lot of hummingbirds. I mean, really a lot. Here are a couple having lunch at our hosteria. Mr. Wilkenson made a valiant effort to tell me what types of hummingbirds these are, but what I left the conversation with was this: this is the kind of hummingbird that doesn't have a really big tail. Sorry.

Here's the group at our brief lunch/swimming respite before the return trip of our 5 1/2 hour mountain hike. I'm taking this picture from the beginning of the trail back, because I left about 30 minutes before the rest of the group. I wasn't feeling the best, and figured climbing the 30 minute trail back up to the top of the valley at top speed wouldn't help. So I left early so I could go slow. Or more precisely, so I could go MORE slowly than normal. :)

Check us out, trying our hand at fishing. Mostly we fed a lot of bread dough to the tilapia below. But when it was all said and done, we had managed to catch 13 fish (I caught none). I got to eat one for supper, and it was really good.

This is a shot of the bus just as our fearless driver, Roberto was about to ford the little creek that flowed right over the top of the road.

The other highlight (aka miracle) of the trip was the moment when the construction guys flagged us forward after about 10 minutes of waiting. But you need to know the whole story in order to appreciate this gesture.

As we turned off the main road onto the road to Mindo, a guy sitting by the road flagged us down to tell us there was road construction ahead, and it would be about 2 hours before we could get through.

Dan Stoll (the other leader) and I looked at each other with barely-controlled panic in our eyes. Picture the scene. Here we are on a bus with about 40 seventh graders. We've been on the road for 2 hours so far, and I know I have to pee pretty badly. Our road is edged by the jungle. We have stuff planned pretty tightly for the whole day. We could walk, but Dan estimates the trip would be about 2 1/2 or 3 hours. I check with the driver, Roberto, to see if we could go on another road into Mindo. He tells me there is no other road. I still don't know if that means he didn't know of another road, or if there isn't another road big enough for the huge bus, or if that was literally the only road into the town, but the result was the same either way.

We drive on as far as we can go and come upon the construction site. A huge piece of equipment is blocking half the road. The other half appears to be where the back-hoe will dig next. My heart sinks; my bladder lurches; I begin to look around- which side of the road would be more ideal for a squatting situation?

I suggest that we at least walk up to the site and confirm that there's no way for us to get through before we all grab our lunches and set out to walk to our destination. Dan picks up the mic and begins to explain to the kids that we're going to go scout out the situation, and the kids should sit tight. As he faces the back of the bus and the kids (who, by the way, did an admirable job of not whining at the announcement), ahead of us I see the workers flagging two cars on from the opposite direction. And then....we get the wave. After a heart-stopping feat of driving prowess by Roberto, we're past the construction site and back on our way. There was much rejoice and praising from the front of the bus.

Some kids are...just...I don't know what to say here. Except that I'm not sure which kid is more endearing- the one self-consciously enduring the picture, or the one in the Saturday Night Fever pose.

This is my small group. The kids are randomly assigned (and by randomly I mean, we put them in groups that will cause the least amount of drama, to the best of our ability to predict such things) and so they don't always end up with their best friends. But I was pleased with my group's ability to have fun anyway. They were a good group. Especially when they chose not to wake me up in the middle of the very short night. That may have had something to do with my parting words that night. Something about it being ok for them to whisper as long as they don't wake me up.

One of the more astute girls said, "Cause you would be really mad if we wake you up, right Miss Foster?" I smiled, thinking of how I am like my mom in this way, and replied, "It probably wouldn't be pretty. Let's not find out, ok?" They were silent the whole night. :)

Photo Album Tour

So the other day I was looking through the photo album that I put together for myself before I moved to Ecuador. I'd missed having pictures with me in previous international trips, so I made a travel album to look through when I missed family and home. I decided to share some my favorite photos with you. Enjoy!

This is my 6 month picture. I know. I'm adorable. See how squishy I am? Don't you just want to reach out and pick me up? I know I do. Watch out for the slobber, though. Apparently I was a well-hydrated infant.

Here's a shot of Brittony, Josh, and me after a particularly enjoyable puddle-spashing event. You can see Dad's Hobart truck in the background, along with the chicken house. When I look at this picture I think how our world would be a better place if we could all grow up on farms. (bonus points if you can tell which is me and which is Brittony)

This is one of my favorite pictures of my mom. For those of you who never had the pleasure of meeting my mom, let me warn you that this isn't a particularly flattering shot, but I like it a lot because it reminds me of just hanging out with Mom. She was a big fan of the puffy Cheetos, which reveals that she was not perfect (since crunchy Cheetos are clearly superior to the puffy kind). I miss her. And I have zero recollection as to why she's imitating a rabbit.

I LOVE this picture of us. You know that time in life when you're absolutely positive that your dad is the biggest, strongest dad in the world? Well, I have the picture to prove it. He could hold ALL THREE OF US- AT THE SAME TIME!!

This fantastic picture was taken right after I got home from studying abroad in Russia. Can you guess how I know this? Yes, that's an authentic Russian fur hat. I think that thing got passed around a lot that Christmas. Please note a few touches that make this picture particularly endearing to me. Josh seems to be singing Christmas carols...all by himself. I am wearing Christmas bulb earrings. The tree is really crooked. Shout out to my WM4W girls! And if you look really closely, you can see the ghetto-style TV rabbit-ears thing in the background.

Doesn't Dad look like a little kid in a snowsuit?!? Mom got him some new coveralls that Christmas, and they're a little stiff. Hee-hee!!

This is my freshman dorm room. Please note the delightful "black-but-orange" curtains in the background. The curtains were so named by my roomy, Joy, because they were nasty-dirty and so, a little bit black. We are posed this way because we're trying to look studious. Please notice that, while Joy is pulling off the look pretty well, I just appear to be picking my nose. Please also note that my freshman year of college was still the era of desktop pc's. Sometimes I think about how much less carrying my dad would have had to do if the three of us had been in college after the laptop boom. Sorry Dad! :)

While I lived in China, I got a couple chances to go to "hometowns" with various students and experience China outside the metropolises. Why are Joy and I holding this girl? I cannot recall. I'm sure there was a good reason. Whatever the situation was, we do seem to be having a good time, right?

This one is my ALL-TIME favorite picture of my dad with his family. Please look closely with me. First of all, Dad is smiling a REAL smile, which rarely happens. Secondly, notice that two of the three sisters (Aunt Myra on the left and Aunt Bev on the right) are looking at my dad admiringly. Aunt Rita isn't looking at anyone, because she is so overcome with mirth at whatever Dad just said. And Grandpa and Grandma? They look like they're in a whole different picture, right? Both very proper, apparently unaware of the chaos their son is causing above them. I can't help but smile every time I look at this picture.

Mom and Dad were always game for us bringing friends home to visit, so I took them up on it alot. This is a birthday party, I think my senior year of college. Here are some things that make me happy about this picture: I'm surrounded by friends. My cute-funny mom is there. There's a batch of Mom's A-maz-ing homemade Oreo ice-cream on the table. There's a can of Diet Dr. Pepper in front of me. We're in my house. I miss all of these things. But I'm so thankful to have had them at one time, and even more thankful that I will have them again in the future.

This is from China again. Strange things happened to me in China. Sometimes I would find myself coloring Easter eggs with one hand and chasing down the tiny-but-potent mosquitoes which never died in Guangzhou's temperate climate. (they just came inside when it got cold outside) Here is photo documentation of those two things happening. (the racket is electrified with a battery, so if you swing it at a mosquito, the bug gets zapped. Very satisfying. I would regularly count bites on my legs, just from the knees down, and get numbers above 50. Nasty.)

Here's a picture from just a couple summers ago. This is the beach near where Mom wanted her ashes scattered. The family flew to Oregon for my cousin's wedding that summer, and we made a trip to this spot. We're on the tricky rock, which lures you into thinking that if you get up on it between waves, you won't get wet. And this is true...until that odd wave comes in (maybe every 10th or so wave) that's bigger than the others and you get a nice, refreshing bath. :)

And how could I miss a chance to look at some snow, at this, the beginning of my third snow-free winter? This was a funny afternoon. A bunch of my grad school friends decided to go tubing in one of the suburbs of Chicago. City people do everything weird. First, you have to go to a special place. Then you have to rent their tubes. Then you hike up the hill and stand in line until the GUARDS tell you you can go!! Isn't that crazy? Like people can't figure out how to sled without direction and moderation! Anyway, we had fun in spite of the ridiculousness of the situation.

And that brings us to the end of our stroll down my memory lane. I hope you enjoyed the trip.