Shelly's Underwater Birthday

Kissing creatures of the deep

It is nearly impossible to blow out birthday candles underwater, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't attempt it.  Shelly attempted underwater candles and more, as she spent her birthday weekend diving near the bottom of a Pennsylvania lake.  She not only dove, but she demonstrated essential SCUBA skills like clearing her mask after it filled with water, helping an "out-of-air" buddy get safely to the surface, navigating under a murky lake using only a compass, and achieving the oft-illusive neutral bouyancy.  In the end, she and her husband emerged as certified SCUBA divers just three weeks before they land on their new island home in the Indian Ocean.   We had four extended dives over two days in a quarry turned lake near York, PA.  While visibility wasn't great, it was just right for learning essential skills at this new sport.  We spent much of our time 20 feet deep on a mid-water platform demonstrating all we had learned in a swimming pool over the last month.  Then, we went to the COLD water at 55 feet to see a submerged cement mixer, and to feel the frigid temps against our exposed cheeks and chins.  While we do not anticipate those temperatures in Mauritius, it is good to get training under more adverse conditions. 

In her educational career, Shelly often waxed poetic of the benefits of teaching people to be "life-long learners".  If you watch what she did this weekend, you know she believes it! Happy birthday, Shelly!

Our Change of Address Card

Create a photo slideshow

Shelly and David are moving in three weeks to our new home in the Indian Ocean.  We will keep blogging, and we will look forward to hearing from you.  If you want to email us, its easy:

David     davidcampbellFSO@gmail.com
Shelly     shellygcampbell@gmail.com

Or, if you want to send a mailed letter, card, or package, we will receive mail through the US postal system (only US postage required) at:

David and Shelly Campbell

2450 Port Louis Place

Apt. 69

Dulles, VA  20189-2450

Bailey's Adventure: Hardly a Dog's Life

We haven't said much about our "third child" in this blog, but Bailey has been a loyal and enthusiastic playmate in our move to Washington.  Our Chihuahua-Pomeranian cross has proven to be very adaptible to life in an apartment complex, and long walks in 105 degree heat with 80% humidity.  He never complains, even though he's the only one of us wearing a fur coat.  Every morning, he helps me get the newspaper from the box across the street, and we travel different paths each day through Arlington.  Many people want to stop and pet him along the way, as well-mannered as he is.  He has come to have 2 legged as well as 4 legged friends.  Here's a shot of Bailey and his friend Claire taking a nap.  Generally, they spend one day a week together romping around the apartment and the area.  Claire belongs to another Foreign Service Officer who is also in training here.  As we prepare to move to the Indian Ocean in three weeks, many of our preparations have been about getting Bailey to his new home.  It's not been easy.  Shelly has had to learn a ton about multiple national bureaucracies, some international airlines, and their respective approaches to traveling and resident pets.  There are shots, examinations, appointments, certificates, and precise timing required to get Bailey to the new home.  As planned, he will ride in the cabin from DC to Paris; then the second airline requires that he be in a crate in excess baggage for the 14 hour flight to Mauritius.   Despite the extraordinary preparation, even once we get to Mauritius, Bailey will be in a 30 day quarantine at a vet facility outside the capital. No way to get around this national health requirement.  We got Bailey as a rescue dog from the ABQ Animal Control facility, so he's experienced the lockup, but this time, his "parents" will feel the pain of his incarceration!  To be continued . . .

Dorothy and Toto, Shelly and Bailey
I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!

 

Damon Turns 21 Today!

Damon Everett Campbell turns 21 today!  We are so proud of our young man and all that he has done with his 21 years.  In looking back over pictures of him, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of him doing something with water, in all of its forms.  He is a man always in motion, and often it has something to do with a water-related activity.  He snowboards with the best on Durango Mountain and Vail Resort.  He wake-boards in Miami, surfs in Costa Rica, jet skis at Elephant Butte, waterskis in Tampa.  For several summers Damon was a lifeguard and  lifeguard supervisor at the Academy pool in Albuquerque.  Here are some shots of him fishing off Ketchikan, Alaska, drinking from Niagara Falls, and boating on a lake near the Arctic Circle.  If there were room for more pictures, you'd see him rafting on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, swimming in a triathlon, and landing in an airplane on Mt. McKinley's glacier.  He's swung and dropped Tarzan-like on rope swings over a lake in Kauai, snorkeled in Cozumel, and swam with giant tortoises in the Pacific off Maui.  Damon knows and appreciates the power of water too---he's repaired homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Mississippi. As a civil engineering student, he's been part of an intercollegiate team to build bridges over bodies of water and concrete canoes to float on them.  His summer internships have taken him to water treatment plants and pump stations.  He celebrated his birthday last weekend in Phoenix by going night swimming.  We can hardly wait until next year when we can welcome him to Mauritius and the beaches on the Indian Ocean.  I could go on and on about our terrific son, but suffice it to say that we are so proud of the man he's grown up to be, both on the water and on dry land.  Happy birthday, Damon!!  Love, Mom and Dad

More in Baltimore

I've been wanting to see Baltimore and its Inner Harbor area for years.  The urban wonk in me has heard that this is the way to redevelop the core of a city. I now agree.  Here is a vibrant, thriving downtown that has, over a period of years, been an investment of the community, and it is paying great dividends.  Having the beautiful Camden Yards baseball stadium (Orioles) and the M&T Bank football stadium (Ravens) within easy reach of each other downtown brings thousands of people to the center of the city and populates the restaurants, nightclubs, and other entertainment venues.  The city has really capitalized on its harbor area for great locations of a convention center, hotels, ships, and dining venues.  Just outside of downtown, we had dinner in an area called Fell's Point, more of a neighborhood, funky area and had a great meal in a nice place, Ale Mary's.  The ballgame at Camden Yards was great, even if the O's lost to the Indians.  Baltimore's a winner, and this is how to redevelop a city!  Places like Albuquerque that want to redevelop the downtown would do well to look at Baltimore's formula and do the same thing.  Way to go, team!

National Gallery of Art

Vincent Van Gogh



Leonardo da Vinci

Auguste Renoir

Washington's National Gallery of Art, a part of the Smithsonian, is one of the most wonderful art museums in the world.  The collection is phenomenal, and its special events like Friday Jazz programs bring the world to its door.  Shelly and I have enjoyed several visits to see the paintings and sculptures displayed there.  Right now, there is a special showing, with limited hours, of cut-out drawings by Henri Matisse in the East Building.  Normally, the East Building is reserved for 20th Century art, but there is a special showing of the 17th century Dutch artist Gabriel Metsu there now.  Until seeing the exhibit, I had not heard of him among the Dutch Masters like Rembrandt, who was a contemporary.  Metsu's exhibition, of which there are about 35 paintings, is well worth the visit.  The National Gallery has something for everyone.  I've been a partisan of Vincent Van Gogh, and his works at NGA, while limited, are of high quality.  I particularly like Farmhouse in Provence as it shows that "Arles Yellow" Van Gogh found in the south of France during a very prolific time in his career.  Bottom line, while you're in Washington, see the National Gallery of Art . . .you could spend days there, but even a restful afternoon will make your week (and your life) just a bit better. 

Henri Matisse



Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA)

Shelly and I started our new class this week---SCUBA!!! We have had so much fun anticipating what it will be like, and it's all that and more.  The fellow in our new favorite Washington, DC store, the National Diving Center, said it best:  "Going to Mauritius and Seychelles and not diving is like going to Aspen and not skiing . . ." We couldn't agree more.  So, through the month of July, we have Thursday evening classroom lessons, and Saturday afternoons in the pool (at my alma mater, Georgetown University)---then at the end of the month, we drive to Pennsylvania for a weekend of open water dives at a quarry outside of York.  By the first of August, we will be PADI certified SCUBA divers, ready for the Indian Ocean.  Already, we've learned much:  They aren't goggles, it's a mask;  they aren't flippers, they're fins; and the first rule of SCUBA is to keep breathing. 

SCUBA in the Seychelles

David tries on his new wetsuit

So, today was our first Saturday in the pool, and we learned some of the basics, like how the equipment works, and what happens if your mask fills with water, or your breathing apparatus comes out of your mouth.  Important stuff.  We had to prove that we could swim and stay afloat.  Also, how important it is to go potty BEFORE getting all that equipment on . . . just sayin' . . .  
Stay tuned for more underwater adventures from the Campbells!

Crabs on the Chesapeake Bay!



Chase Kimball, Anthony Lauriello,
Shelly, David, and 18 of our closest
crustacean friends

What a summertime treat!  Journeyed out to Annapolis, MD for a mess 'o crabs served on butcher paper, plastic trays on long picnic tables next to the water.  Perfect!  Throw in some jumbo shrimp, mussels, corn on the cob, and some great young friends, and its a perfect July evening.  There's nothing elegant about Cantler's Riverside Inn, and you have to work awfully hard to make a meal out of the blue crabs, but the sensation of making a mess and eating outside with your hands can't be beat.  You get a free crustacean anatomy lesson as well.  Heather's friend Chase Kimball and Damon's friend Anthony Lauriello are both working in Washington, DC and joined us for the crabfest.  If you are in the Washington area, Cantler's is well worth the 30 minute drive. Go for it!

A Capitol Fourth!

Independence Day Parade
Constitution Ave, Washington DC

Wow!  For all its alleged faults, Washington, DC does one thing right---celebrating the 4th of July!  We took it all in . . . First, the parade, seen from the steps of the National Archives:  the marching bands, the floats, the precision drill teams, twirling pastel Southern Belles, and the helium bloated Fred Flintstone and Uncle Sam. 



Watching the concert
from the Capitol Steps



Then it was up to the steps of the US Capitol for prime viewing of "A Capitol Fourth" the live PBS variety show featuring patriotic music by the National Symphony Orchestra, Josh Groban, Steve Martin (on banjo, no less!), Jordin Sparks, Kelli O'Hara, and Little Richard!  Oh, and did we mention fireworks?  The Washington Monument was awash in the rockets red glare.  We watched with just a bit of melancholy knowing this would be our last Independence Day celebration in the United States for a while.  But what a way to go out!!!

Steve Martin on banjo!





Little Richard on Capitol Hill



Celebrating Peace Corps' 50th Birthday

What a weekend it's been for former Peace Corps volunteers!  The Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall set up beautiful educational exhibits about the work of Peace Corps volunteers around the world, many of whom brought with them the host country friends with whom they work.  There were weavers, teachers, farmers, business advisors, and (my personal favorite) bicycles retrofitted to charge cell phones and grind peanut butter!  As always, hearing the stories and seeing the examples of the outstanding work done by volunteers was inspiring and heart-warming---made me proud to be one of the thousands of volunteers who have served in the 50 years since JFK started the Peace Corps.

Cameroon RPCVs Andy Snow,
David Campbell, Bobe Glenn Lesak,
and Elaine Guihan

In addition to the displays and exhibits, there were areas where Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) could post cards and arrange meetings with others from their countries of service.  At the Folklife Festival, I had the delightful experience of running into several other volunteers with whom I served in Cameroon and elsewhere.  Then, for two nights in a row, we had Cameroonian food and reunions of old friends---Saturday, at a West African restaurant and Sunday at a former volunteer's nice home in suburban Maryland.  It's been a long time since I've eaten country favorites like ndole, fou-fou, and fried plantains, but it brought those memories rushing back!  It's been a wonderful 50 year birthday party for the Peace Corps, and for me the 35th anniversary of leaving (July 7, 1976) to join the Peace Corps!  It makes me very happy to remember my service, and to think about our PCV daughter Heather serving in Zhetysai, Kazakhstan.   To all who have served and are serving, happy birthday Peace Corps!