Meet Father Christmas!

Well, here are some other people in our lives - Sussex MA students Willem and Hilary seen here visiting Father Christmas at the Western Road Community Primary School Christmas Bazaar! Hilary is a fellow Fulbrighter and babysat with the kids the night before. Willem came up to meet Hilary for the day. It had been a long time since they got their picture with Santa. Can you guess how Santa got his beard to look that way? The answer may surprise you....

Thessaloniki, Greece

In the last week of November, we made a short trip to Greece where Robin gave a talk on the US elections at the University of Macedonia. Thessaloniki is Greece's second largest city, in the northern part of the country. It is the main commercial port for many of the Balkan nations -- Bulgaria, Romania, FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) -- as well as Russia. Here we are on the roof of the White Tower where you can see the main port.

But the real charm of this town is shown in this photo. You stroll along among nondescript 1950s era architecture and suddenly there's a Roman or Ottoman ruin! This one is the Roman Agora or marketplace dating from about 250 AD. It was discovered in the early 1980s when townspeople were digging for the foundation for a new law court building. And the weather, food and people were all amazing. Imagine spanikopita for breakfast.

Eleanor's First Slumber Party

Well, after surviving the Bonfires, we survived six ten year old girls staying up all night. Hey,
she only has one birthday a year, and perhaps only one in England. The friends she's made here are quite lovely, though one laughs VERY LOUDLY in the middle of the night!!! Here she is with her chocolate Dinosaur cake. Yes, she's in her PJs -- they all got into them as soon as they hit the door.

Lewes Bonfire Night!!!!

Here are two pictures that I hope captures the thrill and warmth of Bonfire Night. In the UK, Halloween is not a big deal at all, but in some areas Guy Fawkes night, November 5th is as big or bigger!!. Guy plotted to blow up the King and parliament in 1605. The "gunpowder plot" was to turn protestants out of power. So there's a 'little' religious tinge to this. The plotters were unsuccessful. They were arrested and put to death. Our little Lewes, a town of 16,000, has the biggest celebration of Guy Fawkes' downfall in the entire United Kingdom. Six main "Bonfire Societies" plan the entire year to celebrate by first parading around the town (with fire) and then having huge bonfires where they make large amounts of smoke and burn the pope in effigy, and this year Gordon Brown, John McCain, and Barack Obama. Something like 1/3 of the adult population of Lewes belongs to one of these societies. Our town of 16,000 had 18,000 guests for the evening, including five MA-seeking Fulbrighters who stayed at our house! If you ever come here, and ask about Bonfire night, they will ask you if you are Catholic before they say anything.