It was an exciting morning today as we started the 2013-2014 school year. The kids were up early in anticipation and we eager to ride their new scooters to school and see all of their friends. Owen is in his final year of the PYP programme and is a big fifth grader. Oliver is “a new man” and promises to listen to his teachers and obey the rules, and Ocean can’t wait to “learn the small letters” of the alphabet and start reading. Nadia is teaching first grade for the second year and really loves it. I am starting my sixth year at ISB and we welcomed over 200 students to the Upper School.
We also love the convenience of living right next to the school. It makes our lives soooo much easier. I highly recommend ending commutes for families. We are all looking forward to another year of adventure and growing for our family.
Last weekend we escaped to the heartland of Serbia – Šumadija. Šuma is forest in Serbian and the area used to be covered in forests and the Serbian people have been in this region for a long time. It is just south of Belgrade and today is full of small farms and rolling hills with pockets of forests.
We visited the Radovanović Winery in the small town of Krnjevo. It is one of our favorite wines from Serbia. The country has an excellent wine industry and it is growing. They were very friendly and gave us the full tour of the premises and arranged for a wine tasting. They even had low alcohol wine for the kids to taste. We are not that big of wine drinkers, although I did take a wine-tasting course at Western Australia University years ago and am interested in science and pleasures of fermenting grapes.
Fresh Grapes Ready for Wine Production
We then spent the night in the spa town of Aranđelovac, home of the famous Knaz Miloš bottled water. They opened up a large new hotel and water park. The park was quite crowded but the kids liked it. In town there is a huge park where the original spa used to be and it is filled with these beautiful statues carved from the local venač marble. We walked around and the kids played on the statues. It was a glorious mid-summer evening and lots of people walking about.
The Marble Statues of Aranđelovac
It is only 78 kilometers from Belgrade and makes for a perfect overnight get-away. I also highly recommend Radovanovic wines and visiting the mali podrum (little cellar).
I’ve been loving the extremely hot temperatures in Belgrade this August. The day time temperatures have been up into the 90s Fahrenheit and even the nights have been in the 80s. We have been spending as much time as possible in the water, both at Ada Ciganlija and in swimming pools. Owen is shown above diving into the pool at a friend’s house.
This weekend we went to one of the many “green markets” in Belgrade, this particular one in Blok 44 in New Belgrade. It is funny how in the US they make a big deal of the “Farmers’ Markets” and in Serbia they are everywhere. Many of the stalls do buy directly from local farmers as the ties to the countryside and small farms have not been lost like in the USA. The family is shown below shucking corn.
Finally, our recommendation for the best ice cream in the city, Moritz EIS located downtown on Ulica Vuka Karađića near the walking street. The Austrian owner has high quality homemade ice cream that come in interesting flavors. There is a nice outdoor area to sit and it is convenient to go for a stroll afterwards down Knez Mihajlova Street.
The 23 and Me Testing Kit (Photo courtesy of James Hadfield)
Earlier this month I submitted a sample of saliva to the genomics and biotechnology company called 23 and Me. The company, founded by the wife of Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, allows individuals to get a portion of their genome decoded and they give some health and ancestral information. Only around 1 million of the 3 billion base pairs are read by the company and based on this, the report shows people their genetic predisposition to some diseases and other traits. I haven’t explored this part yet and will do in the coming weeks.
I was really interested in the ancestry part of their services. I am adopted and have found my biological mother and know a bit about my heritage, but it was really amazing to see in detail the percentages. It was also awesome to think about how humans came out of Africa and some of my DNA sequences are the same as the Neanderthals and the cavemen who painted those beautiful drawings in France.
Humanity is just in the beginning stages of understanding our genome and I hope I live long enough to see the advances in the field. It would be a great field to go into if I was younger. I am not sure how accurate the results are given that only a small portion of my DNA was decoded. The “speculative” read of my DNA was as follows:
Overall, I am 99.3 % European ancestry. The breakdown of this European DNA reads:
38.6 % Eastern/Northern European
19.1 % French/German
12.7% Non-specific Northern European
8.4% Balkan (yea Serbia!!!!)
1.2% Iberian
1.1% Italian
7.9 % Non-specific Southern European
9.6% Non-specific European
There are too many “non-specifics” for my liking and I am not sure how they arrived at this. Is it because they didn’t read enough of my DNA? Could it be that because Europeans interbred so often, that to distinguish between countries, or groups is difficult? Living in Serbia and being of Slavic origin, I always wondered if I had some Balkan blood in me, and yes indeed I do. The 0.7% of non-European DNA was defined as Middle Eastern/Northern Africa.
The company is also crowd sourcing DNA for its mega database to find insights into the human genome. I gladly contributed to this and with the 300,000 other people who have done this also, wish them luck in their research. The company also matches genetic relatives, known and unknown from the database. I found I have a second cousin who also submitted a saliva sample. There were a bunch of third to sixth cousins. Out of respect to my biological mother, I probably won’t look them up.
Another part of the company are collecting health and ancestry surveys from the participants. With this they can get more specific regarding country origins. The top two countries for me were Poland and Slovakia, which matches what my biological family has told me. Other countries earning percentages were Russia, the Ukraine, Estonia, Romania, and strangely, El Salvador and Cuba.
I am 2.8% related to Neanderthals, and the average European is 2.7%. That puts me in the 72 percentile. Very odd to think that humans bred with Neanderthals and we still carry some Neanderthal DNA with us today.
In tracing my maternal and paternal DNA lines, on my mother’s side I am Haplogroup H, which is typical of Europeans, and found in the Basque and Scandinavian populations. On my father’s side, I am the R1b1b2a1a, which comes from the fringes of the North Sea and over 50% of European men possess this group. Sharing the same paternal line is the media sociologist and author, Malcolm Gladwell.
I will be blogging more about this as I delve into the reports on the web site.
We recently spent 4 glorious days on the island of Čiovo, located just off the Croatia mainland next to the beautiful town of Trogir. The island is in the center of Croatia’s Dalmatian coast and it is our third trip to the Croatian coast and each time I like it more and more.
The highlight for me was renting a sea kayak for an afternoon with Owen. It was a great way to spend the day with my son. We paddled out of Okrug Gornji and found some secluded coves that were perfect for “cliff diving” and swimming.
I can see the allure of the Adriatic Sea. The turquoise water, that Mediterranean bright sun, the smell of pines and sea, and the white limestone rocks, really renews one’s soul. We spent most of the time on the beach because the kids couldn’t get enough of the water. In the evenings we enjoyed fresh fish dinners and took the ferry over to the mainland Trogir for ice cream. The town is an UNESCO world heritage site and it was pleasant to see the yachts in the harbor and meander through the old city in search of ice cream.
Okrug Gornji Harbor – Our Dinner View
There were a lot of tourists, mostly from Germany, Poland and other northern European countries. There were enough places to get away however and it didn’t feel that crowded.
We stayed on Čiovo because our good friend, Nemenja, his mother is originally from there and they have a summer home there. He and his family showed us some typical Balkan hospitality and made our stay even more wonderful. I want to thank Dragica, Milena, and especially Nemenja for showing us the secrets of Dalmatia.
I would bet the Croatians have an ambivalent attitude towards the crowds of tourists. Most locals have gotten into the rental business and converted their homes into apartments. The tourists also bring lots of revenue to the supermarkets, restaurants, ferries, shops, etc. They have changed the character and physical look of the place however, and it was interesting to hear Nemenja’s description of the town pre-tourist boom. There were very few Serbs around, and that stems from still ill feelings of Croats towards Serbs from the war. A bit inland is the former Serbian enclave and short-lived independent country (Republic of Serbian Krajina), Knin. A lot of violence occurred there and it would be a fascinating place to visit. The city went from being 79% Serbian to 75% Croatian. Serbians usually go a bit further south to the Montenegrin coast. We did get quite a few looks because of our licence plates. Croatia was celebrating their recent membership to the EU (July 1) and I am closely watching the impact on the country. Serbia is in the process of membership and so I am curious to see what benefits and disadvantages EU membership brings.
Ocean and Ollie Take a Break at Labadusa Beach
I learned that the Dalmatian breed of dog is not common in Dalmatia. The breed was originally from there, used as a guard dog for nomads, but the breeding and popularization of Dalmatians took place in England. The unofficial capital of Dalmatia is Croatia’s second city of Split. I would like to go and visit there. I also did not understand much of the Croatian language. They have a different accent and in this part of Croatia, they mix in a lot of Italian and Croatian terms that differ from Serbian. For example, they do not say prijetno, but dobar tek instead.
We will definitely be back to Dalmatia. It is seven hours from Belgrade via a fast, four-lane highway, although it goes in a roundabout way and not a direct route. Someone needs to put a large, straight highway from Belgrade through both Bosnia and Montenegro. Travelling through those countries is an uncomfortable and slightly dangerous experience due to the winding narrow roads.
I haven’t read many books about science lately, and it was refreshing to get back into it. The author, Mary Roach’s book Gulp was an informative, and entertaining read. I learned a lot of facts (summarized below) and she also put her personality into the book with humorous sentences interspersed in the writing and footnotes. It gave me “food for thought” to the workings of my digestive system. This book is really great for any biology or general science teachers and also easy to read for the general public. I never really thought of the digestive track to be one, long tube, but that is what it is.There are hundreds of interesting facts and stories. Below are some facts I found interesting in the book.
5 tastes, but infinite odors – 80-90 % of the pleasure of eating is smell
Dogs put their heads out car windows because it is an awesome way to smell
Le Nez Du Vin – kits for learning specific smells
We only smell 5-10 % of inhaled air (imagine if it was more)
Average person only eats 30 differen food – 4-day repertoire
Eating animal organs are good for u – packed with nutrients, the most on earth – wild animals eat organs first
Saliva raises pH of food – antibacterial as well
Detergent and fabric softeners are digestive enzymes
Colds transmitted thru fingers more than mouth – don’t pick your nose
Hot dogs, grapes, round candies top 3 choking hazards – resulting in death of young children
Bristol Stool Scale – classifying shape and consistency of stool
Anus can tell if it is a solid liquid or gas and is rich in nerves
Flatulance 80% H 1/3 people CH4 as well
Beyond suckling there is no reason for absorbing lactose, so people should not drink milk
A person farts on avg. 22 times per day
Biggest risk factor in colon cancer is amount one eats – fiber does not help
Why does aspirin only inflame in stomach?
morning breath is H2S, bacteria eating shed tongue cells and there is no saliva to wash them away
Ecoli, Staph bacteria only aerobic type in stools;
colon, anus cancer taboo
Enteric nervous system is a primitive brain for the digestive system and immune system
We all had a restful and joyous holiday, despite us being apart for most of it. The family stayed in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, while I started my Ed.D. program at Lehigh University. Shown above is the family with Nadia’s father and the family nanny, Modesta. The kids had a wonderful time with their grandfather, affectionately known as “Popa” and getting to know their Bolivian and Spanish language heritage a bit more. My absence meant they were immersed in Spanish and a closer bond was formed with Popa. He is such a nice guy!
The kids especially enjoyed being with the family dog, Lulu. It really makes me want to get a dog for them! We will look into it this year. The kids spent a lot of time on the four-wheeler Popa had waiting for them, and they had swimming and soccer lessons and visits with relatives to keep them occupied. There was some bad weather that kept them indoors at times, but that didn’t stop them from having lots of fun anyway.
American Rheas run free on the grounds of the Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz.
I did get a few days in Santa Cruz and ate all of my favorite foods (salteñas, achachairu, empanadas) and my beloved “bolo” of coca leaves. The city is fast becoming an Andino city, with immigration from La Paz, Potosi, Cochabomba, etc. is really drowning the traditional “Camba” (the people from the lowland Bolivian provinces) families. I really noticed spotting lighter-skinned Crucenos is getting quite rare. It is a bit sad that the city is growing so fast, it is losing it’s frontier charm. It would have been better for Paraguay to win the Chaco War (1930s) because the people and the city are more Paraguayan than Bolivian. There is an autonomous Camba movement that I wrote about extensively during my last visit in 2011, but it is really too late. My advice would be to go further east, but that too will eventually become “Bolivian” as well. The climate and economy are so much better than on the altiplano that immigration will always be an issue.
I went to Cyndi Lauper’s Broadway musical, Kinky Boots at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in Manhattan yesterday. The scene above is from a play I went to earlier this summer, The Book of Mormon.
I am amazed at the popularity of Broadway plays, since the tickets are quite expensive (average price for a musical is $100) and there are so many people at the performances that tickets are a bit difficult to get. I looked up some statistics on the Broadway League web site and was again impressed at the size of the business.
Broadway plays outsell the top 10 professional New York sports teams combined! They grossed over $1 billion and over 11 million people saw plays last season. In confirming my suspicions looking at the crowd, 2/3 of the patrons are women and “women are more likely to make the purchasing decisions than their male counterparts”. The around 40 new productions each year are most musicals and they employ 86,000 people. The average Broadway play viewer attends four shows per year (which I did in 2013) and 2/3 of the audience are tourists.
Looking north on Sixth Avenue
Despite a definite feminine bent, I really enjoy going to Broadway. I am continually amazed at the aspect of the live performance, not only the singers, dancers, and actors, but the musicians under the stage, the sets and choreography. It is truly a professional and awe-inspiring performance and highly entertaining.
I would guess many of the performers are gay, but there were no stats on the Broadway League web site on this aspect. The flamboyant nature of theatre lends itself to this impression, but I could be wrong. It doesn’t bother me, I marvel at their talent. I wish I could sing and dance as well as them. They are truly incredible artists, but it makes the high school performances that I usually see pale in comparison.
I also wonder why the theatres are not larger. Most of them seat around 1,000 – 1,500, but I guess the intimate nature of them, gives the audience a better experience.
Bryant Park in July
I won’t be back to New York until next summer, but we are planning to take the kids again. I would like to see a regular play instead of a musical next time I am in town.
After the show we went for dinner in Greenwich Village, or as the locals call, The Village. I looked up an apartment in the area to see how much it would cost. A three-bedroom, two-bath, with terrace/garden between 2,000-2,500 square feet runs about 3.5 million. (ouch) Definitely an upscale section of Manhattan, but because of the densely packed nature of the island, real estate prices are crazy. I don’t know how most people can afford to live there. We also ate lunch in Bryant Park, the most densely packed park in the world and the scene of many TV and movies. It was really nice under the London Plane Trees.
I am getting to know NYC more every time I visit. It really is the capital of the world and a marvel.
The view of the new World Trade Center, looking south from The Village
No, this is not a blog post about the television reality series, but about the actual shore itself. I spent the day today in the Island Beach State Park, which is coincidentally, adjacent to where the show was filmed in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
I really had a fantastic day, soaking up the sun, swimming in the cool Atlantic Ocean, and checking out the bird life on the other side of the barrier island, Barnegat Bay. I was skeptical, thinking that the beach would be crowded and commercialized, but the park was very well preserved and it was a quiet day under the hot sun.
I spent about an hour in the bird blind at Spizzle Creek. The blind overlooks the brackish flats of Barnegat Bay. It was truly awesome to watch the Osprey soar and the large egrets gliding near by. There were also no signs of damage from this spring’s Superstorm Sandy.
The Great Egret
I highly recommend this part of New Jersey! I came on a Monday and there was not much traffic and the beaches were not crowded. If you are going to the bay side, I would wear insect repellent as the flies were relentless.
I went for a long hike yesterday in the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, an international center for raptor conservation. The reserve is located close to Bethlehem in the Appalachian Mountains, and is called the Kittatinny (American Indian tribe Lenape, meaning “endless”) which is a pretty appropriate name as the Appalachian Trail goes right by here on its way to Georgia or Maine. This is an important flyway for migrating raptors and they come through in the thousands every spring and fall.
I am pictured above in the “river of rocks” which are these long, narrow spaces with thousands of huge boulders. It is amazing to consider that this mile long field of boulders was formed 11,000 years ago by the ice age. The intense cold of that period, loosened the rocks and they tumbled down the valley. They are sometimes called upside down rivers because of the stream of water beneath them.
The reserve has a lot of rocks! It was fun to climb and scramble over them during my 6-mile hike yesterday. The rocks probably saved the area from the Pennsylvania Dutch farmers! The area is surrounded by old farms and new “McMansions” and so unfortunately while hiking, the sound of cars and motorcycles can still slightly be heard.
I saw one raptor flying through the canopy and got some great photos of these black vultures on the East Rocks area. Vultures are scientifically classified as raptors.
It was a wonderfully relaxing day, being alone in the woods. I sweated profusely, but the heat probably kept most hikers away and I had the far reaches of the park to myself. It would be awesome to be here during the migration periods.
The Appalachian Mountains do not have the majestic quality of the Rockies, but they have a beauty and mystery in their own right. I always get recharged being in the wilderness and the hike was a welcomed respite from my doctorate classes this summer. I will definitely be back with my kids, they would love to scale the rocks!
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