Once while out on an evening walk, Tony and I decided to cut through the cobblestone stillness of our little town square. At that time of day, with the bells striking and mists curling up around the church tower, the town resembles nothing more than an Italian Brigadoon, about to disappear again into a hundred-year enchantment. However, on this particular evening it just so happened that the entire square was full of chairs, and a stage had been erected on one end. A local acting troupe was performing a play to the rapt attention of what must have been half our little village.… Read more
Month: November 2010
My Mission in Chile
Yesterday I told you about what a fun time I had talking to the sweet old Chilean couple we met over pizza. So today I thought I might tell you a little about my experience in Chile. I went to Chile nine years ago. I had been called to serve an 18-month mission for my church. After two busy months learning Spanish at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, I touched down in Santiago on December 10, 2001. There’s nothing funny about that, except that Utah was snowed over at the time, and in Chile it was nearing midsummer. I remember walking out of the airport in my winter coat, feeling the heat hit me like a wall, and seeing trees covered in glorious purple flowers everywhere.… Read more
Pizza and Conversation
Sorry you didn’t hear from me yesterday. But I have a good excuse. We came home from Church at mid-day, opened our front door, and were nearly bowled over by the heavy scent of gasoline emanating from our apartment. I took a deep gulp of fresh outside air and dashed heroically into the house to see if I had left the gas stove on. I hadn’t, and we don’t really have any other ways to leak gas into our house. So we went upstairs to talk to our landlord. He was not at home, but when his wife phoned him, he confessed that he had indeed spilled gasoline that morning as he was filling up his car in the garage.… Read more
Philippines, Part 6: Voyage of the Icebox (Banauae & Batad)
Welcome back to our Friday series, documenting the trip I took with Tony and 2-month-old Axa to the Philippines. Last week we managed to avoid ending up in one of the famous hanging coffins of Sagada. If you missed that episode (or any of the previous ones), have a look here:
Philippines, Part 1: Have Baby, Will Travel
Philippines, Part 2: Do You Know How to XOOM?
Philippines, Part 3: Confessions of a Carseatless Baby (Vigan)
Philippines, Part 4: Strawberries and Cotton Candy (Baguio)
Philippines, Part 5: Hanging Coffins! (Sagada)
Philippines, Part 6: Voyage of the Icebox (Banauae & Batad)
Philippines, Part 7: Revenge of the Cockroaches (Manila)
Philippines, Part 8: Please Don’t Feed the Sharks (Anilao)
Philippines, Part 9: “Sexy Chic” at the Playboy Fashion Show (Field Study Research)
Philippines, Part 10: Luxury Travel, Filipino Style (Cebu)
Philippines, Part 11: Nuts to the Huts (Bohol)
Philippines, Part 12: If You Were Stranded on a Desert Island .… Read more
From Zappos to XUBI
Once upon a time, I used to spend hours a day hammering out business strategy. I read Inc. Magazine and Entrepreneur. I interviewed potential employees, approved new products, designed magazine ads, and wrote telemarketing scripts. I lived between laptop and blackberry. The business my husband and I started from our cinderblock apartment in college eventually grew into a company that did things like selling nationwide to high schools and colleges and sponsoring Team USA at the World University Games. Along the way, we gained a lot of practical experience in manufacturing, supply chain, import/export, and marketing. But most important were the things we learned about ourselves and each other, managing people and relationships, and juggling work and family.
I’m in a Turkish Magazine
My first experience abroad (that I remember) began in Istanbul, Turkey. As I walked out of the airport, I felt like I was stepping into the Arabian Nights. Everything, from the architecture to the language to the maniacal taxi drivers, was different from what I had ever experienced, except in books. I had known about other cultures and other countries before. But that was the moment I first truly comprehended the richness of variety that exists on planet Earth.
I spent the next six months living and traveling in the Middle East, studying Arabic, and imbibing the exotic, fascinating, yet at times strangely familiar oriental air.… Read more
WordPress is here!
You may have noticed that Casteluzzo has a new look. I’ve been contemplating this for months, and finally made the big switch to self-hosted WordPress yesterday. It only took me three long chat sessions with Aravan in India and then Alexei in Russia (my hosting service is apparently an international employer. Isn’t it ironic that all three of us were up in the middle of the night together keeping faraway American time?) to get everything sorted out. Between my (virtually nonexistent) php skills and their (slightly better) English skills, I’m still not quite sure what I did wrong in the first place.… Read more
The Mother of Invention (aka Sarah)
Faithful readers, thanks for indulging my bad day/week/year. And I really appreciate the responses, both public and private. I was especially touched by the personal stories of your own challenges that you so generously shared with me. The difficult roads we travel are a little less lonely when we walk them together. And of course, Goethe said it best:
The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers and cities; but to know someone here and there who thinks and feels with us, and though distant, is close to us in spirit – this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.
Unromantic Interlude
So, it’s been a pretty stressful week. (Couldn’t you tell from my heightened irritation with politics and Facebook?) Today being Saturday, Tony was home, and stayed with the children while I took a much-needed walk alone in the beautiful rainbow autumn of Piemonte. I had been out walking perhaps five minutes when I saw a man on a bicycle up ahead, and instinctively avoided eye contact. There was something just a little creepy about him. He said good morning, and I repeated the greeting tonelessly, still without looking at him. “Hey,” he said (in Italian, obviously), “Aren’t you even going to say hello?… Read more
Philippines, Part 5: Hanging Coffins! (Sagada)
It’s time again for our Friday in the Philippines, traveling with our 2-month-old baby. Last week we met our friend and protector, Ronard, who showed us around Baguio. If you missed that (or any of our Philippines adventures), go here:
Philippines, Part 1: Have Baby, Will Travel
Philippines, Part 2: Do You Know How to XOOM?
Philippines, Part 3: Confessions of a Carseatless Baby (Vigan)
Philippines, Part 4: Strawberries and Cotton Candy (Baguio)
Philippines, Part 5: Hanging Coffins! (Sagada)
Philippines, Part 6: Voyage of the Icebox (Banauae & Batad)
Philippines, Part 7: Revenge of the Cockroaches (Manila)
Philippines, Part 8: Please Don’t Feed the Sharks (Anilao)
Philippines, Part 9: “Sexy Chic” at the Playboy Fashion Show (Field Study Research)
Philippines, Part 10: Luxury Travel, Filipino Style (Cebu)
Philippines, Part 11: Nuts to the Huts (Bohol)
Philippines, Part 12: If You Were Stranded on a Desert Island .… Read more