July Updates

...Summer is going by too fast. Only four weeks left before it's back to school. Highlights from last semester: Attending UNR for the first time, and co-attending Sierra College with severe vertigo and a 30 decibel hearing loss in my left ear that didn't immediately start to improve after the mastoid ventilation tube surgery. I will most likely have some permanent hearing loss but am so thankful to be able to converse with people easily again and hear well. It was an event that made me aware of how isolating and marginalizing it is to have hearing loss (even though mine was partial). I stopped trying to communicate because it was so hard. Couldn't enjoy music or TV. After a lot of soul-searching I decided to stay in school full-time and somehow made it through with prayers and tenaciousness, and support of Mom and Dad. I'm so glad I did: Highlights include being the defense co-counsel for a mock trial months in the preparation, including an unfolding murder scene on campus orchestrated by our professor, a real-life sheriff's deputy and some of his co-workers. We got our guy off murder charges (we argued self-defense) and had the trial in front of high-schoolers in their campus theater. Our whole class had roles including CSI, officers on scene, FBI, etc. and we had a pretty big dossier of reports by the end. I began to feel more at home on the big UNR campus (18,000 students vs. 500 at our local college!) and made it to class through a few snowstorms. We just got back from a trip to Monterey and Los Angeles, just six days total including driving time. Always a good thing to change it up and see new things and people, fresh experiences that help you re-frame your "regular life"....Today, after heading to the gym, I was hanging up a few posters for a local nonprofit in our downtown and happened upon the local jail, now a historical site. I stopped in for a brief tour from two very knowledgeable guides and got a view of frontier justice. Thought you'd enjoy a few glimpses of our last couple weeks. Hope you all have a summer with surprises and delights, and most of all, family.
Safe travels and returns home!

Thanks for the summer photos, Geneva! Here's our batch from the trip to California a few weeks ago. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to suggest your own captions. All the best, Matt

Photo #1
Gives new meaning to "family tree".
From top to bottom: me, Sasha (Lyena's cousin), Olivia, Alex, April, Lyena, Mom

Photo #2

Photo #3

Photo #4
I think I saw a squirrel! I did, I did, George! I did see a squirrel!

Photo #5
Who needs Kryptonite when Superboy is ticklish?

Photo #6
Belly Flop Champion of 2012

Photo #7

Summer Photos

finally, a few photos! After a nice family lunch together, we spent a little time at East Portal park in Sacramento; some of us rested in the shade while others played an impromptu football game. We also got to meet Van's (Debra's partner) daughter Ebony, who is visiting from Texas. Despite our numerous attempts at group photos, none were perfect, but freeze a moment in time beautifully, nonetheless!

Posting Abroad.

Hey There. In France now. Both the study abroad trip and the travel grant were accepted so I've been in Italy,Germany, and now France for a few weeks. Tomorrow I will leave for Belgium where Joy will meet me for a week in Ghent, Antwerp, and Brussels. Here is a pic of some cranes nesting on one of the churches here in Colmar, France.

Geneva, Here is my playlist: 1.Wolf Parade- In the direction of the Moon 2.Animal Collective- Unsolved Mysteries 3.Frank Black Francis- Rock'a my Soul 4. Soul Stirrers- His Eye is on the Sparrow (favorite of Gene) 5. Hank Williams- Ramblin' Man 6. Morning Benders-Cold War 7. LCD Soundsystem-Thrills 8. Dr. Dog-From 9.Bob Dylan- Hard Rain's gonna Fall 10. Joanna Newsom- Jack Rabbits 11. Chet Baker- There will never be another you 12. Os Mutantes- A Minha Menina 13. Tender Buttons- Tears in the Typing Pool Here are a few embedded to have a listen