Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Spain and Luxembourg

I was in Sevilla, Spain from July 31, 2009 until August 3 after which I flew to Luxembourg, and there spent 7 days until flying back to New York on August 10.

In Spain I met with a number of people privately, spent a bit of time in public meetings, and attended the final match of the Peace Cup, hosted this year by Real Madrid. (Aston Villa (Birmingham) defeated Juventus Turin in penalty kicks after two overtime periods.)

I only took a couple of pictures there in Sevilla
(By the way, you can click on any slide show to go to the pictures yourselves, download them or whatever.)




On the 3rd of August I flew and bussed to Luxembourg where I spent a week, visiting families, and holding a number of private meetings for projects of various description.

Here are the pictures from my Luxembourg visit, but after that I isolate a couple of pictures so as to provide explanation:





Saturday, August 1, 2009

A Week for Teaching in Wyoming

On July 27 I flew to Jackson Hole, Wyoming courtesy of the Westchester-based International Leadership Training Program (ILTP). My original itinerary (via Denver) was re routed when the first outbound leg collapsed. I flew via O' Hare. The travel was simple and easy enough.

My ignorance of the geography aided the cause of my jaw drop thrill upon arriving to land in Jackson Hole. The Grant Tetons lining the flight path and rising up above our descent was breath-taking. This taken breath was never returned, even for a moment throughout the time of my stay.

The photo show below begins with the landing runway. Beside it rises up snow capped peaks. The training locale was in Idaho, over an hour away in the Targhee National Forest Preserve.

This is an area of unspeakable beauty. To me it said in every moment "vertical."

As delightful was my discovery of the group I came to teach. As with the terrain, my ignorance aided my delight and sense of wonder. I found myself addressing approximately 30 young people in a mix I'd never seen before that day. Students were young people in their 20's, pausing in the middle of a 2 - 3 year leadership training program for their Summer education summit. Their distinction lay not only in their humble and noble commitment to self-creation, and social improvement, but in their makeup.

These program members were from Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Nepal, Mainland China, Moldova, Japan, United States, Ivory Coast and more. I can only imagine, I learned more than I sought to teach.

Here are a few images from this most blessed week for me.