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We had breakfast at the hotel again. Weirdly, when we got to the breakfast area and I told the attendant our room number in Italian (I’d been practicing!), she had no idea what I was saying and we had to repeat the number in English. We decided that since this hotel was more for international…
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On Friday, Rome was rainy. We had breakfast at our hotel and started to walk toward the Roman Forum in the drizzle. On our way out, we saw that a tree a few blocks from our hotel had been hit by lightning in the thunderstorm the night before. The blackened stump was being demolished by…
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Story by Nicole We didn’t learn any Italian before coming to Rome. The closest we got was when we boarded our second plane, from Newark to Rome, and Jason realized that the screens on the seats in front of us had games, among them a language learning game. We quickly became masters of arbitrary nouns—gatto,…
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Story by Nicole For the 4th of July, we went to Canada. We met Jason’s immediate family at the Vancouver airport, rented a Dodge Caravan, and stayed in an adorable condo on the beach. It was a beautiful and relaxing trip, during which we made several American observations about Vancouver. Coffee is decidedly lacking. We…
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6/28/14 Story by Nicole We’ve wanted to backpack to Herman Lake in the Arapaho National Forest since before we had backpacking equipment. It’s a stunning mountain lake at the top of a ridiculous four and a half mile hike that climbs from 10,000 feet to 12,000 feet. This trail is not for the faint of…
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Story by Nicole On Father’s Day weekend, we took a trip to Gunnison to see Nicole’s dad. After work on Friday, we drove southwest into the mountains. Gunnison Valley was incredibly green, with verdant rolling hills contrasting against the white-peaked mountains. On Saturday, we went to see Ann, Nicole’s former 4-H leader. Ann raises cashmere…
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Story by Nicole “You sure get an early start,” the park ranger commented as Jason rolled down the driver’s side window. It was 6:40 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning, and we had just pulled up at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Visitor Center. The lone park ranger, after we assured him that we were…
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חנוכה Story by Nicole We were planning on a second, Hanukkah-themed Thanksgiving on Friday evening, but Jason, Christina, Maia, and I all went to the National Mall during the day. It was clear and very cold. We took the metro to the Smithsonian stop and detrained to visit the museums. A stoplight blocks the sun…
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This series of photos depicts the process of making challah on Thanksgiving day, 2013. Maia and Marc discuss logistics for kneading the challah. (Photo/Jason Rafal) Marc shapes the challah dough while Maia looks on. (Photo/Jason Rafal) Everyone participates in the six-strand challah braiding activity. (Photo/Jason Rafal) After much discussion, the challah takes shape. (Photo/Jason Rafal)…
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Story by Nicole Thanksgiving 2013 took place in Falls Church, Virginia, after the severed promise of a terrible snowstorm. Jason and I arrived on Wednesday night, and everyone spent the first evening relaxing and getting to know one another (Jason’s parents met Christina and Maia for the first time when they showed up on the…