webster says...

Main Entry: abroad
Pronunciation: &-'brod
Function: adverb or adjective
1 : over a wide area : WIDELY
2 : away from one's home
3 : beyond the boundaries of one's country
4 : in wide circulation : ABOUT
5 : wide of the mark : ASTRAY

Not only Hawaii, but also Africa

Bek and I sat by the pool yesterday. She tanned. There were no clouds. We caught up on our issues of The New Yorker and National Geographic and I read a story from a Kurt Vonnegut collection. We jumped in the cool water after a while.

We're both looking forward to surfing in Hawaii. It'll be our first times to do it. To prepare, we've watched Blue Crush, bought beach towels with a male and female surfer for each of us, and started doing crunches. Got to have a strong core.

But that's not all we've been preparing for. Bekah's going to Africa this summer. She going with a class to learn about HIV/AIDS and reproductive health. And after the class, which will include visiting clinics, camping and two safaris, she'll travel to others parts of the region, including Zanzibar. We're both very excited.

Gettin' warmed up

We are getting warmed up, so to speak, for the trip to Hawaii. The outside temperature here in New Orleans has been around 80 degrees recently and we've already bought pool chairs, towels, fun-noodles for the pool and Bek's bought new swim suits for the pool across the street.

We tried it out last Sunday. The sun was out most of the time. That was good. The water was freezing. That was bad. But we jumped in anyway and even brought Same in for her first swim. Maybe it was for the same reason we weren't happy with the pool, but when we set Same in the water, she beelined to the wall and hoisted herself out.

We're hoping this weekend will be even better.

Hawaii!

Isn't that how you spell Hawaii!? With an exclamation point? We are heading there on a whim, as they say. Tuesday, May 15, a little over a month away. We're going to visit my brother who's been living there since last summer. It'll be a 10 day deal. When we broke the news to him he said, "Be sure to pack your adventure bags."