The past weeks have been crazy - we can barely keep up with all the events we attended, people we met, and information we've been exposed to. Part of processing it all is to post some of it here.
Event #1: A mentoring event for girls at a close-by low-income middle school. Hanna was asked to be a mentor for one of them. 82 young ladies were mentored by 82 and successful women, and vice versa. Fancy breakfast, singing, and speeches and, most importantly, good conversation. Thank you for this uplifting time!
Janai & Hanna mentored each other.
Boston Renaissance - an impressive school with almost 100% black and low-income students that got turned around by an incredible administration and a federal grant: Now it's one of the most successful schools in Boston.
Event #2: Our awesome French friends were here! YAY! Great great great evening. It's rare to meet a family where the grown-ups get along just as well as kids, so this means a lot to us.Thank you Nico, Karyn, Margo, and Alice!
The next day, we reclaimed the play room: Good-bye bouncy castle!
Home time.
Event #3 St. Patrick's Day: Although this is kind of a big deal in Boston, Hanna and Marko did not get to party. The kids celebrated in daycare but Hanna's enthusiasm for taking pictures while wearing green was not shared by anyone ...
Event #4: Hanna attended the AAAL conference in Toronto. Excellent conversation, excellent presentations, excellent food, an excellent city, and reunions with the most wonderful friends.
Enjoying Korean deliciousness with Jen in downtown Toronto.
The conference hotel
Roomies!
Practicing American Sign Language (ASL) so we can order at Toronto's only and
excellent ASL restaurant.
excellent ASL restaurant.
Success! We got what we wanted.
Reunion with BFF Jenna.
Toronto!
Back at the conference ...
we saw some excellent books - this one especially!
Very thought-provoking plenaries ...
and encounters with some big people.
Penal time!
Happy hour time!
We have been here for 12 hours.
Time to get out of the hotel and enjoy some wonderful food at the Korean grill.
The best part of the conference: Skyping with these two.
Thank you all for a wonderful conference! Hanna returned full of new ideas and lovely memories.
In the meantime, Sofia had caught the stomach flu. Thanks to Marko's love and care, she is doing much better, but another work trip made things difficult for everyone: During Hanna's time in DC, we were needing and missing each other a lot!
Nevertheless, event #5 followed: Hanna's trip to DC. The Office of Research takes junior faculty there to meet program officers who give away grants and meet wealthy Boston University alumni who are potential donors. In all, it was 2 days of being among very wealthy people. Not our usual kind of company ...
Ready to go at 4 am.
First time in first class.
Welcome to Washington DC!
Union Station
Lunch with colleagues
We met with program officers from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, and the Institute of Educational Sciences. They gave us tips for grant proposals and application processes and were just really pleasant to talk to.
We met BU alumni in one of the high end clubs of DC: The Sulgrave Club. Where rich people hang out.
After a few hours of good conversation, excellent food and drinks, and giving some short speeches about our work, we returned completely exhausted to our hotels. 20 hour in heels is Hanna's new record!
Another meeting and we had to leave again. But on our way to the airport, we had some time to drive past some sights.
The Capitol
Washington Monument
World War II Memorial and Lincoln Memorial.
The White House - Hello, Barack!
It was quite an adventure, but for now, we enjoy being reunited and look forward to what we hope will be a calm week. Fingers crossed!
