Isabel Quotes

So... since Isabel became verbal at some ridiculously early age, I have been meaning to keep a list of some of the more interesting quotes. Now, at the age of 4.5 yo, I am am finally getting around to it. Better late than never!

October 2008 - Corporal punishment (and the threat of it) is quite common in St. Lucia, but is not used in our family. So, this weekend Isabel said to me "Mommy, what's up with all this talk about beating kids. I want to stop that. Parents should love kids, not beat them." Kind of a serious thought from her, but a nice sentiment to share.

October 2008 -

Isabel: Mommy, if I love daddy to the moon and he loves me to the moon and back, does that mean he loves me more than I love him?
Sasha: Daddy has a bigger heart than you and he loves you as much as he can with his heart. You love daddy as much as you can with your heart. You both love each other the very most that you are able to.
Isabel: Ahhhh (all is apparently clear).

September 2008 -
Isabel: "Daddy, are you a doctor yet?"
Ramzi: "No, not yet."
Isabel: "That's a really long book you are writing!"

August 2008 - Normally these quotes are "Isabel Originals" but on a recent visit her great grandma Lee had a priceless one that just had to be added. We were visiting my grandfather at the nursing center and she saw a nurse aide covered in tattoos all over and my grandma went up to her and said, "May I read your literature?" The aide responded in the affirmative and Lee spend some time reading her arms.

July 2008 - Apparently Isabel made a new friend at school today whom she was very eager to tell us about. He is 6 and she doesn't remember his name. And then she told me... "I liked him. He liked me. Then I realized I loved him and he loved me. And so I decided to fall in love with him."

July 2008 - "My daddy is smarter than you. He went to a really good school called Dartmouth."

July 2008 - "I had a dream about Bob Marley last night. He came to our house."

July 2008 - "It's so sad that Bob Marley died. And he never got to meet me. Did he meet you?"

July 2008 - Isabel has been wanting be a mommy for some time now. Recently we had this discussion:
Sasha: Isabel, you look down. What's up?
Isabel: I am just so sad that I have to wait to be a grown-up before I can become a mommy. I don't want to wait until I am 15.
Sasha (terrified of becoming a very young grandma): You will need to wait a lot longer than until just 15.

May 2008 - When discussing religion, Isabel explained to someone that she was "Christian and Hanukkah." Apparently I need to do a better job at teaching what Judaism is to her!

May 2008 - "Mommy, did you fart.... if it wasn't you, it must have been G-d who farted. I know you didn't do it, but could you say excuse me for G-d's fart?"

May 2008 - "Cool. You know... Rock Star Cool."

April 2008 - "Mommy, I love you and daddy more than anything in the world. I love you both the most. More than G-d, but my teachers told me I have to love G-d the most. But I love you and daddy the most."

April 2008 - On landing in St. Lucia after a trip to the US - "Yea! I am back in my country! I am in St. Lucia, my country!"

April 2008 - "Mommy, you cook superv (sic) food!"

April 2008 - "Mommy. I am a big girl. Really. I am 4. I can do it all by myself. I am not 3. I am not 1. I am not 2. I am 4. Please understand. I am really a big girl."

April 2008 - "Someday will you let me push a baby out of my body?"

April 2008 - When asked what is different between New York City and Saint Lucia, Isabel responded that in NYC, "everyone wears black" and "all the people are white."

April 2008 - When driving through NYC after arriving from Saint Lucia, Isabel says, "Mommy, what are those red shooting things." Sasha responds, "You mean the traffic lights?" Ah... the reality of a girl growing up in Saint Lucia. Traffic lights are very exciting and exotic!

October 2007 - "I am the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia."

Spring 2007 - "I am just a little girl. My hands are very small."

Isabel at Coconut Bay

Ramzi flew back to the US on Sat. and Isabel and I decided to go for a girl's night to Coconut Bay. Here are a few photos of our waterbaby enjoying the waterpark!

Isabel, Angel, and Blossom

Isabel has made some new friends at our condo - Angel (8 yo) and Blossom (2 yo, I think). As you can see, they share her passion for dressing in costumes!

La Rose Festival

Isabel and I went to see "La Rose" Festival in Castries.

According to the Government of St. Lucia web-site:

Where, in some countries, the population may be divided into classes and castes, in the context of Saint Lucia’s Cultural traditions there exist two ‘Societies’, Roses and Marguerites - singing societies whose members are dedicated to the praising of those respective flowers.

Each society holds an annual festival or grande fete, an elaborate and colourful event full of pomp and pageantry, which is preceded by several months of nightly singing practices called “Seances”.

Presiding over the annual festivals are the ‘King’ and ‘Queen who are accompanied by their royal entourage of Dukes, Duch­esses, Princes, Princesses, Soldiers, Policemen, Magistrates, Doctors, nurses, the clerical hierarchy and supporters of the respective flowers. Strict protocol is observed at those nightly Seances, with every visitor or participating member, upon entering, bowing to the King and Queen who are present with their court. Police and soldiers in uniform enforce regulations against any disorder, breaches of protocol, or what are consid­ered misdemeanors. Offenders are taken before a magistrate for a mock trial and then fined.

Each society has a patron saint on whose feast day the grande fete is celebrated. For the Roses it is the feast of St. Rose of Lima on the 30th August; and for the Marguerites it is that of St. Margaret Mary Alacocque, 17th October.

The grande fete is celebrated, first with church services through­out the island and afterwards with processions through the streets, the principal personages magnificently attired. In the evening there is a sumptuous banquet to which dignitaries and leading personalities are invited. The rest of the evening is spent in dancing. One can then witness and participate in some of the colourful folk dances, the Quadrille, the Mappa, the Belair and such like.

Click here to see our photos in Flickr from the La Rose Festival.

La Rose Festival - August 2008 031
Originally uploaded by sbgottlieb

And here to see our video of the musicians.

And another...

Swimming with Grandpa - Photos and Video

Check out Isabel and her Grandpa at the pool!






And a video...

Isabel's First Day of School!

Isabel had her first day of primary school today. She started "reception" (that is what they call kindergarten at her school) and was VERY excited. Here are a couple of photos and a video. Enjoy! SASHA

VIDEO

Photos of our new place

We moved into a new place here in St. Lucia. This is a condo with a pool (woo hoo). Here are a few pictures of the interior of the condo. I will post exterior shots soon.

Click here to see some photos:

Our new condo

Kiddie Carnival 2008

Kiddies Carnival

Click on the photo for my pics.

Mangos! Mangos! Mangos!

Mother's Day Celebration at the Montessori Centre

Isabel as the "O"




A Song for the Moms (Video)


Reception Reciting a Poem for Their Moms (Video)

Video of Isabel Playing Guitar

Isabel's Nana and Grandpa recently gave her a guitar and since then she has been "composing" her own songs! This video is just one example.

Fun Walk!

Photos from the Fun Walk with the Montessori Centre on May Day

Isabel Dancing at Coconut Bay

Ramzi, Isabel and I went to Coconut Bay this weekend and Isabel was invited up on stage to dance with the band "Synergy." Needless to say, she fully enjoyed herself! Check out the photos and videos for yourself.

Isabel's Rainbow

This is a picture of a rainbow drawn by Isabel. And you will note that on the left side Isabel wrote "ranbo." She is learning to read and write by phonics, so things are spelled the way she hears them, thus rainbow = ranbo. She is definitely enjoying sounding out words and writing.

Passover Photos 2008

Passover Photos

Sports Day at the Montessori Centre

Sports Day at the Montessori Centre

Zip-Lining with Cindy

Zip-Lining with Cindy

Isabel Skiing - Cochran's Ski Area - Richmond, VT

Thanks to much work and dedication from her Nana and Grandpypa, Isabel got up on skis and actually did a snowplow down the bunny slop at Cochrans! She looked great and loved it.

Isabel Skiing

Isabel's First Visit to Dartmouth

The three of us visited Hanover, New Hampshire so that Ramzi could introduce Isabel to the miracle that is Dartmouth College. While in that neck of the woods we also visited Ramzi's friend Chuck who retired from DC to Vermont.

Dartmouth Visit (Jan. 2007)

Rest in peace Iggy

Iggy passed away on Friday, Nov. 2, after about 3 weeks of an unexplained illness that results in him not eating nor being able to walk. He was in a lot of pain, so together with the veterinarian, we decided to stop his suffering. Ramzi and I were with him at the time and I was petting him until the very end. The veterinarian later did an autopsy and Iggy had more calcification on his lungs than he had ever seen before. Dr. Scotland suspects that this was the result of a metastasized tumor. I am very sad that Iggy isn't with us any more (I had him for about 8 yrs!), but am very glad that he isn't in pain any more. You can click below to see some photos of Iggy over time.

Iggy

Halloween 2007

Click below to see photos of Halloween 2007. Isabel was thrilled to be dressed up as Wonder Woman! We went trick-or-treating with a bunch of kids in the Rodney Bay neighborhood.

Halloween '07

Isabel and Sasha at Coconut Bay

On Saturday, Isabel and I took off for a "Girl's Weekend" and spent the night at an all-inclusive resort in the south of the island (coconut bay). Attached are some photos from the "beach party" we attended, complete with pirates! Generally Isabel found the pirates scary, with the exception of the one she posed with in one of these photos. She loved the waterslides and swimming pools and had a fantastic time. Sunday we spent with a friend of my parents (Gail), roaming around the Soufriere area - swimming in a waterfall, going to the beach, etc.

Although we were only aware from our house for less than 1 1/2 days, it felt like so much more. A great escape!

Click below -

Coconut Bay

Isabel and her Thingamabobbin

Click below for some photos of Isabel playing with her Thingamabobbin. It is a great VT-made toy (translation - good labor practices and no lead paint) that literally amused her for over one hour. She made rocketships, trucks, etc. You can find more of their stuff at http://www.learningmaterialswork.com/ . And... Learning Materials Workshop was founded by the mother of a close friend from VT and... I worked there in high school.

Isabel and the Thingamabobbin

We had an earthquake last night!

According to the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Unit (http://www.uwiseismic.com/), on Thursday morning 13th September at 2:37 a.m. local time, an earthquake occurred northeast of Saint Lucia. The preliminary location for the event is 14.28°N 60.41°W. The focal depth was approximately 57 km. The magnitude is 4.9.

The funny thing is, I don't remember it at all. When I got to work, it was all the buzz and people all felt it. I called Ramzi and he said that he didn't remember until I mentioned it, but apparently we both woke about when our room was shaking and talked about it... and then fell back asleep. Isabel slept through the whole thing.

Isabel's 1st day at her new school (Montesorri Centre)

Isabel had her first day of "pre-primary" at the Montesorri Centre. This album has photos of her and some of her friends (Sky and Kadir) at the school.

Isabel's 1st day of school - 2007

Isabel's Trip to VT (August 2007)

Isabel spent close to 3 weeks in VT with her grandparents this summer (1 with Sasha and 2 on her own). She did lots of sailing, hiking, and splashing around with her friends the ducks in Lake Champlain. And... she caught her first fish ever (a bass that had to be tossed back because it was too small), while wearing a tiara!

Isabel's VT Visit

Pachelbel's Bedtime Rant

Ok, so not related to our life in Saint Lucia, but this hit close to home and had me in stitches.

Sailing with Nana and Grandpa

Isabel is becoming quite a talented "first mate!"

Weathering Hurricane Dean

Dear friends and family,

Greetings from Saint Lucia. Ramzi and I have weathered our first “Caribbean Hurricane” without a problem. Hurricane Dean was a Category Two when it hit Saint Lucia on Friday morning. The eye of the hurricane was located just north of Saint Lucia, in between us and the island of Martinique. We live at the very north of the island, so our area got the worst of the storm. Basically, this translated into really intense winds (90 mph) and a lot of rain. The electric utility (LUCELEC) shut the electricity down island-wide around 2 am on Friday morning and much of the island had its electricity restored last night. We just got it back in our neighborhood about 30 minutes ago (about 34 hours later). We lost a rain gutter and a lot of branches, but really no serious damage. Unfortunately, one person did die in Saint Lucia. On Friday morning, a 62 year old man in a rural area went into a river to save a cow. The cow survived, but he did not. Some homes were destroyed and roofs taken off, but it is not as bad as it could have been (or as it appears might be in Jamaica in the Gulf of Mexico).

So, Ramzi, Iggy and I hunkered down inside the house from Thursday night through Saturday morning, with the exception of an invigorating walk in the rain on Friday afternoon, and actually slept through a lot of the worst of it. Isabel, luckily, is still visiting her grandparents in Vermont and was happily oblivious to the storm in her country of residence. We spoke with her a few times over the past couple of days (as we do normally when she is away from home) and she was having a blast at summer camp (ironically, the theme of the camp this week was “weather) and feeding the ducks near her grandparents summer home.

We hope that you all are well, and thank you for your calls and concern.

Sasha and Ramzi

Hanging out with Tim and Becca

A couple of photos of Tim, Becca, and Isabel hanging out in McLean. Click below.

Viisit to Grandpa Abe and Grandma Lee

We visited Isabel's Great Grandparents on her 4th b-day and had yet another celebration. Click below to see photos.

Viisit to Grandpa Abe and Grandma Lee

Photos from Isabel's 4th B-day Party in Puerto Rico

The lucky girl got 2 b-day parties - one in Saint Lucia and one in Puerto Rico. And, the Puerto Rico party was a joint celebration of her 4th b-day and her Baba Jidu's 75th b-day. The party theme was Princess (quite appropriate for a 4 yr old girl or a 75 yr old man) and saw Isabel wearing a tiara and a dress with petticoats. Click on the photo below to see more pictures from the party.

Isabel's 4th b-day party in Puerto Rico

Superhero Isabel!

Behold Superhero Isabel! She can fly ("you run really fast in place and then jump, this is flying") and she helps "people who are sick or hurt or need help." The key element of being a superhero is not the cape, but instead the glasses! She choose all of the clothes that make-up the superhero costume (including superhero undies and socks).

GB - Note the t-shirt. It remains a true favorite.
NC/MC - She is a real "boho" superhero with the snazzy peasant skirt from you all!

 

Photos from Isabel's 4th B-day Party

Click on the photo to see our "album."

Isabel's 4th B-day Party in Saint Lucia

Dennery Fish Saturday with Peter W., Perena, Paul, Brisfert, Sasha, Ramzi, and Isabel

Below are some photos to a Fish Festival we went to in Dennery when our friend Peter Weinberger was visiting in June (it took me a while to get the photos up!).

Fond D'Or in Saint Lucia with Peter Weinberger

Here are photos of Peter W. and Ramzi at the Fond D'Or Nature Reserve and Heritage Park.

A couple of updates…

• Isabel finished the year at her preschool at Bonne Terre last week and has since started summer day camp at the Montessori Centre, where she will be attending pre-kindergarten next year. We had her end-of-year parent teach conference which went quite well. Apparently she is polite, plays nicely with the other kids, can count to 39, etc. She has been enjoying day camp a lot, bringing home art project regularly, and playing with new friends.
• We just finished a wonderful visit from our friend Rachel Mickenberg and her friend Lisa. They thoroughly enjoyed the beaches and people of Saint Lucia and we loved having them here!
• I (Sasha) was in Dominica in early July for a meeting. It is really a beautiful island. I encourage folks who are exploring Caribbean island vacation possibilities to consider Dominica. While it doesn’t have the beaches of other islands, the flora and fauna is just breath-taking and the people are great. You can find out more about Dominica at www.dominica.dm/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominica, and http://www.avirtualdominica.com/home.cfm.

Another Whirlwind Trip to the US

All three of us are headed back to the US for a visit in late July – August. We will start our trip off with some time in Puerto Rico where we will have an early celebration of Isabel’s 4^th b-day and a late celebration of her Baba Jidu’s (Grandpa’s) 75^th b-day. From there we will visit friends in DC and Isabel’s great grandparents in Harrisburg, PA. Sasha and Isabel will then head up to Vermont, with Ramzi staying a little longer in DC and then returning to Saint Lucia to chip away at the dissertation. Isabel will be remaining in VT for a while with Sasha heading south for a couple more days in DC and then work in Saint Lucia. And then, after a nice visit with her Nana and Grampy-pa, Isabel will then bring them back with her to Saint Lucia. We hope to see many of you during our trip and will definitely be posting photos upon our return!

Calling us...

Hey everyone! We just wanted to remind you all that thanks to the wonder of the Internet, we have a US phone number that you can call us at - 202-558-7153. If you call that number, it will ring one a phone on the second floor of our house, attached to the modem. And... another great way to reach us is through "instant-messaging" via Skype. I encourage you to find out more about Skype at www.skype.com.

Ramzi's Father's Day Slide Show

Reunited and it feels so good!

After several long months apart, our dog Iggy has finally joined us in Saint Lucia. While the trip down wasn't the most enjoyable for him, he is definitely having fun in our huge fenced yard. Isabel and Sasha are pleased that our family is complete again and Ramzi is happy that we have a big yard so that Iggy is an outdoor dog (for the most part) now.

Isabel and Iggy!

Isabel and some friends

Isabel has been enjoying playing with friends at her house. This batch of photos includes a picture of Danielle (Danielle is one of Isabel's best friends at school), Brisfert (a friend from swim class), and Layla (the daughter of a colleague of Sasha's, and an aspiring princess, like Isabel).

Isabel, Layla, Brisfert, and Danielle

Sasha's Work Trip to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Union Island and Saint Vincent)

From Saint Vincent...