Hospitals

Hey Zoë,

I hear from your parents that you are getting ready to star in a book about going to the hospital.  Wow!  Don't forget about the little people...

There is a children's hospital here in Philadelphia, where we live, and Miro went there the other day to get a checkup to see if he has juvenille rheumatoid arthritis (he doesn't).  He met a really nice doctor there who showed him all kinds of magic tricks!  It was a lot of fun, and Miro wanted to go back right away.  So the hospital is a nice place, full of people trying to make you feel better.

There are many different kinds of people who work in hospitals.  There are doctors, nurses, and patients, and all sorts of other people that help to keep everyone healthy.  I'm sure they will all be so happy to see you when you go for your next visit!

Love,
Götti

Olympics!

Hey little one,

Well, your very first Winter Olympics is just now drawing to a close.  And the coolest thing about having so many nationalities is that you can root for a bunch of countries.  Looks like the U.S.A. ended up with 9 golds, 15 silvers and 13 bronzes, while Switzerland made a very solid showing with 6 golds, 0 silvers and 3 bronzes.  Unfortunately, looks like Belgium didn't really make out all that well this time, but there's always 2014...

Götti Arjun

That's a BIG airplane!

There's this super big plane called the Antonov--I think it's supposedly the biggest plane in the world.  Check out these pictures (and then check out this video of the monster in action!):

Trains, trains, everywhere!

Hey there sweet pea!  I just saw your little sister Mia for the first time today via Skype.  You are such a good big sister!  I think you are both going to have tons of fun with each other.

By the way, Catherine, Miro, Zax and I all just moved into an apartment that sits above some train tracks.  Miro loves to watch the trains go by, and I thought you might also, so here's a video.

Snowflakes

Hello there little one!

Winter is coming, and with it some serious snow in Cambridge.  The little snowflakes that fall from the sky are beautiful if you look at them close up: they are always six-sided, but each one looks different from the next.  Here are some more nice pictures of snowflakes.

Afghanistan

Fortunately, your life hasn't overlapped much with the presidency of George W. Bush, but the consequences of his rule live on.  Don't know what will come of it now, but one of the things he did was start a war in Afghanistan.  Currently, there is a lot of debate about whether to continue.  President Obama decided to escalate the war by temporarily adding a bunch of troops.  Was that the right thing to do?  Perhaps by the time you read this you will know the answer.

Chuck Norris

When I was growing up, I remember watching a bunch of old action movies with this guy Chuck Norris in it.  I also used to watch him on a show called Walker, Texas Ranger, which was pretty terrible but somehow oddly addictive (I'm not the only one out there, amazingly).  Anyway, I just ran across this website called Chuck Norris Facts, which has all sorts of funny "facts" about Chuck Norris.  My personal favorites:

• There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.
• When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
• Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris--be thankful you didn't have to live through that guy's career...