Kyle has moved on from Cartagena to Santa Marta for the remainder of his stay in Columbia. He sent this picture of his friend and her dog during an evening stroll on the beach. Maya is worried that Kyle may not be returning to the US. I am beginning to share that concern.

On the home front, we enjoyed a visit from my sister, Alissa, this evening. She was in Boston to attend a presentation at MIT on cancer research. For the first time in our marriage, I was entrusted with (or, rather, assigned) meal preparation for a guest. We had steamed salmon and rice, which turned out rather well. I do not count the salad, which came from a kit. Jeanine was full of advice on seasoning that I was satisfied to ignore, but I did take note when she pointed out that the rice cooker was not actually running ten minutes after I thought I had started it.