Jeanine shared these photos from Florida, where she is getting ready to embark on an RV adventure with her friend Kris (sitting opposite). Check out her smile as she gets comfortable in the driver’s seat. The grin is not because she is looking forward to piloting a big rig. It is because she is actually in the much larger RV of Kris’s son-in-law, and she knows I am worried about her driving something big and unfamiliar to her. Pictured below, she enjoys a day-before-her-birthday dinner with Kris’s husband, Rob, and daughter Bethany.

This evening, Nico was honored by the Soccer Unity Project for his athletic record, his work to grow amputee soccer, and his advocacy for sports inclusivity. It was a swank affair at the Park Plaza Hotel. In attendance were several of Nico’s close friends and 9 of my soccer teammates. Not attending were either of his parents. I dropped Jeanine at the airport earlier in the day for her flight to West Palm Beach, where she will meet up with her childhood girlfriend, Kris. The two are set to embark on a ten-day RV trip to Charleston. Not knowing that my teammates had secretly planned to attend, I decided, after checking in with Nico, to sit out this event. For an introvert, getting decked out to attend a fancy ball is just not my jam, and going without Jeanine only made me more apprehensive. I can only imagine the abuse I am going to receive from my teammates at our game on Sunday. It may take years for them to let me live this down. I will happily take it all on the chin as I try to adequately thank them for their generous show of support for Nico, which means the world to me.

I have been following the voyage of Artemis 2 very closely on the NASA live stream since the launch and am looking forward to splashdown tomorrow. I remember following the Apollo program with similar fascination, and I do not doubt that doing so contributed to my desire to pursue engineering as a profession. The photo above, taken by the crew, is one of my favorites so far. It is a stark reminder of how precious our little blue marble is.

The Common Mergansers have returned to our stretch of the Sudbury River. It is fun to watch each spring as various species of birds return to the area either as a migratory stopover or to take up residence for the rest of the season. In the photo below, I am actually scoping an immature Bald Eagle as it prepares to do a little fishing on the river. Thus far, it has made at least three attempts and come up empty each time. I suspect that as it grows older, it will become more proficient.

Nico was the principal guest on the GP Soccer podcast (Season 14, Episode 5), where he covered a broad range of topics with host Giovanni Pacini. Nico’s segment starts at the 17:30 mark and can be heard by following this link and clicking the PLAY button. It is really nice to see Nico being recognized for his advocacy work on behalf of the sport of amputee soccer, and also to gain insight into the competitive drive that has fueled his success as an elite athlete.

Kyle shared this photo of the view from his new interim office. Not too shabby! From here, he is developing plans for the next chapter in his career. After a decade in the corporate world, most recently as an engineering manager at Hims & Hers, he is now going independent, running a data studio focused on analytics engineering, data strategy, and the infrastructure that makes both possible. He plans to work with founders and operators in healthtech, fintech, edtech, and ecommerce who are past the early chaos but not yet data-mature. If your team is flying blind, reinventing the wheel, or can’t answer basic business questions from your data, consider reaching out to Kyle .

kylecalabria92@gmail.com

Among other endeavors, my sister Mayela, fashions jewelry from trinkets and baubles she finds at flea markets and sells the finished pieces. Jeanine and Maya have been looking forward to doing some of this work with her, and they seem to be in the thick of it. My other sister, Alissa, shared the photo below of her efforts at egg painting and Easter decoration.

My day started on the soccer pitch in our opening match of the spring season. Conditions were less than optimal. It was cold with intermittent rain. Our opponents scored the first goal early in the game. Shortly before the half, a ball rebounded to me inside the box, and I drilled it into the net, 1-1. In the second half, we went on to score two unanswered goals and got our season off to a good start with a 3-1 victory. After our aprés at the Main Street Cafe, I returned home for a two-hour nap and spent the balance of the day doing very little other than relaxing my weary body.

Yesterday, I drove Jeanine and Maya to the airport. They are going to spend the long weekend in North Carolina visiting my sister, Mayela. Apparently, word got out in our neighborhood that I would be fending for myself, and one of our lovely neighbors dropped off a delicious brisket and cake to ensure my sustenance. I am guessing Jeanine may have had a hand in this, if not directly, then by making known the limitations of my cooking skills. It can be said that I make a mean piece of toast and not much else.

Bolivia has 36 recognized indigenous groups, with the Aymara and Quechua being the largest, particularly in the Andean highlands. Indigenous women, often called cholitas, wear a distinctive, traditional outfit symbolizing strength and cultural pride: a pleated pollera skirt, a vibrant shawl (manta), a bowler hat, and long braids.

I did not include many people photos in my recent blog posts, so I thought I would rectify that today.

Today was a pleasingly uneventful travel day back to the US during which my cameras remained packed away. I decided to post this video depicting some of my overland travel from earlier in the week. Our caravan spent hours at a time for several days traversing the Bolivian altiplano, and this clip gives a pretty good sense of what that was like. This particular stretch was not very dusty. Other sections were so bad that I had to fashion a mask from my neck buff and still could taste the sand on my teeth.

The reward for all the jaw rattling, airway choking, driving was arriving at locations like the one below.

I arrived in Boston just after 9 PM, and Jeanine was there to greet me. It is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I was delighted to see her. As it happens, Jeanine leaves for North Carolina tomorrow with Maya to visit my sister Mayela. She said we were like two ships passing in the night. I think it would be more accurate to say that we were like two ships docking in the night 🙂

After a good night’s sleep, I left my hotel to explore Bogota on foot.

Monserrate, my first destination, is an iconic 3,152-meter mountain, topped by a 17th-century sanctuary dedicated to “El Señor Caído” (The Fallen Lord). Known for breathtaking city views and as a major pilgrimage site, it is accessible via hiking trail, cable car, or funicular, which is the option I chose. The peak also offers restaurants and a flag-draped artisan market.

Located at the foot of Monserrate in Bogotá, the Casa Museo Quinta de Bolívar is a colonial-era estate that served as the residence of the South American liberator, Simón Bolívar, on and off for ten years between 1821 and 1830. Today, it functions as a museum dedicated to preserving his personal legacy and the history of the independence movements. Surrounding the house is the Jardín Bolivariano, recently declared a Cultural Landscape and a national historic garden.  

I spent the remainder of the day on a random walk, enjoying the sights and sounds the city has to offer. I spent the remainder of the day watching the NASA YouTube channel coverage of the Artemis II launch from my 7th-floor room in the pictured Hotel Oceania.

My Bolivian adventure came to a close today as I began my journey homeward. I flew from Uyuni to La Paz to Cuzco to Bogota, where I will rest for two nights before flying to Atlanta and then Boston. The photo above, taken a few days ago, summarizes my feelings about my visit to Bolivia. I feel like the guy at the center of a perfect double rainbow. Very lucky, indeed.

My flight to Cuzco paralleled the Andes and over Lake Titicaca (pictured is Isla Campanario) before landing through a nice sunset.

Today was principally a travel day as our group made its way back to Uyuni. We left at 5 AM so we could enjoy the morning light of sunrise and made several stops along the way.

The Uyuni Train Graveyard (Cementerio de Trenes), located 3km outside the city, is an open-air graveyard of rusting 19th-century steam locomotives and carriages. Once a thriving transit hub for exporting minerals to the Pacific, the trains were abandoned in the 1940s after the mining industry collapsed and regional expansion plans failed. 

Throughout our journey, I have made numerous photographs of my fellow participants, mostly candid. Below is a staged exception that I like in particular. It features Las Chicas, a group of women who shared one of the SUVs, three of which have traveled together in the past.

As the sun set on the salt flats, we celebrated our time together and enjoyed one last look into the infinite.

Sol de Mañana (Morning Sun) is a high-altitude (4,900m) geothermal field in southwest Bolivia, noted for intense volcanic activity, bubbling mud pools, and sulfurous fumaroles. Located near Laguna Colorada, it features intense steam geysers erupting up to 50m.

Laguna Verde is a stunning high-altitude salt lake set against the Licancabur volcano, is famed for its emerald-green color, caused by mineral sediments of arsenic, magnesium, and calcium.

To end the day, we returned to Laguna Colorado. The striking red color is primarily caused by a combination of high salinity, intense sunlight, and the presence of pigmented algae (mainly Dunaliella salina) that thrive in the mineral-rich waters. Shallow depths and red sediments, along with white borax islands, create a vibrant contrast.