DrakeSmart

Today is "Why Did I Not Know That" Wednesday ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** **************... read more

Greetings everyone! Can it be March already? I say yes because I'm getting ready for my annual DrakeSmart trip to Europe and I'm ready for the big "countdown" to: Copenhagen, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Rothenburg, Geneva, Paris, Normandy, Dublin and London. We do all this in 19 days. I'll preface this trip blog by saying "this is no vacation" in the sense that it's not a leisure trip rather an educational study trip of public policy and people. So why do I spend 12 days of hard earned vacation with 50 travelers on a motorcoach? Simply put, I love Europe and group travel is very interesting way to travel and network. So here I am again, assisting Dr. C. Ken Meyer in the Comparative Management Public Policy Course "Children and our Future". This year, I stepped it ... read more

Check this off my bucket list: going home to Wheaton, Maryland. One of our local radio personalities, Van Harden, shared how he visited his elementary and high school a couple of years ago. So on my last trip to Washington DC, I did just that. A little back story might help. We came to the US from Trinidad in 1968. We settled in Wheaton, MD. I started school in third grade, skipped the 11th grade, graduated in 1977 and then joined the USAF in 1978. I lived in Idaho and since 1980, call Iowa my home. Let’s start with the family house at 12017 Centerhill Street; I think we called this a split house back in 1968. Today they would call it a Townhome. I haven’t seen this house since 1981, so it was nice to ... read more

Today it’s all about family, traditions and witnessing the largest Caribbean festival in North America. It’s called Caribana and it’s a three week festival held every July celebrating Caribbean culture. It ends with a humongous, a million plus, masqueraders dancing down Lakeshore Blvd. Read more about the history of Cariabana here: . Some background about me will be helpful. I was born on the island of Trinidad and Tobago. My parents; East Indian (from India), Chinese (China) and Spanish (Venezuela). You can call us Trinidadians, Caribs , or Coolies . To the non-natives, these terms might be offensive, but this is part of our culture. No issue for me. I’m proud to be a Coolie or a Carib! So how did we get here? We migrated, legally of ... read more

This weekend was all about “fun” and letting my hair down with my friends Judy, Molly and their extended friends. I had no set agenda other than taking my sweet ride on her maiden voyage and having some fun. So here goes with the cast of characters for the weekend: Judy and Greg (Des Moines) I’ve known them since 2005 (Drake trip to Europe) Molly (Louisburg) Longtime friend of Judy who lives on farm with Jeff and 101 plus exotic animals Kelley (Des Moines) Longtime friend of Molly and Judy Teresa (Kansas City) College friend of Judy Annette (Lincoln) High school friend of Molly First, a little about my “sweet ride”. After eleven years of driving the shopping mobile minivan, I was ready for a change. After three months of looking, I found this sweet ride ... read more