Merhaba! (That's Hello in Turkish) This is a test to see if I know how to work this blog. If you didn't get this message please let me know. (Just kidding) My bags are packed and tomorrow is the day. For your first assignment locate Istanbul and check out the Bosporus on Google Earth. It is pretty amazing! Hofca kal (that's Goodby in Turkish) Ms. Ellsworth (aka Grandma, Mom, Patty) ... read more

Hi from Beautiful San Diego, It's 9:00 pm and we need to be on the bus at 5:15 am so this is going to be a quick note. It was another great day with the Marines. We spent the morning at the Marine Corp Air Station at Mirarmar to see first hand Marines at work after basic training. Most amazing was the opportunity to visit the flight line and see the fighter jets and helicopters up close. The jets were taking off for exercises not far from where we were standing. Again it was amazing to hear about all of the educational opportunites afforded to these young people and their extended families. The Marine program pushes its members to get as much education as possible. This afternoon we visited the Marine Corp museum at the training ... read more

Hello from Beautiful San Diego, This week I will be attending a workshop for high school educators at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. There are teachers, counselors and administrators from Las Vegas, So. Calif., Hawaii and Guam in attendance. All of the Marines we have met thus far have been incredibly nice, very fit people. (My room mate noted you could cut bread with their hip bones) I will be trying to give you some info on the Marines as I learn about the program myself. So far I have arrived at my Squad Bay (Living quarters at Half Moon Inn on the Bay), and got squared away (unpacked my bags) and enjoyed the talents from the galley (kitchen). Tomorrow we meet at 7 am to take a bus to the training depot. ... read more

Hola Familia y amigos, Time is short but I'll write more in a couple of days. We had a great adventure getting over the border but luckily it did not involve any jail time or taking any tarps & ropes off. :) Guadalajara is a city of 6 million people and it took us roughly 30 hours to drive from Las Vegas to here. Tomorrow Brent and I are leaving to drive back home. We plan to stop at Mazatlan and find some giant shrimp for Brent. Hope you are all well. Adios, Patty... read more

Hola Amigos and Familia, I would love to say something profound to you in Spanish but I am in level one and so I am learning the basics. However, I am getting better and can carry on a simple conversation with no problema. The last couple of days we have boarded the magic bus and it has taken us to wonderful places. Saturday ten of us visited the Museum of Archeaology with the director of the school, Charlie. As we drove towards Mexico City he explained why, with all the rain, there are no major rivers. There are 8,000 volcanoes running in a line across a horizontal axis from the Pacific to the Gulf coast. These porous volcanic mountains act as giant sponges, soaking up and storing the water and releasing their water in springs. Wherever ... read more