Jessica's 1st communion, 5-1-05
Susi & Christine with Reza's
brothers and sisters-in-law
Susi enjoying herself among
her 8 Iranian cousins
Lotfollah and Imam Mosques in
Esfahan, Iran
Famous Sio-se Pol (33-arches
bridge) in Esfahan
Susi, Sogol, & Hossein under
Grandpa's cherry tree in Fasham
Good-bye dinner on Mt. Darband,
Tehran
Reza and Susi, Christmas 2005
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To our family and
friends!
May the New
Year 2006 bring you and your family good health, joy, and peace! It's
Christmas again and time to catch up with our relatives and friends all
over the world with my annual Christmas letter.
It's been an eventful year
indeed, with trips to Germany , Iran, San Antonio (Texas), Halifax, NS,
and a visit from my sister and two nieces for Susi's confirmation. On
January 11, I returned from Germany, where we had put my dear mom to rest
in my hometown of Bitburg-Erdorf and where my dear friend Gertrud looks
after the grave. Then it was on to TESOL in San Antonio, TX, where I gave
three presentations on topics in Computer-Assisted Language Learning.
From April 26 to May 2, I attended niece Jessica’s first communion in
Freising, Germany, where I reconnected with many relatives and friends.
Two weeks later, sister Susi arrived with kids Jessica and Alicia and
stayed for two weeks. It was great to have them with us again, and
Jessica and Alicia took the opportunity to practice their English with
Reza. On May 26, we celebrated Susi’s confirmation. On June 18, Susi and
I flew to Iran for three weeks, after a two-day stopover in Freising with
my sister and family. What an adventure it was! Our Iranian passports
and birth certificates arrived literally 3 hours before we had to go to
the airport—talk about tight timing! Until then we did not know if we
were able to go or not. Just before landing at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport,
we donned our bright green and yellow shirt dresses and matching scarves,
then walked through passport control without problems and waited for our
luggage to arrive. Suddenly I saw Reza’s younger brother Hossein walking
towards us. We hugged, kissed, and cried with joy—this was our first
in-person meeting! The rest of the family—Reza’s brothers Davoud,
Ali Reza,
and Mohsen—and their families,
as well as many uncles, aunts, and cousins came to greet us with huge
bouquets of flowers. What a reception! We spent 18 glorious days with
Reza’s family, staying at each family’s house/apartment for a few days,
and having all 18 of us (and sometimes quite a few more guests) gather
each single day for a scrumptious,
expansive evening meal. All of
us felt as if we had known each other for ages,
which is actually the case—20 years! Susi had a blast getting to know and
kidding around with her 8 cousins. In our new fashionable scarves and
manteaus, we toured the former Shah’s Summer Palace in North Tehran,
visited many bazaars, jewelry and carpet stores,
went to Fasham—a resort town in
the mountains, where Reza’s
parents lived and where we visited their graves—and then spent a glorious
weekend in Esfahan with the four families. What a great time we had
talking, visiting Esfahan’s gorgeous turquoise-colored mosques, the Old
Bazaar, the palaces and gardens of the 16th century, and the
old Russian-Orthodox Church Vank in the Armenian quarter of Jolfa. Back
in Tehran, we had to deal with the daily hassle of getting from one place
to another, through the horrendous traffic. However, on July 8, we vowed
to return to beautiful Iran soon. On November 18, I was able to see
Reza’s brother Ali Reza and his wife Nahid (and Nahid’s mom and brother
Nader) briefly, when we all met in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where their
application for Canadian citizenship was approved.
Susi continues to delight us with straight-A grades, for which
she works hard year round. She has now entered the college search phase
of her life and is looking for a small-to-mid-size university with a
strong liberal arts background, which will allow her to go on to medical
school. As part of her extracurricular activities, she is involved in Key
Club (a community service organization),
International Club,
Future Business Leaders of America, Princeton Model Congress, and was
elected communications officer of her junior class. Until March she is
also racing on the varsity Nordic Ski Team of
Champlain Valley Union High School.
As the new chair of the Economics Department, Reza has been
extremely busy this year, having to teach an overload of courses and also
conducting a nation-wide search for a replacement for one of his retiring
colleagues. Unfortunately, the next semester looks just as hectic, with
another course overload.
We hope that 2006 will bless us and
all of you with good health and allow us to reconnect in friendship and
love.
Christine,
Reza, and Susi
Send us electronic mail
to.
Christine: cbauer-ramazani@smcvt.edu
Reza: rramazani@smcvt.edu
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Christine snowplowing down
the hill on X-C skis, Feb. 2005
Susi's confirmation, 5-26-05
Susi with Aunt Susi
Susi with her cousins
Jessica and Alicia in Burlington, VT
Susi on the boogie board at
Herringcove Beach, Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA
Susi with Cila and Luis Quiroz,
Nov. 2005
Susi racing for the CVU
Nordic Team, Dec. 22, 2005
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