In this photo, my grand-daughter, Maholy Kimia, and I are sitting/playing together on the veranda of our house in Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire), watching (and feeling) the arrival of a heavy, tropical thunderstorm over the city. Among my favorite retirement activities is sitting here or outside in the front yard in the late afternoon (5-6 pm before the tropical sunset which comes at 6-6:30 pm all year long here along the equator), often bare-chested to enjoy the cool(er) late afternoon air and with a pint of nice, cold local brew (see German “stein” on small table next to me; a gift from AFS ’67 classmate and brother, Walter Naggl). In addition to tropical storms, I love looking at the clouds and the birds in the sky above, listening to audio recordings of my favorite literature via the Internet (who could have imagined this wonderful technology wen I first came to Africa in 1971!), and feasting on the beautiful colors of the bougainvilla plants along the exterior wall of the property. I think McGlynn and Bois would have liked it here!!
rob walbridge
1967
