2014 Year in Review

Highlights

• OIG Inspection of Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan in February-March. 

 

I couldn’t go through Dubai, UAE with the team because my visa for UAE was rejected.  Authorities claimed that I never exited the country from a previous visit.  Ended up having to go through London and then Istanbul.

 

New experience residing in my assigned Containerized Housing Unit (CHU).  Enjoyed weekly visits to the market on the (The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) compound where local vendors would display their carpets, crafts, jewelry and other goods for sale.  ISAF was a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan, established by the United Nations Security Council in December 2001.  The compound was located next to the American Embassy and was accessed through a circuitous route and security including underground passages due to construction of new apartment housing for staff.  The ISAF compound had dining and shopping facilities with a large cafeteria, pizza place, coffee shop and PX-like store.  I did manage to play tennis with Tim Williams indoors in an all-purpose bubble.   
 

 

 

 

For more photos and narrative see: http://boothwjtravels.blogspot.com/2014/03/kabul.html        

Survey work at the Charleston finance center for OIG spring inspections in Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Bamako, Mail; and Niamey, Niger.  Farewell for Jim Millette.

 

• March 22 attended the Charleston Jazz perforformance of Little Girl Blue celebrating the music of Nina Simone at the American Music Hall.

• March 29 attended the North Charleston Pops performance of Philly Soul at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center

• Completed survey work at the Charleston finance center for OIG winter inspections in La Paz, Bolivia; Lima, Peru; Asmara, Eritrea; and, Kampala, Uganda.  

• OIG Inspection of Embassies in Baku, Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, Georgia; and, Yerevan, Armenia in the spring.  Training on new techniques for indexing and referencing.   

 

Baku, Azerbaijan

 

                                               

For more photos and narrative see:http://boothwjtravels.blogspot.com/2014/05/baku-azerbaijan.html

Tbilisi, Georgia

 

            
For more photos and narrative see:  http://boothwjtravels.blogspot.com/2014/05/tbilisi-georgia.html

Yerevan, Armenia 

 

For more photos and narrative see:  http://boothwjtravels.blogspot.com/2014/06/yerevan-armenia.html    

• Walked the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) from Pamplona, Spain to Santiago de Compostela 446 miles in 35 days in July-August.

 
For more photos and narrative see:  Doris and Bill Travel Adventures - Timeslide July/Aug 2014 
 

• October 10-17 Cruise on Crystal Serenity from Quebec to New York with stops in Iles de la Madeleine, Halifax, Nova Scotia; Bar Harbor and Arcadia National Park in Maine; Newport, Rhode Island; and Boston.  In New York we visited the National September 11 Memorial, Hop-on Hop-Off bus tour and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 For more photos and narrative see:  Doris and Bill Travel adventures Quebec to New York

  

News of the Nation

 

May 23 - Isla Vista killings occurs, killing 6, and wounding 14 others, perpetrated by Elliot Rodger.

June  -   President Obama orders the return of a small number of troops to Iraq to help bolster Iraqi and Kurdish military forces in their war with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

August 9 - Michael Brown was shot and killed, in what was ruled by a grand jury to be self-defense, by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, igniting protests and riots in the following months.

 

November 3 -  New building, 1 World Trade Center, opens in New York City.

November 4 -  In national elections, Republicans take control of the U.S. Senate and maintaining a majority in the House of Representatives.

December 17 -  President Obama announces a restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time since 1961.

 

News of the World

February 7  The XXII Olympic Winter Games are held in Sochi, Russia.

April 16  Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Flight MH370 of Malaysian airlines went missing and hasn't been seen since. Despite search efforts from the US and the rest of the world. 3 American citizens were on-board this flight.

April 27 – The Catholic Church simultaneously canonizes Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.[20]

April 28 – United States President Barack Obama's new economic sanctions against Russia go into effect, targeting companies and individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

May 5 -  Boko Haram militants kill approximately 300 people in a night attack on Gamboru Ngala.

May 22 -  The Royal Thai Army overthrows the caretaker government after a failure to resolve the political unrest in Thailand.

June 13 – The military intervention against ISIS begins

July 17 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777, crashes in eastern Ukraine after being shot down by a missile. All 298 people on board killed.

December 28 – Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore crashes into the Java Sea just southwest of Borneo, killing all 162 people on board.[57]
 

Movies:

"Twelve Years a Slave won the Oscar for best picture at the 86th Academy Awards.

Matthew McConaughey won the lead actor award for "The Dallas Buyers Club," and the lead actress Oscar went to Cate Blanchett for "Blue Jasmine." Lupita Nyong'o, "Twelve Years a Slave"  and Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club" won for supporting actress and supporting actor. 

Super Bowl

 The Seahawks won their first Super Bowl crown by punishing Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos 43-8. That masterful defense, the NFL's stingiest, never let the five-time MVP get going, disarming the highest-scoring offense in league history.  What was hyped as a classic matchup between an unstoppable offense and a miserly defense turned into a route. Punctuating Seattle's dominance was a 69-yard interception return touchdown by linebacker Malcolm Smith (MVP) to make it 22-0, and Percy Harvin's sensational 87-yard kickoff return to open the second half. 

World Series

The Giants beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2, in Game 7 at Kauffman Stadium and became the first team since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates to win a Series Game 7 on the road. They also became the second team, after the Boston Red Sox, to win three championships in the 21st century.  Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval and, most of all, Madison Bumgarner, a 25-year-old left-hander who wrote his name into World Series lore with a performance for the ages.  He won two games, including a shutout in Game 5, and earned the save Wednesday, pitching five scoreless innings in relief, to be named the most valuable player of the World Series. He allowed two hits and struck out four while throwing 68 pitches on just two days’ rest, having thrown 117 in Game 5. 

Recap of 2014 Grand Slam Tennis Tournament Winners

·         Australian Open Men's Singles. Winner – Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Rafael Nadal

·         French Open Men's Singles. Winner– Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic

·         Wimbledon Men's Singles. Winner –  Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer

·         US Open Men's Singles. Winner –  Marin Cilic defeated Kei Nishikori

 

·         Australian Open Ladies Singles. Winner – Li Na defeated Dominika Cibulkova

·         French Open Ladies Singles. Winner– Maria Sharapova defeated Simona Halep

·         Wimbledon Ladies Singles. Winner – Petra Kvitova defeated Eugenie Bouchard

·         US Open Ladies Singles. Winner – Serena Williams defeated Caroline Wozniacki