2016 Year in Review

Highlights:

• OIG Inspection of Embassy Tegucigalpa, Honduras in February(See Separate Blog)

• Visits to Valle de Angeles, Santa Lucia and the former capital Comayagua

      

• OIG Inspection of Embassy Belmopan, Belize in March (See Separate Blog)

• Road trip to Tikal, Guatemala Ancient Mayan ruins  

         The Great Plaza and North Acropolis

• Charleston Jazz Orchestra performed the music of Stevie Wonder in March

• In April I volunteered at the Volvo Car Open Tennis Tournament doing court maintenance.  This was probably the 10th year I had volunteered starting back in 2004 as an usher and in subsequent years as a driver before settling on court maintenance dragging the court or brushing the lines.  Sloan Stephens defeated Elena Vesnina 7-6, 6-2.    

• OIG Inspection of Embassy Islamabad, and Consulate Karachi, Pakistan in May/June (See separate blog)

             Embassy                                        My Quarters Containerized

                                                                             Housing Unit (CHU)

• May:  Spoleto Music Festival and Chamber Music at the Dock Street Theater with Geoff Nuttall (1965-2022) 
• Freddie Cole Quartet at the Music Hall in June
• In August we attended a "Hard Hat" Tuning Concert at the new Gaillard Concert Hall
• August Summer Soiree at Pierce Pavilion on DI
• Low Country Jazz Festival in September saw Brian Culbertson
• Also took a quick trip out to San Francisco in September to attend Chris and Debbie's Bay Area farewell.  Boat ride on the bay and great feast at Scoma's on the wharf.  Mix of cousins, co-workers and friends. 

                       

• OIG Inspection of Embassy Tel Aviv and ConGen Jerusalem October/November (See separate Blog)
• Discovering Tel Aviv:  Holocaust Museum, Goocha Restaurant; Biking the Boardwalk, Jaffa 
• Discovering Jerusalem:  Old City, Tower of David, Ancient Tunnels under Old City, Friends of Zion Museum
• Weekend trips to Caesarea, Akko, Rosh Hanikra,  Nazareth, Capernaum, See of Galilee, Judea, Ein Gedi nature reserve, Dead Sea, Masada, Herodion and West Bank settlements.  
• Picking olives on the Mount of Olives.    

• October 8 Hurricane Matthew hits Charleston.  Although it was just a category 1 hurricane, extensive damage was done due to flodding, landslides and destruction to trees.  Doris didn't evacuate and stayed with neighbors but we lost three Leyland Cypress trees in our backyard.
• The Annual Turkey Day run in November with David and Bob & GLO.
• December 1 Charleston Symphony performing Handel's Messiah at the Cathedral
• December 3 Reindeer Run downtown

U.S. Events

·         Donald Trump is elected as US President;

·         Amazon Prime Video launches worldwide;

·         Scientists invent the Crispr-Cas9, a unique technology that enables medical researchers to edit   and delete DNA, thereby allowing effective genetic engineering;

·         Florida nightclub shooting: Omar Mateen kills 49 people and wounds 53 at a gay nightclub in   Orlando;

·         Scien

• Charleston Jazz Orchestra performed the music of Stevie Wonder in March
• Volvo Car Open in April won by Sloan Stephens
• May:  Spoleto Music Festival and Chamber Music at the Dock Street Theater with Geoff Nuttall (1965-2022) 
• Freddie Cole Quartet at the Music Hall in June
• In August we attended a "Hard Hat" Tuning Concert at the new Gaillard Concert Hall
• August Summer Soiree at Pierce Pavilion on DI
• Low Country Jazz Festival in September saw Brian Culbertson
• Also took a quick trip out to San Francisco in September to attend Chris and Debbie's Bay Area farewell.  Boat ride on the bay and great feast at Scoma's on the wharf.  Mix of cousins, co-workers and friends. 

• Annual Turkey Day run in November with David and Bob&GLO
• December 1 Charleston Symphony performing Handel's Messiah at the Cathedral
• December 3 Reindeer Run downtown
• WACC meeting with Ambassador Jerry Lanier speaking on the topic of Challenges for Trump

U.S. Events

·         Donald Trump is elected as US President;

·         Amazon Prime Video launches worldwide;

·         Scientists invent the Crispr-Cas9, a unique technology that enables medical researchers to edit   and delete DNA, thereby allowing effective genetic engineering;

·         Florida nightclub shooting: Omar Mateen kills 49 people and wounds 53 at a gay nightclub in   Orlando;

·         Scientists and researchers successfully detect the first direct evidence of gravitational waves, using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory or LIGO - The existence of gravitational waves was first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916;

·         Pok tists and researchers successfully detect the first direct evidence of gravitational waves, using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory or LIGO - The existence of gravitational waves was first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916;

·         Pokemon Go, an augmented reality mobile game, got millions of people out on the street;

·         American singer-songwriter and music icon Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize in Literature;

·         Swimmer and Olympic champion Michael Phelps, holder of the maximum Olympic medals in   history by an individual (23 Gold, 28 total) and 7 world records, retires.

World Events:

·         Brexit Vote: Britain votes to leave the EU - The British Exit is termed Brexit;

·         Demonetisation in India; India carries out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line   of Control in Jammu and Kashmir; Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav abducted from Iran, held   captive by Pakistan; Mukesh Ambani commercially launches Reliance Jio, makes India the   cheapest market for mobile internet data in the world; Mother

·         Teresa canonized posthumously as 'Saint Teresa of Calcutta' by Pope Francis at a ceremony in St   Peter's Square in Vatican City;

·         The historic Paris Climate Agreement in signed to take effective measures against Climate   Change;

·         Dhaka Cafe Attack: 5 terrorists take dozens hostage at the Holey Artisan cafe in Dhaka, kill 22     civilians, 2 cops;

·         The haunting image of 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh sitting shell-shocked in the back of an   ambulance in Aleppo, covered in dust with blood on his face and clothing becomes the face of   the Syrian war;

Movies:

Best Picture was "Spotlight".  Best actor went to Leonardo di Caprio in "Revenant".   Best Actress was Brie Larson in "Room".  Best supporting actor was Mark Rylance in "Bridge of Spies".  Best supporting actress went to Alicia Vikander for her role in "The Danish Girl".  Best director was Alejandro G. Inarritu. 

Super Bowl

Super Bowl 50 saw the Denver Broncos defeat the Carolina Panthers, 24–10. The game was played on February 7, 2016, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.  As this was the 50th Super Bowl game, the league emphasized the "golden anniversary" with various gold-themed initiatives during the 2015 season, as well as suspending the tradition of naming each Super Bowl game with Roman numerals (under which the game would have been known as "Super Bowl L"), so the logo could prominently feature the Arabic numerals 5 and 0.   The Broncos took an early lead in Super Bowl 50 and never trailed.  Denver recorded seven sacks and forced four turnovers.   Carolina likewise kept pace by recording five sacks and forcing two turnovers. Denver linebacker Von Miller was named Super Bowl MVP.  This game was also the final game of Peyton Manning's career; the Broncos quarterback, who also won Super Bowl XLI, announced his retirement in March 2016.

World Series 

The Cubs defeated the Indians 4 games to 3 to win their first World Series since 1908. Game 7, an 8–7 victory in 10 innings, marked the fifth time that a Game 7 had gone into extra innings and the first since 1997 (which the Indians also lost). It was also the first Game 7 to have a rain delay, which occurred as the tenth inning was about to start. The Cubs became the sixth team to come back from a 3–1 deficit to win a best-of-seven World Series, following the 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1958 New York Yankees, the 1968 Detroit Tigers, the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, and the 1985 Kansas City Royals.  The Cubs, playing in their 11th World Series and their first since 1945, won their third championship and first since 1908, ending the longest world championship drought in North American professional sports history. It was the Indians' sixth appearance in the World Series and their first since 1997, with their last Series win having come in 1948. Cleveland manager Terry Francona, who had previously won World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and 2007, fell short in his bid to become the third manager to win his first three trips to the Fall Classic, after Casey Stengel and Joe Torre.  The 2016 World Series was highly anticipated due to the historical ramifications; the two teams entered their matchup as the two franchises with the longest World Series title droughts, a combined 176 years without a championship.  At the series' conclusion, numerous outlets listed Game 7 as an instant classic, and the entire series as one of the greatest of all time.  Ben Zobrist named World Series MVP after 10th-inning RBI double in game 7.