Esperanto?

Still can't recall the name of the club.

My sister is, perhaps, not sober?

pictured: Lauren, Kate, Airlia.

Here are all the rest of the Henley trip photos, unsorted and un-thumbnailed at present, I'm afraid.

goofy and her friends

Heidi, Danielle, Abigail in the midst of a good night of drinking and whooping it up.

The racing was all done. We hit the Angel at the foot of the Henley racecourse, and then off to some nightclub whose name escapes me. It was 90% women and 10% ultra-skeevy guys.

commencing inebriation!

At the Angel pub. This is about half the crew and hangers on.

pictured: Abigail, Airlia, myself, Alana, Loi, Lauren, Danielle, Chia, Suzanne

Drinking snakebites at Angel, though I think I have a pint of bitter in my hand at this moment. Airlia looks surprised, Abi laughs, Caitlin (crewpie) smiles pretty for the camera, while I look on, amused.

Having a cocktail or three at the pub with Jackie.

Kate with flower, outside the pub where the alumni event/final dinner was being held. We drank Pimms and watched cricket with all the families that had come over for the racing. Chia is over my Kate's shoulder, and Heidi sits in front of her reclining father on the left. The thatch roof of the pub and outbuildings can be seen in the background.

cricket fever... catch it!

Not baseball, but about the closest I came in my time in England.

I did manage to find one game a week on BBC5 at about 1 a.m. They'd shuffle from game to game, giving you an inning here and there. The commentators (one Brit, one American) would pop in between innings; the regular announcers from the US broadcast were in effect during actual play.

the Lindys at the cricket match

There was a cricket match taking place outside the bar/restaurant where we were having our last dinner. One of the sons of our host family was playing (and playing well, according to Lizzy's father, who seemed to know the sport).

Tufts eight readying for the start of their second eights race at Henley. The Yale lights were there, biding their time until the men's regatta the next week.

Jackie shoulders the load. On the way to the docks at WRHR.

Getting read to send the four out to do battle.

Shoving off at Henley.

polling the crews, getting alignment

Kate, in two seat, has her hand in the air signalling to the marshal that her crew is not yet ready and pointed. Meanwhile, Danielle sculls her oar close to the hell, bringing the shell about to port.

Abigail, in bow, glowers menacingly.

coaching the four

The stunning pink hats were the envy of all who saw them.

Here, I'm imparting a little pre-race wisdom to the four-with before they head out to race at Royal Henley.

The four-with crew was: Airlia Esworthy (stroke), Jackie Stone, Morgan Glasebrook, Liz Parker (bow), Suzanne Horwitz (cox).

Boating out for semis at Henley.

Rowing back to the docks after the first race. From bow: Abi Schlessinger, Kate, Danielle Fairchild, Heidi Hauenstein, Kristine Shoemaker, Ashley Korb, Loi Sessions, and Lizzie Martin, with Lauren Ungerleider coxing.

Striking a pose, looking down the length of the Royal Henley course.

The pastoral Thames near Shillingford.

Thames-side park and boat-tie in Shillingford, on the opposite side of the river from our house.

Old farmhouses in Shillingford.

View up the course from Angel bridge.

Along the placid banks of the Thames, with the not-so-placid Ashley.

The Tufts four-with rows by Temple Island during a practice.

Opening a gate on the riverwalk between our two boarding houses.

Lizzie makes nice with Sandy, the somewhat pudgy and extremely affectionate golden Lab who shared our host house with us. There was also the superannuated Bramble (a dark-haired mix who was seventeen years old and had bad arthritis in both feet). We spent a fair bit of time in the backyard sunning during the latter part of our time, as the weather was fair.

On the banks of the Thames, in Shillingford.

Ashley and Loi, excited over wine.

On the banks of the Thames on an off evening.

drinking on the banks of the Thames in Shillingford

This was on our one off day. Kate, Loi, Ashley, and I bought a few bottles of wine and tramped off down the Thames towpath near our host house for a little R&R.

Sunset in England.

Kate: victorious at Reading

She has more ARA points on her card than Jon Goulet.

Airlia on the walk between boarding houses in Shillingford.

The Henley eight crew, at Reading Regatta on the second day.

Lizzy with Reading Regatta trophy

The rare genuine smile in a photo of Lizzy.

This was on the second day, the second victory of the eight in the racing at Reading. This was a tuneup race for Henley, of strange distances: 1500m and 1100m.

I did a lot of running alongside boats during races, and with them while they warmed up.

The landscape was very pastoral, especially near the start line. On the second day, I remember, that there were horses on the far shore, one of which was standing right at the waterline. There was also a fire of a leaf or brushpile of some sort. I also recall getting nettle-stung quite badly while I acted the good Samaritan in lying on the shoreline holding the oars of another boat while their coach cycled back to try to find a replacement seat or a tool of some sort to repair a pre-race breakage. This was our competition I was doing favors for, no less.

the four at Reading, practice day

In all our glory.

(I really ought to shave when I know pictures are going to be taken for posterity.)

pictured: me, Airlia, Jackie, Liz, Morgan, Suzanne.

Loi has diseases

Gross ones.

Here she is showing off the mysterious spots on her abdomen.

Her cousin came down with them later, even worse. It was grotesque, yet fascinating.

Here are all the photos from prepping for Henley, on the Mystic River.