• December – Skiing the Scenic Rockies by Mike Hardister
• November – Patagonia by Klaus Lorenz
• October – Morocco by Abdelah Lomri
• September – Ethiopia by Klaus Lorenz
• August – Jordan - House Building with Habitat for Humanity, and Travel by Bob Willhour
• July – Antarctica - An Eleven Month Adventure by Melody Hanford
• May – Egypt - Ancient and Modern from the perspective of youth by Dina Abou Shehata and Bishoy Abdel Malak
• April – 101 Countries - Discovering the World Through Fast Travel by P. J. Parmar
• March – Nepal - Current State of Affairs by Abhishek Parajuli
• February – Norway - The Land Of Many Colors, Mountains, Fjords, Trolls, Vikings by Siv Houmb
• January – Indonesia - Unity in Diversity by Innayah Nurlia Roza, Acha Karbela & Denis Innayah Nurlia Roz

December – Skiing the Scenic Rockies

Join Mike Hardister for a slide show presentation of his ski adventures in the high country of Colorado.

Mike is a local artist, illustrator and photographer.  He is the founder of Art Adventure Studio, and is represented by the Museum of Contemporary Art.  In addition to skiing, Mike enjoys cycling, skateboarding and other sports.

Join us Tuesday December 12, 2006 at the Main Library or Thursday December 28, 2006 at the Harmony Library for this presentation on skiing in the high country of Colorado.

November – Patagonia

Join Klaus Lorenz for a presentation on his trip to Patagonia.  Patagonia is a dry and windswept plateau in Southern Argentina.  It occupies more than a quarter of Argentina but has less than 3 % of the nation’s people.  The area has probably the most stunning panorama on earth --snow-capped peaks, arid plateaus, crashing glaciers and turquoise lakes.

With slides we will hike through Glacier National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, through gorges, alongside glaciers and through forest to reach the famous Mount Fitzroy. Stopping at a large (100,000 acres) hacienda set against the Andes, we learn about life on such a ranch.

Crossing into Chile to Torres del Paine National Park we hike up to the viewpoint to take in the awesome spires of the Blue Towers.  On the way we spot the wildlife unique to this part of the world - guanacos, rheas and large condors.  Heading south to Punta Arenas on the Straight of Magellan we visit a penguin reserve which is the nesting place of 1.5 million Magelanic penguins.  We end our journey in Ushuaia on Tierra del Fuego, one of the southernmost towns in the world.

Klaus is well known to those of you who regularly attend INL.  He has traveled to over 70 countries and shared many of these adventures with us at the Library Program.  He is retired from CSU and enjoys traveling the world.

Join us Tuesday November 14, 2006 at the Main Library or Thursday November 30, 2006 at the Harmony Library for this presentation on Patagonia. Please note that the 30th is the 5th Thursday not the 4th.

October – Morocco

Join Abdelah Lomri for a presentation on his native Morocco.  Learn about the geography and the culture of this country in North Africa.  Abdelah will discuss the languages, ethnic groups and religion in his homeland. He will also delve into the Moroccan economy, government, and US-Moroccan relations.

Abdelah is studying Sociology at CSU and expects to graduate in 2007.

Join us Thursday October 26, 2006 at the Harmony Library for this presentation on Jordan!!  We are sorry there will not be a presentation at the Main Library.

September – Ethiopia

Join Klaus Lorenz for a presentation on his trip to Ethiopia.  Few countries in the world offer such a myriad of experiences for the traveler as Ethiopia.  The fascination of this country lies in its historical sites and the ancient tribal cultures, whose traditional lifestyle is a stark contrast to our modern life.  We will travel with slides first of all to the historical north to the Blue Nile Falls, visit monastery churches on Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, explore the scenic Simien Mountains, visit Lalibela, the Jerusalem of Ethiopia, and the monolithic churches carved out of pink granite in the 12th century as well as the town of Axum, home of the Queen of Sheeba.  Axum is reputed to be the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant .The first Ethiopian king was the son of the biblical king Solomon and the Queen of Sheeba who brought the Ark to Ethiopia.  We will then travel to the tribal south into the Omo valley , take a boat ride on Lake Chemo to spot crocodiles, hippos and white pelican, visit villages of the Konso, Karo and Hamer tribes and finally the fierce Mursi people, whose women are using disks to expand their lower lips and ears

Klaus is well known to those of you who regularly attend INL.  He has traveled to over 70 countries and shared many of these adventures with us at the Library Program.  He is retired from CSU and enjoys traveling the world.

Join us Tuesday September 12, 2006 at the Main Library or Thursday September 28, 2006 at the Harmony Library for this presentation on Jordan!!

August – Jordan - House Building with Habitat for Humanity, and Travel

Join Bob Willhour for a presentation on his trip to Jordan cosponsored by Habitat for Humanity and Heart of the Rockies Christian Church.  Bob along with 7 other folks spent 10 days in Jordan working together with the Habitat Jordan staff.  They doubled the size of a pre-existing concrete block home.  After finishing the project they toured the fascinating country, including the lost city of Petra, Lawrence of Arabia’s hideout at Wadi Rum, a Crusader Castle and Moses’ overlook at Mount Nebo. A representative of Habitat for Humanity will be present to recruit volunteers for the next trip to Jordan leaving November 24, 2006.

Bob is originally from Oklahoma and is a retired Petroleum Geologist who has lived in Fort Collins since 2001.  He earned an M.S. degree at CU and worked for Shell Oil and Hamilton Brothers Oil Company in Denver before starting his own consulting business.  He and his wife Jane both volunteer at Habitat for Humanity.

Join us Tuesday August 8, 2006 at the Main Library or Thursday August 24, 2006 at the Harmony Library for this presentation on Jordan!!

July – Antarctica - An Eleven Month Adventure

Join Melody Hanford for a virtual trip to Antarctica where she will show you the unique & diverse beauty of the seventh continent, where she spent six months working on the Search and Rescue Team.  This will include an incredible DVD made by Anthony Powell which shows sporadic time-lapse videos over the course of a whole year.  Second, a short video of Melody and her husband Steve will give the group an idea of what a true “herbie” storm is all about.  Lastly, various pictures will be shown of their experiences on the Search and Rescue Team.

Melody Hanford grew up in Denver, Colorado.  She earned her B.A. in Piano Performance from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA.  In 1998, she met Stephan, and by 2001 they were married.  Starting in 1998, they were raft, backpacking, and rock climbing guides for 7 consecutive summers.  Additionally, they spent a total of 15 months in Antarctica on two different occasions.  Melody is now working for Northern Engineering here in Ft. Collins, and is also a piano teacher for Seven Oaks. 

Dates; Tuesday July 11, 2006 – Main Library and Thursday July 27, 2006 Harmony Library

May - Egypt – Ancient and Modern from the perspective of youth

Join us as Dina Abou Shehata and Bishoy Abdel Malak discuss life in modern Egypt and offer a brief overview of Egypt’s history.  We are fortunate that our presentors come from two different regions of the country and will talk about the different characteristics of each region as well as what makes them both uniquely Eygptian.

Dina and Bishoy are both high school exchange students who came to study in Fort Collins last fall.  Dina comes from Damietta in the north, near the Mediterranean.  She is excited to share her country with our community and help expand our understanding of Egypt beyond the pyramids and pharos.  Bishoy comes from Sohag, roughly 340 miles south of Cairo, between Asyut and Luxor.  He loves science and sharing his culture.

April - 101 Countries: Discovering the World Through Fast Travel

Part travel guide, part cultural study, and part personal adventure, 101 Countries describes P.J. Parmar's quest to see as much of the world with as little time and money as possible.  The story follows the Colorado resident through 101 countries in less than one year on only $12,000.  His style of travel often involves unexpected adventures, such as sleeping with bums in Tokyo, Rome, and Krakow, getting sick from street food in Amman and Shanghai, and being detained in small rooms by authorities in Cambodia, Siberia, Grenada, and the United States.

Join P.J. for a colorful, instructive presentation about the travels that led him to be called a "low-budget country collector" by the Denver Post.  The presentation is sponsored by Fort Collins International Center and the Fort Collins Library, and is free and open to the public; the book will be available for $15.

P. J. Parmar was born in Canada, raised in the Chicago area, and currently resides in Denver with his wonderful wife Martha. He is a student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and his nonexistent free time is spent climbing mountains, running and playing guitar. His favorite place in the world is the one where he has not been yet.

March – Nepal - Current State of Affairs

Please join Abhishek Parajuli, a native of Kathmandu, as he discusses the current state of affairs in his native Nepal.  He grew up as his country was in a politically volatile stage in the 1980’s.  1990 brought a multiparty democratic system to Nepal, which was trying hard to gather speed towards development.  Currently a unelected and unconstitutional royal cabinet is ruling his country.

He came to the States in 2000 to study math and computer science.  He is currently pursuing postgraduate degrees in these areas at CSU.

Please join us Tuesday March 14, 2006 at the Main Library or Thursday March 23, 2006 at the Harmony Library for this presentation on Nepal.

February – Norway - The Land Of Many Colors, Mountains, Fjords, Trolls, Vikings

Join Siv Houmb at the Library for an hour or so for a journey through Norway's epic history and awesome landscape.  Discover Norwegian culture as Siv discusses sports, old folk stories and sayings.  Enjoy slides of the rich Norwegian landscape including the fiords and the mountains.  Experience vicariously how the Norwegian people live with the Midnight Sun, the total darkness and the cold.

Siv is a pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science @ CSU.  She enjoys the outdoors immensely and can be found playing in the snow on shoes or skis in her spare time.

Please join us Tuesday February 14, 2006 at the Main Library for this presentation on Norway!  Please note that there will not be a presentation on Thursday February 23, 2006 at the Harmony Library.

January – Indonesia - Unity in Diversity

Join Innayah Nurlia Roza, Acha Karbela and Denis Innayah Nurlia Roza for an hour or 2 to learn more Indonesia.  Indonesia is an archipelago country that located in the north of Australia.  It has 17,000 islands and 300 tribes with 500 languages.  Indonesia has the fourth largest population in the world.  With all of the diversity and 5 main religions: Muslim, Christian, Catholic, Hindu, and Buddhist, they live in unity which called “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika”.  This is a rare opportunity to hear about another country from the youth of that country.

Innayah, Denis and Achakarbela are High School Exchange Students from Indonesia, who are studying here in Northern Colorado this year at Rocky, Windsor and Fossil Ridge High Schools respectively.  Innayah is from Yogyakarta; Achakarbela is from Jakarta and Denis is from Bogor.

Join us Tuesday January 10, 2006 at the Main Library or Thursday January 26, 2006 at the Harmony Library for this presentation on Indonesia!!