Researcher 1[(9*6) - (9/3) - 9] = 42

My name in the "real world" is Dawn, and I am a bilingual teacher at an elementary school in Wisconsin. The name "Raindawn" was bestowed upon me back in highschool when some of my friends compared my ability to remember, almost effortlessly, large quantities of useless trivia to the abilities of Dustin Hoffman's character in Rainman. Although the nickname is seldom used in real life anymore--yeah, people definitely don't call me that in real life anymore --it has become my online identity in recent years.

Learning about other cultures and learning to communicate in new languages fascinate me , and in addition to my native English, I speak fluent Spanish, and I'm working on improving my broken Norwegian with the help of my norske favorittgutten, NAITA.

I have earned a BS in Elementary Education and a BS in Spanish Language and Literature with a minor in English as a Second Language. I also have graduate level certification in bilingual education. These college studies took me to Spain (twice), Morocco, France, and Mexico. Recently I returned to Europe to attend a wedding in Spain, visit NAITA in Norway, and travel to Belgium, Ireland, and England. Among the highlights of my excoursions are:

Hitchhiking for a grand total of 45 miles through rural Mexico, first atop several large burlap sacs in the back of a corn truck and later stuffed in the back of a Chrysler NewYorker with 3 other travellers

Being chased through the dung-scented streets of Tangier by an overzealous street merchant

Being cursed by an angry gypsy in the park, and subsequently getting lost for 45 minutes in a torrential electrical storm (Coincidence??? We don't think so!)

Eating a bizarre array of exotic dairy products, including cuajada (yogurt made from sheeps milk), Mexican goat cheese pizza, coconut icecream, a cup of heavy cream sold to me as "milk," manchego (cheese made from sheep's milk) sandwiches, "brown" cheese, and warm, gray non-refrigerated milk sold in a box

Climbing to the top of lots of insanely tall structures and landforms, including El Templo de la Sagrada Familia, The Temple of the Magician, El Templo de Kukulcán, Monte Umbral, the hill leading to Parc Güell, and the ski jump at Oslo's Holmenkollen.

Screaming a loud, shrill, girly scream upon first sighting a genuine fullsize Yucatán cockroach!

Accidentally swimming 1/4 mile in the Mediterranean Sea due to a very heavy current, and actually making use of a concept I learned in highschool geometry to get back to shore.

Hopefully, my list of travels will grow in the future! What can I say? I just love an adventure! (Either that or I'm glutton for punishment!)

My other interests include music of almost all types (I play the trumpet), British comedy, reading Sci-Fi/Fantasy, travelogues, biographies, and other good books, writing stories, biking, and birdwatching.

My Contributions to H2G2

Hopefully, I'll be inspired to put something new into Peer Review soon.

My Hootoo Code 1.1

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RA Y-- N+ SG+ A+ P L++ M(-) s+ V E+ PR p(-) a(+) B++ TV- r D T(-) nh+ C+ m t
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Cheers!