Spotlight - "Fast Tracks and Music" the story of Dan and Carmen.
Dan
Dan was born in 1974 in Nottingham to Dave and Chris Bassford - two teachers. He was the oldest of 3 boys, and the Bassford family is known to be a family of boys; Dan's dad was also one of 3 boys, and each those 3 brothers also only had sons. In fact only 1 female Bassford was born in the whole of the 20th century! Consequently Dan's family was obsessed with football, and while he was unfortunately too young to go to the European Cup games, he joined his family at many games. He didn't see his two cousins on his mum's side as often because they lived in Madagascar, Dan's uncle Steve moving there in his early twenties to help run a remand home.
Dan grew up in West Nottingham - Sandiacre, and then Bramcote. Among his first memories was the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 and the street party when he dressed as a beefeater.
Dan (as teacher in Zimbabwe)
Growing up he was always interested in maps and the lines that roads and railways made. He actually liked to draw lines on the maps for his own proposed road bypasses. It was this love of geography and maps that led to Dan studying Geography and then Transport Planning at University, as well as being a Geography and Science teacher in Zimbabwe in 1996. At the end of 1998 he started work as a transport planner at the Infrastructure Engineering company, Halcrow, and by Spring 2000 was sent to Manila, Philippines to work on a proposed metro extension.
Carmen
Carmen is the middle child of three girls in the Flores family. Her mother and father, Sam and Christine Flores, emigrated from Manila, Philippines to North America in 1971. They first lived in Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada, where they attended graduate school at the University of Waterloo. This was where her older sister, Monica, was born. When Carmen was due to arrive in 1978, the family moved briefly to stay with relatives in Indiana, USA. This was partly because her uncle in Indiana was an obstetrician, and he could be ready when she was about to be born. The other reason was so that she could be born a US citizen.
After Carmen was born, her family then moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, the land of sea and sun. There her younger sister Sylvia was born, and the three girls were complete. The Floreses were a musical family, with everyone playing at least one instrument. At the age of 6, Carmen started learning the violin, and thus began a journey that would end up taking her all over the world!
When Carmen was 10 years old, her father relocated the family to sunny San Diego, California. The family packed into the van and began a week long cross-country road trip from East Coast, USA to the West Coast, a journey that Carmen will always remember. Once settled in San Diego, the girls became true Californians and consider it their home state to this day. Her father and mother became the leaders of their church choir, and together the Flores family singers would play music at church services, with Carmen on the violin of course!
At the age of 12, Carmen started learning the viola, due to the lack of viola players in her school orchestra. She took to the instrument immediately, and the viola soon became the main instrument that she performed on. For university, she attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where she studied Music and Geography. After graduating in 2000, Carmen received a Fulbright grant to do a year-long residency in Manila studying Filipino music. In September of that year she flew to the Philippines, eager to live in the country where her parents emigrated from, and curious to learn about her cultural heritage.
Dan & Carmen meet
By August 2001 and with Dan and Carmen's time in the Philippines drawing to a close, they took a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. This was a fantastic adventure, Dan discovered he actually did love Vietnamese food (as well as discovering Angkor Wat). But at the end of August Carmen returned to the US to begin a Masters Course in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a few weeks later Dan returned to London. Thousands of miles apart Dan and Carmen just saw each other for Dan's birthday (Ann Arbor) and New Year (London), but they decided they would make the relationship work.
Dan & Carmen in Manila
By August 2001 and with Dan and Carmen's time in the Philippines drawing to a close, they took a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. This was a fantastic adventure, Dan discovered he actually did love Vietnamese food (as well as discovering Angkor Wat). But at the end of August Carmen returned to the US to begin a Masters Course in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a few weeks later Dan returned to London. Thousands of miles apart Dan and Carmen just saw each other for Dan's birthday (Ann Arbor) and New Year (London), but they decided they would make the relationship work.
Dan & Carmen in Angkor Wat
Fortunately Dan managed to find a job working for a transportation planning company in North America, and by the end of March of 2002 he had moved to Toronto, some 4 or 5 five hours drive from Ann Arbor, Michigan. For the next year they would see each other at weekends and during the long summer university vacation. Then in April 2003 Carmen moved to Toronto to begin an Artist's Diploma - further training in viola performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Wedding
Dan and Carmen were married in August 2005 in San Diego, California, at the church Carmen grew up in. They had a joint Anglican-Catholic ceremony (bit like St Andrews!) with the reception in the Museum of Natural History. There was a dinosaur skeleton in the museum and plenty of the guests made use of it for their pictures! After a honeymoon in California Dan and Carmen moved to the UK, living first in Nottingham, before moving to London in Spring 2007.
Dan and Carmen both love travelling, although it's more fun when you don't have to work! Dan now works for the same transport planning consultants (Halcrow) that sent him to Philippines to meet Carmen 9 years ago. Many of his projects are overseas, so luckily for him he's had to visit a few countries in the last few years. Perhaps the best work trip was along the route of a road along the west coast of Mexico which serves all the tourist destinations. For Dan it meant he was forced to spend a few nights staying in beach resorts!
Dan & Carmen in China, 2009
Dan & Carmen in Rio
Carmen and Dan started coming to St Andrews when they lived around the corner on Chesson Road. They were inspired by Father Martin and felt really welcomed by the people here. They decided to make it their home church even when they moved down the road to Fulham Broadway. They do now have the curate as their neighbour though!
Dan and Carmen August 2009