Sunday, January 30, 2011
After our amazing Amazon experience it was on to Rio de Janeiro which is 2 hours ahead of Manaus time. It was a 3 ½ hour plane ride and we arrived in Rio about 5:30 AM which would have been 3:30 AM the time we were accustomed to. A guide picked us up at the airport and said he would be taking us to Cococapanna Beach to a kiosk for breakfast. I’m thinking this can’t be true. We had slept in a hammock the night before and didn’t get any sleep last night, where is the hotel and bed? But to the beach we went and we all sat red eyed eating our breakfast. Next our dilapidated bikes arrived and we all rode more than 2 hours and more than 10 miles along Cococapanna Beach, Flamingo Park, Impanema Beach and around a bay to the botanical gardens. The beaches are so wide and long and are filled with lots of good people watching. Most men in any shape, size or form wear Speedos and the women don’t wear much more. They don’t care if they are walking around in that attire if they are in town or on the beach. We learned that the beaches are reclaimed land and that they were made in 1959 or 1960. The gears on my bike didn’t work. They were permanently set at the easiest level but that meant that I could never coast and had to constantly pump the pedals. It was about 90 degrees and humid and I was exhausted by the time we reached the gardens. We were told the temperature gets down to about 75 degrees in the winter and everyone freezes. Winter sounded pretty good to me about this time. Didn’t have energy left to walk around the gardens by the time we arrived. We rested and had lunch for about 2 hours. Then some good sized jeeps arrived to take us through the forest up to see the Corcovado or Christ the Redeemer. I heard one of the students talking to her mother on the phone and she said, “Mom, I have to go, we are leaving to see the big Jesus”. Our driver was wild and crazy speeding up the narrow and winding road following the smelly jeep in front of us. At one point our tour guide spotted a sloth with its baby in a tree. We stopped for pictures, but I’m not sure we got a good one. We stopped at several view points along the way and I have to say Rio is probably the most beautiful city I have ever seen with forests, islands, Sugar Loaf Mountain, beaches and Christ the Redeemer standing tall over the city. After spending time up at Christ the Redeemer we finally headed for our hotel. A shower never felt so good and then we headed out to an Italian restaurant for dinner. I was almost too tired to eat. Got to bed by 8:00 PM and slept until 7:00 AM.
We had the next morning off and Dave and John and I walked around town a bit looking for an ATM.
Dave had a tough time getting money to come out of a machine until a student came along and helped. The students all are so nice and helpful. Carol wasn’t feeling well so she stayed in the room. John wanted to swim in the Atlantic along Cocacapana Beach but he forgot to bring his bathing suit. I tried talking him into buying a Speedo but didn’t have any luck. We did walk down to the ocean and put our feet in and the water was pretty cold.
At 2:00 PM that day we were picked up to go on a canopy walk and zip lining in a park near Rio. I didn’t find out until we got there that we were doing an obstacle course about 75’ off the ground. It was so scary but fun. We had to wear hard hats and get into a harness then climb up a ladder and cross over wires, logs, steps, ropes and other contraptions going from one station to the next. And then to finish everything off, we zip lined back down the hill to the bottom of the mountain. I’m now ready to be in the high wire act at the Gravin circus along with Turner on the unicycle and Eva on stilts. If I’d know what I was in for, I probably wouldn’t have gone on this excursion but now I’m so glad I went.
Had great pizza for dinner this night and then to bed as we had to get up at 3:00 AM for a 3:30 breakfast and then to the airport for a 6:05 AM flight that didn’t actually leave until 8:30 AM. We had a connecting flight in Sao Paulo where they held the plane for us because there were about 60 of us from SAS on the flight. We needed to get back to Manaus to our ship as we were leaving Manaus this day.
So here we are on the ship crossing the Atlantic on our way to Ghana. Dave is off playing cards and I’m here finishing my journal so I can get it up on the blog tomorrow. It is tough getting on the internet but morning seems to work pretty well when the students are still in bed. Next I’m going to write a letter to my new pen pal, Hassan who is 11 years old and in 5th grade. He is from Somalia and is one of Becky’s ESL students. Five of her students are pen pals with us and we got letters from them in Manaus. So fun!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Dave's 6th Post
January 30, 2011 - From somewhere in Atlantic Headed for Africa
Today’s guest lecturer in our Global Studies class, henceforth referred to as GS, was an economist PhD from Michigan State. On our previous SAS voyage, the GS class was called the Core Class and I may have used that title in previous posts. The class began with our “Global Minute.” A geography/geology professor spends a minute during each class to brief us on our current location describing its physical history. I’ve heard some say it’s the best part of GS.
The subject of Professor Ellen Fitzpatrick’s lecture today was Neoliberalism, a belief system or ideology that she claimed has caused the deaths of millions and much suffering globally. Neoliberalism does not mean “new liberal.” In fact, it means quite the opposite. It is based on the concept that free markets and unrestrained capitalism let market forces work best for the benefit of all. In America, it really took hold under President Ronald Reagan and is represented today by The Wall Street Journal, The National Review, and particularly, The Weekly Standard (I added these publications and the definition of Neoliberalism above but I suspect the professor would agree). My conservative friends may want to skip the next couple paragraphs.
As petro dollars accumulated in international banks after the 1973 oil crisis, international banks had piles of money they needed to invest. They lent money to Latin American and other countries and when interest rates went up (remember stagflation), debtor nations were faced with unmanageable interest payments on their debt. The World Bank and IMF restructured loans in a program called Import Substitution and Industrialization or ISI. The US, the UK, and Germany basically led this effort and it resulted in (hang on) Structured Adjustment Policies (SAP) that accomplished the following:
-Reduced the following:
-Government regulations
-Tariffs
-Social programs
-Distributions to the poor
Increased the following:
-Wealth of the rich and the 1st world
-Poverty in the 3rd world (today referred to as "The South or Southern Tier")
-Economic inequity between the rich and poor nations and individuals
The result was that the banks in rich countries were repaid, the poor were further impoverished, indebted nations were saddled with unmanageable interest payments, and the crisis was averted. Money was effectively shifted even more efficiently to the top tier of nations.
An example of how this worked is the banana and coffee industries. Rather than help producer countries (poor or developing) add value to their products domestically, bananas and coffee beans were shipped out of producer countries to have value added elsewhere in processed and packaged goods, etc. Bananas and coffee were kept cheap in rich countries and the poor were kept poor and unemployed in countries like Dominica where we just visited and that has an unemployment rate of 40% I’m told. We called this policy Reaganomics and it was based on a “trickle down” theory of economics where jobs and wealth flowed down to the lower levels as the rich became more prosperous. According to Dr. Fitzpatrick, this theory of economics is regarded as a failure in Latin America. In my view, Reaganomics has to also be regarded as a failure in America where we have seen the income gap widen, real wages decline, and a more and more wealth gravitate to the top 1% since 1980. For example, in 2006 the top 1% earned 6% of national income compared to 1% in 1974.
(Conservatives: restart here)
Wednesday’s International Herald Tribune (1/26/11) had an interesting article titled “The Superrich Pull Even Further Ahead.” I saw a connection between it, an article I read in the NYT the day we boarded the ship on 1/11/11, and the theme of our voyage which is Globalization: Thinking Globally but Acting Locally. The NYT article by an author I like, Nicholas Wade (see his book The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved & Why It Endures), was titled “Depth of the Kindness Hormone Appears to Know Some Bounds.” The article described recent research results on altruism. The results indicate that altruism is limited to our clan or in-group and does not extend to out-groups. Oxytocin, the hormone of love, it seems increases love of our own in-group members but not out-group members and may promote ethnocentrism, not universal brotherhood. The previous article, on the superrich, mentioned at the top of this paragraph, describes a new phenomenon of global income inequality as today’s rich form a new in-group of globe-trotting wealthy elite. Not only are the rich getting richer, it is becoming an international in-group that relates more with the rich in other countries than the less affluent fellow citizens in their own countries.
Dan Ariely, professor of behavioral economics at Duke, another author I like (see his book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions), concluded the article on the superrich by observing that we are very social animals and we see things and construct our beliefs and values from the perspective of our in-group. He claims that economic inequality creates multiple societies and builds another level of separation between in-groups and out-groups within nations. He recognizes this new structuring of society as a paradox. As the world grows together with globalization, it is also becoming more stratified and growing apart as the rich in-group gets richer leaving out-groups behind. As we glided down the Amazon in our air conditioned ship, I wondered how lower stratified out-group members will fare long term in the Brazil of tomorrow. See the picture below of an obvious out-group family living on a riverboat. I took this and other pictures of families living along the riverbanks from our ship. (Click on picture to enlarge.)
And what happens in America where the top 1% gets progressively more and more of the economic pie as national out-groups are increasingly marginalized? What shape will the inevitable second American revolution take? The same Herald Tribune issue I mentioned earlier also had a fictitious article reporting on the 2020 annual World Economic Forum, a yearly summit meeting of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland. At the meeting, the Chinese company Litchi (formerly Apple) served dim sum rather than hamburgers and President Bill Gates, representing the United States, tried to drum up investment capital after a decade of rioting and near debt default in America. Anyone care to make a prediction about our collective future?
Today’s guest lecturer in our Global Studies class, henceforth referred to as GS, was an economist PhD from Michigan State. On our previous SAS voyage, the GS class was called the Core Class and I may have used that title in previous posts. The class began with our “Global Minute.” A geography/geology professor spends a minute during each class to brief us on our current location describing its physical history. I’ve heard some say it’s the best part of GS.
The subject of Professor Ellen Fitzpatrick’s lecture today was Neoliberalism, a belief system or ideology that she claimed has caused the deaths of millions and much suffering globally. Neoliberalism does not mean “new liberal.” In fact, it means quite the opposite. It is based on the concept that free markets and unrestrained capitalism let market forces work best for the benefit of all. In America, it really took hold under President Ronald Reagan and is represented today by The Wall Street Journal, The National Review, and particularly, The Weekly Standard (I added these publications and the definition of Neoliberalism above but I suspect the professor would agree). My conservative friends may want to skip the next couple paragraphs.
As petro dollars accumulated in international banks after the 1973 oil crisis, international banks had piles of money they needed to invest. They lent money to Latin American and other countries and when interest rates went up (remember stagflation), debtor nations were faced with unmanageable interest payments on their debt. The World Bank and IMF restructured loans in a program called Import Substitution and Industrialization or ISI. The US, the UK, and Germany basically led this effort and it resulted in (hang on) Structured Adjustment Policies (SAP) that accomplished the following:
-Reduced the following:
-Government regulations
-Tariffs
-Social programs
-Distributions to the poor
Increased the following:
-Wealth of the rich and the 1st world
-Poverty in the 3rd world (today referred to as "The South or Southern Tier")
-Economic inequity between the rich and poor nations and individuals
The result was that the banks in rich countries were repaid, the poor were further impoverished, indebted nations were saddled with unmanageable interest payments, and the crisis was averted. Money was effectively shifted even more efficiently to the top tier of nations.
An example of how this worked is the banana and coffee industries. Rather than help producer countries (poor or developing) add value to their products domestically, bananas and coffee beans were shipped out of producer countries to have value added elsewhere in processed and packaged goods, etc. Bananas and coffee were kept cheap in rich countries and the poor were kept poor and unemployed in countries like Dominica where we just visited and that has an unemployment rate of 40% I’m told. We called this policy Reaganomics and it was based on a “trickle down” theory of economics where jobs and wealth flowed down to the lower levels as the rich became more prosperous. According to Dr. Fitzpatrick, this theory of economics is regarded as a failure in Latin America. In my view, Reaganomics has to also be regarded as a failure in America where we have seen the income gap widen, real wages decline, and a more and more wealth gravitate to the top 1% since 1980. For example, in 2006 the top 1% earned 6% of national income compared to 1% in 1974.
(Conservatives: restart here)
Wednesday’s International Herald Tribune (1/26/11) had an interesting article titled “The Superrich Pull Even Further Ahead.” I saw a connection between it, an article I read in the NYT the day we boarded the ship on 1/11/11, and the theme of our voyage which is Globalization: Thinking Globally but Acting Locally. The NYT article by an author I like, Nicholas Wade (see his book The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved & Why It Endures), was titled “Depth of the Kindness Hormone Appears to Know Some Bounds.” The article described recent research results on altruism. The results indicate that altruism is limited to our clan or in-group and does not extend to out-groups. Oxytocin, the hormone of love, it seems increases love of our own in-group members but not out-group members and may promote ethnocentrism, not universal brotherhood. The previous article, on the superrich, mentioned at the top of this paragraph, describes a new phenomenon of global income inequality as today’s rich form a new in-group of globe-trotting wealthy elite. Not only are the rich getting richer, it is becoming an international in-group that relates more with the rich in other countries than the less affluent fellow citizens in their own countries.
Dan Ariely, professor of behavioral economics at Duke, another author I like (see his book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions), concluded the article on the superrich by observing that we are very social animals and we see things and construct our beliefs and values from the perspective of our in-group. He claims that economic inequality creates multiple societies and builds another level of separation between in-groups and out-groups within nations. He recognizes this new structuring of society as a paradox. As the world grows together with globalization, it is also becoming more stratified and growing apart as the rich in-group gets richer leaving out-groups behind. As we glided down the Amazon in our air conditioned ship, I wondered how lower stratified out-group members will fare long term in the Brazil of tomorrow. See the picture below of an obvious out-group family living on a riverboat. I took this and other pictures of families living along the riverbanks from our ship. (Click on picture to enlarge.)
And what happens in America where the top 1% gets progressively more and more of the economic pie as national out-groups are increasingly marginalized? What shape will the inevitable second American revolution take? The same Herald Tribune issue I mentioned earlier also had a fictitious article reporting on the 2020 annual World Economic Forum, a yearly summit meeting of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland. At the meeting, the Chinese company Litchi (formerly Apple) served dim sum rather than hamburgers and President Bill Gates, representing the United States, tried to drum up investment capital after a decade of rioting and near debt default in America. Anyone care to make a prediction about our collective future?
Amazon Visit
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wow! We are already finished visiting Brazil and are now making our way back out of the Amazon. What a stop that was. Each day flew by faster than the one before and now we have about ten days to rest until we reach our next port which will be Ghana.
We arrived in Manaus on Sunday, January 25th. Dave and I got off the ship about 9:30 AM along with Carol and John and 17 SAS students to board a crude riverboat which would serve as our home for the next day and a half. John was the trip leader for this adventure and he told Dave and me that he didn’t want us causing him any trouble. I told him we were due to get even with him.
We floated down the Rio Negro to where it joins up with the Amazon. The Rio Negro is very acidic because of the sediment from the trees that grow in the rainforests along that river and the acid prevents mosquitoes from breeding. When we reached the Amazon we could see such a difference in the color of the two rivers. We could a see a straight line where the two rivers meet. One side was the color of black coffee and the Amazon was the color of coffee with cream.
Once we finished that we traveled back up the Rio Negro with our guide, Sid. He grew up in the jungle and knows how to exist in the rainforest but now lives in the city of Manaus and owns a jewelry store and guides tours. It was so interesting listening to him. He took us to visit the giant Victoria Regla water lilies. I can’t believe how big those lily pads were – about 4 feet across each one. We walked on a raised wooden path through the rainforest to get to a pond where the lilies are located. Saw lots of termite nests in the trees along the way. Once we reached the pond there was a dock with a good sized alligator laying his head on a log underneath. We also saw smaller alligators laying across some of the lily pads. Lots of sounds of nature surrounded us. Beautiful and amazing nature!
Next it was back on the boat for lunch. The riverboat had two floors and the kitchen and eating area was on the main level. There were also two restrooms each for men and women on that level. We had meals of very good fresh fish, chicken, beef, rice, pasta, rolls, potatoes, melon, bananas, fried plantains, tapioca, rolls, watermelon, and amazingly good ripe pineapple. There were two women who cooked the food and the kitchen was so tiny it is a wonder they could come up with such good meals. The garbage disposal seemed to be the back window of the boat and kitchen where I saw them tossing out into the river leftover lettuce, fruit, or anything else fish or other critters would eat.
As we motored along, a much smaller boat came along side us with a man and boy holding a sloth. The boy hopped onto our boat with the sloth and lots of the SAS girls took turns holding it. I was thinking “What had that doctor back on the ship said? Don’t get bit?” The girls were so excited until they saw bugs crawling on the sloth. But even then they still wanted to pass it around and hold it. I passed! Pretty soon the little boat pulled back along beside us and the boy hopped out with the sloth. I noticed they had a small alligator with a rope around its neck in the bottom of that boat too. Glad they didn’t decide to bring that up to us too.
After lunch we all went upstairs to a big empty area except for chairs sitting around the edge of the boat. Pretty soon the helpers were stringing hammocks and we were told we could nap while we cruised up the Rio Negro for about 4 hours to where we would tie up to a tree for the night. Everyone staked out their spot and we curled up in our hammocks for a rest. Rocking in the breeze was so relaxing. Once we reached our camping spot and got tied up it was time for dinner. After dinner was finished it was dark and time to go alligator spotting. A low to the water boat pulled alongside us and 23 of us got in without a life jacket in sight. Our guide was standing at the bow of this boat pointing his flashlight along the shore looking for alligators. The sky was full of stars and the moon was shinning bright. All of a sudden without any of us noticing, the guide bent down and grabbed an alligator and all of the girls screamed. It was a young alligator about two feet long. The guide passed it around for anyone to hold that wanted to. Most everyone held it for a picture but again I passed on the opportunity to get bit by anything. On the way back to our riverboat a fish jumped right into our boat next to the seat behind me. Another yelp from the kids behind!
After arriving back to our riverboat it was time for bed. We each had a hammock and blanket. I wondered what we would need a blanket for as it was very warm and comfortable. I used mine for a pillow. After lying in the hammock for about half an hour, I began thinking sleeping in a hammock might not be so comfortable for a whole night. But I laid there looking out at the stars and moon and listening to the sounds of nature and soon curled up and fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and had to go to the bathroom. It was quite a feat to weave in and around and under hammocks to get to the stairs at the other end of the boat. And then after I finished my business downstairs I had to do it all over again to get back to my hammock. By then it was chilly and I had to unfold my pillow and use it for the purpose of keeping warm. It was a memorable night to say the least.
The next morning we all woke up when the sun came up about 6:00 AM. I surprisingly felt very well rested after sleeping in a hammock all night. After brushing our teeth with bottled water and spitting overboard, we were told it was time to go piranha fishing. So again the boat that picked us up the night before for alligator spotting pulled up and several of us hopped in and off we went to our fishing spot. We were each given a bamboo pole with a hook baited with meat and into the water our lines went. Our guide caught the first piranha. He took it off the hook and showed us its teeth. He fed the fish a weed and we watched and took pictures as the piranha chewed away. All of a sudden another boat showed up and said that he needed our guide because Dave needed stitches. As our guide was leaving us I said, “Wait, that is my husband, I need to go too”. Dave, Carol and John hadn’t gotten on the first fishing boat as I had. It turns out that their boat forgot to bring bait along with them so they had to return to the riverboat to pick up some meat. Dave reached up to grab the meat and his thumb got caught between the two boats. So Carol, John and Dave stayed on the riverboat. I guess Dave took one look at his thumb with blood running and moved it around and thought at least it must not be broken. He then went into shock and John just about followed so Carol had to take over. She poured cold water over Dave and then the guide went to get medical supplies. It turns out one of the help on our riverboat was studying to be a doctor and was two years into his training. He has been working for a gynecologist. So in the middle of the rainforest our kitchen became a hospital. A hammock was hung and Dave laid there while Fabio stitched him up. Once that was finished the kitchen was set up again for breakfast.
Next we went on a jungle walk and learned about the ways of the Indians – what trees were used for making paddles for their boats, what plants and roots were used for food and medicine, what tree was used for making bows and arrows. We then visited a home and tapioca factory. The tapioca is made from the cassava root which is the main staple of food for the people here. We saw a Brazil nut tree and watched as our guide cut away at a coconut looking shell with a machete and inside were several nuts like we are used to seeing. Again he took that machete and cut away on the Brazil nut until he had the meat and all of his fingers were still intact. He gave us each a taste and I was surprised to find that it was the texture of coconut. Of course, it was fresh and hadn’t been roasted. Maybe the shell wasn’t as hard and tough as I remember them being after roasted. We were told there is very little prostate cancer in Brazil and it is because of eating lots of Brazil nuts. After having lunch here, we were off for a four hour cruise back to the ship. We arrived back to the ship about 4:00 PM just in time to shower and repack for a flight to Rio at 9:30 PM.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Just came back from exercising and breakfast and heard over the loud speaker that anyone who went on a certain trip in Brazil was to come to the medical center. It appears that a couple of students that went on that trip were either scratched or bitten while holding a monkey. They will need rabies shots. I guess the kids said the monkeys were so cute that they just couldn’t help but hold them. Maybe they will listen to the doctor next time.
We had a special 5 course dinner last night to celebrate our January birthdays. Today is Carol Bender and Susie’s birthdays. Linda’s was the 14th and mine was the 20th. We had the choice of steak or the local fish and both were delicious. We had ordered a birthday cake but desert was included so we are having the cake at lunch today instead.
Wow! We are already finished visiting Brazil and are now making our way back out of the Amazon. What a stop that was. Each day flew by faster than the one before and now we have about ten days to rest until we reach our next port which will be Ghana.
We arrived in Manaus on Sunday, January 25th. Dave and I got off the ship about 9:30 AM along with Carol and John and 17 SAS students to board a crude riverboat which would serve as our home for the next day and a half. John was the trip leader for this adventure and he told Dave and me that he didn’t want us causing him any trouble. I told him we were due to get even with him.
We floated down the Rio Negro to where it joins up with the Amazon. The Rio Negro is very acidic because of the sediment from the trees that grow in the rainforests along that river and the acid prevents mosquitoes from breeding. When we reached the Amazon we could see such a difference in the color of the two rivers. We could a see a straight line where the two rivers meet. One side was the color of black coffee and the Amazon was the color of coffee with cream.
Once we finished that we traveled back up the Rio Negro with our guide, Sid. He grew up in the jungle and knows how to exist in the rainforest but now lives in the city of Manaus and owns a jewelry store and guides tours. It was so interesting listening to him. He took us to visit the giant Victoria Regla water lilies. I can’t believe how big those lily pads were – about 4 feet across each one. We walked on a raised wooden path through the rainforest to get to a pond where the lilies are located. Saw lots of termite nests in the trees along the way. Once we reached the pond there was a dock with a good sized alligator laying his head on a log underneath. We also saw smaller alligators laying across some of the lily pads. Lots of sounds of nature surrounded us. Beautiful and amazing nature!
Next it was back on the boat for lunch. The riverboat had two floors and the kitchen and eating area was on the main level. There were also two restrooms each for men and women on that level. We had meals of very good fresh fish, chicken, beef, rice, pasta, rolls, potatoes, melon, bananas, fried plantains, tapioca, rolls, watermelon, and amazingly good ripe pineapple. There were two women who cooked the food and the kitchen was so tiny it is a wonder they could come up with such good meals. The garbage disposal seemed to be the back window of the boat and kitchen where I saw them tossing out into the river leftover lettuce, fruit, or anything else fish or other critters would eat.
As we motored along, a much smaller boat came along side us with a man and boy holding a sloth. The boy hopped onto our boat with the sloth and lots of the SAS girls took turns holding it. I was thinking “What had that doctor back on the ship said? Don’t get bit?” The girls were so excited until they saw bugs crawling on the sloth. But even then they still wanted to pass it around and hold it. I passed! Pretty soon the little boat pulled back along beside us and the boy hopped out with the sloth. I noticed they had a small alligator with a rope around its neck in the bottom of that boat too. Glad they didn’t decide to bring that up to us too.
After lunch we all went upstairs to a big empty area except for chairs sitting around the edge of the boat. Pretty soon the helpers were stringing hammocks and we were told we could nap while we cruised up the Rio Negro for about 4 hours to where we would tie up to a tree for the night. Everyone staked out their spot and we curled up in our hammocks for a rest. Rocking in the breeze was so relaxing. Once we reached our camping spot and got tied up it was time for dinner. After dinner was finished it was dark and time to go alligator spotting. A low to the water boat pulled alongside us and 23 of us got in without a life jacket in sight. Our guide was standing at the bow of this boat pointing his flashlight along the shore looking for alligators. The sky was full of stars and the moon was shinning bright. All of a sudden without any of us noticing, the guide bent down and grabbed an alligator and all of the girls screamed. It was a young alligator about two feet long. The guide passed it around for anyone to hold that wanted to. Most everyone held it for a picture but again I passed on the opportunity to get bit by anything. On the way back to our riverboat a fish jumped right into our boat next to the seat behind me. Another yelp from the kids behind!
After arriving back to our riverboat it was time for bed. We each had a hammock and blanket. I wondered what we would need a blanket for as it was very warm and comfortable. I used mine for a pillow. After lying in the hammock for about half an hour, I began thinking sleeping in a hammock might not be so comfortable for a whole night. But I laid there looking out at the stars and moon and listening to the sounds of nature and soon curled up and fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and had to go to the bathroom. It was quite a feat to weave in and around and under hammocks to get to the stairs at the other end of the boat. And then after I finished my business downstairs I had to do it all over again to get back to my hammock. By then it was chilly and I had to unfold my pillow and use it for the purpose of keeping warm. It was a memorable night to say the least.
The next morning we all woke up when the sun came up about 6:00 AM. I surprisingly felt very well rested after sleeping in a hammock all night. After brushing our teeth with bottled water and spitting overboard, we were told it was time to go piranha fishing. So again the boat that picked us up the night before for alligator spotting pulled up and several of us hopped in and off we went to our fishing spot. We were each given a bamboo pole with a hook baited with meat and into the water our lines went. Our guide caught the first piranha. He took it off the hook and showed us its teeth. He fed the fish a weed and we watched and took pictures as the piranha chewed away. All of a sudden another boat showed up and said that he needed our guide because Dave needed stitches. As our guide was leaving us I said, “Wait, that is my husband, I need to go too”. Dave, Carol and John hadn’t gotten on the first fishing boat as I had. It turns out that their boat forgot to bring bait along with them so they had to return to the riverboat to pick up some meat. Dave reached up to grab the meat and his thumb got caught between the two boats. So Carol, John and Dave stayed on the riverboat. I guess Dave took one look at his thumb with blood running and moved it around and thought at least it must not be broken. He then went into shock and John just about followed so Carol had to take over. She poured cold water over Dave and then the guide went to get medical supplies. It turns out one of the help on our riverboat was studying to be a doctor and was two years into his training. He has been working for a gynecologist. So in the middle of the rainforest our kitchen became a hospital. A hammock was hung and Dave laid there while Fabio stitched him up. Once that was finished the kitchen was set up again for breakfast.
Next we went on a jungle walk and learned about the ways of the Indians – what trees were used for making paddles for their boats, what plants and roots were used for food and medicine, what tree was used for making bows and arrows. We then visited a home and tapioca factory. The tapioca is made from the cassava root which is the main staple of food for the people here. We saw a Brazil nut tree and watched as our guide cut away at a coconut looking shell with a machete and inside were several nuts like we are used to seeing. Again he took that machete and cut away on the Brazil nut until he had the meat and all of his fingers were still intact. He gave us each a taste and I was surprised to find that it was the texture of coconut. Of course, it was fresh and hadn’t been roasted. Maybe the shell wasn’t as hard and tough as I remember them being after roasted. We were told there is very little prostate cancer in Brazil and it is because of eating lots of Brazil nuts. After having lunch here, we were off for a four hour cruise back to the ship. We arrived back to the ship about 4:00 PM just in time to shower and repack for a flight to Rio at 9:30 PM.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Just came back from exercising and breakfast and heard over the loud speaker that anyone who went on a certain trip in Brazil was to come to the medical center. It appears that a couple of students that went on that trip were either scratched or bitten while holding a monkey. They will need rabies shots. I guess the kids said the monkeys were so cute that they just couldn’t help but hold them. Maybe they will listen to the doctor next time.
We had a special 5 course dinner last night to celebrate our January birthdays. Today is Carol Bender and Susie’s birthdays. Linda’s was the 14th and mine was the 20th. We had the choice of steak or the local fish and both were delicious. We had ordered a birthday cake but desert was included so we are having the cake at lunch today instead.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Leaving Manaus
Amazon. We are finishing up our stay in Manaus and had our last field trip this morning. We leave tomorrow nite to sail across to Ghana. On our first day we took the city tour and started by walking to the fish market. I could only last about ten min. Because of the smell. Got on the bus and drove whole city from rich to poor. Finished the tour with a visit to the opera house which was super gorgeous. Day two was onto a boat bus, Which is the only way to travel as there are no roads. The river is like our 35w. Visited a village for some shopping and lunch and moved up river to our hotel. Spent the evening piranha fishing I caught a nice one unlike Mary and Chris. When dusk came we went shining for Cayman crocs. Got a little in the boat and could all touch and hold if desired. Of course couldn,t wait. Next day had a tour of rubber plantation given by our guide, Washington who was spectacular. Operated with Slaves until fifty years ago. When the government discovered this it closed them down and plantation is now operated as a museum. Today our tour was to take special needs children to the zoo.first we visited their living facilities which was immaculate. Caught up with the kids at the zoo and they were so excited and had a wonderful time. Kinda sad because they were all abandoned but they seemed happy and well cared for. Up until ten years ago these children were left in the street to fend for themselves. MarySueChris
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
"LUXURY HOTEL" DAY TWO
We awoke early this morning and went for breakfast at 7:00 AM. At 8:30 AM boarded another river boat and went across the Amazon to a rubber museum. The Portuguese had control of Brazil in the 1800’s and they tricked the natives into becoming slaves as rubber collectors. They would tell them to come and work for them and they would become rich. The young men (some as young at 12 - 13 years old) would be given a lantern to wear on their head and the tools to cut the tree and collect the “milk” in a cup. They had to go out into the jungle at 2:00 AM to start collecting the milk from 150 trees. After they collected the milk they had to cook it over the fire to make it into rubber balls. If they did not collect enough weight they would not be fed. Some of them tried to run away and the Portuguese would recapture them and not let them go. Sometimes they would give them liquor and they would get into fights with other slaves. If they ended up killing one of the others, they thought they would be sent to prison, so to avoid being forced to continue as slaves they willingly killed one another. Then they would go to the Portuguese and tell them they had killed someone, and the Portuguese would give them a shovel and tell them to go bury that person. Then they would tell the slave that the person he killed owed them $3000 and so now the slave that committed murder owes the $3000 plus what he already owes for being fed etc. We toured a house that one of the Portuguese families lived in. It was decorated with all European style furniture. This family had children with at least one daughter. They built a separate shower for her and it was guarded while she was bathing so that no one could watch her. They sent their clothing to Portugal to be washed as they thought the Amazon water would discolor her clothes and she wore mostly white. Just 50 years ago this slave rubber labor was going on. The head Portuguese man that lived in this house was not liked at all by the slaves and while his family was away visiting in Portugal the slaves captured him and burned him to death. This pretty much put an end to slave rubber labor in this country.
It was interesting that the village that we visited yesterday was not under the slave rubber labor and the one we visited today was.
We returned to the resort for lunch. There is a macaw living there that lost it’s mate to a boa constrictor last year and because they normally mate for life, he is one angry bird. He hangs out in the reception and eating area which is an open air pavilion and intimidates the customers. After lunch there was a jungle walk that we also skipped as it involved a strenuous hike and it was very hot and humid as usual.
Our guide was named Washington and his story was interesting. He is on his fifth marriage and never said what happened to the first four wives. He is the oldest of 7 children and he had one year of school and then he had to stay home and take care of the younger children, while his mother was out selling her homemade items and produce. He was born in British Guyana and speaks English. At age 15 his parents told him it was time for him to get married and move out of their house. They arranged for him to marry a 14 year old girl. He has some marks on his chin and forehead, which indicates what tribe he is from and they can tell from the marks if they are related or not. They do not want to marry someone with the same marks as that would be too much inbreeding and the cause of birth defects. I asked him how many children he has and he said he has two that he knows about. He will be 53 years old next month and said he had malaria 22 times but now he is cured. (I did not know that was possible.) He seems to be a very resourceful and knowledgeable guy. He knows what roots to boil up and drink when he gets sick. He said he could retire but does not want to as he likes to keep on moving. I wonder how many wives he will have had by the end of his life.
We returned to the ship for dinner and it was good to get “home.”
It was interesting that the village that we visited yesterday was not under the slave rubber labor and the one we visited today was.
We returned to the resort for lunch. There is a macaw living there that lost it’s mate to a boa constrictor last year and because they normally mate for life, he is one angry bird. He hangs out in the reception and eating area which is an open air pavilion and intimidates the customers. After lunch there was a jungle walk that we also skipped as it involved a strenuous hike and it was very hot and humid as usual.
Our guide was named Washington and his story was interesting. He is on his fifth marriage and never said what happened to the first four wives. He is the oldest of 7 children and he had one year of school and then he had to stay home and take care of the younger children, while his mother was out selling her homemade items and produce. He was born in British Guyana and speaks English. At age 15 his parents told him it was time for him to get married and move out of their house. They arranged for him to marry a 14 year old girl. He has some marks on his chin and forehead, which indicates what tribe he is from and they can tell from the marks if they are related or not. They do not want to marry someone with the same marks as that would be too much inbreeding and the cause of birth defects. I asked him how many children he has and he said he has two that he knows about. He will be 53 years old next month and said he had malaria 22 times but now he is cured. (I did not know that was possible.) He seems to be a very resourceful and knowledgeable guy. He knows what roots to boil up and drink when he gets sick. He said he could retire but does not want to as he likes to keep on moving. I wonder how many wives he will have had by the end of his life.
We returned to the ship for dinner and it was good to get “home.”
JOURNEY TO "LUXURY" HOTEL
Today we departed on a river boat for an overnight stay at a Luxury Eco-resort. We motored down the river about two hours to a point that the Solomon River coming from Peru joins up with the Rio Negra River coming from Colombia. The Solomon River is called the white river and is full of sediment that gives it the color of coffee with lots of cream. The Rio Negra is called the black river and has more acid in it, which gives it it‘s black color. The water stays separate for quite a few miles before it all becomes black. The Amazon means warrior woman and a lot of women cut off their breasts back in the day that they were hunting with bow and arrow as it was easier to aim without the breast in the way. Us women are tough!
We stopped at a village and had to walk through a wet area before we got to where the people live. It is the rainy season from December to June and the river will rise several feet depending how much rain falls. The guide pointed out high up on the trees the water line from last year. They had so much rain that they were evacuated by the government. After the water receded they were allowed to return. The people in this village have a shop set up to sell the goods that they make. A lot of the stuff was made from natural resources found in their environment. I was looking for a little doll that a co-worker asked me to get for her. I found a really nice one, but did not buy it as it had very colorful feathers on it and they said that is came from native birds. Semester at Sea is encouraging us to not buy anything that is made from using animal parts and I don’t know if I could get it into the USA through customs. Therefore, I purchased a doll made from gourd looking things that come off of the Calabash Tree.
The people of this village also put on a demonstration of how they gather rubber from the rubber trees. They make a cut low down on the tree and a milky white substance starts to flow out from the cut. They catch this milky stuff in a cup and pour it all into a pot over a fire. They keep turning it and turning it to shape it into a ball. They had some finished balls there and they were kind of like basket balls. Anyway up until 1910 they would sell their rubber and were quite successful although the buyers of rubber would require a certain weight for the ball and tell them it was not heavy enough to cheat them out of being paid the correct amount. Sounds like a typical white man scam. In 1910 the British came into the rain forest and harvested 900 plus seeds from the rubber trees and planted them in Asia and that is where most of the rubber is produced in the world today.
Our guide told us we had about a 15 minute walk to another village where we were going to have lunch. We followed a muddy footpath for at least another 30 - 35 minutes and it was very hot and humid, before we came to the restaurant. We even had to walk through a cow pasture and skirt around the cow pies.
The restaurant was on stilts and the food was delicious. They depend solely on their produce and animals for food. The only things they buy in Manaus is clothing, shoes and tools. They take their produce usually on Thursday to the market to sell. They are able to harvest a crop every three months and there is one three month period where they are unable to do anything because of the high water level. The guide said that is why there are so many children in the village! All of their homes, shops, churches and restaurants are on stilts.
After our lunch we had to get back on the river boat and travel about 2 ½ hours to the Luxury Eco-resort. We got there about 3:30 PM and they planned to take us piranha fishing and alligator hunting at 4:30 PM. Phyllis and I declined to go on this expedition, but the people that did participate said it was fun. It was dark by the time they returned and then it was time for dinner. We have been eating A LOT on this trip and it has all been really good food.
Our room at this resort is also on stilts and seemed to tilt towards the lake in the middle. It was very hot and humid and I could hardly wait to take a shower and get ready for bed. It was hard to figure out the remote for the air conditioning and so it was pretty cold sleeping. There was only a sheet on the bed - no blanket and I had charley horses during the night.
We stopped at a village and had to walk through a wet area before we got to where the people live. It is the rainy season from December to June and the river will rise several feet depending how much rain falls. The guide pointed out high up on the trees the water line from last year. They had so much rain that they were evacuated by the government. After the water receded they were allowed to return. The people in this village have a shop set up to sell the goods that they make. A lot of the stuff was made from natural resources found in their environment. I was looking for a little doll that a co-worker asked me to get for her. I found a really nice one, but did not buy it as it had very colorful feathers on it and they said that is came from native birds. Semester at Sea is encouraging us to not buy anything that is made from using animal parts and I don’t know if I could get it into the USA through customs. Therefore, I purchased a doll made from gourd looking things that come off of the Calabash Tree.
The people of this village also put on a demonstration of how they gather rubber from the rubber trees. They make a cut low down on the tree and a milky white substance starts to flow out from the cut. They catch this milky stuff in a cup and pour it all into a pot over a fire. They keep turning it and turning it to shape it into a ball. They had some finished balls there and they were kind of like basket balls. Anyway up until 1910 they would sell their rubber and were quite successful although the buyers of rubber would require a certain weight for the ball and tell them it was not heavy enough to cheat them out of being paid the correct amount. Sounds like a typical white man scam. In 1910 the British came into the rain forest and harvested 900 plus seeds from the rubber trees and planted them in Asia and that is where most of the rubber is produced in the world today.
Our guide told us we had about a 15 minute walk to another village where we were going to have lunch. We followed a muddy footpath for at least another 30 - 35 minutes and it was very hot and humid, before we came to the restaurant. We even had to walk through a cow pasture and skirt around the cow pies.
The restaurant was on stilts and the food was delicious. They depend solely on their produce and animals for food. The only things they buy in Manaus is clothing, shoes and tools. They take their produce usually on Thursday to the market to sell. They are able to harvest a crop every three months and there is one three month period where they are unable to do anything because of the high water level. The guide said that is why there are so many children in the village! All of their homes, shops, churches and restaurants are on stilts.
After our lunch we had to get back on the river boat and travel about 2 ½ hours to the Luxury Eco-resort. We got there about 3:30 PM and they planned to take us piranha fishing and alligator hunting at 4:30 PM. Phyllis and I declined to go on this expedition, but the people that did participate said it was fun. It was dark by the time they returned and then it was time for dinner. We have been eating A LOT on this trip and it has all been really good food.
Our room at this resort is also on stilts and seemed to tilt towards the lake in the middle. It was very hot and humid and I could hardly wait to take a shower and get ready for bed. It was hard to figure out the remote for the air conditioning and so it was pretty cold sleeping. There was only a sheet on the bed - no blanket and I had charley horses during the night.
Carib Indians Slideshow
If you watch the slideshow from the Carib Indians trip on the Semester at Sea blog, you can learn more about what many of the Hart/Bender crew saw, and even see my dad, Jean, and Dave in some of the pictures.
http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyage-blog/spring-2011/slideshow-carib-indians-touna-aute-dominica.php
http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyage-blog/spring-2011/slideshow-carib-indians-touna-aute-dominica.php
Sunday, January 23, 2011
MANAUS, BRAZIL
Finally we are here in Manaus. The Samba dancers were at the pier to meet us and dressed in their costumes, which are very colorful and lots of feathers. I did not get a picture, as my camera was in my back pack and we have to walk down about 30 steps to get off the ship and hang on tight. My nephew John has been taking pictures like crazy so hopefully I can get some from him. Yesterday he spent a lot of time outside on the deck with his camera and got a picture of a boat where the people were holding up the head of a cow and the blood was dripping out of it. I did not see any of this but everyone said that the guy in the boat was very excited and probably very proud of his catch. I think John will be posting some more pictures on the blog.
Phyllis and I went on a field trip today called Getting to know Manaus. 70 of us started out walking from the ship to the fish market. We had two guides - one in the front and one in the rear. It was very hot and humid. The fish market was very busy and crowded. The guide walked very quickly and it was hard to maneuver thru all of the people. We were following the Bender sisters who were behind one of our shipmates who is quite large. He stopped and turned around and said he did not know where the guide was, so now we were lost in the fish market. The fish smell was pretty strong with the heat and humidity. We got ourselves back outside and were standing in a group talking about what we were going to do next. A man from the Tour Guide company stopped and asked if we were lost and then escorted to where the buses were. Walking along the sidewalk we passed a man laying down sound asleep on the ground and that we had to step around. We also passed a man getting a haircut on a low stool and a group of people waiting for the next haircut. There are a lot of dogs running lose.
We got on the buses and the tour guide said we were going to two different parts of the city. One part where the wealthy people live and the other part where the poor people live. This field trip was a requirement for some of the students and the teacher wanted them to see those two areas. It appeared to me that the wealthy live mostly in high rise condominiums and they said that one apartment takes up the whole floor. Someone asked who are the wealthy and his response was that it is politicians, military and business people.
The bus stopped in what I assumed was a poorer section marketplace. People got off the bus and looked at some of the houses and shops. The streets are very narrow and there is lots of foot traffic. The people living there were looking at us as much as we were looking at them.
We made our way back into downtown and stopped at the Manaus Opera House. This Opera House was built starting in the late 1800’s and opened December 31, 1896. It is very ornate and a lot of the building materials were shipped in from Europe like marble and wood. In the main auditorium we were told how the ladies preferred to sit in the box seats, not to see the performance better, but to be seen. We were not allowed to use flash inside so most of my pictures are outside. One of the rooms upstairs had slippers for us all to wear as the floor in that room is all inlaid wood with no nails and no glue. He said they danced in that room so maybe it is called the ballroom. In 1896 they did not start performances until late evening as it was too hot and humid earlier in the day and they would open the doors and windows for a breeze. Our guide said that there is not much mosquitoes in Manaus because of the acidity of the water so they were able to open it up and not have to worry about getting bit. So far I have not seen any mosquitoes but there are big flies that like to bite our ankles.
We returned to the ship around 2:00 PM and the people that did not go on a tour with us said they were disappointed with the marketplace as it closed up so early they did not get to shop. So consequently I have not been able to shop either. I have Brazilian money so I definitely need to spend it.
Phyllis and I went on a field trip today called Getting to know Manaus. 70 of us started out walking from the ship to the fish market. We had two guides - one in the front and one in the rear. It was very hot and humid. The fish market was very busy and crowded. The guide walked very quickly and it was hard to maneuver thru all of the people. We were following the Bender sisters who were behind one of our shipmates who is quite large. He stopped and turned around and said he did not know where the guide was, so now we were lost in the fish market. The fish smell was pretty strong with the heat and humidity. We got ourselves back outside and were standing in a group talking about what we were going to do next. A man from the Tour Guide company stopped and asked if we were lost and then escorted to where the buses were. Walking along the sidewalk we passed a man laying down sound asleep on the ground and that we had to step around. We also passed a man getting a haircut on a low stool and a group of people waiting for the next haircut. There are a lot of dogs running lose.
We got on the buses and the tour guide said we were going to two different parts of the city. One part where the wealthy people live and the other part where the poor people live. This field trip was a requirement for some of the students and the teacher wanted them to see those two areas. It appeared to me that the wealthy live mostly in high rise condominiums and they said that one apartment takes up the whole floor. Someone asked who are the wealthy and his response was that it is politicians, military and business people.
The bus stopped in what I assumed was a poorer section marketplace. People got off the bus and looked at some of the houses and shops. The streets are very narrow and there is lots of foot traffic. The people living there were looking at us as much as we were looking at them.
We made our way back into downtown and stopped at the Manaus Opera House. This Opera House was built starting in the late 1800’s and opened December 31, 1896. It is very ornate and a lot of the building materials were shipped in from Europe like marble and wood. In the main auditorium we were told how the ladies preferred to sit in the box seats, not to see the performance better, but to be seen. We were not allowed to use flash inside so most of my pictures are outside. One of the rooms upstairs had slippers for us all to wear as the floor in that room is all inlaid wood with no nails and no glue. He said they danced in that room so maybe it is called the ballroom. In 1896 they did not start performances until late evening as it was too hot and humid earlier in the day and they would open the doors and windows for a breeze. Our guide said that there is not much mosquitoes in Manaus because of the acidity of the water so they were able to open it up and not have to worry about getting bit. So far I have not seen any mosquitoes but there are big flies that like to bite our ankles.
We returned to the ship around 2:00 PM and the people that did not go on a tour with us said they were disappointed with the marketplace as it closed up so early they did not get to shop. So consequently I have not been able to shop either. I have Brazilian money so I definitely need to spend it.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Dave's 5th Post
Wednesday, January 19th
Yesterday we met an amazing teacher, Jeffrey Kotller, a psychology professor at the State University of CA in Fullerton. He spoke at core class and showed pictures and videos of his work with lower caste girls in Nepal. It was very moving and I’m sure brought tears to the eyes of many, including me. Nepal is a landlocked inaccessible country between India and China. Ninety percent have no health care and most deaths are caused by HIV, malnutrition, and maternal mortality. That’s the good news.
Because girls are valued less than the family goat, many are sold or abducted into sex slavery and transported to Mumbai after the 3rd grade when the government no longer pays for their education which costs $50/year. Twelve thousand Nepali girls suffer this fate annually. Because the girls constantly disappear from villages, the life expectancy of women in Nepal is unknown. For men it’s 57. When the young girls, as young as 8, arrive at brothels in Mumbai, they are raped 15 times the first day. The men prefer the new girls because they believe sex with a virgin can cure their aids.
Professor Kotller is teaching a course on altruism and social justice on the ship but I could not get into it as it’s full. Too bad, it’s the only course I had planned to attend. For the past ten years he has been heading an organization called Empowering Nepali Girls, www.empoweringnepaligirls.org, to rescue girls. It operates out of his dining room in California and has no overhead and pays no salaries. He got involved in Nepal when he accompanied a physician who traveled there to discover why it had the world’s highest mortality rate. Jeff saved his first girl, Ngu, on this first visit. She is now attending college in America studying TV production. Jeff, who must be in his 50s, has amazingly written 82 books, is a Fulbright scholar, and is obviously a very caring and impressive guy. To date, ENG has rescued 145 girls. One of his recent books is Changing Peoples’ Lives While Transforming Your Own. You may be able to read a description of it or buy it on Barnes and Noble or Amazon’s websites.
Jeff describes social justice as being about addressing the suffering of others. In his talk he referred to the “reciprocal effects of giving” and how service to others can transform oneself. In other words, how it is better to give than receive. He closed his presentation by recommending a four step process to the students:
1. Increase your awareness
2. Write: articles, letter, etc.
3. Share your concern and information
4. Act: do something, even if it’s something small.
There is a small plaque on the cabin door a few doors from mine. It’s the only door plaque I’ve seen. It features the following quotation by German theologian Martin Buber: “All journeys have destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” I would rephrase Buber’s and my earlier axiom to read, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey and the friends we make and serve, and are served by, along the way.”
Every afternoon at 4:00 we senior passengers gather together in the faculty/senior passenger lounge for an hour meeting led by our marvelous lifelong learner coordinator, Barbara McGarvey. The first day she asked each of the 65 of us to comment on what we expected from our journey. When it came to my turn, I said I am open to being surprised. The Kotller lecture was a wonderful surprise. I wonder what additional surprises await.
Yesterday we met an amazing teacher, Jeffrey Kotller, a psychology professor at the State University of CA in Fullerton. He spoke at core class and showed pictures and videos of his work with lower caste girls in Nepal. It was very moving and I’m sure brought tears to the eyes of many, including me. Nepal is a landlocked inaccessible country between India and China. Ninety percent have no health care and most deaths are caused by HIV, malnutrition, and maternal mortality. That’s the good news.
Because girls are valued less than the family goat, many are sold or abducted into sex slavery and transported to Mumbai after the 3rd grade when the government no longer pays for their education which costs $50/year. Twelve thousand Nepali girls suffer this fate annually. Because the girls constantly disappear from villages, the life expectancy of women in Nepal is unknown. For men it’s 57. When the young girls, as young as 8, arrive at brothels in Mumbai, they are raped 15 times the first day. The men prefer the new girls because they believe sex with a virgin can cure their aids.
Professor Kotller is teaching a course on altruism and social justice on the ship but I could not get into it as it’s full. Too bad, it’s the only course I had planned to attend. For the past ten years he has been heading an organization called Empowering Nepali Girls, www.empoweringnepaligirls.org, to rescue girls. It operates out of his dining room in California and has no overhead and pays no salaries. He got involved in Nepal when he accompanied a physician who traveled there to discover why it had the world’s highest mortality rate. Jeff saved his first girl, Ngu, on this first visit. She is now attending college in America studying TV production. Jeff, who must be in his 50s, has amazingly written 82 books, is a Fulbright scholar, and is obviously a very caring and impressive guy. To date, ENG has rescued 145 girls. One of his recent books is Changing Peoples’ Lives While Transforming Your Own. You may be able to read a description of it or buy it on Barnes and Noble or Amazon’s websites.
Jeff describes social justice as being about addressing the suffering of others. In his talk he referred to the “reciprocal effects of giving” and how service to others can transform oneself. In other words, how it is better to give than receive. He closed his presentation by recommending a four step process to the students:
1. Increase your awareness
2. Write: articles, letter, etc.
3. Share your concern and information
4. Act: do something, even if it’s something small.
There is a small plaque on the cabin door a few doors from mine. It’s the only door plaque I’ve seen. It features the following quotation by German theologian Martin Buber: “All journeys have destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” I would rephrase Buber’s and my earlier axiom to read, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey and the friends we make and serve, and are served by, along the way.”
Every afternoon at 4:00 we senior passengers gather together in the faculty/senior passenger lounge for an hour meeting led by our marvelous lifelong learner coordinator, Barbara McGarvey. The first day she asked each of the 65 of us to comment on what we expected from our journey. When it came to my turn, I said I am open to being surprised. The Kotller lecture was a wonderful surprise. I wonder what additional surprises await.
Dave’s 4th Post
January 16th Sunday
We docked in Dominica last night and while having breakfast I noticed a coed walk by with a 3-ring binder that had the following inscription on the cover: “How’s your Aspen?” I assumed she’s from Colorado and not inquiring about others’ body parts. A religious studies professor stopped by our table for some reason (everyone is super friendly) for a short chat.
That got Fred and I talking about how we ate communion wafers as kids and how few of today’s kids know what a communion wafer is. That in turn got me thinking about a possible short story I would title “The Wafer Maker.” It would feature the saga of a family business that spanned generations making communion wafers. The central theme would be the declining fortunes of the company over time as fewer and fewer “took communion” and the family fell on hard times. I probably won’t do it so someone feel free to run with the idea.
January 17th, Monday
Yesterday we visited a Carib Indian community and I see that Carol O’Neill has written an excellent account of the visit on her blog. Let me give you a little background. The Carib, now totaling about 3,000, were the indigenous inhabitants on Dominica and surrounding islands when Columbus arrived in 1492. The English moved into the northern Caribbean and the French into the south. Over time, the two European powers took over more islands and land and the sandwiched natives got squeezed into a smaller and smaller space. The Caribs on Dominica, originally coastal dwellers and fishermen, got pushed up into the interior highlands where they live today.
Most Americans, myself included, were taught in school that Columbus was a heroic figure who braved sailing off the edge of the world when he headed west. Not true. Educated Europeans knew the world was round but evidently the good nuns who taught me at St. Mark’s grade school didn’t get the memo. I also was not told how badly Columbus and his colleagues treated the natives, hunting them like rabbits for sport. For a more accurate account of events in “the age of discovery,” read Lies My Teacher Told Me.
In my previous blog, I described how distorted each of our individual maps are. We are all burdened with the heavy baggage of “our own truths.” I recall when hitchhiking around Europe in the summer of 1960, after graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in American history, I had a memorable breakfast with a gentleman from India. We had both spent the night at a Dublin rooming house and over breakfast we discussed the Cold War that was in raging at the time.
I of course focused on the evils of the Soviet Union but my tablemate argued that the U.S. was not so well intentioned either. Being an expert on the American situation with a brand new degree to prove it, I thought this obviously well educated Indian was mistaken and I’ve never forgotten the encounter. I’ve learned since, after the atrocities and disaster of Vietnam, the ongoing disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the fact that we currently have a military presence in over a 100 countries, including tens of thousands of troops in Germany and Japan, 65 years after World War II ended, that America’s lecturing megaphone perhaps should be muted a bit. It’s not that were so bad. It’s just that we’re not so different from previous great empires. It will be interesting on this journey to meet with folks from other countries, like I did with the Indian in the rooming house, to hear their views and opinions of America.
I stayed on the boat today to continue to recuperate from my cold/plus. Jean, who always wants to see everything, rented a cab for the afternoon with Joe and Carol O’Neill to see the island. I’m sure she’ll tell all about it on her blog. She left it to me to tell about the elementary school she stopped at where she was surprised to see CHARACTER COUNTS! very much in evidence. She took a number of pictures and chatted with students, a teacher, and the principal, whom she told about her husband’s involvement in CC.
For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been actively involved in CC for over a decade and helped bring the program to our school district, the Poway Unified School District, where it is thriving. CC promotes six character values that promote good behavior, Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. It’s nonreligious and nonpartisan and practiced in thousands of schools across the country. A number of surveys indicate that where it is implemented it changes behaviors for the better. You can visit CC’s website at www.charactercounts.org.
You will notice in the pictures attached that all the students wear uniforms. The last picture is the principal who wants very much to have the pictures sent to her. She said no one ever sends the pictures after promising to do so. I’m going to make it a high priority to see that she gets the following pictures and others that Jean took.
We docked in Dominica last night and while having breakfast I noticed a coed walk by with a 3-ring binder that had the following inscription on the cover: “How’s your Aspen?” I assumed she’s from Colorado and not inquiring about others’ body parts. A religious studies professor stopped by our table for some reason (everyone is super friendly) for a short chat.
That got Fred and I talking about how we ate communion wafers as kids and how few of today’s kids know what a communion wafer is. That in turn got me thinking about a possible short story I would title “The Wafer Maker.” It would feature the saga of a family business that spanned generations making communion wafers. The central theme would be the declining fortunes of the company over time as fewer and fewer “took communion” and the family fell on hard times. I probably won’t do it so someone feel free to run with the idea.
January 17th, Monday
Yesterday we visited a Carib Indian community and I see that Carol O’Neill has written an excellent account of the visit on her blog. Let me give you a little background. The Carib, now totaling about 3,000, were the indigenous inhabitants on Dominica and surrounding islands when Columbus arrived in 1492. The English moved into the northern Caribbean and the French into the south. Over time, the two European powers took over more islands and land and the sandwiched natives got squeezed into a smaller and smaller space. The Caribs on Dominica, originally coastal dwellers and fishermen, got pushed up into the interior highlands where they live today.
Most Americans, myself included, were taught in school that Columbus was a heroic figure who braved sailing off the edge of the world when he headed west. Not true. Educated Europeans knew the world was round but evidently the good nuns who taught me at St. Mark’s grade school didn’t get the memo. I also was not told how badly Columbus and his colleagues treated the natives, hunting them like rabbits for sport. For a more accurate account of events in “the age of discovery,” read Lies My Teacher Told Me.
In my previous blog, I described how distorted each of our individual maps are. We are all burdened with the heavy baggage of “our own truths.” I recall when hitchhiking around Europe in the summer of 1960, after graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in American history, I had a memorable breakfast with a gentleman from India. We had both spent the night at a Dublin rooming house and over breakfast we discussed the Cold War that was in raging at the time.
I of course focused on the evils of the Soviet Union but my tablemate argued that the U.S. was not so well intentioned either. Being an expert on the American situation with a brand new degree to prove it, I thought this obviously well educated Indian was mistaken and I’ve never forgotten the encounter. I’ve learned since, after the atrocities and disaster of Vietnam, the ongoing disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the fact that we currently have a military presence in over a 100 countries, including tens of thousands of troops in Germany and Japan, 65 years after World War II ended, that America’s lecturing megaphone perhaps should be muted a bit. It’s not that were so bad. It’s just that we’re not so different from previous great empires. It will be interesting on this journey to meet with folks from other countries, like I did with the Indian in the rooming house, to hear their views and opinions of America.
I stayed on the boat today to continue to recuperate from my cold/plus. Jean, who always wants to see everything, rented a cab for the afternoon with Joe and Carol O’Neill to see the island. I’m sure she’ll tell all about it on her blog. She left it to me to tell about the elementary school she stopped at where she was surprised to see CHARACTER COUNTS! very much in evidence. She took a number of pictures and chatted with students, a teacher, and the principal, whom she told about her husband’s involvement in CC.
For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been actively involved in CC for over a decade and helped bring the program to our school district, the Poway Unified School District, where it is thriving. CC promotes six character values that promote good behavior, Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. It’s nonreligious and nonpartisan and practiced in thousands of schools across the country. A number of surveys indicate that where it is implemented it changes behaviors for the better. You can visit CC’s website at www.charactercounts.org.
You will notice in the pictures attached that all the students wear uniforms. The last picture is the principal who wants very much to have the pictures sent to her. She said no one ever sends the pictures after promising to do so. I’m going to make it a high priority to see that she gets the following pictures and others that Jean took.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Phyllis Journal
Phyllis’s Journal from SAS
Monday, January 10, 2011
Left MN this morning. Weather was fine in MN. Went to airport with sister, Carol and her son,
Joe O’Neill. When we got to airport, we were told we could not go to Carolina as airport was closed because of snow storm. We were rerouted to Chicago, then to Miami and then caught a plane there for Nassau around 7:00 PM. Then took a bus to our hotel, The Nassau Palms – ordered pizza in and went to bed early as we were tired.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Arrived at ship and got into our rooms at approximately 2:00 PM. It was nice to unpack and get somewhat settled. Everyone arrived today so we were all reunited from various parts of the country. Interesting to people watch. We have a Carnival ship parked next to us. Had dinner together tonight and met with other people on ship for a tour of ship. Took bus to store tonight, shopped for goodies and took cab back. Tomorrow we leave for journey.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Went to lots of orientation classes today. After classes we went shopping. I bought a Bahama bag with a zipper across. It is quite large and can carry a lot of items. We had to be back on ship by 2:30 PM. Then at 4:00 PM we had to do a lifeboat drill and wear our life jackets. It took quite a while as everyone has to participate. They have roll call and they cannot leave port until we are all there. After that we had dinner – then at 8:00 PM we sailed from port. Everyone stood outside and waved and cheered as we left. It was about 8:00 PM. It was later than we expected because of the weather conditions across the country for people trying to get here. We are now on our way – my first voyage. After leaving port we went to bed at 9:30 PM. I was really tired. Slept good with rocking of ship.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Missed breakfast today as I was too late for it. Took shower and cleaned up. At 11:00 AM went on bike for 30 minutes. Then we had lunch. Read my books and visited with different people on our voyage. Lost my cell phone and don’t know where it could be. Had meetings again tonight. They keep us busy. Everyone here is friendly. It’s easy to talk with people including the students.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Another busy day. Had breakfast this morning and then a meeting on globalization. It was very interesting. Glad I’m not a student that has to take tests on it. Went on the bike at 1:00 PM today. Then spent afternoon reading “3 cups of Tea”. Interesting book. It is about Greg Mortenson who built schools in Afghanistan and area. He is a former mountain climber, male nurse and many other hats. Also a humanitarian. Another meeting and greeting at 4:30 PM today. Dinner. Right now we are stopped in Puerto Rico to get fuel. But we cannot leave the ship. It is fun to watch though. Anyway a busy day.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Another busy day. Had breakfast this morning. Then I rode the bike for 30 minutes. Still reading “Three Cups of Tea”. It’s an interesting book. Sat in the sun this afternoon – very nice. Had a 4:30 PM meeting to learn more about the ship. Dinner tonight and then another meeting about leaving the ship tomorrow and going into Dominica and a day trip to the Carib Indians. But we had a lot of instructions for it. Enough for today.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Yesterday was quite a day. I needed to go to the bathroom and didn’t take time to go. Boy, was that a mistake. About half way through our adventure in Dominica I had a BM when I was not near a bathroom. I took care of it ok but don’t want it to happen anytime soon again. We did have an interesting trip seeing the waterfall on Roseau, Dominica. Also saw houses and then people in village prepared a lunch for us. We all sat at picnic tables and ate. It was a nice day. See Carol’s blog for more information on the Carib Indians.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Today we rented a taxi and toured some of the island. It was so interesting. It was Joe, Jean, Carol and I. Our driver was a nice young man whose village is Scotts Head. He drove us there and we saw the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea at the same time. He knew a place to get a beer so we stopped in for one. Also met his Dad and nieces and nephews. He fishes with his dad when not driving a taxi. It was a fun afternoon. He also has a brother that drives a taxi. We are leaving here tonight at 8:00 PM.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Left MN this morning. Weather was fine in MN. Went to airport with sister, Carol and her son,
Joe O’Neill. When we got to airport, we were told we could not go to Carolina as airport was closed because of snow storm. We were rerouted to Chicago, then to Miami and then caught a plane there for Nassau around 7:00 PM. Then took a bus to our hotel, The Nassau Palms – ordered pizza in and went to bed early as we were tired.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Arrived at ship and got into our rooms at approximately 2:00 PM. It was nice to unpack and get somewhat settled. Everyone arrived today so we were all reunited from various parts of the country. Interesting to people watch. We have a Carnival ship parked next to us. Had dinner together tonight and met with other people on ship for a tour of ship. Took bus to store tonight, shopped for goodies and took cab back. Tomorrow we leave for journey.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Went to lots of orientation classes today. After classes we went shopping. I bought a Bahama bag with a zipper across. It is quite large and can carry a lot of items. We had to be back on ship by 2:30 PM. Then at 4:00 PM we had to do a lifeboat drill and wear our life jackets. It took quite a while as everyone has to participate. They have roll call and they cannot leave port until we are all there. After that we had dinner – then at 8:00 PM we sailed from port. Everyone stood outside and waved and cheered as we left. It was about 8:00 PM. It was later than we expected because of the weather conditions across the country for people trying to get here. We are now on our way – my first voyage. After leaving port we went to bed at 9:30 PM. I was really tired. Slept good with rocking of ship.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Missed breakfast today as I was too late for it. Took shower and cleaned up. At 11:00 AM went on bike for 30 minutes. Then we had lunch. Read my books and visited with different people on our voyage. Lost my cell phone and don’t know where it could be. Had meetings again tonight. They keep us busy. Everyone here is friendly. It’s easy to talk with people including the students.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Another busy day. Had breakfast this morning and then a meeting on globalization. It was very interesting. Glad I’m not a student that has to take tests on it. Went on the bike at 1:00 PM today. Then spent afternoon reading “3 cups of Tea”. Interesting book. It is about Greg Mortenson who built schools in Afghanistan and area. He is a former mountain climber, male nurse and many other hats. Also a humanitarian. Another meeting and greeting at 4:30 PM today. Dinner. Right now we are stopped in Puerto Rico to get fuel. But we cannot leave the ship. It is fun to watch though. Anyway a busy day.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Another busy day. Had breakfast this morning. Then I rode the bike for 30 minutes. Still reading “Three Cups of Tea”. It’s an interesting book. Sat in the sun this afternoon – very nice. Had a 4:30 PM meeting to learn more about the ship. Dinner tonight and then another meeting about leaving the ship tomorrow and going into Dominica and a day trip to the Carib Indians. But we had a lot of instructions for it. Enough for today.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Yesterday was quite a day. I needed to go to the bathroom and didn’t take time to go. Boy, was that a mistake. About half way through our adventure in Dominica I had a BM when I was not near a bathroom. I took care of it ok but don’t want it to happen anytime soon again. We did have an interesting trip seeing the waterfall on Roseau, Dominica. Also saw houses and then people in village prepared a lunch for us. We all sat at picnic tables and ate. It was a nice day. See Carol’s blog for more information on the Carib Indians.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Today we rented a taxi and toured some of the island. It was so interesting. It was Joe, Jean, Carol and I. Our driver was a nice young man whose village is Scotts Head. He drove us there and we saw the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea at the same time. He knew a place to get a beer so we stopped in for one. Also met his Dad and nieces and nephews. He fishes with his dad when not driving a taxi. It was a fun afternoon. He also has a brother that drives a taxi. We are leaving here tonight at 8:00 PM.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Life on the ship
Life on the ship has been both fascinating and a challenge. The first few days we were just trying to remember where things were. And that was just in our cabins. I lost an address book and found it again the next day at the purser's office. Then our ID tags lost their magnetic powers and we had to return them and get them redone.
We all kept asking each other where the next class was to be held and when. There are book groups we have been assigned to, and we wondered if we were supposed to read the book before our first meeting. Most of us hadn't read it and were concerned about it. But many of the groups just visited and got to know each other, so it was lots of fun.
So for the most part things seem to have settled down. We are now one week into our 15 week trip around the world. Fred and I have "adopted" 2 girls that we have met in the last few days. The first one is in our book club and the second one joined a few Benders in a game of Shanghai. For the most part, we will hang out with them, join them for lunch, and just be there if they want to talk to some old folks while they are away from home. It also gives us a perspective on their lives and will help to keep us young.
We were hoping to "sit in" on some classes, but as someone else noted, they filled up very quickly. There is always the gym, spa, and cards. Fred and I brought along a Magic Train Dominoes game, so we played it for the first time yesterday and think we are getting the hang of it.
In 3 days we will be entering the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil and sail 1200 miles to Manaus where we will be docked for 4 days before heading across to Ghana in West Africa. What an adventure!
We all kept asking each other where the next class was to be held and when. There are book groups we have been assigned to, and we wondered if we were supposed to read the book before our first meeting. Most of us hadn't read it and were concerned about it. But many of the groups just visited and got to know each other, so it was lots of fun.
So for the most part things seem to have settled down. We are now one week into our 15 week trip around the world. Fred and I have "adopted" 2 girls that we have met in the last few days. The first one is in our book club and the second one joined a few Benders in a game of Shanghai. For the most part, we will hang out with them, join them for lunch, and just be there if they want to talk to some old folks while they are away from home. It also gives us a perspective on their lives and will help to keep us young.
We were hoping to "sit in" on some classes, but as someone else noted, they filled up very quickly. There is always the gym, spa, and cards. Fred and I brought along a Magic Train Dominoes game, so we played it for the first time yesterday and think we are getting the hang of it.
In 3 days we will be entering the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil and sail 1200 miles to Manaus where we will be docked for 4 days before heading across to Ghana in West Africa. What an adventure!
John & Carol's first post
We have a week under our belt on the ship and we thought we had our sea legs under us until we entered the Atlantic last night. The Caribbean was calm compared to the considerably rougher Atlantic with swells in the range of 10 to 15 feet. The vomit bags that have been scattered about the ship are now in short supply. As our first entry to the blog, below is a summary of different aspects of our trip so far.
Preparation Highlights
• Ironically we both had surgery (Carol wrist surgery and second level neck fusion and John a second laminectomy) 2 months before we left from home and getting all our stuff to the ship in 5 fifty pound duffle bags plus our carry-ons was a challenge but we did it successfully without reinjuring ourselves. In one of the duffle bags was a tempurpedic mattress and pillows for comfort due to our injuries. In one of the carry-ons was a 24” monitor so John can organize his thousands of pictures as we cross the longer stretches the oceans.
• Pete and Ramona arrived at our house a week prior to our departure and we taught them what they needed to know or who to call while they are care taking our house, horses, cats and dogs including delivering puppies. We have been texting with them and all sounds well.
• On our 3.5 hour drive to the airport in Denver, we learned our flights to the Bahamas had been canceled due to a storm on the east coast and we had to rebook our tickets on another airline. The new flight was supposed to leave at 11:55pm but we didn’t take off at 3:30am. By 12:30pm, we were in the hotel in the Bahamas and sound asleep.
Ship highlights
• Our room is very nice and spacious. All of our stuff has found a home and we even have a pantry.
• In the Bahamas we loaded up on supplies like snacks and booze and we were warned to be discrete with our alcohol on the ship when we boarded carrying a Jose Cuervo box full of rum, vodka and wine. On the second day when boarding, we were reminded not to keep food in our cabin when we boarded the ship with a box of Dunkin Donuts.
• The satellite Internet connection is limited to 50 connections at a time out of the 1000 passengers on board and once you get connected you have about 15 minutes before you are disconnected and have to login again which is like playing the lottery.
• Before departing the ship at our first stop in Dominica (pronounced, Da-min-ee-ca), the whole community participated in a meeting to learn some do’s and don’ts while on shore and the doctors had a funny skit with the following information:
Don’t get bit.
Don’t get hit.
Don’t do it.
Don’t get lit.
Don’t eat shit.
Classes, ports and extracurricular activities
• Every other day, we attend the Global Studies class (if we are not sea sick) and there have been some very interesting speakers which some of our fellow bloggers are writing about. The main professor reminds us of Robin Williams.
• In the first port Roseau, Dominica, Carol and I walked around the town and we restocked our pantry at a local grocery store where they sold mostly products from the US. The streets were quite narrow
and they drive on the left side of the road like a bat out of hell so you have to remember to look LEFT before you step off the curb of varying heights and onto the dilapidated uneven streets. We also went on a 4x4 tour to the rainforest where we swam in a gorge where part of Pirates of the Caribbean was shot. The gorge was about 5’ wide at the mouth and after swimming about 30 feet into it, it opened up into a cavern where two waterfalls poured into the cavern. Many tourists climbed up the first waterfall and were jumping into the pool in the cavern. On the tour we also saw the ONLY school bus that has ever been on the island. Take look at the picture to see its fate (no one was injured). The last activity we did was snorkeling at Champaign Reef where bubbles were percolating out of the ocean floor from a volcanic vent. The islands in this region are relativity young and this island is known as the nature island and looks quite similar to when Christopher Columbus discovered it.
• To no one’s surprise, another activity we have been participating in on a daily basis is playing hand and foot (cards). So far, we are the team to beat.
Preparation Highlights
• Ironically we both had surgery (Carol wrist surgery and second level neck fusion and John a second laminectomy) 2 months before we left from home and getting all our stuff to the ship in 5 fifty pound duffle bags plus our carry-ons was a challenge but we did it successfully without reinjuring ourselves. In one of the duffle bags was a tempurpedic mattress and pillows for comfort due to our injuries. In one of the carry-ons was a 24” monitor so John can organize his thousands of pictures as we cross the longer stretches the oceans.
• Pete and Ramona arrived at our house a week prior to our departure and we taught them what they needed to know or who to call while they are care taking our house, horses, cats and dogs including delivering puppies. We have been texting with them and all sounds well.
• On our 3.5 hour drive to the airport in Denver, we learned our flights to the Bahamas had been canceled due to a storm on the east coast and we had to rebook our tickets on another airline. The new flight was supposed to leave at 11:55pm but we didn’t take off at 3:30am. By 12:30pm, we were in the hotel in the Bahamas and sound asleep.
Ship highlights
• Our room is very nice and spacious. All of our stuff has found a home and we even have a pantry.
• In the Bahamas we loaded up on supplies like snacks and booze and we were warned to be discrete with our alcohol on the ship when we boarded carrying a Jose Cuervo box full of rum, vodka and wine. On the second day when boarding, we were reminded not to keep food in our cabin when we boarded the ship with a box of Dunkin Donuts.
• Before departing the ship at our first stop in Dominica (pronounced, Da-min-ee-ca), the whole community participated in a meeting to learn some do’s and don’ts while on shore and the doctors had a funny skit with the following information:
Don’t get bit.
Don’t get hit.
Don’t do it.
Don’t get lit.
Don’t eat shit.
Classes, ports and extracurricular activities
• Every other day, we attend the Global Studies class (if we are not sea sick) and there have been some very interesting speakers which some of our fellow bloggers are writing about. The main professor reminds us of Robin Williams.
• In the first port Roseau, Dominica, Carol and I walked around the town and we restocked our pantry at a local grocery store where they sold mostly products from the US. The streets were quite narrow
and they drive on the left side of the road like a bat out of hell so you have to remember to look LEFT before you step off the curb of varying heights and onto the dilapidated uneven streets. We also went on a 4x4 tour to the rainforest where we swam in a gorge where part of Pirates of the Caribbean was shot. The gorge was about 5’ wide at the mouth and after swimming about 30 feet into it, it opened up into a cavern where two waterfalls poured into the cavern. Many tourists climbed up the first waterfall and were jumping into the pool in the cavern. On the tour we also saw the ONLY school bus that has ever been on the island. Take look at the picture to see its fate (no one was injured). The last activity we did was snorkeling at Champaign Reef where bubbles were percolating out of the ocean floor from a volcanic vent. The islands in this region are relativity young and this island is known as the nature island and looks quite similar to when Christopher Columbus discovered it.
Nepali girls
Just came back from most inspiring talk by speaker who heads a foundation called Empowering Nepali Girls. Nepal is poorest country in world whose. Gov is. Very corrupt. Lowest caste girls are neglected and destined to behold into sex slavery -- 12,000 girls dIsappear every year. They are considered by their society to be of less value than a goat.
The foundation gives scholarships to girls as young as eight as a way of expanding tHeir future and showing them what possibilities are out there for them.
His message to us was. Increase your own awareness
Talk about it
Honor what you are experiencing
We were impressed by his compassion and moved to tears.
The foundation gives scholarships to girls as young as eight as a way of expanding tHeir future and showing them what possibilities are out there for them.
His message to us was. Increase your own awareness
Talk about it
Honor what you are experiencing
We were impressed by his compassion and moved to tears.
Dominica #2
Monday, January 17th
This afternoon Joe Bender, Carol and I hired a taxi driver to take us around the island. He said Dominica is called the Nature Island. He told us it is men’s paradise because there are seven women to every man. It rains 300 days a year and up to 350 to 400 inches every year. 70% of the island is rainforest. 60% of the people are Catholic. Our driver’s name was Justin and said he is a “pothole dodger”. After riding around the island, it is easy to see why the driver’s have given themselves that name. The roads are very narrow, windy and not in very good condition.
We started our drive around one o’clock just as school was letting out in Roseau. The kids all looked so clean and neat in their school uniforms. I was anxious to get some pictures of them but didn’t have a chance. As we made our way up the mountain to a little village called Trafalgar we came upon a school with lots of children standing out front. Justin asked if I would like to stop to get some pictures. Of course I was the first one out of the car. As I walked up to the primary school I noticed some pillars holding up the roof and on each pillar was written one of the Character Counts six “pillars”. I couldn’t believe it. I really wished Dave had been along as he would have loved it. I took as many pictures as I could. The principal asked if I would email the pictures to her. I will do that as soon as possible even if it isn’t until we get back home.
On the way back to Roseau Justin drove us through an area called “Little Hollywood” where he said the rich people live. I asked who the rich people were and he said they are doctors, lawyers, and business owners.
Justin then drove us along the Caribbean coast to the fishing village he is from called Scotts Head. This village is at the tip of the island where the Caribbean meets the Atlantic. He said it is the biggest fishing village on the island. He took us to a restaurant where Joe and Phyllis had a Kabuli beer which is supposed to be the best local beer. His father’s fishing boat was in the water just outside the restaurant. On the days Justin doesn’t have a driving job he goes fishing with his father in the Atlantic. While we were in the village we met his mother and father and two of his darling nieces. We also met one of his brothers.
We all had to be back on the ship by 6:00 PM and we left at 8:00 PM. We are really rocking and rolling now on our way to the Amazon. That’s it for now.
This afternoon Joe Bender, Carol and I hired a taxi driver to take us around the island. He said Dominica is called the Nature Island. He told us it is men’s paradise because there are seven women to every man. It rains 300 days a year and up to 350 to 400 inches every year. 70% of the island is rainforest. 60% of the people are Catholic. Our driver’s name was Justin and said he is a “pothole dodger”. After riding around the island, it is easy to see why the driver’s have given themselves that name. The roads are very narrow, windy and not in very good condition.
We started our drive around one o’clock just as school was letting out in Roseau. The kids all looked so clean and neat in their school uniforms. I was anxious to get some pictures of them but didn’t have a chance. As we made our way up the mountain to a little village called Trafalgar we came upon a school with lots of children standing out front. Justin asked if I would like to stop to get some pictures. Of course I was the first one out of the car. As I walked up to the primary school I noticed some pillars holding up the roof and on each pillar was written one of the Character Counts six “pillars”. I couldn’t believe it. I really wished Dave had been along as he would have loved it. I took as many pictures as I could. The principal asked if I would email the pictures to her. I will do that as soon as possible even if it isn’t until we get back home.
On the way back to Roseau Justin drove us through an area called “Little Hollywood” where he said the rich people live. I asked who the rich people were and he said they are doctors, lawyers, and business owners.
Justin then drove us along the Caribbean coast to the fishing village he is from called Scotts Head. This village is at the tip of the island where the Caribbean meets the Atlantic. He said it is the biggest fishing village on the island. He took us to a restaurant where Joe and Phyllis had a Kabuli beer which is supposed to be the best local beer. His father’s fishing boat was in the water just outside the restaurant. On the days Justin doesn’t have a driving job he goes fishing with his father in the Atlantic. While we were in the village we met his mother and father and two of his darling nieces. We also met one of his brothers.
We all had to be back on the ship by 6:00 PM and we left at 8:00 PM. We are really rocking and rolling now on our way to the Amazon. That’s it for now.
Dominica #1
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Last night we had a pre port meeting for Dominica. The doctors of the ship did a presentation that was so cute and fun. Among other things they told us not to get bit, not to get hit, not to do it, not to get lit and not to eat shit. Of course lots of mosquitoes are here and they could pass on some diseases to us. The cars drive on the other side of the road so it is easy to get hit by a car if you don’t look in the right direction when crossing the street. The college students have to be reminded not to do it although I’m sure plenty of them are. And rum is the drink of choice around here and the students have to be reminded to keep sober and remember what they are doing. And last of all we need to remember food on the street may not be safe to eat and the water may not be safe either. They also told us to wear a total body condom but to go out and have a great time. They are really trying to impress upon the students how important it is to be safe. Being this is our first port they are really stressing safety.
We visited a Carib Indian village today. This Indian village gets 95% of their food from the rain forest. The last of the Carib Indians live on this island. They were kicked off the other islands starting at St. Kits and then all of the islands going south from there until they arrived in Dominica. The village we visited had 84 inhabitants of which 33 were children. They live very primitively but seemed to be happy people. Carol did such a good job telling about the Carib Indians that I’m not going to write anymore about them.
The children on this island begin going to preschool when they are three years old then on to primary and high school. All the children wear uniforms to school and are required to be in school every day. If a child isn’t in school for a certain period of time someone will come to the home to find out why they aren’t in school. They need a note from the doctor if they miss because of illness.
Last night we had a pre port meeting for Dominica. The doctors of the ship did a presentation that was so cute and fun. Among other things they told us not to get bit, not to get hit, not to do it, not to get lit and not to eat shit. Of course lots of mosquitoes are here and they could pass on some diseases to us. The cars drive on the other side of the road so it is easy to get hit by a car if you don’t look in the right direction when crossing the street. The college students have to be reminded not to do it although I’m sure plenty of them are. And rum is the drink of choice around here and the students have to be reminded to keep sober and remember what they are doing. And last of all we need to remember food on the street may not be safe to eat and the water may not be safe either. They also told us to wear a total body condom but to go out and have a great time. They are really trying to impress upon the students how important it is to be safe. Being this is our first port they are really stressing safety.
We visited a Carib Indian village today. This Indian village gets 95% of their food from the rain forest. The last of the Carib Indians live on this island. They were kicked off the other islands starting at St. Kits and then all of the islands going south from there until they arrived in Dominica. The village we visited had 84 inhabitants of which 33 were children. They live very primitively but seemed to be happy people. Carol did such a good job telling about the Carib Indians that I’m not going to write anymore about them.
The children on this island begin going to preschool when they are three years old then on to primary and high school. All the children wear uniforms to school and are required to be in school every day. If a child isn’t in school for a certain period of time someone will come to the home to find out why they aren’t in school. They need a note from the doctor if they miss because of illness.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Carib Indians
Today we went on our first field trip in Roseau, Dominica. There were enough people to fill up three buses of students and life long learners. The bus took us up the mountain several miles for at least an hour. Our first stop was at Emerald Pool. This is a clear pool of water at the bottom of a waterfall. We had to walk a short distance through the rainforest to get to this pool and most of the students jumped right in and enjoyed themselves. It was quite a hike to get back up the hill but I made it.
We then got back on the bus and rode to an area where the “Carib Indians” live. According to a book that I purchased from these people, they moved into the Windward Islands from the Orinoco region of South America. According to their book the men called themselves “Karifuna” and the women “Karina”. It was the Europeans who called them Caribs.
Through the centuries, the Caribs have had to adjust to a European way of life, losing in the process most of their traditional ways of life, their religions and languages.
These people invited us into their homes and showed us the way they live. The first house that we visited was a father, mother and five sons. The boys were afraid of us and four of them ran and hid under the bed. The fifth son was on a laptop computer in the corner of a very sparsely furnished room. There was also a small television set in the “living room”. There were two bedrooms and the five boys all sleep in the same bed.
They have a separate building for cooking and a shower is outside, as well as a grass covered hut used for basket weaving. The father is very resourceful and told us he is a jack of all trades, master of none. He showed us his yard that is full of plants and trees from where they get the majority of their food.
At the second home we visited there was a young girl who showed us how they prepare dinner over an open fire. She had grated a taro plant into a fine powder and poured it dry into a pan over the fire. She flipped it one time and when it was done cooking, she cut it up and served it to us with mango jelly. It was delicious.
At the third home, the father showed us how they squeeze the sugar cane to get a sweet drink. Actually I think they said they start water to boil in the morning for breakfast and add some of the cocoa plant and then the juice from the sugar cane to make it sweet.
When we returned to the area where the buses were, the whole community had prepared a meal for us. There were two kinds of taro (one that was boiled and one that was fried), a mixture of fish and some grains, some small bread rolls with maybe a cheese spread and coconut candy. We saw a mother cow that had a baby feeding from her, so we assume that they got milk from the cow and made the cheese themselves.
It was fun to watch the little kids who were watching us wide-eyed and afraid of us. But then we heard the ice cream truck and they all ran for that. It seems like they live so primitively, yet they have current technology like cell phones, computers and televisions.
It was a wonderful excursion.
We then got back on the bus and rode to an area where the “Carib Indians” live. According to a book that I purchased from these people, they moved into the Windward Islands from the Orinoco region of South America. According to their book the men called themselves “Karifuna” and the women “Karina”. It was the Europeans who called them Caribs.
Through the centuries, the Caribs have had to adjust to a European way of life, losing in the process most of their traditional ways of life, their religions and languages.
These people invited us into their homes and showed us the way they live. The first house that we visited was a father, mother and five sons. The boys were afraid of us and four of them ran and hid under the bed. The fifth son was on a laptop computer in the corner of a very sparsely furnished room. There was also a small television set in the “living room”. There were two bedrooms and the five boys all sleep in the same bed.
They have a separate building for cooking and a shower is outside, as well as a grass covered hut used for basket weaving. The father is very resourceful and told us he is a jack of all trades, master of none. He showed us his yard that is full of plants and trees from where they get the majority of their food.
At the second home we visited there was a young girl who showed us how they prepare dinner over an open fire. She had grated a taro plant into a fine powder and poured it dry into a pan over the fire. She flipped it one time and when it was done cooking, she cut it up and served it to us with mango jelly. It was delicious.
At the third home, the father showed us how they squeeze the sugar cane to get a sweet drink. Actually I think they said they start water to boil in the morning for breakfast and add some of the cocoa plant and then the juice from the sugar cane to make it sweet.
When we returned to the area where the buses were, the whole community had prepared a meal for us. There were two kinds of taro (one that was boiled and one that was fried), a mixture of fish and some grains, some small bread rolls with maybe a cheese spread and coconut candy. We saw a mother cow that had a baby feeding from her, so we assume that they got milk from the cow and made the cheese themselves.
It was fun to watch the little kids who were watching us wide-eyed and afraid of us. But then we heard the ice cream truck and they all ran for that. It seems like they live so primitively, yet they have current technology like cell phones, computers and televisions.
It was a wonderful excursion.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
First news from MV Explorer
January 13th, Thursday
We are finally under way, headed for Dominica. After starting the trip in the final stages of a bad cold and walking pneumonia, our flight was cancelled and a one day transit to the ship became two days with little badly needed sleep and a lot of dragging heavy bags from one terminal and gate to another turning my legs to rubber and exhausting my arms. Enough said of the bad news. We made it to the ship! I’m up on my hind legs and I told Jean she can cancel the body bag she ordered for me. Right now she’s in the exercise room and she and her sisters Carol and Phyllis are riding bikes. I’m going to wait a few days until I fully recover to start exercising.
Our ship the MS Explorer is eight years old, beautiful, and a confusing maze of hallways, stairs, and dead ends. So far, I’m an expert at taking the wrong turn or heading in the wrong direction. We have a crew of 191 and a passenger complement of 784. Yesterday we were introduced to the faculty and were saddened to discover that some of the classes are full and that to sit in we should first ask the teacher for permission to attend. This is disappointing as we were able to flit about and sample classes at will on our previous SAS voyage. There is only one class that really interests me, Altruism and Social Justice. I hope I’m able to make the roster. On our previous SAS voyage I took primarily eastern religion classes. I wanted to discover what others believed. Now I want to know “why we believe.” I was disappointed to not find classes in the new field of neuroscience, the science of how our brains influence our beliefs and actions, most of which is below our level of awareness and outside the arena of rationality…more about that later.
January 14th, Friday
We just returned from our first Core Class, the comprehensive class everyone takes first thing in the morning after breakfast. It describes the next port in detail; its geography, climate, religion, etc. It also deals with world issues that pertain to our voyage and it features guest lecturers and a variety of experts. The lead professor first dealt with globalization, which is the theme of our voyage. He described globalization as “an array of forces effectively shrinking our world.” We learned that the term in vogue today in the academic community, to describe much of the world we will be visiting, is “Global South,” replacing former labels like “Third World” and “Developing Nations,”. We will be visiting the lower tier of the Global South.
Today’s guest lecturer was a cartographer, an expert on maps and mapping. We learned that all maps are, in his words, “lies distorting reality.” They simplify reality and don’t tell the whole truth. The worst are maps without scale and he had several examples to show us. Perhaps most important are the legends that accompany maps that tell you how the data in maps is represented. The map most of us are familiar with is the Mercator Projection that shows the US on top and greatly distorts the relative size and position of countries. Greenland for example is actuality one thirteenth the size of Africa although world maps we traditionally see do not represent this reality. It made me recall a lecture I heard given by a USSR expert back in the 1970s. He used a map that had the Soviet Union in the center and showed the US off to one side. It was a very visual example of how we all view the world through individual and distorting glasses. Today we were exposed to other kinds of maps including the Peters Projection that is favored by many professionals. It gives a more realistic representation of the physical world.
All maps are a representation of data and a key to reading them effectively is knowing what the legend represents. We were shown one map three times, each with a different legend. Each map represented the same data in different ways and each looked entirely different. We were told that a map is only a “proposition” and each represents a point of view. Cartographers use maps to present only selected data. While listening to the presentation, I’m thinking what a great metaphor maps can be in describing our individual life journeys. Each of our personal maps is a distortion of reality and may or may not be taking us in the direction we want to go. We are all navigating using slightly different legends, had different starting places, and are currently in different places. We all use guides to help us read our maps and as we travel we fire old guides and hire new. If we’re wise, we continually revise our legends and rethink our scales. Unfortunately, recent neuroscientific brain mapping discoveries are revealing that because we are basically emotional beings who use reason to rationalize our mistaken positions, few if any of us are aware of our true positions and we all have faulty legends. It’s hard to get to the proper destination when one is mistaken about her current location. But perhaps most important, even more than our location, personal legends, and our navigation skills, are our travel mates. Life’s not really about the destination anyway. It’s about the journey and the friends we make along the way. It’s impossible to travel life’s road well alone. As I revise my map and legend during the next 104 days, I’ll revel in the company of my wife and relatives. Life doesn’t get any better than this.
We are finally under way, headed for Dominica. After starting the trip in the final stages of a bad cold and walking pneumonia, our flight was cancelled and a one day transit to the ship became two days with little badly needed sleep and a lot of dragging heavy bags from one terminal and gate to another turning my legs to rubber and exhausting my arms. Enough said of the bad news. We made it to the ship! I’m up on my hind legs and I told Jean she can cancel the body bag she ordered for me. Right now she’s in the exercise room and she and her sisters Carol and Phyllis are riding bikes. I’m going to wait a few days until I fully recover to start exercising.
Our ship the MS Explorer is eight years old, beautiful, and a confusing maze of hallways, stairs, and dead ends. So far, I’m an expert at taking the wrong turn or heading in the wrong direction. We have a crew of 191 and a passenger complement of 784. Yesterday we were introduced to the faculty and were saddened to discover that some of the classes are full and that to sit in we should first ask the teacher for permission to attend. This is disappointing as we were able to flit about and sample classes at will on our previous SAS voyage. There is only one class that really interests me, Altruism and Social Justice. I hope I’m able to make the roster. On our previous SAS voyage I took primarily eastern religion classes. I wanted to discover what others believed. Now I want to know “why we believe.” I was disappointed to not find classes in the new field of neuroscience, the science of how our brains influence our beliefs and actions, most of which is below our level of awareness and outside the arena of rationality…more about that later.
January 14th, Friday
We just returned from our first Core Class, the comprehensive class everyone takes first thing in the morning after breakfast. It describes the next port in detail; its geography, climate, religion, etc. It also deals with world issues that pertain to our voyage and it features guest lecturers and a variety of experts. The lead professor first dealt with globalization, which is the theme of our voyage. He described globalization as “an array of forces effectively shrinking our world.” We learned that the term in vogue today in the academic community, to describe much of the world we will be visiting, is “Global South,” replacing former labels like “Third World” and “Developing Nations,”. We will be visiting the lower tier of the Global South.
Today’s guest lecturer was a cartographer, an expert on maps and mapping. We learned that all maps are, in his words, “lies distorting reality.” They simplify reality and don’t tell the whole truth. The worst are maps without scale and he had several examples to show us. Perhaps most important are the legends that accompany maps that tell you how the data in maps is represented. The map most of us are familiar with is the Mercator Projection that shows the US on top and greatly distorts the relative size and position of countries. Greenland for example is actuality one thirteenth the size of Africa although world maps we traditionally see do not represent this reality. It made me recall a lecture I heard given by a USSR expert back in the 1970s. He used a map that had the Soviet Union in the center and showed the US off to one side. It was a very visual example of how we all view the world through individual and distorting glasses. Today we were exposed to other kinds of maps including the Peters Projection that is favored by many professionals. It gives a more realistic representation of the physical world.
All maps are a representation of data and a key to reading them effectively is knowing what the legend represents. We were shown one map three times, each with a different legend. Each map represented the same data in different ways and each looked entirely different. We were told that a map is only a “proposition” and each represents a point of view. Cartographers use maps to present only selected data. While listening to the presentation, I’m thinking what a great metaphor maps can be in describing our individual life journeys. Each of our personal maps is a distortion of reality and may or may not be taking us in the direction we want to go. We are all navigating using slightly different legends, had different starting places, and are currently in different places. We all use guides to help us read our maps and as we travel we fire old guides and hire new. If we’re wise, we continually revise our legends and rethink our scales. Unfortunately, recent neuroscientific brain mapping discoveries are revealing that because we are basically emotional beings who use reason to rationalize our mistaken positions, few if any of us are aware of our true positions and we all have faulty legends. It’s hard to get to the proper destination when one is mistaken about her current location. But perhaps most important, even more than our location, personal legends, and our navigation skills, are our travel mates. Life’s not really about the destination anyway. It’s about the journey and the friends we make along the way. It’s impossible to travel life’s road well alone. As I revise my map and legend during the next 104 days, I’ll revel in the company of my wife and relatives. Life doesn’t get any better than this.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Stop in Puerto Rico
Our ship is now stopped in Puerto Rico for fuel. I think we have been getting fuel for a few hours now. I had no idea it took that long to take on fuel. It was interesting to see how that is done.
I am also posting a picture of our ship-MAYBE if I can figure it out with instructions from Becky!!!
Sadly at this stop we already lost three passengers: a male Life Long Learner had a knee injury before he got on the ship and now found out he would need surgery in a small window of time in order to have it heal well, so he and his wife got off the ship. Also we lost one of our young students, because he got word that his father died unexpectedly.
I am also posting a picture of our ship-MAYBE if I can figure it out with instructions from Becky!!!
Sadly at this stop we already lost three passengers: a male Life Long Learner had a knee injury before he got on the ship and now found out he would need surgery in a small window of time in order to have it heal well, so he and his wife got off the ship. Also we lost one of our young students, because he got word that his father died unexpectedly.
Hey Englund family and all!
It is time for me to write and tell you how much fun we are having. Sorry about all of the snow for you back in Minnesota. They keep us really busy on the ship. I have been going on the bike and doing a lot of walking and steps. Also been eating a lot of good food. We look forward to being in Dominica on Sunday, we will let you know about that stop later. We are all doing well.
Love all of you guys.
Phyllis
Love all of you guys.
Phyllis
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Strange Experience!
Yesterday (1-12-11) after shopping in Nassau and boarding the SAS ship for departure, I had s strange experience while Dick, Linda and I were talking to a student from Pittsburgh, that had gone to college in China: I took off my visor and my wig came with it! My response was, “This is just like the movies!” Then I went on to explain that I had had nine chemo treatments this past year and this is the result. I handed the visor to Dick, who was going to take his hat and my visor back to the cabin before we had dinner with the Bender gang in the Garden Room on the 5th floor.
Jean's Journal
Finally we are at sea as of last night. We were supposed to leave Nassau at 5:00 PM last night but didn’t get under way until 8:00PM. Everyone seemed to have trouble getting to the ship because of the weather on the east coast. Our flight was cancelled the day we were to leave San Diego. We were supposed to fly to Atlanta. We ended up flying to LA and then to Miami. Dave and I had to spend the night in Miami and then fly to Nassau the next day. All the rest of our group made it to Nassau the night before Dave and I. Their flight was cancelled too but they still made it to Nassau as scheduled. The students got on the ship yesterday. They are having orientation all day today. We had ours yesterday.
We are tired and are getting used to sea legs. We have already turned our clock back one hour. So we are now 4 hours later than SD time. Makes it hard to get up in the morning. Classes begin tomorrow. Today we start taking pills for malaria. Our internet time is sporadic. Never know when we will be able to get on or for how long. There are about 1000 people on this ship and only 50 people can be on the internet at the same time. That’s it for today.
We are tired and are getting used to sea legs. We have already turned our clock back one hour. So we are now 4 hours later than SD time. Makes it hard to get up in the morning. Classes begin tomorrow. Today we start taking pills for malaria. Our internet time is sporadic. Never know when we will be able to get on or for how long. There are about 1000 people on this ship and only 50 people can be on the internet at the same time. That’s it for today.
LIFE BOAT DRILL
We had our first life boat drill yesterday. It was mandatory for everyone to attend. We were instructed to return to our rooms and put on long pants, long sleeved shirts, jacket, hat and closed toe shoes. Then we had to put on our life vests. There is a poster on the back of the door instructing us where to go when the alarm sounds. At the alarm we all walked upstairs and out onto the deck and to our assigned life boat. (Women and children in the front, men in the rear.) After we all were assembled the staff called out our room numbers and we had to respond that we were present. They went through the list of room numbers twice. After the captain was satisfied with our compliance we were allowed to return to our rooms. We will being doing this periodically throughout our voyage.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The 104th SAS Voyage Has Begun!!!
Because of students' flights being delayed by weather, our departure was delayed from 5:00pm to 8:00pm EST. Many of the parents were waving good-bye from the dock - just as we had when our daughters partook in SAS in 1999. It is much more exciting to be ON the ship! :) What an incredible opportunity Dave and Jean have generously given us all. THANK YOU DAVE AND JEAN!!!!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
All Arrived in Nassau Safely!
We all arrived safely in Nassau from MN, CO and CA...after some rerouting and delays because of storms in the SE where our connecting flights were (Atlanta, GA and Charlotte, NC). The 600 students will be boarding tomorrow. I am so excited and can't wait to start this fantastic journey!
Monday, January 10, 2011
And they're off!
The flight from MN to Charlotte was canceled because of a rare southern snow/sleet/ice storm, but I trust the MN folks will make it to the Bahamas in plenty of time. Last I heard they were rescheduled to go to Chicago, then Miami, then Nassau, Bahamas. Below are my mom, dad, and Laura waiting to be re-booked at US Airways. Carol, Phyllis, and Joe were already over at their new airline, American Airlines, getting their tickets for Chicago.
Have a great trip, Harts and Benders!!
Have a great trip, Harts and Benders!!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Eagle Has Landed
Our passports arrived at 11:15 today (Saturday, January 8), the last Fedex delivery before our flight at 8:25 a.m. on Monday. Perhaps there is a God. What a rascal She is. We sent our passports to the facilitating company, Pinnacle, in September.
It must have been my prayers. Perhaps it was switching from standing to a kneeling posture that was persuasive. She didn’t cure my cold but She sure tested my faith.
It must have been my prayers. Perhaps it was switching from standing to a kneeling posture that was persuasive. She didn’t cure my cold but She sure tested my faith.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Passports for Jean and Dave
It is Thursday, January 6th and Dave and I still don't have our passports. Everyone else has gotten theirs back. We need them to get on the plane Monday, January 10th. They are being held up by the Indian Embassy. They are not easily giving visas because of security concerns. Everyone else from our group got their visas so Dave and I must be some kind of a threat. We may not be able to visit the Taj Majal when we get to India. That would be a big disappointment to me but not as much as not being able to get on the ship with the rest of the family next week. Hopefully the passports will arrive today or tomorrow at the latest.
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