Holiday time
Well, as usual I've been remiss in updating this journal. And, as I've been off work since December 8th, I really have no excuse. I also actually have something to write about, so here we go.
My spouse and I went on a cruise before Christmas. We flew to New Orleans (or "Nawlins" as the locals told us to call it!) The city is still recovering from Katrina...little things that you could easily ignore, are still "off". I think the things that really made it real to me were the water marks high up buildings, the lack of "urban" wildlife and the certificates posted by the health department certifying businesses as Ok to serve food post hurricane. I will say that the whole city was obsessed with football. Apparently the state high school championships were taking place the week we arrived and the city was nuts! The day we came back, the Saints were about to potentially clinch a trip to the superbowl, so that was all anyone cared about. Apparently Brad Pitt was there filming the week before we arrived and actually went out for a drink without people noticing because they were watching the Saints play. I admit that seeing the dome that figured so prominently on CNN as they documented the tragedy was a bit weird. Still...most of the people we talked to think that in 5 or 10 years everything will be back to normal. I hope our tourist spending helped!
The cruise itself was excellent. I highly recommend NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) for their "Freestyle" cruising. We're not very formal, so it was wonderful to be able to eat when we wanted, wearing what we wanted and not have to dress for dinner with 6-8 strangers each night. And there was so much to do on board!
We went to Cozumel, Mexico where I swam with a dolphin named Regina. I really debated doing this. My desire to be close to such a magnificent creature warred heavily with my belief that using wild animals for entertainment is very wrong. I abhor circuses which I think are the worst form of animal abuse, but I wasn't sure about this kind of "wildlife encounter" place. I really enjoyed touching and interacting with Regina, but I'm still a bit conflicted. She seemed to enjoy it too and when she refused to interact with a particular man, she wasn't punished or forced. She also has a lot of interaction with others of her species and her captivity was pretty minor. If she really wanted out of the big enclosure, one quick leap over a low barrier would have her back in the big old ocean. So, I'm still figuring out if I'm a hypocrite, but for now, I'll just say it was pretty amazing.
Our next port of call was equally amazing but in a different way. We went to Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala. We didn't plan a particular excursion, but just went ashore in port. The country is only 10 years out from a civil war and it shows. Santo Tomas is really a shipping port with thousands of containers, so it was heavily protected from the local people. Lots of barbed wire and men with machine guns. They had set up what looked like a metal hangar with a tourist "welcome" centre. There were lots of vendors and entertainment, but we wanted to walk outside the compound. We didn't walk the 9k to the town, but around the port were a lot of houses. Well sort of. You know that poverty that you see in those commercials for Save the Children or Care...well I saw it first hand. There was raw sewage in the potholed dirt streets, filthy children playing in garbage and women caring for babies in "houses" made of a piece of corrugated metal leaning up against a wall. It was very sad. On our way back to the boat, a little boy came to us begging with the universal hand signal for food. My husband immediately turned into a marshmallow and gave the little guy the snack we had brought from the ship. Although he ate the piece of banana bread like he hadn't eaten in his life, the little boy went and shared it with another boy (his brother maybe?) We felt bad that we had nothing else to give him, but he scampered when an armed man gave him a look. Some of the other ship passengers told us the these children act as "canaries" to see which tourists are ripe for theft, scam or more sophisticated begging from adults. But whatever his motives, that little boy was hungry, so I was glad we had at least something to give him. It made the giant dinner buffet later that evening seem far less appealing. Just the food thrown away from people's plates could have fed his whole village for a week! It really bothered my hubby, so we're looking at sending a little support to a nearby school that was selling handicrafts in the tourist hangar. They help these kids get both literacy skills and a trade so they can have a future.
It was hard to feel excited about Belize City, our next port of call, but things there are very different. They are a third world country, but unlike Guatemala, you got the impression that they are on their way to becoming a second world country. Our guide was excited that Walmart is coming to Belize City. The city itself is an interesting mix. Formerly British Honduras, they have retained English as a first language and have a huge emphasis on school using a British system. (97% of the population are literate.) Their heritage is a mix of British, African slaves brought by the British to harvest the vast mahogany trees back in colonial days and the native Mayan peoples. Generally the people were laid back and seemed pretty happy. Where in Mexico the vendors came across as strident and desperate, the Belizian vendors seems more casual and more interested in us as people then as a source of cash. It could be my bias, but I was far more comfortable in Belize than anywhere else on our trip, including New Orleans. For our adventure, we went to an Eco-park and kayaked through the rainforest. We saw some cool birds, some magnificent iguanas and really enjoyed the flora and fauna. I'd definitely go back!
Finally we went to Costa Maya, Mexico. Costa Maya is a region, not a town, and it had the most incredible beaches. We went to a little beach area where we enjoyed the sand and the ocean and then we took a speed boat out for some high powered fun. Belize and Costa Maya share part of a huge natural coral reef, apparently the second largest in the world, so I almost wish we had done one of the "learn to snorkel" adventures, but my spouse wanted to drive a speed boat so we enjoyed the water that way. I did buy my only Mexican souvenir in Costa Maya...vanilla. It is incredible! I took the suggestions of some friends and bought it from a real liquor store where I could be pretty sure it would be safe and real. I came home and used it in all my holiday baking. Wow! It is so much better than even the "real" vanilla extract you can buy in the stores here. We may have to travel to Mexico regularly to get more!
As much as our cruise opened our horizons and was a lot of fun...it was nice to get home. We got back on the 17th, just in time for me to get organized from Christmas. With only 5 of us, the big turkey dinner isn't that big any more, but it still takes time to shop and prepare. I made two pies, some pizzelles (Italian pressed cookies)and some butter tarts. Other than that I relaxed, enjoyed the holiday music and did mountains of laundry.
Like always, Christmas day was the weird combination of busy, sad and satisfying. I make the effort to do a "traditional" Christmas as much as possible for my parents and grandmother, but once they are gone, I think we will shake things up a bit. I can imagine traveling over the holidays...wouldn't it be powerful to attend a Christmas service in Jerusalem, or spend Christmas day viewing the Taj Mahal, or even lounge around in a fire in a chalet in the Swiss Alps? Maybe in a few years.
Well, this has been a huge update, probably boring, likely unreadable...but it's done and now I can put my focus on being a better blogger in 2007. Happy New year to everyone. Here's to a year of peace, prosperity and following your passion!
My spouse and I went on a cruise before Christmas. We flew to New Orleans (or "Nawlins" as the locals told us to call it!) The city is still recovering from Katrina...little things that you could easily ignore, are still "off". I think the things that really made it real to me were the water marks high up buildings, the lack of "urban" wildlife and the certificates posted by the health department certifying businesses as Ok to serve food post hurricane. I will say that the whole city was obsessed with football. Apparently the state high school championships were taking place the week we arrived and the city was nuts! The day we came back, the Saints were about to potentially clinch a trip to the superbowl, so that was all anyone cared about. Apparently Brad Pitt was there filming the week before we arrived and actually went out for a drink without people noticing because they were watching the Saints play. I admit that seeing the dome that figured so prominently on CNN as they documented the tragedy was a bit weird. Still...most of the people we talked to think that in 5 or 10 years everything will be back to normal. I hope our tourist spending helped!
The cruise itself was excellent. I highly recommend NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) for their "Freestyle" cruising. We're not very formal, so it was wonderful to be able to eat when we wanted, wearing what we wanted and not have to dress for dinner with 6-8 strangers each night. And there was so much to do on board!
We went to Cozumel, Mexico where I swam with a dolphin named Regina. I really debated doing this. My desire to be close to such a magnificent creature warred heavily with my belief that using wild animals for entertainment is very wrong. I abhor circuses which I think are the worst form of animal abuse, but I wasn't sure about this kind of "wildlife encounter" place. I really enjoyed touching and interacting with Regina, but I'm still a bit conflicted. She seemed to enjoy it too and when she refused to interact with a particular man, she wasn't punished or forced. She also has a lot of interaction with others of her species and her captivity was pretty minor. If she really wanted out of the big enclosure, one quick leap over a low barrier would have her back in the big old ocean. So, I'm still figuring out if I'm a hypocrite, but for now, I'll just say it was pretty amazing.
Our next port of call was equally amazing but in a different way. We went to Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala. We didn't plan a particular excursion, but just went ashore in port. The country is only 10 years out from a civil war and it shows. Santo Tomas is really a shipping port with thousands of containers, so it was heavily protected from the local people. Lots of barbed wire and men with machine guns. They had set up what looked like a metal hangar with a tourist "welcome" centre. There were lots of vendors and entertainment, but we wanted to walk outside the compound. We didn't walk the 9k to the town, but around the port were a lot of houses. Well sort of. You know that poverty that you see in those commercials for Save the Children or Care...well I saw it first hand. There was raw sewage in the potholed dirt streets, filthy children playing in garbage and women caring for babies in "houses" made of a piece of corrugated metal leaning up against a wall. It was very sad. On our way back to the boat, a little boy came to us begging with the universal hand signal for food. My husband immediately turned into a marshmallow and gave the little guy the snack we had brought from the ship. Although he ate the piece of banana bread like he hadn't eaten in his life, the little boy went and shared it with another boy (his brother maybe?) We felt bad that we had nothing else to give him, but he scampered when an armed man gave him a look. Some of the other ship passengers told us the these children act as "canaries" to see which tourists are ripe for theft, scam or more sophisticated begging from adults. But whatever his motives, that little boy was hungry, so I was glad we had at least something to give him. It made the giant dinner buffet later that evening seem far less appealing. Just the food thrown away from people's plates could have fed his whole village for a week! It really bothered my hubby, so we're looking at sending a little support to a nearby school that was selling handicrafts in the tourist hangar. They help these kids get both literacy skills and a trade so they can have a future.
It was hard to feel excited about Belize City, our next port of call, but things there are very different. They are a third world country, but unlike Guatemala, you got the impression that they are on their way to becoming a second world country. Our guide was excited that Walmart is coming to Belize City. The city itself is an interesting mix. Formerly British Honduras, they have retained English as a first language and have a huge emphasis on school using a British system. (97% of the population are literate.) Their heritage is a mix of British, African slaves brought by the British to harvest the vast mahogany trees back in colonial days and the native Mayan peoples. Generally the people were laid back and seemed pretty happy. Where in Mexico the vendors came across as strident and desperate, the Belizian vendors seems more casual and more interested in us as people then as a source of cash. It could be my bias, but I was far more comfortable in Belize than anywhere else on our trip, including New Orleans. For our adventure, we went to an Eco-park and kayaked through the rainforest. We saw some cool birds, some magnificent iguanas and really enjoyed the flora and fauna. I'd definitely go back!
Finally we went to Costa Maya, Mexico. Costa Maya is a region, not a town, and it had the most incredible beaches. We went to a little beach area where we enjoyed the sand and the ocean and then we took a speed boat out for some high powered fun. Belize and Costa Maya share part of a huge natural coral reef, apparently the second largest in the world, so I almost wish we had done one of the "learn to snorkel" adventures, but my spouse wanted to drive a speed boat so we enjoyed the water that way. I did buy my only Mexican souvenir in Costa Maya...vanilla. It is incredible! I took the suggestions of some friends and bought it from a real liquor store where I could be pretty sure it would be safe and real. I came home and used it in all my holiday baking. Wow! It is so much better than even the "real" vanilla extract you can buy in the stores here. We may have to travel to Mexico regularly to get more!
As much as our cruise opened our horizons and was a lot of fun...it was nice to get home. We got back on the 17th, just in time for me to get organized from Christmas. With only 5 of us, the big turkey dinner isn't that big any more, but it still takes time to shop and prepare. I made two pies, some pizzelles (Italian pressed cookies)and some butter tarts. Other than that I relaxed, enjoyed the holiday music and did mountains of laundry.
Like always, Christmas day was the weird combination of busy, sad and satisfying. I make the effort to do a "traditional" Christmas as much as possible for my parents and grandmother, but once they are gone, I think we will shake things up a bit. I can imagine traveling over the holidays...wouldn't it be powerful to attend a Christmas service in Jerusalem, or spend Christmas day viewing the Taj Mahal, or even lounge around in a fire in a chalet in the Swiss Alps? Maybe in a few years.
Well, this has been a huge update, probably boring, likely unreadable...but it's done and now I can put my focus on being a better blogger in 2007. Happy New year to everyone. Here's to a year of peace, prosperity and following your passion!