We have been so busy these last two weeks! Last week we started our first week of a four week block on Introduction of letters. Fiona's handwriting has improved by leaps and bounds, she plays with the stories I've presented the last couple of weeks and she has mellowed a little in her attitude towards starting. Both Fiona and Anya have a hard time after the weekend to get back into the swing of things, but we have muddled through and come out fine at the end of the week. Even David has commented on how much Fiona's temper has improved over last year. It was common last year after school for Fiona to have tantrums nearing bedtime and to completely lose it by about 8PM. Now, there is a bit of flourish when daddy gets home, but nothing so extreme as the screaming and yelling of old!
Michealmas today and with much of the activities we've done leading up to today has been eye-opening! The stories I have told for both the main lesson and for fall and the story of St. George and the dragon, Archangel Michael and the kite have really been working in Fiona's soul. She has pondered what it means to be really useful, thought about how being brave and doing things that we haven't done before mean we grow ,sometimes grow up. She is seeing things in the world around her differently and in a very profound way that isn't easy to express with words.
Anya these last couple of weeks has been quite a handful. She really needs my attention and has a hard time lately playing for more than 10 minutes at a time without me. I know this is just a stage, since I have been really aware of keeping one day a week very kindergarten-like for Anya and focusing our day around her needs. In addition, she is included in almost all Fiona's studies, crayons in drawing, painting right along with Fiona, but she is just into everything and having a hard time with being told 'no' when she asks for say gum at 8 in the morning. This too shall pass I'm sure.
Our handwork lessons are coming along. Fiona has learned the basics of spinning with a spindle and is almost finished knitting a gnome. She is also making a quilted pillowcase for her friend Chloe who is turning 7 next week, so very busy with all of this. We will also be going on a feildtrip tomorrow to the Greenfield Village Fall Harvest days, I'm very excited about this!
Her recorder lessons are going, but barely. She really can't stand all the clapping and playing the recorder without sitting. The rhythm of music is really challenging for her.
Anyway, that's a bit of an update for now, more later!
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Dad and Desmond Tutu
Sunday, Monday – 9/18-19/05
Slip into the routine easily – Since I don’t have any books except for global studies, I can’t read for the classes. While most of the textbooks are on reserve in the library, they can only be taken out for 1-2 hours, and since many of the students also don’t have books, I don’t want to disrupt their study opportunities. So in class I listen, contribute a bit, and take notes.
Tuesday – 9/20/05
NEPTUNE CAME! Awakened by his minions rolling thru the halls with drums and bells, all polliwogs were called up to the pool for initiation into the ranks of the shellbacks (first time across the equator). We were lined up, covered with some disgusting concoction, dumped into the pool of cold water, and had to kiss a fish and a ring before we were released to a holding tank. Then, everyone was forced to get their heads shaved (if they wanted to). Of course I participated in this torture and am now enrolled into the shellback ranks (I will even have a certificate to prove it).
The rest of the day was taken up with pictures and relaxation. Neptune had declared a holiday from classes.
Saturday – 9/24/05
Today, the executive dean announced that the ship would not dock in Kenya. Apparently, there was some indication off AlQuaida terrorist activities, along with an increase in piracy (a US warship that had been scheduled to stop in the port had been ordered away). In addition, the government had become increasingly unstable in the last few weeks. What a disappointment!! I had been looking forward to my safari quite a lot, and couldn’t see much chance of any good substitute. The dean wasn’t able to tell us what our schedule would be – arrangements had to be made. He did assure us that the scheduled arrival in India, the next stop after Kenya, would be kept.
The rest of this presentation was taken up by a round-table with Archbishop Tutu and a couple of students and professors. Each asked the Archbishop a question or two mostly relating with the Truth & Reconciliation Commission. I’m trying to get hold of a recording of this, because the Archbishop was very impressive in his responses. No luck so far.
Monday – 9/26/05
Came into Capetown harbor this morning – Table Mountain was a distinctive site, and the town is big! We were greeted with the sight of a whale, obviously hired by the Chamber of Commerce, who showed us his tail at least a dozen times, tho some 700 yards away. The pier is surrounded by very civilized amenities - shopping centers, 5-star hotels and restaurants, etc. Immigration was quick, and transparent to the passengers, and I went on my first excursion.
This was a geology tour of the Cape Peninsula, with very good elevated sight lines showing just how big Capetown really was. The lectures, given by an American who emigrated to Capetown and was teaching at the university, was very informative. He explained that the primary under soil material was sandstone, quite thick, which came from sand laid down by either a river delta or boundary islands. This compressed over time, and was then raised up here and there by molten granite breaking thru from the hot spot which lies under much of sub-Saharan Africa.
Also, while there are no volcanoes in S. Africa, they do have earthquakes, which means that the buildings have to be built to withstand them. The trip took us up to Table Mountain (with the midday cannon), then down and around to the South coast to many other bays, including a large ideal looking bay called False Bay (It apparently did not have a good supply of water – or alternatively the mountains around it fooled many navigators into believing it was Cape Town).
We stopped off at the University of Cape Town for a look see – the tour guide is a professor of geology there. In this area, it is the English speaking university – there are two others just outside Cape Town, one that teaches in Afrikans, the other teaches in Zulu (they still haven’t gotten rid of discrimination yet).
The rest of the day, I wandered around the harbor area, window shopping, with some friends. When we got back to the ship, there was an announcement that the Cape Town stop would be extended 2 more days, and our substitute for Kenya would be Mauritius. So far, the only info on this stop is that it is a small island with beaches, well regarded in France for vacations. We will stay there for 3 days, then go on to India, as scheduled.
Slip into the routine easily – Since I don’t have any books except for global studies, I can’t read for the classes. While most of the textbooks are on reserve in the library, they can only be taken out for 1-2 hours, and since many of the students also don’t have books, I don’t want to disrupt their study opportunities. So in class I listen, contribute a bit, and take notes.
Tuesday – 9/20/05
NEPTUNE CAME! Awakened by his minions rolling thru the halls with drums and bells, all polliwogs were called up to the pool for initiation into the ranks of the shellbacks (first time across the equator). We were lined up, covered with some disgusting concoction, dumped into the pool of cold water, and had to kiss a fish and a ring before we were released to a holding tank. Then, everyone was forced to get their heads shaved (if they wanted to). Of course I participated in this torture and am now enrolled into the shellback ranks (I will even have a certificate to prove it).
The rest of the day was taken up with pictures and relaxation. Neptune had declared a holiday from classes.
Saturday – 9/24/05
Today, the executive dean announced that the ship would not dock in Kenya. Apparently, there was some indication off AlQuaida terrorist activities, along with an increase in piracy (a US warship that had been scheduled to stop in the port had been ordered away). In addition, the government had become increasingly unstable in the last few weeks. What a disappointment!! I had been looking forward to my safari quite a lot, and couldn’t see much chance of any good substitute. The dean wasn’t able to tell us what our schedule would be – arrangements had to be made. He did assure us that the scheduled arrival in India, the next stop after Kenya, would be kept.
The rest of this presentation was taken up by a round-table with Archbishop Tutu and a couple of students and professors. Each asked the Archbishop a question or two mostly relating with the Truth & Reconciliation Commission. I’m trying to get hold of a recording of this, because the Archbishop was very impressive in his responses. No luck so far.
Monday – 9/26/05
Came into Capetown harbor this morning – Table Mountain was a distinctive site, and the town is big! We were greeted with the sight of a whale, obviously hired by the Chamber of Commerce, who showed us his tail at least a dozen times, tho some 700 yards away. The pier is surrounded by very civilized amenities - shopping centers, 5-star hotels and restaurants, etc. Immigration was quick, and transparent to the passengers, and I went on my first excursion.
This was a geology tour of the Cape Peninsula, with very good elevated sight lines showing just how big Capetown really was. The lectures, given by an American who emigrated to Capetown and was teaching at the university, was very informative. He explained that the primary under soil material was sandstone, quite thick, which came from sand laid down by either a river delta or boundary islands. This compressed over time, and was then raised up here and there by molten granite breaking thru from the hot spot which lies under much of sub-Saharan Africa.
Also, while there are no volcanoes in S. Africa, they do have earthquakes, which means that the buildings have to be built to withstand them. The trip took us up to Table Mountain (with the midday cannon), then down and around to the South coast to many other bays, including a large ideal looking bay called False Bay (It apparently did not have a good supply of water – or alternatively the mountains around it fooled many navigators into believing it was Cape Town).
We stopped off at the University of Cape Town for a look see – the tour guide is a professor of geology there. In this area, it is the English speaking university – there are two others just outside Cape Town, one that teaches in Afrikans, the other teaches in Zulu (they still haven’t gotten rid of discrimination yet).
The rest of the day, I wandered around the harbor area, window shopping, with some friends. When we got back to the ship, there was an announcement that the Cape Town stop would be extended 2 more days, and our substitute for Kenya would be Mauritius. So far, the only info on this stop is that it is a small island with beaches, well regarded in France for vacations. We will stay there for 3 days, then go on to India, as scheduled.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Dad's further adventures
Saturday – 9/3/05
Up early (6:30) to get breakfast and meet expedition group. 28 in my group – first off the ship. Had to take passport since the destination (upriver on the Caura River) was close to Brazil. No one else was interested, so I didn’t get an entry stamp to Venezuela – Darn!
Bus to airport (Caracas International – but really in LaGuira, the port city). Plane (1 hour) to Puerto Orinoco, then 4-wheel Toyota Land Rovers for 5 hours (interrupted with a lunch stop @2PM as an isolated fishing camp on the Orinoco. This had air conditioned cabins, and many other amenities – we just had lunch (good food) and went on. After the drive, we got into large dugout canoes with motors for a 3 hour ride to the overnight stop. It was dark when we got in. A long hard day!
The camp was on an island in the Caura River, with ‘buildings’ consisting of a roof and open walls. The beds were hammocks which took a while to get used to. Dinner in the dark was again tasty food, followed by some scare stories about anaconda snakes, viewing a tarantula and an amazing starscape, then to bed.
Sunday – 9/4/05
Up early – didn’t sleep well or continuous. Took a look at the river where we had come in in the dark last night. Those river pilots were good! Rocks all over the place with only narrow routes and lost of turns. If any of the boats had hit and tipped over in the dark, it could have been a disaster – many of the students had taken off their safety harnesses, and the current was very swift.
We were visited by a green parrot and a macaw and a family of some kind of chicken-like bird for breakfast – beggers of course. Tasty breakfast. Pack up and on the river again. Man, those dugouts were uncomfortable – hard seat, hard back on some of them, and a not-flat bottom lead to dead butts and strain on back, hips, thighs and feet. Then they also leak, so the bottom was always wet.
More and more of us took off our safety harness so we could sit on them and be a little more comfortable. Today, our first stip was at Crab mountain for a view over the river and tropical forest (the same one that feeds the Amazon). It was about 900 feet up, and in many spots a 60 degree rise. The guide set a hard pace, to the top in 1.5 hours. Many of us, students and adults (me too) were hard pressed to keep up. ½ hour at the top to rest and take some pictures, then back down to the dugouts.
A short ride to a minimal beach for lunch – a rice casarole. The heat and humidity were really getting to everyone, so most of us went into the river for a cool down and rinse. Hard to stay in one place with the current moving so fast. Saw a river dolphin. I hadn’t brought a swim suit, so soaked in my pants.
Back in the boats for 2 hours to an Indian village for dinner and sleep – again in hammocks. The students were in one large dirt floored hut while the adults separated ourselves in a smaller cement floored hut. Dinner was short, and while waiting for it, some of the students played with the children – way too active for the adults. After dinner, the play continued while we went to sleep.
Monday – 9/5/05
Sometime in the middle of the night, we were awakened by a student, who asked for help from the tour leader for a number of students who were suffering from some type of GI distress.. She and her husband are both retired MDs which helped to comfort the students. As the night went on, more and more of the students took sick, so the other adults – myself and one of the professors – had to help out so the doctors could get some rest. Shift on and off the rest of the night – no fun!
The villagers had strung a string from hut to hut so an old blind native could find his way. Needless to say, this string also caught many of us about the head and neck until we got used to looking for it. The bathroom was an outhouse, to be used to sit down, and flush with a bucket. The men were to urinate against any convenient tree. No electricity or running water anywhere. They maintained one hut with craftworks for sale. Got a few things. No apparent native costume
Up in the morning, some of the students quite sick. Many skipped breakfast, a lot of naps. Scheduled to go for walking tour of medicinal and eating plants of the Indians – few went. Also scheduled a bird watching trip on the river – cancelled. After lunch which more attended (naps had helped a lot), back in the boats to go back downriver (much faster) to our next night’s stay.
On the river, I and the other adults started to succumb to the infection – whatever it was. Not serious, but I was overdressed. At one of the stops to rest our weary butts, I fainted from the heat. Changed my shirt, and felt immediate relief. The rest felt I had to be coddled for the rest of the way – I didn’t object. I got to lay down in the boat – a lot more comfortable!
Our overnight stay was downriver where we had originally picked up the boats. This was a very well established ‘camp.’ The buildings were log or cement block, some with beds (the adults and some of the students opted to spend the extra money to get these). The students were mostly in hammocks again – apparently they were getting used to sleeping in them. The cottages also had proper bathrooms with running water (tho not hot).
There were a number of confusing times when everybody tried to pay the extra toll for a room. The proprietress apparently couldn’t understand the conversion value, especially when two currencies were combined. Finally, a good meal, a cool shower, and to bed.
Tuesday – 9/6/05
Again up early, for another good meal, than packed the 4-wheels and on the road. This time we had 3 cars with air conditioning. Adults and sick were placed in these 3, and off we went. We stopped once for fuel, another time for snacks in one of the villages we passed, another for the bathroom, and finally at a privately owned ranch for lunch and a view of some wild animals. Lunch was postponed until we got to the airport, and the animals were a disappointment – most were ill fed and housed. A disappointment.
We got to the airport with about 2.5 hours to wait. Did some shopping and rested in air conditioned comfort. Uneventful flight and bus to the boat. When our backpacks were inspected, the disallowed the small blowpipe I had purchased – broke it in half and threw it away. Excessive bureaucracy! On board and Home, at last! Still an exciting and interesting trip, not including illness.
Wednesday – 9/7/05
Today and tomorrow are the last days to pick classes to attend. I have settled on 3 communication classes (interpersonal, intercultural and non-verbal) and one on Islamic thought. This in addition to the Global Studies which everyone must attend. Thankfully. Adults do not have to complete homework or take exams. Just the classwork is educational enough.
Settling into the routine is comforting. Since we set sail last night, we have already come 185 nautical miles, heading E off the coast of Venezuela. Am gradually meeting the rest of the staff and adults on the trip – all are interesting in their own way. We have one passenger, a lady in her 80’s, who has been on about 16 of these trips so far. She never leaves the ship but stays on board the whole way. We are gradually getting stories from her, especially about the excitement on the Spring ’05 voyage.
Thursday – 9/8/05
Routine, but I found out today that I didn’t have to wait for the scheduled laundry day since I am an adult passenger – so sent my bag out. Each bag is $5 just to wash, so it is economical to send it out full. This time, it was full to bursting, and quite aromatic, since it included my shore trip clothes.
Saturday – 9/10/05
There are no weekends on this voyage – just spring breaks every week (shore trips). So school goes on. In the meantime, the adult passengers had a wine raising to a couple (Betty and Bob Wittemore) celebrating their 1st anniversary – in their 60s. And a birthday. Than the crew prepared and served a barbeque on the pool deck – quite a spread, and a very jolly time by all. A good break, especially since many had been suffering from mal-de-mer because of the rough seas.
There is a program – adopt a family – that pairs adults up with students if they sigh up to get a mentor – sympathetic ear. I was assigned 3 students, and met them tonight. Marshall Burt from Colorado, looking to join the Coast Guard, Ashley Hughes who is following her sister and aunt on Semester at Sea, from PA, and Kate Troiana, from the Cape in MA, who is suffering from homesickness, Larium and a little sea sickness. She will take a little looking after for a while.
Sunday – 9/11/05
Routine – classes, etc. The school schedule is set up while on board as A days and B days, with different classes set as A or B classes. So there is always an even number of A days and B days between ports. If the number of days at sea is uneven, the schedule establishes a free day. Global Studies, which is required for everyone on board except the crew, is given every day, and I am taking two A classes and two B classes.
They have given us a short Bio of Desmond Tutu, who is scheduled to be the port-tp-port lecturer from Brazil to South Africa. Looking forward to that!
Monday – 9/12/05
They have saddled me with being head proctor in one of the dining rooms for the first exam in Global Studies. I’m proctoring 115 students, with 3 assistants. My voice is not quite enuf for that large a room, but what the heck. The hardest part was the alphabetizing of the answer sheets before turning them in. All went OK.
No other exams for my classes. Routine rest of the day.
Tuesday – 9/13/05
Landfall – a different procedure at immigration. First, we anchored outside the bay for a medical clearance. Than into the dock, where immigration came aboard, and required all passengers to present their face and passport for comparison. Went well and relatively quickly.
My first shore excursion was to the Afro-Brazilian Museum, which concentrated on the history of slavery, and the synthesized black religion, called Condoble. The guide knew her stuff. One big difference between the slaves brought to Brazil and those brought to America was that most of them came from a few areas of the West coast of Africa, and kept their language, and religion, which did not distinguish between male and female heads. However, since they were not allowed to practice their own religion, the blacks incorporated the saints of the RC church into their hierarchy of spirits, and celebrated their spirits under the RC saints’ names.
Condoble is considered a monotheistic religion, but they don’t celebrate the primary creator as Christians do – they believe that the prime creator created other spirits (somewhat like angels) who were to then go on to create the things within their responsibility. There are 16 of these spirits who are considered prior, but they believe that there are hundreds of them.
These spirits manifest themselves to the people by possessing some of the initiates, One spirit can possess more than one receptive person at a time, and there is some tension between some of the spirits, so when both of these are present at the same time, the worshipers can feel the tension.
The next stop was at a Condoble compound. Within this one particular compound, which is one of the largest in Salvador, there are separate ‘chapels’ to each of the spirits who regularly possesses one of the initiates who belong to this ‘parish’. They also have an elementary school, which is open to the children of the ‘parish’ as well as children whose families are not believers. Besides the school, there were two crafts practiced in separate buildings – weaving of cloth and dolls of the spirits. There were also a number of residences (small, one or two room) where some of the families of the initiates lived, and several elderly members of the ‘parish’.
Back to the ship, where only one dining room was open because most of the students and staff were out on the town or on their own excursion.
Wednesday – 9/14/05
This morning we had to get up around 4AM to catch a 6:30 flight to Rio, where my group was scheduled to stay for 4 days, 3 nights. Found out that our group was bumped off the direct flight – we would have to change planes in Brazilia. But on the way back, we would get the non-stop flight. As it was, our flight took 5 hours, instead of the 2 that had been originally scheduled.
When we got to Rio, it started to rain. And after lunch it was pouring, so we rescheduled the trip up to Sugar Loan to Friday. The lunch was at a restaurant on Copacabana Beach, and was a fantastic spread – buffet style for the appetizers, and they included everything – salads, seafood, cooked and raw. Then after we had eaten that, the servers brought around the meat – on skewers, from which they carved portions at the table – and they had all kinds and cuts of meat, with a couple of fish and frogs legs just for variety. That turned out to be a lot of protein!
Since we missed the Sugar Loaf, we went to the hotel to register, and were greeted with drinks and an invitation to visit a jewelry factory, which a lot of us accepted. An impressive operation, and I an the other adult ended up buying, at what we think are good prices, some jewelry.
The other adult on this trip was the trip leader, and her background was as a comptroller, i.e. bookkeeper-accountant. She is a very nice lady, but fulfilled the stereotype – very detail oriented, and a worry wart. She and the tour guide in Rio succeeded in convincing everyone that the streets were dangerous, both day and night, so no one went out on their own, and we all took taxis at night instead of walking. I later learned that their care was slightly exaggerated, but the warnings kept me in at night.
The weather in Rio, being early spring, was cooler than many of the kids had planned for – they were dressed in shorts and T-shirts, which was suitable for Salvador, but not for Rio. Luckily, most of the afternoons the weather was in the low 70’s, so comfortable.
Thursday – 9/15/05
Up at a civilized hour, with a good breakfast. Our first stop for the day was the site of the Carnaval parade. There was a display of costumes, some of which could be tried on (over clothes). The site is permanent, 1 ½ miles long, lined with grandstands. There are 12 ‘schools’ of samba clubs, each of which has around 5000 members, who compete for first place prize, which is mostly prestige. But they are serious enough to spend a whole year preparing. Of course, Carnaval is not limited to this one site, but this is the place for the formal celebration.
Later, we continued our city tour, which covered a number of neighborhoods, expensive, or artist colonies. When we stopped for lunch, there was an impromptu samba demonstration – two drummers and a guitar. Since our guide loved samba, she wanted everybody to take part. Lunch itself was similar to yesterday’s, but the beer came in 1 liter bottles instead of the familiar 12 oz.
After lunch, we jumped into 4 wheel drive jeeps that held 10 in the back in facing seats, for a trip up to the Christ statue. The statue is in a national park, which has very few birds. Apparently, the capuchin monkeys which were imported to Rio, eat all the bird eggs, so there are more birds in the city than in this park.
The statue is @ 650 meters higher than the city, so the temperature is about 5 degrees cooler, and much less humid, than in the city. Since I had prepared for cool weather, I was overdressed for the city, but very comfortable up the mountain. The statue is impressive, and the surrounding views were spectacular.
After the statue, we went back down to the city to attend a samba class to be given by a professional choreographer, Jaime Aroxa. A very good lesson, lots of fun, wore me out. When we returned to the hotel, I was so tired I slept through to the early hours.
Friday – 9/16/05
Up relaxed in the morning, leisurely breakfast, then went shopping in a nearby mall – very familiar. I didn’t find what I was looking for, but had a pleasant walk. Lunch was on our own, but I wasn’t hungry. The tour than continued with our trip up to Sugar Loaf, via 2 cable cars. Good views at the first stop, but at the top the clouds were low lying, so only caught glimpses when the wind blew a hole.
Our next stop was at a drumming school for lessons in Brazilian rhythms. After a rather labyrinthine route thru an old warehouse (converted to a music club), we got to a basement room where we were met by a rhythm group, with lots of extra percussion instruments – drums (base and kettle), gourds with beads on the outside, tube with beads on the inside, and a large bell. We all picked up one of them, and started making music. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the bottle of cotton balls until the first exercise was completed, so my ears rang for a while. Lots of fun!
Then dropped of at the hotel, for dinner on our own, which was OK but not as good as the first lunch. And to bed.
Saturday – 9/17/05
The only scheduled activity was returning to the ship, so a relaxed morning, but to the airport, and a non-stop flight to Salvador. On the ship for dinner and back to the routine. Archbishop Tutu joined the ship’s company tonite – everyone is looking forward to his presence and contribution.
Up early (6:30) to get breakfast and meet expedition group. 28 in my group – first off the ship. Had to take passport since the destination (upriver on the Caura River) was close to Brazil. No one else was interested, so I didn’t get an entry stamp to Venezuela – Darn!
Bus to airport (Caracas International – but really in LaGuira, the port city). Plane (1 hour) to Puerto Orinoco, then 4-wheel Toyota Land Rovers for 5 hours (interrupted with a lunch stop @2PM as an isolated fishing camp on the Orinoco. This had air conditioned cabins, and many other amenities – we just had lunch (good food) and went on. After the drive, we got into large dugout canoes with motors for a 3 hour ride to the overnight stop. It was dark when we got in. A long hard day!
The camp was on an island in the Caura River, with ‘buildings’ consisting of a roof and open walls. The beds were hammocks which took a while to get used to. Dinner in the dark was again tasty food, followed by some scare stories about anaconda snakes, viewing a tarantula and an amazing starscape, then to bed.
Sunday – 9/4/05
Up early – didn’t sleep well or continuous. Took a look at the river where we had come in in the dark last night. Those river pilots were good! Rocks all over the place with only narrow routes and lost of turns. If any of the boats had hit and tipped over in the dark, it could have been a disaster – many of the students had taken off their safety harnesses, and the current was very swift.
We were visited by a green parrot and a macaw and a family of some kind of chicken-like bird for breakfast – beggers of course. Tasty breakfast. Pack up and on the river again. Man, those dugouts were uncomfortable – hard seat, hard back on some of them, and a not-flat bottom lead to dead butts and strain on back, hips, thighs and feet. Then they also leak, so the bottom was always wet.
More and more of us took off our safety harness so we could sit on them and be a little more comfortable. Today, our first stip was at Crab mountain for a view over the river and tropical forest (the same one that feeds the Amazon). It was about 900 feet up, and in many spots a 60 degree rise. The guide set a hard pace, to the top in 1.5 hours. Many of us, students and adults (me too) were hard pressed to keep up. ½ hour at the top to rest and take some pictures, then back down to the dugouts.
A short ride to a minimal beach for lunch – a rice casarole. The heat and humidity were really getting to everyone, so most of us went into the river for a cool down and rinse. Hard to stay in one place with the current moving so fast. Saw a river dolphin. I hadn’t brought a swim suit, so soaked in my pants.
Back in the boats for 2 hours to an Indian village for dinner and sleep – again in hammocks. The students were in one large dirt floored hut while the adults separated ourselves in a smaller cement floored hut. Dinner was short, and while waiting for it, some of the students played with the children – way too active for the adults. After dinner, the play continued while we went to sleep.
Monday – 9/5/05
Sometime in the middle of the night, we were awakened by a student, who asked for help from the tour leader for a number of students who were suffering from some type of GI distress.. She and her husband are both retired MDs which helped to comfort the students. As the night went on, more and more of the students took sick, so the other adults – myself and one of the professors – had to help out so the doctors could get some rest. Shift on and off the rest of the night – no fun!
The villagers had strung a string from hut to hut so an old blind native could find his way. Needless to say, this string also caught many of us about the head and neck until we got used to looking for it. The bathroom was an outhouse, to be used to sit down, and flush with a bucket. The men were to urinate against any convenient tree. No electricity or running water anywhere. They maintained one hut with craftworks for sale. Got a few things. No apparent native costume
Up in the morning, some of the students quite sick. Many skipped breakfast, a lot of naps. Scheduled to go for walking tour of medicinal and eating plants of the Indians – few went. Also scheduled a bird watching trip on the river – cancelled. After lunch which more attended (naps had helped a lot), back in the boats to go back downriver (much faster) to our next night’s stay.
On the river, I and the other adults started to succumb to the infection – whatever it was. Not serious, but I was overdressed. At one of the stops to rest our weary butts, I fainted from the heat. Changed my shirt, and felt immediate relief. The rest felt I had to be coddled for the rest of the way – I didn’t object. I got to lay down in the boat – a lot more comfortable!
Our overnight stay was downriver where we had originally picked up the boats. This was a very well established ‘camp.’ The buildings were log or cement block, some with beds (the adults and some of the students opted to spend the extra money to get these). The students were mostly in hammocks again – apparently they were getting used to sleeping in them. The cottages also had proper bathrooms with running water (tho not hot).
There were a number of confusing times when everybody tried to pay the extra toll for a room. The proprietress apparently couldn’t understand the conversion value, especially when two currencies were combined. Finally, a good meal, a cool shower, and to bed.
Tuesday – 9/6/05
Again up early, for another good meal, than packed the 4-wheels and on the road. This time we had 3 cars with air conditioning. Adults and sick were placed in these 3, and off we went. We stopped once for fuel, another time for snacks in one of the villages we passed, another for the bathroom, and finally at a privately owned ranch for lunch and a view of some wild animals. Lunch was postponed until we got to the airport, and the animals were a disappointment – most were ill fed and housed. A disappointment.
We got to the airport with about 2.5 hours to wait. Did some shopping and rested in air conditioned comfort. Uneventful flight and bus to the boat. When our backpacks were inspected, the disallowed the small blowpipe I had purchased – broke it in half and threw it away. Excessive bureaucracy! On board and Home, at last! Still an exciting and interesting trip, not including illness.
Wednesday – 9/7/05
Today and tomorrow are the last days to pick classes to attend. I have settled on 3 communication classes (interpersonal, intercultural and non-verbal) and one on Islamic thought. This in addition to the Global Studies which everyone must attend. Thankfully. Adults do not have to complete homework or take exams. Just the classwork is educational enough.
Settling into the routine is comforting. Since we set sail last night, we have already come 185 nautical miles, heading E off the coast of Venezuela. Am gradually meeting the rest of the staff and adults on the trip – all are interesting in their own way. We have one passenger, a lady in her 80’s, who has been on about 16 of these trips so far. She never leaves the ship but stays on board the whole way. We are gradually getting stories from her, especially about the excitement on the Spring ’05 voyage.
Thursday – 9/8/05
Routine, but I found out today that I didn’t have to wait for the scheduled laundry day since I am an adult passenger – so sent my bag out. Each bag is $5 just to wash, so it is economical to send it out full. This time, it was full to bursting, and quite aromatic, since it included my shore trip clothes.
Saturday – 9/10/05
There are no weekends on this voyage – just spring breaks every week (shore trips). So school goes on. In the meantime, the adult passengers had a wine raising to a couple (Betty and Bob Wittemore) celebrating their 1st anniversary – in their 60s. And a birthday. Than the crew prepared and served a barbeque on the pool deck – quite a spread, and a very jolly time by all. A good break, especially since many had been suffering from mal-de-mer because of the rough seas.
There is a program – adopt a family – that pairs adults up with students if they sigh up to get a mentor – sympathetic ear. I was assigned 3 students, and met them tonight. Marshall Burt from Colorado, looking to join the Coast Guard, Ashley Hughes who is following her sister and aunt on Semester at Sea, from PA, and Kate Troiana, from the Cape in MA, who is suffering from homesickness, Larium and a little sea sickness. She will take a little looking after for a while.
Sunday – 9/11/05
Routine – classes, etc. The school schedule is set up while on board as A days and B days, with different classes set as A or B classes. So there is always an even number of A days and B days between ports. If the number of days at sea is uneven, the schedule establishes a free day. Global Studies, which is required for everyone on board except the crew, is given every day, and I am taking two A classes and two B classes.
They have given us a short Bio of Desmond Tutu, who is scheduled to be the port-tp-port lecturer from Brazil to South Africa. Looking forward to that!
Monday – 9/12/05
They have saddled me with being head proctor in one of the dining rooms for the first exam in Global Studies. I’m proctoring 115 students, with 3 assistants. My voice is not quite enuf for that large a room, but what the heck. The hardest part was the alphabetizing of the answer sheets before turning them in. All went OK.
No other exams for my classes. Routine rest of the day.
Tuesday – 9/13/05
Landfall – a different procedure at immigration. First, we anchored outside the bay for a medical clearance. Than into the dock, where immigration came aboard, and required all passengers to present their face and passport for comparison. Went well and relatively quickly.
My first shore excursion was to the Afro-Brazilian Museum, which concentrated on the history of slavery, and the synthesized black religion, called Condoble. The guide knew her stuff. One big difference between the slaves brought to Brazil and those brought to America was that most of them came from a few areas of the West coast of Africa, and kept their language, and religion, which did not distinguish between male and female heads. However, since they were not allowed to practice their own religion, the blacks incorporated the saints of the RC church into their hierarchy of spirits, and celebrated their spirits under the RC saints’ names.
Condoble is considered a monotheistic religion, but they don’t celebrate the primary creator as Christians do – they believe that the prime creator created other spirits (somewhat like angels) who were to then go on to create the things within their responsibility. There are 16 of these spirits who are considered prior, but they believe that there are hundreds of them.
These spirits manifest themselves to the people by possessing some of the initiates, One spirit can possess more than one receptive person at a time, and there is some tension between some of the spirits, so when both of these are present at the same time, the worshipers can feel the tension.
The next stop was at a Condoble compound. Within this one particular compound, which is one of the largest in Salvador, there are separate ‘chapels’ to each of the spirits who regularly possesses one of the initiates who belong to this ‘parish’. They also have an elementary school, which is open to the children of the ‘parish’ as well as children whose families are not believers. Besides the school, there were two crafts practiced in separate buildings – weaving of cloth and dolls of the spirits. There were also a number of residences (small, one or two room) where some of the families of the initiates lived, and several elderly members of the ‘parish’.
Back to the ship, where only one dining room was open because most of the students and staff were out on the town or on their own excursion.
Wednesday – 9/14/05
This morning we had to get up around 4AM to catch a 6:30 flight to Rio, where my group was scheduled to stay for 4 days, 3 nights. Found out that our group was bumped off the direct flight – we would have to change planes in Brazilia. But on the way back, we would get the non-stop flight. As it was, our flight took 5 hours, instead of the 2 that had been originally scheduled.
When we got to Rio, it started to rain. And after lunch it was pouring, so we rescheduled the trip up to Sugar Loan to Friday. The lunch was at a restaurant on Copacabana Beach, and was a fantastic spread – buffet style for the appetizers, and they included everything – salads, seafood, cooked and raw. Then after we had eaten that, the servers brought around the meat – on skewers, from which they carved portions at the table – and they had all kinds and cuts of meat, with a couple of fish and frogs legs just for variety. That turned out to be a lot of protein!
Since we missed the Sugar Loaf, we went to the hotel to register, and were greeted with drinks and an invitation to visit a jewelry factory, which a lot of us accepted. An impressive operation, and I an the other adult ended up buying, at what we think are good prices, some jewelry.
The other adult on this trip was the trip leader, and her background was as a comptroller, i.e. bookkeeper-accountant. She is a very nice lady, but fulfilled the stereotype – very detail oriented, and a worry wart. She and the tour guide in Rio succeeded in convincing everyone that the streets were dangerous, both day and night, so no one went out on their own, and we all took taxis at night instead of walking. I later learned that their care was slightly exaggerated, but the warnings kept me in at night.
The weather in Rio, being early spring, was cooler than many of the kids had planned for – they were dressed in shorts and T-shirts, which was suitable for Salvador, but not for Rio. Luckily, most of the afternoons the weather was in the low 70’s, so comfortable.
Thursday – 9/15/05
Up at a civilized hour, with a good breakfast. Our first stop for the day was the site of the Carnaval parade. There was a display of costumes, some of which could be tried on (over clothes). The site is permanent, 1 ½ miles long, lined with grandstands. There are 12 ‘schools’ of samba clubs, each of which has around 5000 members, who compete for first place prize, which is mostly prestige. But they are serious enough to spend a whole year preparing. Of course, Carnaval is not limited to this one site, but this is the place for the formal celebration.
Later, we continued our city tour, which covered a number of neighborhoods, expensive, or artist colonies. When we stopped for lunch, there was an impromptu samba demonstration – two drummers and a guitar. Since our guide loved samba, she wanted everybody to take part. Lunch itself was similar to yesterday’s, but the beer came in 1 liter bottles instead of the familiar 12 oz.
After lunch, we jumped into 4 wheel drive jeeps that held 10 in the back in facing seats, for a trip up to the Christ statue. The statue is in a national park, which has very few birds. Apparently, the capuchin monkeys which were imported to Rio, eat all the bird eggs, so there are more birds in the city than in this park.
The statue is @ 650 meters higher than the city, so the temperature is about 5 degrees cooler, and much less humid, than in the city. Since I had prepared for cool weather, I was overdressed for the city, but very comfortable up the mountain. The statue is impressive, and the surrounding views were spectacular.
After the statue, we went back down to the city to attend a samba class to be given by a professional choreographer, Jaime Aroxa. A very good lesson, lots of fun, wore me out. When we returned to the hotel, I was so tired I slept through to the early hours.
Friday – 9/16/05
Up relaxed in the morning, leisurely breakfast, then went shopping in a nearby mall – very familiar. I didn’t find what I was looking for, but had a pleasant walk. Lunch was on our own, but I wasn’t hungry. The tour than continued with our trip up to Sugar Loaf, via 2 cable cars. Good views at the first stop, but at the top the clouds were low lying, so only caught glimpses when the wind blew a hole.
Our next stop was at a drumming school for lessons in Brazilian rhythms. After a rather labyrinthine route thru an old warehouse (converted to a music club), we got to a basement room where we were met by a rhythm group, with lots of extra percussion instruments – drums (base and kettle), gourds with beads on the outside, tube with beads on the inside, and a large bell. We all picked up one of them, and started making music. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the bottle of cotton balls until the first exercise was completed, so my ears rang for a while. Lots of fun!
Then dropped of at the hotel, for dinner on our own, which was OK but not as good as the first lunch. And to bed.
Saturday – 9/17/05
The only scheduled activity was returning to the ship, so a relaxed morning, but to the airport, and a non-stop flight to Salvador. On the ship for dinner and back to the routine. Archbishop Tutu joined the ship’s company tonite – everyone is looking forward to his presence and contribution.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
What a whirlwind!
I have been elated, exhausted, exasperated and am feeling so secure in the knowledge that this was the right decision for my family.
We've finished our first 2 week main lesson block on form drawing. Fiona is awesome at this! She is very much a perfectionist, so this main lesson did display that tending in its entirety. There were tears, jumping for joy as well as acting like a noodle or dead fish flopping on the floor. As I write this I am laughing about it all.
We also had our first day at our homeschooling co-op. The families are really awesome, and all the classes are geared with a Waldorf grace even if many of the families don't use a Waldorf as their curriculum. She loved being with her new friends, having that fun in a group, I really think this will be so worthwhile this year! She can't wait to go back next week, I think they will be doing a small play in addition to cooking and preparing their own snack and continuing with some fall science projects, very fun!
The co-op also is great for Anya as there are activities for her to attend and participate in and it gives me a chance to spend all my attention on Anya when I'm not instructing a class.
We have also started learning to play the recorder. I say we since I am new to it as well, though I do read music so it hasn't been too difficult. Fiona has done much better following rhythm and her ability to play the first piece has improved. Anya has enjoyed singing along with us and 'playing' her own recorder.
The handwork lesson has been awesome and my favorite. It is late in the day during Anya's nap and gives us some nice close time. Fiona has sewn a recorder case, and because she now knows how to sew, during her free time she has many times chosen to sew up some projects with some scrap fabric of mine. Fiona also decided she wanted to make a doll quilt and spent some of her allowance money she had saved on fabric for it. We'll be starting on the quilt tomorrow. We also started knitting a new project. First Fiona made her own knitting needles and finished them with beeswax. Now she has almost finished knitting a gnome doll, very exciting. Fiona knew how to knit last year and her skill has improved greatly.
Next week we start our language arts main lesson block and it will last 4 weeks. I am so excited and a bit daunted by this. During this main lesson block I will introduce the alphabet (upper and lower case) with a story . Then Fiona will create a picture involving the story as well as the letters. Fiona will also be copying short phrases into her book using those letters. The daunting part of this is the amount of memorization I need to do. I will be telling an ongoing story about a prince on adventure as well as many faity tales. I will also be using puppets/dolls to illustrate these stories. Lots of work, but well worth it.
Anya has been good and bad these last 2 weeks. On the days after a good nights sleep, she has been awesome, albeit a toddler (sometimes the toilet is just too tempting). On the days when shrieking and crying are prevalent, I have been at the end of my rope a bit, but, I just adjust the rhythm of the day for Anya and we have done some of the lessons after Daddy gets home.
These next few weeks will be busy with field trips, dance lessons, soccer, girlscouts, co-op and Gaelic lessons in addition to regular school work, but our days have been filled with lots of laughter to temper the fits. Our nights have been calm and we all sit down to dinner each night. So I think there is a balance here, one which I hope to continue...
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
The first day of school
We have had a wonderful time so far! Fiona was excited and happy to finally begin schoolwork and loves finding 'cool stuff' to bring home on our morning walks. I made the nature table for autumn and Fiona has said how pretty the table is.We started with some daily chores about the house, had a walk. Found lots of straight and curvy things (though Fiona wasn't interested in finding them at first, but by the end of the walk was pointing away). Anya has also joined in to the frey, picking up sticks etc., though she was more interested in her stuffed dog and talking to "the puppy" than anything else. I thought I'd keep my walks on the short side, for my backs' sake since Anya has decided the stroller sucks about 15 minutes into a walk and won't walk more than 5 min. I asked her to speed up a bit and she sat down, hmmm. Anyway once how we used our whole body moving and singing, warming and waking everything up and got to our main lesson. For the next 2 weeks it will be form drawing (see an earlier post for a brief description) and got out chalk on the driveway and drew lots of big forms. Fiona had some amount of fun, but mostly thought it was kind of silly. She did have fun with the game we played where I drew on her back and she drew the forms on the driveway in chalk.
Then we went inside and shaped some beeswax in the straight and curved forms and placed them on the nature table. Fiona really got into using the beeswax , although she was a bit frustrated that it wasn't soft at first and had to hold it to soften it. I told her a little story about an old woman who walked hunched over (like the curve ) and her three young tall daughters and their adventure in the wood. By the time the story was done, the wax was soft.
After we finished our main lesson we had a snack and made some bread with Anya. Then Fi and Anya played a bit. Anya took a nap and we started our next lesson. For the next 2 weeks she is learning to play the pentatonic recorder and Fiona's recorder lesson was a bit of a disaster. Fi thought she would be learning to play the piano, not that recorder(!) and why do we have to practice singing and playing clapping games anyway! Well, Anya woke up and I started to sing some songs with her, Fi joined in, reluctantly. She did like the rhythm/clapping/stomping game and we went on like this for @20 min. Fiona begged and begged to learn piano and saw the row row row your boat music at the piano (we had also sung it) so I did teach her a bit. I kept all my instruction to numbering my fingers (5) and flow me (imitation). Much screaming and tears later, she satisfied herself by being able to play the first half of the song. Uhg!
Thankfully I planned to go out to lunch with her best buddy Chloe (1/2 day of school) and also have a little celebration for Anya (she turned 2 today!) This was a very good idea, Fiona relaxed, had Chloe over after for a couple hours play time and was much more cooperative. I have noticed that Fiona (and most girls I know this sge) get very wound up about their birthday, anything exciting that is going to happen including the first day of school. I guess I thought that since this was at home there wouldn't be so much nervous energy, but there was! Oh boy.
Even with all this, we all had a great day. Fiona and I finished the day after dinner with some handiwork. She finished her recorder case and did a bit more on her latch hook pillow she's making for Anya. I hope we have more days like this!
Friday, September 02, 2005
My dad's adventure
I may trasfer this to a different blogg eventually, but for now I wanted to post my dad's journal of his trip and will update as he sends more:
SAS Journal – 2005
8/27/05
The Adventure begins!
It starts with a pleasant ride to the airport with Ann discussing generational viewpoint and biases, leaving behind a number of jobs undone with the truck and RV. Checked in and thru security without a problem and in about 1 hour. Nothing different until we were on the runway, and took off about 10 minutes late. Arrived in Miami 15 minutes late, and I had to exit the secure area and check-in at Continental. Fortunately, they had changed the flight number and time, so while I started rushed, I ended with plenty of time, especially since that flight took off 10 minutes later than scheduled.
I didn’t feel like I was on an adventure until I was over the Atlantic in the Continental turbojet. Now started the new experiences. I met a couple of students also going on SAS while waiting for my luggage. Unfortunately, after getting thru immigration, I found that my luggage hadn’t kept up. Apparently, the number of students coming in to the Island with 2 heavy bags had overloaded a number of flights. After going thru the paperwork, had a pleasant ride to the hotel Atlantis on Paradise Island. After check-in and settling into the room – without luggage – did a small walk-around and dinner, since I was without lunch.
While at the restaurant, I discovered that my usual libation was not easy to order. Trying to say “dry vodka gibson on the rocks” didn’t translate very well. The first waitress thought I said “rye Gibson” so gave me one made with Jamesons. She corrected the error. The second thought I said “dry vodka gimlet” so when she brought the drink with a lime in it instead of onions, I mentioned this difference and she took it away and returned with onions – I suffered thru that gimlet.
While waiting at the bar for a table, I met a man who expressed sympathy for my wrong drinks. Since he was drinking champaign, I asked him what the occasion was. Turns out he was a butler on a night off. We were discussing his job when I was called away to the table. He worked for a couple on the West side of the island, running an establishment with 47 servants – inside and outside. I went back to the bar after dinner, and he was still there, but talking with a lady so I didn’t feel free to get more details of his job since I was very curious.
I have discovered that this hotel – I guess being a resort – is definitely a la carte. They charge for everything extra, and they consider everything extra– internet, local phone, and graciously add a 15% gratuity to all services. Thank goodness, they do allow you to add to the gratuity (which I do, very occasionally).
I returned to my room, and after struggling a while, went to bed, at 9:30 EDT. (BTW, the time on these islands is either EDT or a time zone which is 1 hour later, but not daylight savings.) Hot and humid!!
8/28/05
Boring! And a little stinky and sticky. Mostly waiting for my luggage, which finally showed up around 8PM. In the meantime, just wandering around exploring, checking back with the bellhops every 30-45 minutes.
After getting both bags, freshening up and changing clothes, went down to the lobby where a lot of SAS students and parents were meeting up and planning the evening. Met a couple of parents, PA $ WI, here to see their children off. They weren’t aware of senior adult passengers, and were curious about my life.
Back to my room around 11, and to bed.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Homeschooling is all about family
One of the things I've read,and totally agree with, is that homeschooling is about family. Well the last couple of days has been just that. You plan your days and lessons, and some days go easily, some hard but always there are diversions. Yesterday on our nature walk, a crew was cutting down a tree, so we sat and watched for 20 minutes as a man climbed the tree and cut down huge limbs, much to the chagrin of both my daughters. So we didn't get to the recorder case until Thursday.
It has amazed me just how much you can get done with your child when you aren't intructing other students at the same time! This gives me a lot of hope for this year as I wanted it to be low key and not such a ridgid schedule. At the same time we need to cover certain things this year and I am hoping to do some additional work with rhyming and memorization of poems and verses as well as getting a bit deeper into math than first grade curriculum has scheduled.
The recorder case Fiona is almost finished with one side of and should finish up the other side Saturday. Tonight she is having sleepover fun with a friend, so once again, homeschooling allows for flexibility and family fun in a way I am just beginning to see.
I have lots of work to do this weekend on our main lesson area (in the front of the house, recently remodeled) and our nature table. I want Fiona to feel just how special her first day of formal school is!
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