Locals

We stopped at islands in the Caribbean after we stopped at small cities/villages in the Amazon; we were able to see lots of local people. 

First I must qualify this post. I HATE ocean cruises. I repeat, I HATE ocean cruises!  I only went on this one because it cruised up the Amazon River for most of its 1,000 miles. Something I would never be able to see unless I stayed in one of those villages for some time.  This ship held 900 people.  It was one of the smaller ships, but still WAY TO BIG.  

Ours was the "small" ship on the left.

When these floating giants come into a port the entire energy of the island or small city changes.  They see us as people who come to spend money (hopefully) and then leave before the day is over and we see them as very poor folks that make handicrafts and are very slow in service at the restaurants and can also be thieves.  (Two of the women on our cruise wore jewelry into a local fish market and were robbed...I know, they were idiots.)  

We descend like leaf-cutter ants as we swarm into their churches, museums and food places.  One of our 900 said they thought the 20-minute tour of the local museum was too long!  It was mostly history and political leader information and one of the few things they could show to us of interest.

Along the Amazon stops tourism via cruise ship is a brand new venture and they are struggling to learn enough English and to provide things that we want to buy, or see, or do. This is not just a hobby for them, this means they have food for their children and can repair their fishing boats! I will NEVER forget the haunting face of the small man in his late 40's who wanted to peddle us around the town, but the rain was too heavy for us to consider it. We gave him some money anyway, but that face...that face will never leave my mind. It is an ancient story.

It is a double-edged sword, this tourism thing. One of the talks about the tribes (100s) of the Amazon forest broke them down into three groups. Those who wanted nothing to do with outsiders and would shoot you with poison arrows as they retreated deeper into the forest, those who were willing to meet briefly with leaders to trade handicrafts/food for things they needed, and those who were making an effort to meld into the Western culture so that their children might have an 'easier' life and lived at the edge of the forest. 

The Amazon forest, referred to as the lungs of Brazil and the whole continent, is being destroyed by both drug cartels and illegal loggers on a daily basis. It started with rubber barons 100 years ago.  Seventy-eight million acres are lost annually to a forest that is currently 2.124 million mi² and there seems to be no slowing of this with the current levels of corruption in the government.  It is a sad story and an old story and I do not regret that I saw it.

Here is a good Ted Talk to leave you in a more optimistic state of mind:

https://www.ted.com/talks/sebastiao_salgado_the_silent_drama_of_photography

No Time to Be Bored

At the beginning of the day, you turned on your TV to see where you were after traveling all night; and then your looked at your 'personal' daily schedule on the same TV so you did not miss anything you had signed up for.

The generic daily schedule for each day on this cruise was placed on your bed the night before while you were at dinner.  It was filled with items of interest, or not.  You never had an excuse to be bored.

Hubby took in many of the music shows at 9:30 while I headed to bed, but I did take in the magic show which was exceptional on that small stage.

You could actually just spend time on your tiny balcony and watch the horizon go by while you read a good book. If you forgot to bring a book there were LOTS of great titles to explore on the ship.  These below were in the Explorer's Room.

Note how 'tightly' packed they are on the shelf, someone works hard at that.  Each book is marked inside with a label of the lounge from which it was taken.  The Explorer's Lounge had books about explorers and exploration, of course.

The first few days the seas were rough and we adapted and got our sea legs or in some cases took Dramamine. I did not get seasick as that happens to me on the smaller boats.  The rest of the cruise was perfect in terms of ocean smoothness.

Most customers on the boat were "elitists" in the sense that they valued expertise and education and wanted to learn more about the culture, geography, and economy of the areas we were visiting.  This did not mean that they did not politely challenge some of the conclusions of the lecturers.  

There was always music playing somewhere!  There was always wine and soft drinks being served everywhere.

Yes, that is a view of the mouth of the AMAZON once we had moved up into it a couple of hundred miles.

There were cooking classes and dance classes and we took a small part of both.  The dance classes were free and the cooking classes were $30 each which coved the cost of the food.

If the day was too rainy for sipping wine on the bow or stern you could take your iPad or laptop and walk the public areas and learn all about the Norwegian art on board by following an audio website as well as check out the historic artifacts in the small onboard Viking museum.

They did have a lot of Munch art and I am not a fan of his, unfortunately.  Edvard Munch was most famous for "The Scream"  and moved through a number of styles in his lifetime.  (Note the audio clue next to the painting.)

If you got tired of the lectures and the shows and musicals and even the late night dancing in the little nightclub at the bow, you could go to bed and watch movies, or a few news programs or Ted Talks that had been pre-selected to match the cruise!  Then you could be rocked to sleep by the waves (gently).

At the Beginning

Some of my readers (I have readers!) like to live vicariously and asked that I post about this cruise.  Therefore, those of you who have no interest in looking at a slideshow of my travels, you can skip the next few posts.  We were on the boat about 21 days and in two cases did not see land for at least 3 days. There was plenty to do so no passenger boredom and I will write about that in the next post.

Below is the itinerary (sort of). Our cruise was similar to this one posted below but we left from Miami and ended the journey in San Juan; we did not get to Devil's Island because the seas were too rough to tender passengers ashore and we stopped in Antiqua and not St. Lucia. These are grandma and grandpa cruises and some of these folks came on board with wheelchairs, walkers, and canes!  (The itinerary was also changed a few months ago due to the hurricane damage.)

We left Miami around 7:00 and got a lovely if somewhat hidden sunset.

We were able to board a few hours earlier and voyeuristically watch the tremendous wealth in this part of Miami.

No matter how much money you have, there are people that have so much more.  Note how the water is greenish and not a nice blue!  We soon were moving a rather windy speed and headed indoors for our first of many gourmet meals.  No, I did not take a photo of everything we ate...!

I did not take a photo of our room, but it was really comfortable.  Our traveling companions got one of the nicer rooms (a suite) because nothing else was available and I post that photo below!  The ship was from the Viking line..."In 1997, Torstein Hagen acquired four ships in Russia and Viking Cruises was born. Three years later, the company absorbed KD River Cruises, and in the process gained access to certain European ports as well as 40 years of river cruising experience. That same year, as Viking River Cruises, the company opened its American headquarters in Los Angeles. The operator has grown rapidly ever since while upholding its dedication to destination-focused itineraries that allow passengers to immerse themselves in the history and culture of their surroundings. Today, operational headquarters are located in Basel, Switzerland. In 2015, Viking Cruises broadened its horizons by taking to the seas with the launch of its first oceangoing cruise ship."

The design and decor are very pleasing to the eye and comfortable as well!  Our friend's suite was filled with lots of great books to read and a bottle of champagne to enjoy while reading.

I Could Have Died

I am back, sort of.  I got back home from my 25-day trip and found I had to turn around and head back to the city for a belated birthday dinner (my birthday) and to see a play. (Great play and may write about that later.) Then back down here to go through a box of mail, clean yard, do laundry, respond to answering machine messages, download 2,500 photos, grocery shop, and make a longer list of stuff still to do like get new passports and start on income taxes and clean up the yard after the storm!

Where did I go?  The Amazon River and a bunch of Caribbean Islands.  More on that later.

In response to the title of this post, on the second to the last day of my journey, I took a very nasty fall in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I fell down two concrete steps with very sharp edges onto more concrete.  It was right behind the Capital building and since the Governor was giving a speech that very afternoon, dozens of police officers were everywhere.  

In no time I was spouting blood from my right shin, building fluids in my left knee and beginning the swelling of a nice left black eye where my face fell on my camera!  Guess what?  No broken bones, no stitches, and no concussion!  Had I not been going into shock, I would have taken more photos of the tragedy.

Three police officers (cuter than ever and very sweet) came by and called the ambulance and two medics checked me out asking lots of questions but allowed me to opt out of going to the ER---wonder if I would have gotten away with that State-side?  I had no later headache and the bleeding stopped on the leg almost immediately with pressure and elevation although the blood flow was nasty.  I spent the afternoon watching movies in the hotel and after taking Advil applied ice and gentle movement to various parts of my body.

The next day I was well enough to see parts of San Juan with a hired taxi before our later afternoon flight out.  That afternoon I had to make a fast walk from one end of the Charlotte airport to the other to catch our last flight and had no pain or problems.  Somebody up there is watching out for me...for some reason!
Now I will add reading your blogs for updates to my list of things to do!

Just Hold That Thought

I will be on the plane in about than 36 hours and on my way to an exotic locale. Actually, I will make several stops along the way and be gone for 22 days!!  Yes, I have not packed bags or prepared for that long of a trip in a long time. It means I have to have the P.O. hold the mail, prepay some monthly bills, let the credit card and phone companies and bank know where I will be so that they continue to let me use my phone and my money.

I have to think how to pack as frugally as possible. There will be no need for fancy clothes, so that will help a lot. I have prepared my list of vaccinations, my passport is up-to-date and I even needed a visa for this trip and that is attached! Where am I going?  I will keep you in suspense until I either get there or post a photo or two from my Kindle or until I get back home and recover from post-trip exhaustion.

I will be leaving behind plants that are just coming into beauty and I actually have someone coming in to take care of them bi-weekly so that I can return to just look at the leaves!

One of my amaryllis bloomed for me today. I have others not yet in bud, and I will sadly miss their glory.

My calamondin is going crazy with both blooms and little tiny limes.  The corner of my kitchen is carpeted in white petals each morning and many times both evening and mornings the first floor is filled with a somewhat cloying fragrance of the blossoms.  I may miss most of the fruits as they turn ripe!

My birds will be fed and watered by the same person who is taking care of my plants.

I will also miss the "blue ribbon" sunsets, but maybe I will be able to photograph some new ones at a different latitude with a different attitude.

The odd thing about all of this is that I just want to get going so I can fill pockets full of memories and the mind full of photos and then get home again to a routine.  I will have a wonderful time as we will be with precious friends, but I keep thinking of all the challenges and just want it all to be good memories so I can reminisce back in my bed in my own home.  Clearly money and opportunity are wasted on me.

If I can stay healthy, I will return to blog again.

Resolution on that Banking Issue

This snow is long gone.

Called the bank (800 number), since I have no bank nearby to walk into. "They" being a computerized program said the wait would be between 59 minutes and one and a half hours. I love that 59 minutes math as if they had some kind of micro efficiency over their services. Maybe they should just hire more staff...but that would cut into the millions in profits and millions in salaries of those at the top! The computer system did say I could just push "any" key and they would "capture" my number and call me back when someone was able to assist me. I pushed the hashtag key and resisted the urge to also push FU. 

They did call me back in a little over an hour and "Bill from Montana" was the person who called me back.  That little cutesy response was to assure me that I was not talking to someone in Mumbai or Bangkok and that my bank hired good old boys who needed jobs in the USA.  "Bill" had a slow gravelly voice and a tired voice as if had just come in from hours of rounding up the steers and had put out his last cigarette.  I tried to joke and he patiently ignored that and continued in a droll voice---maybe he was an out of work actor?

He assured me that the new $25 monthly fee was because I had a "core" agreement with the bank that required I maintain a balance of 5K.  When I asked if this meant average monthly balance he said "No.  A daily 5k balance."  I calmly assured him I had another local bank that could waive those types of fees.  He responded that he could fix this immediately by putting me under a new agreement requiring a direct monthly deposit of a minimum of 250 dollars and no average balance maintenance.  He moved me over to the new agreement, re-deposited the 25 dollar withdrawal and told me he hoped I would have a nice day.  He assured me I would receive the new agreement in the mail.  (My bank is not Wells Fargo, but this gives you a clue how sneaky all of these big banks are and why you should write your Congressperson to support and not weaken the Dodd-Frank bill.)

I will read the new agreement with a spyglass, I can assure you.

UGH!!

Not my boat and a photo from this summer.

I have just spent over an hour waiting for a response on the phone...they warned me with their robotic answering machine when I got the connection that efficiency was not in their mission statement! I have lost my pin number for the Experian Credit account and I want to check that no one has stolen my ID and I want to freeze my account and I want my free annual report. You know, Experian is one of three companies that make money by collecting all of your financial data without having to ask you for permission, storing it on their servers without having to guarantee it will not be stolen by hackers, and then they can make you waste your time on the phone while running ads to sell you one of their products to protect this data that they have now compromised.  Days like these make me wish Elizabeth Warren was President.  She would have all three of these companies before the court and make them pay to obtain and keep our data...pay us, that is.  She would also make them do the reporting to the law officers and us when there was unusual activity, and do it for free.

I am sure that the average consumer would be willing to collect needed information for a loan for their bank when needed without this.

Our Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is being stripped of its enforcement powers by this administration...because Lord knows we do not need more laws and regulations to protect us from big business and big banks!   (And it is really a hassle for those small real estate offices to prove they are not being discriminatory in their sales to minority folks.)  SNARK!  As another jab, my bank just informed me last month they are charging me a monthly $25 fee on an average balance of over 7K!!  But that is another challenge as I am now looking for a new bank. 

I did check with Equifax right after the breach, but since millions of accounts were stolen it will take the "dark web" crooks a while to get to my name.   I also was putting this off for Experian, because I knew it would be a mountain to climb not being able to find my password on this in any file I have.  

Sorry for the rant, but I just had to explode while listening to lousy jazz on my phone right now.

I do need a trip.

I got all but ONE of the words.

(Thanks to  Grannie Annie, I do this challenge once in a while.)


“Bloody hell!” Jeff said angrily as he tore off his diving mask.  “What was that all about?”

I remained silent trying to collect my thoughts.  I collapsed onto the gunnel of the boat and pulled off my flippers while watching the light rain make circles on the calm surface of the lagoon.  I had lost some of my confidence and just wanted to catch my breath.  I released the tank strap and carefully lowered the tank to the deck between my legs.  The rush to the surface had been tempered with caution, not wanting to get the bends but wanting to reach the boat with the fastest but safest speed.

Our Ranger who had been tending the boat was confused at our early return.  He took his shepherding of the movie crew seriously.  His name was Byron, but we called him Apollo since he also wrote poetry and had published a small dictionary of poetic phrases many years ago after the war.  He was an odd duck and actually used to be a submarine pilot in his younger days.   He took my tank and fitted it into the side clamp and then helped Jeff with his gear straps.

“I got the shot, Jeff.  I got the shot.” I repeated slowly and quietly as I started to breathe normally again.

Byron had started the Torqeedo engine, it was one of the newer German electric outboards and ran with that quiet German engineering and precision.  We would not have heard it while diving and only would know if Apollo had put the engine in gear and we looked up and saw the bubbles of the propeller.

I looked at Apollo's questioning face and said, “Bunch of black-tips moved in over the wreck.  They were sweeping back and forth in some feeding frenzy, but I sure did not see what they were eating.  I got some great photos and a small bit of video, though.”  I pulled my underwater camera away from the clamp and began to remove the casing.

“Jesus, Melinda, you could have been dancing with the angels right now, for as close as you got!”

“But I got the shot.” I smiled.

(Word Prompts for January:
https://lettingthewordsescape.blogspot.com/ )

Nostalgia

Photo taken our first year in this new house when morning mist caught the sun's rays.

The day is very gray and rainy, and while I love this moodiness in my British mystery shows, I do get somber when I have been inside for too many days with nothing to call me outside. My groups of acquaintances are all in stasis and many of my projects have come to a close or a long pause. It would be nice to go out to lunch with friends, but most are in Florida soaking up the sunny weather. Hubby has been sick on and off, which at our age can hang heavy on one's mind. So I get nostalgic and put on a Carole King DVD.  This is music which I had listened to in my mid-twenties (although it was a reel to reel tape back then) right after we were married and living in a small apartment on a tiny island in the South Pacific, far from family and friends.   We were more than enough for each other as newlyweds with so much to explore and new jobs to challenge us.

I remember a man who was decades older than us managing a fishing plant there saying "You will remember these days as some of the best of your lives, so pay attention."  We were having so much fun, and he was right as I look back on those times with a smile.

So today I am also trying to get my scanner, which is acting up, to scan some of the old slides that bring back memories.  Who were those naive kids with the world in a bucket of sunlight???

A Follow-up to the Prior Post

This is a follow-up to the prior post. So if you have not read that, go there and I will wait......


The photo in the prior post was taken while touring Fort Charles a formerly British fort in Jamaica in Port Royal at the mouth of Kingston Bay.   This fort was built in 1654 after the British routed the Spanish on this island. It is a minor tourist attraction mainly because it shows how an earthquake (actually two) can bury and twist buildings in the sand on a Caribbean Island.

I was there in 2011. What made me go looking for these photos was an article I read last week in The Guardian warning British citizens to be careful in touring Jamaica and to not leave their resort unless with a resort guide. It seems that crime, especially in the area of Montego Bay, has risen. Jamaica has always had a reputation for being an edgy place to tour. We were mildly uncomfortable there, but never felt we were in danger.  We freely toured the small town where our resort was located and while there were EXTREMELY polite beggars, we never felt concerned. We also took a small tour to Kingston town and other areas on the island. That was the day I took the photos in this post.

OK, now back to my question on the photo of the school children. They are certainly neat and proper. Maybe middle school age? In America a middle school group of kids would not be this composed. Boys would be poking boys and girls would be giggling, maybe using cell phones if the teachers let them.  American children might be too jaded to even look at a crowd of tourists,  boring!

And, here is my take for what it is worth.

The girl on the far left is wondering if she would ever get to travel...to America perhaps.  The girl in the middle is checking out the clothes of some of the American children that were part of a family tour.  Maybe she will be a fashion designer someday.  The girl on the right is downright curious about something one of the tourists is doing.  Not sure, as I did not look behind me.

Clearly, the girl with her arms crossed is a ring-leader, and perhaps a future politician.  Something significant is going on in her brain.  I feel sorry for her mama. The girl in the middle is looking for an "in."  There is always an angle to everything and she is wishing she had the freedom to enter the tourist crowd.  The two larger girls on the right reveal all the sadness of poverty and isolation and lack of hope.  

In the photo above, the angry one on the right is the one the world has to deal with.  There is an opportunity here, and also a big chance to fail her.  I would not want to cross her because she is making a list and checking it everyday.

Now we come to the boys.  They have it a bit easier in this culture.  The bulk of the workload and responsibility falls to the females in Jamaica.   The two taller boys on the far left might be business leaders some day.  They are evaluating and thinking outside the box and fearless in their evaluation of what they can accomplish.  The boy on the far right is the clown and troublemaker.  Maybe he can be a Bob Marley entertainer if he does not end up in jail.  The short boy in the middle wants to be playing ball or cricket somewhere.  Anywhere but this stupid tour.

Oh well, it is a different way to spend a winter afternoon and reminisce.

Photos Can Tell a Story

A few years ago while on travel I took this photo. Clearly, the schoolchildren are curious about me or something around me. Some have different expressions. I love this photo as it can tell so many stories. What story does it tell you?

Thursday Thirteen-Illustrious Genius.

CNN was interviewing a half-dozen Democratic voters (in Youngstown, Ohio) who in frustration with the system had voted for Trump. They gathered them together after a year and they were all pleased with the current administration and would vote for him again.   They liked him because they 'felt' the economy was getting better:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Industries are booming everywhere I've seen.

SAVIDGE: I look around here and I don't see a boom. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, in this area, no, but I feel like there's small businesses that are starting to pick up.  

When asked about what he says and his tweeting the female responded:

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's like tenacious sometimes and says stuff off the cuff, like we do. Like real Americans do. We're not perfect. I'm tired of suave, I'm tired of polished, I'm tired of the teleprompter. I am, I want my country back.

So, I decided to revisit some of what our President has said to be more reassured.

1. "Part of the beauty of me is that I am very rich. I was always the best at what I did, I was the -- I was, you know, I went to the -- I went to the Wharton School of Finance, did well."
2. "I created maybe the greatest brand."
3. "Just -- and so -- so I was successful, successful, successful."
4. "I was always the best athlete, people don't know that."
5. "And then people say oh, is he a smart person? I'm smarter than all of them put together, but they can't admit it."
6. "I've been, you know, pretty successful in the courts over the years, I've been a very successful person, you can check."
7. "No, I'm not a racist. I'm the least racist person you will ever interview."
8. "I'm a person that wants to tell the truth. I'm an honest person, and what I'm saying, you know is exactly right."
9. "All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me - consciously or unconsciously. That's to be expected."
10. "Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest -and you all know it! Please don't feel so stupid or insecure, it's not your fault."
11. "I think the only difference between me and the other candidates is that I'm more honest and my women are more beautiful."
12. "I think I can't do much better, right?"
13. "Now, you know, I was a good student. I always hear about the elite. You know, the elite. They're elite? I went to better schools than they did. I was a better student than they were. I live in a bigger, more beautiful apartment, and I live in the White House, too, which is really great."

Now are you totally assured, people?  (No one at Wharton can remember this blusterous personality who had transferred from Fordham and he failed to get his photo in the yearbook and the university did not write a pro-Trump  letter when he was a candidate as other ivy leagues have done, even though the Trumps have donated almost a million to Penn State.)  And yes, I could have listed so many more comments to reassure you about how he is so much better than I.  He talks just like the people I hang out with...hardly.)

A Three Day Weekend--exhausting!

I am spending a three-day weekend in the suburbs of the city child-sitting while parents are off to Las Vegas to celebrate a 50th birthday with old friends. I have three children between the ages of 6 and 12 and one small dog. They are polite, responsible, and smart people. I find that the early-bird twelve-year-old gets up at 6:30 A.M. and is full of tidbits about a game where the angle of the wall and the angle of the projectile make a big difference in whether you run into the wall or go over it and that he has found a way to continue to beat the system, and he also has done the math to figure out how many millions of successes vs. crashes happen over an hour and how long he can leave the game idle with the successful settings....and I really need more coffee.  Breakfast with the others consists of a discussion about food.

I also learned this morning that I had asked each child as they got up whether they were still wearing pajamas or whether that was what they were wearing to school, because their casual school  attire and their casual sleep attire look virtually the same.

The parents have left us a two-page hand-written list of activities and times and addresses.  Included are weekend sports classes, a birthday gift shopping trip along with the time for the party, religious classes and a meals list.  I am exhausted just listening to Dad go through it with me.  Thank goodness these kiddos are independent enough to know what happens next.

They are all off to school and now I sit writing my blog while the little dog looks out the window  and barks at the mailman...clearly a highlight of his day.

Burdens Need Strong Boots

This has been an extremely rough week for those I love and since I have no control over their lives, and can only worry,  I curl up like an abandoned kitten and hide out at my computer and fiddle. When it is too cold to go outside, I do still life photos. These are two pairs of shoes I took from my closet and with filters and layering and some dodging and burning, made a vintage photo to match the subject of the photo. The black boots are my snow boots and the other's are a favorite pair of cowboy boots that I own.

"No temptation[a] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[b] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,[c] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."  Corinthians 10:13   When someone says "God will not give you more than you can handle," please note that this Biblical quote is about temptation and not about the burdens of life.  God WILL give you more than you can handle, and all you have to do is wait if your burdens are light.

That Extra Layer for Warmth

The ice cold weather is here to stay through the beginning of next week. We have not had such an extensive and harsh freeze for a number of years, so we are trying to adjust. I do not go outside except to grab a quick photo from the dock, or to fill the bird feeders. We check the mail every other day and sometimes even every third day. The roads are not dangerous, but any time spent outdoors is.

Yesterday the brutal winds returned and I am sure they reached peaks of thirty miles per hour. At least the clouds let the sun throw nice shadows. Of course, a cloudless sky means bitter nights. My heater kicks on often and I worry about its age and the amount of fuel left in our tank outside.

So we sit around the wood fireplace and hibernate like two old bears.  I clean out the leftovers in the refrigerator and make hearty soups and stir-fry meals in the old wok.

I spend afternoons baking as we crave the carbs.

I actually have time to scour the Internet and old cookbooks for challenging recipes, because I am not going anywhere and thus not rushing home.

AND of course, I have to exercise  more regularly, because even though these calories keep me warm, they also keep me fat!