Ghana, an Oasis of Peace in Africa

Where to start?? President Obama and Michele visited Ghana in July 2009 because Ghana had democratic principles they respected. Ghana is considered the Mecca of African democracy. We came to Ghana to learn about its government, people, economy and life. The coast line of Ghana is so lovely from afar with coconut palm and banana trees on the hills. Rainforests and savannahs where monkeys and elephants abound can be found inland with many villages, many with no electricity or plumbing. The poverty and lack of infrastructure is in stark contrast to what nature has provided to the land. The people cook with wood, or used to, and have destroyed eight million acres of forests. In addition, nature provided Ghana with the largest gold mine in the world, and manganese which the US imports for aluminum production. Oil was recently discovered off-shore by another country’s company. The money from all these resources has not gone into Ghanaian infrastructure! They export gold, manganese and cocoa beans, their main crop. The Government owns all natural resources and pays the tribe living on the ground above the resource a percentage (my guess is not much). They do not build industries around their resources but export it all. Unemployment is 34%!

The Portuguese found Ghana in 1491 during an effort to establish an alternative route for trading spices which avoided the cross-country route, a route made dangerous by the Crusades between Christians and Muslims. When they discovered all the gold in Ghana, they returned to Portugal and lied to everyone about the wild animals and cannibals in dangerous Ghana in order to keep the riches for themselves. That ruse worked until others noticed the Portuguese accumulating great riches! They built castles and forts to protect “their property” and the slave trade began. But I’ll talk a little about that later. The Dutch eventually overcame the Portuguese and took possession of the Gold Coast, gold and the slave trade. They sold their castles to the British after slave trade was abolished.


We visited two of these slave castles, a sobering experience. We walked in the rain in a rainforest. (see Paul’s blog) We traveled on paved, single lane crowded highways and muddy roads made worse with the rain. We stayed in a lovely Coconut Grove Resort that reminded me of a place along the coast of Mexico – not a high rise, but pleasant single-story buildings with porches and flowers and lovely grounds by the sea. We felt guilty about such comfort after all the poverty we had seen. Everywhere are partially constructed houses of many proportions, but mostly smaller. One was actually very “American” looking and had a blue roof like the Pancake House restaurant. These are buildings whose owners have run out of money. We were told they will eventually return to finish them when they have the money. Most housing was concrete block or mud construction with tin or grass roofs and very small. The windows were usually not covered with glass or plastic. The average temperature here is 86 degrees, so they do almost everything outside. We observed lots of extremely tall TV aerials, but only 2 or 3 dishes for satellite TV.

Fishing boats as seen from the castle



Slave Castle

 The Slave Castles and Dungeons of Ghana are right on the potentially gorgeous Gold Coast  a few kilometers apart.  Many a captured African either died or was packed like a sardine onto a ship to Brazil, the Caribbean or Cuba.  The slave dungeons held about 100 slaves each for 3 to 4 months chained together by fives.  The records indicate that some 60 million were taken captive, 40 million were shipped out, and 20 million survived the trip across the Atlantic.  The brutality of the captors is beyond the imagination!  And the hypocrisy of these captors!  They held mass right over the 100 or so captive women in the dungeon under their feet!   The active slave trade ended when the British outlawed it.  But its demise was sealed by the coming of the industrialized world.

Rainbow as we left Ghana



female Dungeon

The food was good! Not gourmet, but homey, what you might expect in this country. My favorite was fried plantains or plantain with Joliffe rice (spicy rice peculiar to this area which I hope to discover yet.) Sadly, the rice growers here are unable to sell their crops because the government is allowing the import of American rice which is advertised on large billboards so the Ghanaians buy that instead. That isn’t right. How can they expect their people to make a living? Why not protect the little income they generate? We also had chicken curry, lots of fish, always fried, black eyed peas, and red beans and some extremely hot sauce they call “pepe” sauce – perfect for those heat lovers!

I would be remiss if I did not mention the pride of the Ghanaians for defeating the U.S. in the World Cup and the fact that President Obama chose to visit Ghana. We even found fabric in the shop with his picture printed on it and a large billboard of President Obama with the Ghanaian President.

The Government is democratically elected and the current President has a much needed focus on education. He plans to build 200 schools. Well and good if he also supplies the books and pays teachers a living wage. The primary public schools have no books and often, no chalk, for the blackboards. In contrast, the private schools look well built and supplied. The six universities only have room for 40% of the high school graduates. However, technical and vocational schools do exist. But where do they work after? I understand that those who have jobs can only work for three days – in other words, jobs are shared.

I met a young lady on the beach at the Coconut Grove Resort who is teaching in a primary school in Ghana for three months for her university. She was quite discouraged by the lack of tools to teach. She looked Ghanaian with her high cheekbones, color, other facial features and braided hair style. I complimented her excellent English and she laughed and told me she was born and raised in Ohio. Almost everyone speaks English in Ghana’s cities as a result of the British colonization.

So far we have been to markets in Spain, Morocco and Ghana. The cleanest were in Spain, but the most fun were in Ghana. The women often carry their wares on their heads. This might be huge bowls of oranges, beautiful arrangements of the vegetables, smoked fish, and freshly baked loaves of bread in what looked like glass cases. Of course, when we were there, the rain had made the streets muddy. The market is the center of the town, a street lined with market stalls on both sides and upstairs, as well as tiny paths in the center of this large circle. I mean, the circle would take about an hour to walk around quickly. One wonders when looking at all the vendors of similar items, like lovely small red tomatoes, dried fish, tiny peppers, okra, cassava meal etc. how anyone makes enough to feed a family since a shopper would have numerous opportunities to purchase a desired item. As in Spain and Morocco, the shoppers tend to buy from the same vendors and build relationships with them, we were told.

The town where we docked, Takoradi, is a small fishing town as were most of those we saw during our two day road trip. We did not get to the Capitol and port in Accra or the big bead and art market in Kumasi, each four hours away on a good day, and perhaps seven on a rainy day. The people were always happy to see us and always helpful. When we passed crowds while on the bus, they waved merrily, welcoming us, especially the children. We asked one young woman in the grocery store where we could find men shirts. She actually left the store and walked us to the right tiny shop. A group of three female students were wandering around the market and befriended a young woman their age who took them to her home and introduced her family. Her father then took the girls to the radio station he ran, showed them around and interviewed them. They actually heard the interview in a cab on the way back to the ship. They were so excited!

Walking around the town is very safe. But we were warned in the pre-port lecture not to use any credit cards in Ghana since there are many Nigerians there who will use any information to infiltrate our internet bank accounts. We were also warned not to get malaria by our medical staff and a few actors using a ‘We are in Ghana but we don’t want malaria, we don’t want malaria, malaria!” to the music of “This is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius” from “Hair”. “Let the sunshine” was transposed to “Take your medicine, take your medicine, your medicine.” You can also see the actual performance on You Tube if you follow the link below. We have a very humorous medical crew and two actors/professors who met when touring in “Phantom.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYl_2pczLD8 to see the video. They make us laugh loudly at every pre-port lecture. However, I’m not sure they can top that one! Sometimes, we of the older generation are somewhat shocked by their antics, but we’re “old” as Dakota, our four year-old granddaughter would remind me.

The country is 69% Christian and 16% Muslim. We did see many churches or mosques, but none of them would be considered attractive until we came to a lovely compound belonging to the Church of the Latter Day Saints which included a school. Everywhere, and I mean “everywhere” were reminders of Jesus, the Savior. Messages were written on the backs of the cab windows and buses and on the names of businesses like Jesus Saves Beauty Shop, Jesus is All Car Repair. Oh, in order to get under the car for a repair, they simply turned it on its side!

The children were so very beautiful and curious. We did not see adults pushing the children to hound tourists to purchase small items like in Casablanca, but we did learn of a village where the fisherman buy children from their mothers who believe they will be then going to a better place. But they are turned into slaves here in Ghana to do whatever work their little bodies allow. Very young ones can dip water out of the fishing boats. The girls – well, you know what happens to them.

People are warm, inviting and happy despite what they do not have.  When having a meal with students after returning to the ship, they brought up the ethical question of, “Is it right for us to bring them things like a water filtering system that they probably do not know how to fix, or money and shoes for an orphanage` which cares for children recovered from the child slave trade?  Does that not teach them to rely on the West to help them instead of helping themselves.  These kids think!  They have a point!  But with all the poverty and lack of basic things like school books, how can we who have more than most countries and use far more than our fair share of the earth’s natural resources, not share.  Appropriately, as we left Ghana, a rainbow appeared – hope for the future of Ghana!



Morocco at the end of Ramadan

Morocco


Let’s begin with nine (9) things you might not know about Morocco:

1. Morocco was the first country to recognize the legitimacy of the newly declared United States in 1776 and they are very proud of that fact!

2. Most of the plants are grown in southern California like hibiscus, bougainvillea, eucalyptus, oleander, birds of Paradise and palm trees. In fact, as we drove along the beach where the rich live and play in Casablanca, I was reminded of La Jolla. This is the most expensive housing in all of Morocco. But only soft drinks, fabulous orange juice and mint tea were served in the cafes along that lovely stretch.

3. Morocco was a French colony from 1912 to 1956, so French is the second language here. English is taught at the university, but we did not here much from most people.

4. At the end of Ramadan, a fast of forty days, the Moroccans celebrate Eid for three days with visits to the mosque and family meals of traditional foods like couscous, 50 different kinds of pastries, tagines of lamb, chicken and fish and lots of sweet mint tea.

5. The government pays for health care for the poor but they might wait for three days in the emergency room unless they pay bribe. Those with pay checks have a portion set aside for health care, but they can also buy private insurance. Hospitals are improving greatly in the past few years. Social Security is having lots of children. The boys always remain in the home. The daughters are promised early, marry early and go live in their husband’s home. Older parents are revered.

6. The population is 30 million. They export phosphate which hung thickly in the air all around the port where we docked. The phosphate workers did not wear masks! They also export oranges, olives, and fish. They produce a wonder oil, argon oil prevents wrinkles – google it!

7. They produce wine for export only. Moroccans cannot buy alcohol. It is sold to foreigners in tightly controlled state stores e.g. supermarkets.

8. The common people were very warm and hospitable. Those who stayed in homes of Moroccans had marvelous experiences with their hosts. However, the merchants in the markets and cab drivers were often very aggressive and expect you to negotiate price for everything.

9. The walled medina had everything one could need back in the 10th century and today. They do not have ovens in their homes, but all women bring their breads and pastries to the neighborhood oven for baking. Bathing is also done in the neighborhood baths. Men and women are separate. Each neighborhood has its fountain where water for the day is gathered in buckets and carried home. There is no refrigeration in most homes so shopping for all meals is done daily. The streets of the medina’s are too narrow for cars. For the most part, donkeys and hand-pulled carts carry everything to the market stalls. If you want a chicken for dinner, it is killed and dressed before your eyes. We saw several bite the dust.

In four days we learned so much about the people, foods and customs. Most of our time was spent in the Medina of Fes, a 10th century city. No kidding this medina is the oldest walled city in Morocco. It is a maze of 15,000 “streets” and 300,000 people in just a few square miles. One person described it being like an ant hill. “Streets” are often too narrow for a ‘fat American’ to pass through and never go straight and perpendicular. The walls of the buildings are old, 3 to 5 stories high, and dingy. But pass through a door to always a surprise! Beautiful ryads (large family homes built around center courts,) or lovely mosques or restaurants and hotels hid behind these walls. Moslems believe the outside of a home should be plain which discourages envy, and keep the beauty on the inside for family and friends to enjoy.

The architecture is 98% Islamic throughout the country. I did see one pretty art deco building during the Casablanca city orientation. Islamic art is composed completely of geometric design – no scenery or figures. All mosques are built in the same style although some are fancier than others.

We were fortunate to see the finest and largest mosque in Morocco during Eid when the people were gathering for prayer and celebration in their finest clothing. This mosque is second in size to the main mosque in Mecca and built on the coast over the ocean– a stunning setting. The minaret (akin to a church steeple) is 650’ tall. It holds 25,000 people inside on the marble floor and 80,000 of the area outside. It was built by the previous king and finished in 1993 after 6 years of 24-hour construction.

Speaking of the King, the current King, Mohammed VI, is revered by the people. He married a commoner (never happened before) and she appears in public in Western attire and on photos with him (never before done.) The King has made new laws allowing divorce, discouraging polygamy and encouraging education. In the Fes medina, the illiteracy rate is very high and girls are not sent to school. But he is trying to bring this 10thcentury city into the 21st century – quite a chore!! There was no electricity in the Fes medina until 1950s when the French installed it. Fes has been designated a World Heritage site by Unesco, which means money is now flowing to restore more parts of it. We observed many walls of buildings propped up against each other to support them.

Fes is difficult to describe. I suggest you check it out on the internet or library if interested. But I do want to tell you about the ryad where we stayed, our cooking class, the endless maze of markets and the train ride back to the ship.

Six of us took a train to Fes, a 4 hour trip. Our host at the Ryad Mabrouka sent a van to pick us up and bring us to the Ryad. A ryad is a Moroccan house in the Medina that has been restored and is akin to a bed and breakfast. These ryads, as I said earlier, are behind plain walls and narrow passages. Small ceramic signs placed on the walls guided our way. The passage was very dusty and we were all apprehensive. I had made the reservations via the internet and it looked so lovely on the website. The door to the ryad was a lovely brown teak wood, but not fancy. When it opened, we were all pleasantly relieved! The place was gorgeous! You can check it out at www.ryadmabrouka.va I think. It sits up high on the edge of the Medina and has a rooftop garden which overlooks the entire Medina and the new Medina (it’s 12th century.) The location was perfect! Hot sweetened mint tea, the traditional welcoming drink was served in the garden upon our arrival.

We hired a guide for two days who showed us both Medinas and took us to the tile and pottery makers, the tannery, the rug salesmen and the spice shop. We did not buy any rugs although they tried hard to close sales and offered us a “shocking price.” In the markets we saw numerous fruit and vegetable stands, separate meat and fowl stands, dates, olives, spices, pastries, candies and stuff we did not recognize. There was no refrigeration and the meats were cut on counters and left there for purchasing. Some proprieters used feather dusters to brush away the flies. Skinny cats and kittens were ubiquitous. Our guide warned us to be alert to donkeys, horses and hand pulled carts or be run over. And I saw that happen twice! Paul saved me from disaster.

Compared to the market in Cadiz which is clean, large and airy, that of the Medina is dirty and narrow. And on many streets (if you can call them streets!) since each neighborhood has the items needed for all household needs. After a few days of this, we had no fears of walking around if we kept on the main drag. Because of the maze, it’s very easy to get lost! Even the gal who taught our cooking class who lives in the Medina gets lost sometimes and has to call her husband to come find her!

Speaking of the cooking class, we learned to make several traditional Moroccan foods like chicken with preserved lemons and lamb with carmelized prunes. These dishes will be fun to prepare for guests in our new tagine, bought in the market in Fes. Our teacher wove stories of their culture into everything she prepared like serving one kind of dates for breakfast, another for lunch and dinner, a soft sweetened date for welcoming guests and still another for cooking.

Picture of coast of Italy, Greece and other Mediterranian countries. Do you see white houses with red tile roofs? In Morocco, the roof tiles are a lovely shade of blue green because that color means “peace” in Islam.

Now imagine, if you can, settling in to a new first-class, air-conditioned compartment with our friends for the return to Casablanca on the fast train after three days of cultural overload. The train starts to move and a loud “kerplunk” comes from the front of our car. Would you believe it? They connected the electrical cables but forgot to hook up the cars! Oooops! People started moving around outside, no running, no announcements. Eventually, we got off the train back into the heat and stood around trying to determine what was going to happen. Very few spoke English – we were in the dark. They had a get back on the train in third class and find seats among the third class passengers. It felt like a sauna in there while we waited. Then, the slow train to Fes arrived on the next track. Time passed – two hours since the “kerplunk.” Sweat rolled down and soaked by passport which was under my clothes.

All of a sudden, people started getting off our train and onto the other train to Fes which was already crowded with people returning from the Eid holiday. We actually jumped down onto the tracks and climbed onto the second class car. A few found seats but most, including us, stood in the aisles. But we were on our way home! Horray! The kind Moroccan people gave up their seats for us female travelers. We could not converse with them, just offer an appreciative smile. With the train doors open and some little windows, the temperature was not too bad. Poor Paul, however, was uncomfortable and having hot flashes. Thank goodness we had water. The serving cart could not go down the aisles. The conductor never even collected tickets. We were back on the ship at 12:30 am, very tired.

So that’s it. Next we will tell you about some of our traveling companions.

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Paul's view of Morocco

September 17, 2010


I just read Suzanne’s blog on Morocco and it was really good especially about its history, architecture and her major impressions. As you all know, I am more interested in the social aspects and wanted to share my perception of this unique country. The driving here is chaotic and dangerous especially in crossing the streets. They do not slow down nor some don’t pay attention to the few stop lights. Thus you are running with the crowd halfway across the street – then stopping and then running again to get across. Survival for the Fittest. Casablanca takes great pride about the old movie named Casablanca but admit it was developed entirely in Hollywood. Obviously, the movie has brought this extremely poor country added money for tourism. When we got off the boat in Casablanca, we were in the medina the old and poor section of the city. Thus they were several children asking for money or trying to sell you something. I learned early not to talk nor keep eye contact with either the children or the vendors on the streets as they will interpret that as you are interested and won’t leave you alone. Suzanne put her arm around this one cute girl at the beginning and she followed her for 2 blocks. It is sad as parents make them beg or sell something to make money for the family. Overall, I was not impressed with Casablanca – dirty and too much begging- little quality of things to buy –not that I was interested in buying. Ha

I did enjoy Fez for 2 days. It was another very old town out of the medieval days from years ago but very interesting. We had an excellent place to stay –clean –beautiful rooms- courtyard-people very friendly etc. The owner had a taxi waiting for us at the train station to take us back to his place. Very nice Bed and Breakfast. We had a good guide who took us around the city for 2 days – walked a lot- had the taxi pick us up later to take us to dinner and pick us up when finished. I was more interested in his personal views of his culture and his knowledge of the US. He was a ultra conservative Muslin who still believes in arranged marriages and highly restrictive women’s roles. The parents are revered in the Muslin culture – the man’s role is to make money as is their kids and to give it to their mother. The mother role is to bear children especially boys who can work and make money, cook and weave rugs to sell. Some women have golden fingers- some silver- others bronze. Golden fingers are women who can bear a lot of children especially boys, be an excellent cook and make beautiful rugs. Silver fingers are able to do only some of those things and bronze will little of those things. Thus there is a hierarchy of respect within their culture. The mother selects the young girl for her son’s wife – has to be a virgin etc. If they divorce, they are looked upon as being tarnished and no man will want them. They pray 4 times a day including at 4AM over the loud speakers in the cities. These muslins are non-violent and are strongly against war. He admits there are some radicals in their country who cause problems with other countries including the US BUT almost all muslins are strongly opposed to them. Too bad our news in America doesn’t tell us this!!!!! He was very knowledgeable about the US politics and even the crazy man in Gainesville who wanted to burn the Quran in protest. He felt he was doing this to stir others who don’t know the truth. He says all countries including the US and Morocco has these crazy people. Thus he did not take this personally and strongly supports the US (I’m sure in part for the money they get from us). I did notice him flirting with another at lunch while we were eating away from him. I asked him later about fidelity in the Muslim religion and he admitted some people go under the table. More men than woman. Thus I concluded that with all their religion and prayers, there is a similar hypocrisy as in the US who obviously has similar problems with fidelity. In all, we have different beliefs and opinions and need to recognize them as DIFFERENT as opposed to who is RIGHT vs. WRONG. Anyway, this is only my opinion.

Breakfast at Sea Sept 7

 September 7, 2010


This morning Paul and I were to meet in the dining room for breakfast at 8:00. But when I got there his table was full. Desmond Tutu and Leah had just been joined by Dara, a student from India who goes to school in the States. So I joined them even though I had not finished the second book, Made for Goodness. Remember, I had planned to wait until that was accomplished. But there they were sitting by a window with room at the table.

We spoke about Dara’s plans and what we had done in Spain. Dara had to leave for class and Paul joined us. We talked and at one point, Paul said to Leah, Desmond wife “Behind every great man there is a woman.” And Arch responded, “Leah would say she is beside me.”

Now Paul asked them how they met. Turns out Lea were his friend’s sister who he had known for a long time and had been in their home many times. “How did you ask her to marry you?” Paul asked. The Tutu’s looked at each other and smiled. He said, “I went to her house and told her my mother and father thought I should get married!” That caused great laughter at the table! “How romantic,” Paul exclaimed as he stood up at the table –laughing at him. “You didn’t even say “to her how much you loved her!” More laughter.

I added to the hilarity by telling them that after Paul and I had been dating almost 8 months, he asked me what I intended to do after graduation in a couple of months. (We had never talked about future plans.) “I’m considering joining the Peace Corp,” I responded. Then he surprised me by saying, “Well, I thought we would get married!” Another round of boisterous laughter rose from the table. This time Desmond gave Paul a hard time for not being romantic either. Now people were looking in our direction. The banter continued a little longer and Leah and I decided that neither was very romantic!

They are such lovely, warm people. Paul continues to call them his mother and Dad every time he sees them and they refer to him as their son with much laughter. How blessed we are to have this opportunity to be around them. We will likely have other opportunities to eat with them, talk, share life experiences, sign books, and pictures together. We went on the Morocco City Orientation Tour. Desmond and Leah were in a separate bus. We stopped and went into shops to look at their store. Leah apparently was tired and sat down on a small chair to rest. Paul saw them and went up to her and pretended that he was going to sit on her lap and she naturally got startled until she realized it was Paul trying to be funny. He started talking to both Desmond and her and I was able to take a picture of them together for fond memories.

September 6, 2010

Keeping up with this blog is challenging! But we will keep trying.

Paul had a conversation with Father TuTu and mentioned that he did not mean any disrespect by the tosh grab. Father gave him the friendly fist. Paul continues to call him “Dad” and Lela, “Mom.” One of these days soon, we will share a meal with them, but I want to finish reading two of his books first. Right now, he is often surrounded with students at the meal tables. He and Lela walk around Deck 7 between 6:30 and 7:00 when I’m up there working out. He is very accessible and friendly. They will be on the ship the entire trip. Paul asked him today if he knew Barack Obama. He said yes but seemed to be on guard which Paul felt was because he is aware of many are against Obama. Paul assured that we are still Obama supporters even when we disagree with some things. “Arch” as many call him is a warm and friendly person with a wonderful laugh who smiles all the time and loves people! We are privileged to have this opportunity to share time with a man who helped change the world for the better.

Paul asked me the other day who Heather, one of the Life Long Learners, reminds me of. “Your mother,” was my answer. I noticed the resemblance soon after we met. At times I see Nancy Atlee Lagomarcino much of the time. She has a little bit of French and English in her heritage. We’ll get some photos of her. Wish I knew how to attach the photo to this blog, so those of you who knew Nancy might see what we’re talking about.

Now we’re in Spain and it’s quite warm, in the 90’s. We’re used to that, but we’re out walking loads! Paul continues to have hot flashes and “Sweat like a pig,” he says. We are in Cadiz, on the Atlantic Coast, where it meets the Mediterranean Sea. It is the oldest city in Europe, although the entrance to Trier looks older when I think of that. This is a small town, only about 2 square miles so it’s easy to walk around. Cadiz has many lovely plazas and botanical gardens with specimens from all over the world. We keep coming across Catholic churches, but no mosques or temples. Those must be more prevalent in other cities of Spain. We will visit Seville tomorrow and note differences. Wish we had time to visit another couple of cities. But we have been to some museums in Cadiz, seen the ancient castles and the wall around the city, and the many monuments.



Spain is noted for their food and “tapas!” We are meeting other LLL’s for tapas shortly. The dinner hour here does not start until after 8:30. Most eat around 10:00. Families with children and babies are out walking, dining and visiting around the plazas when we are on our way back to the ship.

We had this wonderful little bit pricey late lunch today by the sea, so tonight we bought bread, cheese and wine for 7 Euro (about $10) and sat in the park and had supper about 9:30. I did go to the Garden dining room on the ship earlier and eat green beans and coffee ice cream about 6:30.

One of our favorite meals was simply from a tapas bar. All the other diners were locals – no tourists. We chose various seafood items that looked good or interesting, about 4 pieces of each, which were put into a rolled paper cone. Beer and freshly fried sea food! Yummy! – don’t even know what we were eating except for the sardines, chili empanadas and croquettes which are like hush puppies with cheese inside.

The food on the ship is good! Lots of vegetarian entrées with beans or lentils and veggies. No tofu yet. Always a fish dish. We do miss Spring greens however, but we're pretty well satisfied - better than expected.

Yesterday we went to Seville for the day and saw the fourth largest cathedral in Christendom, and I will never forget what it looked like because our guide was so knowledgeable about everything, so the tour took forever! I have photos of it, but still can’t get them on the blog. Seville is elegant – gorgeous old homes everywhere you look. We drove down an avenue where the homes were built during the 1929 World Exposition to house the various countries’ ambassadors. It reminded me of Lindell Blvd’s lovely homes across from Forest Park which were built for the same reason for the 1904 World’s Fair. The architecture was totally different though.

You should see the farmer’s market in Cadiz! Lots of fruit and vegetable stands, meat stands, cheese stands where we purchased Manchego cheese, and olives stand. That was the best! Have you ever tasted fresh olives and brined olives marinated in saffron? Delicious! We bought small bags of them, more wine and bread and picnicked in the park again.

But the most interesting part was the fish market is really something!! The vendors pile the previous day’s catch on long stainless steel counters and the customers choose the fish by looking under the gills for freshness. The fish is then prepared to their preference. We did not know so many different kinds of shrimp existed from tiny pink shrimp about ¾ inch long to some the size of small lobsters! Shrimp fritters are one of the more popular tapas. The tiny shrimp are added to the batter and fried alive!



One of the other lifelong learners on the voyage is Craig Irving from San Diego. He journeyed as a student in 1984 and now he has brought his five children, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 and his lovely wife on this trip. He must be very successful! What a delightful family! They make a lovely picture since they all look very much alike and they are so polite. When Craig introduced us to his 8 year old Jessica, as she was leaving the table, she turned and said, “So nice to meet you.” They are going camel riding in Morocco. I told Craig when I was trying to pack for two people for four months, I thought of his wife packing for seven. But he said she only packed for six! He had to do his own. He was wishing he could have 10 minutes at home in his closet for a few more items – he only brought 35 pounds of belongings. Apparently, the Irving’s have always traveled extensively with all their children. They always look happy and treat one another with lots of love. The kids are across the hall from us – their parents have a large stateroom on the 7th deck. That’s were all the large rooms are.

As we left Spain tonight, we partied in what is one of the smallest rooms on that deck. It was quite lovely with a large walk-in closet and marble bathroom with a tub. The private balcony had room for two lounge chairs and a table, or as I told Sally, about eight Yoga students! I’ll tell you about our new friend, Sally Stemmons another day. Making new friends is definitely one of the best parts of this trip.

Two nights ago Paul wanted to go to bed, but new friend, Cathy Cochran and I wanted a glass of wine. So we got off the ship and walked a few yards to a dock bar where we ordered two red wines. Well, he brought us a whole bottle! Then a plate of homemade potato chips. When we moved outside to sit, all the chips blew off the plate! We laughed so hard, but sat down with two women who work on the ship and he brought out a large bowl of chips. And Cathy and I proceeded to have memorable evening with Juliana, the hairdresser, and Jacqueline, the masseuse, who was very sad because she had just left her lover. He was returning to Holland. Well, we learned all about them, their lives and loves. Almost four hours and 3 bottles of wine later, everyone was cheered up. And Jacqueline sang for us – lovely voice. She’s a fan of Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and others – we have that in common! She will be performing in the staff talent show in October. They are from Capetown, South Africa. Juliana will be leaving the ship there to remarry her husband. Her daughter will take her place on the ship. Jacqueline gets off the ship in San Diego to go marry her lover in Holland! Memories are made of this!









September 6, 2010


Keeping up with this blog is challenging! But we will keep trying.

Paul had a conversation with Father TuTu and mentioned that he did not mean any disrespect by the tosh grab. Father gave him the friendly fist. Paul continues to call him “Dad” and Lela, “Mom.” One of these days soon, we will share a meal with them, but I want to finish reading two of his books first. Right now, he is often surrounded with students at the meal tables. He and Lela walk around Deck 7 between 6:30 and 7:00 when I’m up there working out. He is very accessible and friendly. They will be on the ship the entire trip. Paul asked him today if he knew Barack Obama. He said yes but seemed to be on guard which Paul felt was because he is aware of many are against Obama. Paul assured that we are still Obama supporters even when we disagree with some things. “Arch” as many call him is a warm and friendly person with a wonderful laugh who smiles all the time and loves people! We are privileged to have this opportunity to share time with a man who helped change the world for the better.

Paul asked me the other day who Heather, one of the Life Long Learners, reminds me of. “Your mother,” was my answer. I noticed the resemblance soon after we met. At times I see Nancy Atlee Lagomarcino much of the time. She has a little bit of French and English in her heritage. We’ll get some photos of her. Wish I knew how to attach the photo to this blog, so those of you who knew Nancy might see what we’re talking about.

Now we’re in Spain and it’s quite warm, in the 90’s. We’re used to that, but we’re out walking loads! Paul continues to have hot flashes and “Sweat like a pig,” he says. We are in Cadiz, on the Atlantic Coast, where it meets the Mediterranean Sea. It is the oldest city in Europe, although the entrance to Trier looks older when I think of that. This is a small town, only about 2 square miles so it’s easy to walk around. Cadiz has many lovely plazas and botanical gardens with specimens from all over the world. We keep coming across Catholic churches, but no mosques or temples. Those must be more prevalent in other cities of Spain. We will visit Seville tomorrow and note differences. Wish we had time to visit another couple of cities. But we have been to some museums in Cadiz, seen the ancient castles and the wall around the city, and the many monuments.

Spain is noted for their food and “tapas!” We are meeting other LLL’s for tapas shortly. The dinner hour here does not start until after 8:30. Most eat around 10:00. Families with children and babies are out walking, dining and visiting around the plazas when we are on our way back to the ship.

We had this wonderful little bit pricey late lunch today by the sea, so tonight we bought bread, cheese and wine for 7 Euro (about $10) and sat in the park and had supper about 9:30. I did go to the Garden dining room on the ship earlier and eat green beans and coffee ice cream about 6:30.

One of our favorite meals was simply from a tapas bar. All the other diners were locals – no tourists. We chose various seafood items that looked good or interesting, about 4 pieces of each, which were put into a rolled paper cone. Beer and freshly fried sea food! Yummy! – don’t even know what we were eating except for the sardines, chili empanadas and croquettes which are like hush puppies with cheese inside.

The food on the ship is good! Lots of vegetarian entrées with beans or lentils and veggies. No tofu yet. Always a fish dish. We do miss Spring greens however, but we're pretty well satisfied - better than expected.

Yesterday we went to Seville for the day and saw the fourth largest cathedral in Christendom, and I will never forget what it looked like because our guide was so knowledgeable about everything, so the tour took forever! I have photos of it, but still can’t get them on the blog. Seville is elegant – gorgeous old homes everywhere you look. We drove down an avenue where the homes were built during the 1929 World Exposition to house the various countries’ ambassadors. It reminded me of Lindell Blvd’s lovely homes across from Forest Park which were built for the same reason for the 1904 World’s Fair. The architecture was totally different though.

You should see the farmer’s market in Cadiz! Lots of fruit and vegetable stands, meat stands, cheese stands where we purchased Manchego cheese, and olives stand. That was the best! Have you ever tasted fresh olives and brined olives marinated in saffron? Delicious! We bought small bags of them, more wine and bread and picnicked in the park again.

But the most interesting part was the fish market is really something!! The vendors pile the previous day’s catch on long stainless steel counters and the customers choose the fish by looking under the gills for freshness. The fish is then prepared to their preference. We did not know so many different kinds of shrimp existed from tiny pink shrimp about ¾ inch long to some the size of small lobsters! Shrimp fritters are one of the more popular tapas. The tiny shrimp are added to the batter and fried alive!

One of the other lifelong learners on the voyage is Craig Irving from San Diego. He journeyed as a student in 1984 and now he has brought his five children, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 and his lovely wife on this trip. He must be very successful! What a delightful family! They make a lovely picture since they all look very much alike and they are so polite. When Craig introduced us to his 8 year old Jessica, as she was leaving the table, she turned and said, “So nice to meet you.” They are going camel riding in Morocco. I told Craig when I was trying to pack for two people for four months, I thought of his wife packing for seven. But he said she only packed for six! He had to do his own. He was wishing he could have 10 minutes at home in his closet for a few more items – he only brought 35 pounds of belongings. Apparently, the Irving’s have always traveled extensively with all their children. They always look happy and treat one another with lots of love. The kids are across the hall from us – their parents have a large stateroom on the 7th deck. That’s were all the large rooms are.

As we left Spain tonight, we partied in what is one of the smallest rooms on that deck. It was quite lovely with a large walk-in closet and marble bathroom with a tub. The private balcony had room for two lounge chairs and a table, or as I told Sally, about eight Yoga students! I’ll tell you about our new friend, Sally Stemmons another day. Making new friends is definitely one of the best parts of this trip.

Two nights ago Paul wanted to go to bed, but new friend, Cathy Cochran and I wanted a glass of wine. So we got off the ship and walked a few yards to a dock bar where we ordered two red wines. Well, he brought us a whole bottle! Then a plate of homemade potato chips. When we moved outside to sit, all the chips blew off the plate! We laughed so hard, but sat down with two women who work on the ship and he brought out a large bowl of chips. And Cathy and I proceeded to have memorable evening with Juliana, the hairdresser, and Jacqueline, the masseuse, who was very sad because she had just left her lover. He was returning to Holland. Well, we learned all about them, their lives and loves. Almost four hours and 3 bottles of wine later, everyone was cheered up. And Jacqueline sang for us – lovely voice. She’s a fan of Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and others – we have that in common! She will be performing in the staff talent show in October. They are from Capetown, South Africa. Juliana will be leaving the ship there to remarry her husband. Her daughter will take her place on the ship. Jacqueline gets off the ship in San Diego to go marry her lover in Holland! Memories are made of this!

Sept. 3, 2010

September 3, 2010 from Suzanne


This trip gets more exciting with each day. I highly recommend you all look into this opportunity. The trip will be offered one more time, Spring 2011 which leaves in January for two-for one. A tremendous savings! Last night we listened to another talk about Spain from a most entertaining Spanish professor who has extensive first-hand Spanish knowledge. One of the other profs has run with the bulls 11 times!! We're not going to do that! But we are going to eat and see the culture, economy and churches, mosques and all that! And taste the sherry!

Paul really did do what he described. And I had no camera to record that bit of history. You can learn about this ship on the Semester at Sea website, but you won’t learn that it was a small cruise ship at one time. The library is in the former casino. Part of the salon was converted to a room of elipticals, exercise bikes and treadmills. The free weights and weight machines are by the pool. The snack bar where you can get breakfast until 10:00 and hamburgers and sandwiches until 22:00 is also by the pool. Volleyball and basketball are played on that deck with tall nets all around. Those of us who walk and exercise can be seen on the other side of that deck, Deck 7, but this morning it was too windy to do yoga there. Also on that deck is the Glazer Lounge, named recently for a donor who is on board with his wife. That is were staff and LLL’s have meetings, study, play cards and socialize. Naturally, it has a bar. Wine is $3.50, beer and hard alcohol are $4.00. Not bad!

The Union, which is the largest gathering space, is the former theater. Lecturers that everyone must attend before port are piped from the Union to other classrooms and our staterooms. The former Promenade to the Garden Dining room was converted to a coffee bar with a piano and two nice size classrooms on the side. Two other classrooms adjoin the garden dining room (less formal.) We often eat outside on the deck when in this dining room. The more formal dining room and the special dining rooms which are used by LLL’s and staff for birthdays and special events are off that large room. But one does not have to dress up at any time except for the Captain’s dinner invitation which all staff and LLL eventually get and the Captain’s ball!

Deck 5 is staterooms, formal dining, and lifeboats at one end and the Union at the other with the Bursar’s and Administrator’s desks in the middle. One small spot on this deck is designated for smoking. Our stateroom is on Deck 4 which is all staterooms. Haven’t been lower than this. I know there are more staterooms and the clinic. We will get a ship’s tour after we are more settled in.

Time for Asian Art. We’re studying Moorish art right now which we will see in Spain and in Casablanca. So more later!

Sept 2, 2010

September 2, 2010 – From Paul


We got through the swirling winds going north and the Danielle Hurricane from the south without any major problems. Our room TV monitor depicts the Ocean and the speed and location of our ship. During the rush to get between the storms, we traveled at 21 knots, but now it’s usually 11 to 13 knots. It is Thursday and we plan to arrive in Cadiz, Spain on Saturday for 5 days. We will be attending an Authentic Andalucía Flamenco Scene, taking a one day trip to Seville on the train, and eating and shopping at Spanish Market & Tapas. When not attending these events, we will explore Cadiz on our own or likely with other aged people and young students. We have been given excellent presentations on board where to go, visit, and places to eat including my favorite Paella.

Oh, I have to share with you all a funny experience I had this past week. Every night from 5:30 to 6:30 all the Life Long Learners ( aged people) meet when enroute to an upcoming port. Each night different topics are discussed usually about what’s happening on the ship and news about the upcoming port. This past week, the leader was sharing that some relatives are finding each other among the LLL. Just as he was sharing that info with us, Desmond TuTu and his wife came in to join our group and were sitting down. I raised my hand to ask a “question and when he responded to me, I suddenly “yelled out” to Desmond – “my Daddy is here” and while everyone was laughing loudly Desmond came running across the floor where I was sitting and gave me a big hug and I accidently pinched him on his tush. He didn’t jump so he might have enjoyed it. Ha! I was going to share with him that in the US, we now have some gay marriages in certain states and some of us are coming out of the closet. However, there was too much laughter going on so I didn’t have the opportunity to explain. Maybe I will have another chance if we are alone. Anyway, as he was going back to his seat, I “yelled out” to his wife there is “my Mommy” at which time I ran over to her and gave her a big Hug (but I didn’t pinch her tush). I have seen them both in the hallways a few times since and always refer to them as my mother and father. They obviously know my name now as they always say my son Paul. Suzanne had the audacity to tell me I was inappropriate to pinch him on his tush and I thought that was the very first time she ever said something like that after 46 years of marriage. Ha Ha

One more funny experience. Shocking to all of you, I signed up to attend one on my most intellectual classes titled “ Comedic Styles of Performance.” In his second class, the professor wanted all us to bring a joke to the next class to tell in front of the class. I truly am not one that neither tells jokes nor remembers them. However, the day before one of the LLL men shared a joke with me so I decided to use it. When my turn came up to do it, I explained to the group this was difficult as I am usually shy and an introvert. Then I told them that Dr. Milt and Frank who were sitting in the group (LLL’s who I have teased) pressured me to tell you this joke as they were too scared to do it themselves. I explained to them that I was embarrassed but I would try.

Now the Joke—there was this young man who was obsessed with female breasts. He couldn’t go anywhere without constantly thinking about this. He became so obsessed he was having difficulty sleeping and eating. He decided to see a therapist (who was a good one) and shared with him his problem. The therapist listened and said do a free association test to help him understand better. He explained that he will say a word and wanted the patient to say the first word that comes to his head. Now close your eyes and concentrate on what I will say. He then said grapes and the patient said breasts. He then said oranges and responded breasts. He then said cantaloupes and he responded breasts. He then said wind shield wipers and he responded breasts. The therapist threw up his hand and said I understand the first 3 but how do you associate windshield wiper with breasts. The patient responded that when you put your head between the breasts and kiss the one on the left and then kiss the one on the right then back to the left then right then left then right, it is like a windshield wiper. Ha Ha The class went crazy as I timidly tip toed back to my seat.