Africa - Dakar, Senegal

A cool fresh breeze swept over our morning – a welcomed relief from the hot humid days we had just been through – Africa, an unknown to me - I’ve never been on your soil before – stories of extreme poverty - unemployment 48% - inadequate hospitals and relentless beggars some without legs – what would the day bring? We didn’t walk to the city market, instead we ventured only to local vendors on the pier because I was not feeling very well – aggressive businessmen who needed to sell their wares desperately would not take no for an answer easily. I loved everything they had for sale – colorful batik block prints hung dancing in the breeze. I wanted them – the price was high and the man would not lower the cost. I saw a black suitcases lined with red velvet, inside were bracelets and trinkets made of ivory – how wrong, how cruel and how illegal. We purchased some carved wooden sculptures. I met a man playing a stringed instrument, I asked his name and the name of the instrument – I should have written both down because my memory fails me now. We shared a chair and he gave me a lesson – then I purchased a mini replica and we posed for a photo, he told me “you love me, so I love you”. The block prints were still calling my name and I didn’t want to leave without buying a few of these gorgeous colorful textiles - after much negation I now own three. And just in case you’re wondering how the wine from Brazil was – it sucked.
Catch you in Morocco

Brazil ~ Brasil

Fortaleza Brazil

April, 2008 - Terra Da Luz " Land of Light” … very humid and warm ...colorful and dirty… little to no English spoken here. Fortaleza Brazil is very close to the equatorial line – a hot city with little variation in temperature – the day we were there is was 92`
We took a local taxi into town – our driver was named Geraldo – he spoke no English and we speak zero Portuguese. We managed to convey our desire of an hour sightseeing drive around the city – the price would be $15. Geraldo took us to an old theatre with a green wrought iron spiral staircase wrapped outside of the theatre. Inside the stage was very ornate, a red velvet curtain edged in gold fringe. Above was a relief sculpture depicting men and women reveling around a statue of someone. The chairs looked rigid and were wood with cane seats and backs – the air inside was stifling, steamy thick and although it was beautiful inside, I could not imagine sitting through a play in that temperature (I guess you would adapt). The ceiling was rounded and had been painted with angelic women in flowing gowns - sitting on clouds. Our next stop was the Fortaleza Cathedral – a huge grey concrete church with numerous steeples. The entry had many beggars, which broke my heart. The inside was gorgeous; it was painted white with arches lining the sides. In each arch there was a huge stained glass window. The multi-colored windows were illuminated by the sun shining through them – all bore religious icons of some type, it was glorious. The cathedral was huge and had long dark wood pews; there was nowhere to absorb sound so it echoed. A poor looking man outside of the church put wooden beaded bracelets w/ a cross on them on our wrists – he then wanted money – we paid him.
Next we went to the central market place. Wow – a swap meet on crack. The place looked like a parking garage – five stories tall. After looking at a few vendor’s booths you had seen everything to be bought there. Cashews, Linens, baskets, pots and pans, shoes – you name it they had it. The prices were not too bad for some items, but the hand crochet tablecloth I wanted was $40 and it was maybe 36” x 36” – I said it was too much - am I a tightwad? I think I will find something that appeals to me more when I get to Italy anyway. I did purchase some kitchen towels with hand embroidery & crochet lace at the edge. We bought some Brazilian red wine also, which we have not tasted yet – reports to follow.
The most amazing thing we saw was an older woman making lace by hand. She had what looked like a big pincushion in front of her – a strip of brown paper was pinned with hundreds of pins, and the lace was being woven over the paper pattern. The ends of the lace – the spools she was working with were numerous – maybe 25 – 30 – her nimble fingers clanked those spools in and out and around and she was looming lace right before our eyes. I had to talk to this woman – I smiled and watched a little and tried to talk to her, she smiled back - I showed her my camera and asked if I could take some photos – she nodded in agreement – I took about four photos then gave her some money for her time. I also purchased some lace $10 for one meter (a little over one yard) plus two placemats. This woman made my whole day – how beautiful, how artistic, and how lovely.

Nicaragua

Although we were there two weeks ago I would be remiss if I did not mention Nicaragua.
We met the day with sweltering heat and air as humid as a damp blanket. Our taxi to town was a wheeled bench seat harnessed to a bicycle – the cost was $2. The port we went to was extremely poor, the local people had set up a swap meet with one long row – the sun was pouring down and I was drinking lots of water. We stopped at the end of the swap meet row and watched a male and female dancer perform. I heard a … rat a tat tat … - … rat a tat tat … - I turned to see a young brown eyed boy smiling at me. He had an empty milk jug tied around his neck, he was pounding away with drum sticks against the plastic jug– he said something to us in Spanish – next to him was someone in a woman doll costume and the boy wanted $1 for us to take a photo of his creation – it was a doll about 6 feet tall with one of his buddies inside. You could see the fella’s eyes beneath the homemade doll. I thought “here he is in a town that is so poor and he has become an entrepreneur, a mini businessman”, they made this woman doll and were ‘drumming’ up business with it. We were thrilled at his enthusiasm and gladly gave him his fair pay for the photo opportunity.
There were no shops to buy anything from – there was a small market and Dave bought a bottle of kickin hot sauce. We wandered a little down a side street and came upon the ‘vegetarian’ district - all of the open air shops were selling fruits and vegetables – they looked fresh but the knife used to cut the fruit looked unclean and old. One woman had a large bowl with baby parrots sitting on the rim – I asked if I could take a photo – she put the bird on my shoulder and a little girl was next to me for a photo – the bird leapt from me onto the little girls head and we all had a good chuckle – humor is universal. Children asked me to take their photos and were eager to smile for us. Wow – people with so little living so rich – a lesson for us all.

Cartagena Columbia

Do you really want to start your day by bartering for a taxi ride? Someone who has your life in their hands going to the lowest bidder? Dave finds this fun. I do not. The day was hothothot – and our taxi driver said he had air conditioning … but when you bargain for your ride should you be surprised that the AC is achieved by rolling down your windows?
We entered the old city of Cartagena, which has a high wall all the way around the city, walled originally to keep out intruder. Also, the streets were built intentionally narrow and they wind through the city to confuse would be intruders. Cartagena is gorgeous with old architecture and boldly painted buildings, it is one of the oldest cities in South America. – When we entered, we turned right and apparently all of the tourists turned left – which is good … right? Well we were extremely white in a sea of Columbian people –we wondered through the streets – found fabric shops, a grocery store – which incidentally I love going into foreign grocery stores, I take photos and oogle over all of the items (except the raw animals cut up on ice for display – please someone call P.E.T.A.) which are so foreign to me.
We sat in a park while Dave had a beer and I had water or three. Then a coffee bar where Dave had Columbian coffee and I had – can you guess? Yes, another water. I found a music store where I bought three guitar picks crafted out of tortoise shell – which now I have enormous regrets over buying because I am sure it is illegal as heck. I bought a soup ladle from a kitchen supply store for $1.50 – then we turned down a street and we were in the tourist district. Just like the photos we had seen in many travel brochures, a church, shops and vendors who will not take no for an answer. A Columbian woman was dressed in a lovely orange dress, wearing bright red lipstick and a basket of fruit on her head - $1 for a photo – I gave her $2 because I know I wouldn’t want to be all dressed like that in the hot temperature - and she was breathtakingly beautiful. We did wind up purchasing some Chilean wine from the grocery store and getting a cab with air conditioning (yahoo) for our ride back. Columbia was pretty fascinating, but it did freak me out a tiny bit when we were in the old town district basically not knowing where the heck we were. All in all it was a extraordinary day; we walked on the uneven streets, smelled fresh coffee brewing, saw many fruit and vegetable vendors and mingled with the local people.

Florida

David and I spent a week in Florida between adventures. My sister Iliriana, her husband Rudolf and her mother Bukuri came from New York. Also my nephew Saimir his wife Ledia and their two beautiful children Jessica and Daniel came from New Jersey. We rented a three bedroom condo and stayed in Orlando. We visited, swam, prepared meals together, drank wine and ouzo, danced, went to Cirque du Soleil, walked around downtown Disney, and had a wonderful time. I don’t get to see my Albanian relatives very often so for me and for them it is always a special and cherished time together.
Now David and I will get onto a ship and sail to Europe, it will take us 20 days to get there – I don’t know if I will be updating the blog while at sea due to possible poor satellite reception. During the next twenty days we will make stops in Dominica, Devils Island, On April 19th we will cross the equator – do you think the sink will drain in the opposite direction – I have heard this is true- Brazil, Senegal, Morocco (and I swear if any snake charmers put a snake on me and ask for money to remove it I will be so afraid and mad), Gibraltar, France and then we will arrive in Italy!
Here’s to safe travel ~ From the Atlantic to the Mediterranean – here we go!
Cheers and Ciao ~ Nora & David

Jamaica

Jamaica was adventurous – “Yeah Mon, No Problem”
This is what we did: We rented a small boat that was just big enough for 2 persons + our “guide” and I use the term guide loosely – oy vey! The boat was shaped like an arrowhead and was inflated with a motor on the back – we cut through the waves of the ocean very rapidly, bouncing all the way - I got more salt water in my mouth that day then I bargained for. Half way through the boat ride I took the reins – as I said before we were cutting through the waves – I cut into one and one came from the back and the entire boat filled with water – I thought we were going to flip and capsize - do I always have to think the worst? Dave jumped from the front to the back and my only thought was that our “Guide” had no idea what the heck to do – and how the hell was I going to get from behind the steering wheel that I was littlerly pinned under – But all turned out well and the guide wound up pumping the water out of the boat with a hand pump. We all laughed and said it was an adventure – "Yeah mon, no problem" – the Jamaican motto.
Next we climbed “Dunn’s river Falls” a 750 foot waterfall. You’re “supposed” to go with yes “a guide” but Dave preferred to hike it without one – again I say Oy Vey! So we trudged up and up and up to the top of the waterfall. All in all I adopted the Jamaican motto of

“Yeah mon, No Problem”
Hang loose Mon, Nora

The Panama Canal

What can you say about the Panama Canal? huge, spectacular, stunning, historical ... wow how did they ever dig this canal? The truth is that all of these describe the Panama Canal. I had no idea what to expect, of course this is from a woman who thought the term “mules” referred to actual mules, not small trains that help to pull the ship through the locks – Were there ever actual mules? I don’t know – but the canal is a great timesaver for ships to get to the other side. We sailed from the Pacific through the canal to the Atlantic right into Caribbean waters. At one point, in the last lock we were so close to the wall of the canal that we actually reached out and touched it – history was on our fingertips and it was unreal to imagine exactly what we were doing until after we had passed through.

Guatemala

Our last travel segment was marvelous. We sailed from LA to Florida with stops in Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Columbia, Jamaica, Costa Rica and we also sailed through the Panama Canal. Absolutely – hands down one of the best experiences of my life. I’d like to start with Guatemala – I loved this country. We boarded a bus and headed for a small town in the mountains named Antigua. I have wanted to go to Guatemala since the 70’s when my friend Cyndi’s sister moved there and lived in a dormant volcano – So I knew even before getting to Antigua that I would love it. I choose this tour because we got to go to a ‘woman’s cooperative’ of weavers and loomers. There is a special loom that looks like a swing back, the women sit in it, lean back and the weight of their body creates tension on the warp strings, allowing taut tension so they can weave. The people are mostly very poor, as I could see from my bus window when we drove in through a neighborhood. Conditions that we in our country would simply find deplorable and unacceptable are how they live each day. It made me sad to see their homes. The people I encountered were pleasant, helpful and tremendously friendly and loving. I chatted with three women in a small market and we didn’t even speak the same language. The woven fabrics of this country with their many colors and textures were as diverse as the people who made them. I would like to go back to Guatemala and stay for a while – I fell in love with this country and with the Guatemalan people.

Out to sea

Well, we are out to sea - currently sailing away from Aruba. We went to Guatemala, Columbia, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It has been sweltering hot and sticky humid. Passing through the Panama Canal was super interesting - at one point we were so close to the wall that we reached out and were able to touch the Panama Canal. Wow. We will be in Florida in a few days and I will create a new blog post complete with photos. If I were to post photos now - oh my - it would take f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to upload them - however, I wanted to touch base - to say we're doing fine. Tomorrow we will be Jamaica - we are going out in a little boat to the Dunn's river falls. It is where a waterfall plunges into the ocean. We will start at the ocean and are going to "hike" up the falls ... this should be interesting.
Ciao~ for now *nora