Thursday, June 19, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Greece and Rome
For a quick summary of our trip to Greece and Rome Jim and I would say the cruise was so fantabulous we'd do it again in an instant and we're glad we saw Athens and Rome but really don't need to go back to either city. We were surprised by the lack of care in the gardens, the ever-present graffiti -- even in the high-tourist areas, and the general trash and noise in both cities.
The cruise of the Greek Isles -- we would recommend it to everyone! We didn't do the "typical" cruise with the huge buffets and the tuxedo parties and all ... we did a "commoner" type of cruise with Easy Cruise and, though their staff was a bit confused at times and communication was poor and the tea was realllllllllllllllllly bad, the basic concept was fantastic. The ship (that holds 600 passengers) sailed whilst we slept and the daytime and evening hours were spent in each port. This is unusual for cruises that we researched. Often, you just have a couple of hours to power through a charming village and then you're back on the ship for parties and all -- not what we were looking for! So, we were able to enjoy 6 different ports -- 5 in Greece and 1 in Turkey.
Each port had it's own unique charm and, subsequently, each became our "favorite" for a different reason. Some, like Kalymnos, held a centuries-old tradition of sponge fishermen. Others, like Bodrum (Turkey), were amazingly clean and filled with friendly folks and lovely shops. Of course, history abounded in each location -- ancient ruins, Orthodox churches from the Middle Ages, statues, fountains, and ...
food ... amazing Greek food with meals always including olives, feta, fish, and sensational seasonings.
Visiting with the locals, enjoying the quaint shops, Jim's tasting of every type of coffee concoction, trying on an amazing diamond necklace that I will always remember but never again wear, walking and climbing and hiking and then resting, ... and eating ... always eating ... which made the hiking and walking a very good thing, swimming in the Aegean Sea (burrrrrrrrrr!) and sunning on the deck of a small yacht, listening to local music, and relaxing in the shade of a bougainvillea. These were the amazing moments and days of the Greek Isles.
Athens and Rome were filled with equally amazing history but crowded cafes and noisy streets and oh-so-boisterous locals and the intrusive graffiti. But, who can complain about the privilege of resting on a bench in the Sistine Chapel?!!! The fountains, art, ruins, ... profound!
The opulence of the Vatican was totally overwhelming and a bit off-putting. Throughout Greece we heard of the many statues, vases, etc. that had been hauled away centuries ago. Well, they all seem to be in the Vatican! I realize that the corrupt popes of the dark ages stole as much as they possibly could but it would seem decent for the Vatican to return some of the priceless collections to their proper locations. This is not an anti-Catholic Church statement but, rather, and anti-established/institutional church statement so please do not take offense ---
it seems obvious why so many unbelieving people are offended by "the church" in general. The money invested in the whole immense state is amazing. No question, it's beautiful and well kept and clean and well groomed and all ... but ... I question the use of funds for such seeming vanity.
I'll write more details on the Greek Isles and some charming highlights in another blog.
The cruise of the Greek Isles -- we would recommend it to everyone! We didn't do the "typical" cruise with the huge buffets and the tuxedo parties and all ... we did a "commoner" type of cruise with Easy Cruise and, though their staff was a bit confused at times and communication was poor and the tea was realllllllllllllllllly bad, the basic concept was fantastic. The ship (that holds 600 passengers) sailed whilst we slept and the daytime and evening hours were spent in each port. This is unusual for cruises that we researched. Often, you just have a couple of hours to power through a charming village and then you're back on the ship for parties and all -- not what we were looking for! So, we were able to enjoy 6 different ports -- 5 in Greece and 1 in Turkey.
Each port had it's own unique charm and, subsequently, each became our "favorite" for a different reason. Some, like Kalymnos, held a centuries-old tradition of sponge fishermen. Others, like Bodrum (Turkey), were amazingly clean and filled with friendly folks and lovely shops. Of course, history abounded in each location -- ancient ruins, Orthodox churches from the Middle Ages, statues, fountains, and ...
food ... amazing Greek food with meals always including olives, feta, fish, and sensational seasonings.
Visiting with the locals, enjoying the quaint shops, Jim's tasting of every type of coffee concoction, trying on an amazing diamond necklace that I will always remember but never again wear, walking and climbing and hiking and then resting, ... and eating ... always eating ... which made the hiking and walking a very good thing, swimming in the Aegean Sea (burrrrrrrrrr!) and sunning on the deck of a small yacht, listening to local music, and relaxing in the shade of a bougainvillea. These were the amazing moments and days of the Greek Isles.
Athens and Rome were filled with equally amazing history but crowded cafes and noisy streets and oh-so-boisterous locals and the intrusive graffiti. But, who can complain about the privilege of resting on a bench in the Sistine Chapel?!!! The fountains, art, ruins, ... profound!
The opulence of the Vatican was totally overwhelming and a bit off-putting. Throughout Greece we heard of the many statues, vases, etc. that had been hauled away centuries ago. Well, they all seem to be in the Vatican! I realize that the corrupt popes of the dark ages stole as much as they possibly could but it would seem decent for the Vatican to return some of the priceless collections to their proper locations. This is not an anti-Catholic Church statement but, rather, and anti-established/institutional church statement so please do not take offense ---
it seems obvious why so many unbelieving people are offended by "the church" in general. The money invested in the whole immense state is amazing. No question, it's beautiful and well kept and clean and well groomed and all ... but ... I question the use of funds for such seeming vanity.
I'll write more details on the Greek Isles and some charming highlights in another blog.
Athens, Greece
A lot of reconstruction/renovation work is being done at some of the major sites. I tried to avoid any shots that included too much scaffolding.
Chocolate
The all-time highlight of our entire time in Greece and Rome was nothing that involved tourism. It involved music ... music as smooth as chocolate.
How I miss good music. Live music of any sort. Even being able to hear an accordion player on the street was a thrill. But this ... was ... phenomenal.
We got two of the last few tickets for a sold out concert in the largest concert hall in all of Europe -- The Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Santa Cecilia. We heard the Orchestra dell'accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, founded in 1585! The entire program was Spanish music, therefore two of the four pieces featured a guitarist playing concertos -- Pepe Romero. He was Jim's favorite part.
My favorite part began when the oboe played the "A" for tuning. I started crying as the whole orchestra started tuning and I didn't regain control until about 10 minutes into the first piece. I don't know what my neighbors thought and I certainly couldn't understand anything that they might have later said (we were the only non-Italian speakers in the entire parco!) but that didn't worry me. The opening note of the string section was unbelievable. I've never heard strings play in such unity, each section sounding as one instrument. And that's when I thought "chocolate" -- that's the only word to describe this sound.
I will carry the memory of that opening measure with me forever ... or at least until I hear even more heavenly music upon leaving earth!
How I miss good music. Live music of any sort. Even being able to hear an accordion player on the street was a thrill. But this ... was ... phenomenal.
We got two of the last few tickets for a sold out concert in the largest concert hall in all of Europe -- The Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Santa Cecilia. We heard the Orchestra dell'accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, founded in 1585! The entire program was Spanish music, therefore two of the four pieces featured a guitarist playing concertos -- Pepe Romero. He was Jim's favorite part.
My favorite part began when the oboe played the "A" for tuning. I started crying as the whole orchestra started tuning and I didn't regain control until about 10 minutes into the first piece. I don't know what my neighbors thought and I certainly couldn't understand anything that they might have later said (we were the only non-Italian speakers in the entire parco!) but that didn't worry me. The opening note of the string section was unbelievable. I've never heard strings play in such unity, each section sounding as one instrument. And that's when I thought "chocolate" -- that's the only word to describe this sound.
I will carry the memory of that opening measure with me forever ... or at least until I hear even more heavenly music upon leaving earth!
A-Door-ing Greece
We're back from a fabulous 2 week vacation in Greece and Rome. This is the first in a series of blogs that I'll try to load in the next couple of days. (Even this one has to be in two parts due to the time it takes to load this!)
We took a 7-day cruise through the Greek Isles. I wish I could say "fantastically, overwhelmingly amazing" in Greek!
I fell in love with their doors and started a door "collection" -- I'll share a few here. In many of the towns, the houses are all white-washed. The unique entries
are the only way that the owners can "speak" of the individuality of the people within. Stunning!
We took a 7-day cruise through the Greek Isles. I wish I could say "fantastically, overwhelmingly amazing" in Greek!
I fell in love with their doors and started a door "collection" -- I'll share a few here. In many of the towns, the houses are all white-washed. The unique entries
are the only way that the owners can "speak" of the individuality of the people within. Stunning!
Friday, May 16, 2008
The Tragedies Behind the Tragedies
Another pipeline fire was in the news recently. Many of you heard of it, I'm sure. What you would not hear are the pathetic details that accompany each news event here. So, I'll fill in the blanks for you ... at least a bit.
We are fine. The fire was on the mainland in Lagos and we are on the little islands of Victoria and Ikoyi, just south and east of the mainland. (Our world is small, indeed! About 5 kms from north end to south end!) The majority of the 18 million who live in Lagos live on the mainland.
A contractor was digging with heavy equipment without any knowledge of a gas/fuel pipeline in the area.
The pipe was damaged and fuel starting spilling out everywhere. For about 3 hours the neighbors grabbed anything resembling a container and hauled escaping fuel away!
There was a school nearby and reports are that the teachers told the children to remain inside to stay safe.
Reports vary on this part but ... something, possibly an okada (motor cycle) that drove into the area, ignited the gas and suddenly explosions and fire abounded.
Somewhere around 3 hours into the fire episode, reports are that some fire trucks arrived on the scene. 7 of them, even. But only two of the trucks had any water. The other five were there to impress. Mmmmmmmm ... At last report, the fire is still burning. Fuel fires are tough to control at the source. Burning buildings require more than a couple of gallons of water to be contained.
Reports again vary but 100 to 200 people are dead and many are in hospital (the British way to say "in the hospital"). Somewhere around 90 of the dead are the school children that were told to stay indoors to keep "safe." My driver heard that they died from the smoke.
Truth will never fully be discovered in this situation. Innocent people might be charged with crimes. In order to appease the neighbor people, the parents, the many who are shouting their anger in the streets ... the police often grab a few people from somewhere unknown, shoot them, and display their bodies as proof that the "guilty" have been avenged.
The value of a human life is seen differently here. Locals see dead bodies somewhere almost every day. They grieve ... but not much. Even for family members, there is very little grief and a lot of actual partying at the burials. (It's more like a reaction you would expect from followers of Jesus who only see their loss of a loved one as very temporary and rejoice that their loved one is worshiping the Lamb of God in person!)
There's a building that collapsed a couple of years ago near the airport. Bodies are still inside. No work has been done to clean up the mess. There was a car that burned on the highway near the turn off to our beach hut. We saw it a few weeks ago for the first time. Jide told us that this was the car in which a "sister" of his died. I think she's more of a cousin. I can't remember all of the details but the car was used as a taxi. The driver did something stupid and the car burst into flames. No one in the taxi survived. The charred remains of the car will be there, on the roadside, for a long time. No one wants to touch it.
So, that gives you a little more accuracy though we'll never know the full truth in these tragedies.
We are fine. The fire was on the mainland in Lagos and we are on the little islands of Victoria and Ikoyi, just south and east of the mainland. (Our world is small, indeed! About 5 kms from north end to south end!) The majority of the 18 million who live in Lagos live on the mainland.
A contractor was digging with heavy equipment without any knowledge of a gas/fuel pipeline in the area.
The pipe was damaged and fuel starting spilling out everywhere. For about 3 hours the neighbors grabbed anything resembling a container and hauled escaping fuel away!
There was a school nearby and reports are that the teachers told the children to remain inside to stay safe.
Reports vary on this part but ... something, possibly an okada (motor cycle) that drove into the area, ignited the gas and suddenly explosions and fire abounded.
Somewhere around 3 hours into the fire episode, reports are that some fire trucks arrived on the scene. 7 of them, even. But only two of the trucks had any water. The other five were there to impress. Mmmmmmmm ... At last report, the fire is still burning. Fuel fires are tough to control at the source. Burning buildings require more than a couple of gallons of water to be contained.
Reports again vary but 100 to 200 people are dead and many are in hospital (the British way to say "in the hospital"). Somewhere around 90 of the dead are the school children that were told to stay indoors to keep "safe." My driver heard that they died from the smoke.
Truth will never fully be discovered in this situation. Innocent people might be charged with crimes. In order to appease the neighbor people, the parents, the many who are shouting their anger in the streets ... the police often grab a few people from somewhere unknown, shoot them, and display their bodies as proof that the "guilty" have been avenged.
The value of a human life is seen differently here. Locals see dead bodies somewhere almost every day. They grieve ... but not much. Even for family members, there is very little grief and a lot of actual partying at the burials. (It's more like a reaction you would expect from followers of Jesus who only see their loss of a loved one as very temporary and rejoice that their loved one is worshiping the Lamb of God in person!)
There's a building that collapsed a couple of years ago near the airport. Bodies are still inside. No work has been done to clean up the mess. There was a car that burned on the highway near the turn off to our beach hut. We saw it a few weeks ago for the first time. Jide told us that this was the car in which a "sister" of his died. I think she's more of a cousin. I can't remember all of the details but the car was used as a taxi. The driver did something stupid and the car burst into flames. No one in the taxi survived. The charred remains of the car will be there, on the roadside, for a long time. No one wants to touch it.
So, that gives you a little more accuracy though we'll never know the full truth in these tragedies.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens
I have a new favorite thing.
Stretched out in the hammock,
suspended between two palm trees,
staring up into the pale blue sky,
viewing the filtered sun through the rustling palm branches,
listening to incredible worship music from Hillsong,
accompanied by God's amazing percussion section --
the incoming waves
thrashing the shore
at our beach hut.
Wow! What a great worship experience. What a great day of rest!
You see, the village children have gotten a bit ... well ... persistent! When these particular oyibos (no skin people) arrive at their beach hut they attract a crowd. We are a bit unusual. (Weird, clueless, suckers, ... are other words that are probably used to describe us!) Our driver and the neighbor boys are invited to play games with us. (Totally unheard of!) The children all get handfuls of sweets. (We need to bring tooth brushes sometime!) We give water to the vendors. (Why would anyone do that?) I buy things I don't need just because they have families to feed. Suckers? ... probably. But we chose to be that way! However, that does increase the distractions during our search for tranquility whenever we take a rare trip to our beach hut alone (well, yes, and the 9 people it takes for us to be there --- which I explained earlier)!
So, I decided that the only way to truly have some peace was to bring my iPod Shuffle.
When I climbed into the hammock to rest a bit I had my ears filled with worship music. And, wow! What a great experience.
I can only imagine that I'm the first human on earth who has listened to Hillsong worship whilst stretching out in a hammock (brought back to us from friends who went home to Venezuela) suspended between two palm trees at a beach hut near Lagos, Nigeria.
We are blessed.
I have so many new favorite things that I could have never imagined prior to this amazing experience called NIGERIA!
God is always good.
Stretched out in the hammock,
suspended between two palm trees,
staring up into the pale blue sky,
viewing the filtered sun through the rustling palm branches,
listening to incredible worship music from Hillsong,
accompanied by God's amazing percussion section --
the incoming waves
thrashing the shore
at our beach hut.
Wow! What a great worship experience. What a great day of rest!
You see, the village children have gotten a bit ... well ... persistent! When these particular oyibos (no skin people) arrive at their beach hut they attract a crowd. We are a bit unusual. (Weird, clueless, suckers, ... are other words that are probably used to describe us!) Our driver and the neighbor boys are invited to play games with us. (Totally unheard of!) The children all get handfuls of sweets. (We need to bring tooth brushes sometime!) We give water to the vendors. (Why would anyone do that?) I buy things I don't need just because they have families to feed. Suckers? ... probably. But we chose to be that way! However, that does increase the distractions during our search for tranquility whenever we take a rare trip to our beach hut alone (well, yes, and the 9 people it takes for us to be there --- which I explained earlier)!
So, I decided that the only way to truly have some peace was to bring my iPod Shuffle.
When I climbed into the hammock to rest a bit I had my ears filled with worship music. And, wow! What a great experience.
I can only imagine that I'm the first human on earth who has listened to Hillsong worship whilst stretching out in a hammock (brought back to us from friends who went home to Venezuela) suspended between two palm trees at a beach hut near Lagos, Nigeria.
We are blessed.
I have so many new favorite things that I could have never imagined prior to this amazing experience called NIGERIA!
God is always good.
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