Category: Travel

home again home again

I will mention with great brevity how the return trip was fourteen different shades of dark horrible in terms of discomfort (but not safety or efficacy) and then mention that in practical terms, I have to spend today with my feet up. I didn’t get swelling of the ankles like this during a summer pregnancy in Toronto; I can barely get into the most comfy shoes I have. Since nothing else has happened to me except my return, I’ll leave it at that. I’ll post pics once I crop the best ones.

last impressions

This morning, Miriam funnelling Bloody Marys into Katie at Las Carambolas, our favourite bar at the resort (I stuck with beer). Last night, lightning flashes in the distance around 1 am when we emerged from the disco.  A night heron who posed for us, but who, when we first saw him, appeared to be mesmerised by the music coming out of the disco (he was actually using the lights to hunt crabs).  I walked up to him slowly and he ran like the hammers for the water but did not consider taking off.  Then he came back and eyed the moths longingly. 

Walking in the waves with the brilliant stars overhead speculating on when the next nova that will be visible in the daytime will occur.  Then a DAMNED BIG COCKROACH.  Outside.  And proud as anything; she scarcely moved when I tapped the railing next to her.

This morning, we called for the big lizard (about an 8 inch body), who greeted us every morning for three days and then inexplicably vanished – and there he was, running along the path to say goodbye.  Katie finally catching a glimpse of the enormous hummingbirds.  A woodpecker in the palms.  Check out ludicrously easy and they gave me my change in American money, which, if you knew how f*****g hard it was yesterday to get enough US money together to leave the country, was as laughable as how painless the checkout was after the extended agony of my interactions with the front desk over the course of the last week.

Now I’m sitting in the internet cafe and I just forked over about 20 bucks for Katie to get braids.

Happy birthday to me.

Internet access

The hotel didn’t have functioning internet until the day before my birthday, and as an added fillip, the merengue band was playing “Happy Birthday” as I trotted up to the internet salon.  I can understand why hardly anybody uses it… they charge more than 3 times what the rate is across the street and the internet is slow as “dominican minutes”. 

Yesterday, Santo Domingo.  Beautiful architecture, lush vegetation, tourist traps in masses and heaps, and grinding poverty.  Lorne, a guy from Edmonton Katie and I have been hanging with on the field trips, saw a guy drinking from a puddle in the street yesterday.  I think homeless people in Vancouver do not have to do this, but then maybe I’ve just never seen it.

Today, I went to Paradise for 90 minutes.  Saona is exactly as beautiful as advertised, and the vendors were persistent but not up in your face like the guys at the cave yesterday.  The Lonely Planet guide said they were the worst in the Republic, and they weren’t just passing the time of day.  The cave (Tres Ojos) is beautiful and just about the hottest place in the DR.  We were all wringing wet by the time we emerged, dodging hawkers to get to the blessed, blessed a/c tour bus.

Saona was the most glorious coda to a most glorious trip.  The entire speedboat ride back there was an immense, brilliant rainbow, and the sun set into 900 kilometres of water, as that’s how much there is between Saona and the Venezuelan coast.  Frigate birds wheeled around the harbour.  The water was a exalted turquoise.  I was so happy I broke down and bought jewellery from a vendor, and I must have been an easy mark, because he gave me a free ‘cucaracha del mar’.  Imagine a turquoise and black trilobite and you get the general idea.

No vegetarians need apply

This is a hard bloody place to be a vegetarian in.  They serve meat with every meal.  If you’re a vegan, you’d have to pack your food in – it would be virtually impossible to live here otherwise.

Today, more collapsing gently and beaching.  Plus eating and drinking.  The weather has been gorgeous with the exception of a very well behaved rainshower yesterday.  Katie got a magnificent picture of a jewel green lizard yesterday which I hope to post on my return.

I read her the last 5 chapters of Harry Potter VII and we both cried like idiots.  What’s wrong with me??? I’ve read it already, it’s not like it came as any surprise.

Quelle Journee

I really DID NOT want to go to church today, but I decided, since I had booked the car, that I might as well run the errands and go to church as planned (actually, I didn’t even want to leave the apartment – but I’ve realized that this way lies madness).

SO.

First I get the trip logs out of the two cars at SFU. Then I go to church and cough up my pledge (and a mighty big hairball it was, too, and I still owe for last year). Then I go to Long & McQuade out by the Port Mann, and it’s closed. Then I go to the liquor store on Lougheed that’s open on Sundays and learn (yeep yeep yeep) that Winter Ale is BACK. I will leave it in the fridge for my return from Santo Domingo. Then I realize there is a Tom Lee (OPEN) on Barnet and poke my head in and leave poorer but with lots more mando stuff and a thingy that will allow me to put a strap on my guitar… and I bought a strap, too.

Then off to West Broadway to pick up travel stuff for the trip (inflatable cushions for the long damned trip, packs to hide passports in, Spanish phrase book, Lonely Planet Dominican Republic), then I dropped the trip logs off at CAN at Granville and Hastings, then I went home along Hastings and realize that I still haven’t ordered daughter Katie’s other other other birthday present, which is the complete Strangers in Paradise. They had 2, so I picked it up, and order the other trades 1 through 6. Came home to find some asshat had parked in my spot and had to put the Prius underground. Grr. Anyway, twas a busy day of much expenditure.

Events in Bolivia

Sometimes I feel very isolated from world affairs – then they strike at my friends and family. This is verbatim from Leo Makela. I am very grateful for the opportunity to repost.

Hi all,

You may or may not have been aware of the incidents in Bolivia:

Bolivian airline nastiness

We have more personal details.

Last week Kevin flew down to Tarija Bolivia for the International Tae Kwon Do Pan-American tournament. He went with Master Lu and another student from Ottawa and another 3 participants flew from Toronto. The tournament was great (Kevin got Silver in patterns) and he loved Tarija, especially the girls.

However,

On the way back they were waiting in Santa Cruz, Bolivia to board an American Airlines flight to Miami when the dispute between the Airlines and the local airport authorities occurred. American Airlines refused to pay the extra fee that the local authorities were demanding (about $2000). After a couple of hours of stand-off the pilot and aircrew suddenly left the departure lounge, boarded the aircraft and (without permission from the control tower) took off – abandoning about 140 passengers in the departure lounge, including the Canadian, American and Puerto Rico TKD teams.

Then the airport authorities told the passengers to collect their checked luggage and leave the airport. Kevin got his luggage and tried to return to the departure lounge to rejoin the other people on the team. Security guards tried to stop him but he pushed through. Then he and other TKD people faced off against about 1/2 dozen riot police who appeared carrying batons. They refused to leave until people were reunited and some settlement was made. The Canadian consulate, the American consulate and the local senator got involved and finally transportation was arranged to take the Canadians, Americans and Puerto Ricans to the Cortez Hotel.Thank God Taekwon Do people, especially our own master, Master Phap Lu know people “in high places”.

The next day the TKD masters refused an offer by American Airlines to fly them out “sometime during the weekend”. Instead, on a strongly worded recommendation by the Canadian consulate and Foreign Affairs in Canada they paid the local airline about $500 per person to fly them to Miami immediately. Darn good thing too – they left around 11:30 Wed night and on Thursday the army stormed the airport.

From Miami, after considerable argument, they managed to get booked to O’Hare in Chicago and then to Ottawa. Finally, around 6:00 pm on Thursday they arrived at the Ottawa airport. Kevin and the others were thrilled to be home in Canada and of course all of us were relieved to have them back. We along with John and Val all showed up to pick them up.

It remains to be seen whether we will be able to get any compensation from American Airlines. – At least everyone returned safe and sound. This incident may severely restrict future international TKD
competitions in the future.

In Victoria

Movies: Pink Floyd Live in Pompeii;

Children of Men

and we got half way through a CHERRY print of Robinson Crusoe on Mars

GRRR there was something wrong with the actual DVD; it stopped in the middle of a closeup on Mona’s face.

Yesterday, in church, bad puns broke out. It was very, very bad, mostly because Lady Miss Banjola and Dr Filk were not there to raise the insanity to ever higher levels.

Now I’m going to see if I can drag my bro out to breakfast. Nope – he’s made me oatmeal. Then the food shop….
The trip here started repulsive and got better and better; the weather was so much more clement it was very pleasant to stand it in while waiting briefly for Jeff. When I left my place at SFU it was howling a gale and slanting rain, and I lost my bus pass on the ground, and so missed the first bus retracing my steps to see what the hell I had done with it. I found it right out front of my apartment building (thank guh) and then spent three hours alternately waiting for a bus and riding one. It’s an $85 cab ride to the ferry terminal from my place (I did it once, partly to see how much it cost and partly because I was feeling quite worn out) but I don’t think I’ll be that self indulgent again if I can help it.
Jeff’s kitties are doing famously. They were both sitting in the window of the computer room this morning intently looking at something of cat interest.

Homily went well (see Thanksgiving…)

and now I am off to Victoria for a while, back Thursday night.  I will probably not be posting nearly as much, so try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone.  If you can’t at least have the decency to invent a new kind of trouble.

I light a candle for Daughter Katie, whose niece Sapphire has been stolen by the Ministry.  I light a candle for everyone involved, including the heartless pricks whose idea of a good time is scoop a baby after tossing the mother into handcuffs the Friday before a long holiday weekend.  The child in question was NOT AT RISK.  The parents are young and stupid and to put it vaguely but tellingly “multiply diagnosed”, but Sapphire is not being physically or emotionally abused, she’s entirely on target for growth and developmental milestones, and Katie got to watch this go down, and it’s not turning her into ‘a better citizen’ if compliance and unquestioning patriotism is the desired end state.

Okay, NOW I’m going to Victoria.

Fight the power and may God rain down judgment on the Ministry.

Why I love my friends (part 976)

This just in from the Dalai Jarmo:

 

Last night was a 100% lunar eclipse, so while watching it I got an idea.  The next 100% SOLAR eclipse will be in Siberia just east of KOMI in the Yamalo-Nenetskyi autonomous regions of Russia all which is just somewhat east of where I was born.  My father in law has made numerous trips to the Komi region and has agreed to be the tour organizer.
We would travel to London by cheap flights, (well cheapest anyway), then fly by BUZZ air to Mikkeli Finland.  From there we would take the Siberian Express train to Komi, and then something else to get to Nadym in the Yamalo-Nenetskyi autonomous region.  Then we watch the 100% solar eclipse and come back home.
The peak eclipse is on August 1, 2008 at 10:21:08.1 AM, and the eclipse lasts for a couple of minutes.

Okay, I am comPLETEly nuts, but this actually sounds like, you know, a plan!

Ferries break down.

I think it’s wonderful that BC Ferries decided to take the Queen of Alberni out of service on the third busiest long weekend of the year.  I mean, it was wonderful that I wasn’t there in the line up.

Also, I think it’s wonderful that the rain held off until this morning.  That hardly ever happens, especially on a long weekend.

I am working on Tom’s resume.  Man, you’ve done a LOT of WORK in your life.  Just doing the functional summary is breaking my brain.