Transit Panama Canal and Home

May 1-7, 2009 Transit the Panama Canal and Home

On May 2 we passed over the “bridge of water.” The Panama Canal transit was an all-day event, and we spent a lot of time on the deck. Margaret G. emailed that she watched our ship pass the Miraflores Locks! That was so exciting to us – what a grand world! Big freighters in the locks next to us had only two feet to spare on each side. There are strong “mules” that run along tracks next to the ships and attached by cables – two off the bow and two off the stern (or more “mules” on the huge ships). Their function is to keep the ships from scraping the canal or locks. (Picture with Captain Jeremy) They have cogs to drive them up the hills on the sides of the water escalator. There are big targets on grassy lawns at the locks: these are for line throwing practice. Ships go through the locks on a schedule, and they can pass going each way when they get to the big lake on the crossing. Fourteen thousand ships go through the Panama Canal annually. “The land divided, the world united” is the motto.
While passing through the Canal, we were followed by frigate birds. We glimpsed two crocodiles on the banks of the jungle. When we neared the Atlantic side, we saw pelicans. In the Caribbean, the flying fish are again sailing over the waves and crashing back into the water. We are going to miss watching the endless sea every day.
We went around Cuba in the Yucatan Channel where the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico meet. We traveled with the flow of the Yucatan Current.
Classes are over, and I was surprised to be honored by both of my professors as a “Distinguished Individual of Academic Excellence.” Wendy had her final dance performance: the students showcased dances from around the world (picture of one). At the end, Wendy did a moving hula “thank you” dance for everyone that brought tears to many eyes (picture). Matthew’s MICE group presented their final concert yesterday. The two of them added a lot of interest to the academic life of the ship.
More music has kept the trip lively – staff member Bob Balsley entertains along with students. They even had a “Battle of the Bands” one night. We attended an Ambassadors’ Ball, which was a dress-up dinner, and eight of our eleven Shipboard Family students came for a “family photo” (pictures). We’re packing and saying goodbye to so many new friends – our wonderful crew, the students, faculty and life-long learners. The final “Pre-port Lecture” was a spoof presented by students. The security rating for the USA was “high,” and we viewed how visitors might be prepared for the USA.
It is hard saying goodbye to everyone, so we are waving, “see you again.” Parents are swarming the Fort Lauderdale dock with signs welcoming their children home. We’ll be renting a car for our drive to Miami where we’ll stay for our morning flight on May 7.
Processing all we’ve seen, heard, smelled, tasted and all the things that have touched our hearts will take some time. What we do with our new knowledge is yet to be discovered. For now, we will enjoy again our family and friends, our home.

Guatemala

April 27-30, 2009 Guatemala

Our last stop was a surprise and pleasure. We didn’t know exactly what we would do the first two days – we wanted to do something special with Barrett. Wendy and Matthew were going to Antigua to ride horses and climb a volcano. We ended up in a cab heading south from Puerto Quetzal to Monterrico. We arrived on the edge of the rainy season, so it was quiet there. Our hotel, Atelie del Mar, was a group of buildings with palma roofs. The dining area is outside under a red mangrove and palma roof, and there is a large swimming pool on one side and a small one on the other. Barrett learned to get in and out of a hammock. Violetta, the wife of the owner, cooked the meals, but her real work is painting watercolors on silk. She is respected as an artist (we couldn’t afford even her smallest works), and it wasn’t until she took us up to her studio that I realized she is blind. She also has a lovely flower garden. Her husband is originally from Finland and speaks many languages.
Across the street was the beach that sounded like thunder from the hotel! The black sand was hot!! We had to wear our shoes down to the water line. I held on to Barrett’s hand because as we played in the foam, the water tried to pull him into the Pacific, steal him from me! It was a very steep and dangerous beach. We watched people launching a boat out into the surf. Then we went and did our swimming in the pool.
At five in the morning, we heard a knock. Eleazor, who works at the hotel, came to take us on a tour a los mangles de la Reserva Natural Monte Rico. A Guatemalan honeymoon couple and a communications professor from the ship, Jody, went with us. Eleazor had a pole boat, and we glided between the mangroves. We heard gray egrets laughing and saw big white herons. Social flycatchers were showing off their bright golden yellow breasts. Large termite nests of brownish mud were wedged up in the trees, and the sun rose orange between volcanoes. Ferryboats, flat barges with a motor on the back, carried one car or truck along the canal. Some men were fishing for shrimp, and we saw tiny set gillnets strung next to the mangroves that had captured Barrett-palm-sized fish. Best of all were the anableps anableps, four-eyed fish that look like frogs swimming and then skip across the water when they see us coming. Barrett called them “skippers.” I found out that they have two eyes, but four pupils with split corneas for air and for under water vision.
Walking back through the village, Barrett spotted big pigs running in the street. Then we saw a litter of piglets. Barrett and Jody followed them around while we waited for a man to make us coffee. Then the proprietor squeezed fresh oranges for Barrett to drink. As we walked on, Barrett noticed chickens running about. We bought some tortillas a lady was cooking on a flat grill, and a big green ball for Barrett.
The last day we traveled by bus to a village near Antigua called Alotenango or San Miguel Duenas (we never got that clarified). “Tourist police” followed us. These are now part of the government’s plan to help improve Guatemala’s reputation as a dangerous country. Our guide Leonel told us the story of his struggle growing up, getting an education. Out of all the information emerged a hopeful note: Guatemala is slowly gaining a middle class, and education is the key. In the village, we visited a private, free library for children, Open Windows Library. One of the founders, Theresa, said that she realized Christmas gifts for the poor children did not last, so she began the library in her mother’s empty home. It has grown, and the children are learning. They go to school in the morning only, so the library is open in the afternoon for homework, tutoring, computer use, and reading. Right now they need volunteers who speak Spanish and can teach math, as well as someone to open a teen center in the evenings. Wow, it is amazing what one person can do with their vision! We also went to a school, and the children were painting woven newspaper baskets with cardboard bottoms that they had made. Barrett was allowed to help paint.
For lunch we went to Antigua. Barrett had fallen asleep in the bus, and he slept on the wooded floor of the restaurant as we ate. Then we walked around the town. Barrett was begging for a lollypop he saw, and I said “No.” Low and behold, a parade of high school beauties came by with girls dressed to the nines atop cars, throwing candy to Barrett!
Guatemala was colorful and interesting. Now I really need to learn to say more that adios!! When we walked up the gangway, everyone was nostalgic – it was our last time to board the ship.

Hawai'i

April 19-20, 2009 O’ahu, Hawai’i

Aloha! Today we rode bikes and ended up at the beach by the Royal Hawaiian and Moana Surfrider Hotels. Paddling in the aqua Pacific Ocean, I heard a little blond boy blow a conch shell, true and clear. His tinier brother then helped push off a large catamaran and pull up the boarding ramp for a tour off Waikiki Beach. These little boys helping with the family business reminded me of our boys when they were small.
Yesterday I visited Korean Buddhist Mu Ryang Sa, Broken Ridge Temple in Honolulu. Of all the temples, it was the most peaceful I have experienced. After we were led in a chant by Abbot Dohyun Gwon, we went into a meeting room for a discussion concerning, “Is a Nonkilling World Possible?” We listened to Dr. Ha’aheo Guanson explain the meaning of aloha spirit and how she is working for justice and reconciliation in Hawai’i. Professor Glenn Paige and others from the Center for Global Nonkilling also spoke. They treated us as honored guests with important contributions to make.
We had a luau at Kapi’olani Park on Queen’s Surf Beach. Les bought an inexpensive grill, and we cooked a variety of hotdogs, corn on the cob, and had pineapple, taro chips and a coconut pudding cake. Some others brought food to add. Matthew carried two big suitcases of his equipment into the park and set up electronics for a MICE concert. Some students came, and Wendy and her hula dancers showed up after sunset to eat and perform their dance moves on the edge of the waves in the dark. We included a homeless woman in our hot dog roast, and several Hawaiian families were gathered nearby and stopped to listen to the music. Barrett had several caregivers, so he got to feed fish, build a sandcastle, watch acrobats practicing handstand maneuvers and tightrope walking, and play with some children.
Les and I rented bicycles the second day and toured around the shore area between Ala Moana and Diamond Head. (It was exactly one year since I tipped off my bike in Palmer, AK and broke my hip! I’m celebrating my recovery!) We stopped for lunch at “The House Without a Key” at the Halekulani Hotel. We remember staying there with Mom and Dad when the boys were small. We bicycled by beautiful groves of trees, and saw little nook beaches. I swam at a beach by the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and we had a fruity drink there. We walked through the hotel where my mother had stayed when she sailed to Hawai’i at age nine. It is still a beautiful old hotel, but it is surrounded by high-rises. How to stay glorious it the midst of giants!
Finally, we shopped at the Ala Moana Center and got some crackers, cheese and nuts. We heard some Hawaiian music and watched dancers in long dresses do traditional hula. Two days was not enough time at one of our favorite American states!
Now we are out on the wide Pacific again, heading for Guatemala, our last port before home. We will be at sea for the next six days.

Pacific Ocean

April 11, 12, 12, and 13 Pacific Ocean

We are traveling from Yokohama to Honolulu about 3861 miles over the vast Pacific. Even though this is a long trip, it is only a bit of this ocean that covers more than half the surface of the earth. We are following a great circle route, the shortest distance between two points on a sphere. We headed north and east at first, and the weather became rainy and choppy. Behind our ship, we saw four albatross, the black-footed albatross and the Laysan albatross - - I was excited! They are smaller than the southern hemisphere ones, but still they have wide wingspans of about seven feet. They like to ride on the wind, hardly ever beating their wings.
We had two Easter Sundays on board. (My mom told me that when she crossed the International Dateline, she had two Christmases!) There was a sunrise service the first Easter, but it was cold, and I couldn’t hear anyone in the wind. The second Easter we had an Easter hunt for the four youngest children. I made bunny baskets out of bags, and Les hid M&Ms in the big dining room. One of the mom’s found four plastic eggs and had purchased some little chocolate bunnies somewhere. A college student made a pin the tail on the rabbit game.
Class work has been quite intense since we left Japan, and the evenings are jam-packed with activities. The students had a big test in Global Studies. I am working on my second “long” story and have turned in both field reports for nutrition. We had a Shipboard Family gathering with milk and cookies for supper one night. The kids wanted to have a “family vacation,” so we are planning a picnic luau on the beach in Hawaii next Sunday. There was an auction last night: Matthew bought a week’s stay on Molokai; we sold an overnight home-stay at our house. The money goes to support the ship’s service activities in the various ports. Tonight is a Deans’ Reception. There will be a play and a talent show this week, too.

more Japan

Early the next morning, Les, Peter, and I went to the Nagoya Fish Market. We parked the car in a garage slot, where it went up on an elevator in the narrow building to a space somewhere up there. Peter did not have to give them the key, so the parking garage was automated. Aisle and aisle of fish were displayed, and restaurant buyers were there. Men on bicycles delivered packages within the market, and people rolled flat carts full outside. The large tuna were the most impressive among the dozens of varieties of fish. On our way home we stopped for breakfast at a fast food Japanese restaurant, and it was fast and filling.
We spent the rest of the day in Nagoya with Setsuko, Takashi, and Isao’s daughter Akiko who had a day off from work at the bank. Our first stop was Osu Kannon Temple. Akiko got a wonderful fortune there, the best she said, and she tied it onto the temple. Setsuko and I said a silent prayer together. We watched an amazing automated doll show with music that is shown every few hours in a glassed-in stage, and we visited Fuji Sengenjinja Shinto Shrine where Takashi and Setsuko rang the gong bell in prayer. We shopped in the covered street area of Osu, and Setsuko treated us to lunch in a lovely Japanese restaurant. I found a maneki neko (beckoning cat) for my souvenir, and Les got a sake set.
That night Isao and Kyoko treated us to a fancy farewell Japanese dinner at a restaurant. We ate many interesting dishes including about five kinds of fish, raw squids, raw baby sardines, soups, a whole bream, sea urchin row, seaweed salad, and sake. We ended the meal with miso soup, scorched rice, a sweets platter, and green tea. We all said “kampai” and drank to our wonderful time in Nagoya.
The last day in Japan, our friends Isao and Kyoko took us to the train station to say goodbye. We traveled on the Shinkansen and JR Line, the bullet train, with Setsuko and Takashi. They gifted us with this trip to Yokohama to meet our ship. The train goes 250 km/hr! We saw Mount Fuji on the way. Setsuko taught me some origami as we traveled. Then they came with us to see the ship and take a walk to a famous Yokohama park near the port. We finally found Matthew whom they were eager to see again. Then Setsuko, Takashi and I made a surprise journey to Yokohama City University with Matthew and his MICE students. We traveled for an hour and a half on the subway trains to get there. Matthew gave a talk, and the students played a couple of their compositions. Then they spent time showing the audience the instruments. Setsuko tried the ukulele.
We had to part with Setsuko and Takashi in the subway: they traveled back home to Niigata, and we returned to our ship and the voyage across the Pacific Ocean. Isao once said, “Life is full of meetings and partings,” and this was true of our time in Japan. We were not ready to say sayonara to our friends after such a short visit. We are hoping that they may come to Alaska!

more Japan

Kyoko treated us to a real Japanese breakfast the second day: miso soup, salmon, rice, egg, green tea and more. She was off from work at the nursery, so was able to go with Isao, Les, and me to the Toyoto Automobile Museum. I wished that my brother Gary had been with us, but I had to settle with buying him a souvenir.
Les and I were just taking off for a walk around Isao’s neighborhood when Kyoko got a call – my pen pal of 49 years, almost a half-century, was nearby at the subway station. We met Setsuko and her husband Takashi, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her! I had never heard her voice, so I liked listening to her talk. I was happy just to be beside Setsuko. We shared photos, and she even had some of my first letters written in 1961. Setsuko had brought some homemade sushi (oshi!), and Kyoko and Isao loaded the table with many dishes and treats. I think we were eating together for at least three hours. Isao is such a good host - - we all had a happy time together! More ….

more Japan

Isao, Peter, Kiriko, and we journeyed west to Kyoto the next day, again traveling in Isao’s car. It was the peak of cherry blossom time! We hoped to ride the bus to various temples, but our first ride was packed. The driver kept letting on more people, and I guess the bus just kept making room because we added at least twenty more after it was full! We made it to Nanzen-ji Temple and walked the beautiful grounds with ponds, mossy gardens, little running streams, peaked buildings with curved tile roofs, pines, and the flowering cherries (sakura) everywhere. Isao climbed with me to the top of the temple to see the view. We walked along the Philosophers’ Walk beside a stream with cherry tree boughs hanging over, stopping for lunch at a café. We then visited Kiyomize-dera Temple where we lit incense and saw people drinking the holy water coming down from Lake Biwa. At the end of the day we met Matthew, Wendy, and Barrett and all went for a Japanese “Viking style” dinner. We had divided trays and could try many different dishes. Matthew’s family were spending the night in Kyoto, and we drove back to Nagoya.
Isao and Kyoko have a house with a garden. The side of the house where we stayed had been his father’s home. We got to stay in a tatami mat room with comfortable Japanese beds. We had breakfast one day in the sunshine on their deck. More coming on Japan.

Japan

April 6-10, 2009 Japan

Konnichiwa!
A Japanese fireboat, spraying twin spurts of water, and a team of drummers welcomed us to Kobe port. After processing by the authorities, we enjoyed hot coffee in a can from a vending machine. There were three levels in the port terminal, so a worker there helped us page Isao’s daughter Kiriko to meet us. (Isao was having his dialysis treatment that day.) We had prearranged for Kiriko and her husband Peter to come on the ship for lunch and a tour. As you can see, they are a beautiful couple. They hope to find work in Peter’s home country of Taiwan and then have their formal family wedding. They were both a tremendous help to us on our visit. Peter drove us east northeast to Nagoya where Isao’s family lives. We stopped at Biwa Lake rest stop, and Kiriko had to show me how to flush the toilet, there were so many buttons to push for various functions! We passed Nanzan University where Isao attended when he was an exchange student at Alaska Methodist University in 1965 and we became friends. We were welcomed by Isao and settled into a Japanese style sleeping room. That night we met Isao’s wife Kyoko and daughter Akiko who came from work and joined us for a Chinese style dinner at a neighborhood restaurant.

China

March 20 – April 3, 2009 China
Motoring between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, we felt as if we had journeyed into the future. Huge skyscrapers loomed everywhere. We should have seen superman swooping down! Only some little shacks clinging to the shore looked familiar. Bustling construction sites are everywhere. At night, Les stood amazed on Matthew’s deck, watching colored lasers and moving lights put on a spectacular show. This is Hong Kong! (Photo taken by Matthew from the Peak.)
Our first adventure as a family was to journey to the Sham Shui Po Market on the Kowloon Peninsula, the side where our ship was docked. Our inter-port student had told us that this was where the locals went to shop. We had a few false starts, going into subways that turned out to be under road walkways, but we finally found the underground metro. (Barrett & Wendy are by the ticket vending.) In Sham Shui Po we walked thru the market and visited the Golden Computer Store where Wendy replaced her broken camera. We ate dim sum in a tiny restaurant communicating by pointing at pictures, and bought roasted sweet potatoes and chestnuts from a vendor on the street.
That first night, Matthew & Wendy were part of a group attending a formal reception and dinner on board. Matthew’s MICE group presented a concert (pictured). We spent the evening with Barrett and watched the city lights and boats in the harbor area.
Les and I rode over to Hong Kong Island on the Star Ferry system the next day. The Star ferries (pictured) are from the British days and have quite a history. We walked around a bit, went to the post office, and had a bite of lunch. That afternoon I ventured into the upscale shopping center attached to our ship’s gangway. I bought a pair of shoes at Anchorage prices. Then we left for the airport and Guilin.
Guilin is in the tropical deciduous forest zone along the Li and Peach Blossom Rivers. It is a city of 700,000 that swells to 5 million in the larger area and with visitors. We arrived at night and immediately saw that they love colored lights: multicolored palm trees decorated the airport landscape and a bridge beside our hotel was lit with blue lights. In contrast, the Chinese people dress in dark colors, except when it rains. The rain brought out bright umbrellas and combined poncho/motorcycle covers that serve both the rider and machine.
Our guide was a young woman whose work name is Cherry, and she was enthusiastic and funny. Our group included 14 adults and 6 students. The main attraction in Guilin is the karst topography. We took a four-hour cruise down the shallow Li River to enjoy these amazing “gumdrop” shaped karst towers. It was misty but lovely. Little boats came alongside to barter or sell fresh food. Our lunch was cooked on the stern deck, and I watched the boat in front of us as they prepared the food. There must have been two dozen boats going down the river in a line. We walked around the village of Yangshuo along the river before climbing on an electric golf car to our bus and back to Guilin.
That night all the students, Les & I, and one other went for a massage. We had a one-hour foot massage, and the others had a full 1½ hour massage, but we were all together in the room and had quite a hilarious time. The workers were able to pinpoint problems with our bodies from working on our feet. (Cherry stayed to interpret and took the photo.)
We were kept busy for the next two days having a tai chi lesson, watching Chinese painting, visiting a tea plantation (see Judy in hat) including a Chinese tea ceremony (“tap two fingers if married three times on the table to say thank you for tea”), riding up a lift to the top of a mountain wearing rented Mao coats (it was cold), and visiting a 1500 year old banyan tree where we had our picture made with cormorants. We went to a pearl outlet and a silk factory where we purchased a silk comforter made from the chrysalis of twin silkworms. The twins do not produce a single unbroken strand of silk, so their silk is used for quilts. At the Traditional Chinese Research Center for Medicine, we had momortica tea and watched while student Bobby had his back cupped. (He threw up.) We went to the Reed Flute Cave. Deep within it we were treated to a light and bubble show – they do like their colored lights!
Les & I took an early morning walk in the rain by the Li River. We watched people swimming in the river, doing tai chi under the bridge, fishing in suits before work, and even ballroom dancing. On our drives we saw the rice paddies and neat little carefully tended garden patches. We saw people preparing their ancestors’ tombs for the Weeping Tombs Festival on April 5.
We flew to Shanghai and had two planned activities for my classes. Sunrise tai chi was held in a concrete park. We tried to follow the teacher’s moves as she stood under a huge statue of Mao in her red jacket. In the same park were numerous groups and individuals exercising. A group of older ladies were doing tai chi with colorful fans.
Then we explored two food markets and ate lunch at an expensive restaurant in one of the Shanghai skyscrapers. The markets have an abundance of green vegetables, fruits, chicken parts (“eat feet with beer”), pork, noodles, fresh water fish and bivalves. There are interesting items like ginko seeds, jellyfish used in soups, ching twan (bright green dumplings for the Tombs Festival), assorted mushrooms which are not expensive here, and eel-like fish that start their lives as males and then become females. Eggs are not simply brown or white. Chinese eat chicken, dove, duck, quail, and goose eggs. They have salted eggs that look as if they have been buried in dirt, but it must be dark impure salt. Blue-green eggs are fermented and are solidified and black inside.
We left China in the night, going through Shanghai down the long Huangpu River and out into the East China Sea. Our next stop is Kobe, Japan where we will be met by our friend Isao’s daughter, Kiriko, and travel with her to their home. Then I will meet Setsuko, my pen pal of fifty years!

Vietnam

March 22-26, 2009 Vietnam

Xin chao! Hello and welcome to thriving HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City), remembered as Saigon. Waking early, we watched the sun rise as we motored up the Saigon River for two hours into the port area. Boats of all kinds were everywhere! Out in the ocean off Cambodia, we saw tiny basket bowl boats fishing. These coracles are paddled with a figure eight stroke, setting nets, and they are carried out to sea on larger boats. In the river were slim fishing boats dragging a net on two poles behind them, speedboats, junks, hovering ferries, and many scow-like boats with painted red prows and eyes looking forward. There were dozens of huge freighters, and rafts loaded with dirt and sand. Rafts carrying palm fronds looked like moving haystacks! Tugboats, pilot boats, and family boats loaded with watermelons and greens for the market passed by. Several boys jumped off their boat and swam in the river. A dog ran back and forth on the deck, and the father watched as the boys climbed up the anchor rope. We enjoyed watching the river activity and the water hyacinths float up and down with the tide.
The streets were just as interesting. There are four million motorcycles in HCMC, plus cars and buses, bicycles and rickshaw bikes. Helmets are now required by law, and many riders also wear masks. We spent a lot of time in downtown District One of the city, and crossing the streets was an adventure! Look for a slight lull, step deliberately into the street, not pausing, but keeping a steady pace. If you are crossing with others, go in a straight line parallel to the traffic. Look ahead with determination, but be watching traffic at the same time. And, as Wendy says, “Watch your toes!”
The water puppeteers who performed for us actually stand in the pond behind bamboo screens and move the puppets. (I actually had a puppet model at home from Ted & Ginny, so I recognized the characters.) The art originated in the 11th century in rice paddies in northern Vietnam where the art has been perfected.
Thien Hau Pagoda and another Cao Dai temple were colorful. The religion combines all major religions with native Vietnamese spirits, and it is the third largest religion in Vietnam. They believe in one God, the soul, and the use of mediums. In Thien Hau, I lit a spiral incense for Lee’s healing. It will burn for a month.
Ben Thanh and a smaller market were interesting. Lots of vegetables, meats, fruits, clothes, chopstick sets, live fish, coffee, jewelry, and pushy ladies grabbing us to sell blouses and shoes. We also shopped in upscale places, and I had an outfit tailored for me.
I visited Ket Doan Primary School with some university students from the ship. The children were all asking for our autograph, and I realized that I needed to write a sentence for each one so that they could hear me read it and practice speaking. Some of them were shy, and some bravely spoke English to me. During recess, they could go to booths set up in the play courtyard and buy drinks, soup, and toys. They seemed to have money for this. The boys played with a weighted, feathered toy that they kicked like a hacky-sack.
Our favorite day was a trip to the Mekong Delta. We passed rice paddies and fish ponds, but many had been drained and were being developed into modern business buildings and apartments. We traveled on a boat on the Mekong River, and then visited two islands. We rode in canoe boats through the canals, bumping along the narrow waterways in the jungle. We held a python, and Les tried wine with a snake soaking in it.
Now we have two days in the China Sea. We’ll be in Hong Kong on Sunday.