We're Alive!

We're alive! We've just had limited email access. When we get a little more time on a computer in a week or two expect to be inundated with updates. So far we've attended a conference on Contextual Bible Study in Pietermarzitburg, went to Sani Pass in Lesotho, took a hike and saw Bushman paintings 10,000 years old, and have had three days in Durban. We celebrated Duncan's birthday yesterday in what is becoming the traditional way - seeing the new James Bond movie! :) I'm sure Duncan will update you on that later.

We take off now from Durban for 5 days of camping in St. Lucia Wetland Park. Supposedly we'll see lots of hippos and crocs and do some good snorkeling (not with the crocs). Then we're off to Nelspruit for a night before another camping trip to Kruger National Park for our fill of elephants, giraffes, buffalo, and hopefully some lions and leopards. So don't worry if you don't hear from us for a while. . .

Thanks to all for you comments and emails. They are encouraging!

Andrea

November 5 - 10, Joburg and Pietermarzitsburg, South Africa

South Africa!

We have arrived safely although are a bit jumbled. Because of our scramble before we left the US to turn in school applications, finish jobs, pack up and clean up the house, we really only planned our time in Europe. We have arrived here in South Africa only knowing where we will be staying until November 14. Knowing how South Africa has a in house 'travel agent' at almost every hostel we figured we would be okay to land and then figure our travels out. Not really so!

We stayed for three nights at a backpackers place in Joburg, an offshoot of a place we had stayed before. Because it had been a good experience before at the other place we assumed the same for the hostel in Joburg. While there is too much to say here and we haven't decided what to do about our experience yet, i.e. should we write the owners, etc. let's just say that it was crazy and overwhelming. This craziness meant that the 'in house travel agent' was not helpful. When we did ask something we were told she would get the answer for us, but the answers never materialized.

We then left and took a bus to Pietermarzitburg where we are to be until the 14th. We are here on the gracious invite of Gerald West to attend a conference on Contextual Bible Study. The place we are staying ( Thorn Tree Lodge) is magnificent. Our room is huge and has a thatched roof. The only problem being there is no internet here and the closest internet place is at least .5 mile away. Because we have just started planning our time in South Africa we sent out a lot of emails to contact different accommodations and now are not able to respond. We took a taxi to the nearest mall yesterday because we were told there was internet there and we needed to buy a card reader to be able to download our pictures and we wanted to buy a sim card for our cell phone. The whole trip was a bust – the card reader we bought can only be installed with a CD – our computer has no CD reader. The SIM card we bought does not work in the phone so then we went to several cell stores to try theirs none of which worked. And the big purpose in going – the internet, well that also didn't work. Needless to say this was all discouraging to us.

But today is a new day and we are about to embark on a walk to the closest internet place. If you are reading this now, you can assume we made it and it worked. :) Tomorrow is the start of the conference which we are really excited about.

We will update you as soon as we can get internet again.

Andrea

November 4 - Not Recommended Sleeping in the Paris CDG Airport

I know Duncan already wrote the Europe wrap up, but our night in the CDG airport is worthy of a post so that someone someday can avoid the problem we had. Our flight to Amsterdam (then onto Johannesburg) from Paris was the first Air France flight of the day leaving at 6:40 AM. They told us to get there 2 hours ahead to check in. Because it was so early and CDG is outside of the city we knew that we needed to get a hotel near the airport and had started the search before we left the US. All the hotels were completely booked or 300 Euros. Once we were in Europe we checked again 2 weeks and then 1 week before we were to fly to Amsterdam and had the same results.

We now had the option of finding another hotel in Paris but the metro would not open early enough for us to get the (RER) train to the airport to get to the airport to check in on time, so we would be forced to get a taxi for 50-60 Euros on top of a hotel room which we would only sleep in for a couple of hours. We made the decision to sleep in the airport to avoid all this expense for not enough benefit.

Duncan did some internet research and found several sites that talked about the conditions in major airports for sleeping. The comments about CGD were not pleasant but most of them were about CDG 1 and not CGD 2 where we would be. While we were certainly not excited about sleeping in the airport we decided to go for it.

The night before this endeavor we were very fortunate to have found a very comfortable hotel, All Seasons Hotel, for 50% of there usual charge. Not only were they a short walk from Gare de Lyon where we arrived by train via Milan the night before but they were also a short 3 block walk to the post office so we were able to send a large box back to the US with all of our Europe guide books, hats, gloves, scarves, my wool coat and a sweater (the cost was E 39.50 and the post office supplied the ready make box complete with sealant). Not only were we quite pleased with ourselves for figuring out the sending of the box and subsequently ridding ourselves of 14 pounds of weight, but we had a great night sleep and a huge hot breakfast the next day at the hotel. I tell you all this because it was these happy memories were what helped us make it through the night at CDG.

The day before our flight we checked out of our hotel but they allowed us to put our bags in storage and hang out in their lobby using their free wi-fi. We decided to leave the hotel around 4 to beat the rush of workers returning to their homes and head for the airport assuming we would check in, go through security and then find a corner to set up for the night. We arrived at the airport and Duncan went to complete our online check in at the kiosk. It wouldn't let him check in. He tried again and it pulled up flights to Amsterdam later that night but not our flight the next morning. An Air France agent saw he was having some trouble and told him to just go check in with an agent at the desk. So we gathered our belonging and went to stand in line for an agent. We were stopped at the entrance to the line and asked which flight we were on, when we answered Amsterdam tomorrow, the gate keeper said, you can only check in 2 hours before your flight, you need to come back tomorrow, the desk opens at 5 am. What!? Duncan asked some more questions and the answer was basically you should find a hotel for tonight.

Having never experienced an airline that only lets you check in 2 hours ahead (most of our experience has been you can check in 24 hours ahead), we had not anticipated this. So we searched around and found the only metal wire bench that didn't have four armrests. It only had one, making it possible to lie down and stick your feet under the last armrest. We pushed our bags into a corner locked them all together and then locked them to the bench. We read for a while and then tried to go to sleep, but we were near the baggage claim and flights continued to come in for several hours. When it did finally get quiet we slept for a little while only to wake up totally freezing. We had made ourselves little beds out of our sown together sheet sacks and were using other clothes as pillows, but one of us (we kept trading locations) was on the cold tile floor while the other was on the cold wire metal bench. We had assumed we would get to check in and be in a carpeted area.

After throwing more clothes on ourselves we went back to sleep again only to wake up and realize that they had closed the bathroom near us which we both needed to use. Duncan went searching for the next nearest bathroom and found three closed before he found an open one 15 minutes walk away. The interesting part of this was that by no means were we alone. Just in our part of the airport 2F there were at least 30 other people sleeping.

By the time the noisy floor buffing machines were turned off it was 4:30 and we decided to get up. Fortunately the bathrooms opened shortly thereafter and we got cleaned up for our flight. We checked in guessing we maybe got at most 2 hours of sleep. Next time we decided that we will try at all costs to not have an early flight out of CDG. It would have been much better to fly into Amsterdam and spend the night there before our Joburg flight. This is just one of the many things we are learning on this trip :)

Andrea

November 3 - Europe Wrap Up

Two months ago this week I left Sound Youth Counseling, grateful to be finished, so encouraged and excited by the staff and new executive director who will carry on the good work there. Four weeks ago today we flew out of Seattle. We have managed to cram much into the past month, wonderful people and places, more trains than we can count, a smorgasboard of culinary delights (ok – and a lot of bread and cheese in our room!) Cities, countryside, it has all been great. Of course there are times when we are beat and we have discovered that we must build in down days. Doing an ongoing trip is a little different than doing one where you know you will be back in your home in three weeks. Andrea mentioned that we had hoped to have another night in Rome but where we were staying was completely booked. We had already decided that we would return to Levanto and L'erba Persa so we showed up a day early and Grazia had a room ready for us. So three more nights at this wonderful place gave us time to rest and gear up for the next few days of travel. It had been quite rainy since Rome but Saturday we woke to bright blue skies again and while not quite warm, it was warm and sunny enough to walk down to the beach for me to get my first Mediterranean swim in along with a horde of surfers who had shown up in their wet suits to ride the waves.

We were able to catch up with the blog a little (and again a huge thank you to Damien in Rome for getting our pictures to us!) We haven't been able to download the Picasa program that allows easy uploads but at some point we will have some slide shows ready to go as well. We also were able to have more conversations about politics both in this country (relating to the education demonstrations going on) as well as in the US with the election. And I picked a few more olives with Claudio who true to his word has given me a liter of fresh oil which will be ready for consumption in two months! We've wrapped and padded it well. Hope it will make it!

I'm writing this on the train from Milan to Paris. We hadn't planned on spending the night there last night, but it was the only way to get back to Paris to catch our flight to South Africa. When I went to get reservations for the train at the station a few days ago, there weren't any! Nothing. The station agent told me to go into Levanto and ask a travel agent as sometimes they can access a few seats that the rail agents can't. Huh?! This I did, without much luck. Finally the travel agent who had looked and looked for seats from all sorts of cities and connections found a couple, but when she printed them out she noticed they weren't Eurail Pass tickets but the pass that rail employees would use if they were traveling. We talked about options and to cut a long story short, took a chance today and hoped that no one would notice. And it seems that is the case as our tickets have been checked by Italian and Swiss conductors and no huge fine has been thrown at us. This is really another huge thank you Jesus for us. We have had so many things on this trip work out whether finding renters for the house or getting Andrea a new pump, we are very aware of God's kindness to us and care for us. We think we are supposed to be learning a lesson about trust – which really has been a theme for me this whole past year. 'Will you trust me with everything?' seems to be the question. So we are very grateful and we are learning to trust more and not freak out when each new thing comes up.

Briefly on Milan...we had to spend the night so we could get the early train out this morning. Since we had a few hours in the evening, we walked down the main avenue to the Duomo, Christendom's fourth largest church after St. Peters in Rome, St. Paul's in London and Sevilla's in Spain. Really glad we went as we were able to sneak inside as mass was going on and see another beautiful church. While other churches in Italy went with Renaissance domes, Milan went with an incredibly ornate gothic style. It can hold 12,000 people. (St Peter's – 60,000 inside! Not in the square!)

The other note from last night concerns my super model wife. So going to the Duomo we walked through the fashion center of this major fashion capital of the world and it was unbelievable the looks Andrea got especially by the girls passing by who thought she was someone they should know. It was quite fun for me to walk behind her and watch people do double takes at this tall beauty walking down the street. What gave her away though is the dude walking next to her in his green fleece. No fashionista would be seen with this guy!

Ok, so we just passed Turin and are entering France now. A couple just got on the train with two cats in backpacks which they have now taken out and are sitting with leashes on their seats! OK seriously, we have been going for a couple hours and the cats just sit there. One is up on the back of the seat. We have actually seen more well trained pets (mainly dogs) like this on this trip. Dogs walking into stores with their owners – no leash. Evidently dog training is a little more successful here. We spend the night in Paris tonight and then the following night at the Paris airport (not so much fun, but you do what you have to do – hopefully we can find a tv and watch election results!) before catching an early flight to Amsterdam and then down to Johannesburg.

PS – quick update – November 4 – Election Day in the US and the world is watching. As big a day as it is in the US, it might just be bigger around the world.
We stayed at an All Seasons Hotel last night. Found it for half off – and can I say how great it was. All the places we have stayed have been great and you can't really compare, but this I think was wonderful icing on the cake. Slept well and great great breakfast. It's the little perks...
If you are counting we have slept in 14 beds in the last month. It's a beautiful warm fall day in Paris. The sky is blue, but fall is beginning to move in and so we head south for a couple more months of our endless summer!

Duncan

October 30 - The Least, Last, and Lost Reflections

Andrea wrote a wonderful description of our time in Meina and Rome – and she actually lessoned a little of the drama and frustration of being lost in Meina! Here are just a few more thoughts and reflections that surfaced during our time in these places.

I keep looking for good news in our wanderings. I keep looking for the least, the last, the lost and what good news there might be for them. This is what our friend Kris Rocke does as he leads the Center for Transforming Mission. CTM's goal is to come along side those who are working in hard places – especially among youth to bring them true good news, training, and encouragement that they are not alone. I was surprised by the thought and realization that for the last seven years I have been doing hard work in a hard place. Kris and CTM have always been life giving for me and I have participated in many of their gatherings and trainings, but usually I didn't think of myself being and working in a hard place. I've realized that it was a very hard place. While I loved Sound Youth Counseling especially working with the staff and clients, I still am working out my time in Tacoma. Perhaps more on this later.

Our time in Meina however served to focus like a laser what it is like to be in the position of the marginalized. Meina is on the shores of Lago (Lake) Maggiore, which is very similar to Lake Como. Beautiful homes and villas on the water extending up into the hills but without a doubt the most pedestrian unfriendly place I have ever been in my life. If you had a car, it would be great – and you would be like everyone else who lives there, able to get places, able to purchase food, able to fit in. But without a car, it like Andrea suggested was a difficult, unsafe and somewhat life threatening place. This is no place for someone without a car, no place for someone poor – and while we are far from poor compared to most of the world, our time their (even with a lovely B&B) let us experience what it is like to be an outsider and not fit in, not understand.

I kept thinking of all the verses about taking in the stranger and looking after the foreigner and have a very different perspective than I did before and it's not like I hadn't thought about things like this before either! Andrea also mentioned that our experience of being in Meina is very similar to the third culture kid experience, when you are plopped down somewhere completely unknown and it's hard, yet you figure it out and keep on going. Although TCK's do this with their lives often over and over again!

The other experience that made real the least, last and lost to me took place on our first night in Rome. Andrea and I were a little tired and grumpy at each other, needing some sleep and a little space after being continually on the go. We went back to the central Rome train station which in addition to trains also has many restaurants and stores. We were getting in line to check out of the grocery store when we noticed a girl ahead of us in line whose face was so covered in piercings it floored me and made my petty complaints just vanish. It wasn't just that she was a human pin cushion, she was obviously in a bad way, drugged and slumped over. She was standing in line with a man but was literally falling asleep standing up. He would shake her every now and again when she started to slump more towards the ground. I wanted to take a picture but it would have been so violating to her and everyone was already violating her with their stares. I don't know what we could have done. Andrea and I walked back to where we were staying in silence. I quickly scribbled down these words on the back of a receipt.

I'm sorry it took you

I'm sorry it took you
to wake me from my stupor
break me out of my funk
shock me out of my shallow selfishness

Right in front of me
at the check out stand
with a man, cigarette hanging from his lips, buying cheap wine,
steadying you so wouldn't fall down

If your eyes had been open
you would have known the stares of everyone in the store
perhaps you already felt them
perhaps that's why your eyes were closed

Under 20, maybe 15 – barely holding on, barely human
Drugged, high, swaying
Dirty, baggy clothes covering most of you
But what was visible...

Hands, scarred; nails, blackened nubs
mostly shaved head except for a few magenta strands
piercings covering your face
Ears, lips eyes, nose, cheeks – far, far too many to count

Grotesque
Spectacle
Awful
Stunning
Sad
Beauty – horribly scarred
God's image
Maybe Jesus
in the flesh
wrapped in your own stupor to break me from mine
But I'm sorry it took you.

Isaiah 53

Duncan

October 27-29, The Travesties of Our Time in Rome Part II

Fifth travesty of our time in Rome – I was wearing dirty socks when I saw the Pope. Our friend, Julie had told me before we left, about the papal audiences on Wednesdays at the Vatican and when we arrived in Rome we trotted over to Santa Sussanna church to get (free) tickets. Incidentally the priest who gave us our tickets and we chatted with (Father Greg) we had seen on the Today show several years earlier doing an interview with Matt Lauer in front of St. Peter's on The Da Vinci Code. He of course didn't tell us this, but there was a little write up on Fr. Greg in some literature we picked up and then we both remembered seeing him. He had a good sense of humor about the whole thing while still towing the party line.

So Wednesday morning we catch the metro at 8:30, even though we were told to be at St. Peter's at 8:30 (two hours ahead) to get a good seat. The Metro was packed and it literally took three trains coming and going before our part of the crowd could push ourselves on. Fortunately being as tall as I am I do not have to have my face in someone else's armpit, unfortunately the reverse is true and someone else's nose is in my armpit. I also had momentary panic when I thought the police officer behind me was getting fresh with me but this was relieved when I realized that the perpetrator was a woman's handbag.

We arrived at St. Peter's around 9 am to an already large gathered crowd, waited in line for security, and then entered the grounds and selected a seat. The square was full of chairs and an awning was set up on the stairs on St. Peter's. The Pope arrived at 10:30 in his pope mobile, surrounded by Swiss guards and made several laps waving to the crowd. We all stood on our chairs in order to see which had the affect of making everyone only see the pope's head magically and swiftly move around the square. The pope mobile then rolled up to the awning and dropped the Pope off and then disappeared. The reading from 1 Corinthians was read in 6 different languages by six different cardinals (Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Russian). The Pope then gave a message in Italian. The six different cardinals then each read the names of those groups, or churches gathered, in their countries respective languages. Every time a large group's name was read they erupted in shouts of joy, some even singing a verse of a song or playing instruments, which became even louder when the Pope did a special greeting in each of the six languages and would mention some of the groups that He was particularly pleased were there.

And the dirty socks you ask? Well this happens often when you only have 2 pairs of black socks and you're walking around in the black sock/shoe nations of Europe everyday. So while I'm used to this, it just didn't feel right to see the Pope in my dirty socks. :)

After the audience we thought that the crowd would probably head into St. Peter's so we decided to walk to the Pantheon instead. For some reason this is one of my favorite sites in Rome. The grand scale of this 2,000 year old building takes my breath away, especially the oculus which is 30 feet across. I would have loved to see what happened to all that water that came pouring through the ceiling in the storm, because the drainage system for the Pantheon is probably a better design than our modern version.

On our walk to and from the Pantheon we passed through Piazza Navona and noticed a huge police presence and some destruction in the piazza. We had seen a protest the day before at the Colosseum by students who were protesting school reform so we knew it was the same thing, but the police were gathered around a particular building in their riot gear and had a do not cross line. We stopped at a nearby tourist information booth and asked what was going on. The Senate, in the protected building had voted that morning to accept the school reform. The crowd completely protested and it ended in some property destruction and tear gas. The government is trying to cut education budgets across the board from elementary education to graduate research. One Italian citizen explained to us that part of the problem is that Berlusconi didn't and won't tax property (which dramatically decreases revenue especially from the upper class) and because of this the government has run out of money and has to cut things - education being the target. The particularly interesting thing is that the Italian government is trying to sell the reforms as good because they will be like the US education system. The Education Minister has even said that these reforms are very similar to Obama's education plan. The problem as Italian citizens see it is that they currently have the best public education system in Europe and it is no comfort to be told they're going to be like the US.

After being informed we went on our way back to St. Peter's to see the church. After some debate because the line was still incredibly long we decided to bite the bullet and go in. Big mistake!!! I have never been anywhere more crowded. It felt like we were back on the subway. There were soo many tour groups and they would just stop in front of something the guide was describing and block the entire route. They all looked incredibly bored. I wondered why they were there. Because it was so crowded the guards were ushering anyone not in a group to move along, essentially making it impossible to stop and look at anything. We were so frustrated and we just got out which is disappointing when you are in the largest most magnificent church in all of christendom. We did manage to make our way to the less crowded crypt but again because it was busy we were simply ushered through without being able to stop and look at anything.

We left and went home. The redeeming part of night was having a great smoothie and apple crisp back at the Beehive's cafe with some great conversation about the protests with Valentina the chef for the night. We also were able to hang out and talk with Damien, a fellow dormer on a year long trip from Australia. He was in Thailand a short while ago and plans to go back in January so we will hopefully meet up with him again. He was especially kind to us and took pity on our lack of a card reader and downloaded our pictures for us – thus the reason our blog suddenly has pictures. We plan on buying our own card reader in South Africa next week.

On our last morning in Rome before we were to catch our train, I was inspired to try to see Bernini's St. Teresa in Ecstasy statue in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, a short 15 minute walk from the Beehive. I left Duncan to finish packing and headed out only to realize a few blocks later that there were massive protests about the school reform decision going on. I made it through the crowd to Piazza d. Repubblica, only three blocks from the church but simply couldn't go any further. The square and all of the surrounding blocks were completely filled with people. The protest was well organized. There were many banners and huge amounts of balloons that spelled out the people's disgust with the school reform decision. Having been inside the Beehive most of the morning with no clue what was going on I felt a bit like Emperor Nero playing the violin while Rome burned. I went back to the Beehive to tell Duncan to go check it out. We heard that the people's disgust with the decision made the union(s) call for a strike which would mean that the metro would only run in the morning to get people to work and then in the evening to get them home again (however we were unable to confirm this). No strikes or protests affected our train travel out of Rome.

Andrea

October 27-29, The Travesties of Our Time in Rome Part I

Rome just might be my favorite city ever. I love the life of the city and that around every corner is another piece of incredible history. I also love that the city is a real city – overcrowded, graffitied, smelly and generally inhospitable until you learn its ways. But once you learn its ways the city is glorious.

We hopped on the train in Arona and arrived in Rome in the afternoon.

The first travesty of Rome is not Rome's fault – we did not have much time budgeted for this magnificent city – only 3 nights. We tried to get 4 nights but our hotel was full and we couldn't manage (mentally) finding another hotel for just one night.

The second travesty of our time in Rome (this is Rome's fault) – accommodation is EXPENSIVE. We thought this was even more true about Rome than it was about Paris. Because we couldn't find any doubles in our price range, Rome became our first experiment with the dorm. Fortunately for us we found (through Rick Steves book) The Beehive which advertised their dorms as quiet – with quiet hours. We booked it and were very pleasantly surprised that it was great (for a dorm). Duncan had some trouble sleeping the first night but was exhausted enough the next two to sleep well. I, surprisingly slept like a baby all nights.

Third travesty of our time in Rome – to the Wilson's, the Colosseum is overrated – the true gems are the Forum and Palatine Hill. This travesty really stems from both our dislike of huge, disrespectful, unmanageable crowds and paying a lot of money. I had been here once before and had some fuzzy memories, mostly of being annoyed that I couldn't hear the tour guide. The Colosseum is interesting and makes for a great picture, but because its image is so accessible and identifiable, if you know its history it (to me) does not add much to my image to physically be there fighting through crowds. The interesting part of being at the Colosseum for Duncan and I was following around a Thai group and Duncan eavesdropping on their tour.

What was incredibly interesting and made the ticket to the Colosseum worth it was the Forum and Palatine Hill. It's incredible to stroll the streets of the Forum and imagine Caesar walking the same route. One particularly impressive building was the HUGE basilica that Constantine had built. The scale was also impressive on Palatine hill. You can completely imagine the gardens and flowing fountains from the palatial ruins in front of you. On one hilltop we were able to see Circus Maximus below us, a oval shaped track for chariot races, that could hold up to 250,000 spectators!!!

Fourth travesty of our time in Rome – open bus tour in the biggest rain storm in 15 years. To get the lay of the land we bought tickets for the hop-on-hop-off bus tour around Rome. We hopped off at the Colosseum and did our tour. When we hopped back on and began our way back to Termini train station we encountered torrential rain. Because it had been raining earlier in the day, I bought a cheap umbrella from one of the many men (mostly if not all immigrants) trying to make some money to live. I bargained him down to a 'special price' especially for me – right. . . :) Of course by the time its pouring my special price umbrella already has one part of its fabric cover detached from the frame. We were soaked!!! Being good citizens of whatever country we happen to be in, we dutifully took home as much water as we could carry in our shoes, socks, and pant legs. Who knew that jeans have capillary action and suck up water like a straw? :) Apparently it rained 3 inches and areas of Rome were completely flooded and some roads impassable.


Andrea